Girl Talk Blog

My ex informed me of a web site today where you can report a cheating boyfriend, finance, or husband. Was he trying to tell me something?

I think the concept is great - to provide a way to check-up on a new flame or one you think might be unfaithful. However, the site is only as good as the information it gets from its users. If you dont abuse the system, it might just help out a girl from getting her heart broken.

Check it out at: www.DontDateHimGirl.com

Why I think this is a waste of time. First off, in my lifetime, I have met SO many people that are beautiful on the inside moreso than the public would consider on the outside. If I, and others, hadn’t taken the time to get to know them, they would have been passed up just based on their looks. I think that’s horrible. Second of all, the site can only be viewed in IE - so for those of use that use a Mozilla-based browser, like Firefox, oh well… (So, anyone that is tech-y, is therefore ruled out by browser).

When I learned of this site on the news, I heard about 45,000 people have applied to be listed on the site, but only 7,000 have been accepted. If you want a 75%+ chance that you’ll be told you aren’t beautiful, by all means - try this out…

www.BeautifulPeople.net

SeeJaneWork.com offers all kinds of tips on office organization, designing an efficient workspace, and finding balance between work and home. You can also purchase products by type, style, or price - especially handy if you’d like to purchase a gift for a coworker. Check it out, see if it’s for you.

www.SeeJaneWork.com

If you are a big fan of TLC or have been to a movie theater lately, you may be familiar with Discovery’s new marketing campaign aimed at “Life’s Little Lessons.” A few of the many lessons are actually for sale as collectible figurines at the Discovery Channel Store online. They make a great addition to your home, office, or a gift for a friend that needs a hint.

Featured to the left is #72 “Merlot and e-mail don’t mix.” Also available:

#15 “Just because you like it doesn’t mean she will.”
#22 “Dating is awkward. But so is becoming the crazy cat lady.”
#45 “When she asks for a backrub, sometimes she just wants a backrub.”
#80 “Not everything comes back in style.”
#83 “Nothing can ruin a career faster than an office party.”

Up until recently, I always told my friends about my favorite little-known travel secret, Yahoo!’s Best Fares e-mail alerts. With Yahoo!’s Best Fares e-mail alerts, an e-mail is sent to you each time a fare between two specified locations dropped below a particular price or by a particular amount.

Now, I also know about FareCompare.com. When you land on the web site, you’ll need to click on My Airport Map for a U.S. Map displaying the best fares from a selected airport to 50 cities. Try it out. I think you’ll find it pretty nifty if you like to travel for as little dough as possible.

Sign up on the e-mail list with Capital Restaurant Concepts LTD (J.Pauls, Old Glory, Neyla, Georgia Brown’s, Paolo’s, and Pik-A-Pita) and you’ll get the latest news and a free meal on them! (As soon as I registered, I got the free entree coupon by e-mail right away)!

J.Pauls is in Baltimore & Georgetown
Old Glory is in DC
Neyla is in DC
Georgia Brown’s is in DC
Paolo’s is in Georgetown, Harborplace, Reston, and Towson
Pik-A-Pita is in Pentagon City

Other perks: updates, upcoming events, specials, offers, and another free entree on your birthday (they only ask for your month and day, not year). They also provide a privacy statement that they will not share your information with any third-party.

From the EyeGazingParties.com web site:

“Here’s how it works. An even number of singles meet in an attractive space over drinks and world beats. After a fun mini-lesson in the art of eye contact, the group splits into pairs, and each pair spends two minutes looking at each other’s eyes, no talking, with inviting beats in the background. The pairs switch up every two minutes, for a total of half an hour. Then there’s a party afterwards, with drinks flowing and luscious beats vibing.”

Eye Gazing Parties is no joke…it’s been featured on CNN, CBS News, The New York Times, and others. It’s catching on for some singles. And, no other place for it to start, but NYC.

Now I’m just curious what the next type of dating will be…maybe people will have their dogs meet and if the dogs get along, then it’s a match for the couple too? I guess I shouldn’t joke - it very well could happen.

Do you love fashion on a budget, but find very little time to track down the best deals from your favorite designers? Well, worry no more! Web site ShopItToMe.com collects your information (your gender - yes its for men too, favorite designers, articles of clothing, sizes - incl. maternity, and how often you want to receive their alerts - Tuesday and Fridays are recommended) and then the service shoots you an e-mail anytime items that match your criteria go on sale. How cool is that?

Last night, I went to the coolest place on Earth…well, that is, if you like wine…like me. So cool, that I MUST tell you about this place! Where do I begin?

I’ve lived in the Central Maryland area for about five years now, and only recently learned about Corridor Fine Wine when attending a Thursday night wine tasting at Donna’s Café Coffee Bar in Columbia, MD. I was casually asking the other wine tasting participants and staff where the best place to go in the area to buy wine and nearly everyone at the table promoted Corridor in Laurel, MD.

Curious, I Google’d them. I found a web site for them at WineAccess.com. So, I joined their e-mail list. And, a few weeks went by. Receiving their e-mails as part of all the other newsletters that I subscribe to, I never really dedicated too much time to reading it. And, I had no idea from those e-mails exactly what was going to be in store for me when I walked through the doors.

Well, last night, I happened to be on MD-198 (at the I-295 intersection) to shop at a home improvement store (I moved last weekend), and decided I’d spend a few minutes checking out Corridor. Well, a few minutes turned into an hour…

I have never ever seen a wine store so amazing in my life. It was like the most well-organized 20+ walls (like a supermarket) of fine wine from around the region, country, and world. Pretty much anything you could name, you could find here. They even had a wall of “staff recommendations,” new arrivals, and award-winners, to help make the store a bit less cumbersome for us first-timers. And, each wine had a very well-crafted description…

When you first enter Corridor, there were magazine racks full of free Wine Buying Guides. I grabbed one to take a look at when I got home.

As you go through the entrance, to the left is single bottles of microbrews from all over the world. Hundreds of choices!!! Then, the aisles near there contained cases and 6-packs of national and international brew.

Then, began the aisles of wine… Thousands of choices!!! All, VERY reasonably priced. I guess when you buy in bulk, like these guys must do, you are able to pass on the savings to the consumer.

In the middle of the store, you’ll find a tasting counter (they do complimentary wine tastings on the weekends), reserve wine in special cases, and also a nice selection of cigars. Then, the wine aisles continue over to the right. Just before the final aisle, there were some international snack items to pair with your wines. And finally, in the last aisle, about any type of liqueur that you could dream of…and mixes galore. I was nearly jumping up and down when I found Pat O’Briens Hurricane mix from New Orleans. (I guess you’d have to be a NOLA-lovin’ nut like me to understand).

When I finally made it to the counter, I was still in shock. I told the cashier that in all the years I’ve been here, I’ve never known about this place. I also told her I am “so coming back!” She was happy that they found a new customer and proceeded to tell me that they had been located there for about seven years now.

My only recommendation to you, when you go (and you will go to this place), is to save up some money and make sure to grab a shopping cart on your way in from outside. There’s no way you are leaving Corridor empty-handed.

When I got home, I checked out the Wine Buying Guide. Inside, it was pages of their inventory and descriptions that matched the labels in the store of all their wines.

If you ever want to check out this place, let me know. I’m going too!

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Corridor Fine Wine is located at: 3321 Fort Meade Road, Laurel, MD 20707
Phone: 301-617-8507
Web: www.WineAccess.com/Store/CorridorWine/

On Friday night, the week-long celebration for the Baltimore Preakness was kicked-off by a small little neighborhood stuck between Pier 5, Fells Point, and Lil’ Italy, called Harbor East (sponsored by WTMD-FM, Courtyard by Marriott, and James Joyce Irish Pub & Restaurant). I first learned about the celebration, including a free concert with bands Barleyjuice and the Saw Doctors from Ireland in the Baltimore Magazine. So, I stuck it on my calendar, just in case I was free that night. Well, the weather was beautiful on Friday, so I just couldn’t resist.

Not really sure where to park, based on not knowing the size of the crowd, I grabbed parking at the Pier 5 Parking Garage. That was a good plan, it was $5 for the night, and I got some good exercise walking to the show, plus avoided the stress of finding street parking.

As I walked to the concert, I got to walk along the Harbor, which was nice, minus the big orange barriers to collect the trash in the water. A little further along, I spotted a beaver or otter (not sure which it was) in the water…that was kind of a cool site in the Harbor. I took a photo, but it was swimming so fast, it came out too blurry to tell exactly what it was. Does anyone know which animal is present in the Harbor?

As I kept walking, I finally could hear the live music ricocheting off of some of the tall buildings around. It was drawing me in…

The crowd of a thousand people (give or take) was already indulging in Guinness, other beer, and wine. There were sausages on the barbie from Whole Foods, a seafood vendor, and burritos from Taco Fiesta, to name a few of the delicacies. And, did I mention, this was all right up against the Harbor on Lancaster Street, with all the boats docked right in the background? How cool is that?

Since the show started around 6, and I got there around 7, I only caught about half an hour of the Barleyjuice show. I thought they were pretty good. Then, the Saw Doctors came on, and the crowd got really into it. I was into them too, although I had never heard of them before. I liked nearly every one of their songs.

At about ten minutes before the set was to end, I headed over to James Joyce. I had anticipated a mad rush of the crowd when the Saw Doctors went off stage, so I tried to beat them over there. I ended the evening by hanging out there about half an hour when, just as I predicted, the mad rush came in.

There are a couple of things I want to point out here. If you’ve never heard of the Saw Doctors, check them out on the web. I thought they were worth spreading the word about. And, if you ever hear about a free concert by the Harbor in Baltimore, don’t ever consider passing it up!

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Other events leading up to the 131st Running of the Preakness this Saturday, are featured on the PreaknessCelebration.org web site. There is another free concert series Wed.-Fri., May 17-19 at Power Plant Live featuring Mr. Greengenes, Puddle of Mudd with Voodoo Blue, and Faded Image featuring Rob Byer. And, anyone who lives on the North side of Baltimore, be sure to check out the free concert at Belvedere Square on Fri., May 19, featuring: Donegal Xpress. Belvedere Square is home to the Belvedere Market (great delis and Italian foods here), Grand Cru (one of my favorite wine bars), and Ryan’s Daughter (a great Irish pub and restaurant). Belvedere Square is also right across the street from the Historical Senator Theatre.