Category Archives: gratitude

I Love When Things Start to Click

I set the intention just the other day that I was ready to make more money and get into a new place.  It’s amazing how you start to get signs from the Universe that things are moving along just as planned.

Yesterday I had a great meeting with a client (which reminds me, I need to invoice her!).  Then it just casually came up that I have some experience with podcasting (not the same client).  So now, it’s still in the air, but it looks as though I’ll be doing to recording/podcasting for our next LWL meeting tonight.  And if all goes well, it could lead to something bigger still.

I also had a gal that recently took one of my workshops send a message directly to her friends suggesting that they take my upcoming (free) workshop.  It was totally unexpected and very rewarding. I’ve met so many amazing people through LWL. So many great opportunities and so much to be grateful for.  It really makes me feel better about wanting to reach out to leading paid workshops.

At this rate, I’ll be half way to the minimum income I’ve set for myself. In just two days!  So yeah, I do believe the Universe and I are on some good terms.  I can see our new home now!  I’m so grateful for all that comes our way and the amazing folks we’ve met.  Time to clean up and declutter this office (again *sigh*) to clear up the energy and make room for the new stuff coming my way.  That house needs to fit someplace, right?

I Smell Smoke!

Yes, it’s nearly 1:30 in the morning and I’ve just sent my husband outside to see if he can find any fires.  I walked around the building with him, but nothing going on.  You can definitely smell the smoke from the street though.  Thing is, you can’t really tell if it’s haze/fog/smog/whatever around the streetlights or smoke.

So he thought that you know, since he’s wide awake after drinking a diet Coke after 8:00PM, that he’d take the pupster and walk up to the corner to make sure all is well.  You see, we have a park kind of behind our street and then over the freeway, we have the massive Griffith Park.  In fact, last May, we had some major fires in Griffith Park that got a little close to home. So it can be some pretty scary shit.

Okay, he just now got home…all is well in the ‘hood.  Whew.

Frozen Devil Dogs & Seedless Grapes

What more could a post-vacation, tired gal ask for? It’s helped to make this day of catching up on work emails and commitments bearable.

With that, I realize it’s been far too long since I’ve expressed any sort of gratitude here in my blog lately. So here goes it…

  • I am so happy and grateful that I am able to experience all that life throws my way and then look back shortly thereafter and see the gifts that the experience truly was (and is).  Mind you, I’d much rather experience the forward movement without the hellish pain, but hey, a gift is a gift, right?
  • I am so happy and grateful that I was able to sleep in my own bed surround by my boys for the first time in four days.  I really do miss those guys when we’re gone.  Though I did, for the first time in probably four years sleep closer to my husband than ever before without those darling furballs hogging up the bed.
  • I am so happy and grateful that we’ve got such mild weather here in LA right now.  Being in Jersey, in nearly 100 degree days, in that God awful humidity…well, I just don’t miss those days.
  • I am so happy and grateful that this weekend’s visit with my brother and his family went so well.  I was quite pleasantly surprised (again – last time being our wedding) how much I enjoyed visiting with him.
  • I am so happy and grateful that I have such a loving and supporting husband that allows me to do the kind of work that brings me joy.  It has truly been a blessing.
  • I am so happy and grateful that my husband has taken the rest of this week off from work (well, except for when he’s not off and he’s well, at work).  I really like having him around.
  • I am so happy and grateful that things are moving along so well with my work.  I’ve got a great support season and they’re never shy about sharing their brilliant thoughts, ideas and suggestions.
  • I am so happy and grateful that I went back to Jersey and was able to share it with my husband.  When I left, I swore I’d never go back.  But really, I’m so glad I did.  This was a great visit.  And OMG, how could I have ever forgotten about diners and gravy fries!!!!  And Devil Dogs, did I mention the Devil Dogs???
  • I am so happy and grateful that I have such great friends, both online and off, both in state and out of state.  Really, friends are just the best!  Like right up there with Devil Dogs kind of best!
  • And lastly, I am so happy and grateful that I can mark my 1000+ Reader posts as read.  Man, that’s just too much to even think about catching up on.

It Went Well

Yesterday was my film debut (ha!) over in Venice. Looking back, I still can’t believe that I wasn’t crazy nervous. It was very casual, and very relaxed. To be honest, I was more worried over what to wear (nice black tee with a mandarin collar and a deep v – with a cami – and some simple jewelry). I was comfortable and I’m sure won’t clash with whatever goes up on the green screen (he threatened that it would be zoo animals).

For the most part, I just talked about what blogging is and how businesses can use blogging to help get their name out there. Basically, the same spiel I’ve been doing now for a couple of months. But way shorter and with less questions 😉 In fact, it went well enough that they even made the comment that it was “too smooth” and assumed that we must’ve forgotten something important – even though we answered every question that was asked. And as one would expect, afterwards I keep thinking of the many things that I forgot to mention or should have said differently. *sigh*

I should see a copy some time in mid-June. The DVDs are going to be handed out at the next meeting on June 7th (but I’ll be out of town) and at all the national meetings from this point forward. They won’t be hosted online, but they’ll be interviewing me again later for my own profile which will be hosted online. Either way, pretty cool.

Today, I interview Emira and Lauren the authors of The Boss of You. I’m just shy of halfway through the book and I have to say, I’m really enjoying it. It’s full of some great information, especially things to consider and plan before you hang up your shingle and call yourself a business. Which of course, many of us don’t even begin to consider until after we call ourselves a business. So my goal today is to write up some questions for them and finish as much of the book as I can. I’ll be recording a conference call via Skype, which is a first for me, so it should be fun.

Thank you everyone for your support through all of this forward movement. I’m so busy, but I’m actually loving it. Of course, it means I’m falling behind on reading my blogs, but I’m doing what I can. I’m usually reading along, just not commenting. And let’s not even mention my (seeming) lack of commenting here please. Just know that I feel the love and fully intend to reply to comments. Really.

PS – No Wordless Wednesday this week. No time to take any new photos. Through truth be told, I haven’t even moved my camera from the desktop in nearly two weeks. Yikes!

Moving Right Along

I can’t believe how well things are starting to fall into place.  I honestly do see now that many times, it really is as simple as just asking.  It’s even better when the Universe works with you 😉

I’ve got my headshot.  The hubs and I went out to the local park yesterday and took a few pictures.  My friend’s narrowed it down to two photos out of the bunch.  Today I cropped them down and asked my friends to pick which one to use.  So mark that task with a check!

My girl friend and I hit the mall for a whirlwind shopping trip for tomorrow’s video taping.  I came home with one pink and four black shirts.  I really feel most comfortable in the pink one, but I keep thinking that black would be the better option.  So I still need to try those on today for a final decision (I need to be in Venice tomorrow by noon).  Of course, the husband won’t really be much help since to him it will just be one pink and four, identical black shirts.  Men!  Times like this, I crazy miss my former roommate – then again, with a roommate, I might not have needed to buy something new thanks to the law of borrowing.

This morning, I chatted with a cookbook author hoping to convince her to become the food and entertainment expert on my site.  As she puts it, she’s definitely “intrigued” and that’s a good start.  I think after BlogHer, I’m going to focus on redesigning the site.  I’m ready for it to take on more of a magazine like look.

Wednesday I’m interview the two gals behind the book, The Boss of You.  My review (and giveaway) copy just got here about an hour ago.  I can’t wait to start reading it.  Believe it or not, this is a book that I’ve anxiously been awaiting publication of (and then forgot about until I saw the gals’ blog tour).  Once I was reminded of the book, I wasted NO time in contacting the publicist.  I’m that excited.

This will also be my first interview that I’ll be conducting via Skype.  So I have to work today on setting up my account and downloading the appropriate recording software.  I’ve used Skype for skype-to-skype calls before, but never as an actual phone line.  It should be interesting.  Of course, I’ll also need to decide if I want to transcribe the interview or edit it for an audio/podcast thingie.  Mind you, I still have Liza’s audio that I need to edit (ASAP dammit, that interview was nearly 6 months ago!!)

So now, I think it’s time for me to step away from the computer a bit and get busy.  I’ve got a lot to get done over the next couple of days (including getting my new website up and writing some giveaway materials…yikes!)

Happy Monday y’all!

It Doesn’t Mean I Don’t Appreciate Him

But I just had to throw the flowers away.  I waited until last night to tell him so he wouldn’t be surprised.  He knows that they’ve been messing with my allergies this whole time.  I just couldn’t take it any more.  So when the early blooms started dying I told him that I was going to toss them.

So sad too since they still looked so pretty.  I was tempted to just pull out the dying ones and keep the rest. But then I remembered that the mere touching of the beautiful (and the dying) flowers would likely make the allergies worse still.

But I still love him and I still appreciate my flowers.  I even have photos to remind me of just how beautiful they were.

Here’s to non-sneezy, non-teary eyed days…

Not What I Was Expecting

But wow!  I just had my first, full-fledged phone call with a public relations gal.  She was pitching me her clients (and one of her best friends) and wow, they’re some fun and interesting women.  Now I have to sit down and figure out just how to reach out to them and utilize their expertise for my site.  We’re talking a cook and multiple cookbook author, skin care line creators, kid clothing and bath products, you name it.

I’m also reaching out to a batch of authors that I’ve recently become aware of.  Hopefully I’ll get some cool interviews out of it.  I have to say, without blogging, I don’t believe I’d have learned about so many new products and new authors.  Totally awesome!

I’m really excited.  It could even be giveaways galore! This is an amazing opportunity I’ve got. Now I need to create a plan on how best to present it to my membership.  Whew! It’s amazing what can happen when you focus and well, just ask.

And speaking of good authors with some great advice…have you heard about Wear Clean Underwear?  It’s a book on estate and family planning – half story, half guidebook.  Perfect for moms and dads to use to ensure that they’re doing all they can to care for their kids should something happen to them.  It’s not the easiest topic to talk about, death, but it’s still something that needs to be done.  So check out her book – if you buy now, I believe she still has some amazing gifts ($1000s worth) available with proof of purchase.

Friends

I’ve been thinking about friendships a lot over the past few days.  I’ve decided that honestly, I’ve got the best group of friends that a gal could ask for.  That includes my old friends, my new friends, my online friends and my biz related friends.  Each and every one of them are just wonderful.

In the past six or so months, I’ve really had some awesome support from my friends.  When I went through that crazy stalking shit, they were right by my side.  When I started my own biz, they were there to support me.  And now that my friends are going through some things of their own (separation pending divorce, new business jitters, being up for an entreprenurial award) you better believe that I’m right there for them!

I think my favorite part of friendship is when we can get together (or over the phone or blog or email or whatever) and just share ideas.  To just talk about what’s going great or might not be working in our lives or our business, and share those out-of-the-box ideas…awesome. Nothing can pump this gal up more than chatting with her friends.

A week or so ago I reached out to a newish, biz-related friend (a fellow LWLer).  I had a question about being an expert (Millie) at our upcoming LIVE event.  When she replied to my email, she not only addressed my particular question, but she also said that I should give her a call because she had some ideas about my business.  She had unsolicited ideas to help me make my business a success…Come on, how great is that?!?

I think it’s a great thing when we can all stop thinking about others as our competition and just show support when we can.   There’s more than plenty to go around.  I like to tell folks all the time that if they like me, they’ll like my friends.  Expanding on that, if you like the way I do business and help you, then you’ll also like how my friends do business and help those they know.

There are so many little things in life to be grateful for.  At the top of my list…my friends!

WooHoo!!! Gotta Love Twitter!

Thanks to Twitter, I’ve made some new business friends.  In particular, I really enjoy reading and learning more about Guy Kawasaki.  If you haven’t yet heard, Guy and his friends have started up an awesome blog aggregation site called Alltop.com.  Within the site itself, various blogs are divided up between different categories.  The categories are then even further divided up.

Well, take a bold step (and doing something totally out of character for myself), I shot Guy a DM (direct message) on Twitter and asked if it would be possible to get my site listed in the Women’s section of Alltop.  I just received confirmation that he’s accepted and it’s done!

I’m so excited by what this will mean for my site.  I mean so many more people that until now have never heard of my site will now be reading it!  And as one would expect, there’s a trickle of fear involved as well.  Hello…I need to have some good content on there if I expect folks to keep sticking around.  But I’ll just throw that out into the Universe – good content, good writers, good commenters & good giveaways – and know that it will be provided for me.

Heck, I don’t doubt that this all came from my recent cleaning and organizing trend.  Not to mention the focused intent I’ve had going on lately.  I’m so grateful that things are moving forward like this.  I just love knowing that you get what you ask for.  As Michael Gerber said a while back in a teleconference I was listening to…if not me, than who else?  So why not me, right?

Songs Birds Serenade Us to Sleep

We noticed it for the first time last night, beautiful bird songs after we turned off SNL.  Funny thing, we all noticed it at once, including the boys.  Then they started up again tonight around 11:30 PM.  Again, both boys lifted their heads to listen and then looked to us as if to say “huh? What’s that?”

See, we don’t even have song birds during the day. We have pigeons.  We have crows.  From time to time we even have ducks and doves.  Oh and once I saw a hawk or a falcon or some bird eating prey in our front yard (we’re close enough to the mountains).  But nope, no song birds here.  At least until now, that is.

I don’t know what made it so sudden.  I don’t know why we’ve never heard them before.  But I will say, it’s the most amazing and peaceful sound – something to be thankful for.  The calls change up and I can’t really tell if there’s more than one or just one looking for their mate.  But either way, it’s beautiful.  And yet another thing to love about living in SoCal (in NM, we had roadrunners and well, they didn’t even say “meepmeep”).

Wishing you all beautiful songs to serenade you to sleep or equally beautiful songs to wake you each day…