Smoothie-licious

Okay, so I have a new obsession that is slowly taking over my world. It's called Smoothie King. Now some of you might think that this is nothing new...Smoothie King has been around for a long time and so have smoothies in general. Which is true. But for the first time I have a Smoothie King, with a drive thru, right next to my house. This little shop has popped up and suddenly displaced my need for caffeine. No longer do I trek out to unknown little coffee shops, or even that mega-chain that sucks in its customers with highly addictive stimulants are wrapped up in chocolate, caramel, and ice in order to keep them coming back for more.

So I have now moved on to fruit smoothies. I find that I craze these little drinks almost daily and I have to stop myself from indulging to often. I looked up the nutritional facts on these things, and I was surprised. The good thing is that I have been drinking them for a meal instead of having lunch or even breakfast. Otherwise they would do you no good to slurp one of these suckers down with a meal as well...too many calories!

I have become fond of the Pep Upper and the Strawberry Kiwi Breeze. My doctor keeps telling me to put more protein in my diet, so every once in awhile I will add a protein boost to the mix.

I will tell you that this is not the first time that smoothies have become an obsession with me. When I used to work at another place, there was a Jamba Juice across the street from me, and I frequented that place. I loved the refreshing feel you got after having all of that fruit. It makes me feel like I'm doing something healthy...although I'm not so sure about that. But in the end I love 'em and I will continue to indulge. So if you should ever have the urge to make me happy....buy me a smoothie...or give me a gift card to Smoothie King!

Happy College Roommate Day!

For those of you that are now looking around wondering what in the world I'm talking about, let me explain. College Roommate Day is a holiday that exists in the world of Hayley and Jacque. It all began like this...

Jacque and I, college roommates at UNT, are fond of the old days when we lived together. We spend many a times talking and reminicsing about the things that we did and the fun we had at UNT. We love to laugh about all of our adventures and the many friends that we surrounded ourselves with all the time. So, one day we were doing this, again, and we decided that we should celebrate our college days. We wanted to have some time to give ourselves to specifically remember those great days. Thus the creation of "College Roommate Day." We randomly picked a day on the calendar and marked it for us to remember.

Now with each year when this day comes around, I take the time to celebrate my college days with Jacque.

You might ask what is the appropriate celebration for College Roommate Day? We tend to send each other small momentos and gifts that remind us inside jokes, random hangouts, and usual events that were a part of those years. Things like: the great debate - HeMann vs. Skeletor; the true signifigance of a Claymor; the true enjoyment that can be brought by a Mike's Hard Lemonade after a long, stressful day; and even the meaning of "Miss EFL Public Relations".

So any of you that have past college roommates, or even a roommate from your early days, take this time to celebrate them and the fun that you had together. Remember the unique quality of life that they contributed to you and will always have that no one else will ever be able to come close to.

Bravo!

Friday night I went to see Joshua Bell, violinist, at the Centrum (which just happens to be the place where I work). I was very excited to see a talent of this caliber play live. This was also the first time that I have taken the time to see a concert that was being hosted by my work.

The place was completely abuzz as we all anticipated his arrival. He was due to arrive on Thursday to teach a master class to local high schoolers that were interested in pursuing a career in classical music performance. The next morning everyone was talking about his generosity and kindness to all of the students. No one could believe how gracious he was and how well he talked with all of the students about the life of a musician on the road and the demanding standards that are expected from a classical soloist. He seemed to be just to good to be true.

That night I met up with two friends and proceeded to the concert. We had great seats and started to truly enjoy the concert. But then, bum, bum, bum...Something happened. A lady in the front row (which is literally two feet away from Joshua Bell) gets up and walks to the back of the theatre (down the center aisle) in the middle of the first piece that he is playing. I notice that she distracts Bell by the fact that he opens his eyes, takes a slight step, and watches her leave. Not two minutes later(while he is still playing) the ushers let her come back into the theatre with her husband and trek down to the front row again. This distraction bothered a lot of people in the auditorium. But, I quickly forgot it and continued to enjoy the concert.

At the intermission I went to find a few of the people that I work with and asked how things were going. They said that the woman did distract Bell and he proceeded to throw a little hissy-fit on the side of the stage over it. I laughed and came to the conclusion that he had become a little bit of a prima donna.

The concert proceeded with some amazing pieces and truly fabulous playing. I really don't think it's fair to have that much talent all packed into one person. It's not fair to the rest of us average people. Monday morning I found the real scoop: It seems that the woman that got up, stumbled (drunkenly) and ran into the stage. The organist that I work with (Jay) said that she hit so hard that he felt the shaking where he was sitting behind the pianist. No one really blamed Bell for his little outburst about the distraction (since it turns out that he was more angry about the ushers that let her back in while he was still playing). Which I have to agree is unacceptable. What I can't believe is the shear audacity and disrespect that people have for musicians of Bell's caliber. Not only were two women next to me taking about five minutes to rustle out candy in the middle of the concert, but a man behind me fell asleep and began to snore and no one around him would nudge him to wake him up. The sad part is that the acoustics in the Centrum are so amazing that you can hear every little pin-drop on the stage.

But, the report was that in the end J. Bell was very pleased with the concert as a whole. He truly enjoyed the concert hall and the acoustics that it produced; and would be proud to come back another time. So all is well.
If you aren't familiar with the works of Joshua Bell I would like to recommend the CD "Romance of the Violin" or his newest recording "Tchaikowsky". His talent is also demonstrated beautifully on the Grammy award winning soundtrack to the Red Violin.

Birthday Wonders

Your Birthdate: November 13

You're dominant and powerful. You always need to be in charge. While others respect your competence, you can be a bit of a dictator. Hard working and serious, you never let yourself down. You are exact and accurate - and you expect others to be the same way. Your strength: You always get the job done Your weakness: You're a perfectionist to a fault Your power color: Gray Your power symbol: Checkmark Your power month: April

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Interesting...I never would have thought that I was so domineering. I mean I knew I liked to tell others what to do; and I strive to one day be the boss. But my goodness, this description makes me sound like a tyrant. I'm a good boss, I am!!