It's 8:45 and I'm still awake?

This is weird. I'm usually long gone by this time - I guess the inspiration that I get to work from home tomorrow really just is keeping me going for the night. Problem is, the longer I am up, the more eating hours I have. I've started keeping a food journal this week after my overindulgence's of El Azteca while in Atlanta this week. I need to stay away from that place for a while - its gonna make me F-A-T!

Like I said, I am so ready for the weekend. I went to the grocery store today and got stuff to make Weight Watchers friendly chimichangas (my new favorite food), pizzas, and other various diet-friendly items. I am excited to make a breakfast burrito in the morning. I like that they actually keep me full until lunch unlike a lot of other breakfast items. Mmm and I will be able to make coffee! I really like working from home because instead of taking a lunch break, I get to take an exercise break around noon and go for a walk on the greenway near my apartment. My adventure of the weekend is going to be to try and figure out if I can walk to Target via the greenway. I think that walking with a purpose will really make it more enjoyable. My credit card company will enjoy it too! I am on a serious mission for weight loss.. I'm trying to lose at least 15 lbs by Christmas, and then hopefully more. Baby steps.

This month I am really trying to get everyone else as excited about Arbonne as I am! They have some truly great holiday specials and it's so cheap to join! Its like Sam's Club but for your face and body. And another bonus is, when you do your Christmas shopping you get a free gift AND no lines!! What more could a gal ask for? Please let me know if you have any hard-to-buy-for people, and together, we will find them something!

On the agenda for tomorrow/the weekend: Walk to Target or Walmart. Skype date with Maddie. Brunch with Christin and her mom. Maybe out with Christin? Homework and extra credit for accounting class. Lots and lots of walking/exercising. Most exciting on the list - Haircut!!

I can't do any strenuous exercise tomorrow cause I do not want to have to wash my hair again. Maybe when I get up, I will work for a while, walk to Walmart, then have some breakfast. That sounds like a good plan - There's a few things I need to get there: Boca Burgers/Bacon, Sugar Free flavored powdered coffee mate, smoked salmon (probably not a Walmart purchase- sketchyy?) I'm sure there's more on the list... I'll figure it out!

Wow, its been a while!

I have been meaning to post an update... Its just not as fast nor as convenient as updating my twitter (go TwitterBerry!).

My boss is amazing- I woke up at 7 am to find an email from him which essentially gave me the go-ahead to work from home today. Best day ever! I'm also not totally exhausted today which is just great!

Life updates: Traveling all the time, liking it most of the time. Its made me even more grateful for my own space. Although, I do love the heavenly bed at the Westin. Thank goodness that is Newell Rubbermaid's preferred hotel. Also, I have started a new gig as an Arbonne consultant. It is fun and rewarding- it is just hard, especially when I am not in one place long enough to establish a base. Wondering what Arbonne is? It is an all-natural, botanically based line of health and beauty products (think Avon or Mary Kay but awesome, or else I wouldn't be participating in it). Let me know if you have a troublesome person to buy gifts for- I just might be able to help! I am also embarking on a weight loss journey. I'm cutting calories by basically just eating healthier and its great! Also, I am trying to go to the gym at least every other day. Today is a gym day!

Right now, I sit on my big, comfy couch, watching the Today show, responding to e-mails. It is amazing what you can get done before 8 am. Now, I just have to wait until everyone gets into the office so that they can respond to my emails!

Dear Knoxville Drivers,

YOU SUCK.

No, seriously. I have never been in an area where people drive worse than they do here. Even in the Bahamas, where I found 2 airplane bottles of Absolut Vodka in Miss Patty's cupholders.

I almost get in a wreck pretty much every day. It's actually really scary driving around here. I don't feel safe at all. At least I know my car is very safe if anything were to ever happen. Today I almost got hit by someone that didn't know how to merge. It was like they had never learned how to do it...

I am going to complain about this for the duration of my stay in this fine, mountain city. In order to get this off of my chest before I start working for the day, I came up with some "rules of thumb" for those of us that do not know how to drive. For me, they just seem like common sense.

A few suggestions:

1. Never ever when you are merging, and traffic is flowing on the highway, should you use your breaks nor should you slow down. Get up to the speed of traffic, then enter into the right lane.

2. That space I leave between me and the car in front of me? Yeah, its not for you Mr. Crappy Driver. Just because I don't tailgate the car in front of me, doesn't mean that I want to get cut off on a regular basis.

3. Speaking of, don't tailgate me. It makes me drive slower just to piss you off. Tailgating = when you are so far up my butt, that I can't even tell what kind of car you are driving (in extreme scenarios). This did happen to me last night. For the record, it turned out to be an old, beat up, maroon Saturn.

4. Don't try and pass me on the right. Seriously, its not gonna happen. As soon as I see you speeding up next to me, I make sure it doesn't happen.

5. Please do not go less than the speed limit in the left lane. Then I will try and pass you on the right, and that's just not safe driving.

6. It is completely unnecessary to come to a near-complete stop when making a right turn.

7. When I honk at you because you almost killed me, please continue watching the road and don't glare into my car (or have your passenger glare into my car) like I did something wrong because I can guarantee you, I didn't. I don't use my horn without valid reason. Coming an inch away from hitting my car is a valid reason in my book.

At least one, or any combination of the above happens to me everytime I get in the car and drive somewhere around here. I suppose another thing that has me fired up about this subject is that I watched the UK PSA about Texting While Driving. It is pretty scary, and it has converted me to never doing it again. Its just not worth it. I ask everyone to take the 4 minutes and 15 seconds to watch it. It's pretty gruesome but impactful.

I only write this because I needed a place to vent my frustrations, and this is the most public way I know how. I wanted this to be somewhat humorous, but in all seriousness, people do need to be more aware of how they are driving because its not just their safety at stake. 2 cars at 75 mph colliding will not turn out well for any of the parties involved.

In conclusion, Knoxville drivers, please stop being so selfish and drive like you actually care about the safety of others on the road.

EDIT: Ok, so I was pretty pissed when I got to work this morning, so I am not trying to accuse all Knoxville drivers, just drivers in general. I just ask everyone to be as safe as possible! We are all important, and getting somewhere quickly is never ever more important than yours or someone else's life.

Lady eats-a-lot and sleeps-a-lot

A mini-entry because I am tired, and writing from Chicago... I know, I know, I promised I would be in Knoxville the next time I wrote but I have recently ignored my blog.

Goals for the weekend:
Write a legitimate blog post.
Eat NO carbs, I mean none.
Spend NO money, well, maybe some... I need milk...
Catch up on TiVo shows.
Prep for Atlanta trip.
Go see a movie. Oh crap, that costs money.
Figure out when classes start, seriously.

Yeah, I think that's about it.

I think my blog is probably like reading a Faulkner book... My stream-of-consciousness is extremely "nonsensical" especially when I am tired. Sorry, everyone.

Closing thought: I love this place, Sharpies : Oakbrook Building :: Halloween Candy : Front Porches on 10/31. They hand them out like candy... and well, I love candy, and Sharpies.

I'm shocked that the credit card company hasn't called

Quick post, because I haven't in a while...

I just started my first week of the job. I had the privilege of going to Chicago to begin work (the office I will be reporting in to). It was an interesting/cool/weird experience to fly into your first day of work.

Its been a pretty busy week with not much downtime, and not enough TV time! But seriously, the movers are coming tomorrow and my parents have been gracious enough to help me pack. Um, when I move again I think I might be hiring packers because I don't know if I can do it myself!

Tomorrow night is my "going away" party which is really just an excuse to have a party and hang out with all of my friends. I'm excited... There is a lot of Bud Light Lime and PBR hanging out in the fridge. I'm making all the little snacks for it tomorrow, and I think my dad is going to order pizza too. Yay!

Anyways, I am tired and have taken about 3 naps today. I guess that is what happens when you have to leave your hotel in Chicago at 5:45 in order to be back in Raleigh by 11:30!

Next time we chat, I will probably be in Knoxville. And if I am on here, that means my internet and cable installation went without a hitch. If you know me at all, you know that I cannot live without my TiVo. Speaking of, I need to research more HDTV prices so I have something to hook my HD TiVo too... See why I am surprised that the credit card company hasn't called me yet?!

Happy Weekend!

Time keeps going by too fast.

This week I bought my first car. Hired a moving company. And spent way too much money at the mall buying real clothes and stuff for my apartment.

I'm starting to sound like an adult or something. Good thing I off-set all of these grown-up things by watching 2 hours of Degrassi on TheN while babysitting.

This week is gonna be crazy. I have a lot to pack and to do. Tomorrow is gonna be a busy day because I plan on trying to get a lot done. Key work is plan.

Goodnight.

Reid better get a rose tonight!

I'm watching the Bachelorette, and I LOVE REID! I'm only half-way through (thank you TiVo) and can't wait to see Wes get kicked off.

I did get my haircut! Here's a less-than flattering picture of myself (yes, Mike and Shelly, this was taken in my special chair in the home office). I do most of my work from home in Mike and Shelly's comfy chair! What is gonna happen when I have to work in a real office? I am so not prepared for this.


Also, this weekend my mom, dad, and myself went to Knoxville to apartment-hunt. I was miserably sick, but I did sign a lease on an apartment!


I couldn't figure out how to make this picture bigger, but mine is the apartment on the third floor, smack dab in the middle of this picture behind a tree.


Above is my floor plan. Next big purchase, a CAR! I want a red Ford Flex. I love them and we are on the hunt for a good deal. I drove one this weekend and they are great cars. Can't wait to get rid of the Olds. Its been a good car, but its time for something new.

Ok back to the Bachelorette... GO REID!

Edit: I always make a post, and then think of things I want to add. I tried to sign up for online classes today so I can start my MBA, all but one was full. I was irritated. So I'm gonna be stalking the ECU registration page so I can sign up for another class.

Also, if you don't understand why I love Buddy's Pizza so much... Read this quote I read in O Magazine today. There is NO other pizza like it. None in the whole world, and nothing will ever, ever top it. Can I start the Buddy's Pizza fan club? If there is one, I want to be VP.

"I'm telling you that as transcendent experiences go, it's pretty hard to beat Buddy's Pizza in Detroit, Michigan. I could rhapsodize about the pure perfection that is Buddy's pillowy yet crackly crust with its ever so slightly fried edges and almost golden center. I could gush endlessly over the harmonic conversion of sauce and cheese, the hint of garlic and oregano, the touch of provolone, but for reasons that will never be entirely clear my editor has refused to provide the 33 extra pages I requested. Just know this: Despite everybody saying that when the country gets a cold, Detroit goes straight to bed with the flu, that it's got the highest unemployment rate, the most messed-up housing market, that the last one out should be sure to turn off the lights, I still believe in the Red Wings, the auto workers, and Smokey Robinson. I had Buddy's pizza on my first date, I had it at my sweet 16, I had it the night before I moved to New York City, I have it every time I come home, and I can assure you that where there is Buddy's Pizza, there is hope."
- Lisa Kogan

Err I mean Knoxville here I come/I'm getting a haircut

It turns out they have decided to place the job in Knoxville, TN which is a quick 8 hour drive up to my family in Michigan and an even shorter 6 hour drive home to Raleigh!

I accepted the job offer officially today. I can't wait! I start technically on July 20th. I will be flying up to Chicago for the week to attend the quarterly sourcing meeting. Then I get to come back home for a week to pack up and move. And then I start work at the Maryville, TN plant on August 3rd. I will be working in the plant that makes Sharpies! I wonder if I will get a buzz? Haha, just kidding. I'm sure I will be in an office or at least a cubicle, but it will be cool to be working in a real manufacturing plant since those are few and far between in the United States now-a-days.

Me and my family are going to Knoxville this weekend to pick out an apartment for me and to check out the city. I am thinking that I want to live in Knoxville. I found a great apartment online today that is located near the UT Medical School. Apparently a lot of grad and medical students live there, so it might be a great place for me to meet people *ahem* cute, male residents *ahem* and I will have a roommate so I will not be as lonely as I was in South Carolina when I worked for Target.

Dude, today I went on my first appointment! The woman was straight up crazy, like one of those people who can't look you in the eye crazy. But, she seemed like she really liked the advertising opportunity and most importantly, her husband who she brought with her really liked it. And, they drove off in a new, pearly white Mercades, so I know that they have enough money...

Anyways, my dad just got home from teaching this evening so I am gonna chat with him! More to come.

Lets see, I still have to write about the crazy train people, pictures from Baltimore, and my internship at Target.

Edit: I have decided to get a hair cut tomorrow. A real big girl haircut with highlights and everything! Because everyone thinks that I look 16, I figure I can throw a little money at the hair dresser and hopefully they will do the job right haha. I only say that because highlights are expensive. Here is a picture of my inspiration and hopefully it will look good and I will post some pictures for all to see! Speaking of, I need a new digital camera...

Chi-town here I come? The short version.

Long story short:
This morning right before I was supposed to head to work, I got a call from Newell Rubbermaid. Offering me a job. In Chicago. In sourcing.

The back story: I had a job offer from Target (from my internship) and from Newell Rubbermaid. I accepted the NR offer, and a few months later they rescinded it due to the economy.

I think I might have my job back, but I will learn more tomorrow. I think I have to take it and just do my MBA slowly online. How can I turn down an opportunity like this?! I would get to live in Chicago for a YEAR! Brr.

More details to come later...

Jon plus 4 and Kate plus 4?

Another exciting Friday night in Apex. Let me back up:

Quick summary of Thursday Morning: Worked. Had fun. Was mistaken for a high schooler AGAIN. Did I mention this was one of my biggest pet peeves? After work, we went to a networking event at Koka Booth hosted by the Cary Chamber. Whole foods catered, it was delicious, and I looked cute, even with sweat drippin' all over! Then Michael, Maggie, and I went out all over the place in downtown Raleigh. It was fun!

Bar set list: Raleigh Times (artsy-hipster: so not my scene but it is fun to pretend), The Oxford (classy), Landmark (unsuccessful due to a cover charge- lame!), The Busy Bee (best drinks EVER), then ending the evening at MoJo's (mmm $2 burgers after 10pm)

Woke up this morning, ate breakfast, went back to sleep, had a lot of fun at work/hanging out with Noah, came home, watched tv and ate. What a lively Friday night! Oh, I also went to the Teeter to stock up on some lemons and watermelon to satiate my lemonade/watermelon craving of the evening. Thrilling.

On other notes, I want people to leave Jon, Kate, and the kids alone. I believe that Kate Gosselin is a good mother who really loves her children. Of course she has to be strict! She has 8 kids! Jon on the other hand, I have no sympathy for that dude. There are no excuses for cheating! For those of you who don't know, we saw Kate and the kids on Bald Head Island. She seemed like a good mom who took care of her kids. Yeah she needs help, and yeah she needs alone time. But seriously, give the woman a break! I'm curious to see what the deal is with this week's upcoming episode. For those of you out of the loop, they are supposed to be making a big announcement. See below for promo. Let me know how you all feel about this situation. I am curious to hear other people's opinions. I'm pretty sure they are announcing their legal seperation, or maybe the ending of the show, which would be bittersweet because I really have grown attached to their familiy... but who knows!

Jon and Kate article + video

Random thoughts on a rainy Tuesday night

This is a completely useless blog post. I'm painting my nails blue while watching the Bachelorette. Just made myself a peanut butter and banana milkshake. Must. Start. Diet. Tomorrow. Shelly fed me yummy leftovers at lunch, and then she had a plethora of desserts! Sheer deliciousness. Lots and lots of carbs.

It was a good day today. I made a LOT of phone calls and also learned that when people don't remember my name, they call me "Cutie" or "Beautiful" (via networking events). I made some good contacts today though! But I certainly am tired, thank goodness for Coffee and Diet Coke to get me through the days. What on earth is gonna happen when I have to start taking classes? Speaking of, I need to sign up for them. Katie's Pirate Booty is going to grad school!

I suppose I am gonna finish painting my nails. But before I sign off, I want to plug my new favorite social network: 20-something bloggers. http://20somethings.ning.com/ Its a great community for, well, exactly what the title suggests. I am loving being able to connect with people my age. Not that I don't love networking in Apex and Cary- don't get me wrong, it is a lot of fun, but this is a great way to meet people all over the world! All you 20-something's out there with blogs... Check out this network and join it!

Amtrak Adventures!

This weekend, my friend Casey and I took a train trip to Baltimore to visit our dear Meredith. What an adventure it was! I will try to break it down for you... I'm not sure how I can pack what we did over 72 hours into a blog post!

Friday: Got on the train in Cary. Train was 1.5 hours late getting into Baltimore. Woman sitting behind me sang to herself a good portion of the 9 hour train ride. Dropped off our stuff at Wolman Hall at JHU and cabbed it to the Orioles game. Stayed through the 8th inning. I got bored, because they were very obviously losing, and I wanted to see the end of the Wings game. Sadly, they lost. Gladly, I was drinking by this point (2 for $5 Bud Heavy's in the aluminum bottles). Gladly, we all continued drinking and bar hopped. Baltimore is a completely crazy town. The bars were pretty much empty by 11:30 pm because people were so hammered and had to go home/got kicked out of the bar. Luckily, we made it until 2. And I think we went to about 4 or 5 bars. Late night of choice: since there was no Jimmy John's, I had an absolutely delicious pastrami sandwich and I stood in line with all the other drunk people in Baltimore at the 24 hour deli/market. Mmmm. Fun night. Spent all day Saturday recovering.

Saturday: Recovery day. Woke up kind of early. Watched Weeds while everyone else slept. Went across the street to Tamber's and got brunch and pieced together the night before. We felt like we were all on Sex and the City. We got showers and looked pretty, then went down to the inner harbor. Ventured down there via bus, which was very interesting. So interesting, that we took a cab home instead. Drank Sangria and ate tapas overlooking the waterfront. Went shopping at the Inner Harbor retail "area" (heaven). It seems like all we did on Saturday was eat... Haha. We then took a cab to Mother's Federal Hill Grille and the three of us split an order of probably the most delicious crab dip I have ever had in my life, and we also split the "Heart Attack on a Plate" (Food Network Magazine's Best Burger of Maryland) which was a deep fried hamburger patty on a bun, stuffed with cheese. Delicious, but my health took a turn for the worse after that (I didn't have a heart attack- don't worry). My throat felt like I had razorblades in it! So I spent the rest of the night in bed.

Sunday: Woke up for church. Meredith stayed in the sick bed, while Casey and I went to church. We went to the First English Lutheran Church down the street. It was a nice service! Got brunch with Casey's Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins. We then wandered towards Charm City Cakes and took pictures. Went to the Honfest. Google it. It was hillarious, but so hot! And we were all quite dehydrated. Honfest made us want to watch the movie "Hairspray." (Honfest basically poked at the women of Baltimore's yesteryear who wore big glasses and had the big beehive hair and said "hon" a lot). Hairspray turned into napfest. We all woke up, started talking about food, got hungry for dinner and went to sushi. Philidelphia roll. Yum! Gossiped and facebooked before we went to bed.

Today: Early morning. Rude cabbie on cell phone took us to the train station and didn't even help us with our luggage! Hung out in Baltimore's Penn Station and had a quick ride to DC. I could hardly even get my laptop out and watch an episode of Family Guy. We got to DC and got ripped off by a cab driver who took us to a fabulous breakfast spot on Capitol Hill, Pete's Diner and Carryout (good, ate a corned beef hash, egg, and cheese sandwich). We didn't have enough cash to cab it back to the train station, so we walked around DC with our luggage, which was easier than it sounds. We hit up the Library of Congress and the Capitol Building. By the time we got back to Union Station, we hopped on our train back to Cary. CRAZY people were on this train. Actually, just two crazy people. And maybe a few others, but that is a blog post in itself. I have several funny topics that I want to write about. Amtrak passengers will probably be one. Dolores will be the other. Mom and Dad picked me up from the train station (Thanks!) and we went to Woody's for happy hour. I ate too much, once again. Back on the diet tomorrow. Came home, hung out with Noah, Mike, Shelly, and Noah's stick collection for a while. Told my brother the story of the crazy Amtrak passengers and he cracked up for a good 10 minutes (I'm serious, its a blog post in itself!). Now I am here.

I'm gonna try and get to bed pretty early tonight since I have to work in the morning . Gotta get back to it! I'm looking forward to the Apex Leads Group though. It's a good group of people and I get to drink all the fountain Diet Coke that I can possibly drink.

Hope you enjoyed hearing about my adventures. How was everyone else's weekend?

(P.S. Photos to come!)

What's in store in Baltimore?

Happy Hump Day everyone! Its been a pretty good day. Shelly and I had an "organize it!" day at work today. So we got the office as organized as we could so we can keep up with all of the information that is flooding in every day! Tomorrow we are gettin' back out there and getting the SALES! (Mike, that was for you if you are reading this... haha)

This weekend I am going to Baltimore to visit Meredith who has an amazing internship at Johns Hopkins. Casey and I are taking the train there and back- it should be quite the adventure! Orioles game on Friday, out Downtown on Saturday, and I am meeting some of Casey's family that lives up there on Sunday, and we leave early Monday morning to head back to the Cary train station via a 2 hour stop in D.C. which will be fun! This is trip 1 of 2 this summer to Baltimore. Mike and Shelly are bringing me along for the Town Planner conference which I think will be an awesome/fun/exciting/educational experience!

I am about to Skype with Meredith about some more details about this weekend. I can't wait! Oh, and I got new glasses today. Yay!

Girl's Night Out

Tonight, some of the ladies of Crazy Maple Court and some of my friends are headed to Tyler's Taproom for drinks and dinner. I'm looking forward to it. My mom got a 95.5% on her exam today, so its part girls night-part celebration dinner!

This week has flown by- I started it in Bald Head and am ending it here in Apex. Work has been keeping me busy, and I am loving it. Yesterday I went out on my own and went to most of the auto repair places in Cary and Apex. It was fun to dress up and look cute and hand out information and hopefully land some potential sponsors for the Town Planner. I have a little bit of work to do this weekend. I meant to do it today, but I shopped then napped instead.

I got a really cute outfit for less than 30 bucks at TJMaxx and shopped some of the great sales at Old Navy and actually got some good finds! Usually Old Navy is hit or miss for me, but I got one of those maxi dresses that I haven't been able to find that fit/look right. I didn't try anything on that I bought, and I took it all home instead. It all worked out! Yay, no return lines. I took a risk and it paid off.

Happy Friday! Cheers.

To dye or not to dye?

Today was a busy day of work and fun. I worked all day; however, working with Shelly is quite enjoyable and we had a day full of popping into local businesses. Tomorrow I am going to do it on my own! My favorites: at Great Harvest Bread Company, I got to try some awesome asiago-pesto bread, and at Burger King, I got a Diet Coke. Yummm.

I'm thinking about getting some golden highlights in my hair- my hairdresser suggested peek-a-boo highlights would look nice with my auburn hair. So I have been thinking about it. Any comments/other suggestions?

I'm getting ready for bed. It is 8 pm. I have a big day tomorrow- I am going to be out on my own!

Boyfriend hunting at Chili's

Mom and I went to Chili's for dinner tonight. Dee-licious. But the chips are evil! I am trying to cut out carbs after noon. I am going to try not to eat them for lunch, but it won't be the end of the world if I do.

We had a fun girls evening- shopping and dinner. I got some cute things to wear to work this summer, and a new bathing suit top. While at Chili's, we managed to find a really cute boy that works there, so, Mom and I will be hanging out at Chili's more often. He kept coming over to "check" on our table, but I am pretty sure he worked in the to-go area. Ha!

I write about such trivial things. Maybe I will have something more profound tomorrow. Until then, I am going to bed. Soon. After I catch up on some more shows, of course.

Whoever said Bald Heads weren't beautiful?

I'm enjoying my last morning on Bald Head Island. It has been quite the adventuresome weekend! I absolutely love it here. Its much better than the Bahamas. Seriously.

If you don't know about Bald Head Island, learn more. Its one of the most beautiful and serene places. No cars are allowed so everyone takes golf carts or bikes around the island.

Our first day here was Saturday. We sat on the beach for a while and I got to take a nap in the sun. Then we went to Eb and Flo's- a steam bar on the island at the harbor. We saw Kate Gosselin and all of the kids (no Jon) eating dinner at the same place we were. We found their house too, so we have spent a lot of the weekend cruising past on the golf cart or bikes to see if we can catch a sight. Saturday night we saw Kate going for a jog with her infamous bodyguard and a nanny. She looks great!

Yesterday we spent the morning at the pool, then we traveled to the beach to try and boogie board. Unfortunately, the waves were not quite big enough for boogie boarding so we mostly just floated in the ocean for a while. Still a lot of fun though. Our trip to the beach was quite adventurous. The golf cart essentially died while we were making our way across the island so we had to push it up some hills in order to make our way to the beach. It was pretty funny.

We rode our bikes down to the harbor after dinner to have drinks at Eb and Flo's. I was craving a pina colada! Then we toured the inn on the island which is just lovely. The woman working at the front desk let us go in all of the open rooms, so we wandered around there for a while. Then, as it started to turn dusk we ventured back to the house. Maggie led the way and Casey and I followed through the jungle. I am pretty sure that I swollowed a bug, Casey got one in her eye, and we all have plenty of bug bites to show for it. It was a really nice bike ride, in spite of the bug dessert.

I have really enjoyed being here at Maggie's beach house. Her parents are so hospitable and have just been great hosts to us! Now it is time to head back to the real world this afternoon, not after spending some more time on the beach and trying to find Kate and the kids of course!

Final Friday

I'm getting ready to go to work this morning at the Final Friday forum in Cary- I'm gonna do some networking for the Town Planner. I went out last night with Casey and Meredith to Bogart's where EVERYTHING is half off for ladies on Thursday nights. We got some "tapas" and passed them around the table along with trying several different martini's. Of course, I stuck to my favorite of the Mediterranean infused vodka (rosemary and sun-dried tomato) shaken with a little olive juice. It was really fun and nice to spend time with just the girls.

Tonight we are going back out VIP style for Michael's birthday and then leaving for Bald Head Island in the morning. I'm hoping to have a Jon and Kate plus 8 sighting (minus Jon) because Kate and the kids are staying on the island this weekend!

Day One

This is my first blog post in an adventurous summer and year (maybe a year and a summer) at ECU while I get my MBA. This summer I am staying at home in Apex and working for my neighbor. She owns and publishes the Town Planner Community Calendar for Apex and Cary. Basically, I am Shelly's right-hand: helping her make appointments so she can sell ads and get lots and lots of local businesses in the calendar. We also do fun things like luncheons at various country clubs. I was spoiled my first week as a lady of the town; now I'm workin' the phones which is just as fun, just in a different way!

I'm looking forward to the rest of this week- I have a few networking events tomorrow for Town Planner, and then I am making some phone calls to prospective businesses. Its gonna be a fun summer- I get to talk to interesting, crazy, nice, rude, diverse, quiet, boisterous people every day!! All while I learn about everything, and I mean everything that Apex has to offer.

My life is pretty simple and boring right now. Maybe some exciting stuff will happen when I am at ECU!