I love...dishwashing.

It's been over six years since I've lived somewhere with a dishwasher. When I first looked for apartments in the Cleveland Heights area hardly any of them had dishwashers as they're all in older buildings. I was a bit nervous about the idea of not having that amenity. But then my desire for the location won over my desire for a dishwasher, and I realized "Hey, these hands at the ends to my arms are great dishwashers". After a few years there I then moved to Tremont and a dishwasher wasn't even a factor in my apartment search.

Over the years I've grown to enjoy washing dishes. Don't get me wrong, it's not something I want to do on a Saturday night. And there was the night a year ago when I was washing dishes before bed, broke a glass, sliced my finger, started bleeding, and as I started to freak out I vowed that if I survived the horrible cut I would never wash another dish [*spoiler alert: I survived. But only after calling my friend Megan and telling her I was certain I needed stitches; she kindly played along, picked me up, and as we drove out of Tremont she asked to see the cut, after which she told me that a strong bandaid would probably suffice. She was right.].


But again, dishwashing is not so bad. In fact, it can be kind of fun. And here are two reasons why:

1) Punishing the Dishes: In college, though we had a dishwasher, sometimes my roomies and I would still just wash the dishes in the sink, especially those dirty pots and pans. And when it came time to wash those dirty dishes, I didn't think "washing" them sounded fun, so I came up with the idea to "punish" them instead. How can you punish dishes? Well, I would fill the sink with warm soapy water, throw in the dishes, and then walk away as I yelled "Now you stay there and think about what you've done!" Then I'd watch TV until I decided they had learned their lesson and were ready to be cleaned...and then used again.

2) Kanye West's "Gold Digger": You probably know the song - and/or can listen to it here. It's fun to dance to, fun to sing along to, and -in my opinion- fun to wash dishes to. That's right, when I'm washing dishes I've got Kanye and Jamie Foxx singing along in my head. The reason is that anytime I go to wash the dishes and start pushing up my sleeves, all I can think of is the lyric: "There's dishes in the back, he gotta roll up his sleeves". And from there the song is in my head and I'm all "She take my money, well I'm in need...", and then it's just a big ol' dishwashing dance party in my kitchen.

Those are just a couple reasons why dishwashing isn't so bad. PLUS it gives me a reason to wear my apron. If I ever move into a place with a dishwasher I probably won't know what to do with it. Maybe I'll just use it to store sweaters.

Speaking of dishes, I have some being punished right now and I think they've finally learned their lesson. So I gotta run, Kanye & Jamie are waiting... "She take my money, well I'm in need..."

I love...my mom.

Today is June Chalk's birthday! And June Chalk just so happens to be my mom.

There are a lot of things that come to mind when I think about my mom, starting with one of my first memories of her putting me into my crib with a nightlight glowing in the room behind her.

When I was little she would lay in bed with me, telling me stories she made up until I fell asleep.

The first time I swore in front of my mom was after I had watched the movie "Clue". She was trimming my bangs and let me look in the mirror as she asked how I thought they looked. I, quoting the movie, replied: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." She didn't like that.

The first time my mom swore in front of me was when we were driving home from the grocery store. Someone was quickly backing out of their driveway not paying attention, my mom tried to swerve out of the way, but they hit us. She said the "s" word and then started crying. She denies the swearing part ever happened.

My mom always keeps me laughing. In fact I started tracking her "Momisms", which are the funny random things that she says - whether she intends them to be funny or not. Like the time we were on a family vacay, my sisters and I were laying by the pool and my mom walked over to us carrying a bag of animal crackers. She went to ask us if we wanted one, and mixed up the words of crackers/cookies as she yelled: "Do you girls want a crack-cookie?!"

As a fan of the Usher, Lil Jon & Ludacris combo, my mom likes singing along to (the chorus of) this song. And (thanks to the Ellen Show) she once asked me "Do you know that song that goes 'Apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur'?". To which I replied, "Yes...but why do you?"

Anytime I worry and my mom tells me to stop worrying, I remind her that I got it from her. In fact, I'm worried right now about writing this and that she will worry about me being worried about her worrying...

My mom has been through a lot in life, but she's still one of the most positive, loving, silly, caring and giving people that I know. And if I have even a little bit of that in me, I'd be as happy as a kid eating a crack-cookie.

Happy Birthday, Mom!
Love, Jennifer

(p.s.: also happy birthday to Paul McCartney, who my mom always reminds us that she shares a birthday with.)

I love...balloons.

Over this past weekend I went to a fundraiser for The Karen Foundation for MS. It was held at the Barley House downtown and was complete with live music, auctions, food, and a Joe Haden sighting. An adorable Joe Haden sighting.

There's one more thing that this fundraiser had...balloon creations! I say "balloon creations" because there weren't just balloon animals, but there were hats and other objects. My friend Cami and I stood in line anxiously awaiting our turn to ask the balloon guy for our balloon wishes. Cami was planning to ask for a pony, as she loves ponies. I was planning to ask for Prince (the artist), as I love Prince. As we got closer a girl in front of us got a balloon pony, so Cami decided to instead go with her back up: a unicorn hat. Just in case, I also chose a back up: pizza (as I also love pizza).

Finally it was my turn. I asked for Prince. The balloon guy told me he couldn't do that, but he would sing Prince while he made me something else. I agreed and asked for pizza. He agreed and started singing "Kiss" while twisting and turning several balloons into a tomato, green pepper and onion slice of pizza.

And let me tell you, it looked good. Delicious, in fact.

Cami then got her unicorn hat, and my friend Alyson got a big crazy hat:

After a while, friends encouraged me to ask that my pizza slice be make it into a hat, which was a good idea since carrying a balloon slice of pizza around all night would not have been very easy. That was how Pizza Hat came to be.

Then I thought: How could Pizza Hat be even better?
The answer: Have Joe Haden sign it.
So I did.

Here is Joe looking extremely focused while signing Pizza Hat:




















Here is Joe looking adorable after signing Pizza Hat:



After that, Pizza (as it came to be called) and I had many more adventures. Including going to a friend's house for Feaster Easter (a belated Easter dinner with a competition for the best side dish); a crazy dance party around a suitcase; and a late night stop at Flying Monkey for a couple drinks and a quick song on the jukebox ('Call Me, Maybe' - which I should note that when I went to play this song, a couple guys standing nearby threatened to pop my pizza hat if I played it. I played it anyway and called their bluff).

The next day it was really nice out and I met some friends back at the Flying Monkey patio later in the afternoon. We decided to go to Edison's for some pizza and it was suggested that I should run home and grab Pizza.

So I did.

Pizza enjoyed a slice of pizza with us, before we went back to Flying Monkey for Sunday night karaoke.

Now Pizza is slowly deflating and getting smaller, as that's what normally happens to balloons. But I'm not sad, because we'll always have our balloon memories...and Joe Haden.

(*thanks for the photo memories, Cami!)

I love...2012.

Happy New Year! I hope you had a great weekend as we said goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012.

I had a pretty busy NYE weekend in the CLE, here's what happened:

Friday: I went to happy hour at Happy Dog for some...happiness. My friends Carrie & Dave, who moved to Michigan several months back, were in town for the weekend and gathered a bunch of us there. I enjoyed a hotdog with egg, pepperjack cheese, cucumbers, & house ketchup - yum. Eventually some of us walked across the street to a Holla Days party that friends were throwing at the new Spice Kitchen + Bar. The place was packed and I got to catch up with several people I hadn't talked to in awhile - holla! A few of us made our way back to Tremont, stopped in a couple bars and ended the night with...Edison's pizza (surprise!).

Saturday: Carrie had crashed on my couch for the night, then in the morning I gave her some NYE dress options and we had a mini fashion show. Once that was done, we picked up my friend Cami and drove over to the Coventry area to see friends in town from Chicago. We grabbed lunch at Melt - sure there was a wait, but the grilled cheeses were delish. Then it was back home to get ready for NYE! I had a new shiny dress, a blazer with a big flower pinned on it, some stickers and drink hangers for the night, and this song playing as I finished getting ready (aww, Zooey & JGL!):

Once I was ready (and stopped replaying this song), I went to my friends' apartment downtown and we all made our way to D'vine Wine Bar for dinner. We started out with some fancy drinks and a ton of appetizers. From there we proceeded to have a "No Covers" bar crawl where we bounced around to places that weren't having packaged NYE deals, which included Nauti Mermaid, Map Room, Little Bar and Flannery's.

Sunday: Hello, 2012! After waking up at my friends' apartment and being sad that our NYE celebration was over I declared that I would start texting my friend Lindsay "Happy New Day!" every day. I got myself together and went to Cami's house for a brunch with our Chicago friends. I also saw my second fashion show of the weekend when Cami had her dog Zukey model his puffy winter coat. We all separated for a bit before meeting up again downtown at Map Room for the Brown's game. Later on we went back to Tremont for Sunday karaoke at Flying Monkey. Apparently most of Cleveland had the same plan, because the bar was packed and the karaoke wait was long. Eventually I sang "Addicted to Love" and headed home with Carrie and Dave who were staying at my apartment for the night.

Monday: After Carrie & Dave left I texted Lindsay "Happy New Day!" and met some friends at Southside for Bloody Marys. We recapped the weekend and started making plans for parties in 2012. Later on I went to a friend's house to watch The Bachelor season premiere. As usual, the show served up a lot of drama, tears, crazy ladies and valuable life lessons.

Now several days into 2012 I'm excited to see what the year will bring. May your own 2012 be full of happy!

(*I should also note that my friends and I started pondering 2012 mottos [like the famous 2010 motto: "Be like Jenny in 2010-y"; and the not so famous: "Name your drink giraffe 'Kevin' in 2011"]. Some possibilities: "Rearrange your shelves in 2012"; "Don't date elves in 2012"; "Be yourself in 2012"; "Don't smell in 2012"; "Be like Jenny in 2012-y". Lots of good options, but I've decided to wait a few more days until selecting one to live by for the year. Feel free to throw in a vote or a suggestion...)

I love..."Almost Famous".

When I moved into my current apartment I didn't get cable. So when I wanted to watch something, I watched DVDs. On a regular rotation in my DVD player were the "Sex & the City" seasons, "500 Days of Summer" and..."Almost Famous".

The movie "Almost Famous" is on my list of top three movies. It makes me happy. I can quote it. I can fall asleep to it (and I have, several times). I make other people fall asleep to it (like two birthdays ago when my sisters were visiting, I tucked them into my bed and made them fall asleep to it, which is why my sister Lisa now fondly recalls my 'Almost Famous channel').

My love for the movie started a while back, cause it's awesome. If you've seen it, hopefully you're shaking your head in agreement right now. A young boy (and aspiring writer) travels around with a rockband and sees the ins and outs of the road and fame. He meets the lovely Penny Lane and lots and lots of awesomeness ensues. If you haven't seen it, you need to see it. Here are some of my reasons why...

The Quotes: As I mentioned, I could pretty much quote the whole movie, but I'll spare you. Instead here are a few highlights.

• "It's all happening!" - Once you hear it in the movie, you find it's pretty easy to use in day-to-day situations. When you do say it and someone around you offers recognition of what movie it's from, it's like you've found a secret club of Almost Famous groupies (well, Band-aids).
• Some other favorites: "Your aura is purple!"; "Feck you!"; "I hurt the flower."; "Rockstars have kidnapped my son."; "I didn't invent the rainy day, man. I just own the best umbrella."

The Music: Of course with a movie about rockstars, there's plenty of music throughout. There are some songs I can't hear without thinking of the movie. I'm okay with that.

• "Tiny Dancer" - Ah, the bus scene. This movie moment made me forever fall in love with this song. One night in college I snuck away from a party to go back to my apartment and listen to it. One of my roommates came home to find me dancing alone to it on our coffee table. Luckily she and a couple other friends happily joined in as we all sang along. As great as that was, I still can't wait for the day where I'll be on a bus and this will happen:

• "Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters" - Another Elton John song made its way into the movie. Though I'm not looking to recreate this particular scene, I did take a liking to the song. Unfortunately it didn't make its way onto the soundtrack, so I quickly bought the next CD I could find with it.

• "The Wind" - Penny Lane hangs out after a show to dance around on the trash left behind by fans as this Cat Stevens song plays in the background. It may sound like a weird scene, but I've noticed that after a concert when the lights come on and people have cleared out, somehow the trash of fans does look more poetic than trash looks when left on the side of the road.

Etc.: Want more? Well, there's also the fact that at one point in the movie the band sings a song written by Shel Silverstein. Or that the band plays a show in Cleveland and stops at Swingos. Or that the main character is a writer who gets an amazing opportunity.

Still, these are only a few tidbits to explain why I love this movie. I watched it again last night and today the aftertaste of it still makes me want to be a rockstar, or Penny Lane, or something in between.

Tonight my inner-Jenny is calling for an encore viewing, so as soon as I post this I'm going to press play on the DVD player. Why fight it..."it's all happening!"

I love...singing.

This past weekend I went on a singing binge.

It started on Saturday morning, I woke up early to sing with my friend's band at the Midtown Cleveland Healthline Classic Race. It was cold, windy and awesome. We did covers from "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" to "Friday I'm In Love" to "Good". By the end of the morning I was freezing, but my voice was warmed up for the singfest that was about to happen.

Sunday I spent the day watching football with some friends. We were all pretty tired from the previous day's festivities, but a couple of us perked up at the idea of Sunday Karaoke at Flying Monkey in Tremont. We arrived, we sang (my selections included "I Think We're Alone Now" & "Cryin'"), we stayed out too late - it was a success.

Monday night I went with a few friends to a Yelp Elite party at Beachland Ballroom. The theme? Costumes & Karaoke! Dressed in semi-80s clothes (a.k.a: my own clothes to the extreme), I first tried to sing "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", but the CD didn't work. So after some more consideration I went with "Something to Talk About". Eventually the party was drawing to a close, but my friends and I hadn't sang quite enough yet, so we made our way back to Tremont for karaoke at Prosperity. Yes, it was a double karaoke night! We gathered at the front corner of the bar and started putting in our requests. It was a pretty full room at this point, so the pressure was on. Then the DJ called my name and there I was, singing..."Don't You Forget About Me".

As Monday turned to Tuesday, my three-day sing-a-thon drew to a close. By the end of it I was exhausted, but I'd do it again and quite possibly I will. See you around the microphone!

...lalalala!