Girls' Weekend at Wintergreen

This past weekend the "girls" in the family headed up to Wintergreen to celebrate my aunt Anne's 50th birthday. Here is my "top ten" list to help illustrate how much fun we all had:

10. Fantastic food and drink...it's a good thing calories don't count when you are celebrating a birthday...right?

9. Beautiful weather that made going without air conditioning completely bearable (even if the fan in our room was as loud as an aiport...well at least according to Kathleen).

8. Anne buying all of us gifts even though it was her birthday!

7. Spending time with cousin Jackie who we are so happy to have back on our lives.

6. Cousin Jackie making fun of my use of garbonzo beans in just about every dish I make...who says they can't dress up an ice cream cake!? ;)

5. Sleeping in the big bedroom upstairs with Kathleen and Jackie and gossiping all night.

4. Everyong bringing champagne with them knowing that's the only thing my mom will drink...she might have had 3 sips and now there are 10 bottles of champagne in the fridge.

3. Getting to golf with mom and Kathleen on top of the mountain.

2. Spending hours playing "Catch Phrase" on the deck while enjoying some fantastic Pinot Grigio.

1. Leaving the men behind and spending a whole weekend laughing and telling stories about them!

Baking contest...

I just went to sign up to compete in the baking contest at our upcoming company picnic. Not to brag or anything, but it is a well known fact around my office that if there is a baking contest, I will be one of if not the winner. Well can you believe that they decided that one of this year's judges would be last year's winner!? What's up with that?! I guess my reign as the office "baking queen" is over...

Seattle...the city where I'm pretty sure it never rains!

I returned on Friday from a week in Seattle. I was there for meetings, but had a decent amount of time, due to flight schedules, to do some sight seeing. In my time there and in conversations I've had with others who have visited the Emerald City, I think I am now convinced that it never rains in Seattle. Seriously, hear me out. We never had a single drop of rain the whole week I was there and everyone I've talked to that visted during different times of the year have all said the same thing. Not to mention the fact that every local I talked to insisted that I lie to everyone when I get home by saying it rained the whole time! I'm honestly beginning to think that they've got us all fooled and that Seattle is the country's best kept secret.

Oh well, consipiracy theories aside, I did have a pretty great time in Seattle (well, minus the work part!) One of the highlights being a visit to the original Starbucks, as well as Pike Place Market (you know, where they throw the fish!) I got to enjoy several meals outside looking out onto the water. The temperatures were warm, but no humidity so it was perfect. There are so many sea planes and boats that you get quite a show while you are dining.

I also got to go on a tour at the Boeing facility in Everett. I saw 747's, 777's, and the new 787-Dreamliner being assembled. It was rather impressive. Just a quick bit of trivia, the ticket price on a 747 with nothing more than cruise control and air conditioning, is $250,000,000! Needless to say I did not purchase one as a souvenier!

After the Boeing tour, I still had time to kill before my Red Eye, so I went with a colleague on a sail boat ride. It was so gorgeous seeing the city from the water and the breeze was spectacular.

By the time I finally got to the airport and on my plane (which believe it or not after a day at Boeing turned out to be an Air Bus!), I was feeling pretty confident that I'd tired myself out, but alas, I never slept a wink! Gotta love the Red Eye...

The 4th of July

I know this is a tad bit overdue, but better late than never! We had a great weekend with the "Greeley" side of the family at Wintergreen. We got to see amazing fireworks, enjoy a fabulous family picnic which included my mom's canteloupe soup. I had never had this soup before, but loved it, especially the fact that you used the canteloupe as the bowl!

The fireworks were amazing, and were made that much better by the little kid sitting behind us yelling "Wooooow" after each one. Too cute!

I also got to play golf with just my dad, which was a nice treat. We braved some rain and thunder, and had a great time!

I know this is a short explanation of a fantastic weekend, but I'll let some of the pictures we took help to fill in the blanks.

AT&T National and a visit with Chris & Aimee...

I was fortunate enough to be invited by one of my vendors to attend the 2008 AT&T National Golf Tournament (otherwise known as Tiger Woods' Tournament). So on Thursday, Andy and took the day off to go out to beautiful Congressional Country Club for the day.

We got to the course right around 7:30 a.m. which meant we got a little bit of a reprieve from the steamy weather. It was fun getting to see all the golfers warming up and practicing their putting. I've been watching these guys on tv for so long, it was neat to see them up close and personal.

A few things to note: 1. There was a lot of pink worn that day; 2. They actually are quite friendly with one another while their playing, something you don't see on tv; 3. They are exceptionally good golfers, but even they can hit some terrible shots.

Some golfers we saw that I was pretty excited about:

Rocco Mediate (the underdog who almost beat Tiger in the US Open)

Stuart Appleby

Fred Funk

Davis Love III (hunted him down just for you Erica)

Jasper Parnevick

Corey Pavin

Drew Weaver (the VT Alum)

(They wouldn't let us bring our cameras or cell phones, so sadly I do not have any pictures to share)

After the tournament, we headed home to greet our friends, Chris and Aimee, who were staying with us for the night. After dinner we decided to get a little Wii competition going. Aimee, I must admit, was more interested in playing the old school Mario Bros games, but after a few loses she threw in the towell and joined us in some Wii bowling. Chris turned out to be the big winner of the night!

Always great to visit with Chris and Aimee!!!

While I'm at work the kids will play, or something like that...

I thought I'd share a picture that Andy just sent to me. Keep in mind I am working away on this sunny and gorgeous day while Andy and Liddy are playing hookie. While I always enjoy seeing cute pictures of Liddy, it certainly made me sad that I'm stuck inside working. The good news is, in t-45 minutes I'll be out the door for a much deserved (or at least I think so) 4 day weekend!