I am Thankful for...

So Thanksgiving has come and gone and now we are moving on to Christmas. I can't believe this year has gone by so fast.
I went home this year for Thanksgiving and feel like I put on a gazillion pounds in the process. I always have to load up on my favorites i.e. Johnny's Pizza, Mexican Food, sweet tea and all the Icee's I can handle. Not to mention that there was Thanksgiving home cooking. How could I not eat all of it? Thank goodness I got a stomach flu when I got back to NYC so I lost the weight.
We went to Magnolia to my mom's side again. That is where the best food ever is made. We had almost everyone except for Cary, Jacqueline and the new twins. My whole family was there this year. The kids are getting so big, it kinda makes me sad. They will outgrow me eventually and then see me as an old lady and not cool, fun Jamie.
At least Tyler will still do these photos with me. Our normal photo shoot. Another reason to go home this year was for a Multi-Year High School reunion. Classes 1990-1995. Seeing how I missed my 10 year, this meant the world to me. It was so great to see my old friends and to realize that some things never change. It's amazing to me that I have known most of these people for 30 years of my life. Insane that you can still be friends with someone that long.
This is who from our class showed up. I feel that there was more of us there but I guess this is who made it for the picture. There were about 200 total at the whole reunion. A few of the ex-Cheerleader's. I wanted to stunt but no one was up for it. I guess my 4 inch heels didn't seem to be the right stunting shoe.
A few of my oldest friends.
And of course my oldest and bestest (i know that is not a word mom) friend in the entire universe. Danielle (Yale) Turner Bryant. Since the first day of kindergarten she has been my best friend. We were always together and still are as much as we can be when you live in 2 different states. Our lives are completely different but we have everything in common and still never run out of things to talk about. We have only been in one fight (over me putting a necklace in her mailbox and saying it was from her secret admirer with a picture of Shane Campisi in the locket. She didn't like that too much). There is no one in the world that I feel this bond with. So yes, my thanksgiving was pretty good. I was so happy to be home with my family and get to have time with family and friends. I will be back home over Christmas. I refuse to spend Christmas alone again.

2 Months Left

I have a little over 2 months before my 35th Birthday and boy am I slacking on my list. As I was talking over dinner last night to a darling gentleman I was reminded of what I have to accomplish and the short amount of time that I have to do it in. I NEED to get to work. Here is my status:
1. Make my Home a Home - Getting there. I have painted and hung a few things on the walls. I will have this one done by the year.

2. Volunteer - Hmm, totally forgot about this one. Anyone know what I can do? I can volunteer to babysit.

3. Find my Hobbies - I am convinced that shopping IS a hobby. So is going out to dinner. And so is reality TV. And so is dating. But if that is not good enough for you then I will get back into tennis. I now have someone to play with. Let's just hope I don't embarrass myself.

4. Eat Seafood - Umm ya, this will happen but it has to be on my terms. No more of my friends trying to force it down me. There will be plenty of wine involved as well.

5. Hold a fish - No idea where I will find one of these. Maybe in China town. I say one in a bucket on the pier the other day and just got the shakes thinking about it. Ughhhh

6. Start My Own business - I have toyed and toyed with this idea. I'm ready, I'm not ready. This is for sure the biggest decision and I will do it if I feel that It will be worth it. Still going back and forth.

7. Trapeze - Winter is around the corner so I am really running out of time. While I was talking last night I have someone motivating me to do it so we will see what happens.

8. Get my body Back - thanks to physical therapy I am on the right track. My thighs no longer touch so that is a huge plus. I now have a routine and like seeing a flat stomach. I will get there.

9. Concert at Madison Square Garden - Totally forgot about this one as well. I need to see who's playing.

10. Get 1/2 out of Debt - DONE!!!!

11. Start dancing again - Well I was about to do this one and then the knee incident took place. I will look in to classes again now that I am doing better.

12. Sleep with No TV - DONE

13. Writing Class - Does one online count?

14. 12 New Foods - Collard Greens (gross), Brussel Sprouts (yum), 10 more to go. I can knock those out fast.

15. Rollerblade - another one ruined my the knee incident. But will try to get this one.

16. Bake for the firemen - Oh man, why would I have not done this one yet? So easy and so fun. What's wrong with me?

17. Learn Italian - Well maybe will switch it to French. But I know for sure that I will not KNOW either of them in 2 months.

18. 12 New NYC Things - I know I have done some of these. I just have to make my list.

19. Read 6 books in a year - I am still on book 1. I know, I know. It's just hard for me to sit still for that long. I also didn't have very much beach time this year so there is that excuse.

20. That one has been left up in the air. There will be something great here.

So there you have it. I am a slacker. What have I been doing with my time, you ask? Well I have been working my butt off and trying to find time in there to have a social life. It seems that everything is a go, go, go that I have no time to sit and stop for a moment. I am in need of a vacation bad. The kind that all you do is sit and stare at the ocean. I want to do that for at least 30 days. If anyone wants to sit next to me while I do that let me know.

Halloween 2010

This Halloween I was at a loss. For some reason I was not feeling it. Maybe it was because Britney wasn't giving me any new ideas, or maybe it was because I am starting to feel closer to my age, or maybe it was because I haven't has a week off to just sleep or maybe, just maybe it was because the guy I had been seeing was being a total jerk. Whatever the reason was, this Halloween was not all I wanted it to be.

I had spent the entire month of December trying to decide on what costume I would be this year. As some of you know, Britney Spears has been my costume of choice for the past 9 years and this year was not going to be any different. She was staying out of the lime light which was challenging my creativity. The only thing I could do was go as the Britney they portrayed in Glee, that she guest stared on this year.
Me Against the Music
I haven't gone as this one before and thought, well at least I will be warm. I also was excited about owning half of the costume already.

We started our Halloween as we have the past 3 years with a pre-game at Rachael and Tim's place. Photos, cocktails, trying to finalize our costumes, etc.
Tim and Rach as dead Hooker and Pimp that made one deal too many.
Ayla as David BowieSig as Bruce Willis from Die HardJeremy and Maggie as John Lennon and Yoko
Then we take it to the streets and hit up our hood, which by the way is the most popular place to be on Halloween in NYC. There is a HUGE Halloween parade that is just a mess of random drunk people dressed as everything and anything you can imagine roaming up 6th Ave which brings about 2 million people to my block in one night. It also seems that every girl feels like they have the green light to wear the least amount of clothing as possible. I don't get it. Why do you want to dress like a hooker?
We decided to get out of the village this year and go to a private party at Norwood, a members only club on 14th St. Am I a member, you ask? No, but some of my friends are and I know the owners therefore making it a "Members Only... and Jamie's friends too Club".Courtney Love, Debbie Harry (Blondie), Brit and David - The Dream TourEmlen as another version of David Bowie. Ayla and Emlen really turned it out this year. Thanks for that.

This year my cousin, through marriage, Heather Wiese happen to be in the city. We quickly came up with a costume for her and it was a hit. Courtney Love.
Norwood was a lot of fun with great music and yummy punch of some sort. Not sure what was in it but it made us all feel like better dancers by the end of the night.
It was time to go around 3Am and as I was standing outside waiting for my crew to come out and chatting on the phone. As I was chatting away I noticed a cute, but could be crazy, guy watching me. Once I got a better look I realized it was a guy that I have had my eye on for a few weeks that just happened to be walking down 14th. (What are the odds of running into someone you know out of your area on a random street in a city of 9.5 million people?) He said that he saw me and thought, "hey it's someone dressed up as Britney Spears. I think Jamie is going as Britney Spears. Hey, that IS Jamie as Britney Spears." I was so embarrassed as he was not dressed up and I was in full gear with full extensions. (obviously this is not him, it's Ryan Reynolds. But I think he looks a little like him. Hey, a girl can dream).
He offered to walk me home, which we all know that I would preferred to have just taken a cab but when a cute guy offers to walk you home you take it. Costume and all.
So that was my uneventful night in a nutshell. I am thinking that next year I am going to retire the Brit Brit theme and not dress up at all but we all know that will probably not happen. Halloween is too dang fun!

Top 10 of What NOT To Do...

Top 10 Ways to be Uncool when meeting Jimmy Fallon:

10. Have sweaty palms.
9. Have a very odd smile/almost cry face on.
8. Tell him that you are a huge SNL Fan.
7. Tell him he is your #1 adult heartthrob.
6. Be shaking uncontrollably.
5. Tell him that you love him.
4. Make him actually feel your heart racing.
3. Tell him that you dreamed of being on SNL.
2. Speak nonsense gibberish that makes him ask you, "Are you speaking English?"

And the number one way to be uncool when Meeting Jimmy Fallon.....
1. Tell him that you always wanted to marry him and almost cried when you heard that he was getting married.

Why did this happen?? The one time I get to meet him and I revert back to Jr. High. Jimmy is my Adult Kirk Cameron.

Not sure what I was doing in this pic but it symbolizes how uncool I was I think.

What's Happening??

Lately it seems that I can not keep up with my own life. It's going so fast I don't have time to sit and relax and eat my sunflower seeds. I can't tell you the last time I was home and in bed before 2. I need a vacation so bad that the only time I think I will be able to get away is in February.

Here's an update on my world...

Work - To quote Rachel Zoe, "Ba Na Nas". I am so overwhelmed but in a good way. Sure it causes stress every once in a while but it's the kind that means everything it going well. We have been working with people that I respect and people that will only increase the business in the company. You obviously have read about the Lennon party, but other than that it's been an event with Bruce Springsteen, legendary photographer Mick Rock, musician Lucy Wainwright (and i will get to meet her brother and my favorite musician Rufus this month), Danger Mouse, OAR, etc.

35 Goal List - Umm ya, I have been so busy that I kinda have been forgetting about the list. But I am trying my best to get them all accomplished in some way. I might have to cheat a little. Overall I feel that I may be in a good enough mindset to turn 35 and not freak out. Well... that's the status for today.

Love Life - I am enjoying it right now. Of course it's constantly confusing, as it usually is, but like where my options are taking me. Do you feel like I am leaving you in the dark? Sorry, if you want the scoop just email me.

Misc -
- Well the Yankees and playing terribly so that's not fun. If they loose tonight they are out. It's not looking good.
- I saw Social Network and now I want to be a computer nerd.
- Bailey (my kitty) got sick and it cost me $600 for them to tell me that she was just stressed.
- Going home for Thanksgiving and get to have a High School reunion so should be fun.
- Decided on my Halloween costume and happy that I will be warm this year. Me against the Music Britney.
- Decided that I am taking a trip somewhere warm for my 35th
- Roommate is moving to LA and getting a new one from LA.
- Able to run now thanks to Physical Therapy
- Have a serious shopping problem because I bought a sweater with a Giraffe on it.
- Went to the circus and was not impressed at all
- Enjoying the last few days of "can be outside" weather.

Gotta Get back to work now. Have a Great Week!!

The Key To Life...

Communication

This is the KEY tool to any relationship. Whether it be work, love or friendship. I think us women have figured it out but I am wondering why men have no clue of the importance. You would think that over years they would realize that this is what makes things work and for you to have success in anything you do. I thought that this is what men learn when they get married but apparently that is not the case either. SO I am guessing that there is NEVER a time that they really learn this and put it in practice.

Work Example: The COO of a major company that I work with wanted me to write a press release on some new business that was going on in the company. Now, I know NOTHING of this new business as I was not in the private business meeting that they had. All that was said was, "I need a release done on xyz." I asked if he can tell me more about it. He gave me very limited information. I tried googling all i could find on it, but of course nothing is online yet as I will be the first to post something. So I go ahead and write a press release with the limited information I have.
The next day I get an email back saying, "Let's talk. Needs work." Duh it needs work. You only gave me limited information about it. So the next email I get from him states more information, but still not everything. I ask if there is anything more and ask for a quote for the release. He responds back saying, "Lets make the quote something about how I am excited about this new business." that's it.... Nothing more. So I go on to add the new additions and make up a quote for him. I get an email back saying, "Needs work".
This continues to go on for several more emails. in each email is gives me something new that i need to add. Almost like I should have already known all of this and should have read his mind to put it in myself.
Communication is Key to work.

Love Example: A friend of mine has been traveling a lot for work and has been out of town for months at a time. He and his girlfriend just got a place together and he hasn't even got to spend more than a week since they moved in. Things have been a little off with them and he thinks it might be ending soon. I asked him what's going on and he says that she just isn't happy. He has taken her on several trips and everything seems fine but then when he leaves for months she is unhappy. He bought her kittens to keep her company and sent her flowers to help but it's just temporary. I asked him, how often do you tell her you love her? Do you tell her how you feel about her? No, he doesn't. Turns out all she needs is him to express his feelings for her. Not all the gifts and trips. She needs COMMUNICATION. This totally made sense to me seeing I too had a long distance relationship. When all you have is words you have to use them. Trips do not tell someone that you love them. Flowers and kitties don't say it either. Sure they are all great but how else are we supposed to know if someone loves us if you don't communicate it.
Communication is key to Love

Friendship Example: I while ago, almost 3 1/2 years ago, I was seeing a guy. He was a friend of mine first for about 2 years. We started hanging out more and more and went out on date after date. It was basically a relationship, or so I thought. 6 months after going out with this guy almost 4 nights a week I decided to have the "DTR" (Determine the Relationship). Turns out, he thought we were just friends and that's it. His exact words, "I thought we were just friends hanging out. I don't really want a girlfriend." Ouch! This could have ALL been avoided with simple communication upfront. Not leading one on and making one think that this is the start of something more. Besides, you don't kiss your "just friends".
Communication is key to Friendship (or whatever that was)

So... the moral of the story is... MEN ACROSS THE WORLD (and more importantly the city of New York) please communicate with women. Tell us what it is you are asking for, want or feel. We can not read your minds and we try but always fail when we assume. We will be more than happy to ask questions but you have got to work on responding to the questions with more than one word answers. Trust me, your life and ours will be a whole lot easier.

Hey Jude...

I have had several moments in my life that I will never ever forget but a few weeks ago I had the highlight of my PR career happen.
We were asked to work all the press for Julian Lennon's photo/art show at The Morrison Hotel Gallery and it was insane. Weeks of preparing and pitching we had a guest list of over 800 people and a press list like I have never ever seen before. I actually would look at the list and amazed myself that we actually got all these people to cover the event. Rolling Stone, Access Hollywood, CBS Sunday Morning News, People, US Weekly, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Vogue, etc...

I was asked to write the Press Release for the event as well, which I normally don't event think twice about. But this time, as I was writing it, I realized that Julian himself would be reading it and proofing it. YIKES!!! John Lennon's son will be reading something i have written?? The God son of Sir Paul McCartney will be editing my work?? I had a small panic attack when I hit "send" on the computer. It came back with a thumbs up. whew!!

So anywho... night of the event we had a huge line around the block. A mob at the door. I was in the back when Julian arrived, with his baby brother in tow, through the back door. They looked like a good mix of John. Julian was the 60's version and Sean was the 70's. Both Lennon brothers were friendly and smiley.

While he was in the back doing private interviews I made a walk around the main room to make sure everything was going according to plan. That was when Dawn came up to me and whispered in my ear, "Yoko will be here in 3 minutes". I knew she was coming but hearing those words made my heart race. Seriously? I was about to meet Yoko Ono?? What?

All 5 feet of her arrived through the front door with body guards on each side of her. I escorted them all to the back to see the boys. When we got back there Julian's mom, John's first wife, Cynthia Lennon was back there. Really? I was in the presence of John Lennon's ENTIRE family. Cynthia Lennon (his first wife, who he had to keep a secret when the Beatles first came to the US), Julian Lennon (his son with Cynthia, also kept a secret), Yoko Ono (the woman who he cheated on Cynthia with and later married) and Sean Lennon (his son with Yoko). All 4 of them just chatted away and there was a moment where Cynthia and Yoko were sitting down and just holding each others hands catching up. Sean turned to me and said, "this is amazing. This NEVER happens". I was witnessing history.

To make it even more of a moment for myself, Mrs. Patty Boyd (George Harrison's first wife and later on Eric Clapton's wife) shows up. We become fast friends and end up on a first name basis. "Jamie darling can I trouble you for a glass of red wine?" asks Patty.
"Sure Patty, anything you need. Want the whole bottle?" Jamie says in a joking way.
"Haha Oh Jamie darling do you think I need it?" Patty chuckles
"Well you are the one who married 2 musicians, you tell me."

As I was walking out to the main area to fetch Patty her wine I ran into May Pang. May Pang is a Press House friend and she comes to several of our events. She is also the woman that Yoko fixed John up with when they decided to separate for a while. May and John were lovers, if you will. When Yoko wanted John back May Pang put up a fight and there was drama. So...... the fact that May was there was a problem for Yoko. May was trying hard to get in the back to see Julian. Yoko wouldn't have any of it. This was the first time EVER that Cynthia, Yoko and May Pang were in the same room. Awesomeness!!

By the time we were ready to bring the family out to the public the place was so packed. We had to push and scream at people to get them out of the way so that the camera crew and the family could go look at the prints. It was a mad house. I have NEVER been around so many flashes.
By the time we made it back to the back everyone was amazed.
Sean said to me, "holy cow, that was insane!"

Julian walks back and says, "Wow!! I had no idea there was that many people here. Thank you guys for doing all of this for me." and then he gave me 3 kisses. One on each cheek and then one close to my lips. Yes, I just kissed Julian Lennon. I think we might date now!!

Yoko walks back and says in her little Yoko accent, "That was amazing. I haven't been around that much press in a long time." Then walks over to me and says, "Thank you for doing this for Julian. It is such a great thing during this trying time for our family." I think she was referencing to the fact that in December it will be the 30th anniversary of John's death or that the man who killed him was up for parole and was just denied, or that in a few days it would have been John's 70-something bday.

I told he that it was an honor to do this for her family. She grabbed both of my hands and said, "You are so precious." I said back to her, "No Yoko, you are precious."
I was officially part of the Lennon family.

To see photos go to http://www.wireimage.com/SearchResults.aspx?sr=1&igi=453412&s=Morrison%20Hotel%20Gallery&sfld=C&vwmd=e


Later that night after they all left and the party was winding down I had a moment where I burst into happy tears. I could not believe what just happened to me. That if you would have told me 7 years ago that New York would have opened these kind of doors for me I would have not believed it. It was a moment that I will never forget.

Oh ya, And to that guy who once told me 7 years ago that, "New York will eat you alive" and "You will never make it there"... I am now one degree to the entire Beatles family.

How about them apples???