Florida + A Birthday Shout-out!

I'm back from Florida!!!

Side note: Does anyone else get crazy worn out from traveling, or is that just me? Either way, I feel like I've been asleep or seriously resting for a majority of the last 48 hours. My work trip to Florida last week included a 5am wake-up call on Monday morning and looong days the rest of the week. I flew back to Jersey on Thursday, ate a late lunch with Luke, and literally passed out. I do think I've finally caught up on sleep, but this trip seriously kicked my butt!

But it was totally worth it considering that this is where I was all week...

{Second pic stolen from a friend's Instagram}

I can't remember how much I've talked about what I do/where I work on my blog and I do try to keep this to a minimum for privacy/professional reasons, but I am going to brag for a couple of seconds...I LOVE my job! I love my team, I love the company I work for, and I love that we know how to both work hard and play hard. Every time we're all back together in one place, I'm reminded of God's providence, answered prayers for a job and career I'm passionate about, and colleagues that challenge me. It's just icing on the cake that we're also good friends. :) 

Don't be fooled. We did actually work quite a bit too! When you put 7 marketing gurus in a conference room for two days, you can guarantee that by the end of day two:

 1) Every marker board will be covered in lists, charts, and words/ideas/strategies.

2) Post-It easel pad pages will be hanging all over the walls with even more lists, charts, and words/ideas/strategies.

3) Every person at one point or another will trip over a computer or cell phone charger cord to get to the lunch being delivered to the conference room because they're STARVING!

4) Coffee cups and diet mountain dew cans will be strewed across the conference table.

{If you're a marketing person, you know exactly what I'm talking about!}

Needless to say, we had a great time in Florida, both inside and outside of the office. :)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And one last thing before I wrap up this post...I've got to give a quick shout-out to one my my best friends in the entire world, Aubrey, who turns 27 today. Happy birthday doll face!! I wish I was there to celebrate with you, but know that I'm there in spirit. Love you! 

Fab Friday. :)

Just a few fabulous things going on over here...

1) The furbabies got their summer haircuts this morning and they are looking and feeling great. I mean, look at those smiles! They are now ready to make a statement at the dog park this weekend. :)

2) I rediscovered my iPad last night! Random, I know. But I hadn't used it in a long time, which means that the battery had died and I forgot that I had any reason to use it. After charging it last night for the first time in a couple months, I was so pumped to download a new book to read for my flight to Florida on Monday. It's the gift that keeps on giving, I guess!

3) Loft is having a 40% off all full-priced dresses, cardigans, jewelry, etc. sale for Mother's Day, plus an additional 40% off already marked down items. I stopped by after dropping the dogs off at their grooming appointment to kill some time and found a couple of really cute things to add to my summer work wardrobe. I was thrilled to add some skirts, sleeveless tops, and COLOR to my closet! In honor of good weather finally sticking around for a while, I may even pack up some winter clothes this weekend to make room for my new clothes. 

4) My parents sent Luke and I some gift cards to Olive Garden last week and we're using them tonight! Bring on the salad, breadsticks, and wine!!

5) I'm headed to sunny, fabulous Florida on Monday! This trip might be for work, but my awesome team plans on some time at the beach and a few tropical drinks with little umbrellas (yesss!). It's been a loooong, busy season for us and it's the first time we'll all be in one place since November. I'm pretty excited to catch up with everyone and even possibly get some color on these white legs of mine!

Have a nice weekend. :)

Linking up with Laura for this Fab Friday post!

Instagram + Vine Blog Hop!

 

 Welcome to the Instagram + Vine Blog Hop! If you're new here, the Instagram + Vine Blog Hop is a party where you link up your Instagram and/or Vine accounts, find and follow new friends, and be continually inspired by what you see in your feeds! No need to have a blog, just an Instagram and/or Vine account!

How to PLAY:

1. Follow your HOSTS:

Kimberly | Instagram: @anightowlblog | Vine: anightowlblog 

Emily | Instagram: @mrsemshhh | Vine: emily emshwiller 

Angie | Instagram: @blogali | Vine: Little Inspiration

2. Follow your CO-HOSTS:

Diana | Instagram: @mrsdchastain

You can find Diana here: 

Blog :: Facebook :: Twitter :: Pinterest

 ***

Sara | Instagram: @saramhinton

 You can find Sara here: 

Blog :: Facebook :: Twitter :: Pinterest

3. Link up your Instagram Web Profile:

Just link up your new Instagram Web Profile (http://instagram.com/username) -OR- your web viewer of choice in the linky below!

Note: this URL will not let you choose a profile pic from your feed, so be sure you have a picture you can upload from your computer if you use it! If you get a "Error: The requested URL returned error: 500" error that just means it can't find a picture to use NOT that your link is bad. Just click on "Direct Image URL" if you have one or "Upload from Computer". If you still have trouble, try sticking with Followgram or Webstagram to upload your profile.

4. NEW! Link up your Vine Username and/or Video!

Add your Vine username (so folks can find you) to the list below! Or link up a Vine video so we can see your cinematography at work! This is new, so there aren't web profiles just yet, but hopefully they'll be out soon! How do you find your video link? If you post your video on Facebook or Twitter, you will be given a URL that looks like this: "http://vine.co/v/bJegq22datT." Just link that up below with your username so we can find you! If you don't have a URL to one of your videos, simply link up your blog URL, but make sure the title is your Vine username so we can find you!

5. Check out and follow a few fellow Instagram or Vine friends.

Tell folks you follow that you found them through the Hop!

6. Spread the word!

Tweet about it, share it on Facebook or post about it on Instagram!

Tweet

Now let's link up!

Lately.

As you can tell from my last two posts here and here, two of my best friends came to visit Luke and I last weekend. I still have a third post to write that wraps up the awesome weekend we had, but it can wait until tomorrow or next week. For now, here's a little update on what's been going on around here lately...

We are loving spring in the northeast! Growing up in South Texas, Luke and I have never experienced a real spring, trees that bloom like it's going out of style, or tulip and daffodil-line streets. If you walk through the neighborhood behind our apartment building (where we like to walk the pups) it smells like dogwood and cherry blossoms. This is my favorite season up here so far!

{He gets so shy when people want to celebrate him. Cutie!}

On Thursday, Luke turned 27. Such an old man! ;) Luke isn't big on celebrating birthdays (don't ask me why!), so we kept it low-key. Everyone in the office got lunch from Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate and then after lunch, while we went back to work, one of Luke's employees snuck out and picked up a chocolate molten cake and vanilla ice cream from Applebees. We surprised Luke with his little cake and candles and sang happy birthday to him. This was even more celebrating than I imagined, but Luke was a champ. I'm so glad he works with and for such great people!

When we got home from work that day, there was a package waiting for us from my mom with some birthday goodies. She'd already sent us both something for our birthdays back in March (I'm in March, Luke is May), but I had needed something from home. Instead of sending it by itself, she added a few more birthday presents for me and Luke. Luke got some shirts and a new man-loofa w/body wash and I got a scarf and new sandal wedges! Both the wedges and scarf are perfect for spring. Thanks mom!!!

On Friday, we took the dogs to their first-ever dog park. I know, bad puppy parents, right? But until we moved to the northeast, our dogs had yards to play in and dog parks just aren't as big where we're from. We were a little nervous about how they'd react to the other dogs, but they LOVED it! I have to say, our dogs were pretty popular; every dog wanted to play with them. :) After they'd had enough time in the small dog area, we took them over to the large dog area. No, they are not large and Brooklyn wasn't the biggest fan, but Bentley went crazy! He runs really fast and the little dogs just couldn't keep up with him, but in the large dog area, he was out-running the labs and German shepherds! I was also surprised that he wasn't scared of them chasing him. We met some really nice people and had a great first experience. We'll definitely be going back!