Midtown is Memphis

Midtown Memphis.

Until the day she died, my grandmother called Midtown her home. For 17 years I worked in Midtown. Over the last 10 years, I have taken my boys countless times to the Memphis Zoo in Midtown. Each time, I would make that long drive down Poplar, or sometimes take the interstate to Sam Cooper just to shake it up. Lately though, with my office in East Memphis, I don’t make the trek as often as I once did. But Saturday, it was time for the Cooper Young Festival and time return to Midtown. It is an annual tradition here in Memphis…..plenty of music, food and shopping. I took my youngest son with me. He begrudgingly went as a few years earlier when I took him he was burned by a passerby’s cigarette. No, he doesn’t remember the cool tie dye t-shirt I bought him that year, or the artwork we did….he remembers the guy who accidently burned him. But with the promise of a snow cone when we got there (and pretty much no other choice since my husband and other son were on a hockey trip) we made our way to Cooper Young. It was a gorgeous sunny day. The area was packed. Parking, as usual, was at a premium. The smells of Pronto Pups, crepes and I am pretty sure falafel burgers wafted through the air. Not only food vendors lined the streets, there were stages of music, clothing, jewelry, art and so much more. Our Classic Hits 94.1 KQK booth was set up by the main stage. I introduced the instrumental band Glorie (who were really good!) I met Karen Brown who was set to take the stage after them. I didn’t get to hear her, but with a name like Karen you know she had to be good. :) I also saw lots of friends I had not seen in a while, met many listeners and fb friends. It was a nice day.

As we left the festival, we took a few minutes to drive around the area where I worked all those 17 years, the WMC building. No longer does the big sign on the front of 1960 Union Avenue boast that big steamboat sign as home to both WMC radio and TV. Instead, the sign only reads Action News 5. I did notice on the side of the building was a big banner of my friend/former co-worker Dave Brown and that made me smile. I saw the corner of Union and Cooper that is no longer had a church but a drugstore, the Chick Fil A that (sadly for me) opened after my office moved to East Memphis. I saw the once new houses near the Zoo that now blend into the landscape, all looking majestic, yet disguising their more recent construction. I saw Snowden, the school where my dad and his brother and sister went to school. A school that is still there and, at last check, one that still performs well. My dad lives in Midtown, so we still make the drive on a regular basis. But on this day, we didn’t just hurry up and rush to his house. We took some time to (as Elvis would sing) stop, look and listen……. and remember why the bumper sticker from years ago read “Midtown is Memphis.”

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"Hey Karen, how you doing on that workout plan?"

How is the "new" workout plan going? I blogged about it.


Week 1: Recap Zumba, Zumba, Master Step!, Zumba, weekend off. (See previous blog for more details.)

Week 2: Started off with Monday Zumba…yes the busiest day of the week at the gym. I call it “Good luck finding a parking place Monday.” Then Wednesday of this week, I passed on the ol’ master step class. I got off work in time to go to a lunch class. This was labeled as a strength class for “special population.” What on earth did that mean? Later I gathered it was perhaps for those looking to start a program or as the instructor mentioned “empty nesters.” Could I hang with these women was my question? Perhaps I was younger than some, but all these ladies were regulars in this class and most appeared to be pretty fit. In this class they use “props”…I guess that is what you would call them….weights, a weight bar, giant fitness ball, bands etc. I was a bit overwhelmed but I got all the stuff situated around me, but decided to pass on the hand weights of any poundage as I got the feeling this was the class to cause the major burn factor. Good thing I went to that class too….I got in one more Zumba class that week...it was then…life got in the way of planned exercise

Week 3: My husband had eye surgery, so I missed Monday night Zumba, but took a midweek day off work and snuck in a Tuesday morning Kickboxing class. I liked it but can’t go again due to my work schedule. I think I did one more Zumba class that week, but that was it for the week. With my husband unable to drive, I was in single parent mode and it was tough to get to classes.

Week 4: Recovering husband, friend in town and work obligations fell at the same time as the classes I wanted to take. This made this week a complete bust. No classes at all for me. Thus, I am learning the downside of taking scheduled classes instead of working out on a machine whenever I have time. And class times have always been most difficult for me with my early morning schedule. I want more midday class options which don’t always exist.

Week 5: We went to the beach, vacation week…should I even write about week 5? Sure there was a fitness center at the condo……but I was on vacation! :) Hopefully that beach walking I did helped a little. :)

Here we go…entering week 6: Up 4 lbs from vacation and not having visited the gym in weeks, today is a new day. Exercise class tonight is my plan….however, if I am not at work tomorrow, we can all blame Zumba. :) lol

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Next time, I'll think first....

I try to buy products made in the United States whenever possible, so it is a bit ironic in my attempt to be patriotic, I ended up with junk labeled “Made in China.”


Here is my story, wanted to accessories with red, white and blue this Independence Day weekend. Since I thought of this hours before the event, my focus was finding said items…to be honest…who made them was the furthest thing from my mind…cute was the main thought. So I visited a couple of stores I don’t usually shop in but I knew would offer cute, colorful jewelry to fit the bill. Store Number One: I buy a set of royal blue and a set of red bangles. In Store Two (which I may have been in once since I got my ears pierced when I was 16) I found 4th of July themed jewelry 50% off…I bought 2 necklaces and a couple of hair accessories. Knowing the quality of what I was getting was pretty junky, I even joked with the salesperson and asked would my neck turn green the first time I wore it. (She said, not the first time.) =)

So, I am dressed and feeling cute and patriotic as I go to emcee the Collierville Independence Day celebration. Since I shopped so last minute it still has not occurred to me I am adorned in all imported junk jewelry…. until I got home. The second I pulled in the driveway, my necklace simply broke….the charms slid down into my bra (!) and the necklace down my back. Then I go inside, proceed to take my bracelets off and I am horrified to notice two inches of my arm at my wrist is bright blue! The stupid things faded from being in the heat. And as I type, my arm is still blue… all of it won’t scrub off! The lesson…buy American! Sadly, I bet I couldn’t have even found many similar red, white or blue items made in the USA. :( My simpleton answer? Let’s make more things in the USA! I’ll pay more…but in order to buy them, they must exist. :)


Happy Birthday America :)

On The Way to a New Me ... Week One. :)

My re-entry into the world of fitness.

Some of you may have seen my fb posts, if not you may not be aware of my re-entry into the world of physical fitness. A week ago Saturday, my boys wanted to go to the gym/spa where we have a family membership. They wanted to play basketball. Fine, I told my husband that they could go and I’d just stay home. Well, he wouldn’t go for that. I dug deep into my closet and found my bright white workout tennis shoes….not new, just rarely used.  Off we went to the fitness center that we joined last year but visited less than 5 times. As my boys (now 8 and 11 years old) hit the gym, I ran into my neighbor Michelle who asked if I was there for the Zumba class. When I said no, she said “Oh you should so try it.” At this moment I realized, I had a choice to make….work out with my husband and listen to his ridicule of how out of shape I had become….or go to Zumba………………… I chose Zumba. :)


My thoughts on fb after the first class: “Went to a Zumba class over the weekend...it reminded me of trying to learn dance steps at cheerleading camp when I was in high school…feeling uncoordinated and at least one "8 count" behind! lol And I know, I know…if I drag myself to a 2nd class it will be better…..right? ;)”


My thoughts after the second class: “Just got back from Zumba, 2nd class ever. My thoughts: 1) Doesn't really matter how bad you are, everyone else is either trying to figure it out too or so good they just want to look at their own self and 2) It is almost as challenging to find a place to park when you go to work out in the evening. :)”


First class was Saturday, second class Monday….but no Zumba class offered at my gym on Wednesday…back up plan. My thoughts after I obviously thought working out twice put me in the mindset I could do all the workout stuff I did when I was 17! Lol


My next post was “Perhaps a tactical error in my new workout plan. No Zumba offered tonight, so I attempted a step class instead...seems it was an advanced class...lol. I left early but am sure gonna feel that tomorrow. :)”


And here was my post the morning after! “ update: I am indeed paying today for that master step class last night... even though I only stayed for half I should have left when she said we were using two step benches....one in front and one in back....ouch.”


Week two update to follow…..since I am in the middle of it now!

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Memphis Fun in the Summer! :)

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So with no vacation yet for the Perrin family, we thought we’d set out and explore some places here in Memphis and the Mid-South. First stop…a place talked about by many, but a place my husband and I (both lifelong Memphians!) had never visited. In fact, we had never even heard of it until recently…..Jerry’s Sno Cones.

So, we headed out to experience the frozen treat. I will add my youngest has been on a snow cone kick this summer so it only seemed appropriate we embark on a quest to try all in our area. It seemed natural Jerry’s would be a place to try. We knew the general area (Wells Station Rd) and made our way there. Again, my husband and I, discussing as we were driving, how puzzled we were as to why we had never been. We pulled up a picture on the phone of the pink building that we would be looking for and showed it to the kids. To our surprise both said….”Oh, we’ve been there.” We were like what? No way! But turns out one day last year at one of their summer camps to cap off a field trip they indeed made a stop at Jerry’s. They told us they all got sno cones and sat on a little hill to eat them. Sure enough we get there, line about 15 deep (30 deep by the time we left) and my kids confirmed this was the place they had been. Go figure. My husband and I were thinking we were showing our kids unique, tucked away places in our city…only to learn they had been there first! :)

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Get out of town (aka where to go on vacation)

Summer is here so I realized that I better get to planning a family vacation before it is time for school to start again. Of course, no one in our family wants to go to the same place….my 2nd grader wants Disney, my husband wants the Grand Canyon, I want the beach and my 5th grader wants to go nowhere! Anyway, I got online to just explore airfare….WOW! Cha-ching…and that was before baggage fees for four people. So, unless I can scrape up and use some frequent flying miles, looks like we are driving to our summer vacation destination. Being unsure where to vacation that is somewhere fairly close to home, I went straight to Facebook and to 94.1 listeners for ideas…..and I got some great ones!

Most votes for family trips went to St. Louis, Missouri and Hot Springs, Arkansas. For St. Louis, highlighted attractions included the zoo, Six Flags, baseball games, the arch, science center (and more!) and of course a stop at Lamberts on the way home. In Hot Springs, the water park and Magic Springs seemed the biggest draws if you go with kids.

Other great suggestions included (but were not limited to) Branson, MO…. Heber Springs, Hardy or Eureka Springs in Arkansas…..Calloway Gardens in GA, Pigeon Forge TN, Pickwick Lake TN, Atlanta GA, Philadelphia MS, Birmingham, AL and in KY, the Cave City area for Mammoth Cave. I personally can tell you we enjoy the Space Museum in Huntsville (which we have done several times as a day trip.) Also, last year we took a weekend in Chattanooga … much fun…and yes we “saw” Rock City, Ruby Falls, Lookout Mountain and the Aquarium. Happy vacationing everybody….I know I am ready for one. :)

(For those of you reading this on FB, you can go to my wall and see the near 100 comments from my wonderful fb family on my original post for the complete vacation conversation ideas. If you are reading this and we are not yet fb friends - and you would like us to be - feel free to send me a message.)

I am Inspired!

This week I attended the Go Red for Women Girls Night Out. It’s a big fundraiser for the American Heart Association. I got to emcee the fashion show, filled with red clothing items of course. But along with the fun, there was a serious issue to be discussed, women and heart disease. While we can’t change our family history, I was certainly reminded that we can make choices every day for good heart health. A few months ago, I was featured in a AHA piece in Memphis Magazine….here is part of that:

Go Red For Women was created to remind us that heart disease is the number one killer of women nationwide, but over 80 percent of deaths due to heart disease are preventable. Like many women, I know most of the things I SHOULD do to be heart healthy, but if I answer honestly… there’s more I could do. My grandmother lived to be 94. Up until the day she died, my Grandma told me nothing had ever been wrong with her heart. I can only hope I got some of those good heart genes. But the rest is up to me. I have two very good reasons to pay attention to my heart: 8 and 10-year-old sons. They love sports and are always on the go. Family in mind, I have been doing my part to get more active, by making time to walk and at least joining a gym. (Joining is a start, right!?) Also, in the Perrin house we are doing our best to make healthier food choices as well. I have even gone soda free since September… a HUGE step for me! I am making healthy changes that will not only benefit me, but my family as well. And hopefully by setting good examples for my boys, heart healthiness will be a way of life for them. Like many of us, I am a work in progress. We all need to remember it’s never too late to take steps toward a heart healthy future.

After this week’s event (and hearing so many women share their personal stories) I am even more determined to get heart healthy. I have done those things I mentioned above, but now it is time to get serious. Summer heat is no excuse. Time to GO to the gym with the membership I have! Drink that water! Eat more fruits and veggies! Get up off the couch! Hey, I just thought of this…..maybe I should only allow myself to get on Facebook when I am on the treadmill. Wow! If I did that, I’d be 40 lbs lighter in no time! :)

Best Burgers...yum! :)

So a national magazine listed Dyers burgers here in Memphis one of the top ten burgers in the country. Nice! Not only did the list make us hungry, Steve Conley and I were curious what other hamburgers around the mid south were your favorites? Took calls at Classic Hits 94.1 KQK during the Conley and Karen Morning Show and here are (in no particular order) some of the suggestions. :)

Topps,

Alex’s Tavern,

5 Guys,

Huey’s,

Uncle Lou’s,

3 Angels on Broad,

Trolley Stop,

Off the Hook,

Big John’s in Marion,

Exlines,

Stinkerbells,

TGI Fridays,

Dales Restaurant,

River Oaks

and Shelby Forest General Store.


Memphis is a great food town. Enjoy a burger today. :)

Pizza Time! Listener survery!

Yummy! Time for our annual talk on pizza! National survey talking about pizza chains (Pizza Hut the fave) so we decided to talk LOCAL pizza! Where do you enjoy a slice…..or whole pizza?! :)

Here are the suggestions we got for eateries all around the Mid South from our listeners at Classic Hits 94.1 KQK.

Trolley Stop Market (on Madison)
Café Piazza in Collierville
Little Italy (downtown/med center area)
Exline’s Pizza
Lonnie Tant’s Italia in Desoto county
Colletta’s
High Point Pizza
Wise Guys in Horn Lake
Avellino’s in Southaven
Broadway Pizza
Luigi’s in Byhalia

Thanks for all the calls!! :)

Chicago!

Hello! A special hello to those of you reading my blog on your iphone/ipad app. I thought I’d blog today and take a little pressure off Brad who seems to update his blog way more often that Steve or me. :) I am writing today to make sure you know about a ticket giveaway on Classic Hits 94.1 KQK this week on the Conley and Karen morning show. You have a chance to win front row tickets to see Chicago at the Harrah’s Event Center later this month. You only need to text enter. Send the word CHICAGO to 47183 and you are entered into the contest. (Only one entry per person and you do need to be at least 21.) You have until this Friday morning 4/8 at about 7:59am to enter. And then, at 8:10am everyday thru Thursday you have more chances to win…this time 4th, 3rd and 2nd row seats. Good luck and thanks for listening :)

What's a Girl to Do?

“Okay, I have just realized EVERYONE I know is on some kind of workout kick, new diet plan, marathon training or engaged in some kind of healthier living plan. Where is everyone (but me!) finding this sudden burst of motivation? Lol”


This was a question I posed I Facebook when I came to the understanding everyone I know is getting healthy. In case you are not on fb (or for some reason are not my friend …fyi you should be if you are not) I thought you might get a kick out of the responses.


Jill wrote: Mine came from getting on the scale after having a baby and realizing that Elliot did NOT weigh 50 lbs at birth…rut ro.


Chad: They will phase out.


Shelia: It’s the economy! Gas prices increasing daily, means higher prices at the grocery, therefore new budgets are created daily! It’s cheaper to eat and get fit at home! Just sayin’! LOL


Denise: I can’t find it either =(


Jill: fruits and veggies are cheaper than processed foods and eating in restaurants…


Tricia : My hubby is diabetic and one of my coworkers has just been put on insulin shots. I’m also sick of the way I look and am ready for a drastic change.


Pam: Spring makes us think of summer and summer = bathing suits and then I said, oh crap!


I responded: I have been trying to buy more organic natural stuff for the kids, good start right? Then I find myself at a drive thru! grr. And yes, summer is closer than we think.


Paul: l Hey, round is a shape. And oval.


Mandy: You can do it Karen! Come to the dark side with me!


Francisco: I figured out why I’m fat. The shampoo I use says, “for extra body.” I should use Dawn dish washing soap. It says, “Dissolves fat that is difficult to remove.”


I wrote: lol Paul and Francisco! Too funny! And Mandy each week you post your weight loss I wish I started when you did!


Paul: I wish y’all wouldn’t lose that weight. Some of us keep finding it.


Steve: Don’t wanna die young of a heart attack Karen! LoL! The spectre of death is great motivation!


Rob: I’m with you, Karen! The only exercise I see is the walk to and from the fridge!


Tim: Count on me to join your support group! We can all meet at the mall in the mornings and watch the mall walkers. We should be able to see them from the food court.


Debbie: Just start something and do it 5 days a week. Each time you will feel soooooo much better and continue too each day.. xoxoo


Becky: Oh no NOT EVERYONE ! I dont exercise and I ‘ve been sneaking my daughters valentine candy all week LOL of course I’ve gained a few pounds but there’s been too many good B-Ball games to watch to go work out and soon it will be time to do yard work so it evens out in the end


Suzanne: I’m trying to get going so I can keep up with all my tennis teammates who are 5 – 8 years younger than me. Spend all my spare time driving to and from Christian Brothers HS and taking the mom-in-law to all her doctors appointments that my butt has taken on the shape of my car seat!


Glen: I am now on the “Try to get your big butt out of the chair” work out plan! Followed by a brisk walk to the fridge then to the Pantry and back to the chair!


Janet: Um, not me….


Philip: Didn’t you watch Sunday morning on CBS. We are the generation determined not to get old:)


Cindy: If you find it, share it w/ me. I’ll do the same for you. My exercise is emptying the dishwasher and doing laundry and walking to your side of the building.


So, those were the many responses. What is a girl to do? Jump on the band wagon or keep making bad food choices and remain in denial. I will blog very soon on what I decide.

What was in that darn box?

In case you only heard part of today’s show, you may want to know, WHAT THE HECK WAS IN THAT BOX? Steve’s mom gave him that small box and we asked what everyone thought might be in it! Answers ranged from a baby tooth to a pet rock, especially when we revealed the picture that didn’t instantly reveal the identity of the object.






We have since learned Steve’s grandfather once carried a full size potato with him….even slept with it under his pillow. He was a superstitious fellow. Finally it petrified (how long did that take? ) and was passed down to Millie, Steve’s mom. She has now entrusted it to Steve. Steve says, when his grandfather passed away, his uncle got many collectible items….his mom got the petrified potato! :)

New Year! New You?

Tis the season for losing weight.....thus it was the perfect time to talk to Cynthia Sass who wrote the book CINCH. She was our special guest on Tuesday, 1/4/11. Find out more about her book at her website www.cynthiasass.com