Oh baby, baby

Yes, I am a woman but I do not automatically love all babies. I will not offer to hold every baby I see, I will not gush over every newborn baby picture, I don't really want to hear every detail of pregnancy, birth, and especially baby room decor. I'm not filled with burning desire to have one of my own whenever I am around a baby. You will not see me jumping at an offer to baby sit. For some reason, this leads many people to assume that I don't like babies or kids and that I don't know how to handle one and that I must be completely uncomfortable around them. I actually like very much to hold those little guys and girls, just not every single one I see. I've known how to hold and play with babies since I was the every preteen girl in America who went through the "I LOVE babies and baby-sitting" stage. Kids and babies are just like any other people in my life. I feel very comfortable with people (and kids and babies) in general, enjoy interacting with most of them (spoiled brats, old and young, are never enjoyable), and suprise, suprise, kids actually like me!

So why is it that if a woman doesn't have an obvious, eager sense of maternal nurturing, then they must be completely clueless about people younger than 18? I actually had someone say to me, "oh, you must be like my sister. She dropped my son when he was a baby."

Would she have said this to me if I were a man? I'm going to guess the answer to that is no.

Move Over Hallmark, it's Valentines Day with bebe Me (Belated)

Anyone that knows me knows how I love anything glittery and shiny, feminine and sensuous and candy and chocolate. So how could I not celebrate Valentine's Day whole-heartedly? Love? Ok, that's cool if you happen to have it and if that's what you want to make V-day about. But love has never been a limitation for me. In earlier years, I got fun little gifts from my parents, but as an adult, I buy myself my own gifts, always frivolous, but not necessarily pricey. I hand out candy, stickers, hand made valentines, all of it. I've heard that some people only celebrate when they have a significant other... Me? The first time I actually and a significant other on that day, I was a little out of sorts....how does this work?

No, I'm not trying to make any kind of statement. I really just love to celebrate the pretty things of Valentine's Day for what they are rather than for what Hallmark says they represent (with all due respect to Hallmark, without which there would be nothing for me to celebrate).

I'm not saying everyone has to celebrate Valentine's Day my way or anyone else's way, but as for me, I'm always here to spread the glittery cheer!

Chain of Fool (yes, I mean fool singular, as in one I met today)

I am not often rendered speechless. But this morning, as expected, watercooler talk at the office was centered around the Superbowl. Women, brace yourself. A female coworker says, "And what about the National Anthem? What WAS that? Who was that woman? Hideous.." I kid you not, ladies. She actually said "Who was that woman?"

I couldn't even talk for at least 2 minutes.

(Just in case anyone didn't know who sang the national anthem, it was only the Queen of Soul, herself, Aretha.)

Show some R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Superbowl o' dip

We all know the types of Superbowl partiers: the ones who are there to watch the game, the ones who are there to socialize and all that falls in between. But whatever you're there for, who doesn't love the party dips?

Pass the spinach dip, please..

Couple-ditional Friendship

Definition: n. the state of being friendly toward another, but only asking them to do things socially if the other person is part of a "couple"

bebe me's opinion: Yawn. Let's mix it up a little, please.

Tribute to a Woman with a True Musician's Soul

The lovely lady who taught me violin from the age of about 9 -12 passed away this past week. She lived in TX, but would often travel to Colorado to visit her grandchildren who didn't know how to play violin. She would give them lessons anyway.

A woman who loved music so much that she had to share it with everyone...

It's time to step up

As a teenage violinist driven by lofty dreams and even loftier standards, I would show up at my lessons, frustrated by my technical weaknesses. My violin teacher (who could do no wrong) told me every time that frustration is an opportunity for improvement and to push myself to a higher place. I loved him even more for that. Life's most important lessons always come back. I was recently tres frustrated at work until I realized that I could turn it into an opportunity to step up and be a better leader.

The glass is always half full.

What makes a great shoe?

You're at a party, your feet are killing you, but you can't stand the thought of taking off your beautiful shoes and a drag queen introuduces himself to you because he's been lusting after your shoes all evening.... Now that's a great shoe.

bebe Me's current fave CDs

There's nothing like discovering a new CD. It's on at home (where you can sing and dance all you want with the hair brush..let's not lie, we all do it), in the car (where you can sing as much or as little as you want, depending on your level of self-conciousness), and at work (played very softly). Following are my 2 new favorites

• the Pussycat Dolls (PCD) -includes hits Don't cha, beep, and stickwitu but I love every song on this CD, including the burlesque style ones (they were burlesque dancers to begin with)
• Madonna's Confessions on a Dance Floor - I don't own this one, but a friend of mine has it and it is fantastic! Song after song of disco dancin'........ So what if every song sounds the same? Don't we sometimes wish for that anyway?

Even Better than the Flight

Airport travel just keeps getting better. I remember when we had to remember the actual paper plane ticket in order to get on the flight, in addition to a passport/ID. Now, with e-tickets and self check in, I just have to bring a major credit card and I.D. If I didn't check in any bags (ha ha), I could print out a boarding pass from home and go directly to the gate.

As far as stricter security measures, I have recently discovered the wonderful world of TSA approved locks. Plus, modern security procedures make taking off the bling and my shoes easy and quick. Restricting the gates to passengers only isn't actually a bad thing either because the extra time I save before I get to the gate allows more time to do my favorite airport activities (much more fun done alone):

• Walk around and spend money that I didn't need to spend
• Walk around and not spend money that I really do want to spend
• Sit in the waiting area and do some unintentional eavesdropping

I'm Dreaming of a.....

...bright, sunny Christmas.

Crazy? Not for me. I spent my earliest Christmases in Canada and Colorado where Christmases were white. I can't say that I miss it. I love a Christmas like today's in Houston, TX. I woke up to the sunlight streaming into the guest room where I was sleeping. We spent time outside without coats and boots and took pictures in the backyard with the neighbor's palm trees in the backdrop.

Picture perfect...

Happy Holidays!!

Every Girl Should....

I have a list of these things, but my latest one is this:

Every girl should get asked out by her high school crush 11 years later.

Especially if her high school crush was smart, cute, played football and violin and was always dating his perfect cheerleader girlfriend who was also smart, cute and played the violin (and was so genuinely nice that you couldn't hate her).

Sober Drunk

Recently, after a company holiday party, my female coworker was teased (until she started feeling a little insecure about it) for having a little too much wine. In my opinion, she acted no crazier than I did and I wasn't drinking. She helped me in a performance of Devil Goes Down to Georgia and afterwards, I tried to get everyone else to join in as I sang and danced like a rock star. She was the only one who followed my lead and we had a great time. But nobody was giving me a hard time. So I finally asked why everyone was making such a big deal about her and if anyone really thought she was acting any crazier than I was. The answer is apparently that everyone expects me to act like that. Sober. Hmmmmm.... Does that mean that I should be embarassed more often? I'd like to think that I'm just relaxed and uninhibited enough to have a good time and not feel I have to apologize for it and blame it on the alcohol afterward. I'm going to go with that answer.

My Old Friend

I miss running. I started running during my freshman year in college and it was the ultimate outlet for stress and negativity and a time to sort through my ideas. Plus, it made me feel good and discover for myself that "runner's high" is not a myth. Eventually, my knees gave in and I haven't really run since a 5K in 2002. Last week, it was below freezing and to keep warm when I had to go out into the warehouse at work, I decided to run laps around the 32,000 ft plus warehouse. It was sort of a joke at first and I got the expected giggles from the warehouse staff, but I didn't expect the nostalgia. Don't get me wrong, I love my workouts at the gym, but there's just something about running that can't compare. So I ran until I warmed up and until my knees reminded me of why I stopped.

It was a nice visit with an old friend.

Battle Scars of the Violinist

I haven't really played the violin for extensive periods of time for several years until last week. I put together a performance for a party last Saturday and spent 2-3 hours a night (nothing compared to what I used to put in), trying to get back in shape. Being away from that life for so long, I'd forgotten what pride I'd taken in the callouses on my finger tips and the "hickey" on my neck. They were literally a physical manifestation of my dedication to my art. Before anyone starts being impressed, I must say that I do NOT feel this way anymore. I prayed that my fingers would stay callous free as I cringed through the pain and every night, I stared at the ugly red mark on my neck in despair. Could this possibly be the same girl from years ago who loved her battle scars?

But when Saturday night rolled around, I realized that one thing remains the same. I still looooove to perform! Misshapen fingertips and ugly red marks be damned.

Shout out to Boston

To my former high school orchestra stand partner.. Thanks for checking out my blog! I promise I will let you know if I ever get taken over by a force greater than both Oprah Winfrey and my rock hard fear of committment and that ring is really what you think it is. Your welcome for saving your butt from ever having to do the concertmaster solos in concert. (Just call me Downbeat) But seriously, I admire everything you accomplished and have become since then. You deserve it. Happy first anniversary!

Everyone should have such successful friends from high school.

London Trip, Friday 10/7--Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill

Aaaah... European Cheeses....

London Trip, Friday 10/7--Notting Hill

London Trip, Friday 10/7--Cheyne Walk in Chelsea

London Trip, Friday 10/7--High Society London

What we really wanted to see was some ordinary houses with ordinary people living ordinary lives. But since that's hard to find on your own, we decided to go to the only place we knew of to easily find any houses at all... Chelsea. Not exactly the ordinary... We went on to another fashionable location, Notting Hill, to see the Portobello Road Market. A nice pampered way to spend my last full day in London.

• Sophia Kinsella British Fiction Moments: We started out our Chelsea tour on King's Road, which is another great fashion district where I had all kinds of Confessions of a Shopaholic moments, spotting Karen Millen, Jigsaw and Hobbs.
• Nannies, Maids, and Luxury Cars.. Chenye Walk is a section of Chelsea that has older, expensive houses, some of which were inhabited by well known writers and artists like George Elliot. We didn't see many actual residents, but we did see evidence of their lifestyle....nannies pushing carriages and maids (some in the black and white uniform) sweeping porches. The houses were beautiful, but the whole maids in uniform thing really makes me cringe. Isn't it 2005? I saw the first car dealership I'd seen in London on Cheyne Walk, and it was, of course, Mercedez-Benz.
• A new cheese.... On the way back to the Sloane Square Tube station, we stopped by an even bigger Marks and Spencer and walked down every aisle to see what Londoners buy at the grocery. I finally saw clotted cream (not something I wanted to try) and a massive selection of cheese (I wanted to try them all.) Since I couldn't try them all, I got a Wensleydale cheese and carmelized carrot chutney sandwhich for lunch. Delicious. It was then that I decided that I could definitely do just a cheese tour all across Europe.
• You never know what you can find at a market... ?? For me, that would be absolutely nothing. I appreciate most shopping, but flea-type market shopping tends to give me a headache. Portobello Road in Notting Hill is filled with stalls and stalls of everything. I liked the little cheese store. Yummm. But less than halfway through, I was done. I haven't yet learned the magic of discovering treasures in a flea market. What's the secret?
• Marian Keyes British Fiction Moment: I'd just recently finished reading Marian Keyes' Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married. Lucy lives on Ladbroke Grove which I discovered was just minutes away from where we were in Portobello Road. Plus it had a tube station that was on a line and in a zone that I'd never been. Something new! Yes, this kind of thing excites me. It was definitely different, riding the tube with considerably less tourists around.
• Eating-NOT-on-the-go... It is not a myth that America is a go-go-go culture. Eating is no exception. Since I'm a very slooooow eater who likes to savor every bite, eating in Euope sat well with me. It does take some getting used to, however, especially when your server doesn't bring the check for a looong time and after he does bring it, there's not hurry to take care of it. In America, it may be considred bad service. In London, it's consideration. Meals are to be enjoyed at a leisurely pace.
• New British Foods: Fennel which I'm very embarassed to admit that I can't remember anything about, except that I liked it. We also stopped by a Pret a Manger on the way home which is a popular sandwhich/snack/coffee eatery in London.