Denver trip

Last week I got to go to Denver for a leadership conference for Junior League. I had a great time and learned a lot. I'm sure most of you know that I am the president elect elect of the league-which means lots of conferences in my future! I am a nerd and love them though so I'm not complaining. They are sure to take me to places I've never been. This made my third trip to Denver, but it has always been a quick trip-twice just a pass through on our way to a ski trip and now the conference. Maybe one day I'll actually see some of the city!

I did take a couple of pics from the airplane on my trip home. And one from my hotel window. You can't really see the mountains in these phone pictures, but still pretty.









-- Posted from my iPhone

Cool website

So I don't really bake very often because I'm not so great at it and I get really frustrated, however, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to read the Bakerella blog. Have you seen it? She makes the cutest things and it makes me so jealous - of her baking ability and the fact that she has time to do this!

I have to admit though, it took me a long time to actually add the link to my blog. And then even longer to actually mention it specifically. Why? Because I was hoping that I would one day bring the cutest little cake pops to a potluck/tailgate/whatever and everyone would rave about them. But it finally occurred to me that that will never happen. At least not anytime soon. And even if I did try to make them, they'd very likely turn out crappy and I would eat them all myself and never tell anyone.

You all probably read Bakerella religiously anyway (I know you do Tina!) and I'm not sharing anything with you that you don't already know! But for those of you who don't, you should definitely check it out. It's awesome!

Red, White & Baby Blue

You definitely need to attend this event! A great, inexpensive way to spend your Friday night on Dickson Street that helps sick babies. You won't be helping any babies at any of the clubs on Dickson or by sitting on your couch watching TV :) So grab a friend (or 5) and come on out! There will be food (including a chocolate fountain...shouldn't that be worth the ticket price right there?), beer/wine, a silent auction and Leah & the Mojo Doctors!

Let me know if you need tickets or you can to go www.jacksongraves.org/news.htm and buy them online. They'll be available at the door too, but an rsvp would be appreciated for catering purposes.

Seattle

I went to Seattle the first week of May for a Children's Circle of Care conference on behalf of the Jackson L. Graves Foundation. Angie and I went together and had a great time. Unfortunately, I failed to take many pictures, but got a few at the Pike Place Market. We were busy with conference activities most of the time we were there, but on our last morning we walked down to the market to check it out before heading to the airport. It was so cool. We didn't see them throw many fish around though! We both had to take a picture of all of the tulips. I love tulips and they were just beautiful...and cheap too! If I hadn't been to lazy to lug them around the airports with me I would have brought some home.

As part of the conference, we got to tour the Chateau Ste Michelle winery where we also got to indulge in a wine and chocolate tasting. Awesome and so yummy! Angie and I toured the NICU at Seattle Children's Hospital as well. We got to talk to some incredible doctors who helped us make some important contacts for the Foundation.

The actual conference day we heard 3 presentations from doctors who are researching new treatment methods in their areas of expertise. They were so passionate about what they do! It was so inspiring to hear them speak - and incredibly interesting. Our luncheon speaker that day was Tom Brokaw - wow - he is one amazing speaker!

We attended a black tie gala too, but it's kind of hard to carry a camera in a tiny little clutch. I do have a picture that I took from my phone, but I hate the way I look in it so sorry, but I'm not posting it! At the gala we got a performance from Natalie Cole. I'm not really a fan, but it was cool anyway.

Here are the few lame pictures I took :) Including just one of the walls of booze from Von's. They claim to have the largest selection of spirits in Seattle...and believe me, there were a lot!!

Don't miss out!

UPDATE: Touch A Truck RESCHEDULED for May 16th due to threat of severe weather. Location to be determined...will let you know as soon as possible!



Touch a TruckBreak out your hard hats and get ready for another great time at Touch a Truck 2009! Kids of all ages can climb, discover and explore vehicles of all types including helicopters, construction vehicles, emergency vehicles, motorcycles and big rigs. Kids can build items with the Home Depot crew or talk with SpongeBob Square Pants and Strike with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals too. Attendees can win great prizes including bicycles, a family campsite set and gift certificates. Touch a Truck is Saturday, May 2, from 10a.m. to 2p.m. at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers. Admission is $5/person or $20/family and can be purchased at JuniorLeagueNWA.org, by calling 479.751.7054, or at the gate the day of the event. Proceeds from this event will help fund various projects sponsored by the Junior League of Northwest Arkansas.


Need a unique Mother's Day, Wedding, or Graduation gift to show how much you care? I recommend Add Another Place Setting; a quality, award-winning cookbook with more than 200 of the best recipes from the Junior League of Northwest Arkansas. This book tells the story of Northwest Arkansas through full-color, professional photographs, recipes and interesting sidebars.The title (as explained on the back cover) is based on the incredible growth and thriving economy of our area. Our response to this growth is one of timeless Southern tradition and hospitality. When someone comes to the door at dinnertime, we Add Another Place Setting.Cookbooks are available at http://www.juniorleaguenwa.org/ as well as the following fine retail locations:


§ So Inviting, Fiesta Square, Fayetteville
§ Party House, Fayetteville
§ Richard's Meat Market, Fayetteville
§ Barnes & Noble, NW Arkansas Locations
§ Signed, Sealed & Delivered, Rogers
§ Borders Books, Rogers
§ XNA Gift Shop, Bentonville
§ B Larue, Bentonville
§ Occasions, Siloam Springs
§ Smith Drug/The Corner, Gentry
§ Shelby's Gifts, Harrison
§ Betsy's Antiques & Gifts, Fort Smith
§ Inscriptions, Fort Smith
§ Creative Kitchen, Fort Smith
§ Millynn's, Dardanelle
§ Copper Pig, Russellville
§ Catering To You, Little Rock
§ The Full Moon, Little Rock
§ WPR Auxiliary Gift Shop, Little Rock
§ Vintage Cargo, Eureka Springs
§ Slaughter House Gifts, El Dorado
§ Wooden Spoon Restaurant, Gentry
§ Jepson Drug, Siloam Springs
§ Washington Regional Hospital Gift Shop
§ Melody's Choices, Fayetteville
§ B&J Jewelers, Pine Bluff

Only Child

I have to admit that I am annoyed and am posting this to vent...

So there is this acquaintance that I have. I'm not going to mention how I know this person, who this person is, etc. Let's just say this person is obviously not one of my closest friends - although I do really enjoy this person and besides this little issue, I find him/her to be quite pleasant. Oh, I don't even know why I'm trying to hide the gender...you are all gonna know it's a woman!

Anyway, there have been several instances where she nonchalantly throws in a snide comment about my being the mother of one child...like I am not REALLY a mom because I only have 1. Ok, so I don't have as much experience as a mom of multiple children - I am still learning and I'm ok with that. So I'm a little over protective because of my lack of experience - I'm ok with that too. So my child is a little slower to develop skills like dressing himself (because I do it for him and have the time to do it for him because I'm not trying to get other kids ready) - he'll learn. So it takes him a little longer to figure out how to get along with other kids and share his toys - he's getting there...that's why he goes to preschool.

I know that we'll have to keep him involved in lots of activities so that he learns social skills that he might otherwise learn from siblings. I know that he may be a little bit spoiled (although we do try not to spoil him - I know PLENTY of kids who have way more than Sam does and they are NOT only children!). I'm ok with all of this. So why do I have to be treated like I'm less of a mom because I only have one child? I still have to do everything all the moms of multiple children have to do, only with one child and not 2 or 3, etc.

The only thing that I worry about sometimes is whether or not Sam will grow up and wish he had siblings to turn to. But honestly, as much as it pains me to say it, I have friends who are closer to me than my siblings. I know he'll have those friends too. And besides, just because Tim and I do not plan to have more children doesn't mean we won't - I think we all know that God makes the plans and if he wants us to have more we will!

Ok, I think I feel better now. I just had to rant a little.

Baking

So I'm really not much of a baker. It just seems like no matter how hard I try, nothing turns out the way it's supposed to! I baked an Italian Cream Cake for Tim's birthday today (his birthday is tomorrow) - it's lopsided and a little dry. Well, I think it's dry - it kinda looks that way. I haven't actually tried it yet, you know, because it's for Tim and I should probably not eat his birthday cake until he's actually present...although it's killing me.

Perhaps I just need more practice. Only thing is, I love sweets so much that if I practiced more, I'd end up eating a whole lot more and that just isn't good. Plus, baking would actually require more time in the day which is impossible. Maybe one of these days I will have more free time. Maybe. If I can learn to say NO. Or if I could at least learn to delegate more effectively. Or just say NO...why is that so hard? Yeah, I could write a book on saying no so I'll stop now.

Back to baking...ok, so the cake didn't really turn out that badly, or it doesn't look as bad as I thought it did at first. Again, I haven't tasted it yet (what time is it? ugh, 2 more hours before Tim gets home. And really, we should probably wait until tomorrow, right? But then we risk the cake drying out even more so we should definitely dig into it tonight). Tim was home for lunch when I was icing the cake and he told me, almost with a straight face, that I should take pictures of it and post them on the blog. I said ALMOST a straight face! We both had a pretty good laugh at that one. But now, as I look at it again, I don't think it looks that bad. And I'm going to post a picture of it, granted it's a picture of the cake hiding behind a glass dome which makes it look slightly less lopsided, but it's a picture nonetheless!