work, work, work

Yesterday I was on the road 

for work, delivering & installing

art for some clients up in VT.

 

 Thankfully I had great company

for the long drive, plus the chance

to explore some of downtown

Middlebury - which is adorable!

 

 

Someone recommended that we 

get lunch at this little Italian market, 

and I'm so glad they did.  It was

the best lasagna I've ever had, 

plus the lady running the shop 

was sweet and friendly.  If

 you're ever in Middlebury, 

go eat Italian!

What are you up to this week?

roadtrip

 In an effort to soak up every possible

second of summer, we're hitting the

road this weekend for a little adventure.

I'm looking forward to exploring and 

spending time with my handsome guy.

Everything is just more fun together!

*image

travel bug.

Have you seen this series of videos?
Each one makes me desperate to
get on a plane and go wander around
another country.  (And practice vocab...)
Plus the music and fonts make for a
fabulously attractive video! 

Happy weekend, my friends.


*via

wanderlust

Pretty pictures of exotic places 

makes me long to pack up a bag

and dash off to the airport.

Ever have that feeling?

More of these beautiful 

photos here.

i'm leaving on a jet plane...

I'm leaving tomorrow for the annual

trek to Atlanta.  Along with a few other

leaders from my church, I'll be spending 

the next couple of days at Catalyst.

This is the coolest leadership conference 

ever, and is always an incredible time 

of worship, learning, and group building.  

Despite being bummed about some icky 

circumstances, I'm excited to see what God 

has for me this year, and am working very 

hard to go with lots of expectancy 

and an open and teachable heart!

maps

I'm such a fan of maps -
especially in houses.

Aren't these lovely?

And don't they make you
want to pack up &
go somewhere fabulous?


*image

on a boat

I don't know about you,
but there's something about
the concept of living on a boat
that has always appealed to me.

Maybe it's the idea that
you could be constantly traveling
and yet still be at home?

When I stumbled on
these fabulous images
I just couldn't get enough...





*via here

baby you can drive my car

As promised,
some fun pictures from
our weekend roadtrip!




On both Friday & Sunday
we drove 600 miles.

(which translates into
10 hours of car time!)




It was a gorgeous drive -
so many trees, fields & farms!

Plus loads of time
for long chats,
bad car singing,
junk-food eating...



and lots of picture taking.

More to come of the
rest of the weekend soon!

road trip!

Just back last night from
an amazing weekend road trip
with the boy.

We had so much fun and
decided that we're really good
at traveling together.
(total bonus!)

Lots more pictures to come
but for now, reality calls.

Happy Monday!

road trip

I'd like to take a road trip in a fun little car like this one, and look this fabulous along the way.

Anyone want to come?


*images via Everything Fabulous

hit the road, jack...

I'm off to a (hopefully) short day at the office and then heading northward for most of the long weekend for some time with the family!

(I'm bringing them all back to my place for the tail end of the weekend, yay!)

May you have many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and a wonderful time with those you care about most!

incredible.

We're back from Catalyst, and while I'm definitely not caught up on my sleep or feeling back to normal quite yet, I wanted to capture something about the experience before running off to work.


I still have lots to process and don't really know that I can rattle off the spiritual take-aways just yet, but I know that there are a lot of them floating around in my head and heart, and even more waiting in my pages of notes to take root in my heart.

The quality of the material that each speaker brought was just phenomenal - and there's something very cool about hearing people like Andy Stanley, Rob Bell & Chuck Swindoll speak in person. Not to mention that it totally takes it to the next level knowing that they prepared a message just for a leader like me.




There's something about worshiping and learning with thousands of people (13,000 to be exact) that just opens your heart and blows your mind in a unique way. It never ceases to bless me, and makes me anticipate with so much joy what worship will be like in heaven.

(Please note the crazy scale of this event, which is captured in such a insignificant way through a camera. Also note the proximity of my pictures to what's going on, and know that thanks to some very tall people with great scouting abilities, we definitely sat in VIP seating for the entire conference. woot!)



Our travel from Boston to Atlanta was far less than ideal (canceled flight, 8 hours in Logan airport, lots of faxing confusion, missing hotel rooms, etc.) but I was so proud to be traveling with a group of my friends who all behaved with grace and love despite a high level of stress and frustration. It was very cool to know that God could further knit us together as leaders and friends in the middle of inconvenience.

(check out the super cool mirrored wall in Logan, which entertained us for a LONG time...)





I would be so remiss in talking about this trip if I didn't talk about how much fun we had together. There was so much silliness and laughing - no matter where we were - in airports, riding in giant rattling vans, waiting in lines, eating meals, or in the middle of the conference.

There's just nothing like realizing that pretty much everyone shares - at some level - the same lame sense of humor. It's wonderful and terrifying...all at the same time.



So thanks peeps - I'm going to be leaning into this experience for a while.

And I will try to never use the word momentarily again for a long time...

On the Road Again

I've been traveling for work these last two days, logging probably around 300 miles in two directions for two very different clients.

I'm a little tired.

But totally blessed.

I was anticipating being pretty much done with one client due to some economic issues and a weird internal communication gap in their company, but found myself very much back in the game when I arrived. After six hours of unexpected meetings, tours, and art installation (only about 5 1/2 more hours than I anticipated) I was one very tired and very happy girl. Lots of work to be done!


Then I got to have a visit with one of my favorite people on the face of the planet - the lovely sister!

She waited patiently for the endless meeting to wrap up so that we could eat yummy pizza together and catch up on our busy lives. It was so worth it.

I wish more of my clients would move to her backyard so that I could visit her more often!




Then yesterday, after a rushed stop at the gallery, I hit the road again. This time, off to my major client of the moment in Lowell.

I'm starting to feel as though I could make that drive with my eyes closed. Which of course I won't do. But you get my drift, I think.


After some last minute art installations, I met up with one of my bosses and her significant other to do some touristy stuff. It was bizarre to wander aimlessly around this town which I have spent so much time rushing through for work. Definitely fun though.

We went to the Boot Cotton Mill - which is a lovely exhibit in a stunning old mill building. It gave a great depiction of how the space would have looked (and sounded!) during the days of cotton weaving. Worth visiting if you like history.



Finally, at the end of the day I attended the giant opening reception for my client's beautiful building. What a great party for a great company.

They have been a fabulous client, and it was really fun to see them get all the credit for a job well done on a massive project.

Plenty of schmoozing and mingling - which I'm definitely getting better at. I think it helps that this was my project and my people, rather than just a project I helped with. Maybe I'll get the hang of this job after all?



It warmed my heart to see the people touring the building take time to look at and appreciate all of the art in the space. After months of living and breathing this project, it was quite fulfilling to see others enjoy it.

And best of all was the look of pure bliss on every executive and employee face as every guest was blown away with how well everything looked and functioned. A job well done all around.



As for me, I'm just looking forward to being in the office today long enough to get some work done. I can only imagine what's waiting on my desk and in my inbox...