Kate's Royal Fruit Cake

Kate and William's wedding cake is going to be a fruit cake.  Instead of finding this odd, I find it redeeming. I too had a fruit cake for my wedding cake.  Apparently it is a British tradition.  True, I am not British, but I did get married in Australia so maybe it is a tradition there too. 

I thought my wedding was perfect...except for the cake.  Every year as our anniversary comes up I think about going to a bakery and getting my dream wedding cake made.  I planned my wedding over the internet and when the wedding planner told me the standard cake that came with the package was fruit cake, for some reason in my mind I thought this meant a white cake with fruit filling...which would have been delicious.  Not only was it fruit cake, it was covered in royal icing which is impossible to cut through because it sets rock hard.  We eventually hacked our way through it, but the cutting of the cake was not the highlight of wedding.  I don't like fruit cake, but I did eat a piece since I was starving because I did not eat or drink anything before the wedding. 

De-Friended

I just had my first official "de-friending" on Facebook by someone I actually interacted with.  We were "virtual" friends who met by reading each other blogs. I've had other people de-friend me which I didn't even notice when they happened because they were people who were just acquaintances from high school and I never communicated with them at all on Facebook.  I wonder what I did???  This person also blocked me from her blog.  The only thing I can think of is maybe she didn't like a comment I wrote on her wall today?  Hmm, oh well.

Have you been de-friended by anyone?

P's Purse

What do the contents of a woman's purse say about her?  Let's check out what's in mine and see...

1. iPhone
2. iPhone charger
3. Blackberry
4. Blackberry charger
5. Wallet
6. Ibuprofen
7. Tylenol
8. Badge for work
9. Umbrella
10. Lots of random folded up pieces of paper
11. Ear planes
12. Nose spray
13. Migraine medicine
14. Gum
15. iPod
16. Altoids
17. Kleenex
18. Gas-X
19. Travel sickness medicine
20. DayQuil
21. Pen
22. Photocopy of my passport
23. Sudafed

Hmmm...I'm afraid to say that this portrays me as a gadget junkie and pharmacist.  Reality is that I haven't cleaned out my purse since my trip to Jamaica last month.  I'm even still using the straw bag that doubled as my beach bag.  What does that say about me???

Anything interesting in your purse or pockets???

Mail Order Chicks

Who knew there was such a thing as mail order chickens???  I get it that people buy chickens, but I had no idea that they could be shipped in the mail!  One site I looked at said if the box is not full enough they will include extra male chicks to keep the others warm.  I can't imagine how awful it would be to be put in a box and shipped in the mail.  I've been obsessed with this for two days now.  My husband tells me I need to be able to separate the idea of livestock and pets.  If this bothers me, he suggests I become a vegetarian.  I have thought about it, maybe it's time to stop talking and give it a try.

Teenage Dream Covers

If imitation is the best form of flattery then Katy Perry should be very flattered.  I've already written about how much I love her Teenage Dream song and video.  Here are a couple videos with completely different interpretations, but equally entertaining!

Glee


The kid who does the funny videos


And the original...


Which is your favorite???

Glee for Me

I think it's time for me to try watching Glee.  I admit I may have thought some negative things about the show based on the premise, but I've recently been watching some of the performances on You Tube and like those so I'm going to give the show a shot.  Hopefully all the parts in between the singing is as entertaining as the songs.

Here are some of my favorites:

Need You Now


Forget You (by Gwyneth Paltrow)


What's your favorite Glee performance?

Who are They Protecting?

Something about a cover over a magazine in the grocery store makes me want to look to see what someone thought was soooo offending.   

When I looked behind the black cover, I saw this.

Why does this need to be covered?  Epecially when you look back at the first picture and the magazine below it that is not covered.  It's also has a woman with a very low cut shirt.  I just don't get it.

The Vitamin D Dilemma

I can't remember that last time I had a sun burn since I am vigilant about wearing sunscreen or staying in the shade.  As a kid I got sun burned at the beginning of each summer then would just be tan.  I don't really remember wearing sunscreen back then, but we also didn't wear seat belts.  Now that I have to work at a real job, I spend most of my time under fluorescent lighting and my skin burns quite easily in the sun.  I have a regimen where I can spend days baking myself, like I recently did in Jamaica, and not get burned.  The outcome of all this diligence?  I recently learned I have a severe vitamin D deficiency.  The best source of vitamin D is sun light.  If I take too many vitamin D supplements, it could be toxic.  What's a girl to do??? 

How NOT to Run a Small Business

I would love to have my own business.  I've been thinking about for years, but just don't have a good idea yet.  If I did have my own business I think I would treat my customers like royalty to try to get referrals and repeat business.  Apparently not all small business owners feel this way as I feel I've been treated bad by a few lately. 

For example....

1. Wine tour
I've used a company a few times for wine tours.  We pay them one price per person and in return we get transportation, lunch and our tasting fees paid for.  This makes for an easy going day where we get driven around and just need to eat and drink all day.  My dad is coming to visit again a few weeks and he wants to go again so I contacted the owner with a reservation request.  Three days later she told me they weren't doing "small tours" because it was Easter weekend.  This makes no sense to me as we want to go on Saturday and not Sunday...and their small vehicles will then be idle.  Oh well, I'll try to find somewhere else I thought.

2. Wine tour attempt # 2
I found a limo company that does wine tours as well.  They charge by the hour instead of by the person and can also provide lunch.  I emailed with them to get the details but was told I had to call to make a reservation, which annoyed me because I'd really rather just type my information in instead of telling someone everything over the phone.  They were very responsive over email, but when I called nobody was available to talk to me and nobody ever called back.  Now we still have no wine tour...ugh.

3. Blog design
I want to have my blog re-designed.  The designer who did Postcards from Patrice was not available so I tried another place that had a portfolio that I liked.  I paid the deposit, which was actually the entire amount, and was given an estimated due date.  I waited a week after this date and then contacted the designer...she said I'd have a draft by the end of the week.  End of the week comes and still I have nothing.  Two more weeks we do this where I ask about it and am told "by the end of the week".  After the third week, I gave up and asked for my money back.

4. Bathroom remodel
We were trying to get quotes from 3 companies to remodel our master bathroom and 2 additional bathrooms, but we ended up with only 1 quote because the other two companies apparently were not interested in us.  One place didn't return my phone call (after I called and left my info and then they called and left me a message) so I gave up on them.  The second place came out to our house and we spent 2 hours discussing what we wanted and they took measurements.  I really liked their portfolio, but they never got back to us with designs and estimate!  This really annoyed me because we went in to work 2 hours late one day to accommodate their schedule and then they never gave us anything.  I did ask at one point and was told a date, but then nothing came. 

I think I'm nice and polite to people and want to use their services, but I'm not going to beg someone to let me give them my money.   In this economy you'd think they would be more receptive to me wanting to use their services.

Are you a small business owner or have you been treated badly as a customer?  Tell me your stories!