Restaurant Week

It's Restaurant Week in Philadelphia! Well actually it started last week and is still continuing this week but you catch my drift. Some people are overjoyed. Some people could care less. I, for one, love it.

The trick with Restaurant Week is knowing which restaurants to go to. You do not want to go to the big name, uber popular restaurants. I've been going to Restaurant Week for about 5 years and I've been to many, many restaurants and made many mistakes along the way. Anytime I've gone to the big name, tourist spots, I've been disappointed with my meal and understandably so. Your paying $35 for a three or four course dinner (which is a great deal) but to them, it may be the equivalent of one entree or an entree and a side salad. The owners aren't happy, the servers know they're not getting as big of a tip as they're used to so they're not as friendly and doting as you want them to be.

I typically stick to the BYOB's or the smaller, not as popular restaurants. This year I went to Salento and GiGi's. Both were seriously awesome and I'm sorry to say I forgot to take pictures of my food. Salento was a small, Italian BYO and was the perfect restaurant for girls night. Me and the man went to GiGi's and were treated to a very delicious 4 course meal. We were actually so stuffed we got our dessert to go!

So all in all, Restaurant Week is awesome and if you need any suggestions, don't hesitate to ask!

With love and pearls,
Ashley

I'm Sorry?

I'm sure I'm going to offend some people with the post but I seriously need to vent.

I am in charge of sending out emails for my work to our clients. I sent out an email the other day that had a picture included. It was a white family with grandparents, parents and children. I sent this picture out to show that my workplace is very family and friend oriented and did not even pay attention to their race. I received a phone call today that someone took offense to the picture because it wasn't diverse enough. Is that what society has come to, that I need to make sure each picture has someone from every race photographed in it before I send it out? How is it that a picture of a family laughing is offensive to people? Why do I have to walk (or type) on eggshells to make sure that I don't offend someone? I can't even tell a story without looking over my shoulder to make sure no one is close enough so that I may not offend them. If I sent out a picture of an entire African American family, would people feel the same way and be as upset? Am I even allowed to say African American or am I going to receive some hate mail now? I though we were supposed to be moving forward in society and it almost seems as if we're going backwards. We've gone from one extreme of excluding different races to the other extreme of making sure each race feels included. Are we ever really going to live as equals? Not if we treat each other like this.

With love and pearls (I'm sorry is that offensive too)
Ashley

The Sandlot Era

I am so happy my son's favorite movie is The Sandlot and not some hyped up, unrealistic, battle movie that most of today's kids are watching.  I wish we lived in the era of The Sandlot, when life was simplier, kids played outside, and there was little to no worry of your child getting raped and killed by people that should be shot and removed from the population ASAP.  This movie encompasses all the morals I try to teach my son in this hateful, money hungry, depressed world.  To have friends, play hard, stay loyal to those you love, laugh and make fun of yourself and others (in a cordial way).  I love the olden days and hope to embody and pass on to my son as much as I can from the fun-loving, gay impression I capture from stories and books and movies.  Long Live the good ol' days!
Peace Love and Happiness

Bieber Wedding Fever

I have to share this video with you. I am a typical girly girl and have been planning my wedding since I came out of the womb. My boyfriend is absolutely amazing and just says "Yes Dear" anytime I mention something wedding related. We are both pretty outgoing and crazy so we want our wedding to be the same. I saw this video today and can only hope we do something like this...

With love and pearls,
Ashley

To Be (Thin) or Not To Be (Thin)

So of course I'm sitting here, after just finishing my lunch, and thinking I really need to go to the gym today. But why? I absolutely hate the gym and hate almost every minute of it while I'm there. Yes, it has been proven that the human body needs exercise to stay healthy but does it need as much as society says it does? Why do WE put so much pressure on ourselves to work out and stay thin? Every person I talk to is constantly talking about their body in one way or another: I hate my legs, I'm really toning up, that last bite cost me 3 extra points, etc.  Half of the people that go to the gym are only there because society thinks they're fat, not because they're trying to get healthy. I myself am only going to the gym because people have noticed I've put on a few pounds. Marilyn Monroe was one of the most beautiful women ever and she was rumored to be a size 14! It didn't seem to matter what size she was, they only noticed how beautiful she was, just ask JFK...not appropriate? How is it that in 50 years time, a woman that size would now be called obese or plus-size and would be mocked by others? Why can't we go back to those times where women are beautiful because of their skin or their eyes or their personality and not because they're a size 2? I will admit I am not totally happy with my body so I could benefit from going to the gym but if I decided not to, would I be talked about behind my back or be called or thunder thighs? I guess only time will tell. And maybe in 50 years from now, we'll only be beautiful if we have 6 rolls instead of a 6-pack.

With love and pearls,
Ashley

I'm ok with average, well kind of...

Why do so many strive for perfection or strive to be the best and then get disappointed when we never reach it?  Isn't it safe to say that majority of us are just normal average human beings living our lives day to day never doing anything extraordinary?  I'm siting here writing my final paper and at the end, I just give up, like always, and say welp it is what it is and hit the send button to my professor, never double checking or proofreading.  I'm not beating myself up over a stupid paper, and while I hope for an A, obviously, I say to myself, C = passing!  Yet so many of my classmates miss out on their kid's football games, or hanging out with friends, or constantly fight with their husband because they simply do not have the time anymore to devout to a relationship.  I understand that we set a goal for ourselves, as in my case getting my masters so I can teach nursing, yet most of us fail to recognize that every day, every step we take is a goal.  We need not to forget that life is happening while we are trying to acheive some big goal, whether it be getting a degree, buying a house, or finding Mr. Right.  So I wonder why we become frustrated, stress out, and miss out on what is really important to us while we try to strive for perfection.  Also are we making TOO BIG of goals for ourselves that they are so unattainable and we are only setting ourselves up for disaster and misery?  Back in the olden days, people's goals consisted of having and keeping a job, raising a family, staying alive, having food on the table.  Today people want to conquer the world, want to be the next big star.  Hate to burst your little bubble sweetheart but why not shoot lower, build your confidence a little first, soak in the averageness and sigh a sigh of relief.  Lets face the facts and be more realistic please! And just fucking live your life!

Its me bitchessssss!

Ok. So school is almost over...for the time being....so now to meet the other half of the billingsgate diaries.  Me llamo Alicia.  Just wanted to give you a quick background of the name.  Ms Billingsgate sounds like a reformed, respected woman who belongs to country clubs, wears furs and pearls, holds galas and gets chauffeured around in a hot Bentley.  When tsk tsk the word billingsgate originated from the vulgar, abusive language used at the gate of a London fish market.  Yea man! Ms Billingsgate has a dark side!  What I want to portray in this blog is the fact that you can still hold a career, be sophisticated and cultured and yet still be raw and real. (Let me apologize in advance because my writing is like my thoughts, all over the place.  Can't help it, I write what I think, Love it or hate it)  So all in all this blog will keep you updated on what we think is important in life, sex, drugs and alcohol, oh yea and everything in between.  I will write what I feel, give you food for thought and push as many boundaries as I can.  Don't be offended, take my writing for what it is, a reflection of my crazy ass and nothing else!
Peace Love and Happiness

Yours truly

Resolutions?

Happy New Year!! It's the first day back at work since the holiday and it feels like I've been gone much longer than 4 days.

Now, I am not one to make New Year's resolutions because let's face it 1. No one ever follows through with them for the entire year and if you say you do, you're lying and 2. You shouldn't need the start of a new year to eat healthier or stop cursing or to start a family. But here I go, I'm giving in to the trends and making some resolutions. I will try to stick with them as long as I can but I am not promising anything!

2012 Resolutions

1. Lose weight (just like the other 4 billion people in the world because 3 billion of you are already skinny bitches)
2. Grow my business
3. Stop spending money on useless things and save money for more important things in my future: house, car, wedding, family
4. Do something different every month. It can be as simple as baking a pie or as dedicated as learning how to play golf. As long as I try new things, I will be happy. This is the only resolution I really hope I keep.
5. Make more of an effort to organize events with friends. Whether it be monthly dinners, birthday parties or a night out to the movies.

Have you made any resolutions you hope to keep?

With love and pearls,
Ashley