Whirlwind Weekend and Week

Whew....I think I have caught my breathe from this weekend. What a whirlwind life right now. I went back to Indiana on Friday evening to co-host, along with my mother and sister Holly, a bridal shower for my baby sister. Thankfully one of my bestest friends (crazy Amy) went along with me and she was a huge help with all the going-ons this weekend. We got in around 7pm on Friday night and went straight to dinner with my mom and Elaysha bug. I was starving so dinner at Hacienda was extra delicious. After dinner, we made a quick stop at Target and then headed home. I was in bed before 10 pm.

My Saturday started early....7 am early but it wasn't bad because I was already awake. I left with my mom at 8 am and the errands commenced. We started the day with Donut Bank coffee and donuts...an Evansville must! We then dropped her car off for an oil change and then gathered all the shower stuff and loaded the car and headed to church. We got everything situated for the festivities and I designed the floral arrangements....another fun thing that I am discovering that I am good at and enjoy very much! From there we ran a couple last minute errands to get some more shower supplies. We grabbed lunch and then picked up her car and dropped my car off for an oil change. We swung by the house to pick up Crazy Amy, who enjoyed the morning sleeping in and recouping from her night of food poisoning :( poor Amy, to run and do mani and pedis. We then dropped my mom off at home and then grabbed my daddy-o to get in a quick trip to the gun range to get in some shooting practice. Then we brought my dad back home b/c my parents had a wedding to attend and then grabbed Holly, Amy and Elaysha and headed to the mall. We did some quick shopping and then grabbed some dinner. By the time I got home around 9:30...I was absolutely exhausted!

Sunday was the big day....shower day! And by shower, I also mean rain showers. I was glad to sleep in some and then attended church at Bethel Temple Church. It's a great church in Evansville and I look forward to attending any time I'm back in Indiana. We snuck out a little early to pick up balloons for the shower and grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to my parents church where we were hosting the shower. We did all the last minute decor and finishing touches and then I assumed the role of "greeter/traffic director" for all the guests that arrived. We had about 30 people attend and my sister got some great gifts. I feel like over all it was a good and successful event. Crazy Amy was kind enough to be our photographer for the day using my camera. But I haven't had a chance to actually download the pics to my computer. I will post them when I can. The shower ended around 4pm and we had everything cleaned up by 5pm. We ran back to my parents house and packed our car and then headed out to dinner at Longhorns to have an early birthday dinner for my Dad. After dinner, we made a quick stop by my grandmother's house and then got on the road back to Tennessee.

I finally got home around 11 pm and got everything unpacked. And hence the weekend was gone and now a busy week has started. I got up early only to repack as I am now in East Tennessee for today and tomorrow. Then I am heading back to Nashville for some friends that are coming to visit. My travels are not over just yet as I also have to head back to West Tn to do some office stuff and pick up the dog and bring her back to Nashville.

Whirlwind....

Hostess with the Mostest

It has become clear to me lately that I absolutely LOVE hosting parties. I love creating an environment that allows a group of people to come together and enjoy each other's company...stories told...laughter shared. I love the opportunity to eat delicious amounts of food and sweets. (like I need to create an "opportunity"...HA) This also explains why the favorite part of my job is event planning. While the amount of details can sometimes be overwhelming and stressful, at the end of the day it's very rewarding to me.

It's that time....a season of parties. I hosted a dinner party this weekend for my roomie, Jen and her fiance Mike. This weekend, I am heading to Indiana to co-host a bridal shower for my baby sister, Amy. She will become a Mrs. in just 3 short months. I will celebrate with Jen and Mike as they get married on April 17th. I have a new and fun event that I am planning for work on April 27th. Then I will head to the sunshine state on April 30th to co-host a bachelorette weekend beach bash for Amy. Once I return I will have another two events in a weeks time for work. If I can survive those events and I do plan to survive, then I will take a much needed vacation and head to the majestic mountains of Colorado to celebrate ME and my big birthday of 35. But that's not the end of parties...once I return from Colorado I will have about a week to regroup before heading back to the sunshine state...this time to stand besides my sister as she becomes a wife.

Here's hoping I'm still feeling like the "hostess with the mostest" when it's all said and done!

Where's the sunshine?

I feel like I haven't seen sunshine since I was in Arizona . Actually we had some sunshine and blue skies last Friday but nothing since then...that was 5 days ago. Being under this constant cover of clouds and rain showers is SO depressing. The combinatino of weather and daylight savings time has made it tough to get out of bed in the morning. The weather peeps keep promising sunshine but that's yet to happen. Maybe I'll just head back to Arizona where the sunshine seems to be abundant.

I think I'm getting back into a routine after vacay. I've worked out every day this week thus far which feels good and I am enjoying a work routine getting to spend lots of time working from my downtown office. April and May are busy months with Foundation stuff and we've even added a new event in April so I guess I should be enjoying this "down" time while I have it. I'm thinking it's like the calm before the storm.

Low Key Weekend

I've enjoyed a rather low-key weekend. Friday night was spent with Jen and Mike eating a casual dinner at the Broadway Brewhouse in Bellevue. I can't believe they are getting married in 34 days....so excited for them! Saturday morning was dog duty (since the family is overseas) and since I was there, I got in a 3 mile run on their treadmill. Did a couple errands and then met up with my friends Amy, Katie and Patrick for lunch at Blue Coast Burrito and then caught the afternoon show of "Alice in Wonderland" in 3D. It was very enchanting! Made a quick trip to Costco with Amy and then worked my way back for the evening dog duty and then to relax at home and catch up on some tv shows.

The time change, that is losing the hour, really sucked. It also doesn't help to lose an hour of sleep and wake up to another gloomy and wet and cold day :( This weather blows! Anywho, I got up and ready for church stopping to do morning dog duty of course. I grabbed a quick Waffle House lunch with my friend Amy afterwards and then did a couple more errnads and even some work stuff that I wanted to get a jump start on for this week. I got home around 5:30 and began the organizational project known as my closet. I'm rebelling against this colder weather and put a good majority of my sweaters back in storage for next winter! I also got to use some of my finds from Ikea which helped tremendously with all the clutter. I have a whole bag of old running shoes (6 pairs to be exact) ready to be dropped off at Soles4Souls tomorrow and I also did 2 loads of laundry. I even managed to hit the couch in time to watch the new HBO mini-series called The Pacific.

All in all it's been a good weekend and I am ready for another productive work week (fingers crossed).

Rainy Days

I don't mind a rainy day but rainy days...like day after day...kinda brings me down. It rained my last 3 days in Arizona and it's rained every day (at some point) since I've been back to TN and guess what the weekend forecast is? Yep, more rain. I realize that rain is good for the ground and spring flowers but a little sunshine would be good too and most welcomed.

Coming back from a great vacay hasn't been too hard. I typically get the post-vacay blues and while I do miss hanging out with Ruthann and Wesley, I'm ready to dig into work and some fun events that we have coming up. I haven't been overwhelmed with emails or phone calls from my boss overseas which has been wonderful. I have plenty to work on and am enjoying my own scheduled days and being productive without a million interruptions.

Arizona Vacation Highlights

Thought I would post some pictures that highlighted my recent vacay to Arizona. This vacation was actually the best vacay that I've taken in a while. I got to spend so much quality time with my dearest friend, Ruthann that I am coming back to Nashville more refreshed and my batteries fully recharged!

A sure sign of spring...Baseball. Cubs spring training game that we attended on Friday

Ruthann and I spent our Saturday at The Spa at Camelback Inn...what a treat!

In between treatments, we lounged by the pool. It had a spectacular view of mountains all around and we got a perfect day full of sunshine and blue skies

I had so much fun getting to meet and play with Wesley. He is such a delight :)

Ruthann and I

Much Needed Vacay

I cannot even begin to emphasis how great my vacation has been thus far. I flew out on Thursday afternoon to visit one of my dearest friends, Ruthann who now resides in Arizona. I was excited for this trip for multiple reasons. 1. It's a real vacation...no bringing work, laptops, etc. 2. Its great time with friends, getting to meet their little one, Wesley for the first time. 3. I've never been to Arizona before and was so welcoming the sunshine. The weather has been fantastic up until Sunday when we got rain showers and some cooler temperatures. We've had all sorts of fun things planned and for the pictures and play-by-plays, you can check out Ruthann's blog (her link is on my blog list, last link).

It's been a much needed vacation and so great thus far!