A MUST Read!

I picked this up last week and it's fantastic! Perfect book to read with a glass of wine and your outdoor fireplace! Read it, ladies and let's meet for coffee to discuss!

Don't forget to RSVP!

Itinerary coming SOON!

Semi-GNO! (a husband or two came along for the ride)

Lots of fun hanging with "The Neighbor" and the cousins last weekend! :-) Definitely need to do that more often. We even got to see our very own, J. Scott sing & play the piano @ Howl at the Moon! Been a while since I danced! miss those good 'ol days!

Invitations are out for DIVA NIGHT!

You should have received an invitation from Valerie about Diva Night! :-) Some of you recieved hard copies in the mail and some an email. Please RSVP as soon as you can! It's going to be an AMAZING night in Orlando. V has created a fabulous lineup of bars and restuarants. We are sure to be treated like divas, VIP style!!! :-) Looking forward to seeing everyone in a little over a month!

Save the Date: December 13th - "Ladies in Red" GNO!!

Valerie S. (thank you, thank you, thank you) has offered to coordinate a cruise-inspired "Ladies in Red" GNO on December 13th in celebration of the Holiday/Christmas Season. I'm meeting her for lunch on Tuesday to confirm details and she'll share them with everyone soon. So, mark your calendars!! Invitations to follow! :-)

Our AMAZING GNO Cruise to Cozumel!

What happens when you put 9 women, 9 crazy women, I might add on a cruise ship for 5 days??? (other than "Lakeland Girls Gone Wild"?) Fun and fabulous memories that will last a lifetime! I love all of you dearly and looking forward to seeing you all again, soon. Thank you for the most AMAZING GNO trip ever!

The Knot Magazine Fall Preview Party

LOVE, LOVE, LOVED Ceviche www.ceviche.com and The Dessert Lady www.dessertlady.com on Church Street in Orlando. Angela, Dee & Andrea attended The Knot Magazine Preview Party and enjoyed Ceviche's yummy sangria, tasty hors d'oeuvres and of course the fabulous wine & cheese at The Dessert Lady, a chic & trendy wine and dessert bar located across from Ceviche. A much-needed GNO!

GREAT Idea for a GNO!

I met with Eric Abril today from The Starship Dinner Cruise at the Tampa Port/Channelside. Their newest ship has a great story (helped transport people out of Manhattan on 9/11) and is newly rennovated and remodled. A perfect GNO offering a fabulous meal, drinks and of course dancing! Convieniently located @ Channelside in Tampa. Visit http://www.yachtstarship.com for more info. They offer a great 2 for 1 dining cruise. What a great Thanksgiving/Christmas night out! And, guess what was parked next to the Starship???? Oh yes, girls - Carnival Inspiration!!!! I so wanted to hop on!!!! 10 days til we sail away!!!!

Girls, need a secret for those long runs?

Add a mixture of candy corn & peanuts in your sports bra pouch and you will be revived! :-) Some runners may disagree, but I'm not a big "gu-shot" fan (from a personal experience while running my 1st Marathon). While in Tally this weekend, my typical pre-run protein bar and bottle of Figi weren't handy, so I snagged my "travelling treats" (yes - this snack tends to replace my meals when traveling - I know BAD BAD BAD) off the counter and took off. After mile 3 and again after 5, I popped a few and it really helped keep my energy up.....try it! Can you tell, I "think" a lot while running? I was thinking the entire time; I've got to tell my girlfriends about this!!!

Fall Favorites for the Ladies!

Some of you may ask how in the world, I, Angela Newell have time to watch TV..... my secret? TiVo! :-) Luckily, my little one is in bed by 8pm, so my evenings are full of work emailing, updating my blog, reading books and watching TV! :-) TiVo saves me during frequent water and email breaks. Here's some favorites....and no, I didn't leave Desparate Housewives off by accident - I'm just not a fan :-)

• 90210 (started last week) - Tuesdays 8pm


• Grey's - September 25th, 9pm


• Private Practice - October 1st, 9pm


• The Hills (a little "young" for us, but it's still entertaining!) - Mondays 10pm


• Dirty Sexy Money - October 1st, 10pm


• Brothers & Sisters - September 28th, 10pm

Hurricanes - GO AWAY!!!

No need to panic, ladies! 9 times out of 10, the cruise ship will sail! They will most likely reroute us if the storm nears our ship's ports. In our case (with only 1 stop), we would most likely remain at sea or go to another port. Don't forgot lots of dramamine and those rediculous-looking earrings, bracelets, etc (which do work by the way). I hope you have all printed your docs and Fun Pass. We sail in 2 weeks!

GNO joins GNO!

In honor on my Mom's 51st birthday, we attended another GNO group at The Harborside in Winter Haven, the location of her 50th birthday. I enjoyed "wine talk" with Amy & my fun and adorable Aunt Bev. Thanks for the invite ladies, now we expect you to join our GNO group one of these days!!!

Shopping gone Football!

Okay, so yes - when our shopping outing got the boot (thanks to the "storm", school starting and Evan running a really wierd 72 hour string of high fevers) we ended up with 4 shoppers, so Amy and I sold out and decided to take advantage of Scott's (thanks, honey) Bucs Season tickets. I mean, we certainly didn't want them to go to waste! So, we spent the day with our families, then took off to Tampa for a "mini-GNO" :-) Sorry, ladies! Jennie Walker has some ideas to October (Sept is cruise month) and Tiffany suggests The Melting Pot (my favorite restaurant). They now have their own "Girls Night Out" specials. So, we'll keep everyone informed....

GNO Shopping & Dinner Excursion 8.17.08 (Orlando)

Being the shop-o-holics that we are, this is such a PERFECT GNO! Thanks, Heather and Amy for planning this! I'm looking forward to shopping for our GNO cruise-wear! The exact location for dinner and shopping TBD! Any suggestions/input would be great! See you all then! Maybe we can borrow Gary's "Newell's Nole" van if we all want to ride together! :-)

Oh, GOSH! - what fun!

Thanks, girls for a FAB night out having sushi and drinks!! I so needed it! It was GREAT to see some new faces! I love you all and hope to see you soon!

Next GNO: 6.24.08 @ Gosh!

Join us on Tuesday, June 24th at 6:30pm for some sushi and wine @ Gosh, located @ Lake Miriam Plaza, Lakeland. Looking forward to seeing the girls! Chat soon, Ang.

Sex & the City Movie Premiere

Oh what fun to be "Carried" away! Some of us girls went all out for the premiere of Sex and the City. We laughed and we cried, but it was everthing we expected and more. The fashion, the music, the designers and of course the "BIG" surprises!!

Mother's Day Dinner

Thanks, Juli for hosting a GNO Mother's Day Dinner at Bonefish! It was great seeing everyone! Happy Mother's Day!

April's GNO!

We had a fantastic time at Farris & Fosters making a ton of chocolate calories! Angela took home the most with a total of $39 in pure chocolate. Ending the night at "Denny B's" (renamed by Amy) aka Jimmy D's was a total blast. Our American Idols, Tiffany and Andrea stole the karoke show and the hearts of a ton of PolkCountians. Thanks girls for a totally cool GNO! We missed you Dee, Eliska, Carrie & Jenna!

April's Night Out @ 7pm on Fri, April 18th

Farris & Fosters is located at Lakeside Village on the west end, near Cobb Theatre. Bring an hors d'oeuvre/appetizer and beverage of choice (alcohol is permitted). The cost is $20pp (10pp or more) or $22pp (less than 10 people) I look forward to catching up with all of you! See you Friday!

March is slipping away!

Hello Ladies! I was hoping to move our night out to April. March has slipped away and with Easter and Spring Break around the corner, I thought that would be best for everyone. Some of you wanted to go out on a Friday. How does Friday, April 18th sound for everyone?

I met with Foster @ Farris & Fosters today about an event and this place is incredible. You will all love it! I've priced out the evening below. Please let me know ASAP if 4.18.08 is a good day. I know we won't be able to have everyone there, but I hope the majority of you are able to make it. If we find this date isn't good for the majority of the girls, we can obviously change it. Just let me know!

7:00pm, Farris & Fosters, Friday, April 18th

• $20 per person (10+) or $22 per person (less than 10 people)
• Everyone gets 1lb of chocolate to take home
• Bring one hors d'oeuvre to share
• Bring your beverage of choice for yourself (alchohol IS permitted) :-) Vintner's Wine Cellar has wine that pair with these chocolates!!!
• Casual attire

To *spice* things up a bit, we are going to talk about "what we do in a week". When I think about everything I do and accomplish in 7 days, it blows my mind! I want everyone to share how they "manage" it all! Sometimes, I think I'm going CRAZY!! :-)

Love you all! :-)

March 08?

Okay, as you can see on the right, there was a three-way tie between; Farris & Fosters, Cork & Olive wine tasting and dancing. Since Farris & Fosters & Cork & Olive are right around the corner from each other (@ Lakeside Village), maybe we can do both! I'm going to check out their availability and rates of both.

Some of you have said that Thursday or Friday is better. Give me feedback on that, so I can try and accommodate most of you!

Looking forward to seeing all of you soon!!!

Email me or reply in the comment section of the blog.

How it all started...

We all live busy lives. We have husbands, children, work, extracirricular activies, school, etc. The past two years of my life have been extraordinary. I became a wife, mother and business owner. I've learned that taking care of myself if just as important as taking care of my son, my husband and my home. I've also learned that mothers have a special bond. whether we are working mothers or stay at home momes, we all love our children and do everything in our power to ensure they are taken care of, happy and healthy.

When I decided to re-open my company, I was nervous about the time it would take away from my son. I soon realized that working and doing something I loved doing, only made me a better mom. I know it made me a healthier person; not only mentally, but physically. I feel so blessed to have a house full of love and laughter. As I strive to be a better person a better mother and a better wife, I know I have to continue to take care of myself just as much as I take care of my family. There are three people living in our home, not two.

Surrounding myself with strong women and fabulous friends help make my life better. I have learned so much from my friends and hope those relationships continue to be a big part of my life. With that said, I wanted to start a "Ladies night out" once every other month. I just wanted a night out that we could talk, eat, relax, etc. My goal would be each night out would be planned by a different person. Our first night out was at a restaurant and we have 6 ladies....our 2nd night out was a "spa night" and there were 7 of us. I hope this starts a tradition and grows each time.

I wanted to start a blog, so we could communicate, share stories, recipes, shopping trends, children stories and more. As our group grows, I know our friendships will too! I truly believe this will help us all make it through those stressful days a work and at home. We ALL need a little time to ourselves to hang with the girls.....

Okay, so when is the next evening out with the girls? Vote now!