Monday, July 26, 2010

Take More Pictures of People Than Of Places

GNO with Soccer Mom and Rock Star Mom. It's true -- "Busy people have more fun."
These two are some of the busiest people I know. In addition, they both love their chocolate. What a better way to pull it all together by hanging out during a hair appointment and then heading out for a night at the dessert capitol of Winter Park Village. It really turned out to be a great time and a sweet way to break up the work week with some friends.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Take in LIFE cheerfully.

baby love living her cheer.

Dare to reach out to someone you haven't met



So, a random thing happened a couple of Fridays ago. Mr. Wonderful and I were enjoying date night at Bonefish Grill and during the 30 minute wait, we met a really nice couple who also has a little girl and recently (like us) discovered how nice it is to get out and have some time alone together. We exchanged cards and decided to try a play date...just the girls while her Mr. Wonderful went golfing and mine was working on his project. Because we just met each other, I decided it would be fun to meet somewhere new together...like a splash park or a playground. So we went to Trailblazer Park in Lake Mary. There was a $2 admission fee for the splash area. It was incredibly hot, but thankfully the park was ready for fun and splashing. Unfortunately, the baby girl wasn't incredibly interested in getting wet so our new friends headed over to the picnic area for some snacks and my little one headed straight to the swings. By the way, both my new friend's daughter and baby girl were wearing the same swim shirt with long sleeves and a colorful butterfly on the front. I also got to meet a friend of hers who is a photographer in town. She had a little boy who was ready to go the moment we got there. So, we did some playing in the park and decided to call it a day once the heat got to both of us. I really appreciated how she said, "you meet new people and you never know if it's going to work out so I'm glad this did." It was just really nice and I want baby girl to appreciate her friends...the old and the new ones you meet unexpectedly along the way.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Playing Is One of the Healthiest Things You Can Do





It's State Park Appreciation month or something that allows people to get into the state parks for free. We headed to Wekiwa Springs for a day on the river but it was already full so we ended up at Wekiva Island. Fabulous place to be on a beautiful day. The Super Shah's joined us for a canoe trip down the river so we rented our green island vessels and started our journey down the great Wekiwa River. This was baby girls' third time down the river so she had her routine figured out including looking for "chomp chomps" and feeding the "fishies" once we got close to the state park. We tied our boats together and got out for a quick swim which was very refreshing. Along the way, I spotted quite a few alligators, a couple of turtles, several birds and lots of fish. On the way back, it was getting late and the river was getting quieter. Thankfully there were parts where our boat and the Shah's boat were the only ones out there. There's something really special about being on the water when it's so quiet. Baby girl and Baby Shah were having so much fun and seemed to quickly follow each other whether it was turning away from me every time I wanted to take a picture or walking together holding hands. I just knew they'd be friends. After we finished canoeing, we sat and enjoyed the Island by rehydrating and listening to music. Baby Shah found a pool table and Baby girl found a big dog named "Kitty." We decided to grab a snack and instead of a small paper bowl of fries, I got three hamburgers and two orders of fries. I think there were boiled peanuts too. What a day! An adventure, as usual and all within walking distance of where we live.

Friday, July 23, 2010

meeting @iwearyourshirt

had an opportunity at the 2010 media roundtable to meet mr. i wear your shirt. if you aren't familiar with what jason and evan are doing with something as simple as wearing a t-shirt for a day and promoting the crap out of it via social media, check out their site. sometimes "crazy" ideas can take off and turn into something beyond your wildest dreams. (too bad i'm not much of a t-shirt wearer.)

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Remembering Karen Plunkett

Thank you for sharing your passion of public relations and the importance of mentoring with me. I'll never forget our lunch and conversation about how important it is to create support for our up and coming pr professionals. You will be missed. My thoughts and prayers to the Plunkett family and all who knew her.

Monday, July 19, 2010

r e s p o n s i b i l i t y

"stop worrying about what others are responsible for. only be responsible for what you can control. if people choose to be mean even after you were nice, that's their choice. not everyone can handle taking responsibility for their actions. be responsible." (listening online to pastor hunter at northlandchurch.net)

when i was a lot younger, i thought everyone was responsible who was older. now that i'm much older, i realize this is more of an exception to find people who actually choose to be responsible for their actions. it's just easier for people to blame someone else, i guess.


soooo...what do we do? hate them all. NO. not really. instead, mentally prepare for the irresponsible...see the following tactic:

Prepare yourself mentally – The final way of dealing with irresponsible people is to simply expect them to be that way. This isn’t to say that you should run around thinking the worst of people. However, there are some people who are going to do what they are going to do, no matter how many problems it causes for other people. If they are going to do their thing regardless of your efforts to the contrary, then the best thing that you can do is to just be ready for it on a mental level. Even chaos, anarchy, and negativity aren’t as bad if we are ready for them. Often, just being ready for something will limit the negative effect that it has on us.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

quiet mornings

every so often, i will be the first one up in the morning. it feels like i've been given a special secret gift of uninterrupted time. it's so rare as most of you moms get. so far, i've turned a non-kid movie on, fired up the laptop and will read a chapter of Liz Gilbert's "Committed."

thank you. thank you. thank you.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Thanks @EdelmanDigital for Tweeting

I'm not one to post presentations like these....BUT, I found this to be a creative and clear approach on "Health Care" Reform...

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Bowling with My Baby


Mr. Wonderful, Tina and I took the baby girl bowling for the first time on Saturday night. As I said to Tina, she won't remember it, but she had a great time going up to the lane and helping roll it down. She used a 6 lb. ball that was orange. We would step up to the line and we'd count 1...2...3...BOWL! She would then step on the center of our lane and the next one to watch it roll down to hit the pins. That became the main attraction. Forget rolling the ball. I can stand on this cool metal mini lane mommy even though you're telling me not to. Of course, it's always good to catch up with Tina. She's such an awesome bowler and just a wonderful friend. Seriously, the girl could've been a pro bowler. She hasn't played in two years and goes out on the first game and gets a Turkey (3 strikes) and then breaks a 100 by frame six. I think her final score on the first game was 191. The second was 17?...She asked that I not publish such a low score. Ummmm...Ok. I bowled just a few more points than my two year old and I could only wish for 170-something. Yet another reason why I love that girl. So, Operation First Time Bowling with Baby Girl was a great success!

Happy Birthday McWyatt!

Did someone order some sides for the BBQ?


Glenna, the fabulous hostess, getting it all ready.

All engaged! Congrats to the future Mrs. McWyatt!!!


Happy Birthday to McWyatt!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Jakey Turns 3!


My friends Jerm and Mandy's oldest turned three the other day. They had a fun Scooby Doo party full of balloons, burgers and chocolate cake! Always good to see old friends and their little ones growing up. Jake also has a little sister, Grace, who was born in June. Finally, I got to meet her. She's beautiful.

Monday, July 05, 2010

Baby Girl Goes to Her First Movie


After some practice movie runs at home, we headed to the big movie house to see Toy Story 3. As soon as we got there, she wanted some popcorn. She started out sitting on my lap. After awhile, she went and sat on her own. Toward the end and some of the "scary" parts, she decided to sit with Mr. Wonderful. We were so proud of her and this is just another experience that tells us that she's growing up so fast.

Saturday, July 03, 2010

Eat, Drink and Be Married!

Lori and her sisters

Johnson and Johnson

Mr. Wonderful and I with the new Mrs. J!

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Happy Anniversary #9 to the Super Shah's!

We were attempting to do a family photo of the Super Shah's but since it's their ninth anniversary, I love that I got a good one of the two of them.
Happy Anniversary to two of the coolest kids I know!

Pretend that he's in the photo above with that same adorable face. Voila! Family photo. :-)