Spread the Word

Spread the Word to End the Word is a National Awareness Day to raise the consciousness of society about the dehumanizing and hurtful effects of the word “retard(ed)” and encourage people to pledge to stop using the R-word.
Check it out here: http://www.r-word.org/

I love that this campaign exists. Take a minute to check out the information. Language is powerful and it's up to all of us to stop using hurtful words.

Dominating DC

So far, DC has been fun. We got here in the early afternoon yesterday. The hotel is nice. Here are Jill and Tara checking out our view...We really lucked out because this is what we get to look at during our stay here...The Roof Rock Garden. Awesome. Good thing the room is nice. We met up with my friend from grad school, Greg and went to a great dinner. The service was awful but we had some fun! Greg is one of the funniest people I've ever met so we pretty much laughed the whole time. Here are Jill and Tara with him. I love it when my worlds collide.

Jill and I looking super cool. I'm wearing Jill's glasses. I'm not sure why. Did I mention there was alcohol involved in this dinner?

Today Tara had an all day meeting so Jill and I went into DC to check out the sights. Our first stop was the Holocaust Museum. I've been wanting to go here for awhile now.

It was incredibly moving and interesting. I'm so glad we went.

After that, we headed over to the National Aquarium. Here's Jill looking sly next to the sign. The aquarium was smaller than I thought but it was fun to see how all the creatures.

We are here at the right time because it's Cherry Blossom festival time. The weather was beautiful today and the trees were in full bloom. It's so nice to see spring finally.

And of course our final stop of the day was to the White House. This is the best picture I got of it.

Here we are in front of my future home. :)So that's what we've been doing since we got to DC. As Jill would say, we've been dominating. Tomorrow real conference stuff begins. But I'm sure there will be more fun to be had when I'm not being professional. :)

Hope you all had a nice weekend!

Friday Randomness

I've had a busy few days since I got back. I took Wednesday off because I needed to get some stuff done around the house. I painted my bathroom again. It's beige. I'm moving out of this apartment this summer so I wanted to prepare for that before things got too busy. And since my mom is taking care of my cats while I travel, I figured this would be a good time. So it's painted and looks much better.

While taking care of real errands I stopped into Rue 21 and picked up a few new things. I got this cute headband. I love headbands. I used to wear them all the time because I was growing my hair out for Locks of Love and needed something to make my pony tail more interesting. So after two years of that I kind of stopped once my hair was cut and could be styled cutely. But I thought I'd try it once again.

I also really enjoy large rings. Not for everyday but for fun. I thought this flower ring was interesting. I can't believe how old lady my hands look. Yikes.
My real question is if I should really be trying to pull something like this off. I don't want to be the thirtyish year old trying to be "young" Do any of you worry about this or am I just over thinking it? Probably. Thoughts?

Tomorrow I'm off to Washington DC with two of my friends/coworkers (Jill and Tara) for a conference. I'm excited to go because I love DC and I love this conference because many of my friends from other schools will be there and it's always a good time. We are staying here...the Gaylord National. Not too shabby.

I'm off to watch the rest of the Syracuse game (I still love my Orange!) and get ready go leave at 6 am. I'm sure we'll have some fun adventures in DC--stayed tuned.

Have a great weekend!

Grand Indeed.

I got back from NC on Tuesday night. I wish the trip could have been longer. And not because of the weather. Because I love spending time with my grandparents. I moved around a lot when I was young, I didn't get to spend long periods of time with them. So I really do appreciate any time I can spend with them mow. I feel really lucky that I can enjoy time with them as an adult. When I spend time with them, I realize how many characteristics I have in common with them. I know that families often feel this way but since I don't see them all that often, I'm always amazed by it.

My grandmother is highly organized. She has her craft closet completely organized and labeled. She has a container for everything and she generally knows what's going on with everything. I learned that when she finishes a book she always underlines page 13 in the book. That way if she picks up a book, she'll know if she's read it or not. What a great idea! I might have to start doing that too...except I'll probably pick page 8. :) She was the one that taught me to read, to crochet, and to needlepoint. And I still have some of the original crochet hooks she gave me when I was 12.
My grandpa is probably the funniest man I know. Even though he doesn't talk all that much anymore, but when he says something, it's something worth hearing and it's usually something funny. A few weeks ago I was sitting down at a meeting or something I was twiddling my thumbs (unbeknownst to me) and someone pointed it out to me. I realized that it's something that my grandfather does all the time too. I'm not sure why that's significant but I don't know many people that actually twiddle their thumbs so I was struck by this. I know this is kind of random but I love that we both do that.

Even if I don't see them as often as I'd like, I'm really glad to see a little of them in me.

Oh and I have to share this cute picture of their dog Maggie. Isn't she cute?Grandparents really are grand aren't they?

Happy Thursday!

Orange You Glad?

It's National Orange Day! What is National Orange Day, you ask? Well, it's Syracuse University's 139th Birthday.

To commemorate National Orange Day, the University is asking alumni to reach out within local communities and make a difference. And of course, wear Orange. :)

Unfortunately, we are heading back to NY today so I'll be in the car all day and that means I can't do any service in my local community but I will be sporting some Syracuse gear proudly.

Here is Otto and I in 2003 at the Homecoming paradeHappy National Orange Day to those that are celebrating with me (Beth)!

Holy Crop!

I'm still in NC and have been having a great time seeing my family. We head back to NY tomorrow. I'm sad to go back to the cold, but then again, I leave for Washington DC on Saturday morning so I guess I'll only have to put up with it for a few short days.

Anyway, besides spending time with my grandparents (they'll get their own post), I got to hang out with my Aunt Karen. She's always fun and we share a special bond because of our red heads. :) On this trip I learned that she is a major scrapbooker. I am familiar with scrapbooking as a hobby--I love the cute paper and all the supplies. But I had NO clue just how extensive this craft actually is. She invited me to her monthly "crop" on Friday night. Sure, sounded fun. I walked in and was amazed at the supplies that these women brought with them. Holy Crop! It was fun and I can see how relaxing and social this activity is. Apparently, they do these crops once a month and they all bring their stuff and sit around and scrapbook for a few hours.

My Aunt Karen and her friend Gretchen.

Some pages that my Aunt made for my cousin's wedding album.I'm not sure I'll ever take up scrapbooking as a hobby but I had to go out and get myself this little paper cutter (it's called a bypass trimmer). It'll be great for a variety of craft projects. My Aunt had one and I totally needed it. Last night we made a craft project at home. We started out with a plastic picture frame. Then cut some paper (you can use scissors if you don't have a bypass trimmer like me. ha) to fit the frame. Be sure to add some personalized flair. Then attach a post it pad to the outside of the frame. It becomes a post it holder on your desk. (Make sure you use the bottom of the frame on the top for the slanted down effect) Ta Da. Cute and Functional. Love it!

Do any of you scrapbook?

I'm off to enjoy some more quality family time before we leave tomorrow. I hope you are all having a happy Monday!

Gone South

My Dad picked me up at 1 am this morning to drive down to North Carolina to visit my Grandparents. I tried to sleep in the car but it's never quite restful. But we got here a little after 1 pm this afternoon. I love coming south because it's actually warm here and I am wearing flip flops for the first time this season. And I also love stopping at the Cracker Barrel to eat and look around the gift shop. We don't have many near us so I like to stop there while traveling. I love spending time with my grandparents. Grandma just got out of the hospital (actually, Grandpa too) so it'll be nice to hang out with them and help them out with stuff around the house. And since I'm not at work, I can multitask and watch A LOT of basketball while I hang out here. I adore March Madness. I have filled out two brackets for the office pool (that was my last official thing I did before I left work yesterday)

This is Maggie, my Grandparents dog. She is so cute!

This is the scene after dinner tonight. My dad, aunt and grandma and I had our laptops out while we watched basketball. We are a family of nerds. But I love it!

I'm off to bed to finally catch up on some sleep. Hope you are having a great Thursday and that your bracket is still going strong!

Feeling Lucky

I really don't know where time goes. I swear I fill every minute with something and then just fall asleep upon entering my apartment. On Friday I participated in Relay for Life. It was fun but I have to admit that I'm definitely not as young as I used to be. It's rough staying up all night. Yikes. I don't think I'm fully caught up on my sleep yet. I'm really glad I did it though. It's impressive to see people come together for the same cause.

Here are all the students that participated from our campus.

Saturday I celebrated St. Patrick's Day with some friends. Luckily (ha ha--get it) they all wanted to watch the Syracuse game (Big East Championship). They didn't win. Luckily I had champagne to ease the pain or maybe I was just too exhausted to understand what was going on. Either way, it was a fun night.

Trying to be festive with my green bow.

This is the beginning of the game...when SU was winning. So that brings us to today, (I'm not sure what happened Sunday or Monday--something with work...blah, blah, blah) St. Patrick's Day. I love this day! I'm wearing my GREEN proudly and definitely look the part of an Irish girl (I'm actually of Scottish descent but whatever). I rocked the green bow to work too. I'm cool (code for I think the students know how uncool I am). Unfortunately, I can't celebrate in the manner I'd like too (with green beer). Instead I have to attend a meeting at 8 pm and get myself packed for North Carolina (I leave on Thursday).

Before it becomes untimely, I wanted to share some of my St. Patrick's decorations with you. Every home needs an Irish Blessing

A swag I made a few years ago--when I was obsessed with making swags.

A sign I picked up last year at Michael's.

And in the spirit of the day, An Irish Blessing for all of you:

May you live as long as you want,

and never want as long as you live.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Go Green

I'm obsessed with the color green lately. I've always had a great liking for the color but I can't seem to get enough of it right now. I was flipping through my LL Bean catalogue and I quickly added the following to my "I need to buy these" file. Which by the way consists of a binder with different things clipped from magazines, neatly organized in plastic sleeves. I know, I'm a nerd. I've learned to accept it.

I love green and navy together and I'm really in need of a cute bathing suit. I love these shoes too. Cute right? Obviously, these two items would not be worn together. That would be overkill. Yikes.

What is your spring color this year?

Women of Influence

March is Women's History Month. I'm sure you knew that already, but you know how I like to keep the Lipgloss Lounge educational as well as entertaining. Obviously.

Working in higher education, I usually know about big awareness campaigns and there are generally campus activities to support these campaigns. This year, my sorority women are setting up a table by the dining hall to have students write a note to a woman in their life that has impacted them in some way. They did this at Syracuse (where I went to grad school) and I just loved this activity. So I suggested we do it here. I think it's a great way to help students make it personal.

We purchased these note cards for the notes.

So we'll start this activity tomorrow and I've been thinking about all the women that have impacted my life. Wow. I'm really lucky to know so many strong and wonderful women. I know I take it for granted but I think it's important that we take moment this month and throughout the year to let our own women of influence know what a difference they make.

Who do you want to write your note to? Take a minute and send her a note sometime this month. She'll really appreciate it.

Happy Women's History Month to you all!

In Like A Lion

Okay, so I lied (as my friend Beth pointed out) I didn't write last night. I'm going to blame Daylight Savings. I needed that extra hour to blog. Clearly.

Anyway, the beginning of March has been busy. Work has been especially crazy. There just doesn't seem to be time to get all the things I needed to do done. I am really looking forward to going to North Carolina to visit my grandparents in two weeks. And right after I get back from there, I go to a conference in Washington DC at the end of the month. I. Can't. Wait. I need some time to breathe and reboot.

Last week a few of my co-workers and I were out of town for the day. We stopped by this cute little restaurant/bar for lunch. The waitress was wearing this shirt. Yes, it appears to be slightly inappropriate. But it's not. The place is located on a corner of two streets in the town. Clever. So clever that I had to own one of my very own.

If you don't think it's funny--I blame daylight savings. :)

Where Have You Been All My Life?

I haven't forgotten about the Lipgloss Lounge or my blog friends.

Life happens, I guess.

I'm going to update tonight with something fun. Well, don't hold me to that. I can't take the pressure. hee hee.

Off to a meeting this afternoon. On a Sunday. Yuck.