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!

Me and my Valentine

Oh Valentine's Day. I know I shouldn't be reinforcing the obligation to buy your loved one flowers and candy, especially since they mark them up so much on this day, but how can you not love it when you get roses and chocolates? I had planned to make Clint and myself dinner at home that night, and Clint showed up with these beauties. So sweet.

I also got a little treat for him. Bull and bear cuff links since he can't seem to shut up contain his excitement about the stock market these days.

For dinner, I was excited to try this recipe I found on Pinterest. The video made it look so easy, and it was! Also, super delicious. The celery root was a hit, and of course we love our horseradish. I'll definitely be making it again when I feel like splurging on ribeye. AND, look how adorable this "sweetheart cut" from Met Market was.

Aww <3

I also found a recipe for beet mashed potatoes to try. After having them at the Iron Grill for my birthday, I've wanted to try them out at home. Plus, they looked so festive!

Ribeye with horseradish butter, root vegetables,
and beet mashed potatoes

For dessert, I tried another Pinterest find. Conversation heart cheesecakes. I bought the mold off of Amazon, lined it with a graham cracker crust, and filled them with cheesecake filling that I added food coloring to.

They ended up to be very tasty, but not quite like the pictures online. I didn't have a paintbrush handy to add the little sayings, so I used a q-tip instead. The result…a scary looking "did you write that in blood" version.

nailed it

We then watched a couple episodes of House of Cards (still finishing the first season), and Clint finally finished off his gallon tub of ice cream he's been keeping at my place.

loves his ice cream

The next day, we slept in before heading to Ma'Ono for brunch. We lucked out since you're supposed to make a reservation if you'll be ordering the fried chicken, but they had a couple cancellations and had some left when normally they would have run out.  So good, but made me painfully full. 

chicken and biscuits

It was another great Valentine's Day with great food and even greater company. Thanks, Valentine!

How bout them Seahawks?

Seahawks pandaemonium has started to die down a bit now after the big game, but how awesome was that?! I'm not the biggest football fan, but it was hard not to get swept up in it all. We had tailgates at work on Blue Fridays, where we'd wear our Seahawks gear and bring snacks for a potluck lunch. That was a lot of fun, and a good excuse to step away from our computers for a bit. I also had some posters and stickers printed of the 747-8 that Boeing painted to represent the team. They actually took the plane and flew it over the state in a flight pattern in the shape of a 12, how cool is that? You can read more about it here. They also flew the big jet over Seattle during the post Super Bowl parade.

Boeing 747-8 swag

For the actual game, Clint and I went over to his friends Kyle and Jen's house for a Super Bowl party. They had the perfect set up…huge tv down in their basement, plenty of seating, and a TON of food. We contributed some crackers and cheese, and a batch of cupcakes that I had baked and decorated with blue frosting, sprinkles, and 12's scribbled on top (forgot to take a picture…).

It was such an exciting game to watch, especially with a room full of friends. Sean and Jen were in town with their 3 year old who'd go crazy and run all over the place anytime we all cheered.

Sunday funday

The week following the game, the whole city was on a high. Everyone was buzzing about it, and even I got caught up in watching highlights and reading related articles on how awesome we are.

My dad stopped by my office on Monday (my birthday), and had a copy of the Seattle Times for me. Pretty cool to have a copy of my birthday paper with the Super Bowl champs on the front!

On Wednesday, the office was pretty quiet. I think everyone played hooky to go watch the parade (along with 700,000 other people!). I ended up streaming the news coverage at my desk, and the people who were at work huddled around to watch. It would have been awesome to be there, but boy was it cold out! We then we out to lunch and lucked out by being sat next to a tv so we could continue to watch Russel, Beast Mode, and the white-haired party animal make their way down to Pioneer Square.

Marshawn throwing out Skittles

Congrats, Seahawks! And if you make it again next year, I promise to stay on this bandwagon.