Pizza Pictures...because I can.

I was reading a blog that I follow today, and came across something disturbing.  This sweet sweet girl had been the victim of blogger on blogger crime.  Somebody was leaving nasty hate comments on her blog.  All the time I read about how people have such great experiences with other bloggers, how they find their best friends, or at the very least, just someone that they can relate to, whether it be a big move to another country, losing a loved one, or having a baby.  

There is a lot to learn from reading people's blogs.  You can emulate someone's style, learn how to make something amazing (like butterbeer from Harry Potter, I mean really?  never would have even thought of doing this), or how to make a sweet ass Auburn wreath for football season.  So it was a shock for me to read that.  I have yet to receive any hate comments; my blog hasn't made big time, but I can't imagine how I would feel if someone did.  

And it made me think back to my waitress days...and to the question I have always had...  How can someone who doesn't even know me, be so mean to me?  Believe it or not, there are some people out there who think that they are so universally better than a server, that they snap their fingers, make rude comments and then, the most awful thing of all, leave a terrible tip.  

I have never thought that I am better than someone.  I have never treated someone with so much disrespect that I would make someone think that I hate them . I am a natural people pleaser, so even when I do think someone's upset with, I am quick to rectify the situation....but why is everyone so damn mean to everyone else?

At work...we are all on the same team...so why such the attitude?  And in the bloggy world, we are all here for one thing...to share our ideas, pictures, lives, if not only for ourselves and our families, but so we can remember all of this later on.  

So here is what I am going to remember about today...these two awesomely amazing slices of pizza.  That's right...

Chicken Florentine pizza @ Cafe Lazio.

Soul food pizza @ Slice

Ugh, I want pizza now.

More Nola....sorry, but not really.

I'm trying to engage all of the bloggy readers (ha!) into the wonderful world of New Orleans.  So in addition to a therapeutic cleansing of all my pictures, it is my duty to show you the food as well as the bars.  I mean, just so you are prepared.  And of course, feel like having a cocktail or two.  Or seven.  So here are a few pictures of some of the watering holes we visited.

*pictures 1-3* Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar.  Fun beachy atmosphere, with your typical beach drinks (pina colada, etc) or your vodka tonics...

*pictures 3-4* Cooter Brown's ... the list of beers here goes on and on...

*pictures 6-7* The Bulldog (yes, dogs are welcome!!)  Beer and bar food.  They have a neat fountain with beer taps, but it was really bright, and my picture turned out really bad.

*pictures 8-13* Vic's Kangaroo Bar -- Australian themed bar right across from Lucy's...Foster'

*pictures 14-15* Any ole Daiquiri Bar on Bourbon.  Try the banana...it's my favorite!! Anything red will turn your tongue that color and keep it that way!

So there you have it!  A list of bars for absolutely any body and their style!

Happy drinking!!  And remember, there are cabs everywhere, so be safe!

Cochon Butcher (NOLA)

Ok, so these pictures are really old, but this is one of the greatest places that I've eaten at in New Orleans.  I know that this blog is a super NOLA love fest, but truly, greatest city on Earth.  So last time we went for New Years, we ate lunch/snack at this place.  And of course amazing!  

Here's the place!!

The last 3 pictures are of duck pastrami, pork belly sandwich, and boudin. So delicious!

What I found out from the last trip is that the Cochon restaurant and Cochon Butcher are attached by the kitchen!  Last weekend, we had the crawfish etouffee and boudin with a jalapeno jelly.  I tried to talk the girl I was with into the alligator, but to no avail.  

Next trip I guess.

Seriously, duck pastrami.  Ahhh-mazing.

And I made it!!

You know.  3 weeks later, but I'm still pretty proud of myself for finally getting around to the last day.  Even though I'm pretty sure this will be the most in-depth of all the days.  I've been feeling really emotional lately.   And just been sort of in a yucky yucky rut.  I feel like everything in my life is so unfinished  There are so many loose ends floating around everywhere.

Ok....onto day 10.

10.  I am obsessive compulsive about my weight.  I was not the healthiest girl in high school, and lost a lot of weight, and ever since have developed probably an unhealthy fear of getting heavy again.

9.  When I get angry, I don't yell or scream, I get quiet.  Maybe for a day.  Sometimes more than that.

8.  Daisies are my favorite flower.

7.  I don't mind ironing.

6.  I love eating tortilla chips with sour cream.  Actually, I'll take just about anything with sour cream.

5.  Sometimes I wish I didn't know so much about flatbed trucking.

4.  I've had a guy break up with me because I knew more about sports than he did.  Yes, he said that.

3.  I love raw oysters.

2.  My favorite thing in the world is having my hair played with.

1.  I will probably never ever know what my true natural hair color is.  

So there ya have it.  Probably more than you ever wanted to know about me, in just over a little two to three weeks.  I don't even remember when I started this thing.  

Ugh, oh well. 

Sweet Water Brewery (ATL)

Break time again from the 10 day challenge.  I can't focus on this damn thing even if you paid me.  Which no one does, so we're good there.  

But I was going through my phone pictures and came across the ones of the SweetWater Brewery tour that we took while in Atlanta one weekend.  Of course visiting Mecca (IKEA), and enjoying local burgers at Vortex (there's also some pictures from here, although, they were after a few drinks, and are kind of unnoticeable, but don't worry.  I will explain what you're sort of looking at).

So we get to Atlanta to do the brewery tour, which is $10 and gets you a glass with 6 tickets to sample.  And trust me, this wasn't some wine tasting amount.  They pretty much filled your glass, so you were good and tipsy while walking out.  But don't get too tipsy, because, of course, they did have cops on hand.  And you could tell they were just waiting for someone to trip on the stairs (how cruel!) walking out.  It was freezing, and we had to wait in line outside to get in.  Once in, you are packed in there.  Although, all the beer for $10 made it quite worth it.  Here are some pics from the actual brewery...

1.  The sign over the walk-in cooler that housed all the glorious beer.

2.  one of the many kegs...

3.  the dank tank...they make so much of one special beer a month, and when it's gone, it's gone.  a limited edition beer, if you will.

4.  and the hippie van.  gotta love it.

1.  skeleton on a motorcycle.

2.  coaster, with my drink peeking in.

3. pic of the menu, you know, for proof.

4.  beer cooler.  they had lots.

5.  horseradish burger.  i have a love affair with horseradish.  and when you put bacon on it, i might as well have died right there.

All in all, it was a successful Atlanta trip.  Came back with a brand new media console (amazingness, can't even tell it's IKEA.  we reassure it daily that it could totally pass for pottery barn), a new area rug, and some sweet little trinkets that went into the extinct yellow room (pics to come on how that room turned out, because I am pretty proud of it).  

And of course, any night that can end with New Orleans jazz music and a Red Bull and vodka is a pretty great night!

Getting There....

Ok, so maybe I've been putting off finishing this 10 day challenge, which has somehow turned into a three week challenge.  

I've been so distracted lately.  I've been putting a lot of work into the dance studio, as well as perfecting my dancing itself.  And making sure that my posture is perfect!  I mean, if you grow up with terrible posture, which I did (my dance teacher says it's because I'm tall and I was trying to make myself look shorter like everyone else....I don't think so...), it is sooooo hard to try to fix it.  

And on top of writing again, trying to fulfill my dream of being published, I am also trying to make sure that I'm not sucking at my day job.  Hmm, not sure if I'm doing them all perfectly, but oh well right?  

So here we go....again.

9.  Cheeseburgers.  Oh how much I love them.

8.  Interior decorating.  I know I'm not the greatest, but I am pretty good at making a house look lived in.

7.  School.  (I know, what a dork, but really, I do love it.)

6.  Reality TV.  Oh yes.

5. Dogs.  All dogs, especially mine.

4.  Being Southern.

3.  Football.

2.  Auburn University

1.  Family and friends.

Challenge Break

I'm tired of talking about myself.  

This challenge thing sucks.

Some people say having a blog is for egotistical people.  People who only want to talk about themselves and their lives.  And I guess that's right.  But who doesn't want a place to go and write and be themselves?  Especially if you're an under the radar blogger like myself.

I was actually thinking this morning that I should get a blog makeover.  Like actually pay for it.  I think that might motivate me to write more?  So if anyone knows of a great blog designer, I would love to get in contact with them.  I mean, I've been on blogger forever, and for those of you who have known me for awhile now there's an abandoned xanga account out there somewhere.

So, I decided to raid my iphone pictures and throw a few on here, just to break up the challenge, because this blogger, is in fact, tired of talking about myself.  And I'll share with you my latest song obsession...

1.  Calbert the Tiger

2.  Circus in town.

3.  Starbucks

4.  Hello Kitty microwave

So obsessed right now with this song I can't stand it.

Day 8....

So I'm getting through the days...just not in a nice complete order like I'd like. 

But you want to know something?

I have done every single photo-a-day for April so far!  April 10th.  10 pictures.  In a row.  No cheating, no taking doubles in a day. 

I am pretty impressed with my non-committal self. 

So there.

And with that...onto day 8!

8.  Dying of blood clots.

7.  Speaking in public.

6.  Cockroaches.  Ugh.  Super downfall of the south and living near any trees...and in a house that is cooler than the outside.  Trust me, they only come in one size down here....nuclear.

5.  My parents dying.  And my sister dying. 

4.  Any nail falling off.  Don't ask.  Big fear.

3.  Regrets.  Yes, that's right.  I fear regrets.  And I think that's totally reasonable.

2.  Thunderstorms.  Yep that's right.  I'm a 28 year old who is terrified of them, and would still sleep on my parents floor if I lived with them.

1.  Flying.  I absolutely hate to fly.  I will do it.  But I hate it.  One of these days I will ask for medication.   

Of course these are my fears that I'm willing to share with the world.  There are, of course, deeper ones, but I'm a little afraid to go too in depth.  You get the point.  :)

Whew...that was deep.

Realization

Please tell me if I'm overreacting.  I don't think so.  I think lately that I have been getting more and more mad, and a lot easier than normal.

I hate more than anything putting so much work into something, and then having it blow up in my face. ..

Take this for instance....

I am not the maid of honor in an upcoming wedding that I'm in, yet I'm planning the bachelorette party. In New Orleans...when all was planned, a total of five people were going.  And that's fine.  It's a "destination bachelorette," and I'm totally okay with it being a smaller group of people.  But don't tell me that you're not going two weeks before it's planned, after I had already changed the date AND found a cheaper place to stay.  Needless to say...I'm a little angry.  

But I guess there's not too much I can do except vent about it.... and move onto Day 7.

7.  I want another dog.

6.  I want true love.

5.  I want to not live in Alabama.

4.  (I'm aware of how corny this is before even saying it)  I want everyone to stop caring so much about everyone else...ie, about who everyone else marries, about who does what with their own bodies.  It drives me crazy.

3.  I want to be a professional ballroom dancer.

2.  I want to live closer to my family.

1.  I want my student loans to finally be paid off.

Day 6

So my dad said he checked out my blog...

And he commented on the color of my hair...

Not my awesome writing, or anything, but the color of my hair.  He hates it blonde.  Like hates it hates it.  But oh well.  I'm 28 and still disappointing my parents!!  At least I'm gainfully employed!!

Today has been another frustrating day.  I feel like I have so much on my plate at one time.  I would say that I should give up blogging, but I did that and didn't really like it too much.  I know that I don't talk about much of importance on here, but it's still a nice break from thinking about moving flatbed freight...

Anyway, onto Day 6...

6.  Waukesha, Wisconsin  -- the place where I was born.  I will always have a special love for Wisconsin, and always do claim it as my home town when people say I don't sound like I'm from the South.

5.  Aruba.  I love Aruba.  I don't care what anyone says about the place.  It's absolutely beautiful, and home to one of the greatest bartenders and free bar food around (yum yum mini eggrolls).  

4.  Linz Am Rhein, Germany -- where I spent a summer as a foreign exchange student.  Beautiful...and I know most people don't think of Germany as beautiful, but that is where my people came from, and it was actually pretty awesome to be able to drink vodka at 16.

2. Auburn, AL  --- really?  do I need to say anything else?  Loveliest Village on the Plains... WDE!

1.  New Orleans.....  my most favorite place on Earth.  As if that was a huge secret to anyone....  here are a few pics from my last adventure there (I get a bachelorette adventure in 2 weeks!  So excited!!!)

1st pic - Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar

2nd pic - Cooter Browns -- home of the longest beer list I've ever seen.

Day 5

Wow, so here we are at Day 5.  By the way, I have kept up with my April photo-a-day.  A whole 3 days.. I am so proud!

I have actually been pretty busy lately.  I have been going non-stop at work, and have been crazy busy preparing for my next ballroom competition.  I have found myself getting more and more into dance, and I find that the confidence is coming easier now.  I have more than practiced my Cuban movement (those child-rearing hips have come in good for something) and my arm and leg movements (ditto on the long limbs).    

I also found myself getting frustrated today when I couldn't control every aspect.  You can't control people.  You can't even control how they feel about you; even if you try to talk yourself into thinking you can.  In the back of your mind, you always already know.

Your gut always tells the truth.  Even if you choose to ignore it.  

5.  Chicken - lo- mein.  I know that it's terrible for you, but I love Chinese, and I really only have cravings to eat it when I'm home alone.  With Sex and the City 2.  And an US Weekly.

4.  UAB sushi roll - from Pacific Rim in Birmingham.  Holy deliciousness.  

3.  Pulled pork BBQ sandwich - Come on . I am from the South!!

2.  Cold cheese  -  Oh, so cliche you say, since you're from Wisconsin.  Whatever, I don't care.  I love cheese. And I'm pretty much not averse to any cheese.  Except  blue cheese.  Ick.

1.  Pizza.  My absolute favorite.  I can eat it all day every day, no questions asked.  And as long as you don't throw anchovies on it, I'm perfectly ok.

Also, if you read this and are using a great photo editor, please let me know.  I have been on the search for one for a really long time.

Thanks!!