When Life Hands You Lemons...

Make #&%*#$) lemonade, right???? Well, after having an amazing first leg of our vacation in Palm Springs, Paul and I were really getting psyched for French Polynesia when we got a dreaded airline call.....a Hurricane/Tropical Cyclone bearing toward Bora Bora our ultimate destination....the worst storm since 1980....flight cancelled, panic setting in..you get the idea. Flash forward about 28 hours, after many, many hours on the phone and our original plans are aborted...it was not meant to be....we have now picked ourselves up from a very DARK place (can you say mental melt down on my part and dragging Paul down with me) and are now in Hollywood at the Roosevelt Hotel prepping for a great dinner out...place TBD....tomorrow we will head to Santiago, Chile ..stay tuned as the adventure unfolds!!!

Dear Friends Make the Drive Worth It!

Last Monday I drove a treacherous drive through some of the winter road conditions I have ever experienced to central Iowa for a client presentation. Just missing a 25+ car accident involving multiple fatalities, I would have rather been just about anywhere than on I-35S that day! But...once I safely made it to my friend Kayla's warm, cozy home in Huxley, IA, I was very glad I had to make the trip! Kayla and I and her two girls (Reese and Rylee) had a short, but great visit. Of course, we stayed up too late and ate too much, but it was all worth it! Can't wait to have Kayla and family up for a visit once the weather warms up this spring!

Great Meal with Great Friends!

Saturday night we had a wonderful dinner with Lorenzo and Glynne Bassi and Glynne's mom vising from VT. Glynne went all out making a tasty meal of short-ribs, potatoes and beans with a lovely lemon tart for dessert! I think Paul may be sending me over to have cooking lessons from Glynne! ;-) We had a great time catching up and really enjoyed seeing how much Grayson has grown. After Grayson had to go to bed, Bea was the real highlight of the night, staying up past her bedtime to play with us. She was full of spunk and smiles and is a real super cutie!!

OM.......Yum!

On Friday night Paul and I tried out a great new restaurant (on the edge of downtown Minneapolis and the Warehouse district) with our friends Leslie and David. We thought OM was great and sharing the experience with good friends made it even more fun! If you check out the restaurant, I highly recommend the various kinds of Naan and the Kashmir Margarita...proves a margarita goes with just about any cuisine, plus this one had a ginger twist complimenting the Indian spices of the meal!!

Pajama Party Fun!!

Weekend before last, after hemming and hawing for weeks, I got a ticket for a unique, girls only fundraiser benefiting the Junior League of Minneapolis. A handful of us met up at the Westin Galleria and had a good time eating yummy appetizers, trying the specialty "Pink Slipper" cocktails and doing a bit of retail therapy. I was pretty good, but did pick up a couple cute things at the Stella and Dot jewelry booth!! If we are involved again next year would be a great girls night out for a big group of friends. This post represents my personal opinions and is not an official statement of the Junior League of Minneapolis.

Designing Duo in the Family

Taking a break from teaching middle schoolers math, my sister has been pursuing an interior design degree the past couple of years and recently put her newly discovered talents to work on a new bathroom in their home. It used to literally be a basement dungeon and now it is a bright, sleek, clean space!! Katie did all of the tile work herself after using her new computer design skills to map all of it out! The quality of the tile work looked great! Now, I would be remiss if I didn't also mention her husband George's "can fix anything" handyman skills which were essential for installing the new electrical and plumbing! I think I may have to buy them plane tickets and a bribe of some sort (maybe free babysitting???) to come visit and assist whenever we finally find a new home as I'm sure there will be renovation projects needed! ;-)

JLM Impact Day at World Vision!

With all of the sadness and mourning surrounding the recent Haiti earthquake, it is a reminder to us all how important it is to give back whether it be with our time, our money or preferrably both! Last weekend, I had an opportunity, through one of the Junior League's January Impact Days, to learn about an organization in SE Minneapolis (only 10 min. from my house) called World Vision (www.worldvision.org). In just a couple of hours 30 of us Leaguers were able to help in a meaningful way by providing hands on assistance sorting donated supplies, stocking shelves and breaking down boxes to make room for new donations. We were also given the opportunity to view a short, powerful video showing the amazing impact this organization has had all accross our great world! It was so fun to bond with girlfriends while giving back! One of the organization's founders asked Glynne Bassi (pictured in the dumpster above) and I to help with a slogan for World Vision to promote volunteerism in a different way. In contrast to the large groups of volunteers that World Vision routinely attracts, like the JLM, World Vision also hopes to attract pairs/smaller groups that would come in for a an hour or two to volunteer; the concept being that girlfriends or couples could gather to socialize and volunteer at the same time, an alternative to meeting at Caribou for coffee or going out to lunch. We suggested "Catching Up While Giving Back." With a possible tag line, "It only takes an hour..." Their initial reaction was very positive, so we'll see if our slogan pops up anywhere! I know I would definitely consider volunteering at World Vision again! The comments included above are my personal opinions and not an official statement of the Junior League of Minneapolis ;-)

Aunt Becky and Uncle Paul are very excited about the arrival of Baby "Peanut" Robb anticipated on or about July 4, 2010!

We had some excitement on Christmas morning when my younger sister, Katie, and her husband George, announced they are expecting their first child this summer! They have decided to affectionately call the baby Peanut until born, hence baby's first gift pictured above!!

Only 10 Days to Go 'til Sun and Fun!!!!

So, I know I've already blogged about our upcoming vacation once and we haven't even left yet, but I just cannot express how EXCITED we are!!! I still have a couple of work trips and we both have lots of work to wrap up until our departure, so we must hunker down and concentrate, but its getting harder and harder!!!! I know it will all be worth it to know we've wrapped things up once we get there as we will then be able to let our minds relax for 2 weeks before returning the real world (and, alas... the cold).

My mind is already churning on what to bring while still packing light enough to carry on and have room for souveniers! Although...I told Paul you don't need much room for Tahitian Black Pearls [ha ha ha, he was not as amused as I was by that comment ;-) ] I stole a moment this morning to consider what to bring and was psyched to find the cutest Kate Spade voile sundress at 70% off this morning online! I tried this on and liked it during our San Fran trip last fall, but now am so glad I did not pay full price!! The bargain makes the purchase that much sweeter, and I think it will be perfect for the hot tropical weather and so light to pack! I can't wait to shuck winter duds and frolic in the blue waters...

Meet Miss Bella Brown...

Over Christmas we finally got to meet Miss Bella, the latest addition to my side of the family. She is a cutie and a very, very happy little girl!! Miss Bella lives in Sedalia, MO and she brought her mom and day (my cousin Emily and husband Chris) with her to visit my mom's house on the day after Christmas! We had a lot of fun playing with Bella and are glad to have a baby back in the family as it makes the holidays so much more fun and festive!! Emily is expecting her second baby in August 2010.