What the Font!!!

Maybe it's a graphic designer thing, but I think fonts are awesome. The font I used up there in my new header is called Carpenter, and I love it because it looks eerily similar to my handwriting. I write really, really small and I make my "D's" exactly like that!

Fonts can also be frustrating when I need to copy a logo or something and have no idea what font was used. I discovered this website that has a feature called What The Font. You scan in a portion of the font that you need and the website instantly finds the closest matches in their database. Pretty cool, huh? If I don't find out the exact font, I usually get led in the right direction by finding close matches. I've used this about 5 or 6 times so far and it's saved me some time and aggravation.

There is one font that I absolutely hate with a passion - Comic Sans. If I see a website, business card or a restaurant menu printed with comic sans, I immediately think less of that person or establishment! It just looks so amateur, like the company just doesn't care about it's image. The name of the font says it all, that it's supposed to be used in comics! I know there are other people who feel the same about this because there's a website called bancomicsans.com!

Blurbs

• This is the first year I did my own taxes. Unfortunately I make less than 54,000 a year so I could do them online for free via the IRS website. From there you can choose whatever program you want so I chose H&R Block and it was pretty easy. Dumb state of Ohio still charged me $30 though!

• Danny and I decided we are going to go to Vegas the first week of March! I'm still in shock that I charged $500 to my credit card for the plane tickets! I've started researching restaurants and things to do online and reading reviews on Yelp, and there's just so many options.


• Turkey Hill Duetto Two Delicious - This is a very good substitute for Rita's. I tried the Lemon Ice with Vanilla ice cream. Don't ask why I'm eating ice cream in the dead of winter.



• Speaking of dead of winter, the gusting winds knocked over my neighbor's trash can sending garbage all over the yard. Of course there were grapes in there and of course Meatball ate some. Grapes are toxic to dogs! Now I'm going to be worried all day that Meatball is going to be sick.

They're finally collecting the RENT

I have a confession to make. I'm a RENThead. I've seen RENT 5 times - once in Columbus, 3 times in Cleveland, and last February I finally got to see it at the Nederlander theatre in New York. Last week I received an email that RENT would be ending June 1, 2008. It had a 12 year run and ticket sales are 50% and below so they decided to close it. I am so sad, I just assumed RENT would go on forever. The worst part is, I definitely can't make it to New York this year, and the tour isn't coming to Cleveland either! At least I was fortunate to see it as many times as I did.

Why do I love RENT so much? Even though there are gay characters, lesbians, a drag queen, characters who have AIDS, a stripper and drug addicts, I somehow relate to them in the fact that they are trying to live life to the fullest and love one other. The play is loosely based off the opera, La bohème. RENT'S most famous song, Seasons of Love, gives me chills every time I hear it because of the meaning and the incredible voices that sing it. All the other songs in the play are more pop than typical broadway songs, too. Every time I've seen RENT there have been different actors and it's cool to see how they interpret the characters, especially Maureen who has a crazy performance artist piece at the end of the first act where she involves the audience.
I have a feeling as popular as RENT is, it's far from over. Thank you Nikki, wherever you are now, for introducing me to RENT in Columbus and everyone else who I dragged with me to go see it.

Make Me a Supermodel

I really tried to like this show as a filler until the next season of America's Next Top Model. It just doesn't compare. Niki Taylor and Tyson Beckford don't have the charisma that Tyra has in terms of coaching and inspiring the models. Both guy and girl models compete against each other and live together causing MTV Real World style temptations and problems. As far as the judging goes, Niki and Tyson don't even have the final say as to who gets kicked off! You have to call in and vote American Idol style. Plus, this show is a spinoff of a British version starring Rachel Hunter! This show has a huge identity crisis, trying to incorporate too many reality TV elements.

Now let's talk about Niki Taylor for a minute. I found out on one of my favorites websites, The Vanishing Tattoo, that she recently got inked with a HUGE tattoo from just above her wrist to the middle of her forearm. I understand that she probably got it for personal reasons since she has had some turmoil in her life including the death of her sister, divorce, addiction to Vicodin and surviving a bad car accident. The thing is, she HIDES it! She is always in long sleeved shirts and dresses. At the beginning of last night's episode, she was wearing a red three-quarter length sweater which would have revealed the tattoo, but she had on a BLACK CUFF to hide it! My theory is, if you're going to get a tattoo that is permanently on your skin, especially in a spot like your arm where everyone can see it, then show it off. That's just my two cents. If you're ever bored at work, check out the celebrity tattoos at Vanishing Tattoo. You'll be suprised at how many celebrities that you would never think have tattoos have them. Angelina Jolie alone has 4 pages!

Sour Cream Raspberry Loaf

I have been trying out recipes since the weekend (Cardamom muffins - gross, Beer Bread - sour!) and my third attempt has given me something good. It's like the lazy man's version of putting butter and jam on some bread. It's all baked right in. I got the recipe from here, but I omitted using walnuts, and grated lemon rind because I didn't have any of either on hand. The recipe is very well written and easy. Yum!

Look Me in the Eye

It's cold here in Cleveland. 10 degrees. No, that's not the wind shield, that's the real thing. Since all I wanted to do was snuggle up with a blanket, I finished the book I was reading, Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison. I became obsessed with Asperger's, a mild form of autism, after watching my favorite model, Heather, on the last season of America's Next Top Model. Robison explains that as an Aspergian, he has huge problems making conversation and interacting with people, but over the years has learned what is "normal" and is happier now than in his childhood before there was a diagnosis. Another characteristic of Asperger's is that they learn as much as possible about a particular subject that interests them, making them an expert in that area. Robison became an expert at electrical engineering which led him to make special effect guitars for KISS and later work on electronic games in the 80's for Milton Bradley. It's interesting to get into the mind of someone who is mildly autistic; his writing is very logical and complete. And how many people can say they toured with KISS?

For more info, here's his blog, where you can see pictures of his family who are characters in the book. I love that he is so open about his life in the quest to help others with Asperger's.

Melt Bar and Grilled

Cleveland has cool little neighborhoods surrounding it and one of these is Lakewood. Melt Bar and Grilled opened in 2006 in Lakewood, and after reading rave reviews in the free magazines and Cleveland.com, Danny and I decided to check it out. Who wouldn't want to go to a place that served all different kinds of grilled cheese? Upon walking in the bar/restaurant, I immediately felt like a hipster. The place was packed with ecclectic people and the servers had piercings and wore their own clothes. Having moonlighted as a server myself, I would be overwhelmed by all those people in there but our server was very nonchalant and calm. On the walls they were hawking pretty handmade purses from crafter syrupskin, who has an etsy site. As casual and cool as the place was, the food was on point! I had the special for January, a homemade meatloaf melt sandwich with spicy chipolte ketchup and muenster cheese. Each slice of bread was about an inch thick and I asked to get their vegetable of the day, sugar snap peas with a spicy coconut sauce, instead of fries. Everything was amazing! Leave it to Danny to get the Parmageddon, a potato and cheese perogi sandwich! On the same thick bread was a huge, stuffed perogi with cheddar cheese. Talk about carb overload! They also offer appetizers and desserts including fried twinkies, but there's no way you have room for anything else since the sandwich portions are so big. Today I'm eating the rest of my sandwich and am back to being a dork. At least I was cool for a couple hours last night eating at Melt!

Grrrrr!

I've been ordering off the internet ever since I got my first credit card at age 18 and haven't had too many problems. I recently ordered 4 pairs of underwear from Victoria's Secret using a $20.00 giftcard and a $10.00 coupon code. I ended up only putting $1 and change on my Victoria's Secret credit card for the balance. Great, right? Well my first mistake is I did this the day after Christmas. I couldn't help it, I had received all gift cards for Christmas and wanted something tangible!!!! The next week I received a package from VS in the mail. I excitedly opened it and received a tan henley sweater. I was so dissapointed! On the outside it had my address (of course) and on the inside bill it had a woman's address in Georgia. I called Victoria's Secret customer service and told them what happened and how some lady in Georgia has my underwear and they assured me that my order didn't ship yet and to wait until January 10. Well, January 10 came and went and I didn't get anything. On my 4th call back to customer service, I said I need to get this resolved. The guy only wanted to refund me $9 because they said I used a $10 coupon. No, I told him, the bill would have been 30-something if I didn't use the coupon, I paid $21! He said he would refund me the difference. THEN, I get an email saying I was still being charged for shipping! I was so pissed. I wrote them a gem of a letter:

SUBJECT: Fix my refund!!!!!!!

I never received my order. I talked to customer service 4 times trying to resolve this. Now I get an email saying I'm being refunded 19.85. That's not right. I used a $20.00 gift card and I had $1.45 charged to my VS card account. I want $21.45 refunded to me. If you have to refund it to me back in the form of a $20.00 gift card and $1.45 credit to the VS card account, that's fine. I received NOTHING so I don't understand why I'm being shorted money on my refund. I am very weary about shopping at Victoriassecret.com in the future because of all this hassle. Here is a copy of my first email way back on Dec 26, 2007.

copy of email

Please do the right thing and credit me my full refund. The $20.00 gift card was a Christmas gift from my sister and she will be upset to learn that I'm being shorted for something that wasn't my fault.

Thank you,
Deanna X

I basically had to create a sob story in order for them to listen to me! The next day I got the whole $21.45 refunded. I know it was only a couple of dollars, but why should I have to pay any money for a mistake I didn't make?

Lesson learned: Don't order online the day after Christmas!

Balls and Blueberries

This weekend I had the honor of being invited to two formal dinners by Danny's parents. On Saturday, I attended an Inaugural Ball because Danny's parents are friends with the mayor. It was a black tie affair with a four course dinner. I ended up finding a dress at Target to wear to this, on sale! The dress flowed nicely and I loved the lace back! Danny's dad made a speech introducing the mayor and numerous congressmen (and women) made speeches as well.

Sunday Danny's parents were inducted into their high school's hall of fame and received an award for the service they give to the community. This included another, more informal dinner and MORE SPEECHES because 8 athletes were also inducted for their athletic accomplishments. I'm glad his parents received this award because they truly do donate their time and energy to their community and church out of the kindness of their hearts. They are really nice people and I'm lucky to be associated with them through Danny. Wow, this blog post is turning into a speech.

On a totally unrelated note, I'm on a huge blueberry kick right now. Here are some things I've tried that I love!

Celestial Seasonings True Blueberry Herbal Tea - It tastes like you're drinking a warm blueberry muffin.

¡Hola Fruta! Pomegranate & Blueberry Pure Fruit Sherbet - I never had these flavors together in a sherbet and they really compliment each other. I ate half the carton in one sitting.

Trident Wild Blueberry Twist - Yep, a blueberry gum! This one also has a hint of pomegranate and is good when you want to change it up from mint gum or whatever.

Randomness during the week

This is the longest week for me EVER!!!!!!!!

It started out with a bang with me hosting a party for the OSU vs. LSU college football game Monday night. This was the second party I've ever hosted, the first being New Years Eve 2007, and this was my best turnout! At one point we had close to 20 people. I think it had a little to do with the beautiful weather we had, 67°F in Cleveland in January is unthinkable! Someone brought an awesome corn dip, someone else brought a buffalo chicken dip, and I have a new interesting assortment of random alcohols in my fridge now. OSU lost, but we still had fun!

I was on an energy high Monday night from all the people and excitement and didn't get to bed until 1 am. The next day I was sooooo tired at work. Tuesday night I watched The Wedding Date on TiVo by myself and crashed.

Here's a funny scenario from last night:
Setting: Danny and I on the couch eating Dairy Queen and watching the new American Gladiators on TiVo

Me: Did you use the Fresh Pineapple body wash that I got you for Christmas?

Danny: Yeah, but not today.

Me: What did you use, just soap?

Danny: No

Me: You took a water shower!?!

Danny: Yeah, it felt amazing.

Me: That's why you smell moldy.

Danny: I knew there was a reason you asked if I used the body wash!

So today he wrote me an email and signed it "Moldy Danny". I couldn't stop laughing at work, I had to play it off like I was laughing at something on the radio.

Cupcake Mosaic

Cupcake Mosaic
Originally uploaded by dddd89@sbcglobal.net

Here are 16 pics of cupcakes to screw up your diet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Click for larger image. Mosaic made with Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker, a flickr toy which was new to me but fun!

Blog Love 3

Here are some blogs that were sent to me to check out!

Kellypuffs - a public diary blog about randomness. I love her sense of humor and pictures of her crafts.

Just a Hot Dog - Warning, her blog header makes you have a serious craving for hot dogs!

Life Muses - It always amazes me when I log into sitemeter and see someone who read my blog from a far away country. Here is a blog from Malaysia! Very interesting stuff!

Shabby Jules - Another blogger from a country I would love to learn more about, Australia. Check out her fantastic Christmas decorations!

Happy New Year

I had pretty much one of the worst new year's eve's in history. I worked at my day job and I had agreed to waitress at night at the pizza shop so I worked all day and night! Then, I went over my friend's house to watch the ball drop. Her sister had some people over and everyone was talking and completely missed the countdown to midnight! I looked at the TV and it said 30 seconds and I looked over again and everyone was saying "Happy New Year!". Lame. THEN, I went home and slept on the couch for a little bit and woke up with massive stomach pains and felt like I was going to faint. I walked over to my bed and felt light-headed and the room was spinning. Thank god that went away when I woke up the next morning!

I did start the new year off right with fresh makeup from M.A.C. I had a giftcard that was burning a hole in my pocket for Nordstrom's, so I used it to buy two new eye shadows and mascara. Even though they usually do your makeup like a drag queen, I recommend getting your makeup done at the M.A.C. counter. The makeup artists are always really creative and hip, and they teach you how to apply the makeup every step of the way. When I was there on Saturday, they were blasting Britney Spears' new CD. I've never had a makeup artist pick a bad color for me, and when you get home you can put the makeup on more "normal" for everyday life. There really is no comparision to drug store brands when it comes to M.A.C.'s quality and longevity!
Also, happy one year anniversary to me of blogging!