{ musings }

Thankful

Thanksgiving weekend was filled with anticipated arrivals, a few surprises and some sad blessings.  While I was sad to be away from my girls for the first time since their birth, my weekend was with filled with the love and companionship of some amazing people.

We cooked. Slept in. Took naps. Spent hours and hours catching up over countless pots of coffee.  Played the music too loud. Watched about a billion episodes of Chelsea Lately and Talk Soup. Ate too much good food. Drank a few too many yummy cocktails.

(Because so many have asked, here's the sangria recipe I concocted:)

Seeds from 4 pomegranates
2 oranges, cut into thin circles
1 pint fresh blueberries
1 pint fresh raspberries
1 c Triple Sec
1 c simple syrup
1 c fresh orange juice
2 c pomegranate juice
*******************************
Mix all of this together and refrigerate overnight

Add 2 bottles good, drinkable red wine (I used Trader Joe's 2009 Chariot Gypsy) and refrigerate another few hours. Before guests arrive, add about 1/2-1 liter of Soda Water. Serve in large goblets, with or without ice). My guests also used spoons to enjoy the delicious, drunk fruit! ha!

We aughed till our sides hurt.  Went to a great hockey game.  Enjoyed some time with new friends. Sat on the patio soaking up the beautiful, sunny days. Snuggled on the couch listening to the rain come down in the evening. Teased, joked and cajoled.  Had some deep talks and intense debates.  Solved many of the world's problems, only to forget the solutions over "just one more" glass of sangria.

 

Sadly, though, the long weekend was filled with some sadness, too.  My beloved grandfather, Papa Bob, passed away on Friday morning, moments before I awoke.  He held on just long enough so we wouldn't have to mourn his passing every year on Thanksgiving, and just long enough to have lived an incredibly rich life with no regrets.  He will be missed so much, but I am grateful that his suffering has ended and he has begin a new journey.

I'm a little melancholy today, missing a a few special people in my life, but am still overwhelmingly grateful.  I am blessed.

Blazing!

"There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity." ~Washington Irving

I posted this over on the photoblog, but had to do it here, too.  This is my friend Jill:

 

Jill is on a journey.  Jill is blazing new trails like me, like so many of us.  It is not so much an uncharted trail as it is the path back to her authentic self.   She is a gorgeous woman...inside and out...and her journey is going to be stellar!  I am honored to call her my friend and to bear witness to the magic she is on the verge of creating in not only her life, but in the lives of the multitudes!  Seriously, people, this woman has a story to tell... stay tuned!

Signs of Life

I am a very neglectful blogger, yes, I know.  But when you have three pairs of big brown eyes (two sets human, one set Golden Retriever) staring at you longingly with sand buckets, bike helmets or Frisbees in hand (or mouth, as it were) it is damned hard to squeeze in the time to blog! ha!

So here is a quick one for you...

Have you ever noticed that when you start putting your attention on something, you draw more of it unto you?  For example, if you're looking to buy a new car and narrow it down to one or two choices, you tend to notice the fact that there are now instantaneously hundreds of those exact vehicles rolling down the streets of your hood.  Or, when you finally splurge and buy those great new shoes...you can spot them on another woman five miles away.  Or when you start reading about Swine Flu, you all of a sudden seem to manifest the exact same symptoms...?!

In my life right now, I am focusing on signs.  Beckoning them, welcoming them, paying attention to them, TRUSTING them.  And they are showing up in droves and with force!  Old and new friends are re-entering or just now entering my life with the most surprising and POWERFUL messages for me.  Quotes and book passages are being delivered to me at exactly the most powerful moments.  Even the weather is sending me signs to help me chart my days.

Today the signs were there in an unbelievable way.... check these out:

Lovely...don't you think this is what real love is all about??

and this one...wow!  SO appropriate for the path my new life is on...!

I love it when life sends me CLEAR signs, and even more when the signs ARE signs of LIFE.  Hello, Universe?!?!  I'm PAYING ATTENTION!!!

Life's A Beach

Ok, so yes, it sucks to be me right now.

NOT!

I feel guilty rubbing this view in your faces...for about a minute.  Then I remember the shit that life has dumped on me for the past five months and I realize i've EARNED IT!  I've done the work.  I've debraded the wounds.  I've explored the depths.  I've embraced reality.  I've said goodbye to broken dreams.  I've found an amazing volume of answers.  I have come full circle...back to my authentic self, ready for the next leg of this wondrous journey!

For the last week I've stayed up late, slept in late, ate too much good food, laughed until my sides ached, drank a few too many margaritas, ridden about 20+ miles on my beach cruiser, fallen off a skateboard several times, played frisbee with my dog on the beach, puttered around the channel on a boat, played poker, read two books, daydreamed about trips to wineries, sent TOO many text messages, caught up with old friends (and some new ones!), put on a bikini for the first time in MANY years, giggled & snuggled with my punks, worked on my tan lines, played in the surf, gotten sand in places where it shouldn't be, taken a ton of photos and generally SAVORED the richness which is life.  

Really, when I look at my life right now, I realize how incredibly BLESSED I am.  A few people have told me that I candy-coat it too much...that I should *embrace* my pain more...but I really don't buy it!  I tried it - and it just isn't my style.  I AM a "glass half full" girl and my glass is actually overflowing!

Reality will come soon enough when I return to the desert...but guess what?  I'm ready!  BRING IT!  But for now?  I am going to savor every last bit of this!!

Babies = Good Therapy!

And these two little cuties were JUST what I needed today!!!  Clearly, my punks loved them, too (even Alexis, who normally isn't a big fan of babies!!)!

Here is Olivia smooching Miss Teagan...

and here is Alexis having a good chuckle with Miss Boston...

Hey Teague....it was awfully nice of you and M to make such adorable and HAPPY babies for us Kwanettes to enjoy!!  Love you muchly!!

Taking A Field Trip

I love the silly daily affirmations and messages I have delivered to my in-box.  I am almost always able to apply the message to something current and meaningful in my life.  This one I just received was especially meaningful today, as tomorrow the punks and I are crossing the desert to my most favoritest place on earth...the beach...MY BEACH!  Yay us!  I am SO excited to feel the surf pounding again...to feel the warm, granular sand squish in between my toes, to smell the salty-moist air...AHHH!  No place like the beach!!!

March 9, 2009
Capturing Life’s Flavor
Taking a Field Trip

When we were children, few words were more exciting to hear than the phrase "field trip." Field trips were a break from schoolwork and an opportunity to go on an adventure with friends. Now that we are grown ups, taking a field trip can be just as fun and memorable – if only we were willing to sign our own permission slips so we could go on one.

Allowing yourself to get stuck in your routine can make life seem boring. Adding a touch of variety to your life in the form of a field trip can break up the monotony of your days and lead you to adventure. Unlike the jaunts that were regulated by teachers or monitored by parents, taking a field trip as an adult can lead you anywhere you want. You can go on a daylong retreat or spend just a few hours at your destination. A field trip can be an opportunity to explore a new landscape or discover something about yourself. Taking a day trip to another town or visiting an unfamiliar spot in your neighborhood can be educational and fun. There is also much to be said for finding a beautiful spot under a tree where you can read a book. You can even go to one of your favorite spots and allow yourself to experience it as if you were visiting there for the first time. Going on a field trip is as much a state of mind as it is a change in the scenery.

During a “grown up” field trip, schedules, clocks, and duties are put aside so you can focus wholeheartedly on mindfully enjoying yourself. Planning a field trip can be almost as fun as going on one. A field trip is an excursion to look forward to and an experience to be savored after the fact. Wherever you decide to go and whatever you decide to do, going on a field trip can add much pleasure and excitement to your life.

Happy New Years!

After some dicey last minute on/off again decision making due to a sick kiddo, the New Years trip up to the White Mountains with the Summer family is back on again!

We are SO excited to be going to hang with our dear friends....and the kids are OUT OF THEIR FREAKIN' MINDS to get some snow action!!  Olivia has (sadly) never even seen snow in person, so she is especially jazzed...oh, and the prospect of two nights' sleepover with her BFF is the icing on the cake!  The boots, gloves and snow pants are all packed...the knit caps and scarves too!  Now we just need to pile in the car tomorrow morning and GET there!

Probably no skiing, per se, but we're up for lots of sledding, snowmen and snowball fights!  Not to mention some serious dominos and card games at night....  We'll be back on the 1st....but until then, HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you!

I Gots Me Some GOOD Friends!

The house is all decorated, the tree(s) are trimmed, the holiday cards are mailed, the cookies and treats are baked, the gifts are all bought and wrapped...I am finally feeling like I can breathe again!

Now that I am breathing again, I am reflective of how blessed I am to have such great people in my life!  Let's start with this girl:

When I was in Omaha last month, she and I did a "photo safari" with Cori and Charlotte and "swapped" mini-sessions to get ourselves new head-shots.  Of course, I LOVED shooting a woman as beautiful (inside & out!) as her, but when she just recently sent me the images she captured I was floored!  Not only did she get some great new head-shots for me...

which I actually LIKE (TIP:  It helps to hire a photographer who loves you...the magic just seems to happen!)

...she also grabbed some super fun ones of Cori and I together, which was a real treat for us since a) one or the other of us is ALWAYS behind the camera and b) we're scheming some BIG plans for Lulubellas after the fist of the new year...so these shots will be fun to use in promo materials!

 

With Christmas and my Birthday right around the corner, I've been lucky enough to spend a large part of this week with a bunch of my other dear, dear girlfriends.  It began last Sunday evening when Tena invited me to join her to see Spring Awakening (it rocked!), then was followed by lunch with 10 of my very best girlfriends on Wednesday, happy hour at The Mission with Jill and Becky last night, and a nice lunch at Olive & Ivy with Cori today. 

And lets not forget my many far-away friends...you KNOW who you are!  My sweet, crazy art pals who "get me," my long time high school and college friends who I don't see often, but can pick right back up with like we never missed a beat.  This year I've also been blessed to reconnect with many other long lost friends through the wacky worlds of FaceBook and LinkedIn...who woulda thunk?!  So surreal, but so comforting to reconnect with you as well!

All of this reminds me that I don't need presents of any kind any more...these sweet, wonderful souls I call my friends are the best gifts I could ever ask for!  They laugh with me, they scoop me up when I'm feeling low, they party like rock stars with me and are really so much of what keeps me going every day of my life!  I'm a lucky girl!

So....onto more mundane things....

This weekend we are equally busy....tonight Alexis and the 5th grade choir is going to be caroling at a gorgeous new outdoor mall here in Scottsdale called City North, and the family will no doubt follow that up with a bite out afterward.  Tomorrow our wonderful tennis coach is hosting a charitable event for our kids to meet and play a few sets with some of his inner city program kids and then to share lunch and a little gift wrapping.  Later Saturday the girls are getting their hair cut and Alexis will set off for a sleepover with her friends.  Little Olivia and I will be snuggling in for a fireside movie, popcorn and hot cocoa while the Hubs catches a Suns game with one of his pals.

Sunday, as I celebrate my birthday, I hope to just lay low with the family and wrap the day up with a nice dinner out and a movie with the Hubs. 

Perfectly perfect, I say!  I hope you are able to step back form the hustle and bustle of YOUR holiday season and take stock of the special people in YOUR lives!

Sing, baby! Sing!

And sing she did!

Last Tuesday, after about 8 weeks of auditions and then pre- and post-school practices, Alexis and seven of her fifth grade pals (one was missing from this photo) sang in the Scottsdale Unified School District's Honor Choir performance.  We are so proud...she worked very hard for this honor and the kids and their choir director, Rene Suderman, did a fantastic job. 

Kids were chosen from every school in the district, and they performed in three groups:  Elementary, Middle School and High School.  Our kids performed three beautiful songs...don't they look impressive up there on stage??  I tried to get a decent video recording, but since our seats wer in the rear third of the auditorium, all I got was sound and a very VERY distant image of some tinly little heads.  Oh well.  It was great...trust me!

Omaha Photo Safari

So many things to tell about Silver Bella and our magical long weekend in Omaha, but I thought I'd start early in the trip.

Early Thursday morning, while the rest of the Prima Bellas went on a junking antiquing road-trip, Charlotte, Cori and I met my good friend and AMAZING local photographer, Becky Novacek.  I had the pleasure of getting to know Becky quite well at Silver Bella 2006, and we've kept in touch over the past two years, while I watch her blossom into one of the most amazing photographers I know!  Needing new head-shots, and DREADING having my picture taken, I knew there was nobody I trusted more than sweet Becky to lovingly capture some images for me.  If you take photos for a living, you KNOW how hard it can be some times to put your trust in someone else's hands...but in Becky, I knew I was safe and loved!   I  can't wait to see what she came up with!

Anyway, she volunteered to pick us up from the hotel and in spite of a light drizzle of rain, we four managed to explore lots of fun and funky "locations" in and around the Old Market area.   Anything rusty, overgrown or brick-covered were our backdrops of choice, and we had a blast shooting photos of each other and of the group!  SO MAGICAL to be around another photog who shoots SO MUCH like me! Here are a few I snapped of HER in action (love you, Becky!!):

If you are ANYWHERE near Nebraska (oh heck, even if you aren't!) and need to have some photos taken, you really MUST chat with Becky!  She is so easy-going and personable...you can tell by these snapshots of her at work that she is one heckuva great gal!!!

If you want to see more of the photos from our safari, look here.

Oh...and here is one last one of my pal Cori...love it!