Golf

It was an absolutely perfect day in Tampa, so we decided to hit the driving range.  I am in the VERY beginning stages of learning how to golf and I desperately need an instructor to help me; today James was my teacher.  I was a little hesitant about having my boyfriend "direct" me but it turned into a really fun afternoon.  He had tremendous patience with me, gave me some good things to think about and fixed my swing.

After the driving range we went to the putting green and that's when I started to fade.  I think my attention span is less than an hour when I'm learning something new, so we headed out after a short time putting.  Every time I go to the range I love it but it always takes me too long to get back to practice.  I know you have play consistently if you want to improve so I'm setting a goal while I'm in Tampa to play twice a week.  Gotta graduate out of the range and onto the course!

Photo Shoot

As a publicist, it's always a little strange being on a shoot that I'm not working on.  Today was one of those days.  ESPN came to the house to shoot James for a story about tennis players that play poker.  This was a shoot I wasn't working on, or at least I thought I wasn't.

The idea for the shoot was James at the table playing a friendly game of poker.  Well, to play poker you need people to play with, and since all our house guests conveniently got out of town for the weekend, that left Rory and I to join James at the table and fill the shot.  I had to dress up in a hoodie and sunglasses and push chips into the pot as if I were going all in.  I had no idea that poker players sometimes dress so ridiculously at the tables, wearing hats, hoods, sunglasses and headphones.

I must have done a terrible job as a poker player, because about 5 minutes into the shoot the photographer replaced me with his assistant.  He actually felt bad about it too, like I might be disappointed I wouldn't be in the shot.  Oh man, does this mean at 35 my modeling career is over before it ever started.

Skydive

No words for this entry.....but FUN FUN FUN!

Possible hair trauma avoided

There's a lot that goes along with moving to a new city, not just moving day logistics but settling into a new city means finding new doctors, salons, etc. I've lucked out in Tampa so far; the transition has been an easy one, and that trend continues with the hair situation.

I was in Tampa about two years ago for the Super Bowl and when I'm in town working I get a lot of blowouts.  I found Lizette at Studio 510 through a friend and went to her for blowouts almost everyday.  She was great and every time I've been back in Tampa, I've gone to her for color, cuts or blowouts.

I needed a touch up before Dallas so I went in for highlights today.  She does an incredible job.  Whew, what a relief to have a stylist here in Tampa and not have to go through all the trial and error that can sometimes go into finding the right person. 

Ouch!

This is easily my least favorite of all the vain things I do.  Bring on laser hair removal (bikini or under arm), lash tints or an eye brow wax and I'm fine, but teeth bleaching flat out hurts.  The bleaching trays have been sitting on my bathroom counter for a few months and every day is going to be the day I start the dreaded week of teeth whitening.

Now that I only have a week before I leave for the Super Bowl, I HAVE to get my act together and start today.  I've procrastinated long enough, it's about time to man up.  I only do it once a year how bad can it really be.... ugggghhh maybe I'll let you know later in the week, right now I've got a date with the whitening gel.    

Pranks

I am living with a bunch of juvenile delinquents this week.  And we have a house guest arriving tonight so let the pranks begin.  James and Rory thought it would be funny to saran wrap the toilet in the guest room and rub Icy Hot on the toilet seat and towels for our unsuspecting guest.  All in the hopes that after our friend travels for a day and half from Aussie, gets to our house and pees all over the floor and experiences burning and irritation on parts of the body that wouldn't normally be exposed to Icy Hot.

My boyfriend, who is so lazy that he would starve before he would walk to the kitchen and heat up food in the microwave, got dressed and drove to CVS at 9pm to get Extra Strength Icy Hot for the prank because the Bio Freeze Rory had didn't burn enough when they tested it on my arm.

This must be one of the many differences between men and women.  I went out of my way to make John feel comfortable at the house by washing the sheets, putting clean towels in his room and a water on his nightstand.   James and Rory went out of their way to make John feel at home by booby trapping the guest room to terrorize an exhausted friend.  We have an extra room....anyone need a place to stay?

Chili Sunday

I grew up in a house with a fantastic cook.  Everyone always wanted to eat at our house and I certainly didn't realize what an accomplished chef my mom was until after I left for college.  She was always trying new healthy things, making everything taste really good.  My mom loves cooking and she's great at it.

I on the other hand don't enjoy cooking and really never do it.   But since I've been living in Tampa, I've tried my hand at cooking a few times a week. Since we were all just hanging out watching the games today I decided to make chili and it actually turned out really well.  I even got cocky and went off recipe.  I'm not saying I'm going to start cooking all the time, but I do have to admit it's not as bad as I thought.

Oh and just in case you didn't hear.....the PACKERS ARE IN THE SUPER BOWL!!!!!!!!

Kiln and Kork

Another girls night, but a totally different idea.  There is a very cool place in South Tampa called Kiln and Kork.  You pick and paint a piece of unfinished pottery such as a vase, plate, bowl or in my case cookie jar (big surprise), and then they glaze and fire it for you.  Oh yeah and they have a great wine selection or you can bring your own wine to enjoy while you create your masterpiece, or in my case what looks like a second grade art project.

We were the first people to arrive but by the time we left around 930 the place was bustling.  Kiln and Kork is a great girls night or date night spot, and you get to leave with something pretty cool, assuming you like your final product.   We'll see when I pick up my cookie jar next week, fingers crossed.

Small Car, Big Car

Sometimes we have a full house and we only have two cars.  This can present some minor inconveniences if there isn't proper planning.  Well, today was one of those days.  James took the big car to play golf and left Rory, Thomas and I with the small car not realizing we had planned to go to the mall this afternoon.  We decided to rough it and cram three people in a car made basically for two.

Rory was nice enough to ride in the back on the 20 minute drive down to the mall.  Poor guy had to squeeze his body into the tiny "backseat."  He actually looks comfortable in this picture but i assure you he was not.  There may or may not have been some sweating and cramping back there.  Lesson learned and the new plan is to discuss car logistics each morning at family breakfast.

Derek Jeter's charity event

The kick-off party to Derek Jeter's annual charity event was last night at the Hardrock Casino.  I had heard about this legendary event for years and was excited to be in town for it this year.  It did not disappoint.  Fantastic food, open bar, great people and the night was capped off with a Boyz II Men concert.

We all had a great time....maybe a little too great.

Gum

Gum is great!  Mint gum, cinnamon gum, and fruity gum, I don't discriminate.  Truth be told I have a gum addiction.  I can be a half a pack a day offender depending on the stress level.  Since I've been in Tampa I'm not chewing as much gum as I used to because frankly I don't think it's great for you and it's a pretty annoying habit.  Instead of carrying around 2 or 3 different flavors at a time, I limit it to one.

I had to run to CVS today to pick up a few things and ended up in the gum aisle for a while.  There are so many different kinds now it's unreal. Trident Layers with it's unusual flavor combinations like melon mint and Orbits who likes to throw mint in all their flavors  like strawberry mint or bubble mint.

I broke my new rule and picked up 4 packs of gum and three new flavors I've never tried.  As I write this, I've already opened and tried a piece from each pack.  Guessing these four packs won't last through the weekend. Some habits are tough to break.

Lost hat alert

My favorite hat of all time is gone, possibly forever!  It was a very windy day and I was running at the Bay.  About half way through my run the wind picked up, blowing my hat right off my head.  As I turned around to grab it, I saw the wind take it right over the cement rail and into the Bay.

I wear that hat almost everyday when I'm running or hiking or doing just about anything outside.  Let's face it, I need that hat to avoid scorching my fair skin in the hot Florida sun.  So bummed it's gone and not sure where I can get a replacement.  James, any ideas?

Poker Night

Poker night is always Wednesday.  That's why Rory and I have date night each Wednesday because James plays in a friendly card game at the club.  This week they added an extra night and we hosted the Sunday night poker game at the house.  I wasn't really sure what to expect but I was about to find out.

Basically poker night means nine guys get together and eat a lot of snacks, use bad language, stay up way too late, make inappropriate jokes, laugh a lot and play a little poker along the way.  It's a guys night under the guise of poker night.

I think everyone had a great time and are all welcome to come back for more poker nights in the future.... but maybe not every Sunday.

Go Pack

 

When you grow up in Wisconsin you are a Packer fan for life.  You can move to any state or country, for any amount of time and your loyalty is expected to remain with the Green Bay Packers.  I'm pretty sure if you pick up another team along the way, they don't allow you back in the great state of Wisconsin.

We headed out to the Tampa Ale House to watch the game and grab dinner.  Most of us were rooting for the Pack.  Rory is a physical therapist who works with Nick Barnett, and has spent a fair amount of time in Green Bay, so of course he joined me on team Packers.  And James didn't want to break up the family so he was cheering for the Packers too.

I'm thinking my green sweater and our support probably made the difference in the game.  We may have to do it again next week!

Date night at Capital Grille

This post was going to be about the lovely dinner my boyfriend and I had last night.  But as I was uploading this photo my plan changed and all my thoughts shifted to my incredibly white hands.

My entire life people made fun of me for being ghostly pale even in the heat of the summer months.  At a girls night a few years ago in San Diego, we were looking through pictures and one was a bit blurry so we couldn't tell who was in the picture. My friend Jen said 'I know it's Emily I can tell by her white hands.'  We all laughed and agreed.

Don't get me wrong, the rest of my body is equally as translucent but between makeup and spray tans, it's the ashen hands that give away my true skin color.  This picture made me laugh because those chalky mitts are front and center.  Let's be honest, they are the same color as the plate!  It's definitely time for a spray tan.

Uh Oh

My first girls night in Tampa!  We met for dinner and drinks at a great sushi place in Hyde Park.  One of the girls knew the owner and he sent shots over after dinner.  Here's to many more girls nights.

Blue cocktails...gross

Rory and I ended up at The Rack, for date night on Wednesday.  It's an interesting place that has a lot going on including sushi, pool and ping pong; and apparently it was ladies night, which meant everyone was already liquored up by the time we arrived at 9pm.

As we waited at the bar for drinks, I noticed a girl drinking a smurf blue cocktail and asked what she was drinking.  She pulled a packet of sugar-free Hawaiian Punch from her handbag and asked if Rory and I would like to try "the best drink ever."  I was getting ready to politely decline when Rory reached out and grabbed the packet, ripping it open and dumping it into his double vodka water.  He stirred the drink and took a sip and said it was the most disgusting thing he'd ever had, but continued to drink it because the girl was watching.  He's a lot nicer than I am.

BCS pool champ!!

Playing in BCS pools makes the sometimes boring games really fun. I try to play in a BCS and NCAA pool every year. Usually I take my time and look at the lines and try to make educated guesses on who I think has the best chance. This year was a little different. I had just arrived at my brother's house for the holidays and he asked me to join their pool. I had 5 minutes to make all my picks so I began the very scientific method I used to select teams this year...

I picked each team that I had some connection to in one way or another. This method slightly better than picking the team with the cutest uniforms. I'm sure that will make the 8 guys I beat feel a lot better about being beat by a girl.

Holiday Spirit

I love the holidays. I always have. I love getting and decorating the tree, making cookies, eating too much, the red Starbucks cups, all in all I love the spirit of the holidays. But even I recognize there needs to be an end to the season. It's January 9th - take the wreath down.

Plan B was better

A bunch of friends decided to meet at the Improv in Ybor City for a funny Saturday night. We thought we were smart by meeting a half hour before the show was scheduled to start so we had plenty of time to get seats etc....Well turns out we weren't that smart; the show was sold out. On to plan B.

We went upstairs to watch the game and have some drinks at a fairly mellow bar. It ended up being my favorite night in Tampa. I'm convinced we laughed more than we would have inside the comedy club and I got a chance to get to know the beautiful, smart girls a little better. It was a really fun group. Sometimes the best nights aren't planned.

Finally a gator, or maybe not

Since I've been in Tampa I've been dying to see a gator. Apparently, around the golf course where we live there are daily sightings, but I have yet to see one. So needless to say, I am always on the look out.

On my way to the market today, I saw something come out of the bushes about a half mile in front of me, and thought this is it, finally going to see a gator. But as I got closer and closer I realized it wasn't a gator at all. I was bummed, but it's not everyday you see a PIG grazing right next to the golf course. I know my gator sighting is coming.

Dinner and drinks at the movies!

My friend Rory and I decided to see True Grit tonight so we headed to the theater closest to the hotel for what we thought would be a typical movie experience...but we were in for a few surprises.

Admittedly, I am an inexperienced movie goer, so maybe I'm just behind the times, but they actually serve full on dinner there and drinks too. We sat down to the sounds of silverware on plates instead of the crinkling of twizzler wrappers. It was pretty strange to see people drinking wine and eating salads, brought out to them by servers, as they watched the movie.

I'm not sure about salads at the movies....for now I'll just stick to the popcorn.

Packing is arguably the worst part of traveling

My boyfriend and I travel a lot for work, and everyone knows with travel there is the dreaded packing. I used to be the worlds worst packer. I would over pack, under pack, and on occasion be accused of packing bricks; in short I would have received an F for my packing ability. But, in the past few years I have made some adjustments and feel a lot better about my packing skills.

That is, until today, when I jumped in the shower and noticed my side versus his. I guess there is always room for improvement....but c'mon one bar of hotel soap for 10 days? That's A+ packing and i'm still trying for a solid C.

Run at the Bay?

I've been asking around about the best places to run in

Tampa and everyone says the same thing, the Bay. So I

went with my low expectations to check it out. After all,

I'm used to running along the beach in California and

what could be better than that, right?

The locals were on point. The Bay is beautiful and there

were tons of people out running, walking and rollerblading.

Honestly, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Hope

these kind of surprises keep coming!

New Year, New City

Nothing like starting the year and really shaking things up. After 10 years in Socal, I am starting 2011 in my new city Tampa, Florida. I'm excited about the adventure and exploring Tampa.

There was one good thing about waking up way too early this morning....Florida sunrise. I think I'm going to like it here.