And the award goes to...

Me! 

I got some very exciting news at work last week…I won an award for excellence! Three new fabrication sites opened last year, and I created the graphics for the grand opening events for two of them - Salt Lake City and Helena. Unbeknownst to me, my work was submitted as part of the Fabrication Site Expansion Team as a nomination for the 2013 Communications Excellence Awards. I was shocked when I got an email congratulating me and the team! They're honoring us with an awards banquet on March 27th…in CHICAGO! So, I get to take a fun trip to the windy city all on Boeing's dime. I'll be staying at the Intercontinental Hotel, and visiting the Boeing corporate offices. I'm thinking of extending my trip through the weekend so that I can do some exploring. I'm so excited!

winner!

Here's a couple screenshots of the work I did. Banners, posters, invitations, floor stickers, flags…they wanted everything branded to look consistent, but still have it's own look and messaging.

Elevating the Dream - Salt Lake City, Utah

Dream BIG - Helena, Montana

Raleigh Walter Cougan

My friend Rachel had her baby on January 21st, and I had been dying to get out there to meet him. On Sunday, Sarah and I headed out to Edmonds to visit the new momma and Baby Rawls.

He is adorable, and seems so itty bitty even though he's already 6 weeks old. He slept a majority of the time, pooped while I was holding him, and ate probably 3 times. This kid has the life! Rachel seems to be doing well and has this mom thing down. She looked great, and had just gotten back from looking at an open house with baby in tow.

so sleepy in Sarah's arms

Congrats, Rachel and Peter! Little Raleigh is just perfect.

Fan mail

Weiner had texted me to say she had sent me something in the mail. Out of the blue, Maeve handed her a drawing and said, "this is for Layne." I couldn't wait till it arrived, and when it did, it made my day. It is the most beautiful…amoeba?…that I've ever seen. 

What's even cuter? When Weiner showed her the picture I took after I received it, she asked if Maeve remembered who it was for, and of course she did! Impressive.

Thank you for thinking of me, Maeve! Be on the lookout for a little something I've sent you.

Princess Reese turns 5

Blaine's daughter Reese turned 5 this year, and I can't believe how time has flown by. She's growing into the most adorable little girl, who is so sweet and kind. If I knew for a fact my children would turn out as great as her, I'd have 10 of them.

Blaine had friends and family over last Thursday on Reese's actual birthday for a Disney princess themed party. Reese was so happy to see everyone, which was a big change from her 2nd birthday party where she left the room saying, "no, no, no, no, no" as soon as Mom and I came in the door.

She gave everyone hugs and went to her room to change out of her ballet class clothes. She came out in her Snow White costume from Halloween and Blaine rolled her eyes. It was her party though, and she could wear what she wanted.

We ate dinner and watched Reese open the dozens of presents everyone brought. Miss Manners always opened the card first, "so I know who it's from" and made sure to thank that person after opening the present with a hug. This made for quite the lengthy process, but how cute is that?!

opening presents while little Mischa ran amuck twirling
and playing with that balloon

standing amongst the wrapping rubble

After presents, we sang and cut the cake. Blaine made it from scratch again this year, isn't she talented? 

The Little Mermaid of course

I had gotten Reese a set of 6 Disney princess books that came with a cute little kid's "e-reader". You click on the face of the princess you want to read, then each page has a different icon…purple triangle, pink square. When you hit that button on the e-reader, it reads the page aloud to you. So now she can sit and read all on her own.

me and the adorable birthday girl

trying to hear over everyone
making noise - so cute - hello?

Happy birthday, Princess Reese!

Sample Sale

My friend Danielle (who got me into Stella & Dot) and I decided we have way too much jewelry for our own good. Stella & Dot comes out with new jewelry four times a year, and a lot of the older stuff gets retired and is no longer sold. So, we had a sample sale to get rid of the old to make room for the new. Since we already get a discount on what we buy, we passed that savings on to our friends which turned out to be quite the bargain.

I had it at my place on a Saturday afternoon, and a few friends and coworkers were able to make it. We laid everything out and separated it by price to make it easy. We had fun visiting, drinking champagne, and trying on jewels.

the goods

Danielle and I were shocked at what we raked in after it was over. We also posted pictures online for people to browse that weren't able to make it in person, and that all got snatched up quick as well! I have very little left over, so I'd say it was a huge success!

Thanks, friends, for supporting my jewelry addiction!