I SURVIVED BLACK FRIDAY 2011!!!

Queen Ginger forgot to bring her camera, but I assure you, scenes like this were prevalent throughout the land as folks swarmed the malls at midnight to make "Black Friday" the newest phenomenon to hit the shopping universe!


Part of the Queen's professional role was to check out the competition, so she check out Target, Kohl's, and many others, and there were lines like she's never seen as people waited patiently to get their sweaters, electronics, and the item of the year: the triple slow cooker!

Apparently, everyone in the world needs to cook three things at a time all day long!

Luckily, the crowds here in Texas didn't go crazy like they did in the state that invented crazy!

How was Black Friday in your neck of the woods? Did anybody brave it?

How Will You Cook YOUR Turkey?

When Did "Black Friday" Become a Holiday?

So, when did Black Friday become its own holiday?  The day after Thanksgiving has traditionally been discussed by retail executives as "black" Friday because that is the day when profit margins turn in their favor, and supposedly the ink on their balance sheets turns from red to black.  That's great industry shorthand, but is it REALLY a word you want to advertise to customers?


All the big retailers are doing it- Kohl's, Penney's, Target... even the greatest retailer on the planet is doing it:



Meanwhile, this is how most in the retail industry are feeling about it:


http://youtu.be/GYhWqKng39s

So, who's going shopping on Friday?  

Another Caturday Night....

.. and it's just me and Shelby!  At least her box is clean!

A Tale of Two Cities!

Miss Ginger's travels have taken her to two cities this weekend, and so far, both have been a delight!
She started the trip with a couple of days of duty in Baton Rouge, but this week, instead of staying in the run down Marriott with the terrible freeway noise, Queen G and her coworkers stayed at the brand new Renaissance Baton Rouge, which was a truly lovely experience!

The ultra-modern lobby is the first inkling that the hotel is something special, and the bar, restaurant, and guest rooms don't dissapoint, either!  Subtle local touches, like the use of an alligator hide motif on wallpaper, textiles, and other surfaces, along with custom designed "cajun dictionary" wallpaper in the guest bathrooms, allow the hotel to maintain a clean, modern feel while winking at the traditions and motifs of the market!  Queen Ginger had not previously stayed in a Renaissance property, but will certainly seek them out in the future!

After her work week in BR, the Queen retired to her beloved NOLA for a weekend of R&R with her favorite cousin JC, who had just spent a week doing a volunteer stint with Habitat for Humanity. 

Due to limited availability and late booking, the Queen's was forced to splurge and book a luxury hotel she has always wished to experience, and so far she has not been dissapointed!

The Roosevelt has long been among the crown jewels of American hotels, and like many of them, has seen good days and bad.. Built in 1893 as the Grunewald Hotel on the site of the former state capitol (it was at one time in New Orleans), the building has long stood as a bastion of lavish Southern hospitality.  In 1923,  a rennovation brought a new tower and a new name, and the Roosevelt was created, whose lobby stretched an entire city block! From University Place to O'Keefe Street, the ornate lobby led (and still leads) to such famous American landmarks as The Blue Room and the Sazerac Lounge. In 1965, it was purchashed and renamed by Fairmont Hotels, until 2005, when Fairmont sold the flood damaged properties to Dimension Development, who restored the grand jewel and contracted the venerable Waldorf-Astoria chain to oversee and manage the property.

The famous Sazerac bar actually did not become part of the Roosevelt until 1949, when the owner contracted to move it into the Roosevelt, and allowed female patrons for the first time.  This famous vintage photo shows women "storming the Sazerac" for the first time, and was quaintly recreated for the grand opening of the new Roosevelt in 2010

The Roosevelt, and the Sazerac Bar, are truly among the many treasures in New Orleans, and must certainly be a part of your next trip to this vibrant, newly-energized city!

Tonight, You Can!

Classic reminders to set your clocks back 1 hour!!

Queen Ginger Waxes Politic....

The Queen is finding herself to be alarmingly political this year... much more so than ever before.  She thinks it a bit odd, really, to be so interested in things political. In college, she found the poli-sci majors to be the most boring of the nerds, and did her best not to invite them to parties lest they spoil the fun and bring their downer views around to cancel out everyone's excellent "mood stabilizers".  But this year, for some reason, she kinda smells what they were stepping in!

Maybe it's the parade of mormons morons coming from the far right....

Maybe it's the horribly ill-fated attempt by the worthless Governor of my own bankrupt state to gain a spot on the ballot:

Maybe it's the "we're not gonna take it anymore" spirit of  my friends on the left who are making their voices heard:

And maybe it's Queen Ginger's newfound confidence in her own personal spirituality...

Regardless of the cause, Queen Ginger has become more and more irritated by people who will not think for themselves, and insist on aligning with a movement, or defining themselves as a member of a party, without thinking about what they are saying!


Case in point: "tea party" acquaintances who want to support the Republican party's stance on government regulation, and scorn the "Occupy" movements as extremist.  Queen G wants to scream at them: "BITCH! You work at Wal-mart- you are NOT part of their 1%!!"


Another one that floors the Queen: people who want to label themselves as "fiscally conservative, socially liberal".  Honey, that's like labeling yourself a "Jewish-Christian"- it ain't gonna work!!  The fact that Republicans want to paint liberals as fiscally irresponsible just burns Queen G's biscuit! Those of us who want social liberty don't expect to gain it by bouncing checks all over the world- we just want to spend the wealth of our country, still the richest nation in the world, on things that will benefit ALL people in our nation, not just the ones living on Park Avenue or Boardwalk!


Queen Ginger has said all along that she will do just about anything to keep Rick Perry out of the White House, and it's looking more and more like she's going to make good on that promise. Even with Obama's popularity at a relatively low position, the Republicans may make this the easiest reelection any Democrat has ever seen!