working girl

The interview.

Yes, the interview on Monday went well. I had my little rental car and drove down to Miami in my ruffled shirt and blown out hair (which frizzed from the humid weather! must fix that!). For awhile I was a little lost of exactly what warehouse door lead to the office for the interview. Finally I got in touch with my contact, picked him up and drove to Starbucks. After almost a 3 hour meeting I think it went well. The company seems exciting, young, growing. The food seems interesting and it looks like they have a nice clientele they are growing. We ended it that they would contact me this week. Good thing!

When I drove away it wasn't the feeling I had before. That exciting anxious, can't wait for them to call feeling. The feeling I had was questionable. Was this what I wanted? What is it that I want? I am not sure of that answer. Recently I think my dream is too some day have my own boutique planning business: brides, corporate dinners, intimate beautiful affairs. I use to question that. It's a lot of work! My wonderful older sister is amazingly successful with her own design firm and my Dad had his private practice for year. Maybe these are reasons that I am realizing I'm not loving the big corporate world. It's tough, there are ups and downs. Big companies have structure, benefits, paid time off. Small companies have flexibility, more room to have your ideas heard, a feeling that you are making a difference. So it was hard when I left the interview and wasn't sure.

I asked myself what it is I'm looking for and I couldn't answer it. Do I really want to move down and make this big change in my life to be with Beau, a new area, a new change and be working 24/7 on something I may not be passionate about....I'm not sure. I'm moving so I can do something difference, be with my love after 4 years apart, see how life will be. So right now I'm taking some time to search. To search in myself of what will make me happy. I don't want to settle. Some days I wish I could afford to go to Pastry school for 3 months, think a little, learn a lot and start at it again. Working full time and searching full time is not easy. I guess the pastry gig could be an option!

Oh my, the working girl world. Wish me luck! There are for sure some amazing big companies out there and I'm looking. The economy is a little tough, but I have faith that it is turning around and people will once again want to plan an amazing event!

Wish me luck with the job hunt and with the career hunt. I'm looking for something to move to and I'm looking for what it is too make me happy. I know it is a long hunt, but in time I know it will come!

xoxo

Sunday Soirees - Hot Pink Fabulousness

PINK! Hot Pink! I dream of getting married in Gwen Stefani's pink John Galliano wedding dress! I mean how amazing is that! I was reading Glamour magazine on my way flight to Florida today and Gwen is rockin the cover this month. The girl is amazing and only she could have an amazing hot pink wedding dress. hhhmmm, maybe I can do it too!

A little bit of glam and pink make me imagine what a cool reception it could be! Her dress certainly inspired me today. When I can start planning a hot pink soiree?

xoxo

what to wear in florida?

I have an interview on Monday close to Miami.....what do I wear? My "moving" budget does not allow me to go out and splurge and buy something new. It's hot and I AM NOT wearing a suit. I feel like the job I am looking at would not want a person in a buttoned up business suit.

Remember the episode in Season Four where Carrie wore the awesome Vivienne Westwood suit, well I do! Oh she looked AMAZING when she walked into Vogue. Well, I may not be wearing designer but JCrew and Banana will have to impress;)

So what do you think...my Jcrew ruffle blouse, Banana cuffed pants, Cole Haan peep toe shoes (yes, I have a nicely polished pedicure) and a patent leather bag? Well, it will have to do! I'll update you on Tuesday!

my interview by rldamato featuring J Crew

new year, new me

Thank you for ALL of the sweet birthday gifts, cards, calls, texts, Facebook postings and wishes! Thank you. I'm 28 now. wow! It's a new year in my life and a time to think of what is on the horizon. 27 was an interesting year: Newseum opened, Inauguration in DC, Beau was in Florida for the year, lots of trips to friends and family, good times, sad times but another year of things I learned and experienced.

I often put WAY to many things on my to- do list, resolutions, etc. This year I have decidedto just do a few things that I REALLY want to accomplish by 29...here we go...

1. MOVE TO FLORIDA! Monday I have another interview. Fingers crossed. The flips and flops go back and forth in my stomach and mind. This being said, every day beau and I go living more time miles apart and that is no fun. I'm ready. I know that next year I will be blowing out birthday candles in Florida with beau beside me.

2. LOSE THE WEIGHT! Yes, I know, most of you think I'm psycho. I'm petite, I don't have to lose weight, I run marathons, blah blah blah. Anyways, I do. After putting on 10 lbs in the last year I am starting to not feel good about how clothes fit and a little down on myself. I was reading a fabulous article Martha and her daughter Alexis had in the new issue of Body & Soul and it stuck with me. They talked about how dieting is not in their vocabulary. Eat in moderation, healthy and natural. Yes, seriously, diet advice from MARTHA! But its true. For the next month until the marathon I'm making a commitment to myself: no sodas, limited sugar, limited cocktails, no packaged food for diner (Lean Cuisine, etc.). I am going to try and stick with natural healthy food. I need to burn it off healthy and for good. I know the yo yo diets don't do it! Wish me luck, I'll keep you posted.

3. FIND A JOB. I'm looking. I MUST find a job I have interest and desire to wake up and go to an interesting job. I want what I once had back again. I want it! I want to be excited in what I'm walking into daily, have a smile on my face when I pick up the phone. I want to find that!

4. MORE TIME - I want more time to do yoga, bake cookies, visit friends/family, relax. Yes, this is a goal I want! I feel like moving could make this come true. Now when I have time off I think of visiting Florida. No more, watch out beau, I'm moving to Florida and girls weekend are happening there!

5. STRETCH MORE - yes, sounds simple, no. I always feel in such a rush that I do not take those 5 to 10 minutes to stop, stretch, do yoga, relax and move my body how it needs to move. I need to focus on stopping for a few minutes and stretching.

So, it's a short list now, but that's whats on my list of to do's for my new year!

xoxo

birthday girl

September 23, 1981.

Yep, today is my 28th birthday. The day has started out PERFECT! Beau is here, mocha birthday cake with tons of candles blown out by Beau and moi (Many wishes for the new year!). French macaroons and mini cupcakes from the girls in my office. Sitting at my desk getting through the day but thinking happy thoughts because....It's MY BIRTHDAY! Merci beaucoup for all of the Birthday wishes!!!!!

xoxo

falling for flats

Happy FALL! In the past couple of years I have come to love a cute pair of flats. It is the first day of Fall and my mind continues to dream of fun Fall fashions. Flats are so cute for the weekend, a relaxing day at the office, a fun date out, ok, anytime. I am LOVING the flats below! Tory Burch leopard ones I have loved for quite awhile! The pink ones from Coach are SO fun, so playful and SO cute. The sparkly Kate Spade shoes.....party time! Flats for Fall. They are a must!

xoxo

fallling for flats by rldamato featuring Coach shoes

Sunday Soirees - Birthday Bash

September is full of birthdays! Cerys, Christa, Jenn, Beau and ME all celebrate our birthdays in September. Since I was a little girl I have always had a thing for planning my birthday party. I can remember when I was little I obsessed over a mint green and pink Minnie Mouse table cloth and napkins I had to have for my birthday. My mom finally gave in, and there begin my obsession and love of planning parties.

I was dreaming about if I could gather up everybody I love and throw a birthday soiree, what would I do? I would have lots of pink, white cakes and candy, an old Hollywood glamour themed room, sparkly shoes, I would wear a birthday tiara and pass out fun hats, champagne and of course cute cupcakes!

Barbie celebrated her 50th birthday and I have OBSESSED for many hours over the party they created in Malibu. Check out the fabulous dessert buffet with a quote on the wall "Eat healthy but always have a decadent dessert." I agree 100%! oooo....how I long to throw a party like hers some day!

Happy Birthday to everybody! I'm off to bake a cake to celebrate. xoxo

hump day?

hee hee, I thought it was Wednesday. Wow, so here is where my mind is recently....all over! It's Thursday!:) I have another interview booked in Sunny Florida on the 28th, balancing work, friends, job search, planning birthdays (super important), training for a marathon. Yay! I'm even more excited it's Thursday! I love Thursday, because it means it's almost Friday!

Hopefully I can get my mind straight soon. xoxo

happy thoughts on hump day!

I saw this Marie Antoinette inspiration board posted by Jessica on Wedding Aces and LOVED it. ooooo, I wish I could have a lavish birthday party and dress up like Marie! I would have pink hair and certainly have a bird in it or something crazy and cool like she would wear.

Last week I helped wonderful Elizabeth at Pineapple Productions with a wedding and helped her set up a beautiful dessert buffet she had designed. On the table were french macarons from Michel Patisserie. Maybe this year for my birthday I will have a tower of these little bites of heaven instead of a cupcake. The chocolate caramel was to die for! I dream of having an internship or a part time or I would even be a cashier at Laduree in Paris! That is a dream.

Happy thoughts....it's the middle of the week!

xoxo

little obsessions

Ok, so I use the word obsessed a lot, whatever! It's ok, I have a lot of little obsessions (anything French, pink, sweets, lip gloss, magazines, ice cream, daily morning coffee, my IPhone, checking emails, gossip mags, Martha, bows, ruffles, blogs, planning parties, the list goes on). So yesterday I was at Sephora to get an every day basic (no, not another tube of lip gloss, eye base! hello! necessary). I saw the cutest little bottle of Benefit perfume.....and now I can't get it out of my mind! Obsessed! I thought I would share a few of my latest obsessions that I just can't stop thinking about!

Crescent Row Fragrances by Benefit - the bottles are TOO cute! I thought I would SO want the pretty pink floral Sofia bottle, Nope. My place or yours Gina! That's the perfume name. Smells fabulous and the bottle is oh too cute!

Tokyo Milk - While wandering around Anthropologie I discovered Tokyo Milk. Yes, the packaging is adorable, beautiful and pretty. However, the scents are pretty as well. I love Let Them Eat Cake perfume. Of course I would!

Kate Spade Genny Heart Pumps - RIGHT! Like I need red shoes with a big heart on them. However, I'm so bored of my footwear collection, they could totally jazz it up!

Amy Atlas - All things sweets! I think of her site 10 times a day. Maybe this is my calling in Southern Florida, a dessert buffet company! Check out her blog. Her job looks like a dream!

xoxo

xoxo

Sorry I've been a bit delayed on postings recently. I feel like I'm going through a crazy busy time right now. However, tonight I am ready to pour some bubbly and watch season 3 of GOSSIP GIRL!!!!! 9pm, CW. Tune in! Let the fun begin:)

Also, Target has the new Anna Sui Gossip Girl clothing line. Check it out!

Can't wait to hear everybody's thoughts on tonight's show.

xoxo

sweet sites

When I'm having a blah day at the office I like to eat my lunch at my desk and browse online. Below are a few blogs and sites I have found during my search. Enjoy! xoxo

Style Carrot wrote about Erin Gates wonderful apartment! I HEART this! http://stylecarrot.com/2009/03/01/erin-gates-elements-of-style/

Paris Apartments - ooo la la! I would LOVE to rent one of these for a couple of days...or months. http://www.haveninparis.com/apartments/paris/

Blonde+Blue - This blog has pretty sites that I like to browse. http://blondeblueblog.com/

Miette Cakes - I dream of going to San Francisco. I just feel like I would LOVE it. There is this adorable patisserie there and they started blogging. Pretty sweets. Everybody in NYC, I heard they are opening in Brooklyn!

http://miettecakes.blogspot.com/

NY Magazine Fashion Week - It's fashion week in NYC! Read up! http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/

The September Issue

VOGUE! sigh. Oh I have been reading the fashion bible since I was a teenager. I love to take an entire morning to read the hundreds of pages and dream about the beautiful clothing over a cup (or a pot, depending on the size of the issue) of coffee. It always excites me to get a new months issue in my mailbox!

In college I had an internship at the Conde Naste Cafe . The cafe is located in the building where Vogue also resides. My job was not very glamorous. I would wake up really early to set up the cafe, plan menus, listening to customers comments, etc. The exciting part of the job was watching what the Vogue girls, the Lucky girls, the Glamour girls, the Vanity Fair girls ate and wore to the "scene & be scene" lunch cafeteria. I always remember watching Anna Wintour eat the same thing day after, very Atkins lunch, in a beautiful floral skirt and a simple white tshirt. I was so intrigued and wish that my internship had been upstairs in their offices:) At least I got free magazines that summer!

Last week I saw The September Issue. I thought it was a fabulous documentary. It is so interesting to see how much work it takes to put together one issue, just one, of Vogue magazine. The largest Fall fashion magazine takes hundreds of people to put it on the newsstand. Anna Wintour is an interesting business woman. I liked seeing her at home with her daughter and talk about her childhood. She does seem to be a bit of a cold person, but most everybody around her always seems to take her opinion. I mean come on, she is Anna Wintour.

The starring lady I found was not Miss Wintour but Grace Coddington, Vogue's Creative Director. Grace's story of being a model, getting in an accident and then working her way up the ladder from British Vogue to American Vogue was wonderful. Grace has quite the spirit! Her flaming red hair is always present in amazing photo shoots. I felt like she was a genuine person who puts an extremely creative mind into every single photo shoot. Like I said, amazing to see the effort behind a few pages in a magazine. However, those few pages influence millions of people and what we purchase and wear.

Go see it! I loved it. I can't say much more.

xoxo

happy labor day

HAPPY LABOR DAY! A day off of work. Relax. Enjoy! Wow, where did summer go! I am driving home from my weekend at my parents in Blacksburg VA. I wish I was at the beach sipping a cocktail but for now I am enjoying sipping a cup of coffee before I hit the road. Here is to what was a great summer! Trips to Seattle, Vermont, NY, Florida, it wasn't too bad.

Have a great relaxing day! xoxo

objects of desire

Yesterday I got home from Jury Duty and had a fabulous, wonderful, amazing Jcrew catalog in my mail. The lovely accessories catalog they sent out is absolutely fabulous. I want the whole thing. Everything this Fall from Jcrew is on my dream list! Jewelery, purses, matchstick cords, heels, sweaters....I am dreaming of all of it! Below is my wish list that I created on Polyvore (a new obsession!).

I love all of the grey with punches of pink! I can't wait to bundle up in a ruffly sweater, a skinny pink belt, dangly earrings and maybe those neon pink socks to top it off. I might be living in sunny Florida in November, still wearing flip flops and sundresses when everybody is sporting their new Fall outfits. Oh no, I better break out my Fall attire and start wearing them! hhhmmm, do they items below fit in my budget? At least I can imagine!:)

Jcrew Fall 09 Dreaming by rldamato featuring J Crew

inspire ME

Today I sat at my desk and just felt very uninspired! I don't know how else to say it, simply, not excited and not inspired. I am trying to keep my head up and put my all towards my current job. You would think working for part of the company that is owned by the celebrity chef who plans the party of the year (the Academy Awards! yes! The Oscars!) would make me inspired and get my mind going, nope. Recently I have felt not creative, meeting plannerish (the other day I revised a proposal 3 times for a meeting for 40 so they could have continental breakfast, exciting) and just blah. I stare at the window hundreds of time during the day, browsing the Internet at amazing events and sites and dreaming of being a part of them. I think that this strange place I am in now goes deeper then just my move to Florida. This move has got me thinking of a lot more then just a new job. Recently I have started thinking of what it reallllly is I want to do. Beau often asks me, "What is it you really dream of doing?". Well, I dream of planning fabulous creative events. Events that are beautiful and make my clients happy. Events that make people in awwwwwww as they walk in the door and won't let them stopping talking about it when they leave. I want to make the events in my mind actually become reality!

Here are a few of the many links that I am obsessed. If any positions open up, sign me up. I often wonder how these planners got started! Maybe I should print out my resume, wrap it up in a big pink box, Fed Ex it over and ask! Inspire me! Get my creative mind going again! These are just a few. There are SO many more I have found recently and will post soon for you to follow on their new blogs. I want to learn how they all started with client #1! xoxo

Colin Cowie

Mindy Weiss

Jung Lee

David Stark

Lisa Vorce

Pineapple Productions

Ritzy Bee Events

TWO MONTHS AWAY

This weekend I have a 20 mile training run. Oh my! My longest run this season. My left foot is starting to ache. I don't know if it was just too many miles increased at once, old shoes or what, but it must get better soon! Here I go again! Two months away, marathon #4! November 1, New York City! If you are around, come cheer me on! I LOVE THE SUPPORTERS!!!! The first pic is from my first marathon in Washington with my fabulous family as my cheerleaders and the one at the bottom is from #3 in NYC!!!!! Thank you for being supportive. I hope I will see you along the course:)

(pics: Mom Charity & Katie with the amazing posters at marathon #1, Mom running with me for support at #1, Beau & I after marathon #3, me with #3 race # so proud, Christa Brandi and Emily with their amazing Dutch/English signs!)

xoxo