Jennifer's Interview

Steve & Ivey Vlog #1 in Asheville

Basil Hayden Buzz

While the picture of James and I is very cute...this was the photo that i wanted to be on the front of the "It's Basil Bitch" slideshow. Here's to taking 1st place in the c2 division of the North Star Classic in Minneapolis. Way to go guys!

Usher - What's Your Name

I've always been an Usher fan. From day one. I had no idea what to expect from his new cd as I had mixed feelings about the first single and heard nothing about the cd. It was released today and I bought it on itunes. I ran a bath and turned it on. When I got to track 6 I realized I was dancing in the bathtub. I got in the bathtub to try and stretch my legs and relax so I could get to bed early. Back to track 6. What's Your Name feat. Will I Am. I'm not sure if it's the worst song ever written and I should be embarrassed to be admitting this or the BEST SONG EVER!!!! It's so boyband/80's/tecno/r&b/rap/bubblegum/reggae/everything. I am on listen #3 and I'm eating it up!!!!!! Please give it a listen and leave a comment. It's worth 99cents!

It's Basil Bitch.

For Funsies

Click to enlarge

My 200th Post

While I don't pride myself on posting regularly, i'm proud to be making my 200th post today. Perhaps I should be making a special post for the milestone but instead you're getting what I give you...some useless knowledge of what's going on in my life. You'll get some special posts in the future. With the title of my blog being a random collection of thoughts it only makes sense to keep things coming at you randomly.

So why is there a picture of me being a fool in San Fran posted above? Because I just had an awesome trip to San Fran. I went for work but have some very close friends there so I stayed an extra night. My work event was awesome. I was there for an event called Bourbon & Bacon. Kinda sounds scary right? Basically it was a 5 course meal served with 5 unique cocktails from our portfolio. It was DA-LISH! I spent my time going from table to table and talking to folks about our brands and about whiskey in general. As the event came to an end I told a co-worker of mine that I would meet him at a speakeasy called Bourbon & Branch. But I was going to make a 30 minute visit to my friend Lonnie's on the way. For those of you who reember Lonnie he was a good friend I met when I first moved to Chicago. He was on my softball team and he and I played tennis together as well. He had a 6am flight so I wasn't able to get him to join us out. I saw his new place...talked for a good 20 minutes and then was off to the speakeasy. My cab driver was really sweet as he expressed concern with me getting out of the cab in the lower tenderloin district. He asked where I was going and didn't know the place and there was no sign on the door as it was a buzzer on a wall and you were required to know the password to get in. The place was awesome...the bartenders were knowledgeable and they had a great drink list with a million whiskeys to choose from. I chose to stick with our brands as I was all dressed up in small batch get-up. A great time.

Later that night I took off to the Castro. I was unimpressed. Gay bars bore me...I want so badly to love them but they are the same in every city. I pretty much sat and drank alone while watching video's at the first bar and then made my way down to a hip hop club where I was able to get my groove on for awhile. I had a good time dancing until it got overcrowded with obnoxiously drink people. It was time for me to go home. As I made my way to find a cab I changed my mind and decided to go find pizza in the castro. I grabbed a slice and went out onto the street to eat it. This is where the night started for me. I'm not sure if it was the gay married thing or just the energy in san francisco but everyone was so cool and friendly and i had a really good time just watching people and hanging out with the folks around me. I stayed in the street until close to 4am just talking. Something I'd probably be arrested for here in Chicago. The police were in the streets but they were not concerned with us "loitering".

The following evening I moved from my hotel to Livo & Tommy's. My old roommate and a guy I used to date. Their place was in twin peaks and overlooked the city and bay. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. The three of us had an amazing time. We were very relaxed and just talked and caught up. We later made our way into Noe Valley (i think that's what it was called) to grab some coffee, a drink, some wine and some groceries so we could cook and play cards.

The next morning i flew home. I have always loved San Fran but for some reason this trip really made me want to live there. I've said it for years....San Fran is one of the few cities I could see myself living in when I'm old. I'm changing that to oldER. Perhaps it'll be sooner than I thought...I've got a few years to figure it out.

Making Light of a Shitty Weekend

I was looking SO FORWARD to playing softball this weekend. All week long the forcast said heavy rain on Sunday. I refused to believe it. Well sure enough it rained. Actually, it poured for hours and hours. Not a chance in hell for softball. So the weekend was a drag. But I did manage to make the most of it. I did something for the first time which is always fun. I rode my bike 25 miles. I took off from my neighborhood and biked down to Hyde Park. I was on a roll and wanted to go further but knew I had to bike the same distance back home. An awesome time. Shortly after coming back home Ms. Henin challenged me to a tennis match. Perhaps a little stupid to go play tennis for 3 hours after a ride of that length but I went. And won 64 46 62. She has dominated me since day one so it feels good to beat her.

And the best part of the entire weekend? I finally booked my trip to Brazil. AND Aaron booked his as well so it's official. We are traveling to Rio De Janeiro from December 23, 2008 until Jan 3, 2009. Which means we'll be spending both Christmas and New Years in Brazil. We are going to have the time of our lives! And I have something to look forward to all year long.

In other news for those of you with whom I haven't talked to in some time. The job is going really well. I'm feeling pretty confident and on my feet and it's keeping me very busy. I have a huge event tomorrow night at Kellogg and am anxious to get it under my belt. Traveling to San Fran next week for an event...and then get a week in Chicago. If I can schedule this surgery for early next week (i'm not talking about it as it's debbie downer) I am going to attempt to get down to Indianapolis for a little work. Stay tuned.

Hillary's Downfall

It's not very often I post videos on my site other than my own but this is too fantastic not to share. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

My favorite pic of us.

So a woman was walking by the Basil Hayden booth that Jordan and I were working with a big camera and you know we did what any girl would do. WE POSED. I love us. And I love her even more for sending it to us.

Basil Hayden Buzz

I forgot to get a team pic...next week!

Wow. Yesterday was opening day for the summer softball league and I must say it was by far the best opening day our team has had in it's 5 years together. Our first game was against Jackhammer. I knew they had just returned from a tournament so I was a little worried they were going to hand it to us. (Usually following a tournament teams are red-hot). It was a good game. Apparently we showed up to play as we hit well and fielded well and managed to win by 10.

Next was the B team - Spin Cougars. Not sure how everyone else felt but I was a little "eh" about having to play the B team. It's no fun. They are all really good and typically slaughter us in minimal innings. I just told everyone to go out and have some fun and to not get discouraged when they score runs...because they will. We just have to score them back and play the best defense we can. To my surprise we beat them the first few innings and had a significant lead halfway through the game. We were all very aware of this and ready to fight for this game. We did lose our lead going towards the end of the game and went into the bottom of the last inning down by 4. We huddled together and I asked if everyone wanted it. This is the only time we've been this close to a win against these guys and if we want it we're going to do it now. Everyone was fired up and ready to fight. We broke and the magic happened. Ok, i know i'm being a little cheesy but it just felt really good to watch the team fight so hard for the win. Every single one of us wanted to bat and came through under pressure. We won the game by one run and all celebrated together like we just won the championship game of a tournament.

You can't ask for a better opening day. Basil Hayden -- Get Buzzed!

Jordan's Visit

I thought about actually writing a blog about Jordan's quick visit but the above pic pretty much sums it all up. Thanks for a great time Jordan! I heart you!

A Different vBlog

Random vblog of the day

Summer of FUNner

I received a call from Ms. Brost this afternoon while sitting in the Seattle airport...he called with news. News that will help make the summer of 2008 The Summer of Funner. On August 24th several things are happening. First off, I turn the big 3-0. YIKES. Don't think I'm not milking the fact that I'm still in my 20's for the next 4 months. The second big thing happening that day is....the Backstreet Boys are playing Ravinia. So of course Aaron purchased 6 tickets. While part of me wants to throw a big party for the big day...It'd be rather cool to go see a boyband in the park on my 30th birthday with a bunch of teenage girls. It doesn't get more youthful than that!

Let's talk about the boys. I know they suck...which is exactly why I love them so much. They have to be pushing 40 and are still trying to be the BackStreet "boys"...you gotta love that. Their latest cd supposedly sucks....I just may have to make the purchase now in preparation of their concert. I will not be out-sung by a 13 year old girl. No ma'am. Also, the boys were just featured on the finale of Celebrity Apprentice. They were complete assholes! So I sorta want to hate on them but how can one pass up this opportunity? Maybe i'll hate for just a few more days and then forgive them. We'll see.

I'm babbling. I'm babbling because I'm on the longest flight known to man. Or perhaps just a 3-4 hour from Seattle to Chicago but it feels like the longest flight alive. My ass is chaffing to the seat and I have a headache from Mr. cologne that is sitting next to me. LESS IS MORE!!!! Ok...i'm done. LEAVE COMMENTS!!!

The fun continues...

In attempt to make this the funniest (yes i said funniest) summer to date, I went out and purchased a new bike. I have had many a bikes in my days and they always seem to come from Kmart or Target and weigh nearly 20lbs, except for that schwin 10-speed I won because my sister sold candy bars for me for my softball fund raiser. Anyway, I spent more than $69.99 on this bike and it is so worth it. It was fast, easy to ride and best of all....light. (yes, that was a HUGE factor in why I chose it) So my goal this summer is to ride more, drive less. While I do love taking the wrangler out, it's time to do less driving.

So back to the fun. I picked my new bike up at Kozy's after I finished work for the day and rode it to the lakefront, down to the shed aquarium and back home. Ms. Brost, as much as I loved running with you (I really did enjoy our runs) biking the lake is the way to go. You can sit and look at people. WHY WOULD YOU RUN IF YOU CAN SIT? So fun! I'm going back tomorrow!

Random Blog Comment of the year? My cat Winston keeps biting my nipple. WEIRDO.

The Summer of Fun has finally begun.

So yeah...it's official. While it doesn't really feel like Summer (let alone spring), the Summer of Fun has officially begun. I know many of you are asking yourself, "Wasn't 2007 the Summer of Fun?" It was SUPPOSED to be. It was fun, yes. But it wasn't the Summer "of" Fun. Arron and I started last summer off on the right foot when we darted off to Canada for a softball tournament in July. You see, that was our problem. The Summer of Fun requires a lot of planning. You can't just name a summer the one of fun in late June. So thanks to Ms. Ireland we have a list of things that would help make the summer of 2008, more fun than 2007. Perhaps we could call the summer of 2008 the summer of funner, but that'd be just stupid maybe "it's the summer of more fun" mmmnooope. I'll contemplate throwing my tee-shirt stating that 07 was indeed the summer of fun away because it's not...this summer is.

For those of you wondering what the hell the image above is. It the set list from Kyler England's Ravenswood Sessions performance Aaron and I attended to kick off the Summer of Fun. We seriously had the best time!!!! Thank you Trent (not sure if he ever reads this) for the invite...we could not have asked for a more perfect ending to the weekend. Oh yeah...she played my FAVORITE FAVORITE song as the encore. Not sure what she was planning on playing but I sorta begged her to play it as she walked back in front of the group. Hopefully I didn't take away someone else's favorite.

Put your seat belts on ladies. The fun has just begun!

I was bored

So i painted this. eh.

Damn it!

So I'm sure most of you heard me talk badly about this song. I did the same thing with umbrella, ella ella, eh eh eh eh as well. And many more. I had listened to 4 minutes a good 7 times before i decided it wasn't for me. And then I saw the video. Suddenly I love the song. freaky freaky freaky freaky....madonna. Watch it...and love it!

I need your help!

First, please watch the above video. Do you all remember the Heinz 57 commercial I was in that Ian directed and filmed? Well...we didn't win. But there was a bunch of controversy following the contest as a bunch of people who TRIED to participate weren't able to. A co-worker of mine and her boyfriend created this video and were one of the video's that didn't get posted. THEY WERE PISSED. If you can remember how excited I was...you can imagine how disappointed they were. Hearing her tell me the story is so funny because I was in the same boat when we created the commercial. I would watch it daily as well as 1000's of the other horrible entries. I was obsessed.

And now I'm committing to vote for her entry every day until the day the contest ends. And if you have time right now, please follow this link and vote for her video. http://topthistv.com/vote.aspx They are the fourth one down on the left side. It's called "Now we can eat" She's the waitress that saves the day...you can't see her face but it's her. She is an incredible woman and is SO EXCITED to be a finalist. And she seriously loves ketchup more than she should. I forced her to eat "the king" at 530am while traveling home from Seattle last week and she was so grossed out by the food that she covered it in ketchup to put it down. The girl deserves your vote! DO IT NOW!