I am truly blessed. I went to a parent teacher conference today. Jackson got rave reviews. I'm so pleased. he's really picking up french now. He is in pre-k and they have studied famous artists. They study herbs, cooking, and traditional reading and writing. The french definitely have a very aggressive program for education.
Today Jackson got to see a bit of his mom's competitive side. A couple of days ago we had a conversatioon about the words to a song that plays in the movie" Ants" The song is a takeoff of an old classic " Almost like being in Love" Jackson said that the words to a certain section were " There's a smile on my face for the whole insect PLACE" I said it wasn't PLACE but RACE. Tonight he wanted to prove to me that it was PLACE. So I put the movie in and it clearly said RACE. I said "HAHA I knew it was RACE!" I kept my gloating at a minimum. As in the temperment of his mother he said to me " Well it should be PLACE." I love that kid.
Nashville tomorrow night. Jacqui goes into town . Let's see how the girls hold up.

Marshall and I were speaking about how the New Orleans girls seem to have more relatives that die repeatly. We had a girl named Ginger. I swear she said her grandmother died 6 times. He suggested that when hiring the New Orleans staff we ask them to give us a complete geneology so the manager can refer back to it. " Well Liz, according to your family tree, your uncle Bill died 2 months ago. Sorry you can't call in sick this weekend."

It's pouring rain in New Orleans today. I'm feeling a bit down, probably too much turkey. Kevin has been going back and forth from Nashville to Denver. I may have to force him to take a few days off. He's running himself ragged. During the girl search one of the girls told me that she worked for www.emt.com ( I think) This is an online medical reference site. Well Kevin who is 5 ft. behind me chimes in " hey that's my favorite web page" Well Kevin is a self proclaimed hypocondriac. I laughed so hard. "Lil I use that web site religiously" " I'm sure you do Kevin." 28 years old, high blood pressure, stress out all the time. But he's great at his job and a really great guy. " Ok Kevin we have eleven days to open Nashville. You can do it!!!"

I love my son. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Now Tim has made me look like the bad guy. I bring the veteran girls to most of the openings to train the new bar's staff. For the Nashville opening I am bringing Cyndi ( worked for me for close to 4 years), maria ( worked for me for close to 4 years), Chantel ( worked for me for close to 3 years), and Ester ( worked for me for close to 1 year). He told a few San Antonio girls that I was going to bring them. Now I'm going to look like a schmuck when I don't. I love the San Antonio bar. the girls are getting better every day. But the bar is only 3 months old. I was bringing in some more veteran girls. By the time Denver opens they will be more ready to go. I promise I will bring at least one San Antonio girl to Denver. I just don't think they are ready yet. It is a big responsibility to train other girls. I don't take this lightly.
God damn you Tim!!

I just got home from the finals. I feel very emotionally drained. There were so many great girls. It was very sad. I cut girls who would of turned into super stars at the other bars. Incredible bartenders , singers, dancers, actresses. Kevin kept saying to me " can't you keep all of them?" There were just too many girls. I had to get the number down to a reasonable amount. I'm saddened because I had to cut so many .But I'm also mad. In New Orleans, I hear so much shit from the girls. I'm sick. My boyfriend doesn't want me working here. I'm in jail. To see so many motivated girls just makes me so angry at the bullshit that goes on in the other bars.
Welcome to Nash vegas

Well they don't call this town Nash Vegas for nothing. These girls have been singing , dancing, reciting their hearts out. One girl did a rendition of "Amazing Grace" that made me almost cry. Some funny stuff yesterday, one girl swallowed her gum so she could sing for me. I said " I could of found you a garbage". Another girl followed up two unbelievable singers witha skit on how to model on the catwalk. Kevin and I were hysterical. I had a group of 5 girls come in at once and they did the electric slide to the Limp Bizcut song " Rollin". I've never seen that before. One girl came up and said I have no talent like these other girls but I can do a lot of pushups. So I told her to beat Seth's pushup amount, 56 ( I think). So she did 57. She switched every 20 pushups doing it on one arm and then the other. Seth may have some competition. But the most memorable part of the day was a girl saying she wanted to do a song from "Grease" but she needed someone to sing the male part. So of course I volunteered Kevin. Kevin quietly said to me " Please don't make me do this." Well shit Kevin, take one for the team. So I got a picture of this girl pinning him against the wall. I'll post it later on this week. So far so good. Let's see who comes in today.

I asked Kevin to get me a tall (small) latte from Starbucks. He came back with a venti ( extra big) latte. It's one minute before we start sending the girls in for auditions and I'm bouncing off the walls.
Damn it's hot in here

I'm in Nashville and the phone in the office has been ringing off the hook. I hope a lot of girls show up

This pickup truck is killing me. All I wanted was to paint the logo on the sides and the hood. Now I've got Lee putting pictures of girls on it with dumb sayings. Finally, today, we compromised. I picked a few pictures that I like and we canned the cheesy sayings. Yesterday Tim really pissed me off. I haven't been that mad since Lee pulled crap with some of the merchandise. Kevin moved up a few pegs this week. Or did they just move down?

I put an ad on Monster.com to hire another person in operations. I told Jeff, no more men. I've had enough. Working with men is fine. I have quite a few go-getters in my company. I enjoy that. They want to do well and have a career with us. But egos are always a problem. And to be perfectly frank they don't completely get what it is like to be a Coyote. Unfortunately, most woman don't want to apply for management positions. They fear traveling and relocation. And let's just say it "the boyfriend" issue always weighs into their decision. When I first interviewed Tim he told me he had just started dating someone. I said will that be a problem if you have to move? "Absolutly not Lil, she doesn't mean that much to me." LOL. Well, I can't lie, that endeared me to Tim.

I'm headed for Nashville tomorrow. Big girl search this weekend. If anyone wants to donate bumper stickers, license plates, other cool stuff, send it to the Nashville bar. It is a big space to fill.

Just to clarify: Kelly and Joel have always run the San Antonio store. Tim was simply someone that is part of corporate who was helping them transition from new store to seasoned powerhouse store. Both Kelly and Joel have done excellent jobs. They appointed Jenn hawk head bartender and she is doing a wonderful job. My Lil Spill yesterday was devoted to saying Tim will be out of your hair!!!
I love you guys.

I've got Jacqui running a mission for me. Just to be frank, the shopping in New Orleans sucks. I've been working my ass off and I have nothing to wear for this Nashville opening. Jacqui was a personal shopper for a short while and she CAN SHOP. Over the years she has gotten me a million things. She buys Jackson presents all the time. Her and the NY girls always get me the nicest birthday gifts. Last year I got a Louis Vuiton makeup bag. The year before that they gave me chaps and lingerie. ( oh la la) I have no doubt that jacqui will have many outfit options for Nashville.
I lucked out having Jacqui. She worked for me at another bar. Came over to Coyote when I opened that bar. Low and behold a few years in when I decided we should actually choreograph routines versus all free style, she's a choreographer . She took a million years of dance and trained as a dancer / choreographer in College. So wa la we got real professional quality dance routines. A few of the franchised bars have tried to make their own routines. They are never as good. One of the franchises actually created their own routine but copied their moves from some of the Coyote dances which jacqui has copyrighted. I actually had to send a cease and desist letter to one of the franchised bars. It really is funny sometimes when I think about how cut throat this business is. Well regardless the Nashville girls will meet Jacqui in about a week. Good Luck.
San Antonio management ( Joel) has been upset that I do not want them to put in hip Hop or dance music at the bar. I have told him that the bar is a country/rock and roll bar. The girls should be trying to be the best Coyotes they can be. A good Coyote can hear the slowest Patsy Cline song and turn it into the most energetic crowd pleasing song on the jukebox. I told Jacqui yesterday that I wanted to send a girl down to San Antonio who can't dance a lick but has a really strong precense at the bar. I would make management play a full shift of country and old style rock and roll . The S A girls would watch how that girl worked. ( Not that easy being a really good Coyote) Perhaps in January I will do that.
San Antonio and Austin had great nights last night. I am so pleased that the San Antonio girls are doing well, it's Joel that's giving me a headache. Pain in my ass!!

I want to thank Chantel. She was the only person today who didn't call with a problem or to whine. The New Orleans bar did great this weekend. I love to hear that. I have such a bad headache today. I figure it's either the brain tumor I must have from using my cellphone or very deep seeded stress. Jacqui put into words today how I felt. " Lil, I'm going to put a motherfucking bullet through my head." Don't worry everyone, she decided to put the gun down and live. Jacqui has been in rare form this week. She's been like a one woman show. I can't stop laughing. NY girls, this weekend was outstanding. Keep up the good work. I spoke with kelly today and it's time for her to take the helm in San Antonio. Guess what girls!!! No more Tim for awhile. The "terminator" has been asked to help in Nashville. But he'll check in from time to time so dry your eyes.
Nashville girl search this weekened. I'm praying for a good turnout.

I was running late for my flight last night and of course I get selected for extra security screening. God damn not only did they do close to a full body cavity search but they took 20 minutes checking my bag. Well I missed the flight. So I had to take a 7:20 am flight this morning. Brutal!!!
Next week Nashville girl search. I'm crossing my fingers. I definitely feel like we are cutting this one very close

Nothing more annoying then when a girl quits because her boyfriend doesn't like them working at Coyote. All I can say to that is " Get a life. Having a boyfriend dictate to you about working a bartending job is ridiculous." How weak. I got a call from one of my people a few days ago stating that they heard a former bartender broke up with her boyfriend and wants her job back. If it is a desperate situation, where we are really short handed, I will think about it. But normally, I would not take that girl back. She is not strong minded enough to work at Coyote. That type of girl doesn't embody what I think a Coyote should be.
Jeff reminded me that I didn't make fun of Lee in the Lil Spill last week. Well here goes. Lee was on a cruise in the caribbean. His girlfriend and he were parting at night and they go back to their state room. Well, after quite a few drinks, the girlfriend starts picking an argument. ( Now this is all one sided from Lee) Supposedly it is the same fight she always picks. Well he gets so mad he does the stupid guy thing and punches the wall. Well I get an e-mail the next day stating that he went to the doctor and it's official , he broke his hand. As the old adage says " men are so stupid"

The good news is I got 9 hours of sleep last night. I think my sleeping average is somewhere between 4 and 5 hours a night. Bad news is that I woke up so unbelievably stressed out. I dreamt I was working at the denver bar and I was supposed to go to Nashville to hold the girl search. Jeff called me and said I had to go to Spain for something that was very important. I told him that I couldn't postpone the girl search. He responded, you have to go to spain it is very important. I woke with that same feeling you have after having the " I didn't study for the test " dream. When I have dreams about being back in school, it is always high school, never college. I always dream that I am my current age but they reviewed my transcript and claim I owe a few credits. I then have to go to classes with the seniors. I then plead my case. I even offer to take an exam to verify my knowledge in whatever subject they are referring to. But the verdict always comes in that I have to attend a full year of high school again. Then I pose the question to myself, do I really need to do this? I'm successful! How important is receiving this diploma when I have done well for myself and am doing well in business? The answer is for whatever reasons I have to go back and get the diploma. ( for the people who don't know me I went to high school and college)
About 2 years ago I was asked by my college, New York University, to give a speech to the business school. This woman called me day and night , she even called Jeff. I told her that I felt awkward giving a speech at a college I attended primarily on paper. What that means is, I was enrolled but I would work and miss classes or I would play pool and miss classes. I didn't even go to the business school. For god sakes I even wanted to be a social worker at one point. Finally she backed off and stopped asking.
Lee called me up yesterday and said " guess what !!! We can get Gretchen Wilson to play for the Nashville opening!!!" He followed that exclamation with " Can you just write a check for $100,000." Very funny Lee.

Ever since I posted on the Lil spill about people not writing in asking me to open in their particular city, I now get three times the e-mails on just that. I am sorry for the people who write me expecting an answer. I have tried to write to everyone but I just can't keep up with the e-mails..
I am working as fast as I can. People write in ; when are you going to open in Houston, seattle, Little rock etc. All I can say is that I am working as fast as I can. I don't want to open anything half assed so it takes time to make sure each location is being run properly.
By sheer coincidence there are about 5 girls who are leaving the New orleans bar. One girl got married and had to move. Another is dropping out of school and has to move. One more is homesick and has to move. Blah, blah blah. So if you read this Lil Spill, live in the New orleans area, are 21, and want to bartend, come on down. Talk with Aaron or Chantel!!!

I spent the weekend in Denver. We finally signed the lease! thank god. We were invited to a private party at Lucky strike, the famous celebrity bowling alley. They are going to be our neighbors in denver. Wow what a nice job they did on buildout. The place looks incredible. They have this beautiful red colored wood flooring. They have these powder blue modern sofas by the lanes and the Ligne Roset style brown sofas by the bar. It's a bowling alley / high end lounge. Jeff is funny. He went with me and maintained his traditional stance " If I'm not at home I will drink as many beers as I can" I love that! This weekend I was on my best behavior. I had to meet and greet so I stuck with Club soda on Saturday night. I called Jacqui and I said bring money to the denver opening. We're in a mall with Bananna republic, Niketown, Gap, Victoria secret, Bowling , Movies. They even have a salon . I have a feeling during dance rehearsal breaks Jacqui will be calling me over to go do a little shopping.
Last push before nashville opens. I'm getting a little nervous about making the Dec 8th opening. I hope the bar is done and the licenses are ready!

Jackson has a fever and we have been up since 2:30 am. I'm pretty beat.
Marshall told me a funny story yesterday. I wish I was there to see this. On saturday/ Sunday , when Austin had their Halloween party, there was a verball altercation with a customer. Marshall went outside to speak directly with this gentlemen. During this conversation words became heated and the man was asked to leave. The funny part of the story is that Marshall was dressed in his halloween costume , which happened to be a Daisy Duck costume. The bouncers said that it was hysterical watching him turn irate and the more he spoke the more the beak of his costume bounced up and down. I guess you had to be there but I can visualize this and it seems very funny to me.
Big meeting today on a possible new site.

Joel, I love you. You are an asset in San Antonio and I'm so sorry that I don't tell you more, how much I love you. Now stop your whining.
I've heard from Tim ,of all people, how I favor the NY and New Orleans bars. NY is my first bar and I have a soft spot for that bar but I do not let the girls off the hook. Jacqui is held to standards that some of the other managers aren't. New Orleans: I live there now. For all the positives I write about the staff, I write plenty of negatives. They are put under a magnifing glass everytime I come in. I wouldn't say I favor New Orleans. I would say I expect a lot out of the staff in New Orleans. I live there, so I go to that bar most often. Hence I write about the New Orleans staff the most.
San Antonio is doing great. The girls followed the 81 body shots with a second day of 85. Very impressive.
The Nashville bar is going to be fabulous. It's a big space. But it still feels comfortable. The walls are stone and the feel of the bar is really warm.
Back to interviewing

Took jackson very early this morning and voted. GET OUT AND VOTE !!!
On my way to Nashville today!

Lil,
I looked into it. The New Orleans record is 147!!! It was a Sunday. 72 day. 75 night. 7 girls total (3 day, 3 night, 1 swing). In San Antonio's face!
Aaron

Friday San Antonio sold 1 bodyshot during the day and 80 at night. 81 total for the day. 8 girls on at night and 2 girls on in the day ? I think.
So San Antonio now holds the per shift record but New Orleans holds the whole day record. Knowing Tim and kelly they are going to try and beat those numbers. Let's see if they can do it.

I went trick or treating with Jackson last night. He made out like a bandit. Unfortunately, I got locked out of my house without a cellphone. I had to get in touch with the bar so someone could help me. Good thing the next door neighbors were having a party. We just went over there and had cookies and wine while we waited.
Interviewing for the GM position in Nashville on Tuesday. Kevin has it narrowed down to 50.