[jQuery] superfish menu issues

I searched and tried implementing some suggestions regarding the
desire for transparent first level navigation so it will show the
sites nav bar gradient image.

I am using a php include for the navigation so if i need to make
changes or additions to the sites navigation I can do it in one
place. My site utilizes a css stylesheet for the overall site layout
so I'm adding the sf-menu class tag and then calling the php include
navtop1.php.

I put up a test page at http://isltcforme.com/indexa.php

<div class="topnavigationArea">
<div class="container">
<div class="topnavigationgroup">

<ul class="sf-menu">
<?php include "navtop1.php";?>
</ul>
</div>

My issue is I would like to know how to make the superfish menu look
more like my site. I reverted back to the original superfish.css and
sf-nav.css since the changes didn't show the desired changes in ie7 or
firefox 3.5.6

what am i doing wrong or what is the fix?