A New Toy

I love getting new toys. Really, I'm just like a little kid when it comes to gadgets. Did I want jewelry or flowers for Mother's Day? No. I wanted a little pocket video recorder. So, here's the one that I picked out for myself:

I really like it...although I haven't gotten a bunch of time to play with it. Chloe's last day of school is tomorrow, and they're having a little concert. I plan on recording the concert, and posting it here. Here are a couple of sample videos I did. These are NOT in high def, just in regular VGA mode. I'll play with the high def more later.





This thing is great! It uses 2 AA rechargable batteries (which came with it...it actually came with four) and fits right in the palm of my hand. Great for throwing in my purse. It takes still pictures, too. I'm going to have fun playing with this...and I'll be able to share some more video of the kids with my folks. Right now we have a camcorder that records on those mini dvd's, and it's a pain in the arse to share them with my folks.

So, I got a new toy to play with, and today I'm going to get some new hair! Well, not NEW hair, but a new cut and color. If you live around Pittsburgh, I absolutely LOVE how Jess does my hair. Jess owns Hot Heads Hair Design, which is right next to Downey's House in Robinson Township. She's super sweet, a whiz with color, and she took a big risk opening a place of her own. she's great!

So maybe I'll post a pic of me and my new hair. I hope everybody has a great day! The weather is fantastic here. Maybe I'll slap some fake tan on myself soon, so I don't scare everybody when I wear shorts!

Summer Teaser

Well, it was a fantastic weekend for weather here in Pittsburgh! It started on Friday, and it looks like it's going to last through today. The kids really enjoyed it. But here's how it went down:

Friday after school, Becca started. "Can you put up the pool?!?!" (I've promised that we'll put up the easy-set pool that has been sitting in the garage for two years this summer). I told her that I can't put that pool up until their birthdays (end of May).
Then she wanted a smaller pool. Well, it was 4:00 on a Friday. I wasn't ready to tackle any kind of pool. So we compromised on the sprinkler. They were happy. Saturday, I caved. I put up one of those hard shell plastic pools for them. We later found that there must be a hole in it. But they had a great afternoon, bouncing between my yard and my friend's yard. Carefree, almost summer.

Sunday we had a couple of events to head to. There was a christening for our friend's twins down the street, then a communion party for other neighbors at our restaurant. We headed down to the christening. Now, our friends there put in an in ground pool last year. They got it late in the summer, and the kids were in it once. I didn't think that the pool would be open yet for the season. But we got there, and the pool was open. (On a side note, I'm totally jealous of their pool and the set up. It looks like something out of a magazine. They should rent it out for parties.) So, I ran back to the house, got their suits, and they swam for a couple of hours.

Hello...it's April in Pittsburgh.

It was a great time, and the first time that, as a parent, I didn't have to get in the pool. They were fine just swimming on their own. Nice.

The communion party was held on Downey's House's deck. Because it's not normally this warm in APRIL, we had to sort of scramble to get the deck semi-ready. The chairs still don't match. We don't have any coolers out there yet. We need to do some landscaping. But it went well, all things considered.

So, it looks like our little visit to summer ends tomorrow. Which is OK with me. But I'm glad that summer IS right around the corner!

But if you talk to me in August, I might have something to complain about :)

Thought Soup

I usually don't post a lot of 'techie' stuff on this blog. I'm considering starting another blog for this type of thing. But I DID want to at least mention it.

Let me back up, first. I started blogging as a way to get the word out about the t-shirts and gifts that I design for CafePress and Zazzle. That was almost two years ago. I really didn't know too much about blogging and such, so I jumped in with a free blogger account. I've been pretty happy with it.

But, once I opened the restaurant, I got a blog started over there. And I used Wordpress. I love it! It's on my own domain, and it's much easier to tweak things. I have since used Wordpress to set up an affiliate site or two. And I'm getting better at it! I've learned so much...how to install wordpress, playing with themes, and so on. I recently did two things with Wordpress, and they've made me very happy.

First, I actually PURCHASED a theme. I purchased the Flexx theme from iThemes. I love it! It's very easy to change the layout, colors and pics. Easy peasy. I also found a plug in for automatic updating. I loved it so much, I actually donated to the author (which is something I can't afford to do as much as I would like). Here's the link to the plug in.

Now, am I going to break up with blogger? Nah, I don't think so. It's worked for me so far, and I guess I'm sort of attached. I have, however, re-directed links to my own site. So, you can also find this stuff at http://blog.brainlint.net.

Just a little mention of regular life: The new menu starts at Downey's House on Tuesday, so I've been busy! I'm printing them up today. It's been a crazy couple of weeks trying to get the menu together, programming it into our POS system, and making sure we have all our i's and t's dotted and crossed. On top of it all, the girls and I are headed down to Florida on Wednesday. Packing? Haven't even really thought about it yet.

I also (finally) finished reading Dead Until Dark. I really, really enjoyed it...even though it took me much longer than it should have to read it. I bought the next 2 books to read while we're in Florida. Hopefully I get enough 'me' time when we're there. If you watched True Blood, the book and the show are pretty similar. But I was surprised that there wasn't any mention of Tara (the bartender). I'm not going to spoil anything for anybody, so I'll just say that there WERE differences in the book versus the series. But I think that both are very good.

OK, the girls are complaining that everything is 'Booooorrrrriiiiinnnnnnnggggg!' How about an exciting trip to Staples, girls? (OH, that makes me thing of a quick side note: I have always loved the smell of office supply stores. I'm strange. I love the smell of toner and paper. It makes me happy. We walked into Staples yesterday and Becca, with a smile on her face, said 'Mom, mmmmmmm...it smells GOOD in here! Poor thing.)

Wow...this post really did go just about everywhere. Like I've mentioned before, sometimes I just can't focus :) Have a great day!

Happy Steak and BJ Day

Yup, that's what today is. Steak and BJ day. You can learn more about it at their website www.steakandbjday.com/ To sum it up, it's the male version of Valentine's Day.

Here in Pittsburgh, it also happens to be Parade Day. This is the day, in the past (and I'm stressing IN THE PAST, because it's different now), that I would find my husband the most inebriated. He's Irish. Plain and simple. They would start with beer and donuts at 8:00, head to the parade, then take the bus back into Carnegie. Carnegie was a mecca for Parade Day Partiers. Lots of bars, one of them being an Irish Pub. And we lived in Carnegie. It was the perfect storm.

Me? I've never been to the parade. I'm not much for a) being out in the cold - and it's usually cold on parade day and b) large crowds of drunken people. I just don't have the patience.

So, Steak and BJ day combined with Parade Day? That's drinking, hanging out with buddies, steak and a blow job. That's the perfect day for most guys I know. Now my guy? He won't be going to the parade this year. He'll be working at Downey's House, keeping the fun going. He will get to hang out with his buddies a bit, but he won't be drinking. As for the steak and BJ? He might eat a steak at the restaurant.

But he doesn't get home until 4:00 in the morning. That's when I'm sleeping.

Sorry, babe.

Show Me The Money

You know, the past year has been crazy for us...especially financially.

It all worked out OK in our heads. Tony will quit his job, we'll still have one more paycheck on its way. We'll turn the restaurant around in 2 weeks (which we did!), open up and get right back into making money. We tapped ourselves out in order to get the money to purchase the restaurant. A second mortgage, emptying out the 401K, plus another small loan got us our money to purchase Downey's House.

There were a few things that we didn't really factor in. Like new signs. And deposits for the utility companies. And, oh yeah. The first food order. Most of these things ended up on our personal credit cards. Some of that stuff is still on there. Plus, we really had to live off credit cards for about a month. But hey, you've got to take a risk to get where you want to go sometimes.

Well, I've decided that I need to get that credit card stuff in order. I have amounts on four different cards, just sort of floating around. So, I went to this site I heard about, and you can get instant approval credit cards right online. It's nice to see all of the different deals, right there on one site. Me, I'm a fan of zero percent interest. I don't need a lot of bells and whistles like cash back or airline miles. I'm gonna get all of this in order - and paid off (hopefully) quickly. The restaurant has been doing well, and Tony is happier than a fat kid in the Twinkie factory.

So, now that it's been almost 1 year, I'm feeling settled. Not so crazy and scattered. And I'm takin' care of business.

You: The Peeping Tom Seeing My Morning

I don't really know if my family and friends know what happens during a typical Heather morning. I can't imagine that they do know. So, just in case anybody cares (and to make myself feel a little better), here's how my morning went. Today was an easy one, because we didn't have to leave the house at all. Well, just a quick run to the bus stop. So, here it goes:

• 4:30 am - Wake up to see 3 year old in front of my face, asking for milk. Realize that I'm in Becca's bed, and fell asleep around 9:15.
• 5:00 am - Think that it's a good idea to wake up and get some stuff done. And I actually wake up.
• 5:00-5:45 - Spend some quality time with the husband, who has not gone to bed yet. He also thinks that it is currently still THURSDAY. I continue to correct him, telling him that it's FRIDAY.
• 5:45-6:00 - Watch 15 minutes of the news. Wish I looked as good as Sonni Abatta.
• 6:00-6:25 - Watch 'The Office.' Laugh. It was a good one.
• 6:25-7:00 - Make large pot of coffee. Check e-mail. Log in the numbers from the restaurant last night. Prepare deposit. Figure out the change order. Update our POS system for Friday specials.
• 7:00-7:05 - Drink more coffee. Smoke another cigarette
• 7:05-7:06 - Start vacuuming a plethora of nerds candy from the family room. Realize that it's 7:06, and decide I need to shower
• 7:06 - 7:35 - Wake Becca. Iron her outfit. Wake her again. Brush teeth, shower, greet crazy-haired Chloe, help Becca into her tights and dress. Come downstairs. Finish vacuuming aforementioned nerds.
  
• 7:36 - Yell upstairs for everybody to hurry - we have 19 minutes
• 7:36-7:55 - Pack a lunch, make a waffle, drink more coffee, have a smoke, find missing glove for Becca, brush Becca's hair, grab almost-forgotten library book for Becca. Pack one pretty-looking sweetheart and one bed-head, pajama-clad, slipper-wearing sweetheart into car for 1 block ride to bus stop (it was cold!)
• 8:05-8:10 - Turn show on for Chloe, sit down to write blog post for Downey's House
• 8:10-8:11 - Get Chloe a banana
• 8:11-8:30 - Finish blog post, check some forums and twitter. See that CafePress is down. Complain about it on twitter
• 8:30-8:31 - Put another television show on for Chloe
• 8:31-8:45 - Hang out with Chloe, tickling her until she begs me to stop
• 8:45-9:05 - Finish up with checking sales and stats online. Look up code numbers for the liquor I'm about to order
  
• 9:05-9:06 - Get Chloe some strawberries
• 9:06-9:15 - Order the liquor, enter amount into Quickbooks
• 9:15-9:45 - Help Chloe make Kool-Aid for her 'Lemonade Stand.' A lemonade stand where there are two customers: Me and a small stuffed bear. Play lemonade stand.
  
• 9:45-9:55 - Start dusting and cleaning the glass in the family room. Decide I'm not in the mood to really do much more cleaning right now.
  
• 9:55-10:05 - Spend 10 minutes searching for a copy of our new menu that Tony wrote revisions on. Finally give up, and hope I remember the revisions.
• 10:05-10:10 - Take phone call from the restaurant
  
• 10:10-10:11 - Start menu revisions
  
• 10:11-10:12 - Cut up an apple for Chloe
  
• 10:12-10:20 - Work on the revisions some more
• 10:20-10:22 - Help Chloe in the potty
• 10:22-10:30 - Finish with the revisions. Hope I got them all.
  
• 10:30-10:33 - Re-wash the laundry I left in the washing machine overnight. Freshen up clothes in dryer
• 10:33-11:00 - Print up a copy of the fixed menu. Remember that I also need employment apps printed up. Do that. Deal with my desktop and what my security scan found.
  
• 11:00-11:20 - Fold the laundry with Chloe. Yes, it takes that long.
• 11:20-11:23 - Sit down to sign our corporate tax returns
• 11:23-11:24 - Get Chloe some carrots
• 11:24-11:30 - Decide to boil some eggs. Smoke a cigarette
• 11:30-11:45 - Fart around on the internet. Still annoyed that CafePress is farked up.
  
• 11:45-11:50 - Sew up the back of Chloe's Build-A-Bear
• 11:50-12:00 - Get the eggs from the stove. Decide to write this post.
• 12:00-12:03 - Make toast for Chloe
• 12:03-12:10 - Continue with post
• 12:10-12:11 - Get a hard boiled egg for Chloe
• 12:11-12:16 - Continue with post
• 12:16-12:17 - Make witty remark on Twitter. Well, I thought it was witty
• 12:17-12:20 - More blog post
• 12:20-12:22 - Get Chloe some Kool-Aid
• 12:22-12:30 (now) more blog post.

So, there's my morning so far. The thrilling life of a work-at-home-business-owner-mom. You know, throughout this time line, there's the conversations I have with Chloe. Well, they're not really conversations. It's more like a question and answer period. That lasts, um, all day. These kinds of mornings are actually my favorite. I get some business stuff accomplished, get some housework (sort of) accomplished, I get to be social with my online friends, and I get to hang out with my Chloe.

Now, I'm gonna go and make myself some egg salad. I did sneak a granola bar in sometime around 8:00. But I'm hungry!

Want to follow me on twitter? I'm at twitter.com/hdowney

Suze Orman Can Kiss My Arse

A few weeks ago I saw Suze Orman on Oprah. Of course, I was watching the repeat from earlier in the day. Usually it's on at 4:00 - right when we get home from the bus stop. I was watching it at 2:00 am. Why wasn't I sleeping? I can't really remember, but I digress...

Good ol' Suze was dishing her regular financial advice. Before I saw this segment on Oprah, she already annoyed me. I'm not quite sure what it is about her, but I just get that feeling that I want to either a) punch her right in the face or 2) embarrass the crap out of her. On this particular Oprah show, she was talking about dealing with the crappy economy. Saving your cash. Watch your spending. Blah, blah, blah. I was just about to doze off when she said (and I'm paraphrasing here) "You know what I'd like everybody to do. For one month, don't go out to eat at restaurants."

Bitch, please.

If I had been in the audience I would have stood up and said those exact words. Does she realize what she just said? Thousands of small business owners' jaws just dropped open. Waiters, waitresses, bartenders and cooks everywhere probably had much more vulgar things to say than me. (Have you ever hung out in a kitchen?) Just who in the hell does she think she is? There are plenty of people around who work in restaurants. As stated in this blog post I read recently the food service industry is the third largest employer.

I wonder if Suze stopped going to restaurants.

I'll bet you somebody, somewhere wouldn't be very nice to her food.

Just sayin'

So, stuff it Suze. Didn't you used to work in a restaurant? All these people losing their jobs? Wanna know where they're going to look for a job? A restaurant.

I need to stop now.

/rant

No need to repeat myself

Hey...I just posted about the Pittsburgh Twestival over at Downey's House Blog. I'm not going to repeat myself here, so why don't you go and read it, mkay?

Happy New Year to All!

Well, 2008 was pretty good to us. I mean, life got extra crazy and there was a huge amount of uncertainty (there still is!), but it was a huge adrenaline rush. It was life changing. It was emotional. Although I love these huge events and thrive on change, I'm hoping that we can just continue to adjust to these changes in 2009. We're sort of on a schedule where we have some life changing event about every 5 years. I think that's about all we can handle. It went something like this: First house and our wedding in 1999. Second house and life with kids started in 2003. Restaurant in 2008. Let's just coast through until about 2011 or 2012.

The daily happenings of my life continue to amaze me. I never in a million years could have imagined how my life would be. Here's how my day has gone so far. We all woke up on the couch, because we fell asleep waiting for the whole ball drop thing. There was coffee, breakfast (for the kids - still none for me yet) and I did the paperwork from the restaurant last night. (It was a great night at Downey's House, btw. The wedding was great and we were super busy). Then started more motherly duties. Chloe wanted to play with her 'Cupcake Maker' that she got for Christmas. There's a story behind this thing. She had been saying that she wanted it for Christmas since October. When I went to buy it, it was located next to the Easy Bake Ovens. I would have much rather bought an Easy Bake Oven over this thing. I knew it would be a bust, but it was the ONE THING that she was consistently asking for. So, I plunked down my 25 bucks, and here's what I got:

So, I pull out this crazy thing, mix up the mix, nuke the cupcake (yeah, you're supposed to), shove the icing in the tube, and they put the machine into motion. I cut it in half for them to share (Yes, you can only make one at a time), and they each took a bite. Then they said 'Ewwwww,' and I threw the rest in the garbage and cleaned up the mess.

Then they moved onto the next project. The 'Le Cafe' that they got last year.

They got this last year from my parents (on my recommendation), and they do enjoy it. I don't really mind it so much, either. It's quite large when you assemble it, but it does break down pretty easily, and I can store it under the couch. It is, however, much easier to assemble with TWO adults. I can do it on my own, but thank God there's no hidden camera in my house (that I know of, anyway). The whole process of getting the 'covering' over the sticks of the structure involves me being inside of this floppy thing with the roof resting on my head as I try to stretch it over the frame. I come out with crooked glasses (no contacts in yet) and a big ol' static head.

So, I've told them that they got their two projects done, and now it's time for Mom to work on hers. A day in the life.....and we've only been awake for about four hours. Heading over to the SIL's today for traditional pork and sour kraut. DH is working at the restaurant tonight, and I see the return of 'normal life' on the horizon. Have a great, great New Years!!!

More Drink Tax Debate

Well, there's another court hearing regarding the drink tax today. You can read a snippet about it from the Post Gazette. In a nutshell, they (restaurant owners and a councilman - Charles McCullough) are trying to stop my most hated person, Dan Onorato, from using funds collected by the drink tax for anything other than the Port Authority. Did you know that the drink tax collected 16 million dollars more than what was needed for the Port Authority? Crazy. I'm hoping that this makes something else happen. And I wouldn't mind it if it made Dan Onorato cry a little.

After owning the restaurant for seven months now, I have realized that there really isn't money in this business. Don't get me wrong, we are able to pull a salary - enough to pay our bills and the extra mortgage on the house that we got so we could buy the bar. But what's crazy is the sheer amount of money that needs to go OUT. Our electric bill is about $2,000 a month. Gas is about the same. Payroll is crazy. Insurance? Holy crap. Liquor liability insurance is completely insane! Then there's our health insurance! We picked some crappy tier with UPMC, and Tony has a $2500 deductible per year. I've been reading a lot of restaurant-owner-related-crap, and for every $1 in sales, owners are lucky to see about a nickel. That seems about right. But I really don't think that other people realize that.

All in all, though, Tony LOVES having the restaurant. And his happiness is worth it. And we won't be living in a van down by the river any time soon. Tony is one of the hardest working people I know, and considering the economic times, the restaurant is doing really well.

How about that for a venting session? :::takes deep breath::: I feel better now :)

2008 - Looking Back

Well, my brain is too fried to think about a topic, so I'm taking the (sort of) easy way out, and answering the following questions. Dawn from Because I Said So did the same questions, so I'm a copycat (although my answers are different).

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Wow, lots. But it mostly has to do with buying the restaurant. So, bought a bar/restaurant.

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Well, I don't really make New Years' resolutions. But I did have goals for the year. Not to be redundant, but one goal was to get the restaurant. The other was to make $1,000 a month online. Some months I hit that one, some months I didn't.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nobody super close. An old friend did give birth last month.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Lots of funerals this year (but nobody in the immediate family)

5. What countries did you visit?
Um, I don't even think I left Allegheny County this year. Scratch that. I went to Washington County. And Somerset County. But no COUNTRIES.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
More family time

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory?
May 27th - 2 days after my youngest's birthday, 2 days before my oldest's birthday, and our first official day of business at Downey's House.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I didn't collapse and stay in the fetal position in tears.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Keeping up on my house. It's terrible.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope :) (OK, everybody knock on some wood for me. I just did.)

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My laptop

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Chloe's, because right after January 1, 2008 I felt confident enough to leave the house without her in a pull-up.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Nobody specific, but lots of politicians. (Hello Dan Onorato and Allegheny County Council!)

14. Where did most of your money go?
ALL of our money went to the restaurant. Um, the money's still there.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I know that 'the restaurant' is the short answer. But it was REALLY seeing Tony realize his dreams, and having all those ideas that were stuck in our heads really come to life.

16. What song/album will always remind you of 2008?
Nothing really specific here, but I did have fun picking out the 'alcohol themed' songs on our myspace page.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier/sadder,thinner/heavier,richer/poorer?
happier, poorer and about the same weight. Well, OK, maybe a couple of pounds heavier.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Sleep

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worrying

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Christmas Eve with the Downeys and Christmas Day afternoon with the Sarnowskis!

21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
Tony, because we're really not together all that much

22. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Uh, no.

23. How many one night stands in this last year?
Um, none. But I do have a night stand. There are milk stains on it and it's covered with dust.

24. What was your favourite TV program?
Stuck between 'The Office' and 'True Blood'

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Dan Onorato

26. What was the best book(s) you read?
I'm trying to think if I actually read a book this year. Well, an adult book. I don't think I did, but I have been reading the Junie B Jones series to Becca. They're very cute.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Um, yeeeaaaahhh. I discovered that I still remember some of the words to songs you learn in preschool.

28. What did you want and get?
Restaurant

29. What did you want and not get?
Peace and quiet

30. What were your favourite films of this year?
The only one that I really watched. Sex and the City

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I don't really remember what I did on my birthday. I do remember that I turned 38.

32. What's one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I'm pretty satisfied.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
21st century comfortable mom

34. What kept you sane?
The nights that the kids went to bed by 8:00 and I stayed up and had time to myself.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I still think John Krasinski is adorable

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
That damn drink tax

37. Who did you miss?
My grandmother. I thought about her a lot this year.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Can't pick just one, but I love my employees.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Realizing your dream isn't really a 'happy ending.' It's more like a 'new beginning.'

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?
'I'm so-o-o tired. I haven't slept a wink" - The Beatles

Hey, we got nominated!!!

Hey, I need some help, please! I'd love for you to go and vote for Downey's House for best new bar of the year over at Barsmart.com.

Here's the post that I just made over at blog.downeyshouse.com.

Hey, everybody!!! We just got nominated for 'Best New Bar' at Barsmart.com!!! Go and vote for us here: http://www.barsmart.com/vote.cfm

OH, I forgot about a couple of things that happened on Friday.  The bad thing?  My payroll company took the entire payroll amount ($7,000) out of my checking account and paid my employees.  Um, payday is November 2oth.  They took it out SIX days early.  I about threw up when I pulled up my online banking!!!  Luckily the money was in there, but there are a lot of checks floating out there waiting to be cashed.  They fixed their mistake (well, enough where my account would be ok), but that was just another bump in the day.

Later on Friday night, I got an email from Zazzle, and here's the graphic:

Well, I added the writing that says "Hey!  That's my design!"  Anyway, that was a nice little surprise.  OH, and if you're looking for aprons, they are $4 off at Zazzle if you use the code TURKEYAPRONS until November 25. (Just in case you can't see the pic).

Look at that!  Two posts in 12 hours.  I'm getting there!

Finally, some pics of the kids

OK, it's just a few pics. And I did have fun using the smilebox thingie.

Make a Smilebox postcard

The pics are from our trip almost 2 weeks ago to Idlewild. We had a great time, even though it was pretty darn crowded. Oh, and that story about Chloe? I'm not sure where exactly she heard this (because it's not said in out house), but here it is. We were down the street at our friends' house, and Becca was showing off the fact that she now knows all of the colors in Spanish. Well, she got to black and she said "Black, Negro." No big deal. Well, Chloe looks at me and says "Momma, you shouldn't call people that. It will make them sad." I told her it's how you say the color black in Spanish. She didn't seem to care.

She's a little smartie pants. Look at this! Two posts in two days. Maybe it's the start of something. Maybe it's not. Anyway, I'm about to leave the house to go get ready for our big Halloween Bash at Downey's House tonight. I hope it's a success!!!!!

Time flies...

Well, time really DOES fly when you have 8 million things going on in life. So sorry I haven't written. Mom came up for a visit, running the restaurant, doing my online business, doing kindergarten homework, sometimes sleeping. OH, and the new seasons of my fav shows have started. I have found time for the shows that I like to DVR. They are, in no particular order, True Blood (HBO),The Office, How I Met Your Mother, Three and a Half Men, and new to the line up, The Big Bang Theory. New episodes of 30 Rock start next Thursday, and that will make it on the list too. the beautiful thing about DVR is that I can watch it whenever I want to and skip the commercials. Now I just have to get it in my bedroom, so I can watch before I go to sleep!!

So, here's what motivated me to actually write today. Another funny little Becca story. Last night we were doing homework. She had to glue pictures (or draw pictures) of things that started with the letter 'A' onto a paper. Her little brain was searching and searching for 'A' words. She's sounding it out 'aaaaaa.' And then she looks at me with her big, beautiful eyes. "Mom, I can't say that. It's a swear word." Of course I know what she's thinking. So I tell her "Well, go ahead and say it. Just this once. Because if it's at least a word that starts with 'A' I'll be happy that you figured another word out." Sh she says it "OK...ass." Then she starts giggling. But the kicker is what she asked next. "Mom, can you draw a picture of a butt on my paper?" Laughing, I tell her that I didn't think Mrs. Z would appreciate a picture of a butt.

I just went out and bought bags and bags of Halloween candy and hid it from
myself the kids. There's the preschool party (bags of treats for 11), then there's the kindergarten party (smaller bags of treats for 19), and then there's trick-or-treat. The really bad thing about all of this is that I'm going to get all of that candy back through my kids. Ugh.

I'm also gearing up for the Halloween Bash at Downey's House. Gotta finish getting my costume ready today. I think I have the tricycles for the tricycle races, got the ingredients for the pudding shots, got some spooky drink garnishes. Now I just have to make it through tomorrow. Got a nice 12 hour day ahead of me. Oh, and it's also Anita's (the co-owner) birthday tomorrow, so I have to go and get her a little surprise cake.

I have lots of thoughts racing around this crazy head of mine, and I really will get better at posting them. And all of the stories. OH, I just thought of another one. Gotta remember to talk to you about Chloe and the color black. See ya later!

Just an update

Just thought that I'd let everybody know that my letter never received any kind of response from anybody official. I sent that letter not only to Dan Onorato, but to all of Allegheny County Council. And I didn't sent it as one big ol' spammy email. I sent it to each person as an individual. So, my final thought on that is...how annoying.

In other news, I didn't think it was exactly appropriate to post this on the Downey's House Blog, so I posted it here. This is just a little message to the two ladies (and I'm using that term VERY loosely) who attempted to destroy the pictures of my children.

Oh wait...you didn't hear this story. Let me back up. Seems that there was a table of women in their late twenties in the restaurant last Wednesday. Long story short, they were tipsy and acting suspicious. They took the picture of Chloe (located in the ladies' room) off the wall and put it in the garbage. That picture was rescued by Tony (DH). Later, they went into the ladies room and tore the picture of Becca off the wall, ripped the print out and crumpled it up. Um, WTF?!?!?! Tony had some very choice, loud swear words for these chicks. They are barred. (and just in case you didn't know, you only get barred from Downey's House once). They then proceeded to walk out on their tab. I'm going to leave all of the loud, adult, descriptive conversation out of this post. The police did send these ladies citations. I have to say, that if I was at the bar when this happened, I might have gone all crazy on these chicks. I mean, taking a picture off the wall as a joke or on a dare is one thing. But if you touch the pictures of my kids, you life is seriously in danger. Just had to share. Oh, and my message for them is that I hope I can see how karma gets them back. Karma has a great way of taking care of bad people.

Have a great weekend!

Dear Dan Onorato

Dear Dan Onorato and Allegheny County Council,

You don't know me. My husband and I bought a restaurant/bar in May. You are ruining our family.

'What?!?!?.' you might ask. Well, let me explain a bit. We are living my husband's dream. He has always wanted to own a bar. He and I put our time in working for others in restaurants. Once we got married, purchased our home and had our children, this was what we concentrated on...our own place. We worked hard, did our research and took a gigantic risk. Our restaurant, Downey's House is truly a labor of love. It is a family affair. We are partners with my husband's brother and wife. The place is comfortable, not corporate. We are straight up and law abiding. We become friends with our customers and truly love what we do. So far, no problems, right? Think again and read on.

As we were getting into the business, we saw the Allegheny County Drink Tax come into play. Now, I'm the numbers person in our operation. I didn't let my head think about the numbers before we were actually 'in business.' As we opened the doors and started selling, my head had to go to the numbers. Because we opened at the very end of May, I knew the true test would be our June Drink Tax. I paid a few hundred dollars for May and placed the Drink Tax in the back of my mind.

In the mean time, our business was chugging along. It's hard. Tony and I have two small children, Rebecca (5) and Chloe (3). We hired his sister to watch the girls three days a week so I could come to the restaurant to do the administrative work. Tony was at the restaurant a minimum of 12 hours a day. I believe that after opening on May 27th, his first day off was Father's Day, June 15th. But Tony was happy being at the bar. He was on cloud nine.

At home, the kids missed their dad. A lot. And, quite honestly, I missed my husband. But we knew that the first year would be rough. We aren't just owners. We are owner/operators. We were not blind to the fact that it would take a lot of work and a lot of hours. June came and went, and the day to figure out the taxes was here. After I wrote out a check for about $2,000, I just about threw up. July comes and goes. Today I sent in my check for about $3,000. Those amounts would make the normal person assume that we are having fantastic sales, and therefore rollin' in it. Um, not the case. But that's not the point. I started to think about what my business could do with an extra two or three thousand dollars a month. The first thing that came to mind was not to give ourselves a raise. I thought 'Wow, I could hire a manager to run the bar a few days a week. I would actually get some family time back!"

Would I like to see the drink tax go away? Absolutely. But even a little bit of consideration would be nice. The Drink Tax is a very large, bitter pill to swallow. It might be a little bit less bitter if it were 5%. From what I've read, it seems that you've already collected the money you needed for the Port Authority. I don't believe it is necessary to continue to bleed the small businesses that give Allegheny County its character and individuality. It doesn't seem to me that politicians are creative people. But I ask you, dig deep and tap into the creativity that is inside you to come up with another solution other than the Drink Tax. To say that it is the Drink Tax or Property Tax is simply absurd. Think outside the box.

And maybe I'll get my family time back.

Hello again!

Wow, it sure has been a while! We're finally getting 'into a groove' at the restaurant. The opening was completely crazy, but business has been good. It's really such an awesome experience, and we're all learning and adjusting as we go!!! I'd love it if you came to visit us for lunch, dinner or fun! You can get directions, phone number and such at our website, downeyshouse.com. The site itself is still a work in progress, but it's getting there!

Well, the reason for this post was actually because I got a great Zazzle.com coupon in my email today. You can get free shipping on apparel if your order is $40 or more until July 25th. Just enter the code SUMMERSHIRTS when you check out. That's a pretty darn good deal. I think I'm gonna go get me some Downey's House shirts. Here's one that I added the other day:

You can move the logo around, make it bigger or smaller, and put it on all different kinds of shirts. Anyway...stay tuned to this blog for my open letter to Dan Onorato. I really hate the drink tax.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well, hello! I've been busy with a bunch of stuff for the restaurant, and a bunch of t-shirt stuff. But I've jumped in here for a few reasons, just to keep everybody in the loop

First, here's the scoop on Downey's House. Long story short, we put a bunch of money in escrow so that the PLCB could get tax clearance from the Dept of Revenue and the Dept of Labor and Industry. That was Tuesday. We asked if we might close on Friday (tomorrow), and we were told that Friday would be a miracle. But we're all shooting for early next week. Which would put our opening around Memorial Day.

Next, I actually did a new t shirt design. I've been updating the job/occupation store (www.cafepress.com/noshoptalk and www.zazzle.com/notworking), but I actually added a new one to Brainlint.net. So, here's the shirt (via Zazzle):

Sarcastic Comment by hdowney
Get this custom shirt at Zazzle

And here's the framed tile from CafePress:

Sarcastic Comment Framed Tile

Number 3 is a cool story:

I had Chloe (3) in the back seat of the car, and she decided to put the window down. We're driving along, enjoying the warm weather and fresh air. I was in a great state of mind. Riding high on the whole 'life is good vibe. All of the sudden, Chloe starts FREAKING OUT. I have no idea what happened. She is hysterical. I pull over and get her to calm down. Turns out, she was holding her sister's little stuffed Tigger out the window. Well, you know what happened. SO, I turn around and head back down the road (which is a 2 lane road, but pretty busy). I see it, pull over into a driveway, and try to cross the street. The whole time I'm watching cars drive over Tigger. Nobody actually ran it over---until---the big semi did. Well, I got Tigger. He's really no worse for the wear, and Chloe and I have decided to keep this a little secret.

She said that she'll never hold anything out the window again.

When we went to pick up Becca from preschool, Chloe didn't want to go. She said she didn't even want to see Becca. She sat in the car with her woobie (aka blanket) over her head. When Becca finally got in the car, Chloe totally kissed her ass. Becca was being silly, and Chloe said (in a sucking up kind of way) "Becca, you're SOOOOO funny!"

She hasn't told Becca what happened, and she probably won't find out until she learns how to read and finds this blog.

Happy Day!

I'm having labor pains

Well, I guess I have a little bit of news to share. We talked to our broker yesterday, and it looks like things are moving along very well. Previously, when we asked about the status of our liquor license transfer, here's the answer we got: "Well, it's sitting in Harrisburg on somebody's desk in a pile. We're just waiting for your file to make it to the top of the pile." Yesterday, however, we learned that our file DID make it to the top of the pile. We should know sometime today if we need to supply them with more info, if we didn't fill something out right etc. So, um, HOLY CRAP! Joi from Specialty Group said that we should close by our deadline, which is May 1. I really, honestly, feel like I'm pregnant with a restaurant. Not sure of what's to come once the 'birth' happens, trying to prepare as much as I can, etc.

So, I've gotten some applications, and I'm going to start to schedule interviews. We'll be holding interviews on April 27 and 28. So, if you're interested in working, get your damn application in. (you can get it at www.downeyshouse.com). I get to play grown up today, and I'm meeting with an insurance guy (for our personal health insurance) and Mike from Micros (our POS system that we're buying). I constantly feel like I'm going to throw up, but it's all good :)

Shifting gears a bit, I've decided that the girls CANNOT sleep in bed with us anymore. I decided this at 3:30 in the morning. There was no more room for me in the king size bed. So, I got up and went to Becca's room to sleep. Then, they both got up looking for me. That was it. I pulled a Super Nanny moment, and just put them in their rooms, and tucked them in with a kiss. Then I kept putting them in their rooms. Over and over again. Just with a kiss. No discussion. It finally worked. At 4:45 am. We'll see how it goes tonight. But at least I'll try the 'Super Nanny Bedtime Routine' at 8:00 instead of 3:30. I'm dog tired right now, and I just can't get enough coffee.


I meant to mention this previously, but I think I have a school girl crush on John Krasinski. Or maybe it's Jim Halpert I have the crush on. This shall pass, but he just seems like such a nice, good looking, Polish guy. And I'm sure it's mostly the fact that he's on my favorite tv show (The Office, if you didn't know). I went through the same thing with Jason London many years back. And that was because he's in my favorite movie of all time, Dazed and Confused. Oh well.


Happy Day! I'll let you know more about the whole restaurant thing when I know more!