Ellen's Trip to the CMA's.

So, Ellen called me Tuesday night and was like, "By the way, I can't come over tomorrow night because I signed up to be a seat filler at the Country Music Awards."

Wha-huh?

She found out about it through an email from somebody at church, I believe. Why can't I find these people and get on their email lists? And only in Nash would you get emails from church members about working at a music awards show. Love it. I need to meet more people, stat!

I mean, let's be honest, I'm not so much a country music fan (nor is Ellen), but I've always thought being a seat filler would be fun. My daydream usually involved the Emmy's or Golden Globes or Oscars, but I'm not about to turn down a chance to see Tim and Faith in the flesh either. Or Dave Matthews, apparently...

So, here's a text conversation between me and Ellen last night during the show.

3:27 p.m., Ellen
Dilemma! Black or gray tights?! Help!

I inspected the photos she text messaged and went with gray. Don't know which she chose ultimately...

5:56 p.m., Ellen
Currently in a holding pattern. But here's the stage. The lady in charge of us lowly seat fillers is not playing around!! On a bit of a power trip!


9:42 p.m., Ellen
I am literally on the 3rd row.

Me
In whose seat?

I got no answer from that one, but as the show came to a close, several pictures were sent in succession. I don't know at what point these things went down as I wasn't watching the show, but that doesn't really matter as long as you see the pics, does it?

10:13 p.m., Ellen
Dave Matthews and Kenny Chesney


Me
Dave!

Ellen
Carrie Underwood


Me
Are these from your filled seats?

Ellen
Yes!!!

Ellen
For most of the time I sat right behind Brad Paisley's wife. You know, the daughter from Father of the Bride. I could literally touch her.


Nice. Not so sure about that hair, Kimberly Williams Paisley.

I got a text a few minutes later, letting me know the show was over and she was headed to grab some food, before promising to call me with the "play by play," which she did this morning, informing me that the reason she was so close to Kimberly was because she was filling Darius Rucker's seat when he won an award. In case you have no idea who that is (like me), it's Hootie. No Blowfish in sight.

She was only a few seats and a row behind the night's big winner, Taylor Swift, and could have touched Nicole, "You know, of Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman," at one point.

I'm sure that was a high point, but let's be honest, the best part of her night was probably when, "Lyle Lovett said hello to me in all his glory."

Very funny/fun. Aside from the "Nazi in charge of the seat fillers."

Okay, so... right now, I'm definitely having a very much less glamorous Nashville experience than Ellen. I've got to get on making some changes in that regard.

Fun times, I'm sure, E. Looks like it. And I have no doubt you won the "best seat filler" award they gave out after the show, right?

Speaking of music, while we were on the cruise, I saw a video of The Raconteurs (who I'm beginning to like more against my will -- first it was "Pull This Blanket Off", then "Rich Kid Blues" and now "Old Enough.") jamming "Old Enough" with Ricky Skaggs. Loved it.

Best of the Best

I've never really known what these suckers were called. I used to be able to get them at Jeff Busby on The Trace whenever we drove to my grandparents' house. Now, I tend to stumble across them every now and then in random places, filling a bag to capacity. The gas station next to Ivey Lumber used to have them - not sure if it still does or not - and driving home on Monday, we ended up at a gas station somewhere between Memphis and Nashville, and there they were. I was very much happy.

Checking out the wrapper, I discovered they are made by those lovely Canadians at the Ce De Candy Factory, also home to Smarties. Imagine my shock and awe when I found out there is a Smarties Store online. A STORE. Dedicated to Smarties.

It's been an intense study that's taken years, but I've finally discovered where to find these lovelies at will. I've been fooled in the past. There are imposters. If you ever see a sucker that looks like this, but it has a hollow, plastic stick -- DO NOT PURCHASE. A good Smartie sucker will have a normal sucker stick. I don't joke about this stuff.

Smarties Pops. They have a name. Or, is it Smarties Double Lollies? Actually, I think these two are pretty much the same thing, except one comes wrapped individually and the other comes in a jar with no wrappers... which is weird.

Warning: Don't buy the Giant or Mega lollies. They're not so good.

Now if I could only find Cry Baby Tears and those LifeSaver Holes with the sour crystals on them that I used to get by the box for Christmas...

Cruisin '09, Day 2

Friday, November 6
Fun Day at Sea

Ah, the day we first met Ida on our Third Thursday journey toward Mexico.

You know, I never really thought about sailing directly into a hurricane, but I'm assuming Carnival wouldn't have done so without checking with the National Weather Service beforehand.

As expected, there was no sun up on the lido deck, but we had on our bathing suits and were ready, just in case. After a while of watching water slosh over the sides of the pool, due to a bit of side to side rocking, we decided to partake in some of the indoor cruise activities.

First: Hip Hop Dance Class with T-Boogie and Pretzel.

Heard from one of our fellow cruisers upon entering the room, "I don't care where I land, as long as it's on a fella'." Wow. I have no clue if she was talking about her dancing skills or the rocking boat, but I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.

But back to the Hip Hop... a picture is worth a thousand words.

Ghetto Superstars.

She's ready.

Oh, boy...

Learning how to "lock."

I wish I could explain what it was like to see this in action.

Moving on to break dancing.

Working on the "six step."

Mmm hmm.

Cheering for Kyle as he did the six step in a showdown with a pre-teen girl.

Get it, Kyle.

Oh, wait... did you want to see?
Sorry, Kyle. And Josh.


Shimmy and Lock.


Wow.


Kyle: I killed that one.
Nic: I thought you did.


Ridiculous.


Six Step in action.

I hope this has given you joy and awakened you on this Thursday morning.

After Hip Hop, we did some trivia and walked around for a bit before going back to our rooms -- some napped, but me, Kristi, Kyle and Daniel ordered room service. You know, five various sandwiches, a plate of potato salad, chips... just a snack before dinner. Slowly, everyone woke up and came to join us, but they missed the feast.

Dressed up for the Captain's Dinner.

Respectable.

Carnival Funship Dress!

Cheers!

I'm gonna have to end things at dinner for now... mainly because the after dinner activities took us to the Karaoke lounge and the dance club and, well, there's just a lot of good material there. Something to look forward to for tomorrow...

Gleeful!

It's back tonight!

Got a lot on my plate.

And I'm obviously talking about all the movies I need to see in the coming weeks of the holiday film season:
*Click on the title to see the trailer if you're sitting there going, "What the crap is this?"

1. A Christmas Carol -- This came out last weekend, but as it involves Christmas, I refuse to see it until Thanksgiving Day (the only movie that gets a pass on this rule is Love, Actually). Here's hoping it's still in the theater in Shreveport two weeks from now so Josh and I can go see it after we gorge ourselves on Pig-Cicles at his aunt's house.

2. Pirate Radio -- Comes out this Friday. Need it, want it. Fabulous cast and looks like a great flick. P.S. Amanda, it's by the same guy who did Love, Actually.

3. New Moon -- Comes out November 20th. Just shut it, okay? I can't help myself.

4. The Blind Side -- Also comes out the 20th. The trailer gets me a little choked up, so I can only imagine what will happen when I see the whole movie. Oh, and Bo from FNL is in it. 'Nough said.

5. Nine -- "Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Italian!" on Thanksgiving Day. SHOOT! Josh and I may be diving into what they call a "Double Feature" on Thanksgiving Day. Karen and Amanda were always willing to do a two movie extravaganza, and I believe this and A Christmas Carol call for just that. Note: This is probably my favorite trailer of the year.

6. Everybody's Fine -- December 4. Sam Rockwell is in this, boys. Christmas fueled, family drama/comedy. Looks good to me. Fun for everybody.

7. The Young Victoria -- December 16. Starring Jim Halpert's real life fiance. I love a well done period piece.

8. It's Complicated -- Christmas Day. I love a movie on Christmas Day. Mom, I feel like you could handle this one. Romantic comedy.

9. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus -- Christmas Day. I have no clue if this will be wide release; I doubt it. But I want to see it at some point. Yes, yes, it was Heath's last movie and he didn't finish it, but how much do I love that Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law are all sharing the part with him?

10. Sherlock Holmes -- Christmas Day, thank you very much! Love me some Sherlock any way I can get him, though no one will ever match Jeremy Brett. Still, I really like Robert Downey, Jr. Can't help it. Throw Rachel McAdams into the mix and we're good to go.

Yeah, too bad we don't give presents for Thanksgiving. I could use a few movie gift cards.

Proven medical fact: Watching 10 movie trailers in a row makes people happy, passes 20 minutes of your work day and helps prevent the spread of H1N1.

Cruisin '09, Day 1

Thursday, November 5
New Orleans and Setting Sail

So, we've had this little shindig with friends planned for a while and it was suddenly upon us a few days ago. Time to high-tail it down to Brookhaven to meet up with our traveling companions: Nic and Betsy, Kyle and Kristi, Daniel and Abbey and Trey and Julia. Taking "Third Thursday" on the road (or water) to Cozumel, Mexico, via the Carnival Fantasy "Funship." Sounds like fun in a sentence, right?

It was... even though we were driving straight into hurricane the whole time and the boat was rocking like the floor of a fun house by day two, so much so that Carnival saw fit to slap barf bags to the wall outside the elevator. I dare anyone to try and walk a straight line when the boat is visibly moving from side to side... it's pretty humorous, actually.

But that was later.

Wednesday when Josh and I were driving down to Jackson, Betsy called and cryptically told me to wear a white tank top on Thursday. I figured this meant some sort of clothing. Josh started betting me it was airbrushed t-shirts. My response, "Nah, Betsy wouldn't do that."


I was wrong.

All ten of us were sporting matching "Cruisin '09" airbrushed t-shirts, complete with our names on the back. And the guy that made these for Bets was accurate, asking what liner we were going on before airbrushing the ship's silhouette onto the shirts. However, he didn't spell check Nic's name and spelled it with a K at the end. Not to worry, Nic was promised a replacement when he returned -- and who doesn't need TWO airbrushed cruise t-shirts?

It was pretty cute/funny, actually (and, really, who knew how many other groups would turn up at the port wearing matching shirts and gear of their own), and we had a good time watching everyone watch us... especially the five guys, who were riding in a car together and piling out of it at gas stations and etc. in their matching cruise uniforms.

At the time of booking, Josh and Kyle were put in a room together, and so were Kristi and I -- something to do with rates, I don't know -- but the two of them had a little too much fun with their "couple" status, taking pictures together and generally being ridiculous at boarding and throughout the cruise.

Once we got on the boat and settled in our rooms, it was time for the Muster Station drill -- always a good time for everyone. And then we moved on to the Promenade deck, pre-dinner sushi and a bit of group time on the tiny top deck/railings of the boat, before hitting the Jubilee Dining room in search of the "food fountain."

Jerseys, basically. (This is at Bets and Nic's house before we left.)

Cabin M186

There they are.

He was really proud of his vest's light. And the whistle... ha.

Ready to muster.

Rowdy bunch.

Just the 10 of us.

We would have been the first ones off the boat.

Promenade bar with the Cruisin '09 team.

Checking out the Funship Schedule in the Sushi Line.

"I can't believe I already drank all my drunk!"

Sushi in a chaise lounge.

B & B

Headin' down the Mississippi.

It got a little cool outside, so we headed in to one of the lounges.

Pre-dinner down time. (No "Dude Central" at this point.)

Cleaned up for dinner.

Indian Princess dress.

Table 391

We returned to our rooms after dinner to find our first towel animal of the trip: a seal? Walrus? Do walruses look like that? I don't know... but I called him Wally the Walrus anyway. He was cute.

Kyle and Nic spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to unlock the extra bed from the wall so they'd have a place to sit. Trey walked in and took care of it in about 2 seconds.

They did not sleep there.

Baaaack.

I'll just be honest, I'm not feeling like you're going to see a cruise post today, but I will tell you that we had tons of fun seeing all of our friends, and even though the weather wasn't as one would hope (hello, Ida!), the company was fantastic. I was a bit disappointed that Carnival didn't give us all, "I survived Ida!" t-shirts, though.

On the drive home last night, we stopped off in Memphis, as I had to make amends for past behavior.

Last Wednesday on the way to meet up with everyone for the cruise, I sent Joy a text as we drove past Wolfchase and she was not pleased that I'd left her out of my itinerary. To to make up for my deviance, Josh and I went by to see her new house last night. Lookin' good. My little Joy is growing up so fast.

We both look so beautiful.
I'd been up since 6:45 a.m. and in a car all day, and Joy had been out doing house stuff and running around on her day off.

Sail away, sail away, sail away...

I'm headed out of town (or, the country... kinda) until Monday evening, so there won't updates until Tuesday. I'm seriously sad to be missing this year's Mistletoe Market, but I think I'll be having a good time anyway. You lovelies have a fabulous weekend and if you're lucky enough to have my super exclusive phone number (ha), you can text me any exciting things I'm missing.

Y'all... where's my earring?

KT rolled into town last night, so I met up with her and Ellen for a bit -- had some dinner, some dessert and some good friend QT and conversation.

Just don't ask Katy about her earrings.

(Today's a bit on the busy side, so Twitter's where it's at.)

Cookie.

I need some Campbell's Cookies in my life.

Hot Mama

Where did I get that sexy ruffled collar? Mom?

Good morning. This is about 75 ways wrong.

Doing this.

In my latest issue of Real Simple.
I'm getting on this trip savings plan ASAP.

I Tivo'd the World Series for this.