The Sassy Steel Magnolia
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  • Archives

  • December27th

    I’m still here!

    Posted in: circus, housekeeping, Random

    Hi. Remember me, Jennie B? I’m still here! I just ….. took a slight, unplanned hiatus. Here’s a brief – very brief – summary of what has kept me away from you these last few weeks of 2011:

    Thanksgiving: I spent Thanksgiving down in Tampa visiting family. It was honestly one of the best Thanksgivings I’ve had since College. I arrived at Uncle’s house at about 9 Wednesday night and stayed up with my Aunt talking about life till 4 a.m.. I was able to hang out with my cousins, who I absolutely adore, and their lil one – Baby G – and be completely stress and care free. My Aunt is a very wise woman who I can talk to about anything, and my Uncle is one of my all time favorite people. I cherish every opportunity I have to even sit in the room with them so you can imagine how wonderful it was for me to spend a couple of days at their house.

    The next week was full of preparations for the following week….

    The first week of December: My work had a huge Open House on December 6th. Huge. We’re talking 170 people. It was a great success! I was a bit tired from running around all night snapping photos and updating our online media. It was the first year I’d been on the working side as the last two years I’d been as a guest. Completely different! Good stuff either way. That Friday night was the annual King Street Shop Walk I always do with Duchess. A night of cocktails and shopping – the perfect girl’s night out – unfortunately ended with both of us getting food poisoning from a restaurant downtown. No bueno. I was out of commission the entire weekend after that.

    After that it was non-stop all the way. I found myself with a terrible little head cold due to the sudden weather changes in this city by the sea, a fundraising event to attend, preparing for the Christmas Holiday (which included figuring out my travel plans, gifts, etc.), and ….

    packing to move into a new apartment! That’s right – I’m moving to a new apartment and I’m so very exhaustingly excited about it!

    Let me back up a bit on this one. The Sunday before Thanksgiving I discovered a former roommie of mine was in need of a new place and on the fast.  The Monday before Thanksgiving we started our joint search. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving we went and looked at a place which we immediately determined we would make ours. We both left for Florida the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The Monday after Thanksgiving we meet Landlord Jim and his wife Sarah and sign the lease. It was a crazy whirl-wind of a week but once it was said and done and things were in ink, I couldn’t stop smiling from being on Cloud 9! I have lived in the same duplex since moving here to this city by the sea nearly 4 1/2 years ago. It was time for me to move. And the new place ….. is amazing! Two minutes to Sullivan’s Island, five minutes to the Interstate I take to get to work – amazing.

    So yes, you can imagine things have been quite hectic lately. In the past four months I’ve started a new job, started moving into a new apartment, and soon it will be a new year and I’ll be a new age, and holy cannoli – I’m hardly going to recognize my life! Last week I did start to get a little lost with everything going on, mixed with worrying if I would have enough time to get everything done and manage to see everyone for the Holiday and so on. I drove the 11 1/2 hour drive to my home town in West Tennessee on Christmas Eve (woke up at 5:30 a.m.) and as soon as I hit publish on this post, I’ll be out the door and on my way to Nashville to spend the day with two of my brothers, two sisters, and two nephews. (Actually that’s 1 brother, 1 sister-in-law, two nephews, 1 sister, and 1 brother-in-law) And then Wednesday morning it’s back on the road to my city by the sea to finish up the move.

    Whew. I’m kinda tired from just thinking about all of that! But in the end it’s all worth it, and I don’t think my Holidays have ever (or will ever) be any different. Remember …. my life is a bit of a circus ;)

    So that’s where I’ve been lately. I hope you all enjoyed your Holiday and are looking forward to the new year! Before I head East to Nash-vegas I thought I’d share a few pictures my Aunt and godmother, Mary Jo, sent for me. One is of me and my Grandpa Joe and the other is just to show you that apparently I’ve never been able to control the lion king situation that is my hair.

       

    I’ll be back soon, promise!

    love & magic, jennie b

  • May31st

    Trial Separation

    Posted in: housekeeping

    It’s not you. It’s me.

     

    That’s what I felt like saying nearly every time I sat down, logged in, and found myself staring at the Dashboard of this blog. It’s not you. It’s me.

    There had been no big argument. I wasn’t cheating. We weren’t in a fight. I hadn’t lost the love for my baby, my blog. But still the screen glared back at me as I sat wondering …. is it you? or is it me? What’s happened here?

    I thought possibly committing to daily posting could solve the situation. As we all know, that did not work out as well as I had hoped. I was trying to force-fix a solution. No bueno. And thus, my baby blog and I found ourselves at an unusual interval in our relationship.

    We were at a stalemate. A Trial Separation seemed to be the only logical thing to do.

    And so we parted ways for a bit. My baby blog was always in the back of my mind and I like to believe it swayed vice-versa.

    I knew it wouldn’t last forever. It couldn’t last forever. We are a part of each other. We simply needed …. a break …. a chance to explore our current situation before returning to talk it over.

    —

    The reason for separating couldn’t be exactly defined. Maybe it was everything. Maybe it was nothing. Regardless, the Trial Separation seems to have worked as everything feels a bit more back to normal now. And Thank Heavens for that.

    While I can’t guarantee it won’t happen again, I am confident that if it does, we will be able to navigate the waters with a little more ease.

    Now that this Trial Separation is over, my baby blog & I can get back to more important issues which are in need of tending. You know, those such as the lingering Mixed Wires posts in my head, delving a little more deeper into daily fascinations, and embracing the circus that is my life. That kind of stuff.

    Thanks for being patient with me and my baby blog. We greatly appreciate it. You’re totally the Bee’s Knees. *besos

    And don’t forget – Good things happen on Tuesdays – and yes, it’s Tuesday ;)

  • April19th

    tooth fairy*

    Posted in: gratitude, housekeeping, Random

    It’s been almost a week since having my wisdom teeth removed and let me just tell you … it still hurts. No where near as bad as the few days afterwards, but it definitely isn’t back to 100%, Ace in the Hold status. But it’s getting there.

    Yesterday was my first day back at work and by 3 o’clock my jaws were in need of a serious break! I’m trying to hold off on taking the pain medicine they gave me, partially because I don’t like pills and partially because they makeme nausious, and I’m near beyond Jello’d, Chocolate Pudding Snack Pack’d, and Gerber Apple Sauce’d out but I have my eyes on the prize (which happens to be a steak dinner with sauted mushrooms and mashed potatoes) and I’m patiently waiting for that day to arrive. Patiently.

    I wanted to take a minute and say Thank You to all of you who sent emails, texts to check in, and good thoughts my way. They are all greatly appreciated! There’s two people that I want to Thank again for ALL of their help … because I honestly have NO idea how I would’ve gotten through all that with out them. No idea.

    A big THANK YOU to my dear friend Sara who not only dropped her morning schedule to drive an hour to pick me up then drop me off down at the clinic, but who also brought me baggies for ice packs, a canister of Salt (both of which I had no idea I needed), and has walked me through the entire process, answering my questions and concerns MULTIPLE times a day.

    Another big THANK YOU to the always awesome Kelley who met me at the clinic, went in to the room with me, sat until they made her leave, didn’t laugh at me when I started crying because I was scared, didn’t take offense when I tried to set her up with the male resident there at the clinic (at least I said “if you break up with your boyfriend, then date him”), drove my anesthesia/medicine-filled self home, went and picked up my prescriptions, forwarded some of the pictures I insisted on taking to only a small group of people, and continued to check on me through out this past week.

    Yes indeed it’ been a different kind of week and I am very, very grateful and blessed to have so many amazing and wonderful people by my side.  THANK YOU all again and I hope you are having a lovely Tuesday!

    [ besos ]

    ps – Still waitin on that Tooth Fairy to show up and leave a present under my pillow. I hear the rates have gone up quite a bit since her last visit to me and the Fairy better not disappoint. We’re talkin 4 teeth here…and baby needs a new dress!

  • December28th

    Can I get a witness?!

    Posted in: housekeeping

    I’m still in West Tenneessee for the week but I’ve been diligently working hard these past few days, going over a few different things for 2011 for The Sassy Steel Magnolia. As I’m contemplating  various posts, new pages, maybe a few new monthly features, and such, I wanted to reach out to you as a reader for a little chatter….

    There’s one question I always want to ask a new reader: Why do you read The Sassy Steel Magnolia?? Of course I never do, for fear of being a little too rude, but it’s always on my mind. I absolutely adore logging on to the site and writing my posts, obviously, but I can’t help but wonder why it is that my dear readers return time and time again.

    I guess you could call this my end of the year evaluation for the site. A time where I step back and say to myself Hold up – Are you doing what you set out to do here? Are you posting things that cater or provoke thoughts or feelings of the different sides of being a woman? Or are you rambling a little too much? *Yes, rambling is a bit who I am but I always try to keep my rambling within reason. [key word: try]

    I’ve also been trying to figure out what kind of blogger I am. I’ve been asked the question repeatedly but seldom answer without hesitation. I’m leaning more towards lifestyle - as my life and the lives of those close to me are often the roots of my inspiration for posts. That and I think that particular blogger label allows me to dabble in a bit of whatever I like. Which we all tend to do every now and then, eh?

    And so here I am sending this out to you & hoping I can gather some sort of feedback. I’m typing on my Mother’s keyboard saying to myself … “Can I get witness?!” …

    So what do you think? More of something? Less of something? Keep doing what I’m doing? Something you want me to talk about? You tell me. [ please ] You can leave a comment below or shoot me an email at jennieb [at] thesassysteelmagnolia.com. (or hit reply if you’re an email subscriber or hit “email me” on the home page of the site. I have to type out my address like that in the post to avoid spammy spammers.)

    And so as The Sassy Steel Magnolia rings in the New Year, I can’t help but get excited about all that is to come in 2011. It really is going to be quite splendid, indeed! And I’m so happy to have you along for the ride.  It’s gonna be a good one … so buckle up!

    I thought I’d leave you with a picture snapped at the Wedding Reception of my dear Soul Sister, Sarah. I told you about their nuptuals but never mentioned that it all turned out absolutely fabulous and I had the best time with old friends and new! Disclaimer: the band was playing Shake it Up Baby, and I just couldn’t help myself from a little twist and shout. I’m that bridesmaid. ;)

    Thank you for reading! Cheers!

  • October22nd

    Mah-velous Magnolia • TMC Style

    Posted in: housekeeping, Mah-velous Magnolia

    Photobucket

    I’ve been waiting for the right moment to send out the Mah-velous Magnolia badge to this very special group. Careful what you wish for….because you never know how it will be sent to you…. ;)

    You’ve heard me mention a few technical gliches the site experienced throughout the week. To put it frankly – The Sassy Steel Magnolia went down Monday night. Completely down. aka: Jennie B was near full blown anxiety attack mode. Luckily a dear friend of mine was online as I instinctively looked for someone to talk me off my technological cliff. (This is all taking place at midnight, mind you, so you can understand how relived I was when one of my friends was still awake!) That friend happens to be the founder of a company specializing in social media and online presence. She contacted her WordPress Wizard who without hesitation dived right in to help me with my problem. (Again – the stars lined up that he was still awake too!)  Long story short, he tweaked a few things here, added a few lines of code there – all things far beyond my small slice of tech knowledge – and got the site back up and running in no time. He’s been keeping an eye on us this week, helping me make sure things are running smoothly, and always having great patience for this less-than-tech-savvy blogger who repeatedly states “I promise, I’m not crazy!” in her emails to him.

    I’m so proud to introduce you all to this great group and so without further ado, this week’s Mah-velous Magnolia badge goes out to Ashley, the fabulous founder, & Hunter, the WordPress Wizard (ok technically he’s a New Media Specialist), of

    The Modern Connection, LLC


    It’s only appropriate that I happened to connect with Ashley through a local Tweet-Up. She was the first individual I had met who worked to really teach businesses and individuals alike the power of Social Media. Her passion towards educating people about the importance of your online identity and how to really take hold of it was completely different from all of these “new media webinars” (“Learn how to double your income online!” blah blah blah) that were popping up left and right.

    Specializing in Social and Relationship Marketing, Email Marketing, Web-Design and SEO, and Web-Video and Commercial Production, The Modern Connection works to empower you and your business in cohesion with any marketing or public relations strategies you currently have in place.

    So what does that mean for you? Well if you are less-than-tech-savvy or just curious what your online presence is (or is not) doing for you, give them a call! Simple as that. TMC can help you develop online programs that are more than a wham-bam-out-the-door type of strategy some of these faux agencies popping up endorse, but will help set you up to continue your online presence in representing you, your company and your brand.

    Did you know that Visiting social sites is the 4th MOST POPULAR online activity…ahead of email?! That’s a pretty big deal factor right there. And regardless if you use flickr, youtube, facebook, or twitter for personal use – do you know how to use it to the best ability for your business? *And without being that annoying business gnat that we all loathe? There is indeed a fine line and The Modern Connection can help you navigate it and empower you to take hold of your online reputation to help boost your offline relationships.

    Social Media’s here to stay, kids, and this group is in it for the long-haul.  Trust me – TMC‘s the real deal. And I’m not just saying this because I know them, but because I hear and see the conversations…online…each and every day.

    A big •Thank You• again to Ashley & Hunter for talking me off my technological cliff and keeping a watchful eye on The SSM this week!


    To keep up with The Modern Connection, visit their new Web site (launching Monday), stop by on facebook , or connect with Ashley or Hunter on twitter.

    -•-

    The Mah-velous Magnolia badge will be awarded each Friday to a selected lady {or a few..or fellas..we’ll see!} who has had an impact on my week.  Who knows — maybe you’ll be up next!

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