May 22, 2013

BiSC: The Last

As most of you know, I travel to Vegas for Bloggers in Sin City (or #BiSC) every year.
This was the last of a five-year run.

WEDNESDAY

The entire morning was spent oogling over twitter as all of the BiSCuits started to arrive in Las Vegas. Time basically stopped. Then Katherine showed up at my office and I declared “Bring Your Friends To Work Day”.

SC and I took Katherine to In-N-Out, which she ended up paying for, and then we were on the road to meet Swapp in Barstow. We picked up Swapp at the Park & Ride and listened to #thepetecast all the way to Vegas. Checked into The Orleans (Free room FTW!) at about 11:30pm and immediately hoped on the shuttle to the Flamingo. Had a drink at Center Cut Steakhouse with ~20 bloggers that I had and had not previously met. Took a cab back to The Orleans and crashed.

THURSDAY

Woke up and packed everything back in the car. Took a ride to the Flamingo and parked. We rushed to Hash House A Go Go in The Quad (previously the Imperial Palace) and had the most delicious breakfast followed by tangerine mimosas. Tiff worked her bill-splitting magic and had us out of there in record time.

Made our way to the registration lounge (Reno Room) in the Flamingo and HOLY OVERWHELMED. All the friends and all the snacks. I wish I had gotten to play Cards Against Humanity (never played before!) with everyone. Grabbed our bags from the car & checked into our rooms. Jen (roomie) & I did distracted homework while chatting with Katherine. Back down to the Reno Room for snacks and the second LA car arrived. Wine drinking and gossiping about Maxine with Jamie, Nicole & Meghan. Holy hell, how are there so many Megans?

Back to the room for bath time (!!) and to get ready for the Welcome Mixer with the most amazing full dinner and dessert tasting at Serendipity 3 outside Caesars Palace. Yes, Frozzzen Hot Chocolate Shots. Happy Birthday, Edwin! THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE ICE BREAKERS IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD devised by Drea. Which I think was the point? 8 second hugged Tom, whom I had technically never met before BiSC, and had staring contests with Erin and Nicole. Nicole won. We bet on THE LAST frozen hot chocolate shot. But then the waiters brought more. Also, other amazing alcoholic drinks.

Slumber party powers combined in Caryn and Terra‘s room. Surprised we did not get a call from security. SO LOUD. Lessons in tying bow ties from Bradley. US Politics and other serious stuff with Brandy & many others. Nail painting. Bed Time.

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

POOL DAY! Skip the line like a VIfuckingP. Free drinks! Rigo the flirty, heavy-handed bartender. Panty Droppers. Bachelor party. NACHOS with Megan & Brandy. Naps where security guards think you’re dead. Flash forward to two days later when you actually might be dead.

Dinner at Planet Hollywood. Sat where the beauty queens did last year. Decidedly not my favorite buffet. COTTON CANDY. After dinner coffee and discussions with Sandra, Megan, and I don’t even remember who. Brain heavily affected by the Day Drinking. Walk to the Bellagio, pause to look at the fountain show, for Cirque Du Soleil’s “O”. First row, center balcony seating. WHATTHEACTUALFUCKWASTHATSHOWABOUT? Foggy contacts. Sleepy eyes. Full belly. Bed Time.

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

BRUNCH! COTTON CANDY! Shopping with Katherine, Kaci, & Megan. Mint dress which ended up being the most fabulous thing. Drinks in the food court with lovely ladies. More shopping. Met up with other BiSCuits. Funny videos in H&M. Rush back to get ready for dinner. 10 minute bathtub soak for sore feet. Apparently sexy librarian topknot + glasses? Result of not actually getting ready.

Back to the hotel to get ready for the White Party. Hair won’t curl. FUCK. Happy Hour at Center Cut Steakhouse. 65 people getting married at once, apparently. Pictures galore from outsiders. Get out of here, you’re not VIfuckingP. Terrible looks from jealous bitches. Sparkling Sunsets. Basically champagne mixed with actual hard liquor. Basically: DRUNK. GLITTER COCAINE. somuchfuckingglitter.

EXCLUSIVE White Party on the roof of PURE in Caesars Palace. Not that exclusive. Crashers. Someone’s bra came off. Motorboating. After party at The Act in the Venetian. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT PERFORMANCE ON STAGE? BONDAGE69CHICKENSEX. Chafed legs from walking everywhere in a dress. Fountain jump with Katherine. Margaritaville CLOSES?!? Crashed the bachelor party. Boys don’t care where they blow their cigar smoke. Choking. Girl talk until sunrise with Katherine & Kaci. Shower. Bed.

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

Woke up 5 minutes before brunch. RUSH. Ran downstairs. Grab food & cry into plate. Crawdad. Nearly empty cocaine glitter vial returned by Megan. Glitter still everywhere. Speeches. ONION CHOPPING. Ran up to room to check out before 12. More crying… I mean, ONIONS. Not saying goodbye. In-N-Out with nearly everyone. First time consuming the heart attack that is animal fries. In-N-Out cup baby onesie. SWOON BABIES. Last NOT goodbyes. Sobs. Neon Museum. Signs, not actually 80′s attire. Drive home. DUCKS! All the serious conversations. Transition back to real life.

SUNDAY

MONDAY

DEAD.

TUESDAY

DEAD and CRYING.

WEDNESDAY

HACKING and HANGOVER DEAD.

stay tuned for more on the contents of the gift bag. #BiSC Haul? 

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May 11, 2013

Yoga: My Roots

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In January, I joined a gym. I hadn’t been a member of a gym since I was around 20 years old. Back then, I paid for  year out the gate and then never went. So after the year was up, I just stopped paying for it. I was a lot skinnier and, though I still had body issues, I was out partying in nearly all of my spare time (which was hardly any at all). I was working two part time jobs and going to school full time. Yet, I never felt like I was stretching myself too thin or doing too much. Ah, to be 20 again.

This bit of history brings me to January, when I joined a gym. It was a grand opening special. $20 bucks a month and unlimited classes. The classes were what I was really interested in. I have wanted to try Zumba and Yoga for about three years now. There’s no time like the present, right? SC joined first, and I followed. I tried Zumba first. I felt awkward and like it sucked way too much energy from me. Not like physical energy, but because I felt awkward I was too worried about how I looked and that made me exhausted!

Directly after Zumba was the Yoga class. I melted into the routine and immediately felt like I was home. There were two really great instructors who taught at that gym. They balanced each other out. One was very strict and made us look at every pose to makes sure we were doing it right. He also explained the reasoning behind doing a certain pose one way, versus what we may have been inclined to do or have previously done. Reasoning helps me tremendously when learning new stuffs.

The other instructor was very laid back. We practiced our “lion-growls” to expel unwanted energy on Friday nights, and she taught us a bit about reflexology so that we could massage our feet whenwe were in forward folds. Her class was an absolute release.

I worked for three months going twice a week. I never lost any weight, but my body started to change. My tummy got flatter, my legs got stronger and I no longer felt out of breath when scaling the mountain of stairs every morning at work. I was more in shape. Then, two weeks in a row, they substituted our class with another instructor because ours was on vacation. This instructor typically taught the HIT class. She’d never heard of any Yoga poses beyond Downward Dog. She brought her laptop and popped in a Jillian Michael’s DVD. I was beyond annoyed. I could have done that at home! What’s more, I wasted an hour (TWICE!) because I didn’t want to walk out of her class. The second time she subbed in, she remembered that I had kept correcting her the first day, so she relied on me to lead the class. After that second class, I left the gym in search of some place that would be more professional.

Searching for something within my budget ($10 per class is NOT in my budget!) in a small town that has just barely learned the word Yoga was difficult. I stopped working out completely for over a month. My belly came back swinging, I felt sluggish, I started sleeping poorly again and that mountain of stairs became more daunting every morning. And the biggest motivator of all? I don’t fit into my wedding dress.

So I got a trial membership at the Local 24Hr Fitness. It’s double what I was paying, but half what I would have paid going to the only  Yoga studio in town twice a week. I’ve taken two classes so far and …this is where I need to be. I work hard and I sweat a lot and I feel good doing it. It’s the only exercise that I have ever done that makes me feel good. Not even 7 years of soccer was this therapeutic.

There are some aspects that come very easily to me, and others that I have yet to master. Tree is going to be my Mt. Kilimanjaro. I have terrible balance. Flexibility is my resting point. While everyone else would rather sit in Child’s Pose, I’d love to spend hours in Pigeon or Mermaid. The biggest hurdle for me is to let go of control and work my brains out with cardio before class. If I tire myself out, I am more likely to slip into my meditative state. Once I’m there, I can do anything. I’ve been known to lose half the class just going with the flow and completely forgetting what I’d done, I was so lost in the moment. That is something I’ve never experienced. It’s like a drug. I want more.

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May 3, 2013

Epic Playdate Weekend



This past weekend, I got an opportunity to take a couple kids to have an awesomely fun day on a ranch in Goleta. When I first got the details, I had absolutely no idea what was in store for me. I am a member of Clever Girls Collective, and have had some amazing opportunities to check out new stuff and write about it,  but I’ve only ever reviewed products. This was my first blogger event where I knew absolutely no one. The project boasted that some very popular bloggers, like dooce, would be hosting workshops for the kids. Even these bloggers I had never read. I know, I’ve NEVER read DOOCE. Now that we’ve gotten over that fact, let’s move on.


So, the first problem that I had after being invited to this event was that, hi, I have no kids! Luckily for me, my Aunt B has three and was willing to let me steal two for the day. SC and I picked up her seven year old twins from their t-ball game and headed to the coast. Goleta, which is really Santa Barbara, is about two and a half hours from where I live. But the drive was BEAUTIFUL!


The event was sponsored by Hyundai, who is releasing their new Santa Fe Sport. They had a (RED!) Santa Fe Sport on site, and I was oogling the eye candy pretty much all day.


hyundai


Anyway, back to the event! There were so many awesome workshops for the kids. They started out with balloon workshops where they made swords and flowers. I got beat with the balloon swords for the entire afternoon by all three of my companions.


balloons


They ran around for at least an hour playing Epic Volleyball. I got lots of cool action shots and really precious one of Lance rolling on the ball bigger than he was.


Epic Volleyball


The kids got to get all poncho-ed up and join in on a paint fight. Totally washable paint filled sponges, squirt guns, and balloons were coming at us from all angles. They had a blast.


Paint War


The Sand Art collage was a really fun activity where the kids could cool down after running around and playing so hard. They got to be creative and use different colors of sand to make really awesome art. Meanwhile, all the adults were trying to figure out how to seal sand art onto a tarp to hang on the fridge.


sand art


We got to go on an amazing tour of the property and hear all about the history. I brought some popcorn form the snack bar to keep the little ones entertained during this part of the event. They asked if we had to do the tour portion and I was all… UM. YES. REQUIREMENT.


the property


After the tour we built rockets. And then launched them with an air cannon. Lance’s went the highest of the day. I though that was pretty cool. Kaylee’s got stuck in the tree after I prodded her for at least 30 minutes, even calling her stuck up at one point, to launch it. She was afraid to lose it. And then she did. I also made a kid cry because he wanted to cut the line and push the button to launch Kaylee’s rocket. MAMA BEAR RAWR. Make your own rocket, kid.


rockets!


After rockets we moved on to the final event, Hula Hoop Bubbles. The twins loved making super huge bubbles. Lance preferred to use his hula-hoop for it’s proper use, but Kaylee was all about the bubbles.


hula hoop1


You guys. The venue for the Epic Playdate was so incredibly amazing. It is a ranch that has been around since before The West was won! Spanish Conquistadors named it Rancho Dos Pueblos, meaning the two villages, because when they arrived on the shore of California they were literally greeted by two Native American villages thriving on one year-round stream that flowed directly into the Pacific Ocean. Later, the ranch was occupied by gunslingers and there were actual shootouts on the property. Now, the land is owned by a family who uses it mostly for events and agriculture. It is a certified sanctuary for animals, they have many plants and even beehives to make honey. They have a private beach and it is just the most beautiful place for events. I am actually so sad that we can’t have our wedding there. This weekend was an absolute blast. We ended the day by taking a dip in the ocean at Carpinteria Beach on our way home. The drive back? Everyone was passed out except SC who was, of course, driving!


I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

							

	
			

				
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								April 24, 2013
							


			
Sitting at the stoplight in that bright blue truck.


				

				
I pulled up to the stoplight. I was turning left on my way back to the office. I’d just eaten a big lunch; I was full, happy, and in my own self-serenading world. Impatiently, I looked around me waiting for the light to change. When I glanced to my right, I froze.


What I saw made my heart shatter into 999 little pieces. The missing piece was one that I gave away a long time ago. The color of that small truck is what initially caught my eye. It’s just that shade of blue that I don’t see very often. Unless I’m revisiting memories. His blonde hair was covering his ears but not his forehead. Her sandaled feet were up on the dash mimicking the windshield wipers. I looked away almost as immediately as I felt my heart spontaneously combust. It couldn’t be, could it? No. It wasn’t. But at the same time, it was.


carp4finished


I was looking at a snapshot of my life eight years ago. Those kids stopped at the light were us. What we were and could have been. All of the potential was ahead of us at that point. Sitting at a stoplight in that bright blue truck.


 


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


Looking back to find the image for my post, I found all of my thoughts from that time in my life. Man, back then I really knew how to just write from my soul. My favorite post was a letter to myself. But here’s a link to the entire category, if you’re interested.

							

	
			

				
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								April 8, 2013
							


			
“Open Mind, Strong Heart, Healthy Body”


				

				
I’m feeling a little inspired lately. You already know that I hate making New Year’s resolutions, but I’ve also always tried to stay away from a word or phrase for the year. How can I possibly choose something what will predict what my entire year would look like? I can’t help but be afraid to make that kind of commitment. However, I read something on pinterest the other day that so completely summed up what I hope to be better at in the coming months that I just have to adopt it as my goal for the year. Call it a phrase for 2013, I just know that these words belong to me. They were written for me. And I am going to own them.


photo


I’ve already got something in the works to help me make some changes. Stay tuned.

							

	
			

				
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								April 3, 2013
							


			
Notice anything different?


				

				
For years, I’ve been saying that I’d invest in myself and my writing by purchasing my own domain name. Finally, I can say that I’ve done it! If you click through, you’ll notice that I am now officially www.jennbizzle.com!!


I’ve got site redirect going, but you probably should update your feeds. It’ll only last for a year and I don’t want to lose you next April by accident! My RSS is here.


The crazy thing is that I didn’t even do it because I decided that the time is NOW! I did it because I was forced to. WordPress.com does not allow sponsored posts. Since I do a lot of those, I had no choice but to move. My deadline to make the change was April 14, so I immediately emailed Doni and begged for her quick help. I am now a member of the WhiskeyCloud family and I feel so secure knowing that I’ve met and love both Doni and Nico. I don’t have to worry about dealing with scammers or CSRs who know nothing about web hosting when signing up for these services. I know they have my back and will be on top of shit if anything should ever go wrong.


Everything will stay pretty much the same around here. I’m thinking that once I get comfortable, I’ll probably do a little redesign. But for now, I’m just so excited for this new journey.

							

	
			

				
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								March 23, 2013
							


			
Prognosis: Unknown


				

				
On Saturday afternoon, around 10:30 am, I had just sat down to complete my paper for class that was due the same day (procrastination at it’s best!) when I started feeling a pain in my chest. This felt exactly the same way the pain felt when I would have gallstone attacks before I had my gallbladder removed three years ago. Since it’s been removed, I haven’t had any pain. Until Saturday.


In about five minutes, the pain went from “Ouch!” to


OHMYFUCKINGGODROLLINGAROUNDONTHEFLOORCANT

CATCHMYBREATHPLEASECALLANAMBULANCE.


When I first felt it, I sent a text to SC. He was working on a Saturday morning for inventory. Then I opened a new browser window and searched “gallbladder pain after gallbladder has been removed” or something to that effect. The page didn’t even load before I got a hot flash, felt nauseous, and ran to the bathroom. I broke out in a sweat all over my body and was literally writing in pain all over the bed and floor and everywhere. Next thing I know I’m on the phone with SC and I can’t speak. He’s asking me questions but my breathing is out of control. My hands started cramping up, I couldn’t even think.


While SC was driving home, I attempted to dress myself. I think I had already put my hair up in case I actually puked. He got me straight in the car and took me to the ER where we waited. And waited. Apparently chest pains don’t get you straight in to see a doctor anymore. At least not if you’re 24. And then when I finally did get in to a bed, I waited about an hour more before they even came to hook me up to an IV. They gave me morphine, took all these tests, sent me for an x-ray and EKG and we waited.


By around 3pm we were on our way out the door. The couldn’t find anything “emergently”  wrong with me so they discharged me and told me to see my primary. They also suggested I see my GI doctor who did the gallbladder surgery as well as my OB/GYN, as he might be able to set up a laporoscopic surgery to go in with a camera and look for scar tissue that may be causing a problem.


I got prescription for Prilosec (heartburn medicine) and Percocet (narcotic pain medicine). I can’t take narcotic pain medicine or I throw up. Half a Vicodin sent me into ten hours of heaving until the doctor had to prescribe me something to get me to stop because I was busting my stitches. Prilosec is what they gave me the first time I went to the ER before I found out I had gallstones. I’ve never had heartburn in my life. I’m taking it, but it’s not doing anything.


So what did I end up doing? I went to see my aunt, an ultrasound specialist. She told me that my surgery site looked good and I didn’t have any lingering gallstones. But she also told me that my liver is slightly larger than she’d like and my spleen is definitely enlarged. To her, this meant one of two things. There’s something wrong with my immune system. I may have a virus or a disease. To diagnose that, I’d need more tests done by my primary.


Another idea that she had was that I am projecting my stress inward and making myself sick. That my episode on Saturday may even have been an extreme panic attack. In that case, the solution would be to find a way to relieve my stress or I’d give myself an ulcer (there are none so far).


Either way,  I have to get a diagnosis first. I’ve got an appointment with my primary on Tuesday. In the mean time, I’m just dealing with the moderate pain that I’m in.

							

	
			

				
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								March 22, 2013
							


			
Protected: The Giving Up is the Hardest Part (DM or email for PW)


				

				


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								March 21, 2013
							


			
Photo A Day Challenge: February Complete!


				

				
By now, we’re almost all the way through March, but I promised a recap post and a recap post you’ll have! Better late than never, right?


February Challenge


Feb-photoaday-2013_thumb


I chose to post the photos from each weekend on Monday morning as a collage, rather than fussing with all the editing apps while I should be enjoying my time off. However, most of the time, I still took the photos on the requested day.


As for March, I didn’t participate. I wanted to do this challenge to see if it would boost my habit of posting to Instagram. That happened, but it wasn’t really photos that I wanted to take. And then I felt like after I’d just posted my challenge photo for the day, I didn’t want to post another one that I’d taken just for the sake of taking a picture that I liked. So it actually ended up discouraging me from posting the ones I’d like to remember. The challenge was fun, but not something I’ll probably do again.


Have you done a Photo-A-Day challenge? What did you think about it? Did you post less or more photos that weren’t related to the prompts?

							

	
			

				
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								January 31, 2013
							


			
Photo a Day Challenge: February


				

				
I’ve been thinking about participating in a Photo a Day Challenge on Instagram (HI!) for a few months now.  So I figured the best month to start would be the one with the least amount of days in it, right?! Ultimate laziness. Anyway, I chose a list for the challenge based on things I would actually enjoy taking pictures of. The Idea Room’s challenge seemed like a perfect fit for me. Here’s the challenge:


Feb-photoaday-2013_thumb


 


If you’d like to participate, make sure to add me on instagram and hashtag all of your posts with #idearoom. And when the month is over, I’ll post a recap of my photos for the month. YAY!

							

	
			

				
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