Better Blonde

I've updated my profile picture.  The other one is one of my favorites of myself - which is odd for me to say at all b/c I tend to hate all pics of me, but nevertheless, I digress... So, the other one is really good in the actual picture, but when it uploads it makes it too small and I thought I looked cross-eyed.  Which is sometimes how I feel.  So, this is the new one - I think its a bit better and I don't look crazy.  What do you think?  Keep this pic or keep trying?  

Safeway v. Peapod - A Blonde's I-REview of Grocery Delivery Service Sites

Being lazy all day, I thought I would have my groceries delivered to me - a quick and simple solution so I didn't have to get up off the couch today.  What a great idea!  After spending some time on mygrocerydeals.com to get organized and comparison shop the items I needed at the local store, I selected Safeway - they had the best deals on the things I needed or the coupons I had.  And off I went to the land of cyber-grocery shopping.  Much to my chagrin, the Safeway.com website was not so user-friendly.  I could have shopped the Social Safeway, waited in its horrendous lines, and been back on the couch faster than just trying to get my list loaded and matching my products to those instore.  What a PITA!  So, I resorted back to Peapod.com  What a delightful experience!  I cut the list that I had painstaking loaded into the Safeway site and pasted it right into the Peapod express shop list and was done my shopping in no time!  And, I am getting it tomorrow evening for a delivery fee of only $6.95 compared to having to wait until Tuesday and pay $12.95 for Safeway - forget about it!!!  In addition, with some savvy shopping and couponing, I saved $14 at Peapod - more than enough to cover my $6.95 investment of the delivery fee.  That included signing up for their direct check (debits right from your checking account) which saved me $5 on this trip and another $1 on this order as well as all subsequent orders.  All in all - skip Safeway, stick with Peapod!

Smart Blondes Series

I've decided to start an ongoing series featuring various blondes who I find to be intelligent and exemplifying a true blonde - attractive, smart, witty.  While you will mostly see women featured in this series, the occasional smart blonde man will show up.  I am also very interested in finding out who you all think are smart blondes - I'd love your suggestions for future profiles.  Please submit.  The only requirement is that they must be a real blonde as far as you can tell - for example, Hillary Clinton, despite her horrible blonded frosting, will never be a REAL BLONDE.  Thanks!  Stay tuned for the inaugural post in the series...

Cupcake Controversy: Don't Believe the Hype about Georgetown Cupcake

After much discussion, debate, and dreaming of cupcakes, two colleagues and I decided to finally suck it up and wander over to the much-hyped Georgetown Cupcake, wait in the ridiculous line, just for a personal experience with the cupcakes to beat all cupcakes.  The cupcakes that make Magnolia hang its head in shame, the cupcakes that make Cakelove cringe, the cupcakes that will make my mom hang up her apron from cupcake-baking forever!  Man, I couldn't wait for these cupcakes.  And, then - the client called and I had to bail from my much-dreamed about trip to the soon-to-be world famous Georgetown Cupcake!  I was devastated.  But, all was not lost.  My favorite co-worker, Tracey (did you like the shout-out Trace?!?), brought back a dozen in the prettiest PINK box.  And then she offered me one - my choice!!!!  We ripped open the box and... there were the little tiniest mini-muffins I've ever seen.  Like the kind third-graders bring to school on their birthday to share with the class.  But, ok, so they were small, but I was sure, convinced, I believe these were going to be an eating ecstasy, so I carefully selected a red velvet cupcake with white cream cheese icing (I mean, really - how could you go wrong with that?) and took a giant bite!  I threw all caution to the wind and chomped down, without a thought of having red velvet cupcake all stuck up in my braces.  And, then - I was crestfallen.  A slightly dry mini-cupcake with unpleasantly tangy tart cream cheese icing is what I ended  up with, mushing it around in my mouth.  Trying to recover from my first bite, I shoved the rest of it in my mouth with one fell swoop.  That just confirmed that a nearly $3, over celebrated cupcake, is exactly that - a too expensive, not tasty enough, too much talked about piece of cake.  Well if nothing less, as a marketer myself, I respect how successful their Word-of-Mouth marketing efforts have been.  But that is it.  Skip the trip and head over to Baked & Wired on Thomas Jefferson St. (just three short blocks from Georgetown Cupcake) and try theirs.  I hear they are expensive, but well worth it!  Now that's what I am talking about!

For others' views on the cupcake controversy, check out:

Cupcakes Take the Cake's Commentary

Chowhounders' Opinions

Cordial Girl's commenter's rant (which is also published on blogs elsewhere)

Pie V. Cake's Post

Brunch And The City's Baked & Wired Experience 

Sarah Disgrace's Disgust With 'G'town Suck-Cakes'

Russell Crowe is Stalking Me!

Dear Russ,

I think its kind of cute that you camped out just within eyesight of my office building today and pretended to be "filming" a new movie just so you could try to get a glimpse of me.  It's cute for now...don't get all creepy on me though.  And for what it is worth - I never leave the building for lunch...

Love,

J-Coll