My Run In With Janice Dickinson!

So last night we went to the launch party of MY STUDIO Recording studio in Scottsdale. They will be coming to malls near you. It was a packed house and there were all walks off life there. Trendy people that wanted to be seen, singers that wanted to be discovered, people like me that got an invite and wanted to enjoy the free drinks and food with friends and the celebrity model that got paid to be there. The model, Janice Dickinson. She has her own reality show on the Oxygen network called " The Janice Dickenson Modeling Agency" and was known as the first super model of the 1970's. So all of the guys were drooling over here and trying to get a picture of her when I happened to run into her in the ladies room. The first thing I thought of, was that I have to get a picture so I can write about it in my blog. So I gathered up my nerve and as she was looking at herself in the mirror and I politely asked her if I could get a picture with her. Her response was priceless....."In here, it smells like SH_T!" So of course I told her that I meant a picture outside of the bathroom (although I would have gladly smiled with her outside of the smelly bathroom stall just to get the photo). You can see the picture that we ended up taking above. Janice Dickenson at age 53 still has a knock out body, likes to have a good time and made that quite clear at the event.

A Shout Out To My "Awesome" Web Designer!

Okay, for the record, Holly Jonas, of Hollywooddesignpro is the bomb. Her work speaks for itself and I just had to spread the word about how wonderful she is. Everyone that looks at my site absolutely loves it and I just had to give credit where credit is due. If you are in the market for a new web-site or maybe your old one needs a little spicing up, then contact her at holly@hollywooddesignpro.com Make sure you tell her Andi sent ya.

I'm Breaking into the Infomercial Biz!

Well, I am back from the Electronic Retail Association Convention in Las Vegas and met some awesome people. Everyone was so nice and helpful. My goal was to introduce myself to some of the best Production Companies, Ad Agencies and companies that may need a Spokesperson or Host for their new product. I networked like nobody has ever networked before and now let's hope it pays off. I also ran into some "famous" Infomercial celebrities like Beau Riles, Forbes Riley, Anthony Sullivan and Billy Mays. I know you are familiar with Billy Mays, the OxyClean, Kaboom guy. (I'm pictured with him above)

Anyway, it may not always be easy walking up to complete strangers and introducing yourself, but if you want to succeed I guess you have to push thru your fears. Thanks by the way, to everyone that was soooooooo kind and full of great advice. (Ruth Wheeler, Wendi Cooper, Wes Dublin and everyone at Hawthorne Direct) Also, to anyone looking for the best web-designer around....Holly Jonas is the bomb. (Hollywooddesignpro.com)

Some Competition for Starbucks

I love finding new places and sharing them with you and yesterday I found the "Next" big coffee shop that is going to give Starbucks a run for their money. It's called "Next" and you can visit their web-site at http://www.nextcoffeecompany.com/. They are located on 59th Ave south of the 101 Freeway in Glendale in the Citadel shopping center. Their motto is "great coffee, great food and your place to study, learn, think and find the money, when you need it, for your NEXT big thing.
I had a coffee drink that I have never had or even heard of before....The Cola Head. It was a Coca-Cola drink over ice with a shot of espresso and vanilla. Yum, yum! Maybe you could try the Himalayan Hammer or the Granola Latte. I guess they have a barista that has been in the business for over 20 years and is very creative. Finally a place that serves more then just a Cafe Mocha. Oh, and they have food, smoothies, music on the weekends and even different trunk shows. So, if you have never been there and you need a new place to hang out, then give them a try. Oh, and tell them Andi sent you and you heard about them thru this blog.

No, I'm Not At ABC15 Anymore!

Now that I have your attention I want to thank all of the loyal viewers that have been e-mailing me to find out why I'm not doing Traffic or Sonoran Living anymore. Actually, in case you missed it, my last day was August 29th. I have blogged about this before, but have found that people don't read all blogs and just the most current.

The contract was up between the traffic company I worked for and ABC15 and they decided not to renew. They said it was just business and nothing personal. I'll accept that. I have been a traffic reporter for over 15 years and will for sure miss it, but I won't miss waking up at 3am every day. That was brutal and I'm the one from the morning shift that came in on the later side. Yikes! Think of it this way...when you are getting up in the middle of the night for a potty break and are so excited to go back to bed, well think of the morning anchors and reports because they are getting up for good.

I had such fun helping out with Sonoran Living and I hope I can continue hosting somewhere or maybe even continue with my Voice-Over work. I guess the possibilities are endless as long as I am enjoying what I am doing and can balance work and family together.
Take care and please keep in touch. Andi

I'm Gearing Up For The ERA Convention?

What is the ERA Convention you ask? It's a part of the Electron Retailer Association, which basically means it's a convention for anything and everything that has do to with Infomercials. Someone had mentioned that it was a good thing to look into so in typical Andi fashion I am diving in head first and giving it 150%. Holly and I will be heading to Las Vegas to rub elbows with the infomercial big wigs and who knows, maybe I will meet Billy Mays, the Orangeglo , Kaboom and Oxyclean guy. I'm sure I will have some fun pictures to show when I get back. Right now I have to get back to putting my cover letter and demo dvd's together. It's all about the first impression you know. HHHMMMMM, what shall I wear?

How did you hear about me?

Okay, so being that I am not working RIGHT now, I have a lot of free time on my hands and one of the things I love doing is checking my web-site meter to see who is visiting my web-site, www.andibarness.com. I can tell what city you are in and how you found my site. Lately, it seems that a lot of people are googling me and I'm curious why? Did you read my name somewhere? Are you in need of a tv host or voice-over artist? Are you an ABC15 viewer that is curious why I am not on the air anymore? I would love to know the reason for the google so feel free to answer this blog. Remember, I have a lot of free time on my hands and I can write back.

Bad Customer Service!

Let me just start by saying that if you are not a people person or if you just plain don't like working with people, then please make it easier for all of us and don't get a customer service position. I think that is my biggest pet peeve or at least one of them. Without giving the exact location (in case I do have to go back there) I was at a Kinko's today and dealt with a guy that probably did not even know that I was human. He talked to me like he had no care in the world about my needs, did not even look at me when he spoke and really acted like I was bothering him with my order and there was other important things that he could be doing. He definetly DID NOT go the extra mile to make sure that I left there happy and I actually told him to cancel my order because I knew he was giving me the best service that he was going to give me......HORRIBLE! Yes, I have had worse service and I would go back to this location, but that does not mean I have to like it. The more that I think about it, it was actually like they all would rather be somewhere else. So sad to go to a job every day that you don't enjoy. Oh well! Do you have any similiar stories to share?

Did You Say What I Think You Said?

I was going thru some pictures from this past April and found a little something that my 2 year old had said that had us on the floor laughing. If you have kids you know that they can say the darndest things. Well, the video speaks for itself. Let me know if you think this is as funny as we do.

What To Do in Phoenix!

This blog is for visitors that are new to the Phoenix area or thinking of coming to our next of the woods. There is a cool web-site called www.whattodotv.com that tells you all about some neat adventures in the valley of the sun. From, flying thru the sky with Hot Air Expeditions to touring the open desert with www.Azhummertours.com There is even some video of each place so you can see exactly what your experience will be like. I especially like www.westerndestinations.com and all of the shops in Kierland Commons. You can even fly a real plane with a real pilot at www.fightercombat.com Make sure you tell them Andi sent you and I would love to know how your experience is.

Skype

I just discovered Skype and it is the coolest thing ever. I thought it would be to difficult for me to figure out the whole Skype thing and video web-cam, but it was actually pretty easy. I downloaded Skype and plugged in my web-cam and the next thing I know I'm talking to cousin Danny in L.A This is an awesome way to stay connected to friends and family that live out of the area. I'm sure there is so much more for me to learn but I have the basics down. Hey, maybe now I can start doing my own traffic reports from my office. Maybe call my new traffic site www.andidoestraffic.com What do you think? Oh, one thing you should be aware of is that if you are not looking your best or if you have limited articles on your body, you will be sorry! www.andibarness.com

Are you googling me?

Okay, so being that I am not working RIGHT now, I have a lot of free time on my hands and one of the things I love doing is checking my web-site meter to see who is visiting my web-site, www.andibarness.com. I can tell what city you are in and how you found my site. Lately, it seems that a lot of people are googling me and I'm curious why? Did you read my name somewhere? Are you in need of a tv host or voice-over artist? Are you an ABC15 viewer that is curious why I am not on the air anymore? I would love to know the reason for the google so feel free to answer this blog. Remember, I have a lot of free time on my hands and I can write back.

I Did It!

Hey guys. I'm back from the 3 Day walk for Breast Cancer in San Francisco and I'm happy to say that I walked the entire 60 miles journey to help find a cure for Cancer. I must admit that after the first 10 miles I had my doubts and I even jumped on a bus back to camp only to find out that they were full and I would have to wait for the next one. Well, I took that as a sign that I was not supposed to give up and I instead walked thru the pain and did it. Wow! It was the toughest thing I have ever done. It was also the most rewarding thing that I have ever done and I will do it again in San Diego next year.

If you are looking for an experience to change YOUR life and the lives of others then raise some money and WALK! Enjoy the pics.

My Day!

So I'm searching for something interesting to write about, but it was just another busy day. Although I guess it was not my typical day, because I actually made time to visit with friends and not be in such a rush. It's amazing how your day can slow down when you don't have to get so much done before you hit the hay at 8pm. I sort of felt like a normal person as I helped the kids get dressed for school, had a cup of coffee, started to pack for my 3day walk with Shelley, ran some errands, had lunch with Shelley and Jolie (the girls), worked in my office, picked up the kids from school, took them to piano, ran to the market, helped with dinner, read a book with Cole and now I am writing this blog. One week ago I would have been freaking out about having to get all of this done before 8pm and now I can get things done without having to rush. Life is slowing down right before my eyes and it feels great. I'm not stressed and neither are the kids....for once!

Here's To A New Begining

I have been gearing up for the day I could wake up at a normal hour for a long time and tomorrow is the day. Granted it means that I will not be doing traffic reports for ABC15, I feel like it was meant to be. Tomorrow is the first deay of the rest of my life and while it sounds cliche I really believe that my "dream job" awaits me. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I can tell you that it has nothing to do with waking up in the middle of the night and it will have everything to do with some type of television hosting or voice-overs. Mark my words...