Congratulations to our winners!

Congratulations to our winners...Renee Lipan of Holland, Nicole Keizer of Holland, and Cheryl Kozak. They each pick up a $25.00 gift certificate to O'Charely's! Keep Checkin the blog for more contests.

Let's Connect!

Ceci

O'Charely's contest

Sometime during the lunch hour (between noon and 1:00) I am going to mention what O'Charley's brought me for lunch, if you are the first 3 people to email me the correct lunch item, you will win a $25.00 gift certificate to O'Charley's in Holland. You need to use the gift certificate at the Holland location of O'Chareley's on James Street, so don't enter unless you can redeem it there. Listen on 99.3, or you can listen online too, go to JQ99.com and click on the listen live link.
Let's Connect!

Ceci

Mind Games...the update.

If you read my previous post about trying really hard to remember peoples names, then you'll appreciate this story. Saturday was the church picnic, and I was talking with Ann. She mentioned that she had fair skin and always had to make sure she had plenty of sunblock on. So in my head, the association I made was "Ann no-tan." Then in our conversation she mentioned the hard time she had remembering names, so I bragged about this great trick of making assoiciations with names, to which I used her as an example and told her about the "nick name" I had given her in my head. We laughed about it and I told her it really does work! About an hour later I ran into her again and loudly and proudly say, "Hey Pam no-tan." She looked at me and said, "I don't know if that trick works...it's ANN no-tan!" Ooops.

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Ceci

And the saga continues...and keeps getting more expensive!

This has been quite a week. See posts below for the full story, if you've not been following along. What bugs me the most about this whole deal, is how a little mistake is starting to really add up! The emergency room visit cost me a $50.00 deductable. The cocktail of drugs they prescribed me cost me around 30 bucks. Then, to top it all off...I was pulling into Walgreen's to fill the prescriptions, and I turned the minivan a little too tight, and it scraped the whole right side of the car! I don't even want to know the cost of those repairs!

UGH!

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Ceci

Why does Troy West call me a drama queen?

Here is a picture of me at the hospital on Monday, waiting for the antihistamines to work! Aren't camera phones great things?

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Ceci

Congratulations to our winners!

Congratulations to Peggy Crane of Decatur, GA, Kris Lindblad of Zeeland, Valerie Gee of Kentwood, Christy Garner of Grandville, and Pam Lund of Rockford. They each get a $25.00 gift certificate to O'Charley's! Keep checkin the blog for more contests!

Let's Connect!
Ceci

The free lunch that cost me 50 bucks!

I look forward to going to work every Monday at JQ2. Monday is a special day. Why? O'Charley's brings me a free lunch, and I talk about how delicious the food is on the air (which it is!). Well, yesterday I was starving and just about leapt out of my chair when O'Charley's showed up with lunch. I was typing furiously on my blog, so with one hand I reached in and pulled out the appetizer and started attacking it like a pig at a trough. Honestly, it was one of the best dips I had ever had. I didn't care how many calories were in it, how many hours of Pilates I'd have to go through to work it off...it was that good!

As I grabbed the last chip, and get ready to scoop the rest of it into my watering mouth, I happen to look down and see these tiny shrimp lying at the bottom of the bowl. My mind flashes back to the allergy test I had when I was 12, when the nurse told me to never, ever eat shrimp, because I am highly allergic to it.

I always wondered what would happen if I ate shrimp, because I have never eaten it before. Well, now I know.
It will cost me a 50 dollar deductible at the ER!

So, just to make nice, because O'Charleys has been a great supporter of JQ2, I am giving away 5 $25.00 gift certificates to O'Charleys to the first 5 people who email me at cecilabarge@mac.com their name and address. I recommend almost everything on the menu, but stay away from the shrimp appetizer if you're allergic!

Let's Connect!
Ceci

Should have thought of this!

I read this article the other day called talking about the, "Top ten dumbest online business idea's that made it big time." My favorite is "SantaMail." Get a postal address at North Pole, Alaska, pretend you are Santa Claus and charge parents 10 bucks for every letter you send to their kids? Well, Byron Reese sent over 200000 letters since the start of the business in 2001, which makes him a couple million dollars richer. For a complete list, go to "10 dumbest..."

Anyway, this is where my weekend comes in. My daughter, Elliana, got invited to a "Princess tea party" for my nieces birthday. All the girls dressed up as princesses and had tea and sandwiches with the real Princess Belle! Mrs. Potts was there too. Elliana had the time of her life! She kept saying, "Mom, I'm having the BEST time!" But the whole time, I couldn't help thinking, I wish I would have come up with this...I'd be a millionaire!

How Much??

I cruised through the McDonald's drive thru this morning, to pick up my daily dose of morning protein...one sausage burrito. The burrito cost me one buck. I needed something to wash it down, so I ordered a bottled water. The WATER cost me $1.19!!! You mean, WATER costs 19 more cents than a burrito?

Let's Connect!
Ceci

Looking forward to that electric bill!

I came home from work yesterday to find the AC on full blast...and the bathroom window wide open. I could pass that off as a mistake, if I hadn't left the back door slightly open to the garage on Monday.

Mind Games

I have a terrible time remembering names. I meet a lot of people out here at JQ 2, and at live broadcasts, and JQ events, and at church. I hardly remember any of their names. Then I realized, I don't really pay attention to the name when I meet someone. I met someone new the other day, and I couldn't remember their name literally 2 seconds after they said it! This has begun to bother me. I read this article the other day talking about memory tricks and I decided to employ some of its strategies. It said when you meet someone, say their name out loud in conversation at least 3 times. I find it hard to fit someones name into a conversation 3 times, without sounding really strange...but it does help. "Hi Ceci, I'm Judy." "Hi, Judy, nice to meet you." "Are you doing some shopping today, Judy." "No, we came for the free lunch certificates." "Well, Judy, here you go. Thank you for coming Judy. Have a great free lunch, Judy."

That trick works temporarily, but the one that has been the most helpful is making an association with the person's name. For instance, I just met the new neighbors. He introduced his name as Chris and mentioned he had been living in Germany for the last 2 years. So I thought, Chris-cross...Chris lived cross the ocean. (For his daughter Mikayla I couldn't come up with any associations, so I wrote her name on the calendar...Mikayla-red hair.) That works too. Writing it down.

Now, I know you're all going to hold me to this. But be patient, if I don't remember your name at a live broadcast, just say it out loud at least 3 times! "Hi Ceci, I'm Jeff. My friends call me J-dog, but you can just call me Jeff."

Let's connect!
Ceci

A Perfect Day...

Yesterday was the perfect day! I took the girls to the beach, where we made sandcastles. The sandcastles weren't perfect, but the weather was. Then, Dave and I got a babysitter and went to my favorite restaurant, Carrabas. The "chicken Brian" was prepared perfectly. You need days every now and again that are just...perfect.
Anyone have a perfect day recently?
Let's connect!

Ceci

Project Runway Returns!

My favorite show returned for its 3rd season last night. Project Runway has up-and-coming designers competing for a big contract. Supermodel Heidi Klum says "Aufwiedersehn" to the tackiest design/designer every week. This is not Heidi Klum. This is Tim Gunn, the breakout star of the show. If his affect-less voice doesn't get you, his bland personality will. But secretly, I love him!


Last night the competition was to take anything from their apartment and turn it into a runway dress. Brandon made his out of a comforter and I think the shawl is from the bedsprings. Creative, but really ugly!"















This is Laura's creation. She is a bit of a snooty lady. She made the commet last night,"with 5 kids it's easy to go down the slippery slop of wearing nothing but sweat pants and t-shirts...so, I always dress up." Laura, you'll look real cute walking around the mall in this bathroom rug.














Bonnie's is my favorite! I'd actually wear this, even though it is made mostly out of a bed sheet!









Have you ever turned something cool out of something intended for something else?
I want to hear about it!
Let's connect!

Ceci

Cake Testing! Yeah!

This Saturday I get to do a 3 hour broadcast from Creations by Marcia Bakery in Holland. Consider this your invitation. There is nothing better than a good piece of cake, and Marcia is going to have tons of samples to taste test. Now, this is my idea of heaven. Oh, and bring the kids for the decorate your own cookie station. Plus, you can purchase a 8" single layer cake for 5 bucks. Or, if you're heading to the beach on Saturday, stop in a pick up picnic treat pack. So, let's connect this Saturday from 9am til noon, at Creations by Marcia. It's in the Railside Plaza in Holland, off of Lakewood Blvd. (Or is it still called Ottawa Beach Road at that point?) You'll find it...just follow the smell of the cake.

Ceci

The mistake...that wasn't

We have had our house on the market for over a year, so when the realtor calls and sets up a showing, it's big news! Someone actually wants to tour my little piece of real-estate. (Emphasis on the "little", which is why it's still on the market) Anyway, the realtor wanted to show it at 1:30, but we had to change it to 4:00. Now, when I prepare for a showing, I turn into a crazy person. Every load of laundry must be washed, as there is not much room to hide it in this house. Every surface must be spotless, the toilets clean and the floor vaccumed and mopped. I even set the table with the cute dishes and add a centerpiece of a bowl of fresh fruit, to show that when you buy this house, you too will always have a spotless house and a perfectly coordinated table. I windex all the faucets....well, you get the picture.
So, yesterday I get this frantic call from the babysitter...yup, the realtor was at the house, AT 1:30!! (She missed the note that it got changed to 4) I was upset, to say the least, that people walking right in the house freaked out the babysitter. But I think in my twisted mind, I was more upset that the house was not prepared correctly. The toys were out, the slider door had fingerprints on it, there was probably dirty underthings stuffed in the laundry bin. But worst of all, the placemats were not on the table!! No fresh fruit as a centerpiece! How were these people going to picture themselves enjoying a fresh peach on a hot summer day?
Well, the house invaders and their realtor insisted on touring the house right then, and reluctantly I agreed, with the permission of my distraught babysitter. So when my realtor called later that afternoon, I was ready to light into her about getting the times right, which I started to do, and she inturrupted me and said, "of all the houses that couple toured today...yours is on the top of their list!"
I don't know whether to rejoice in that news or cry. Have I spent a year meticulously trying to control all these external circumstances, when in the end...it just needs to be the right house, for the right people?

Let's connect!
Ceci

My Latest Brainchild...

This is the boring old bookshelf.
We've had this bookshelf in our house for the last couple of years. We bought it unfinished from Lowe's. My husband Dave wanted to stain it a nice, rich mahogany, which we did...but, truthfully, I've never liked it. It came without one of the knobs, which we never got around to replacing, and always drove me crazy. It did however, do what it was supposed to do, that is, hold a bunch of books, most of which were textbooks from Dave's seminary classes, or books I picked up free from the JQ prize closet. And most of which, would never be looked at again.
So, I decided to take this useless thing, and turn it into something really cool!
I took all the yucky stain off with my new toy, the orbital sander. I really enjoyed the sanding part, but I did not enjoy removing the dust with the sticky tack cloth, over and over again.






More prep work...
Whenever I'm invoved in a big project like this, the wise words of my mother always run through my head, "if you're going to do something...take the time to DO IT RIGHT!" Mom, I sanded between everysingle coat thanks to you.










This is me with my all-time favorite purchase ever! The Ingersoll-Rand paint sprayer. I have used this to paint everything in my house. The last bookshelf we had, that was mahogany stain, is now lime green! The sofa table, that used to match the bookshelf...is now a beautiful shade of bright blue. And the cute end table that again, used to be part of the set which was also mahogany, is now a hot orange. I even painted the oak kitchen table, that one, however, was a mistake! Dave stopped me when I told him I wanted to paint the maple kitchen cabinets. He said, "what did wood ever do to you?"

HOW CUTE IS THIS???

Okay, so you may have been wondering what I have been doing to this poor bookshelf. I needed a little computer desk for my new laptop computer. So, I had this brainchild of an idea, to add a shelf that extends out 6 inches, so I could use it as a desk. Isn't that brilliant? I dumped all the boring old books, made Dave take his seminary stuff to his office at church, and VOILA! I have an organizational center for all those bills, flyers, and Bed, Bath and Beyond coupons, that seem to come every other day. Of course, I spent about 60 bucks on organizing stuff from Real Simple. I love all the coordinating drawers, folders, and filing systems. Dave says if I spend as much time actually organinzing stuff as I do, painting the organizing center and picking our coordinating filing equipment, we'd be the most organized family in the world!
So, I could't have done this without a little bit of help from my oh-so-helpful husband. If you want his perspective on my brainchild of a project...check out his blog at nothingcanseparate.blogspot.com

Welcome to the "Connect with Ceci LaBarge" blog!
Oh, what a ride we're going to take! Here I am, broadcasting from the JQ2 studio's in the Westshore Mall, and I am a little bored. So, I'm posting my first blog entry. I don't know how to post pictures yet, those will come, I assure you. The purpose of this blog is to be an extension of my show, "Connect with Ceci LaBarge". I'm on Monday through Friday, from 10:30 til 3:00. You can listen online too, at JQ99.com. There's lots to talk about, and this is supposed to be an interactive thing, so I welcome your comments. I'll post another entry later...I want to make sure this thing works! You can tell, I'm not much of a techie.
Let's connect!
Ceci