Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Possibly a Beach Music Concert Tonight?

I'm going to give Red's a call and see if this is taking place since the person who posted the event isn't sure of the address (which makes me wonder what else they're unsure of)... but might be worth enjoying a few drinks at tonight!

TONIGHT Free Beach Music Outdoor Concert (Capital Blvd. REDS Beach Club)
FREE BEACH MUSIC WITH THE EMBERS! TENT AND STAGE ALREADY SET UP.
LET'S GO AND PARTY AFTER WORK!!!!! IT IS SUMMER TIME BABY!
I think the address is 1505 capital.
Thanks goes out to my dad for the heads up :-)!

(By the way, I "found" a website for Red's thanks to Google but it doesn't load. Not incredibly surprising really.)

If you don't know where it is... just head north out of Downtown toward Capital Boulevard (the stretch that runs through the industrial area north of Downtown goes by "Downtown Boulevard" although I don't think you'll see it printed on any street sign). Red's is on the left before the Wake Forest Road / Atlantic Avenue exits... you'll have to pull a u-ey or get off on Wake Forest Road and come back down the other side to get to said left side of the road though.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Vote for Bodie Island Lighthouse!

Kudos to Barefoot in the Park for an awesome post/recommendation/heads up!

Bodie Island Lighthouse



Jeld-Wen Windows and Doors began the lighthouse restoration initiative in 2005. This year Bodie Island Lighthouse is a finalist (one of twelve out of 49 nominated lighthouses) for new windows and doors! Monies for restoration of this lighthouse has been pulled from the budget for the past several years. Please go cast your vote for the Bodie Island Lighthouse here!

Your vote will help North Carolina preserve one of its coastal landmarks!
OBVIOUSLY I immediately voted!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Add This to your Tailgate Collection

From my retail therapy blog, this is available locally at Swagger Gifts!

Get Your Tailgates Ready...

Check it out for this monogrammed cooler - sure to satisfy any need for keeping your beverages of choice cool this summer and come football tailgate season this fall!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

More for the Pup Lovers Out There...

Monkey see, monkey do I guess! Apparently, all the news sources wanted to do a some doggy coverage this weekend...

Giving a paw of support to seniors

Protecting your dogs from theft
Both of the above stories are from News 14. More info on PAWS (Pets are Wonderful Support) can be found on their website.

PS - I'm dedicating this post to Price's pup, Rusty. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers since he was hurt on the boat this weekend :-(

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Take Your DOG to Work Day?

Yes! I knew it was inevitable. I take Delta and Tank to work with me quite often actually. They LOVE running in to "Grandpa" (my daddy) and Uncle Bruce's office and jumping in their laps. They also LOVE having their run of the showroom back to my office. I need to get a picture of Tank hanging out of my office window or Delta napping under the desk. If your boss won't let you bring your pups to work... get a new job :-)

Side Note: I wonder if people in the non-South love dogs as much as we do down here. In fact, the only person I know who doesn't like dogs... isn't from around here and doesn't like the South anyway. What's her deal? I only forgive her because she wear the wine and silver blue ;-)

Dogs have their day at work
Conversation gets animated on Take Your Dog to Work Day

Beergaritas?

Now, anyone who knows me can tell you I'm not a beer girl. Liquor and an occasional wine are my poisons of choice. But this looks like it could satisfy everyone's tastes (thanks Barefoot!):

Beergaritas Recipe
Ingredients
1 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate
12 fluid ounces tequila
12 fluid ounces water
12 fluid ounces beer

Directions
Pour limeade, tequila, water, and beer into a large pitcher.
Stir until well-blended, and limeade has melted.
Add plenty of ice, and garnish with lime wedges.
Adjust with additional water, if needed.
Maybe I'll give this a try this weekend when Adrianne and Joey get back from their D.C. and Baltimore mini-trip!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Rock & Shop Market!

From my other blog:

Rock & Shop Market coming next Saturday to Downtown!

Monday, June 16, 2008

For My Buckhead Fans

Thank goodness I'm busting my tail at the beginning of this week... because from the looks of my Buckhead calendar... the end of the week is no work, all play!

Thursday - Bring your pup and join us on the deck for Yappy Hour!
We'll have $3 martinis and $3 glasses of wine the two-legged types and snacks and water for the four-legged pals!

Friday - Our One Year Anniversary Party!
(Wow... I can't believe it's already been OVER a year since I joined Buckhead!)

I have plenty of free tickets to give away - just email me at LJeffries@BuckheadRaleigh.com and let me know how many you want! See you there!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

I Have Been Waiting All Weekend...

...to post this!

From Friday's Real Simple Daily Thought (currently trying to migrate from daily email to RSS feed, but I believe their feed might be on hiatus):

"Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad." — AnonymousHappy Father's Day to daddies and grandaddies everywhere, including:

my daddy

...and my Grandpa Bruce!

These pictures are SO my family.

Dad can rarely be caught in a picture unless it's candid (he's pictured two above at Biketoberfest in Myrtle Beach with the BF this past fall) and the entire Jeffries' side of the family is a hoot... directly above is Grandpa Bruce and my Uncle Dan at my folks' house a few holidays past.

Unfortunately, I don't have any digital pics on my computer of my mom's dad (Grandpa "Sleepy") who passed away when I was younger... but that definitely inspires me to get some of our old pictures turned into digital pictures!

Friday, June 13, 2008

We Girlfriends...

...tend to worry. Maybe it's a girl thing? Maybe it's the "one day you'll be a mom, too" thing? I don't know. Anyway, the phone has been ringing off the hook and the IM has been blinking all day so I figured I'd update everyone here as well.

Yesterday my boyfriend left home at around 7am. It was his day off from work so he had a lot of stuff to get done - including a fire-fighter training (not his 9-5, but something he's been getting in to lately).

Well, for those of you who didn't step outside in Raleigh yesterday - we had a Code Red ozone condition thanks to a dense layer of smoke that settled over our city (which breaks my heart to try and put into perspective the amount of damage that's been left behind from the actual wild fires in Eastern NC) making the outside conditions AWFUL.

So the day goes on and I hadn't heard from Nick (the BF) before leaving work for the day (which is very unusual) but I just figured he was busy. So I did stuff to keep myself occupied (including my new Google Calendar for my blogs: RSS Feed and web-based) but that only lasts for so long.

Around dinner time, even Adrianne was a bit worried - because as she says... we keep each other balanced. I'd forget to eat if Nick wasn't there to remind me it's time for dinner and Nick would live off microwaved foods if I wasn't here to pick the restaurant. (Snicker, snicker... I *occasionally* let the Betty Crocker in me out... but not often.)

So I went to my parents house to take the pups to play and occupy myself some more (note: he had not answered *ANY* phone calls at this point... so he was still MIA). His motorcycle was in their garage... so he wasn't out riding. Come 8pm or so, I finally call his house to see if he's chillin' with his parents. Nope - and he hasn't answered their calls either. The worrying starts to peak... everyone is calling at this point wanting to go out for EVERYONE in Raleigh's birthdays and Buckhead was the game plan. By 10/11pm, I was really freaking out and of course, couldn't go out not knowing what the heck Nick was up to.

So, Joey, Adrianne, and I drove down to where the training was (in the effing GHETTO let me tell you) and rolled by (not very closely OBVI!) and tried to see if his truck was still there. We didn't see it, but it was dark out anyway. We get back to the townhouse and I am literally starting to freak out. At midnight, my phone rings from a generic Raleigh phone number... my heart sank. I knew it was either the Highway Patrol or a hospital.

It was Nick... in the ER at Wake Med. He was calling to see if anyone was going to come get him. OMG WTF?! (I would have been there at 1:15pm when your ambulance arrived if I had known he was there... 'TARD!) They were supposed to contact his parents or me... we see how far that got huh? That's a whole 'nother topic... which will end with a nasty letter from me, to the Wake Med administrator.

So long story short, Nick had a fun-filled afternoon that included heatstroke, an ambulance ride, too much IV fluids (making him even MORE sick), a CAT scan, pain pills (let the barfing begin) and will probably have a nice $3-5,000 bill here soon. We finally got to go home at 1:30am only for him to wake up sick again at 4am.

Needless to say, his day off sucked and he's home recovering today.

PS - Did I mention I am terrified of hospitals? You'd think with Dr. Mom's and Aunt Anita's surgical careers... I'd be good to go. Not a chance. Adrianne said she could feel me getting more and more tense from the backseat as we lapped the hospital trying to figure out where to park.

So, thanks to Adrianne and Joey for being an awesome team. Thanks to Nate for calling from the bar and offering to be there in one short cab ride (I'm sure he could've used an IV, too) every hour, and to everyone else for the calls, IMs, and texts. Feel free to call and harass Nick anytime this afternoon.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Father's Day Frosty's for a Great Cause!

From The Preppy Wedding:

"Father's Day Frosty for a Good Cause

Hi everyone. Just a small public service announcement for my readers.

This weekend, June 14 and 15, Wendy's will donate 50 cents from the sale of every Frosty product, including new Frosty Shakes, at participating restaurants, to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

Currently, more than 129,000 U.S. children who are waiting for the love of forever families.

The goal is to raise more than $1.3 million to support the work of the non-profit Foundation and its signature program: Wendy's Wonderful Kids (WWK). This program is filling a critical need by funding and supporting full-time adoption recruiters at local agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Canada to match parents with waiting foster care children.

So go, buy a Frosty this weekend and know that you are doing something to help lots of kids out there who need your help. These are kids who are waiting for a family to call their own.

Oh and spread the word, would ya?"

Sunday, June 08, 2008

NC Ag Jam!

Adrianne and I spent a good portion of the day at the NC Ag Fair (which, is going to get a follow-up post of its own here shortly detailing the exciting day we had there)... but I wanted to give all of you country music fans a MAJOR heads up:

NC Ag JamThe website isn't really functional yet (there's nothing there but the logo), but the event is in September at TWC @ Walnut Creek... September 13th (if I remember correctly) and is going to have LOTS of up and coming country artists!!

Can't wait :-)

Friday, June 06, 2008

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

My favorite "crazy ex-girlfriend" is Miranda Lambert! I am STILL crushed that I missed her concert at City Limits a few years back.

So this afternoon, I'm sitting in my living room watching GAC's "Origins" on Miranda and as all entertainers - she has lots of merchandise with her face and name on it. She was taking viewers on a tour of her store (an actual store!) in her hometown (Longview, Texas according to Wikipedia) that two of her friends from high school run and she profiled her WINE! Yes, WINE! Her mom went on to talk about how she met a man who owned a winery and wanted to get his name out by possibly giving her some. Miranda's reaction was "Sure! I mean if you're going to give me some free wine!"

Want to know more about the winery?

Cellared and Bottled by:
LouViney Vineyards & Winery, LLC
Winnsboro, Texas
http://www.louviney.com/
So here's her wine, her favorite being "County Road 233" and I thought "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" was just a great looking bottle and label:



I'll be sure to update if I get myself a bottle! (Which of course, I'll purchase along side a "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" koozie!)

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Local Shopping Excerpts from My Other Blog

Please support these local businesses this weekend - starting Friday with Swagger!

Cary’s Swagger Gifts to Donate Portion of Days Sales to Breast Cancer Research

15 LOCAL Businesses Supporting LOCAL Conservation

Sleep-In for the Cure and Get Your Beauty Sleep, Too!

A freebie for Lisa S. - because I really love Fred's Beds' commitment to Komen for the Cure.

Fred’s Beds Continues Partnership with NC Komen for the Cure as First Corporate Sponsor for Sleep-In for the Cure

Raleigh, NC – In 2007, Fred’s Beds celebrated the grand opening of their 11th store during the months of October and November with a special shopping campaign that benefited the NC Triangle Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. In continuing that partnership, Fred’s Beds Vice President, Lisa Stansbury, has announced that Fred’s Beds has joined the NC Triangle Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure in celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure® series. Fred’s Beds is the first-ever, and sole sponsor of Sleep-In for the Cure® for the Komen NC Triangle Affiliate.

For race-day participants who aren’t spending the morning catching up on their beauty sleep, the Raleigh-based specialty sleep store, with locations across the state from Kannapolis to Wilmington, will be on-site at the race with a special display of their most popular futons and coordinating covers with a special emphasis on the color pink. Giveaways and special contests are just part of the line-up during the special event. The family-owned business is also looking forward to being able to connect with this very important part of their community in such a personal setting. “This is such a unique way for us to connect with our customers”, says Lisa Stansbury. “It is one thing to raise awareness about breast cancer and the dedication to finding a cure in our stores”, she says, “but this is an opportunity for us to stand along side so many other individuals, groups, and businesses who share the same vision of a world without breast cancer.”

Savvy-shoppers may have noticed that pink striped futon covers aren’t the only tool used by Fred’s Beds to highlight their dedication to the search for a cure for breast cancer: the newest locations in Wilmington and Garner, NC both sport pink parking lot lines. These bright parking lots not only create a positive vibe when shopping for specialty sleep products, but also remind consumers who notice the bright color, of the importance of early detection in the fight against breast cancer.

“We have been really inspired and humbled by the support that we’ve received from our customers and our peers in this industry”, Stansbury says, “and we were thrilled to have another opportunity to work with the NC Triangle Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure in a new capacity. From a marketing-perspective, you could not ask for a better fit for Sleep-In for the Cure than Fred’s Beds and the importance of sleep for your health. From a family perspective, I could not ask for a better way to honor my Grandmother and other close friends.”

Sleep-In for the Cure® gives interested participants a unique opportunity to support the race while not actually being in attendance. “As a working-woman, with a busy schedule like so many other people, I encourage those who want to support the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure®, but who may not have the time or the availability on June 14th, to consider Sleep-In for the Cure® as an alternative”, says Stansbury. Interested participants can register to Sleep-In for the Cure® and not only receive an event t-shirt and support the cause, but also get their beauty sleep.

For more information about Fred’s Beds, contact Vice President, Lisa Stansbury at LisaStansburyFB@BellSouth.net or visit their website at http://www.fredsbedsonline.com/.

For more information on the NC Triangle Affiliate of Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure, call 919-493-CURE (2873) or visit their website at www.komennctriangle.org/.

About Fred’s Beds
Fred’s Beds is a specialty sleep store founded in 1985 at the N.C. State Fairgrounds by owner Frank Stansbury. Since then, the company has grown to become a local, award-winning favorite of customers in search of a knowledgeable bedding retailer with a commitment to unparalleled customer service. Fred’s Beds boasts 16 reader-selected awards from such publications Metro, Encore, Wilmington Star, Independent Weekly, and others. With 9 locations throughout North Carolina (including Raleigh, Wilmington, and Greenville), there is almost always a Fred’s Beds close by where buyers can trust that “nobody knows beds like Fred”! For locations, hours and additional information, please visit Fred’s Beds online at http://www.fredsbedsonline.com/.

About Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure, we have invested nearly $1 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer, visit www.komen.org or call 1-800 I’M AWARE.
And once again (like in my other blog), in the interest of full-disclosure: I wrote and distributed this press release for Fred's - but it's totally blog worthy!

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

I Promised Myself I Wouldn't Blog Today...

...because I have SO much to get done right now, but this was too juicy to only share with Adrianne (my fellow Google-addict).

Now, brace yourselves, this is not very Southern-girly of me, but like my profile says: I'm at home in the modern world. And I absolutely love the convenience of the Google Toolbar (as a preface to the following...) and how it lets me basically "take everything with me" when I switch from IE to Mozilla or between computers.

Here's the email I just sent Adrianne, because I knew she'd literally laugh out loud in her newly upgraded cube (baller-status in less than 6 months? Atta-girl!!) at work:

So I wanted to add the “add to google reader” button to my google toolbar (assuming there is one, I haven’t gotten past the first page yet).

Anyways, I digress; I just wanted to point out the #3 most popular button that users are adding to the google toolbar:

Most Popular Buttons
YouTube Search - Add
Gmail - Add
Better Sex Tip of the Day - Add
Wikipedia - Add
WhiteSmoke: Check Your English Grammar and Spelling - Add
Scandalous!My, my, my! I hope everyone else enjoyed the same little snicker that I'm 99.9% sure Adrianne just had at work. And don't worry - I won't check my Google Analytics to see how many people clicked "Add" next to #3 on the list. :-P

Update: Naturally, Adrianne blogged on the subject, too!