I am so excited that I will be planning a 20 Year Wedding Vow Renewal Ceremony.  I am fortunate enough to be a family friend and truly see the love of the couple.  As a single woman, who honestly doesn’t have the most positive outlook on marriage, it is refreshing to see a couple that is so lovely.  The two of them balance each other out.  He is the ying to her yang…seriously!

They have such a powerful partnership that all those around them admire their relationship, and possibly envy it.  I know that I look forward to meeting someone who brings out the best in me and who can help improve, yet love my flaws.  The couple still do the romantic things that you don’t seem to see happen to people who have been in a relationship for so long.

I am truly honored to have been chosen to plan such a big day in their lives, and the lives of their friends and family.  I look forward to the next months ahead that will be filled with decor, bling and love!

I attended a meeting this evening with a group of women who have been friends for over 20 years (almost as long as I am old).  As an outsider, it was so interesting to see that the concept and interaction of “girlfriends” is the same regardless of age.  These women gossiped in the same manner, talked about “fine” dudes the same way we did and essentially had the young, “sex in the city” flair that me and my 20-something year old friends have that we think is unique to us.

It’s funny because I truly believe that 30 is the new 20.  These women (of which are our mothers) wear the same clothes as us, hang at the same spots as us, and have our “homeboy’s” looking at them like they’re just as fly as us.  All I can say is that I am happy with this shift.  I am happy to see women embrace their age with grace, elegance, yet still have a sense of sexiness and feminity.  I also LOVE that women are taking care of themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally.  Looking at them makes me not worry about getting older.

This concept was kind of why I created this blog.  I have been inspired by so many of these diva-like women who can balance successful careers, family, travels, fitness/healthy lifestyles, etc. that I thought I should share the wealth.

Once again, it feels so good to kick back and kick it with your girlfriends.

I attended the Black Management Association (BMA) Conference at Northwestern’s Graduate School of Management (Kellogg) this past weekend.  I have a few friends who are getting their MBA’s from there.  I have not spoken to them in a few years, so I asked what was a good weekend to visit; they said the BMA Conference.  I looked at the conference agenda and was pleased to see that there was a panel on the economic development of Detroit.

I spoke to my friend the night before the conference (he was the event co-chair) and he say “you know you’re the reason why we’re doing the Detroit panel?”  I looked confused and said “no”.  He explained that he suggested doing the panel on Detroit after years of me talking about my city.  It really put a smile on my face to know that my talking positive about Detroit had not fallen on deaf ears.  As a result, the hundreds of MBA students (arguably, some of the smartest current and future business leaders of our time) were to attend a panel discussion about Detroit.

I just must say that when you’re passionate about something, people are compelled to listen, and if you’re really good, they’re inspired to also be passionate about your cause.  My friend explained that he fought to get the panel to be done on Detroit, because the majority of committee members wanted to do it on Chicago.  I must give myself a pat on the back for this one.

Remember, to spread the love and message about what it is that makes you happy.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but there are certain things that happen to me that makes me wonder if these types of things only happen to me.  So, my mom like this happened today…

I had a lunch meeting with a couple friends to go over some upcoming projects, and brought my dog Chase (he comes with me everywhere).  The area of town we met in has a lot of construction, and is right by the border to get to Canada.  So, after he meeting, I took Chase and headed on the freeway to get home.  As I’m driving on the Interstate ramp (I-75), I started seeing signs stating that I was about to enter the Bridge to Canada in the cars section.  So I hurry and swerve off that and wind up with all these 18-Wheeler, Semi Trucks.  I’m driving and trying to figure out how to get to the street and next thing you  know, I’m at the gate to enter Canada.  I explained to the man that I was simply trying to drive home and wound up over there some how.

He asked for my driver’s license and handed me a clipboard of paperwork.  I was happy to see that there were about 20 other people on this “turn around” list, so it made me not feel like such a ditz.  I filled out my paperwork and he gave me signs to put in my windshield.  He told me to drive to my right and wait there for a Customs person to escort me back to Detroit.  I immediately began to think about having my car searched, Customs thinking I was smuggling drugs through my puppy and taking him from me, etc…my brain went WAY off.  After about 45 mins of paperwork and Customs escorts, I was able to make it to the D!  I swear, stuff like this seems to only happen to me…

It wasn’t until I was in the airport, headed back home from my 5 day vacation, that I realized how much I really needed my vacation. My mother and I rented an apartment, right off the ocean in Isla Verda in San Juan Puerto Rico. The minute we stepped out of the airport and felt the 85 degree weather (even though it was 2:35 a.m.), I knew it was going to be a great few days. We called and woke the apartment owner, so that we could get the keys to our weekend abode. My first night was filled with hearing the ocean crash against the barrier wall.

The next morning was nothing but sunshine and bikini’s for me. We went to Old San Juan and El Moro. I swear that we turned into “Dora the Explorer’s” on this trip…we went to the rainforest, caves, etc. It wasn’t until the second day, that I realized that I had only spent approx. 1 hour before taking off for the day to do work. My mother told me not to do any work while on the vacation, but I think that I would have been more overwhelmed to not have stayed up with emails. I continued my 45 mins-1 hour of work regime the rest of the vacation, and it worked very well for me.

When sitting in the airport and reflecting on the past few days, I realized how much I needed the mental and physical break. I know that I won’t be able to, and can’t afford, to have frequent vacations like this. I needed to come up with a solution to get a “vacay” on a regular basis. So, on the plane ride back, I took out my Blackberry and “appointmented” (not even a word  my “me/vacay” time. The second Saturday of every month is a development afternoon, where I will visit a museum, attend a workshop, etc. The fourth Saturday of every month will be a pamper day. I will try out local spas and therapeutic service centers ahead of time to make this time for myself. In addition to that, I penciled in 4 hours of reading per week. For 2 hours a week (30 minutes each seating) I will read a marketing/pr/event planning/entrepreneurial book to further develop my career and the other 2 hours will be spent reading a “girly book”. I am SO excited to have put this on my radar.

I am continuing to add things like this into my life. I am now working on adding my spiritual and healthy living components into the picture. Check out these links that suggest ways of inserting “me time” into your life…
http://www.lifeorganizers.com/cm_articles/111_making_time_for_yourself_597.html

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http://www.chronicbabe.com/articles/710/