Drinky Drinky

C was right. I couldn't keep myself away from this site until tomorrow. I'm sorry. Before going away, I had high hopes of not posting.. and frankly, not checking in on my site until Monday. Unfortunately, I was probably glued to my iPhone about 4 hours total this whole trip. *blushes* Whoops. 

So, before I go knocking the FABULOUS guest blogs down a notch in the post hierarchy here... I thought I'd do quick recap...... starting with the most recent first.

• The View from the Back of the House: by C over at Then Came Baby - a horrendously, disgusting tale of one wine taster's serious faux paux ... that, let's be honest, we've all wondered if anyone has EVER done before. C is a close-friend (closest?) and a FABULOUS writer. I highly recommend reading that post and keeping up with hers at Then Came Baby as well (shameless plug? maybe.)
• Top Six while Emily is Away: by Jennie at She Likes Purple - This woman never disappoints. You can always count on her to clue you in on the hottest sale items ... and this post has some killer items. I just may have to peep at J Crew's sale this week... sheesh. 
• Greetings from Napa: by Ashley at Clever Blog Name Here - this is probably one of the silliest things I've seen. And can I get a little sappy and say that when I saw that post, it may have made my day. 
• PhotoPie Week 6: a Guest PhotoPie challenge also by Ashley at Clever Blog Name Here - this doesn't need any elaborating... and my submission is down below.
• Confessions of a Winette: by Katie at Le Petit Chic - This was just a wonderful confession which in all honestly, made me feel a little better about drinking my wine.... because lately, it seems all you folks do is drink tea and coffee! Back to her post... I love the blunt summary of her teacher's reaction. I'm also curious about the guy friend and the hitting on men? Was he partaking? .. hmmm..  ;) 

Before I go and post about my trip, and let me tell it was wonderful, I thought I'd post a bazillion "Beverage" pictures thanks to Ashley's fabulous, Guest PhotoPie Challenge for this week! Because wasn't that the easiest most appropriate challenge for me, seeing as I just went a drinking binge wine tasting tour in Napa? Seriously.

While yes, I'm going to post some wine shots, I'm ALSO going to share a few other new favorites in the Adult Beverage category. However, after this trip, I'm not so sure I'll ever partake in a Red Bull/Vodka marathon again... or follow a tequila shot with a pint of Guinness.....

Guinness

Guinness and Tequila for everyone.

Tequila

(sugar free) Red Bull and Vodka

Mumm's Sparkling Wine of some variety.

Plump Jack's wine ... again, of some variety.

(Now, don't I just look like a giant lush amidst posts of tea after cuppa tea ?!)

The View from the Back of the House

Greetings! It’s Crystal here, from Then Came Baby, Emily’s final guest blogger (bets though, anyone, that she’ll end up posting today? As I have the honor of being her physical-life friend as well as her virtual-life friend, I happen to know, via some certain text messages, that she misses her blog and everyone here more than a little, and is having a heck of a time staying away as she promised to do!) Anyway, in honor of the (EmilyPie-is-) wine-tasting (-while-I-rot-at-home) theme, I thought I’d tell a story from the other side of the tasting room counter. You see, I did a short stint at a great winery called Trentadue, located in the Alexander Valley. Just like any service industry job, I came out of that one with some great tales—I can attest that the stories one acquires pouring wine are just as entertaining as those acquired drinking it, if a little more cynical. Anyway, this isn’t just any story, but a pretty dang revolting story, so steel your stomachs! But first, a little background.

As those of you who have been tasting before know, one of the fixtures of a tasting room--in addition to an impossible array of wine-related trinkets printed with wine-related puns (Forgive me for I have ZINNED, Wine drinkers make GRAPE lovers, you get the idea!) and of course the glorious wine itself--is the all-important Spit Bucket.

Now, my experience in the tasting room indicates that, yes, there are many visitors who are out for nothing more than to get cheaply, rip-roaringly intoxicated—think drunken limo-fulls of testosterone-y bachelor party buddies, boisterous fraternity and sorority members on spring break who intermittently guzzle and grope each other, etc. This type of taster of course eschews the spit bucket—like, Duh!—as expectorating valuable alcohol is clearly in conflict with the very important goal of GETTING WASTED. Oh—that is unless they are attempting to amuse their friends by hawking a fountain of sangiovese from halfway across the room, missing the bucket, and splashing the dour-looking elderly couple at the end of the bar who are quietly debating the merits of the Super Tuscan. Always amusing!

The majority of tasters, though, actually have some vested interest in wine other than its alcohol percentage. Thence, the Spit Bucket. Now, true wine aficionados—those who are concerned that even a slight buzz could interfere with their abilities to distinguish the undertones of earth and cigar in the ‘94 cab from the hint of vanilla and rust in the ’97, or whatever—utilize the patented “Swirl, Sip, and Spit” technique, potentially the only spitting maneuver in the world that, if done properly, doesn’t usually make bystanders gag. In the wine world, it is actually not considered rude to expel a mouthful of wine into the receptacle put out for that purpose. (Provided, of course, that one has a decent aim and doesn’t accompany the motion with looging-hawking sound effects or similar).

Most normal people, however, aren’t terribly big fans of spitting in general, and even less so with good wine. Most of us (you know, we whose mommies brought us up thinking spitting is a naughty, spank-worthy offense, and who also don’t really mind catching a buzz in the service of finding a good bottle of Barolo?) just use the Spit Bucket to swirl and dump a little water in our wine glasses between tastes* or, more often, to dump out the dregs of anything that doesn’t thrill us.

In any case, even though actual backwash is likely only small component of a Spit Bucket’s contents at any given time, its contents are still pretty grody (ooh, remember the word grody? I bet you’ll want to use it now!) And thus…we arrive at the story.

One quiet afternoon at Trentadue, a rather unpleasant older man came in by himself. Often people that came alone were on serious wine hunts, and because no other guests were present at the time, my coworker Erin and I immediately gave him our full attention and began to pour and talk to him about our wines. However, he was rude and seemed uninterested, so Erin went back to stocking and I, without talking much, poured him the wines in order. At one point, I had to turn my back to open a new bottle of something, and that’s when it happened.

At Trentadue, the spit buckets were ceramic vase-type things that could not, in any way, be mistaken as containing something potable. Or so I thought. But apparently, that mistake could be made, because as I turned back around I caught Mr. Cranky-Pants filling his wine glass from the spit jar.

And then…HE DRANK IT.

And do you know what? We didn’t stop him. In our defense, we probably didn’t have time. We just stood there frozen as he tipped his glass up and guzzled down the house blend of spitty, watery, wine slop.

To this day, I have no idea if he meant to do that while I wasn’t looking—was he an alcoholic, desperate for as much as he could get?—or honestly didn’t know what a spit bucket was. And of course, once the glass was empty we couldn’t exactly clear the air. We robotically finished the tasting and the minute the door closed behind him, collapsed on the floor in hysterical dry-heaves. To this day, it gives me the heebie-jeebies just to think about it!

And now it’s time to solicit comments! We all have stories like this—either from working in some type of service industry or customer service, or just being an innocent bystander—don’t we? We have all seen things that seer the cornea of humanity and make us, well, kind of despise people. So…if you got ‘em, share ‘em!

*Bad move, actually—a little of the old wine is supposed to be less taste-screwing-up than water.

Top Six While Emily Is Away

You know, I never panic over my own posts. There have been a few that have induced sweaty palms, sure, but for the most part I feel fairly comfortable spewing whatever nonsense comes to mind. But the minute I'm asked to guest blog and -- oh boy -- the strong urge to either throw up or drink a lot overcomes me. Possibly both. And what do I talk about when all I can really focus on is how Emily is sipping wine all over the Napa Valley and I'm, well, not?

I suppose I should introduce myself to start off. Well, I'm Jennie. From She Likes Purple. I live in the DFW area (although technically not in Dallas or Fort Worth, funny enough) with my redheaded husband and redheaded dog. I spend far too much time in Target and becoming nearly obsessive over really awful teen dramas. And I own more shoes than any middle-class twenty-something with debt should. And you? Since I love for guest posting to be interactive (in other words: I like comments): what's your name, blog, odd obsession?

Well, after long, panicked thinking, I decided to make this post beneficial for everyone. I thought I'd offer up a list of things I am just over-the-moon about lately. With links and pictures to double the fun. That way, you can learn more about me and get great tips. No thanks needed, but you're welcome, of course. I'm going to call this list:

Six Things I Want To Buy A Drink For

1. This ridiculously cute (and expensive) dress from Anthropologie:

There's an Anthropologie at a local outdoor mall, and I'm there for dinner or a movie or drinks or to pick something up once a week or so. While I'm there, I find myself wandering into Anthropologie to stare at this dress. And willing it to go on sale. Let's all will together -- strength in numbers and all -- and when I buy it, I will send you air kisses.






2. Hostess with the Mostess. This is a fantastic blog that covers every bit of entertaining with style. I constantly hit refresh even though I subscribe to the feed. If you have a party you're throwing -- bridal shower, baby shower, bachelorette party, dinner party, theme party -- this is a must-visit site for you. From place holders to cocktails, the gamut is covered. And everything is so pretty!

3. Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream

So, if you're anything like me, finding a face cream that actually does what it says it will is nearly impossible. I've tried a handful of things, from inexpensive things I grab at Target to fancier things I splurge on at Sephora. I had finally (and a bit apprehensively) settled on Hope in a Jar. But I wasn't crazy about it. Metalia recommended this Kiehl's line a while back, and I picked this up, knowing I could very well hate it. But I don't! It's reasonably priced! And, it's not too greasy or heavy! Unfortunately, I'm not being paid by Kiehl's to say any of this, but that should prove I actually love the product and am not being bribed or coerced. Although, hey, if you have products you want to pay me to endorse, I'm fairly unscrupulous, so e-mail me at shelikespurple [at] gmail [dot] com.


4. The Bachelor this season. Please hush your groaning and hear me out. Now, I don't care for the FLOOZIES the ABC execs casted to star alongside the bachelor (who is the lovely Brit, Matt Grant), but after sitting through twelve long seasons of men who couldn't string words together (Andy, I'm looking at you) or who didn't understand the entire premise of the show (Brad, you have to pick someone. That's kind of why ABC is spending all that money on champagne and fantasy suites) or who preferred playmates to the woman he actually proposed to (Aaron "I have rocks in my mouth" Buerge) or who reminded me -- queasily -- of a serial killer (Alex), finally getting to watch a Bachelor who has a sense of humor is unexpectedly entertaining. And although he needs to wade through a lot of crazies, I know, I actually think Noelle and Amanda and Kristine have some serious potential.

5. J. Crew's current final sale
Now, I'm not diving into pieces of gold every afternoon a la Scrooge McDuck, but J. Crew does happen to be one of my favorite stores, even if a lot of my shopping there is of the "window" variety. But I stand by their sales. They're incredible. Here are a few things you can find right now:

Originally $98, now $69.99.









Camis, 2 for $30. Which is fantastic since my last white cami was from Target and cost the EXACT SAME.








Originally $198, now $139.99. I want to buy these shoes a vat -- not just a measly glass -- of wine. Now, if another $30-40 dollars would fall off, we'd be getting somewhere.








Originally $79.50, now $29.99 and OH MY these come in a slew of colors (deep eggplant, vintage burgundy, dark truffle and the shown muslin, just to name a few).








6. Finally, these wine-filled truffles from redenvelope.com.

They come filled with your choice of either Cabernet, port, champagne or chardonnay in either dark or white chocolate truffles. And they are a measly $25 for a dozen. Buy them for your friends, your mom for Mother's Day, your boss or, better yet, just buy two or three boxes for yourself and call it a day.





So, there you have it. Feel free to add in the comments some things you are adoring these days. I really don't know how any of us got by before the Internet came along and saved our closets and our lives.

Thanks, also, for being so nice while I filled in for Emily. She's such a fantastic and fun person, and no one could really compare to her pictures or funny stories or adorable self-portraits, but it was nice to hang out with you. Em, I hope you're having the weekend you deserve in Napa. We missed you.

Now, I'm off to take a nap. Guest blogging sure does take it out of you.

Greetings from Napa!

Hey ya’ll! EmilyPie here from Napa.

(It isn’t really EmilyPie)

Hope everyone is enjoying hearing from my awesome guest bloggers so far. I miss you guys soo much! I know I said I wasn’t going to post while I was away but we are having such an amazing time I just had to post a few photos of what we have been up to so far.

(This isn’t really EmilyPie)

Here is a photo of me, the hubs, and our babies at our favorite winery. Check out all of those barrels.

(Not really EmilyPie in front of barrels)

And here we are getting a VIP tour of the vineyard. Isn’t it beautiful? The puppies really loved pooping on the grapes.

(They didn't really poop on the grapes)

We have been spending a lot of time in the hot tub here. It is very romantic. I know those look like champagne flutes in this photo, but it is actually a really great chardonnay in the wrong glasses. So whatever you glass snob.. jeez, sorry I couldn't find a photo on google in a hot tub with wine glasses to paste Emily's head on.. I mean.. umm. Sorry, we couldn't find the correct glasses at this beautiful house we are staying at.

(Not really EmilyPie in the hot tub)

So I know you are thinking, “Wow Emily. That hot tub looks amazing, but where are the puppy-doodles?”

Here they are!

(Not really where the puppy-doodles are)

If you haven’t guessed already, this isn’t really EmilyPie. It is some obnoxious girl with too much free time to whom she mistakenly gave a log-in and password to her blog account. I was given VERY simple instructions to post ONE PhotoPie Challenge but I couldn’t miss the opportunity to cause a little mayhem. Sorry E-pie, I guess you learned your lesson to never ask me to guest post ever again.

Wwwwwhhhahahahahahahaha.

(xo.. please don’t kill me the real EmillyPie)

PhotoPie Week 6

While our favorite EmilyPie is off gallivanting in the beautiful Napa she has asked a few of her blog buddies to do special guest posts to entertain her readers while she is away. I guess because she knows I am obsessed with her PhotoPie I seemed like the appropriate person to host the challenge, and I couldn’t be more excited! Emily must have started tasting a little wine before she left because she even left me in charge of choosing this week’s topic all by myself! Can you believe it!?!? I’ve been thinking and thinking (aka stressing and stressing) for weeks, trying to come up with the perfect PhotoPie challenge. A challenge that would be fun and cool, and that people would actually participate in! The more ideas I thought of the stupider and stupider they would get. Even my husband began to get sick of hearing me say, “What about this for a challenge. Or what about this? Do you think that’s dumb? Would you participate? No that’s dumb, nevermind.” I was on the road to facing my greatest fear of picking the worst photo topic in history. I could just see it… first, everyone would hate it... and then no one would participate… and then Emily would have to apologize for me to her readers… and then she would banish me to bloggy hell and no one would ever read my blog ever again!

Just when I thought I was out of ideas the wonderful Le Petit Chic came to my rescue and saved me by introducing a theme! BRILLIANT! I can do themes! Yesterday's post asks the question: "What is your favorite beverage?" And this week’s PhotoPie Challenge was born. In honor of our little EmilyPie tasting her heart out in Napa I introduce this week’s challenge: Favorite Beverage.

This is the part where I show my example. This is my hubby’s favorite hot-bev, a vanilla latte:

So go on, get out there and take some product photos. Get creative people and show me your Favorite Beverage!

You know the rules:

The picture has to be a new one, posted to your site on or after today's date.

Make sure the picture is YOURS.

When you post your pictures, remember to link to this site. If you don't link Emily, she wont link you ;)

Leave a comment here, with a link to your post.

Confessions of a Winette

I'm going to pretend that I'm not jealous at all that Emily is off sipping wine in Napa Valley and I'm stuck here, 3,000 miles away on the East Coast where spring has finally sprung, but not quite enough for my liking. I'm also going to pretend that I'm not the least bit nervous about guest blogging for the fabulous EmilyPie and that I haven't been trying to come up with something interesting to write about because when she guest blogged for me, her good friend had a baby and she had beautiful, squee!ful baby pictures to share. There's no way I can top that. Oh, and by the way, hello! I'm Katie, of Le Petit Chic. Nice to meet everyone!

Seeing as how the only pregnant friend I have is months and trimesters away from giving birth, I don't think I'll be able to come up with any baby pics. What I do have is a great (embarrassing) wine story, and since we all can't be there to share in the wine drinking with Emily, I can at least share a story about wine, right?

Let me take you back a decade or so. Actually, holy crap, make that about 16 years. I was in 5th grade at an American school in Germany with the hardest teacher in the school as my teacher. I was scared to death when I found out that I was assigned to Mrs. McDonald's class. She was an old Southern lady from Memphis, notoriously strict and gave a lot of homework (by a 10 year old's standards). That all turned out to be true, but what the rumors didn't convey was that she was a seriously wonderful teacher. She's the teacher who introduced me to Robert Frost and who built my confidence so much that I went from being the shyest girl in class to the class president. I stayed in touch with her over the years, but eventually lost contact when my family moved back to Maryland.

That's why I was so shocked to receive a phone call from her the summer after I graduated from college. She and her husband had moved to Maryland so she looked me up in the phonebook and called my parent's house. She wanted to take me to tea to catch up with me and find out what I had been up to. Admittedly, I was a bit nervous. As I mentioned, I was fresh out of college and still jobless and worried that I would look like a failure. Coincidentally, my best friend, Claire, from the same 5th grade class also had moved back to Maryland and we had recently reconnected. I decided to bring her along as a surprise because she had been one of Mrs. McDonald's favorite students too and it would also be much easier with someone else there!

So by now, I bet you're wondering where the wine part of the story comes in. Well, here it is. The night before I was supposed to meet Mrs. McDonald, my best guy friend Mikey and I decided to go out for happy hour in Annapolis. Brilliant! We spent the night flirting with men (ahem) and wallowing our sorrows about being unemployed college graduates in delicious glasses of wine. Truth be told, I only had two glasses of wine that night. Just two! Keep in mind that my tolerance was still quite high as I was only a few months out of college. And I actually felt fine when I went home that night. I wasn't drunk, heck, I don't even think I was buzzed because I spaced those two glasses out over several hours. I was too busy yapping it up with skeezy older men to drink too much!

When I woke up the next morning though, I felt that the hand of death was upon me. Make that both hands of death. I had the type of hangover that one should have after a night of kegstands and tequila shots, not two glasses of wine. I spent much of the morning in the bathroom, alternating between puking and staring at the clock to see just how much time I had left before I had to leave to meet Mrs. McDonald for tea. It finally got to the point where I could wait no longer. I had to pick up my friend beforehand so I had to get going. I should note that this was all around 11:00 AM, but a) I was still on college time and b) my hangovers usually last until 3:00 PM after a night of drinking. Lovely.

So I got one last puke in and mustered out the door and on my way to pick up Claire. She took one look at me and could tell that I was in rough shape. We eventually made it to the tea house, with me feeling more and more like death with every passing minute. We walked in the door and there was Mrs. McDonald, anxiously awaiting my arrival. She was, of course, thrilled to see both of us and we sat down for tea. She wanted to treat us for lunch as well, but there was no way I could eat anything at that point. Both Claire and Mrs. McDonald ordered salads and I swore I was going to puke at the table at the smell of the dressing and grilled chicken. I actually had to excuse myself to go to the bathroom for another go round with the toilet. I was completely miserable the. whole. time. All in all, I think our little 5th grade reunion was not what any of us had imagined.

Mrs. McDonald was visibly horrified to hear that I was a Democrat (who had even worked on a Kennedy campaign!) who didn't go to church and who didn't have a job. She probably thought I was anorexic judging by my rough appearance and my decline to eat anything at lunch. Needless to say, I don't think I lived up to her expectations. Of course I wish I had been in a little better shape when I met up with her, but that wouldn't have changed any of my above characteristics that she didn't approve of. I never heard from her again. I could never blame the wine though...I'm too much in love with it to think anything bad of it!

As a fun way to get to know all of you wonderful EmilyPie readers, go on and tell me what your favorite wine variety is. And if you don't like wine (the horror!), tell me what your favorite beverage is. I'll start. I love a nice glass of Shiraz...mmmm!! Or if you're serving white, I'll have some Sauvingon Blanc. Yum! Your turn!!

PSA

Looks as if I couldn't stay away. I also realized that I only have guest bloggers lined up for Thursday, Friday , Saturday and maybe Sunday... and not today. Probably because I'm still here today... haven't left yet. But if you look over there on the right .. you'll see a flickr badge. I'll be updating that with pictures from our trip via my iPhone. ----->

Just a little public service announcement...

Don't eat 2lbs of brussel sprouts in a 12 hour period. Don't.

Ugh. I did this yesterday, and now my stomach is in turmoil - bloated, gassy, sharp pains, and other bathroom related issues. OUCH. I didn't get any sleep last night because every time I'd turn over...sharp pain.. sharp pain. You know the type... gas pains. The kind of pains a hypochondriac like myself might go to the emergency room for ...had she not had this pain before and already gone to the emergency room, only to be dismissed with a bad case of constipation.

Oh yes. I did that. I was constipated for TWELVE days people... TWELVE DAYS WITH OUT POOP. No amount of ex-lax, coffee, fiber, water, or exercise could help me. Around day 8, it came time to try out the evil "E" word... and enema. And wouldn't you know, my loving boyfriend (now husband) actually OFFERED to help me with that? I politely declined his help and proceeded to my bathroom to take of my business by myowndamnself.

Yes. The enema emptied me out ... but it did nothing for my URGE. I still lacked a serious poop-drive. On day twelve, I was in so much pain and I could hardly eat anything (because I knew it was just going to stay in stomach). Google quickly became my worst enemy. Did you know one could theoretically DIE from constipation? My co-workers finally convinced me to go to the doctor already! But there was one problem.. I hadn't been at my job for long enough and was with out health insurance. To me, it seemed frivolous to waste money on a doctor's appointment for constipation.... but at this point, I didn't care.

After a little research, I was told to try out Ben Taub General Hospital in good ol' H-town. They said it was a good place for people with out insurance to go.

Ha. That should have been some foreshadowing....

Ben Taub GH was FILTHY. Remincient of a Chinese hospital (loogies on the ground and what not). Every homeless person in a 25 mile radius seemed to be just hanging out in that waiting room.\

Did I mention it was a top rated Triage center? Meaning, every other half hour, a new gang victim was being rushed in with life threatening gun shot wounds.

Twelve hours after our arrival (and after $180 down the drain, a half-day's work missed, and one, stale churro was consumed), I was finally seen, but not by a doctor. Instead, I was seen by a medical student. His diagnosis? Constipation. (Way to go Captain Obvious!) Treatment? I was sent home with a prescription for a stool softener, which turned out to be an over the counter product (according to the very helpful pharmacist). But the stool softener was not a fast acting product. The helpful pharmacist knew this, and took pity on my story. His suggestion? Milk of magnesia. Which turned out to be the magic potion.

I still have issues here and there with constipation.. mostly because my body doesn't poop on the weekends or on vacation. But nothing THAT bad.. thank goodness.I'm starting to think this is fairly common with women, as I've met several others with the same sort of problems.

Is this true? Do YOU suffer from the inability to poop while on vacation? Please, help me feel better while my stomach is torturing me on the inside... though, I'm about to go ON VACATION, so I probably wont poop again until next Monday.

(Maybe another time, I'll tell you about how I went the emergency room at 2am because I thought I had lice. )

Doing Bako Up Right

On our first night in Bakersfield... I may have gotten a leetle bit too excited about the idea of being out of town... 

Tequila Shots from Emily Pie on Vimeo.

Bakersfield - Part III

Because the weather here is turning colder and I REALLY enjoyed hanging out by this pool ...

This is probably the last you'll hear from me until I get back from Napa Valley. We don't leave until tomorrow, but not counting work, my brain is already shut off and in vacation mode.

*********

Don't worry though, there will not only be guest bloggers (!!), but there will also be a guest PhotoPie challenge on Friday! So check back ... there will be updates!

*********

Oh yes, and I'll be sure and update my flickr site occasionally with iPhone pics, because that is how I do this.. I drove my husband crazy while he drives and I take pictures and spend the entire time uploading to flickr via email.

So... have a great week/weekend folks. This is EmilyPie, signing off.

P.S.

Bakersfield - Part II

The second half of Saturday was spent with a bunch of old friends. Many of these people grew up together and have all remained close friends since high school. I think the only time we all get together like this, is for weddings.

Needless to say, there were many laughs and many calories consumed... in both liquid and solid varieties.

Spring is in the Air

On our way home yesterday, we stopped at our friends' house in Davis, CA. The had agreed to let me (try to) photograph them.... so we hopped out and drove to a location they had in mind. 

After seeing the pictures... I realized that THESE had to be my spring PhotoPie submissions. Thanks to the weather, the colors, and well... the pregnancy! Isn't that what spring is all about, new life? 

This one I just liked because it shows all of the green! 

Walk the Streets of Bakersfield

Yesterday I met up with Lorie and David (and baby Henry too!). This was a meeting that I always knew would one day take place, I just wasn't expecting it to happen so soon, or with out a few of our other mutual (real life) friends around. Never the less, it was a very fun afternoon! 

I can't express how great it was to be around so much talent. For once, I was around other people who were into photography more than I am, who had better gear, and way more experience. I loved it. It was inspiring in so many ways.

Thanks for the fabulous time guys! I really enjoyed myself (and your pictures!).

Seriously, go check out their pictures from the day!

 

Action Shots

I told you I'd post my action shots this weekend, and here they are.... 

Sun

Sun, originally uploaded by EmilyPie.

i'm alive. The crazy Internet people did not chop me up into little bits... Instead, they showed me a fabulous time in downtown Bakersfield. I'll write more about it later...

For now, we are enjoying the sun, the pool and our friends.

Enjoy the weekend. We are!

Goodbye sun

Goodbye sun, originally uploaded by EmilyPie.

so I am in Bakersfield. We are with our friends and I have had four shots of tequila.

There isnt internet where we are staying so I will most likely not be updating my site this weekend. I will be updating my flickr site ... So. Click on this picture and go check out the others....

PhotoPie - Week 5

Holy Bologna Batman! WEEK FIVE. Wow....if I do say so myself.

You guys really brought your A-Game last week. Way to show up the host. (Kidding...sort of. )

As you may know, I've issued an extension for action shots through this weekend. This wasn't because I took pity on some poor, procrastinator who begged for just a few extra days. OK. So maybe it was because I took pity on someone, like oh say, MYSELF. Whatever the reason... for this week, and THIS WEEK ONLY (think car salesman voice), you have three extra days to get around to posting the previous week's shots.

In the mean time, for all you folks who had your butts in gear last week... here ya go. This week's PhotoPie Challenge is .......(drum roll please)...... Spring.

Let's hear a big round of applause for just how freaking creative I am.

Yesterday was the first day of spring, and I don't know about where you live, but we had a really long winter this year! It still may not be over. But I have been thankful for the blue skies, budding trees, and 60 degree weather recently.

So, be it rain, flowers, green, or Easter-type activities... show me your "Spring".

Here is where I post an example... using an old picture of mine...

This was taken Spring 2007 and is also the same tree seen here.

If you don't know the PhotoPie Rules.... here they are:

• The picture has to be a new one, posted to your site on or after today's date.


• Make sure the picture is YOURS.


• When you post your pictures, remember to link to this site. If you don't link me, I wont link you ;)


• Leave a comment here, with a link to your post.

Enjoy!

Filing an Extension

OK. That is it. I give up. Unfortunately, this week was not enough time for me to complete my PhotoPie challenge. I debated playing hookie.... but I don't think that is possible. So instead... I'm putting my hopes and dreams in the hands of Bakersfield this weekend. 

Do you want to hear my excuses? Of course not, but I don't care. This is my blog and I can give excuses if I want to. 

This past weekend, we went out Friday night to celebrate brithdays. Afterwards, we hit up a new bar downtown. Not wanting to leave my camera out in the open in our Subaru wagon... I asked a friend to hide it in his car instead. So I didn't get it back until Monday.

This week... UGH... work has been busy and by the time I get home... the last thing I want to do is put on my creative-photo-pie-hat. Bleh. Instead, I dye easter eggs, drink wine, and watch American Idol. 

Tonight... tonight hubby and I took a romantic trip to Home Depot in between The L Word (on demand) and American Idol. We purchased a Dremel for the dogs nails.... and of course, I couldn't WAIT to try it out when I got home. So I did. And they loved it. Both dogs sat their patiently as I bzzzzzd and bzzzzzzzd their nails with out a single, "whoops.. did I get the quick?" or , "ahh.. Q.UIT. MOOOVING or I'll clip your whole toe off!" The dremel was very effective in flattening those daggers they call nails at the end of those Boston Paws. I highly recommend it. 

Oh yeah, and before Home Depot... we played a little tug-o-war while hubby grilled a few hot dogs (living the high life... hot dogs and martinis for dinner .. with tator tots. Nice.)

So yeah ... I'm totally waiting until this weekend to take my action shots. There is only so much one can do inside her little apartment's living room. This weekend, I plan to be outside! And while my pictures might not be as sweet, shaggy,  beautiful,  interesting, FREAKING AWESOME, or down right hilarious as others.... they wont be of my dogs nor will they be taken from inside my living room. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?

P.S. Since I'm giving myself an extension, I think it is only fair to give you one as well... though I do plan on posting another challenge on Friday still.

Glorious Gmail...

I guess I'm not the brightest crayon in the box ... but I JUST NOW figured out how to operate 3+ email accounts while using ONE Gmail account.

I've been using my emilypie.com email address and having my other Gmail addy's forwarded there, so I wouldn't miss a beat.. and so I could avoid the whole, "Hey friends and fam... I changed my email address... AGAIN" email. Also, I wanted to keep another account to use for those whom I don't want knowing about this site.. yada yada.

All this time, I had to remember to LOG OUT of one Gmail account and LOG INTO another so I could reply using the correct address. Of course, there were goof ups.... many goof ups.

But guess what? Apparently, I can reply from the same address the message was sent to. And I can even use Gmail to download messages via Pop3. Which is GREAT.. because I have another email address which doesn't allow "forwarding". Awesome.

This seriously just made my day. I can't believe I'm stupid enough to post this on here... admitting my ignorance of the Google world to all who read this site. But hey, I knew about being able to use the periods thing a LONG time ago... that should count for something, right?

AND .... I have been using IMAP to download ALL of this email from this Gmail account to my iPhone. I love staying connected.

Dying to be Eaten

So, we dyed our Easter Eggs this eveing. We are going to be out of town this weekend, so I thought we'd dye them tonight so we could enjoy them this week. Let me rephrase that... so I could enjoy them this week. Though, I think this poll may have just convinced my husband to try and eat his Easter eggs this year. It may help a bit that they look as iff pre-schoolers tried to dye them ... and not so much like a couple of adults with 20+ years experience doing this sort of thing. Let me just say, for the record, that we are NOT artistic. Neither one of us will ever paint a cute egg, or doodle a cute doodle on paper. We just aren't artsy like that. That being said, here are the pictures from Easter Egg Dying Evening...

And of course, the dogs wanted to see what was going on ...

Crazy Internet Persons

My relationship with the Internet and the crazy people it hosts, goes pretty far back. OK, as far back as 2003 when I was using Yahoo Personals to meet guys.

I only met two guys using YP, and while they were two great guys, they weren't the guys for me. OK, I take that back.. one guy was great, yet nerdy... the other guy was your stereotypical, horny 20-something-year-old. Bleh. But I'm sure, with time, he would be the right guy for someone else.

While we were in China, B and I kept a website where we updated our friends and family on our lives overseas. Occasionally, I would get emails from random people who happened up on site, asking questions about teaching in China, or just saying hello. One day, I got an email from an American businessman who was going to be coming to our town in China, to (hopefully) strike a deal with the local television making plant. The businessman asked some common questions about climate, water, and food. He even asked about local customs and how to treat his Chinese business mates (gifts, where to take them to eat, etc.). In exchange for all of this information, the businessman asked me if there was anything he could bring me from home. WAS THERE EVER!?

At this point, I was on month TEN with out American staples such as Dr. Pepper, and other random forms of junk food. I quickly shot him an emailed list of candies and whatnot I was craving... and told him to pick what he'd like to bring. 

We set up an appointment to meet (along with my husband, and another intimidating tall, male, American teacher *hi Randall!*) at a local bar. When we exchanged greetings, he handed me a bag and apologized profusely for the bottle of dr.pepper having been opened - thanks to airport security measures. Back then, they just had to open it and sniff it to make sure it wasn't flammable smelling.... oooh... that means there were NOSE COOTIES on my Dr. Pepper bottle! I just realized that. Hmph. 

I was so elated with bag of Easter candy goodies (peeps and cadburry eggs!) that the flat Dr. Pepper didn't bother me one bit. In fact, it still tasted Dr. Peppery! Mmmm. (Funny, I don't even drink Dr. Pepper that often now that I am back here...) Actually, I think I cried when he handed me the bag.