Lake Hartwell, SC

In early May Cille posed the idea of getting out of Atlanta for the Memorial Day weekend and after lots of research and negotiation, we settled on a fabulous house in Lake Hartwell, SC.  The Goodmans, Pawlowskis, Nettles and I headed out on Friday afternoon and Liz joined us on Sunday after wrapping up a big wedding she was catering on Saturday night.  Even though we got stuck in a bit of traffic as we hit I-85 North, it was an easy drive and the house was absolutely perfect!  The owner, Gary, was there to meet us when we arrived and give us a tour of the property.  We were on a deep water cover that was nice and quiet, but still afforded us all the benefits of being on a lake.  We immediately got into bathing suits and hit the water.  Jonas had purchased an enormous raft-like thing called Relaxation Station and after blowing it up the fun began.  Nora (much like me) loves the water and literally only got out when forced to by her parents for a snack and/or meal.  We enjoyed perfect weather, canoeing, paddle boating, swimming, grilling, making s'mores and watching Braves games in the in-home theater!

I went for a long jog on Saturday morning and saw a family of 5 red fox, a bunch of chipmunks and field mice and 2 woodpeckers as well as a group of bird watchers who had spotted a 'chat' in one of the trees along the road.  When I got back to the house, everyone was getting ready to jump in the lake, so I joined the fun.  Jonas and Todd had gone to the store to pick up a few items and they got back just in time for a quick swim before lunch.

Nora getting ready to jump into my lap from across Relaxation Station!

And... the jump is good!

Annika wasn't particularly interested in getting in the lake, but she thoroughly enjoyed playing on the dock, canoeing and paddle boating.  She made her own adventure with the water that lapped up onto the dock at the space where it hit the shore.  It was priceless.

Annika making her own fun with the water that lapped up onto the dock

Cille had put together a schedule of who was responsible for each meal and it worked out perfectly.  Todd is known for being a great cook and he didn't disappoint.  He prepared salmon and flank steak one night that had been marinating for more than a day.  It was absolutely delicious which reminds me that I need to get the marinade recipe from him immediately.  The kitchen was enormous and the bar had enough stools for the kids to sit and eat all together.  

Life is better at the lake...

When Liz arrived on Sunday morning she wanted to take the canoe out for a spin so the two of us loaded up and started paddling.  Approximately 45 seconds after getting in the boat she asked why we were veering to the left.  As I opened my mouth to tell her that I would correct us as soon as we cleared the dock, she turned around in her seat too quickly and we flipped over.  It was priceless.  The boat started filling with water while it was on it's side and we were laughing so hard we couldn't do anything to stop it.  Jonas came to the rescue and pulled the boat out of the water and back onto the deck.  Luckily I had already enjoyed a lengthy canoe ride with Cille and Annika on Saturday and didn't feel too badly about forgoing a second attempt with Liz.  :)

Aren't you supposed to be IN the boat when you canoe?

The weekend was a perfect mix of relaxation, conversation with good friends and activities with the kids.  We will definitely rent the house again sometime, as it was perfect for a group outing.  I am in town for 4 days before heading to Boston for Parker's birthday and Evie's ballet recital and then onto New Orleans for the annual Habitat for Humanity build.  More on those adventures in the next post...

20 Year High School Reunion

It really is hard to believe that 20 years have passed since I graduated from high school.  Some days I still feel like I am 18 years old, so how could it be possible that 20 years have passed?  I had a fun couple of days in Atlanta after my trip to Boston, including an unexpected reunion with Peter Recupero (Alicia's brother) who joined us in Mexico this year for the MLM Trip and decided to drive down to Atlanta to visit for the weekend of 5/10.  It was so fun to see him and (as always) Alicia was the hostess with the mostest for his visit!

I flew up to NJ on Thursday even though the reunion wasn't until Saturday because I wanted to fit in a few other social visits while I was in town.  First things first - about a week before the reunion we learned that one of my close friends from high school wouldn't be able to attend the reunion due to a vacation he already had scheduled.  So, my friend Jenna and I planned to have our own reunion with him on Friday.  We met for lunch and it was literally as if no time had passed at all when we met up in the parking lot outside the restaurant. Steven was exactly the same, except he now shaves his head bald and is all tatted up!  We sat for hours and got caught up on each others' lives.  It was a surreal experience that got me even more excited about the actual reunion.  We promised to do better about keeping in touch and I really hope we do!  We hugged it out and parted ways in the late afternoon.  It's experiences like these that remind me old friends are a special breed - if someone is a true friend, it doesn't matter how much time passes between visits, you can pick up right where you left off!  Thanks for being one of those kind of old friends, Steven.

Jenna, Steven and I at lunch on Friday!

On Friday night we had plans to meet up with a bunch of people at a bar in Wayne.  My friend Christine wanted us to meet her new beau, Mike, and she had some other friends from high school staying with her for the weekend because they were in town for the reunion.  Jenna and I ordered sushi for dinner, picked up her sister, Elisa, and headed to the bar.  Christine and Ari were already there and Jay and Mike joined shortly after we arrived.  There was an insanely loud band playing, so we had to fight over the noise to enjoy any sort of conversation but it was fun none-the-less.  We made plans to meet up the next day before the reunion and headed home for the night.

On Saturday morning Jenna's sons (Peter and Andrew) each had baseball games so we packed up the cars and headed out to watch the fun.  They both did great and the rain held off, so it was a successful morning.  I ran to meet Christine and Ari for lunch and a quick stop to pick up a new camisole before rushing back to Jenna's house so we could go get our hair blown out at a new blow out bar in Wayne.  Yes, we actually got our hair blown out for the reunion.  In the old days this wouldn't be even remotely out of character for me, but now-a-days people who know me probably think that is hilarious!  To catch me without my hair in a ponytail is miraculous.  Elisa came over to do our make-up and help Jenna settle on the perfect outfit before we headed out to Uncorked for the pre-reunion festivities with my core group of friends from high school.  (This is the same group that got together in November when I was in NJ on my roadtrip!)  I feel really lucky that a large group of us from high school have remained close friends over the years and get together at least once a year.

The original high school crew at Uncorked!

The ladies (Me, Christine, Roxanne, Kim and Jenna)

The guys (JB, Drew, John and Peter)

Old friends are the best friends (John, me and Christine - JB in the background!)

After enjoying some delicious 1992 Cabernet (courtesy of JB) we got ready to head to the reunion.  I made a quick stop in the ladies room before we left only to have my iPhone take a dip in the toilet.  UGH!  I didn't want to carry a purse with me all night, so I put my phone in my back pocket.  As soon as I unbuttoned my pants I heard a plop and the phone fell right into the toilet.  I debated for a moment (which was probably my biggest mistake) and then decided to fish it out.  It was dead.  I couldn't take any additional photos for the rest of the night and as it turns out, my delay caused by my debate about whether to fish it out or not is probably what caused it to die permanently...  It spent 3 days in a bag of rice trying to dry out, but never turned back on.  Oh well!  We arrived at the reunion and the fun began.  I can't express to you how surreal it is to see people you spent every day with for 4 years, 20 years later.  It was so fun to catch up with everyone and hear what's going on in everyone's lives.  It was also hilarious to see what everyone looked like at 38 instead of 18!  The night went by way too fast and we decided to continue the party at a local bar afterwards.  We found ourselves at a diner in Wayne at 2:30 am eating disco fries and late night breakfast treats.  Just like old times...

Jenna, Peter and me - I hadn't seen Peter in about 10 years!

Tiffany, Jennifer, me, Nadine and Dana!  

Me, Andrea, Christine, Tara and Jenna!

Needless to say, it was an awesome weekend and I really hope we do it again at 25 years instead of waiting for 30 years!

Since I was without a phone on Sunday, my time at the airport was brutal with no apps to entertain me or help me pass the time.  Of course, there was terrible weather and my flight was delayed several hours.  I luckily used my Delta Medallion status to jump on an earlier flight and got out of there several hours than expected!

I am headed to Lake Hartwell, SC for the long Memorial Day weekend with several friends.  We've rented an amazing house right on the lake and plan to spend the majority of our time in the water!  More on that in the next post.

Boston, MA

I arrived in Boston on Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 and was surprised that Evie was with Nichole when she picked me up.  My poor sweet petunia had an upset stomach and missed school for the day.  Luckily, she was feeling better by mid-afternoon and we got to do some playing.  We ran to get a car wash before rushing back to pick-up Parker as school got out for the day.  Parker had lacrosse practice on Wednesday night, so the kids had an early dinner and we headed out.  Evie and I went straight to the playground while Parker took to the field to practice.  He seems to really enjoy lacrosse which is great and since he had a game on Sunday, I got to see him in action which was awesome.

My visit was filled with activity, as always, and it was so nice to have more dedicated one-on-one time with the kids.  One of Parker's front teeth was on the verge of falling out when I arrived and it took the entire length of my stay for it to finally fall out in his sleep on Sunday night.  The tooth fairy brought $5 for his front tooth and I asked if I should pull out my teeth to get $5 for each one.  We all agreed that since my teeth are adult teeth (and therefore won't grow back) I shouldn't do it!  :)  Smart kids!

The $5 gap!  

School drop off went off without a hitch on Thursday and I had a few hours to swim and shower before Parker had to be picked up.  He had a half-day of school so we had a lunch date at Bill's Pizza and then went back to the playground.  I had to pick up Evie from her play date at Katie's house by 3:00, so we made a quick detour to grab her before Mad Science started at 3:15.  While Parker was at Mad Science, Evie and I went to Sweet Tarts Yogurt shop for an afternoon treat!  Being a Mace kid has it's benefits...  Parker had swimming on Thursday night so it was an early dinner of mac and cheese, chicken nuggets and fruit salad.  Everyone was in bed with books read by 8:30 which was a small miracle.

Our pizza date at Bill's Pizza!

Both kids had a full day of school on Friday so I had almost the entire day to myself.  I hit Whole Foods to pick up some items we'd run out of since Wednesday and then went for a jog through town.  The weather was spectacular the entire time I was in Boston and apparently it was lousy in Atlanta, so I was glad to be able to be outside when I wouldn't have been able to be at home.  I love it when things like that work out.  Paul met us at BINGO Night at Parker's school on Friday night and just when we thought that our luck had run out... Parker got a BINGO on the last card!  This makes 2 years in a row and he was quite excited!  I texted Nichole in Miami and she literally couldn't believe he won again!

Evie holding out hope for a BINGO win! 

Saturday started with our tradition of cinnamon buns for breakfast.  Many years ago Nichole bought cinnamon buns as a treat for one of my visits.  That somehow became "the food" we eat when I visit.  It is funny when I am there for more than a weekend because the kids want to eat cinnamon buns every day.  I managed to keep it to only Saturday this time!  Evie had a soccer game on Saturday morning and I was so impressed with her effort!  She got right in the middle of the action.  For a petite little thing she sure was assertive!  After soccer we headed to lunch at a farm that has recently built a little cafe on its property.  It was great.  They had homemade ice cream which, of course, we had to sample!  The rest of the afternoon was spent playing, reading, watching the Kentucky Derby and using our imaginations.  The weather was awesome, so we enjoyed the outdoors, too!  Orb won the race and that was the horse that Parker and I had decided to cheer on, so we were thrilled.  Evie was cheering for the horse with the female jockey so she was disappointed in her 4th place finish.  :)

Evie and her Barn Owl teammates shaking hands with the other team

Parker had a lacrosse game on Sunday morning at Newton South high school.  He was asked to be goalie for the first half of the game and it was so funny to see him in all that padded gear.  He only let one goal score the entire first half!  I was so proud.  He played a variety of positions during the second half of the game and clearly started to lose focus near the end of the game.  I was that relative on the sidelines yelling, "Focus, Mace.  Look alive!"  He was pretty good at ignoring me completely.  Nichole was landing back from Miami at 11:00, so Paul took Evie to go pick her up at the airport and I stayed to watch the end of the game.  After a 5-4 victory, we headed to the Shake Shack for some lunch to celebrate.  We arrived before the line was too long, got our food and a table outside.  Paul, Nichole and Evie arrived quite a bit later and the line was so long that they decided to pass.  Paul and Nichole were hosting a coed baby shower on the South Shore in the afternoon and had to leave immediately so the kids jumped in the car with me and we ran to get Evie some lunch before heading home to play Frisbee in the yard.  We had a great afternoon making sombreros out of paper and planning our taco dinner at El Pelon near Boston College.  DELICIOUS!  Paul and Nichole got home just after we put on our jammies for the night and the kids were so excited to see Nichole and have her do the bedtime rituals.  I was sad to be leaving the next morning, but had such a great visit and look forward to another visit in early June for Parker's birthday and Evie's ballet recital.

Paul getting Parker in his goalie gear at the lacrosse game

Homemade sombreros for Cinco de Mayo!

I am in the final stages of interviewing and getting offers from a handful of companies in the financial services technology space and feel so fortunate that the job market has improved since I left Intuit last year.  I look forward to joining the company that has the most compelling opportunity.  Details on that once I make a decision...

Living it up in Atlanta!

While getting the ball rolling on my networking efforts, I still had plenty of time to enjoy some fun and frolic in my hometown.  The second week in April kicked-off with Book Club.  I think I have mentioned in previous posts that my favorite thing about this particular Book Club is that discussing the book is not as important as enjoying cocktails and gossiping with the ladies!  Miraculously, many of us had actually read the book (On the Island) this go round and we spent a good portion of dinner discussing it.  It was such an easy, light read and it got all of us pumped up for spring since it was set in a tropical location.  We went to Goin' Coastal for dinner as part of our ongoing efforts to match the cuisine with theme of the book.  Only Donna had been there before and we were all pleasantly surprised how delicious it was.  We all got caught up on each others' lives including plans for vacations, house renovations and upcoming children's sporting events.  Fun all around.

I've continued with my swimming, walking/jogging and bike riding which keeps me busy.  I am thankful that my herniated disks remain stable and haven't been causing me any pain or other issues in over a year.  YAY!    My sessions with my nutritionist came to and end in April which made me sad since I enjoy her so much.  But, we agreed to keep up a social connection and immediately scheduled a dinner with our mutual friend, Sam.  We went to Cakes and Ale in Decatur on April 16 and it was fantastic!  If you are looking for a yummy dinner spot, check it out here!  We enjoyed great conversation and agreed to make it a regular thing.  I look forward to the next dinner.

Cille had sinus surgery on April 17 and I volunteered to help out with the girls (Nora and Annika) in any way that was needed so I popped in to see Cille in the afternoon and then walked down to get the girls at day care around 5:00.  There is nothing better than the first moment they spot you approaching and get all giggly and excited!  I love that moment.  Nora and Annika gave out hugs and kisses and we headed home to see Mommy and her 'nose bra'.  They agreed to be extra gentle with her and let her rest which isn't easy for a 4 and 2 year old.  They did great, however!  I had blocked off the rest of the week to hang out with Cille while she recovered. I brought lunch over to her place on Thursday and when she took a nap I went for a jog through the neighborhood.  About halfway through a bird pooped on me.  I know people say that is good luck, but I am calling BS.  It was totally gross and I still had 35 more minutes to go before I could change my shirt.  YUCK!

Cille in her 'nose bra' post sinus surgery.

I know this is disgusting but if I had to suffer through, you might as well, too!

Bird poop on my shirt from my jog in the highlands.  YUCK!

I had my regular 'Ladies Dinner' with 5 former colleagues on April 19 and we decided to go back to our original dinner spot, Maggianos.  It is a chain, but the food is good for sharing and it is centrally located for everyone.  We got caught up on everyone's 'new' jobs and goings-on from life.  Denise told a hilarious story about catching her young son attempt to steal a pack of candy from the check-out line at Walmart after she had recently cut candy out of his life cold turkey.  In an effort to teach him an important lesson about being a criminal, she drove to the police station to 'turn him in'.  Needless to say, he won't be stealing anything else any time soon.  We all laughed and laughed and laughed at her quick thinking!  The night we had dinner was the day of the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombing suspect.  Cille and I had spent the better part of the day on my couches watching the live coverage, but she had to leave to pick up the girls at daycare and I had to leave to go to dinner before he was found.  So, I spent much of dinner doing what I hate - checking my phone for updates from CNN.  It couldn't be avoided.  I'd invested so much time and energy in the story by this time, I had to know the outcome.  As everyone knows, he was found in a winterized boat in someone's backyard in Watertown, MA.  I am still processing the horror of the Boston Marathon bombing and don't have my thoughts organized enough to write a post about it.

Jeff came to town for business and the Dogwood festival for about 5 days at the end of April and we had a great time enjoying the fabulous weather.  Alicia had her annual party on Saturday night... she had more delicious food than an army could eat!  On Sunday I invited Daniel over for a BBQ so he and Jeff could catch up.  It was great to see him and our spontaneous BBQ turned out to be fantastic.  Jeff had this awesome potato recipe he prepared and I made marinated chicken, broccoli salad and grilled vidalia onions.  Valenti gelato for dessert.  YUM!  Daniel filled us in on the latest in his life and we rehashed hilarious stories from my days at Intuit.  Good times...

Renee, Alicia, Jeff and me at Alicia's annual Dogwood Party!

Those are bottles of Fireball we're holding up...

My friend Peter continues to recover well from his open heart surgery and prior to him going back to work, we had plans to have dinner with our former colleague, Lou Anne, when she was in town for some training.  We went to 4th and Swift so that he wouldn't have to drive very far and enjoyed a delicious meal with some delicious wine.  It was great to get caught up with Lou Anne and see Peter well enough to be out and about at a restaurant.  It's hard to believe it's been 7 weeks since his surgery.  Where does the time go?

I got a surprise call from my brother and sister-in-law asking if I could fly up to Boston to stay with Parker and Evie due to a last minute travel conflict they had (business trip for Paul, girls weekend for Nichole.)  Of course, I jumped at the opportunity.  That action-packed trip will be covered in the next post!