From 11 to 9...but it's an improvement

Drum roll please....

I just finished my first week in my new department! 

Geographically, my new job seems like a step down.  I moved from the 11th floor to the 9th floor; which means I ride a different elevator without all of the executives that I used to see going up to the 16th floor.

Financially, I'm in the same place.  I needed to change departments to help my career long-term, and I was happy to take this one as a developmental move.

Emotionally, intellectually, and any other positive "ally" word, I feel like I just moved a million miles from where I was.  I am definitely in a job now where I have more opportunities to learn and grow in my career.  In addition, this job will allow me to actually design something.  Since I got my engineering degree for that exact purpose (or so I thought), it feels amazing to know that in the next few years, I will be USING my degree.

Wish me luck with this new opportunity.  Cause right now, I can't wait to take the "low levels" elevator to 9 each day!

Caroline and Preston get hitched!

This weekend, Caroline Drummond got married and officially became Caroline D/A.  Congratulations to Caroline and Preston!!

(Photo courtesy of Meredith Jones)

We gonna party like it's my Birthday!

Sigh...it's official...I'm in my LATE 20s.  Tuesday, I celebrated number 27.  But, a girl can't complain when she is blessed with so many great friends.  Look at the crowd that showed up just to eat dinner with me on my birthday (and this was just the girls).

Thanks to my amazing friends for making me feel special year after year.

Oh, and Mark got me some nice sunglasses for my birthday, whoop whoop!  One more New Year's Goal down.  Hopefully there will be some pictures of me in them as the spring and summer come along.

Mardi Gras & MOT Ball

Last weekend, I got to go to Mobile's Mardi Gras with Chelsey.  Before all of you jelaous people try to tell me that "New Orleans has the better Mardi Gras," I have one thing to say to you... FLASH MOB at the MOT Ball!

AMAZING!

Friday, we went to the warehouses to see the MOT floats and see what kind of loot we could get pre-parade.

Then we went to the Crew of Columbus parade.  We definitely racked up. I did WAY better than normal, cause I didn't have to deal with Bree's long arms reaching in front of me to steal all my goods (Ok, I really did miss her though). 

Saturday, they cancelled all of the parades on account of the weather.  BUT, we still kept with tradition and ate at the fabulous "Dew Drop Inn".  Look at this picture!  Makes me hungry just looking at it.

Then, we spent some time with this adorable girl:

But of course, the highlight of the weekend was the MOT Ball (as always).  This year, the Flash Mob definitely set a good tone for the evening.  We had such a blast!

Book Clubing It

This month it was my turn to host my book club and pick our book for the month.  We read:

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Some books I’m 100% attached to at the beginning, then I hit a lull and have to force myself to read the rest. For me, this was one of those books. There were several times when I thought, “Markus Zusak should have edited this book down by at least 100 pages.”
Normally, when I get to the end of a book like this I stand by my original thought that it could have been “edited down.” However, in this case I was wrong. “The Book Thief”, which is about a young girl living in Nazi Germany, is all about timing, chance, coincidence, and circumstance. I finished this book with tears in my eyes on a Saturday morning at 7:30. And when I finished it, I wished that I had more of it to read. I understood why Zusak spent so much time building a certain relationship or revisiting a certain scene. It was a beautiful book.

To keep with the book's "german" theme, I made beef stroganoff.  It was pretty good, and everyone seemed to have a good time (including Levon who was the life of the party).

Dominating the Oscars

Last Sunday, my friend Bree hosted an Oscar party.  Unfortunately, it was in DC... But, I didn't let that stop me from filling-out a ballot, emailing it to her days before the Oscars, and beating most of her friends in the most number of correct picks (tied for second, behind Bree, who disqualified herself).  I credit my amazing picks with seeing 6/10 of the nominees for best picture.  Next year, I'm going for 10.

As far as fashion at the Oscars...snooze fest.  Though, Cate Blanchett went with something completely different and AMAZING:

So, in case you live under a rock, "The King's Speech" won for Best Picture.  See it!

Best. Weekend. Ever. (or at least in 2011)

So, my weekend kicked off with some very special visitors.  Lauren (aka: my pledge sister, my old roommate, my partner in crime, and one of my favorites) traveled across FOUR states, with her husband Will, to visit me...OK, and my Birmingham friends who have pretty much adopted her as one of us.  Since I hadn't seen her since my wedding, I was uber excited.

I totally failed with taking pictures.  I mean, Friday, we went to Surin with Chelsey and Jeremy; then to Pale Eddie's with Valerie and her friend Amy...but do you see any pictures of that...?  Saturday Will and some of Mark's friends played golf while Lauren and I did a little shopping/exploring.  You want pictures?  Too bad.  AND, we even had a HUGE group for dinner and the new MugShots.  Some of my friends even changed their plans to come eat with us, but did I get a picture...no.  I do have pictures from Saturday night at Billy's though (shout out to Mere for taking care of this for me).

Their visit was a success!  Honestly, I was all ready to mark this off of my "New Years Goals", even though I didn't actually go visit them.  But now, it's staying on there.  Lauren and Will, expect a visit from the Pridgens sometime this Fall.  Miss you already!