Memorial Day Weekend: Lots Of Play & A Little Work

I’m back after my mini-break, ready to share a couple more posts before I celebrate my first anniversary this Saturday! I hope you all had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend, filled with food, friends and fun. While I've recently spent many of my weekends holed up working away, this one was an exception, and I allowed myself some time to unwind and relax without worrying or thinking about my to-do list.

To kick things off, Stephen and I went to La Tasca with none other than my blog friend Hannah from Gator Tales, who was in town for business. We had a blast drinking sangria, sharing tapas and hanging out offline, where Hannah’s just as nice, fun and awesome as she is online. (Sorry about the bad quality iPhone photo -- I always forget my camera!)



Then, after a lot of reading, relaxing and eating on Saturday, I decided to get back on track workwise by sprucing up my home office, starting with a new L-shaped desk that’s much more spacious than the one I was using before. I love it, and it’s already helped me get better organized and feel more on track with my projects, whether for grad school, Weddzilla or the weddings I’m coordinating this summer. And the best part? We got it on sale for nearly 50 percent off at Staples for just $70!



All in all, a lot of play and a little work made for an awesome weekend! How did you spend yours?

P.S. I think I've fixed the problem I was having commenting on other blogs by clearing my cache and also switching to using the Google Chrome browser all the time, instead of Internet Explorer. I know a lot of you are having the same issue, so I suggest giving it a try!

(Photo Credits: Personal Library)

Google Blogger Help Needed: Unable to Comment!

I hope you're all having a great Memorial Day weekend! I'll be back later this week with a couple new posts, but today's is an open call for help from my blogger friends.

For the past week, I have been unable to comment on many of the blogs I follow, which is probably why many of you haven't seen me around on your pages. Even though I am signed in to Blogger, when I try to view and comment on another blogger's page, the system often doesn't recognize my profile. It's like it doesn't think I'm really signed in. And when I try to sign in again, it doesn't help. Plus, since many blogs won't accept anonymous, name/URL comments, I have no way to leave one.



I submitted a question via Google's help forum but haven't gotten any feedback. Is anyone else having this problem? Any advice on how to fix it? If so, please feel free to leave me a message or email me at htwalrath@gmail.com. After a week of this happening, I'm totally fed up!!

Be Back Soon!

Hi friends! The past week has been super crazy in my world, but I’m still here following your blogs and hope to be back next week with at least a couple new posts of my own, including one about ideas for our first anniversary, coming right up on June 4!

In the meantime, I’m trying to keep my head above water while prepping for a client’s wedding in June (so excited about it!), managing the Weddzilla Blog, and that little thing called grad school.

See you all again soon, and in meantime, take a peek at my little wedding coordinator in training. What do you think – has she got what it takes? :)



Have a happy Memorial Day weekend!

(Photo Credit: Personal Library)

The Certificate

Since one of my awesome clients is getting married exactly one month from today, I figure it's the perfect time to share this little beauty. She just arrived in the mail Monday, and I couldn’t be happier to say hello.



Yes, I know it’s a wedding coordination certificate from a community college, and not a master’s degree or anything fancy like that in the eyes of many, but I worked hard to earn it (while at the same time working on an actual master’s degree), and I feel incredibly proud to have made another one of my dreams a reality.

Just a piece of paper? Maybe. But I’ve got a feeling we’ll do great things together. :)

(Photo Credit: Personal Library)

Learning To Let Go & Relax

One month in, and it’s already official. This semester of grad school is off to an even crazier start than the last one!

But although my schedule is as demanding as ever, the publishing courses this time around – marketing strategies and production management – are more closely in line with my interests. The professors’ styles are also very interactive and project-based, which creates more work overall, but also helps each three-hour class pass by much more quickly and interestingly.

Even better, I’m doing my best to improve at setting boundaries in other areas of my life, no longer trying to frantically respond to emails and edit material during our class breaks. Instead, I now typically use the time to take a quick walk outside or down to Starbucks, chatting with my classmates and knowing that the rest of the world will still be there three hours later for me to respond to.



As you can imagine, this is sometimes a challenge for me – someone used to being constantly connected and who has trouble relaxing even when she does have the chance – mostly because I think about all the things I “should” be doing.

Though it may sound crazy, my hectic schedule has led me to crave being able to constantly check things off my to-do list, and I often feel anxious when I can’t respond to every email the minute it comes in, or when I have unfinished tasks leftover that I’d hoped to complete before the end of the day. But, since I know it’s not healthy to go through life feeling continuously on edge, I’m doing all that I can to change my ways, taking time to focus on and appreciate the small, quiet moments in life, no matter how few or far between they may be.

Will I be able to change overnight? Definitely not. But who knows? In the end, if I keep this up, I just may make it through this whole grad school while working thing without going insane after all!

Do you ever find you have a hard time relaxing or being “disconnected”? Which techniques do you use to help you unwind?

(Photo Credit: domarcenter.com)