Annual break

Hello everyone. We are taking our annual break from the blog. We have had it going for three years and over 350 posts! If you have a blog you know, and if you don't you should know, that it takes a lot of effort to keep them going, and it's nice to take a break every now and then. I'm so glad to everyone who keeps up with us and we'll get going again soon. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.
Patrick and Nancy

Week in Vegas

In vegas this week training for a new job. Ill tell you all about it when I get back. Last night we went down to the strip for dinner and were able to catch the Bellagio water show- it never fails to impress!

Bank Warning!

Here is my consumer alert for the day. Patrick heard this thing on the radio yesterday about how banks are taking people with accounts in good standing and automatically upgrading their accounts so they can reach their quotas and earn all the fees that go with them. Lo and behold, I open our account today online and see a $20 fee for some Whole Access thing. Apparently since we don't overdraw and we have some savings, we were a target. I called the bank and yes, I was apparently upgraded without my knowledge to some checking account I don't want. They claimed that I must have done it myself at some point which made me even more livid. I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT change the status of my account and wouldn't even know how to if I did. The radio bit said they are hoping to get extra money from those who don't care or who don't pay attention to their accounts. If you think about it, if they get even 25,000 customers at $20 a pop that is an easy $500,000 in extra money made. If they did this every month they would get an easy $6mil in a year! I spent 30 minutes on the phone trying to figure this out- Am I cheap? No. I'm just trying to fight for what is right and I refuse to be taken advantage of! We have Bank of America, but I'm sure all banks are doing this same shady thing. My advice is to check your accounts and check them often. Don't put up with this crap!

Colorado Trip

We just got back from a very busy week in Colorado. Our main purpose of the trip was to visit out new niece, Teal, but we did find some time to visit some friends too. We had a great time seeing some of our Denver friends and our La Junta relatives. As always, it was unfortunate that we didn't have time to see everyone, but hopefully we'll be back soon!

Brandon is super busy and won't stop moving for anyone- not even his favorite Auntie with a camera.

A rare glimpse of Teal with her eyes open... she's a sweet, sleepy girl!

Sassy got plenty of attention too!

Children's Clinc Fashion Show

The last show I did before leaving for Colorado was a fund raising event for Mercy Children's Clinic in Nashville. Here's a few pictures of the outfits I did for the show. The event was covered by the Tennessean- for more pictures of the event click here.

Baby Teal

Jackie and Fred had their little baby girl this week. Teal Reece was born on Wednesday with a little difficulty but ended up ok. We are leaving today to drive to Colorado. Can't wait to meet her!

Pancake Pantry

This place is famous in Nashville. On the weekends there is a line around the block. We went for the first time today. It was good but a bit overrated.

NFL Shake-Up

If someone had told me that my #1 team, The Broncos, would start this season at 4-0 and my #2 team, The Titans, would start at 0-4 this season I would have never believed it. But, here we are in week 4 and this is the case, and I know I'm not the only one surprised. I was able to watch both teams today for the first time this season (they usually don't play the Broncos games out here) and here is my review:


The Titans looked TERRIBLE today. This is the first game this season where they really did look like an 0-4 team. Up until this week, they looked good, but just couldn't get those last plays they needed for the win. I feel like they are letting their record get to them and unless they can make something HUGE happen next week, we here in Nashville will be looking at a long season.


The Broncos, on the other hand, looked pretty good and gave us a great game. I was very impressed with the defense, but the offense has a little work to do. I'm not really in love with Orton- he will have to improve his accuracy before I buy into him. I am, however, in love with Josh McDaniels.... so so SO cute! Even if they were losing I still think I would be a fan of his... : )
I also liked all the pink accessories today- very cool.

Well, time now for the night game. Hope you all had a good Sunday!

Girls' Night Out Event at the store

I get a little flack for never putting pictures of myself on the blog. Well, here you go. Click here to see one of me that was on the style blog run by the local paper. The picture was taken at a big event we have at Belk called Girls' Night Out.

Bath time for The Sass

Here she is after- all wet and pissed.

Fashion Week in Nashville

Another fashion show today- this one was for a ladies social group. It was a small show but a good one. I have two more next week then one more in November. I'll be ready for Fashion Week in NYC next year I think.

Out of the phone stone age

After 3 years with crappy phones Patrick and I finally got new ones today. l got an LG Dare and it's pretty cool. Here I'm experimenting with the camera. I wanted a phone with a good camera on it because I can never seem to keep up with my real one. This way
I'll always have one with me. Of course my first photo subject is The Sass.

Tennessee State Fair

So last week was a fun one but really busy. Sarah and Sadie and little Atticus came out for a few days for a visit. I know, I know,- where's the pictures? Well, like always, the camera was lost and out of batteries so I didn't get any. Sorry. I did, however, snap this one on the phone of Patrick at the state fair. The 5 of us went on Thursday to see what the fine people of TN had to offer us. It is not nearly as good as the CO fair, but it was fairly entertaining, and worth the $5. The most entertaining part was seeing the giant vegetables. There was a pumpkin in there that weighted over 1200lbs. Pretty incredible! 

It was great to see Sarah and her kids. Sadie is getting so big- already in kindergarden, she is becoming quite her own little person. She still likes lots of attention and had quite the time playing Guitar Hero with Patrick. Atticus is his own little man and doesn't need anything from anyone. He want to do everything himself and is interested in anything that he can make noise with. I don't know how Sarah keeps up with them all the time- after 2 days Patrick and I were exhausted! 

Breast Cancer Fashion Show

The first fashion show of the season I have done for the store was one for a breast cancer recovery program. All of the models were from the program and were great to work with. The camera was out of batteries, as always, so we didn't get the best pictures to share with you. For the most part, the show went well and was a good kick off to my fall season. 

Today, I dressed some ladies for a fall fashion segment for a TV show. It was a bit stressful because the style writer from the newspaper was supposed to come commentate, but was really really late. The show was live so they had me all mic-ed up and ready to be on camera. I was a bit freaked out, but at the last second the lady showed up, so my TV debut will have to wait for another day. 

The freshest Colorado Chilies.....

...here in Tennessee! These were only picked on Thursday and Mom sent these to us yesterday. We probably have fresher chilies all the way out here in The South than most Coloradoans are buying them at home. As you can see, we do have quite a few, so I have been spending the day roasting them. I have also already made green chili and chili rellenos. We have been without them since last winter, so we have both been really dying for some Colorado Mexican cooking. I must say, this white girl can make rellenos and chili to rival anyone south of the border! Now, if only I had a mexican stomach that could handle all of it I would be fine. As of now, I take mine with a side of Tums, oooh but it's so worth it!

Welcome back football!

NFL opening weekend! It's my favorite holiday! Here's to a great season.

The old arcade

On our last day off together, Patrick and I wondered into a arcade with all old games. It was a cool concept- you paid to get in and then all the games were free. We spent 2 hours playing old school games like PacMan, DigDug, Area 51, and Tetris. These are the only games I have ever really been able to figure out anyway, (I was never into those "new fangeled" X-Box things) so I was in heaven. It was really fun!

Eggs by Nancy

Check out these Eggs Benedict I made myself! I poached the eggs and everything! Martha Stewart has nothing on me- well she probably would have raised her own chickens and made her own muffins from scratch- but still! I'm proud!

Redecorating again

As you know, I like to decorate for the seasons. Fall is my favorite because it is a nice change and very cozy, but it doesn't take nearly the time that Christmas does. Not much has changed from last year, a few new additions, but nothing major. Sassy did get a pair new of Halloween pajamas though..

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Titan's Pre-season

Our neighbor gave us some great tickets to the the Titan's game the other night. They were right on the end zone near the tunnel. It was so cool to be that close to the players! The game was awesome and we had a good time.

Arrington Vineyards

Patrick and I went to a lovely vineyard south of Nashville last weekend that we have been meaning to check out for awhile. The area is beautiful and they open it up to anyone who wants to come have a picnic. Kicks Brooks from the group Brooks and Dunn is a co-owner. The atmosphere is nice and the wine isn't too bad either! I recommend the Red Fox Red. 

So what else have we been up to?

The end of the summer has been fun and busy. A few things have changed around the Baird house, so here's an update:

Patrick News: 

He started school at Austin Paey University on Aug. 17th. He is working on a Psychology degree, which he is hoping to turn into a career in the FBI or US Marshals. The school he is attending does 5 week terms, so it is fast, but intense. He will be done with the first session on Oct 7th, so he is already about half way through. So far, he has really enjoyed it and has done well on all his tests. 

Patrick also has a new job. His job landscaping was seasonal, so he is back to working as a valet. This time though, it is a way better gig. He is working at the Opryland Hotel, which is like Nashville's version of a Vegas casino. He just started this week and so far really likes it. 

He turned 23 on August 21st. We had a nice dinner out with friends and he got a new rifle (shotgun?) for his gift. It is some antique Russian war gun requiring lots of love and finishing work. He and his friend Adam both got one so they have been working on them together. 

We had our fourth anniversary on August 31st. Four years down and one to go as my mom would say....  : )

As for me, it's fall fashion time. I have 8 big events that I am working on for the store, which will keep me busy up until time to get ready for the holidays. Unfortunately, customers are already making me crazy, so my holiday retail ramblings might start a little early this year! 

I'm following up this post with a few others accompanied with pictures. Hope you all are enjoying the end of your summers too. Happy Labor Day.  

Welcome back Food Network!

Well, our six month suspension of our Direct TV is over! It was a good, lesson learning, experience- but I don't think we need to do it again. I have missed my old friends Rachel Ray and Bobby Flay. Having the TV back probably explains the little break from the blog- I was too busy watching the E! Network.

Nashville Zoo

A couple of weeks ago Patrick and I went to the Nashville Zoo. It was really great! It is not quite as big as the Denver Zoo, but all of the animal habitats are very nice and easy to see all the animals. The highlights were some monkeys all swinging around and a snake shedding its skin- Crazy!

Republican Women's Luncheon

This is not the best picture but this is Lee Greenwood the 'God Bless The USA' guy. I went to a Republican Womans luncheon this week and to my surprise he was performing at the opening! So cool! He was great and hearing him sing was really moving and inspiring. 

Off on a Thursday

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with a few weeks. As it always seems to happen with summer, we have been busy and time has flown. Today we are hanging out at the Flying Saucer- a cool beer joint downtown Nashville. Ill try to update soon more of what we've been doing. Hope everyone is well.

This one was cool

First guy is a coin toss - let's wish him good luck.
His job is to establish the parity of black hats visible to him.
He says "Black" if he sees an odd number of black hats; "Red" otherwise.
By paying attention to what has been said, each prisoner will know his hat's color.

Example:
Second to speak hears "Black" and sees an even number of black hats. 
He knows his hat is black [odd changed to even - must be his is black] and says "black".

Third guy has heard "black" and "black" and sees an even number of black hats.
He knows his hat is red [even stayed even - his hat can't be black] and says "red".

And so on, to the front of the line.

General algorithm:
The first time you hear "black", say to yourself "odd".
Each time your hear "black" after that, change the parity: "even", "odd", ... etc.
When it's your turn, if the black hats you see match the running parity, you're Red; Black otherwise.
Call out your color.

Best pizza in the county

Unfortunately Pleasant View leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to pizza places. There are 3 in town and we dont like any of them. They all taste like under baked frozen pizza. The best we've found? Wal-Mart take and bake. Its so good and cheap! I get the pepperoni then add my own extra stuff. Try it if you haven't- You'll be pleasantly surprised. Not all that comes from there is evil after all!

Hats on Death Row

You are one of 20 prisoners on death row with the execution date set for tomorrow. Your king is a ruthless man who likes to toy with his people's miseries. He comes to your cell today and tells you:
“I’m gonna give you prisoners a chance to go free tomorrow. You will all stand in a row (queue) before the executioner and we will put a hat on your head, either a red or a black one. Of course you will not be able to see the color of your own hat; you will only be able to see the prisoners in front of you with their hats on; you will not be allowed to look back or communicate together in any way (talking, touching.....).

The prisoner in the back will be able to see the 19 prisoners in front of him. The one in front of him will be able to see 18…

Starting with the last person in the row, the one who can see everybody in front of him, he will be asked a simple question: WHAT IS THE COLOR OF YOUR HAT?

He will be only allowed to answer “BLACK” or “RED”. If he says anything else you will ALL be executed immediately.

If he guesses the right color of the hat on his head he is set free, otherwise he is put to death. And we move on to the one in front of him and ask him the same question and so on…

Well, good luck tomorrow, HA HA HA HA HA HA!”

Now since you all can communicate freely during the night, can you find a way to guarantee the freedom of some prisoners tomorrow? How many?

Richard's Cafe

This is a little place that is off a back road near our house. We have driven by it several times, but had never stopped until Sunday. It turned out to be a cute little Cajun place. Patrick had pasta and craw fish and I had Jambalaya- both were really good. It is the kind of place where the owner just comes and sits at your table with you and chats like he's known you forever. It was very cool and we'll definitely go back. Who knew you could find good Cajun food in the middle of Tennessee?

Stalking Dolly Parton

My friend Justin and I went on an unofficial "celebrity homes" tour yesterday. He went on the actual celebrity home bus tour when he first moved to Nashville, but said this would be way better because we could actually stop and look around. I told him that I figured most people (celebrities especially) frowned upon people poking around their yards, but Justin was determined so off we went. First stop: Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman's house, but the gate was locked to their community so we couldn't get in. Damn it.  Next stop: Barbara Mandrell's house. I didn't really care about her, but Justin's a big fan so I went along. It was a pretty nice house, not real big but pretty. She had 2 red Corvettes in the driveway. Then we got lost for a long time (That probably doesn't happen when you take the tour bus).  I was getting frustrated because I hadn't seen anything cool yet and was about ready to go home, but then, we came upon the house that made it all worth while... Dolly Parton's house!!! Her house is very nice looking, but not large, especially compared to the gigantic $5mil houses around hers. She has a big gated yard with a windmill and a small chapel. It is not heavily gated or guarded at all! I would bet most people driving by don't even know it is her house. We wanted a good picture, so we up the street and walked up to it. We could have easily broken into the yard if we wanted, but figured that might be taking it too far. It seemed like such a friendly house that I just wanted to ring the bell and see if she would invite us in for cookies. I'm not sure how much of the time she actually lives here because I have never heard of anyone seeing her casually about town. I suppose though that when you are a legend you don't go out and about like everyone else.  Anyway, it was cool. 

Hanging out on a Tuesday

This is one of our favorite places in Nashville. The beer is cold and the crowd is weird.

Something new

Cryptograms

Here a phrase or sentence is encrypted- each letter is substituted with a different letter or character. To know what the sentence or phrase says, figure out each substitution.  

Puzzle #1  Easy 

UP YIGPBXW QG RQXG FNQXJNFD. FNPR ZIR UPYQZP AQGOD IF IVR ZQZPVF.

Hint: E appears 6 times

Puzzle #2 Tricky

QCHPHKHN B ZHHV VBFH HMHNUBTBPY, B VBH DXQP OPWBV WCH ZHHVBPY LGTTHT.

Hint: The letter B is not used at all 

Puzzle #3 Tough

YDGF A ZAF RGGR ODG DAFSYXQOQFE CF ODG YANN, ODGXG QR MXCKAKNP A TDQNS QF ODG HAZQNP.

Hint: The letter U is not used at all

Not so little Brandon

Mom sent me this picture yesterday- they must have been at the river walk. For a little guy he sure is getting big!

Answer Friday

Here's the Answer to my riddle, and a little knowledge too...

Answer

Time zones.

Before the invention of standard time zones, each city or region could have its own local time. This became increasingly awkward as railways and telecommunications improved.

Originally, time zones based their time on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Mean solar time is defined by the rotation of the Earth, which is not constant in rate. Starting January 1, 1972, a new system was used, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which used a fixed rate and added leap seconds when necessary to compensate for variations in the rotation of the Earth.

In theory, there are 24 time zones, making each a constant 15 degrees of longitude apart. A time zone varies in width from zero miles at both poles to over 1000 miles at the equator.

In reality, there are about 40 time zones, and the border between time zones is irregular, following political or geographical boundaries. The island of Newfoundland, India, and parts of Australia use half-hour deviations from standard time, and some nations use quarter-hour deviations.

Canada's Sir Sandford Fleming first proposed time zones for the entire world in 1876. Most major countries had adopted hourly time zones by 1929.

Brain Teaser Tuesday

Since Dad thinks he's so clever with his tricky riddle last week, I found a hard one to get back at him:

Before I came, confusion abounded.
I'm late, I'm late was frequently sounded.

I'm not average, but was based on a mean.
My size, in theory, is constant: fifteen.

I'm two dozen steps, again in theory.
But walk my length and you'd get weary.

I take half and quarter steps at times.
In reality, I don't follow the lines.

I shrink to nothing in two cold extremes.
Over a thousand miles wide in the betweens.

What am I?

Just for fun

What do you see in this picture?

Pool Crashing

Im desperatly trying to keep at least a little of my hawaii tan so I came to Opry Land today and 'pool crashed'. A nice way to spend my day off.

Nashville Sounds

Patrick and I came out to see the AAA baseball team play tonight. They lost, but the weather was nice and we had a good time. This is a picture of their score board- pretty neat huh?

Poison Sumac Attacks!

Patrick got attacked by a bush landscaping. Apparently it takes 4 different kinds of medicine to make it go away! Forget Anthrax, Sumac would be my chemical weapon of choice!

Home safe and sound

We made it home this afternoon. We had a wonderful time and of course can't wait to go back! Sassy was happy to see us and loves her new hula girl dress.

We're never coming back...

We're just going to stay here forever!

Diamond head

View from the top of a volcano over the ocean

Wish you were here!

Pearl Harbor

Gunner turrett from sunken USS Arizona

Pearl Harbor

Having a great time!