I believe I have officially gone over the deep end. Last night I had an incredibly vivid dream about the ADDY Awards, my quest for false eyelashes and terrorists.

What? Like YOU don’t dream about the same thing? (Don’t worry, I kept to my eyelash quest despite impending doom. A girl has priorities, you know. Even in her dreams.)

The ADDYs (an awards gala which I am co-chairing with my business partner Amy) are on Saturday so it makes perfect sense that my every waking (and non-waking, apparently) moment be consumed in someway by the event.

We’ve had some minor and major hiccups in the past few weeks which, although not a surprise in the event planning world, most certainly raised the bar on the stress level. (Last minute emcee replacements, endless script revisions, major award trophy mistakes…)

And that is where the moonshine came in. No wait, actually the chicken arm flapping actually came first. (To clarify – It was a game we discovered quite by accident on the Wii. Yes, we have a Wii in the office. And yes, the game involved us flapping our arms and landing on targets while in a chicken suit. Don’t judge. Stress relief is stress relief.)

The apple pie moonshine was a gift from a sweet, caring friend who either harbors deep fears for our sanity or is hoping to push us over the edge in the name of fun. Or both.

In any event, we’re at t-minus four days and counting. And I currently have a tall glass of moonshine in my hand.

If you are interested in a family getaway to beat the mid-Winter blahs, this Saturday (February 25) the Gaylord National resort will be hosting a special Family Fun Night with Shrek & Friends.

The packages include admission to:

• a DJ dance party with Shrek, Fiona and Puss in Boots
• admission to a DreamWorks movie shown on a big screen
• swamp juice and orge treats
• a Puss in Boots scavenger hunt
• a DreamWorks craft activity
• a family souvenir photo

In addition to those fun activities, the hotel also has a “dancing” water fountain that performs to music each evening as well as a  junior Olympic-sized pool and Jacuzzi, a fantastic fitness facility, luxurious spa and the Potomac PlayZone arcade.

Details: From $99* per person on February 25 and from $125 per person on March 10 (based on double occupancy). Kids stay free. More info can be found here.

One of the greatest things about being an entrepreneur is having the freedom to design my own space. I am a firm believer in productivity and inspiration being tied to one’s surroundings.

(Couple that belief with an outrageous obsession with office supplies and well, you see where this is going, don’t you?)

5 Office Gear Must-Haves:

Like a rainbow in your desk drawer! These silicone trays are the ideal size for keeping together all of those small desk items like paper clips or sticky notes.  Love ‘em.

Everyone needs file folders. Why not add a little humor to your day? (Just don’t bring them to your client meeting!) 

This eraser pretty much says it all. If you need a spicier version, you can find others at this site that will suite your needs.

I am totally doing this by the way. I have an empty space on my wall begging for a couple of these clipboards. Brilliantly simple, no?

Looking for a modern feel? This Buro Set contains a stapler, USB port hub, calculator, hole punch, calendar and more. Uber-cool and functional.

Tags: cool office supplies, entreprenuer, office gear

I’ve mentioned before that I am trying to expand my horizons and do things that make me uncomfortable. Well, nothing makes me more uncomfortable than being on video. So in my infinite wisdom I joined a blogging group called #vlogmoms to force myself to learn more about video blogging and being more comfortable on screen.

Each week we pick a different topic to tackle and I must admit that this week’s topic had me jazzed:

If you could live anywhere and do anything – family and money being no deterrent – where would you live and what would you do?

So how about you? What would YOU do?

Do schools have the right to tell parents what is or isn’t healthy enough for their children’s lunches?

Apparently, they do. (Grumble, grumble, grumble…)

A four year old preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School in North Carolina ate three chicken nuggets for lunch on January 30 because a state employee determined that the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious enough.

According to the “interpretation of an agent inspecting lunch boxes” in the classroom that day, the girl’s lunch, which consisted of a turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice, did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines. (Meaning all lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home.)

So the preschooler was forced to purchase a cafeteria lunch and eat that instead. On the menu that day was uber-nutritious chicken nuggets.

<Insert head exploding here>

I don’t know about you, but I’d sure love to see a nutritional analysis of the “nuggets” that the state was presenting as a healthful protein option.

And more to the point – why is the school policing, I mean “inspecting,” school lunches? Who are they to tell us what to feed our children? Don’t misinterpret, I’m all for nutritious meals. That being said, what seems to have most parents up in arms is the fact that a stranger in a government agency has the power to supersede a parent’s judgment and interfere in that type of manner.

And why doesn’t that worker use their own common sense? I mean really, which is healthier – a turkey and cheese sandwich or processed nuggets?

By the way, to add insult to injury, the school billed the preschooler’s mother $1.25 for the mandated substitution.

Sigh.

What do you think? Is this a non-issue?