Flair for Flair's Sake!

         Meet Chuck. (the guy above)... Chuck is a great friend of mine, and a Flair bartender in Orlando that works at BB Kings next to where I work. He also works at Tgi Fridays, which now hosts some of the biggest bar comps. He competes in bar comps around the area and is associated with some crazy talented Flair Bartenders. Until I moved to Orlando I seriously had no idea about the world of Flair, and you know what is missing? FEMALES! Now I have taken it upon myself to learn to Flair. (Chuck is suppose to teach me, but he is seriously slacking). I bought a couple tins. a practice bottle and went to work. Ya, def not as easy as it looks. But you know what helps? I already know how to juggle! Coincidence right! It honestly is a good thing that I am so eclectic with my life because it all ties together in one way or another. Now the juggling is a start and every once in awhile when I am working a morning bar shift, I will start fiddling with the tins and I have gotten some pretty crazy tips! One guy gave me a hundred bucks to flair for like 10 minutes and was so impressed! (He was from Minnesota but it still counts!) I seriously think that this is the golden ticket! If I learn to Flair, become marketable, then I will be unstoppable. This is probably one of the more time consuming things on my ongoing list of hobbies though, but check with me in about 2 years and I might just be pretty good! Or I will learn to Flair enough to say I can, use it at work to make some extra money and add it to the never ending Bucket List that is my life. Either way I am happy.

I am posting a youtube link here if anyone is interested in checking out some pretty incredible flair. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch5QIowUmsI

Green Thumb?

                   So Lon and I decided that we wanted to try our hand at gardening. Now this all came about because of our obsession with Caprese salads which we would buy fresh basil for. Now every week we would buy a new plant because the other one died and this went on for awhile. Finally we decided to actually keep the plant alive...go figure right? Our trip to Home Depot went from buying ONE pot for the basil plant to SIX pots and 5 new types of plants. We bought the plants first, and then researched how to grow them...this I do not recommend. Did you know that EVERYTHING cross pollinates!? Yea me neither! I insisted that we buy peppers which contaminates everything. Needless to say we will probably have the spiciest basil and rosemary you've ever tasted but on the plus side....We have our first tomato growing!(and yes it will probably be the spiciest tomato EVER!) I did not realize how much I am enjoying our little garden though. I am always looking for new things that Lon and I can do together (that he won't completely moan and groan about) and this has turned out to be something that we both like.

               On a side note, I voted yesterday. Yes, I know everyone is tired of talking/hearing about politics, but I am proud to be a voter. I honestly waited until 6:30 to vote last night which made Lon just about kill me, but by 6:55 I was done and pretty proud of myself. I have a very good friend of mine that was running for State Representative in my hometown in Pennsylvania, who unfortunately did not win, but you have no idea how proud I am! I have the craziest stories about this guy and he was a great friend of mine through highschool. It just absolutely amazes me how far everyone has come since those days. He is a war veteran and hopefully a great politian one day! My hat is off to AJ who one day I hope will achieve his goals!

Antiques! Antiques! Antiques!

       Antiquing may be one of my favorite things of all time. Living in Florida though, it is so much harder to find affordable antiques because of the tourism. When I lived in Pittsburgh, you literally knocked on someone's door (that lived in the middle of no where of course) and asked them if they had anything for sale. And honestly 9 times out of 10 they did! I have bought some of the coolest stuff out of barns and garages, which is what got me started as a collector. Now just like anything else in my life, I do not excel at antiquing, but I stumble upon things like the music box (above ^) that sometimes turns out to be a great find! I actually bought that box with my boyfriends mother in a REALLY nice antique store in PA. and paid $25.00 for it. Now I figured it was probably made in the 1940's and has been sitting in someone's closet for the past 20 years. I come to find out though that it was developed in the early 1900's, my great grandmother had one, and my dad used to listen to one as a kid! Totally worth the $25 that I paid for it! I also bought a pantry that was probably made in the 1970's (forced my friend to drive it down to FL in the trunk of his SUV) thinking that it would be a great couple project for me and Lon. Yea....not so much, we couldn't even figure out how to strip the paint off let alone turn it into a masterpiece! Hopefully, we will get it done and I can show everyone how cute it is.

        The best thing for me about antiques though is the incredible history. To think that someone bought that music box brand new, and might have listened to it with their family at dinner time is just crazy cool! I started collecting books and plates initially. My collection is not extensive (because I am already a hoarder and have no room for anything!) But I wouldlike  to one day have a house full of restored antiques. If you have never bought an antique, add it to your list, you won't be disappointed! You are not however to become obsessive like me, and stop at every yard sale that you pass on the high way! Happy Picking!