Me llamo Emilia

Work, work, work, all day long.... man if I am going to have this much paperwork piled up when I get back from being gone for a week, I'm definitely not looking forward to getting back to work on the 19th......

The good thing about being back at AgeWell is that I am back in Edina and therefore available to go on my bi-weekly lunch date with Joel : ) Each time we meet, we try to go to a different place (except a couple of weeks ago when we had a small communication error and ended up at Toby Keith's again ; ) but I love Toby so I'm not really complaining!).

Today we went to a Mexican place in the Shops at West End area called Rojo Mexican Grill. Located on the corner of West End Blvd. Rojo has a really cool outside eating area with dark wood and fun earthy red, brown, and yellow tones to go accent. I didnt get a chance to go inside because it was such a beautiful day outside and we just ate on the patio, but I saw on their website that they have several "Watch-them-cook" stations, which are always really cool to see. The food was very good, I had some mammoth chicken tacos and super tasty sticky rice and Joel had the Rojo burger which apparently was very spicy! Because it was only 1:00pm on a Tuesday, I didnt venture out and try one of their 75 different tequilas, although I do love me a good tequila ; ) If you are in St. Louis Park or the north part of the cities, check out Rojo Mexican Grill yourself, or call me up and we can meet for margaritas!


I have been slacking a bit on my "Operation Beautiful" messages lately, so the other day when I was at Starbucks I left a fun one in the bathroom that I hope the staff and customers will appreciate ; ) I mean we all know how caffeine can give us that extra burst of energy in the morning, so why not use that enthusiasm to help make someones day! If you are picking up "postie" trend (haha I love that word) please let me know and send me your pictures!! I can't wait for the day when I am going to put my own Postie up and see one already there!







Song of the Day: It seems the song of the day has been predominantly country music for the past couple of days, and though I LOVE country music, I think it's time to mix it up a little bit. This song is from one of my favorite rock artists now, the unbelievably talented Zakk Wylde. Formerly Ozzy's protege, Zakk plays for Black Label Society, an awesome hard rock band, and also has his own solo material. I really enjoy this song "Between Heaven and Hell" because it shows off his incredible guitar skills and is smooth, deep vocals.

"All that you know and all that you knew In the end child, tell me what's it all mean to you? Don't forget just who and where you are -- You can spread your wings son But don't you spread yourself too far"

Home for a day and already wrapped up in the planning of my next trip. Back to work today at the Family Partnership, getting things finalized for the Peace Power and Unity Conference that will be happening while I am gone (October 16th, you all should check it out!) and National Family Week which is in November. Although I get to show off more of my creative instincts doing weddings and party like events, I really enjoy working on conferences and workshops like these. It creates a different atmosphere that definitely helps me when organizing and planning my other projects : )
After work I had to take care of some of the things I needed to get done before Italy, mainly going to the bank and the AT&T store so I will have money and a way to connect with people while I am overseas. I haven't been to Europe in a while, so I forgot how much the Euro to the Dollar exchange rate is. Despite having to pay the 1 Euro to every $1.50 rate, I got soo excited for my trip with that colorful money in my hands : ) The last time I was in Italy, it was my sophomore year of high school when my high school band went for our spring break trip. At that time we traveled down the Southern coast, stopping in Rome, Sorrento, the Almalfi Coast, and Tuscany.

This time around I am going with my fabulous Aunt Cindy and cousin Sam! We are renting a villa in the town of Positano and I'm sure the wine will be flowing the entire trip. We should have wi-fi in the villa so I am going to do my best to bring you with me on the trip!

Song of the Day: I heard this song on the radio for the first time today and immediately fell in love with it. I mean, you can never go wrong with a Tim McGraw song, and this one is no exception. Delightfully called "Felt Good On My Lips, " this song is a cute little sing along song that reminds me of that new crush feeling : )

"Said her name was a hand me down name, From the side of a family that long ago came, Over here on a boat from somewhere in Spain. Sounded to me just a little bit strange, I guess. But I have to admit, it felt good on my lips. Oh oh oh I wanna go crazy, You can go crazy too. Oh oh oh I wanna go crazy, I wanna go crazy with you"

Leg Six: New Berlin and HOME!

I dont want this trip to end.....maybe I'll become a traveling salesman and just drive the open highways catching up with old friends, meeting new ones, and having a blasty blast all over the country....pretty pretty please? Never mind that this is what I look like after a week long roadtrip....hmmm maybe not....

Sunday was another early morning wake up call, as I wanted to get back on the road to make it home before it got too late. So I said goodbye to one Jayme in Chicago and hello to another Jaime in New Berlin, Wisconsin. Because Jamie had to work in the morning, we had a quick catch up chat at the Panera right by her house. Now usually I go to Panera for lunch or dinner for a salad or grilled pannini, so it was a rare treat to be there for breakfast. So I thought I would be a little adventurous and try something new, a ham and swiss souffle. And O' my goodness, did that decision pay off! I am a big fan of eggs and egg dishes, and this tasty treat was the perfect pairing of fluffy eggs and crispy pastry that absolutely melted in my mouth. Enjoying great food is always the best way to enjoy great friends ; )

After learning a little more about Jamie's life, it was back on the road again, this time on the long road home. I cant express how much I enjoyed this trip, I got the chance to reconnect with so many wonderful people, and meet some equally wonderful new ones! There really isnt anything more important to me than creating and fostering relationships with people. I know I was joking earlier, but I would really love an opportunity to travel the country, and even the world, meeting people, seeing amazing things, experiencing new things, and writing about them to share with you all! If anyone has any ideas or knows of any opportunities to do that, please let me know! : )

Song of the day: Even though I love traveling, there really isnt any place like home. As "The Great Midwest Roadtrip" came to an end, it was so nice to fall into my OWN bed and curl up in my homemade quilt once I got back to Eagan. So the song of the day is a wonderfully soulful song by Marc Broussard called "Home". Home may be the name of the song, but all this song makes me want to do is get my boots on and make my way down to the South for some fried chicken and bluegrass ; )

"Hot damn you should have felt the groove,
Like I was swimming in a sea of soul.
The sun was rising and the day was hot,
And we was all about to lose control.
My daddy turned his face up towards the sky,
And I knew that there was nothing to lose,
I felt the crowd breathe in and I closed my eyes,
And we disappeared into the groove"

A Day in the Life of Jaymian

You know, I think I could get used to being in Chicago.... ; )

Saturday, Jayme and I got up early for a day full of sightseeing, Badger watching, and of course, WALKING! Despite the chilly and rainy weather, Jayme and I walked all the way down Michigan Avenue (picking a pretty snazzy Northface jacket on the way ; ) to Millennium Park where we got to see the BEAN! I had never been to the bean before, so it was SUPER fun taking a million crazy pictures. I'm not a professional photographer by any means, but I think at least some of our pictures turned out pretty cool! If you are getting married in Chicago, I would definitely think about going to Millennium Park for engagement or wedding pictures. Not only would you get the pretty outside garden shots in the park, but you could do some really fun things with the features in the park, like the bean, or the founders fountain. If you are goingto be in that area, Allori Photography has some good shots at the bean, also Huffaker Photography has some really cool pictures as well.

After the long walk home in the rain, I was ready for a good brew, burger, and some Badgers! Luckily there was a Wisconsin bar right behind Jayme's apartment in the city! The bar was called the Cedar Hotel, and they had a mighty good cheeseburger if I do say so myself. The only disappointing thing, besides the score of the game, was that they didnt have any Wisconsin beers (besides Miller lite) for us cheese heads to enjoy. A Spotted Cow sure would have hit the spot, but my Goose Island 312 did the job fine ; )

I know it seems that the day couldnt have gotten more exciting, but o yes, it did. That evening was most exciting because I got to see my cousin Chad and his lovely girlfriend Mary Kate! Because both of our dads moved away from Michigan before we were born, we didnt really get to see much of each other growing up. I have always been in the Midwest and Chad and his brother Jake were in California and Missouri and all sorts of crazy places ; ) So when we finally get to see each other, its a big deal! We celebrated by getting margaritas and appetizers at Blue Agave and then walked down to Bootleggers where Chad and I were robbed by one cup in beer pong! I had such a good time catching up with him and meeting Mary Kate, I cant wait till the next time I see them (hopefully as family and as clients ; )

Song of the Day: To go along with my excitement to see my cousin, the song of the day is all about being proud of your family and your name, however its okay if you go your own way and maybe do things a little bit differently. "Family Tradition" always makes me smile, and not just because of Hank Williams Jr's twangy smoothness ; )


"Don't ask me Hank why do you drink? (Hank) why do you roll smoke? Why must you live out the songs that you wrote? If I'm down in a Honky-Tonk Some ol' slicks tryin to give me corrections I'll say leave me alone I'm singin all night long it's a family tradition"

Leg Five: Chicago!

Bear with me, still recapping from the weekend! Not much to report for Friday cause I spent most of the day driving, but I do want to share the delicious restaurant we went to the first night I was in Chi-town!

After the fun filled evening with the family on Thursday night at Opus, it was tough waking up with the Garner family at 5:45am on Friday to say goodbye to them before they all jetted off to their wonderfully busy lives. It was worth it though, and after a quick morning catnap, I was on the road again, this time to visit Jayme in the windy city! The traffic in the city was CRAZY but I finally arrived and Jayme and I hit the streets! We ended up having dinner at Due, a sister company to the famous Uno's Pizzeria. Mmmmm I'll tell you nothing hit the spot better at a street side table than a pepperoni Chicago style deep dish pizza and a frosty Sam Adams Cherry Wheat! If you like the food they have at Uno's, I would definitely recommend Due, they have such a wide selection of entrees that you really cant go wrong if you go there : )

After the scrumcious meal at Due, Jayme and I walked to the three story movie theater on Illinois St. to see the Social Network. I thought the movie was good, a little different than I thought it was going to be but still good. It's funny, after hearing the backstory, I started thinking about the backlash that could come from the movie; yet within the 10 minutes when we got back to Jayme's apartment I was already on facebook. O the technology age we live in .... I should really work on my internet obsession....


Song of the Day: Since I went along with the Michigan theme on "The Great Midwest Roadtrip" I think it is fitting to continue on to the next city for the song of the day. Today's song is " 25 or 6 to 4" by, yes you guessed it, Chicago. This is a great song to jam out to because not only because, well come on it's Chicago, and the guitar solo is amazing, but also because I really like the horn sections : )

"Waiting for the break of day (ba da-da-da-da-da Da) searching for something to say (ba da-da-da-da-da Da Da!) Flashing lights against the sky, giving up I close my eyes"

Hendrix Original

Ah! Its funny how even on vacations you get so busy! Sorry I havent been updating, I'm catching up today before making the final journey back home to Minnesota. I saw a TON of cool things over the weekend so I am probably going to do separate blogs for each day so you dont get overwhelmed : )

So on Thursday I got the chance to hang out a bunch with my family and get in touch with some of my Garner "entrepreneurship" roots. There are a lot of people in my family that have the entrepreneurial spirit, and I am eternally grateful for that because I can always turn to someone who has been there when I need help.

The oldest business my family owns is called Garner's Jewlery and Exchange and their main office is in Taylor, Michigan. In addition to be a jewelry store, the store also functions as a pawn shop. When I was a kid my sister and I would always come to Michigan for the summer and we would rush to the store to see what discount DVD's and videogames we could find ; ) They have a HUGE selection of items, everything from TV's and CD's to instruments and guns. If you live in the Taylor/Detroit/Redford area and are looking for something, come to Garner's and they can help you find whatever you need!

In the same building as Garner's Jewelry and Exchange, my family also owns and operates Garner Properties and Management, where they manage over 1200 properties in the Detroit area. But wait, that's not all. My cousin Aaron also started his own law firm, the Law Offices of Aaron D. Cox. All of our family businesses specialize in customer service and making sure that our clients receive the best service out there. It makes me proud to be the next family member to be starting their own business : )

So after a day of family reconnecting, the whole lot of us went out to downtown Detroit where my Aunt Brenda works at the MGM Grand - Detroit. After some drinks and sushi at Ignite, we all met up at Opus One, a schwanky little restaurant of Larned St. Because it is restaurant week for many of the businesses downtown, we got to have a full sample of the menu, from appetizers to desert. It was great because the whole table ordered different things so there was a bunch of sharing and tasting of everyone's dishes. The food was absolutely delicious, and the wine never stopped flowing ; ) It was great to sit and chat with my family and get more advice on how to further my business. Per Aaron and Uncle Chris's advice, I am putting out a help wanted listing for my "catch phrase". Apparently I need a catchy slogan that people can associate my business with and I have been trying to come up with something but am not having any luck. So, if anyone out there has any suggestions for a catch phrase for em.my events, post it here or let me know and there will be a prize for the person who comes up with the best slogan!! : D

Overall the Michigan trip was just great, I love being with my family and definitely need to make it a point to see all of them more often! Thanks to everyone for having me and to Uncle Chris and Aunt Brenda for letting me stay with them!
Song of the Day: This trip has been so fun and relaxing, especially when I am just chilling at my aunt and uncle's house with Turk. So the song of the day is "Banana Pancakes" by Jack Johnson cause its just a fun little song that makes me smile and makes me want to just do whatever all the time, haha ; )
"This Song is meant to keep ya from doing what you're supposed to, like waking up too early. Maybe we can sleep in, I'll make you banana pancakes, pretend like it's the weekend now. And we could pretend it all the time"

Bravo Beverage: According to my Uncle Chris and his friend Gordon, this drink is the King of gin drinks. I am a fan of gin, but it has a very, so to say "ginny", taste to it so if you dont like gin I wouldnt really recommend it. The drink is called the Hendrix Original, and my Uncle is very particular on how you fix it. I dont remember exactly what is in it, but the two key ingredients are Hendrix gin and powdered sugar. I was a little skeptical at first, but after tasting it, I really liked it! Now its not a drink that I can see myself ordering all the time (fancy gin is expensive!), but maybe every now and then : )