5/29/2008

Memorial Day in D.C.

We had a great long weekend in D.C. with Kalin. It was quite exhausting! We hit up the Leesburg outlet mall, the batting cages (Kalin hit 90 mph baseballs), the Newseum - very cool BTW - some great bars (the boys had seven car bombs in 24 hours), a Nationals game - the new park is AWESOME - and we did a TON of walking. We also met up with Lizzie and Mike which was fun. I guess I'll just let the photos tell all about it!

Checking out 1600 PennsylvaniaHanging with Lizzie and Mike
Nationals game
Brother and sister
Lunch in Reston
Dominating MegaTouch at Glory Daze Atop the Newseum
Front pages from 9/11 @ the Newseum
The Washington Monument

5/23/2008

GULP

The endorphins are gone. I just set my out of office email and realized I'm out until June 2.


That's right - June.
The sixth month of the year.


WHERE did 2008 go? It's giving me a slight panic attack.

It feels really good

They say when you cross stuff off a to-do list, endorphins are released. Well, I crossed a lot of shit off my to-do list this week and I think there are a shit-ton of endorphins floating around inside me.

You know those projects that move from your to-do list week to week? You have the best of intentions to get them done but then this comes up and that comes up and then - crap. Another freaking week has gone by and it is still not done. Yeah, well I had two of those going on. And now. Well, now they are done. Finished. Finito. Okay - I lied. They need to be proofed and edited and approved and revisions will need to be made and they probably won't be wrapped for a week or so but they are in good places. I don't think you know how consumed you are with those looming projects, how much you think about those looming projects and how much they subliminally affect you, until you are finished with them and no longer have to think/worry about them.

So, this weekend I can think about nothing but which bar we're going to and how much shopping I should do at the mall. (We're heading to D.C. to see Kalin.) And when we get back I leave the next day for Chicago (third time in two weeks) to attend the Cause Marketing Forum. All of Barkley Public Relations is attending, which is awesome, and then, well then it's the debut of Sex and the City on the big screen. And then I will have been out of the office for four whole days and that's when the to-do list will build back up, the consumption of projects will reappear and endorphins go bye bye. Better enjoy it now. Happy three-day weekend!

Economic Stimulus

We got our hidden fence installed this morning. I think it will be great for Macy - she can play outside all she wants without a leash. But the training is going to kill me. I felt the shock she will receive. It's startling. It won't hurt her; it will scare her. (She does receive an audio warning before the shock when she gets to close to the boundary.) But until she gets used to it, she's going to hate it. I didn't train with her at all today - the fence guy did - but I was inside and heard her yelp the one time she got shocked. I HATED it. But I know these fences are okay otherwise they'd be cruel and the ASPCA would be all over them and hidden fences wouldn't be installed in hundreds of homes every day. No more training for her today otherwise she would learn to hate going outside. So for now she's moseying around the house with her tail between her legs. Actually, that has ceased, but she did do that for a little while.

Anyway, I had to video the training to show Trevor how she did. This one is funny. I love at the end how she just sits and says, "I'm not going anywhere near that white flag, dumbass."


5/21/2008

Save it

Might I suggest something? Everyone (in Nebraska) program this number into your cell phone: 402.444-7800. That is the Nebraska Humane Society. How handy will it be to have that number at your fingertips in the instance you're driving around and see a stray, lost or endangered animal. Then, if you do see an animal in need of help, there's no reason not to call.

Tomato, Tamato

Rachel told me she was eating burnt popcorn for lunch and how she likes burnt popcorn. This got me thinking of something I've thought about for a while: how foods taste different depending on their state. I am not talking about a Russet vs. french fries. (What doesn't taste better fried?) Here's what I mean:

Cold shredded cheese = barfo
Melted shredded cheese (think nachos) = YUM!

Bread = okay
Toast = much better

Water = could drink gallons
Ice = don't care for it

Raw carrots = delish
Steamed carrots = a little mushy for my liking

Popcorn = crunch-a-rifficly good
Burnt popcorn = Nasty (but what is good burnt?)

Cookie dough = absolutely delicious
The same cookie dough baked = delicious, but not as delicious as the cookie dough

Scrambled eggs = tasty
Sunnyside up eggs = narsty

Am I the only person who thinks of this stuff?

5/20/2008

Back to the Windy City

May 20
Southwest Airlines
Depart Omaha On-Time

May 20
Southwest Airlines
Depart Midway On-Time

5/19/2008

Who's in???

Come on. We'll crimp our hair, wear side ponytails and two layers of colored socks, tight roll our jeans and have our moms drop us off. It'll be so fun!


New Kids on the Block have reunited and will launch a North American concert tour that includes a show in Omaha.

One of the original boy bands, New Kids will perform Nov. 12 at the Qwest Center Omaha.

Before disbanding in 1994, the group had two No. 1 albums: 1988's "Hangin' Tough" and 1990's "Step by Step." Their hit singles include "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" and "Step By Step," among others.

Band members, now approaching their 40s, are Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood, Joey McIntyre, Jordan Knight and Jonathan Knight.

Ticket prices and other information will be announced later.

10,950+ days of marital bliss

With 1,825 days of dating before that. Congrats mom and dad!

5/18/2008

Trevor & Wendy in the Windy City

I love Chicago. I've been going there for years but this weekend was a different kind of trip as we stayed with and were guided around by Trevor's sister, Alissa. We visited the local bars, took the L and walked our asses off. We hit up a Cubbies game (I'm newly obsessed with the Cubs because Wrigleyville is the coolest!) and Michigan Avenue (Trevor opted to drink at ESPN Zone instead). Even the trip home was fun because we flew out of the best airport in the country. Why you ask? Well Midway lets you buy beers at the airport bar and walk around with them! Plus, they have security lines for expert travelers, casual travelers and traveling families. We started in the expert line but apparently the TSA could tell Trevor wasn't an "expert" and they made him move to the casual line while I whizzed through the expert line. It was freaking hilarious.

As Frank said, "Chicago is my kind of town!"



May 15
Southwest Airlines
Depart Omaha on-time

May 17
Southwest Airlines
Depart Chicago Midway 25 minutes delayed

5/15/2008

Still winners in my eyes

And there's more cheese where that came from.

Earlier this week I was in NYC with 9 of my colleagues to attend the SABRE Awards. The SABRE Awards acknowledge Superior Achievement in Branding and Reputation and are presented annually by an influential communications industry publication, The Holmes Report.

The Lee National Denim Day team was onsight to accept a Bronze Sabre and the 2007 Breast Cancer 3-Day public relations team was in attendance for their nomination of a Silver Sabre. While the Breast Cancer 3-Day team didn't come home with a new trophy, I have to be very, very pleased we were recognized and considered for this honor. We were in a room at Cipriani with a thousand men and women from well-known public relations agencies, non-profits and corporations across the country. It truly was an honor to have made it that far. (Though not going to lie - it would have felt REALLY nice to hear us announced as the winner :-).) The Breast Cancer 3-Day PR team works extremely hard - not only five days a week, 52 weeks a year, but also numerous weekends in the fall for on-site media relations. (I should point out this is also the group that was one of three up for Best of Show at the Kansas City PRSA Chapter's annual PRISM awards last fall.) Congrats ladies (and now one gentleman) - our hard work is definitely paying off and I think we'll have a shiny new trophy on our shelves very, very soon.

The LNDD team with their Bronze SABRE

The Breast Cancer 3-Day team: if we can't hold a trophy, might as well hold drinks

I also have a give a huge thanks to Mike, Jeff and Kelly at Barkley for allowing the 10 of us to go to NYC. They had no obligation to send us (or for the champagne they sent to the hotel before the awards :-).) It truly was a privilege to be able to attend, and we are very grateful. Thank you!

May 13
Midwest Airlines
Depart Kansas City International On-Time

May 14
Midwest Airlines
Depart LaGuardia On-Time

5/12/2008

The reunion

was great. And I only answered the questions "what do you do now?", "any kids?", and "where do you live?" 647 times.

Just like old times
4G Soon to be 5G Trevor had so much fun "Eric, get in this photo. We'll just pretend you are Sarah."
Love those Denver kids Josh and Shannon brought the ultimate high school drink to the Saturday night BBQ

5/08/2008

In 1998

Shakespeare in Love was voted best picture.
Google, Inc. was founded.
Gas was $1.10 a gallon.
Dawson's Creek premiered on The WB.
We looked like this
In 2008

I still haven’t seen Shakespeare in Love.
I Google everything.
The price of gas has increased 120%.
Katie Holmes was much cooler as Joey than Mrs. Cruise.
I'm thankful my face isn't quite as round.

Ten years is a long time. Long enough for people to get degrees, maybe even multiple degrees. Long enough for people to fall in love and get hitched. (Long enough for some people to fall out of love and get unhitched, too.) Long enough for people to start careers and change careers.

At my 10-year high school reunion this weekend, I’m excited to see what the 400+ people I graduated with have accomplished (or have not accomplished) in the last 3,650 days. For a while I wasn’t too excited for the reunion, but now I am. I don’t know what caused the change in heart; I think it’s the idea of reminiscing about our time at MNHS with my good friends from back in the day. Like:

Catching frogs and Ed’s house and letting them loose in school (mom you might want to stop reading now)
Emilie’s car by the school’s front doors
Stealing Bill Jetter’s dog
Radio routes - especially with Jon Bon Jovi
Piercing our own ears
Blame it on the Rain: when Kristi left the top of her convertible down and it, well, rained
Abe and Chucky from the state fair
Dressing up for the pizza man
Mr. Smiley - Kristi's sneak knife that was going to save me from potential robbers
Mr. Yakus. Oh Mr. Yakus.
Jewel ‘97
Baaaaaarn Party
4G
Teva tans
Pulled over by a cop on a horse (some things never changed – borrowed Ron & Mary’s suburban that night too)
AM breakfasts at Village Inn
Taking Mexican Maria home from school and making Emilie go with me
Sweaty Eddie
Graduation parties with no power; drinking peach schnapps under the pool table (mom, I warned you)
Getting hypnotized and barking like a dog
“Is there a Lors-back in here?”
Front row Garth Brooks tickets (and getting slapped in the face for it by a boy)
Sleeping in cars with my pager as an alarm clock (the best part is I had a PAGER)
Duh Girls
Medicine Man pharmacy (Emilie - HOW did you end up with that job?)
GNOs
Tp-ing
Lake trips with one caramel apple shot for four of us (my mom is such a rebel)
Smoking stoogies once Michelle was legal
Leaving school early to get our hair done (very cool of you mom, BTW)
Gum mirrors
Working for Ronnie and Wendy tripping over boxes and all Emilie seeing are feet in the air
Good lunches at Em’s
And so many more.

This weekend will be a blast from the past. I'm sure I'll be posting all about it next week. TGIF!

5/07/2008

Back from Vegas $20 and a Coach workbag ahead

I was in Vegas Sunday and Monday for FMI, one of the largest, if not the largest, food tradeshows. As we were busy with appointments with trade editors, we didn't buy passes to walk the floor this year. It's probably a good thing - normally we end up full and fat after FMI from sampling the latest and greatest food products. One thing I wanted to try was the new Kraft Bagel-fuls. My co-worker Tracy did sample them and said they were delish - I guess I'll have to pick some up next time I'm at the store.

All in all, it was a good business trip - even managed to sneak to the Coach outlet Sunday afternoon. We had dinner at Emeril's Sunday night and it was delish. Gambled a skosh at New York New York but wasn't nearly as lucky as last time I was in Vegas. However, I did come home with $20 more in my wallet than I left with, so I can't complain about that. (Though, as Amy pointed out, I'm really up $15 since I was charged $4.99 to use the ATM.)

The show and our meetings were at Mandalay Bay. Mandalay Bay is a gorgeous casino. Though - I do have to give it to them for really annoying people with the Mandalay Bay hotel and THE HOTEL at Mandalay Bay. That proved confusing more than once. However, I'd probably stay at either vs. the narsty rooms we had at the Luxor. Though, if you're down with polyester bed spreads in a hieroglyphic print, the Luxor is for you.

And, in keeping with my promise (though I think I might have forgotten a few trips recently):

Sunday, May 4
Southwest Airlines
Depart Omaha On-Time

Cinco de Mayo
Southwest Airlines
Depart Sin City 1.5 hours late (and therefore arrive Omaha at 2 a.m.)

5/02/2008

Who needs alarm clocks when you've got houses being broken into?

5:04 am
Trevor in the shower; Macy and lazy Wendy still in bed. Bedroom window open, Macy and Wendy hear a loud boom. Wendy thinks new baker's rack on back porch blew over and thinks to self, "please don't let that have fallen on the grill or the patio furniture." Macy barks a lot and very loudly.

5:15 am ish
Trevor out of shower, going to take Macy outside. Wendy tells him about the loud boom while he was in the shower. Wendy's says, "maybe the baker's rack blew over. Will you please go look?" Trevor says, "it better not have landed on the grill."

5:20 am ish
Trevor come inside and says to Wendy, "okay, you need to get up. The police want to talk to you." Wendy flies out of bed not totally certain as to what's going on. Wendy strolls outside with bed head and breath, wearing boxers and a t-shirt and Trevor's too-big-for-her tennis shoes.

5:20:45 am ish
Sure enough, two Douglas County Sheriff deputies in Trevor and Wendy's backyard. Officer says two bricks were thrown through neighbors' back door. "Your husband said you heard something." Can you tell us about that." Wendy tells po-po about the boom. "What time did that happen?" says Officer No. 1. "I don't even know what time it is right now," says Wendy. Officer No. 1 looks at watch and says, "it's about 5:20." Wendy slightly recalls looking at the clock around the time of the boom and throws out, "uh, maybe 5:04?" Officers tell Wendy and Trevor to be on the lookout for anything suspicious. Officers also say they patrol that neighborhood a lot and Wendy doesn't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Wendy says, "well this kind of freaks me out because I take the dog out in the middle of the night. In fact I took her out at 12:38 last night but I didn't see anything." Officers say to make sure to turn the porch light on when taking the dog out. Officers also say to keep doors and windows locked, thank Wendy and Trevor for their time, and continue shining their flashlights into the grass to look for footprints.

5:34 am ish
Wendy almost in tears in the house. Begs Trevor not to go to work. Trevor says he has to. Wendy makes Trevor go in basement to get her blackberry because she's too scared. Wendy says she is "thankful they have a guard dog." Trevor calls Macy "hardly a watch dog" and says she'd "lick someone to death." Wendy begs to differ.

5:40 am ish
Wendy calls her dad and tells him to turn on his police scanner. Wendy says she thought he'd be awake since they leave for vacation that morning. He says, "it's 5:30." He asks what is going on. Wendy recalls incident. Wendy says, "well, turn on your police scanner and go back to sleep." Wendy's dad replies with, "will go back to sleep, will not turn on scanner."

6:15 am ish
Wendy continues to ponder crime. Wendy determines she is Shaggy and Macy is Scooby as it was perhaps Macy's bark that scared away the brick-throwers. Wendy wonders if she and Scooby will have to go to court. Wendy wonders why they chose the house they did and if THEIR house could have been a target.

7:30 am ish
Wendy doing pretty okay about the crime until taking her parents to the airport when her mom says she wonders if they were trying to break in. The entire time Wendy thought it was just an act of vandalism; robbery never crossed her mind. Wendy gets phone number of dad's electrician friend to install a flood light on back porch to light up whole GD backyard.

So, that's the story. Anyone still want to move in next to us?

5/01/2008

I'm such an Athleta

Got a catalog Wednesday night for "Athleta." Not sure how or why I got it (some mailing list I am sure), but I am very glad I did. It looks like they have GREAT swimsuits and some other cute sports wear. There was a shirt I really liked and thought would be great for golf and I just learned it's called the Wiff Wrap shirt. I think it's a sign to get it as Trevor calls me wif. Anyway, check it out. I think it's worth it.