The girls getaway to the Bahamas

I'm not sure if you notice but, I've been absent from my blog. I've been so busy at work that by the time I get home I'm simply drained. I haven't even ventured out enough to have anything exciting to talk about.

However....that is about to change.

In a mere 5 hours, I will be getting up to get out of town. It's a celebration weekend. My 20th anniversary of Girls Weekends - the first weekend in May (we're a little early this year) since we graduated from high school has been dedicated as the weekend we all come back together. 20 years we have been doing this! Also, this year is the year we all turn 40. FORTY! That in itself is worth a getaway from it all to the Bahamas.

So my nails are painted. My bag is packed. I'm leaving my computer behind. Yikes! And I will be acting everything NOT like a soon to be 40 year old. I mean, I'm still in denial, so why not?

This story, I promise to finish...so stay tuned, for real.

Family Road Trip to D.C.

The girls are on Spring Break this week and while we originally thought we'd travel to Disney, the expense of traveling during a holiday and the fact that half the U.S. could be there was a bit of a deterrent. So, we're heading to Washington D.C.

Yeah. I feel the same way. It's not quite the same.

To make matters worse, I grew up outside D.C. I've seen it. Done it. Not looking forward to it.

I wish I could say I was excited about D.C. But I'm not. That probably makes me a bad mom or something, but D.C. to me is politics. I despise politics. Ginormous monuments - cool to see once or twice, but thrice? Not so exciting. The Zoo? There's one in Philly. What is the allure of another city's zoo's? A giraffe is a giraffe is a giraffe. The walking? Not a bother for me. But little K complains about walking down the block. I can see my future. The museums? Ok those, I can get into.

My experiences in D.C. have always been positive. Aside from the Vietnam Memorial which has brought me to tears every time I've visited it, I have good memories. It will be fun to share it with the girls.

E is excited. She wanted to tour the White House but you need to schedule that through your Congress person at least a month in advance. We weren't that organized so we'll be touring the Capitol instead. Tour the Washington Monument? Admire it from afar if you don't schedule that tour at least 3 months in advance. Just an FYI.

I know I sound like Negative Nelly. I'm sure it will be fun to see D.C. through the girls' eyes. It's been a while since I've been there and hopefully the cherry blossoms will be blooming. Plus, I won't be a work! Which lately has been a little insane - thus the lack of posts.

So, when you're reading this I will be en route to D.C. Bright and early. Stay tuned...

Celebrating...

Finally, I managed to pull off a semblance of the kind of party I've been aspiring to. The old-fashioned bowling alley wasn't exactly the backdrop I imagined, but whatever.... Essentially, I designed stuff! And made cupcakes in between.

I am lucky enough to work with a bunch of designers so I got a quick lesson on the basics of Illustrator. This was enough to allow me to design favor bags, cupcake toppers and water bottle labels. My photos are on my camera at home so I'll have to upload those tonight.

In the meantime, I've been working on a secret birthday project...

My secret birthday project ... is to have the birthday girl wake up to a surprise in her room. A framed birthday print set up on her dresser with some balloons.
I wish I could say I came up with the idea of the print on my own, but I saw something similar on another site. I just can't remember which one. If it comes to me, I'll link up. Theirs was much better. But if you like, feel free to download this one and use as your own. Let me know what you think!

Download it here.

Birthdays

It's party time! I have been busy all weekend getting ready for little K's bowling party this afternoon. I decided to use my limited knowledge of Illustrator and design the favor bags, water bottle labels and cupcake toppers. Thank God my good friend Betty Crocker was around to help me whip up two batches of cupcakes in between cutting everything out. More photos of everything tonight, and a free birthday print download too - a secret project I've been working on!

Say yes to PARTY!

I am not usually one to turn down a party. Sooooo.....

From April 1st through the 8th is the Ultimate Blog Party hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom. It's a great way find new blogs and win amazing prizes. Check it out if this is the first time you've heard of it.

When I looked back into my archives to see my previous UBP post, I was surprised to realize this will be my 4th time attending! So, for those of you who are visiting from the Party, Welcome!

You can read a little bit about me here. In a nutshell, I'm a writer for an advertising agency and mom to 2 girls who are about to turn 7 and 9. I love all things vintage. I dream of my home one day looking like the catalog from Pottery Barn. And I'm on a never ending quest to learn as many skills as possible, even if it means I've earned the reputation of not finishing projects. I can check off candle-making, knitting, crocheting, sewing, rock climbing and just learned how to use my circular saw so I can start building furniture. Oh yeah, and I love wine.

My blog is pretty much a journal of sorts about lessons I've learned, experiences I've had, things I've made, problems I'm dealing with. I think most of my readers are around because they've found something they can relate to, or they're my friends and family IRL and they like to spy on me.

So I hope you take a quick look around, I know you have lots of blogs to get to, and if you like what you see, I hope you'll stick around.

And be sure to let me know you stopped by so I can visit you too!

Friday photos with my iPhone: Train Walk

I have been commuting via train for almost 3 years. I thought I would hate being on a schedule, not being able to leave exactly when I wanted. But I love it. I can read. I can relax. I have a built in excuse to hightail it out of boring ass meetings. The only thing I don't really care for is the underground walk from my office to the station. I only reserve this path for nasty weather above ground...

It starts off pretty swanky, the basement of my building...

But quickly goes downhill. About right now I'm taking stock of my weapons...

Who knows what or who could be waiting for me at the top of these stairs...

 Finally I've made into civilization... or so it seems. The smell of bodily fluids is ever-present.

I rarely make eye contact, and have been guilty of walking straight by people I know.
Here I wait...

So there you have it. My walk to the train station. Your day is now complete.

P.S. All photos taken with iPhone and edited with the PictureShow app. Love it!