Wednesday, December 28, 2011

2011 Ladies Seriously Highlights and Lowlights

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you have ALL been waiting for...the JZZRGRL Ladies Seriously highlights and lowlights of 2011. I thought it would be appropriate to do these on the day of GOOD RIDDANCE as it is officially called. In New York City, they set up shredders in Times Square so that you can shred bad memories. Well, unfortunately, for this lady, 2011 was FULL of memories that need to be shredded. SO HERE WE GO...as we always start with the bad news first.

Lowlights of 2011

10. Yucky surgery in August coupled with a hospital bill of $3500.
9. Receiving NOT ONE, BUT TWO notices from one of my facilities saying pay up on your back rent, or move out (we have worked it out, but it wasn't fun).
8. Hearing that my only living grandma broke her hip on the same day that a friend of my parents had committed suicide.
7. Having my company tell me twice that they can't pay me my full paychecks (In June and September through December)
6. Having to do a mortgage loan modification with Citimortgage (see NUMBER 7)
5. Having my car broken into within the same month that I had to replace damaged floor tiles at one center and dealing with crap at another center.
4. Once again, having my Jazzercise business down in revenue, ONLY 1% down this year.
3. Having my credit rating drop 200 points in 4 months and having to deal with bill collectors for the first time in my LIFE.
2. Realizing that my parents were having a similar year to me...
1. AND YES, you KNEW this was the lowlight, being broken up with on email and having him act like I was just stupid high school girl that wouldn't leave him alone, when I was actually his girlfriend.

Highlights of 2011
10. Anti-Valentines Day, Derby De Mayo, Windy City Wine Festival and Holiday Martini outings with my friends...yes, this lady does a lot of organizing around alcohol.
9. Thanksgiving in AZ with my family.
8. Sugarland Concert with the Southern, Bodeans and Jim Gaffigan with my Mattie.
7. Rooming with my bestie in AZ for a sorority meeting, she was VERY pregnant and I was VERY heart broken.
6. Halloween outing with a dear sorority sister and then out with the redhead and friends...SO FUN!
5. Finally meeting someone who I actually liked/loved for more than 5 mins (unfortunately, it didn't last, see NUMBER ONE lowlight).
4. Realizing that my family and friends are so amazing, I couldn't have made it without them and meeting some new friends (Pittsburgh, that's you!)
3. Meetings and chapter visits with volunteer leaders and sorority sisters, you ladies make it ALL worth it.
2. My abstinence in the desert outing to AZ with 3 girlfriends in March.
1. MY TRIP TO PARIS FOR my 40th BDAY. Might possibly be the HIGHLIGHT of my life. So amazing, so lucky to have been able to do that.

Well ladies and gentlemen seriously, as you can see, it was not a GREAT year for me, in fact, it could possibly be in the top 5 worst of my life (and yes that includes the year I got a divorce). But I am READY to turn the page to 2012 and hope that brings a lot better circumstances...only way is UP from here.

And yes, New Years Eve is upon us. So once again, eat, drink, be merry and keep it classy. I am looking forward to a fun evening with one of my besties, my Mattie. I get to wear a skirt that I haven't had on since 2001...!! Poor man is starting to sweat the agreement is that he has to marry me if I am not married by the age 45, UM, my 41st BDAY is in April ;) Should be a fun weekend, gonna see some family on Sunday and see friends on pretend New Year's Day (January 2nd), when I plan to cheer my Huskers on to victory! Go Big Red. Happy New Years ladies and gentlemen seriously...looking down our THIRD year of this blog. Still very fun, thank you for reading.

BONSOIR, CHEERS and CIAO BELLAS!

Monday, December 19, 2011

A bit holiday wisdom from this past weekend...

Happy Holidays ladies and gentlemen! Did you keep it classy over the weekend? Unfortunately, JZZRGRL is here to report that there are those that did NOT keep it classy, but we will get to that in a moment. So there was lots of fun to be had over the weekend for JZZRGRL. On Friday, the Paris Sconi was in town, so I got to do fun Xmas stuff in Chicago. The Christmas Trees Around the World at MOSI, champagne at the Palmer House Hilton Bar (complete with carolers and a tree), windows at Macys, drinks and a Scotch Egg at the Gage, a great dinner at Rhapsody and then holiday martinis at the Blue Line. WOW... So here is the takeaways from that:
NOTE TO MACYS: you silly New Yorkers come in and take over our CHICAGO store (Marshall Fields) and you simply just made it SUCK. Hey Macys, get better Christmas windows, the ones you have now are L-A-M-E.
NOTE to JZZRGRL, a THIRD Grinch Martini is NEVER a good idea.

On Saturday evening, the southern and I went to the gorgeous redhead's house for her annual holiday party. Always entertaining and lots of fun. Some of the same people that were out with us on Halloween were there as well. FOR THE MOST PART, no one was too drunk and we just danced and had a great time. One quick exception, OK, you might remember our incident with the young lady that fell asleep at the bar at the Derby De Mayo party, well, let's just say, this young lady must have trouble holding her alcohol, because she was a hot mess at this party as well. I believe the southern noted her making out with some random guy at the end of the party.
NOTE to HOT MESS: Learn to sip!

Also, on Saturday evening, a good friend (who shall remain nameless, you know who you are), chose to bail out on friends to go on a date with someone. And while I could sit here and argue with everyone on the pros and cons of this, let's just say JZZRGRL and the southern were not happy with the friend. This date had NOT been planned for several weeks, as of mid day on Saturday, it was my understanding that said friend was still coming to the party with us...so NOTE to SAID FRIEND: it is never ever ever OK to bail on friends for a date. Nuff said.

On Saturday afternoon, I was texting with another guy friend about his date to his company Christmas party. Now, he has only been out with this woman 5-6 times and he invited her to the party, which I personally feel is a mistake (but you know how are these kids going to learn if they don't make their own mistakes ;). And his date proceeded to get VERY drunk and throw up in his car. And still wanted to go out her after that, hey I give him credit for his commitment.
But anyway, I know this is probably obvious BUT NOTE to FRIEND's DATE: OHHH, it is SOOO uncool to get falling down drunk at someone else's company Christmas party and then puke in his car. WOW!

So it is almost time for us all to tap out and spend time with friends and family for Christmas and Hanukkah. You know my mantra, eat, drink, be merry, keep it classy and don't karate chop any family members ;). Have a great holiday season, stay tuned next week for the Ladies Seriously Highlights and Lowlights of 2011!

Merry Christmas, BONSOIR, CHEERS AND CIAO BELLAS!

Friday, December 2, 2011

Ladies! You are fabulous, please love yourself!

Hello ladies and gentlemen. Happy HOLIDAYS...you know what I mean, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa...etc. I trust that you are all in the full swing of holiday buying, decorating and celebrating with class. Well, I made last Monday my own cyber Monday, thanks to Amazon.com (god bless you), I got all of my shopping done and didn't pay a dime in shipping. Cuz, there just isn't anything that I need to go to the store for and plus I might become angry JZZRGRL (like I did at Target the other day when THREE lanes all had price checks, coupons and other FUNKY stuff going on, and I just wanted my cheap eyeliner and mascara...yes, that's right I buy my eye makeup at Target and I LOVE IT). So I figure I might as well have kept it classy and shopped at home with my wine and my slippers.

Friday was Holiday Martinis with the Southern, my Mattie, a sorority sister and the Jayhawk couple. We had a blast, nothing like being silly and singing really loud to annoy everyone at the bar while watching Christmas Vacation, Christmas Story and Bad Santa!

So, what is this subject today, JZZRGRL? Well I recently participated in a Pathways seminar. It lasted the whole weekend. And it is an empowerment type of seminar designed to help people find balance and their path in life (great cause, right?). And I met some great people, but this is what made me SO sad, SO many people don't like themselves. And most of those people are women. And well, you know me, I am my own biggest fan (besides my mom and my OUTSTANDING fan club, you know who you are). And it is so hard for me to understand why these cute, intelligent, well put together women don't like themselves. I hope that I had just a little bit of influence on them, and I know from further emails with the group that these women are making strides, which is awesome. Ladies seriously, you are all wonderful, powerful, intelligent women. If you are dealing with some stuff, get some help, talk to someone, there is no reason why you can't make your life everything you want it to be.

So in the spirit of the holiday season, ladies and gentlemen seriously, tell the people that are close to you that you love them and support them. Smile, spread good cheer, help people feel good about themselves during the holidays. This is an especially difficult time of year for many people, whether they have lost a loved one, a job or are just struggling. I know it sounds a little Tony Robbins of me to say it, but pay it forward, send out good karma!

Next weekend is the gorgeous redhead's annual holiday party, YOU KNOW, I will have updates after that, since I have them every year. It is always a good time with a lot of ladies seriously issues! So make it a classy week!

BONSOIR, CHEERS AND CIAO BELLAS!