'Something Shiney' Sip and See

I had a busy day yesterday with work, the gym, a Jr. League meeting and then an event my friend Amanda invited me too for the non-profit she works for. The event was a sort of ‘Sip and See’ with Meghan Browne of Something Shiney – a line of gifts and jewelry – YAY! Shopping.

It was held in the clubhouse at a fairly new condo complex here in Charlotte that is super cute and trendy called, The Residence, and wine and food was served. Several ladies showed up for the occasion to shop including my friend Dana whom I traveled with to the party.

As you can see in the pictures there was all sort of funky and fun jewelry that was totally inexpensive along with pewter giftware and stationary. I ended up buying a gold bracelet and a pair of earrings and it only cost me $30! That’s what I call a deal!

If you’re interested check out Meghan’s website. http://www.shineygirl.com/

Some of her fun necklaces!

Pewter gifts!

I'm obsessed with fleur de lis....could it be the Louisiana factor? LOL!

Dana, Meghan and Me.

Perspective........

So, two posts in one day. Am I big or what?

I had to after my experience while volunteering at the USO Center at the Charlotte Airport tonight.

I generally work in the kitchen but tonight I worked the front desk checking people in. We see all sorts of people come through from retired, cadets, guys who just stepped off the plane from Iraq or Afghanistan(we make a big about that).

Tonight though I had a woman check in and when I asked her if she was military or a dependent(family member of one), she said 'well, i'm a surviving spouse am I allowed to come in?'. I said well sure you still have ID(military ID) and she yes.

What I didn't realize is that she had just gotten back from his funeral.......

She then broke down and started crying and it was her comment to me that 'after they are gone people forget about the families' that hit me.

I don't care if you agree with the war or not - but there are men and women defending this country everyday and we should all be aware and not take that for granted.

Another reason I treasure being a volunteer at the USO and not only help support the Troops but their families as well.

Bobcats vs. Knicks

The rain has finally stopped here in Charlotte! YAY! Last night it continued to come down though and to get out of the house Brad and I went to a Bobcats game.

My friend Tony got us free tickets and the seats were a little high -- but they were Free!

The Bobcats won and continue to inch their way towards the playoffs! Brad and I are actually going to the next game as well which is The Lakers on Tuesday night and this time we're sitting in the company suite. Should be nice :)

Happy Sunday!

Grand Canyon at IMAX

It's still raining here in Charlotte.. boo.. when will it end?

Brad is ancy so today we decided to get out and go see a movie about the Grand Canyon that's playing at IMAX.

I had heard alot about it and I have to say it was pretty good. Not over the top good but it had a good message about water conservation throughout the entire film.

Robert Redford narrated it and Dave Matthews Band was the music throughout the film -- it ran 45 minutes.. Happy rainy Saturday!

Sightings while I was in Miami

While in Miami I had all types of interesting sightings. GO FIGURE! It’s Miami right??

The first being at our hotel – The Deauville Beach Resort on Miami Beach - where when I arrived I discovered that there was an event called ‘The Roundup’ going on. This event is an annual meeting at the hotel for recovering addicts whom are gay. Let me tell you what – there were some hot bodies on some of these men and they showed it off in their Speedos!

I didn’t take any pictures of the actual guys and gals there but I did get a shot of their flag they had waving along with the American flag at our pool. I was just recently informed that this is not politically correct – the rainbow flag is NEVER supposed to fly side by side with the US flag. Oh Well!

The other sighting was totally opposite from that but I thought it was very cool. A Harley-Davidson shirt from Baghdad, Iraq and the gentlemen wearing the shirt is a Colonel in the Army and got it when he was doing a tour over there.

I’ve been told by many soldiers that there are TONS of motorcycle dealerships over there that market to the troops. The guys and gals can get these bikes for really cheap and bring them back to the states tax free.

Just a few fun pictures for today happy Friday!

The pool with the flags.

The Harley-Davidson shirt from Iraq.

Home from my Miami trip

Well, I’m back at home in Charlotte! After 5 days in sunny Miami I was welcomed home to rain and fog….BOO! check out the sunrise picture I took from our room on the last day!

We had a good time on the trip whether it was basking in the sun, walking on the beach or enjoying a few cocktails while out in South Beach. Here are few pictures highlighting the trip. Sorry I was such a slacker about blogging while on vacation!

Now back to reality….thanks to Brad who took care of The Buddy!

there were tons of wind surfers!

Out on South Beach - congo drummer!

Gettin' my pose on in the hotel lobby :)

Late evening walk on the beach.

Morning walk on the beach

It was windy!

Mom and I having cocktails poolside!

Me and my Mom right before I left to head to the airport. This was our balcony.

Miama Beach - Day 2

It was pretty windy here yesterday! Not a lot of beach time just the pool and me and my Mom took a 2 hour stroll on the beach.
In fact the tides were so bad that a young boy drowned and they still haven't found him. Very sad.
More later today - it's taking a long time for my pictures to upload here.
CIAO!

Miami Beach - Day 1

Quick post! sorry :(

We went out for Mom's birthday last night on South Beach! she loved it! YAY! It was rainy yesterday but sunny and windy today.

More tomorrow!

Miami Bound

This time tomorrow I'll be laying on the beach in Miami! woohoo! I'm excited not only to see my family but also to get to a sunny and warm place!

The only thing that sucks is that my flight leaves at 6:30am! yikes! I'm going to stay at Brad's house tonight because he lives closer to the airport and it gives me a chance to see him before I leave for 5 days.

For all of you wondering where The Buddy will stay? Well, he'll be at the palace(Brad's) :)

I'll try and keep up with my blog while I'm down in Florida and post some pictures as well!
CIAO!

Cover Article

I have to say that I’m pretty involved in the Charlotte community and I really enjoy it. One of the many organizations I’m a member of is the Junior League of Charlotte, a volunteer organization for women.

When I first joined the league I had a community placement where I would spend time with at risk youth but 4 years ago that changed when I decided to have an in-league placement writing for the magazine.

As many of you know I’m journalist and spent 10-years producing television newscasts – so this placement is right up my alley.

The magazine is called The CRIER and we put out 4 issues a year and I recently found out that one of my stories is the cover article for the spring issue! What’s even better is that I wrote about a friend of mine who I met hiking!

A few members of the The CRIER staff had a happy hour/dinner last night to look over the proof of the magazine and here are a few pictures of all of us along with a shot of what the cover will look like.

BTW – the article talks about how Carol used her Junior League experience to change careers and become a director of a well-known non-profit here in town, Crisis Assistance Ministries.

Inside the magazine

The article continues...

The CRIER staff (not everyone)

Me, Kim and Jennifer posing for a picture.. goofy! :)

Facebook and Old Friends

I’m on Facebook, just as most of the world is these days.

It’s been fun reconnecting with old friends from high school, college and the different TV stations I’ve worked at throughout the years.

Lately though, I’ve been getting messages from a ton of my brother’s old high school buddies whom he hasn’t talked to in upwards of 15 to 20-years. My brother, (Wesley) on the other hand will NEVER get on Facebook for a ton of different reasons but loves reconnecting with old friends.

One of the people he has reconnected with is his best friend from high school, whom he had a falling out with years ago. They haven’t talked in years so this is exciting!

Me on the other hand, I’ve had the same best friend since 2nd grade and I’m glad to report that we’ve never had a falling out.

Her name is Rebekah and it’s amazing how we’ve been able to keep in touch over the years. She lives in Tampa now with her husband Rob and her 2 gorgeous daughters, but she calls me nearly every morning on my way to work.

Rebekah and I have a ton of memories from visiting each other in the summer after I moved to Arkansas, living together our freshman year of college, to living in Las Vegas at the same time after college, (gosh what fun we had there!).

I haven’t seen her in over a year but plan on visiting her soon down there in sunny Florida! Love and miss you Bek! Here is couple of pictures from throughout the years.

The last time I saw Rebekah in Dallas, Texas a year or so ago.

Age 15 at Petit Jean Mountain, Arkansas

Age 18 - Delta Gamma Big Sis Lil' Sis

Age 25(?) at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Beer and St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Not too much celebrating for me today or tonight. Work has been crazy - which is good!
So, I've been thinking - Guinness is the preferred beer for most on St. Patty's Day and, I have to say I enjoy a Guinness every now and then, but it's not my favorite overall.

My favorite?
Either a Red Stripe from Jamaica or an Abita Purple Haze from Abita, Louisiana!
My friend Cathy got me hooked on Red Stripe when we lived in Vegas. She worked for the company and used to load me up all the time with cases!
As far as Purple Haze - what can I say - I'm a Louisiana girl :)

How about you? What's your favorite beer?

Red Stripe and the beach..mmm..good!

Me drinking a Purple Haze at a Mardi Gras party.

Pet Peeve

This picture above shows two of my biggest pet peeves. Number one being, people who back into parking spots and two, people who take up 2 spots because they don't want their beloved car to get dinged.

Seriously people....
I work in the downtown area of Charlotte and park in a high rise parking garage and it totally ticks me off to have to deal with people who stop the flow of traffic in the garage so they can back into a spot! You're making me late for work just so you can strategically back your car in.

It's rude - just as it is to take up two spots so your car won't get dinged.

Well, that's my rant for today. It's Monday.......

St. Patrick's Day Fun - The Mulligan Party

Well, our plan to lay low for St. Patrick's Day weekend didn't happen. All week we had plans to have dinner with Brad's brother and friends out at their house in Wesley Chapel(about 30 minutes from Uptown Charlotte), and we stuck to those plans. Fun Times!

What we didn't know was that their neighbors Jen and Patrick Mulligan were going to have their annual St. Patrick's Day party! It was great - as you can see in the above picture Jen had all sorts of green drinks, beer, and food. You can see in the pictures below that she did a great job decorating! Of course, they turned their garage into a beer pong championship which everyone seemed to love!

Overall, a fun way to spend St. Patrick's Day weekend without having to fight the bar crowds in Uptown Charlotte! Thanks again Jen and Patrick and Robyn and Jeff for having us over!

This was just one of 2 or 3 tables of green food in the house!

Yummy desserts!

Beer Pong!

Me and Brad after a few green drinks :)

Favorite Thing

Okay kids, this is hands down the best candle ever! My friend Dana gave me one about 4 years ago for my birthday and told me the same thing and I didn't believe her until I burned it.

I now give them to people for holidays, birthdays, etc. Most of them probably think -- 'oh thanks- what a cheapo gift' - that is -- until they burn it!

They're made in Tyler Texas and you can't buy them online so search on google to see where you can buy them in your area. BTW - my favorite scent is French Market but they are all good!

I've been awarded!

My friend Casey, who inspired me to start a blog, sent me this award!

The Rules:List 7 things that you love and then pass the award on to 7 people...tagging them and letting them know they won! You can copy the picture of the award and put it on your sideboard letting the whole wide world know you are.

OK....my 7:

1. The outdoors. Whether it’s walking in the neighborhood, hiking, skiing or just sitting on the porch things are better done outside!

2. Brad. What a great guy! To think that I would have never met him if my friends hadn’t pulled me away from my scrapbooking to go out!

3. My beagle Buddy. He’s been with me for nearly 4 years now and I’m not sure where I would be without him. I literally try and take him every with me. I think he’s stayed in more hotels than most people!

4. Traveling. I’m like Casey – I like seeing and learning new things. In the USA I still aspire to go to Hawaii and Alaska and in Europe I’m all about visiting Tuscany and the Almafi Coast.

5. LSU football. I wish I could make it to more games. There’s nothing like tailgating with friends and those fall nights in Tiger Stadium!

6. Family and friends. I put these two together because my family is also my friends, (Mom). I just wish that my close college friends and I got to see each other more.

7. A good bottle of wine. I’m not a wine snob by any means – but I do enjoy visiting different wineries and trying new types-- my favorite wine is anything made by Pride Mountain.

I’m now supposed to tag 7 people but I’m not sure that I have 7 people to tag. So, I’ll tag one of my closest and dearest friends – Kara.

Kara – she’s a voiceover actor/artist and she’s one of the best! Kara and I met in Charlotte almost 8 years ago -she was my first friend here and has always and will continue to be my hiking buddy. Below is a picture of her and I along the Blue Ridge. Visit her blog that highlights her career!

Delilah

I have got to be the biggest nerd in the world. I have found myself in the past few weeks sitting at home, drinking a glass of wine while surfing the net and listening to Delilah on the radio!

I have loved her show since I was a kid.. but gosh..I never thought I would be 33 years old sitting around on a Thursday night listening to people dedicate songs.

As for dedicating songs....I've been known to do this as well after a few cocktails and karaoking! My friend Alicia has given me the nickname 'Delilah DeNanner'! :)

Bangs or No Bangs?

I told myself when I started my blog that I wouldn't have any posts that focused on the down economy(remember I live in a banking city). Well, I'm going to stick to that rule even though I hear story after story each day about someone losing their job, losing their savings(from someone they trusted stealing it), etc..etc.. So, instead of focusing on negative thoughts I thought I would talk about something trivial but yet something that I question day after day. Bangs or no bangs? My hairdresser and Mom believe that I look better with bangs but I'm not so sure. My hairdresser has been gone for 6-weeks at a school in Hollywood to learn special effects makeup and won't be back to cut my hair for another 3-weeks. That means I will be 9 weeks between haircuts! yikes! That also means my bangs are growing out. Should I let it continue? Below are a couple of pictures to compare. Yes, one is very old and I have blonde hair - but let me know what you think.

Without bangs...

Here I am with bangs. Such a dilemma! LOL!

Scrapbooking and a birthday gift for my Mom

I mentioned in a previous post that I'm traveling to Miami to celebrate my Mom's 60th birthday next weekend but my Mom's actual birthday was yesterday.

She, as always, was traveling for work but I wanted to make sure she had my gifts and card on her big day. Giving that - I shipped everything to the hotel and made arrangements to have it all set up in her room when she got back from a meeting.

One of the things I gave her was a photobook from Shutterfly. I'm a HUGE scrapbooker and take tons of pictures so this was a lot of fun!

I've embedded the book here so you all can take a look. Much of the font is too small to read virtually - but I included memories from each trip we've taken together.

Needless to say, she totally loved it and said it even made her cry. I think I'll be making more of these books for friends and family.

View Project at Shutterfly

St. Patrick's Day Plans?

Next week at this time there will be a lot of people drinking a Guinness in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day! While I do have some Irish blood in me I’m not one of those die-hard St. Patty’s Day people.
Yes, it’s fun to go out drink beer, see people I don’t see any other time of the year and hear Irish music but I don’t start planning months in advance. Here in Charlotte I’ve been made aware that there will be celebrations and a parade on Saturday and then more celebrations on actual St. Patrick’s Day which is Tuesday.

Brad and I are still deciding on if we’ll go to any of those?

Am I getting old or what? How will you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?


My friend Alexis and I celebrating in Uptown Charlotte last year.