Making New Yorkers...and me!...Smile

So, a post on Friday was not possible for me so you are getting it a couple of days late....

Our fabulous week in NYC promoting National Ice Cream Month was a rousing success. Thursday proved to be an exciting challenge as we gave away - if I am to understand correctly - 41,000 (yes, that is forty-one thousand!!) pieces of product at the corner of 50th Street and 7th Avenue. The morning sampling event included our givng out the new Blue Bunny(R) Sedona(TM) Frozen Yogurt Granola Sandwich and the aternoon event included the Blue Bunny Caramel Lovers' Champ!(R) Cone.

The BEST part of the sampling events over the past three days was making people happy by giving them ice cream. It is truly amazing to me that we all are different in terms of background, economic and social status, religion, nationality, and beliefs....yet something like an ice cream cone brings us together. Everyone loves ice cream....well, except those who are lactose-intolerant or suffer gluten allergies!.....and everyone smiles when they are given one. Young and old alike would smile and their eyes lit up when you offered them an ice cream cone.

And with the arrival of Friday, our mission to distribute thousands of pieces of ice cream drew to a close and we had a great time not only getting to know our consumers but each other.

Since there were so many great experiences in the City, I will give you my top 10 memories:

10. Trading hats with an NYPD while in line at "Good Morning America"

9. Eating my lunch and people-watching in Central Park, pretending like I have lived in NYC all my life

8. Setting out on my own to find really great sushi

7. Eating a "black and white" (cookie) every night

6. Dinner of PIZZA at John's Pizza....no slices!!

5. Crying at the end of "Wicked" - what an unbelievable story...who thinks of that stuff??

4. Running my fingers through Lonnie Quinn's hair (read my entry on 7.14.09)

3. Seeing two more original Gustav Klimt original paintings at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art)

2. Eating at an off-the-beaten-path, "open to the street" restaurant/cafe with three FABULOUSLY interesting friends.....we fed crackers to the passing pooches!

1. Making New Yorkers smile with Blue Bunny ice cream!

So there you have it. What a great trip. I am richer for it.

Remember that TODAY is National Ice Cream DAY. That is right, in 1984, Ronald Reagan declared it so. Make your own people smile by making sure to feed them lots of Blue Bunny ice cream.

Until next time, I remain....1SweetMama

A Hair-Raising Encounter With Lonnie Quinn

(me, pre-hair encounter..."OMG!!! That is Lonnie Quinn!")

Well, here I am in New York City with my fellow Blue Bunny(R) buddies. We are working a Public Relations event in which we are giving out 50,000 Blue Bunny Champ! Cones at the corner of 50th Street and 7th Avenue, right underneath our "Devour Them" ad. It has been so fun. Our crew is a total blast and every step is a new adventure.

This morning was our big debut on a couple of the morning shows. A colleague (I will call her J-Gal) and I were up at the crack of dawn to dress in our "uniforms" (Blue Bunny t-shirts and kahkis) and head off, each of us wearing an ice cream cone hat, to the "Good Morning America" Show. After 45 minutes of networking with the crew and NYPD, we deduced that we were definitely going to be a hit on the show. It was our job to get in-studio to tell them about how we were celebrating National Ice Cream Month (July!) by giving out our product in Times Square today through Thursday. Our hats and winning personalities won over the staff, crew, and security and that gave us the confidence that not only were we going to BE on the "Good Morning America" show, but we would probably get our own segment. OK, that is a slight embellishment but we thought we could at least make an impression. We filed, along with about 150 other tourists, in line to the entry point of the studio. We were finally singled out and pulled out of line by the audience coordinator person (I am sure there is a much more official title than that one but I cannot remember it) and asked to come with her.

This is it! They ARE going to give us our own segment!

Not exactly. We were called out of the line because we were obviously promoting something and we were not allowed to pull any kind of "PR Nonsense" (not her words) in-studio. With a few kind words about how she loves ice cream, we got the New York "Get the heck outta here" Line and a friendly bit of advice about how we should try The Today Show because (and I quote)...."Over there it is just a free-for-all."

Dejected but not discouraged, we trotted over to The Early Show, instead, to meet up with the rest of our troupe who had also gotten up early and dressed in THEIR uniforms and had gone on ahead to loiter around the gates of Harry Smith (very dashing, in person) and Lonnie Quinn, handsome-est weather guy ever, and....the hair!! Need I say more??

Well, needless to say, The Early Show folk were much more receptive to our Blue Bunny PR Antics and our uniformed group of 30+ were not only appreciated but were encouraged by the crew. We made it on several times during the hour and a half that we stood there and, despite having to share the stage with fake-bearded Santa Clauses wearing dark socks and red swim trunks and the Snickers(R) "Bar Hunger" PR pack, had a rousing good time and scored a wonderful "win" on the show.

The best part??? Yours truly made her national debut this morning! Yep! It is true.

To set it all up for you.... I have often joked about how I admire the hair of CBS weatherman stand-in, Lonnie Quinn. He covers the weather for The Early Show on weekends and fills in for the usual weather guy who works the Early Show during the week when regular, Dave Price, cannot be there.

So... Lonnie is handsome in a super-hero kind of way and has this gorgeous hair. Duirng a station break, our eyes met at one point and he was intrigued by my ice cream cone hat that I was wearing (it is always a conversation-starter). He came over and commented on the hat. We shared some "blah-dee-blah talky-talk" and then I shamelessly confessed that I watch him on the weekends and could I just touch his hair??

Stunned (but not offended), he obliged and was so friendly about it. He let me run my fingers through his lovely locks to which I relished every moment. Our group laughed, snapped a few photos, and he went on about his business. By the way - a little hairspray-ish but, otherwise, very soft. :)

So how did I make my national television debut? Goodness loves Lonnie Quinn....would you believe that he came back over to me during his live broadcast and asked me to reinact our hair encounter?? Twice in one day???? I felt faint. He was a great sport about it and, at the end, he planted the nicest kiss on my cheek. Two words: hubba hubba.

On our way back to the hotel, I decided to set a new goal. If I could run my fingers through Lonnie Quinn's hair, what would Matt Lauer allow me to do?? Maybe I will ask him the same question and make a morning show personality comparison of scalps.

By the way...by early afternoon, our Blue Bunny crew DID gave out 15,000 Blue Bunny Champ! Cones in less than 2 hours - the first of three sampling days in Times Square - and it was a total blast. It is so great to make New Yorkers and their guests smile on a hot July afternoon.

Can't wait until tomorrow's adventures. Until next time, I remain....1SweetMama

Blue Bunny® Takes A Bite Out Of "The Big Apple"!

(I will be right there!)

Today’s blog entry is relatively short and sweet but I wanted to let my readers know that next week is going to be a really cool (no pun intended) week for myself and several of my co-workers.

Monday morning, our group will depart for New York City….The Big Apple….where we will be giving out nearly 50,000 Blue Bunny® Champ!® Cones all week in Times Square, beneath our ad (see photo). In addition, Yours Truly will be attempting to get on camera (I actually have two “in-studio” tickets) at the Good Morning America Show on Tuesday and my other co-workers will be sweeping the other morning networks shows, The Early Show (on Tuesday), and The Today Show (on Thursday). Be watching for us on your favorite morning show!

You can follow all of our activities on Twitter, too, at http://twitter.com/Blue_Bunny . I will also be writing about our fun in my blog entries next week.

So…start spreadin’ the news…..I’m leavin’ on Monday…..I’m gonna be a part of it…New York! New York!

And…they say that if you stand in Times Square for 7 minutes, you will run in to someone you know. I plan to be there for 4 days so….hopefully I’ll see you there!

Until next time, I remain…1SweetMama

Garanimals For Guys

Men, forgive me. I do not mean to stereotype. In fact, several of you out there are quite snappy dressers. Belt matches shoes; socks match shirt. You dare to wear the occasional paisley with a gentle “windowpane” print. For those of you who serve as Master of The Wardrobe in your domain, you are excused. We will chat next Friday.

For those of you, like the guy I sat across the aisle of the airplane from on Saturday…you need serious help. You do not wear a yellow polo shirt with blue and black horizontal striping with brown and green plaid shorts. I am not sure what he was thinking when he reviewed his ensemble in the mirror on Saturday morning before heading out the door for the airport but I am fairly certain it surely was not, “Wow! Now that is the look I am goin’ for!!” Or, maybe it was. His only excuse could (possibly!) be that, as he informed everyone sitting around him – yes, he was a “plane talker” – was that he was on his way to visit his fiancé. This, in my opinion, screams, “My fiancé coordinates all of my clothing choices.” Because she was not there to assist with dressing him that morning, I will allow him a “mulligan” – a do-over. Mr. Airplane-Talking-Bad-Dressing Guy, you are excused just this once. From now on, make smarter wardrobe choices and save yourself from publicly humiliating yourself.

But here is my million dollar idea. If any of you reading this blog happens to come up with a business plan and actually takes this idea to market, all I ask is that you please remember me with some tiny monetary compensation – or a dinner on the town. Okay, entrepreneurs, here it is:

Garanimals For Guys

Remember those cute little hippopotamus-es, and elephants, and other jungle creatures that adorned the tags of kiddie clothes a thousand years ago? Where have they gone and why can’t we resurrect this wardrobe tool for men? Garanimals! Of course! The hippopotamus tie goes with any article of clothing from the hippopotamus family: pants, jacket, socks…you name it. The tiger shorts coordinate with any shirt from the tiger family and so on and so forth.

Brilliance. Women all over the planet will be relieved of their “Honey, will you help me pack for my business trip?” duties. After the launch of the “Garanimals For Guys” clothing line, women can holler over their shoulders, in response, as they are headed out the door for martinis with the gals, “Honey, you can do it! You are a big boy now! Just match up your tigers and elephants!”

No room for error – unless they decide to match up the tigers with the hippopotamus-es. Sigh!

Now, all I need is the mojo to get this project off the ground…and maybe a good endorsement from Stacy and Clinton (TLC’s “What Not To Wear”).

Until next time, I remain….1SweetMama

P.S. It’s the countdown to the “Blue Bunny Ice Cream In Times Square” event! Read about it in my upcoming “The Sweet Life” blogs and follow along next week on Twitter. Follow us on http://twitter.com/Blue_Bunny

"Cash"-ing It In For The 4th of July

I just heard on the radio that 40 years ago yesterday, July 2, that one of Johnny Cash's songs hit #1. Being a bit of a fan of the man in black, my ears perked up. Awaiting the announcer to tell me which one it was, I guessed, "Walk the Line"? No, no...what about "Ring of Fire"? No, that can't be it. Then the radio DJ played "A Boy Named Sue". WOW!! 1969 was the year he recorded it. Live at San Quentin Prison. The song became Cash's biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, spending three weeks at #2 in 1969; it also topped the country music and adult contemporary charts that same year.

Johnny wrote this song with American author, poet, musician, and songwriter, Shel Silverstein ("Where the Sidewalk Ends" and "A Light In The Attic", just to name a couple of his most loved works - of course!). I LOVE "A Boy Named Sue". It is so quirky.

The best way to describe it is to just take the description from Wikipedia, who details:

"("A Boy Named Sue") tells the preposterous yet moving tale of a young man's quest for revenge on an absent father whose only contribution to his entire life was naming him Sue, commonly a feminine name. The name was the cause of endless ridicule as the young man was growing up. As the years went on, Sue grew big, strong and fearsome from all the fights he got into with bullies.
At the climax of the song, Sue finds and confronts his father, and the two get into a vicious brawl. After the two have beaten each other almost senseless, Sue's father admits that the name was given to him as an act of love: because he knew he would not be there for his son, Sue's father gave him that name to make sure that he grew up strong. Learning this, Sue forgives his father and they have an emotional reconciliation.

With his lesson learned, Sue closes the song with an announcement: "And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him . . . Bill or George, any damn thing but Sue! I still hate that name!"

Late 1960s public decorum being what it was, the word "bitch" in the line "I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you Sue!" (declared by Sue's father) was censored in the radio version, and the final line was edited to take out the "damn". Both the edited and unedited versions are available on various CDs."

They played the bleeeep for the b-word on the radio station that I listened to - but they left the d-one in. Times have changed...

And speaking of Johnny Cash....his "Ragged Old Flag" brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. I know this will make today's entry VERY long but, in the spirit of Old Glory, please bear with me - it is SO worth it:

Ragged Old Flag - by Johnny Cash

I walked through a county courthouse square
On a park bench, an old man was sittin' there.
I said, "Your old court house is kinda run down",
He said, "Naw, it'll do for our little town".
I said, "Your old flag pole is leaned a little bit",
And that's a ragged old flag you got hangin' on it".
He said, "Have a seat", and I sat down.



"Is this the first time you've been to our little town?"
I said, "I think it is"
He said "I don't like to brag, but we're kinda proud of
That Ragged Old Flag.
You see, we got a little hole in that flag there,
When Washington took it across the Delaware.
And It got powder burned the night
Francis Scott Key sat watching it, writing
'Say Can You See'
It got a rip in New Orleans, with Packingham & Jackson
Tugging at its seams and
It almost fell at the Alamo beside the Texas flag,
But she waved on though.
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville,
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee and Beauregard and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on
That Ragged Old Flag.
On Flanders Field in World War I,
She got a big hole from a Bertha Gun,
She turned blood red in World War II.
She hung limp, and low, a time or two,
She was in Korea, Vietnam,
She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam.
She waved from our ships upon the briny foam."


"And now they've about quit wavin' back here at home.
In her own good land here She's been abused.
She's been burned, dishonored, denied an' refused."


"And the government for which she stands
Has been scandalized throughout out the land.
And she's getting thread bare, and she's wearin' thin,
But she's in good shape, for the shape she's in.
Cause she's been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more."


"So we raise her up every morning
And we bring her down slow every night,
We don't let her touch the ground,
And we fold her up right.
On second thought
I *do* like to brag
Cause I'm mighty proud ofThat Ragged Old Flag."

So celebrate the holiday weekend with adding Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue" and "Ragged Old Flag" to your MP3 list and play it loud and proud this 4th of July.....because is there anything much more American than Johnny Cash??

Happy Birthday, America!

Until next time, I remain....1SweetMama

Your True Colors

This weekend marked a gi-normous milestone for my mother and me…we convinced my Grandma Jane to repaint her white-walled rooms in her home.

Since she and my late Grandpa S moved into the house, over 10 years ago, they had never painted the inside of the house. When they moved in, all of the walls were white and the kitchen and bathrooms featured a splash of pastels in the form of wallpaper. Grandma Jane would argue that the walls are not really white but more off-white. C’mon, Grandma Jane…off-white is NOT a color!!! Grandma Jane and Grandpa S liked their home awash in white. “It looks so clean!”

But my mother and I, fans of COLOR, worked with Grandma Jane, who had determined that it was time to spruce up the place, to introduce some color – albeit light colors - into the home. After a few trips to home centers, and my absolute refusal to not paint any color with the word “beige” in it (see my blog entry from August 29, 2008 “Never Be Vanilla”), we settled on light blues, rosey-tans, yellows, and lavenders. WOW! This is a big step for Grandma Jane.

This weekend, we proudly began to turn her institution-like rooms into a warm and inviting atmosphere. I think Grandma Jane realizes that maybe a little color in her life is good for her. Before we know it, she will want her front porch painted turquoise, like mine! Okay, that is a stretch but it supports my theory that everyone needs a little more color in their life.

And, speaking of putting more color in your life, never listen to your Avon lady (a.k.a. my pregnant, hormonal sister) when she tells you that sunny yellow is a good summer color for your toenails. Perhaps a little too much color….even for me. Maybe if I were more “hip” or 20 years younger….meanwhile…..off to the nail place for a pedicure.

Until next time, I remain…1SweetMama

Fly On Proud Birds

(Photo by Rusty Russ)

Yesterday, two prominent figures from my youth passed from this world and I just wanted to pay a small tribute in The Sweet Life to these people.

Despite their talents and trials, joys and controversies, these two figures: Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson were individuals who contributed to the culture of my youth - Fawcett for her strength and beauty, Jackson for his contribution to the bridging of the gap between soul and pop music. I know it seems odd that the death of these two icons of the 70s and 80s should impact me so much, but as I reflect on it and as I talk to so many others from “my generation”, the stark realization that these seemingly immortal figures can – and do! – die is almost too difficult for us to swallow. It sort of makes me step back and realize my own mortality and that life is, indeed, a big old circle. Babies are born, the young get old, the old die and babies are born to carry on in our footsteps. Thus the Great Circle of Life begins anew.

To not acknowledge their deaths would seem inappropriate.

I am not sure where I first heard this quote but I remembered a piece that Charlie Daniels, country and southern rock musician, wrote for his friend who had died in a plane crash. I remember that I felt this might be fitting for today’s blog entry and thought I would look it up and print it here.

“A brief candle;
both ends burning An endless mile;
a bus wheel turning
A friend to share the lonesome times
A handshake and a sip of wine
So say it loud and let it ring
We are all a part of everything
The
future, present and the past
Fly on proud bird You're free at last.”

-written by Charlie Daniels en route to the funeral for his friend, Ronnie Van Zant of the band, Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Fly on, Farrah and Michael, you are finally free at last.

Until next time, I remain….1SweetMama