When People Used to Shove Kids for Beanie Babies

My friend Anne worked in a store that sold Beanie Babies back in their heyday. Then she recruited me to do it as well. Oddly enough our third friend Schultz also sold Beanie Babies at a place. Which makes me think that either we all just had a penchant for retail or that there were a shitload of places that sold Beanie Babies in Indiana. Probably both.

At the time, Beanie Babies were the shit. When shipments would come in, there would be hysteria. People would literally wait on the UPS man to arrive and see if he had any boxes that looked like they came from Ty (the company behind said bean-stuffed animals). If so, minutes later there would mysteriously be a line forming or a lot of women just browsing randomly. This was back before right when cell phones were taking off but before texting so imagine an old-fashioned call tree but instead of the purpose being to prep for an emergency, it was to alert the masses of the arrival of the Christ child. . .aka the Princess Diana Beanie Bear.

The mob was so damn unruly sometimes that Anne had to put the smack down and institute a "Shove a kid,

no Beanie" policy. Yes, it was that bad.

And to cap off the Beanie-related craziness, there was the time that I locked up at one of the stores and then Anne opened the next morning. She got there and discovered that the back door was open, the cash register and night deposit were gone and so were one of each of the Beanie Babies we carried. They took cash and Beanie Babies and then ran out the back of the store, leaving the back door open and a trail of stuffed pink flamingos and tigers in their wake.

The best part of the story, at least in me opinion, was the the burglar came in through a hole they had dug from the Christian Bookstore next store, called "1st Commandment". There was no sign of forced entry so they assumed it was a disgruntled employee...from the Christian bookstore. (For the record, "Thou Shall Not Steal" is the eighth commandment.)

Why am I bringing all this up? Because Buzzfeed just did a recap that all those Beanie Babies that were going to be worth so damn much that you should multiple and make sure you have a plastic hanger tag cover are in fact worth jack shit. Surprise!

Check it out here. How many Beanie Babies do you own?

They Call them "Lifelong friends" for a Reason

The view from my rental car

 

In the next installment of my trip, I woke up early and trekked up to Indianapolis. While my family lives in Southern Indiana, my friends (aka family you choose) primarily live up north. I can't go to the state of Indiana, or really any where near it, without making an effort to see my girls. They have been my sanity when shit goes down, my humor when I need to laugh, my humility when I need to laugh at myself, and some of the only people who have seen my overly-dyed blonde hair shine under black light.

So yeah, they're fucking awesome.

Anne and Amanda, College Roommates/ Lifelong Friends

I drove many two-lane highways and in all my driving over the trip (ended up at 1,054 miles in 5 days), and the thing I remember most was "Wow! This is what it's like to drive somewhere and actually motor". My drive from Nashville to Evansville the first night was so dark and deserted at 9 p.m. that I freaked out a little bit.

Anyway, I made my way to Amanda's house, which is like another home away from home, and got to hang with her and Anne. Then we met up with Brooke and Lara at a great tapas placed in downtown Indy. It was kind of weird and kind of awesome to think that we hadn't been together in about 10 years. TEN YEARS!! I've seen most everyone individually during that time, but not together. When you see people every day growing up, it's hard to imagine a time when you won't see them everyday. Even harder to imagine a time when you don't see them every day and aren't dying from loneliness. But I guess that's what happens with adulthood.

Anyway, we had a four hour dinner and it was awesome catching up. It's moments like those when I remember my dad's saying "You only get so many lifelong friends in life." And he's right. There are only so many people who know you your whole life. While technically this group hasn't known me my whole life, they've known me for my whole adult life (aka from high school on), so I totally count it. They are my lifelong friends and I'm lucky to have them.

It was an awesome trip to Indy, even if it was short, but mostly I just appreciated everyone being able to come see me.

Anne, Me, Amanda, Lara and Brooke- 10 years is too long!

Annual Midwest-South Tour

Me, my cousin Holly and my aunts Mio
and Patty from one of my trips back
to Indiana. I love this picture.

I'm heading back to Nashville. . .and Evansville. . .and Princeton. . . and Indianapolis. . .and back to Nashville this week. It's my vacation! Or at least one vacation that I'm using to take my annual pilgrimage back to the land where I came from. My cousin is getting married tomorrow and I want to be there--plus I get to see a few other cousins and an aunt that I haven't seen in a long time. BONUS!

What's tough about these trips is fitting it all in. I fly in and out of Nashville because it's typically cheaper and easier than Indianapolis. I rent a car and the real fun begins. It's a little more than two hours from Nashville to Henderson, KY/ Evansville to see my family there. Then it's about 35 more minutes north to see my dad and the wedding location in the Princeton area. After that, I get up on Sunday morning to roll up to Indy to see MY GIRLS!!! No trip to the Indiana vicinity is really complete until I see my girls and start some trouble.

From there I go back to Evansville to see more family that I neglected on my first pass and then to Nashville for a little more than 30 hours of trouble with my friends down there. Then back to work next Thursday unless I collapse from exhaustion.

A blur. A whirlwind. A marathon. Whatever you call it, it's quick, packed and a load of fun.

It's still hard not to refer to my annual trips as trips home, but Chef corrected me a few years back. I did the same thing when going just from Nashville to Indiana. "Home isn't somewhere else that you visit," he had said. "It's where you live. And you live here." And he's right. Home is where I live, and I live in Los Angeles.

I look forward to going back each year and catching up, but it obviously also brings up so many memories. I'm lucky because the good ones outnumber the bad by a landslide.

While I was raised in Indiana, I like to think that I actually grew up in Nashville. And when I left, I sobbed like a baby in the moving van all the way to Memphis. Completely inconsolable. Chef felt horrible and asked me why it was so hard. "Nothing bad ever happened to me there," I said. It was a possible exaggeration, because I don't live a completely charmed life, but on the whole, only great things happened in Nashville.It was home.

Of course, almost three years later (CRAZY!!) I can say the same thing about Los Angeles. Maybe my life is somewhat charmed? I dare say, a semi-charmed life?

But I digress. It's time to return to the land where highway driving means that miles and minutes are virtually interchangeable when estimating drive times.

Lock up yo husbands. Lock up yo wives. I'm heading your way TODAY.

Playing Catch Up (Part Two)

I got too frustrated placing the pictures so I needed a second post. Besides, I don't think one picture of cheese and one of my girls in one of my favorite places on earth (the IU campus) are enough to tell of my trip back to Indiana.

Anne and Amanda and our campus visit. I love visiting Bloomington. It's a beautiful place that whet my appetite for places that encompassed different cultures of people--including the ever-annoying hipster. I got to remember what humidity feels like (as it melted off my make-up) and what it feels like to have friendships that are relevant and loving no matter how much time passes between our visits.

I was lucky enough to go to the Capitol and work with a group to brief Congress on the issue of workplace flexibility. I got to listen to how Blackberrys are making us more flexible and more accountable (to our detriment) while obsessively checking my Blackberry for emails. Oh the irony!

I got back in town late Wednesday, but it wasn't until Friday when I was able to go walking around Beverly Hills with Chef that I remembered how beautiful LA is and how great it is to be warm without sweat. I missed my husband and kitties desperately, but was glad that even after spending time in beautiful cities, I still love this beautiful city.

A Promise Kept and a Burgeoning Girl Group

Every now and then, I like to take a picture that someone else has posted and comment on it for defense or just for fun. This is one of those posts.

I'm about 18 years old and my friend Amanda says "I want you and Anne to sing at my wedding. Will you do it?"

Anne and I said yes because 1) we were 18-ish years old and didn't foresee anyone of us getting married any time in the near future, and 2) Amanda was our best friend.

Fast forward about 3 years later, that promise and a late night that may or may not have been influenced by cocktails spurred this picture. Taken in 2000, it is Amanda's wedding Anne, far left, and I had already kicked off Amanda's rocking Karaoke reception (which was hands down the most fun I've EVER had at a wedding reception) with the classic ballad "Almost Paradise" from Footloose (which I HOPE and pray they don't remake for the movie remake next month).

This picture was the very next ditty which was "I Think We're Alone Now" (the Tiffany version) sung by our girl group, Royale with Cheese (two points if you're NOT in the picture and get that reference). At this point in my entertainment career, I had not only mastered singing, but interpretative dance. And on the aforementioned night of inbibing had convinced Brooke and Lara to join Amanda, Anne and I in performing this masterpiece for Amanda and Ryan's wedding guests.

All of us in the picture are now married (some with children), but I still think the group needs to make an encore performance. Who's in?