The Greys' European Vacation

It's been quite the whirlwind around our house, but I'm pleased to share with all five of you who actually read this that our revised international vacation is to ITALY! It will be such an adventure, especially since we've only had a couple of weeks to make plans and learn all about where we're going, but we're excited!

We'll see a little bit of this...

And a little bit of this...

And, of course, a little bit of this... And just think of all the blogging material I'll have to share when I return! This is me MAJORLY stepping out of my comfort zone of planning out every detail of my life. This spontaneity will be good for me. Sometimes last minute plans are the best ones. :)

Bim Bam!

This weekend I headed to Hattiesburg to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Delta Pi chapter of Delta Gamma at Southern Miss. It was SO MUCH FUN!

It was great to see everyone, meet some new people and just share the overall fabulousity (is that a word?) that is Delta Gamma. CHEESY, but I was truly feeling the love this weekend, so pardon me. :)

There were activities all weekend long, but I just went down Saturday afternoon for the cocktail party at the Touchdown Club overlooking the football stadium and the banquet at the Thad Cochran Center. That campus has changed so incredibly much since I was there. It's crazy. Everything's so nice and state-of-the-art. It's wonderful. Here are a few pics from the day...

The special creme brule with a white chocolate crest cookie on top. So delicious!

After the banquet (during which, might I add, many tears were shed - both from laughing at old stories to crying when the pref singers sang) we headed to Mahogany like old times to catch up with everyone we didn't get a chance to talk with before. The manager pulled enough tables together to sit all 20ish of us, and we just had a few drinks and caught up. It was perfect!

I am still so proud to have pledged DG and it was a great affirmation of the choice I made almost 12 years ago. I love these girls!

Crazytown!

I'm still alive and kicking, just crazy busy! This week has been a whirlwind of epic proportions.

To summarize, Monday we finally found out that our tickets to Japan were being fully refunded, so we were able to move forward with our vacay planning. If anyone has the bright idea to plan an international vacation in less than three weeks, I do not recommend it. BUT it will be so worth it when we actually get there!

Work has been crazy for both of us this week, so there hasn't been a lot of time during the day to even think about all the other things we have going on right now.

Plus, we have a TON to do before a shower we're having at our house next week, I'll be out of town this weekend, I've been working on last minute Taste of Mississippi marketing since the event is Monday, and our air conditioner has been on the fritz.

I have a feeling it will be crazy like this until we step on the plane in two weeks, but I'll take it. Then we'll really be in need of a fabulous vacation! Can't wait! :)

St. Patty's Day Parade

What a GORGEOUS weekend! Our friend Dave and his girlfriend, Rachel, drove down from Memphis to spend a lovely couple of days in Jackson and enjoy the St. Paddy's Day Parade on Saturday. We had so much fun!

Here are a few pics from the parade...

After we got nice and sun-burned, we headed back to the Bulldog for an Abita Strawberry and some good food, then back to our deck for some quality deck-sitting time. Dave even brought out the guitar for another Dave Unplugged session.

It was a great weekend, even if my shoulders are still feeling the burn today. My pasty skin hasn't seen the light of day until this weekend, so here's to many more weekends in the sun now that I have my first burn of the season. Ha!

Travel Plans

Well, a lot has obviously happened in a week in regards to Japan. Our trip is now cancelled, and Cassidy and John are being evacuated. It absolutely breaks my heart, and as I said the other day, it really puts things in perspective and humbles you.

I looked forward to seeing this other part of the world with my best friend. That won't happen, but that's not to say it won't happen ever again. There will be other opportunities and other places, I'm sure. I'm just so glad they're safe, even though there are a lot of uncertainties for them right now. Please, please keep them in your prayers.

As for our fifth anniversary trip, we're in the process of making other plans. Three weeks is a super short time frame to plan an international vacation from scratch, but I have faith that it can be done. It will be a bit of an adventure! Stay tuned for details.

Welcome, Baby Finn!

Our almost-little-leprechaun baby Finn Sullivan Storr was born at 1:46 p.m. this afternoon and weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces. Mom, Dad and Baby are all doing great.

Congrats, Katie and Evan! I can't wait to hold my little "faux nephew"! :)

Wonderful Weekend

Derek and I had an absolutely fantastic anniversary celebration on Friday. He had been in Chicago all last week for work and just returned home on Thursday night, so it was great to spend some time together.

He sent me flowers on Friday, and then he surprised me with some beautiful earrings from Tiffany & Co. Just the pretty blue box alone would have been a gift enough! Ha! They're gorgeous, and I'm one happy girl! :)

We headed downtown for dinner at Parlor Market. We had yet to try it, but we had heard amazing things about the place, so we decided our anniversary dinner would be a perfect time to try it. The atmosphere was really cool, and the owner brought us out complimentary champagne in honor of our anniversary. Perfect way to start the evening... we ordered a bottle of wine, then the Fried Oysters Rockefeller as an appetizer were DELICIOUS.

For our entrees, I ordered the braised pork belly, which was so good! It came with a poached quail egg on top (yes, I know, this from chicken finger girl) and some kind of delicious sauce. Derek ordered the wild game special, which was ANTELOPE with refried black-eyed peas and some sort of Mexican street corn/pop rocks-like side dish. It felt like we were on Iron Chef! And for dessert... french toast souffle with a strawberry bourbon sauce and bacon ice cream. In case you're wondering how bacon and ice cream go together, I asked the same thing. Derek simply told me that bacon goes with everything, and I now officially agree. So good!

Anyways, if you're ever looking for a Food Networkish restaurant to try, check out Parlor Market. You will not be disappointed.

On Saturday I woke up with a teeny bit of a champagne headache, but it went away pretty quickly when I realized what a gorgeous day it was outside. We met Drew and Kristin at the Crawdad Hole to enjoy the beautiful day (they ran out of crawfish - boo!), then we headed over to Sportsman's for "LodgeFest", their outdoor music and crawfish festival. It was so pretty outside and I finally got a little bit of sun, so now I don't feel so Casper-like. :)

The best news of the weekend came from Japan. I finally got to talk with Cassidy on Saturday night and learned that they are safe and sound and were hardly affected by the earthquake where they were. That being said, I think it's safe to say that our trip is still on! I'm sooo relieved on so many different levels, and we're still watching the news to make sure traveling will be safe, but talking with her made me feel so much better. My prayers are still with all of those who were affected and continue to try to recover. Maybe our little boost to the economy will help, you never know.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend our way. Happy Monday!