I am having a nervous breakdown today!! Weeding through the bars’ P and L’s, trying to get some meetings cemented and trying to get preapproved for a mortgage. ( very small condo in Pensacola Beach.) Wow I am on overload today. I was pleased with most of the weekend bar numbers. We have been going back and forth on what we should do for the superbowl party in New Orleans. The biggest issue is that the superbowl happens right in the middle of the busiest part of Mardi Gras. This is going to be crazy!!

Holy Shit the Saints are going to the superbowl!!!! The Saints -Vikings game was a nail biter last night. Crazy. I swear I had 20 near heart attacks watching the game!  I watched the game at home on the big screen tv ( I was so jealous of Chantel because she was at the game). After the Saints won. my neighborhood went nuts. Fireworks, car horns blairing, people screaming. So exciting! Now I have to figure out how to score superbowl tickets!!!  GO SAINTS!!!

Not only did I watch the game but I watched hours of after game reports. Peyton Mannings family is from New orleans. Who do they route for?

What a freaking day!!  Yesterday when I brushed my teeth one side was acutely sensitive. I called the dentist and said please fit me in I have a cavity. Low and behold what I have is not a cavity. He said that all the years of using tooth whiteners have made my enamel weak so right where the tooth meets the gum is pourous and is essentially exposing the nerve which makes it very sensitive. The only solution is to put a kind of seal at the base of the tooth and do daily applications of flouride directly on that area. The Dentist said it will take a long time to feel better and I will have to replace seal every 6 months.  What the fuck!!!

NOTICE: WE have postponed the New orleans anniversary party because the saints are in the NFC Championship game that day. I am not 100% sure of when it will be so I will keep everyone updated!! Blah day today.

Lauderdale anniversary party was great. Much better turn out then last year. The girls looked incredible. It was very nice to see them caring about the bar.

I promoted Michele Kellor to regional manager for the Texas bars. She reports directly to Daniel. They have known each other for several years and there is a lot of familiarity and fun spirited ribbing. Daniel is loving that she is directly under him. He is constantly calling her his assistant and just pissing her off. I just received this from daniel to post! Very nice.

Very busy today before I leave tomorrow for Ft . Lauderdale anniversary party. I was in the New Orleans bar Saturday night and one of the bouncers had on a great work shirt.

My moto this year LESS TALK MORE ACTION! I hired accountants to do a spot audit on the New Orleans bar. Believe me, I will be checking a lot more bars too.

Jackson came home with incredible test scores from last week!!!

I just received my calendar for 2010. Well on a positive note I was very pleased with how the girls came out. But to my huge surprise Lee decided to create a 2 page layout of the corporate picture. At first I just scanned it quickly, laughing that instead of just putting a small picture on the back page he used up two pages to lay this one picture out. Then I got a call ” Lil , you look really weird in that calendar corporate picture”. So I decided to take a second look. “Holy shit what the hell is wrong with my mouth? “So I call up Lee. ” Lee what the fuck did you do to my fucking picture in the calendar?” ” Nothing Lil” Bull shit! I look so weird. 1000 people now have that fucking freaky picture. Lee I’m going to kill you!!!!”” Lil you look so good in the picture blah blah blah” Well  The truth shall prevail. Finally Lee admitted what happened! ” Lil a few months ago the photographer and I were trying to see how you would look with a smirk. So we switched your mouth from one pose and superimposed it onto another. But the problem was that you weren’t posing in the exact position as the first picture so it didn’t line up properly. And I sent the publishing company the wrong picture by accident.”  Urgh. ” Again What the Fuck!!!”

Now that I know Daniel is not dead or in jail I can tell the real story. At 5 am I get a call from Daniel. For Daniel to call me at that time I expected that an accident happened at one of the bars so I picked up right away. Daniel was very very drunk and he told me that he was on the side of the road somewhere in california with no jacket, no wallet, no people even near him. He can’t remember how he got to this location ( which from his description sounded like a residential neighborhood). I Then had to try and get him to calm down long enough to figure out an address. Finally he got me an address so on my other phone I called a taxi company in Pasadena to pick him up . The taxi company then advised me that the address was in a town called Arcadia. So I had to call another taxi company while, on the other phone,  trying to calm Daniel down and listening to ” Lil, your my boss, am I that big of a loser that I had to call my boss. I am freezing, my friends ditched me, I have no memory of where I am and by the way did I tell you I am pissed off at the girls in Oklahoma?” So finally the cab goes and gets Daniel. The story doesn’t end. I get another call from Daniel about 40 minutes later. ” Lil can you please help me. I didn’t have enough money to pay the cab driver so he called the police and I am about to be arrested. ” he then puts me on the phone with the cab driver whom I have to give my credit card to and pay for Daniel’s $94 cab ride. While I am on the phone with the cab driver I can hear Daniel telling the cops ” I work for Coyote Ugly. That’s Lil the owner on the phone right now.” I heard one cop say ” Is that really Lil?”. Ok so I pay the cab and Daniel doesn’t get arrested but he is at a hotel where he is not registered with no id no credit card and no idea where his friends are. ” Daniel go through the parking lot and see if your friends car is here. ” Lil this doesn’t happen to me. My team lost and now I don’t know what to do?” This went on for another half hour. Finally  we hung up with the understanding that he would call me when he was able to contact his friends. I expected a call an hour or two later. When Daniel didn’t call me I tried to call him repeatedly for many many hours. I fully expected him to be in jail. Well finally he called me safe and sound with more stories. On a personal note I was very worried about him. On a business note I was worried that if he got arrested he would not be allowed into Canada , where we may open!

OK all is well that ends well. I said to Daniel ” I guess you wont be drinking at the Lauderdale anniversary party” His respnse ” hell yeah I’m drinking”

Oh my god this cold front is killing me. The bars are freaking dead. The only two bars that had any business were Austin ( UT in a bowl game) and Ft. Lauderdale ( how cold can it really get in Lauderdale). Its 30 degrees in new Orleans today. Coming from NY, I don’t feel like its that bad. I just got back from Canada where a warm day is 5 degrees so 30 is like a heat wave.

I got some strange calls from Daniel last night. He had called me a couple of days ago to tell me that he scored tickets to Pasedena to watch UT play. UT lost and he was not happy. Now today I can’t get in touch with him so I am a little worried.

My New Years resolution was very simple : Less Talk More Action. In all areas of my life. I so aften feel like I am spinning my wheels and things either dont get accomplished or they don’t get finished. So that is my goal. I am starting to really address my weaknesses and they all revolve around 1 thing, lack of organization. Damn I wish I had an assistant again. I get so much mail and I put it aside until the last minute when I have to rush to get something done. OK Well, I need to get my ass in gear because there are some brillant ideas in my head that need to get actualized!!!

A girl got fired last week for getting caught having sex in the bathroom. I have been in that bathroom, let me tell you there is nothing sexy about that.

Carry on!

It was an easy day this morning then all of a sudden a ton of emails just came in. I am starting a full offensive to find new locations. I want to change our strategy a bit!! Good start to a new year!

Long week. Santa was good to Jackson and me. Jackson never asks for much so I spent less then $50 on books and 1 wii game. He loved them. He took 1 of the books every where he went . I love that. Trey got us a cruise to Cozumel, so I am making a bikini goal for myself March 8th!!  I tried to get Trey to join me on a 2 month diet workout regemin but he wouldn’t. My new goal is for him to get fat while I am getting fit so i will look even smaller next to him!!

My mom gave me a ring that she had from the past. That was very nice of her. She also gave me the strangest present I have ever received! A beautiful wooden box arrived from my mother. I was prepared to find an expensive bottle of wine but I was shocked at what was really inside. It was one white dumbell. Yes you read this right, a dumbell. I actually tried to jar the ends apart thinking that it really couldn’t be a dumbell. So I called my mom directly to thank her and low and behold , it is a dumbell. She said I am supposed to shake it while dancing to music. LOL

I met my family in Quebec for vacation.  When Jackson and I were going through customs I was asked to supply a note from Jackson’s dad giving me permission to to take him out if the country. Of course I didn’t bring that. The customs officer then interogated Jackson completely in french.  Jackson held the conversation for the whole time. Afterwards the officer told me that we could enter because Jackson answered all the questions correctly. Cool. I asked jackson what the guy asked and he told me that the man first asked if he knew me. Then asked if I was kidnapping him. Asked why his father wasn’t there. I was very impressed that Jackson’s french was that good. He did all the translating and communicating for everyone the whole trip!

For the most part the bars did fucking phenomenal for New Years Eve. Memphis kicking everyones ass this week. I love starting the year this way!!

This week I have been feeling a clarity that I don’t think I have ever felt. And I have been feeling it in all aspects of my life. To give an example, Trey told me some of the ideas he had for Jackson’s Christmas present. The first two ideas Trey had  were 1. Knife and 2. BB gun. My first thoughts were ” what the fuck? I don’t want my son freaking killing himself with a knife or a BB gun”. But I didn’t freak out or even voice my concern. I just said to Trey, ” honey when you were young your grandpa always used a knife. He used it for work he used it to whittle things. It was as essential for him as my keys are for me. So when you were little and he gave you your first knife he taught you how to use it. And you already had a healthy respect for it by watching him. On the other hand, Jackson has never been around people who use knives for anything else then cutting food, so I don’t think he would even know what to use the knife for. And as far as the BB Gun goes , you would have to be around enough to teach him because I have never ever used one so again I couldn’t teach him . ” I have learned so much from dating Trey. The biggest thing I have learned is that as much as I don’t want to admit it, I have stereotyped people with different upbringings then me.  Last year I had a revelation about Mosey Oak ( camouflage) products. I was visiting Trey’s mom and went into the local Tractor store where Trey worked as a kid and I saw Mosey Oak Christmas wrapping paper. Mosey oak designer shoes. Mosey oak calendars. It hit me like a freaking bolt of lightening!! Bam people are representative for how they grow up. Just because I grew up in a NY style fashion doesn’t mean everybody else did and doesn’t mean one person is better then the next. I drove home from Trey’s place, which is 3 hours from my house today. On the road there were all these Christmas stands selling fireworks. I had no idea that fireworks were so popular as Christmas presents. Again, I didn’t grow up around that but the fact that there were so many of these stands means that other people did. So my goal is to stop judging things that are alien to me. I don’t foresee myself hunting , wearing Mosey Oak, or being a focus of an episode of My Big Fat Redneck Wedding, but I want to try and understand that those things represent a certain culture!

There are so many other things I have become clear on. And when I say this, I mean my own feelings. Recently, a few things are going on in Coyote world. And I realized, wow I take all the risk in Coyote Ugly.  In the last 17/18 years if the rent is late , if there is a lawsuit, even a bad review, its all my risk. And the risk is two part. If one of the bars is low funds I lend the bar money. Others get bonuses and some years I don’t. I have to defend the company from lawsuits both personally and financially. And if there is something bad that is said it always coincides with my name. Regardless, there has been a whole lot more good then bad but I am at a point of clarity where I can isolate my feelings on some things that have gone on.

I am feeling very thankful for a lot of things. I dont have a lot of friends but the few I have are incredible. And really the best thing is my son. Wow I am blessed!!

We were invited by Jamie Tebbe, owner of Pro Style Financial, to go to the Saints- Cowboys game on saturday night. What a day. Jamie is a financial advisor for many pro athletes and I got to meet some of the athletes that invest in the various Coyotes. I met Orlando Scandrick a corner back for the cowboys,Jay Ratliff Defensive end for the cowboys. Bobby McCray, defensive end for the Saints. And possible future investor Pierre thomas, running back, for the New Orleans saints.

What a game! We were in Bobby McCray’s suite with his freinds and family. The next suite over was Reggie Bush’s suite. Kim Kardashian kept going back and forth from Reggie’s suite to ours. She’s tiny and I would describe her butt as a bubble butt its not wide at all. Regardless, my team lost!! But after the game we met up with a few saints players and I have a new prospective. They really want to win the superbowl. There is determination there. In fact when I was specking with a few of the players, there doesn’t even seem to be doubt that they will get to the superbowl. I felt a sense of relief that they arent still chasing the undefeated season so that some of their injured players can rest and be ready for the play offs. Even though we lost I left that night thinking that this was a good thing!!! GO SAINTS!!!

By the way it really sucks when a 6’5′ Defensive end asks you why Oklahoma dividends went down last month. ” I promised that the dividends will go up after the first of the year so OKC get your game on!!” By the way, the players that invested in Nashville are very happy. Thanks Nashville!!

Yesterday I received a call from ABC’s show Nightline. They were doing a piece on Elizabeth Gilbert to promote her new book. They asked if they could take some B roll at the NY bar as a backdrop for things that have impacted her life. If your not familiar with Liz, she wrote a bestselling book called Eat, Pray, Love. (Julia Roberts was signed to play Liz in the movie adaptation of the book. ) Liz worked for me years ago when the bar was only a year or two old. A few years after she stopped working at Coyote , she wrote an article for GQ magazine called ” The Muse of Coyote Ugly” . We have it on the press part of the website. Its so funny but yesterday I had Juliana, NY AM, make sure that their were old pictures of Liz up at the bar for her interview on Nightline. Juliana kept emailing me pictures of the old photos on the wall of Liz, myself and other bartenders during that time. So needless to say, during the last day I have been in a ” walk down memory lane” mood. Juliana sent me a picture of Liz, myself, Chris, and Dawn from the first year. I look like I am twelve years old in that picture. When I look at the 4 of us I think about how different each of us was and is today. Liz, was always a writer. She bartended so she could write. Smart as a whip. She used to love writting on the sandwich board outside. ” Free Pony rides” ” Roaches check in but they don’t check out.” People would actual come in asking about the pony rides?  Everyone knew that Coyote was a temporary stop for her. Obviously her achievements have eclipsed most peoples. Chris was one of my best friends.She was one of my roomates before I opened Coyote. ( she used to date John Stewert before he was huge)She was and is  Gorgeous. She drank too much on her shifts but the customers loved her. I used to speak to her all the time but I haven’t heard from her in a couple of years . I need to find her and reconnect. Dawn was NUTS. Really just nuts. People knew if they came in to visit her on her shifts that they would be staying all night long and that they better expect a 3 day hangover. Out of the thousands of girls that have worked for me there are 3 girls that make the outragously wild category 1. DawnNY 2. kasi NY 3. Jolene New Orleans. The last I heard about Dawn was that she moved to New Mexico. I hope she is doing well.( I have this faint memory of Dawn and her live in boyfriend breaking up. The reason it is faint because she was so upset that she would come down to the bar every day when I opened ( not her shifts) and start drinking. Unfortunately, I would join her.)

I could go on all day so I will stop!