jamie ann

This silly little dog has been around for almost 3.5 years now. She’s as bossy as ever and still the cutest pup in the world. Edie has a million nicknames, but just to name a few: Edie Bee, Beedie, Bee, Pup, Angel, Sad Baby and Mamas. This dog follows me everywhere and hops up the second she hears me move even if she is asleep. Her ears are legit like radars.

She HATES when I leave and she is left alone. Even if I leave her with my dad, she still gives me the saddest eyes and makes me feel like an incredibly guilty mama. But the welcomes home are probably the best part of my day. I could walk to the corner store and be gone for five minutes and she freaks out like I’ve been gone for days.

The other day we went to Petsmart to grab some toys because she is a spoiled brat and everyone fawned all over her, as usual. Once she notices you’re coming to say hi, she makes this face that looks like  a snarl, but if you’re close enough you’d notice her fluffy butt wiggling all over the place. I swear if she had a tail, it would be going a hundred miles an hour. So when you meet Edie for the first time, I promise she isn’t being mean. Her “snarl” is actually a SMILE. The woman at the store just couldn’t get over the fact that Edie smiles when she is excited. It really is the cutest. One day I’ll try to catch it on camera because it is the funniest and most adorable thing ever.

But yeah, I have the prettiest puppy and she smiles. It’s okay to be a little jealous.

I’m pretty sure that The National could probably provide the soundtrack to my life. I’m very partial to many songs from Boxer and a few off Alligator (like this particular song), but their latest release, High Violet, is probably one of the best albums in existence. It’s flawless from beginning to end. There’s no filler, just gorgeous melodies and lyrics and an effortless flow to the whole album. Trust.

There are certain songs that really hit you though. The Geese of Beverly Road is my favorite by The National and probably one of my favorite songs of all time. It’s kind of hard to put into words why. It just kind of feels like everything.

Everything you feel. Everything you want. Everything you need. It makes you feel sad, hopeful and infinite all at the same time.

It’s a little bit magic.

This past weekend I was in Seattle with all of the other brand ambassadors for a few days of Nintendo 3DS-ness and friends. And cake pops. And dancing to Britney. And champagne. And lobster mac and cheese.

Seriously, Nintendo and Brand About Town sure know the way to my heart.

After hopping on a flight, lots of snarking and some baby cuddles, we arrived in Seattle. A few of us knew each other and it turns out there was like a row of ladies behind me all headed for the summit as well. They didn’t realize it until we had landed and pulled up Twitter. Funny how that works out sometimes. We ran into a few more friends at the airport who had just landed as well and I finally got to meet Michelle. And by meet, I mean HUG ATTACK. Katelin also got one of those too because she is absolutely one of the best people ever.

cake pop toast, duh (photo courtesy of Rachel)

Once we all got settled in our hotel rooms, we had a cocktail party to attend. It was basically one big family reunion. While walking in, I kept getting stopped by people to say hi and then I finally made my way  over to to one my most favorite people in the world, Doni, to say hi. The bubbles were flowing and I probably had a few glasses too many, but sometimes in life, you just need champagne. It really was a great way to kick off the weekend — catching up with everyone, dancing and even some topology. We kept it going and ran across the street to a bar afterwards for some more hangs before turning in because we had an early morning.

The next day we were to head to Nintendo headquarters for a day of fun. First, I just need to mention how incredibly rad this building was. It was super green, even the roof. No, seriously, the roof was legit green. There was grass on it. And all the conference rooms were named after different Nintendo things, levels and characters. My favorite was probably “another castle”. Hah.

my shiny new Nintendo 3DS and the game I picked up

We were welcomed, able to ask some questions and then were told we’d all get a shiny Nintendo 3DS of our own at the end of the day. But before we could get our hot little hands on our own, we got to play a whole bunch of games like Street Fighter and Kid Icarus and talk with the people who worked at Nintendo. I was expecting the Nintendo 3DS to be cool, but I wasn’t really expecting to be blown away by it. And no, I’m not just saying that because they invited me out there. It was seriously one of the coolest things ever. The 3D effects were seriously impressive and the augmented reality games were straight up ridiculous. I can’t wait to see what games come out, I’m hoping for a MarioKart soon myself.

That night we had another small cocktail hour and then were shuttled off to our restaurants of choice. I chose The Purple Cafe and it did not disappoint one bit. I realllllly wanted to bring our server home with me. He was adorable and I wanted us to be BFFs. Then they brought out cheese plates and I ordered lobster mac and cheese and I died. Like, dead. It was so rich and delicious. Plus, my surrounding dinner dates were fantastic company and conversation.

Once we all got back to the hotel, we said goodbye to those we wouldn’t see at breakfast and then I took some pictures of my favorite ladies hanging out in a fake forest. There are also a bunch more pictures floating around, so make sure you check those out. I was having way too much fun to remember to pull out my camera and trying to avoid the camera myself because I’m just not a fan of having my picture taken. Too awkward for life, guys.

Doni, Lacey, Michelle, Jenn and Katelin (photo belongs to Katelin)

And THAT is what you call a whirlwind of a weekend. I came home to Mad Men season four and puppy cuddles and I couldn’t be happier. I’m super thankful for all of my friends, Nintendo and the new people I met on this trip. Thank you all for an amazing weekend!

Let’s do it all again soon, ladies.

DISCLOSURE: This weekend adventure was provided by Brand About Town and Nintendo because I am a bad ass brand enthusiast. All thoughts and opinions are my own though, so back up off me, FTC.