Vacation prep

I'm on a plane to Mexico tomorrow for 5 days in an all-inclusive hotel with my Carolina girls. Its the emotional vacation I've been needing.

The problem is that work's deadline doesn't stop and a huge deliverable of mine is due the day after I get home. The other problem, I don't have all the source material I need from the client to complete my piece of the deliverable. So inevitably I will have to bring my laptop and do some work over vacation. I am most definitely not thrilled.

I'm also not happy about the stress that I go through in the days/hours before I take off. Planning for dog care, packing, do I have all my meds, taking care of work and personal responsibilities before I peace out.

I won't be able to breathe comfortably until I'm past TSA security and sitting on the floor of the gate waiting to board. But then I'll have to whip out my laptop and do some writing.

Today's Horoscope

Skip the staid, business side of things today. Instead, focus on the creative aspects of your life. Listening to music, cooking up an ambitious meal or even dancing around your bedroom is a great way to liven up the day and improve your mood. Creating something new is easier than ever, so don't be surprised if a tune pops into your head and refuses to leave, or if your mindless doodling results in some breathtaking images. All your inner ideas are itching to come out. 

I'm loving this horoscope today because I already know it's true.

I haven't been very inspired at work recently because I haven't had a chance to use my creativity. But I have been getting my creative fix in other ways.

I just created a new website for my alumnae association.

And I'm very excited to be helping my friend launch her new business by working on her website and social media marketing plan.

This feels really great to do. Feels like I'm fulfilling my purpose, something I think I've been lacking for quite a while.

Duke Gardens

Every time I explore the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area, I find something that makes me love North Carolina even more.

Yesterday my group of girlfriends who I call the Carolina Girls (they're a separate group from my sorority sisters but who are equally as awesome) all met at Duke Gardens for a picnic. The day started off gray and a little chilly, but the sky eventually cleared up and turned very warm.

We found a bench at the edge of a huge open space and laid out our picnic spread: chicken salad, mixed greens, fruit, cheese, french bread, chocolate cake and mimosas. It was a lovely, relatively healthy and easy meal. This was not your typical peanut butter and jelly picnic. We had some style.

We lounged on our picnic blankets and tailgating chairs and chatted for four hours as we sipped our mimosas and watched families playing on the lawn. In the distance a string orchestra played for the Duke University alumnae weekend event and the Easter Bunny even made an appearance.

It was such an enjoyable afternoon. I was gastronomically and mentally satisfied as I was stuffed with good food, good conversation and good company. I didn't really want to move because that would have required me to unbutton my pants.

At 3:30 in the afternoon, we reluctantly gathered ourselves and our belongings and as Kristin called it, "headed back into reality". As the ladies went back to their cars, I wandered around the tulip garden a little bit longer to admire the color display.

Fun at work

Silly posters have been popping up at work. I like these silly little surprises.

A second job?

One of the things that keep us (mentally) young is to explore new things.

I explored a chair dancing / pole dancing class.

It was actually a workout class, and damn if I'm not sore. All those squats and hip gyrations and those fireman swings around the pole.

The best part about this class is that it was all women. Real women. With curves.

It was fun to not worry about what you look like or who's looking at you. There weren't even mirrors in the room so you couldn't see if you looked like an idiot.

The class was at a gym in downtown Raleigh. Aradia Fitness has a studio in one of the gym's rooms and from the ceiling are suspended silk ribbons for another class. They also have another location closer to me and I really think that I'll be checking them out for more classes. This was way too fun.

See the video about Aradia Fitness.

The Scrap Exchange

I was in Durham this weekend for the farmer's market and was strolling around when I came upon this ridiculous elephant.

Intrigued, I wandered into the door and found this magical place called The Scrap Exchange.

The Scrap Exchange is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote creativity, environmental awareness, and community through reuse.

We collect materials from hundreds of individuals, businesses, industries, and municipal sources and distribute those materials through our retail store in Durham, North Carolina as well as through workshops, parties, and outreach events across the Southeast.

This was such a fun place to explore. There were giant blue bins of...stuff, or crap, depending on how you see it.

There were cassette tape holders, wire, bumper stickers, computer keyboards (without the keys), puzzle pieces, plastic things, and other stuff that I really didn't recognize. Then in the back were piles of fabric just waiting to be used in something wonderful.

You could use one of the different sizes of bags and fill it up from the blue bins for a specific dollar amount.

Or you can just purchase things separately. They even have workshops where you can get creative and make stuff from the things you find. That's sounds like a great birthday part to me.

Expressing my creative side

Last night my alum group went to a local paint studio for a painting lesson. Well, it was more of an evening of copying what the instructor was doing, while drinking wine, eating cheese and cookies and doing a lot of laughing.

I started by painting the sky. The original had a vertical streaky sky and looking at it now, I don't really like it. If I could do it over I wouldn't make it streaky.

The grass was done in the same fashion as the sky. I cheated and flipped my canvas upside down to paint the grass.

Then I added in white gloppy things to indicate where my poppies were going to be. And to make a base to allow the colors to pop better against the grass.

There are a few colors I missed taking a picture of, but on the poppies are washes of yellow, orange and red.

Finished off the poppies with brown and purple centers and some white and blue swirlies just for visual interest.

I added in some leaves, clouds and voila! The finished, and signed, project.

Everyone with their masterpieces.

Daytona Bike Week

Gal Pal Auction

Emcee at the Gal Pal Auction

Last night I went with my friend Lori to a Gal Pal auction to benefit the Dress for Success organization. Their mission is:

is to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

There were plenty of goods and services available for the silent auction and some really awesome things available for the live auction. Lori scored a week at a vacation home in the outer banks for $900.

As I looked around this room full of women, it struck me again how when we band together, we can accomplish great things.

The last auction item of the night was a pair of tickets to see Diana Ross at the Durham Performing Arts Center; orchestra center. But before the bidding started, everyone had to get in the Diana Ross vibe.

Batter up

Happy, happy, joy, joy!

I just signed up for a recreational softball league and I am so excited. I haven't played in years. Damn, it's been almost ten years.

I miss the smell of the grass and taste of grit in my mouth after I slid into third base. I miss the sweat and the grass stain on my pants and the ice cream (in high school) or the beers (at work) the team would get after a game.

I miss the feeling of being part of a team. Cheering for someone up at bat or trying to psyche out the pitcher. Of the inside-out rally caps or the silly superstitions we had to follow in order to win a game.

I miss the singing on the bus on the way to games and dumping the water cooler over our coach when we won.

I miss how my thighs used to look when I was 17 years old. Crap.

Double blue and gold

I am a sorority girl. An unrefined, unapologetic, proud, involved sorority girl. I think that is what saved me when I found myself lost and alone in North Carolina.

I have always said that everything I learned to make it in the real world I learned from being in a sorority. And not just being in one, where you might imagine consisted of parading around campus in letters, flash mobbing a fraternity party or yelling like silly girls every time 'our song' came on the bar jukebox. (Well, I did that.) I also was a leader in one. Still am. As an undergrad, I was chapter president and house manager. I had a job to do and I had to do it well in order for my chapter to be successful.

So almost twenty years after my initiation, when I have to deal with a tense situation, or manage different projects, introduce myself to a group of strangers or turn a basement into a classy party area, I don't turn to what I learned in Accounting 101 or my Ethics in Media class. I turn to what I learned from being a sorority girl.

Fast forward 8 months since I became a North Carolinian and I find myself sitting on a couch with sisters, who had previously not known each other, sipping wine, sharing stories and curled up in our comfy clothes watching The Bachelor on a Monday night. And its as if I'm 19 years old again, hanging with my sisters in the lounge of my chapter house.


What is it about being in the company of like-minded women who can make you feel so good about yourself? We come from different backgrounds, but because of our sorority, we know that there are some basic principles that bind us together. And they're also some pretty kick-ass women, too.

I am very fortunate to have signed my bid 19 years ago. And to be exactly where I am right now.

The Happiness Project

I am reading a book called "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. She also has an accompanying blog.

In it she chronicles a year-long project where she tries to bring more happiness into her life by test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific studies, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. This is not to say that she was unhappy in her life.

In it I've found some pearls of wisdom that got me thinking.

Research shows that regularly having fun is a key factor in having a happy life; people who have fun are twenty times as likely to feel happy.

Having fun is one of the things that Charles accused me of. Of always wanting to have fun. As ridiculous as I thought it was when he texted that to me, I think its absolutely absurd now.

Now, I'm not bringing this up to place blame on Charles. I forgive him, I'm not angry at him and even though now I see that we are not a long-term match, there are qualities of his that I will miss very much.

But I believe that when an opportunity is there to have fun, to appreciate the lightness and joy that an activity can bring, that you need to take full advantage of it. Because when you're faced with something heavy and definitely not fun, you're going to need those happy reserves to get you through.

I had my share of non-fun times with Charles. I thought that in order to restore the balance, we needed a lot of catching up to do on fun. At least I did. I don't have control over what he feels or what he does; I can only control me.

I am sorry that we didn't get that chance. He also accused me of wanting to be friends. Again, I don't understand that argument. But I told him, "isn't that where we need to begin?"

So on this gorgeous, 80F, sunny, North Carolina day, I can enjoy the simplicity -- the fun -- of sitting on my porch drinking a beer, watching my dog lounge in the grass as I read my book.

And smile.

Do I get royalties everytime this is used?

The Official WTF?!? Face ©

I'm a hero!

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