You may or may not remember a 2008 top-40 hit, that eventually peaked at #18 and was all over the radio. Or, you might remember watching the movie Enchanted during the 2007-2008 holiday season, and seeing that hauntingly beautiful performance as Giselle realizes that she is actually in love with Robert. The guy who sang those songs? Just a guy from Anderson, Indiana, named Jon McLaughlin.
Well, for most people, that was it. But after I heard Beating My Heart, I got more curious, and bought the full album (OK Now). We went on a family vacation to Florida during spring break of my senior year in 2009. I can’t tell you much else about it, but I distinctly remember listening to that album on repeat while sitting on the beach. “Four Years” seemed to sum up high school pretty well (with one major difference – our prom king was and is one of my closest friends) and I just continued to become a bigger and bigger fan of the piano-heavy music and incredible, authentic vocals.
I started digging back into Jon’s older music, and found myself listening to his first CD (Industry). And I’ve bought all of his albums since – Forever if Ever (2011), Promising Promises (2012), Holding My Breath (2013), and his newest album, Like Us (2015). I follow this guy on Facebook and Twitter and always lamented being away at school or on internships. He came to Seattle during my internship there, but for some stupid reason, I didn’t make an effort to go.
This summer, when I saw he was going on tour again and coming to STL (as usual), I knew that I had to go. Best of all, the venue was the Duck Room at Blueberry Hill (a whopping 3.7 miles from my apartment), and managed to fall on a weekend when I would actually be home. When I drove to Nashville for SWE conference earlier this month, I listened to Jon McLaughlin music for over 3 hours of the drive.
The show opened with Tess Henley, a singer-songwriter from Kent, Washington (southern suburb of Seattle). She had a beautiful voice and that “different” sound that TV shows like American Idol and the Voice always looked for. I loved her songs, especially “Positively Me”. I also loved her use of electronics & recording clips to use as backup for her performance.
Tess Henley | opener for Jon McLaughlin
And then came the moment I’d been waiting for for who knows how long.
Can’t even tell you how excited I was to see Jon McLaughlin live.
The setlist started with many of the songs from his newest album (Like Us), and eventually transitioned into his older hits. In between songs, he told stories and talked about life in Nashville. In addition to having an amazing voice and being a phenomenal pianist and performer, he was hilarious and had such a deadpan sense of humor. And as if that wasn’t enough to endear him to the audience, he talked about his band’s efforts to improve the world (past tours have raised money for UNICEF, Children’s Miracle Network, and more). All of the profits from merchandise sold on this tour are going to a charity that works with victims of human trafficking in Bangladesh, to build safe houses and help them escape. I unfortunately can’t remember the name, but if you check out Jon McLaughlin on Twitter, I am sure he’ll post more information on how to help.
His voice was just as good as his recordings. I knew he was a good piano player, but I didn’t know he was that amazing. One of my favorite moments of the concert was towards the end of the regular setlist, when he played a several minute – long bridge connecting Summer Is Over and Industry. And after that, he started taking some requests from the audience, and ended the evening with “We All Need Saving”, from his 2008 album. I started tearing up, and frankly, I couldn’t have been happier.
I think it’s safe to say that I love Jon McLaughlin’s music even more now. It’s a good thing that I have hours worth of music to listen to and remember how amazing last night was. š
Last year, I posted daily updates about my WE14 adventures. This year, life has been busy (read: too much traveling) and I have not had the time or energy to write long posts. That being said, here’s a long awaited recap of my WE15 adventures, beginning on Wednesday. (To read more about Tuesday and my arrival in Nashville, read this post.)
On Wednesday, I toured the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, TN (a 90-minute drive from downtown Nashville). I have always been fascinated by food & beverage production facilities (I’m a chemical engineer by background – what do you expect?) and enjoyed seeing the academic concepts of distillation & filtration come to life in a historic setting. Fun fact: the difference between Tennessee whiskey & Kentucky bourbon is that whiskey has an added production step – filtration through sugar maple charcoal. Afterwards, we ate lunch at Miss Mary Bobo’s House, famous for southern hospitality and insanely delicious food. I’m super excited that my dad’s Jack Daniels cookbook includes many of the recipes from Miss Mary Bobo’s!
Miss Mary Bobo’s House
We drove back to Nashville, and then the whirlwind of conference began, with committee meetings and dinner. When I graduated in 2013, I immediately jumped into society-level committees and quickly found my passion in SWE- outreach. I’ve since realized that in addition to being passionate about outreach, I also love recognizing and sharing outreach best practices, which fits quite nicely into my roles on the Outreach Committee and Awards & Recognition Committee. The Outreach Committee is spread throughout the United States, and though we meet monthly as a committee by phone, we only get to meet in person at annual conference. It was so nice to meet with the committee and our outreach representatives for each SWE region, and discuss what the regions’ future needs are from our committee.
I also attended Sing it to Begin It (the conference kickoff event and a live karaoke competition), which was a great addition to this year’s programming and a perfect fit for Nashville. The winner was actually a friend of one of my SWE Minnesota friends, and we had a great time cheering on all four contestants! (There is some serious vocal talent in SWE.)
Thursday morningās opening keynote breakfast featured Nicki Palmer, senior vice president and chief network officer at Verizon Wireless. She was an inspiring, engaging speaker who immediately connected with the audience through her stories. Of the many things she shared that morning, one quote stood out to me ā āMaking things better is the fundamental job of an engineer.āĀ After her keynote, Nicki sat down for questions & answers with Colleen Layman, FY16 SWE President. She had so much wisdom to share ā that for her, work-life integration is a constant push and pull (and varies by the day); that technology is useful and important to every career; and that each of us has many unique talents.
After the keynote, I attended a plenary session titled āDiversity and Inclusion: Partnering with Men to Create an Inclusive Workplaceā, featuring a panel of leaders from a wide variety of industries, including (but not limited to) technology, academia, the military, and aerospace. One of the most striking comments was made by Bruce Maas, CIO at the University of Wisconsin ā when he first assumed the role of CIO, no one could tell him how many women were in UWās IT workforce. The panelists also offered several book recommendations (including Through the Labyrinth) and spoke to the cause-effect relationship of diversity & inclusion.
On Thursday afternoon, I attended the professional & joint meetings for my SWE region (Region i), where I had the chance to learn about several motions going before the Senate and other pertinent region business. Later that afternoon, I attended the Halo Circle Reception, an invitation-only reception for donors, life members, and supporters of SWE, and provided a chance to interact with the BOD/BOT and HQ staff. I spent the evening at the Boeing booth at the career fair, assisting where needed and talking to prospective interns/full-time hires about my experiences. I’ve loved recruiting since my days as an Engineering Ambassador at Mizzou, and love sharing what it’s really like to work here.
Our SWE corporate planning team hosts a breakfast at 7 AM on Friday each year at annual conference, to recognize any award winners.This year, I actually knew one of our award recipients. Dana Day (who received the Distinguished New Engineer Award this year) is the immediate past chair of the Outreach Committee and an integral part of the Invent It. Build It. planning team. We also received these adorable Boeing SWE bears –
During the day on Friday, I attended several sessions, including āRole Models Matterā (presented by Techbridge in preparation for Invent It. Build It), āIām Perfect: Why Isnāt Everyone Else?ā (on combating and recovering from perfectionism, and āWhat Is SWE Advocacy?ā (which discussed the Societyās newest strategic initiative). Each of these sessions provided excellent tips that can be applied in everyday life, whether that is developing a way to talk to young students about engineering, learning to use the positive aspects of perfectionism while shedding the negative aspects (something I’ve always struggled with), and discovering how to advocate for SWE and engineering in everyday life. I spent Friday evening at dinner with other St. Louis attendees and had a wonderful time.
And then came Saturday, which has been my favorite day of conference since I graduated from college. Invent It. Build It. is an outreach event targeted towards middle school girls in grades 6-8 and their adult influencers (parents & educators). WE15 marked the sixth-annual Invent It. Build It. event, and as in past years, included an expo with local & national STEM- and girl-focused organizations and companies; a parent/educator program with panels about coursework, college admissions, and discussing STEM fields with their students; a new high school girlsā program; and a girlsā program, where girls interacted directly with SWE members and worked on fun engineering projects.
I reprised my role as Activities Coordinator again this year. We sent an aluminum foil boat activity kit home with each of the girls this year, with some small revisions so that activities can be shared on social media. I also had the joy of coordinating the role model star volunteers – in this role, volunteers wear a pageant-style sash identifying their engineering discipline / field, and walk around the EXPO & registration areas, interacting with the girls and showing them a demo/activity that relates to their field. This year, 11 disciplines were represented by more than 40 volunteers from a wide variety of universities & industries!
The day was a huge success and was executed flawlessly, thanks to the efforts of 300 SWE volunteers. Our program featured Deysi Melgar (host of WGBHās Design Squad Nation) as emcee and a keynote from Sylvia Acevedo, who began her career at JPL and IBM and later served as an executive at several Fortune 500 companies, including IBM, Dell, Apple, and Autodesk. Her four major points were:
You can get there from here.
Practice until it becomes a skill.
See and say your goals.
Build your team to live your dream.
FY16 President Colleen Layman also addressed the girls and briefly discussed her role as vice president & resources business group water principal at HDR, an engineering consulting firm. The dayās activities included Touchdown (an egg-drop style activity) and Helping Hand (intended to simulate designing prosthetics), both developed by Design Squad Nation. I am looking forward to being involved with IIBI for many years to come!
Unfortunately, it was time for WE15 to come to a close. š¦ I attended the closing banquet, Celebrate SWE, with several friends I met through my years on CLCC (and was adopted by SWE Minnesota, as usual). I had a wonderful time presenting outreach awards in my sparkliest dress, but the real reason why I coordinate outreach awards is that I love seeing the work that SWE members are doing to impact future generations.
Presenting outreach awards at Celebrate SWE (photo credit: Kim Miller)
I didn’t envision any of this as a freshman, walking into my first SWE meeting in Lafferre E1419. My six-year journey in SWE (so far) has been full of surprises and has taught me so much, and I can’t wait to see what happens in the years ahead!
I have been slacking so much on blogging. We went to London and Paris last month, and I have left about three unfinished posts in WordPress and Word 2013. Those posts are still forthcoming (and long overdue), but right now, I am traveling a whole lot closer to home, in the Athens of the South.
I’m not going to tell you about how much I love SWE, or how important it is to me. (I’ve written posts on that before, and if you let me start talking about SWE, I’ll need a few hours to talk your ear off). But I will tell you that late October / early November is one of the most wonderful times of the year: annual conference week.
I was so excited that this year’s conference was in Nashville. (After my recent traveling, I do not want to set foot on an airplane anytime soon.) Yesterday, I had an easy morning drive through Illinois, Kentucky (cue the nostalgia), and finally into Tennessee! I haven’t been through here in years.
I arrived at my hotel, and since the room wasn’t ready yet, I decided to draw on some of the many suggestions that my tour guides had provided. Conveniently, two of my friends from high school did their undergrad at Vanderbilt. Between Audrey’s long list of restaurant suggestions and Ryan’s list of fun, authentic Nashville tourism, I felt prepared for an afternoon of solo sightseeing.
But first, a much-needed brunch. I’ve heard my friends talk about Frothy Monkey and decided to give it a try. A skim latte, eggs, turkey sausage, sourdough toast, and fruit. Yum š
On my walk to and from Frothy Monkey, I also saw the Schemerhorn Symphony Center, the AT&T Building (aka the Batman building), the home of the Predators, and Broadway, full of live music and the like.
Then, it was time to head west a little to Vanderbilt. My first stop was Centennial Park, home to the Parthenon, which was originally built for a late 1890s exposition (think 1904 World’s Fair).
After a walk, I drove across the street to Vanderbilt’s campus. It was a gorgeous day to explore a pretty campus. š
Once my parking spot ran out, I headed over to Hillsboro Village (wedged between Vanderbilt & Belmont) to wander around. I stopped at a vintage used bookstore (so many beautiful things) and picked up a cute shirt at Posh Boutique. Even though I didn’t really need more coffee, I dropped into Fido, if only to say that I have been to a coffee shop that Taylor Swift frequents on occasion.
At long last, I checked into my hotel and settled in for a quiet evening. Can’t say for sure when a “day 1” post will arrive (tomorrow will be insane), but I’m having a wonderful time and am so happy to be with my SWE family this week!
Have you ever discovered a recipe and immediately fallen in love with it?Ā That’s how I feel about this recipe from Julia’s Album – delicious chocolate chip muffins that are made slightly less unhealthy with the addition of Greek yogurt.
And a few weeks later for a few grad students (Kevin and my good friend Julie) and a college freshman (Melissa), on my grand tour of Missouri in February …
Seriously, this needs to stop.Ā I only made them once this summer, thanks to my whirlwind travel schedule (over the period of Memorial Day to August 3rd, I was in Chicago/Milwaukee, Seattle, Indianapolis, the Dells, and KC).
I made the muffins again yesterday (yeah…) but got creative this time.Ā I bought an extra bag of cranberries after Thanksgiving last year, and realized recently that they need to be used before this Thanksgiving rolls around.
Instead of 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips (I increased the recipe to yield 18 muffins), I used:
3/4 c. chocolate chips
3/4 c. sliced fresh cranberries (doesn’t matter how you slice them, as long as they are bite-sized)
The past few weeks have been busy, as Kevin and I are getting ready for our big adventure later this month.Ā But there has been no shortage of enjoying these last few weeks of summer š
I have seen a ton of Hitchcock movies since Kevin and I started dating last year, and last weekend brought another one.Ā We started off last weekend with Notorious, a thrilling 1946 Hitchcock set in the post-WWII era.Ā I’m a wimp and can’t stomach violence or gore in movies, so old black & white suspenseful thrillers are as scary as I’ll go.Ā (By the way: the movie was great.Ā Ingrid Bergman was beautiful as usual, and Cary Grant looked particularly dapper, though I still prefer Jimmy Stewart’s facial expressions.)
We went to Target on Saturday, and Kevin dragged me into Best Buy afterwards to attempt to convince me to buy him a PS4 for Christmas.Ā (We’ll see how that goes.)
One of our favorite St. Louis places (and a staple of my childhood) is Fitz’s, so we headed up to the Loop for lunch.Ā I usually get the Coffee Cola, but since my birthday is coming up later this month (Mom, this is a hint), I tried out the Hip Hop Pop instead.Ā Highly recommend.Ā And as usual… I got the bottler’s burger, and it was delicious.
It was early in the day, so we drove out to West County Mall to walk around.Ā Out of all the stores in the mall, the only things we purchased were CDs at Barnes & Noble.
I checked out Jeni’s Ice Cream with Janelle and Angela on Sunday afternoon, and it was delicious.Ā I can’t believe it took me this long to discover this gem in the Central West End!Ā We relaxed with our feet in my pool afterwards – what a lovely afternoon š
I am really looking forward to a long weekend (and a chance to catch up on some sleep and cleaning).Ā And best of all, my sister is coming home from college for the weekend š Happy Labor Day, all!
My collegiate section is hosting their first meeting of the year today, and it suddenly reminded me that today marks 6 years (to the day) since the first SWE meeting I ever attended. As many of you know, SWE (Society of Women Engineers) is one of the biggest parts of my life outside of work, and keeps me fairly busy between my responsibilities on the outreach and awards committees, plus a small role on the Boeing ā St. Louis SWE planning team and a growing role on the 2017 Region i conference planning committee. But it wasnāt always this way.
Part of the reason I attended was that Iād made a pact with one of my female classmates that we would both get involved in SWE. I barely knew anyone there (since I didnāt live in the engineering learning community) and felt a little intimidated by the older, more seasoned engineering students who had completed impressive internships and held officer roles in our section. But I just had this feeling that it made sense to be involved in SWE, since our College of Engineering was maybe 13-14% women at the time that I started. And luckily, I had been influenced to join SWE by one of my engineering camp counselors in 2008, who was vice president of our section by the time I started my freshman year.
I was slow to get involved. Itās hard to get involved immediately when youāre navigating a new world of making new friends, taking harder classes, and taking on leadership roles in your dorm. But then, a group from my section went to annual conference, and when I found out the next year would be Orlando, I knew I wanted to go. At that time, conference attendance from my section was points-based on involvement, and I wanted to build a strong case. One of my close friends started saying that maybe I would be president of Mizzou SWE our senior year. (Iām pretty sure I laughed in his face.)
I went to the holiday party and volunteered at our regionās conference, and started getting involved in some outreach events. And I took a big step at the end of my freshman year, and managed to get elected to webmaster for my sophomore year. My love of SWE started to grow. I attended annual conference in Orlando (it was awesome), and by the end of the year, knew that I wanted to be that girl at the podium in E1419 my senior year. I wanted to be president of our section.
So, I took the next step and became vice president. I can say with 100% certainty that this was my favorite SWE position that I held in college. I have always loved recruiting (and still do), and had a blast talking to future Mizzou Engineering students (and SWE members) at so many events. It was sometimes exhausting, but I just loved it. Then I became president, and it was the biggest whirlwind of a year. I was so busy and often tired and overwhelmed, but I loved it and wouldnāt trade it for anything. That year cemented my love of SWE and made me realize that I had to stay in this for as long as possible.
I graduated and got overinvolved, and have slowly been pulling back and trying to focus on my true passions in SWE. Iāve found that passion, and itās 100% outreach. I am so happy to be leading the new Wow! Innovations Program as we recognize and share the innovative outreach techniques that our SWE sections are already using. Iāve had a lot of fun leading outreach awards for the past 3 awards years, and though the technical issues drive me crazy sometimes, itās a joy to see the impact that sections are making on their communities. And getting to play a big role in Invent It Build It and SWEās presence at the FIRST championships has been a dream come true. (Have I mentioned that I love interacting with students?)
In early to mid-2014, I had this thought process of āDo I think Iāll be in SWE for at least 20 years? Do I see my attitude about SWE ever changing?ā and came to the conclusion that this was something I wanted to be in for the rest of my life. I became a life member this past February (about 7 months ago) and was so pleased to receive a Life Member button from the Director of Regions when I attended our region conference in Kansas City.
SWE keeps me busy, but itās out of love for this organization and knowing how much that it has impacted me, that I continue to be involved. I give full credit to SWE for helping me get to my current job (I first learned chemical engineers could be Boeing engineers when I attended WE10 as a sophomore) and for helping to develop some of the skills that I might have had to look elsewhere to acquire. Iām dreaming of chairing the outreach committee in a few years and hope to hold even more positions after that. My best friend from college was my sophomore year roommate who also got involved in SWE with me. And now, just a short time after graduating college, I can walk into annual conference with thousands of other women engineers, and immediately find someone I know. Itās really true what they say at renewal time ā renewing your SWE membership is like getting 30,000 friends at once.
My childhood was filled with tea parties. My grandma had a Fisher-Price tea set at her house, and we frequently had tea parties in the backyard with orange soda, Fig Newtons, and waffle cookies. One of my earliest purchases was a real china tea set from Toys āRā Us, with Dalmatians printed on it (I was 7, itās fine). I have many happy memories of putting on nice dresses and holding tea parties (with water) with my American Girl dolls at a doll-sized table in my room.
As I grew older, I started to actually drink tea. We usually had some kind of Celestial Seasonings tea in the cabinet (and later Trader Joeās seasonal specialties), and my love for tea intensified when I lived in Seattle for a summer and discovered MarketSpiceās cinnamon-orange tea. When I started working, my tea habit increased, and now that I am in an office building, I drink tea even more. (I currently have five different boxes of tea in my desk.)
I love tea and have some idea of what I like and dislike, but my sister is actually an expert. While I was drinking tea that came from boxed teabags, she was using a looseleaf tea steeper with exquisite Teavana teas. I was out in Seattle for work earlier this summer, and bought her a peach white tea as part of her birthday present.
Melissa is also obsessed with all things British (namely Benedict Cumberbatch and a certain German player who was traded to Manchester United). When I discovered the London Tea Room in Tower Grove and their weekend settings of afternoon tea, I knew we had to try it out before she returned to Mizzou for the fall semester. I managed to snag an 11 am reservation for this past Sunday (10 days in advance), with little idea of what to expect besides the myriad of glowing TripAdvisor reviews. My expectations were far exceeded š
After we were seated at our table, we each received an extensive menu of tea options ā the afternoon tea includes a pot of tea for each guest ā and made our selections. I chose the Scarlet tea (includes blueberry & cherry), while Melissa chose the Tangerine Ginger. A beautiful photo of Buckingham Palace adorned the wall next to our table. Then the food arrivedā¦
three plates of goodness
So much food, all delicious and so filling. The black currant scones were so perfect ā dense, filling, and yet so soft ā and the sandwiches were equally divine, but the desserts were the most memorable part. Lemon blueberry tartlets, macaroons infused with tea, raspberry and tiramisu petit foursā¦ yum š Needless to say, we ended up taking home about half of the desserts.
Note:Ā This glowing review of the London Tea Room is not endorsed or sponsored, and is solely my opinion.Ā For more information, check out http://www.thelondontearoom.com/.
Soā¦ hi. I kept meaning to write more posts (and kept forgetting), so here goes. Life has been busy, to say the least.Ā In addition to all of this, there have been some friend get-togethers and puppy playtime with Scout (41 pounds of energy!), plus myĀ sister’s birthday last month š
Over the course of five weekends, Kevin and I had three Midwest roadtrips, which meant a lot of time in cars and a lot of Trader Joeās snacks. It started out with July 4th weekend in Indianapolis. Kevin is a huge Rolling Stones fan and thought he missed his chance to see them, after their 50th anniversary tour a few years ago. But never fear, Mick Jagger is still dancing like heās 25, and the Stones embarked on the Sticky Fingers tour of North American stadiums this summer. We got our tickets the second they went on sale (back in February) and chose Indianapolis. Aside from the Rolling Stones being British, it doesnāt get much more āMurika than going to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a concert on the Fourth of July.
After lunch with one of Kevinās friends from college who lived in Indy for a few years, we spent Friday afternoon sightseeing, with all the usual downtown Indianapolis sights ā the state capitol, canals, World War Memorial ā and, completely full from our lunch of Chinese food, spent the evening at aĀ Scottish bar.
That Saturday, we headed to Bru Burger Bar for an early-ish lunch (a must-recommend if youāre in Indy) and headed back to get ready for the concert. I canāt believe I made it through that day. It was 80+ degrees outside and incredibly sunny, and we waited outside the gates for 2Ā½ hours before going in (and another few hours before the first opening act even went on). The first opening act (Saints of Valory) was underwhelming and only performed a few songs before leaving the stage, but I thoroughly enjoyed Rascal Flatts (one of my high school favorites) and sang along to nearly every song. The Stones were even crazier than I expected. So many insane costumes, weird dance moves, and yet, their voices were still great and they put on an amazing show. Not bad for being in your 70sā¦
A few weeks later, we drove north to Wisconsin for a Doetsch family vacation in the Dells. Apparently, spending time in Wisconsin is a very Chicago thing to do. (Meanwhile, I grew up thinking Wisconsin was really far away. š ) I had never been to the Dells and was pretty apprehensive about riding these crazy slides. It turned out to be AMAZING. Other highlights of the weekend included blowing my lead at mini-golf (I am incapable of beating Kevin at anything) and drowning my misery with Snickers custard at Culvers. On Monday morning, we made a stop at Paul Bunyanās Cook Shanty before driving back to STL. Kevin had been raving for weeks, but I didnāt understand until I experienced those sugared doughnuts for myself.
The first weekend in August was spent in Kansas City. Amanda and Jeremy were one of those āwhen are these two going to start datingā couples. Finally, after one of the most nailbiting, nervous days in our house of four girls, Amanda came home after class on Halloween of senior year and told us that they were dating. š Izzy and I spent the rest of that year eavesdropping on them while they did homework in the upstairs loft, and I basically third-wheeled it to every football and basketball game from then on (though to be honest, I had been third-wheeling it with them for a long time). š
So anyway, why Kansas City? Because those two got MARRIED! Kevin and I drove to KC on Friday morning to take advantage of some of the sights. After a quick lunch on the Plaza, we walked over to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, where I nerded out about Monet (I love the water lily triptych) and Kevin complained about the modern art. We also spent some time at Crown Center (aptly named) and walked through the Hallmark Visitors Center and a beautiful Crayola store, before driving out to Liberty for the evening.
Saturday was the big day, but before the festivities kicked off, we did a little more sightseeing. We headed to the WWI Museum / Liberty Memorial ā unfortunately, some storms prevented us from going in the tower ā but it was fun to revisit it again.
We got ready and went to Belvoir Winery for a beautiful wedding. I cried a bunch during the vows, but kept it together for the most part. It helps when youāre in the back of the room at the piano, and literally everyone else is in front of you. š (I did stand during the vows, and was slightly worried that Iād bump the piano keysā¦)
After the ceremony ended, I got to start an incredibly fun evening with Izzy and Janelle (and Kevin), with good wine, good food, and a beautiful cake. In addition to Amanda and Jeremy, the Royals were an integral part of the wedding ā not only were they mentioned in the message and the best manās toast, but the cake was in the shape of the shield (?) at Kauffman Stadium.
(L to R): Janelle, Izzy, Jeremy, Amanda, me, Kevin Some of my favorite people ever š
Iām really excited to see the cute pictures of the four of us roomies together, and sincerely hope that we donāt have to wait for another wedding to all be together again. That means that a trip to Denver or Pittsburgh is in order š
This past weekend was fairly quiet. We started a little early on Thursday with Beauty and the Beast at the Muny, which was beautiful and just perfect. (If I was 20 years younger, I would have been in a Belle dress too.) Kevin and I watched Fletch on Friday night, visited the Zoo on Saturday morning (typical), and celebrated our friend Danelleās birthday on Saturday night at the Thaxton downtown. I managed to be at church before 7:30 am the next morning (on 5Ā½ hours of sleep) and accompanied the choir (nearly sightreadingā¦ I first saw the music less than 4 days before). Afterwards, I played with Scout at my parentsā house (as usual), spent too much money at Trader Joeās, and collapsed into bed for a nap in the afternoon. And despite a storm, Kevin and I went to Ted Drewes (abaco mocha is delicious, btw) and capped off a (comparatively) quiet, relaxing weekend.
Hereās to a more relaxing weekĀ š looking forward to a month here at home before some big travel next month!
I havenāt forgotten to write that Seattle weekend post ā life has just been busy, as Iāve been playing catch-up since getting home.
Last Saturday, I bought these nautical pillows that match my color scheme (royal blue and magenta) perfectly. This is why I always check the home section at Target.
I baked delicious coconut key lime bars on Saturday afternoon. These are the perfect antidote to blistering St. Louis summers, and I have a feeling I’ll be making them again.
My SWE section had our annual dinner on Saturday, at the Engineersā Club of St. Louis. It was so nice getting to see my SWE friends, and I am excited to continue planning the 2017 region conference. I’m also so proud of Saint Louis University’s section, which received the award for Collegiate Section of the Year!Ā I loved working with them on their Wow! That’s Engineering event in February.Ā And check out this stunning view on my walk home ā
I finally saw Avengers: Age of Ultron with my sister on Sunday. Kevin isnāt a fan of these superhero movies (and my friends already saw it), but Melissa is conveniently obsessed with superheroes. The movie was a little confusing at times, but luckily, I had an expert in the theater to explain everything to me.
This week, I started going to Pure Barre in Ladue. I donāt know where I first heard of Pure Barre, but I decided while on travel that I needed to try it out. Once I got home, I immediately signed up for the new client special! Pure Barre is a great low-impact workout that really works all of your muscles and also improves posture and flexibility. I was diagnosed with mild scoliosis when I was 10, and have used it as an excuse for my lack of flexibility ever since. Iām determined to combat this, and my 3 classes this week have already improved my self-esteem š
Itās blueberry season, so I baked some blueberry oatmeal muffins on Monday night. (I may be out of things to bake by the time Kevin gets back.)
We had our final outreach committee call of FY15 on Tuesday ā joining this committee was one of the best SWE decisions I ever made. I am so excited to continue working on the Wow! Innovations program and Invent It Build It in FY16 and beyond!
In advance of next weekend’s Cards/Cubs games, I decided to buy some summery Cardinals gear from Old Navy.Ā I’m ready for a sweep!
Food recommendation of the week ā harvest grains blend from Trader Joeās. Itās a blend of couscous, orzo, baby garbanzo beans, and red quinoa (aka many of my favorite things!). I cooked some for dinner after Pure Barre last night, and added in chicken, garbanzo beans, green pepper, and tomato.Ā It made delicious leftovers for lunch today.
Looking forward to a nice Fatherās Day weekend with my extended family. š Catch you next week!
I am currently wrapping up my business trip in true Seattle fashion – with an iced coffee from Tullyās, conveniently located on the first floor of my (temporary) office building. I had a wonderful time up here and learned so much. I feel that Iāve really built good relationships with my coworkers up here, and am looking forward to the future as this program progresses! We really are designing something amazing, and I canāt wait.
A post is forthcoming about my amazing weekend in Seattle (last weekend), but I am saving that for when I get home. I have a lot of great pictures on my digital camera, but unfortunately left the USB cable in my apartment. Over the course of that weekend, I managed to fit in all of these things:
I got to Monday and was bummed ā part of my reason for choosing these particular weeks was that Kevin would be out here already for work. But then, his trip got delayed, and there was basically 0% chance of seeing each other. Well, Monday evening brought a pleasant surprise! we managed to meet up for dinner at Anthonyās on Pier 66, looking right out over Elliott Bay. I had the most delicious seared halibut with a grilled sweet potato and tomato (not sure what else). Afterwards, we walked down a little further south and took a ride on the Ferris Wheel at Minerās Landing. It was the most perfect way to spend a Monday, and getting that date night makes it so much easier to wait for when weāre both home in a few weeks š
On Tuesday after work, I went to Ivarās at Mukilteo Landing (near my hotel) for dinner, with two of my coworkers. Dinner was delicious (grilled salmon with cornbread pudding and blackberries), but the true highlight of the meal was getting carded when I ordered a glass of wine. #embarrassing
Kevin and I are going to see the Rolling Stones on July 4th, and have been anxiously awaiting the announcement of the opener for months.Ā On Wednesday, they finally announced it – after years of being a fan, I am finally going to see Rascal Flatts live!Ā I have so many of their CDs from high school and early college, and they are truly the perfect fit for an opening act on July 4th at the Indianapolis Speedway š
I had a free Pure Barre class to use (for being new), so I drove back down to the U District after work on Wednesday to do that. It was so much easier to follow the class this time! I am super excited to start going to the studio in Ladue when I get home, and even more excited for the Central West End studio to open next month.
Ordinarily, I do not go to Starbucks after work (usually itās on a weekend), but the weather was so beautiful yesterday, that I couldnāt resist a coffee frappuccino light. I headed back to my hotel room and talked to my mom for awhile. It is so annoying to be in different time zones, separated by 2 hours. I am so used to calling right when I get off work or catching up after church, and Iām looking forward to going back to that routine.
I packed (more difficult than I anticipated) and went to sleep, excited for my last night in the hotel. I have been counting down the hours until I get to go home. š I am really missing my apartment, my regular routine, and all of my family and friends back home. And of course, Scout. I fell for her the second I met her in March, and am super excited to play with her this weekend.
I have a fun, perfect weekend ahead ā catching up on life, the annual dinner for my SWE section, and finally seeing the Avengers ā and I absolutely canāt wait to get it started!
Planes & Pink 