Category: General

Yesterday after work I stopped by New Flower, it is a smaller version of Whole Foods. I love that place, they have the best chicken salad, my mom made an amazing chicken salad and this one could give her a run for her money. Then it was catch up on Being Erica and a nap! Yes, a nap, as I had a Mary Kay meeting last night and knew I could not stay awake without a nap. And am I glad I made that decision, it was a great meeting. These women are just amazing. We have so many great things coming out, go to http://www.marykay.com/abarsi to see them all and order to your hearts delight!
Today is a total coffee day, first from my trusty new coffee maker that I am still enamored with and later Starbucks. I still have not recieved the promised coffee treat coupons in the mail. But oh well.
I have made some major decisions regarding the wedding which come will find shocking for me. I don’t really want to say anything yet, until the plans are firm, but it will still be fun, trust me.
I was very happy to see a new Bones last night. I love, love, love that show. It is one of a couple of shows that Elizabeth and I bond over. I love watching it with her and miss that since she moved 55 miles away from me! I still need to watch the new Grey’s Anatomy, Vampire Diaries, Private Practice and Flash Forward. Oh I still need to watch Lost from Tuesday! I almost forgot about that! I will have a lot to do this evening and tomorrow! I know you are all thinking I am a giant television addict, however, since I have already admitted that it is a moo point. Yes, moo, like a cow’s opinion, it doesn’t matter.
I am thinking about going back to red hair, I had red hair from the time I was 16 to about 2 and 1/2 years ago. I kinda miss it, but I kinda like being back to my natural color as well. hmmm, any thoughts?

So you’re tired and beat
And you’ve worked all week
And you need a place you can let it go.
Where the girls go wild
And the boys play hard
And you need a little more than just the radio.
Well here’s your open invitation
With just a couple regulations.
Gonna warn you son, only come to have fun
We don’t take kindly to serious.
So leave your troubles at the door
Unless you want some in here.

Welcome to my house, buckle up tight
Everybody sings and drinks, laughs & gets high.
To country music, a little soul, it’s a rock ‘n roll rodeo.
We don’t tolerate no sitting around
Everybody’s dancin’, groovin’ and getting on down.
So before you come in here with some kind of attitude
You better read the house rules.

Around eleven o’clock when the front door locks
And the boys start raising the bottle.
Where the girls do the thing with the Mardis Gras beads
And you know they’re gonna show ’em if they got ‘em.
And no matter what your story, a good time is mandatory.
Well rule number 7 says don’t touch the women
But they can grab whatever they want to.

Welcome to my house, buckle up tight
Everybody sings and drinks, laughs & gets high.
To country music, all little soul, it’s a rock’ n roll rodeo.
We don’t tolerate no sitting around
Everybody’s dancin’, groovin’ and getting on down.
So before you come in here with some kind of attitude
You better read the house rules.

No such thing as last call.
We pick ‘em up when they fall.
We share the same bathroom stall,
Says the sign on the wall. (1, 2, 3)

Welcome to my house, buckle up tight
Everybody sings and drinks, laughs & gets high.
To country music, all little soul, it’s a rock n roll rodeo.
We don’t tolerate no sitting around
Everybody’s dancin’, groovin’ and getting on down.
So before you come in here with some kind of attitude
Boy, before you come a walkin’ in here with any kind of attitude
You better read the house rules.

You better read the house rules.
(2, 3)

I know I wax on about coffee and how much I love it, but in all honesty, I only have it at home, in the mornings. The rest of the day, at work, I drink tea. My favorite tea right now is True Blueberry by Celestial Seasonings; it is like a desert, it is so amazingly good. For as many additives as I put in my coffee, cream, sweet and low and flavorings, I like my tea pure. I don’t add anything to it at all. The blueberry is so good, I also am enamored with pomegranate, if you add one blueberry tea bag to a pomegranate one, OMG, it is the best thing I have ever put in my mouth! It is like a party in your mouth! Try it, I promise you will not be disappointed. My next favorite is Passion by Tazo; there are only two places I have ever found it, Starbucks and Target. I was shocked to see it on the Target shelves, so if you find yourself in Target, look for it! It is worth the search. Fiancée says that I don’t drink real tea, yet, in over two years of dating he has never made me “real” tea. Is that a challenge you ask? Perhaps….
I went to the grocery store yesterday for the first time in quite a while as Alex can attest to. I bought an interesting looking salad, it s Santa Fe Style Chicken, we’ll see how it tastes. I am not a big fan of lettuce or dressing, I hate ranch dressing, the smell alone is disgusting. I love blue cheese and Caesar dressing. But ranch, yuck, maybe because it is mayonnaise based. I seriously hate mayonnaise, except in tuna, chicken or egg salad. There is a scene in Undercover Brother where he is just gobbing mayonnaise on a sandwich; I literally had to leave the room during that scene. It is so gross. I also hate the smell of Doritos and spaghetti O’s. I can’t even be in the same room with those foods.
Well those are my idiosyncrasies for the day. Anyone want to share theirs?

I just called Starbucks regarding previously posted response. The man I spoke with was well trained in the art of customer service, he not only appeased my self-righteous indignation, he managed to assure me that he would take care of the situation. I totally believe him and my faith is restored in Starbucks.

I received a response from Starbucks regarding the complaint I made, here is the response:

Thank you so much for taking the time to write to us. I am very sorry that your coffees were not enjoyable.

I want to assure you that I will be following up with the 75 & Campbell store and its management team in order to ensure that we are making these beverages correctly.

What I would like to do, is to invite you back to our stores to have a drink done right. We will mail you some beverage coupons so that your next drink will be on us.

Thanks again for giving us the opportunity to fix this situation. I assure you that we take feedback from our customers seriously and will use this as an opportunity to improve the experience for you.

If there are any questions or concerns that I have not been able to address, please don’t hesitate to call us at 800 23-LATTE (235-2883), we are here Monday through Friday from 5:00 AM to 6:00 PM (PST).

I am so angry, they never addressed the poor service! just talked about how my drinks were not enjoyable. Really??? AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHH!! I am going to call them to let them know how seriously not happy I am. Will keep you updated

I am a self admitted nerd; I love books, museums, classical music and science fiction. I admit I will read anything that is in front of me. That habit has gotten me into trouble before. Tammi can tell you all about that.
A lot of people confuse geeks with nerds, there is huge difference. Geeks are more technologically oriented whereas nerds are more word oriented. Of course there are crossover traits, the science fiction thing that is a total crossover. You cannot have a geek without sci-fi; however, you can have a nerd without that, so, wow, am I a geek or a nerd? I believe I am a full blown nerd with geek tendencies. I have a deep love of all things historical, and the written word, and television, love Star Trek over Star Wars and of course any television show with the word star in the title is right up my alley. I.E. Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe, Battlestar Gallatica, Star Trek, Star Trek the Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek Enterprise, and so on and so on. I think you are getting the idea.
The real question is do pure Geeks exist? They do on television, on The Big Bang Theory all of those guys are pure geek with no nerd in the mix. I have not met anyone like that in real life, Jess is Geek with Nerd thrown in, my fiancée is more Geek than Jess, with some Nerd in the mix, most women I know have very little of either. I have the feeling I am an anomaly. I would love to hear from any women out there that feel they have the qualities of either or one of nerd or geek.
I fully admit my love of science fiction, history, literature, art, mythology, comic books, and the Superman lore is one of my favorites. If you have not read The Power of Myth or The Hero with a Thousand Faces I highly encourage you to pick up your copy of each and devour them! Joseph Campbell was an amazing man with thought provoking ideas. Just thinking about it makes me want to go and re-read the books.

Watched Castle before coming to work today; all I can say is wow. Nathan Fillion just rocks, I have loved him from his One Life to Live days. I have one complaint though, I am happy with the shout outs to One Life to Live and Serenity and Firefly, but how bout some Buffy love? I mean I am happy to see Buffy Alumni’s on the show, Marc Blucas and Leonard Roberts. I love these two actors and loved them on Buffy, but can we get some of the actors you actually interacted with on the show? Sarah Michelle Gellar needs work, Eliza Dushku just lost her series, I am guessing she could use some cash, how bout Nicholas Brendon and OMG James Marsters! And just one reference would be great, I did love the Vampire episode and caught the Buffy reference but just a couple more would go so far in satisfying my need to hear you give some love to Joss Whedon. Oh, brilliant idea, Neil Patrick Harris, as a villain! Perfection!
In other news, Ricky Martin came out of the closet, who is actually shocked by this news? Publicity stunt? He is writing his memoirs. I don’t know I just know I do not find this a shocking revelation. But good for him for living in the open; nothing can be worse than living a lie.
I am too open a person to have to ever keep a secret of that magnitude about myself. The only thing I do not willingly tell is my age. Mary Kay said that a woman who will tell you her age will tell you everything. It all started when I was 16. I stopped telling my age at 16, I have relative who are not quite sure of my age. This year I actually forgot how old I am, until my oldest son told me my age. I found it shocking, I said are you sure, he said yes mom, and he stated the year I was born in and did the math. I had totally blocked out my age. I still cannot believe he reminded me.
So I wrote an email to Starbucks Corporate office, I will keep you updated on any responses I receive. I am still stunned, and not in a good way, at the treatment I received there on Saturday. I have looked on the website and it states that they open at 5:00 AM, so on Friday I will be testing that. I need my coffee treat on Fridays, and yes, I know I sound like an addict.

I know I haven’t written all weekend, but it was just so jam packed that I did not have time! Let’s start with Friday afternoon and evening, it was filled with Mary Kay Career Conference. So much fun, finding out all of the new products coming out and just being with so many positive women. Not a cross word was heard anywhere! Not in line for the restrooms, or for coffee, or for meals. Saturday morning was more of the same. Being in that type of environment really recharges me and enables me to deal with the negativity of my j.o.b.
Saturday afternoon was spent supporting John in his endeavor to raise money for St. Balderick’s, and him having his hair and beard shaved in the process. I could not ask for a more caring fiancée. He raised almost $1200.00 dollars for the charity. His beard alone brought in $200.00. It was a great cause and a fun event. I met more of his friends, who were just delightful, warm, friendly and fun. I can see why he calls these people friends. I can only hope I made as positive impression on them as they did on me.
After all of the excitement of the day, John and I were completely knackered! So Sunday was spent very low key, a trip to two Apple stores to find an item he wanted for his Iphone, lunch at one of our favorite places, a trip to Starbucks and walking around Barnes and Noble, drinking our coffee treats and looking at all the books. I know it sounds boring, but it is one of our favorite things to do. Then a nap. LOL, I told you, very low key!
Well that was my weekend in a nutshell. I am still completely exhausted, could not sleep last night and had to wake up at 3:30 this morning.
Maybe tomorrow I will be more exciting!

Today was a major fail on the part of the Starbucks at Campbell and Central in Richardson, TX. I ordered a simple coffee with cream and one sweet and low. Easy, right? Well apparently not. The man said equal? Me: no, sweet and low. Him: half and half? Me: no, real cream. Him, handing me my coffee, half and half and equal. Me, quite frustrated at this point, no, real cream and one sweet and low. Him, I didn’t hear you, me, angry at this point, I told you three times. Him, well I didn’t listen. No duh. Then he has the nerve to tell me they usually charge for cream. I am beyond disgusted by his less than stellar work ethic. Before you think oh it was a kid, no, this was a grown man. I will never go there again.

Well today is the day, Mary Kay Career Conference. About to shower, get all pretty, deliver a Mary Kay basket, then off to Downtown Dallas! WoooHooo! Will let everyone know what I learned on Sunday.
Tomorrow is the big day for my fiancée, he has been hard at work raising money for St. Baldrick’s, it is a group that raises money for research to curing cancers that effect children. Here is the link for more information, http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/irishjohn. He is going to have his head and face shaved, he will be totally bald. Now while I applaud his efforts and his heart, the timing just bites. This is about 3 weeks before he meets some of my high school friends at the mini reunion. So they will meet a stubble headed Irishman. And I will be proud to introduce him.
Well this is a short entry as I must begin my looking pretty preparations.
Have a good Friday all!!
Oh and everyone congratulate Jess on his epic trouncing of me in Scrabble.