oh la la

since eric has been busy with the contractors - he put me in charge of finding a hotel in paris... i have been researching and reading reviews on tripadvisor.com for days (many that i had found two weeks ago, were booked) and finally decided on this one... hotel val girard is located in the 15th arrondissement and as you can see, not far from the eiffel tower... and to make it even better - i found a great deal on expedia.com as well, so at least we have the beginning and end of trip taken care of... as for everything in between - that is TBA... =)

last night was our big, annual meeting dinner - i was able to take a few shots of the signs that i created, and then hit the exhibitor reception beforehand (for some yummy guacamole/chips and tonic water)...  eric came around 6:30 so we scooted around the hall, grabbed a nice j.p.morgan totebag, and then headed upstairs to the ballroom... the menu was short ribs and scallops, but my boss had said that for the veggie option, they were doing ravioli... unfortunately that's not what appeared on my plate, but rather some over-salted risotto... the salad was good and the chocolate ginache dessert was okay, but i didn't finish anything... felt very "full" yesterday for some reason... maybe it's just my belly growing, who knows... by the time the entertainment started, it was close to 9:00 so we headed home...

weekend plans: lots of yard-saling with mom tomorrow, so i'm pretty excited... i also have some shoes to return and then have a few items i need to get for the trip, like a spring jacket of some sort and maybe a few pairs of walking shoes... as for sunday, we have much to do for our trip - eric wants to put together a slideshow for the family we are staying with, so that will take some time... the guys will be working on the roof as well, maybe they'll get everything done by monday... the dumpster was delivered this morning and will live in our driveway until the job is complete... i won't post pics until everything is done, then there will be a good before/after comparison... =)

and i WILL get outside for a walk today - no ifs, ands, or butts!

happy friday...

pollen blows

our annual meeting is going on right now, so the office has been dead (though i've been extremely busy, go figure)... i was supposed to be in charge of updating 1 website, but now it's grown to 2 and i've been busy all day... i may head to the hotel later just to see everything (like the million signs i did) but also because the dinner is tonight and it's always nice to go and have fun (entertainment is mary chapin carpenter)... i'll try and take some pics...

eric finally took some belly shots of me last night and i have to admit, i just look fat... i guess that's normal... i probably won't start posting any until you can really tell...

though i've been incredibly lucky so far - i'm still in the high-risk category because of my clotting disorder and have to give myself a shot of lovenox every day... it's not that bad and most days are good, though the times that i hesitate is when i bruise... besides that - my family doctor upped my synthroid to 75 mg and so far, so good... my allergies have been pretty bad this week too so i called the OB yesterday and got the okay to take claritin - seems to have helped... =)

in other news - we have hired a contractor to do our roof and have the house painted... i picked out some nice colors for the paint (khaki and navy blue) and shingles (mixed greys and browns) - can't wait to see the end result... after that, i told eric that i'd like to have a new kitchen floor and countertop... i can't stand the one we have now - it's old and always looks dirty, and i'm not having that with a baby around... we can handle doing the cabinets and painting, so it shouldn't be that much work (hahaha!)... eric really wants to head back to pittsburgh in the next few years, so the more we do now - the less we'll have to handle when it comes time to put the house on the market...

in honey/babymoon news - we have yet to reserve a room, anywhere... pretty funny considering we leave in 8 days...

so that's it for me - hope you're having a good day!

happy thursday...

half over

work has been extremely busy for me this week which is good, but there's no end in sight until this damn annual meeting is over next month (may 7)... the final program will go to the printer on monday, and i haven't even started on the hotel/exhibit signage... and then there will be a dozen or so last-minute projects - all of which will need to be done ASAP... gotta love it... the only light at the end of the tunnel right now, is looking forward to our honeymoon... =)

eric FINALLY bought our tickets for paris on sunday - that's as far as we've gotten but at least i know that i'll be driving around france may 14–29... we'll spend a day or so in the city and then it will be off to the countryside where i hope we just take our time, soak-up the scenery, and get some much needed R&R... we'll spend some time w/his host family (from college) but that's all i know right now... if anyone has some suggestions on places to stay in southern france - please let me know... i'm not looking for 4-star hotels - B&Bs would be nice... =)

work, honeymoon... that's about all that's been going on for me... besides going thru photos of my dad and starting to assemble things for the memorial service (may 2)... my sister was telling me about how much some newspapers charge to list an obituary - one is costing more than my dad's cremation - how insane is that!?!?! i'm in the wrong business, that's for sure... i spent some time w/my mom and brother on sunday - he found more pictures so we reminisced for a while and made fun of my mom's hair at the time... not that mine was any better, but you know what i mean... fun times... =)

eric's been away at a conference, but will be home tonight... i haven't watched any of our shows this week (breaking bad, LOST, and justified) so we'll have much to keep us busy... =)

 well, that's it for me... hope you're having a good week...

happy hump day...

thank-you

for all the well-wishes, kind thoughts, and comments... even though i have boughts were i get incredibly sad (like having to read my dad's obit), i have enjoyed going thru old photos, and remembering all the fun things we used to do when i was little... being that i was like an only-child (my brother is 14-years older and sister is 12-years older), he would take me everywhere with him... sometimes i'd ride in the back of his truck with my dog, sandy, and not have a care in the world... he'd take me to mcdonald's for breakfast on the weekends (occasionally) and then get yelled-at from my mom... he'd also take me to the local restaurant after school and we'd get milkshakes and grilled cheese samiches - no wonder i have a weight problem! i'm thankful to have memories like this and so many more... =)

work has picked-up because of our annual meeting (less than a month away) so that has helped... we worked in the garden today and planted 3 kinds of lettuce, spinach, green beans, snap peas, and a batch of volunteer potatoes... next week, we'll plant the tomatoes, peppers, and herbs... i cannot WAIT to have our first salad with lettuce from the garden - there's nothing like it... =)

tomorrow i'll be hanging out w/my mom and then having lunch with my brother... she made her annual easter candy (coconut and peanut butter) and he didn't get his share last week, so we're making a special trip... eric is going to atlanta for a conference tomorrow as well, so i'll have a few days to myself - always nice since that gives me ownership of the remote... ;)

we've also been talking about our honeymoon and need to get moving... eric's been looking online and will hopefully be able to use his amex points, esp. since he charged 75% of our wedding (which we paid-off in a month)... so far, we're looking at flying into paris on may 14th and then coming back on 29th and then we'll have memorial day weekend to recoup... i cannot wait! =)

hope you're having a great weekend and enjoying the sun...