This past week I went to visit Pam

so that I could meet her new baby Rothko

and he is adorable!

Then we went out to lunch at Morrocco’s

great food & incredible decor

pretty chairs

plus the coolest lighting in the bathroom!

After lunch we walked through a beautiful church

And on the way back to the car we spotted a tranquil plaza nestled in between the sky rises

with a sparkly fountain

and we simply had to stop and enjoy it.

What a fabulous day with an awesome woman & friend. Thanks Pamela!

{Check out all my photos on my flickr stream}
{Visit our host Sarcastic Mom}

Visit my YouTube channel to view my first outtake!

This past week I got to hang out with my extended family…

My sister and friend, Nancy and me

My sister Nancy’s daughter Ellie

The two of them together

Telling secrets

Giving kisses

Havin’ Fun

Like Mother Like Daughter

My Sister, Mom and Me

Such a Sweet Moment

Mom plays with her Ellie

My daughter cuts hair! Can you believe it?

Leave…

…me…

…alone!

Click here to view Sarcastic Mom’s winners from this week – she is amazing!

This is an amazing show that was written and directed by two amazing CSL women.  It is an updated, spiritual version of the Wizard of Oz – and a whole heck of a lot of fun!  It’s an awesome script filled with humor, heart, and song.  I hope you can come out and enjoy it.

It is our summer series program, which means that we will be performing a new installment of the play each Sunday beginning on June 21st for 6 Sundays in a row.  Performances are at 9:30 and 11 services and we are located at:

Center for Spiritual Living
1195 Clark Street
San Jose, CA 95125
Phone (408) 294-1828

So in order to enjoy the entire production you get to show up every week!  How fun is that? And of course, while you’re there you will find me, give me a hug, and tell me how much you loved my performance!  hee hee hee :~)

Okay, so I know all of you can’t make it every week.  If you must pick and choose a week or two, then I highly recommend you come for weeks 5 & 6 (July 19 & 26).  In both of those weeks I sing a solo!

Get connected at the Center for Spiritual Living

I just posted a video on my Facebook profile in celebration of Champagne Friday! I would love to share it with you. Now, Facebook allowed me to grab the code to embed it, but it also gave me the message that it would “honor my privacy settings” on Facebook. What exactly does that mean? I don’t know, but I hope you are able to view it. Please comment and let me know. Thanks! And Happy Champagne Friday :~)

Quote of the day:
Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she’ll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she’ll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she’ll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she’ll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit.

You can also view the album with the titles and descriptions about who everyone is via my flickr album.  I hope you had as much fun and yummy food as I did!

I know that all the preparation I did made a HUGE impact on my level of enjoyment.  Dad was on his best behavior and a lot of fun to hang out with.  We even spent some time talking shop.  Since we both own and run our own businesses it’s one of the ways that we connect.  It felt so good to get together without triggering one another.  In fact, come to think of it, we were both on best behavior :~)

We played the Gratitude Game, which turned out to be a big hit!  My husband said it was like picking out your fortune.  I hope this is something we can do every year and turn it into a new family ritual.  It was such a fun way to focus on the positive.  I don’t know about your family, but my family gets kinda weird when it comes to the mushy stuff.  So this was a great way to get mushy in a lighthearted way that eased the weirdness out of it.  It was almost like people were more willing to accept the acknowledgment when it came in a round-a-bout way.  Interesting!

So how was your holiday?  I’d love to hear about it.  You can either post a comment or post a link to your specific blog post where you share about your Thanksgiving experience:

This morning during my daily run I received an amazing idea.  I’m going to write out 20 gratitude cards and take them with me to my family Thanksgiving gathering.  I am going to put them in a bowl, shuffle them up, and ask each person to pick one.  The one they pick at random will be the perfect message for them.  I think it will be a lot of fun!  Here are my gratitude messages:

• I am grateful for you because you are kind & accepting
• I am grateful for you because you are artistic & organized
• I am grateful for you because you are loving & thoughtful
• I am grateful for you because you are funny & fun
• I am grateful for you because you are courageous & faithful
• I am grateful for you because you are trustworthy & kind
• I am grateful for you because you are nurturing & strong
• I am grateful for you because you are dependable & spontaneous
• I am grateful for you because you are gentle & honest
• I am grateful for you because you are beautiful on the inside & out
• I am grateful for you because you are caring & generous
• I am grateful for you because you are creative & adventurous
• I am grateful for you because you are honest & compassionate
• I am grateful for you because you are strong & loving
• I am grateful for you because you are talented & a trail blazer
• I am grateful for you because you are friendly & fun
• I am grateful for you because you are curious & imaginative
• I am grateful for you because you are spunky & loving
• I am grateful for you because you are intelligent & kind
• I am grateful for you because you are understanding & heartful

How cool is that?!  My hope is that we will all sit down together to do this fun Gratitude Game so that each person gets some time in the gratitude spotlight.  When you have a large family like mine, sometimes it’s hard to connect with everyone.  This seems like a great and fun way to bring people together.

Happy Thanksgiving!

“Crazy Doggie!”

Laughter and fun truly are vital in living a healthy, balanced and joyful life.  So lighten up, flex those facial muscles, and be the fun everyone needs this Funny Photo Friday!