Exciting News!

Okay - so I DO have some Penny Pickles things done, they aren't photographed so that isn't what this post is about.  This post is to pre-announce some exciting news going on in my world.  

So a few weeks ago I saw an ad in our newspaper, The Indianapolis Star, requesting bloggers to write about their community. I thought, "hey I can do this!"  (and i said it just like that!)  I contacted the person noted and sent one of my blog posts to him to show my writing style and such.  Well I'll be damned he wrote back t and said that he liked my writing style and if I was interested they would love for me to do a blog about my community.  Ha!  I am really, really excited.  I mean I enjoy writing more than I thought I would and for some silly reason I have a decent following of people who seem to be mildly entertained by what I write.  I also really like the community that I live in, have several friends who are local business owners and I am very involved in my school. So I am going to get paid (albeit very modestly) to write about these great people and the events and activities going on around me.  How cool is that?? I have a meeting next week to sign some paperwork, get educated on the software and get my picture taken.  My blog will be promoted online at www.indystar.com and if I get a good enough following I could even get some print ads, but I am getting way ahead of myself (can you tell I am excited?).  So when I am all launched and ready to go I will include a link- this blog will remain my Penny Pickles work and personal stuff, so don't forget about this one when you get all caught up in my awesomeness over at the star.

A shooting star...

Penny is already taking precautions due to the potential for fame to come her way via her mom's blog.

Thanks!

it seems like forever...

It HAS been forever since I've posted.  Geez - over two weeks. I can't believe it.  So I have a much overdue post about my trip to solo trip to Seattle and all the goings on since. This might have to be two posts - let's see how it turns out shall we?

So I left on Wednesday the 6th for Seattle at the end of the day - I had a fun dinner with my family, Ryan treated me with some goodies for the plane and pictures that I recently took of him and the kids along with a card and a picture of myself and Joel (refer to previous post), I suppose it was a reminder of what I was going to be away from and my guess is that it was also a small attempt to make sure that I didn't forget what was waiting for me at the end of the week, just in case I got any ideas about extending my stay.  I happily headed to the airport knowing that I had four solid days of no one to be accountable for, but myself.  WOW.  I settled into my seat at the airport and started to read Twilight, I had saved the saga to read on this trip, there are a handful of things that I can do well in this world, reading for entertainment purposes is one of them.  I read and I read fast.  We were informed that Chi-town was experiencing bad weather and we had to sit on our plane for about forty to fifty minutes until we had clearance to leave.  Fortunately for me I had no one sitting next to me so I sprawled out and read.  We arrived in Chicago at 8:08, my connecting flight was LEAVING at 8:15 - on a positive note my connecting flight was still in the C terminal, the bad it was at gate 22, I was at gate 2.  So I hauled my butt and my bags and sprinted down the terminal (a sight I am sure) and managed to be the last one on the plane.  I arrived in Seattle at 11pm and Twilight was finished.  

Can I tell you how much I loved Seattle.  Now I have to say I do love the sun, I do.  However, I love gray, misty, chilly weather.  I think I've mentioned before that I really, really wanted to move to Minnesota when I graduated.  I just love wearing jeans, warm shirts and sweaters.  Some people want to retire to Arizona or Florida, I love to retire in Maine or now Seattle.  I digress.  So Heather is a friend of mine that I met through my girlfriend Jill.  I've talked about Heather before, she is a phenomenal designer.  So talented, her eye, how she can pull colors and styles together.  She is just an incredible creative soul to be around.  Her and her husband Shawn are the hosts with the mosts - they are rather used to being a bed and breakfast for family and friends who miss them and also want to get a glimpse of their life out in the PNW.  

I had no agenda for my trip, I wanted to see some of the typical stuff, the needle, Pike Place market, but other than that, I was just happy to be away and in the presence of much missed friends.  Heather took me around to some of her favorite restaurants and shops.  Darling little cupcakes, top pot doughnuts and gelato - oh heavens did I eat dessert!  It was all balanced with rest, reading and visiting.  I just am floored by how much we did over the course of three days - we saw so much and did so much, but I never felt overwhelmed or rushed.  I had the opportunity to go on a mini hike on Saturday and see Snoqualmie Falls (insert Twin Peaks theme music).  The weather was phenomenal while I was there, but we did have some gray, chilly wind and rain, but like I told Heather, I would have been disappointed to have come all this way and only experience 60 degrees and sunny skies.  Gray skies and rain are indicative of Seattle - I love to experience places in their true form.  

I thought that I would be ready to leave on Saturday night when we headed out to the airport, truthfully I could have stayed for a few more days.  I guess as the kids are getting older, spending some time away from them is a bit easier, knowing that they were doing just fine and having a great time with dad.  Being away is good for me because it allows me to be Annie and keep that part of me alive and well, but it is also good for the kids to have some solo time with Dad and vice versa.  Sure it shows Ryan what a true day in the life of a stay at home mom is, but it makes him stop being Ryan the employee and HAVE to focus on Ryan the dad.  It's a win-win all the way around the block.  I boarded my red-eye flight back to Chicago-Indy and finished reading Eclipse, the third book in the Twilight series.  

I arrived home at 11 am on Mother's Day to find that everyone survived, I had cards and flowers waiting for me, my dad was here and my only request was a BLT, minus the L and the T and a hot cup of coffee for breakfast.  Dad stayed until 2 and I settled in on the couch to read Breaking Dawn, the final book.  We had take out Chinese for dinner and watched Wizard of Oz, which I saw up to the tin man and then off the wizard was flying in his balloon - I guess I was pretty tired.  We calculated I had been up for forty-two hours and it was time for bed.  I got me thinking how the hell doctors can perform surgery after long shifts- it is no wonder more people don't die under the knife.

Since then I have been in recoup mode.  It took me nearly a week to settle back into my routine, painting, child rearing, household chores and the projects that we've taken on all at once.  I am happy to say that two weeks later I am finally back to normal, whatever that is. I mean it's 8:30 and I'm on my fourth cup of coffee for the day and I still have a ton to do, so normal is relative in this house.  So there is much to share, I will pick up from this point in a few days.  I am wishing everyone a wonderful, safe holiday weekend.  Enjoy this glorious weather and take care! Thanks!

the needle

cupcake royale - yum!

snosqualmie falls

rachel the pike place pig bank

heather and i 

the skyline

the incredible, but terribly disturbing gum wall around the block and down an alley from pike place market

oh yes this miss WAS a hit.  heather has these HILARIOUS censor glasses, they were begging to be used.

again and again

so the library is an interesting architectural number, but the fourth floor where shawn works is just darn cool - heather did the settings on this picture so i can take no credit what so ever.

the flowers are AMAZING - I am sure everyone who is a transplant in Seattle swears they'll buy flowers every week at the market these glorious bouquets go for 10$, are you kidding me?

gelato - just like the real thing in Italy - I have never tasted authentic gelato here in the states - oh it is SO good!

I MET JOEL MCHALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, wow, hmmm, okay - yes I MET JOEL MCHALE!!!!!  Seriously - this is like MY red rider BB gun- I mean, I LOVE Joel, not in that "I fantasize about you" kind of way, but in the " I would love to sit down have a beer and pee my pants laughing kind of way" or " I would love to guest host The Soup with you!" Okay that's just my fantasy!  

I religiously watch The Soup on E!, I have since college.  I would settle in on a Saturday and do what I call "Celebrate Saturday," which involved my electric blanket on high and dozing on and off all day on the couch until five when I would get up and get ready and go hang out with friends.  On such Saturdays I would watch E! and there would undoubtedly be a Soup marathon or what it was back then, Talk Soup with Greg Kinnear.  I've always appreciated The Soup because it makes fun of really, really ridiculous and dare I say dumb people.  I find that hilarious - I owe my sick, twisted, often inappropriate sense of humor to my dad and love it!  I find humor so easily!  So my roots run deep with this show, I have watched all of the hosts beginning with Greg and none have struck me like Joel.  I know I'm not alone - since Joel started on The Soup he has quite the following and his packed house on Saturday night was a testament to that fact.  When I found out that he does comedy shows- I was game.  He came to Indy in January and it just so happened that I had a girls weekend planned for the same weekend in Chicago.  So I missed that show, BUT he was coming to the Horseshoe casino in Hammond and I told Ryan, we ARE going or at least I am, if we can't get a sitter for the weekend.  

I am happy to report that our wonderful cousins watched our kids for the weekend and Ryan and I  went north to visit my dad, do a bit of shopping at this phenomenal garden center and then on to the casino for a bit of gaming and fun.  The day did not disappoint and by the time I got to the casino I was just plain giddy!  The show of course was awesome.  His opening act was Chris Porter from Last Comic Standing 4 and all I am going to say is he was absolutely hilarious.  You never know with opening acts, but this guy is good stuff, goofy looking, but good stuff!

They made an announcement before the show started that if you bought a shirt, Joel would sign it after the show.  So I thought what the heck?  Worse case scenario, I have a shirt.  So I promptly went down and bought a Spaghetti Cat shirt - it was that or "It's a felony" and if you follow the show, you know that refers to Miley Cyrus and her boyfriend.  But not knowing if I was going to actually get it signed, I chose Spaghetti Cat, because hey, you can't go wrong with a shirt like that!  I got back up just in time for the show to begin and it was great. Really great, I mean his soup stuff was funny, but his personal comedy was better than I thought.  He is a funny, funny man.  I laughed, I cried, I fought hard not to pee my pants (fortunately I did not) and had an awesome time! 

So immediately following the show I got down to the lobby and got in line - a rather long line, but not as bad as I expected.  See I figured that I'd get in line and then some security guard would come up about four people in front of me and say, "the line ends here, sorry for your trouble."  I say that because it has happened to me before, every time in fact except when I was 9 and I was able to get into an assembly line with others to get a David Copperfield autograph, but it was one of those, he signs a picture and his assistant hands it to you, you get to look at him from behind a table, but there will be no touching and since camera's were a bit bulkier in that day, you couldn't dream of a picture with him.  So that's my celebrity experience, so I had LOW, low expectations on what this encounter might be like.  I am happy to report that the security guard never came and I was in "the" line to meet him.  Holy Sh*t!

After about a half hour he came out, now I again I figured he'd be behind the counter and we'd smile and be on our way.  No sir, he jumped the counter and starting chatting, signing and taking pictures.  I would venture there were about 150 people in line, not all of them getting signatures, some, like Ryan, were forced to be a photographer for their star crazed partner.  We waited in line for about an hour, I couldn't imagine why it was taking so long, but then when I got within reach I realized this guy is actually TALKING to everyone he is meeting.  Wow, I mean, sure he isn't Brad Pitt, but when you can sell out a theater because of your verbal banter, I am thinking your a bit more popular than let's say me or even a local weather anchor and you could be a bit of a jerk if you wanted to.

It was my turn, I was a bit dumbfounded at first, but he is actually a really, really nice guy.  Asked my name, Ryan's name, where were from, why I didn't go to the Indy show and talking about how cold it was when he came, what he did while he was here, what he saw. Then he asked, "Annie, what do you want on your shirt?"  I said, "uh, I didn't realize I had a choice.  You are a hell of a lot nicer than I thought!"  So we talked for a few seconds, "Chick's Man? Oprah's V-jay-jay."  I said, "eh, let's not do Oprah's V-jay-jay I have three little kids." "Oh how old are they?"  "Uh -7, 4 and 2."  "Wow, you're f*#king busy!"  So I opted for Chick's Man, because I really like that segment of the show.  In hind sight I should have had some witty personal thing, but I am not nearly as witty as the character I play on TV!   ;o) 

He thanked me, then said okay picture time and posed and gave a squeeze good bye.  Wow - it was a blur because I just couldn't believe this guy was taking this much time to talk to everyone in line. I would say I was special, but he was taking time with most of the people in the line.  I would like to think I handled it as cool as I could.  I mean he really was so nice and down to earth- I realize that people on TV are real people, but fame can go to ones head.  I am impressed to no end and honestly admire and like him more now than I did before I met him.  I have that fear and I am sure others share this opinion that you can be really let down by meeting someone famous and then find out they are a total ass.  He wasn't and I am smitten!

So here are few pictures of my night:

waiting in line

discussing my t-shirt options

 Joel and I (that's for you grammar girls!) 

Okay, so not only is he nice, but he is a swell looking fella.  That and he has great skin, which sounds really weird now that I am typing it out.  Anyway, here is the only time you'll see be wearing my Spaghetti Cat t shirt because it is getting framed with my pictures and my ticket stub and going into our entertainment room.  (and for the record THAT was Ryan's idea, not mine!) (what he doesn't know is that the picture of Joel and I is going to be 8 by freaking 10 baby! ha!)

For the record I do look this hot all the time, nothing but the best from this stay at home mom!

So I leave for Seattle in two days - I will be signing off for now - I'll have tons to report about my trip when I get back and then I need to get my rear in gear and finish up my Penny Pickles outstanding business!  So much to do, so much to do....

Thanks!