Funny Time in the Foyer

My daughter is a nut! She's an amazing athlete and is pretty good with imitations. In the beginning of this clip, she's either doing Cory in the House or That's So Raven. (I can't figure out which it's supposed to be.) Anyway, she loves to jump rope and becomes such a ham when the camera is rolling. This would've been a perfectly decent video had she not announced her bodily function at the end.

If you're unable to view this link (as I am at work), you can also check it out from here.

Walking In a Winter Wonderland

Contest time again! After knocking out our Halloween cube decorating contest, we're competing once again (this time in groups) to decorate designated areas in our office. So far, three teams have accepted the challenge and have put their creative minds together to create:

• A Charlie Brown Christmas (Mary's team, kitchen)
• Winter Wonderland (my team, front entrance)
• The Sweetest Time of the Year (I've heard Brad's team is going to use consumables and edible items to decorate the conference room. Hopefully, we'll remain bug free after the holidays.)

Hans likes to think he knows who's gonna win this contest, and to that, I say "Whateva." Technically, it doesn't matter who wins what. We have three categories of prizes and only three teams. I can't deny that I'm a tad competitive and have my own opinions about which creation is the best (of course, I'm biased). But in all honesty, what I mostly enjoy is how our office always embraces the spirit of the holidays and transforms our otherwise drab accommodations into something creatively enchanting and beautiful.

A Thank You Letter for Every Soldier!

About a month ago, The Bert Show, All the Hits Q100's morning show, decided to embark upon an ambitious campaign that would allow every deployed soldier from the US to receive a handwritten thank you letter on Thanksgiving Day. Not a small feat. They announced their idea on the air and then realized we only had about two weeks to get the letters in -- and they needed 375,000!! They knew that some soldiers never received any mail during their deployment, so their hope was to ensure that everyone in the Navy, Air Force, Army and Marines received something personal from home on the day of thanks.

Over the next few weeks, it was unbelievable to see how Atlanta pulled together to get this done. Letters poured in from elementary schools, colleges, churches, large corporations, small businesses, the governor's headquarters, and many, many individuals took the time to sit down, put pen to paper, and just say thank you. I wrote some letters, as did a few of my colleages, and even Maya said she wrote a nice letter with a drawing.

The goal of this mission was not political, and any letters that included such undertones were removed from the bunches. The goal was simply to give every man and woman overseas a small piece of home and to let our troops know that we're grateful for their efforts and that someone in Atlanta is thinking of them.

And amazingly, we achieved that goal!

Oh no -- We're Elves!!

And we're ready to rock you into the holidays!
Enjoy!

Growing Up

A few years ago, Maya was so excited when we had the Disney princessed painted on her wall. One of Tony's college friends happens to be a fabulous artist, and we got an amazing deal for his creation that people with crazy money would've paid thousands for. So of course, it broke my heart when Maya asked if she could paint her walls to cover up the princesses. Cause after all. . . she's seven now and too "old" for princesses.

So we made her a deal and offered to let her switch rooms with Nadia, whose walls are feminine, but not over the top girlie or princessy. And she reluctantly agreed. So Tony (who knows his daughter) asked her a sign a contract clarifying that if he disassembles and moves her furniture, she's committed to staying in Nadia's room. In a nutshell, there's no turning back. Maya wouldn't sign the contract. She still loves her room . . she just can't stand her walls.

But then she and Tony came up with a brilliant idea. Rather than repaint, they decided to get a little creative and just cover up the princesses. Tony used a huge white board and an equally large corkboard to cover the largest pictures, and Maya picked out some posters to disguise the rest. In the end, it was a win/win for everybody.

Kiawah Island, SC

Tony and I spent the most amazing night at Kiawah Island Resort, in Kiawah Island, SC (about 15 miles from Charleston). He'd been invited to represent Coca Cola Enterprises at the Intel Celebrity Golf Tournament, and I just tagged along for the ride. Although it was only a one-night getaway, I thoroughly enjoyed not going to work, sleeping in, having coffee on our private balcony with the ocean view and not being "Mom" for 24 hours.

On Monday, Tony and the guys played in the celebrity tournament at a course that's to-die-for, while I enjoyed some pampering at the spa . . but the highlight of the weekend was the surprise mini-concert performed by four musicians, including Darius Rucker (from Hootie and the Blowfish). Tony and I had the best seats in the house at Table 1, front and center.

NOTE: If your firewall prevents you from viewing the video (as mine does), feel free to check it out from the link posted above.

The Spookiest of Them All!

It's official -- Sonia is the much deserved winner of the Halloween cube decorating contest this year. Sadly, only three of us at VistaScape participated. I made a valiant effort using hand-cut silhouettes and orange lights, and Leah's was super creative and proved that she really knows how to make something amazing out of recycled products.

But Sonia went ALL OUT . . smoke machine, spooky music, rats, crows, dripping blood, scythes, eerie lights -- and best of all, a wonderfully creative idea memorializing the "death" of VistaScape. Even though I'd entered the contest, if I'd been able to vote, I would have chosen her cube as well!

Great job, Sonia! Who knew you were so darn creative? :)