Pro-Protesting

First of all, I think protesting is totally and completely awesome. I think free speech is something we (Americans) take for granted everyday. I mean, can you imagine not being able to say what you feel? And that you could go to jail for disagreeing with your govt? That this blog would be impossible?

I especially love the anti-war protesters in Bloomington. There they are, every Wednesday, in front of the courthouse. The numbers have dwindled, but they are still there. I always wave. Hard to disagree with that message.

While procrastinating at work today, I checked out happyplace.com (awesome website) and saw a few new pro-gay-marriage signs. I posted some of my favs below...old and new. You look at these signs and can't help but laugh and cry at the same time; I mean, why on earth are we spending so much time on this? Let people be happy and free to love each other.

It's as simple as this:

Word:

This one is for my Dad and my gay ex-husband.

Haha. Funny because my dad would probably say, "sure, I love Dan!"

Ok, maybe it wouldn't be that smooth, but close.

The best of all time:

I hate that this one stereotypes (expecially since I happen to know Dan would rather do just about anything than shop), but it's pretty funny nonetheless.

BTW, a fairly recent, longitudinal UCLA study reported

that the rate of child abuse in lesbian households is ZERO.  

The Gap is Making Me Fat

So, my super-awesome ex-mother-in-law sent me a $300 (!) gift certificate to Banana Republic. Yipee. I do most of my shopping online b/c Bloomington sucks shopping-wise. So, it's tons of trial and error. I have to drop off my returns at the closest UPS, which happens to be at the student union. I can't, JUST CAN'T, go to the union and NOT get Pizza Hut breadsticks and a Special K chewy cookie. This might become a problem.

Only in Bloomington

My Lunch

Cheese gritz and asparagus from The Happy Pig, a local slow food stand that uses only local ingredients. Awesome.

The Happy Pig Streetfood

Because I am Free to Do What I Want

So, I am toddler free tonight, as Auds is with her daddy visiting Grandma. My plan was to wander aimlessly around Target for three hours with a coffee in my hand (and ignore my 25-page paper due next week). Instead I decided to cram in as many visits to friends as I could. The latter was definitely the better decision. I got some quality time with Sarah, Mike & George, AND Ben and Sarah. AND...wine on a Monday- whoa!

Ewwww

Ok, there is one bad side to Little 500: the horrible annual t-shirt from BBC. Bloomington Bagel Company is where I buy my bagel and diet coke every morning. It's a great local business and the fountain coke machine is calibrated perfectly. But...this is this year's Little 500 t-shirt:

Can't read it because it's out of focus? Well, consider yourself lucky and don't read the next sentence. This is what it says: FRONT "Sorry for partying" BACK "in your mouth."

Worst College Weekend Ever?

So, this weekend is what many refer to as "The Best College Weekend Ever." It's the Little 500 bicycle race. Of course, locals often disagree. They get quite annoyed with the influx of rowdy people who come and leave their beer bottles in our yards. Many people try to leave for the weekend. But...I refuse to be one of these people. First of all, Little 500 is really cool. Have you ever been to bike race like this? It's fast, drama-filled, and usually under a lovely sun. It's something I hope to bring Audrey to when she's a little older. I just can't hate any event that helps make my town be so kickass.

Turns out though, I AM going out of town. And I am GLAD I am. I get to meet my new little niece, Abby. Ok, here's more of the cast: Amy, Jen, Seja and Wendy. These girls are basically my sisters. We've been a tight crew for years and years. We all have little ones now...so lots of nieces and nephews. These girls have gotten me through some rough times and they've been there for all of the best times. I trust these girls (+ my dad and real sis) more than anyone in the world. They are my family.

This weekend, Amy and I are are visiting Wendy and her new little one. We're bummed that the whole crew can't make it, but we'll make up for that this summer!

Here we are a couple years ago (ps three of us are preggers in this pic).

Spring is for Flowers and Fountains

It's a BEAUTIFUL day in Bloomington today. One of my favorite things to do in spring is take Audrey for a walk around campus to see the tullips (thousands of them!) and the fountains. IU does an amazing job with the landscape of the campus. To me, it rivals most parks in the world.

I call this one "Audrey with Tullips" (circa spring 2009)

Bloomington has two awesome fountains: Showalter Fountain and the Jacobs School of Music Fountain. How many towns this size have two awesome fountains? By the way, these pics don't do these justice (especially the latter).

Showalter

School of Music

I LOVE FOUNTAINS! Here are some others I want to visit!

Banpo Bridge - Korea

Dubai Fountain

Swarovski Fountain - Austria

Grand Cascade - Russia

The Floating Fountains - Japan

Can you imagie the beautiful noise of these fountains?

BUT... the very best fountain in the world is....

Photos here, here, here, here, and here

I Don't Even Have an MBA!

Forewarning: This post is way too long. This will be rare, I promise!

Oh, Dunkin Donuts. The day you opened your doors next to Noodles & Co. on Kirkwood, I predicted your doom. Did you forget to fully research ye ole Bloomington? Researching (#1) how large our population is, and (#2) how much of our population likes coffee and donuts (um, 99%) is just not enough for a town like Bloomington. First of all, I feel pretty comfortable stating that Dunkin’s prime time must be morning. I also feel pretty comfortable saying that people are more than willing to spend big $$$ on coffee and donuts in the morning. But there’s more you need to know!

Ok, if Dunkin Donuts had hired me as a consultant, here’s what they would have heard:

1. There are two MAJOR competitors within one block of the proposed location. Does Bloomington have a big enough population to support three in one block? Probably not, but this is just a small observation.
2. Does Bloomington, in general, support corporate businesses? Actually, yes / somewhat, but a good local joint will take away a lot of your business. Don’t expect to come in and take a chunk out of the local businesses’ devoted clienteles. It ain’t gonna happen. If the local business sucks, then you have a shot. In this case, you don’t.
3. What is the foot traffic around your proposed business location during your peak hours (i.e. morning)? Um, nil. Trust me, I work right across the street. There are days I walk into work without seeing another human being on the street. Not what you’d expect, I know… but something you’d learn with a little research.
4. But, you say, there 40K students on campus and they love coffee and donuts! Yes, but they are almost NEVER in this location in the morning. They do venture over for lunch…but even then the population of students eating lunch in this location is fairly small in comparison to the student population. This is because there are VERY few classrooms near this location (it’s mostly administrative buildings).
5. Lastly, did you actually SEE the proposed rent from your landlords??? Perhaps you missed one zero in it?

Just think: I would have only charged you $1,000  for my consultation and you would have saved at least $500,000. Sometimes paying for market research is worth it J.

Other businesses (I think are) doomed and why:

• Campus Candy (location is WAY TOO expensive for their small revenues)
• Panda Express (too many competitors, food sucks, rent too high)
• B Boutique, Hey Nineteen, and any girly business with the name “Bella” in it (the overhead just trumps your potential earnings, too much competition)
• Sweet Grass (not enough sales, renting too much unused square footage)
• Finches (many people will disagree with this, but they just don’t get enough business)
• 90% of Bloomington's bakeries (because there have been 30 other bakeries in your location before you…so duh, don’t do it!)
• That new soup business on the square (for every reason listed above and a million more!)

Ok, it’s important to note that there are always some businesses that stay open without making a profit…meaning the owner pretty much finances it on his / her own because he / she loves it, OR because he / she doesn’t know how to do the books, therefore he / she doesn’t realize they are actually losing money (until it’s too late). Here are a few that I think fit this bill:

• O’Child! Darling store that the owners must feel very passionately about, but there’s no way they make a decent profit with that product and that rent.
• Baked! (a cookie store), Green Bananas (a clothing store), and this hippy store on Indiana that I don’t know the name of: I think these businesses make money, but not because of the product they advertise. Haha. 

What are some others, Bloomingtonians?


Images from here.

The Perfect Saturday?

Today I had the best brunch of my life with the girls and the babies. (Unfortunately Seja couldn't make it, but we forgive her since she was on a family trip.) On the menu: baked cinnamon apple french toast, fruit salad with every fruit you can think of, some sort of amazing cheesy-egg-sausage pizza, pigs in a blanket (sausage wrapped in bacon), and mimosas!! This was followed by a three-hour nap, then a dinner of corn pops while watching "Wallace and Gromit." Next is shrinky-dinks! Yup, pretty close to perfect.

This is the perfect time to introduce part of the cast: my Bloomington girls! We've basically been a tight crew for about 8 years or so. These women are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, to say the least. Amazingly smart, fiercely loyal and caring, and FUN! Top row L to R: me, Seja, Kelly. Bottom row L to R: Sarah B, Sarah W, Melo. Sorry boys, every single one is attached! Except me of course :)!