I'm Back!

It’s been awhile y’all. My life was busy and this was the thing that had to give. I’ve missed writing though. So, here I am this April Saturday morning that promises to finally bring us some warmth in RVA, just finished the last chapter of “Kitchen Confidential”, Phoebe snuggled up next to me in bed, “Princess Bride” on in the background, back to writing.

Sipping on my coffee, I’ve been thinking about what I wish to do with this blog. What’s been good, what’s been okay, what was downright awful. My biggest feeling is that this needs to be a little more about my life, less just things I do. While it’s a little scary to open up about my life (my friends will tell you I’m not the most emotionally available), I think that’s what I want and what will be good for me and you, my five readers. So a peek into what I’ve been doing, why I’ve been so busy and what has kept from typing up some simple words.

Since I last wrote in March, my dad has been in surgery, I’ve been helping plan and execute the Richmond Show for the Ad Club, work has been busy (my coworker is about to have a baby!), bocce has started back up and general life things have come up. So forgive me.

Now to explain a bit. Let’s start with the fun stuff! When I say bocce, do you think old Italian men in linen jackets in their backyards? Yea, I don’t do that. We play at Hardywood (that small brewery you may have heard of once) on Wednesdays. It’s a lot of fun, we have 16 teams each season all playing bocce, drinking beer and competing to be the ultimate bocce champion. Each week teams play each other for their seed in the playoffs. Six weeks of regular season play, then two week of playoffs. Everyone makes the first round of playoffs. After the first round we are down to eight teams, then four, then two, until we have one team left standing! This year we get to host our playoffs at the Richmond Kickers stadium. A day filled with bocce fun and lots and lots of beer. A good time is had by most (sometimes we have sore losers).

So how on earth did I think to start a bocce league? That would be a direct result of the year I spent living in Arlington! While I generally disliked my time in Northern Virginia (no offense to anyone who lives and loves there, it just wasn’t for me) one thing I really enjoyed was the bocce league I played in. Founded several years ago by friends who just wanted to play in a laidback sports league, DC Bocce now has over 2,000 participants. From there, they expanded into half a dozen cities across the U.S. Bocce really is a very chill game, it can be played just about anywhere. While I was in Arlington, we played in one of the local parks, that’s how we got started. After I played for a season, my friend Courtney and I were asked to “black shirt,” basically volunteer to help out in exchange for free booze. Done. After that season, I was asked to head up my own division at a bar in Clarendon. It was a lot of fun, but couldn’t keep me in NOVA. When I told one of the bocce leaders (does that sound cult like?) she asked if I would be interested in taking bocce with me to RVA. I said sure, I know a place that might be good, and Richmond Bocce was born!

Now in our third year, I run three seasons - spring, summer and fall. Each season we get about 16 teams, with anywhere from 100 to 150 players depending on team size. We hang out at Hardywood from 6 to 9 pm on Wednesdays, drinking beer and playing 45 minute games (one game per night for each team) and then head out to the sponsor bar for more fun! This year we are sponsored by Boulevard, Burger and Brew, an awesome old school, with a twist, burger spot right across from Movieland. At this point, we are halfway through the season and I can’t wait for it to warm up a bit, so my toes stay a little warmer! Stay tuned for more fun about bocce.

The other really fun, yet time consuming, thing I’ve been doing the past month is the Richmond Show for Ad Club. But let me back up, I am on the board of the Richmond Ad Club. The Ad Club is a membership based organization with the goal of bringing advertising professionals in the Richmond area together. In essence, a networking group (albeit a super cool, super awesome, networking group). We have 10 happy hours throughout the year, speaker series events, a mentorship program and many other things, but our biggest event is the annual awards show, aka the Richmond Show.

This year the Richmond Show was held on April 1 at the John Marshall. The theme was “The Summer of Love” and very psychedelic! So why was I so busy? Because I am the sponsorship chair. What does that mean? That I’m in charge of getting people to give us money to have their name, company, brand, etc. at our show. Why so hard? Not exactly hard, but certainly time consuming. Plus, this was my first year on the board and at times I had no idea what I was doing! With all that being said, it was an awesome experience. I got to meet and connect with industry professionals in a different manner than our monthly happy hours. I was able to implement a plan (if a bit flawed) for the sponsorship committee (I had a wonderful helper, my friend Desiree, who is the secretary on our board) and see it all come to fruition the day of the event.

After gathering all the sponsorships, picking up swag bag materials and everything else, the day of the show finally arrived. The board arrives early afternoon to begin the setup for the show. Lots of back and forth, walking, lifting, moving until about 5 pm. In a rush, all the girls descended on a tiny room to get on some groovy outfits. After that, the fun began! There was an awesome cocktail hour where we were able to mingle, try amazing food, throw a few back and revel in our hard work. Then, the doors opened and the show began. I had never been to the show before, so it was a very interesting experience for me. A few hours and an after party, it was over. Man I’m tired writing about that. Tired, but so, so glad I did it!

Another thing keeping me super busy is work. I’m an account manager for Addison Clark, a marketing company here in Richmond. I love my job! I repeat, I LOVE MY JOB. Most of my friends and people I meet cannot say that, I wake up everyday and know that I am lucky that I can. Being busy at a job I love is not a bad thing. It just means I stay a little later, don’t mess around on the internet as much and usually eat lunch at my desk. All good with me. Plus my coworker is about to go out on maternity leave, so prepping for that had been important. We have three account managers, me (obviously), Jocy (about to pop) and Whitney (all the way down in Athens, GA - we call her robot Whitney). Along with us, there is a creative director, Alison, who can really take some terrible looking things and make them amazing, our developer, Ryan, who is literally a mythical creature who grants magical wishes (hey Ryan I accidentally erased half of this website, I have no idea how, but like it’s gone, could you please wave your wand and undo that), and then the guys, aka our two bosses. They are probably the most easy going bosses in the whole world, often delivering a beer to my desk on Friday afternoons, sending YouTube videos we just have to watch and making sure that we generally like our jobs (we all do). Addison Clark is an awesome place to work! And hey, if you are a developer who likes 80s music and beer, we are hiring!

Last but not least my dad. My dad is the strongest guy I know. He broke his back when I was in elementary school and through some truly unfortunate circumstances now has a nerve disorder, brand new hip (surgery number two in March) and countless other ailments he would never complain about. He had to have two surgeries the past month and while, yes, it was hard on him and my family, he and us, are already doing much better! Imagine your hip just dies inside of you, but the doctor says, “oh hey we actually need to get to a nerve in your neck before we deal with that, so please, let us sedate you and do that now, dead hip later.” Yea, that’s what he has endured. Like I said, strongest guy I know. And hey, he’s coming home today! In what has been a long, yet somehow short, month and half, my dad finally gets to go home! He has been in the hospital twice and the rehab center twice, since March and it certainly is about time. But, just because he’s coming home, it’s not all sunshine and roses. Remember, he just got a brand new hip. He will need to very cautious about using the stairs too often (unfortunately the bedroom is on floor two, while everything else is on floor one), make sure he does all the right things without supervision of his nurses and physical therapist, etc. This will be hard. But as a family, we have been doing this for years. I don’t live at home, but I’m two miles away. I have a sister who helps out immensely and my dear, sweet mom, who holds us all together somehow!

So there you have it! What the heck has been going on in my life this past month and half. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy my life, go out to eat, try new places and that will all still be here. I love Richmond and will still share all the special things it has to offer, but you will also get a deeper glance into my life. Now, off to enjoy the sunny weather, do some laundry and finally see my dad at home!

#RVA #Ramblings #Life #Bocce #AdClub #Family