The Photo Book

My sister is not always known for her proactive behavior relating to gifts.  When we were younger and our non-imagintive relatives would buy us the same darn gift at Christmas, I wrote a thank you card and Al signed her name.   If we need to give a major gift (graduation, wedding, etc) I choose a gift and Al writes me a check for half.  Minimal creativity and brain power involved.

Anyway.   The point of this is not to tease my sister.   It is in fact to sing her praises.  This year, just after Christmas in fact, Al approached me.   Boue, she said.  She calls me Boue, pronounced Boo, as in ghosts.   Have we talked about this?  Boue, I have a really good idea for a gift for Mom and Dad.  You know how you do Apple photo calendars at Christmas?   Well what if for Mother's Day and Father's Day we made them a book that is pictures of us when we were little? 

CREATIVITY AND BRAIN POWER RELATING TO A GIFT!   What an excellent idea!  The catch?  Al was bound for the airport to fly back to her home in the big city.   I was still in Ohio.   Which meant.......    I had the dubious honor of sorting through literally more than 20 photo albums full of family photos.   Luckily my mother is OCD about organizing photos.  Like crazier than me OCD.    She has every photo since her wedding shower in 1978 in chronological order in albums. It is quite impressive.

So I spent much to long curled up on the floor of the living room sifting through photo albums.  I had to be covert because this was a surprise and Mom tends to pop up at all the wrong times for surprises.   She is notorious.  But through some small grace of God I was able to grab what I needed, throw it in an envelope and take it back to Ithaca with me.

Then!   I spent hours and hours and HOURS scanning 1980s photos.  It was not particularly enjoyable.  But I would do anything for my sister.   After the worst was over, I got to also gather the digital photos I've been taking since college, and arrange the darn things in a book.   How to approach it?   Chronological?  Al pages and Boue pages?   Photos just with mom?   Family photos together?  All Christmas pics on the same page?   The combinations were endless.

But finally it was finished and I placed the order.    I ordered the book in early June after we got back to Florida.   Logic here: Ship it to my house so I could hand carry it home in July for Grandma's 80th and present the gift in person, with Al.    I did not want to risk it arriving at home and my mother, who we know spoils surprises at times, to be tempted.   Plus- I wanted to see it!

I obsessively tracked the order and shipping.  Finally it was delivered as per the FedEx site.   I went onto my porch and --- my doorstep was empty.   (not really- there was a welcome mat)  So I paused a moment and came back inside.  Michael did not hear the bell ring nor did I.  I checked the ground below the porch.  You never know.   Nothing.    So then I took a walk around the neighborhood and checked homes whose addresses are the same digits as ours but in different orders.  Nothing.  So I came back home and called FedEx.   This resulted in a very thorough detective search between customer service managers on the corporate level and local level and all sorts of folks in between.  It was a mess and lasted more than a week.

I explained the gift was for my parents, not an iPod.   The item was sentimental and had no street value, so to speak.   It was time sensitive because of the impending trip home.  Blah dee blah.   Well, turns out the box was delivered to the wrong house.   The driver came back out and drove to the house where he dropped the box and.... it wasn't mine.  At least he admitted it.  But since we live in a resort community and he dropped it off at a rental property I couldn't even ask a neighbor.   That house has no neighbor.

Good news: I called Apple and had the book reprinted and shipped to Ohio.   Of course at this time the darn book was going to arrive AFTER our July trip.   Darn it.  C'est la vie.   It did arrive the following week and Mom and Dad loved it.

Flashforward: Today Michael saw a package on the porch.   It was the original book its cardboard sleeve- not original box.   So here we are 4 months later and the poor sap who thought he was getting a free MacBook Pro opened the damn box and saw it was a book of a bunch of crazy midwesterners with bad 80s fashions.  So I guess they - covertly? - dropped it off today.   Neither one of us saw anyone.  Um way to be late, poor sap.

So I am keeping it.   I have a new coffee table book.  It's just like my parents' book and it's awesome.

BzzAgent

Do you know BzzAgent?  One of my colleagues told me about it about 6 months ago.  It all started at lunch.

K was microwaving a new LeanCuisine product that included a soup and sandwich duo.  I had recently seen the item advertised in a magazine, so asked her if they were good.  K told me this was her first one; she received a coupon through a free product-trial group.  Now,  I love new products and I love coupons.  I was instantly hooked and asked to know more.

BzzAgent is a group that promotes free products to its members.  Products run the gamut: cleaning supplies, cosmetics, diapers, iPhone apps, not-usually-free websites with financial services, coupons for food, etc.   It really runs the gamut.  I took a look at the website that evening and signed up.  Again, it's free to join and participate.

Once you create an account, you take surveys.  They are brief questionnaires: 5 or 8 questions.  They do not take all day thankfully.   And, more importantly, they are useful.  They want to know about you so they send you the right products.   I am a married 28 year old female without kids.  They will not be sending me diapers.  Nor will they be sending me One-A-Day's newest line for men over 65.   Helpful.

So the more surveys you answer, the better tailored the products will be.  Don't worry, they don't give you 100 surveys to start.   They give you maybe 5 and then the next time you visit the website, there might be 2 more.   They are literally 5 questions and take about 10 seconds to answer.  The more surveys you fill out, the more likely it is that a) you will receive a free product and b) it will be a product you just might buy.   (Especially if they send a coupon too!)

Now that they know you, you'll start to get emails about free stuff.   If you indicate that you would like to try the product that is described, you will get a box in the mail!   Don't worry, they do not send anything unless you indicate you actually want it.  Now, this is free, but the folks at BzzAgent do want you to talk (Bzz) about the products.  Tell your friends and colleagues and neighbors and sisters  and hair stylist about the stuff.  Write about it on facebook.   Blog about it (guilty as charged).  Give friends the coupons.  Help the big corporate giants promote their new products in a more viral, social media type way.

So far I have received and used the following:

-A rather large box chock full of SCJohnson cleaning type products
A bottle of pledge (LOVE!), some type of floor cleaner, scrubbing bubbles auto shower cleaner, scrubbing bubbles stick on toilet cleaning gels, glade plug in refills in a springtime scent, a glade candle in a springtime scent, glade spray air freshener in a different springtime scent, and 5 coupons for each product.   I was to share coupons with friends and save some for myself to buy additional products if I liked them.  And these were good coupons, y'all. Each were at least $1.00 off, some more.  Whoa!
Verdit: I love the SCJohnson company and everything in the box.   Not a surprise.   I will continue to buy my favorites but unless I have a coupon I am not spending full price on the toilet cleaning gels.

-A new L'Oreal eyeshadow
L'Oreal One Sweep Eyeshadow, which has an applicator brush shaped like your eyelid.  The corresponding survey even asked about my eye color so my free sample would be the exact product I would buy in the future, should I like it.
Verdict: I hated the applicator but loved the colors.   The applicator is too small for my eyelids.   Gave this product to my [also brown-eyed] sister.   I don't know if she is still using it or not.   I will not be buying this product.

-Burt's Bees Sensitive Skin Products
Burts Bees Sensitive Skin Facial cleanser (full size!), BBSS moisturizer (full size!), and a bunch of free samples of the moisturizer to share with friends.   Along with a handful of $1.00 off coupons to share.
Verdict: So far, mixed reviews.   I am an exfoliator.   Sensitive skin face wash does not have exfoliants, obviously.   There is no scent, which is probably a good thing for me.  The moisturizer feels nice, but I still think I prefer my Olay.
Prediction: I will use it up but likely won't buy it again

Had I been thinking ahead, I would have photographed the boxes and their contents so as to provide a visual for the post.   Alas, I did not.   I have room to improve in this department.

Can't wait to see what comes next!


Disclaimer: I have not been compensated in any way by the folks at BzzAgent nor any of the above mentioned brands.  Just sharing a fun free way to try new stuff!

Momsie was here again!

Before we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary, my mom came down for a visit.   Since she's been here a few times, we did not knock ourselves out doing touristy Disney things, and some days we didn't even have an agenda!   That is a big deal for me.   Ok.  I was working those days so it doesn't count.   Whatever.  It's still a big deal, right?

Even so, a trip to central Florida is not complete without a trip to a theme park of some sort, right?

Despite Mom's veteran status in Orlando we did manage to get in some new highlights, including riding the NEW Star Wars ride (ohmygosh!) and visiting perennial favorites Space Mountain and Captain EO.   Outside the theme park, favorite moments include seeing Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba, eating dinner at the delicious Artist Pointe, and taking Mom to a super cool wine store: Total Wine and More.  We also all discovered Menchie's.   Do you know this establishment?   It's good, but I wish it were ice cream.

Below are fun pictures of general mayhem and shenanigans.  What more would you expect?

My favorite Pixar character- he has a friend in me!

Yes, I was the only one who ordered dessert.  Who is surprised?

 Wilderness Lodge is beautiful- the pictures do not do it justice

Familiar sights highlights include: 

Meeting the White Rabbit (first time since 1978 honeymoon)

Riding the darn Teacups (I abstained)

 


Main Street Electrical Parade (first time since 1989)
and by the way, it's just as fun when you are 28 as when you are 5

Don't forget to let me know if you're in the area.   I am always game for fun in Central Florida.  Just please don't make me ride the teacups.

Two Years Married!

Today is our 2nd wedding anniversary.   September 19, 2009 we got married in Ohio on a gorgeous late summer day.   September 19, 2010 we were in Ithaca, NY and it was a wee bit nippy.   We ate dinner on a hill overlooking Cayuga Lake and the beginnings of fall foliage.   September 19, 2011 we are in Florida and it is 90 degrees.

                                            

                                                  


We celebrated our anniversary on Friday night with dinner at Victoria & Albert's.  It is a AAA Five Diamond restaurant at…..  Walt Disney World.  Yes folks, I was at the Grand Floridian Hotel, which is gorgeous, for 3 hours, eating amazing food.   I do not consider myself a foodie.   Don't get me wrong: I love food.   Despite being a very picky eater as a child, I now love food of many sorts, and my most favorite food of all time is a cheeseburger.   Specifically, with american cheese on a fresh roll.   What can I say?  I am a midwesterner at heart.

But let me tell you, this was once in a lifetime (so far at least) and also incredible.  It was a 6 course meal and we also added the wine pairing, with a half-glass per course.   Our waiters, however, gave us each at least one glass per course, thus resulting in a particularly long meal.  (I am not complaining)  As an added 'cute' component, our waiters (Jack and Sherry) also happened to be married!   They were adorable and very knowledgable with the food and wine and all that jazz.  The entire restaurant is impressive, and as an added touch, menus are custom and include your name and the date, along with a plethora of foods.  After dessert, the ladies are given a long stemmed red rose.

Throughout the meal, I convinced Michael to take photos with his phone, even though Emily Post would probably be rolling over in her grave.   Sorry, EP, but if you would have seen this food, you would understand.   Below, some visual highlights.  

Amuse Bouche with (from top right) prosciutto melon 'gazpacho*', crab salad with cream, jerk shrimp, ahi tuna in ginger sauce

*They didn't say gazpacho.   I forget what Jack said.   It was soup-esque and cold, hence, gazpacho

Diver Scallop with Braised Fennel

Roasted Alaskan Sablefish with Arugula Pudding

Duck Breast, Duck Sausage and Confit with Strawberry Rhubarb Puree

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Tortellini

Niman Ranch Lamb with Candied Marble Potatoes and English Peas

Kurobuta Pork Tenderloin and Belly with Verjus-Bacon Vinaigrette

Flora Nelle, 24 month Parmigiano-Reggiano, Gouda and Southern Belle Chevre

Coffee service was presented in a fantastic steaming Bill Nye type science pot.   It was tasty.   I don't even LIKE coffee

Grand Marnier Souffle

Tanzanie Chocolate Pyramid with Champagne-Chambord Truffle

Then I got my rose.  As if this was not enough, they also handed us breakfast bread to enjoy the following morning.   They probably should really give you a slim-fast or a piece of celery.   Can anyone say DETOX?    We actually wandered around for awhile, enjoying the scenery (we could see Cinderella's Castle from the boat dock, but the photos don't do it justice)   But even the walk was too much to handle.  

This restaurant is not for sissies.

Auditory Amusement

After seeing The Help last weekend (recommended!) Michael and I grabbed food at the Wolfgang Puck quick service restaurant across the street.  We had never been before, but based on our (my) interaction, we should go frequently.  Chad was a riot.   His helpful Disney nametag tells me he is from the midwest.  No surprise there

Me: I don't know what I want
Michael: Jules, just pick something
Me (to Chad, the young guy at the register): I need your opinion please
Chad: OK
Me: If you were going to order a salad, would you choose the barbecue chicken salad or the roasted turkey salad?
Chad: Well, I think I was a T-Rex in a former life and I don't eat salad.  I would tell you to get the pepperoni pizza with extra pepperoni
Me: But I don't really want pizza
Chad: Well, I do eat sandwiches.  So if both of these were sandwiches I would pick the turkey because the chicken salad as a sandwich sounds gross
Me (laughing) : That is not helpful!
Chad: I told you I don't eat salad!
Me (still laughing): Fine.  Ok.  Well, I don't want pizza and since you are no help with the salad, I will order something else
Chad: We do sell a lot of the barbecue chicken salads
Michael: I would like the Thai chicken please
Chad: See, he knows what he wants for dinner
Me: That does not HELP me!  OK, Chad, I am going to have the pesto chicken sandwich.  We met halfway.  You don't like salad, I don't want pizza.   How's this sandwich?
Chad, to Michael: Wow, so this is pretty much your life, huh?
Michael: Yep.
Chad: That's awesome!  The sandwich is good.

Class in a Glass

Since we lived in Ithaca, Michael has gotten very into wines.   He reads about them, keeps notes, goes to a huge wine shop for a great selection and what he tells me are great deals.    I just drink it and know if I like it or not.  He recently purchased Mumm Napa champagne- excuse me SPARKLING WINE because it's not from France- that we have been saving for a special occasion because, well, it's champagne.  (I am calling it champagne, folks.   Deal.)   And you should drink bubbly in one sitting once it's opened.  We tried to get Carmen and Tony to share the bottle when they were here, but the declined.   Side note:  Seriously, who declines champagne?!

So on Sunday we decided to hell with it, we're opening the bottle.   We had also that weekend purchased a champagne saver topper which somehow keeps the bubbles in.   This newfangled device allows us to drink only part of a bottle at once.   It's super fancy.  Don't ask me how it works.  As I said, I only know if I like wine or not.  

In typical fashion, before opening the bottle, Michael did research on the champagne and food pairings.   It turns out that champagne goes with a variety of foods including french fries and apple pie.  Two of my favorites.   We had neither in the house Sunday so Michael decided he would 'get some apple pie.'   We live across the street from Publix, so this seemed to be an easy feat.   But Michael did not go to Publix for the pie.   I'm so glad.

 

Best Website Ever?

So I have heard of Pinterest.   I had no idea what it was, and it seemed a bit like a typo for someone like me who types too darn fast.  But then, Holly, at NBB, wrote about it.   I love Holly and her projects and her writing style in general.  I am not a dangerous stalker, I promise.    So once I saw she had written about it, I knew it was worth more investigation.   Then I read her post, and whoa.  You Guys!

I think this is my mecca.   Are you familiar?  I'm not really sure how to describe it.   It's sort of a.... virtual bulletin board?   For photos of amazingly awesome and often unrelated things.    At least that is how I am treating it.   It's a place where you can keep everything wonderful idea you saw online in one, wonderfully well organized, space.   Amazon has a wish list, which I use and love.   But what if you are looking for headboards and you don't like the ones on amazon that much, but there is one at Hayneedle, and one at CB2 and another one that was featured in the pages of Martha Stewart but who knows where it's from?    Well, my friends.   That's where you pin.    Log in to Pinterest and you can pin all the headboards you love.   So when you're ready to actually buy one they are all together.   And once you start pinning, you will probably see that other crazy people have also pinned headboards and you fall down the proverbial rabbit hole and have looked at photos of headboards for more than 2 hours.   At this point, the Indians game will have ended, your teacup will be empty, and your husband will be upstairs brushing his teeth.   And you have still not purchased a headboard.*

My current obsessions are: finding a headboard for our bed.  We have been married nearly 2 years, it's time to have one.    Related to the marriage thing, I am also pondering 2nd anniversary gifts.   Traditional gift: cotton.   As I do not want or need any more bedsheets, I am considering other options.   Pinterest is not disappointing!   I might have found just what I am looking for.   Finally, in true Jules fashion, I am pinning organized homes and closets and pantries and the like.    I am not a slob, but there is always room for improvement, especially with this crazy website undoubtedly patrolled by other OCD folks.

I honestly think the one thing that has kept me from totally losing it is that I am not crafty.    There are lots of cool ideas on the site but once you click you can opt to pin, and see where to buy it or how to make it.   Y'all, I do not make much.    Well, that's not totally true.    I make some tasty desserts, I make wonderful nostalgic photo gifts and montages and videos (aka family historian), and I make the bed every day.   I do not do crafty or woodshop type projects.   Silver lining: it helps me keep pinning in check.

Finally, you can follow people on Pinterest!    I read that small type in passing as I hastily requested an invite early Friday morning, only to quickly have my request GRANTED before lunch.   I dove in yesterday after dinner and less than an hour into it, I saw a familiar face: Hannah's sister Gretchen.  She has what I consider to be good taste so I am following her and she, me.   If you Pin, holler!  We can be thumbtack buddies, or whatever they're called.  

*True story, happened last night.