{Thanks for the Awards!}

A very special thank you to "Have Yourself A Little Fabulous Sunshine" for passing along the Wonderful Blog award. That was so sweet of you - and I love keeping up with your blog, too!


The idea is to pass it on to 8 people and include the following:

"These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers."

(Will pass it on shortly. . .)

Also, many thanks to "The Pink Polka Dot" for this Awe-summm award!


The Rules:
1. List 7 things that make me Awe-Summm

2. Pass the award onto 7 bloggers that I love

3. Tag those bloggers to let them know they are now Queens too (and link back to the Queen who tagged you)

1- I have the best friends in the world...including a few from way back when.

2- I have the greatest family anyone could wish for.

3- Love to be on the water. . .which makes my parent's lake house fabulous for my kayaking, paddle-boating, and plain old boating excursions.

4- I have the best boyfriend in the world.

5- I am passionate about my career and love what I do.

6- I am spontaneous and like to participate in random dance parties.

7- I love to run or be active - however, I'm pretty sure I love to eat just as much. Hello! I am the Dining Diva, after all. :o)

Now, your turn: (Stay tuned!)

Thanks again for the awards and I'll be passing them along shortly.

{Blonde Bombshells Hit the Beach!}

Long time, no post. Sorry for my lack of blogging. Work has had me busy traveling and in between I've been (and am still) packing up my apartment for my big move.

But I do want to tell you about my Memorial Day weekend. It was fabulous and felt like a vacation. I took Friday off and had Monday off, so it was a very enjoyable four-day weekend.

Friday: Had my new king-size bedroom set delivered to my new apartment. Very excited to sleep in my new bed! Met bf and drove to my parent's lake house. We stayed at their house until last Monday night. Took our first boating voyage of the summer with parents, bf, and bff - Jess. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. Went out to some bars in the 'beach' with everyone and met Ms. Sassy for her birthday celebration. Had a blast - but did wake up with a slight hangover.

Saturday: Relaxed and boated some more. BF jess and her bf came over for a while. We had a bar-b-que with my grandparents, too. (There was some serious great bar-b-que throughout entire weekend, as well as, delicious snacks. Gym - here I come.)

Sunday: Woke up early and prepared for the arrival of my bff's from college and their lovely boyfriends. Us "Blondes" haven't been together since graduation over two-years ago. Needless to say, it was an exception reunion and long overdue. We had a great day of boating, drinking, dancing, and singing festivities. We all got along so well and the boyfriends even got along. It was so great. I am seriously so lucky and blessed for SO many reasons. I have amazing parents, friends, and family.

Monday: Said goodbye to my friends for Pittsburgh and spent the rest of the day on the lake and paddle boat with remaining friends and boyfriend.

This week to do: Pack and clean apartment. Move into new apartment. Shop for new apartment necessities.

Have a great four-day week! Fabulous pictures of weekend festivities below. . .

The Dining Diva
Kara from Pittsburgh enjoying the camp fire.

Dance party on the back of the boat!

Group photo before everyone left. :o(

Chris - Kel's bf...showing off his fearless cannonball off of the boat.

Mickey (Kara's bf and Timmy - my trucker bf) workin' the air guitar.

What a great day to relax and party it up on the boat and in the sunshine!

Mom and Dad (the Captain of the crazy ship.)

Me ,Kara, and Mickey (my Pittsburg, PA friends)



Kel and Timmy lovin' it up.

Blonde Bombshells Forever. (And then there were three...Sorry...had to say it! - Inside joke.)

Kara and Me at a friend's bar-b-que.

Us girls!

{It Has a Fireplace!}

. . .I'm so happy to report that I will not be homeless on June 1! I have an apartment and it is way too good to be true. I really think God was looking out for me yesterday. I went to sign the lease for a 2 br 1 bath on the first floor with a July 1 move-in date(not really what I wanted...but I was running out of options). .. but thanks to my slight stalking of the poor apartment complex manager...when I got there...she said she had a surprise. Well, I love surprises!! Someone had just turned in their keys to the most amazing apartment (slight exaggeration...but it's fabulous!) ever! It's on the top floor with cathedral ceilings, a fire place, two br and two bath and a sweet porch and great view. {Sounds of singing angels enter here.} PLUS. . .it's a June 1 move-in date! I couldn't be more excited! So I am going to look for a sassy bedroom set this weekend.

I'm also getting my hair did tonight. Going blond and short. Can't wait.

Then having dinner and drinks with the bf and bff.

Have a great evening!

-D

{Tweeted Out}

I'm sitting in the Detroit Airport waiting for my next flight that will bring me home. (It's been delayed for over two hours now...) So I have some time to reflect on the great experience I just was fortunate enough to have. The PRSA Travel & Tourism Conference was exceptional. The speakers were great and all of the attendees (mostly other women) were so great. It's crazy how you can just spend time with people for a few days but feel like you've known them forever.

The conference focused on the ever-changing world of social media...especially Twitter. Let me just say, after this post, I don't want to talk about Twitter or tweeting for the next few days. Oh baby, did all of the information get overwhelming! There is so much opportunity to reach a large audience with all of the social media tools...I feel like I need to go back to college to study social media to get a handle on it. Basically you can research journalists and bloggers and tweeters and spread your message that way. Peter Greenburg was one of the speakers. (He's the Travel Editor on the Today Show and an author)...well I was so excited when he saw me and said, "Hellow Ms. _____!" And hugged me.! That was pretty fabulous that he remembered me from a previous encounter last year.

Anyway...last night a few of the girls that I met and I went out to this amazing Bar-B-Que restaurant in the Plaza area. AMAZING. I loved Kansas City. I really have an entirely new respect for the Midwest. ...

Well, I'd write more but they are about to board the plane and I need to get organized.

Hope ya'll had a great week and have wonderful weekend plans...I'm headed to a lilac festival tomorrow.

-D

Cinco de Mayo in Kansas City

So I'm laying on a fabulous king size bed right now overlooking my balcony that is right above a gorgeous city, watching Oprah. Ahhh...this is relaxing. I also gained an hour during my travels. All my flights were fine today and I have already met some really nice girls that are also here for the PRSA Conference. I just did a little walk around the plaza and it's gorgeous! This city looks like a New Mexico city. The Mexican flare and buildings are gorgeous and the outside mall is great! I can't wait to go back to the Betsey Johnson and American Apparel and more! But first...I have to go to a cocktail hour to kick off the conference. It should be fun. I need to unpack and shower...however...my bed feels really nice. Whatever you all do today - I hope you have a great Cinco de Mayo.

Also, I just want to share how great of a boyfriend I have. I don' t know how I got this lucky. But last night, the bf came over as I packed and he brought the sweetest surprise ever. He used that really cool Web site (I forget what it's called at the moment) but you can alter your photos and make them very cool. So he sassed out a bunch of pictures from our Florida vacation and then put them in a nice frame that I can hang on my wall. I was very impressed. He is the best. Here is my plug to all girls in relationships that they are not completely happy in...Take it from me. I think I wasted many years of my life in a super unhealthy relationship and I never knew that I could have anything different. Well, you can. And life is way too short not to be happy with yourself and your relationships. So maybe this little message will inspire someone to make a change.

Adios chicas!

Dining Diva

{Hola!}

A Spanish title seems fitting, since today is the day before Cinco de Mayo! How will you celebrate the holiday? I will hopefully be having some festive drinks in Kansas City! I leave in the morning for my PRSA Conference and I'm looking forward to it. I'll get back in town Friday evening and then I want to go to a Lilac Festival on Saturday and then it's Mother's Day on Sunday. When will I fit moving and packing into my schedule? I'm not sure.

Moving update: I do have some hopeful news regarding my apartment hunting. I looked at one this weekend with my soon-to-be roomie and we liked it. It is def. a good backup option. Also, there is s 2 br 1 bath at the apartment complex that I am even more interested in. However, I am going to hold off on making any decisions until May 15. I want to wait and see if a 2 br 2 bath opens up.

Last nigth I watched Father of the Bride Two with the BF and I just love that movie! "Every party has a pooper, that's why we invited you . . .George Banks!" haha Frank' just makes me laugh every time I think about him. Now that is a fabulous movie. A girl at work is due at the end of May but she is sooo huge that I think she could have her baby any day now. Isn't that exciting?! I love prego bellies.

So lots to finish up at work today and then I'll have to pack tonight.

Weekend was relaxing and great. Spend pretty much the whole thing with the BF. We went to a Japanese steak house on Friday night with his friends, home to the lake on Saturday, and looked at cars and moved a few items from my apartment on Sunday. I'm really interested in leasing the 2009 VW Jetta. The more research I do - the sassier I think it is.

Adios ! :o)

-D