Hi everyone!
Be sure and check out the new blog and some new updates on A Day in May, Event Planning & Design website!
Happy Saturday,
Alicia
Saturday, November 21, 2009
New look!
Hi everyone!
Be sure and check out the new blog and some new updates on A Day in May, Event Planning & Design website!
Happy Saturday,
Alicia
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Six letter word
For over 18 years my mom has been a breast cancer survivor and patient. Ever since I can remember we've had five members in our four person family. Through countless surgeries, treatments, emotional roller coasters and stories of success I'm writing this post to tell you how she's inspired me, our family and my closest friends. I've never been more proud to be my mother's daughter than I am now.
My senior year of college at Michigan I lived with seven amazing women. Three of us out of the seven have mom's that lost, are fighting or had won their battles with breast cancer. One of my best friends Melissa lost her aunt to cancer. Another extremely close friend Chris lost his dad to cancer. My grandmother had breast cancer and my other grandmother had lung cancer- both have passed. And a new friend David is battling brain cancer.
Cancer- it has six letters, it's a word that is used as a verb and a noun. It's not uncommon to hear in conversation yet it stings each time it's spoken. Why? Is it that we don't talk enough about it? I hear about cancer all the time on the news? Is it that we are immune to it? Surely "I" won't get cancer. Is it that we are scared of it?...
After 18 years of a continued fight my mom is at peace with her cancer. Through the word of God my mom sees her cancer as a gift. Each day she wakes up and thanks Him for the new day before her, for my dad, my brother and I, for Kyle and the dogs, for the life she has. Each day cancer is a six letter word. Nothing more, nothing less.
Four weeks ago three of my best friends told me they were going to run Susan G. Komen's Race for the Cure in Denver. It was impossible for me to get to Denver that weekend but I wanted to run too. So on Sunday, October 4th at the same time but different time zones we all ran 5k in honor of my mom- the gang ran with thousands of other survivors, family members, supports and friends... I ran by myself back Traverse City.
Aside from feeling like I was going to die, I haven't ran 5k all summer, I made it! The gang runs every day so it wasn't a big deal to them. :) But the simple feat of all running together to honor my mom and support her was mind blowing to me. After the run I sent a couple pictures back to them shrinking the miles between hoping they'd send some of their pictures but I never got an email. I thought it was weird since we are all iPhone junkies- maybe they didn't get around to downloading the pictures or were busy with work like I was.
Then today I went to the mailbox after my meetings and had a card in the mail from them. There were the pictures and notes that brought me to tears. Everyone wrote such touching words of love and encouragement lifting me and our family up. They all ran with photos of my mom and carried a sign that said "Team Gail." Christina, Melissa, Kristin and I have been best friends for almost half of our lives. They along with their husbands Chris, Nick and Phil, Melissa's brother Jeff and his fiance' Judy and our other friend Aaron all ran.
The old cliche is that "words cannot describe" feelings. I disagree. I was overwhelmed with love from those images and words to the point of uncontrollable emotion. Murphy thought I was going to explode! I couldn't hold back the tears and crying... how amazing to witness God's love like that. It's incredible to know how much love they have for me but my mom as well. For 18 years she's inspired all of us to "just do it." Fight our fight and run the race. We did Mom, thanks to you.
Cancer- it's a not a six letter word. It's four, love.
The gang in Colorado :)
Me in TC :)
My senior year of college at Michigan I lived with seven amazing women. Three of us out of the seven have mom's that lost, are fighting or had won their battles with breast cancer. One of my best friends Melissa lost her aunt to cancer. Another extremely close friend Chris lost his dad to cancer. My grandmother had breast cancer and my other grandmother had lung cancer- both have passed. And a new friend David is battling brain cancer.
Cancer- it has six letters, it's a word that is used as a verb and a noun. It's not uncommon to hear in conversation yet it stings each time it's spoken. Why? Is it that we don't talk enough about it? I hear about cancer all the time on the news? Is it that we are immune to it? Surely "I" won't get cancer. Is it that we are scared of it?...
After 18 years of a continued fight my mom is at peace with her cancer. Through the word of God my mom sees her cancer as a gift. Each day she wakes up and thanks Him for the new day before her, for my dad, my brother and I, for Kyle and the dogs, for the life she has. Each day cancer is a six letter word. Nothing more, nothing less.
Four weeks ago three of my best friends told me they were going to run Susan G. Komen's Race for the Cure in Denver. It was impossible for me to get to Denver that weekend but I wanted to run too. So on Sunday, October 4th at the same time but different time zones we all ran 5k in honor of my mom- the gang ran with thousands of other survivors, family members, supports and friends... I ran by myself back Traverse City.
Aside from feeling like I was going to die, I haven't ran 5k all summer, I made it! The gang runs every day so it wasn't a big deal to them. :) But the simple feat of all running together to honor my mom and support her was mind blowing to me. After the run I sent a couple pictures back to them shrinking the miles between hoping they'd send some of their pictures but I never got an email. I thought it was weird since we are all iPhone junkies- maybe they didn't get around to downloading the pictures or were busy with work like I was.
Then today I went to the mailbox after my meetings and had a card in the mail from them. There were the pictures and notes that brought me to tears. Everyone wrote such touching words of love and encouragement lifting me and our family up. They all ran with photos of my mom and carried a sign that said "Team Gail." Christina, Melissa, Kristin and I have been best friends for almost half of our lives. They along with their husbands Chris, Nick and Phil, Melissa's brother Jeff and his fiance' Judy and our other friend Aaron all ran.
The old cliche is that "words cannot describe" feelings. I disagree. I was overwhelmed with love from those images and words to the point of uncontrollable emotion. Murphy thought I was going to explode! I couldn't hold back the tears and crying... how amazing to witness God's love like that. It's incredible to know how much love they have for me but my mom as well. For 18 years she's inspired all of us to "just do it." Fight our fight and run the race. We did Mom, thanks to you.
Cancer- it's a not a six letter word. It's four, love.
The gang in Colorado :)
Me in TC :)
Saturday, October 3, 2009
BIG SCAM HITS HOME
Hi everyone! My personal email account was hacked into this morning sending messages to my ENTIRE contact list (anyone who ever emailed me), dumping my contacts and hacking in to Facebook and Blogger. PLEASE do not wire any money to Western Union!
Kyle and I are not in London and we are fine. We were told by authorities that this is happening EVERYWHERE! To learn from our unfortunate episode make sure your passwords are all different and that you check them for security strength. We do not know how they hacked into my account but I believe that Blogger was used to include Kyle's and Murphy's name (yep they got the dog too!). There is nothing you can do to protect yourself except for being careful with sharing your password information through all the sites you use.
If your Facebook is hacked visit their "Privacy" link and scroll to Security and follow the prompts. If Google is hacked fill out the "Reclaim Account info."
Want to know the hacker's phone number? +2348089127656. Thanks Google :)
Dear Nigerian Hacker Jerks,
I wish that you did not live in such a poverty stricken area and stealing money from strangers is deemed unacceptable in your social circle. I happen to have friends from Nigeria who are wonderful people who made something of themselves other than just low life's who wreck havoc on others. Stay away from my accounts and my family.
Alicia "Don't Mess with Me" Caldecott
Kyle and I are not in London and we are fine. We were told by authorities that this is happening EVERYWHERE! To learn from our unfortunate episode make sure your passwords are all different and that you check them for security strength. We do not know how they hacked into my account but I believe that Blogger was used to include Kyle's and Murphy's name (yep they got the dog too!). There is nothing you can do to protect yourself except for being careful with sharing your password information through all the sites you use.
If your Facebook is hacked visit their "Privacy" link and scroll to Security and follow the prompts. If Google is hacked fill out the "Reclaim Account info."
Want to know the hacker's phone number? +2348089127656. Thanks Google :)
Dear Nigerian Hacker Jerks,
I wish that you did not live in such a poverty stricken area and stealing money from strangers is deemed unacceptable in your social circle. I happen to have friends from Nigeria who are wonderful people who made something of themselves other than just low life's who wreck havoc on others. Stay away from my accounts and my family.
Alicia "Don't Mess with Me" Caldecott
Monday, August 3, 2009
European inspiration
Before our season at A Day in May kicked into high gear at the end of May (I know, it's been two full months) my parents, brother and I embarked on our very own version of "National Lampoons: European Holiday."
We didn't get kidnapped or create any minor disasters however we took in the sites, sounds and culture the way only the Fritz Family could! With incredible airfare, under $400 from Traverse City... we are the 3rd most expensive airport to fly in and out of in the country, we flew across the pond to Stuttgart, Germany where our journey began.
Where is Stuttgart you may ask and why go there? Stuttgart prides itself in being the creative power of Germany. Located near the Black Forest and north of Switzerland it's home to two of my favorite things- Porsche and Mercedes :) But... when we arrived at 9:30am Germany time we didn't head into the city, we headed to the sleepy medieval town of Tübingen about 30 minutes outside the city.
This university town has been in the record books since the 12th century and survived WWII through it's lack of industry and catering to the more popular rise of tourism.
I'm no Jen Kroll or Bob Davis but here are some shots I took while walking around with the family (DISCLAIMER- my photo editing skills are not as sharp either but we're getting there!):
So cool huh! This was an old town government building that is now the local library.
I love these half-timbered houses. Walking along the cobblestone streets and gazing upward provided an interesting look at their architecture and color.
This was the only "cool" spot with a dampness that chilled you to the bone- it was welcome as we crossed the town... very hot that day! This would be an even cooler shot had I taken the picture before we started walking down.
This trip I wasn't taking pictures for the sake of taking pictures. I wanted to "play" with my photography not document every site we saw. I love this tile look from a gate over a window up the hill to the castle. Don't be surprised if you see this again :)
Schloß Hohentübingen or better known in english as Castle High Tübingen, was built in the 11th century but in the 12th and 13th century wooden walls shown here were incorporated. The castle is now home to the Univerty of Tübingen's ancient studies and overlooks the Nekar Region.
With the stifling heat and the onset of crankiness setting in from no sleep we headed back to Stuttgart. Oh I forgot to mention one minor detail... Andrew drove us on the Autobahn... in a pimped out Mercedes we rented... nice graduation present huh! Only problem was that it started to rain and heavy traffic around the city prevented him from really "driving" on the Autobahn. Next time...
We didn't get kidnapped or create any minor disasters however we took in the sites, sounds and culture the way only the Fritz Family could! With incredible airfare, under $400 from Traverse City... we are the 3rd most expensive airport to fly in and out of in the country, we flew across the pond to Stuttgart, Germany where our journey began.
Where is Stuttgart you may ask and why go there? Stuttgart prides itself in being the creative power of Germany. Located near the Black Forest and north of Switzerland it's home to two of my favorite things- Porsche and Mercedes :) But... when we arrived at 9:30am Germany time we didn't head into the city, we headed to the sleepy medieval town of Tübingen about 30 minutes outside the city.
This university town has been in the record books since the 12th century and survived WWII through it's lack of industry and catering to the more popular rise of tourism.
I'm no Jen Kroll or Bob Davis but here are some shots I took while walking around with the family (DISCLAIMER- my photo editing skills are not as sharp either but we're getting there!):
So cool huh! This was an old town government building that is now the local library.
I love these half-timbered houses. Walking along the cobblestone streets and gazing upward provided an interesting look at their architecture and color.
This was the only "cool" spot with a dampness that chilled you to the bone- it was welcome as we crossed the town... very hot that day! This would be an even cooler shot had I taken the picture before we started walking down.
This trip I wasn't taking pictures for the sake of taking pictures. I wanted to "play" with my photography not document every site we saw. I love this tile look from a gate over a window up the hill to the castle. Don't be surprised if you see this again :)
Schloß Hohentübingen or better known in english as Castle High Tübingen, was built in the 11th century but in the 12th and 13th century wooden walls shown here were incorporated. The castle is now home to the Univerty of Tübingen's ancient studies and overlooks the Nekar Region.
With the stifling heat and the onset of crankiness setting in from no sleep we headed back to Stuttgart. Oh I forgot to mention one minor detail... Andrew drove us on the Autobahn... in a pimped out Mercedes we rented... nice graduation present huh! Only problem was that it started to rain and heavy traffic around the city prevented him from really "driving" on the Autobahn. Next time...
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Love
I love my husband. So many days do I forget to tell him how much he really means to me and as I was searching through papers today I stopped and read a part of our wedding program- a poem that I love. I've been reminded of our finite life in many ways lately. We may never know what tomorrow holds for us however my prayer is that all those who mean the most to me recognize just how much I love them.
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
ee cummings
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
ee cummings
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Yes, Yes and Yes!!!
Before I blog about our fabulous trip (we just got home from Germany and Italy) I HAVE to post this!
Allison and I didn't make the best first impressions on one another but shortly after that infamous meeting we've been the greatest of friends and over three years ago she married the love of her life Jake Fox. Out of the Michigan Baseball program, the University of Michigan that is, Jake got drafted by the Chicago Cubs and just last week he was given the promotion of a lifetime... welcome to the big leagues!
There is not one person who derserves this more than Jake, aside from Ali- who's stood by him every pitch, run and strike out along the way.
I love you both so much and am so happy for you! GO TEAM FOX!!!
Jake Fox gets long-awaited promotion to Cubs
Fox finally gets a shot with the Cubs
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Thank you!
It is both an honor and an extreme privilege for me to announce that A Day in May was voted as The Best Wedding Planner in the Traverse City Area via Up North Live and is now a member of Traverse City's A-List Vendors!
Voting began about two months ago and ADIM was nominated! (Thank you for whomever nominated us!) There were over 14,000 votes cast for the A-List and we'd like to thank everyone who left us encouraging and heartfelt comments as well as those who showed their support in voting!
Having officially broken onto the stage over two years ago we are still in awe of the incredible people and clients that come our way. I truly have the greatest job... yes days can be long and weekends working can be difficult but the reward is so sweet. There is nothing that brings me more satisfaction than the happiness on my clients' faces!!
Cheers to all our phenomenal colleges who were also nominated and big thanks to those of you whom we work with regularly. There is no "I" in team and sometimes it takes an Army to execute a wedding!
Thank you again to all of you who believe in pursuing your dreams. Mine has just begun and I cannot wait to see where it takes me!!
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