Music I'm Embarrassed to Love

Did you hear? I'm starting an embarrassing music series here at The Housewife Diaries. I've created a tab on the left-side panel so you can keep up with all the craptastic music I'm confessing my eternal love for.

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Have a song of your own to share? Let's hear it! Better yet, blog about your music and link it back to me. Here's this week's song. Enjoy.

"Young Hearts" by The Commuters - straight from The Karate Kid soundtrack! Do 80s songs get any better than this, people?

Music I'm Embarrassed to Love

I have so many embarrassing songs on my ipod (and dance and sing along to them whenever I get the chance). The songs are so bad, in fact, that I'd never tell anyone that I listen to them.

Well, I wouldn't tell anyone but you guys....which is pretty much the entire world. After all, I have Russian Dudes blogging about me.

So... screw it! I've decided to make this a series. Thanks for the idea, Nicole. I'll confess a new song each week. Are you ready for it? If you're liking the idea, share your own song. Even better, blog about your own embarrassing song and link it back to me.

Here's this week's song I'm embarrassed to love. Enjoy.

Boys II Men's "Please Don't Go" from 1992

Deep Thoughts

I've found a sweet tea flavored vodka.

Be still my beating heart.

I'll admit that I didn't even know what "sweet tea" was until I was about 22. I know all you southern gals would slap me right now if you could. But remember I grew up in Denver, Colorado, and most residents there have the "western accent"...aka NO accent. I'm kinda proud of that, and my Oklahoma-born hubby is extremely proud of his non-accent - he worked hard after college to get rid of his drawl.

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I still can't get over the Philly folk here saying "wudder". (that's water for the rest of the United States...)

Anyway! I learned about sweet tea kind of by accident. It was 1999 (or so). I was bartending in Denver and a female visitor with an extremely thick, southern accent came in for lunch. It kind of went like this...

Me: Hi! What can I get you to drink?

Her: (In her thick, southern drawl) Do y'all have any swate tay?

Me: What?

Her: Do ya have any swate tay?

Me: What?

(This is where I started to sweat...is she speaking another language? Seriously. Or maybe this is an alcoholic drink I hadn't heard of yet? I was silently wracking my brain trying to come up with what "tay" was.)

Me: Ummmm, I don't know. I'll ask in the back for you.

All the while, she kind of stared at me in shocked amazement. In other words; like I was a total idiot. And I was.

So I went back to my coworkers and stumbled through the story...

Me: Swate? What the hell kinda drink is Tay?

The servers had a good laugh and schooled me on the concept of iced tea and how, sometimes, it can be served sweet.....or swate. See because, in my world then, iced tea came unsweetened and you just put a bag of sugar into it. There were no alternatives.

Shit. Ok. Got it. I headed back to the table....

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Me: No, we don't have sweet tea.

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Not knowing what sweet tea is: Zero dollars

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Tip from that table: Zero dollars

Tasha feeling like a total asshole: Priceless

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Since moving to Philly, I have found sweet tea is everywhere! The best part? It's GOOD. Meloves sweet tea. So I drink it every time I go out - with the fond memories of being an ignorant, young bartender in Denver.....

And now I've found sweat tea vodka. Even better! I have been mixing it with my peach-flavored Crystal Lite and I hear it's good with lemonade, too. Yummy and a perfect summertime weekend indulgence.

So think of me and my ignorance the next time you drink sweet tea. I'd be there with you if I could! (and I'd spike your drink with sweat tea vodka!)

Happy Monday!

This video is for all my former and current restaurant people out there. Ten years ago I bartended at a restaurant very similar to TGI Fridays, so watching this is (almost) like reliving those days. Almost.

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Hysterical. The happy birthday song is freakin priceless.

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WARNING...not for watching when the kids are around. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Speaking of restaurants...the hubs and I had some of the worst food and service at a place this past weekend...I'm still kind of in shock about how bad it was. I'll save it all for Suck It Sunday this week. Stay tuned!

Conversations with DH

DH stands for "Dear Husband" in computer talk. You can find more of my conversations with my family on the left panel under Conversations with...

The background: As you all know, we just moved to the East Coast. Our new house is beautiful and has plenty of space. It's in a great neighborhood and we want to stay here for a long time. Yesterday (St. Patrick's Day), DH and I were sitting outside with our beers, stuffed silly full of corned beef and cabbage, and watching the kids play in the yard with their neighborhood friends. It was a nice few minutes to spend with the hubs - we don't get "alone" conversations very often. Usually we try to talk over the kids' screaming, coughing, sticking toys in our faces, all while trying not to swear, slap, grope or do anything else that we might not want our kids to see us doing.

Anyway, those "alone" conversations are really nice.

So we're sitting in our chairs enjoying the relax time with our beers....

Me: You know, I really love our house but I'd like to do some things to it.

DH: Yea, I love our house, too, but it could use some work. What would you do?

Me: Well, I'd start with the wall around the formal dining room. I'd knock that down....

DH: Open the place up? Uh huh. That sounds nice.

Me: Then I'd redo the guest bathroom. It's just too plain. And I'd knock down the wall in the office to open it up to the living room. Then I'd get rid of our marble floor and make the whole downstairs one kind of flooring....

DH: You don't like the marble? I kinda like it.

Me: So what would you do to the house?

DH: I'd put in a bar in the basement.

Me: (this is where I patiently wait for more....but he says nothing else...)

Me: That's it?

DH: Yep.

Me: That's it...when you said the house needs some "work"...it needs a bar? The "work" is a freakin bar?

DH: Yep. I'd build it in the storage room downstairs, so we could hide from the kids. And it would be our own little secret place. And I'd make it an Irish Pub. I'd put up a couple of pictures and a few taps and....

Me: (can you see my eyes rolling?)

Me: A bar? That's all you'd do to the entire house?

DH: Yep.

Me: Alrighty then.

A New Giveaway - Preview!

I'm getting together some of my stashed goodies for another giveaway....

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Stay tuned!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays of the year. Why? Because it's a good day to stuff yourself full of corned beef and cabbage, drink lots of good beer and wear the grossest color of green you can muster up! Shah!

Back in the day, bartending on St. Patty's Day was totally exhausting but soooo much fun - have you ever tried bartending for 15 hours straight? I'd get home in a daze, sticky from the green beer spilled all over me, 100 beads around my neck and $600 in my pocket. Makes my feet hurt just thinking about it.

This year, since I have no one to invite over, I'm going to be cooking (and drinking) by myself.

At least I have my memories of people coming over from past years...

There was my green party in 2008, where my best Vegas gal pals (aka The Wolf Pack) and their husbands came over. I made lots of green beer, lost count of how many Irish Car Bombs we did and the night ended in handstands against the wall and someone almost puking on my kitchen counter. Yea, don't ask. But it sure was fun!

Then there was my St. Patty's Day party in 2009. The hubby's brother and sisters were visiting which made things even more interesting. My sisters-in-law had never even tried an Irish Car Bomb....which, um, I drank them for breakfast for most of my 20s. Point? They're yummy and I have consumed many -and so I was happy to share my love for the Car Bomb with my beloved sisters....hee hee. Here's Sara tasting her first one....

Those were fun parties fer sher!

Anyway! If y'all wanna come over this year, I'll have plenty of grub and beer. If you don't come over, I guess that just means more for me! Hope everyone has an excellent (and safe) St. Patrick's Day.

Here's some of my favorite music to listen to while I'm cooking. Enjoy!

The Red Ball - Review & Pictures

The Red Ball was hosted at the Please Touch Museum and wow, what a great place for a party. We entered and were greeted with a silent auction and red carpet. The auction items included everything from a makeover to hot air balloon rides. Fun!

Inside, the party's ambiance was spectacular - the room was dimly lit with candles and surrounding red lights along the walls. Stars ran along the VIP wall to the ceiling.

Food stations were set up throughout - sometimes you had to search around a corner to find a new booth. Seafood was a popular ingredient; there were many different kinds of ceviche offered -- we even tried an alligator ceviche! One of my favorites was the crab ceviche from Mission Grill. A shout out and thanks to the lovely, Mission Grill ladies for the coupon!

Tony Danza was there - he was very handsome (and grey!). He stood for press pictures and then quietly slipped into the VIP room where he stayed for the night. I was able to get pretty close to him, but he seemed shy. He preferred to stay in his little chair, tasting food that was brought to him. So I left him alone. Another celeb in attendance was an old-school Philadelphia rapper, Schooly D. He's in the picture above, chowing on some shrimp in the VIP room. At the time, I didn't even know I was taking his picture - I was just trying to get the room. Only later did I realize he was in the crowd. He was very friendly and gracious - he mingled with the other guests and I brushed shoulders with him a few times. I kept calling him "Kanye" since he wore his sunglasses the entire night! Heather Graham was supposed to make an appearance but Red Cross sent out an email this morning saying she had food poisoning and wasn't able to make it. Ohhhhh, the irony.

A cupcake from Doug's Cakes. I had a sample of his Vanilla Rum with Fresh Fruit Cake and oh...mah...god....INCREDIBLE. He gets my vote for the best dessert of the night. So Doug - my birthday is in June. You can bet your ass I'll be calling you for a cake!

The hubs and I loved the cocktails served up by Tommy Bahamas - they have a new rum, you know.

I even got the nerve up to have my fortune told with tarot cards. Here I am shuffling them away, thinking about what I want to ask the cards. What did I ask? I'll never tell! It was fun, though. I'm doing my best Snookie face in this pic...what do you think?


A special thanks to Marilyn Sukonick-Zeff for the tarot reading. She was such a sweet person - she even said she wanted to paint me! Ha! I'll pose for you anytime, Marilyn!

Here's some of my favorite shots of the party goers. Lucky for me, everyone was extremely gracious and friendly.

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Piano by heels! Loves it. How adorable is she?!

And the best dressed goes to....the huge, red ballgown above and the plaid vested gentleman below! He told me that his wife specially ordered that fabulous red vest directly from Scotland - just for this event. Doesn't he look fantastic?! Cheers you two and thanks for the picture!

So that's it! I hope you enjoyed the review as much as I enjoyed the party. I'm already looking forward to next year. Hopefully they'll let me crash their party again!

A special thanks to the Red Cross Director of Communications, Dave Schrader, for allowing me to attend such a fabulous party. In all, they raised $216,900 for Red Cross House. Congratulations Red Cross for such a successful evening!

The Red Ball - Preview

The hubby and I had a great time at The Red Ball last night. The food was delicious, the people were beautiful and the party was fabulous. Lots to talk about but you're going to have to wait a little longer for all the deets. In the meantime, here's a preview of what's to come.

CLICK HERE to read my full review on The Red Ball Pictures!

That's right, baby....I'm the media!

A scallop in beurre blanc sauce. One of my favorite foods ever. Be still my heart.

It's Friday!

I'm a happy, relieved girl today. It's been a crazy week at my house. Nothing in particular to report - just one of those kids/work/emotions kinds of weeks. Are you familiar with that kind of week? I'm relieved the hard part is over and we're onto the fun part!

The hubs and I have The Red Ball to attend this weekend. (happy dance!) Did you know it's Red Cross month? This whole month, various Philadelphia city landmarks will be lit up in red in honor. The Cira Centre and Ben Franklin Bridge are among the landmarks scheduled to be lit in red, and other buildings will also be lit up on a day to day basis. It should look amazing! I'm hoping to get some pictures while we're in Center City this weekend. Here's a picture the hubby took yesterday afternoon on Market Street. Notice the flags!

Stay tuned for a full review of The Red Ball. I'm hoping to get lots of pictures - the best part is I'll be hanging out in the VIP area with all the other press and special people. Should make for an exciting night. Hopefully I don't pee my pants from all that yummy food!

To send you off, here's one of my new favorite "it's Friday!" songs. I hate the band Train. Yuck. However, I LOVE this song. It's happy, fun to dance to, and the mandolin makes it sound kind of beachy. Damn, how I wish I was on the beach right now!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Deep Thoughts - Bloggy Shuffle

I've been working on my new pages at the top of my blog....do you see them? Not much to them yet, but I had started an "About Me" tab only to pull it.

Why, you ask?

Because I don't know what to write.

I think that's the first time I've ever said that.

Yes, I'm Tasha. I'm 32, I like food and....ehhhh, err, ummm....

I consider myself a pretty interesting person - I have lots to talk about, lots of life lived (just ask my mother, my best girlfriend and my husband), but I struggle to get it out.

A blog is incredibly narcissistic...it's about about "me! me! me!", right? But when it comes down to writing something about myself... I draw a blank.

There's plenty to share, but the question is does everyone else care to read it? Probably not. And that's ok. My feelings aren't hurt.

So why is it that, when we think no one is listening, we can have a perfectly reasonable conversation about ourselves, but when we're put on the spot so to speak, we freeze up?

For now, I think I'll save the "About Me" for the draft box.