A NOLA Wedding Weekend!

This past weekend was Kelly, one of my best friends, and Will's wedding in the Big Easy. It was a whirlwind trip to say the least (we were there for less than 48 hours), but we made the best of every minute!

Brent and I got down there around 3pm, just in time to get ready for the cocktail hour before rehearsal began. The entire weekend (rehearsal dinner, ceremony, and reception) was held at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel. This is my absolute FAVORITE hotel in New Orleans, provided you're not staying at one of the ultra luxury places like: Loews, W, The Roosevelt, or Ritz-Carleton. It sits right in the heart of the French Quarter, and backs up to Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral.

The rehearsal went smoothly, and Kelly had some amazing wedding attendants to work with at the hotel. The rehearsal dinner was fabulous. 100% authentic Cajun cuisine...yes, please! Complete with a super sweet slideshow and video presentation put together by Kelly's mom, several heartfelt (and silly) speeches by family and friends, Brent and Will's dad forming a lasting friendship after just two hours (hilarious), and a few (too many) drinks at my FAVORITE bar Pirate's Alley...it was a great night!

The next morning, I went on a wonderful run along the Mississippi River and down Canal Street. After that, I met up with Kelly and all the bridesmaids in her suite, we ate breakfast, gossiped, talked about the craziness of the night before, and got Kelly even more excited about her big day! We all split up after that to take showers and buy champagne and snacks to hold us over while getting ready. A few of us got our hair done, and most everyone got their makeup done. I must say, we were quite the pretty wedding party. :)

Finally, when everyone was ready and after Kelly and Will had done their "first look," we went out to Royal St to take some super fun pics. Then it was time for the wedding. With it being in New Orleans and set up around a pool, it was a miracle that no one either fell or was pushed into the pool. Success! The ceremony was absolutely beautiful, complete with Kelly's sister, Casie, singing a slightly altered version of "Marry Me" by Train. Amazing!! And the ceremony...let's just say, it was an AWESOME party!

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Stoffel!! Y'all sure know how to have a good time and make sure everyone else around you does, too. :)

At the rehearsal dinner

The beautiful couple!

Love these two Rhodes' ladies!

I love this girl!

And I love this place!

Another DIY wedding creation :)

For some reason I felt like wearing this around all day...

We love you, Kelly & Will!

Beer bottles as center pieces...LOVE it!


My friend and fellow blogger Andrea and me!

Kelly & Will dancing the night away!

Such a fun wedding weekend!! Love you two, and wishing you a lifetime of happiness!

A Seaside Wedding Weekend!

This past weekend was the start to our crazy three weeks of travel. First stop: Seaside, Florida, for the wedding of one of Brent's best friends.

We left early Thursday afternoon and made it down to the Panhandle in excellent time. The weekend was filled with fun stories, laying by the pool, cocktails, amazing runs through Seagrove Beach, Seaside, and Watercolor, quality time with friends, and an absolutely beautiful beach wedding.

I ran every day we were there, but aside from that, pretty much relaxed by the pool or on the beach with some great company. By the end of the weekend, I had gained some incredible new friends, and made memories that will last a lifetime. Gotta love a beach wedding!

Here are a few places we went over the weekend...

Girls cocktail hour: Crush Wine Bar
Rehearsal Dinner: The Vue of 30A
Ceremony: Beachside
Reception: Bud and Alley's Restaurant & Rooftop Bar

Brent and I tore up the dance floor, as usual. :)

Beautiful Seaside, FL

The girls leaving The Vue via golf cart!

So sweet!!

Mr. & Mrs. Luhm!

Really sweet, Brent! ;)

Good times!

The bride, Angie, and me!

LOVE these two!

My signature dance move :)

We had an AMAZING time, and ended up with some wonderful new friends. Congratulations again to Kellie and David!! We love you!

Random Wednesday

Whew! It's been quite a hectic few weeks. With work projects up to my eyeballs, races, family stuff, my birthday, and projects at home, I've never felt so busy. Here's a recap of what's been going on.

September 1 was the first University of Memphis football game of the season. As usual, the tailgating was fun...the game, let's just say it's a good thing we've got Memphis Tiger Basketball to look forward to!

Fun times after the game (or whatever you want to call it)

That Friday was Zoo Brew at the Memphis Zoo. My company, Mahaffey Tent and Party Rentals, sponsors this event, and it's always a super fun time. 100s of beers to sample from all over the world (not to mention seeing your co-workers in rare form)...yes, please!

Mahaffey's tent at Zoo Brew

The weekend that followed was quite the debacle. From running into old friends at our favorite East Memphis restaurant, Pacific Rim, on Friday to bar-hopping one too many places downtown on Saturday, it made for a long few days.

Brent and me at Pacific Rim

Silly times at Silky's

Silly boys

We had my friend Kelly and her fiance over for dinner Sunday night. I was so glad Brent and Will finally had a chance to hang out. Monday morning was the annual Chick-fil-a 5K. Such a fun race in Downtown Memphis! Running it with two great friends made it even better.

My birthday was September 8. My family got together the Tuesday before to celebrate. No matter what's going on or where any of us are at, we always get together and have a great time celebrating birthdays and holidays. Being in a divorced family, this is a rare thing. We're very lucky! Got a bunch of gift cards, a poster with my first marathon pics and finish time (THANKS, MOM!!), a beautiful bouquet of lilies and roses sent to work and a day at the spa from my hubby. It was an amazing day!

After Bailey telling me "happy birthday cake!" :)

My fabulous assistant decorated my cube at work!!

The hubby surprised me with beautiful flowers at work
(P.S. Took this pic using Lightbox for Android...download it if you haven't already)

This past weekend was the Road Race Series 10K #1 at Shelby Farms Park. I ran it with Autumn, Erin, and Meredith. We got rained on while walking to the start line, but it stopped after just a couple minutes. The rain was welcomed, as it cooled off for our 6.2 miles. I'm going to miss the second 10K, as I'll be out of town, then we have two 10-milers, two half marathons, and then the St. Jude Half Marathon. It's a good thing I enjoy running. :)

Speaking of running, Autumn and I have started a once-weekly run at 4:15am. I know...we're crazy. But she's a teacher, and like me, she enjoys getting her workouts done in the morning. Since I don't have to be at work until 8, I get another hour or so of sleep after my run. It's actually not so bad...except for the fact that I have become a coffee drinker after 29 years of never needing it. Great.

Tomorrow starts our insane three weeks of travel...Seaside, FL for Brent's friend's wedding, New Orleans for Kelly's wedding, and then Vegas for a conference and our four-year anniversary. Looking forward to it all!!

Happy Wednesday!

In Transition...

It's been an INSANE few weeks to say the least, but I finally feel like things are starting to get back to normal. Hopefully I can get back on track with my posts...at least I'm going to try to get better at it...

Transition. Transforming. These are two words I've been using a lot over the past few weeks. Whether at work or in my personal life, transition can be a great thing. And so can transforming your attitude to see it that way. :)

Transition at work
I'm so excited to announce that I have hired a new member to my marketing team. I absolutely loved working with my previous intern; however, with her crazy busy schedule, there wasn't really much time for her to be physically in the office, so it didn't work out. On the up side, I have transitioned this intern position into more of a part-/full-time marketing coordinator, and I couldn't be more thrilled about having more help! We've also been talking a lot about transition with the types of projects I'm getting more involved with. It's all very exciting!

Transition in my running/exercise routine
For so long I've been holding back with my running routine and cross training, because I kept thinking and wondering if I was pregnant, when I would be getting another kidney stone (recent episode was just over a month ago), and just stressed about EVERYTHING. I've finally started letting it go, and I couldn't be happier about the progress. I'm cross training more, increasing my mileage, and I have so many upcoming races to look forward to!

Transition between seasons
Fall is my FAVORITE time of year (the month of September in particular...my birthday, our anniversary, football, trips), and I couldn't be more excited that it's finally here! I just got back from my best friend Kelly's bachelorette party in Vegas (one of my top 10 trips for sure!), and that kicked off our crazy month of travel. We're doing quite a bit of traveling for friends' weddings this month, on top of my business trip to Las Vegas (which we're also using as an excuse to celebrate our four-year anniversary there). I can't wait!! Not to mention the anticipation of cooler temps for running, decorating for Halloween, the holiday season...bring it on!

Anyone else feel like they're in a transition period? Hopefully it's a good one for you, too!