Busy, Busy...

I have to admit, I've been fairly busy the past 2 months. In and out of town, work, deciding what is next in my life, and making sure that one of my bestest friends in the entire world has the biggest surprise of her life pulled on her! Ladies and Gentlemen, this was, in fact, accomplished last Wednesday night.

KATY IS ENGAGED!!!!!

Aren't they cute! I was able to meet Landon a few months ago when Katy helped him move up to Virginia. A few weeks later I got a message from him wanting some input on how to pull a surprise on her. If any of you readers out there know Miss Nowiczewski, you are aware that nothing ever gets past her. NOTHING. If anyone could pull a fast one over on her it was Landon. Well...Mission Accomplished! He flew down and gave Katy the surprise of her life!

Congratulations Katy and Landon!!!!!!

Happy Monday!

A friend of mine, who happens to be in my Community Group at RMC, sent an online article out this out this morning and I thought it was fantastic. Awkwardly honest, a little sad, but completely freeing! Thanks for sharing BTM. Happy Monday everyone.

March 31, 2008

Today is March 31, 2008 and we have so many things to be thankful for...

1. MLB Opening Day

2. QuEST Graduation

3. An email a co-worker just received, see below:

ATTENTION NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK FANS

THE TIME: 7AM EST / FRIDAY APRIL 4th, 2008

THE PLACE: THE TODAY SHOW COURTYARD ROCKEFELLER PLAZA, 48TH/49TH STREET

NEW YORK CITY

THE EVENT: BE THERE IF YOU ARE READY...

I'm not sure what's more entertaining, the fact that Megen is registered on the NKOTB mailing list or the fact they are reuniting.

Needless to say, I may be late to work on Friday.

Weekend Wrap Up

I flew south for the weekend to see a good friend play some baseball down in Port St. Lucie, Florida. I had SO much fun! I'll post some pictures and stories tomorrow. It also looks like I've been tagged on several occasions, so I'll just post my 100 soon and hope that it will suffice for all tagging that has come about in the past week.

My new favorite Blog

I have to admit, I feel like a dog most days, in the sense that it does not take much to win my affection. If I find a new friend, musician, place, movie, or product that speaks deeply to my soul, I'm sold. In this case, it happens to be a new blog.

Stuff White People Like

Stuff White People Like busts me on many topics that I love and thought I was a pioneer in supporting. It looks like I was sadly mistaken. Steph showed me this blog yesterday and I am a huge fan already. One of the most hysterical (and truthful) blogs I've seen in a while. Check it out.

So I've been a bit obsessed lately...

with the "Into the Wild" Soundtrack. I won't say much about it, because I won't do it justice. I've always loved Pearl Jam, but Eddie Vedder takes it all to a new level with this project. Go. Download. Now.

Winter X Games XII

During my time in Vail, one of my favorite events to trek to was the Winter X Games in Aspen. I was able to attend the last 2 years and have never had more fun in my life! A quick recap on the first year: 11 people, (1) 2 bedroom condo, 2 nights of hanging out at the top of the pipe while dancing to Lionel Richie songs, listening to Renee talk in an accent that she thought was Australian, but sounded more like a pirate, and 5 local Aspen Bars in one night=one of the most fun trips of my life! There is no other feeling in the world like standing at the top of the pipe and have people fly 25 feet above you pulling the most outrageous tricks. I am always pulling for:

Andreas Wiig (my favorite foreigner, hailing from Norway)

Danny Kass

Mason Aguirre

And of Course....

Shaun White (America's favorite red head, Sorry Peyton.)

All medals, titles, and cliches about this kid aside, he straight out rips. Whether you like the sport or not, it's a treat to see him shred in person.

Tonight marked the beginning of Winter X Games 12 and watching Men's Skiier Superpipe definitely made me sad (especially the fact that Tanner Hall just won pipe, Boo! I am not a fan). I am missing all of my fun memories of Aspen, but as our friend Adam has always said, "The price of a memory is the memory of the sorrow it brings."

UPDATE: My boy Andreas took home Slopestyle today at Buttermilk. Super Pipe is tomorrow night...get excited!

I think I'm in love

With Steve Jobs...and the MacBook Air. I fully intend on purchasing this in the near future.

Christmas in January.

At lunch today, I probably laughed harder than I have in a really long time. Megen, a co-worker of mine, LOVES to quote movies, in particular, "Christmas Vacation." Whenever we are walking on the marble floors of the hotel she channels Clark Griswold in his office when his boss is walking by and says,
"Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas, Merry Chris..kiss my ass. Kiss his ass. Kiss your ass. Happy Hanukkah."
Every time she says this, I lose it! Well at lunch today we were quoting this movie and here were a few that we lost it with...

Clark: Can I refill your eggnog for ya? Get ya something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere..leave you for dead?
Cousin Eddie: Naw, I'm doing just fine, Clark.

Ellen: Clark.
Clark: Yes, honey?
Ellen: Audrey's frozen from the waist down.
Clark: Ehh, that's all part of the experience honey.

Eddie: You surprised to see us, Clark?
Clark: Oh, Eddie... If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am now.

Eddie: If you scratch his belly Clark, he will love you till the day you die.
Clark: I really shouldn't, Eddie, my hands are all chapped.

Eddie: Every time Catherine would turn on the microwave, I'd piss my pants and forget who I was for about half an hour.

Clark: [a squirrel is loose in the house] Where is Eddie? He usually eats these goddam things.
Catherine: Not recently, Clark, he read that squirrels were high in cholesterol.

Clark: Hey, Kids, I heard on the news that an airline pilot spotted Santa's sleigh on it's way in from New York City.
Eddie: [after a pause] You serious, Clark?

Clark: So, when did you get the tenament on wheels?
Eddie: Oh, that uh, that there's an RV. Yeah, yeah, I borrowed it off a buddy of mine. He took my house, I took the RV. It's a good looking vehicle, ain't it?
Clark: Yeah, it looks so nice parked in the driveway.
Eddie: Yeah, it sure does. But, don't you go falling in love with it now, because, we're taking it with us when we leave here next month.

And one of my favorites that I hope to memorize and quote on command one day...

Clark: Hey. If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is. Hallelujah. Holy shit. Where's the Tylenol?

Happy Thursday, where's the tylenol?

Updates...

Since I hadn't updated in so long, I figured an email that I sent to a friend in Iraq pretty much wraps up my life for the past 2 weeks.
1/12/08
Denver, CO

Hey! Turns out I have a rare form of F.O.M.S (a made up disease by Orly, that stands for Fear Of Missing Something) So when I heard that a bunch of peeps from Vail and Denver were going to a Pat Green concert at the Grizzly Rose here in Den-vah, I bought a ticket. So my FOMS has cost me $370 for 36 hours in the mile high city. No time to head up to the mountains though. I am staying with Micha, but Lauren (the CSM that took Ganz's place) and Orly (used to work at the FD and now works at the Inverness) are coming down for it and we're going to hang out. Also, it seems as if the stock show is in town, so that's going to make a Texas country music concert like Pat Green's even more interesting, especially that it is going to be at a shady cowboy bar. So, with all of these variables (including a mechanical bull that I fully intend on riding tonight), I should have some pretty good stories coming out of the weekend.
I called Trombetta the other day and ended up talking to Ferg for a little bit, he was going to try and make it down for the show as well.

Work has been okay, better now that things are starting to pick up. I've been thinking a lot lately about heading back to school, nursing in particular. (Hmm...strange turn of events, I know. I'm more surprised than anyone.)

I just watched Warren Miller's Storm for the 20 millionth time and it makes me miss it here a WHOLE lot. I still think I'll end up back in CO one day, I just love it too much.

Good to hear from you, I'll be praying that your heater doesn't hit the fritz. Doesn't sound too good though!

Love, Stace

(Side note: On the way back from Denver, I finished up listening to "Rebel's Guide to Joy," a sermon series from Mars Hill Church in Seattle. In particular, "Rebel's Guide to Joy in Death." I highly recommend downloading these off iTunes.)

Waffle House...The Stories NEVER End

Yesterday, on the way back from NC, I stopped in Atlanta to have coffee my friend, Rich Williams. We decided on an exit and I was supposed to call him once I had arrived and let him know where I had stopped. The only non fast food place to stop was Waffle House, I was feeling a little college nostalgia and decided that it would be the perfect place to stop. I walked in and sat in a booth. Note: I was the only customer in the entire Wa-Ho. I ordered a cup of coffee from my waitress and in the process, hear another waitress say to a co-worker (in a tone where she wanted me to hear),
"See that girl over there? Doesn't she look like (insert a name that I couldn't understand because of an overly hick Deliverance-esque accent)? Ya know, from that TV show?" The other waitress says,
"Yeah, that looks just like her! I think it might be!" Waitress 1 actually speaks to me and says,
"Is that who you are? We have famous people come in here all the time." I reply,
"No ma'am, that's not me!" She says to me,
"Yep, that's what they all say!"
I mean, how do I respond to that! I just sat there being stared down for a few more minutes, praying for Rich to arrive.
Fast forward to 20 minutes into my visit with Rich...
He's telling me about life in DC, work, the usual, and waitress 1 comes up to us (actually behind Rich, he couldn't see her, I could) and starts taking pictures of us! Seriously!! She comes up takes 3 pictures and walks off! So I would like to state for the record that I have officially fallen victim to the paparazzi, in Waffle House, no less. I honestly have no idea who she thought I was, but I have a feeling somewhere in Hotlanta this Christmas Day, a Waffle House waitress is showing pictures to her family and is disappointed when they laugh at her for taking pictures of a random girl that was just passing through town.

Weekend Plans

I'm heading up to Camp Nowiczewski this weekend (an overdue retreat into the mountains of NC) to hang with Katy and her family and then back to the Salty on Monday for Christmas with the fam. Hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas!

Welcome to the Blogging Community....

JUSTIN MCKELVEY

Justin has fallen victim to the blogging world and for that, I am thankful. I met Justin in Vail during the winter season of 04/05. We really didn't hang out that season since just by looking at him, I was a jerk and automatically pegged him as snowboard punk. During the next season, I really got to know him and he has been one of my favorite people in the world since. I've shared some really great experiences with him (Winter X Games '06 and the occassional trip to Buena Vista). He was one of my few friends in Vail that actually understood being in the world, but not of it. So, check out his blog and welcome him to the wonderful world of blogging.

Music I've been diggin lately...

I've been loving some Joshua Radin, Sufjan Stevens, and Tom Brosseau as of lately. Especially Star Mile (Joshua Radin) and

Casimir Pulaski Day (Sufjan Stevens), here are the lyrics...

Golden rod and the 4-H stone
The things I brought you
When I found out you had cancer of the bone

Your father cried on the telephone
And he drove his car to the Navy yard
Just to prove that he was sorry

In the morning through the window shade
When the light pressed up against your shoulder blade
I could see what you were reading

Oh the glory that the lord has made
And the complications you could do without
When I kissed you on the mouth

Tuesday night at the bible study
We lift our hands and pray over your body
But nothing ever happens

I remember at Michael's house
In the living room when you kissed my neck
And I almost touched your blouse

In the morning at the top of the stairs
When your father found out what we did that night
And you told me you were scared

Oh the glory when you ran outside
With your shirt tucked in and your shoes untied
And you told me not to follow you

Sunday night when I cleaned the house
I find the card where you wrote it out
With the pictures of your mother

On the floor at the great divide
With my shirt tucked in and my shoes untied
I am crying in the bathroom

In the morning when you finally go
And the nurse runs in with her head hung low
And the cardinal hits the window

In the morning in the winter shade
On the first of March on the holiday
I thought I saw you breathing

Oh the glory that the lord has made
And the complications when I see his face
In the morning in the window

Oh the glory when he took our place
But he took my shoulders and he shook my face
And he takes and he takes and he takes

P.S. Keep a look out for the next post. It will be all about the dirty little hotel secrets that I have encountered in the past few years.

Sad Night

It was a very sad night here at the Foshee house. I came home tonight from a holiday party for work to find that my cat had been hit by a car and died. One of my neighbors found him and let us know. I found Bailey, as a kitten, in a tree in Liberty Park at one of my Young Life girl's houses. He had been stuck up in the tree for over 24 hours. For some reason, after 30 minutes of coaxing, he decided to come down and jumped into my arms. I put up an ad in the Birmingham News, but never got any calls on a lost kitten. Bailey (or Pojo as my dad called him, because he was a poor joe of a partner and would always get in the middle of my dad's projects and knock things down) was the enforcer of the neighborhood. The story of his life was marked by constant trips to the vet to treat infections he acquired from fights with neighboring cats. He never lost a fight though. He was 20 lbs of muscle. We tried to put him on a diet one time and he started killing more chipmunks and rodents. You had to give it to him, he still had it being that he was 10 years old and overweight. Though at times he seemed like a menace to society (he attacked our neighbor once, but my grandmother thought she deserved it because she had a buddha statue in her yard) he was my cat. He was protective and seemed to have more dog like qualities than cat. He lived a very privileged life. My dad had set up a partially finished basement room for him, complete with a twin size bed (with a heating pad for the winter), cat artwork, numerous toys, a water purifying fountain, and a TV. Dad made sure that he was able to watch Auburn Football games and "Two a Days." Not kidding. He went to watch fireworks with our family every 4th of July and would jump up on the dashboard to watch them. Needless to say, I was attached. Funny, the past few nights when I came in late, I would spend some time extra time with him because I felt like he needed a little extra loving. I guess something was telling me that his time on this earth was limited. It's funny how hard it is when you lose a pet, the first feeling I had was that I don't want to have another pet again. I guess I just miss my friend. Rest in Peace Bailey Boo...we'll miss you!

Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.

Work has been crazy as of lately. None of my events though, lots of holiday parties that my co-workers have booked. Saturday night I helping a co-worker (Jeanna) get a chocolate fountain started in her party. Let the record show that I HATE chocolate fountains. I think they are the most vile creations on earth. They should be referred to as "Fountains of Communicable Diseases." I've seen some gross stuff in my event days and I will never ever eat out of one ever. It's one of those unknown hospitality secrets similar to taking off the comforter off of hotel room beds. P.S. I have a list of things that you should watch out for in hotel rooms. If you're interested let me know. I would publish them, but for some people somethings are best left unsaid. That aside, we had to get it up and running. The kitchen brought up part of the chocolate for the fountain (or what we thought was the correct chocolate for the fountain). We poured it in the fountain and it looked like this:

Obviously, it needed more chocolate. So Jeanna headed down to the kitchen to get the rest only to discover that we were given the wrong (one was dark and the other was milk) chocolate!!! Not sure what to do, we thought about it for a second and decided to pour the rest of it in, thinking that it would just mix and aesthetically would look funny for a few minutes, but would then just mix together. Not so fast my friend. What we didn't know was the kitchen had given us was not just two different flavors of chocolate, but textures as well. It started to back up and falling in clumps from the top of the fountain to the bottom, splattering chocolate everywhere! Then the top tier of the fountain started shaking and spinning. It had some serious volcanic action going on. So we had to unplug it, take it out of the room, and clean it in pits (dish washing room). Needless to say I never want to see, smell, or eat chocolate EVER again. Here is the after picture:

We ended up serving it fondue style out of a crock. Not quite the presentation that the client was looking for, but a little bit more sanitary.

Maybe I'm High Maintenance?

In my sales meeting today, our DOSM (that's Director of Sales and Marketing, for those of you not in the biz) asked each of us to fill out a short survey about ourselves for our Secret Santa ('tis the season for awkward work parties and gift exchanges!). The survey had the following listed on it:

Name:
Favorite Color:
Favorite Candy:
Favorite Soft Drink:
Favorite Magazine:
Favorite Coffee:

Without thinking, I answered with the following:

Name: Stacey
Favorite Color: White
Favorite Candy: Lara Bars
Favorite Soft Drink: Kombucha Tea (GTS)
Favorite Magazine: National Geographic Adventure
Favorite Coffee: Bongo Billy's Red Tea

After I actually started thinking about my answers, I realized that not only would my Secret Santa kick my booty, but that I am kind of high maintenance (we'll call it medium maintenance). I can't just have Starbucks (which I HATE by the way, big coffee burns beans!) I have to have a specialty tea from a small Colorado Mountain town with a population less than 2,000 people! And I don't drink soft drinks, so I want a tea made from fermented mushrooms. I also don't want just an InStyle that can be found on any news stand, I like to read a magazine that sometimes can't even be found in larger/specialty bookstores. I can't just have a pack of M&Ms, I like raw vegan bars that can only be found at Whole Foods here in Bham.

So I refilled out the Secret Santa Survey and turned it in. It ended up looking like this:

Name: Stacey
Favorite Color: White
Favorite Candy: M&Ms
Favorite Soft Drink: Diet Coke
Favorite Magazine: Real Simple
Favorite Coffee: Hot Tea

So there it is...the most boring Secret Santa Survey on the planet...my first one was way more exciting. We are having a Christmas party in 2 weeks, I think I might be Jewish that day.

Birthdays and Snowboards

So today is my 28th birthday. All day long I have been berated by my younger brother with comments asking me how it feels to be 30. It's been an okay day. I have learned in my now 28 years that it is not the presents or material things that matter, but the people in my life that I really want to talk to when my birthday comes around. I have had many happy birthday wishes today and am very appreciative of them, but a few friends that I would have expected to call first thing in the morning have not. I blame my parents for this, as a Thanksgiving Birthday is not the easiest to remember. Not the end of my world, but made me a little upset, thus setting the mood for the encounter today...

Two and a half weeks ago I drop off my snowboard to get tuned and have store wax put on it (a thicker wax applied when you won't be riding your board for an extended time). I took it to Steep and Deep in Homewood. I should have been suspicious when I dropped it off with specific instructions and the retail associate looked at me like I had 3 heads. I explained to her my expectations and asked if it would be possible to have this done and she said it would be fine. I also asked when it would be done, I was told next week.

Two weeks go by and I stop in Wednesday. Guess what, it wasn't done. I expressed my frustration as it had been well over a week from when it should have been done. I was then told the tuner would be in on Friday and should be done then. Fine.

I called today, since I was in the area to see if it was done and was told that it was not. Now I'm just plain mad. I told the sales clerk not to worry about it and that I would be over to pick it up and would wax it myself. I pull up to the store and go in and the guy from the phone tells me that they went ahead and started on it and it should be done in 5 minutes. Now I'm just pissed. There's not much I can do now that the board is 1/2 waxed, so I let them finish.

The manager of the store never says anything, but I see her send over this younger college kid to talk to me. I guess his job was to settle me down, but he sucked at it. He asks me if I am planning a ski trip, I let him know my situation and that I am planning on storing my board for the season. He then starts telling me about how he is about to move to Telluride and elaborates on how it is one of the last untouched ski towns, mentions how he supports the Valley Floor Preservation, blah, blah. I then ask him about where he is planning on working, as I do have several hotel/retail connections. He replies that his dad (who is a home builder in Bham) is going to start a branch of his company developing homes in Telluride. Seriously? Was he here for the conversation 10 seconds ago? I felt like I was talking to a politician, all about the conservation, but making sure you are taken care of foremost. Secondly, like that's going to work, does he think the two markets are ANYTHING alike? I have a feeling that this kid will be disappointed with life in about 10 years. Anyway, 5 minutes turned into 20, I get more upset by the minute, and 25 minutes later, I finally got my board back. I let the manager know that her customer satisfaction skills are completely inadequate and I will not be returning. For all of the curious readers out there, I ride a Burton Feather 154. Here's a picture:

Lessons for the day:
1. Do not get your snowboard waxed in a town that has less than 1 inch of snowfall annually.
2. If you have a birthday that falls near a major holiday, don't have any expectations for your friends. It's not fair for them.
3. No matter what your age, your siblings are the only people on the planet that can reduce you to acting like a 10 year old in 2 seconds flat.

Words to a song I like...

I was listening to this song today and forgot how much I love it.

Useless Desire
Say goodbye to the old street
That never cared much for you anyway
And the different colored doorways
You thought would let you in one day
Goodbye to the old bus stop, frozen and waiting
The weekend edition has this town way over-rated

You walk across a baseball field
The grass has turned to straw
A flock of birds tries to fly away from where you are
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye old friend
I can't make you stay
I can't spend another ten years
Wishing you would anyway

How the sky turns to fire against the telephone wire
And even I'm getting tired of useless desires

Every day I take a bitter pill it gets me on my way
For the little aches and pains
The ones I have from day to day
To help me think a little less about the things I miss
To help me not to wonder how I ended up like this

I walk down to the railroad track and ride a rusty train
With a million other faces I shoot through the city veins
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye old friend
You wanted to be free
Somewhere beyond the bitter end is where I wanna be

How the sky turns to fire against the telephone wire
And even I'm getting tired of useless desires

Say goodbye to the old building
That never tried to know your name
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye old friend
You won't be seeing me again
Goodbye to all the window panes shining in the sun
Like diamonds on a winter day
Goodbye, goodbye to everyone

How the sky turns to fire against a telephone wire
It burns the last of the day down

And I'm the last one hanging around
Waiting on a train track and the train never comes back
And even I'm getting tired of useless desires

Patty Griffin, Impossible Dream

Am I in a Bad Dream?

So the new Patty Griffin tour dates are up and the closest she comes to Birmingham is Knoxville/Asheville the weekend of January 11-14. I'll be in Denver for another show that weekend. Fantastic.

AND...to top it off, today is the opening day of Vail (yes, I am dressed in all black). I have installed the interactive snow report for Vail Resorts on my computer. When it's snowing in Vail, it snows in the bottom right-hand corner of my computer. It's snowed all morning. 6 inches fell last night and I'm not there. I'm not feeling too thankful right now.

UPDATE: After talking to several friends in the High Country, I realized that if I was in Vail I would not be up on the hill. I have NEVER gone up on opening day. Born Free is the only run that is ever open on the first day and 10 bazillion people are trying to ride or make turns down it. It is lovingly referred to as the "Ribbon of Death." It is a serious yard sale or a trip to the ER waiting to happen. It must be the excitement of opening day that I miss.