oh my god, it's already july

Seriously, I cannot imagine how this happened. We've been up to so much good stuff lately, but the time is flying by!

Since I've last blogged, I've gotten a new trainer at my gym. She's fabulous and much tougher than the last guy. I attended a two-day marketing conference that was pretty good, but a fun and interesting bonding experience for the company. We were nearly swept away in a "microburst" (mini tornado) in Charlottesville, Virginia the afternoon of June 24 and were without power at the hotel until the next morning. It was like something straight out of a horror movie, but luckily we all survived.

While in Charlottesville, I had the opportunity to present to our group the "really fun project" I've been working on for a few months. I presented them with the preliminary steps in the NXL Branding Experience, as I'm calling it. I made these really fun posters to show what is in store for everyone and gave them the first few pages of their new Graphic Standards Manual to follow. Everyone has been really excited and receptive to the little changes we're beginning to make around here!

Let's see, what else? Scott and I saw the fabulous and always sensational guitarist Tommy Emmanuel at the newly renovated Carpenter Theatre. If you haven't been to a show there yet, get on their website and find one. The space is really cool!

Us before the show:

Last weekend, Scott performed with (my favorite of his bands) the super fun jazzy/Americana band Stump Hole Water here in Richmond and then the next night up in Reston with the Upper East Side Big Band directed by Samson Trinh. My table-mates at Clyde's were amazed by Samson's energy. And personally, I thought the horn section rocked socks (as Jessy would say), but I'm partial. It was one of the only nights in recent weeks where the evening temperatures dropped below 80, so that was certainly an added bonus.

Vocalists, Allyson Mills and Adrian Duke:

Horn section, Scott third from the right:

I also spent a bit of time at Dewey and Rehoboth beaches last week. We were surprised to see that our favorite pizza joint Nicola Pizza has expanded after at least my entire lifetime's worth of pizza being served from their older, smaller location. My how times change! But don't worry, they still have the old place too, and Joan was still in there when we went!

And we went on a boat ride!

And of course, last but not least, we had Fourth of July fun with Andi and Dustin and some of Dustin's friends. We set off the Leaning Tower of Piza, thanks to Ben!