Boston Marathon Weekend - Better Late Than Never!

This April marked the 113th Boston Marathon - and our first here in Boston. In my mind, nothing can top that first Sunday in November when 37,000 people run the New York City Marathon, but this was a close second!



Our friend Tim and his girlfriend Stephanie came up to Boston - and Tim even brought his own homemade pasta sauce so we could all carb load together two nights before the race. Not sure I needed to eat more carbs than the guy running 26.2 miles that weekend - but yummmmm.



Tim's famous secret sauce, er, I mean, "gravy" for all you New York Italians



The Team World Vision folks and I grabbed a nice warm cup of coffee and arrived at the finish line around 7 a.m. to get a good spot to watch Ryan Hall compete. He was the top American heading into the race - and he loves World Vision, too! He and his wife, Sara, are awesome.







Watching the elite runners out on the course before the came to us at Mile 26. Ryan ended up finishing 3rd - great job!

My Little Sister is Getting Married

Eeek! My little sister is getting married in January. She wants a 1940's glam kind of wedding - very sparkly and cozy in January! It's hard to believe...but I went home last weekend for another friend's wedding, and we spent a day at the dress shop trying on wedding dresses.

She.looked.gorgeous.

Wish I could post the pics here, but I'll have to keep you in suspense until January 9, 2009.

Chastains Visit Boston

Sometimes, there is no better medicine than a good friend...and her husband!

We had a few precious hours on Memorial Day with our favorite Thomasville, Georgia friends - Katie and Scott - this weekend. Good wine, good walks, and good peach, cherry & blackberry cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream. Doesn't get much better than that!

And if you're ever in Thomasville and looking for a good book, make sure to check out there amazing little shop: The Bookshelf.

Nothing Better Than A Little Ron Burgundy Before Noon

Watch more Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy videos on AOL Video

If It's 12:30 a.m. In Boston, It Must Be 2:30 p.m. In Pakistan

It's not every day that I get to say,"Sorry, I have to take this call - it's Pakistan!"

You may have been reading in the news about the latest round of violence in Pakistan between militant groups and the Pakistani government. As a result of the fighting, upwards of nearly 500,000 people could be displaced and end up somewhere between home, a friend's house, and an IDP (internally displaced persons) camp. You can read more about it here.

Here's what my day looked like today -
6:30 a.m. - Email from Netherlands regional office with our press release and latest info from our team in Pakistan.
7:30 a.m. - Run. Today could be a long one.
8:30 a.m. - Call boss. Put together media plan for Pakistan.
9:30 a.m. - Call Pakistan. First of many calls today. Weird how clear they sounded!
10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. - Didn't get lunch. Forgot to shower. Sat in my workout clothes, calling Pakistan and the network desks all day. Stinky!
3:30 p.m. - Finally. Hot shower. Ahhhh.
4:30 p.m. - 60 Minutes, ABC News, and CNN all want to connect with our team on the ground in the IDP camps. Yes! It's not every day you get interest from the networks.
6:30 p.m. - Break. Rest. Stop. Chill. Time for a little BBQ with friends. And 3 rounds of Mafia.
10:30 p.m. - Phone rings right in the middle of Mafia. "Hold on, sorry, it's Pakistan. I have to take this..." That is definitely a sentence I've never said before.
12:30 a.m. - Back on Skype. Texting. Emailing. Another few calls to Pakistan. Our team is doing an assessment of the situation with the refugees in the camps and is determining the best ways to help.
1:00 a.m. - I am still blogging, trying to stay awake because I have to make one.last.call. to Pakistan before I can sleep! But my bed is so cozy...

I feel so blessed to have a job where I have the opportunity to be a voice for the voiceless - or in this case, the hundreds of thousands of people who don't have a voice in this terrible situation. To bring light to a crisis around the world and to work with our staff on the ground who are serving the people there - it is an honor and a privilege.


One of the young girls World Vision worked with in 2007

Pray for the children and their families there. It is a difficult situation - and help is needed to care for the tens of thousands of families fleeing from their homes. You can learn more about World Vision's work throughout the Middle East here. And as soon as I got photos from the field, I will post them.

Happy *Almost* Mother's Day, Mom!

An early shout-out to my mom who just spent a long weekend with us in Boston!

We had a great time - sleepy mornings with coffee, walks around our neighborhood, antiques in Cambridge, Italian dinner in the North End, and the Harvard Square May Fair to name just a few of our adventures.



Ida's in the North End - a classic, tiny, hole-in-the-wall down an alley off of Hanover Street - but the best Italian food! They've been there since 1951. Everyone who came in after us was on a first-name basis with the waitress.



After Ida's, we all headed over to Mike's Pastry for cannolis and cappuccinos and then walked down to the pier to watch the sunset together.





Artists in Harvard Square chalk on the sidewalk as part of the annual May Fair.



Smiling after sharing some lunch, street-food style.

Art in Bloom!

Each year, just as spring is about to reveal itself to the tired, weary, so-over-winter Bostonians, the Museum of Fine Arts hosts "Art in Bloom" - an annual festival that mixes fine art and beautiful flowers throughout the museum.

The museum transforms its galleries with 50 floral arrangements inspired by works of art - I saw everything from Asian sculptures to European paintings mimicked in the flowers.







Bonus: Every Monday, the MFA opens its doors for free from 5 - 9 p.m., so I got to see the new "Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice" exhibit for free, too!

I made it over to the museum just in time to spin through both exhibits before they closed - so creative!