New Year New Decade

As I enter a new decade of my life....I reflect on the past one.....and look forward to the new chapter I have just begun....may 2010 bring us happiness! Every New Years Eve we get together to celebrate the past year  and toast to the hope of a successful new one. This NYE was spent in Atlanta with close family and friends. It was a short lived trip, but a pretty amazing night. I still remember the countdown, the toast, the kiss, and the words "I love you" at the stroke of midnight...and in that moment we entered a new decade. How was this new period of time going to play out we had NO idea. I was so happy in that moment, so surreal my life was, almost as if I were dreaming and needed to wake up.

That following January we got hit with big snow storm. It was the largest one Tennessee has seen in a long time. I was out of work for a few days waiting on the ice to melt.  I must say this though, it was nice to be

locked up at home with my two favorite men. This was Bentley's first snow, and he loved it!! I was getting ready for a year a travel...In store for Feb was two more trips to Atlanta, one for my birthday party and another for shoe modeling.

The Birthday party was something that I had planned as a surprise for my sister and my best friend Chris...both had wanted to do something fun and different...so I made arrangements to spend the weekend in Atlanta. I booked all the hotel rooms and the VIP table for the party. I surprised them both with actually being there for the weekend. Both thought I had made other plans. Chris was so funny and depressed that Tamara or myself didn't plan anything big for our 25th bday and she was taking him out of town away from his friends for the weekend, and as for my sister she was just bummed that I wasn't able to come to her party...both surprises turned out perfect. I was able to get there before them and decorate their rooms and record the surprise!!

 Later that evening we went out on the town and celebrated....I was so happy that my plan worked but really sad that my girlfriends didn't come, but all in all I had the most important people there.

That following weekend I was back in Atlanta for the shoe show...I didn't get to spend a lot of time with my local friends the weekend before but this weekend was dedicated to shoes and Alexis. Her and I had became really close friends over the past year and half. I always enjoy my weekends modeling shoes...what women wouldn't??? I mean you walk in this amazingly large convention room full of shoes that are all your size!! Well you can say 3 days of SHOE Heaven....I love everyone I work with too, Sofft Shoes are simply amazing...every February its a tradition to go to dinner for my birthday after the show...this year it was Cheesecake Factory... yummmm one of my faves...The next day at work I got about 15 pairs of shoes as a birthday present as well to take home from that lovely trip. Lets just say it was an amazing weekend!! Once I got home my birthday was only a few days away. I planned an evening out to dinner with my friends in Nashville. A small select few of us went. My choice was Urban Flats it is absolutely one of my favorite places to eat in Nashville. The food is amazing and the price is right! I enjoyed the company of friends and family over wine and flats.

I spent the last weekend of my birthday month devoted to my baby sister. She met me work with the cutest birthday card ever! We hit the road to Memphis, it was her first time there. She was excited! I was taking her gambling for the first time.We got in late that night around 9 pm. I told her we had to change quickly and get down to the tables...LOL I was ready to make some money! I had a little bit of free play to get us started...But the best news was running into my friends that are always there.We ended up doing pretty well that night...She couldn't believe how lucky we were and how much fun playing blackjack was. The next day I had plans for us to go to a concert to see Eric Clapton. It was such a fun night listening to the music of a legend! I was so happy to see this in my lifetime...another check off my bucklist.

 On our last morning there, we woke up early and explored Memphis, had world famous BBQ on Beale Street, we also got to see the Peabody Ducks walk down the red carpet...It was one of the most beautiful days ever. The ride home was amazing and Britt was excited to be coming home with cash in her pocket!  But I was more excited about my future plans in March just a couple weeks away to scratch off my buck list!!

Walking in Memphis

Once I got back in Tennessee, I realized that I wasn't very happy with my job. New York gave me inspiration to pursue other things that held my interest more. I made it back in time for my baby's birthday! His brother flew out from LA to visit during the week. Once he arrived, a bunch of us got together and took him to a great pizza place in Nashville called Mafiaoza's on Tuesday night. Where they have 2 for 1 specials. Its always nice to visit with Troy. He brings out this spark in Trae that I love. Working wasn't an option the next day, I for some reason couldn't make myself do it anymore.

But I went in anyways, and it was my week to plan our Wednesday night gathering for the office, but with family in town and it being Trae and Troy's Birthday, it was hard for me to decide. So I ended up having a cookout at our house, for their birthday party. It was a great success. Everyone had a great time, and the food turned out perfect. There was lots of laughter, jokes, and music. Troy had to leave to head back home for work that weekend. But Trae's father was coming in town to visit. So needless to say we had our hands full with company all week. I hadn't had time to really relax since my previous trip up north.

 So we planned to take Brad to Memphis for the first time. We got up early and headed out to the Delta Blues. He was excited to spend time with us. The first thing we did was lunch on Beale Street, with some delicious southern style BBQ. It was such a beautiful day. The sun was shining, there was a soft gentle breeze, you could smell the aroma lingering in the air from the smokers cooking the bbq. After lunch we walked along Beale street and over to the Civil Rights Museum. We took the tour through the museum so that he could see it. I had only been through this

exhibit once before, which was a long time ago, when I came to Memphis for the first time. Although, I always seem to find myself coming back there each time I visit. It is something that everyone must see for themselves one day. To walk through the history and struggles that our nation has gone through to get to where we are now, is heart breaking, but spirit lifting at the same time. That people believed in the freedom and equality that we have today. 

We also took him to Graceland, to walk through the house.  Which is another place I always visit or at least drive by to show people when I am in town. After we finished walking the grounds, we got ready to drive out to Tunica. Of course we couldn't leave with out going to the casinos so the men could play some poker!! At this point in time I had just began learning to play a little bit online so I wasn't in to gambling to much at the casinos. I just played the slots while I waited on them to finish.

Later that night we loaded up to drive home. It was definitely an interesting ride back. We got a flat tire!! Little did we know how serious it was til the next weekend, when I tried to get it replaced. I find out that Trae had ran over something that not only punctured the tire but also the wheel that caused a half dollar size hole!! It was something that I have never seen before. But it was a great little day trip to Memphis, and definitely worth it. Spending time and getting to know Brad was great. All in All I feel that Trae had a great birthday.

xoxo.:TMarie:.

Blur Between Work and Play

"The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play" - Arnold Toynbee

My new job was very different than what I expected when I took the position. It seemed all great because I could work by my own schedule in my territory, but the mornings in the office didn't seem right to me. I enjoyed the field though. It took me on some great adventures during the three months that I worked there. I met some great people also, they were just trying to make it like myself. I spent both holidays in May out of town for work. I spent the first week of May in Memphis working a territory down there.

The team I was down there with decided to go out and celebrate for Cinco De Mayo at a local Mexican restaurant. I had my first ever "Mexican Flag" shots. As I watched the bartender set them on fire I'm not gonna lie I was a little worried how these were gonna taste! But to my surprise they were pretty good, and pretty! We had a great dinner it was a lot of fun. It almost helped me forget how awful my week was going in sales. I couldn't seem to get any new accounts. I was definitely struggling so bad.

That Thursday afternoon my friend Joey had called me to see how I was doing in the field and when I said nothing had changed, he asked if I wanted to cut  out early for the day go to Graceland.  How could I object?? He was a huge fan of Elvis and wasn't sure exactly where it was, and since I had been there before I thought it would be cool to actually walk the grounds. Graceland was so pretty, it was so surreal to walk into the house of the famous KING of Rock, to see how it was when he tragically left this world years before. The Record room was simply magnificent. The records on the walls seemed never ending.

When we got back to meet up with everyone, it was our last night here in the "Land of Blues" we were talking and trying to decide what could we get ourselves in to. Once all the paperwork was finished and we all got freshened up, we headed downtown. The first thing we planned to do was stop by the Civil Rights museum, to pay our respects to the other King...Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. one of the most important people in our history. During his fight for the Civil Rights Movement he wonderful life was taken from us in 1968, in Memphis. His memorial is located at the very place his life was taken that tragic day in history.

Once we left there, Rendezvous Famous BBQ was on everyone's mind and taste buds! That what we decided to have for dinner. It was definitely the best choice and signature Memphis dinner. The BBQ was soooooo mouth watering, I definitely recommend this place to anyone who travels to Memphis, its located in a small ally across from the Peabody Hotel After dinner we hit the famous Beale Street, for a couple beers and live music. That was a great night to finish the week, the next day I some how managed to get all 8 accounts that I needed for the week, so it ended up being a pretty successful week.