1. Usually yellow is my favorite color, but I’m loving the bright green paint we bought for the front room
2. The super artsy event I’m planning with PODS Houston right now (announcement soon!)
3. Jodi Picoult’s Sing Them Home
4. This new mango smoothie recipe I made up
5. DIVISI STRINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6. The way your eyelashes look when you pop open a fresh tub of mascara
7. The new bike trails the guy and I found behind the Cypress Creek YMCA
8. And last but not least… The fact that the Shell Houston Open is FINALLY here!!

And yes. I realize I’ve skipped the past two weeks… but I really like to think that I’m getting better at this whole “blogging with regularity” thing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/magsmcdonald/5570365224/

February 8 will be my one year anniversary at my beloved MMI and reflecting on that fact has me reflecting on many of the other things things that have happened over the last 12 months.

I have a job I adore. My new blog design is beautiful. I would consider myself an almost-non-smoker. I am in love with my best friend. I have a client list that couldn’t make me happier. I got to visit New Orleans for the first time ever. I met Adam Scott, Emmit Smith AND took a ride on an elliptical next to Luke Wilson. I went on an epic Texas road trip. I buried a cousin and welcomed a new member into my extended family. I took up mountain biking. My sister kept me laughing and taught me to crochet. I made four scarves. My mom sent me supportive emails and messages. My friends were amazing. I laughed and I lived and I learned.

I found my way through a very unhappy time in my life and have discovered certain truths about myself. Maybe I will share those later, but for now, I just want to celebrate all that was amazing about my 26th year.

And when I start to worry things about things every now and then… I just channel the sage advice of Dr. Suess.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

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If you haven’t, here is the low-down.

Inspired by the survivorship story of its Assistant General Manager, Marion Burch, Memorial City Mall has kicked off a month-long initiative to raise funds and awareness for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF). Yesterday marked the beginning of the mall’s  “Paint the Town Teal” event and it will continue until September 30. Teal is the color that symbolizes ovarian cancer and the mall is going to great measures to promote awareness. They’ve even painted teal ribbons on the ice skating rink!!

Here is where you come in. The mall is selling “Paint the Town Teal” bags stuff with amazing offers from various mall merchants; including Metropark, Radio Shack AND Chick-fil-a. The bags are adorable and sell for only $15, with proceeds benefiting the OCRF. If you live or work near MCM, stop buy Guest Services and buy one of your own.

The bags have many uses including, but not limited to:

• Environmentally friendly grocery shopping bag
• Tote for all of the random things you bring to work every day
• For the boys, they would make a great gift for your significant other or mom

Why is a mall going above and beyond to promote awareness of ovarian cancer? Ovarian cancer is a very silent and very deadly breed of cancer… in many women, it’s caught way too late for a total cure. Awareness of the disease is key to discovering it, because it doesn’t show up in your normal well-woman exam.

Marion was diagnosed with Stage IIIC ovarian cancer in August 2007 and continues chemotherapy to remain stable. She recently had her 37th round of treatment. She says, “We want to raise awareness so more women will recognize the symptoms and get diagnosed early. The main signs are easy to ignore — bloating, eating less and feeling fuller, abdominal pain, or trouble with your bladder — but, if they occur persistently for weeks, go to the doctor! Experts say that when caught in the initial stages, ovarian cancer has a much better chance of being cured.”

I am proud and humbled to have clients that do such amazing things.

I love road trips, I love Texas and I love the client I’m working for… so it’s the perfect project for me.

Tomorrow morning, I set out for Laredo… and am pretty sure that my excitement level regarding the upcoming six hour drive finally proves I may be a little bit crazy.

Thanks to Flickr user Amarillo Chuck for this great Texas view!

I am an absolute sucker for charities and before the Shell Houston Open became one of my clients, I had no idea how much good the tournament has done for charity in our city. Since 1992, the tournament has raised almost 50 million dollars for Houston charities. Yeah. You read that right. 50 million. The love affair started right there.

Since the Shell Houston Open is one of my clients, I was lucky enough to be the bearer of a media pass and had permission to take photos. The pass got me access to everything from the Shell Skybox to the media room. The view from the Skybox was amazing and there was a never-ending supply of treats. I loved working out of the media building but let me tell you. Those golf reporters are super serious. Snort when you laugh and they will all look at you like you are a crazy person… but I’m pretty used to that.

According to Culture Map, the Shell Houston Open is the nicest stop on the PGA Tour. And while I have never been to another golf tournament, I can attest to the fact that all of the volunteers are super friendly… one even let me stand in front of him on hole 10 while I was taking pictures because “Come here honey, you know you want to take a picture of Adam Scott. Girls think he is a cutie!!”

Maintaining my silence and NOT snorting at this point was almost impossible but I managed.

I could not have had more fun that with the people I was with… Fellow MMIers Melissa, Sarah and Amanda came out on alternate days and two of my favorite people in Houston, my other half Monica and the hilarious Chris Pitre, joined us as SHO social media ambassadors. Special surprise additions to the fun were Paul from the Loop Scoop and James, the fiery famous guy.

Over the course of the tournament, I got a chance to hang out with Mike and Mike from ESPN, get autographs from both Emmitt Smith and Adam Scott, and high-five the President of Shell, Marvin Odum. Have I mentioned lately how much I really and truly love my job? Without MMI, I never would have had this opportunity.

If you didn’t get a chance to come out this year, you missed out and you better be there next year! Why wouldn’t you want to hang out in the sun with a frosty beverage… all for the chance to help out Houston children?

And since I know this post has convinced you that you MUST be at the tournament, here are some things to remember before you head out to the course:

1. When everyone is silent, “That’s what she said jokes” sound a lot louder.
2. People who wear jeans to golf tournaments are just asking to be shunned.
3. But eople who wear purple pants to golf tournaments are awesome.
4. It’s Phil Mickelson. Not Paul.

And because this post wouldn’t be complete without pictures…

Adam Scott:

Adam Scott’s Signature:

View from the Skybox:

The awesome purple pants: