Arrington Vineyard

Saturday afternoon some friends gathered at Arrington Vineyards to enjoy the wonderful weather, great wine and picnic foods, and live jazz music. These pictures are courtesy of my friend Patrick who also graciously organized this get together.

Me, Sims and Katie hanging out around the picnic table and yummy food.

Wade took this fun picture of Me, CrazyAmy and Sims


Chatting up with Wade while hanging out on the hillside

I absolutely loved hanging out and watching the stars come out at night

Blunt Toe Trama

It's rather laughable now but at the time of injury laughter was the last thing running through my mind. Let me take you back to the scene of the accident. I was having a productive Saturday morning. I got up early, took care of my bosses dog, ran a 5k, picked up bosses from airport and made my way to the grocery store all before 10 am on Saturday. The grocery store was very quiet and I didn't have much to pick up really. What I did stock up on was liter bottles of water since I knew they would be perfect to take to a picnic that afternoon and I was rather thirsty. I also picked a half gallon of my favorite tea. Since I only had about 7 items, I ventured to the self-checkout lanes and began the process. I try my best to bring my recyclable shopping bags to save on the plastic. My thought was that I will scan the heavy bottled products to keep my shopping bag from collapsing. I had all 3 bottled products in and bag secure (so I thought). When I scanned the next product, I clearly did not see the bottles falling out of the bag. I never saw anything but quite painfully felt them all 3, one by one, fall onto my bare foot. The victim, my big left toe. The pain was that instant pain that delivers a blow to the pit of your stomach. I looked down below and saw that I had skin hanging off said big toe. Holy smokes....I literally had to take a moment at the self check out line to regain my composure. I can only imagine what this looked like to those watching the security cameras. Thankfully my toe nails are painted a springy shade of purple because now my big toe matches perfectly.

Easter Brunch

My church offered the option of a Saturday night worship service so I was excited to partake of this opportunity to go to church on Saturday night which in turn allowed me to sleep in on Sunday morning. (well not really because I had to take care of my bosses dog but it was a nice thought). Anywho, my friend Crazy Amy found this great brunch spot online and we decided to check it out. We went to Boxwood Bistro which is just outside of downtown Franklin. It was like having brunch in a tiny space of heaven. We got a table outside and basked in the glorious sunshine surrounded by shrubbary and beautiful trees full of spring blossoms. The brunch was buffet style and their menu selections were abundant. Everything was simply perfect.

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!