Website Wednesday!

The new spot to hang out in Kansas City is the Power & Light District (P&L)

On my adventures to plan some new fun and activities for me and my husband, I came across their website... and how handy!! If your visiting Kansas City or a long time local, this is a must stop for entertainment. Located in the heart of Downtown KC, P&L has a ton of retail, restaurants & bars, and entertainment venues.

This website if packed full of handy information and tips for P&L.

Take an afternoon, or evening and head down to P&L, please check out the dress code before you go! This has been a big issue in the city, so please check it out, I don't want you to get down there just to be turned away!

Have I moved to Seattle?

My goodness this weather feels like Seattle! Or so I'm told, I've never been there, but they say it rains a lot!

Kansas City is becoming the new Seattle. It rained off and on the last couple of weeks, and most of the weekend. It produced a tornado and killer lightening. No joke, a gentleman was struck riding his motorcycle home on Saturday afternoon. He had finished up a ride for "Bikers Against Child Abuse" and was trying to hurry home before the weather got really bad, unfortunately he didn't make it. Very sad story. The tornado stopped the races at the track and did several miles of damage. Luckily no one was injured in the tornado.

But this rain.. when will it stop! I know, I know, April showers bring May flowers... but the flowers are going to float away if it doesn't stop soon! Mr. Weather man as predicted 3-4 more days this week of rain. Ugh!!

"Rain rain go away, come again another day"

Friday's Fabulous Find!

Happy Friday!

I have to give a BIG thank you to Marie for this coupon. My computer has been down all day and I haven't had much time to do anything. I have to make this quick before the computer guy comes back to fix the lovely virus I downloaded...

Yankee Candles anyone? Here's a coupon for $10 off your purchase of $25. Enjoy!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Don't Go Tony!

What a sad day in Chiefs land... see report below.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Chiefs have traded Tony Gonzalez to the Atlanta Falcons, according to a spokesman for the team.

A news release said Gonzalez was traded in exchange for a second-round selection in the 2010 NFL draft.
“On behalf of my family and the Chiefs, I want to thank Tony for his time in Kansas City,” Chiefs Chairman Clark Hunt said in the news release. “Over the last 12 seasons, Tony has been one of the finest players in Chiefs history, and he will always be remembered as a member of the Chiefs. His play on the field speaks for itself -- he holds almost every major NFL record for tight ends, and he is arguably the best to ever play his position. We wish him the best in Atlanta.”

“From an organizational as well as personal standpoint there are mixed emotions,” said Scott Pioli, general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs, in announcing the trade. “I have the highest personal and professional respect for Tony and consider him to be a future Pro Football Hall of Famer.”
Gonzalez holds the NFL career record for tight ends with 916 receptions, 10,940 receiving yards, 76 receiving TDs and 26 100-yard receiving games, totals that are the highest of any player in Kansas City history in all of those respective categories.
Gonzalez played in 188 regular-season games for Kansas City.

Career Builder

As you all know, I'm a recruiter for a staffing agency and I look at resumes on a daily basis. One of my sources for resumes is Careerbuilder.com. They are always working hard to keep their site updated with all the latest hype. Anymore, social networks are the big hype, myspace, facebook, blogs, twitter, linkedin... there are tons, 90% are for personal use.

Careerbuilder has crossed a professional line. If you are looking for a job and post your resume on www.careerbuilder.com, they have now made accessible for recruiters and employers to see you social network pages and sites. They sent out an e-mail bragging about their new "applicant explorer". I checked it out and immediately asked my boss to fill out negative comments. I clicked on a resume, this person has been a chemist for 2 years, unfortunate layoff, they put their resume on Careerbuilder to find a job, just like millions of people have. So now when I go to view her resume, I get the resume, and then to the side had links to their facebook page, myspace page, linked in, blog and yahoo profile!!! My mouth dropped, I clicked on another resume, there i find links to all of their personal sites, as well as anything that was ever written about them in articles on the web (newspapers, sports, fundraisers) it's all on there. And if you have a common name like John Doe, imagine how many of those articles aren't about you! It is one thing to join a companies Social network on your own freewill, but Careerbuilder is posting these links without candidates consent!

I've copied below the information they are posting on resumes:
Get an exclusive peek...
You have been selected to participate in a beta group to test CareerBuilder.com's latest time-saving tool, Applicant Explorer.
You now have the ability to get a comprehensive snapshot of a candidates' footprint on the Web from within CareerBuilder.com's Resume Database. This complimentary feature will give you access to relevant information generated from:

• Social networking sites
• Professional and personal Blogs
• Personal and corporate Websites
• Press releases
• Discussion and forum postings
• Articles and news stories published online

And from an employers prospective, if we look at this information provided and the candidate does not get the job, what is stopping them from saying they were discriminated against? My company does not look up this information on our candidates, but you have now made it readily available and viewable. In some situations, I don't have to even click on the links provided to read the first few lines of a blog or website article. By providing these links, an employer can quickly see a candidates age, race, sexual orientation, if they are disabled or overweight, which is not questions on our application.

I would recommend making all of your information on your networking sites private, if you have a picture up-make sure it's a respectful picture-or take it down. This is just an easy way for employers to sneak into your personal life and it makes it even easier to be discriminated against. So since I'm large, can you honestly tell me how many people are going to look at my social networks and not call me for an interview because of that? I think quite a few.

I love animals and I'm a big supporter of pet adoptions. I adopted Spike 9 years ago and Max 3 years ago and they've brought so much joy and love into my home. I'm not sure what I would do with out them.

This weekend is Wayside Waifs Spring Pet Adopt-A-Thon. Wayside has 300 dogs, cats, puppies and kittens in need of homes. Are you considering a new furry friend for your household? Come out and adopt one of theirs for half the price! Click here to view animals up for adoption!

Website Wednesday!

This weeks page recommendation for Website Wednesday comes Marie!

http://www.romancestuck.com/

I haven't had much time to fully explore this website but it seems pretty cool. Romance Stuck "Helping you add more love and romance to your life". That they do. They offer Marriage proposal ideas, advice on how to buy an engagement ring, tips on flirting and movie recommendations. They also have fun little quizzes, trivia and games to play. They offer ideas on scrapbook pages, gifts and travel. I did notice a link in the Romance Shop forn Chocolate Covered Strawberries that I'm going to have to check out! Romance Stuck has a Q&A section as well. If you need any help in the romance department or are just looking for some new fresh ideas, check them out!

Thanks Marie, this was a great site to share!

Biggest Loser

Just a quick note to say how sad I am that Kristin is voted off the biggest loser. She was my favorite!! She was such an inspiration, and like me in so many ways.

I know she was shocked by Mike's decision, however it is a game, and he wants to win. But if it came down to who should be on the ranch, that should be Kristin, she's still has so much weight to lose and Helen doesnt.

3 weeks until the final show! I can't wait! Whose gonna win, Mike? Tara? Ron?....

Plus Size Reality Show!!!

OH MY GOD, IT'S ABOUT TIME! I AM SO EXCITED!

Where was this when I was single? I have always told my friends they needed a show like this! I'm for sure going to tell a couple of my friends about this! The only bad news, they are already done with auditions! Why are we just hearing about this then? Why must they keep the big woman down! Also, I don't see Kansas City on the list, we are one of the top overweight cities in the nation! Well enough of me rambling, here's the scoop.

Fox is casting new Reality Show for Plus Size Women!

Meet Casting Agents At Lane Bryant - I have copied a list below (even tho it's too late for auditions) It's Not to late to send in your Video and Application!!
Confident, Voluptuous and looking for love? Tired of the single life and want to settle down? Then this show is for you!! Love comes in all shapes and sizes and finally Fox is doing something about it! It is from the producer of “The Bachelor”. They are Casting: Curvy, Beautiful, Sexy Women ages 23 to 35 who are ready for the romantic adventure of a lifetime. To apply, simply fill out the online form and mail in a home video. For more information visit their website. http://www.bigheartcasting.com/ GOOD LUCK TO ALL WHO APPLIED!!

• ATLANTA, GA Saturday, April 4th 2:00pm – 6:00pm Lane Bryant – Perimeter Mall (lower level)4400 Ashford Dunwoody Road Suite 1360Atlanta, GA 30346
• CHICAGO, IL Saturday, April 4th 2:00pm – 6:00pm Lane Bryant – Westfield Fox Valley Shopping Center195 Fox Valley Center Aurora, IL 60504
• RALEIGH DURHAM, NC Wednesday, April 8th 4:00pm – 8:00pm Lane Bryant – Renaissance Village8200 Renaissance Parkway, #1024Durham, NC 27713
• EDISON, NJ Friday, April 10th 2:00pm – 6:00pm Lane Bryant - Menlo Park Mall100 Menlo Park Edison, NJ 08837
• HOUSTON, TX Saturday, April 11th 2:00pm – 6:00pm Lane Bryant1201 Lake Woodlands Dr # 1082,The Woodlands TX 77380
• PHILADELPHIA, PA Thursday, April 16th 4:00pm – 8:00pm Lane Bryant160 N Gulph Road, # 1087,King Of Prussia, PA 19406
• DALLAS, TX Saturday, April 18th 2:00pm – 6:00pm Lane Bryant – Park Lane Mall8070 Park Lane Dallas, TX 75231
• NEW YORK, NY Saturday, April 18th 12:00pm – 6:00pm Lane Bryant380 Fulton St.Brooklyn, NY 11201

Banana Bread

It seems like every year I make a pledge, a promise, a resolution, a whatever you want to call it, to lose weight. I get all excited and pumped, and quit in a month. I seriously need to diet, but I've found that I have a serious weakness for food. It's my best friend in times of comfort, stress, celebrations, it's there for everything in my life! I have motivation, it's just buried under my layers of frolls. (frolls is another word i had to make up because my husband hates when i say fat rolls) My metabolism is low, heck a slug could be me in a race.
So i thought to myself... i said "Tonya, you could at least start eating healthy and making things you love healthier...right?" and of course I agreed with myself, which leads us to this recipe I stumbled across on the Internet today.

Healthy Banana Bread

Prep Time:15 min
Start to Finish:2 hr 20 min
makes:2 loaves (12 slices each)

1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons margarine, softened
3 egg whites
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3 to 4 medium)
2/3 cup Yoplait® Fat Free plain yogurt (from 2-lb container)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups Whole Grain Total® cereal, slightly crushed

1.
Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven; heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms only of two 8x4-inch loaf pans or one 9x5-inch loaf pan with shortening.
2.
In large bowl, mix sugar and margarine. Stir in eggs whites until well blended. Add bananas, yogurt and vanilla; beat until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients except cereal just until moistened. Stir in cereal. Pour into pans.
3.
Bake 8-inch loaves about 1 hour, 9-inch loaf about 1 1/4 hours, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Nutritional Information
1 Slice: Calories 120 (Calories from Fat 10); Total Fat 1g (Saturated Fat 0g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 190mg; Total Carbohydrate 24g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 13g); Protein 2g % Daily Value*: Vitamin A 0%; Vitamin C 6%; Calcium 10%; Iron 10% Exchanges: 1 Starch; 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable Carbohydrate Choices: 1 1/2 MyPyramid Servings: 1 oz-equivalents Grains *% Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

*photo and recipe from eatbetteramerica.

Friday's Fabulous Find!

This offer is truly "FRIDAY'S" Fabulous Find.

TGI FRIDAY'S is my favorite restaurant. This week they've sent me the most valuable coupon! Penny Appetizer at the Bar with any Drink Purchase and $1 Entree with the purchase of another Entree! I love a good deal! Offer Expires 4/30/09!

Website Wednesday!

This could also go under Friday's Fabulous Find!

www.cyberrentals.com

We ran across this site while booking and planning a family trip to Orlando. We have 10 people going and was trying to think of a cost effective way for us all to save money on this trip. My Dad found this site. It offers homes/town homes/condos for "rent" while you're on your vacation! They can be booked for one night or weeks at a time. We have currently be focusing on the Orlando area, but they offer theses rentals in cities all over the United States (no listing in Kansas, sorry folks) and International! I wish I would have known about this on my honeymoon! We are looking at a Luxury home, fully furnished, 4-5 bedrooms, pool, hot tub, kitchen, 3 bathrooms, game room for less then $700 for 10 people! And depending on when you go, I found a 5 bedroom for $390 a week!

I think this site is a must next time you're thinking of booking a vacation!

Die Cut Freebie!

Hello Everyone!

Simply Handmade is giving a Sizzix Big Shot and a QuicKutz Sihouette away to two lucky winners!

Go Check it out! SimplyHandmade

Dreamland

On Monday I had 2 crazy dreams. The first dream was in regards to my weight. No big deal really, however in this dream I was on the Biggest Loser show and Tara (currently a contestant from the Biggest Loser) was my trainer. No Matter how hard she pushed me and punished me, I gained weight. Week after week I would get drilled with intense exercise and diets, and when I got on the scale, I'd gain. If you watch the show, you know Tara is the biggest competitor on the show, not one of my favorites, but she is doing an amazing job. Thank god for waking up to go to the bathroom, i might have injured myself !

According to dreammoods.com dreaming of weight means: To dream of your own weight, represents your self-worth, self-esteem, influence or power or persuasion. It is also indicative of the burdens you carry in life. Alternatively, it may represent your preoccupation with your physical shape and appearance. The dream may also be a pun for "wait".

The second dream was based off of the movie "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past"

(movie overview taken from Yahoo)

Celebrity photographer Connor Mead loves freedom, fun and women... in that order. A committed bachelor who thinks nothing of breaking up with multiple women on a conference call, Connor's mockery of romance proves a real buzz-kill for his kid brother, Paul, and a houseful of well wishers on the eve of Paul's wedding. Just when it looks like Connor may single-handedly ruin the wedding, he is visited by the ghosts of his former jilted girlfriends, who take him on a revealing and hilarious odyssey through his failed relationships--past, present and future. Together they attempt to find out what turned Connor into such an insensitive jerk and whether there is still hope for him to find true love...or if he really is the lost cause everyone thinks he is.

Well, in my dream, I was haunted by Boyfriends Past! With each boyfriend that would come into play, I learned a valuable lesson that happened in our relationship. In the end, I realized the boyfriends came back into my life to help me better my relationship with Danny. (Side note: Danny and I are doing Great!) But the dream offered tidbits of advice...Like don't take everything for granted, treasure the little things, don't stop caring about your appearance and it's ok to be happy. Again, I looked up dreaming about exboyfriends giving advice and this is what i get: To dream that your ex-boyfriend is giving you advice about your current relationship, suggests that you unconscious is telling you not to repeat the same mistakes that you had made with this ex-boyfriend.

Now, lets hope I get some well rested sleep tonight!

Friday's Fabulous Find

TGIF!!! Has this been a long week or what?!
Today's Fabulous Find is from Archivers Scrapbook Store. They are offering 30% off until the end of April and Free Card Stock! Who doesn't love Free?! Click here for the coupons!!

You know you're old when...

the "oldies" station you listened to growing up that played the Beach Boys and Beetles is now playing the songs that you grew up with like the 80's hair bands.

Happy 8 Months!

April 8, 2009. Danny and I have made it 8 months! yay! Only 4 more to go until we can eat wedding cake!! I've been wanting to take a "second honeymoon", but not sure where. The airlines have super cheap flights right now, however with my work, I'm not sure it's the best time to drop a few dollar bills on a vacation. God knows I need one! We wanted to go to Arizona and Las Vegas in May, but with the Boss advising me it may not be in my best interest, we canceled that idea. Then www.travelocity.com came out with $108 round trip tickets to Orlando in August... that's hard to turn down! We will see. I earned a free airline ticket earlier this year when i purchased 4 tires. WOOHOO! So I'm thinking I can use that.. but then when I call to book Danny's ticket they wanna charge me $465 dollars! No way! So much for the free ticket. I shoulda known there was a scam in there. We could just go on a weekend vacation to St Louis or Omaha.. but I don't consider them "vacation" spots. ohhh hummm.

Website Wednesday!

This website comes recommended by my husband. He is an avid user of this site, have no doubt, if there is a part of a game he struggles through, he makes a b-line to the computer and starts looking up cheat codes.

http://www.gamerevolution.com/

This website gives out cheats and pointers on how to beat your Wii, PS2, PS3, Nintendo DS, Xbox.. and so on video games. Every cheat is tested before they post it. Game Revolution is more then just cheats, it also has comic strips, video release dates, game reviews and blogs.

It has came in very handy on unlocking all the songs to guitar hero!

Give It a Try!

Easter Bunny Cupcakes

I was browsing the Internet and came across these really cute Easter Bunny Cupcakes! I thought the nieces and nephews would love them! But.... there is no recipe! I'm sure I can use a boxed cake mix and buttercreme frosting.. but how do you do the ears?

ACM Awards

The ACM Awards, held in fabulous Vegas, kicked off my Sunday evening with a Bang. Hosted by the wonderful Reba McIntire, the show started out with Brooks n Dunn singing one of the older songs "Play Something Country" (very fitting for the evening). During their song, they would take a pause and introduce another singer (Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Sugarland, and Rascal Flatts) and they would sing a verse of one of their songs, and flashed back to Brooks N Dunn. This was kinda cool, but how many times did they repeat the verse "I'm a George Straight Junkie"? About 4, maybe 5? Finally that was over and here comes the good part. Mr. Kenny Chesney! He makes a no sleeve shirt and jeans look fantastic! However, I know it's not a crime these days, but I disagreed with the black hat and brown boots!!

Other Great performances were Heidi Newfeld, I loved the "Ring of Fire" they had around her when she sang " Johnny & June". George Straight is always a classic entertainer and I might add that Jamie Fox's introduction was hysterical. I loved the dress and performance by Carrie Underwood Singing "I told you so". Another great performance was from Jamey Johnson. The lighting effects were amazing on his song "In Color".

I was not impressed with David Copperfield and his introduction of Taylor Swift, nor was I impressed with the performance by Taylor Swift. I also did not like Leeann Womack, I'm not sure how she was able to stand in those shoes. Miley Cyrus and Sugarland tie for my vote for "Worst Performance of the Night!"

Miley's outfit was just horrible in my opinion, her performance was to dramatic. Sugarland, where do I start. She had an ugly outfit and he had an ugly hat! Not to mention the way she stared into the camera and all the faces she made. Does she think that is attractive? After that performance, I am questioning why I liked them in the first place...

My "Best Performance of the Night" goes to... Trace Adkins! Trace had an injured Marine introduce him last night. I was blown away by his performance. This was a totally different gentleman last night then what I seen in concert last month. The song brought tears to my eyes and sent chills up my spine. Way to go Trace! Trace also is my pick for Best Dressed Male and Best Acceptance Speech of the night for his award "Single Record of the Year - You're gonna miss this".

Other Performances of the night included:

• Toby Keith - I am a big fan of Toby, and I love his song "God Love Her", but he seemed to be very shaky and his face seemed bloated... or was it just my TV that portrayed that image?

• Lady Antebellum
• Keith Urban
• John Rich
• Miranda Lambert
• Rascal Flatts
• Montgomery Gentry
• Reba McIntire

A few other of My Fashion Woohoo's and Boos.

Let's start with the Boos.

Kelly Cuoco from the Big Bang Theory

Nicole Kidman - Couldn't you pick something else to show your body off? This is just horrible!

Carrie Underwood - It looks like a nightgown?

And now the Woohoo's!

Keith Urban - please try not to look at Nicole, it takes away from Keith's hotness.

Julianne Hough - Elegant
Carrie Underwood - This is such a chic and elegant gown. I love it!

Rascal Flatts - I love the coordinating of neutrals.
Reba McIntire - she had two dresses that looked Amazing on her.

This is my favorite dress of the evening!!

And the Winner is:

• Song of the Year: Jamey Hohnson - In Color
• Top Vocal Group - Rascal Flatts - no shocker there!
• Top New Group - Zac Brown Band
• Top New Male - Jake Owen
• Top New Female - Julianne Hough
• Top New Artist - Julianne Hough
• Vocal Duo - Sugarland - I totally disagree with this. Montgomery Gentry has been robbed once again!
• Humanitarian - Leeann Rimes
• Male Vocalist - Brad Paisley
• Female Vocalist - Carrie Underwood
• Single Record of the Year - Trace Adkins - You're gonna miss this
• Album of the Year - Taylor Swift
• Entertainer of the Year - Carrie Underwood - Even though I felt Kenny Chesney deserved this for the 5th year in a row, Carrie's reaction was priceless!

How did you enjoy the awards?

Scrap Scrap Scrap

I had one goal Saturday, to finish scrapin my honeymoon pictures. Goal Accomplished! Whew, now I can start working on the wedding pictures. I decided I wanted to put all my wedding adventures into one scrap album, wow lemme tell ya, that's a lot of scrapin. Here are a couple of pages I did this weekend. Sorry about the poor color and visuals on these pics. not sure what I did wrong...

I also tried my hand at card making... it's still a work in progress :)

Mom - Stop reading at this point!! I don't want you to see your cards! lol.

Friday's Fabulous Find

Yes! another catchy day of the week blog! Friday's Fabulous Find!

I swear I've been missing my brain this week. I've not thought of anything new and exciting all week to blog, My scrapbooking has not been anything to write home about and work has been brutal and boring. Being a recruiter in a "non-hiring" economy is tough. I believe I've looked at just about all items posted on ebay, shopped every online store that offers clothes that fits me, and still i sit here feeling my brain turn to blah. I force myself to use what little braincells are left this Friday afternoon and came up with Friday's Fabulous Find! What do you think? I figured I'd blog about great deals I've found on the Internet or weekend specials or just something that's too damn cute not to share!

So... on to Friday's Fabulous Find. Today, in my e-mail, i received this wonderful coupon to Avenue, (specializing in plus size fashion and accessories). They are offering Buy a pair of Capri's, get the second pair for $10.00. And they are offering Buy a pair of Shoes, get the second pair for $10.00. This offer is in store only. Click HERE to get your coupon. Offer ends 4/5/09.

Website Wednesday!

HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!

So did any of you get "fooled"? I am always a sucker. I usually get fooled on the "surprise i'm pregnant" jokes or the radio dj's changing their stations. Nothing is worse then waking up to my country station turned rap.

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of April Fool's Day (i've done my fair share), but for those of you that are... here is a website just for you.

http://www.aprilfools.com/



You will find a list of jokes, hoaxes, pranks and fake news headlines on this site. As well as best pranks from the past and websites that sell funny gags to help you pull off your pranks.



Remember.. if your "M's" are typing "N's" switch the keyboard key's back. :)