still me

P.NYC.S.

i am having "post-new york city-stress-disorder".

i can't get myself back in the game! i can't focus... i am unmotivated. tired. behind on everything!
i did CLEAN MY CLOSET today. and put all HALLOWEEN DECOR AWAY! (yea- fun to get out; funner to PUT AWAY). WASHED my sheets... i LOVE clean sheets. and i did laundry, hit the grocery store and target.... and even with all that... i don't feel like i got anywhere on my 'to do' list.
i did eat THAI tonight. such good food! ate at MINT THAI tonight. it's on Gilbert/Baseline if you are ever in town! so yummy.

with halloween down...it only means ONE thing: time to start thinking about the christmas card. no ideas yet... so the brainstorming has begun. it's what i enjoy most about christmas.
christmas time stresses me out. so a friend of mine challenged me to figure out a way to make christmas FUN. (is that possible?) i love what we celebrate... i don't like how stressed it seems to make me. every year. (my anniversary is the 21st and eric's birthday is the 22nd.. that adds to the stress too!) so...i am accepting the challenge. it probably won't surprise you that i put off my christmas purchases until like christmas eve. (could that be causing the stress???????) i am such a 'driven by deadlines' girl... and fake deadlines don't work... cause i know they are fake. hmmm.
so... i am also brainstorming about that.

the cooler weather is so awesome...i love to see the kids playing outside! colton got a basketball hoop for his birthday... so that has been so fun. they were even in the pool today... seems too cold for that to me! i think it was in like the low 80's today! the cooler weather sure makes exercising more enjoyable. it's a beautifiul time of year here in AZ!

i splurged and bought 'bewitched' on DVD... so i am going to watch that and scrapbook!
tomorrorw i am heading over to florida for a couple days... planning meeting... just can't wait to fly back across the country! so i am going to stay up all night so i can sleep on the plane!

...inspired.

mission accomplished! i had the most delightfully exhausting trip to NYC! the weather was perfect. it was just cool enough that we could all wear our scarfs!
i love riding the subway... without fail, we are snapping photos while we are waiting for the train, on the train... the performers in the subway... the subway signs... i am sure that the locals just get so annoyed with dorks like us taking photos in the tunnel! but i love it! it was so fun to have my mom there... katie, my sister came too... and she is about 20 weeks pregnant with my niece... and she just looks so cute. (she is glowing!)

this trip, hands down my favorite thing in the city was the store windows. they were fabulous. SO inspiring... this particular window is one of my favorites...my mind was racing! jodi took all these photos... i brilliantly left my camera in the taxi when we got dropped off at CKU-a... so jodi was our official photographer and she did a wonderful job (250 photos later! love it!)

along with the camera, i lost or misplaced almost everything i own at one point or another on the trip! eric made me promise to wear my phone around my neck so that he could track me down... so this was my stunningly dork-tourist phone lanyard!~
(secretly i really am liking knowing where my phone is!)

so, now i am HOME! trying to get back into the swing of things. i need to put the halloween decorations away! enough of the cotton spiderweb hanging from the kitchen chandelier...
i promised i was going to go to bed 2 hours ago... so i better go to bed! i am totally going to scrapbook my NYC trip this weekend... i can't wait! i love new photos.
{rambling}

live from new york

i love this town.
LOVE LOVE LOVE it here...
alas,
it's time to go home. we have had a wonderful stay. it's been short, but i am SO exhausted that i can hardly wait to lay my head back for my four hour nap home! coming here straight from CKU-a was a little bit crazy... to expect that i would have the normal energy level to work my way to all my favorite stops. no dice. i am physically, emotionally and creatively drained! but in such a good way.

cku was amazing. truly one of the best so far! (i think i always feel like that as i am leaving one!) i love the heavenly beds at the westin, and i am sad that i didn't dedicate more time to sleeping in one! this cku was the first that i brought my mom. that was so much fun to have her there. she loved it! i felt like things went smooth and the women in my track really 'got' what i was hoping they would! our class room was one of those big white 'party' tents that they put up outside in the "garden pavillion". i was nervous about it at first. the lighting was bad, and the temp control was an issue! but in the end, it couldn't have worked out better to have TONS of room! space is always in high demand.
thanks to all those who were there... i just had a magnificent time!

we left Conn. on sunday and rode the train into NYC. did i mention how much i love it here? my cutest pregnant sister katie and my aunt marsha met up with us here. we have just had a blast...we have been pushing so hard to get the most out of our time and i think that we did really good. got a ton of new ideas, am LOVING all the new trends i am seeing ... so fun to watch! got some new TSUBO shoes and they are so cute. (brown and pink) -- that was a major goal for the trip... (i think that as a group we purchased five pair! they are so hard to find! we had the chance to meet up with a cousin of mine that i haven't seen in 25 years. that was amazing! and the cherry on top was last night... we saw "WICKED". i LOVED IT! so much. it was absolutely fabulolus! it was everything and more that i expected and hoped it would be! truly a magnificent performance and story and songs and overall i just couldn't be happier to finally see it! scott, you were right, it was totally mind blowing!
ok... 7am... need to catch a taxi to the airport! i can't wait to get back home! missing the kids and eric much!
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