In the past 90 days...

Well... I have really abandoned my blog, haven't I?!

A lot has happened since my last blog post over 90 days ago!!
Let's see if I can recap just the major events over the past few months:

1. Eric got a new job! It was absolutely crazy how quickly some major life changes all happened at once for us! First I got a new job, then we closed on our house (maybe even in the same week... I don't remember now!), then about a month later Eric got a new job! Talk about a whirlwind! He is the Director of Finance (aka: CFO) for the Town of Trophy Club! He is listed here next to "Finance Department". This job is QUITE a promotion for him, in responsibility and salary. We are so happy! Additionally, he is sitting for his 3rd of 4 CPA exams on August 30, then will take his last one in October. Once he obtains his CPA certification he will get another pay raise! Woo Hoo!

2. Andy Dalton, our beloved TCU starting quarterback since my sophomore year (I think) was drafted in the second round to the Bengals. It's a great opportunity for him because he is starting! Congrats, Andy! I'll be rooting for you!

3. I attended the PGA Tour's Crowne Plaza Golf Tournament at the Colonial Country Club with my fab friend Corbin! We had a great time until it started pouring rain and I ruined my phone!! At least we made the best out of our rainy day!

4. I went to Miami in June to help with the closing of our Bal Harbour store and the opening of the new Global Store at Aventura! It was AMAZING! Working for a company like Louis Vuitton that treats their employees as well as their customers is unbelievable. I feel so blessed. Enjoy some pictures from my trip...



5. We celebrated the 4th of July with LOTS of Fireworks, both, at the Southlake Town Square celebration, and also from the comfort of our own back yard where we had front row seats to our town's firework display! Even the Dallas Galleria (where I work) was all decked out with 4th of July balloons!



6. Also in July, we went to Colorado for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. It's a tradition of my family and I believe this was our 13th year! It's SO.MUCH.FUN. Here are a couple pics...




7. August 2nd was my younger brother's 20th birthday! I CANNOT BELIEVE he is already 20. Not only does that make me feel SO old, but it just seems impossible! I remember when he was BORN!

8. Every year (always during the summer) I help my friend Will (pageant director) as his assistant during the Miss Fort Worth and Miss Dallas USA pageants. I enjoy it and I think he appreciates my help a lot, too!


9. I have decided to go back to school in the spring to obtain a Masters of Science in Merchandising from the University of North Texas! I met with the dean and graduate coordinator on August 23, and I am taking the GRE on September 10th. I'm excited! Here are some photos from my visit to the UNT campus...

SO... Let's pretend that I never skipped a crazy amount of time with my blog, and we'll just pick right back up where we left off :)

Happy Easter!

Eric and I had a wonderful Easter this year. It was our first Easter in our new home! We were at the grocery store on the night before Easter and I saw egg dying kits... so I decided that I wanted to revisit my childhood by dying some eggs! Eric said he doesn't even remember the last time he dyed an egg... so that made it all the more necessary!

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On the day of Easter we went to the 10:00am service at Prestonwood Baptist Church with my mom and brother. They have an INCREDIBLE choir-- they gave me goose bumps! It was a really nice service and reminded us all to focus on what's most important in life.

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After church, we visited my step dad, Michael, at the care facility where he lives.

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{{For those of you who may be unaware, my step dad was involved in a very serious motorcycle accident in August of 2009. He suffered major injuries-- most notably were a lacerated liver, 8 broken ribs, 3rd degree burns to his face, shoulder, and right hand (his gas tank exploded and caused a brush fire where he was laying), and brain damage due to an injury called Diffuse Axonal Injury (D.A.I.). Because of the severe burns, his right hand was amputated, and because of the brain injury, he is the equivalent of an Alzheimer’s patient in their 8th year. He doesn't know who anyone is, he can't carry on a conversation, and his motor skills are almost non-existent.}}

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I don't share that information for sympathy or to make anyone feel sad... it's just the truth and sometimes the truth is not rainbows and butterflies. Life is short and you can lose a loved one in an instant (even if they are still alive physically). So please make sure you tell your family how much you love them, and count your blessings daily. I know I do.

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After visiting Michael we went to a restaurant called Nicola's in the Shops at Legacy. It was wonderful! My favorite part was my picture perfect Creme Brulee that I ordered for dessert! YUM!!

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I hope everyone had a very Happy Easter!! :)
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So fresh and so clean, clean!

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Eric made a TCU egg :)
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My egg for Eric :)
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The egg Eric made for me :) aww.
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Proud of my Easter egg dying skillzzzzzz :)

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Family with Michael

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Us with Michael

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The super cute booth I sat in at Nicola's made a really fun back ground for a self portrait!

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My YUMMY dessert at Nicola's

I'm Officially a Home Owner!

Eric and I closed on our first house together on March 31, 2011! We are absolutely in love with our new home. Although we cannot fill it full of furniture yet because it's almost 4,000 square feet and we only have enough furniture for a house about half that size, we are so excited about our future in this home.

We will experience a LOT of firsts in this home-- first time hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas for our families, first POOL (yes, we're going to get a pool!), first child (not any time soon... but it will eventually happen and we'll be living in this house), first time paying Home Owner's Association dues, first time having a media room for hosting game watching parties, ...etc.

I will say that closing on a house is a horribly painstaking process, but having a beautiful new home to call your own is totally worth it!

Here are some photos from the day that we closed on our house!

Thank you, Jesus, for continuing to bless us! God is SO good.

31st Annual FIJI Casino Night

One of the things I look forward to each year is FIJI Casino Night! Eric's fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta (aka: FIJI), hosts this event every year to raise money for a charitable organization. We get to dress up and attend this event, which is set up like a real casino with tables, dealers, live music, raffle prizes, multiple bars, and even show girls. Active members of FIJI, as well as alumni from countless different pledge classes, come together for this event each year. It's the perfect time to reconnect with friends that have been out of touch. It's not limited to just FIJI's and their dates, however; anyone who purchases a ticket is allowed to attend. I invited my brother and his girlfriend, Elizabeth, who will be attending TCU in the fall... they had SO much fun!

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In 2010, FIJI Casino Night raised over $14,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, an organization chosen because of a young TCU FIJI alum that has been diagnosed with MS.

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This year the fraternity chose to donate to The United Services Organization (aka: USO). This organization is dedicated to helping men and women of the United States military and their families. What a fantastic cause!

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Here are some pictures of Eric and I at FIJI Casino Night over the years... and then some pictures from this year's FIJI Casino Night!

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{Brianna & Eric at FIJI Casino Night Over the Years}

2007 FIJI Casino Night

2008 FIJI Casino Night
2009 FIJI Casino Night
2010 FIJI Casino Night
2011 FIJI Casino Night
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{More from FIJI Casino Night 2011}
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Brother, Trevor, and his girlfriend, Elizabeth, having a great time at FIJI Casino Night 2011

Elizabeth loved the tables!
Elizabeth putting all her chips on 5!

Closing Time...

For the past couple months, ever since Eric and I received word that I was being promoted to the Galleria with LOFT, we have been looking for houses that are located centrally for our jobs. Additionally, when I applied for the position with Louis Vuitton, we knew I'd be working at the Galleria either way-- with LOFT or with Louis Vuitton. My drive to the Galleria from our current house is about an hour and a half!!!!!!! Thus, you can understand the urgency in finding a new home! (Although, we did have plans to move this year anyway, because we are simply outgrowing our current home.)

We ended up finding the perfect house in a beautiful suburban area called Trophy Club, Texas. This area is absolutely perfect because it's located smack-dab in the middle of Fort Worth and Dallas! We didn't want to be too far from our beloved TCU Horned Frogs since we are season ticket holders for Football and Baseball, but Eric nor I wanted to continue paying for my outrageous gas bills that were adding up quickly!

In addition to the beautiful area and location, this particular house is exactly what we have been looking for! Let me tell you a little about it:

1. It's a new construction home by Pulte-- never lived in!!

2. It's 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms with an office, game room, media room, formal living and dining, 2 car garage, and a beautiful backyard.

3. It's brick/stone combination-- which we LOVE-- and it has a cedar garage door!!

4. The kitchen it TO DIE FOR!! Granite counters, dark wood knotty alder cabinets, a huge wooden hood over the stove, stainless steel appliances, 2 sinks, 2 islands, double oven, gas cook-top... the WORKS!! Now, THIS is the kind of kitchen that will make me want to cook!!

5. Dark, hand scraped wood floors... enough said!

6. Brushed bronze hardware in all bathrooms and the kitchen.

7. PERFECT floor plan for entertaining.

8. Massive master closet.

9. Floor to ceiling stone fireplace with dark wood mantle.

10. There's crown molding in the garage... I mean, REALLY? It's incredible!! We are in LOVE with it.

Now don't get me wrong-- Not everything about this process has been rainbows and butterflies!!!! The ONLY easy part was finding the perfect house... and then began the purchasing process. Being a first time home buyer, I had no idea how dreadful this process would be, but Eric, being an experienced buyer and owner of 2 houses that we plan to keep as rental properties, knew exactly what to expect. He told me throughout the entire process to contain my excitement until we sign all the closing documents and they hand us the keys. They threw us through SO many loops and there were several times where it seemed like the whole thing might fall apart... but it looks like everything is actually going to happen!

I guess my excitement is a little premature because we haven't been given the keys yet... BUT we are going to the title company for closing today at 4:00pm!! I think it's appropriate to start getting excited at this point, don't you think? I just can't contain it anymore!!

Here are some of the pictures we have taken of this beautiful house that we can call our own after we close this evening!! Don't worry... there will be many more pictures to come!!

I just can't get over the crown molding in the garage... that's just too funny. I love it!

We appreciate all of the prayers that we have received from family and friends throughout this process, and we are SO thankful that it's finally coming to an end! We look forward to hosting many family gatherings, football watching parties, and barbecues in the future!! Be on the lookout for your housewarming party invitation in the next couple months!! :)

New Job!!

I have some exciting news to share!!

I have accepted a position with Louis Vuitton!!

Starting on Monday, April 4, 2011, I will be the

Operations Manager for Louis Vuitton @ Galleria Dallas!

I am super excited about this career move for a multitude of reasons:

1. I have loved Louis Vuitton ever since my love for couture fashion began over a decade ago. My first designer bag was a Louis Vuitton bag. Why? Because it's the best.

2. Louis Vuitton is rich in history and withstands the test of time... and a terrible economy! LV posted HUGE sales increases and profitability in 2009 and 2010 when most retailers were struggling to survive.

3. I did papers on Louis Vuitton and LVMH corporation in college... it was my topic of choice!

4. I named my precious teacup Maltese Louis after Louis Vuitton. His name tag on his collar reads "Louis V. Haggerty" (I will get it changed to Louis V. Cannon eventually). He actually had a super precious Louis Vuitton collar that I found on eBay when he was a puppy. He grew out of it pretty quickly, so I found a cute new one that could be customized with his name instead (it was slightly less expensive, haha).

...all of these reasons and more make me feel that Louis Vuitton is a perfect fit for me.

Not to mention, the hiring process took FIVE MONTHS, so it gave me plenty of time to decide if this move was right for me. Since Louis Vuitton can be incredibly selective, they most definitely are! Over the 5 month process, I interviewed with a corporate recruiter, the Galleria store manager, the regional operations manager, the regional vice president, and then they booked a flight for me to interview in person at their corporate office in New York! BUT that happened to be the same week as the terrible ice storms in Dallas, so all the flights were cancelled. My 5th interview was then conducted via web cam out of their regional office. After all of the interviews concluded, it took another couple weeks for them to make a decision and extend an offer.

I kept thinking to myself, "My GOODNESS this is taking forever!" But then I remembered, they're Louis Vuitton... and you don't rush greatness.

I was elated when they extended their offer, and I accepted graciously. Although, my current employer, Ann Taylor LOFT, was very upset and countered the offer by coming as close as possible to matching the salary LV offered... I didn't see that coming at all!! So, I called Louis Vuitton back to explain what happened, and they bumped my salary up another 5 grand without hesitation. Needless to say, I accepted!

Now, don't get me wrong. My reason for leaving LOFT is not because I didn't love working for the company! I had a wonderful experience with LOFT and they even promoted me to the Galleria store a couple weeks before I gave my notice! They had tons of faith in my leadership, ability to coach and develop a team, and ability to drive sales--- which is a really nice feeling. Thus, I wouldn't have left LOFT for just any measly job. I had always checked the LVMH recruitment website periodically, so I happened to check it one day in November 2010 and noticed that a position was available in Dallas... it was the very first time I've ever noticed a position available in the area, so I jumped on it!

Monday through Friday during my first week on the job, LV is flying me to Scottsdale, Arizona {all expenses paid} to train with a very seasoned Operations Manager. I think it speaks very highly of a company when they are willing to spend that kind of money on training.

I cannot wait! Wish me luck!

This was me on Rodeo Drive in December 2010... I just had to have a photo op with my favorite store!