Friday Five!

{tropical iPhone case just in time for summer}

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This week was short & quick one. It started out with a presentation on Tuesday morning (bright and early at 8:00 am after a nice long holiday/birthday weekend… woof!), then it was smooth sailing from there. We finally had our rock delivered to spread out across our beautiful new landscaping, I cleaned the house, attended May Wine Club and had my 29 year old grays coverd.

We fit a lot into just 3 days!!

All is done, just in time for COURTNEY & HECTOR to stay with us for the weekend! That’s right, my sister is in the Mitten and all is right in the world! I can’t wait to spend a long weekend with them enjoying Michigan summer!

xoxox

Friday Forte:

{don't know if I've ever been in the front parking lot of our Home Office building... pretty!}

{love the selection at Martha's Vineyard}

{we’re in the home stretch of the 2015 landscape project! UPDATE: Max took the day off Thursday to complete! this pile is now A LOT smaller!! yay!!!}

{i want one....}

Kicking off the last year of my 20’s!

I'm officially 29. This time next year I'll be in another decade. I better make this year count!
I definitely made the kick off to 29 count! It was non-stop party all holiday weekend long. I LOVE it when it works out so that my birthday falls on Memorial Day weekend. It just makes everything that much better.

Friday I came home to find that Max had covered the our main entrance with signs letting me know just how old I would be in just mere 36 hours. It's a sweet reminder that he knows my age :) It's also something that his Mom did for him every year on his birthday and I have since continued the tradition at our home. After grabbing some bubbly and realizing my new favorite book had come in the mail, I settled in to watch him paint our basement! After that it was all movies and smiles for this girl!

Saturday we took advantage of the gorgeous Michigan Spring day and hit the town, visiting some of our favorite establishments that include an outdoor patio. Stop #1 was Tin Can where I devoured a delicious (boozy) shot of pudding. Stop #2 was one of my original Grand Rapids favorites, home of the Woodstini, none other than The Woods. We were just about to head on to downtown stop #3 when a girlfriend texted to ask if we could meet up at Donkey for margaritas and tostadas. I was beyond thrilled and was accepting the invitation before I even asked Max if it was ok (it was...). Once home we indulged in a couple more drinks, watched more movies and were off to sleep to rest up for the big day head!!

Sunday was the big one. The all out extravaganza. Sunday was lake day!! While the weather was less than impressive, the company and spirits made up for it! A day spent on the boat was exactly what I needed! So much so that come Monday I needed no more extravaganza (of any kinda!) and simply rested to prepared for the dreaded morning ahead where it was back to reality.

But never fear, another long and AMAZING weekend is ahead. Thanks for joining us Summer... I hope you stay a while... :)

Friday Five!

{since I’ll never have this… this will have to do! (could not love it more!)}

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It was in the 80’s for my Monday lunchtime run. It was in the 30s when I woke up Wednesday morning. Damn you Michigan! Luckily it’s end of week and the temperatures have stabilized and we've comfortably settled into the mid 60’s. It can  only get better from here!!

We’re not only approaching a long holiday weekend but it’s also my birthday weekend as well! I think you all know I LOVE birthdays, so you can only imagine how excited I am for this weekend. I don’t quite know what’s on the agenda yet, but I’m sure it will be an outdoor lovin’, champagne drinking, city hopping few days! Can’t. Wait!!

Friday Forte: 

(don't know why I'm so obsessed with this version of the song...}

{fun new prints for my newly renovated cubicle (I got a back wall!)}

{preparing the guest room for next weekend’s GUESTS}

{summer has arrived! Even if we did get in the 30’s a few days ago…}

{productive meeting over sushi at Tokyo}

NRA 2015

Last weekend I went my first weekend business trips since in my new job. Well, really it’s the only weekend business trip we have all year. I was completely fine giving up my weekend for this event. I've been once before in the past and it always proved to not only be a great education, but also a GREAT TIME! Usually we’re able to have a fun combination of work and play. This year was no exception.

The NRA show (National Restaurants Association) is an annual event in the United States and is an “international foodservice marketplace” that provides “opportunities for buyers and sellers to come together, conduct business and learn from each other”. Most manufacturers are in attendance (anything from china to hot dogs!) as well as distributors (ME!), brokers, etc.Typically, we meet with our current vendors to take a look at their latest and greatest products, as well as other potential vendors, and bring those notes back to our home base. The show also provides many seminars for additional learning's (we did not attend any of those this year).

Saturday afternoon we let loose and caught a baseball game! This was my second Cubs game and I loved it! The first Cubs game I went to I was on one of the rooftops across the street, but I didn't have as much fun. I didn't feel like I was in on the action! After the game we hopped across the street in Wrigleyville where watched Run Forest Run at the Cubby Bear (I LOVE 90’S COVER BANDS!) until it was time for our dinner reservations at Shaws. Delicious food and great conversation was had, until all of us decided we would fall asleep in our desert if we didn't hit the hay.

Sunday we walked the show some more and caught the train home to sleep in our own beds! Such a fun (and exhausting) weekend! Gotta love business trips… 

{we took the train from Michigan City right into McCormick Center}

{always loved the fountains at McCormick Center}

{fancy shmancy new product...}

{the Anheuser Busch tent!}

{i have a weird obsession with fake food... it's so cute!} 

{Click here to be able to actually read this map! And I recommend you do so. It shows total restaurants per state as well as total employees of restaurants per State. Fun facts!}