Weekend Wrap-Up

This past weekend Kelly and I both had places to be so we decided to divide and conquer.

Friday Kelly headed out of town after work with Thad, Wes, and Ryan to go to their college roommate, Neill's, wedding in San Antonio. They stopped in Austin on the way down to spend the night with Thad and Wes' uncle. From what I could get out of Kelly, they had a great time together and enjoyed the wedding. I had Friday afternoon off so I made a quick stop at Hobby Lobby to load up on crafting supplies (1/2 off! Woo Hoo!) and then headed to my parents house to spend the afternoon with my Mom and brother, and then my Dad (and Cooper) joined us for dinner.

Saturday I was so excited about my trip to New York that I woke up at 7:00 am and got busy cleaning the house and packing. I managed to sweep, vacuum, do the dishes, take Cooper on a walk, shower, and pack all by 10:00 am!

Our flight to NYC left at noon and was definitely one of the most exciting SWA flights I've ever been on. Since it was a ferry flight, there were no paying passengers on our aircraft. It was all SWA Employees heading to the Big Apple to help kick off our service at LaGuardia International Airport (LGA.)

Michelle and I as we talk across the aisles...

Monica and I after we'd changed into our LGA opening shirts for the photo op as we exited the plane...

A view from the cockpit... (They left the cockpit door open the entire flight so we could go up and look at all those controls!!)

Finally above NYC...

Getting closer...

And closer...

We FINALLY landed! Southwest is now in New York City!

As we taxied to the gate, the NYC FD welcomed us with a water arch...

Here's a view from inside the plane...

What a wet welcome...

All the Employees welcoming the ferry flight...(don't you LUV their yellow shirts?!)

Once we landed we grabbed our bags and headed to our hotel (which was in a great location at 39th and 6th.) Before we all headed to dinner, we stopped by to see the famous Southwest Porch at Bryant Park (just a stones throw from our hotel.) The last time I was in Bryant Park was when I was in high school and we were in NYC for a choir mission trip. It was such a crazy feeling being back there almost 10 years later on a work trip.

The Southwest Porch was one of the many ways we celebrated our entrance into the New York market. Fitted with tons of Southwest decor, the porch provided sandwiches from 'wichcraft and even had a special ale brewed specifically for Southwest Airlines.

Here's a quick pic of Times Square. No matter where you turned, Michael Jackson was sure to be seen or heard.

Sunday Morning was our official kick off for service in the city. I had to be at the airport by 5:30 AM! Yikes. The morning was busy passing out Customer give aways, stuffing bags, putting up signage, and welcoming our Customers to our first flight out of LGA. About mid-morning, I put on our Spirit Jr. costume to break up the hard work... (I only got to wear it for a brief moment, but it was fun just the same.)

After we got two flights off the ground and in the air, it was time for our press conference at the ticket counter. Doesn't the new "pass through" concept look amazing??





And of course, it wouldn't have been an official Southwest event if our Rapping Flight Attendant didn't make an appearance. Here is David with his back-up dancers, the Spirit Jrs.

Monday as we headed out of town, Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty were on our flight. We are celebrating Freedom Week at Southwest Airlines and what better way to share our freedom than to pass out FREE goodies to our Customers.

All in all it was a great weekend, but I was definitely glad to be back home. There's just no place like home...but New York City comes in a close second!

New York, New York!!

I can hardly wait to head to the Big Apple this weekend for the opening of our 66th Southwest city!! It will be a fast and furious weekend but we will have a blast! My "Weekend Wrap-Up" will be on Tuesday next week since I'll be traveling home on Monday.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend!!

Shop 'n Save!?

Do you have rich taste but are on a tight budget? Check out these savvy shopping sites that have made it easy to earn money while you shop!

Rue La La
I recently learned about Rue La La from Money Saving Girl, a budget friendly blogger with tips on local coupons, sales, and freebies. She is by far the most dedicated coupon clipper I've even seen in action!

As they say on their website, Rue La La is, "...the destination for 2-day-only Boutiques, filled with the designers we love at private sale prices. It's free, fabulous, and invitation-only."

So, here's your invitation! Check it out and get to shopping!

http://www.ruelala.com/invite/nodonnell01


One Kings Lane
My friend, Virginia, recently turned me on to One Kings Lane. It's a website for exclusive home decor sales. They have designer stuff at great prices. She was able to get some pieces of her everyday pottery for a steal of a deal! One Kings Lane is also invitation-only, so if you're interested, let me know and I'll forward you the e-mail.

http://www.onekingslane.com/Events.aspx


Shop it to Me
This is a great way to learn about sales happening at your favorite stores. They will even send you sale information based on your own sizes!!

If you'd like to sign up for Shop it to Me e-mails, leave a comment with your email address and I'll send you the e-mail.

Do you have any money saving tips you use when you shop?

Here's to saving while we shop!!

Weekend Wrap-Up

I got the idea from this fabulous blogger to do a weekend wrap-up and try to sum up my weekend in one post (usually on Mondays.) Most of you know I'll be lucky if I even get a chance to sit down and actually write about my weekend, but I thought I would give it a whirl and see how long it lasts.

Friday Kelly and I met up with our friends Taylor and Amanda Smith to see the movie "Year One." The movie was terrible but the company was great. Kelly and Taylor work together at MetLife and Amanda and I have gotten to know each other as we painfully sit through the boys softball games on Monday nights. After the movie we went to Bahama Bucks (YUM!) for a sweet treat. We stayed out way past our bed time and finally decided we better head home because we had a busy weekend ahead!

Saturday Kelly woke up at the crack of dawn to play in an all day softball tournament. I enjoyed the morning to myself and finally had some time to do a little craft. I have been DYING to do something crafty lately, and Ben's birthday bash (more on that later) gave me the perfect excuse to bust out my art supplies.

I made him a coloring book with pictures of Thomas the Train and the movie Cars and on the cover I printed all the pics from his recent visit at our house. He loves to look at himself on camera so I thought he'd love to look at these pics when he's coloring.



I decided to go with a "theme" for his gift. Kelly says this was more for my benefit than for Ben's, but oh well. So, I chose "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" as the theme since he loves Thomas the Train, the movie Cars, and Airplanes.

After spending all day at Target, I found some little treasures to make his gift just perfect. It didn't help matters much that I work for the Culture department of Southwest Airlines and was able to snag some goodies for his bag.



Inside you will find:

• A tote
• Homemade coloring book
• Two inflatable airplanes
• Stuffed TJ LUV airplane
• Southwest Airlines color wheel
• Stickers
• Paint with water booklet
• Cars activity book
• Finding Nemo pens and paper
• Sesame Street place mat
• Puzzle
• Tic-Tac-Toe game
• Big Sweetarts candy (not pictured)
  

And I made this little hummer for less than $15.00. BOOYA!

After I was victorious in assembling Ben's gift, I took Cooper for our morning run, ran some other errands around town, came home for a quick nap and then it was out the door again for Matt and Jill's Couples Shower. It was a "stock the bar" theme and they had delicious bar-b-que for everyone to enjoy! Can't wait for Jilly's big day...it will be here before we know it!

Sunday was a busy busy day! I helped Cooper give Kelly his father's day card and then it was off to lunch with my parent's to celebrate Father's Day. Once we finished eating we headed over to my Aunt and Uncles house to celebrate Ben's birthday. It was a Thomas the Train/Pool themed birthday party and everyone had a blast!!

Patiently waiting for my flash to go off...



Smile big...

Check out the life of the party....(Poor thing was pooped from his softball tournament)

Me and La La (Lauren)!

Waiting for us to finish singing "Happy Birthday to Me" to him...

After a long and busy weekend, Kelly and I came home to finish our chores and get ready for the week!

Hope you all are having a Happy Monday!

Annual Awards Banquet

The weekend of June 13 I had the opportunity to work as a volunteer at the Annual Awards Banquet for Southwest Airlines Employees celebrating their ten, -20, -25, -30, and -35 anniversaries. It's a HUGE celebration held around June 18, the birthday of Southwest Airlines.

This year we had a great line up for entertainment: the Rapping Flight Attendant, the two Flight Attendants from Amazing Race, Michael Johns from American Idol, and Seth Meyers from Saturday Night Live. We ate amazing food and even enjoyed a mini concert by an amazing cover band after the reception was over.

First things first, Meet Putty Johns, Michael Johns miniature bull dog...



He's 25 lbs. of twisted muscle and cuddle appeal!



Michael and Putty at rehearsal/warm-up...

Singing "We are the champions" by Queen

What an amazing voice...

One last shot...

Seth Meyers really knew his audience! He did a great job relating to the airline industry and all our strengths and weaknesses...

I may have been laughing so hard I was crying at this point...

Really working the crowd...

And last but not least, I got my photo with him. I was the last one, so please excuse the remaining half of the other girl that jumped in my picture. (In actuality, she graciously let me jump in her picture because it was the last one!) Lucky Dog!



All in all it was a great (but LATE) evening! Didn't make it home until 2:00 am after all the clean up, but it was well worth it! Can't wait to hopefully do it all again next year!

Fully Recovered!

In the middle of jetsetting across the country and hosting a bed and breakfast at our house we found some time to take Cooper to the vet to have THE operation! You know, the one where they take his manhood from him...Yeah, well we decided it was time we have it done since he's already 6 months old! Here are a few funny pics from his recovery (by the way, he's all healed up!)

Uh oh...the cone is too big...



Can't jump on the cabinets anymore...



"Don't I look pitiful!"



"Somebody play with me..."

These next two pictures are my favorite. The past few weekends while Kelly cuts the grass on Saturday mornings, Cooper will follow him around. It's so cute!

I also got in on video the next weekend!!