Life as I know it ...

So it's been about 2 months since I've posted. Wow, sorry about that.. I know you are all so disappointed. A lot has been going on so I will do my best to recap.

I have been busy with fundraising and work on the Columbia Theatre Project. We had a murder mystery dinner theatre in April and it just so happened that was the same night that my step-son went to prom.. as a Freshmen.  My mom was in town for all the festivities along with the torrential downpour of rain that flooded our basement. 

The theater's next project is coming up on June 2nd, The Race for the Spotlight 5K. We are gathering sponsors and getting as many participants to run/walk as possible. It should be a lot of fun with beer and a band at the finish line. 

The basement project is coming along thanks to my wonderful husband. He has been working so hard on this project and I am so proud of him. He installed the ceramic tile all by himself the other weekend and it looks great! Now we just need to put the carpet down and then install the trim and we will be finished! Although he has informed me that he wants to start painting other rooms in the house. I don't know how people can be doing multiple projects on their house at one time, its driving me nuts to have things out of place. Bob keeps telling me that in the end it will be worth it.. yeah yeah.. I know.

Some of you know this but I am no longer an AT&T employee. The business unit that I worked for within AT&T was sold last week to the capital management company Cerberus. We are now an independently owned company, YP Holdings LLC also just known as YP. I still work with the same people and am still in the AT&T building, but probably not for long. There is talk of moving the company out to the county or maybe into a different building downtown. There are a lot of changes ahead which excite me and scare me at the same time. The planner in me doesn't do well with the unknown!!

 I have started looking externally for other job opportunities. I feel like this might be a good time to refocus my life and goals for my career. I know that I would love to be doing my dream job, owning my own event company or at least working full time as an event planner, but that's just not in the cards right now. Its amazing how hard the job search and application process is these days. Everything is online and you just submit it and who knows if it actually gets to the right persons desk. I wish they would just meet me and then they would realize that I would be perfect for them! I am getting burned out with sitting at a desk all day along with the fact that it increases your risk for heart problems. So if you are hiring or know of anyone hiring please keep me in mind! :) 

I guess I have started a new adventure in one part of my life. I have signed up and started training for my first half marathon with Team In Training. I also started a blog to follow my progress with the training. Feel free to check it out and encourage me to keep going. You can read it at http://phatchickrunning.blogspot.com 

Until next time... :) 

Babies, Weddings, and Birthday.. Oh My!

Man time sure does fly. I can’t believe that its already the middle of March and the fact that it feels like the middle of June in St. Louis! I’m not complaining about the mid 70’s though.. keep it coming.  I’ve been busy with lots of little projects and things going on. My last post was about the poodle cookies for my friend’s baby shower.  The shower was so much fun, and getting to hang out with my friends was awesome as well.  Since then the baby, Harper Heyde Schutter, graced us with her presence and was born on February 29. She is our little leap baby, and clearly my niece because her first day in this world and she made the front page of the news paper. My little star!  Below are pictures of the cookies and of Harper.

 

After the baby shower was over my next project was flowers for an upcoming wedding for a co-workers son and daughter-in-law.  They are a young couple and like everyone else in this economy trying to save money. They decided to go with fake flowers to save on cost. This honestly made me very nervous because I was afraid they were going to look horrible. Looking at the floral selection in Hobby Lobby and Michael’s did not give me any more confidence either.  However, the blushing bride to be was out on her own shopping trip and found some great silk flowers.  She told me what she had in mind for her bouquet, the bridesmaids, and the boutonnieres.  All in all I think they turned out really well. They were pleased and it was a beautiful wedding. Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Bottini, and thank you for allowing me to be apart of your special day!

 

After the wedding came a “Rock Star” birthday party.  Joe, the son of a dear friend, was celebrating his 5^th birthday and was having a Rock Star theme. They had asked me to do his cake and cookies as take home favors.  So we decided on a guitar cake and guitar cookies. His colors were blue and black. I’m sure the parents loved me, imagine black teeth ..eek!  

  

That is the latest update for now.. more to come.. sooner rather than later hopefully :)

Baby Boom

The next two weekends I will be traveling home for 2 baby showers for two of my best friends. Out of "us" 5 girls 3 are pregnant, the other two of us missed the memo. Which I'm pretty sure is okay with the both of us! While I'm not a huge "shower" fan, mostly because of the games, I am so excited to get to see my girls and their baby bumps. I am making desserts for my friend Bri's shower which is Pink Parisian Poodle themed. How adorable! I am excited to get my new poodle cookie cutter and cupcake supplies which should arrive next week. The pictures below are what the goodies should turn out to resemble.

I will post my actual pictures once they are done. I am still contemplating making a poodle cake or pink and white cake pops. Thoughts?

Here's to baking for the bebe!

Cubicle Sweet Cubicle

While scrolling through Pinterest the other day, which is totally addicting, I came across an image for  “Cubicle Makeover”.  It was the most beautiful cubicle I’ve ever seen. I know beautiful and cubicle doesn’t belong in the same sentence.  For those of you that don’t know, I work for AT&T Advertising Solutions, and like most large corporations their office space is left with something to be desired.  Just like many other corporate employees I spend the majority of my time in my little cubicle home, so why should it be the ugliest place I see all day?  Thanks to the pinner on Pinterest I have been inspired to do my own cubicle makeover. 

So let the decorating begin! I think I’ve decided on my main colors and for those of who know me well.. yes I am going with my “signature colors”.. black and white.  I am having difficulties deciding on my accent colors. I am torn between pink, blue, or green.  I’m thinking the majority of the print is going to be a damask pattern which is my favorite thing right now.

For the walls I am going to go to Hobby Lobby or JoAnn Fabric and get fabric and then just straight pin the fabric to the current walls. I suppose I will just pin and cut around the storage and cabinets that are secured to the walls.  I also have to think about the file cabinet and over head storage and what to use to cover that.  I was thinking some kind of adhesive but removable paper or scrapbook paper? I’m open to ideas or suggestions. I was at Hobby Lobby last night and saw some little lamps on clearance that I may go back and pick up along with some desk accessories decked out in bling.

What other essentials do I need? I will post pictures as things progress

New Year, New Tradition

While I was home for the holiday we had a family friend over for dessert and a nice visit. It is a ritual when my parents have guests over that they sign their guest book. This was a tradition that totally embarassed me when I was growing up because my parents made my friends sign the guest book too.  The guest book tradition started with my great uncle Steve who would have us sign his guest book everytime we would visit. It was always a rule that we couldn't leave until we signed in. Now looking back on all the years of visitors it makes for a great keepsake.

Today most people think that guest books are reserved for weddings or funerals or other special occasions.
 I disagree. I think that the guest book should be in every home. So starting in 2012 I will be implementing the guest book rule in my own home.  I have also decided that they make great gifts. Two of my dear friends have become homeowners in the past year and I couldn't decide what to get them.. a guest book it is. I am going to make them myself to make it a more personal gift.  I will post pictures once I have them completed.

What new tradition will you start for 2012?