Long Island and Collier Leeds Relaunch

It was a very long week of work, my first on my new project in Long Island, NY. Although Vynamic's model is all about being local to Philadelphia, I couldn't say no to the project, working for a health system. It felt weird to be back on the road - I ate terribly and slept even worse but it was all worth it for an awesome first week with my new team.

I was pooped so we had a very relaxed weekend, which was needed. We spent Saturday night with friends on their roof deck, saying goodbye to our dear friends Lauren and Spenser. We desperately need a roof deck - the view of Philly from the south is beautiful!

We were up early Sunday morning to drive to New Jersey for Andrew's first triathlon of the season, an Xterra tri. This tri series is "off road," so it was a swim in a lake (59 degree water), a mountain bike ride, and a trail run. Andrew was 3rd in his age group and 7th overall so I am a very proud tri wife :)

Finally, the Oswald girls have been hard at work tying up the loose ends in preparation for the relaunch of Collier Leeds on May 1st. I am so proud of both my mom and sister for the work they have been putting into the collars and the new site! I can't wait!

Summit Up with Vynamic

Every year Vynamic hosts two, day-long events called "Summit Up." The events are always super well done (think Phillies stadium and flying airplanes) and this spring, for my very first Summit Up, Vynamic rented out the entire Eagles stadium. The purpose of Summit Up is to get the entire company to take a break from client work and reconnect, so the CEO loves to make them great events.

We kicked off the event in the Eagles' locker room, where we were all assigned our own lockers and given some Vynamic swag. Throughout the day we transitioned from fun, team activities to more serious business-related activities. It was a blast!

I have been at Vynamic for two months and Summit Up only further reinforced how lucky I am to be working for such a great company. We ended the day with a happy hour on the terrace and a tour of our new Eagles box we now have for recruiting purposes. If you want to work for Vynamic, let me know (shameless promotion!)!

View from Vynamic's new box seats

On Saturday we visited with the Mortons at their lovely little house on Quince Street. Spenser was placed at a hospital in Iowa for his residency so the family will be moving out of Philly in May :( We will miss them all but it will be a great opportunity and a fun new adventure!

On Saturday evening we were invited by a colleague for drinks on Boathouse Row. I have been running past the boathouses for the past 5 years and never thought I would get an invite to go inside! This particular boathouse, Undine, was built in 1860 and was filled with a lot of really cool memories. We enjoyed gin and tonics and a beautiful view on the back porch, watching the sun go down.

It was a great weekend in Philadelphia and I look forward to many more as the weather continues to improve :)

A Weekend in Pittsburgh

It had been way too long since seeing Andrew's grandmother and our college friends, so we planned a weekend in Pittsburgh to visit. The drive from south Philly to Pittsburgh is not very fun so we left on Thursday night and headed to Mount Lebanon to see Andrew's grandmother, Muzzy, and her husband, Grandpa Paul. We arrived late Thursday night and planned to spend Friday with them both. It was so nice spending time with them and catching them up on our lives in Philly. 

At lunch Grandpa Paul asked me to join him in a martini and I had to oblige because...yolo. I realized that I actually hate martinis, especially at lunch time, but it made Grandpa Paul's day that I joined him in a little lunch treat.

After lunch we headed to Wexford to spend the rest of the weekend with my college roommate, Carly, and her husband, Mike. The weather was beautiful so we spent the afternoon on their lovely porch, catching up on the past 10 months. Carly was an excellent little hostess and planned for homemade pizzas for dinner - she totally spoiled us!

Reunited!

The weather on Saturday was beautiful so we planned to go to McConnells Mill to hike the local trails. The trail head was only about a half hour away from Wexford and the scenery was really beautiful. I am so happy spring is finally here!

Tired boys after the hike

On Saturday afternoon we made plans to meet up with our other good friends from college, Brynne and Erica, at Erica's house in Seven Fields. Poor Erica had a herniated disc in her back so we visited with her at her adorable house before dinner. Although she was feeling under the weather, Erica was quite the hostess as well!

Carly and Mike made dinner reservations for us at their new favorite restaurant, Pusadee's Garden. Poor Erica wasn't feeling up for the night out so she stayed at home and the rest of us grabbed a few bottles of wine and headed to Lawrenceville. The Thai food was delicious and we always love a byob, so it was a great night! 

On Sunday morning we got back in the car and made the treacherous drive back to Philadelphia. We got home early in time to do some house work and go for a run, so it was a full day! I look forward to seeing my college girlfriends on our next adventure!

Easter Weekend

This year we celebrated Easter at my parent's house with my dad's family, as well as the Haughton clan. We headed to Kutztown Saturday morning, arriving just in time to shower and get ready and eat a massive meal with the family. The weather was beautiful, the house was full of conversation, and the food was delicious. It was an excellent way to celebrate Easter with my family!

My favorite girls

My baby cousin

The Haughton girls

We were up early Sunday morning to spend the day working on Collier Leeds. The hardest part about making the collars is making sure our customers are able to measure their dog's neck sizes correctly and order the correct size. My mom, sister, and I did our research and practiced measuring collar sizes in a mini photo shoot. 

We headed back to Philly after a full day of Collier Leeds to work on our little city garden. I am the Broad Street Run "captain" at Vynamic and am planning a potluck before the race on May 3rd, so my goal is to have our back yard in good shape. 

Our first Vynamic team run!

Andrew working away

The biggest issues in the backyard are the crazy amounts of rocks we have in our soil and the large tree stump right in the midst of our mini yard. It was my job to pick the rocks out of the soil so I decided to use our little bar cart to sift the rocks and save the dirt.

Poor Andrew's job is to hack away at the tree stump until it goes away. He had an array of power tools to help him out but it was much tougher than it looked! We have another month to get ready for the run potluck so it will be a month of adventures!