Oh! I GOT My Starbucks VIA!!!

About a month ago, I'd never heard of Starbucks VIA. Ok, that's not true, I'd heard of it but I had no idea wtf it was. Like any internet junkie would say, "OMG GOOGLE SEARCH!"

Google linked me to a site called MyStarbucksIdea.com (I was learning all sorts of new things at this point). The thread I was directly linked to on the site instructed me to be 1 of the first 10 people to post "I need my Starbucks VIA" to get 20 free sticks in the mail.

Logic: Ok so I might not know what the hell it is but it says "FREE " & "STARBUCKS" in the same sentence. No brainer... duh I NEED it. Starbucks VIA could have been rat poison or a lobotomy or a sex change or a date with Marc-Andre Fleury for all I knew... good or bad, I HAD to have it.

So I clicked.

And I posted, "I need my Starbucks VIA!"

A week later, I got an email asking for contact info. Three weeks later: nothing! My initial high evaporated. I was sad & defeated.

UNTIL... ding dong. UPS Man at the door.

Oh! Why, thank you.

How do I use it? Oh, I use it while sitting in morning traffic on the Parkway East Inbound.

HELL YES I DO!!

A Hockey Night in Canada

Pens win 5-2 vs Leafs.

Speaking in basic terms here, if this game was a preview of anything that's going to happen at the ACC on 1/9/10, I can't EFFING WAIT.

Yeah, its THAT kind of anticipation.

Canada loves hockey. I love hockey. I also love Toronto. Toronto loves the Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs suck.

Tonight, the Leafs did display some of the winning strategies of the Philadelphia Flyers but Jay Rosehill failed to back it up with some of the talent that is only afforded to players like Dan Carcillo and Scottie Hartnell. Even the fight Rosehill got into with Mike Rupp was pretty lack luster.

Honestly, the Canadian kid wearing the Crosby home jersey that was smacking the glass as Rupp went to the box may have hit something harder than Rosehill hit Rupp.

Speaking of the Flyers, I was too busy watching the Stanley Cup Champions embarrass Toronto but from what I understand, Chieftain Mike Richards offered up some extraordinary leadership skills by captaining the boys in orange to blowing a 2-0 lead over the Anaheim Ducks and then losing in a shootout 3-2.

Post game, the referee ensured that Ducks player, Ryan Whitney, had all his fingers. Scottie Hartnell was quoted as saying he only has a taste for French-Canadian defensemen.

"Side of Poutine please"

At least Scottie's got Don Cherry on his side. See?

Too bad Don Cherry is a big wiener.

Side note: I may be shunned for admitting this but I'm in the market for a Ron Hextall vintage t shirt. Its just because that son of a bitch was the meanest thing to hit the ice and I love watching him beat Potvin's ass on YouTube:



Watching Hextall sprint down the ice never gets old.

There's also this awesome video of the Flyers vs the Habs.

Personally, I still think its bullshit that Roy got a 5min pengalty for leaving the crease. Like there wasn't 400 other things to call out there, they call the goalie who's minding his own business on the other side of the ice but WHOOPS, I left the crease.

Stupid.

PS, I'm also looking for a Gary Roberts Calgary Flames vintage t so if anyone out there in internet land is reading this and knows where I could find one: need link, thx!

In conclusion: Toronto is 0-4. The Flyers defeat tonight brings the Penguins to #1 in the Atlantic AND East. Pens fans get a few days off until the next game against the Ottawa Senators on 10/12 at 7:30pm.

PPS, Quick thanks to FSN for giving us a post game, locker room glimpse of a shirtless Marc-Andre Fleury speaking French to the Canadian journalists. Yummy!

Update:
Someone posted said post game interview with Fleury. Many thanks to @GhostWalker40 <3

Eat Your Heart Out Martha Stewart!!

I randomly got tipped $5 today.

To some of my friends still out in Las Vegas, this might seem pretty normal--a day to day event even. Here in Pittsburgh, QUITE the opposite! I was planning on using said $5 for a happy little trip to my favorite spot on 6th and Penn for today's Pumpkin Spice Latte #2 (thank you Patrice) but while I was on break, I noticed a group of housekeepers milling around the table pictured here:

Apparently, the hotel is selling off old furniture from our recent remodel. This piece was a total STEAL for $5... I took it as a sign! Gently used, the top is totally scratched so I'm planning on painting it to help the decorative design of the wood work "pop" a little more. I'm even thinking of finding some local sports headlines & pictures to glue to the surface then painting the rest black and gold.

What has HGTV done to me?!

God how cute can you get?

My first Steelers game ever and what a great one it is. We're @ commercial break between 3rd & 4th quarters and the Steelers are up 28 - 7. Basically, the boys are kicking ass and I'm having a blast. Time for more football. :D

When in Rome...

"After 30 years, Roman Polanski finally got nabbed"

I tweeted that 3 or 4 days ago. It's amazing to me what can happen in just that short amount of time... because now people like Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen are petitioning to free Roman Polanski. Whoopi Goldberg was even quoted as saying, "It wasn't rape rape."

What the fuck does that even mean?!

Here's the story as E! tells it: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b146499_woody_allen_martin_scorsese_free_roman.html

He gave a 13 year old girl a Quaalude and wine. He then had non consensual sex with her while she protested the whole time. That, to me, sounds like the very definition of rape. In addition to all of the aforementioned, he pled GUILTY once he was caught and then when he didn't get the sentence he was promised, he fled the country and has been living in France since then.

So for 30 years, Mr. Polanski was living the high life on borrowed time. He was to receive a Lifetime Achievement award (or something) from the Zurich International Film Festival but now that he was picked up in Switzerland and thrown into prison, Hollywood types are furious and are signing what I'm sure is a strongly worded petition demanding the admitted child-rapist's release.

I'd expect this sort of behavior from Woody Allen. I mean, that guy divorced Mia Farrah and decided to marry his adopted daughter instead. Naturally he'd have automatic sympathy for an admitted sex offender since he's one himself. But Whoopi Goldberg? Really?!? I might be wrong here but doesn't she have a sort of women's empowerment/women's lib history?

Here's the actual conversation on the view so you can form your own opinion on what was said and who said it...




My opinion: Its disgusting. "Would I want my 13 year old having sex? Not necessarily..." seriously?! And then at 3:09 she says, "Where is the mother in this? Why is no one talking about that?"

...

Oh ok, so its everyone's fault BUT Roman Polanski's. Its the mother's fault that Roman Polanski raped a 13 year old girl. I'm sure she was there holding a gun to his head, telling him to stick it in her.

Hollywood is known to be out there and crazy. But I think this is one issue that the "industry" should just shut the fuck up about and watch it play out in court instead. Thus far, all the Hollywood types that signed that petition just made themselves look like imbeciles... OR they're just trying to suck up to Scorsese and David Lynch to try and get into some of their newer films.

I'm so ashamed to have ever wanted to be involved in an "artform" like this.

Heinz Catch-Up. Get it?

I'm sick.

Not sick in a figurative way but in a literal way. Remember back in late March and early April when I died? Yeah, its that kind of sick again. The Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend (yes he's still around cuz he's fucking awesome) texted me earlier saying that I have some goodies and spoiling to look forward to tomorrow. Ooh! I like both goodies and being spoiled. Sounds like this is right up my ally.

Lets see what all needs to be caught up on:


Work: The G-20 was a J-Joke. 4 months of preparation for 2 nights of absolutely nothing going on downtown except some Pitt students running around like idiots and then realizing, "oh LOL look I'm 18 and mom and dad aren't here to clean this up for me... uh... shit what do I do? Oh... I know!

"FUCK THE PO-LICE"


No asshole, fuck you. You came in here from small town Akron, OH to study psychology and when classes started at the end of August, you heard that there was about to be a meeting of the world's leaders close by. You instantly wanted a chance to tell your kids one day that you took part in a protest, you wanted to stand up for something but you're not sure what exactly so you just decided to go up to Shadyside and throw a rock at a Boston Market's front window. Why? Cuz FUCK Boston, you didn't get into Harvard! Right??


Then you decided to screw w/ Pamela's. That's how we know you're from out of town. No one from Pittsburgh would mess with Pamela's. Quit crying about your constitutional rights. When you showed up on the scene without an exit strategy, you forfeited your constitutional rights...


Let this be a lesson to you, Mr Smarter-Than-Thou-University-Student: you ALWAYS need an exit strategy. You're going to Pitt ffs; if the cops show up when you're underage drinking, you need an exit strategy. If her boyfriend shows up with you standing naked in her closet, you need an exit strategy. If the assembly turns out to be illegal because the smart ass that organized it forgot to get a permit, you need an exit strategy.


I'm glad you got shot with a rubber bullet, even if you're an innocent bystander. You shouldn't have been down there anyway.

Idiot.

Here's a picture of the guy that wins The Pittsburgh Summit:



That's an old Magnificent Mario jersey, you feeble-minded Non-Yinzers. This picture pretty much sums up why I love everything about this city.

That and reports that during gatherings, protests and demonstrations on Saturday, a bunch of Yinzers loaded up their paintball guns with black and yellow paintballs and went looking for some Wannabe Anarchists. Get fucked ResistG20. You're in Steel City.

Why G20 falls under the category of work is simple: I work downtown. My hotel housed delegations from France, Turkey and Germany. All the stereotypes are delightfully true. The secret service was ridiculously awesome.

I heard on WPXI this afternoon some facts and figures regarding how much money the city made vs spent vs how much the repair work would cost to get the city's windows back in working order. I don't remember actual numbers (because I was on 2hrs of sleep and cold medicine) but I can say that they were impressive and very large. All in all, this was a great event for Pittsburgh and I'm glad to have been a part of it on a very small level.

Boyfriend: As previously stated, he's fucking awesome. He just bought a house which he's letting me decorate. I've been getting a lot of the "Ooh! Are you moving in?" questions lately. Answer: I don't know, I don't think so... Ours is a relationship where things are sort of assumed. He keeps me around so I assume he still likes me. I'm not complaining so he assumes I'm happy. If there was a real problem, we'd each bring it up to the other.

Don't get me wrong, I am happy. He's pretty much the best thing that's ever happened to me. I'd just like to have the reassurance that I'm awesome. Even though I know I'm awesome, I want to know he thinks so too.

The point here was that if I'm moving in, it would just sort of happen over time. My clothes would just migrate over to his house. I can't imagine him ever coming up to me and saying, "Hey Jen, I was thinking... do you want to move in?"

His house is super cool mode too. It's got a koi pond! I need to start studying HGTV more.

We watch Adult Swim together and he gets really excited when Squidbillies comes on. I don't get that show... I'm much more of a Robot Chicken girl.

Sports: Summer's over which means that there's no more Pirate games to agonize over. Good! I got 2 tshirts from PNC Park for the 2 games I went to this year. That and a hot dog are about the most I'm willing to contribute to that franchise from now on... and now that I have the tshirts all future games I go to, I'll just be contributing the hot dog. Christ, the Buccos are SO bad. I hate them.

Its football season now, though you'd never know it by the Steelers' stellar record of 1 and 2... I just hope the boys are able to get their shit together against the Chargers this weekend. Losing to the Bears and the Bengals is an embarrassment. A quote from Major League II comes to mind:

"Ok guys, we've won 2 games in a row. If we win tonight, that's called a winning streak. It HAS happened before."

Replace "win" with "lose" and I think you see what I'm getting at here.

Friday is the Pens opening night and thank GOD for it. Its been a long 3 months without hockey. We're opening against the Rangers on Friday down at the Igloo. I'm stuck downtown for a few hours so I'm contemplating making a trip to the TribTron to watch the banner raising with 5000 of my friends/fellow fans. I just got my new Fleury jersey in the mail so I'm definitely wearing it to ring in the new season. Things like these are a big deal in these parts... you gotta dress up. My Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend can't make it so I'm looking for a "date" since I don't wanna go alone.

LEMME KNOW IF YINZ IS INTERESTED!!!

In the meantime, I'm gonna crawl back into bed, watch Home Movies on Adult Swim and drift off to sleep... its the little things, folks. The little things. Plus I gotta clean the place up before the Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend shows up to spoil me tomorrow.

Now passing the Penn Hills exit on 376 inbound...

After a 2 month dry spell, I am convinced that something really interesting is going to happen today... and then I'll write about it. Meanwhile: going to work @9am on Sundays sucks... alot!! And I really hate "doo wop" music or however its spelled.

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Oh. Hi!

Its pretty pathetic that I took a week long vacation from life and then took a 3 week long vacation from blogging. I guess that's what happens when you don't do it for a week.

So here's the update: nothing's going on! Woo! Instead, I'm posting these 2 new pictures of me... exciting!

Work's gotten a lot better. The old boss getting the axe has provided room for new management to step in and start correcting a lot of old problems. He actually knows how to run a front desk. Unheard of! I've put my name in for a promotion and I'm up for review next month so I'll be getting a raise either way... the difference between the two, I'm sure, is about $3.

This city underpays its front desk people hard core. There's no way I'm getting paid competitively.

I've gone ahead and submitted my resume to a different property that's looking for a Front Desk Manager. I've never supervised a desk but somehow I think I could keep a 200 room property totally under control, meaning I don't think I'd burn it down or anything. Also the income would help since I really want to save up to be able to afford life's luxuries like new furniture, TV, computer, bed and whatever.

I've been home for almost a year, its time to get my ass in gear with this shit.

I started a new blog about working at a hotel's front desk. There's 1 whole entry so far. It'll totally be a famous book one day. Anyone that's ever worked at a front desk should contribute. Email me at jlmathieson@gmail.com with ideas, tips, anecdotes or really anything at all regarding staying at a hotel, working at a hotel... anything hotel related. Hey thanks!

The 4th of July came and went: I made cupcakes.

Yum, right? Buttercream frosting, blue decorative sugar, shoestring licorice and white gumdrops cut into a star shape. Total ownage on this cupcakes!

Micheal Jackson died. The world went on.

Regarding the personal life, my hot-as-balls boyfriend and I have been dating now for about 6 and a half months and officially a couple for about 5! Time flies. We went to Crepes Parisienne for lunch today then to the Pittsburgh Zoo. I didn't take any pictures of our crepes (tho they were super yummy!) but I went kinda crazy at the zoo.

Ever seen a baby elephant? I hadn't either till today. She was super cute and kept stealing hay out of mommy's mouth and trunk while she was trying to eat.

The Pittsburgh Zoo offers a mini petting zoo featuring the local species of deer. I'd never seen a fawn close up before but really... how cute! My hot-as-balls boyfriend thought so too!

The Pittsburgh Zoo actually offered a litany of baby animals: elephants, deer, beavers, sea lions, river otters and the coolest baby orangutan ever!

The other pictures I took didn't exactly come out perfectly so I'll have to do some cutting, cropping and resizing before I put them up. I heard a for real lion roar today too. They say you can hear it up to 5 miles away and yeah... I buy that. Its crazy!

Its 12:30 right now. I should probably go ahead and call off work. As great a day as I had today, it was semi-wrecked by a splitting headache which I haven't been able to shake since this morning. Naps, medicine and even a long, hot shower didn't cure it so I guess its a totally great idea that I'm still up and typing at the computer, right?

Anyway, there's the update. Hopefully, I'll be a little more diligent about updating again in the future.

I Bet My Last 5 Days Were WAAAY Better than Your Last 5 Days!

So if anyone's been paying any attention at all to this blog, you'll have noticed that a) my timers on the sidebar expired meaning that b) I've seen Gwen, Tony, Tom and Adrian and c) I've been to Toronto!

First and foremost: PENS Win!!! I can't even remember the last time I've drank so much. Its not my fault that people kept buying me beer and shots. The only downside to this is that my cousin, in his celebratory excitement, knocked over a few beers thus drowning my phone and dropping it off a high table. The phone seems to have survived, though can't keep a battery charge now and I've had to send my pink plastic phone cover to a better place (aka the landfill) since it cracked to an unrepairable state. We did have a mini Stanley Cup being passed around and here's a picture of my Russian friend giving it some special Ruski love.

I had to get home early because I had an appointment for a mani/pedi at a place downtown. The word hangover doesn't quite describe how awful I felt. On the way downtown, I actually had to pull over on 376 inbound to get sick. Again, can't remember the last time this all happened but I obviously blocked it out of memory for a reason because it felt awful! Frankly, I haven't had a drink since.

I got my nails done and frankly, I'm not mentioning the place I went to because I'm not completely satisfied with the job. Granted, part of it is my fault because I didn't speak up but I shouldn't have to instruct my nail tech on how to treat cuticles or calloused feet. Anyway, immediately after, my Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend picked me up for a quick trip back to his apartment before the No Doubt concert later that night.

I got in a quick nap and we went to dinner at Palomino downtown. Palomino is a chain restaurant, that said--I probably wouldn't be recommending this place to anyone anyway but I made a mental note to actually deter anyone from going there. The service was slow, the staff was aloof and the price much too expensive for what you're getting. Though I enjoyed the food, when a server dropped a fork on the floor after busing a table--he just let it stay there I'd say for about 10 minutes until a fellow patron opted to pick it up and put it on his table. I think anyone in the food and beverage industry would agree that it's pretty unacceptable but what really infuriated me was that servers just walked over the thing taking no responsibility for it whatsoever. It wasn't quite so busy that someone couldn't take 2 seconds from doing nothing (because they certainly weren't refilling my iced tea glass) to bend over and pick up 1 simple fork.

What I also felt was lacking was the attention to detail. One of my favorite desserts is creme brulee so I was delighted when I saw it on the menu but it was listed as a chocolate/grand marnier combo. Not wanting chocolate, I asked if it was possible to just get the grand marnier. My very generous server asked the chef and then reported back saying, "He said ordinarily no, but since he's in a good mood today--ok. But don't count on it the next time."

Wow, ok! Thanks...

Turns out, I couldn't count on it this time either. I definitely got chocolate and grand marnier.

Unfortunately for my server (who really was quite nice, generous and a bit overwhelmed), I wasn't impressed and started getting extremely antsy when I got a text from my friend that traffic to Starlake was awful. We left in a rush.

And then we sat in traffic for literally an hour.

We parked and got through security just in time to see the last 2 songs that Paramore performed and watch the roadies tear down their set to put up No Doubt's. Pit seats for No Doubt are about the best gift I've ever given to myself (I did buy these tickets for myself for my birthday back in March, if you recall). The play list was amazing, I got to see Gwen sing all my favorites: I'm Just a Girl, Don't Speak, Hey Baby, Hella Good, New, Running, A Simple Kind of Life... And I was right in front of Tony the whole time. Adrian came out for the finale wearing a pink tutu and a blue Sidney Crosby jersey... I was still feeling a little hung over but any nausea instantly vanished upon seeing that. Here's a few pictures (the entire albums are posted on my facebook).


You can click on any of the pictures to blow them up to their full size but fyi: you'll navigate away from the blog. Also, I realize the quality isn't the great but its hard to get anyone to stand still in No Doubt while they're performing. If you haven't gone to one of their shows before, its INCREDIBLY high energy and Gwen is a spitfire. I don't know how she sings and moves as much as she does. Actually, I do know--she's awesome!

Finale: All 3 Bands on Stage for Stand and Deliver (a song I'm admittedly not familiar with but WOW!)

I had to semi drag my Hot-as-Balls boyfriend to this concert. By the end, I asked him up front how surprised he was and he very readily admitted that he was impressed with the band live but mostly with Gwen's energy and excitement.

Here's the setlist and review from the PPG:

Setlist: * unconfirmed, setlist corrections always welcome in feedback module below

Spiderwebs
Hella Good
Underneath It All
Excuse Me Mr.
Ex-Girlfriend
End It On This
Simple Kind of Life
Bathwater
Guns of Navarone
New
Hey Baby
Running
Different People
Don't Speak
It's My Life
Just A Girl

Encore:

Rock Steady
Stand and Deliver
Sunday Morning

Review: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
by Scott Mervis

Stefani, No Doubt give fans great party

It's hard to watch No Doubt for 90 minutes and not end up at least mildly in awe of Gwen Stefani.

The singer who gave us "Just a Girl" not only has big pipes but she seems like the kind of girl who could hold her own in a ska-punk circle pit.

She's also a 39-year-old mom with a toddler and a baby, and she somehow managed to show up for this reunion run with a perfectly flat belly and a full reserve of energy.

On Saturday night, Stefani saw to it that the thousands who endured the traffic to the Post-Gazette Pavilion got a party for their trouble. No Doubt hit the stage after spirited opening sets by the Sounds and Paramore looking like an Orange County mod squad in their gleaming whites. For the next hour and a half No Doubt bounced around the stage seeming truly excited to be finished with that five-year break.

With no new album and no new agenda, fans got the best of No Doubt, starting with the ska-pop breakout "Spiderwebs" and then "Hella Good," a club banger that had the excitable crowd bouncing as one.

Surely, the Penguins' Stanley Cup victory the night before upped the party vibe, and Stefani made early mention of it, to a roar of cheers. Spontaneous and fully in charge of the stage, she pulled a fan up for a hug, chatted with people about items they were holding up (like a picture of her husband Gavin Rossdale) and had everyone turn around while she got the fans on the lawn to jump on "Different People."

In her skin-tight clothes and pin-up platinum hair, Stefani has her own retro-futuristic style, with electric movements and facial expressions that can quickly go from smile to sneer.

The set was fast-paced with upbeat songs such as "Underneath It All," "Don't Let Go Away" and "Ex-Girlfriend," featuring the band members -- Tom Dumont, Adrian Young and Tony Kanal -- in a cool James Bond-style video. The dance hit "Hey Baby" broke into rap with vocal assists from horn player/keyboardists Stephen Bradley and Gabrial McNair.

Stefani was on top of the vocals throughout but got her chance to really shine on the ballad "Don't Speak," which also came with an intricate acoustic solo from Dumont. No Doubt pumped the energy up again with its cover of "It's My Life," a gender-bending sing-along on "Just a Girl" and the slow reggae groove of "Rock Steady."

Stefani kept commenting on the big, fun-loving crowd that greeted them. If No Doubt has any doubts about the viability of this reunion, they had to be put to rest by the response from the 17,000 in Burgettstown.

Afterwards, we sought out the only IHOP in the area for some serious pancakes. It was like seeing an oasis in the desert. I don't know why there aren't more IHOPs in Pittsburgh, but there needs to be!

I got maybe 4 hours of sleep. My Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend woke me up the next day at 6am to be on the road to Toronto by 7. This was actually pretty successful. I immediately went into Tourist Mode though and started taking pictures of EVERYTHING (!!!) this includes totally geeking out and getting excited over French signage and Canadian money.

If you're not completely up to speed on Canadian Lingo, a "Loonie" isn't a crazy person on the street, its how they refer to their $1 coin. Its not a nickname, its actually the word for the $1 CAN in Canada since a Loonie has a picture of a Loon, a bird, on it. Additionally, a "Toonie" is their $2 coin named as such because it equals 2 Loonies. Canada likes to keep things simple. This picture was taken at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Its the side of a table hockey game which specifically states, Loonies Only!!

Speaking of which: here's a picture of some loonies and toonies and other Canadian change.
Clockwise from Center: loonies, toonies, quarters, nickles and pennies. Yes, I'm a dork. Also, Canada owns because its $5 bills have a bunch of kids playing hockey on the back of it.

Speaking of hockey, it was a REALLY big deal in Canada that the Penguins won the Stanley Cup. I daresay an even bigger deal than it was here in Pittsburgh. Wherever we went, if either of us were wearing any piece of Pens fanware, we'd get stopped and congratulated by perfect strangers.

A waiter our first night noticed my Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend's blue Pens hat and said, "Good on ya, eh!" in the middle of a conversation about Toronto and then went off on a 5 minute tangent about how great Marc-Andre Fleury was and how he made the save "every kid dreams of making," I was amazed. The next day, my boyfriend was wearing his Talbot tshirt I got him over a month ago and was asked a few different times if he just got it after the game or if he knew the whole time that Mad Max would make the difference. Some random yuppie business man in a suit stopped us on Yonge and Dundas and just said, "Sorry, I don't mean to bother you but AWESOME tshirt, man!" The sort of attention he and I got just for wearing what any other Pens fan around Pittsburgh would wear was celebrity. We got congratulated like he and I were Marc-Andre Fleury and Max Talbot.

I equally caused a little riot at the Hockey Hall of Fame gift shop because I wore the Pens 2009 Stanley Cup Champion locker room hat I bought the day before we left at Dick's. A handful of kids, their parents and French people saw me with it on while visiting and assumed I'd gotten there instead of realizing I was a genuine fan from the 'Burgh. They were quite disappointed but very impressed that I'd already had a change to get my hands on one and a got a few compliments of my own.

We also ran into a group of people from Pittsburgh. I didn't ask where they were from but it was pretty awesome to hear a few Yinzers among the group of French kids following us around and hosers talking about how much they were jonesing for some Tim Hortons.

In light of the fact that Pittsburgh just won the Stanley Cup, I also wanted to include the following picture in my blog:


The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in an old, converted bank. This Ring, along with the original Stanley Cup, is appropriately located in the bank's vault--adjacent to the Stanley Cup room and inductee plaques. I got pictures of the plaques for Mike Lange, Mario Lemieux and Bob Johnson. Yeah, I'm a tourist.

The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) must take a lot of pride in its public transportation because it certainly seems like it does. Its clean, safe and extremely manageable. The transfers don't make a lot of sense to me (since you can't use them at the station you got them from) but I'm sure given more time, I'd have mastered the art of remembering to pick them up. If you go to Toronto, get the TTC Day Pass. Its $9 per person and allows you usage of the subway system, street cars and buses. Its dumb not to have it. Its equally dumb to try and use your car to get around when the TTC is available.

I could seriously go on and on way more than I already have about how great an experience I had in Toronto. Canada was great and I can't wait to go back for more than 2 hours in Niagara Falls... oh wait, I have some pictures of that too:

The Canadian "horseshoe" side of the Falls.

The American "straight" side of the Falls.

I already know what hotel we're staying at when we go back and what we're doing when we go there. If you get the opportunity to go to Niagara, go! Go for 2 days if not more. A day trip doesn't do it justice!!!

I'm ending this entry with a picture of the happy couple as we left Toronto. More pictures will be posted on my facebook tonight if not tomorrow after I get home from work.

I got those Ralph Lauren sunglasses at Eaton Centre for a great deal since it was all Canadian $20s. WOOO! PS We're cute!

And we made amazing time!!

Left at 7:30am and its 10:45 right now and only an hour from Toronto. Look at me being a total tourist!!!

Omg Canada is Exit 53

ARE YOU READY TORONTO?!!

Just another reason why Gwen Stefani is so damn cool... little girls with Pit Seats give her giant flowers.

Game 5: What a Bunch of Crap!

I just got home from the bar.

I don't have much to say other than I am completely and totally appalled by the officiating in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Letting them play is one thing but only calling penalties against one of the two teams makes the game lop-sided.

Do all these rejoicing Red Wings fans realize that they had a Power Play for 22 minutes of the game? That's OVER 1 full period.

Sure, Fleury let goals by. Only 2 of them were his fault. He can't make his offense want to play and he certainly can't defend on his own against 22 minutes of short hand. FYI Detroit, he pulled himself. It wasn't Detroit beating him that won them the game. It was the officials mismanaging calls and the Penguins lack of ability to do anything with the puck. The Red Wings didn't win Game 5. The officials controlled the game with 11 of the 13 penalties going on the Penguins.

Before you start celebrating, Red Wings fans, realize that the Powers-That-Be will flip the table on you in Game 6 since both the NHL and NBC want this series to go to a Game 7 because they want the viewers to take an interest. The NHL wants the Penguins to win because it looks like an underdog story and Penguins merchandise is currently the fastest growing merchandise brand in the nation. The NHL wants those new buyers to watch so they can make more money with the networks and the networks want the viewers so they can make more money from sponsors.

This is a money game at work.

As for Marc-Andre Fleury, I love him. The score doesn't accurately reflect how he played. The shots on goal don't accurately reflect how he played.

By the way, how the FUCK does Chris Osgood get a Star when he did nothing all game???? "Hey, stand there." Big deal. They got a shut out, that doesn't mean he did well.

I'm sure Mighty #66 is having a fit right now... as well he should!

Its My Day Off and I'll Drink if I Want To!

Today is the only day off I have between now and next Saturday when I start my vacation. Since getting off work at 11pm last night, I've been making the most of it.

After clocking out, I immediately changed my clothes and headed up to meet my Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend outside the employee entrance since we had very serious plans to go over to the Market Square Primanti Bros. Approaching the door, I happened to see a familiar face through the window.

It was my hotel's wedding coordinator...

At first, I was thrilled to see him. Thirty seconds later, as I was hugging him hello, I realized I was there with my Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend who also happens to work at the hotel. I started to feel a little awkward. I don't mind being seen in public with my amazing boyfriend but I'm not exactly in the business of broadcasting my personal life around the 'Burgh (lets face it: no one reads this blog and even if they did, I try to maintain anonymity for all the characters in my life). It sort of felt like getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar.

My concerns, however, were assuaged when Mr Marriage started jackin' me about going on vacation at the same time a certain PM Supervisor was going on vacation... and that said PM Supervisor and I were coincidentally going to the same place for the same dates. I told him to shut up and drink his Yeungling.

Anyway, since the Market Square Primanti Bros. was trying to close since I got there, they weren't serving food anymore. Our party of 4 (Jen Cubed was there with Mr Marriage) ended up rolling outside to share a quick cigarette and to finish our beers (mostly because we got kicked out at 12:30). My Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend and I were still STARVING and we had shown up at Primanti Bros. because we wanted a damn sandwich. There was only one way to solve this: Smallman Street.

Two Primantis, One Night. Its not the makings of a gross internet porno but it was definitely delish. Try the Cappicola and Cheese for $5.99, please! So good!

Tonight is Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals. So far the Malkin in the Middle tshirt is 2 for 2 when wearing it on game day so I'm definitely wearing it over to the bar tonight. I might have the opportunity to spill some IC Light or Yeungling on it too. This is just going to depend on whether or not my stomache's going to be able to recover from all the Yeungling, Cappicola, Cheese, fries (no slaw for me thanks) Yeungling and Yeungling from last night. Not to mention the Soy Caramel Machiatto from this morning (thanks Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend for the Starbucks run after the sleepover at his place last night. wink wink).

I'm down to 6 days before I get to see Gwenie in Burgettstown. I found out last night at Primanti's that Jen Cubed (aka a 3rd Jen in my life OMG!) got a lawn ticket so we're probably going to hook up and drink in the lot while the Sounds and Paramore are on stage then I'll sneak down to my pit seats while the roadies are setting up No Doubt's stage. I've tried to warn my Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend that I'm going to be a mess for this show. I'm not planning on getting totally wasted but I am planning on drinking... and well--seeing Gwen, I'm totally going to cry and hyperventilate and be "that fan."

Most consuming thought I have right now: Wearing Sweet Escape tshirt to No doubt Concert... sacrilege? I'm thinking maybe...

But its a really cool shirt.

Lastly, I am worth being flamed according to some anonymous people out there (see the comments on the linked post). Thank you, A Nonymous, for your passionate hate. They say bad publicity is still good publicity... comments on a no name blog work the same way--still surprised someone's reading.

Reason # 322 My Boyfriend is Fucking AWESOME!

Quick update before work.

Yesterday a man walked through my lobby. He was wearing the most amazing Pens tshirt I'd ever seen.

It was a perfect shade of yellow with caricatures of Sidney Crosby, Geno Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury on the front with the caption "MALKIN IN THE MIDDLE." Anything with Flower on it is instantly a favorite (how amazing is Fleury's nickname btw) but this tshirt was top shelf. I immediately stopped the man by yelling at him and asked where he got this incredible piece of fanware.

"One of the Buccos street vendors over there on the Clemente Bridge n'at," replied the man in one of the thicker accents I'd heard in a while.

For the next 6 hours, I fixated on this shirt. I had to have it. I was telling everyone about it, even my new manager, The Guy With the Awesome Name. Since he and his wife were headed over to PNC for SkyBlast last night, he told me he'd look around for it and if I had cash, he'd definitely make the purchase and bring it back before they went to the park.

By the grace of God (and my new manager, the Guy With the Awesome Name but thats another story completely), I had cash on me! I gave him $20 and sent him on his way.

He came back dressed in jeans and a Bucco's t-shirt with a sad look on his face, "They weren't over there," he reported and handed me my money back. "But I've seen those shirts before and yeah they're awesome so I think you should check out the Strip tomorrow morning. You'll probably find them there!"

What a terrific idea, Mr. Awesome Name! I just might do that. Only problem was, I had no way to get to the strip early. Frustrated, I headed home for the night.

Fast-forwarding to after the Pens game, my Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend called to say good night. I barely remembered what his voice sounded like because I hadn't spoken to him in forever so we ended up talking for about 90 minutes (thats an hour and a half for those of you keeping score). Catching up on talking about work and life, the universe and everything, I mentioned the Mr. Awesome Name/Shirt story.

My Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend definitely agreed that Mr Awesome Name does indeed have an Awesome Name and that I was equally awesome for sending my manager to go look for a tshirt for me. Additionally, my Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend was equally bummed that I was not able to obtain a tshirt for myself during this story.

Long story short (oh look its too late): I got a text from my Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend this morning around 10:20am containing the following picture.


I might have a huge crush on Marc-Andre Fleury (that I refuse to admit to anyone btw) but I don't think that Flower would be going out of his way to go to the Strip District at 10am to find me an $8 tshirt.

I have the BEST boyfriend in the world and this is just another reason why my boyfriend is better than your boyfriend.

Also, I was supposed to be off today. Since my management team has been working 12 hour shifts, I agreed to let both of them take the day off and come in when one of my coworkers called off for tonight. Yay team players!

I tried to find a clip on youtube from Clerks of Dante crying, "I'm not even supposed to be here today" but apparently thats a hard find, which is sort of suprising considering he says it in every scene. Instead, here's a runner up: Jay and Silent Bob!!

Hi. I'm Not Dead... Yet!

I spoke to my friend Anonymous Andrew from Fairbanks, Alaska via MSN tonight:

omg its Jen! says (2:22 AM):
sup superstar
Andrew says (2:22 AM):
Geeze, blog more imo
omg its Jen! says (2:22 AM):
nothing to write about atm
well nothing worth writing about tbh
Andrew says (2:23 AM):
With the Pengs in the finals you have nothing?
omg its Jen! says (2:23 AM):
follow me on twitter lawl

So Anonymous Andrew from Fairbanks, Alaska... this one's for you!



Andrew and I used to game together but right now I can't decide if he's more the Johnny Depp wannabe elf or the Unicorn? LMK Andrew, kk? xoxo

Anyway, The truth is here (with 100% degree of certainty) that I've been so incredibly busy with work that I haven't found time to even bitch about it. I got another 3hrs of overtime today because my morning supervisor wasn't able to stay late when someone called off so I had to do it. Honestly, I don't know what's worse here: the fact that a supervisory position might not be opening up or the fact that I may not want it when it does.

I spent most of my time in Vegas wanting to get promoted. I knew I'd be an awesome manager. I still think I'd be an awesome manager but 8 years later, I'm in a different city and with a different company that has different policies. Honestly, I don't completely agree with the "culture" of my current property because my experience is based out of a place nicknamed "Sin City."

Checking photo ID is considered taboo here. I don't quite understand why. Credit card fraud isn't exactly uncommon plus I want to know I'm giving the right room to the right person. Meyer and Myer are both standard spellings for the same name. If I miss something as easy as that, a guest could wind up in a wrong reservation. I've had to clean up that mess before. Its not pretty, especially if 1 of the 2 reservations was prepaid by a company like Expedia or Hotwire.

They let pizza delivery guys up on the floors. Admittedly, this procedure has changed since I started in August but it was because I was so adamantly against it. Just because a guy walks in with a pizza box and a Milano's tshirt shouldn't give him right of way onto my property. Cafe Milano's wouldn't see me busting into their kitchen to start stealing all their ingredients but unfortunately these delivery guys don't get it so they still try and slide by my desk unnoticed. They then give me an attitude when I stop them. You know, I hate Milano's! Giovanni's guys are way more respectful.

Its ok for housekeeping to leave rooms over until the next day. Anyone that's ever worked at a hotel will probably see the problem with this right away. If you're like me and you come from a property with nearly 4000 rooms, your head might explode like mine does every time housekeeping calls me to advise of the carry-overs. On days I'm not sold out, I still need the rooms cleaned. That's not to say I don't know where housekeeping is coming from since I used do do that job but Jesus dude... I still need the rooms ready even if someone has to go home early.

Speaking of housekeeping: do NOT refer to the housekeepers as "maids." Holy fuck did I get bitched out my first week of work!! A beer is a beer regardless of the packaging you put it in. Lager, Port, Stout... it's still beer, it's just another word for it. I've cleaned up after people and have been called a maid when I was doing it--there's nothing wrong with being called a maid. Don't hate the player, hate the game: meaning if you don't like being called a maid, get another job. Otherwise, a spade's a spade.

I could go on but firing people is a new past-time for our property so I'll refrain and reiterate that I'm happy to be under new management. Our new Front Office Manager (I guess that's his title???) is going to work out great. He's super nice and knowledgeable and is catching on fast to things that work, don't work and the department in general. Woo! He also has a GREAT name. I wish I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you.

The soles of my feet are incredibly itchy. The old wives tale says that when your feet itch, it means you're ready to travel. Ordinarily, I'd say "HELL YES, TORONTO HERE I COME" but I work in a hotel. My body might just be confused. For you hecklers out there, I've already showered.

Why is golf on TV?

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals starts tomorrow at 8pm. I'm not staying later at work then absolutely necessary. I don't need to talk about how great this match up is going to be, I just want to comment on 1 thing:

The media is exploiting this angle so I can too

I hope Hossa gets creamed. I don't personally hate the guy but I just think the irony of his situation is basically outstanding. Leaving the Penguins after last season and signing with Detroit to work with a better coach and a more productive team only to meet them again in the SCF is just mind blowing. Its also got loads of Schadenfreude potential. Pens in 5.

Also, Detroit Red Wings fans are obnoxious and easy to hate. I'm sure I'll start shit talking here pretty soon but in the meantime all I got is that throwing an octopus on the ice is only something an idiot would do. Why the fuck would you lug that smelly thing around? Also, can you imagine if that thing didn't make it onto the ice on the first throw? Some unsuspecting fan in the crowd gets to take an octopus to the head mid beer-sip. What a bunch of assholes.

My bell captain at work gave me a riddle to play with earlier today. Its Einstein's Riddle:

There are no tricks, just pure logic, so good luck and don't give up.

1. In a street there are five houses, painted five different colours.
2. In each house lives a person of different nationality
3. These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke different brand of cigar and keep a different pet.

THE QUESTION: WHO OWNS THE FISH?

HINTS

1. The Brit lives in a red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the centre house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbour who drinks water.

ALBERT EINSTEIN WROTE THIS RIDDLE EARLY DURING THE 19th CENTURY. HE SAID THAT 98% OF THE WORLD POPULATION WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SOLVE IT.

In return, I provided him the following question:

There's only 1 word in the English language that allows usage of all 5 vowels in order and even sometimes y. What word is it?

With that, I'm going to do my hair and go to bed.

Fleury vs Freddy, What Now Pittsburgh!

I can't sleep.

Its 12:30 and I've been in bed for an hour and a half. Insomnia frustrates the hell out of me. At the very least, I can find comfort in the fact that I can pinpoint the cause of the stress that induces my bouts of insomnia.

Work.

Yep, you guessed it. That grease-spot of hate called the "Hotel" is completely at fault. Laying in bed, I find myself staring at the ceiling positively dreading the alarm clock turning over to 5am. I ask myself how much longer can I go on like this? There's no end in sight. I've been in this position before.

That's when I finally quit my cushy job at Bellagio.

Quitting that job is pretty much where this new chapter of my life started. I got fed up being miserable and decided to give myself not just a physical make-over but a life make-over too... like Cher in Clueless when she says, "this time I would make over my soul." Sometimes I look back at the chain of events that happened over the course of 1 year and I wonder where I'd be if I had just stayed at Bellagio.

Oh wait, I know the answer to that. I'd still be miserable. Gotcha!

So why am I staying at my present job? Cuz its the best hotel in the city and I'm worth working at the best hotel in the city... only they're not paying me enough while they work me too hard and don't show any appreciation whatsoever.

You could say that morale is not only in the garbage but that it was just picked up by Waste Management and toted down the street, plowing over traffic cones as it went.

I need a new perspective, I've needed one for about 6 weeks now. I was banking on my 3 days off to rejuvenate me and had high hopes that I'd be able to walk in that building tomorrow refreshed and with a better outlook. Yeah right. Not even the Pirates beating the Cubs tonight could possibly inspire me out of this bubble of despair.

Although, I will say this: Freddy Sanchez is one of the best looking athletes on any Pittsburgh sports team right now (with the possible exception of a certain goalie that I harbor a secret crush on but would never admit to in public though I'll be sporting mighty #29 tomorrow afternoon. Hizzah)!

Fleury... Freddy... Freddy... Fleury
It might be illegal for me to put them side-by-side like this but... yeah. I do what I want.

Hmm.. I might want to change that caption, it reminds me of David Letterman's Academy Awards Hosting fiasco between Uma Thurman and Oprah Winfrey. Although I do think that my Pittsburgh version is better. Its certainly better looking, I mean look at those smiles. God, what girl (or lets be real, what homosexual male) could resist? I think this might be the best entry I've ever written just because I took the time to find those 2 pictures, put them next to each other and upload them. God, winner every time! I'll have to keep this in mind for future postings!

This is the kind of trouble I get myself into now that its 10 after 1am and I have 4hrs before I need to be awake for work. Coffee is obviously going to be key for tomorrow. For now, I'm watching the FSN replay of the Pirates game and wondering what would happen if Marc-Andre Fleury ever showed up at PNC Park while Freddy Sanchez was at bat... I think my universe would explode.

You Know What... I Hate the Pigeons Downtown, Too.

Three Days.

Three days to do whatever I want. Over a holiday weekend, too. Three days to not worry about hotel policy, guest satisfaction or if room #711's pipes need tightened.

After 8hrs of work and the 5hr nap that immediately followed, I sort of have a Zen feeling now that I'm realizing... I survived Hell Week #3 and I have 3 days off to show for it. Three days off. IN A ROW!!!!

However, I now face the looming question: wtf am I going to do with it?

My Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend is going back to work starting tomorrow afternoon so I'm on my own for entertainment. Maybe my friends want to go out drinking? Maybe my cousin is going to the bar for the game tomorrow? Maybe I should just stay home and bask in my freedom while giving the finger to the hospitality industry.

Here's a juicy work-related tidbit: I think my department head got fired. Our GM is currently using the excuse that "She's out sick" but people who are out sick don't get called down to HR then have the director of HR come to pick up their stuff 15-20 minutes later.

Just sayin'.

We'll see. If she did get a pink slip, it'd just figure since we hired a new Front Desk Manager less than a week ago. We can't have the Front Office getting SATURATED with people to employ now, can we? If we hire 1, we have to fire 1 in order to remain short staffed. Its what the cool kids do. Gosh, I hope I get to work another 6 day work week 2 weeks in a row. Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch... BITCH!

I got reminded today how awesome my Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend is today via a bill from Nevada Power. When I left Vegas, my Ex-Husband insisted that he needed at least some of my final check from New York-New York to pay bills, etc (since he didn't work, btw) .

Surprise: he didn't pay bills with the money I gave him.

Instead he did God knows what with it because today I got a $350 power bill from 9 months ago which is now in collections. Not that its Nevada Power's fault but if my Ex-Husband tells me he's paying the bill with the money I gave him and I don't get any statements from them for 9 months, how am I supposed to know that it needs paid?

I am so glad that I'm out of that relationship. Honestly... what the fuck was I thinking for 7 years? Oh, thats right... nothing! LOL What an idiot! Ugh!

Back to the positive: my current boyfriend is 30 levels of amazing. He's sincerely the coolest guy ever. My boyfriend is cooler, hotter, nicer, awesomer, sweeter, handier, more knowledgeable about everything, better read, better spoken, more intelligent and a better driver than your boyfriend! I'd say he can do no wrong but you might think I'm out of my mind so instead, I'll just say he doesn't do any wrong. He got me a Coach bag for no reason. No reason just BOOM, "Hey Jen, have a Coach bag. By the way, you're super cute and I like you." The first thing out of his mouth when he picked me up yesterday was, "Wow, your hair looks great!"

I'm telling you, he's Mr. Perfect!

On a serious note, Its such a crazy change to go from hearing all the promises in the world and getting nothing out of any of them to getting few promises but being able to rely 100% on all them being followed through.

Meanwhile, the biggest news in Pittsburgh Internet over the past 24hrs: PittGirl is back! She's now a columnist for PittsburghMagazine.com! I'm pretty geeked though I never read her blog, never even knew its url or what she wrote about until I read in November that her blog was no more.

I remember reading the article in (what I'm pretty sure was) the PMTrib and thinking it was a shame that a) I hadn't had the opportunity to jump on the bandwagon and b) that she felt she was forced to quit writing. One of our liberties as Americans is Freedom of Speech but this anonymous girl's identity was being threatened so she had to pull the plug on giving her opinion? It just didn't seem right. Why do people always have to know everything? If she doesn't want to be recognized for her writing then why seek her out? Just read it, agree or disagree and move on.

Anyway, the whole idea of "PittGirl" fascinated me. This anonymous girl who hated Pigeons wrote about everything from politics to... well I don't really know because I never read her blog but the point was that she wasn't afraid to speak her mind.

In November, I was struggling with different issues of going through a divorce and getting reacquainted with myself. I've always loved writing and had wanted to start again but didn't have any stories that seemed worth telling. I was discouraged and depressed. I'd considered blogging but didn't really know what to blog about or where to start.

When I finally sat down to start this blog back in March, I was using the Spaghetti Theory: something would eventually stick. I didn't expect readers (I'm still shocked when anyone comments or I look at my hit counter). I just wrote. I wrote about nothing and everything but the whole time, I was writing with PittGirl in the back of my mind and I tried to emulate the sort of attitude that I assumed she'd have when she was writing: Just talk, get it out. If you're thinking it, its worth being said. Say it and don't apologize.

The only difference between she and I was that I couldn't be anonymous. I started out wanting to use an online pen name, PoeticPisces but it just wasn't me. I'd spent so much time hiding from the world in my marriage and running away from who I am, I decided that I needed to expose at least a little "leg" on this one while respecting the anonymity of the Cast-of-Characters in my life at work and family and friends. Basically, you can know who I am--but I don't want you to know who everyone else is when I talk about them.

Names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Anyway, I'd sent PittGirl a quick message after reading her first article on PittsburghMagazine.com thinking that she'd be getting inundated with positive feedback about how happy her real followers were about her return to the cyberworld. Hell, I didn't even realize I was already following her on Twitter (I'm good at the internet) but surprise, @JanePitt ...that's her. Duh!

Skipping to the end: PittGirl started following me on Twitter. Its hard to explain what a big deal this is for me since I know literally nothing about her yet she's had such a huge, positive impact on my life (on and off my blog). I don't want to sound crazy or fanatical but its pretty important to me that she'd even bother replying to one of my tweets earlier tonight. Its like getting acknowledged by your childhood hero.

Ok Listen: when I was walking to Market Square last night with my Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend, an arrogant pigeon crossed my path and refused to give me, the human, the right of way. I'm not going to lie, PittGirl shot through my mind and I wanted to kick it in order to show it who was boss.

3 Day Catch-Up (Subtitled: I've Been Busy as Hell and My Life is OUT of Control WOO!)

Life gets so out of hand sometimes.

Luckily, they invented Xanex to cure Life. Unfortunately, I don't have any Xanex. I've found a good substitution for Xanex is beer, sex, hockey and getting your hair done (in any order and possibly over the course of a few days).

First: I FINALLY got my hair cut. YES! Super summer deal of a layered bob thats shorter in the back and angled down in the front with blonde on blonde lowlights and blonde highlights and a medium brown underneath. And honestly, even the modest part of me thinks I look great! Just to keep my ego in check, I'm publishing a picture I sent to my Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend when he asked if I'd gone for the Platinum Blonde Life (yes he gets bonus points for the Gwen Stefani/No Doubt reference).

Anyway, here's the picture:

WOO!

Just in case you were wondering, that skin color is totally natural... I'm so white you can actually see through me and God forbid I expose myself to sunlight. Its been reported that you can actually see me from the moon when I stand outside on a hot summer's day.

Hottie Boombalotti hair pix will follow when I get to them (circa Toronto trip).

Speaking of which, I just found out that I won't be able to use my phone when I'm in Toronto. I am PISSED! Not so much because I won't be able to make phone calls but no texting, no internet access, no Twitter... No BLOGGING??? What the fuck am I going to do for a week?

My Hot-as-Balls Boyfriend, of course. God DUH!

Here's something I learned about myself today: I'm legitimately insane. Why? Ok, well... I've had these Data charges coming up on my Verizon bill for about 6 months now. I thought my Data charges were covered since I was on a premium plan with them. They were $2.99, $5.96... real piddly charge amounts that I always wondered about but never really cared to investigate because I just didn't give that much of a damn to wait on hold for 20 minutes to get $3 refunded or credited.

But when I heard about YinzCam, I had to confirm that my LG DARE was not WiFi capable before heading to Mellon Arena. Repeat: $3 was not worth the wait, but YinzCam was.

I now feel dreadfully inferior to iPhone users because if I'd just gone ahead and gotten the iPhone 9 months ago, I totally would be able to blog, twitter and text in Toronto with the complimentary wifi that the hotel provides. Not to mention, I'd be able to access YinzCam at the games.

Dammit, man!

But(!!!!) I also "heard through the grapevine" (aka the Customer Service Rep that I spoke to today) that Verizon might be getting the next version of the iPhone exclusively and that in Feb 2010, I can totally upgrade. That's a long time for me to wait now that I know for sure my LG Dare (while totally baller in most every way) is sort of way more inferior than I already knew.

Anyway, my boyfriend's mom is doing better after her surgery, which is a relief. She's doing well, he's doing well, his family's doing well, everyone's doing well... She was released from the hospital this afternoon but early Doctor's reports say that the tumor has definitely grown back. We have to wait a week to find out the nature of it (is it benign or malignant?) then from there we get to find out treatment options.

My boyfriend gave her the flowers I got her from Rosebud downtown on 7th and Ft Dusquesne. He said she liked them. The bouquets there are really very pretty, I'd honestly recommend them. They kept very well for 2 days before she got them, were reasonably priced and just lovely.

Onto more fun topics: my Hot-as-Balls boyfriend and I had every intention of watching the Pens game tonight down at Mellon Arena. Unfortunately my lunch/shopping date with Mom ran over and he got stuck in midday traffic on 376 outbound. Meaning, he didn't get a chance to pick me up until after 6. By that time it was standing room only down at the Jumbotron, see:


Long story short, we ended up at Primanti's in Market Square by the 3rd period. Honestly, we should have just gone there from the giddyup. It wasn't slow but it wasn't busy, there were 4 high def TVs around the bar and just enough Yinzers to keep it entertaining without being totally obnoxious.

The game itself was amazing! Geno scored a hat trick, Kris Letang BEAT SOME ASS (WOO!) and Miro Satan got kicked out of the game!!!

Who knew that Miro was such a little beast? Satan really is working on being my absolutely favorite player... this kid got told to go back to the Baby Pens midseason then was brought back from the Baby Pens for the last few games against the Flyers in the playoffs, had some shaky moments and finally stepped his game up over the past three. He made Cam Ward look like a rookie in Game 1 then gets ejected at the end of Game 2... God whats he got in store for us once he gets to Carolina? Game 3 Killing Spree? Go Satan!

Wow its 1:30am, I have to be up for work at 5am. But... I have Saturday off too! So only 8hrs between me and a day off. For the first time in about 3 weeks, I feel like I'll be able to make it.