After weeks of preparation with dress-buying, dusting off of the black patent leather spiked heels, hotel reservation securing, and meditational deep breathing, last week culminated with all of the amazingness appearing in the above photo gallery - and more, actually, but I'm exercising a little bit of blog restraint to protect identities of teammates who likely read my posts. And now, just days after experiencing all that glitzy award ceremony excitement, I'm still feeling the happy endorphins and finding myself seeking out next year's ensemble - and looking forward to another ME night camped out at the fabulously posh Omaha Marriott Downtown at the Capitol District where I already know I'll be treated like royalty all over again.
(Yes Marriott, I got your email and will be hitting you up on some of your fine swag, too.)
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![]() My rating: 2 of 5 stars The first few chapters sucked me in but then the book just kind of flat-lined and I lost interest. Finally skipped to the last page where her memoir came full circle. Must say that I really had higher hopes but just couldn't finish. View all my reviews Over the past weekend, family and I gathered together in remembrance of Jim Swenson; husband to Jeanne; father to Kim, Mike, and Thomas; father-in-law to me, Steve, and George; grandfather to Monica, Ryan, Holly, Heather, Stephanie, Anthony, and Mike; great-grandfather to JJ; and retired Accountant to Ramsey County, Minnesota who passed away just over a year ago. We celebrated the memory of his life and enjoyed one another's company knowing he would've had an absolute blast with us and was toasting us all from heaven. Somehow we all felt his presence while wishing he wouldn't have left the world so soon. And after all was said and done, I'm blessed to say a good time was had by all... and that I'm especially glad to have experienced Donatelli's lasagna. OMG - WOW.
Lately, this is how I'm feeling about how things are going both on the home and work-fronts.
SO COMPLETELY KILLING IT. Celebrated a major milestone that is also known as 26 years of marriage over the past couple of weeks, because sometimes the party needs to stretch out beyond just one day when you've been married for so unbelievably long. So here are 3 favorite pics in honor of our big celebration: first with a sweet flashback to the actual wedding day where our hands were still young and fresh-looking (my REAL nails - no fakes there, thank you very much!); second with a fancy fall bouquet of flowers received from my lovely Mom & Dad; and lastly with a selfie snapped while enjoying a Creighton men's basketball game where we whomped some serious Louisiana Tech Bulldog booty as I sipped overpriced mini bottles of chardonnay, not even blinking twice about it.
CHEERS TO US! I have to say one extremely cool thing about subscribing to Blue Apron is that after receiving shipments with hand-picked ingredients and trying out new recipes the family and I would probably never attempt otherwise, we are left with instructions to repeat on our own but with locally store-bought items. So that is what happened here tonight with a personal favorite, Shrimp & Fresh Basil Fettuccine with Roasted Broccoli. Yet on a side note: After having already cooked this up with Gallo Sauvignon Blanc wine a few months ago, which was also delicious as ever I must add, we switched it up with a Barefoot wine this time and were super surprised by how much flavor the crispy sweetness added to the meal both as an ingredient and as a pairing on the side.
Plus, it'll taste that much better with the late-night snack later on in the evening... just saying. Today marked the 1-month anniversary of being employed in my dream position of a lifetime at the best employer worldwide, and I celebrated by eating lunch with my team at Black Oak Grill in Midtown Crossing, a hip and new favorite hangout of mine in Omaha. All prepared to eat as much dairy as I'd pleased with lactaid fully stocked, I had myself a loaded up grilled cheese sandwich & freshly made hot tomato soup and just about died with pleasure - it was so incredibly delicious. Not only that, but I was able to meet up with a remote teammate whom I'd only corresponded with via Skype prior to the visit and really got a kick out of his personality and charm, despite the fact that he dogged on my driving skills... but we won't go there in this blog post. Perhaps later.
So yeah, feeling freakishly blessed to know and hang with such amazing people and eat such crazily tasty food on the milestone I never would have seen coming, even in my wildest dreams over the past couple of traumatic years. Although, I seriously wouldn't have minded a sneak peek.
...this is how I'm feeling after a super amazingly totally unexpected first day of the week:
... but thanks to Target's abundant stash of spirits, at least there's wine to drink.
(Shameless poem reference there.) But seriously, really hoping my amazing new office continues to stay above water so I can do my new job sans scuba gear.
Me after 1.5 weeks into my new role with the best employer on earth.
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AuthorI am Brenda Swenson and sometimes I blog. Archives
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