HAPPY FRIDAY FRIENDS!

Hope you have a great weekend :)

Pizza, pasta, and a whole lotta pretty people

Last night a big group of us went to din-din at

to celebrate the bdays of our fantastic friends, Nick & Bari :)

I knew Pulino's was going to have great food,

but holy wow, the whole restaurant experience
pretty much exceeded my wildest dinner dreams!

We were first greeted by the host,

and I couldn't take my eyes off him because I'm serious,
he looked identical to the human version of a Na'vi

I wanted to ask him what Pandora was actually like,

but fortunately, refrained.

I thought the whiskey-lined walls were eye-candy enough

but not gonna lie, when Ed Burns & Christy Turlington walked in

accompanied by Brian Williams and his wife

I kinda eeeeeked a little.

Allow me to state for the record that watching a super model eat pizza, is straight up fun ;)

For real though, celeb sightings aside,

I enjoyed every moment of this dinner amongst great friends,

and I would highly recommend trying this new yummy spot.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY(S) NICK & BARI!!

The world just keeps getting better n' better :)

Meet my soon-to-be bestie!!

Colleen Kelly Brousseau

was warmly welcomed to the world last night
by her WONDERFUL parents / my wonderful cousins
Timmy & Shannon :)

I simply cannot wait to meet all 7lbs 2oz of her
and to hug all 20 inches of her little awesomeness!!

Sending loads of well wishes and hugs-n-kisses

Rain, Rain ... GO AWAY!!

"YouTooth.com"

Confession:
I'm not the most responsible human being.
But since you already knew that,
I guess I will narrow it down to admit that
I'm also not the most responsible bridesmaid ...

This past Fall the Best Man and I took it upon ourselves
to host a "little" post-party after our best friends' wedding.

Unfortunately,
this entailed a cheese platter, a whole lotta Coors Light,

and a chipped front tooth, by yours truly :(

Now that I've had 6 months to digest the debauchery,

I can actually laugh at the "crack-up" caught on camera.

My dentist however,

does not find my shenanigans so funny.

This morning at the follow-up our convo went as such:

Dentist lady: Your cap is holding nicely.

Me: Thanks! I haven't bitten into apples or corn-on-the-cob, just like you advised. I also haven't ridden on any hotel luggage carriers while intoxed since then -- but I guess that should've just been common sense from the get-go ;) Hahaha

Dentist lady: Well, I'm glad you can laugh at yourself.

Me: Ya, me and like 400 others ... it's a hit on YouTube!
I'm thinking about starting a micro-site called "YouTooth" for all the other boneheads out there who have chipped their teeths too.
Could be funny, whatdaya think?

Dentist lady: (crickets)

Strike two for Stacey ...

Bust!

Confession:

When I make a PBJ for lunch,
I wouldn't think to cut it any other way
than directly in half, to make two rectangles ...

However,
when making a grilled-cheese for lunch,
I wouldn't think to cut it any other way
than directly in half, to make two triangles ...

And that's all I have to say about that!

More completely pointless posts coming soon ;)

In the meantime,

HAPPY FRIDAY FRIENDS

Myth Busters!

I have the pleasure to be dog-sitting for Derby again :)

And after he peed on just about everything humanly possible on our walk this morning, I took it upon myself to google,
"Why do dogs pee on fire hydrants?"

Here's what I got:

It's a myth! Dogs (especially males) will urinate on fire hydrants, poles, doorways (anywhere another male has urinated) because dogs need to mark their territory and one dog letting another know where they have been.

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming ...

I've never felt so close to a President before ...

because I've never actually been this close to a President before!

Much to my elatedness,
Barack Obama literally past our street corner this morning
en route to Cooper Union to address Wall Street.

Everyone in the neighborhood gather along Houston St.

to cheeeeer and wave as he
(and umpteen not-so-Secret Servicemen)
drove by :)

Wow!
I fully loved the Obama family before,

but now my sentiment is entirely off-the-charts!!

Sheer awesomeness :)

Best Paycheck EVER!

Chase Bank rejected my last paycheck because my signature was so sloppy they called to say it did not match previous records.
(as if no one's ever signed a check while hungover before)

Annoyance.

So I said to the lady,
"For serious?! By all means, if some stranger ever wants to DEPOSIT monies into my bank account ... LET THEM!!"

She did not find that so funny ;)

Anyways, the ever fabulous Peanut Labs finance department mailed me a new paycheck, which arrived looking as such:

After I peed laughing, I went straight to Chase to sign and deposit, this time in person.
And when she asked me for my license, I handed it to her --
while sporting the 'stache :)

You could hear crickets ...

Why do the Chase Bank people not like my funnies?!?!

Bust!

HAAAAPPY EARTH DAY!!

"May" be this is the month :)

With April somehow rapidly coming to a close,

and with the weather shaping up little by little,

I'm making a concerted effort to adjust my outlook...

So from here on out,

I'm saying "sayonara" to the days of feeling like:

And warmly welcoming the "watch me" season :)

After all,

change is in the air!
  

Rachel Platten @ Rockwood Music Hall

Last night I had the pleasure to see Rachel Platten perform a free show at the new Rockwood Music Hall "Stage 2" venue.

If you haven't had a chance to check out her ah!mazing music or this great new space, I would HIGHLY recommend both :)

Rachel Platten

Pix from the fun!

Rachel Platten @ Rockwood Stage 2

It's the little things that do it for me ...

(that's definitely not what she said)

but when I saw this today, I smiled :)

Of course there were mustaches in the kitchen ...

It was so nice to get out to San Fran to attend Peanut Labs'
Spring Break Meeting 2010 ;)

We really do work, it's just not so much depicted in the digital evidence of Thursday night's festivities .... Leave it to a bunch of 20-somethings to have props "stashed" away in the kitchenette, and leave it to Em to find them. Ha!

Company Meeting April 2010

Made me L.O.L :)

Made me Laugh Out Louder ...

My friend Lad posted this subway sighting to Facebook:

And the following banter ensued:

Too funny!

Hellloooo from sunny San Francisco :)

It's currently 6:45pm EST / 3:45 PST and I'm sitting at my desk in our new office space laughing deliriously to myself that my day has officially consisted of the following:

4:20am EST: Wake-up begrudgingly

4:25am EST: Brush teeth. Double check I have my cell phone. Head out.

4:30am EST: Hail cab. Get in. Take a swig of orange juice.
(insert sour face here). Hit myself in forehead knowing damn well that OJ and toothpaste are a HORRIBLE mix. Blah.

5:00am EST: Arrive JFK airport. Wonder why the F the security lines are so long already.

5:15am EST: See advertisement for Scandinavia. Realize that I actually live closer to Iceland than I do to San Francisco. Weird.

5:30am EST: Board plane. Man sitting next to me strikes up a convo. I begin concocting excuses as to why I cannot converse nor listen at this hour. Subtly put on iPod and open up my hard copy of "Half Broken Horses" to alleviate dilemma.

5:45am EST: Flight attendant politely asks me to turn off my iPod and tells the aforementioned mingler to turn off his Kindle for take off. He proceeds to point at me and says, "She doesn't have to turn off her book, so I'm not turning off mine." I wonder to myself if this is actually really happening. I not-so-secretly wish I were in Iceland.

6:00am EST: Take off. Fall asleep within mili-seconds. Dream about unicorns and Girl Scout cookies. Samoas to be exact.

9am EST / 8am CST / 6am PST: Wake up while we're somewhere over the Midwest. Wonder where I am and what time it really is. Specifically, what time it is in Iceland. Feel utterly confused from all the above.

12:30 EST / 9:30am PST: Arrive to sunny San Fran! Look up and see Lucia Moniz from "Love Actually" is on the same flight. Slightly geek out. Debate saying something. Wait for the right moment and tell her that she was my most favorite character in the movie, aside from "Uncle Jamie", of course. She laughs :)

1pm EST / 10am PST: Take the BART to Montgomery Street. Get out and head in wrong direction on Market Street. Look right and see "Zog's Dogs", the hot dog stand a buddy of mine from college started. Entirely geek out! Walk up to see if he's there and to order a snausage :) Realize it's only 10am in Cali. Bust!

1:15pm EST / 10:15am PST: Get much needed coffee. Head up to Peanut Labs. Make the rounds :) Begin work. Feel incredibly behind :( Return loads o' emails. Wonder what time is acceptable to break for lunch ...

6:00pm EST / 3:00pm PST: Head to Chipotle for lunch/dinner with Erin :) Talk her face off as coffee is the only thing I've "eaten" all day and someone clearly put a quarter in the wind-up-doll ;) Order Burrito Bowl while wondering what would be an acceptable time to go back to Zog's Dogs for dinner.

6:30pm EST / 3:30pm PST: Get back to work. Get side tracked by Google-ing Iceland. Begin blog entry ...

Mind Boggling Mondays @ Donnybrook

Although I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed,

my team came in 3rd place last night at ...

Here are some mind thumpers from the movie round

Enjoy!

Thanks, Uncle Sammy!! ;)

This little tax payer found out she over paid the good ole' government, and will actually be getting monies BACK this year!

(insert shock, awe, and countless smiles here)

YAHOOOOOOOOOO :)

So, like a good American, I opted to put my pretty pennies
right back into the economy ;)

In all seriousness though, I genuinely can't think of a more uniquely incredible local establishment to support then
Casa de Rodriguez

It's much to my dismay that this Stanton Street gem will be closing it's doors tomorrow :( but I'm SO super thrilled for the success that lies ahead of them when they re-open next month in CHICAGO!!! Woohoooooo :)

As soon as I know the deets as to exactly where the store will be,
I'll be sure to pass along right away!!

In the meantime, a big giant thanks goes out to Frances for not only hosting a fantastic Trivia Night at Donnybrook, but even more so for asking me to tag along to pick up her masterpiece waiting across the way afterwards at Casa de Rodriguez.

A super humongous THANKS goes to David for designing and creating such unbelievably stunning head-ware. Your presence will be sorely missed in the neighborhood but I will think of you every time I rock my new fabulous hats. Can't wait to visit the new location when home again in the CHI!

Safe travels and all the very best to you and your beautiful family :)

Casa de Rodriguez

A Nice Thought for the Day :)

"Don't forget to love yourself"

Made me chuckle ;)

My New Chest ;)

No, I didn't get a boob job. Even better,

I got my very own TREASURE CHEST!!

Yep, yep, yep!

When I saw on Facebook that a friend was actually looking
to give this gem away, I acted immediately.

Not gonna lie, wheeling this bad boy home was quite the experience. Several pedestrians asked if they could help me
but I was too afraid they might steal my gold ;)

Why do I need a treasure chest?

Well, the fact of the matter is that I don't.

Why did I want a treasure chest?

Well now, that's a horse of a different color!

Obviously all aspiring pirates should have one.

And since I fall into that category,

it seemed like a "must"!

Besides,

it's just fun to put things in it ...

like my roommate ;)

Hahahaha

Happy Friday friends!!

Confession:

I don't care if they're free AND

made by Victoria's Secret ...

I still don't care for the word "panty"

Unless of course its in reference to my most fav movie of all time, Drop Dead Fred. Well, then it's just plain funny :)

To my Gnomie, Regs ...

Happy Biiirthday!

May 2010 be our best year of training yet ;)

Love your gutz,

~ Hallsm

Phone #s I Won't Be Transferring ...

Unfortunately the charger port on my Crackberry broke,

so I had to get a new celly :(

Problem being,

that meant I had to physically transfer all of my #s

because the USB cord wouldn't connect either.

Double bust!

Not gonna lie,
I had to laugh at some of the digits I've deemed
"worthy" over the last several years ...

Here are a few names (as entered)
that didn't make the cut to transfer:

Do Not Call

Do Not Answer

No Clue

Super Tall Guy

Friend of friend person

Pizza Pizza Pizza!

Dairy Queen

The Liquor Barn

Petting Zoo Rental Service
Professor Soup

Andy the Mailman

Tim the Bartender

Naas the Crazy Cabi

Not a Gnome Yet

Worst Snuggler Ever

Shower Rod

White Chizzle

Oi!

I fear someday when the time comes,

my funeral's gonna be a little something like Big Fish ;)