My New Do

I finally got hair extensions and now I have a whole new look. Check it out!!!


I'm totally kidding actually. I discovered this new application on instyle.com that allows you to play around with new hairstyles and I'm having so much fun. I highly recommend it to anyone considering a new do. This is a "Blake Lively" hairstyle from my favorite show - "Gossip Girl" of course!

I AM getting a haircut today, but I'm planning to keep it short for now. However, here's another long style I thought looked pretty cute.

Changes Ahead

Most of you know that a lot of people are moving around roles right now at F-L. This is common... it happens at least 2x per year and typically each of us will shuffle around in one of these bi-annual moves.

So we've been waiting patiently and expecting to hear about changes for the past month or so. Today I found out that I will be moving on to our "Core Innovation" team. What that means is that I will be creating new products for Tostitos and Dips/Salsas.

This is big for 2 reasons.... First, it's my 1st assignment on a big "core" brand. (That is how we refer to anything that is roughly a billion dollars in sales or more) I've built my career to date working on our smaller, health & wellness brands. They're somewhat niche in appeal, but I love them. So this will be very different. It will be a learning experience for sure.

Second, work also let me know that they are approving my Leave of Absence to go to India to volunteer for 3 months. They've gone back and forth on this recently due to a staffing shortage, but I am now set to go in September! This should work out perfectly since the weather will be nicer in the Fall and I'll have more time to get tickets, a visa, and coordinate my plans. I'm really excited to take the "road less traveled" on this and get out there to really experience life and try to help others.

I guess this means no Thanksgiving with our families in Dallas this year, but I look forward to many more in the years ahead. I hope everyone can meet me in India for Thanksgiving or Christmas!

Run & Fun

Friday we had a really nice date night at this new Turkish place (Cafe Istanbul) that opened in Legacy Center. It was delicious and the prices were surprisingly good. Everyone seems to be raving about it lately!

Saturday I had my first Swap Party. Due to the recent "green" trends, swap parties are the latest way to "recycle" and update your wardrobe or home without buying new things. I think I'm hooked! 4 of my friends met and we all seemed to walk away with a lot of stuff we loved and it was free! Guilt-free shopping. What could be better. It went so well that I think I'm going to try it again next weekend with new friends!
Today I ran my 2nd half-marathon with Christina and I have to say it was A LOT easier than the first. Perhaps your body just gets used to it, or perhaps it was because it was 65 and sunny instead of 35, windy and rainy like the last one.

Afterwards Ryan & Stephanie hosted a yummy brunch for our community group. Stephanie is quite the little Martha Stewart so I always love any occasion to get together at her house. I leave inspired! They're expecting their first child in September and the baby room is looking super cute. I also love getting together with our small group because they're a bunch of goof balls and we love them. Brunch ended in a leg wrestling war if that gives you any idea.... : )

On our way home we did some shopping and then hit Paciugo for my favorite Sea Salted Caramel gelato that I'm always talking about. This evening I visited Paul & Kori to meet Baby Colt. Such a cutie! Kori seems to be doing great (even after a challenging labor) and also has put such a creative touch on Dane and Colt's rooms. No doubt about it - it was a terrific day.

More nice pics from our trip to California

A lovely Mother's Day hike...

Enjoying Mother's Day weekend in California

We're hanging out in Monterey and Carmel this weekend...celebrating Dana's mother.

Judy is a wonderful, loving, caring mother and we are very happy to be home. Dana's brother, Sam, even flew in from Hong Kong to surprise her as well - so we're all here!

Yesterday we visited the Monterey Aquarium. My favorite exhibit there is typically the Jelly Fish, but this time they had a special Sea Horse exhibit that almost brought me to tears. It was stunning! God certainly has some amazing creations.

Last night we ate a Greek dinner at Epsilon that really hit the spot. I LOVE Greek food, and unfortunately it's not one of Dallas' strengths.

Sam and I went for a run yesterday. It was beautiful, but the hills were killer. Since Dallas is so flat, I don't get a lot of practice running up hills.

This morning we're enjoying aebleskivers (round pancake balls) for breakfast. They're an Allen family tradition!

Speaking of kids...

Do they get cuter than this? Here are some pics I took last night of Moorea & Samui.

Like a kid in a candy store...

Dana is really enjoying the new Xbox game system that I won on the Oprah show. If you didn't know, he's a HUGE Formula 1 fanatic, so he's loving the race car games!

The Best Day Ever!

This week I was able to cross something off my "life list" that I'd been thinking about for years. I scored 4 tickets to an Oprah show in Chicago, and was able to take 3 of my best friends to enjoy the experience with me (Hillary, Lindsay and Jenny).

The show was really fun. It featured the World's Most Talented Kids and it airs May 18. The kids were AMAZING. We listed to the world's best piano player (experts say he'll be the best for at least the next 50 years), saw a dance performer George who won "Britain's Got Talent" (which is somewhat like our American Idol - but I loved it even more since I'm addicted to the show "so you think you can dance"). There were also 2 unbelievable singers. A 14-year old Norweigian girl (Nora Foss) sang "Somewhere over the Rainbow" and Charisse from the Phillipines sang this new single "A Note to God" - amazing.... (she's supposed to be the next Whitney Houston). They will both be very big in the US soon.


At the end, Taylor Swift came out (I love her!!!) and then everyone in the audience was given free XBox game systems and a year subscription to Netflix. What a day! I couldn't stop screaming.

What makes it even better was that Hillary's family had "Oprah" connections, so we ended up in the front row!!! It was very cool. I guarantee that the other 250 women in the audience hated us because we got a lot of special treatment. Afterwards, we were the only people allowed backstage to personally meet Oprah and her dog and take a photo with her (I can't post it because they're shipping it). Here are a few pics from brunch afterwards where we really just sat in disbelief at the experience we had had.

It really was a dream come true!

Parties and Powerpoint Decks

We're in the last week of "busy season" at work so I don't have a lot of pictures to share from this weekend. That being said, even acknowledging we have a "busy season" makes me laugh, since we all know it's always busy!

Friday night we had a fun Game Night with Nicole and Stan. They cooked a delicious Mexican dinner (which I am totally going to rip off for my Cinco de Mayo book club dinner next week!) and taught us a fun game called "Ticket to Ride".

Saturday we were double-booked so we had to divide and conquer. Dana went to birthday party for three 3-year olds. He even had to pick out the gifts and wrap them himself. It was so cute. He said any excuse to drink beer with friends and hang outside on a nice day is a fine by him : )

My friend Lindsay was celebrating her birthday as well so I had a girls day with my community group. It was soooo perfect. We met early for coffee at Starbucks, went and got manis and pedis in a private room at the spa, lunched at the Cheesecake Factory and then shopped all afternoon at 2 outdoor malls. The sales were amazing so I picked up a lot of clothes (that hopefully will work either for here or India). The weather was really nice and it was just a wonderfully relaxing day.

At least, it was relaxing until I realized that I was 1.5 hours late for a baby shower that I thought started much later. Whoops... Luckily I made it to Preeti's celebration in time to see her open her gifts!

Today I ran White Rock lake again (but it was really, really hard today!). Then I picked up MORE BABY GIFTS (because I seriously do have at least one shower per weekend these days). Later, Dana and I made dinner and cupcakes for the Walshs, who just had twins. It was fun to meet the little ones! At just 5 lbs, Daniel and Grace are just so tiny and sweet. Carrie and Dan seem to be doing great!

Tonight our friends Gretchen and Brian tried to convince us to try out for the Amazing Race. Apparently they've thought we would be competitors on the AR for awhile, and it so happens that the auditions are coming to Dallas next weekend. I'm so flattered that they think we would be good at that show! Unfortunately, we're also too busy to make an audition tape in the next week, but it's fun to think about.