We Didn’t Have a Clue

October 2, 2014 latchkeymom

This picture was taken in March or April of 1994. I’m leaning towards March, because of the jackets. I can’t ask the other girls in the picture, Barbara & Kristen, because they both have horrible memories! We were in Fort Lauderdale, at a waterside restaurant and bar called Bootleggers. We were young, a little wild, and definitely carefree. For me, the devil-may care attitude was new. I had just earned my Master’s Degree the summer before and taken the CPA exam in November. In February of 1994, I learned that I passed – all four sections, on my first try. For those of you unfamiliar with the CPA exam, that made me a bad ass! From the smile on my face (I’m in the middle), you can tell, I knew it.

Continue reading We Didn’t Have a Clue →

Everything Else

A Night Out at the Purple Pansies Gala

October 1, 2014 latchkeymom

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This past weekend, my husband and I attended the Purple Pansies Gala that’s held annually at one of our favorite local restaurants, Casa Nuova. The Purple Pansies organization was founded by our friend, Maria Fundora, to raise money and awareness for pancreatic cancer, a disease that unfortunately took her mother. As some of you may know, pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease. It has a high mortality rate, primarily because it’s usually diagnosed very late – often when the cancer is in stage four. There are, however, exciting new advances in the field of pancreatic cancer research, giving patients new hope. Maria raises money with the Purple Pansies Gala for Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGEN), a research institute that’s developing a diagnostic tool that will hopefully become as routine as a mammogram, so that doctors will be able to diagnose pancreatic cancer earlier. The institute has also played a role in using genetic markers to identify the best treatment options for patients. I encourage you to visit TGen’s site, to learn more. Also visit the Purple Pansies website to read about Maria, who’s a passionate and inspiration advocate for individuals, and their families, who’ve been afflicted with this disease. In just five years, her quest to memorialize her mother has evolved into an event that this year alone raised close to $150,000! She’s quite a force, let me tell you.

Maria & her family. Continue reading A Night Out at the Purple Pansies Gala →

Writing

My First Blogger Conference

September 26, 2014 latchkeymom

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Most of you know that I attended the Type A Parent conference for bloggers last week. As promised, I’m going to share the highlights, low points and what I learned at my first blogging conference. This is kind of messy and just thrown together. So please forgive the structure (or rather the lack of). I’m giving a minor play-by-play and some random thoughts.

My weekend got off to a rough start, which I wrote about yesterday. Fortunately, I arrived at the hotel where the conference was, just in the nick-of-time. While in line to get a coffee, I saw a fellow blogger (she was wearing a badge) and introduced myself. Her name was Jana. Her voice sounded very familiar to me and I quickly deduced that she was one of the producers for Listen to Your Mother Atlanta. I met her last winter when I auditioned for the show. She was very sweet and I asked her if I could follow her around like a puppy. Well, not exactly in those words – but pretty close. Jana was kind enough to oblige. Continue reading My First Blogger Conference →

Personal

Late, for a Very Important Date

September 25, 2014 latchkeymom

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****Some minor details of this story have been altered, to protect the innocent.

Last weekend I attended my first blogger conference (which I will breakdown for tomorrow’s post). The conference (Type A Parent) was held at the Grand Hyatt hotel, in the heart of Buckhead (a swanky residential/business/high-end retail area of Atlanta). I carpooled to the conference with a friend, let’s call her Nancy. Continue reading Late, for a Very Important Date →