Chasing the Sun

Most of the days and weeks are busy with — Getting by on a whole lot of caffeine and faith.  The evenings are filled with a lot of reading.  And a lot of hypothesizing and theorizing about Taylor Swift, her creative mind and her Eras Tour shows.  I did get to have a fun girl's night to celebrate one of my best friend's birthdays. All of her best gal pals got together for dinner at one of our local Italian restaurants. We had the best time, devouring appetizers and delicious pasta, getting our glamour shots taken by Athena and dishing all about our favorite books, travel plans and life. So much fun! And it was also fun to splurge on the dessert for those amazing cannolis that I ate both of.  Those are the moments that summer is all about. Making time for longer meals, more conversation, getting dressed up and having fun with the gals. It doesn't have to be so serious all the time.  Here's to making time for the people who matter in our lives.  That's all for...

  Saturday was my parents' 39th wedding anniversary, so I tagged along with them to the California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles! We didn't leave until later in the afternoon, so we took our time getting ready and getting over to the coastal area.  We made a stop at Big Bubba's Bad BBQ across the street first. I had the pit beef sandwich which was yummy and filling.  We parked about two miles away from the fair and made our way into the fair. We walked through the exhibits but they were wall to wall with people and humid, sticky air. BLEH! We made our way around the fair through the food booths (there were a TON), around the animal area and back through the rides. We took a short break for a churro and water and gave me a chance to put a band-aid on my foot where a blister was developing. Then, we walked through some of the plant and flower competition exhibits.  They had some really picturesque spots near the front of the fair, so I took a few pictures of my parents...

I haven't had much else this summer to update on. There has been a lot of social media content planning, New Student Orientations at work and just trying to stay cool. I've been working on some fun projects with work, too. But, also very happy that things are at a slower pace during the summer months to catch my breath a bit. I've also tried other activities to keep busy in my own life - Journaling more, updating my fun Instagram accounts, creating things, subscribing to newsletters. Really nerdy stuff!  I was able to have a breakfast date with one of my best friends who will also be starting in our office on Monday (even though she'll be working remotely, it still counts). She brought her baby girl and we caught up for a few hours on everything over the last few months. It was a blast! There's nothing like a gal pal date at a coffee shop.   Outside of that, I've gone back to staying at home as much as I can. I've read book after book on Kindle Unlimited, bo...

Each summer, our office does an office retreat to do some team bonding, setting goals for the year and celebrating what we've accomplished with some learning aspects.  This year, we started on campus for a few exercises with the group and self-assessments. We drew a number as we walked in to see where we would sit for the morning. We had time to get settled in, get snacks/breakfast and chat with our new table mates. There were a few group exercises and personality tests to try out, which are always interesting. It's fun getting a new perspective on how everyone's minds work and solve problems.  After the morning sessions, we took a team photo.    Then, it was time for the next half of our day! We went downtown to House of Flowers, where we had a flower workshop — We picked out a pot and a plant, then got to work making sure they were securely in there, just right. This time, we were able to sit anywhere so I sat with my Team Swelce gals. It was very therapeutic playi...

The Fourth of July weekend is officially over. It’s Sunday evening, and that means a new week is ahead of us. I’ve had the last four days off — Thursday for the holiday, Fridays during the summer and, of course, the weekend. And yet, it still feels like it went by too fast. Back to the normal routine, a couple days in the office for events this week and not another holiday off until Labor Day in September. Overall, the weekend was pretty uneventful. I was sick all of last week with a terrible sore throat and a bit of a cough, aches, all of it. Thursday just felt like a day to relax but with a festive flare. Since we can’t do much with our dog, Rory, we haven’t made plans the last few years. I watched TODAY and we had Mickey waffles (I added blue and white sprinkles to mine) and just had a chill morning. (And, of course, this was the time that my aunt and uncle asked us to come over to watch fireworks with them and their grandkids). I got ready, put on my shirt with stars and stripes...