Where You Should Be on May 4...

Part of my job involves serving as the liaison between the Center for BrainHealth and our young professionals group, the Think Ahead Group, or TAG for short.  The group is comprised of people in their 20s and 30s who are passionate about brain research- in disease, in injury, and in health- and raising funds to advance BrainHealth's research.

It is an incredible group of young people, and our annual signature event is the TAG Derby Party.  It is a total blast and is our largest yearly fundraiser that enables us to support the Center.  If you are anywhere near Dallas on Saturday, May 4, you totally want to join us.  We'll be at the Dallas Arboretum enjoying Southern fare and mint juleps, listening to the tunes of the Tom Petty cover band "Petty Theft," winning raffle prizes, and so much more.  And, of course, we'll be watching the famous Kentucky Derby race.          

Not to mention you'll get to hang out with these fine-looking folks and many more! Who doesn't love a good excuse to wear a big hat for the ladies and a seersucker bow tie for the gentlemen?!



If you want to join in the festivities, tickets are on sale.

Can't make it to the Derby but want to support brain research? You can also make a gift.

Happy Saturday, Derby Divas and Southern gentlemen!

Where did November go? And, um, half of December...

I have been a very bad blogger lately! I feel like November flew by (I guess I just stayed really really busy), and we all know how crazy December is!

I am currently sitting on my bed, next to my boyfriend who is home in Texas for an entire month (!!!), and we decided we had neglected our blogs for far too long! So check out his blog (alexmckeemusic.blogspot.com) and then read below to hear a little about what I've been up to!

A majority of my time has, of course, been occupied by work. This is a good thing, however, because I really enjoy what I am doing and (most of the time) it doesn't even feel like work. As I've mentioned in my previous posts, part of my job involves coordinting the Center's young professionals' group, the Think Ahead Group, and at the beginning of November we celebrated two years for TAG! Alex was able to be there and see me in action/finally understand this organization that I am always talking about! The event was both of a time of celebration and a time of sadness, because the mother of three siblings who were part of TAG's founders passed away from primary progressive aphasia, a type of frontemporal dementia, the day before the party. Their mom was a huge inspiration for the creation of TAG and has left behind such a legacy.


Having Alex home for a few days in November was wonderful....and now have having him here for a month is a dream come true! Hopefully we will have lots of good pictures and memories by the time he has to return to Los Angeles for the last semester of his master's degree.

Thanksgiving was spent with my lovely family! As is tradition, the Carter sisters took a Thanksgiving photoshoot. The last one is going to be our Christmas card picture!






And, of course, I have been spending time with my sweet friends! Sometimes we are bad at taking pictures, but these hit a couple of the high points--last TCU home game of the season with Jenna, and my Women's Group Christmas Party! Looking forward to even more fun in 2012 with these ladies!


Oh, and somewhere in the middle of all of this, I turned 24! I don't feel that old, but somehow I am! My wonderful co-workers surprised me for my birthday, complete with pink and purple cupcakes, and after work I had delicious sushi with Marissa and Jenna!

Stay tuned for my next post...I hope that the topic is going to become part of a regular series for me! (If I can remember to update this thing!)

I hope you are all doing well this Christmas season and filled with joy from our many blessings as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. I know I have much to rejoice in!

Days Go By

"And days go by...
I can feel 'em flyin'
Like a hand out the window in the wind.
The cars go by...
Yeah it's all we've been given,
So you better start livin' right now,
Cuz days go by." --Keith Urban

It's been a while, hasn't it? The days sure do go by even faster as you get older. Here's a little update about what I've been up to lately:

Working Hard....but my job is fun. : ) After many months of planning, the young professionals group that I coordinate as part of my job, the Think Ahead Group, had its first-ever Kentucky Derby Party to raise awareness and funds for the research taking place at the Center for BrainHealth, where I work. The party was amazing, and we were blessed with perfect weather!





Playing Hard!

Alex is home for the summer, so we've been able to spend so much time together and work on our Bucket List...making great progess so far!






I've also spent some time with great friends. Mica's wedding, shopping with Morgan, girls night with Marissa, and Caroline surprised Jenna and I with a full reunion including Bauza and Jessica. Love my friends!






In other news, I really really want to take a trip somewhere. Maui last summer was amazing, so nothing I do this summer will compare with that, but I would love to take a weekend trip somewhere. Any suggestions?? I'm also hoping that I'll be able to visit my Little in July!

Hopefully my next post will be in the near future ; )

Spring Break 2011

My post is called "Spring Break 2011," but this was actually the first time since the age of 5 that I have not had a spring break. Even though I sure felt like I could have used one, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It helps that I have an awesome boss who let me take two half days to relax and spend time with Alex! So really, what made it feel like spring break was that he was home, as well as my little sister!!

Here are the highlights of my break--something good happened every day!

Friday-- Alex came home! We watched Due Date with his family. It was pretty funny, but a lot like The Hangover, just not as good!

Saturday--Double date! After we went shopping (and I found many things that I've been looking for), Alex and I met up with Allison and Lance at Firefly, an Asian fusion restaurant in Addison. Lance became one of my closest friends while I was at TCU, and once he started dating Allison almost a year ago, she and I really hit it off and have become great friends. She and I are so much alike and I feel like I can talk to her about anything. We had a really fun double date-- yummy dinner, entertaining atmosphere, and laughing at people in the bar area seriously playing a life-sized Jenga. Hopefully more double dates this summer!

Sunday-- Church with Alex's family. I am blanking on what else we did on this day, but I think this was the night we watched (500) Days of Summer...such a great movie, and really cool now that we have sat on that bench in the park!

Monday-- After I had work and a TAG Board meeting, I met up with Alex and Doug, Alex's former roommate, and Doug's girlfriend Renee. Renee was house/dogsitting for a family, so they cooked an amazing dinner and I showed up just in time to eat it! : ) It was really nice to see them...they are another couple that I just love.

Tuesday-- TAG "Off to the Races"! This was the kick-off celebration and invitation-signing party for the Think Ahead Group's Derby Dallas: Bet on Your Brain party on the day of the Kentucky Derby. It is going to be so fun-- at a gorgeous home in Preston Hollow, yummy food, mint juleps, fancy hats & Southern attire, music, lawn games-- a total blast! The kick-off party was so fun, and we got the invitations ready to be mailed. We also took this really fun group photo.



Wednesday--I took a half day, and Alex and I went to Dallas Heritage Village/Old City Park. I used to go on field trips there all the time, so it really took me back to my childhood. It's really pretty just to walk through, and they have all these homes and buildings set up just as they were in Dallas at the beginning of the 1900's. Check it out if you haven't been there! We finished the day with ice cream, a yummy dinner cooked by Alex's mom, and watching TV.





Thursday-- St. Patrick's Day and my parents' 27th wedding anniversary! I surprised my parents with a card and flowers that morning, and got to take another half day at work. That evening, we celebrated my parents' anniversary and St. Patrick's Day! I introduced my friends to Telephone Pictionary, which was a blast. It was a smaller group so it was easier to all talk and play a game.




Friday--Had dinner with my former roomie, Caroline, and was her "assistant" at a rehearsal dinner for my co-worker, where she played the video she made for them. Caroline is your girl if you ever need a video for weddings, graduations, birthdays, etc.!

Saturday-- Alex's last night in Texas. We rented Paranormal Activity 2, which was pretty scary but not as good as the first one, and I introduced him to the amazingness of Sour Patch Kids. We had a relaxing and wonderful last evening together.

Sunday-- Church again, and then I celebrated my Grandpa's 90th birthday. He asked for a bottle of Maker's Mark for his birthday... if I live to be that old, I hope to be just as spirited. I then spent a little longer with Alex before he had to leave for the airport. It will be seven weeks before I see him again... I hope it goes by quickly. It never gets any easier!

All in all, a really nice week. Now I am staying busy and counting down the days to summer! Hope everyone else had a highlight-filled spring break!