THE BIG EASY

One of the best things about working for my company - aside from the dart wars and generally awesome people - is the annual mystery trip. In past years, they've gone to places like South Beach, Chicago, Jamaica (I was on this trip!), Amsterdam and Iceland. And when I say "Mystery Trip," I really do mean that it's a mystery.

Here's how it works: each year, a small planning committee gets together and decides where we're going for the year's trip. Then, they periodically send out clues about the location, leading up to the start of the trip. We'll get clues such as "you'll need a passport" and "bring a bathing suit," which are pretty straightforward, but then we also get clues that don't make much sense at all. Then, when we get to the airport (usually painfully early in the morning) on the day we're leaving, we have a "reveal" and find out where we'll be heading for the next few days.

Mystery trips are fun, exciting, jam-packed, and generally cause office-wide hysteria a few days before the trip - especially if you're like me and have a severe Type A personality (which means that packing your suitcase is a panic-inducing experience)!

Here's a general idea of the clues we received for this year's trip to New Orleans - stolen from a Facebook post from one of my co-workers, which she apparently stole from another co-worker. :)

People were guessing St. Louis, Disney World, Denver, and NOLA, among others. Even after the trip, I'm still not 100% sure how all of these clues fit in. Regardless, we had an AMAZING time down in The Big Easy and I can't wait to find out where we'll be heading next year. I'll leave you with a bunch of photos from the trip:

5am Friday morning: the NC crew taking up almost the entire back half of the plane from Raleigh to Atlanta

Reuniting with the original account coordinator team at The Ruby Slipper for lunch. Best part? Take-out mimosas :)

Friday night karaoke

Doing a little sightseeing in the French Quarter early Saturday morning

Visiting Jackson Square (mostly just to get to Cafe du Monde)

Cafe du Monde beignets - absolutely necessary

The rainy weather made the swamp tour just a little more creepy

Gator spotting!

This big guy was almost a little too close for comfort. Granted, our tour guide was on the platform hand-feeding him, so he can't be ALL that dangerous, right?

Holding the baby gator! Her name is Alli and I might have taken her home if they had let me.

Hanging out at the Old Absinthe House with some coworkers Saturday night. I also learned that absinthe tastes pretty much exactly like Nyquil. Not my drink of choice.

Balcony view of Bourbon Street

Beignets round two (also necessary)

Closing out the trip with a visit to Pat O'Brien's for their famous hurricanes (which honestly weren't that great)

One more picture before we split and head back to our NC and MI offices!

JUST A FEW WEEKS LATE

To put it lightly, I've hit a blogging rut. My last post was on May 4th and now it might as well be June already.

I've discovered that it's really hard to motivate myself to drag out my computer after working hours and write for myself. I don't think I'd have such a hard time if I didn't work in social media marketing, but the fact is that I do. My job requires me to be in front of a computer and online for most of the day. Once you've spent your day creating content, monitoring your clients' social sites, responding to fans and followers, and sending email after email, the last thing you want to do is once again put your fingers to the keyboard and write (not that I'm complaining - I do love my job!).

I'm determined to get better at this; my goal is to dedicate a few hours a week to blogging for myself. Not for my clients, not for my agency - just for me. Because if I can't make time for the things I like to do outside of work, then I'm really not doing this whole "work/life balance" thing right.

For starters, here's a few pictures from our trip to Asheville a few weekends ago for Dylan's brother's college graduation:

Road trip time with Claire & her little dog Peyton

Charlie made a lot of puppy friends that weekend - this is Lyle & Sofie's dog Coach

Trash bag couture at the graduation ceremony (aka it rained...a lot)

Dylan's step-sister Claire, step-dad and mom modeling the snazzy trash bags

Lyle graduating! Soaked to the bone, but graduating.

Pictures with the graduate!

We found some horses to hang out with

And went on a hike

Played some (very competitive) games of cornhole

And did some grillin'

Ending the weekend with one very tired Charlie

During my blogging absence over the past few weeks, I also went on our annual work mystery trip (this year's was to New Orleans!), developed an annoying sinus infection, and enjoyed Memorial Day weekend with my family back home. More pictures coming soon! And more posts. I promise.