A St. Patrick's Day Wedding

For March 17th this year, I attended an Irish and Mexican wedding in El Paso, Texas for my boyfriend's nephew and his bride. It was a blast and here are some highlights that will give you a gist of the evening.

Here is Raphael modeling the groomsman's fancy green garbs.

Here I am matching in a moss green Jones New York silk halter dress. 

For the early dining entertainment, the couple's friends played steel drums to play some lighthearted tunes and later hired mariachis, comprised of female violinists, trumpet players and one male guitarist, singing traditional Mexican diddies.

There was also green beer and a chocolate fountain, which I've read a lot about in articles but had yet to experience. And yum! I had marshmallows and strawberries dipped in the flowing chocolate and tried my best not to get any on me or the white linens covering the tables. Seems like a dangerous thing to have at a wedding, but I enjoyed it a lot and thankfully stayed mess free for a change.

The dance part of the reception lasted from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. and was very eclectic and featured, 80s songs, party favorites, cumbia, the cha cha, electric slide and country tunes. I held my own and boogied throughout most of it except for when it came to the country line dancing. This New Yorker had only seen such quick stepping in Urban Cowboy. There was something called four corners, slap leather, which when done by the attendees looked so well choreographed and impressive that it was like watching a scene out of High School Musical or any of those teeney prom movies where everyone starts dancing and unbelievably knows all the same moves. At one point the whole dance floor moved counterclockwise and formed what looked like a water wheel as they circled the floor. 

This little piggy

was taken on a sail around the Virgin Islands

 

These piggies were photographed somewhere between Pennsylvania and Ohio on their drive across the country to Los Angeles.

Yes, I like my feet. I'm a size 5 1/2 and although it's hard to find my size, when I do find just the right pair they look great in them.

PS: I was also interviewed over at Twentity.com, in their Stepping up the Game section, which features "twenty-somethings that may not necessarily be CEO of their own company but are definitely on the right track."

I'm in the LA Times!

First I was lucky enough to be in the The NY Times and now the Los Angeles Times--paralleling my move.

This time I was interviewed by Business Staff Writer, Molly Slevin at the LA Times, in her More employers allowing some March Madness at work article about companies allowing time for sports and personal tasks to help boost morale. The article appears on the front cover of the LA Times paper, but I'm on the jump page / the second page, same with the online version. I can't believe the story made the front cover though! Besides being cool as is, it also gets my office and blog publicity.  Here's the snipit:

Fusion Public Relations has gone beyond one-time events by encouraging some employees to blog, recognizing that they will probably write partly on company time.

Fusion spokeswoman Michelle Van Jura said bloggers had skills that helped the firm service its technology clients.

Account manager Tara Settembre blogs about movies she sees, her social life and the gym where she works out on When Tara Met Blog (Tarametblog.com). Fusion's website links to Settembre's blog and several others. Settembre said the blog, festooned with martini glasses, "gets my creative juices flowing" and is particularly helpful to clients interested in starting blogs.

"I can offer them an expert opinion," Settembre said.
 

I'm off to buy a copy (or several ;) at the grocery store. 

You give me fever

We all know that there are many energy and performance drinks on the market and sometimes they are mixed with alcohol like Red Bull and vodka, but now there’s an energy-like beverage that’s supposed to provide you with a different kind of energy and just might be replacing Red Bull soon. This drink, called Fever, claims to make you randy and enhance male and female pleasure. Yes, a performance drink to make you horny.

When I heard about Fever, I knew I had to write about it for ya'll, so I contacted Fever Beverage USA and requested a sample for review. I soon received their low calorie and regular calorie versions, which come in these cool looking heavy aluminum 14 oz bottles that supposedly keep the drinks cooler longer.

Marketed as a "stimulation beverage" and not an energy drink, Fever is an all-natural, non carbonated, herbal fusion with nine organic herbs traditionally used as aphrodisiacs and has a ginger-vanilla flavor.  Ingrediants include: Clavo Huasca, Panax Ginseng, Green Tea Caffeine, Catuaba, Damiana Leaf, Horny Goat Weed, Suma, Maca and Guarana. Several of these are known to increase blood flow throughout your body helping to incite heat and warmth. 

I’m not a fan of the taste of Red Bull or other energy drinks and Fever tasted similar. The low calorie version, which has 10 calories had an a Splenda/nutri-sweet taste, however mixed with vodka it was like any other liquored drink really. Fever is non-alcoholic but the company says euphoric and stimulating sensations are heightened when Fever is mixed with alcohol like rum, tequila and vodka, but isn't that the case with liquor in general? Either way, I can see Fever becoming popular even just for its notoriety and intrigue. Fever sells for $2.89 at a variety of retail establishments, already hitting LA, NY, Vegas, Atlantic City, Miami, Philadelphia and is available for purchase online too.

Needless to say I enjoyed this assignment, since it provided a fun experiment. My boyfriend thinks it worked and I’m not sure if it’s just a placebo effect but…

I apologize to any family reading the above ;)

News: Philadelphia Inquirer, More stimulating than common energy drink

PS: Want free stuff too, check out WalMart's sample offers.

I could have been a contender

I saw the following reality TV casting call earlier in the week and submitted me and my boyfriend.

“Would you and your partner like to spend the weekend at Tori Spelling's new bed & breakfast inn located in the Los Angeles wine country? Oxygen is casting for their latest reality series, Tori & Dean: Inn Love and they are looking for couples who would like to spend THIS weekend at Chateau La Rue. Hurry and send an email with your photos and why you deserve this dream vacation getaway.”

Upon sending an email, I got a call back and the guy said he really liked the silly Spartan Cheerleader photo from Halloween that I sent over. He said that was smart and then started a preliminary interview and asked me about my personality and what I normally do on a Saturday, etc. He said there was availability to stay at the Inn during the week, but because of work I said we couldn’t, but hoped he’d call back about the weekend though. Unfortunately I never heard back. It was cool thinking about it and originally gaining their interest. My coworker didn’t receive a call at all, so I guess it was good to have been considered at least.