Flight Simulator

So I finally got to do the flight simulator this Thursday (that I won at the DL party back in May) and I have 3 words to say....

CRASH AND BURN

Here is what the sim looks like from the outside It was me and 3 other guys..... and the flight instructor (also a man) I was not the first to fly and when one of the otherguys was coming in for landing and ran off the runway....I screamed. They thought that was pretty funny. The instuctor said, "I have never had anyone scream before when crashing" I find that hard to believe....it was pretty darn REAL...I mean it is a SIMULATOR....so no one else ever had a natural reaction?? of course I thought we were going to be thrown around a little when we hit the ground.

And then it was my turn..........

I took off from New York's JFK airport...very smooth.........until it came time to land....lets just say, I may have taken out a few buildings:)
It was very fun!

Designed to sell......

With the 5 year anniversary of buying our house approaching, we have decided we are going to put it up for sale. Now understand this, we dont regret buying this house... although it has been a lot of damn work, and caused a lot of stress over the years...but we have definately learned what is good for us.

Main lesson learned??

We are not fixer-upper kind of people!!

We (especially me) like to spend our weekends traveling, and when we are in Atlanta, we want to have free time, not "projects" hanging over our heads. This house was a great investment. We are in a very HOT neighborhood where the houses are selling, even in a supposedly slow real estate market AND we bought this house under appraisal value...it was a forclosure. Thanks Fannie Mae!!

In the last year we have been really fixing up, not just decorating ...which is really all I wanted to do to a house in the first place. New roof, new windows, new heating/air, gorgeous deck, refinished wood floors, wainscotting in living room and kitchen, beadboard in the bathroom and laundry rooms.....it looks amazing!! ...."and then you sell? you ask.....YES....we want to be FREEEE!

Do you ever watch the show on HGTV Designed to Sell?? The homeowners are having trouble selling, and a realestate "stager" from the show comes looks at the house and tells them what needs to be changed. (why no one is buying) Homeowners then have a budget of 2-3k and they help "fix" the house with a crew from the show. Nice!! I have learned a lot about preparing our home to sell, so when Beverly, a certified "home stager" did a walk through our house last week telling us what needs to be done before listing....we listened.

Meet Beverly, our real estate agent (and friend,retired Delta)

Beverly Hanson Real Estate Consultant Keller Williams Realty Atlanta 200 Glenridge Point Parkway, Suite 100, Atlanta, GA 30342 678.480.3773 (cell/text) 404.531-5708 (fax) Beverly@BHansonHomes.com

Our goal is to put in on the market August 6. This is agressive, especially with the long "punch out" list we were given.....but we have gotten sooooooo much done this week. This is the first time in my 9 years with Delta that I have ever taken time off work and actually stayed home. It felt so weird! I do have cabin fever I must say.....I am actually ready to go back to work tomorrow for a break!

I was busy painting 3 of our rooms to neutral colors. Bye bye to my beautiful turquoise living room. Beverly said that 75% of buyers cannot look past the paint colors????? I guess there are many unimaginitive people out there.

I have also decluttered the shit out of the house. Nice write off for Goodwill!! We have to take away any personal pictures /nicknacks etc. for showing the house too, so we will probably get a storage unit. We even went to see a few houses with Beverly that are up for sale in our neighborhood for comparison in setup and pricing. It was very encouraging.....geez they are selling for A LOT!! Woo-hoo!!

The TO DO list was a long and only 5 weeks to complete........We did soooooo much painting! We enlisted the help of many....Dad power washed the screen porch and repainted it. 100% better!!A lot of work needed to be done outside with landscaping......CURB APPEAL is very important!!I did some container plantings......this one turned out so beautiful!My mom is the expert gardener, so she helped me pick out the azaleas in front, and transplant all the liriope in front of the newly finished planter box that Neto designed and built. We debated what to do around the big tree in front, it had been quite an eye sore.

And now look! It turned out beautiful! Neto did a grrrrreat job!!
He did a great job at making me laugh too!!

That's what friends are for.......

Having a bad day? How about a quick beach getaway? Ok twist my arm....Smita is such a good friend! I don't think I have ever gotten ready for a trip on such short notice.  It was Saturday morning and Smita called saying she got this Starwood hotel in Hilton Head for a deal and we could try for a flight (which was oversold) at 9:55......it was 8:30am. 

Ernesto was out of town, so I grabbed my swimsuit, hat, sunscreen (which they took at security...f$*#ers) and threw on a dress.....nope no shower this morning, and I was out the door in 10 minutes.  

Flight was full. New Plan. Fly to Charleston. (the Delta agent was busy closing the flight and still  got us on no problem...she was great!!!)  After driving 1.5 hour to HH we set our feet on the beach, and totally forgot about it. 

It is so amazing how relaxing and calming the beach can be.  A couple hours in the sun can do wonders.  I got a great start on my tan, and Smita got "black" (that's what she called it, I call it "perfect color" ...oh what i wouldnt do to have skin that tans instantly)  After hours on the beach, we enjoyed a 5 mile trail walk, dinner at a Thai restaurant called Ruans.....DELISH....and were in bed by 1030....just what i needed!! And YES, I have new sand for my collection!! 
ps.  The Westin resort is heavenly.  I highly recommend it. 

Hispanic Chamber Gala

Does it look like 4 years have gone by? Here we are, 2 amigas, going to the same gala 4 years later. We had fun both times!! I love getting dressed up....im getting so much use out of my dress. We posed the same....in front of the armoire (which still has too much crap on it)

......and now with Jorge, who was our boss and the time(4 years ago) and then we saw him this year...hes not with DL anymore....notice how much happier he is to see us this time??

ART NIGHT!!!!!

OK, so I didn't come up with this idea on my own. Maureen of Bliss Bags (in Granville Ohio) made one with scraps of material she uses for the bags, and I LOVED it!!! It is decoupaged!! This project called for ART NIGHT!! We started this event a while ago, and we are trying to do it once a month.......anyhoo, last week I made this!!!!! I collected all these BLUE, peacock-y things that I loved and glued them randomly...pretty cool, huh?

Now I have a cashbox for shows.......isnt it great??

Charleston

What a beautiful weekend! Charleston was such a great surprise. I guess i had never thought of going, but when our friends decided to get married there, and we heard more about it we started getting excited. We met Marcus and Tori over 2 years through Smita. They are a great couple and we live close by, so that is convenient for getting together.

We flew out Friday and rented a car. The airport was only about 15 mintues from our hotel downtown, where the whole wedding party was staying (we stayed with Sean, who was one of the groomsmen) The Francis Marion Hotel, was a very fitting choice....it was full of southern charm.....just like every last detail of the wedding weekend. They hosted a cocktail party friday night that was so nice.....unfortunately I only have one photo, because I had a little too much to drink to remember to take any more. (Can someone send me some please?) We all went out to a bar after the cocktail party and I heard that the rickshaw ride back to the hotel was a blast...wish I could remember that!

Here a group of the guys pose at the cocktail party. Cant remember the guys name at far left, Marcus the Groom, Father of the bride in the middle with the tie, Ven, Sean, and Ernesto.

As you may or may not know, Charleston is on the beach so I had to get my SAND!!!! Although we had a slooooooooow start Saturday morning, we did make to Isle of Palms Beach. Not before we visited the cute-ass little market right outside the hotel. Fresh vegetables, art and jewelry... hmmmmmm?? Maybe an opportunity for Pluma?? I was so cute, and it is every Saturday..... Beautiful garden too.......We drove across this huge bridge and made it to the beach in 15 minutes. The beach was wide and the houses HUGE. We saw a lot of rentals and made a mental note to check out the rates for a family vacation...... We walked on the beach and by the time we sat down, realized that we were hungry. The concierge from the hotel recommended Shem Creek for a seafood lunch, and im glad we listened. We sat outside Red's Ice House on the water. It was pretty packed and boats were parked in front while their owners had drinks/lunch on the deck......

Gotta have at least one self portrait..

After a 45 minute catnap, we got ready and walked down the street to the wedding venue and it was breathtaking. It made me want to get married again. I loved that there were only about 40 close friends and family. It was so intimate and everyone got to know eachother. What wonderful families! Reminded me of my own...lots of fun!!
The elegant tables were set up outside and the food "stations" inside the historical house. (forget the name) A huge tent was set up with a dancefloor and lots of paper lanterns hanging. It was so cool! Their colors were orange and pink and my dress matched PERFECTLY!!!
Look!! Look how beautiful it is!!!! Guess where I bought it?? ...uh huh
Here, the new couple: Marcus & Tori Bermudez....and here the old couple....6 years! Oh my God!! The DJ played a great mix of music and we danced the night away!

The mixed crowd was great too! Below, the Brazilians, an Italian, a Mexican and an American.....hmmm who could that be?

IM FAMOUS!!!!

Finally, 8 months later, our video footage from India was edited and put on DELTA.COM ….check it out below and click on the stars to rate us !!!!
I am biased, but if you watch the other videos, you'll see that ours is the best!!

I have recieved many comments on the video:

"This is great.. guess you have a new career in the works. You looked great on camera and the video was just like watching some E-channel thing! " -Gilberto Tejera

"You might want to consider going professional - something like a Globetrekker host? " -Debra Gold

"That’s where you bought those ugly shoes. If I saw this video before your interview, I would not of hired you." -Scott Piehl

I just watched the Mumbai video on the delta.com Siteseer site and you both were awesome! I rated it 5 stars.....Next time I see you, I will need your autographs." -Julie Dunn

Roadtrip to Asheville

It was a beautiful weekend and flights weren't "wide open" Friday night so we decided to DRIVE to Asheville. I also wanted to take Brrrian this huge canvas that will not fit on the plane. He's going to paint me a HUGE peacock!! (right Brrrrian?????) The drive was beautiful through the mountains. (more so on the trip home Sunday during the day) But by the time we got there at 1030p, Brrrrian was 3 sheets to the wind!!!!

He and Jen were with some friends at a bar down the road from thier place, so Brrrian just walked over to let us put our stuff in his apartment, and then we went back to meet Jen......and there she was...............boy oh boy!!!!
Brian had on a cool white hat and his new EXTREE WHITE shoes (jen's favorites)

OH THAT BRRRRRRRRIAN!!!!!

We had a fun time. I love where they live....big windows look out to the mountains and you step out there door and can walk to everything. Really cool!

Jen and Brrrrian even sang a duet for Nester......totally impromptu! click below to view

We had planned a "creative weekend" with Greg and Cynthia at their fun house. They are the owners/creators of Green Girl Studios and soooooooo inspiring to me!! They both work out of their home. Between Greg's production equiptment downstairs and Cynthia's studio upstairs, I could've spent days going through their house....they just have their hands in everything. They have the BIGGEST cat I have ever seen!!! After hanging out at a festival downtown all day, we went to their house for Chicken Adobo....DELISH!!! (we made it at home later that week, its a keeper!) In the evening we went to Brrian's friends house for a bonfire...course they broke out the drums....and I felt like I was in college again. It was great!! We never did get to the PMC class, which actually was the original reason for the trip, but I decided the things I want to do with the PMC for next time.......still need to pick a date for that trip???

NEW DELTA!!!!

Woo-Hoo!! The new Delta!!!! It has been an exciting few weeks since we emerged from bankruptsy ....party party ...first there was the unveiling of the new livery...its very cool, I think.....and they made it sooooooooo dramatic!! The plane below was hidden behind a HUGE white screen. There were some speeches from the big wigs...yada yada yada (no they really were great actually) and everyone was cheering really loud....they blasted U2's "Its a Beautiful Day" and let the screen drop. The executives, along with 100 lucky emplyees got to ride on the inagural flight that did a "fly-by" the offices, then around Atlanta.

And then it was PARTY TIME!!!!

Smita held a kick-ass "emergance party" at her place!! It was a Monday night, but no one seemed to care!! Plenty of friends, food, drinks, and dancing!!

Our EVP threw our department an awesome party at Compound one of the hottest clubs in the ATL. A few of my friends came over to my house for pre party drinks and the tallest guy below(Scott) had to shower again....hes really weird....doesnt eat all day at work, takes way too many showers, and drops a lot of HR Bombs!!!!He is also my boss!? ( this could be a whole other blogroll)

David, also known as SWARTZ, Me, Maritza, Scott, Mendy, Judd, and Jennifer.
They sold raffle tickets before the party and had some unbelievable prizes, so I bought $20 worth.....and although I didnt win what I wanted....the confirmed business class tickets anywhere Northwest flys, Korean Air tiks (I have to get to Asia) the hotels in europa, the Four Seasons in NY....ooooh the list went on and on.......I was, however the only person in my group that actually won something. What was it?? A half hour in the simulators at Boeing. Now....I know, I know......it's going to be fun! But you know me.....travel is #1!!!

Professional Photographer??

This weekend was spent on PLUMA. Preparations for our upcoming show in Inman Park, and taking photographs for our website. I must say, it was VERY frustrating!! Out of the 5 million shots i took in 2 days, only about 5 were acceptable for the website. I was also teaching myself photoshop...this one I love.....it will be on the first page of the website. There will be several pics that flash for a few seconds each. At least I got a few good ones, we wanted to have some pictures up before the show so people actually have something to look at...we hand out our business cards and our site address is on it..........