A Night Out Downtown

Why is it that fun things always overlap? You're invited to a few things on the same night, and then nothing for two weeks.

That is exactly what happened a few weeks ago, but I made two things work! My step-sister Alisa, and her husband Eric (but we call him Pearson) both turned 30 around the same time. They decided to have a joint party here in Cleveland, and rented out a room at The Velvet Dog, a bar downtown. Their friends came in from out of town, and everyone was going to be there. I then get a phone call that I have been given tickets to an amazing party at Playhouse Square to unveil their new theatres. Since that is right up my alley, I couldn't miss it.

I invited my dad to be my hot date at Playhouse Square. We went down and checked out their new theatres, mingled with some people we knew, and had a great sit down dinner right in The Palace theatre. My plan was to leave very early and go to Alisa and Pearson's party, but there was a show after dinner so we stuck around for a little of that, and then my dad dropped me off at the party. Just like when I was 15.

Like usual, Alisa and Pearson threw a great party. They had food from some of the local restaurants, and a little room that was blocked off for us with a great atmosphere. After their bar closed, a lot of us headed out to party the night away downtown. Needless to say, my brother and I took a cabs home, and I didn't feel so hot the next day. But it was a FUN night!

My dad and I at Playhouse Square

With the fam- Ernie, Pearson, Matt, Alisa and I

My cousin Heather and her husband Jeff

Sara and I love Pearson!

Welcome to Majestic Las Vegas!

Today was the Majestic Holiday Party! I haven't had too much to write about lately- I'm finding that life in one place is not as blog worthy as "old life", but this was AWESOME!!!

For the last week at work, all 200ish employees have received a daily wrapped poker chip. 12 of them were gold, and that meant that you were in the special holiday extravaganza game at the party today. I didn't get one, but was so excited for people who did!

We were kept outside of the party space until 2pm. We knew because of the poker chips all week that is was a Vegas theme. Elvis, Elton John, Blue Man Group and tons of Vegas girls greeted us as we walked through the door. About four minutes later, I dumped an entire glass of water on my lap and my bosses coat. That was fun.

Every little touch was was so well thought out. Our tables were cards instead of numbers, which turned out to be a key point later in the day. The buffet was totally Vegas style with excellent food like scallops, Asian salads, beef tenderloin, crab cakes and gourmet pizza. They had mocktini bars set up with Majestic cocktails, cider and soda. A magician entertained us, fun photo booths were set up, and slot machines were giving out prizes. Let the games begin!

Me, Brandi, Jackie and Sarah- just a few of the Majestic Girls!

The winners of the golden chips were called up to play a version of "Deal Or No Deal" with Viva Las Vegas making out the letters of the boxes. Can I even tell you how excited I was for these 12 people!? I would say that the average time of employment of the players was about 15 years (some were 20+ and some were 2), and they were mixed between the service center and the corporate office. We didn't know what was behind the boxes, but the "banker" offered all of them cash deals before they decided to open the box. A few people took amazing cash deals of $500+. For every box that was not opened because a cash deal was taken, another employee name was pulled out of a box to open it, which was totally unexpected. SEVEN people won trips to Las Vegas!!!! Some others won blue suede shoes and fuzzy dice, as well as gift cards and Bose products.

As is this wasn't enough, Elvis then unveils the Wheel of Fortune. There were 29 tables at the party, and each table picked a representative to go up and spin the wheel. Our table "card numbers" were randomly pulled to spin the wheel. Whatever you landed on, your entire table of eight got as their holiday gift. You probably can't see it in the picture, but there is an iPad2, $1,000, LED 47' TV, Xbox, gift cards to stores and a MacBook pro on that wheel. Yup. Katie was our rep, and she scored us all $500 gift cards to Best Buy! I later traded that gift card for a $500 Nordstrom gift card at the bar with one of our IT guys. I'm THRILLED and THANKFUL!!!

I just can't get over how I feel right now about my day. It was so fun to see people win cash and prizes to enjoy and share with their families. The event also brings people together outside of the workplace, which I think is so important. I spent time talking to people who I never work with directly, yet work in the same building with.

Yay for the start of the holiday weekend!!!!

Sneak Peek

Majestic Steel has a reputation. And it's a good one.

Not only are they an amazing company to work for on a daily basis (I swear, they don't brainwash us), but they are pretty well known for their holidays and celebrations. Not only are things like St. Patty's Day, Memorial Day and Thanksgiving celebrated company-wide, but we also have fun things like "Majestic Day" celebrating the anniversary of the company, and parties for things such as the launch of our new website. We also have "team building" events during business hours like Wii tournaments, lunches outside of the office, and bowling after work.

The most talked about Majestic event is the Holiday party that was thrown last year. I wasn't there, but I have seen pictures, and it was still the talk of the town when I started in May. It was a Willy Wonka theme with straight up Oompa Loompas. People received Golden Tickets and won fabulous prizes, then to top it all off, they gave everyone iPads.

We received our invites for this years party, and I must admit, I CAN'T WAIT!

My Travel Past

This is more for me than for people who read this, since I print my blog into books at the end of each year.

Now that I am in one place, I decided it was a good time to make a spreadsheet of all of the cities I visited while touring, as well as a list of where I have been so far outside of the U.S. and Canada. You think you will remember forever, but you simply don't. When I was going through my touring calendars, I had zero recollection of being in some of those places. I knew that I had stopped in over 300 touring cities, but now I actually have it all in one place. My back hurts from sitting all day, and my eyes are going at little wonky, but I think it was well worth it.

A few findings:

I traveled to 340 cities, but only 249 unique cities. Meaning I went back to some of the same places more than once.

The number one city that I have been back to more than any other on tour is.... DETROIT. Ew! Four times in five years. Best theatre, but horrible place. Remember when my car got stolen there? I do, and I also remember the time I did not blog about when I got harassed terribly by some men at a restaurant and felt completely unsafe.

Close runners up at three visits each were: Boston, Bozeman, Buffalo, Clearwater, Indianapolis, Portland (OR), Providence, Rochester, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Sarasota, Toledo and Vancouver. I can remember so much about these cities, and have great memories of them.

The states I have been to the most cities is are California and Florida, tied at 18. Second runner up is Pennsylvania at 13. The Canadian Provence I have been to the most cities in is Alberta, at four. I'm shocked they even have four cities there!

I have been to four Springfields. Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Missouri. I hear that's why the Simpson's live in Springfield- there are so many of them that they could be in Anywhere U.S.A.

My list of countries visited is:

• Russia



• Greenland



• Iceland



• Denmark



• Ireland



• Germany



• United Kingdom



• Switzerland



• France



• Vatican City



• Austria



• Italy



• Greece
  Turkey

I will be adding the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia to the list in a few months. Looking at this, it makes me realize that I need to branch out to some of the other continents. When my sister no longer lives in Europe, I think I will start trying some other areas of the world.

I really don't know how I am going to handle two weeks of vacation next year. Sigh....

2011 Horoscope

I was just on Yahoo, and I clicked on the horoscope section. I am really not into the whole astrology thing, but I will say that sometimes I can relate to it. Especially those books that tell you what your personality is based on what day in history you were born- wow.

Anyway, I bought a new car a few weeks ago and two days after I bought it and sweat over it, I was drying my hands in the bathroom of a restaurant, and they had the weekly horoscopes posted on the wall. It said that I should not make a big financial decision because expenses were coming my way that I did not foresee. Meh- what ever. Don't think that within two weeks I got blasted with unexpected issues. Stupid horoscope.

So I read the financial and career horoscope for the year on Yahoo tonight (I just ignored the romance one because it will probably say I will adopt foreign babies when I am 50) and it said the following two things (copy and pasted):

This is why sitting behind an isolated desk doing menial tasks will just never rock your world. And I'm adding- NEVER.

It shall then again return in 2012 to stay for an extended 14-year ride, making sure that you absolutely adore what you do. Talking about how this May through August was the perfect work environment for me.

Based on how things have been going for the last six months at Majestic, I bet that this little possibly made-up future comes true for me. It's really the perfect job.

Cheers to being a Libra!

Determining Time

I've been realizing something lately, especially since coming home, and I thought I would write a short blog about it.

I think that everyone has way that they determine time frames. For example, you might not remember the year that you went on a certain vacation, but you might know that it was after someone died, or before a child was born. You are then able to determine about when it was.

Most people have events in life that determine when other things happened. My mom says, "well, it was before the fire, so it must have been....".

I have discovered that I remember when things happened due to what tour I was on, or what stage of my career I was going through. I literally remember where almost every article of clothing I own is from, and most of it right now is from touring and vacations, so I know how long I have had it. (Someone asking where my jacket was from tonight sparked this). If someone asks me when a friend got married, I'll think to myself, "it was right before that figure skating trip to Paris, which was in November because the Nouveau Beaujolais came out when I was there....", so they got married in October of 2004.

I'm curious as to whether everyone really thinks this way, or if I just think they do? I'm also guessing that the way I determine things over time will change as I start to live life in one place?

One Year

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my grandfather passing away. It honestly didn't even occur to me it was the day until I received a few emails about it. Oops! I then proceeded to call it "Remembering Poppy Day", and with the exception of a few tears when I thought about it for too long, it was a good day. My brother Matt, Heidi and I met for drinks after dinner at a new place he would have loved called Rockefeller's, and my sister and my dad lit a candle for him in a cathedral in England together.

It's funny though, because so many people yesterday said they couldn't believe it has already been a year since he's been gone. I totally feel the opposite. I can't believe it's only been a year since he's been gone. I feel like it's been forever that I've been missing him in my life.

What a cool dude.

The Hunger Network Awards

I was recently invited to attend a reception and awards ceremony for The Hunger Network. Majestic Steel is one of the top sponsors of the Walk For Hunger, a program to raise money to feed families in the Cleveland area. It is amazing how much money the company raised last year for the charity, along with a few other companies and individuals. We enjoyed a few appetizers and drinks at the Shoreby Club, and then one of my bosses was honored on behalf of the company.

I cannot say enough about Majestic Steel, and their involvement with the local community here in Cleveland. I am lucky to be a part of it!

My Future Hometown

Where is that, you might ask? After five years of touring, something like 300 cities, 49 States, eight Provinces, and numerous foreign countries visited in my life, I think it's simply Asheville, NC.

I had a few vacation days to use before the end of the year and had miles on U.S. Air, which I never fly. But, U.S. Air flies to Charlotte. I happen to have friends in Charlotte, and friends in Asheville. So I just kind of winged it. I had planned on Charlotte for two nights and Asheville for one, but oh my gosh Asheville... I swear to god if I didn't have a job I really liked in Cleveland, I would have just rented an apartment and carried on with life there. And one day, I will. Not now, but one day. I have never, ever said that about city.

I arrived early on Friday morning, and all of my friends in both cities were working. I had reserved a "Prius or similar" from Dollar, so I headed over to pick up my fuel efficient car. And got a Mercury Grand Marquis. Do you know what that looks like? A boat. I could barely park it. Jerks.

I had read about The Grove Park Inn, and wanted to check it out. It is a beautiful granite hotel built into the Blue Ridge Mountains. Oddly, it also has the worlds largest collection of arts and crafts furniture. It was spectacular. I planned on eating lunch there, but a burger was $22. So, I headed into downtown Asheville and ate lunch at a restaurant at the Grove Arcade. I met some really great people, and a little Welsh Corgi.

My plan was to visit The Biltmore in the afternoon. I allowed myself about four hours. BAD CALL. The Vanderbilt's "vacation property" was massive. It's not just the 31 bedroom, 43 bathroom (they didn't even have full indoor plumbing then), 65 fireplace home... it's 8,000 acres of fabulousness. Walking trails, vineyards, biking paths, shops.... it's a full two day experience that I pretty much rushed through. When I live there one day, I will buy a membership and enjoy the property. I drove past people who had set up a little table on the river with cheese and wine, and were watching the sunset. It was so perfect.

Friday night (yes, it's still the same day), Alison, Gene and I met up with their friends Kellen and Pladdy for drinks overlooking the city, and then had a fabulous dinner downtown, with more drinks after dinner. Everything downtown is independent. There are no chains- none. Except an Urban Outfitters, which I hear there was an uproar about.

In the middle of downtown on Friday nights, there is a massive drum circle. It's like a hippie's dream. It's just a public space where people go to play music, and people stop and enjoy it. Everyone is seriously so happy in Asheville.

Randomly thanks to Facebook, I found out that one of my old touring friend Rasmiyyah, was about 40 minutes away in a show in Flat Rock, NC. She was in Buddy, the Buddy Holly story. The girl I met on Friday, Kellen, had actually heard about this show and really wanted to go, so the two of us went off on an adventure on Saturday afternoon. We took a scenic road up to Flat Rock, and it was beyond words beautiful. Apple orchards, pumpkin farms, Fall leaves... I loved it. I hadn't seen Ras since 2009, and she now lives in NYC, so it was such a random place to reconnect. Buddy was a great show, and the whole day was perfect.

Saturday night, Alison and Gene were invited to a party that we went to out on a farm. Literally, a farm with cows. Everyone there was just in such a great mood, and enjoying life. People brought their kids, there was a fire, hay rides, great food, and band, and a really positive attitude. And, and LOT of wind! (It was very windy the entire time I was there). After the party we went to their friends house and had fun drinking wine, eating smoked food that had been cooking for hours, and hanging out. Of course, their house wasn't just a normal place- I can't even explain it, but if I write that, I'll remember. It came with a Boom Boom Room.

Lastly, and definitely not least importantly, I headed back to Charlotte to stay with my friend Lindsay for the day and night. We spent the day at her house enjoying wine and music, and her cute little twins Brooke and Bryce. We had such a good friend day. I miss her so much now that I'm back in Cleveland and she's not here.

My trip was more than I could have expected or anticipated. I discovered a new city that I want to one day hopefully call my home, and I spent time with really good, good friends.

What a lucky girl I am!

The Red Cross Fire Safety Walk

Click on the picture to see us up close and personal!

On Tuesday after work, sixteen Majestic employees met up with the Red Cross and the Cleveland Fire Department. We went to a very low income area of town, door to door, to offer the installation of free smoke detectors.

The neighborhood we were in was a little unsettling. We paired up to go to each house and cover as much ground as we could. Most of the time the fire chief or firemen were close by, but they were often in houses behind us doing installations which made me nervous at the beginning. It was pretty eye-opening- lots of kids home with no adults, a few homeless people, terrible animal smells, etc. I was so surprised to find that on just two city blocks, over 80 smoke detectors were needed.

For the first time in my life, I got to ride on a fire truck, and wore a real fire hat! Which was much heavier and longer in the back than I anticipated. I kept smacking the back of my head into walls, but very cool none the less.

A few of us went to dinner after and all of us felt the same way about the experience. I know that we did a good deed on Tuesday, and it is something I will always remember.

Oktoberfest

Last weekend Heidi and I decided (last minute) to have a little Oktoberfest party in her back yard. She feels like she didn't use it as much this summer as she would have liked, and it's too beautiful to let go to waste. So in typical Heidi fashion- voila! A beer tent, beer, wine, food, German music (thanks to the local library), and the Browns game. The weather was absolutely horrible which I think discouraged some people from coming. But the food and company was wonderful, as always!

33

I have been looking forward to my 33rd birthday for a while. Everyone has a bad year in their life. Mind you, I am only 33, so I have many more years to go. But, 32 was my worst year so far. I lost the most important, most loved person in my life, a relationship I cared about deeply ended, and for over half of the year, I was very unhappy with my lifestyle due to my job. Some things have definitely started to turn around (especially on the job front), but in general I was WAY over 32.

My day was just wonderful. I never thought that Facebook could make me feel so happy, but the messages on there totally uplifted me starting last night. My friends near and far texted me all day. Bethanne and T Bone called from France. Then, my amazing company gave me a birthday gift and people I work with did little things all day. I left work early and treated myself to some pampering, and then it was time for my favorite part of the day- dinner with the girls!

My mom is always so great at planning birthday parties for us at her house, as you have seen on blogs of the past. However, I really wanted a "girls night" for my birthday this year. People who have been supportive, trustworthy and just good friends and family. We went to Grovewood Tavern in Cleveland, and I loved every minute of it. Even though I didn't want gifts, you can bet that every person showed up with something in tow that put a smile on my face. My mom went out of her way to make sure I still had the "Carol Ann Birthday Touch" with napkins, a gift table, cupcakes, and so much more. She is really the best!

I cannot express in words how appreciative I am to have these girls in my life. They, along with everyone else who contacted me today, really made me have a positive perspective headed into my 33rd year!

The Fisco Family Clam Bake

This Fall was the 3rd Annual Fisco Family Clam Bake. I have no idea why, but Cleveland is all about clam bakes. Everyone is usually invited to at least two or three, the local restaurants do them... and we live on Lake Erie. ?? I don't really care that it doesn't make any sense, because they are ALWAYS fun!

Almost all of the Fisco's (my step-dad's family) came to town for it with the exception of some spouses. Everyone just got together for Alisa's wedding, so coming again from CA, TX, NC and other places was a lot. Those Fisco boys know how to throw a party! Juke box in the garage, bar set up, big tents, and they actually own all of the steamers, grills and serving trays. I guess it makes sense, if you're going to do this every year. Clams, chicken, corn, sweet potatoes, and of course pasta, because that goes well with a clam bake. If you're Italian.

The weather was not exactly great, but it didn't stop about 80 people from coming. Can't wait to stuff myself again next year!

Chefs Dennis and Dan

Soooo much food, like usual with the Fisco's!
Ernie, Dennis and Dan finishing up cooking

Literally the minute they said everything was ready, it started pouring!

Ernie giving one of his fabulous toasts. To his Dad, and the Browns!

Sarah and I used plastic bags to save our shoes!

HAHAHAHA! Love it.