Lots on my mind right now. Lots.

My website went up this week: www.sweetangeloccasions.com. I equated it to the feeling I had when my daughter was born. What can I say? It was a labor of love. So anyways, I am excited to have that up and running. I still have to get the store complete but custom gift baskets...hit me up!

I am pleased with the success that my little basket biz is generating on the strength of word-of-mouth advertising. It makes me think that I might not have to devote a lot of resources (ie. $$$) to a huge marketing campaign. Plus, I can't do it big until I woo my girl Avin away from her current 9-5 to be my Marketing Director. It might not been soon but its a comin!

So, last Thursday hubby and one of his record labels hosted a listening party for REDMAN. It was the most fun I have had at one of those things in a long time. I go to a lot of these and sometimes its just drink, sit and listen. But this was Redman, so you know it was going to be off the hook. The air was a little thick with the sweet smell of Mary Jane and not only did Reggie Noble show up, but he jumped into the DJ booth and started playing cuts from his new album AND some old school bangers. Be honest...when was the last time you heard BIGGIEs GIMME THE LOOT in the club! Exactly! And to his credit - I've already got a favorite single from Reds new album. Its called Pimp Nuts. LOL. The beat is infectious on that joint. And like I say to everyone who asked me how the party was, "I sure don't know what Pimp Nuts are...but that song is bangin'!" Yeah, I know, I sound like someones Grandma! Apparently, its a reference to his movie, How High. Saw the movie. Don't remember what Pimp Nuts are...

This week is a listening party for Fabolous. Ever time I hear or say his name I wanna bust out with "BREATHE!" or "FA-BO-LO-US". I know, its juvenile but so is going to this party to see if his diamond earrings are really as big as his head. Nah, let's just see if I have as much fun as last week.

Now that the weather is starting to warm up, we can expect a lot the women of the Metro area to lose they damn minds, fashion wise. At work, they just don't know how to keep it professional. I work in a building where the biggest tenant is a law firm and hot damn if some of these folks stoll up in here like its the Classics, the Eastside, the Utopia, the IBEX or the Mirage. And if we talking about the younger set and their sense of (?) fashion...well, hell, you never know what you could end up with. Something too tight, too low cut or just flat out ill advised. And since we are on the subject, why do 40 year old women do trendy clothes? Whats that about? I have probably posed that question before...but, c'mon ya'll...

Until next time..

Whew, people, I am tired.

I haven't had much time to spend blogging, venting or otherwise gabbing about my recent exploits. But today is Wednesday and I have an hour or two where I am relatively free to do whatever (at work, nontheless).

The business is going well. Or should I say the business of starting my business is going well. Yeah, thats it. It seems like its a never ending process. Lawyers, websites, contracts, laws, resale certificates, and the list goes on. I was a little overwhelmed but I think I've got a handle on things now.

By the way, I celebrated my one year anniversary at my real 8 to 5 job...which happens to be the BEST year of my professional career, evah! Yeah, its exciting. In my eyes, I have a dream job. The work is challenging and ever changing, with plenty of downtime (yes, I end up doing gift basket stuff) and people that don't treat you like shit. I even got an anniversary gift! I told the folks around here that I was here for the long run (which I feel I am) or until my baskets EXPLODE and "I absolutely MUST leave". That or I win the lottery, which has always been a dream of mine. LOL.

No secret that I'm a gambling chick. Craps is my game but I play some cards too. And slots. LOVE the slots - it must be something about the soothing *ching-a-ling* noise. Anyways, I play the lottery but usually the multi-state games with the ridicious jackpot that only people in Iowa and Ohio seem to win. But me and hubby love the idea of winning a shit load of money. Who doesn't? But this weekend we were watching "Lottery Diaries" on some cable network. Let me tell you - PEOPLE ARE CRAZY!!!! This one guy won $300+ million dollars. And while he was pretty smart with the money (he invested like, $10M, in very conservative stocks), he also settled with his now ex-wife for a cool $5M dollars. You know how much RDB could get from me if I hit the lottery? Bupkiss. Zilch. A swift kick in the ass and a "have a nice life, bitch" is what he got coming. $5M!!!! To a woman who was already in the process of divorcing your ass?! Who-wee. I'm bettin she felt like SHE had won the lottery. But maybe old dude just said to himself, "this is the price I'll pay to get her outta my life for good."

Also featured on Lottery Diaries was two best friends who worked together, play in the bowling league together, live together and, you betcha, played the numbers together. They hit for less than the other guy but they still ended up with like $30M a piece. Not bad. When all is said and done, these fools buy a new house...together(!)...and have matching glass fireplaces and a bathtub that takes 45 minutes to fill up. Oh, and a Howdy Doody collection in a curio cabinet. I damn near fell off the side of my king size bed laughing about that one.

If they ever do a Lottery Diaries on me (which they wouldn't since I would choose to be one of those anonymous winners), it would be off the hook. I'll have to dream up that one for the next post.

Until then...

Quite frankly, folks, I'm sick and tired of the bullshit and its not even 9 am!

I started my Monday morning when it was still dark because of this daylight savings...

I got onto Metro only to be off loaded at Eastern Market and then had to take a cab the rest of the way to work...

It's too much for a muthafuckin Monday morning!

Anyways, I had two very good girlfriends celebrate birthdays on Friday and I sent them a little spa gift. They both loved them and the one friend who I haven't seen in years said my card almost brought her to tears. Friendship is a special thing, I tell you. When you have the power to move people just by being you...its a great feeling.

All of this is leading me up to a shameless plug for my gift basket business.

I've always been an artsy-craftsy type gal. I just love a hot glue gun and knick-knacks and shit. What can I say? It suits my personality. So the gift basket dream was born from that, I suppose.
It wasn't until a few years ago, that I honestly realized I could make this my dream job. It was like the perfect combination of shopping and giving that really did it for me. So, I did baskets here and there for family and friends. But real life sets in and the baskets weren't making much of an impact on the bottom line, so it couldn't be full time. But I knew it was what I loved doing, so the dream remained.

Fast forward to about 18 months ago...With the love and support and encouragement of family and friends, I started to REALLY realize that I could do my baskets and work my 8 to 5. And so I embarked on this journey. Its been tough. I secured the website I wanted and was ready to start work on that when Kim died. So I pushed it to the back burner. When I was back up to it, I started up again - they way I knew Kim would have wanted it - and forged on.

Everyday is different. Some days I am really motivated and work on basket stuff til I'm knocked out. Other days I won't go near a mall or a basket. I know for sure that I am not one of these people that will stay up til 3 in the morning working on something and then turn around and have to go to my real job at 6 am. I like to think that I'm a better planner than that.

So once I have the website up and operational, I'll be doing more self-promotion here and on the myspace page that I have that I never really maintain. LOL. Who knows maybe I'll raffle off a basket or two if business keeps going well.

"What am I, alone in this world?" - Robert DeNiro as Al Capone in "The Untouchables"