Guilty Pleasures

Hello, my name is Casey, and I'm an addict. That's right I am a TV addict. I know that constantly watching tv is killing brain cells at an alarming rate. However, I don't particularly care. Currently on the tube is "Dancing with the Stars." I have never watched this show, but I decided to give it a go this time around. I'll let you know what I think... (I do know I'm already rooting for Jason Taylor. Even though he is on a rival team- the Dolphins- I've always thought he was super hot). In the meantime, here are some of my current guilty pleasures, found while realizing that weekend tv absolutely sucks and scrolling through the channels. And before you say it- I don't have Tivo. I know, I'm pretty much the person Tivo was invented for, and alas, I am not a Tivo-ite.

The Bachelor. During the first 2 seasons of this show I constantly made fun of my then roommate (and one of my very best friends) Tamara. I teased her about watching it all the time. (She has an uncanny knack for knowing exactly what is going to happen, btw) And then? I started watching it and was hooked. It's horrible and the show is pointless since only one couple has ever worked out (see what happens when you put the girl in charge?). My favorite person ever was a guy that came down to the last 2 on the Bachelorette. I don't remember anything about him except his name was Matt, he was from SoCal, and he may have been the true love of my life. He lost, and the Bachelorette (I think Jen?) was SO wrong. He was the guy that made my class decide that there should be a "Who wants to marry my teacher?" show where the class would pick a husband for me. Ahh- the memories. What was I doing discussing this with 5th graders? Who knows! Anyway- the new bachelor is a Brit and I don't yet know how I feel about that. I'm sure I will so update you with my thoughts on the season.

Keeping up with the Kardashians. Ok, I stumbled upon this one on E! last weekend and I hate to admit that I'm kind of hooked. The whole phenomenon of how people become famous for being famous just totally bamboozles me (can you use that as a verb? Sure, why not!). This family- whoa. Here are the 2 things that get me. The famous one- Kim- isn't even the prettiest sister. Of the 3 older girls, I think she's the least pretty! The other thing that totally gets me is Kim's overuse of the word "amazing." EVERYTHING is AMAZING. Um, really? Posing for Playboy is amazing? Didn't get that memo. Um, that bathing suit that looks like a rag is amazing? okaaaaay... Anyway. It should be the new drinking game- every time Kim says something is amazing you take a drink. All I want to know is how Bruce Jenner got himself into this family. They are crazy and he spends most of the time looking like a deer in headlights. Definitely check it out- quality entertainment!

The Real Housewives of NYC. Sad that I missed the RHofOC. I'm sure I would have loved it. The NYC cast is simply ridiculous. Because of horrible programming luck I have actually seen only one episode- of course, I've seen it 3 times. These people are ridiculous. There are just no words to describe the absolute disgusting level of self-absorption and shallow-ness. You must check it out. I think it's on Bravo.

Here Come the Newlyweds. I can't even believe I'm admitting to watching this one. I have to say- I totally enjoy it. Basically they have to all do stupid tasks and they get voted off. Of the four left, 3 of them I would be happy with winning. The host, however, is way annoying- even more so than Chris Harrison.

Oprah's Big Give. I wasn't really sure what this show was going to be all about and I was very skeptical. I do not like Oprah. I don't watch her show, read her magazine, or buy her books. I think she's very full of herself but tries to come off like a good person. She irritates me to no end. Well, this show is actually really good. It's made me cry every week (not that that's at all surprising). Each of the "givers" has a task each week- think The Philanthropic Apprentice. They do good things all over the country and it is actually inspiring. I thought it was going to be Oprah giving them a million bucks and them just handing it out. It's not like that. You should check it out- you just feel happy that the people are being helped. The most annoying contestant was kicked off last night, so now it's all good.

Other than that- a non-guilty pleasure that's just a fabulous show is Notes From the Underbelly. Cooper is my hero. Check it out on ABC.com if you've never seen it. Also- I can't wait for Miss Guided. Looks funny!

Uh oh- the Bachelor is about to kick off his search for fame... I mean love... gotta go!

PS- Leave me comments on what are your favorite guilty pleasures. It can be a little like group therapy!

Three Part Tragedy: Part Three - Super Bowl Sadness

I know- it's been over a month and I still haven't reflected on my Super Bowl experience. I still feel the pain of it (yes, I know- just a game...). I am ready to reflect, put it behind me, and get ready for Sox season. I get to see them play the Dodgers at the end of the month- yay! Anyway- I began the SB weekend taking notes. I will transcribe them below and then offer you my remaining thoughts on the tragedy... I mean, game.

Saturday
7:50 am: I'm here! Well, by here I mean in the aisle seat in the first row of my flight to OC. I'm decked out in my Pats gear and have only gotten one remark- fortunately it was pro-Pats. I've got my USA Today and my SI and I'm ready. I still can't believe I'm going! Yay!

8ish am: Just saw in USA Today that the official kick-off is 6:17 eastern. This has to be a good omen- the area code in Boston is 617! The people who commented on my Pats dear said it was a reach when I told them. Reach? Nah. Destiny? Hope so! [ok, reliving these comments may make me cry...]

9:30 am: There's dad!
9:45 am: Ahh... Starbucks

1:30 pm: Blythe, CA. We came off the highway to get gas and something to eat. We pulled into a BK parking lot (seriously- where is an In n' Out when you need one) and who should be in the car next to us but a guy in a Wes Welker jersey. Inside BK there was another Pats fan- another good omen. I also had my very first BK Veggie burger. Not quite delicious, but what did I expect?

Shortly thereafter: Just passed into AZ. Sadly I missed the state line sign. In my defense, it was approximately the size of a license plate.

2:50 ish pm: A car just passed with a Brady jersey in the window- yay! I've been busy catching up on a week's worth of USA Today stories. I've also been trying to snap pics out the window of scenic "middle of nowhere" Arizona- the American landscape as I like to call it.

4ish pm: Go through Buckeye, AZ. Another omen- Mike Vrabel was an Ohio St. Buckeye. Next exit- Watson Road. We have a Benjamin Watson. Things are looking good! [oh the horror of all the omens...]

Goodyear, AZ- it's been a very GOOD YEAR
Roosevelt Canal- Roosevelt Colvin is on the team
Baseline Road- There is a Baseline Road in Roseville and Tedy Bruschi is from Roseville.
Warner Road- Beat Kurt Warner in our first SB [Ok- I was so stretching....]
Hardy - My first dorm in Boston was Hardey Hall
College Ln- It was when I was in college in Boston that I started to like that Pats

Sunday
11:59 am: Leftover thoughts from Saturday-
Last night on the way to dinner we passed John Henry's - another omen- John Henry is one of the Sox owners. Dinner was good- fried ravioli. Reminded me of Vinny T's only not nearly as delicious. At church this morning, the woman in front of me turned around and said, Go Pats!

Now we are on our way. It's weird- I still don't have a feeling for the game [I was so lying to myself. Saturday night I had a bad feeling, but wouldn't admit to it.] I think we'll win. I just can't believe it's happening. After all the talk it's do or die time. 19-0 or 18-1. In a few hours I'll be either deliriously happy or, well, I don't want to think about that [um, in a football depression for a month...]

The stadium is in sight and what do I see? Thomas Road!


So probably the fact that I was looking for omens everywhere should have been a sign in itself that I was scared to death about the outcome of the game. I kept trying to convince myself it was going to happen. The weird thing was that I never really had a vision of myself celebrating the game or anything and I kept trying to. But at the same time, I really couldn't imagine losing either.

When we got to the stadium we were with my dad's friend Peter and his son. We had to walk a good distance to the stadium and when we got there I wanted to "soak it all in." Well, Peter has been to every Giants Super Bowl,, so he was pretty much over it. He and his son went to eat, and dad and I walked around. There were so many people (duh) and everyone was in jerseys. It was a tad overwhelming. Next to the stadium there was a place that I can describe only as being like Downtown Disney or Universal City Walk- an entertainment complex with lots of restaurants, a few shops, etc. We sort of wandered through there and then I wanted to head to the NFL experience, which was set up behind the stadium. We finally got over there and the lines for everything were so flippin long. The line to just get into the store over there was an hour. In hindsight, it's a good thing. Imagine if I had gotten in there and bought one of everything (as we all know I would have) and then we lost and I have all these souvenirs of the saddest game ever. Maybe that should have been an omen too!

Anyway- the details of the game are a little foggy. We had phenomenal seats and were surrounded by mixed fans. What I think is really interesting is that everything I read after the game talked about how this was the best SB ever. Bill Simmons wrote about how usually the SB is quiet and filled with all corporates, but that this one was special because everyone was a fan. That's kind of special, right? Just knowing that I was at the best one ever. Anyway- the game was obviously very exciting. When Eli escaped being tackled right at the end and then threw that long pass, I absolutely couldn't believe it. Then even though we barely had any time, when we got the ball back I just had a feeling Tommy was going to do something special. When it got to 4th down I was totally in shock. I couldn't believe the season was over, the pursuit of perfection was over. Yes, there were tears. We pulled a Bill Belichick and left before the last second ticked off. I just couldn't watch the Giants celebrate what was supposed to be OUR victory- not theirs.

I hate that everyone looks at us like we choked. We didn't choke- we got outplayed. There's no taking anything away from the Giants. They had nothing to lose and everything to gain and they played with amazing heart. We had everything to lose- and we did. Even in the warm-ups I could tell that we just didn't look there. We never looked like our heart was in it and it looked like we never showed up to play. It was a battle and the bad guys prevailed. It's frustrating to know that any one of a number of plays could have changed history. I know that's the case in most championship level games, but still. I talked to my friend Shaina about how her husband felt about the whole thing. I think he and I agree- it's not so much about losing the SB itself. The devastation that has caused my month long depression is all about the not-s0-perfect season.

Ok, the SB is officially behind me.... GO SOX!

Book Review: Playing for Pizza

A book about an Italian football league... Is there any chance I didn't completely enjoy this book? Seriously, it combines basically my 2 favorite things- Italy and football. John Grisham has long been a favorite author and dad and I usually pick up anything he writes (although dad did pick up the non-fiction Innocent Man and was not pleased. Perhaps that title should be best left to Billy Joel). Anyway, this was a very quick read about a washed up, 3rd string quarterback who tries to revive his career in the Italian football league. There's not a lot to the story, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable read- I couldn't put it down. There is a lot of football talk however, so you may not like it if football doesn't float your boat...

A Cautionary Tale x 2: Beware!

In the last week I have had 2 experiences that deserve their time in the spotlight. Beware of both these places!!

This past weekend I attended the Religious Congress at the Anaheim Convention Center. Of course, by that I mean I registered for the workshop and then spent the day at Disneyland. The main reason I had decided to attend the conference was because of a place called Club 33. Club 33 is a private, secret restaurant at Disneyland that requires an extremely pricey membership. Well, my friend Dawn's sister Traci was going to the conference and had a friend set her up with dinner at Club 33. She needed someone to go with, and I needed hours for religious certification, so I decided to go on the little adventure. Traci ended up bringing her 2 year old with her for the weekend. She called me the night before we left and expressed concern about taking Maddie to Club 33. I (thought I) really wanted the experience, but also told her she had to do whatever she felt best, and it didn't really matter. When I showed up at the park on Friday, I really figured there was no way we were going to go. Well, Traci was still wavering. She was so nice because she kept saying she wanted me to be able to have the experience. Maddie hadn't slept the night before, so she was on pretty mellow behavior. We decided to give it a go. Club 33 is located near Pirates. There is a door with a 33 on it and a doorbell. We arrived a little early, rang the doorbell, and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally someone came to the door. Traci was going to ask if we could come a little early, but the woman rudely cut her off before she was able to get the question out and shut the door on her. We wasted time by taking the train ride around the entire park, and then went back. This time we were allowed in the sacred doors. The super snobby hostess looked me up and down and, in the snottiest voice possible, says "you can't wear flip flops in here." (Sidebar: I had been nervous about if there was a dress code and asked Traci, but she said no. The club also has no website because it is so "secretive." Although I'd been concerned, I really thought we weren't going to end up going, so I didn't really worry about it when getting dressed.) She then directs me to a store in Frontierland where I could buy some more appropriate shoes. Ok, now really, imagine the rudest, most obnoxious teenage girl you've ever met, and multiply it by 5. That was this girl. So, we trek on over to Frontierland and go in to the store. The only shoes available are flip flops and Disney crocs (over my dead body). I was more than a little irritated at this point. Please, rag on my flips and then send me to a store that sells 18 varieties of them? Come on now. So this one guy was super nice. He was an off-duty "cast member" and walked us to another store where he knew they had little skimmers. We go in there and they are the most God awful shoes ever. Skimmers- yes. Covered in Mickey heads!!!! They were $22.00, too small, and UGLY! I had explained the situation at Club 33 and they felt bad. Well, to make this long story a bit shorter, the manager of the store comped the shoes for me. It was so nice and the one redeeming part of the whole Club 33 experience. We walk back over there and I slip on the too-small shoes. The same snotty girl looks me up and down again and says, with the biggest smirk ever on her face, "yes, well those should be fine." So we're waiting to go up the magical elevator and there are 2 other parties in the waiting area. Snotty girl walks over to one of the other women with a polo shirt in her hands and asks her if she would mind putting it on because a collared shirt is required. Sadly, I don't know what the woman said, but the shirt was not put on. Now, I'm sure you can all predict what happened next.... Snotty girl goes up to the coat closet and is talking to the other lady. I can fully hear here whispering (not so subtly) about me. Sure enough, she walks over and asks me to put on the polo shirt, because, again, collars are required. I was wearing my standard black fleece, so I popped the collar, stared her down, and said, "is this not a collar?" With the same smirk she says, "well, as long as you keep your jacket on, that should be ok." Finally we go upstairs. We are seated at a table for 2 and Maddie was just going to sit on Traci's lap. There is literally NO room at the table and as soon as we sit, Maddie starts playing with the silverware. I open the menu and see the $66.00 min (which I knew about) and quickly scanned the menu. You guessed it friends- not a single thing I would eat, and I'm really not in the mood to spend 70 bucks after how rude that little girl was. I look at Traci and we get up and walk out. We go to the Maitre'd (sp??) and explain the whole situation and what a total beast the girl was (and of course, she fully deserves a "Stupid Person of the Day" Award). He tried to explain how there were standards and blah blah blah. For God's sake, I finally said- it's Disneyland!!! So, after this long story, let me just tell you- if you are invited to Club 33, it may seem like a cool thing, but really, if I want to spend 70 bucks and be treated like shit, I'm sure I can find much better options. (Sorry Lis- I'm sure you guys will have a fab time.)

A second cautionary tale. This week I had a very important package to mail. It had to be in NY before next Monday. On Tuesday I got out a big box and packed it up and went in search of packing peanuts. The post office didn't have any, so I was walking back to Longs where I was going to settle with bubble wrap. As I was walking, I noticed a UPS Store. I went in and they had the packing peanuts I needed- yay! The woman there said if I brought my box in she could tell me the post office price and the UPS rate. Wow- that's great I thought. So I get the box all packed up and give it to the woman. She tells me that UPS can get it there on Tuesday- yikes, too late. Then she tells me the priority mail rate is $62.00. SIXTY-TWO DOLLARS. What the F???? There is no way. First of all, that same box had come from the very address to which it was being sent, and it was much heavier that time around. The postage from that was like maybe $15.00. I was in total shock. Fortunately, I'm not a moron, so I walked back to the post office. Sure enough, I tell the woman what happened and my postage was like $13.00. What is up with a 400% markup. The moral of the story- if you need packing peanuts- UPS Store- thumbs up. Unless you are in the habit of throwing away money- sending packages- UPS Store- thumbs WAY down.

Ok readers, you have been warned. Don't say you never learned anything from me!

Welcome Back Randy!

I know, you've all missed the picture of the day. It's been a rough road recovering from the Super Letdown. I wanted to celebrate today because yesterday the good news finally came- Randy Moss will remain a Patriot!!! Surely my bf Tommy was thrilled by the news, and therefore, so am I. Randy is an awesome receiver and always looked like he was having a great time this year. I think he made Tommy have more fun too. Well, until he launched maybe the most important pass of the SB to him with like 20 seconds left and Randy didn't catch it. But we're not going to talk about that...

JennLove

If you've met me and you think I'm just the teensiest bit funny, I've probably tried to convince you to read two books by my favorite author- Jenn Lancaster. She has written Bitter is the New Black and Bright Lights, Big Ass. They are both abso-freakin-hilarious. Her next book comes out in May and she just announced on her website that she will have a fourth coming out in 2009. Anyway, the reason I interrupted the three part tragedy was to bring you this little snippet. What can I say- it made me laugh. Jenn and I should SO be best friends:

For example, as the ability to make polite small talk completely alludes me, I'm
only going to bother to ask you how your weekend was when I actually care about
your response. So when you reply with a bullshit throw-away term like "good" or
"fine," I have no clue as to the quality of your Saturday or Sunday and it
bothers me. (see the entire post here)

Seriously, is there any question why I love this woman?

While we're at it, read this post from her archives. It is by far my most favorite ever of her posts.

Three Part Tragedy: Part Two- The Long Good-Bye

Two weeks ago, the day I had been dreading for as long as I can remember finally happened. I lost my favorite person in the world- my grandma. I have been meaning to write about her since then, but now that I am trying, it's just so hard to explain how special she was and how much I miss her! The fact is, I've been saying good-bye for a long time now. Every time I would go to visit, I knew there was a chance it would be the last time. She had been suffering for years from Alzheimer's, and when my grandpa died last May, it left her without her one constant, and life became that much more difficult. And for me, it became nearly impossible to watch. My brother was so good with her and I wanted to be strong like him. However, every time I went to visit her, I was overwhelmed with sadness. This is not difficult for my friends to imagine of course! I would try to hide my tears from her, but it rarely worked. I hated to see her suffer, and I wanted my old grandma back- the one who made me laugh, from whom I got my silly sense of humor and wit, who introduced me to "I Love Lucy," and whom I always blamed for my love of ice cream and the opinion that there isn't much a bowl of ice cream can't fix. Every time I went to see her and she struggled to know who I was, I would remind her that I, of course, was her favorite (it's true). She would make me laugh when I would catch her eye and she would roll her eyes behind my mom's back about something. I know she's better off where she is. She's back with my grandpa and my uncle and my other grandparents who were her good friends. Knowing they are all together again brings me a sense of relief. She lived a wonderful 90 years. I was lucky to have had her nearby all my life. There was nothing she wouldn't have done for me and now, I know she's watching over me.

Here's one of my favorite stories about my grandma. She used to work for one of the movie companies a long time ago down in LA. She worked at the switchboard back in the day where you had to physically connect the wires on the board. Well, as she told it, one of her first days on the job, she was getting ready to go to lunch. Figuring that she wasn't going to be there, she pulled all the wires off the board- ending all the calls abruptly! Anyway- that always cracked me up. She was hilarious!

Well, sorry for the depressing post. But thanks for reading :-)