Peace and Love

When I'm not doing laundry and shopping at Costco I am a meeting professional. That claim doesn't mean much to me of late. I've been committing too much time to the wrong kinds of projects and it has zapped me of any enthusiasm or energy. I love the work but haven't been loving the workING.

Last Friday I landed in Florida and I am
partying like a rock starattending a conference hosted for and by meeting professionals. It is a genuine treat to see so many people who have the same passion for their work and some of the same problems. Really, if you want to have a good time you should spend time with people who entertain for a living. It's been terrific. Im feeling more optimistic and energized about my career than I have in a long time and today has been the icing on an extra tasty cake.

Since I do spend so much time doing laundry and shopping at Costco, I am a pop culture retard. I don't watch much television and had no idea who Kelly Cutrone was before she walked onto the stage in General Session this morning. She has (or has had - not positive about this) a show on Bravo! and was on The Hills. She also runs a super successful PR business primarily for big time fashion industry clients. Well okay!! She did a scripted Q&A today on the main stage about her methodology for success and the parallels of the madness of high fashion events and our profession's client events. It was good.

The afternoon was a more intimate Q&A where she said it was OK to ask her about motherhood, men, business or any combination of that. She is extraordinarily witty, and hilarious, and genuine and freakin' brilliant. Her business prowess is admirable, but what she said that I loved is this

"I am building power (through her business efforts and media reach) so that I can make a difference. Love and peace are leaving the world and I have to change that."

Seriously?!?!?

Because I haven't ever seen her on TV or been exposed to her before I will have to take everyone else's word for how intense she can be. What I know is that she is really, really warm and nice. I know because I went to her book signing and she took time to talk to every single person that stood in line for her. We talked about my dress and her daughter. Such is such a lovely person.




I had missed the boat on buying her book after she spoke the day before. and guess what? The lady in line next to me gave me her book. She said Kelly really inspired her to do something better and she wanted to do that for me. And the I told Kelly what the lady did and she gave her a brand new book. How's that for making a difference?

The five days here have been long and I am bone tired. I could go on and on about all of the crazy stories she told us about her life in the fashion business and how she compares the cost of staying a few days in a suite at a Disney hotel to purchasing a car in Iowa but I really think you should buy her books. My world is already better because I met Kelly Cutrone. Peace and love to you <3 br="br">
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P.s. This is 3 days later than I intended. We're in North Florida with family now and there's not a lot of wifi access in these parts. We'll be keeping it simple for the next several days.


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Summer in Snapshots: Week Three {for me}

Another week.  Another seven days of goodness to be grateful for. 

Finishing one camp

Starting another

friends



family

FUN

We heart summer.

And we heart our friend Amber at Starfish. 

She makes beautiful jewelry.  And is a Mom to darling little boys.  And lives in a groovy San Diego neighborhood.  And has amazing design sense.  Go see her snapshots and all of the things she's checking off of her summer list.

xoxo, Mrs M

What Would She Say?

If you saw me in the parking lot at lunch you would think "Cute dress. Bad hair." I don't outwardly appear to be a total disaster. I am showing up for work and brushing my teeth. The kids get vitamins every morning and all of the towels are clean. I even fed and watered the roses yesterday. Life is not bad. I am just DONE.

Capital D. Capital O. Capital N. Capital E. DONE

Our offspring are being truly ungrateful and rude to each other. My tolerance for corporate nonsense is dangerously low. I struggle to write concisely and professionally in business correspondence because I really just want to rant and tell people they are complete jack asses!!!!! I truly, truly, truly hate packing lunches and unloading the dishwasher.

DONE

And then I open my jewelry box to make myself feel better with something pretty and see the photo of her.



Nanny and The Princess - September 2004

 What would she say to me right now?

I would tell her every word I just wrote and she would definitely scold me for saying jackass. But what would she really say?

She survived her husband, two of her three children and one of her grandchildren. She never even had a dishwasher. Ever. She washed every dish by hand immediately after every meal. Every time. Even after fried chicken and homemade biscuits. She hand wrote me a letter every week for ten years after I moved to California. After her arthritis made writing too painful she typed to me on a typewriter. And when she didn't have anything to say she would type;

"I don't have anything to say. I just want you to know that you're my sunshine. Love, Nanny"

And I never heard her complain in my whole life. Ever.

Oh my goodness, I can not believe how much I still miss her.

E and I have been talking endlessly about how entitled and ungracious our children seem this summer and I can't help thinking that maybe it's because we're so entitled and ungracious. Are they complaining about being tired from camp because we're complaining about being tired from work? Do they talk to each other like that because we talk to them like that?

I know the answer but I want it to be different.

I want to be more like her. I want to be tough and graceful on the same day. I want to smile at every single person I encounter and mean it. I want to be truly thankful for the dirty dishes and the lunch boxes and lead the ungracious children in the other direction. Purely by example.

She was really the most wonderful person in the world. I know what she would say.




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Summer in Snapshots: Week Two

Doing these posts has been so refreshing.  It's forcing me to get out my camera more and think a little harder about what I want my sweet people to remember about summer.

And we're having FUN!

Thank you so much to sweet Amber at Starfish for the great idea and hosting the link every week.

http://www.starfishblog.com/

Our week in snapshots won't even do it justice, but it's a great keepsake for how tightly we're embracing summer and our long days in the sun.

A rowdy family dinner with aunts, uncles and cousins that lasted for HOURS.  I am so glad that I wasn't a patron in that restaurant that wasn't with us!

The Beach.  The Beach.  The Beach.
Different local beaches on different days.
All terrific.  Really terrific.

We tried Stand Up Paddle for the first time and LOVED it.  All of us.  E went out with The Athlete and I took The Princess.  All four of us loved it for different reasons and I went back the next day for a SUP fitness class with my girlfriends.
<3 LOVE <3

The Athlete did basketball camp and The Princess was at The Ocean Institute.  They're both at Beach Camp this week.
Rough Life.

We've done no less than 8 loads of towels since my last Summer Snapshot post and it makes me happy because it just means that we're getting dirty and having fun.

AND, last but definitely not least, The Princess rode her bike without training wheels.
For a long time.
We're so proud of her and looking forward to more fun with everyone on their bikes.

Summer feels so good right now.  We are truly blessed.

Like a Beacon of Light

The inevitable.  The unmanageable. The irrelevant.

It all consumes me lately.

E and I returned from our island getaway to a counter full of rocks {literally} and extra bratty children who weren't interested in ANYTHING other than what we brought them from our trip.  Not really the Norman Rockwell homecoming I had painted in my mind while we wistfully enjoyed our time without them.

The week that followed was genuinely painful.

Every night was a tug of war with exaggerated bedtimes and temper tantrums over tater tots.

Recommiting to our workloads was an absolute joke while we tried to gain our footing again at home.  Even as the laundry slowly got done and vegetables were being served it just wasn't working.  As I stated QUITE clearly on Friday morning . . .

"This week has sucked.  I am not going to work today.  We'll have a long weekend and it will all be better next week."

And I meant it with all my heart.  I took the day off and it was a long, wonderful weekend.  We made progress in organizing ourselves again and we had fun.  Monday morning was no problem.

Then reality crept right back in and made a joke of me and my declaration.

Camp was closed.

Work sucked. A lot.

Someone hit my car in the parking lot.  While it was parked.

What. On. Earth.

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

How exactly does life do that?  I said life would be all better next week and it's NEXT WEEK.  Shouldn't it be better? 

But it IS better and I almost forgot.

While I was languishing in a bubble bath last night gearing up for my better week, The Princess came in several times.  She couldn't sleep.  The scrape on her elbow was excruciating.  The noise from the crickets was too loud.  You name it.  The last time she came in she told me that the bulb went out in her lamp and she couldn't sleep without it.  I told her that we would fix it in the morning and to go to bed.  We didn't see her again.

This morning when I went to wake her up I found him.

My Beacon of Light.

He was groggy and I was on my way to the coffee maker.  I half heartedly asked him why he was there and why he had a flashlight in his hand.  He didn't respond immediately and I was on my way to the coffee maker.



On the way to camp I asked him again why he was sleeping in her room.

"Because she couldn't sleep without her lamp, Mom.  I brought my flashlight and slept with her."

Work will still suck tomorrow.  The car will get fixed. And camp will {I hope} open.  But if not one other thing in the world changes I will still be their Mom and they are good.

So, so good.

Summer in Snapshots: Week One

This summer is going to prove to be a busy {and fun}one for us.  Amber over at Starfish is hosting a weekly review of summer in snapshots and I love the idea.  Swimming pools, bicycles and staying up late.  Summer's the perfect time to capture it all in pictures.

And a big thanks to Amber for sending me over to Emily at Jones Design Company for a tutorial on how to make a photo collage in Picasa.  New obsession!!

Our first week in review includes some super great stuff

E and me on Maui.  Alone.

The kids spending lots of time with their family and loving every minute of it.

A serious show where cousins faced off in a dance competition.

Sun shining and a swimming pool.

Cheers to a great summer!



Ten Things

I am a little tardy to the party. Please forgive me. At the end of the month I was lying on the sand in Maui without a second thought for my computer and my blog. June, however, was another fantastic month for me and my sweet little family.

So better late than never, I am linking with Emmy for Ten Things to smile about in June

(1) A weekend getaway and good times with good friends

(2) Perfecting my home recipe for pineapple mojitos

(3) A great ending to a great school year 

(4) Little boys that don't care they didn't get a trophy.  They just like playing together.

(5) Spending an afternoon at home with my sweet nieces and relishing in kids enjoying time together

(6) Date Night at a U2 concert

(7) Taking my two favorite people to Disneyland to celebrate the beginning of summer

(8) My mom being able to spend a week in town and being a great head counselor of "Camp Nana"

(9) Lying on a beach in Hawaii with my one and only and having NO WHERE to be and NO ONE waiting for us.  Even one day was heaven

(10) The blessing of our Princess and celebrating her 7th birthday with a family that loves so completely.  Happy, Happy Birthday my little love.