Footgolf!

After a weekend of hockey and soccer, my friends and I decided to try something a little different and play footgolf. Foot golf is exactly like real golf...but with a soccer ball.

It turned out to way harder then we thought. 300 yards is far when you are kicking it. 

My dad would be proud as we used a groupon I found to get 5 players, two golf carts and 5 balls for 60% off. 

It was pretty hot, at 90 for most of the game. But it was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon! And I got in 2nd.

Newport Beach

My adventures in Orange County continued into Sunday. I slept over my new friend (and fellow penn Dtater) Carol's place after our dance marathon. The best part was she had a puppy and a turtle to play with. 

It was yet another beautiful day in California, so naturally we had to go to the beach.

And get some drinks at the surfer bar

And eat a nice big sandwich with avacado on it.

And watch the sunset over the water 

I know, I live a tough life.

Lights. Camera. Cure.

This past weekend was very very busy as I travelled to Hollywood to participate in a Penn State alumni fundraiser, Lights. Camera. Cure. Which raises money for the same charity that THON did. 

I was one of 168 dancers, mostly penn state alum, who danced for 6 hours and raised money for kids fighting cancer. It was great to be able to still be contributing to this great cause even after graduation. I was a part of the Orange County team, and it was a lot of fun! 

There were a bunch of celebrities, families, and awesome bands to keep us entertained. And in the end, we raised over $100,000 for the kids! 

Happy first day of spring!

It's spring here!! (obviously not on the east coast) 

To celebrate the first day of spring, we on the employee excitement committee bought daffodils and tulips and left them on every employees desk last night for a Friday morning surprise! Obviously they were a big hit and everyone told us we were the best excitement committee they have ever had. As if we didn't already know :) 

Afternoon in Baltimore

I'm Well the business end of things at this business trip went pretty awful. Long story short...I'm back on the east coast next week for a redo. So, no Katie made product on the shelf quite yet!

Luckily I was able to shake off the stress with a afternoon trip into Baltimore with my college roommate, Chelsea. 

Since Chelsea had never been, and I hadn't been since I was a kid, we decided to check out the National aquarium. It was a good day for it, as it was half empty and there was noticeable lack of children.

The first thing we did, as any mature adult would, was find the nemo fish 

We had fun roaming the exhibits and checking out all the Sharks 

And the turtles (my favorite)

And naturally, the Dolphins. 

And my new favorite, the tasseled wobblegong.

Basically, we just had a lot of fun 

And no trip is complete with out mentioning the food. We walked over to little italy because one thing california really fails at is italian food. Luckily I got my fill of wine, foccaccia, and whatever deliciousness we had for dessert.

Tomorrow it's back to 90 degree weather and Palm trees! But I can't settle too much, I'll be back in Maryland next week to redo our failed trial. Oh well, more miles for me! 

Planes, trains and automobiles

I am back on the east coast! I am in Maryland for my first production run of a product I created! Very exciting stuff. Except that I have to be at the factory at 2am tomorrow....

But luckily, lots of my friends are in the area so I'm taking the metro back from DC after having dinner with my friend Chris from college!  

I have to report the plant super early tomorrow for a very long day of work. But luckily I get to see my college roommate Chelsea all wednesday! It's a busy trip but it's going to be great! 

Saturday Road trip

It's starting to get hot here in Bakersfield, with temperature going into the 90s this weekend! So to beat the March heat, my friend Justine and I decided to road trip through the Central Valley. 

(We were parked when this picture was taken, for the record.)

The Central Valley of california is basically one giant farm, and right now is when all of the almond, citrus, peach, and other trees are in bloom. 

It was a perfect day for a drive through the valley, we saw tons of blossom, cows, and Orange trees with big juicy oranges on them

We had to stop at a farm to grab a bag of oranges for the trip. It was a very interesting place, complete with an arcade shooting gally. 

And a giant candy store

And naturally, this being california, we had to stop at a few wineries along the way 

Overall, a fun day of flowers, small towns and wine! 

And sunday consisted of hours at the pool, sipping on mojitos and catching some sun :) 

Color Me Rad

So since I am the new, young energetic member of my group, I have found myself voted to be a member of the Nestle Excitement Committee. Along with the other newbies, Todd and Agata, we are in charge of coming up with fun events for team building and lately, stress relief. 

Luckily, one of my favorite events rolled into Bakersfield this weekend, Color Me Rad. It's a 5K where you get covered in colorful paint and powders, and just have a great time. Surprisingly, the whole team was enthusiastic about it and excited to wake up early on a Saturday morning and go running (well, mostly walking). 

Here is the before and after shots of me and my co-workers! It having everyone, from the "young kids" to my manager in on the fun. 

My favorite part is dressing up crazy. My friends Bridgett, Justine and I weren't afraid to go all out. It's hard to see in the pictures, but I had on a cape that got a few compliments. Bridgett embraced her inner hippie with lots of flowers, and Justine rocked out some nerd gear. 

We did some running, mostly through the colors. But mostly we walked the course in the 70 degree weather. 

At the end we got loft of bags of powder to throw at each other. A big fight broke out among us, and we all got covered in every color. It was a lot of goofiness and fun. 

I think our excitement committee is off to a great start. We have a lot more events planned to keep up the fun and team building. 

The best part was Todd dressing up as an ice cream cone. Tons of people wanted to take pictures with him and he was a big target for the people shooting paint. 

The run was over before noon, so we spent the rest of the perfect weather lounging by the pool and having an impromptu BBQ complete with burgers, brats, and beer. 

When the sun finally went down, we grabbed some sushi and headed downtown to the bars to hang out and sip on Mojitos. Overall it was a great "spring" day and I was exhausted by the time I laid down in my bed!