catching up

last weekend was my last event of the year, and now i get to focus on the stress and panic of launching a brand new booth, with lots of brand new technology, at our biggest show of the year in january.  it was also my first event working the booth (standing for hours on end in a 10X20 space) since my first knee injury (in july).  i knew it was going to be tough, but i also knew that i didn't want to waste the fact that it was a local event (just twenty minutes up the road). so i made lots of weekend plans, some of which didn't quite turn out, and some of which exceeded all expectations.

i was also excited that this event brought an opportunity to see one of my favorite colleagues, and joan, her sister marti, and i made a date for dinner before the show started.  while they wanted to stick close to the convention center, i had a better idea and dragged them to one of my favorite long beach eateries, la creperie.  as the name implies, it's a restaurant specializing in crepes, and as i had only enjoyed breakfast there, i was delighted to find that dinner and desert was equally as delicious. it was also my first time inside the restaurant (and not eating on the patio) and the boulangerie/french cafe atmosphere with it's gilded mirrors and velvet curtains made for the perfect place to catch up with my friends.

but alas,  the next morning, it was down to business.  fortunately for me, this show is one of the more enjoyable ones.  it's a well-known dog show so, though the standing was difficult, spending my work day petting and getting kisses from some uber-lovable pooches, was not the worst situation in the world. but when the work day was done, it was time for some play!

christmas card update

remember that whole christmas card dilemma?  well, your suggestions were good ones and i started putting my google fingers to work to see if i could find something that would work.  but over and over, either i wasn’t a fan of the card designs, or they were way to expensive.  still in a bit of a pickle, i headed to utah for thanksgiving, and asked my friend corey if he could take some photos of me for possible use in the card.

we headed out for our photo session, and i had a specific goal in mind.  though it took a couple of 'locations' i felt confident that there was at least one that would balance that fine line between vain and pathetic.  and after reviewing the shots, i was relieved to find that i had been right.  all that was left was to find the right card to complement the photo, and jill came to the rescue with her flyer from shutterfly.  i instantly fell in love with several of the designs, and quickly hopped online to see the whole selection.  these are some of my favorites:

so what do you think?  do you love these as much as i do?  you can check out the rest of the designs here. and if you want to see the final product, be sure to email me your address!

and bloggers, if you'd like 50 free photo cards from shutterfly, check out their cool promotion!  

a pictorial recap: thanksgiving in utah

ah thanksgiving. you dear dear holiday dedicated to food and gratitude - two of my favorite things!  this year, you whisked me away to utah for a much needed vacation (another favorite thing).  and bonus! it was quite the winter wonderland (yet another favorite thing).

more of my favorite things include:

spending time with the burk family

spending time with MY family

snowcapped mountains

meeting the new additions

making friends out of new family members.
(i have the greatest cousins-in-law!)

eating at diners, drive-ins, and dives dives
(moochies)

inflatable hammers!
(me and the virginia nelsons)

delicious thanksgiving buffets (like the one at the grand america) 

question of the day

i'm a big fan of christmas cards (even though the laziness of recent years may not convince you).  i'm also a big fan of photos.

seems obvious that i would be a fan of photo christmas cards.

but photo christmas cards are made for families (you know what i mean), and i am a family of 'me'. which of course, is not to say that i don't have family, but that at 34, with both siblings balled and chained and babied up, the  'parents and brothers and sisters' card (geographically, if for no other reason) is long since past it's prime.

the 'me and the dog' thing just seems kind of...sad.  and the 'just me' thing seems kind of...vain.  so i want to know if any of you creative types have any great ideas as to how i can actually pull off a photo christmas card without falling into either trap?

help. please.

wardrobe musings

i admit it. this brace is keepin' me down a bit.  my activities are somewhat limited because it just takes so much darn EFFORT to be mobile.  even getting in and out of the car is a challenge,  so, while there have been scattered dinners and movie nights, i've mostly been keeping a low profile.

it's a bit frustrating since i actually get to be home for a good chunk of time, and it would be really awesome to act like i was a member of my ward again and, oh, i don't know, GO to things. but when i do go, i'm exhausted by the time i get there.  then i have to try and be social and stuff when i just want to go home and go to bed!

as a result, i've turned to my cure-all for frustration: shopping.

i make a poor excuse for a shopaholic, but i gave it a shot:)  it started when i went looking for tight pants.  funny, but true.  because when you're wearing loose fitting pants with a brace on...you just can't get that brace tight enough to stay put.  you can completely cut off your circulation, and still somehow, that brace will be sliding down your leg. maybe it's something about surface area, or how much that pant can move (i mean, isn't that why we buy loose fitting pants in the first place?!), but it's a bad deal.

so i went looking for tight pants, of a non-spandex variety.  and what did i find myself in? skinny jeans.  now, prior to last week, just the idea of a skinny jean would have given me hives.  i mean, good for the size 2s and their skinny jeans, but this was not a trend i'd be adopting.

and then it became a necessity of sorts.  so, imagine my shock when i stood in the gap dressing room, wearing my size (not 2) skinny jeans. and
they.
looked.
good.

what started as a search for 'functional' clothing, turned into a feel good dressing room moment.

but, while one part of me has been set on finding clothing suitable for the new appendage, an equal and possibly larger part of my psyche, is playing dumb.  "brace? what brace?  ooooh, these boots are cute!"

i kid you not, the girl in the crotch-to-calf brace cannot stop buying boots!  i mean, the fact that i can't actually wear them right now, well, i can't let that stop me from buying a cute pair of shoes that i WILL be able to wear ONE DAY. especially since we all know that when ONE DAY comes, all those size 11 boots i bought at target (thank you target for carrying size 11 shoes!) will be long gone.  so really,  all i'm doing is preparing for the future.  isn't that something we are taught to do our whole lives?

right now, i'm preparing to wear these:

the irony is that my one 'splurge' purchase has been a pair of uggs.  and i LOVE them.  i can't explain it, since i came firmly from the 'uggs are ugly' camp, but, what can i say, they are so comfortable and easy when an 80 degree day becomes a 50 degree night.

it's possible that these are sleep deprived decisions i'll regret in three weeks when i'm lucid again, but i guess maybe this brace isn't the worst thing in the world. it's definitely getting me out of my comfort zone.