in case you haven't heard, we won a trip to new orleans!!!!

the story is a little funny...

the planet announced monday that they'd be giving away an all expense paid trip to new orleans for the chiefs vs. the saints. i thought, "that'd be cool, but it will never happen". i qualified on tuesday morning but kind of forgot about it.

anyway! this morning they were announcing the winner. the deal was, once they announced your name, you had 97 seconds to call in. when they announced the first name, i assumed that since it was rush hour, everyone would be listening. i went into the grocery store to get candy for our halloween party and while i am getting my voucher, my cell phone rings - it's john.

"call, now!"
"did they call my name?"
"yes! now call!"

so, i call. and i won! i can't believe it! first of all because we have been dying to go to new orleans. we were supposed to go next weekend, but because of finances, we just couldn't make it work. and now...we're going. for free. well, sort of. airfare, hotel and tickets to the chiefs game. we have a gift certificate for a restaurant there (one of our wedding presents). i'm assuming we'll only be there saturday-monday morning. we shall see, though!

i still can't believe i won!!!!!!!

i think i may have failed to mention that john and i will be hosting our first thanksgiving, this year.

at first, i was very excited - but that was before i realized how much it was going to cost us. as of right now, we're having fourteen, including us. not too big, not too small.

the menu has already been prepared. turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato bake, green beans almandine, dressing, rolls and salad. dessert will be chocolate pecan pie and pumpkin cheesecake. sounds good, right?

well, in the midst of my menu planning, i have come to realize that planning thanksgiving dinner very similar to planning a wedding. everyone wants to give you their opinion of what to serve as well as telling you what not to serve. first being the turkey. being jewish, there was never a ham at my thanksgiving dinner. for some unexplained reason, one of my coworkers asked if i would be serving ham. WHAT? no - turkey, only. then, we move on to the dressing. i found this awesome recipe for cranberry pecan dressing. but, *someone* told me not to serve fancy dressing because their spouse won't eat it; instead just serve stove top. well, since this is my thanksgiving dinner, i will serve the dressing i want!

but wait, there's more...then we move on to green beans. i love green beans almandine. so much that i added it to my menu. apparently, green beans almandine are not a thanksgiving tradition - the thanksgiving tradition is canned green beans served with onions and bacon. yeah, not doing it. so, here's my big announcement...SINCE I AM HOSTING THANKSGIVING DINNER, I WILL MAKE WHAT I WANT. IF ANYONE HAS A PROBLEM WITH WHAT I AM SERVING, GO ELSEWHERE.

it may sound abrasive, but deal with it.

sometimes you have to be a hard ass to get respect - so that's what i am doing.

the indigo girls show was awesome. the crowd was really great (until the end when lesdemonium ensued), the set list was good and the venue was awesome.

we got to the venue right as the opening act, girlyman, took the stage. they were pretty good. definitely had that folk harmony thing going on. they even threw in a little bit of "genie in a bottle" at the end of a song about being a gay girl wanting to make out with a straight chick. good times.

the lesdemonium (read: pandemonium featuring all gay women trying to get as close to the stage as possible) occurred when the the security people stopped watching who was coming up to the front seats. i would say there were about 100 people crammed into our little section for the last two songs, so melissa and i jetted towards the back. sat in someone (probably one of the girls in our area) else's seats and left right after this awesome a capella tribute to the men and women serving overseas.

oh! and on a side note, we saw amy ray smoking outside the venue on our way in. i think we were the only people to notice her because all of the other women (or should i be saying womyn?) were too busy scamming the crowd for some lovin after the show. little did they know that amy could have been their lovin.

being at the show made me miss some friendships i had while in california. one friend who i completely blew off, specifically. it's interesting how being somewhere can bring back so many memories.

anyway! that's enough about my night! how was yours?

some portions of this post were edited due to my lack of grammatical skillz at 8am

the good thing about mtv and vh1 in the morning is that they actually show videos.

this morning, i got to see the new lindsay lohan video (i didn't know she was a singer, and she really shouldn't be one) as well as the britney spears (oops! federline) video for her pathetic cover of "my perogative".
first of all, lindsay sounds exactly like britney and was prancing around the screen just like britney, so really? she's a britney clone. not only that but seriously, if your boobs are as big as hers, wear a freaking bra!

then we move on to britney...i really think she wants to be madonna. "justify my love" madonna. is it just me, or does britney's bed dancing in the video completely resemple the "justify my love" video? the only exception is that britney's lingere is white. then, they show britney getting married (so it seemed) in a black dress. whatever.

my point? i think i'll be watching cnn in the am from now on.

there's a new purse shop in kansas city. it's called 1154 lill and it rocks!

i first found out about the company about 2 years ago when elise was living in chicago. it's such a cool concept and a totally original gift. i bought someone a purse for something, but i can't tell you who because they may or may not read this blog!

anyway! we started our xmas shopping last weekend. i am insane, i know. but i've got to spread it out because if i don't, i end up buying everything last minute and spending my birthday money on other people's gifts. so far, we bought landon a chief's track suit, michael the transformers movie, cody an AWESOME GIFT, and a couple other little things.

friday is the indigo girls show. i am SO excited. melissa and i have decided we're going to be lovers for the night. and no, you can't watch.

how do you like my new look for fall?

check out my dress for alison's wedding...

keep in mind it will be black and not banana.

love it!

emily had her baby on sunday! i went to see little ella michelle yesterday, after work. she is SO cute. 7lbs 8oz and 18 inches.

unfortunately, i didn't have a chance to hold her because she was eating the entire time i was there. it's a good thing that john didn't go with me...emily was talking about the birth and what not. i think john would have died had he heard some of the things that go one while one is delivering. things that SHOCKED me. seriously, made me contemplate adopting.

needless to say, emily is trying to get everyone on the baby train. she's even named my baby. (no, i am NOT pregnant.) too bad we already have our baby names picked out. so, i guess the name sofie is up for grabs! any takers?

the thing about weekends, is that they go way too fast.

this weekend was probably the most relaxing we've had in a while. saturday we went to the louisburg pumpkin patch where we got to pick our pumpkins straight off the vine. of course, the visit would not have been complete without me tripping. actually, my foot (in flip flops, of course) got stuck in a spot of mud and i fell over while trying to get it out. then, i was covered in mud, which john found to be hilarious. so, i got a handful of mud and wiped it all over his shirt. damn bastard!

the rest of saturday was spent on the couch watching laguna beach while john replaced the faucet in the kitchen. he's such a handyman!!
sunday, i made a little trip to bed, bath and beyond. purchased a duvet for our duvet cover as well as a frame, a potato masher, new bathroom stuff (i decided that i didn't like what i had registered for), and picked out some bar stools for our kitchen counter. so productive!

i am hoping this week will be somewhat mellow. we definitely need it after last week. and, at some point, i will get around to posting about the iowa show.

all i can say is that last night's show was one of the best dmb experiences i have ever had.

maybe it's because i was front row center...

maybe it's because we had really awesome people sitting near us...

and maybe it's because neil young rocks like a 23 year old.

celebrity sightings in kansas city, part one.

yesterday we went to this grocery store in westport (the trendy area of kansas city), to get some flowers for john's mom who had hip surgery.

while waiting for john to pick me up in the front of the store, i hear this thug say, "didn't you work at the (insert name of strip club)?"

"no, i was on the real world chicago."

i whipped my head around really fast to see who it was...

cara.

then i proceeded to watch her pull out of her parking space to see if she had missouri tags on her car. it did.

and the stalking begins. JUST KIDDING. she was kind of a skank, if i remember correctly. but really, it doesn't matter. and really, she's not much of a celebrity. but, it's the first semi "celebrity" sighting i've had since living here.

my mom arrived last night...an hour and half late. not too bad, but i got to bed late, and john says i look puffy today. gee, thanks!

i am off at 1...then my mom is taking me to get a pedicure (yay!) and we'll probably go to lunch. then hang out around the house and go to get rachel around 7.

i can't wait to see rachel! i haven't seen her since march!!!