Choose wisely

Wow this has been an interesting week. My coworker got married back in May. He wanted me to take a look at his wedding pictures and pick one to give to the families. This is something that all newly weds go through. It took me months to figure out if I would make mini albums for them or give 8x10's to put in the living space of their house. It drove me crazy. He and his new wife had actually chosen a picture. The picture was of the bride standing kinda on display and the groom off in the back ground. Not really in the picture. My advice was to find a picture of them together, not kissing, not looking at one another, not with family, just them.

As wedding season comes to a close, many couples are faced with this problem. As trivial as it may sound in the bigger picture of life and marriage, it can become a hassle. This is the most important day in the history of your marriage. Although you have hundreds of moments captured on film, its only a few that can show, define, and sum up dept of the day. Those are the pictures that will stand out and be remembered by close family, children and grand children to come. To maybe one day incorporate your special day into their special day.

I chose to give mini albums to the parents and grand parents. Each personalized to include pictures of each respective family. No one had any complaints. I did however hold back a few pictures that really showed the sum of our day. The picture of myself and new husband mid air jumping over the broom that his mom made us. That's the moment that I want our kids to see every day growing up and remember when they get ready to have their own wedding day.

A Cricut and a Dream

Hello fellow Host and Hostess,

Hope every one had an amazing weekend. Staying cool and drinking plenty of water.

Well, I think some of you know me already. I am the official blogger for Caliradio. I am also a huge crafter and I love to entertain. This here is my introductory post for my SeeBriesBlog dedicated to home, entertaining, and crafting. I have been able to post on the CaliRadio blog about Summer entertaining, but SeeBriesBlog is solely to help the average everyday person bring out their inner Host or Hostess, and to make the most dull event come to LIFE. Every week I will be posting about the seasons, holidays, whatever crafts I am currently working on, and parties I am designing. I am a Creative Consultant. Party Planner seems too dry to express all of this fabulousness.

Before I go any further into advice or tutorials, I want to thank all of you for following and reading the CaliRadio blog, and continuing to follow me into my own endeavors. Thanks for giving this chick with just a Cricut and a dream, a chance to bring some sparkle to your next event.

Elephants for luck & crafting for peace

Dont Worry Be Happy

I want to kinda piggy back my last blog post. The American Dream last week was basically about being happy and content with your life. Having a home and a family is what most of us want out of life. Doesn’t matter how grand our house is, or if we both have to work or have the luxury of one of us staying home. I believe that if you love what you do and have a passion for it you will be in fact living the American Dream. Regardless if you make a million dollars or 5. Some people want nothing more but to create a beautifully flourishing flower bed. Some actually get a feeling of euphoria from arching the perfect eyebrow. I myself love to walk into a room full of people and personally make sure that each and every one of them is having the best time they have ever had if their life. My passion is to entertain. I don’t sing or dance but I can throw a mean party. When I met West oh so many years ago, this guy was pushing mixed cds out of the little room his dad left him when started to remodel the house. He has the amazing talent to just know what’s about to pop musically, before it does. He knew what song was gonna be “That” song before radio or anyone in the club did. I use to get all my music from him and he was pushing this one song on me. On every cd I got from him this song was on it. I had to tell him not to put that BS on my cds no moe! I hated the song. I didn’t want to hear it. Needless to say that this song that I hated was #1 the biggest song of the year that year. And #2 is now in my top 10 dance songs of all time. I go back to that moment when I thought to myself “damn am I dancing to this song?” when I see him now. When I see all that is happening with Caliradio it’s like wow you have to love what you do, otherwise it’s just a job. I think about my own situation, and remember being 7 years old having impromptu tea parties with all the little girls in the neighborhood, and telling my mom to cut the sandwiches just right because everything had to be perfect. Of course at my tea parties we had real food and real tea(decaf and Iced LOL).

My point is to live your life to the fullest. If you have a passion for doing something, do it! If anyone can’t get on board with it, fuck em, because if you aren’t happy with yourself, then that will reflect outward on every relationship, on your thought process, on your appearance. Then you will be looking for somthing that, hey you know, you may have had the whole time. I can guarantee if you don’t like busing tables, you will never be happy doing it. If you don’t like sitting behind a desk crunching numbers every day, you will never be happy doing it. Find what makes you happy and everything else will fall into place.

The American Dream

In Case anyone is wondering, I have been sober for 3 weeks 6 days about 8 hours as of right now. So let me know how this blog post works out for me. I've been in a little bit of a mood lately and I haven't had a glass of wine to take the edge off.

With all this sober-ness going on around here; it gives me time now that I'm not lushing around to; think, and read, and really pay attention to the things I watch. The things I let enter my space, I have to honestly say have become clearer now than when I'm having a glass (or bottle LOL ) of wine a night. Don't get me wrong I WILL drink again. Maybe later on tonight? I just think I require a little more attention, a little more for thought when addressing me because I seem to analyze everything around me now. Like if it was no BS before, now its NO BULL SHIT! I was watching a clip on the Internet the other day, it was Mitt Romney and he was giving a speech at a fund raiser held by John Schnatter. If you don't know who that is, it's Papa John. You know the pizza gazillionaire that puts the peppers and garlic dipping sauce in every box? Yeah him! I'm attaching a clip I found on the Huffington Post website I want everyone to just take a look at the 31 second clip.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/02/mitt-romney-papa-john-video_n_1471720.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

Mitt Romney says he looks around at Schnatters estate with a pool and golf course and that a Democrat would look at the estate and say that no one should live like that, but a Republican would look at it and say everyone should live like that.

Here's my deal, I have no doubt in my mind that this guy is a fuckin moron. You know I try to give every one the benefit of the doubt but really? Really? REALLY? Does anyone not see the delusions in that 31 second clip? I really don't want to see the full speech. I think that would send me over the deep end listening to this ass hole talk and say things that make no sense. You know I don't know anything about John Schnatters life other than he started selling pizzas out of his dads bar in like 1983. Which is great. To be able to grow into the grand corporation it is today. Great! Good for him, But I be damned if I'm gonna let Mitt Romney or anyone else brainwash any of my blog readers in to believing that Johns story is the only "American Dream". No its not. The American Dream is defined as follows - "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement". Do you understand how broad that statement is? I think everyone would love to live in a house like John's or like Mitt's. But that isn't the case. That isn't reality. The reality is that someone has to drive the bus so our kids can get to school, someone has to be the police to protect us, someone has to willing to teach us, someone has to be willing to care for us if we are sick. My point is that some of us are very happy with being able to pay our bills on time, have a roof over our families head and be able to leave our children with a better life than we had. Everyone cant live like Mitt and John. Or party like Diddy and Jay. Its not fair, to especially the minorities in this country who do most of these jobs and have the ability to own a home, put their kids through college and maybe not have to worry about working till they are 80 years old; to make them think they are living anything less than the American Dream. It pisses me off that he thinks I am that stupid to believe that. We cant all inherit from daddy, or invent, or pass a ball, or sing like angels, or get into Harvard. Some of us have to go to West LA. According to abilty or achievement being a barber or garbage man or auto mechanic are all respectable professions.

Contrary to what Mitt Romney believes, everyone doesn't have to be just like me or him. Some of us will excell and do amazing things. Some not so much. Contrary to what the news media says America is not 1% and the other 99%. America has a top, a bottom, and a middle. The majority (Black White Hispanic Asian or whatever) just happens to fall in the middle. That's life! That's how its always been. Please don't let Mitt take away the middle with this "American Dream(Fantasy)" Bull Shit.

The American Dream is what YOU make it. Dont feel less than because you live in Inglewood and not in Bel Air, and it doesnt make your dream more vaild than mines if you do.

Cause We Like To PART-EHHH!

So how many of ya’ll had BBQ’s this weekend? The family came through. The grill was going for 8 hrs strait. The beer was flowing. CaliRadio was blasting through the speakers. Great way to kick off the Un-Official start to Summer. Summer is The best time to entertain. Between the Holidays and it just being plain HOT outside, vacations and family that you haven’t seen in forever coming around, it’s the perfect time to cook something simple, make some punch and lay out a plastic table cloth for easy clean up. I love to entertain. When I get a idea in my head, within seconds I can close my eyes and see the whole set up. From the colors to floral arrangements, to the way the food will be set out on the table or served to the food being served. And the best part is that I am one of few people I know that can execute this perfectly! One thing that I hate when I go to people’s houses for parties is that they are doing so much that they don’t get to host. They end up staying the kitchen still cooking or setting up when the guest arrive and don’t get to enjoy the party them self. I am gonna give a little advice to the amateur party planner.

First you need to Plan Ahead! Even if it’s a small dinner party the day of. It’s important that you allow enough time to prepare your meal and still entertain your guest. The biggest mistake is that the host will make a complicated dish and it will either take too long to complete or is not easily reheat – able. An impromptu dinner party shouldn’t be that complicated. We all have that one thing we can make with our eyes closed that’s always a hit. Go for it! Less prep and clean up time gives you more time with your guest. On a bigger scale party, Plan your menu. And don’t be afraid to take a few short cuts. If you are known for your famous baked beans and they take a little bit of time to make. Don’t feel bad about buying or assigning someone else to the bring the potato salad. Don’t feel bad about buying the already chopped lettuce or cheese, if your are making guacamole from scratch. Oh one more thing, get rid of the can sodas and bottled water. Anything less than 60 people, invest in a beverage dispenser or 2. A punch or Iced tea will eliminate the extra cost of cases of soda and water. Also try spa water. It’s refreshing and tasty, and will brighten up your table. Bottom line, make what works for you WORK!

On the brightening up the table note, I love love love flair! Not Décor but flair. Having a theme for a party is great, but I’m talking about those little extra add on’s. I believe that every woman should have 4 things in their house readily available. Flower vases, any kind of ribbon ( hair ribbon included), a plain serving tray, and candles. With those 4 things you can make the most boring table come to life. Add some color with the ribbon on the vase filled with flowers. Create a center piece with the tray and candles. The possibilities are endless. Put the ribbon on the bottom of wine or champagne glasses(plastic or not). Its little touches like these that your guest will remember.

Lastly, the entertainment for the party. You can’t have a party without music! Hey any outdoor party this summer, you have to have CaliRadio playing through the speakers. BBQ’s, Family Reunions, birthday parties, doesn’t matter. Especially on the weekends. On Saturday and Sunday CaliRadio is a 48 hr feed of DJ mixes. So you get continuous music. Its dope. No changing CDs, no switching play list on the IPod, No need to spend $300 or $400 for 4 hours for a DJ. CaliRadio will take you from cooking and setting up, well into your after party.

I so hope this helps with your Summer party being easy, efficient and fun. Don’t forget my invite! I love BBQ too!

Special Edition - Eat, Drink, and be Married!

Hold up stop the presses. This is totally a special edition of SeeBriesBlog. I never want to bore anyone with my radical views on life. I try to keep it simple with relationship topics, my first love – music, or the holidays. I do however want to write a disclaimer – My views on the following topic are not that of the CaliRadio Inc or any of the on air personalities. These are my thoughts and beliefs alone.

With that being said, first I want to address these half ass Christians that’s wasting space in the church pews. If you are not going to live by the very definition of being a Christian- “all that is noble, and good and Christ-Like” PLEASE EXIT STAGE LEFT! Now I’m not well versed in the teachings of Jesus H Christ(Sarcasm) , but last time I checked, the bible was broken down into 2 parts. The Old Testament (the torah) and the New Testament. And there would be no such thing as Christianity without Jesus’ preaching’s and teachings. Correct me if I’m wrong but Christians believe that Jesus was the son and spoke the words of GOD? Right? Right! Ok Jesus didn’t judge! Anyone! Not the whores, not the sick and shut in, the destitute, not even the people that crucified him. Not Judas, his boy who sold him out for 30 pieces of silver. So how can you as a “Christian” sit in church every Sunday and judge somebody for what they like or don’t like? The worst answer I have ever heard is “because it’s in the bible”. Let me tell you a little something funny about the bible. The bible is interpreted as the reader sees fit. As crazy as I may sound, I am a Christian myself. I think as myself as more progressive, but I believe in the teachings of Jesus and have from time to time read the bible. I read the bible as a learning tool. It gives me examples of situation to help me grow and be a better person. I'm a work in progress. The bible is not to be taken word for word literally. Not in 2012! I’ll let you guys in on another little nugget of information. The bible is always the escape goat for ANYONES persecutions against someone else. You can twist and turn the stories in the bible to fit the most asinine ideas. As with any teachings except for mathematics. This method was used against blacks, women, other religions, bottom line anyone not “Normal” and what your definition of “normal” should be. It bugs the hell out of me that people act like they don’t have the free will to think objectively or without any outside influences. God gave each one of us free will for sure, cause clearly he didn’t give everyone common sense. In any situation just ask yourself “How would I feel?” “How do I want to be treated?” or better yet “What would Jesus do?” . I guarantee that if people judged you for things you do behind closed doors, you would have a completely different perception on life. Another great excuse Christians use is “how am I going to explain this life style to my kids?”. I think that if you have to ask that question, it says a lot more about you than your kids. It’s speaks more about your own prejudice and less about your kids growing up to become productive members of society. A society which is vastly greater than the size of your house. I think people forget that the world is IN FACT bigger than their kitchen tables. Completely ignoring that someone gay could one day be their kids boss, teacher, friend or even the kid. Or hell the kids therapist growing up in a house like that. Clearly they are gonna one day need one. So to people that use religion as a tool to degrade someone else’s lifestyle, I say to you Shut The Fuck Up! I have many more points I want to hit, but the blog would turn into a book so I’ll move on.

If you haven’t guessed it by now, I am all for gays, lesbians, homosexuals or whatever being able to marry, and for it to be called Marriage. I still don't understand what the big deal is? Marriage between a man and a women aint sacred. Not when the divorce rate is above 50%. Not with post and prenuptial agreements. Not when the average length of a marriage is 8.7 years. Not when lonely men from almost every state in the United States of America browse “Mail Order Bride” websites. Not when Woody Allen married his adopted daughter it aint. Not with reality shows Basketball Wives, Who wants to marry a millionaire, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. Are you fuckin kidding me? Check this out! I don’t know what makes some people think they are so much better than others, that we all can’t have what they can have. I’m sick of this “Entitlement” bull shit. You aint entitled to shit. As soon as someone figures out that one thing they don’t like about you, they are gonna use it against you. Then you will be the one crying foul. Calling any 2 people willing to pledge their life to being together in a court of law anything other than marriage is fucking dumb. Can somebody please explain this to me? Someone I had a conversation with (that shall remain nameless) told me today “well what if everyone wanted to “marry” the same sex? Then it won’t be no more babies being made!” First of all, its comments like that from the people close to me that make me say “I hate a stupid mutha fucka”. If you read the blog, ya’ll know I say that a lot. Now you can really see what kind of people I’m dealing with here! That was THE most dumbest, un-thought through ignorant statement I think I have ever heard in my life. And I have heard some shit in my day. I said so you think just because gays can get “married” you are gonna want to marry a man? Because I don’t care how much a man tell me how good my pussy taste, I still aint gonna want to try it! Point – Match - Game!

My point is that everyone does not have to agree with me. Just don't force your views on me. We can just agree to disagree; but that's never good enough for some people. Those are the people that believe that their way should be law. You trying to tell me you can make it a crime for something as simple as who I love and what I do in my house?!? HELL NAW I aint havin it! Where will it stop? Science being banned from schools? Banning birth control? The elimination of the 13th amendment? I mean since we rewriting the constitution and all to define marriage. Come on!

This is an election year yall. Please don’t let the people in my family or the hypocritical members at my church be the only ones making the decisions about the way country is going to be run. I do have very strong opinions about social issues like gay marriage, drug policies, women’s rights, education and the biggest social issue to me is that American voters tend to vote against their own best interest. My Special Editions will be my views on various Hot Topics from now through November. You will be hearing a lot more from me. Stay Ready!

My Morn'n Time with Donnie B

First I want to apologize for no post last week. I was sick and I missed you guys. Good thing I blogged about Mothers Day the week before, because that blog carried us right through the holiday. I got a lot of great feedback about last week’s blog. I didn’t know just how clueless guys were about Mothers day and how to divide their time or gifts. Glad I could help. Any Who! Before CaliRadio came about, LA radio was kinda in limbo. I expressed how great radio was in Los Angeles for long period of time in a previous post. I’m not sure if it was the politics of the radio world or what, but those days are over. The days when you could mash down Crenshaw blasting the FM dial and it sounded like cool mixed tape narrated by Julio G or Theo. That’s why with CaliRadio broadcasting everyday, they gave me a little piece of that back. I don’t know about anyone else but when I listen to the radio, I fall in love with the personality just as much as the music. For a long time now I have been listening to Steve Harvey in the mornings then switching over to my guys DJ Cali Slimm and West West at 11am. That worked for me. Now I am not a board member of CaliRadio or anything, but I am privy to some inside information. I get a call from West last week , and he tells me to skip Steve and tune in to CaliRadio in the morning. All he kept talking about was this guy Donnie B from Dallas. Now my skeptical ass is looking at my phone like “Ok Sure”. LOL I am not a fan of newness. I’m more of a throwback type of chick. I will embrace the newness but it’s gonna take a lot of convincing. So I tune in. and can I tell yall. Donnie B, which I have dubbed “Mr. Already!” is fucking great! He had me cracking up the whole 2 hours. Between the music the news, sports, and to be holding the show down with no in studio supporting cast is amazing to me. It kinda helped that he sounds like my cousins so it doesn’t feel so new to me, but it definitely feels FRESH! He does something that a lot of shows don’t. He will go into details and commentate about sports. Or about the news, and have full on conversations about what’s going on in the world with Dynamite and Doc Do when they call in. When most shows has 60 seconds to do both. That shit drives me crazy! Don’t just give me the score, tell me what the fuck happen. He’s only on for 2 hours but he gives you a ton of music, news, sports, interviews and over all great time listening to him. The most important thing to me is that he is very aware of his listeners. He broadcast from Dallas, but he's aware that he has California listeners, among other places. I have listened to stations in other cities that stream and most aren't. Now I don’t know who or where this Donnie B guy comes from but he knows people! Monday he has a interview with Pimp C’s mom. Coming from a small station first broadcasting from Party Man James’ house to having interviews with someone as beloved and respected like that and people listening to them all over the world says a lot. He’s not preachy. Which Steve Harvey tends to be sometimes. He's real. I honestly think that he’s just like West and Slimm. A regular guy that happens to love music and has an extremely entertaining personality. And I love it when he says “ Already” ! Donnie B, My Southern Brothern, Welcome to the CaliRadio Family! I Salute you! I had cousins here from Dallas last year (who are super excited about Donnie B by the way) and the first thing they asked for when they stepped off the plane was some new great West Coast music. The only thing I had to do was direct them to www.CaliRadioShow.com . Now with Donnie B, CaliRadio has become a one stop shop for entertainment. But hey who am I? That’s one little Cali chick’s opinion. You have to tune in yourself. Just know I have never lead my readers wrong, and I aint gonna start now!