Are You Kidding, Private Practice Edition

I just had to break my unintended hiatus with the following:

Pete and Violet? Really??? Am I the only one who is on the fence with this one?

TV worlds colliding

So I'm watching my TiVO'd Private Practice (Dell has a daughter? Wow!) and I hop onto IMDB to see if that really is Billy Dee Williams playing Henry. It turns out the episode was directed by Maggie Seaver... I mean... Joanna Kerns!! Apparently she's become this uber director and has directed episodes of Grey's Anatomy, Army Wives, Men in Trees, ER, Scrubs and about 40 others. Who knew?!

Anything but "Real" Housewives

Not to talk about television for 2 days in a row, but...

Is anyone else feeling bittersweet about the season finale of Real Housewives of Atlanta? Truly some of the best Train Wreck Television of our time. Heck, even Anderson Cooper is into it -- and if it's good enough for the Silver Fox, it's good enough for me. If you are a fellow fan, you will understand why I was laughing so hard when I saw this link about Hot Mess "I-Spell-Cat-K-A-T" Kim. There was no way she was going to record an album with freakin' Dallas Austin (who's first name, I suspect, is really Melvin).

So what do you think, how did he wind up in a recording studio with Kim -- did he owe someone a BIG favor? Was he paid $$$$$ to do it? Clearly something is not right in Whoville.

Oh, and for the record, I am totally Team Nene.

J. Crew discounts

How have I not known about this?!

...there were two nuggets that will save you money if you like J.Crew clothes: 1) At the online store, coupon code "JUSTASK" always gets you free shipping (update: apparently the new code for this is ""ROCKCENTER" 2) Teachers and students always get 15% off. Call and use you your .edu address, or show your school ID in-store.

A quick glance through the comments on The Consumerist shows that the shipping code may have been pulled, but the student/teacher discount is awesome!

Package of the Day

I really do enjoy it when packages arrive and they look like this inside:

View of the Day

The view from our first hotel room in San Diego.

After 12 hours of traveling we finally made it to our "happy place". Say it with me now: Ahhhhhhhh.....

Hope is a 4-letter word

It seems strange to me to feel such joy and promise on election night. My first two presidential election nights were coupled with feelings of amazement, frustration and the notion that somehow I was being swindled. Tonight it quite different.

Looking at Barack's (I'm sorry... President-Elect Obama's) 52,076,486 votes - and counting! - and knowing that one of them is mine warms my heart. No more will it be "us" and "them". The "real Americans" versus, what, us "fake Americans"? Tonight's speech gives me an entirely different feeling: one of pride and, dare I say it, hope that our country's future is in the right hands.

* I do reserve some frustration for the outcome of Proposition 8 in California. Only 22% of the votes are currently in and things are not looking positive. I have a hard time understanding how someone feels they should have the "power" to take away someone else's existing right to marry the person they love. But maybe it's just me...

Civic Duty of the Day

Found while pumpkin picking in Warwick, NY last weekend. Despite an effort to keep things equal, McCain pumpkins were no where to be found.

Despite my obsessive love of politics, I have kept out of the political blog discussions. I get so tired of people telling me why they are right for believing what they do and I am clearly wrong for not agreeing with them. You have your reasons for believing what you do and I have mine. Let's just agree to disagree and get out there to vote, okay?!

We are not able to vote early here in New Jersey, so I have no idea what sort of lines we will be in store for today, but I fully intend to wait it out no matter how brutal. The way I see it, our lives, liberties and the pursuits of preppiness may be at stake!

Up to: 11/3/08

Watching:
Rachel Maddow
Her commentary last night on equating the absurdly long voting lines to the long-ago abolished polling tax was fantastic. Plus I admire how she manages to come across as being genuine while still being super snarky.


Missing:
Smedley the Pumpkin
Even though Halloween is over, I had to pay homage to Smedley, Mr. Cupcake's pumpkin masterpiece. I think it's the faux hawk that really makes me laugh.


Packing for:
San Diego
We are both in desperate need of a vacation and spending 8 days wandering around our very favorite place in the country will do us some good. Getting to check bags for free and eat a meal with real silverware in First Class will do us even better!


Neglecting no longer:
This blog!
Writing my blog has been one of the most fun parts of running The Creative Cupcake. Life has happened, as it usually does, and I haven't had as much time and energy to keep up with posting as I would like lately and hopefully that will be changing very soon. Recipes, crafts and life's funny anecdotes are all bottled up and need to be shared!

It's my party, and you'll pay if I want you to.

There was an article on CNN.com a few weeks ago about inviting people to a party you are throwing and then expecting them to pay for themselves and, in part, for you. I've been invited to a few such parties in the past, some of which were handled (in my opinion) properly, and some not so much.

Friend A was having a birthday party. She gave me the date/time and name of the restaurant, and never mentioned my paying for myself, her or anyone else. Even when talking about it, somehow it conveniently never came up in our conversations that I would be expected to pay.
I picked out a fabulous gift and arrived eager to celebrate her big day. Fast forward to the end of the evening, after several bottles of champagne and a rather extravagant menu, you can imagine my shock when I was handed a bill for my portion that was well over $200 - between this, her gift and parking in the city, I was out close to $350! Until that moment, I had never even heard of being invited to a party and then being expected to pay. I quietly paid the bill and when I tactfully brought my surprise up with her a few days later, she accused me of being a bad friend and not caring about her happiness. Ummm... what?! Needless to say, she is now simply referred to as "A" since the "Friend" part is long gone.

Friend B also had a birthday party with a set menu with wine/beer/soda, tax and tip included, and notified each of us of the price per person beforehand. Knowing that money was tight for us at the time, in no uncertain terms she explained that she wanted me there to celebrate with her and she didn't want us not having the extra money to keep me from coming. She did not expect anyone to pay for her and she paid for half of each person's cost (the restaurant charged $50/head and we only paid $25). She even arranged for any additional bar tabs to be put on individual checks so that each person was responsible solely for their own consumption. Also, she specifically put on the invitations that gifts would not be accepted since "our presence was all the presents" she wanted.

Personally, I am not a fan of these types of celebrations in any capacity and have graciously turned down the last several such invitations. I would be mortified to surprise my closest friends with a $200 per person bill at the end of an otherwise enjoyable night out. At least with Friend B's approach, I knew what the expectations were before I arrived. I realize people throw parties like this for a variety of reasons, but I just could never ask someone else to pay for my own party. Let's not even discuss people who have (vocally) expected me to pay AND bring an expensive gift.

What do you think? Have you ever been invited to a pay-your-own-way party that was done in a "proper" way? Any horror stories?