Refreshed & Recharged

Last weekend, J and I were fortunate to getaway for about 4 days filled with leisure fun and professional fulfillment in Fabulous Las Vegas. Miss L was fortunate to have 4 days of bonding time with one of her grandmas.

Just as my previous post said, we drank a couple of cocktails on our Southwest flight out west. This, combined with numerous episodes of The League, that Jeremy uploaded to the ipad...and we laughed our butts off all the way there!

Shortly after arrival, we dined at Olives, a Todd English restaurant overlooking Lake Bellagio. This was a great suggestion from my boss, who suggested I go there to do some "market research." The view of the fountains was great, the ambiance-very romantic, and the food was divine! 


J's dish was a masterpiece of scallops atop mashed potatoes atop shredded short rib beef-
as well as avocados, beets and tons of other stuff!
Olives

Bellagio fountains

 

Of course, I could sit there and watch the Bellagio fountains for hours. We also went to a Cirque show, Ka, at MGM...which was an incredible and jaw-dropping performance. This was followed by lots of fun gambling until about 3am. We spent a couple of hours at the same roulette table, making friends and making memories! We were up for nearly 22 hours straight! I couldn't believe it.

Our favorite past-time of vacationing out west is getting up on Sunday morning to watch football while belly up at a bar - enjoying a breakfast and cocktail. So we did just that...at Emeril's Sports Stadium. Breakfast menu had ceased by the time we got there...but we did find this amazingly large and delicious pretzel with cheddar beer dip - to hold us over until we went to our favorite fast food joint In-n-Out!

Mmm...In-n-Out Burger

My private club marketing conference started Sunday eve, at a resort in Lake Las Vegas...check out the view from our room...

The rest of the trip included lots of professional development for me...and J golfed 18 holes (shot a 34 on the front 9) and happened to be partnered up with the Madame of Rosie's Brothel...yep, funny stuff! He gambled more and just enjoyed some leisure time away from a very stressful work life right now.

LOVED the Fall decor throughout each casino!

Lobster tacos at Koi at Planet Hollywood -
delicious, but I should have ordered a double!!

All-in-all, it was the perfect time away from Miss L. We missed her, but not too much. And we knew she was doing well and in great care.

After our return, I felt so refreshed as a mom and wife, and recharged as a professional. It really was perfect! Oh, and I felt very blessed to come home to a clean house and happy baby!

Tired of Counting Sheep...

Why oh why am I awake...at 1:30 a.m. I've had a busy, fun and eventful day with Miss L...and should be fast asleep in my comfy bed, but instead, I am on the couch watching a boring drama on Lifetime, sipping caffiene free tea, while trying to lull myself to sleep. After reading my dear Florida friend's recent blog post, it made me think about honest blogging. I usually blog about all of the positives, after all, I am honestly an eternal optimist.

I feel like, these days my mind just goes...and goes...like the Energizer bunny.

First, there is soo much I want to communicate to a few of the people I love...things they probably don't want to hear, but would be good for them to hear. Things I want to say only because I care deeply about them, am passionate about their happiness and health, and am naturally always trying to "fix everything," people included. I have a difficult time accepting the fact that the values drilled into my head by my parents while growing up, are no longer shared by those same influencers. I am frustrated by the choices some people in my life make on how they live their life, yet, I keep my mouth shut...after all, if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all. On the flip side, I take great pride in the fact that I am the new influencer and role model for my siblings, and now my daughter...and I strive to do the best job possible.

Secondly, I feel torn. Every day, I go back and forth about the desire to provide a quality of life for my family {financially} and providing a quality of life for my family {logistically, mentally, physically, emotionally}. Work from home mom or Work full-time outside the home mom...it's the age-old debate...er, well, the stay at home mom vs. working mother debate. It's like the left and right sides of my brain are playing dodgeball 24/7 upstairs. I want it all...but then again, who doesn't?

The last thing on my mind...poo! Yes, now that I am a parent...I think about poo...every.single.day.
Miss L is having an issue since we left California and it is to the point of causing her real pain and tears shed. We're trying all of the home remedies - warm bath, rectal thermometer, bicycle kicking, belly massage, nursing, lavendar scented Cozy Hugs teddy bear. Thankfully, she went to sleep just fine...but I hope my lil' angel stays that way until 9:30 a.m....just like last night. We will see how she does tomorrow, but I am planning a phone call to the Ped in the morning, followed by their suggested remedy - maybe a little prune juice, a baby suppository, or something else. We shall see.

It's now 2:19 a.m. - maybe I should try the bed thing again.

Ugly Christmas Sweater

Two stores, 90 minutes and Twenty dollars later...and Jeremy now owns an Ugly Christmas Sweater. And it is UGGGLYYY!

He wanted to wear one to work, in an effort to create buzz surrounding the upcoming large staff Christmas Party! So, off to the M-O-A we went...not coming home without a sweater. Good thing, we have the store, Ragstock, with "1000's of Ugly Christmas Sweaters" per their large banners at all 3 locations at MOA.

This beautiful sweater works well for the big guy because features a knit-in Christmas Tree (no embellishments to cheat the way to the ugliest sweater!)...also, it's a VEST, and Jeremy's staff has experienced Jeremy in a sweater vest on multiple occasions...lastly, it has a gray cell phone pocket on the left side of the vest - perfect for the crackberry!

He is such a great manager, getting into the spirit and having fun with his staff! Suffice it to say - it was a big hit and required an encore presentation the following week!

Happy Holidays!

A Special Surprise

Today was an eventful day for our home.

I had to get to leave the house this morning at 6:15 am to get to work early for a Board meeting, so Jer had to handle drop-off of Miss L to the babysitter. And Jer had a 7:30 am conference call, so this meant he had to wake up, get himself and her ready (and fed) and out the door by 7:10ish.

It was soo nice just getting myself ready and in the car on time (for once!). I find working part-time outside of the house is a perfect balance and truly lets me appreciate my time spent with and without Miss L.

The fabulous part of picking up Miss L from her in-home sitter/neighbor/friend, was the suprise of beautiful artwork that accompanied her. Today, she made her first piece of art to don our fridge! Her little foot prints dipped in paint strategically made the feathers of a Thanksgiving turkey.

It made my day and certainly reassured me that she is just fine while I'm at work, she's in great hands AND the other neighbor ladies long to have coffees together on Wednesdays just so they can play and have fun with my little girl. We are really blessed by such amazingly generous and thoughtful people in our life.