What a royal event!  Style Girl Jess James hosted quite a Royal Wedding party, southern-style...

The event was at The City Club in downtown Wilmington Friday night.  It was absolutely stunning!  And the women wore so many incredible fascinators.

By the way, if you're Kentucky Derby fan, Mint Julep is next week (I'll be there volunteering with the League, and uh, celebrating!)   But the owner of aMuse, Jan Wutkowski, says fascinators are becoming the trend for horse races!  Go see her if you're up in the air!

The event was a lot of fun.  The Royal Wedding replayed in the background, and even Will and Kate made their first public appearance in the Port City!  Kickstand Events helped make it happen... some highlights of the night included raffles, mini-manicures, a fully-sailed photo booth... and of course, a divalicious wedding cake! 

The event's proceeds will help pay for kids to go to summer theater camp at Thalian Hall!

If you're a woman looking for some inspiration, good advice and a great networking opportunity, check out the Women in Business Speaker Series in Downtown Wilmington.

The first speaker of the series was Olalah Njenga.  "O" is from Chicago... anyone else see the connection?

O is an award-winning business leader and public speaker.  She currently lives in Raleigh but spends much of her time giving speeches around the country!  Her main focus today was the difference between being a leader and a manager.  

Some of the notes I jotted down:

• Step into your brilliance
  
• Leaders find luminescence in everyone
• Shift your vision from good to great
• Some of us need to get over the fact we can't have an 8 to 5 shift in order to be successful  (Amen to that!)

It was such a great way to spend the afternoon, despite the threat of tornadoes in our area... I had to rush back to "my business"... which was reporting on the severe weather!  There will be another session next month!

Oh my gosh!  Where did the month of April go??

Just wanted to give a huge thanks to Alison Satake at Wilma Magazine... she wrote up a quick little ditty about yours truly in the April edition.  A lot of you have written me this last month to welcome me!  Thank you!

I am really enjoying the area, and everyone has been so incredibly sweet.

I hope you can pick up a copy.  The Food Issue was really fantastic - if anyone wants to take a trip to Whiteville to visit one of Chef Sokun Slama's restaurants, let me know!  I'm in!

I'm sitting here in Virginia with my family... dreading getting up early in the morning to leave for Wilmington.  Don't get me wrong, I really like Wilmington!  But, I'm having such a great weekend.

I've been here for the last few days to take part in a special gathering for international adoptees in Washington, D.C.  It's been such a learning experience and an opportunity to meet new people.  It's also been a wonderful chance to meet some industry leaders who might never be in the same room again.  The group got to hang out on The Hill and visit the Korean Ambassador's house as well!  

But, what a joy to see some of my family and great friends.  I even made a few new ones!  My inlaws and dear friends will be missed until the next time.  Meanwhile, you can read about some of my other adventures on my family blog.

We had a great morning meeting and listening to Bruce Jenner! 

The Gold Medalist-turned-motivational speaker-turned reality show star was in the area for a fundraising event for scholarships at Brunswick Community College. 

[WATCH HIS FULL INTERVIEW HERE]

He also gave a touching motivational speech about how we can all find ways to be our best.  Jenner said he was a student who struggled with dyslexia, but sports changed his fears of going to school.  He also talked about finding his own inner champion to go from being #10 fastest in the world to #1.  Really good stuff.

[READ THE NEWS STORY HERE]

Jenner said he has to rush back to California to continue taping his sixth season of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" that airs on the E! Network.

We're going to try to go LIVE with Bambuser at Bruce Jenner's breakfast and speech.  If you're re-watching the video, it's best to let it load all the way (for a more pleasurable viewing experience.) Breakfast starts at 8.  Speech starts at 9 a.m.  Stay tuned...

If you're interested in learning where my passion for adoption comes from, I encourage you to read my writings for Holt International.  Holt is considered the flagship international adoption agency because the founder began adoptions after the Korean War.  I have a lot of personal ties to Holt because the agency has done so much for my family. 

Anyway, here's an excerpt:

I am so thrilled to be writing for Holt’s blog. It’s funny because I write for a living, but when I was given the opportunity to write for Holt, I called up my family as if I had won a major journalism award. It’s that exciting, people!

I like to think of Holt as the “mothership.” Over the last three decades, a number of people from Holt made a tremendous impact on my life. I’m sure many of them don’t even know it. And, truthfully, I couldn’t remember all of their names anyway. But, what I do know is that without Holt, I would not be where I am today. And, as an adoptee, I’m sure many of you can relate.

Some dedicated Holt blog readers may know me as Michelle Sherwood...

<Read the rest of the post>

The Azalea Festival is ridiculous.  Ridiculously awesome!

Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking when I woke up this morning.  Otherwise, I would've worn my pink dress.  ARGH.  But I just so happened to wear a pink shirt, so at least I coincidentally wore the right color.

This year's celebrity guests include Days of Our Lives' Leann Hunley, The Bachelorette's Chris Lambton and Azalea Queen and former Miss America (and dress designer) Heather French Henry.  I adore Heather French Henry.  She's so perfect for the festival.  I'll have a (good) story to tell about her later. 

I've covered so many stories about cities trying to get people to rediscover the place where they already live.  Wilmington is no exception.

But, let me just say, it is an incredible place to rediscover.  I've been having a blast!  

My husband is also having a great time getting introduced to the area.  Maybe too much fun.  He was a happy little beaver at the Cape Fear Museum.  I should probably apologize to the people who work there!  JK.

I'd love to hear about some of your favorite places to rediscover... send them here or on Facebook.  I'd love to post them!

I thought this was so cute.  I LOVE it when people write me with questions whether it's about journalism, adoption, love-life issues or all-things Korean.  And, I LOVE IT EVEN MORE when people let me share it here.

My most recent email came from a high school student who asked me questions about my job for a school report.  She asked about my job and what it takes to get started down the J-path.  Turns out, the would-be reporter is a pretty good writer!
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Hey Michelle!

I wanted to thank you, and let you know I got the highest grade in the class. A "110", My teacher just gave me those questions but I do have one more question for you. What is the minumum age limit to being a reporter? Just wondering because I want to get a head start (Which I already am, I got accepted to Isaac Bear Early College I am just so excited so I had to say that). I think I'll be majoring in English. considering the fact that you could do just about anything with an English Major. That's just in case I change my mind about career plans in the future. Well again, thanks so much! I appricate you taking your time to answer those questions (and be apart of getting me an "A". I guess that can be your good deed for the day. Haha.)

Thank you!
Gabby D.