Vacation!

I know I'm completely slacking on my trip recap, but it's just going to have to wait while I soak up 8 glorious days of vacation at the beach. I'll be sinking my toes in the sand tonight and I'm not planning on moving out of my beach chair unless it's to take a nap in the hammock!

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Hope everyone has a great holiday!

iPhone Love

I have a coworker that I love working with because he's always just discovered the greatest new iPhone/iPad/whatever apps. We're both kind of nerds like that and we spend half the day talking technology. It always makes me think that there are a million apps out there that are amazing and I just don't know about them! Here are a few of my favorites that I use daily hourly.

Here are all my pretty apps!

Sleep Cycle

The nerd in me really likes this app. You can set a time range that you'd like to wake up and the alarm will gradually sound during this time to wake you up slowly instead of your alarm blaring while you're in the middle of a deep sleep! It then shows you a little graph of your sleep quality. Above is a little screenshot of my night last night after I stayed up WAY TOO LATE watching Friday Night Lights on Netflix. I cried at least 5 times in as many episodes. Oops.

Happier

I just found out about this app but I'm loving it. Every day, you log at least three moments that made you "happy" that day. It can be something major like "I BOUGHT A NEW CAR" or something silly like enjoying an afternoon run or a bubble bath. You can also attach pictures to go with your "moment." I like to take the time right before bed to think about some happy moments from my day instead of focusing on something negative and going to be grumpy!

Felt

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Another game-changing app my coworker told me about! You can HANDWRITE notes on your iPad and the app print and mails it for you in your own handwriting! How freakin' cool is that? Note to all family and friends: you're about to get weekly cards because I just want an excuse to use this app all the time.

Share with me your favorite apps so I can get to downloading!

(Side note: excuse the blog design for the moment - it's a hot mess while I'm getting a re-design by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Designs!!)

Weekend Update

Thursday and Friday kicked off quite a weekend.

Friday after work, Lauren and I headed to the mountains for the weekend to relax and hang out with my rents. We made a quick stop at the grocery store when we got into town, picked up "Safe Haven" at Redbox, and had a little mexican fiesta on the porch before dinner at Sapphire Mountain Brewing Company.

After sleeping a glorious 9 hours, we headed to the pool early for some sunshine!

My mom made reservations for us at a dinner at Canyon Kitchen with a special tasting/appearance from Davis Family Vineyards.

I mean it when I say it's nearly impossible to compete with the gorgeous view.

And it's not every day that you share dinner at a picnic table with a winemaker.

The food, wine, and ohmygosh the desserts were phenomenal. I'd say it was quite a successful weekend! Does it have to be Monday already??

Confidence Boost

Happy Friday pretties!

I'd like to get all serious and reflective for a hot second.

Yesterday may have been one of my favorite days of all time.

I had a breakfast meeting with one of the partners of our firm. This is where she told me I was getting promoted to "Senior" (from the "staff" level) and then booked us massage appointments to celebrate. HAVE I MENTIONED HOW MUCH I LOVE MY JOB??

Then, our meeting got better! She gave me a lot of positive feedback from my reviews from different audits throughout the year ("Clients love you!" "Everyone loves working with you!") and then threw out a huge surprise: they want me to be in charge of recruiting for our Greenville office. ME! I absolutely had no idea this was coming. I have been helping with recruiting since I first started working (attending recruiting events, taking potential new hires to lunch, etc.) but I can't even fathom being in charge of everything! And as if I wasn't already freaking out, she told me, "Keep in mind, the future of our firm relies solely on recruiting." Oh, NBD, NO PRESSURE!

But she did say something that will likely stick with me forever. She told me that my personality is 75% of what I bring to the table. She said you just can't teach people how to come to work with the positive attitude that I seem to have. I wanted to jump up from the table and hug her right then and there. I practically skipped instead of walked for the rest of the day!

As if that wasn't a spectacular morning, my coworkers and I went to Tupelo Honey for lunch. The restaurant just opened on Tuesday and Lauren and I went for dinner on opening night, too! The hostess may or may not have recognized me. Oops! But y'all, it seriously is some of the best food ever.

Then, I got to go bowling with the interns at 2 in the afternoon! Thanks interns, for getting me out of work for the rest of the day!

When I left the bowling alley, my mom called and said my car had made it to the dealership. I quickly emptied out my old car and made the switch. I can't believe I have a new car! I'm so stinkin' excited.

Then I met up with friends at the Drive game for $1 beer night and we had an absolute blast. Sarah kept running around telling everyone that Lauren and I had gotten promoted that day so everyone bought us drinks and kept high-fiving us constantly. I was grinning from ear to ear the entire night.

The sun set on the most perfect day I've had in a long time.

I went to bed with a happy heart.

Currently...

It's been awhile since I've written one of these posts, but given the randomness of my week and my jumbled brain, it seems perfect for this Thursday morning!

Reading the CNN headlines and my Twitter feed. Standard early morning activities. Is it just me or does a lot go on in the world while you're asleep?

Watching nothing at the moment. I'm hoping to get into some new TV seasons on Netflix this weekend. Give me recommendations!

Listening to The Great Gatsby soundtrack on Spotify. I think I'm obsessed with Florence Welch.

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Working in the office for the rest of the week, thank goodness. But I survived this week running an audit completely by myself with a first-year staff AND an intern! I constantly wondered, "Did I use to ask this many questions?"

Writing this blog post. Duh.

Hoping my year-end review with my boss goes well this morning. If so, it means a promotion and raise for THIS GIRL!

Excited about this:

I PURCHASED MY VERY FIRST CAR!!

I've had my Honda Accord for 5 years, and while it was a great run, I missed having an SUV. Because I'm very impatient when I decide I want something, I walked on the lot, drove a CR-V around the block, went to dinner, then called them back and said I had to have it! Weeeeeee!

But it's much less fun buying a brand new car when you don't get to drive it off the lot. #firstworldfit
They're bringing it from another dealer and I'll have it by Friday! More pictures coming soon!!

Thinking that change isn't necessarily a bad thing. With what's been going on in my life lately, "change" should be my middle name.

Wearing a cami and pajama shorts. I'm convinced our A/C hardly works at all during the summer.

Sipping/Eating out of my favorite mug from Scottsdale:

Loving everything! It's almost Friday! I get to go bowling with the interns during work today! I bought a new car! And I'm off to the mountains for the weekend!

Things are looking up!

Napa Valley

I know I promised to pick up my trip recap with San Francisco, but that post is going to be a doozy to write with all the pictures I took, so I decided to skip ahead to our day trip to Napa instead! Go ahead and pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy!

Even though this was my fourth time visiting Northern California, I had never been to Napa Valley (gasp)! I've made up for it though with 3 visits to Sonoma. I will preface this recap by saying that while I loved all the vineyards in Napa that we visited, I still think I prefer Sonoma. I love the cute little restaurants and shops on the square in downtown Sonoma, and the vineyards are smaller and there's a lot more interaction with the staff during the tastings. But if you're ever in the area and have to decide on where to go for a day, you really can't go wrong with either!

My mom, dad, and I headed out of the city in the morning, and since wine tasting at 11 am might seem a little alcoholic early, we did what all normal people would do and stopped for champagne first!

We stopped at Domaine Carneros, and holy cow, this vineyard was gorgeous.

Domaine Carneros is famous for its sparkling wines, but they also had a delicious selection of Pinot Noir. We soaked up the sun on the front porch and enjoyed a cheese plate and multiple glasses of bubbly goodness.

Next stop: Cakebread Cellars

I had heard about Cakebread before, but the wine is always so expensive when I find it on restaurant menus! You have to make a reservation to visit the vineyard for a tasting, but we called the morning of and they didn't have a problem squeezing us in. I really liked the grounds and the tastings are set up at stations throughout the property so you can walk around and sip your wine instead of standing at a bar while people pour you wine. The wines at Cakebread tend to be a little drier (Mom wasn't a fan), but I enjoyed our laid-back tour!

We had to get back to San Francisco since it was getting late in the afternoon, but not before we made a stop at Sterling Vineyards. This stop was my dad's choice, and it has the best views of Napa. Upon arriving, you hop in a tram that takes you up a hill so you have a view of the whole town. The tasting was a bit underwhelming, but the view more than made up for it. 

I think I'd be in serious trouble if I lived within driving distance of views like this. I believe I'd find it hard to ever go to work :)

Weekend Update

We're back to Monday again!

I had quite a busy week last week and never got around to posting the recap of the rest of my trip! I had my first blogger date with Jess on Wednesday and I'd say it was a success (hint: we stayed for 3 hours)! We took our 17 interns to Happy Hour on Thursday, which turned into staying downtown until 1 am. So I'm really just making excuses but I was freakin' exhausted by the time Friday rolled around!

I had promised my bestie Rachel that I'd visit her in Charleston, so I left work early for an afternoon nap and then I was on the road!

I didn't take the million pictures that I typically would - we had a pretty low-key weekend. She just finished her 3rd (!!!!) year of medical school, so we went out with her classmates at The Crafstmen Taphouse Friday night to celebrate. Saturday started with brunch at Three Little Birds and then we spent the rest of the day at the pool. We had an amazing dinner at Leaf and then were home early with a movie, ice cream, and wine!

I headed back Sunday just in time to hit the pool for an hour or so before I met my parents for dinner at Soby's for Father's Day dinner!

Overall, an extremely successful weekend filled with best friends, sun, naps, and family!