AM~Erica Dress & Talks the Part for Loot

So anyway...

Life has been a bit crazy the past several days, so I'm a little behind in showing you how our Talk Like a Pirate Day went this year. (because I know you've been waiting impatiently for the breakdown)

After a disappointing outing last year (reminder HERE), I was sure hoping this time around would be much better!

First up for the day had to be the morning grog, so got the coffee brewing. It was a perfect fall-like morning, so the back door was opened & coffee was enjoyed by the deck.

In a lot of rushing around, plans for the day, and with some family stuff that came up, it's amazing the adventures that got worked in!

I got myself together, got into my best pirate attire, perched my sidekick for the day, Pipsquawk, on my shoulder, and readied the Sea-Sick Crocodile for sailing the course of this wonderfully weird holiday.

Out of needed 3 items from each list, I covered 8/12 items for Krispy Kreme
and 6/10 for Long John Silvers. I'm an overachiever in this department.

On my shoulder is Pipsquawk. A "parrot on the shoulder" made both, Krispy Kreme & Long John Silver's,
lists of items needed to get free loot - so Pipsquawk is my pet parrot brooch.

I set sail for Krispy Kreme, first.
Now then, I was really thinking about this:
Krispy Kreme has no business getting themselves into the TLAP Day holiday. It makes no sense!! However, they were smart enough to run such a great promo to get in on the fun, they are now nearly synonymous with the holiday!

A few days before that, I came across a t-shirt of Lil Guy's that I did up for him to wear on TLAP Day last year...

          Me: Hey! Wonder if you can still wear this shirt for Saturday.

          LG: Why? What's Saturday?

          Me: Ummm...Talk Like a Pirate Day!

          LG: *GASP* Doughnuts?!?!?

So there you have it. Krispy Kreme has successfully put their mark on the treasure map of TLAP Day.

Anyhoo...
I headed there, first. When I pulled the Sea-Sick Crocodile into their port, there was an adult male pirate leaving the port. I don't know what the front of him looked like, but the outfit from the back was amazing!! The long coat, the cut off pants the boots, the hat...it was fantastic.

So when I went in, things were hopping! A few people were in there to get their free dozen of glazed doughnuts with the minimum amount of work - 3 of the 12 things from the list. Which is fine...good for them. Glad they got in the fun. Plus, it was time for the "HOT NOW" to be happening...so everyone was getting a warm, glazed doughnut when they came in...mmmmm....

I walked out of there with my 1 dozen FREE doughnuts. Which is great. But I was wanting to actually BUY a couple other things. However, they handed me my cardboard Talk Like a Pirate Day chest of golden-glazed rings along with a receipt for $0.00 (because...uh...FREE). They seemed to send me on my way, down the plank, without asking if there was anything else they could do for me, or if I would like anything else. Because I DID!! I was hoping to swing back by later, if there was time. So I'll get to that in a moment.

I brought home round 1 of treasure! The boys were very happy...until I told them we were saving it for dessert after dinner. Bwah-hahahaha!!!

Then my hubby had to run a few errands before some other adventures we had planned, so I got cleaned up (What? Pirates can get clean from time-to-time.) and threw my pirate garb back on. I planned on getting a free lunch on the way to a get-together...
The lunch thing didn't work out. By the time my hubby got back home, we were running a bit later than kind of hoped. Plus, he looked at me oddly. (Yeah! NOW he looks at me oddly.) He was waiting for ME to get ready and was filling time. When he, finally asked if I was going to get showered and ready, I looked at my attire, looked at him, and said, "But...I am ready."

He was confused. He thought I was only dressed like that to get doughnuts & not for our other endeavors of the day. D'oh! He was wrong.

Part of it was to get more free food. And I was told I could wear it to the 50th birthday party we were supposed to be attending...that was not pirate-themed...

*ahem*

During some of the downtime, I did enjoy one of our household staples: Pirate's Booty!!

So then we got ready to go, me still in my full-on-pirate gear, and headed to our good friend's 50th birthday party!

I was going to walk in like there was nothing out of the ordinary. I mean, c'mon: for me, this is not far out of the ordinary in my world. We were greeted at the door by a guy who just burst out laughing gleefully! No, I did not know this guy, but he obviously had to be there for my friend's day. He told us to come in, another lady joined him, plus a photographer that looked so much like our friend's mom, it was crazy!
The guy, thru this gleeful laughter, said he hoped I'd show up like that.
Wait...what?? And who are you, again??
But apparently our friend showed my earlier pics (above), and said he hoped I would still have it on for the party. Well, I guess I didn't disappoint then.
Then the photographer jumped right in to say she had to get a photo! Then she introduced herself as our friend's aunt. I totally believed it, too. She looks SO much like her sister!

Anyway...she took our pic as we came in:

See, my friend approached me to let me know the kiddos could come if we wanted them to. I informed him that I might be dressed like a pirate since it was being held on TLAP Day. He said he hoped I really would & that pictures may just happen. This is not a problem for me.

We went and looked at some amazing food laid out on the table. Then we went to track down our friend. He was in the backyard with a slew of other folks celebrating our awesome friend. And for some reason, no one else was dressed like a pirate. Hmmm....

It was a beautiful day to celebrate his 50th, and so glad I could be a moment of party entertainment.

See, honey? I told you I could go to the party dressed like a pirate!!

(Don't worry, people. We already had this conversation.)

We, sadly, couldn't stay very long - my hubby had another thing on his plate he had to get to. So, off we went...with some cake in hand.

*Wave to Presten, everyone! Wish him Happy Birthday (which is actually TODAY)*

(Presten's Aunt Cheryl [sp?] took these great pics)

When we got back home, we had a small bit of downtime, then my hubby was off for a couple of hours. I had some plans, myself...

I prepared the Sea-Sick Crocodile to set sail for some more piratey fun.

Still in my garb, I headed off to the port of Long John Silver's! I was so excited they were taking part again, finally! I went in a pre-dinner timeframe, so not many people were in there. No signage was up to say they were participating...but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. I know one patron was overly-amused by my entrance. I was so glad he was so entertained. I stepped up, and the girl just looked at me, like any other day, and said, "Is this for here or to go?" So I semi-piratey, almost-defeatedly asked, "Arrrre ya doing the whole pirate promo thing?" She just looked at me & told me yes. I was SO relieved! I, then, joyfully got my free meal, to go, with 2 pieces of fish, 2 hushpuppies & some fries! A couple people were intrigued by my look, I was complimented on my outfit choice, and that one dude was still overly-tickled that he was seeing a pirate IN Long John Silver's!

I got my food & headed out to board the Sea-Sick Crocodile for another port: back to the Krispy Kreme!

Some of you may be disappointed to find out that I was a well-behaved pirate. I went in & told them I had already gotten my dozen doughnuts. I didn't want to tempt my kiddos with more! But I did tell the employees that I just wanted a drink (in the TLAP souvenir cup) & 2 of their fantastic pirate coffee mugs.

All of this seemed to be an issue with the afternoon employees. All I wanted was an iced PSL in the souvenir cup & 2 of their mugs. They could not seem to get a grasp of what was going on...

FINALLY, a manager came to help with the ICED pumpkin spice latte to put in the adorable cup, and then one of the employees was confused as whether or not he should "mess with the display" of cups so I could get a couple of mugs. *face palm*

Back at the Krispy Kreme hoping they get my stuff right

While I waited, a (non-pirate) couple were just staring at my outfit. I told them that if you're gonna do it, you gotta go all out. They just said, "Well, you went all out."

Awww! Thank you, nice non-pirate couple!

So I finally got my mugs when the guy figured out you can sell the mugs on the case...

Then I finally got my cup with the iced PSL...

After setting sail from this time at the port of Krispy Kreme, I needed to make one more stop - the port of Wally World.

See, a pirate really can't get thru the day properly without having at least a splash of rum. Well, we'd already finished the stash we had at the home port, so I did as any other pirate would do: Go to Walmart & get some more!

I may end up on People of Walmart, but I don't care! It got me free food & awesome stuff! So I just removed my tricorn & eyepatch (that I used as a loose choker) to semi-tone down my look. I still got a lot of looks, but I pretended this is nothing out of the ordinary...

Move along, people. Nothing to see here. Just another pirate stopping by the Wally World to get their rum. Like any other day.

Yet I was still getting the stares & stuff. I could feel them. But I just went about my business. I did wave at a couple of kids, though. You know...give THEM that experience of getting noticed by a pirate at Walmart. Amm-i-rite?

I took my stuff up to a speedy check out. I placed my items on the conveyor belt. There was an older gentleman who was that lane's cashier at this point. He never even flinched. He just ran my items over the scanner like any other customer was standing there. He's probably seen a lot at Walmart in his time, so I was probably not a shock for him. He scanned my coconut rum, glanced at me, decided to not ID me (pshhh - whatever) and bagged it without a question. However, when he came to my bottle of Captain, he mentioned, "Well, this is fitting." I laughed a bit, and said, "Well, that's by design."

He asked if I worked in a costume shop or something, so I explained TLAP Day & how I'd already gotten free food. He seemed impressed. And I went about my way.

So, back into the Sea-Sick Crocodile I went, with Pipsquawk still perched upon my shoulder, and it was off to the home port to prepare the evening grub. But not before I saw the overly-amused guy from Long John Silver's going into Wally World as I left...and he was, once again, overly amused. I waved at him.

As per the past couple of years, Cedar Planked Lemon Pepper TiLAPia was on the menu (with Chicken Planks for the kiddos), Golden Lemon Butter Potato Medallions, Pirate's Booty brand shells (aged white cheddar) & cheese with anchors & (aged white cheddar) cheese, plus some greens (for seaweed salad) with some citrus dressing.

Then, we had to have the rum. For pirate day. Amm-i-rite?

So I made a Captain Arnold Palmer! Mmmmmm.....

Then we finally finished off the night with some delicious Krispy Kremes. Mmmm.....

All in all - it was a great & successful day of loot, booty & treasure! SO worth being dressed all over-achiever-like for it.

Even Teen Girl got into the act - we had matching shirts & near-matching boots. The Sea-Sick Crocodile wench is pretty much my mini-me.

~~~~~~~~~~

Leading up to this, I knew that Long John Silver's was up to great things this year when I flagged people down on twitter to get ready for TLAP Day. Then, this went down:

That's right - they were fighting to give me a pirate name! How awesome is this??

Of course, I was sharing my adventures on social media...and I forgot that LJS actually had a social media contest going. Well imagine my shock when they flagged me down on Instagram with this photo...

...to tell me that I could get a voucher for more free food since they picked me as one of their winners!!! (If you follow me on Instagram, you can go see it!)

** By the way, since dinner was covered, I enjoyed the free fish & hushpuppies the next day, while my boys enjoyed the fries - the kiddos aren't seafood fans & my hubby hadn't been feeling too well.

This year definitely made up for a disappointing TLAP Day last year. And I was SO happy to see LJS back on board, along with the fun liquid holders from Krispy Kreme!

I certainly hope more businesses & brands really hop on the promotion board next year. People get the free food...they post it all over social media AND while they are out & about, so it's free advertising for the day.

And you know I have ideas....

So...tell me - how was your TLAP Day?

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica Makes a Shameless Plea

So anyway...

I'm just going to come out & say it...
YOUR VOTES ARE NEEDED!!

Not a lot of build, not a lot back story (OK...maybe some), but I am asking for your support for a good cause. And I will plead a case for it, too.

Here's the deelio:
Teen Girl's choir from #Truman is in a #ChristmasChoirCompetition (oops...creature of the hashtag habit...explain in a moment) for a local radio station, 99.7 The Point. It's a big deal, yo! It's for a $5,000 prize for the school's choral department!

After sending in a recording of a song they did for their Christmas concert, the field of high school choirs were narrowed down to a top 8...in which they made! Yea!
And after lots of text voting & hearing a clip of them singing on the radio each day, the field was narrowed to the top 4...in which they made! YEA!!!

Here's where it was getting tougher...
Not only are they drumming up the popular public vote thru texting, but they got to sing live in front of the judges! But this was no small hoop to jump thru. It was SO COLD OUT!!! Yes...they sang outside! BRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

But I will tell you this choir was AMAZING! So proud of how they did!

Impressed? You should be!!

Now, beyond this performance...it's time to plead their case for your support:

1. They have made incredible strides. Their director, Kim Evans, is only in her 2nd year here. She has been amazing for this group of talented singers!

2. Truman is the only public school on the Missouri side. The others are an all boys private school (anyone in the area knows what school that is), and then two schools on in the Johnson County area. You figure this out.

3. While other schools dream of using the $5000 on big trips to far away places & brand new equipment (because they already have decent funding of sorts), Truman would love to have a budget & be able to use it for things like continuing to have concerts & cleaning their robes. Maybe even to pay for bus transportation for the regional choir competition. Funding for the arts, at Truman, continue to dwindle to move funds to a football team who can't win a game. It's a shame. The $5000 would be substantial for this choral department.

4. They kept hearing about having the best day of their lives on Wednesday. Come to find out, Wednesday morning, the $5000 will be awarded to the winning school along with the band, American Authors, to help deliver the check & to include the winning choir in their next music video. I'm serious, people!

Does this help at all? If so...here's how you can help this group of young & super talented group of singers:

1. By texting...a lot! Til your fingers hurt & your phone starts smoking! Send the word PATRIOTS to 47183. 

2. You can use #Truman on Instagram & Twitter. Oh...also...a lot. Also use #ChristmasChoirCompetition with it. (Look familiar?)

The top 2 left in the competition will be announced at 7:10 AM tomorrow morning! Hopefully #Truman will still be in the #ChristmasChoirCompetition!

Get voting, people! The judges are watching...

Please help if you can...and stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

**********

Update: 12/16/13

Thank you to all who voted & supported this fantastic group! The announcement was made this morning...and...
...the two Johnson County schools are the ones left in the top 2.

So sad & disappointed for Truman. They needed that funding. Badly. But alas...the local judges still are biased to money. You know the adage of you need money to make money? Yeah...that. Apparently.

Still very proud of how Truman's Concert Choir did. What an awesome choir they are!

But, alas, no more voting for them. *sigh*

Oh...and congrats to the other schools & stuffs.

AM~Erica May Need a Pathfinder

So anyway...

If you are in the KC area...there's obviously been a lot going on around here!

As we brace to see what this winter storm might or might not do as we are stocked up & hunkered down...waiting to see if there's school cancelations... we also are bombarded with the tragic insanity of THE DESTRUCTION OF JJ'S ON THE PLAZA. Just crazy is in the air!

Today, as we try to plan ahead the best that we can for this storm, my hubby came home for lunch to try to catch the weather to see what they are saying this time. See...our weather predictions change pretty much hourly around here...it's always entertaining to see what the new totals & predictions are. So, as he was watching to see what might be happening...we were bombarded with more updates about JJ's. This is fine & understandable...but I would think there might be more going on around here, around the country & around the world. Or maybe not...

Then it happens...
There is breaking news & we will go to the news chopper who is right over head of a police chase...and it's begun in our town. Go figure. And they are keeping the live feed going, too. The  JJ's coverage lasted around 3 & a half hours...so why not follow this, too??

You know what? It was the dumbest yet most entertaining car chase...nearly ever!

It started after a guy stole a Nissan Pathfinder, grabbed a cop & tried to ram one of the police cars. Ummm...he's already in big trouble with them...
Then he takes off & the police are behind him! And it's on...!!! Right...??? Uh...

It actually looked like something familiar of years ago...as things went, they weren't exactly high-speed. It was a light-colored SUV going about 30 MPH with the police just following along...

This is the OJ Simpson car chase scene back in 1994.
Today's chase looked much like this, except the cops were single file...

The whole thing looked like a weird funeral procession...there was the lead vehicle & then a string of evenly-spaced cars with flashing lights in a line behind it. And every time the SUV slowed up, so would the police cars...?? *scratches head*

However...there were spikes thrown down on a couple of curves that the SUV tried to miss (as well as the cops when he would dodge them). About 10 minutes into the chase, as he tried to dodge some spikes...he misinterpreted where they were & it got the back passenger side tire! They got him, right???

WRONG!

The spike line shredded that tire...there was nothing left...yet he kept going...and going...and going...and...going...
It Was Crazy!

This is the end of the chase. See the missing tire on the passenger side?
This vehicle drove for miles like that! It was weird & wild to witness
(brought to you by the letter "W")

So I looked at my hubby & said, "Well...that's an interesting testimony to the construction of the Pathfinder." He just started laughing...

Then he brought up that maybe the Super Bowl could use better commercials...so Nissan needs to jump on this & use this chase as testimonial! Amm-i-rite?

Hubby & I noticed something else...the newscast had added something up in the corner of the upper left corner of the screen during this spectacle: a hashtag to use on Twitter!!! *face palm*

#kccarchase

Yes...that is what appeared for an interactive moment during this "event" for everyone to attempt to be a part of. I'm all for social media & stuff...but...um...wow.

But thru this debacle, the driver even pulls into a QuikTrip, cops still following, some cops going around the corner...and they let him thru the parking lot AND out onto the street with the chase continuing! Are you kidding me? No...no I am not.

It was like watching some bizarre movie. Hubby & I were yelling at the screen and heckling the newscast, the chase & the cops. We aren't sure what all was going on with this craziness...

Eventually the vehicle loses yet another tire. As the anchor AND the chopper captain were saying that it would be about over...it wasn't! This thing went...and went...and went...and...went...

The captain of the chopper makes a comment that this is a testament to Nissan [in the construction of the Pathfinder]! Hubby burst out laughing. I experienced a moment of deja vu. Weird.

At one point, the anchor asks for the camera to zoom out so the viewers could witness the shear number of police cars that are part of the chase...
The camera zooms out...
And the anchor counted 3...
...then he pointed out that he "understood" there was about a dozen in the chase. *face palm* D'oh!

This whole chase went on for 30+ minutes. Over 20 minutes of it, the Pathfinder was missing at least 1 tire. It was when the 3rd tire went is when the major loss of control happened.

Then the guy just gave up. It was all very strange... Oh...and that's when about 30 more police vehicles end up appearing. *face palm*

Oh...and thru much of this, pretty much all of our town's cops left the city limit to "chase" this guy. My hubby said this would be the time for crime to rise in our area...all the cops were across the city limit & it was being televised!

Well...watch some of it here (about 9 minutes worth):


KCTV5

And after this insanity, I figured out a few things:

1. Nissan totally needs to jump on Super Bowl bandwagon & use this chase
B.  #HashtagsAreEmbarrassing
III.  If you're wanting to catch the weather because something's brewing...Murphy's Law will find something else to put in it's place...like a really stupid car chase
8. When this dude gets out of jail, he needs to drive for NASCAR...Seriously
K. My next vehicle totally needs to be a Nissan Pathfinder

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica Be Talk'n Like a Pirate

So anyway...

I almost wrote this blog post yesterday, but I decided it might have taken me forever to figure out how to word it all. If you didn't know, yesterday was the 10th anniversary of International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

So...did you talk like a pirate?
Did you dress like one?

If you answered "yes" to either of these questions, you're doing it wrong. However, if you answered "aye" to one or both...then you might have gotten in on some free loot that were quietly or not-so quietly being offered if you participated.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts offered a free glazed donut to anyone who came in talking like a pirate...OR...you got a FREE DOZEN GLAZED DONUTS if you came dressed in full pirate attire. Any guesses what I got?

All I did was walk in, and they started getting my donuts ready. Seriously! Unshowered, no makeup & with coffee breath. You know...to be more "authentic"...and being short on time. hehe

Then, as it warmed up thru the day, and after I was nice & got all cleaned up, I decided to make the pirate look more feminine:

That's right...that's how I roll on these fun-themed days! And if you know me well enough...you know I will get into it!

OK...I need you to stay with me. I promise I'm getting to what I need to say, you just need to know this part first...seriously.

Every week, my hubby & I do meal planning for when we go to the grocery store. This week, we somehow came up one dinner short. We figured we could pick something up thru the week, or see what everyone was wanting. Then it hit me yesterday...we could go out to eat! (Next year I might try to fix something...or not...keep reading...) Because my brain works the way it does, I brought up taking everyone to dinner at Long John Silver's! Duh! And I would still be dressed as a pirate. Duh!

So we went & the crew there were impressed that I was dressed up & that Lil Guy wore the pirate hat (see above pic...but without the flower). Well they challenged us to order in our best "pirate speak". Teen Girl was a no-go, she just ordered. Teen Boy took up the challenge & let a big scary pirate voice come out of him. Hubby ordered for lil guy & himself...no pirate speak. Then I stepped up...orderin' in pirate speak. The girl taking our order told me I should be her forensics teacher. *snort* But guess what! Because Teen Boy & I ordered like a pirate...we got 4 pieces of free fish (2 each) with our order!! WOOT!!

Not only do I love me a killer bargain, but I love me some free stuff, too!!

Krispy Kreme highly marketed their TLAP offer. I think it was GENIUS! I am surprised that Long John Silver's did not market so much. We went there just to go with the theme of the day...we had no idea we would get stuff from it.

I wonder how many more businesses may try to get on bandship (yeah, I went there) when it comes to TLAP Day. 

I remember being in St. Louis & wanting to go to the Pirate Fest they have outside of the Ren Fest. I wish they would do that in KC. Maybe on TLAP Day? Hmmmmm...

Now, a few years ago, Facebook added a language you could use for your own usage on your page & browsing. You can change the language that only you see to 'English (Pirate)'. I actually set it up on Tuesday night so that it would already be in use on Wednesday morning. Plus I changed my profile pic to my crazy gypsy friend, Madame Rue. Cuz she's the closest I had to a pic of anything close to a pirate.

I actually started with a different profile pic (I'm about to show you), and used this really big pic as my cover for the day:

(picture taken by Dunn's Cider Mill when I judged the annual scarecrow contest 2010 - winning entry) 

(photo sent to be by Nikki - taken to show me the new artwork at our high school alma mater)

You know...I was always really into stuff & could get into themey stuff for years. But not necessarily the "pirate" mascot part of my high school alma mater. That's right...I'm from a long line of pirates. It's in my blood. Apparently. But I always got into the purple & gold part of the spirit; not really the pirate part of the spirit. Go figure.

Since I really do like to get into characters &/or theme, it should be no surprise that every one of my Facebook & Twitter posts were in pirate speak. I was inspired by the official site of Talk Like a Pirate Day. There is a translator you can use...but it didn't help with everything I wanted, so I made do for a lot of it. And it was fun for me...might have been annoying to others. But that's how I roll. DUH!

I even had a name for my ship. I called her the Sea-Sick Crocodile. Then I asked, on Facebook, if anyone knew what the reference was to; if they knew I'd give them their very own pirate name. My friend, Michelle, got it right off the bat! And...I gave her the name of Snarly Shelly (not Snarling Smelly, like she thought at first *snort*).

I even added a great pirate tune from P!nk. Do you remember when she was on Spongebob? Every time I hear the song, I am so entertained by it!

Isn't that awesome???

OK, all...mark your calendar for next year! September 19th is the day to enjoy all things pirate! (fun pirates...not scary Somali pirates or terrorist types; stick with historical &/or fictional ones to be your best bet) Brush up on your pirate speak, find a Jolly Roger tshirt & wear a bandanna &/or an eye patch, then keep the other eye or a good ear out for any fun offers!

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica