Mid-Summer Goals

I have 3 posts drafted at the moment, and all of them, in one way or another, emphasize how busy I am feeling. It's overwhelming, actually. So, now that midterms are behind me (see ya, suckers!), I feel it is time to re-prioritize, and I have a few goals for the next 6 weeks that I'd like to focus on.

• Regular exercise. I'm not sure how to define this or what it means, but right now I'm playing tennis maybe once or twice a week, and that's just not good enough. A friend suggested making a goal for # of minutes per week, which I really like. Assuming I get 120 minutes of tennis in every week, I'd like to get 180 minutes of general exercise, which roughly translates to two additional days of running or tennis or whatever I feel like. I'm tired of making excuses for not being able to exercise appropriately!
• Avoid over-planning. This is the thing I am the worst about, and the hardest to control. I just want to do all the things! I think I am also chronically afraid that if I don't plan in advance, no one else will be available to do whatever it is I want to do by the time it is actually appropriate to make plans.  

So that's it. I may or may not have intentionally put off writing this post until I could share the Fall 2014 Calendar with my best b-school pals and I may or may not have debated including calendar invite attachments with said email. For the record, I didn't do it, but only because I was lazy and not because I didn't want to. Micromanagement and over-planning at it's finest!

This summer is practically over according to my calendar. I've planned until I can't plan anymore. Lake weekends, football games, social events, work trips, concerts... you name it, I've planned it and there is not one single minute left to spare. But this is it. No more. I have to save room for tennis and friends and spontaneity and girls nights and boys nights and work and rest and family. Those are all important, too, and sometimes the best times in life are completely unplanned and unexpected. 

I'm Alive! I'm Alive! I'm Alive!

Well, well, well. I'm alive! I'm exhausted! But I'm here. So many things to share my thoughts on and my opinions on, and I promise they are coming.

School quite literally kicked my asana this semester. If you decide to get an MBA, don't ever let anyone trick you into thinking it's going to be a piece of cake. Especially if you are also working full-time. I don't know who told me that or why I believed them, but let me just tell you something. School is not for the faint of heart. But, here I am, one final presentation away from being 25% done with an MBA, so I can safely say it's do-able.

And when you try to combine school with a whole bunch of work and work travel, life just gets all sorts of tricky. I was in Miami, Dallas twice, Augusta, and Chicago within 3.5 weeks and let me just fill you in... spending that much time in airports and on airplanes guarantees misery and illness.

The good news is after the last trip, I was met by a sweet guy (here on out referred to as MJ) at the airport and had flowers waiting for me at home. Seeing that smiling face after an exhausting 2 days and a flight with backed up sinuses about put me to tears, but I managed to hold it together for the sake of pretending like I'm not a crazy person! He'll have plenty of time to figure that out...

In between school and work and traveling, I've celebrated weddings and MBA proms and my own birth and the birth of friends. I've cheered on the Braves, spent quiet weekends at home, studied until I couldn't think and partied until I couldn't see. I've made new friends, re-connected with old friends, and feel like I am really and truly living life intentionally.

So with that, I leave you for not long... stay tuned!

PS - how are you, friends?!

Just Feelin' Happy

My worlds collided about a year ago when I found out my GMAT-study-group-turned-business-school-BFF and work BFF knew each other. Fast forward, and now the three of us run in the same circles and see each other relatively frequently.

My work BFF has abandoned me for an amazing project abroad, and came back for a visit this weekend. Unfortunately due to Atlanta's ridiculous inability to deal with any sort of weather situations, his flight was delayed and I had a Saturday class and a huge assignment to work on, so we didn't end up seeing each other.

 

However, he & my business school BFF were at the same Super Bowl party and I guess my name came up. Work BFF called me from the airport to talk about life and catch up since we didn't see each other, and he said that when he asked how I was doing, our mutual friend told him that I was really happy - happier than I've been in a long time, and always in such a good mood.

 

I'm not sure why this resonated so strongly with me or touched me as much as it did, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I guess I am surprised. Don't get me wrong, I am over the moon happy with my life, so that's not the surprise. I simply had no idea how vividly noticeable my happiness was in my personal and professional lives. I am beyond pleased that without even trying, without even thinking about it, my natural state of being right now is happy, warm, energetic and fun.

 

That feels pretty darn good to me.

 

 

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The City of LOVE

For the second year in a row, I spent the last weekend in October in Philadelphia. One of my best friends from work is in his 2nd year at Penn, and another one just started, so I was able to see 2 of my favorite people in 1 weekend. We celebrated Halloween dressed as a cookie (with a mouse counter-part a la if you give a mouse a cookie), a Wal-Mart employee, and a minion (with many other minion counterparts). We started the night catching up and reminiscing while getting ready, went to another friends apartment for a little pre-party, and then scurried off to the big party. 1,000+ MBA students in a large club... crazy things can happen. We found ourselves in the middle of the dance floor yelling and screaming and jumping and dancing and singing along. I had yellow smiley face stickers with me due to my costume, and successfully "stuck" everyone around me. In fact, people were coming up to me and ASKING for stickers. My costume was a complete and total success, and I'd highly recommend. Vest purchased here, stickers purchased here. I wore a sparkly white Old Navy t-shirt and a pair of shorts, plus my favorite boots. Comfortable, a little revealing but nothing skanky, and creative. Checks all 3 of the boxes for a Happy Halloween!

I woke up on Friday and knew my friends had schoolwork and other commitments, so planned to spend the day with my girlfriend who flew in from London. We met up for lunch and paraded around Philadelphia. We took each other's pictures in front of the LOVE landmark, had way too much fun viewing the Liberty Bell, poked around on the country's oldest street, and then deemed ourselves tourist-ed out and plopped down at Khyber Pass Pub on 2nd Street for a couple afternoon cocktails. I had taken the day off work, and usually taking 1 day off means not really taking a day off at all. This time, though, I didn't check or respond to emails, I didn't take phone calls, I enjoyed a true vacation day. Let's be clear, I certainly paid for it later, but at the time it was worth it to be completely present with a delightful friend. At the end of our afternoon, another friend picked us up on her way home and we headed over to their absolutely gorgeous loft in Fishtown. I gotta tell you, the more I hear and see of Philadelphia, the more I love it. In part because it's completely different from Atlanta and the south, and in part because so many people that I love live there.

 

Friday night I found myself back with my work friends for a family dinner and the most entertaining game of Cards Against Humanity. We stayed up far later than we should have laughing until we were crying, rolling on the floor because our stomachs hurt from the belly laughs the game brought on. It was the best medicine I could have imagined, being completely uninhibited with friends who take me for what I am, love me no matter what, and push me to be the best person I can be.

 

Saturday morning we woke up late and lazed around. Anna had to go in to work, Andrew had a paper to write, David & Ali had beer games to attend, and I had a brunch to be gettin' to! The girls all met at Honey's where we gabbed, ate, spilled coffee... all the things you'd expect. After brunch we meandered over to Whole Foods to pick up the necessitites for a homecooked dinner, grabbed a fresh juice to make us feel like we were eating healthy, and decided to check out the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We spent a solid 2 hours in the museum looking at the art, nearly getting kicked out twice, laughing until our sides hurt, and just genuinely enjoying a Saturday afternoon with no plans, no places to be, no agenda... just being. It was glorious. We literally got kicked out of the museum at closing time, and of course no trip to Philadelphia is complete without a detour to the Rocky steps and statue. Somehow it didn't surprise me that there was a huge line waiting to get a picture in front of the statue, so we killed some time taking group pictures in front of the museum. It was the perfect time of night to capture our silly friendship.

 

It still blows my mind that I met these women on a soul-searching trip to Costa Rica, and they have somehow etched their ways into my life, into my every day. Sometimes you meet people and have a connection, but as soon as that event is over the connection fades. Not this time, and for that I am so thankful.

 

The trip continued on from there - another night in cooking dinner and spending time together. Another brunch with friends and old coworkers. Mani/pedis and shenanigans. Fried pickles on a plate. Moving my flight back 4 hours just to grab the last remains of the weekend. And a businss class upgrade on the trip home, on top of a weekend that already had more cherries-on-top than I could have imagined. It's weekends like this, both home and away, that remind me of all the goodness in my life.

 

This fall has been tremendously challenging. Going back to school, traveling way too much, losing my grandma, weddings, birthdays, work overload, and so many other things. Sometimes, all it takes is a word, or a picture, or a memory, to remember that every single minute is worth it because I love what I am doing, I love the life I am so privileged to live, and I chose it. I chose where I am, who I am, and who I'm doing life with and I have pretty darn good taste. <3 p="">

Theater tickets!

Early this fall, Mandy and I were strolling through one of the many art festivals in Piedmont Park when we stumbled across the Broadway in Atlanta tent. Only a few minutes later, we were Fox Theater season ticket holders!  Then we proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon perusing the artist's fares and soaking up the end of summer. It was a brilliant day that I continue to reap the benefits of!

 

We've attended 1 of the 6 shows and so far, so good! I am really, really excited for Book of Mormon, but I'm also really excited about getting out and doing things that I enjoy! It's such a special Thursday night treat, the tickets weren't outrageously priced, and it would make the perfect date night. I have to admit though, it's doesn't make for a bad girls night either!

 

What have you done lately for yourself that you are excited about?

 

The right kind of weekend

I've been MIA and I owe y'all a bunch of updates but for now all I can think about is how excited I am to be spending the weekend in Philadelphia. I have had a hellish 4 weeks between work, class, my grandma passing away, doing homework, group projects, and traveling extensively. I'm just mentally, emotionally and physically spent. I had no idea I would be feeling this way when I planned my trip but sometimes timing is awfully uncanny...

These dudes are some of my favorite people around and I'm actually thinking I may cry seeing them. I'm tearing up just typing this! I can't explain it but you know those friends...the ones that just like you for YOU and ask nothing more than for you to be YOU. That's them. 

And then, if that weren't enough, 3 of the girls I met when I went to Costa Rica live here and another is flying in from London. I mean, y'all, FROM LONDON!! FOR ME!! And the others but come on. Costa Rica was such an incredible, life rebuilding experience and I can't wait to catch up with these ladies. 

This weekend I have such high expectations and I know they will be met 1000 times over. 

Happy Halloween!

Well played, Google +Plus

It was the perfect fall weekend. I'm trying really hard to be better about writing, documenting, sharing, but it's a challenge. Just know I miss all you imaginary people that I really know IRL (in real life, duh), I miss baring my soul to you and obsessing over how much I suck at running and discussing intimate details of my still non-existent love life. I feel it in my bones, the feeling is mutual. And don't worry - the documentation is still being captured for the world to see on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc, etc, etc.

 

But I am here to tell you about the newest, coolest thing Google +Plus has done. Or really, the only cool thing it's done that I know of.  

I might have had a (lot of) mini photo shoot this weekend with some of my favorite people. The pictures by themselves were adorable and hilarious, the pictures in sequence on my camera were amazing, but the best part was when I uploaded them to Google. Somehow they documented my relationship with WVP (beautiful man in blue, pictured below) better than I ever possibly could have myself.

So we start out with a series of 6 photos (I think the minimum is 5), and the below 'clip' is what it gave back to me, automatically, with no prompting on my part, after I upload to my photos:

 

 

Love this. Love the pictures, love the video, love our smiles, love how happy we are. This little sequence captures the essence of us. I had one of the best weekends in recent memory and I really have this guy to thank, and now Google just put the frickin' cherry on top.

 

I'm on to their game though, they're trying to get me to forgive them for doing away with my Google Reader. Nice try, but you'll have to do better than a measly picture video to win me back completely!

 

My Best Friend's Goin' to the Chapel

It's hard to believe her wedding is here. It seems like a million years ago that we were turning 18 years old, falling in and out of love, driving back and forth between Athens & Atlanta for unforgettable college nights but then it seems like all of that was only a few days ago.

And now she's marrying Richard, who wasn't her high school sweetheart but maybe he was even more. He was her best friend through high school and through college. Every time I came to visit, I'd ask when they were going to start dating, and every time I'd be met with an exasperated eye roll and sigh. And then at the end of their senior year something changed, and they haven't looked back. Over time, he just became part of Sydney. Her other half.

Sydney is the friend I always dreamed I would have when I was little. The friend who has known you since forever. Who knows your family, your secrets, and every single possible bad thing to know about you, and loves you anyway. Who knows exactly what you're going to say, how you're going to react, and who lets you just. be. you. I don't ever have to explain myself. She's been there for just about every milestone in my life - breakups, falling in love, bad decisions, amazing successes, family emergencies, middle of the night panic attacks, you name it. She's been there, supporting me, loving me, probably wanting to strangle me, but always, always, always there.

Our lives have been weaved and intertwined so intricately that I wonder where I'd be without her. Even as adults, somehow, by fate or intention I'm not sure, our lives continue to connect. We live 1000 miles apart, separated by rivers and timezones, and nothing has changed. Because that's Syd - faithful, constant, unwavering, steady, reliable, and everything you'd want in a best friend.

Syddo, I couldn't be happier for you. You are truly the best friend I dreamed about as a little girl - the best friend I'll have my whole life. You are a part of my family, part of who I am, and I'm so proud of you. Best of luck to you and Mr. O as you continue your life together. Because really, it's not just starting. It started so long ago that it seems like that's the way it's always been. I love you.

 

Life, lately (as in, early July)

Life needs to cool it. I worked a smooth 60 hours last week, plus had a holiday thrown in. Busiest week of work since I started in 2010, and we were 1 team member short for most of the week, AND I was on my own Friday. Exciting, fun, but stressful and exhausting. I am hoping for a little less excitement this week but considering I'm flying to Boston Monday and returning Tuesday, I think the excitement levels will still soar. I guess this makes up for the (few and far between) weeks that I say "things are so quiet, I'm getting so much done!"

Good news though, we're officially halfway through 2013 and I'm officially halfway to my goal to read 50 books this year. I'm going to try to step it up a notch in July, because I think school may get in the way of reading during the second half of the year. Just a hunch...

Speaking of school, Orientation/classes start August 5! Can't believe it. I am going to try to squeeze some sort of trip in between now and then, but I'm not sure I can swing it. I am not a very good solo traveller, and I was having a hard time finding anywhere to go that was both in my budget and would be fun for me by myself. I was looking at Caribbean all-inclusive resorts and then found Anamaya Resort. Fingers crossed it works out! If not, I guess I'll just have to wait until Colombia later this fall and spend as much time as I can at the lake in the meantime!

Also, I started and then stopped kind of, sort of dating someone. He was great at first pass, pretty good at second pass, and then the wheels kind of fell off. I was willing to give it a go, but he had some pretty serious personal stuff to work out and apparently I'm not cut out for that. All's well that end's well, and now I know that while musicians can be H-O-T, they may not be my 'type.' And good teeth are still up there as top 3 qualities in a man.

Looking at my calendar over the next few weeks, maybe I don't need a vacation. Maybe instead what I need is a stay-cation and to catch up with friends that I've been missing. I've got several things scheduled over the next few weeks that I think will leave me feeling rejuvenated and fulfilled. People I haven't seen in months (or years!), or haven't spent real time with, or who I've only seen in passing and said, "hey!" before running to whatever is next.

 

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Calphalon Convection Oven Giveaway

Many moons ago (actually more like 2.5 years), a friend of a friend moved to town and was job-searching. We met up for a Friday evening drink and talked about life, work, moving to a new city, sorority life, and a million other things.

Even though our mini-date went splendidly, our paths just never really crossed again, intentionally or unintentionally. However, we've both kept up with one another via blogging, and she emailed me last week and asked me if I would mind posting about a giveaway she's hosting.

Ya'll, this girl is inspiring! She's planning a trip to Africa this fall and is working hard to raise money to fund said trip. I am a kitchen gadget fanatic, so I am super thrilled about sharing her convection oven giveaway with you! Plus, it supports one of my favorite things in the entire world, traveling. Win, win, winning all around.

If you are feeling so inclined, please help Whitney out on her journey to Africa with a small donation. I traded in my beloved Starbucks to help a friend make her dreams come true, so perhaps you could do the same?

Click here to donate. Click here to read more details about the giveaway. Click here to read more about her plans in Africa. The rules/guidelines/requirements are below.

• From now until next Friday (June 28), for every $5 you donate to the Africa campaign, you'll be entered to win. So if you donate $5, you'll get an entry. $15? Three entries. $30? Six for you! Whoo!
• If you Tweet a link to the giveaway, you'll get another entry. Be sure to mention @wbiber
• If you post the link on Facebook, you'll get an additional entry. Again, be sure to tag Whitney so she can track it :)

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Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Have you ever ended or changed the nature of a relationship (friendship, romantic, work, or otherwise)? I kind of did, recently, and it was pretty dreadful. The bottom line is, the relationship wasn't healthy for me. It wasn't healthy for either of us, really, but I think it affected me more.

I accidentally but kind of on purpose started the "breakup" conversation a while ago, and then it was just a matter of time before the rest of the conversation happened. I'm not sure I understand 100% of the reasons why, only that it had to happen. I'm not happier without this person right now because I'm hurting, but eventually I will be a-okay. I miss them. Some nights I stay up late writing down all the things that I would have said over the course of that day, or when we talked late at night. I write down all the things they would have told me about, too. I have some pretty awesome 2-way conversations that never existed all written out! But. It is incredibly therapeutic to write, and so I will continue until I run out of things to say.

A note: I wrote the above nearly a month ago. I knew I wouldn't want to post it right away, and I was right. I still miss this friend, but as expected, the pain has subsided and in it's place comes a feeling of peace. Of knowing I did the right thing. And of knowing that in that time, other wonderful people have either re-entered or entered my life for the first time. And that has been even more awesome.

I could remind myself about all the things that were great about our friendship but I know what will happen, or really what won't happen. The break-up will backfire and we'll find ourselves right back where we were. And then give it another 3 months, and I'll be back in these shoes again, knowing that I have to make a really hard decision that is really right for me. I have to walk away from someone who means the world to me and makes me over-the-moon happy because as happy as they make me, that's how much the relationship hurts me. It's not every day. It's not one action. It's an ache for things to be not-the-same that doesn't disappear. An ache for more, for less, for something to change.

Another note: The ache is gone, and it went away so much faster than I thought. I could certainly attribute this to a number of things, but the biggest one has been my attitude. Knowing this was the best possible decision for me, but also knowing that this friend would ultimately be there for me through thick and thin. Our friendship wasn't being cut off with no path forward - just a bumpy, turn in the road. It's still there, just like I always wanted.

My heart hurts writing this, but I needed to say more than just a little note in my iPhone. I hope that by leaving the intensity of this relationship behind me, I'll have space for new friends, new relationships, and I'll walk away with a heavier heart only for a little while. In the meantime, I'll keep writing letters on my iPhone until I don't have letters to write anymore, and when I run out of letters to write, then maybe we can start from scratch, but I won't get my hopes up. I think I'll be writing letters forever.

The final note: I'm still writing letters, but as time has gone on, I've found they are so much more for me than they are for anyone else.

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Busyness

How many times have you had this conversation:

Friend: Hi! How are you?
Self: OMG So busy, you wouldn't believe it.
Friend: Yeah, me too. Tell me about it. I know the feeling.
Self: Yeah, life's just super crazy right now.

I've had that conversation so many times it makes me want to throw something. Do I have nothing better to say than, "look at me I'm so busy and important." So, I have focused recently on not telling people about how busy I am. Instead, when they ask how I am, I answer honestly. I'm stressed out because I feel like my life is falling apart. I'm really happy, because my parents are coming into town. I'm excited for a long weekend away with extended family. I'm geeking out over the Olympic Trials.

I am doing all of these. Clearly I am busy. That goes without saying, so I try really really hard not to say it.

Then I found this article via Facebook friends and realized that I'm not the only one annoyed by my constant proclamation of busyness.

So I challenge each of you to change your answer from Busy to Something Else just once and see how it feels. I bet you won't feel quite so busy.

Goalsetting.

I went to breakfast with a friend yesterday, and we started talking about our goals. Nothing really specific, just things we wanted to do.

I had the same conversation with another friend earlier in the week. I made some flippant comment about "Well I just want it all" to which he responded "what, exactly, is it that you want, Katie?" and I spent probably the next 5 minutes ticking down a list of all the things I wanted. Some of them were stupid - I wanted it to be Friday, I wanted the day to be over, etc. Others were serious - I wanted certain things at work, I wanted my mom and dad to be happy, I wanted to repair relationships with people that had been broken.

Both friends were so supportive of the things I wanted, and it was such a great two-way conversation with people who love me and care about me and who I love and care about. There's something really liberating about telling someone else your dreams. It gives them meaning. It holds you accountable.

It's why I posted my 101 in 1001 list. It's hard to believe that I made that list almost 2 years ago, and I've checked so many things off of it.

What's remaining? Running 6 5k's. UGH. So, now with about 10 months left, I have to do said 5k's. Anyone want to participate with me? One of my best friends lives in DC and is into running, so perhaps when I go to visit in April I'll rope her into doing one with me. And maybe when I'm in Florida in January I'll do one there. Maybe I'll commit to doing 6 5k's in 6 different locations.

What do you think? What holds you accountable? Do you have friends you can rely on?

Photo on Canvas

Ya'll know how obsessed I am with pictures. My friends definitely know. Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but regardless, my friends always know who to go to for a photo opp. 9 times out of 10 I have my DLSR on me, too. Those suckers are heavy!

I have so many pictures that I don't know what to do with. I could print them, I could scrapbook them...the options are endless but I just never committed to anything except a few scrapbooks from my college years. Last fall I printed more pictures with the intention of making a 2010 scrapbook but it's now 3/4 of the way to 2012 and no 2010 scrapbook is in sight.

So when a rep from Easy Canvas Prints contacted me about having one of my photos on a canvas, I literally jumped at the opportunity.

I chose a picture of my 4 best girl friends from college. It's an oldie but a goodie, and the last picture of all of us when we all resided in Atlanta. I miss those days. I miss my friends.

I decided to put it right on my fireplace. To be honest, I probably should have gone with a size larger than 8"x10" but it is what it is, and I'm working with it. But if you decide to get your own print, I'd definitely encourage a bigger size.

Love them! Love having a picture of them as the centerpiece in my living room.

One of my friends just ordered a larger size of a picture he took on a trip to Africa and I'm so excited to see how he feels about it. The picture is really awesome, so I'm sure the print is going to look just as good.

Thanks, Easy Canvas Prints! I love my canvas photo and so does everyone who sees it :)



Photos on Canvas

Awesome Gift Idea!

One of my friends made a life-altering decision in the matter of a few weeks. She packed up her whole life and moved it across the country to work in Telluride, Colorado. I'm so proud of her, so excited for her, and a little bit jealous! Before she left, we had a small going-away/birthday gathering with some of her close friends at a restaurant I never would have chosen for myself - H. Harper Station in Reynoldstown.

If there is one thing I am guilty of, it is not exploring the small, unique neighborhoods that are blossoming in and around Atlanta. This was no exception. Without this party, I never would have ventured to Reynoldstown to check out H. Harper Station, and what a pity that would be! It's a converted railroad station with awesome ambience. We ordered a punch bowl, and the drinks were served in unique, small glass cups that looked like they belonged in an antique shop, and they were held on a shelf for everyone to see. I wish I had snapped a picture!

delicious food & drinks!

blurry picture of the girls, but the best one i have of the rest of the restaurant.

The reason I'm writing this is not to brag on the restaurant as much as it is to tell you guys about the AWESOME going away/birthday gift my friend received.

One of my friends brought all the supplies: a scrapbook filled with colorful scrapbook paper, a Polaroid camera, Polaroid film, a gluestick, a few colorful markers, and a handful of cutesy scrapbooking supplies, all in a cute little gift bag.

We took turns taking pictures and being in pictures, and for every picture, you had to write a special note to the guest of honor and glue it along with the picture onto your page in the scrapbook.

This present turned out fabulously. It wasn't too big for my friend to tote along on her cross-country move, and it captured wonderful memories between the notes & the pictures. We referenced memories that ran the course of the last 5 years of friendship and made new ones.

So if you are so motivated, snap up a Polaroid camera, order some Polaroid film, and get creating. It'll be a present your friends will never forget!

Bridesmaid 101: Bachelorette Party

It's HERE.

Everytime I load my Facebook feed (which is a lot more often than I care to admit), another person has changed their relationship status to engaged. I love it! For a while it was people I knew, but wasn't close to, but now that is changing as well and people I am close to, people I have shared countless memories with, are making plans to tie the knot!

I am not the first or last person to offer advice on wedding gifting and party throwing, but every penny counts right?

This post is going to focus on the bachelorette party, but I'm planning to do follow-up posts on everything else that we (the bridesmaids/friends of the bride) put together in an attempt to make the year before our sweet friend says "I do" a memorable one!

When planning the bachelorette party, we very quickly determined who would and would not be able to attend based on age. 3 of the bridesmaids were under 21, so we immediately counted them out for the big shebang. (We did, however, make plans for a "Mini-bachelorette" that would include everyone closer to the wedding).

The next step was figuring out where to host the party. The majority of the attendees lived in Atlanta, and while it sounded inexpensive, it also sounded a little...boring. I think we all also knew it would be challenging to stay on our home turf and not get very distracted running into friends, boys, etc. We contemplated coming up with a set of rules for if we stayed in Atlanta, but that basically turned the Bachelorette Party into a Follow-My-Rules Party and who wants to play by the rules? Not us!

We started tossing around destination ideas, including Texas (where one of the other bridesmaids lives), Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and the beach - Destin, Myrtle Beach, and Jekyll Island, to be exact. Ultimately we landed on Destin. Why?

1. Proximity to Atlanta
2. Great beaches
3. Party town
4. Inexpensive

I made a few phone calls, got in touch with someone at Dale E. Peterson Rentals - they were SO helpful and the condo we rented was seriously wonderful. I only had a few complaints - one, the pool was far away from the beach and not very nice, and two, the beach was reallly narrow in this area and there were tons of reserved chairs put out which made it dififcult to find a spot for our own things. In the grand scheme of things, not a big deal, but things to think about.

We arrived on Thursday evening and spent that night settling in, drinking wine, and catching up as only girlfriends know how to do. Somehow we stayed up until 3am on our "take it easy" night. Oops? I blame the champagne.

As resident party planner, I had little giftbags made up for all the bridesmaids. Little did I know, so did the bride!

Neither of the gifts were anything fancy - probably didn't cost more than $10, but it was the thought that counts! The sand bucket had names on the outside, plus animal crackers, aloe, glowsticks, and some other random goodies I can't remember. The party bags had sparklers, mini-liquor bottles, and customized wine glasses. So much fun!

Friday night was our big night out - matching outfits, sashes, paraphernalia, the whole nine yards. We planned to go to dinner, and then go straight from dinner to whatever bar was close by and had large groups of the opposite gender. Mission freaking accomplished.

We made a list of things for the Bride-to-Be to check off, and before heading out, we all agreed it was going to be a challenge to cross them all off. We could not have been more wrong. The second we walked into the first (and only) bar we stopped at, it was non-stop "let me check something off the list!" I can't believe I am going to admit this on the internet, but we came home with bras on the outside of our clothing, a pair of men's underwear, a condom, a photo of a bald man and a kiss, and a list that was used and abused. We also met more dudes claiming to be "Adam" than I ever could have imagined. (One of the items on the checklist was to kiss a man with the same first name as the groom).

We stayed up all night Friday night, watching the sunrise and generally enjoying each other's company. The rest of the weekend was a little more low-key, but we still managed to have a blast. I'd say grand total we each spent about $400, which for a weekend at the beach combined with a bachelorette party isn't all that bad in my book.

The bride had a blast, the bridesmaids in attendance had a blast, and I think it was one of those weekends I'll remember forever. There is just something to be said about the magic of drinking out of a straw shaped in the form of a male sex organ...

New Tunes

I was listening to the radio last night on my way home from seeing Bridesmaids and I heard a song that I loved. It sounded really familiar. When it was over, the radio DJ annouced that it was Gloriana's new single, Wanna Take You Home.



I love it! This morning I got to work and promptly turned on my iPod. Typically I just turn on a playlist and let it run for the day, but today I carefully selected an Artist to listen to: Gloriana.

The band holds a special place in my heart. The spring after I graduated from college, their first single kind of became a theme song of sorts for my 4 best friends and I. We listened to it on repeat during roadtrips, on our way out to the bar, while we were getting ready for graduation, and so many other times. And by repeat, I mean 100+ times in a row. Seriously.

Some mornings I wake up to an email from one of those girls with the song lyrics and a simple "miss you, love you" and it warms my heart. No other words - just song lyrics. It kind of reminds me of that movie "Raising Helen" where the oldest sister gets so mad when the sister who passes away leaves Helen a note and all it has is song lyrics. That's how I feel about Wild at Heart - I just get it, and if any of my friends send me an email with just lyrics, I know exactly what they are trying to say.

To say that song brings me back to a place in time is a huge understatement.



I've been listening to their album on repeat all day (why I haven't done this before, I'm not sure) but I love it! All the songs are great, catchy, the singing is phenomenal...I highly recommend! And I hope you all enjoyed my little walk down memory lane.

10 Things on a Thursday

1. I talk out loud to myself in my office when the door is shut. Wouldn't you if you had your own office?

2. I woke up this morning feeling so grateful to have such fabulous friends who know me so well. My best friend in the entire world is going to be in town next week and I am going to see so many friends and share so many wonderful memories over the next few months - it just left my heart feeling very full and satisfied this morning.

3. I grew 1 cucumber so far but it was a little...odd-shaped. Hopefully the rest of them will be a little more normal and I'll feel safe eating them.


4. I broke my camera. I sent it in to be fixed, then I bought a point-and-shoot because I have the patience of a 2 year old, then I found out my DSLR is being replaced. But the store I bought it from stopped carrying my model. I mean, really? So now I'm going to get an upgraded model but apparently I have to pay more and just, ugh. I need somone else to deal with this first-world problem for me. I miss my camera :(

5. I have zilch, zip, zero plans for Memorial Day weekend. Well, that's partially untrue. I have a date tomorrow night, and then I'm going to a birthday party, and I have a friend who wants to meet up for a drink on Saturday night. But other than that, my weekend is wide open.

6. I recently read The Pioneer Woman's book. I love P-Dub as much as the next girl (maybe more), but I wished her book ended differently. It was kinda abrupt. Maybe there's a part 2 that I don't know about.

7. I only skipped out on exercise 1 day so far this week, and that was on Monday, and I skipped exercising because I had heart palpitations over my grocery store bill. It was over $100. I only feed one person.

8. It's my job to plan Friday lunch at work this week (and next week too) and I only spent 1/2 of my budget this week. I wonder if that means I get to spend the other half plus my whole budget for next Friday's lunch? PARTAY if that's the case!

9. I skipped yoga last night and went for a walk instead and then I ate dinner at Nuevo Laredo and drank 2 Coronas, because that's what responsible kids do. I tried to convince my dinner companion to take tequila shots but he declined, stating that it would be an aggressive move for 9pm on a Wednesday. Fine, fine.



10. I just typed something incredibly passive-aggressive and then deleted it. See Mom, I'm growing up in the mature young lady you always hoped I would be.

Happy Memorial Day weekend, someone remind me next year that I should take a vacation around this time. I'm long overdue.

Dear Life, I need a BREAK. XOXO, KEH

Last week, I sat down on my computer and typed out a post about what it means to be busy, and how I stay so busy all the time. Then, the next morning, my in-real-life-friend and fellow-blogger Buckhead Betty posted about basically the same thing. This is not the first time we have posted similar things around the same time, and I figured she'd summed it up nicely for both of us.

Being busy is a choice we make, and to me it doesn't seem out of the ordinary to have plans, oh, every night of the week. For some people that might seem weird, and when you ask me how I do it, my response is usually somewhere between, "How do I do what?" and "I HAVE NO IDEA I'M SO BUSY I CAN'T THINK ABOUT IT!!!" Typically though, it's not busy to me. It's life!

But sometimes, life has had ENOUGH. I have spent the last 3 months going, going, going. Nonstop, without coming up for air, without so much as breathing fresh oxygen. I have done happy hours and volunteering and meetings and church and dinners with friends and babysitting and tennis matches and softball games and tennis practice and "relaxing" massages and hosted dinner parties and attended dinner parties AND AND AND. You get the idea.

This past weekend, I had more of the same planned. Cinco de Mayo festivities, a work dinner hosted by someone super important in the company, a softball game, a birthday party, etc. Thursday night didn't go exactly as planned, and then Friday got here. And I wanted to curl up in a ball under my desk and cry, and sleep, and cry some more. I went to the work dinner, and promptly went home afterwards, crawled under my covers, and slept a glorious 10 hours. I went about my Saturday running errands, making lists in my head, forgetting what was on the lists...you know, normal Saturday. I headed out to an early dinner get together. I prepared a salad.

And after the salad was prepared, I sat on my kitchen floor and proclaimed that I was tired. Really tired. Really, really tired. And then I got up, I put on my big girl pants, and I went to my dinner. And after that, I went out for my friends birthday. But you know what? I had 2 beers at the dinner, and 1/2 a beer at the birthday party, because my body said NO MA'AM. My body had finally had enough. I knew I had hit my wall, figuratively speaking of course, because remember, I only had 2.5 beers. I bailed on my friends that night and I went home and I slept. And on Sunday, I did more fun things, and Sunday night, I slept. I cancelled a phone date with a girlfriend, I got comfy on my couch, and I rested. It was what my body was demanding.

So, the whole point of me telling you this is that when your body really needs it, you will be forced to slow down. I started this out by saying I have been going non-stop for the past 3 months. I mean, just look at my blog posts. I either haven't had time to post, or I've posted about all the things I am doing. Neither one screams "balance." But I have been caught up in a new job, new friends from said job, new friends from other aspects of life, and that old FOMO-friend peeking through, and I couldn't bear to say no to any of it.

So to those of you who think I can do it all...newsflash! I can't! But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying. I'm taking this week easy. I have a friend coming into town this weekend, and I'm really hoping that she'll feel okay about just hanging out. That doesn't mean we can't go out to places where other people are getting wild and crazy but...it likely will not be me. My body is still in break-mode. But hey, I have the best friends in the world so I have a feeling she'll understand.

I hope you do too. We all need a break sometime, and I'm taking mine. Holla!