New Year's? Really?

So, if you know me well, then you know that I don't believe that New Year's is a legit holiday. I mean, give me a break, it's the next day. That's its only glory. It's the next day! Come on!

I secretly loathe it only because I do enjoy holidays. I mean, who doesn't? So I would never speak out against any holiday for fear of the holiday being revoked due to my vast influence and such. However, I write this today to share with you my plans. And here they are: [see image below]

Yup, I will be sleeping it in as I do every year. I don't understand what all the hooplah is about and I dare not become a part of said hooplah. I simply have no interest in partying to recognize the next day. In fact, wouldn't I be more prepared to welcome that day with a great night's sleep and no preconceived notions? Yes, yes I would.

Spend time with friends

Yes. I might be considered a stalker. But I'm okay with that. Let me back up and explain a bit...

In the process of cleaning up, sorting and organizing my house, I cam across several old photo albums. You show me one person who can just pick up photo albums and store them without cracking them open for a venture down memory lane and I will show you one robot. Nobody human should be able to accomplish such a feat. Well, I'm human.

I stumbled upon these pictures:

And I wondered where these ladies went in my life. One of them is my cousin but the rest were good friends from elementary school that I had lost touch with. I was determined to see where they are now. Let the Googling commence!!

I found Liz first - she's the blonde. Then I found Claudia - not pictured. Claudia put me in touch  with Phyllis - the tall one. I got emails and created an email conversation. Liz friended me on Facebook and re-connections began! Exciting stuff. We all agreed to reconnect and find a time and I said I would send out some times, but then, guess what? Life happened. Time went by and the group email was pushed further and further down into the sea of emails in my inbox. Weeks went by and nothing... No one tried to revive the conversation. We were each living our own lives and staying above water. But then, something happened.

Liz announced on Facebook that she had gotten another job and was moving to NYC (New York City) on the New Year. What?!! It is already almost Christmas and we were running out of time. That's it. The panic sequence was engaged and I revived that group email with dates and suggested times and places. About 15 or so emails later, we had secured a definite meeting time and place. You could tell that we were all gushing with excitement.

Well, that day was yesterday and it was AMAZING!! I've never been so energized in my life. Wow! It was like we picked up naturally from what ceased to exist almost 30 years ago!! The bond was unreal. The connection, intense. The authenticity of the moment... priceless. It reminded me to value the people that God places in my life. They are gifts. Well, the right ones are. And these ladies really fueled my soul. I'm so grateful for that hour together.

If only we could all experience such energizing connections every single week. That's my hope for you this week. Make it happen - it won't just accidentally fall into place. Sometimes, you have to put the puzzle together yourself.

Sleepover Heaven (or Hell)

So my daughter’s birthday was today and I have no idea why but I agreed to host a sleepover with a few of her closest friends. Um, yeah, so that became 10 people. What can I say, she’s a little social butterfly! So the best way to work these things is to not operate in a bubble and instead, get help from friends and family. So I enlisted help from my girlfriend K who has been out of the country and decided not to come back for another month. So she was out. Then my relative M said she would help but her mom got ill and my mom had to fly out to see her. So she was out! Then my girlfriend S said she would help but didn’t reply to my text or show up at all. She actually fell asleep and by the time she woke up, I was well into the party so I didn’t see the point in her coming. The prep is probably what killed me.

Let me put this into perspective for you. We recently downsized from a three story, luxury town home, with 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and a ton of space! Now we live in a 2 bedroom apartment. We sold stuff, gave away stuff, kept stuff, donated stuff… and there was STILL stuff!! And that stuff was in the living room of the new apartment. So I needed to get all of that out of there for her party. That involves, sorting, washing, tossing, organizing etc. THAT was the laborious part. 

Over this weekend I greeted and entertained 10 seven and eight year olds, cooked three meals, washed dishes about 4 times, cleaned the ENTIRE house (I will note here that my husband did the floors), resolved disputes, played games, created projects, fixed stuff that broke and probably a few other things.. FINALLY, by 11pm everyone was tucked in and asleep! That’s when the baking was supposed to begin but I clearly was enjoying a pipe dream because my exhaustion level was beyond the scales. Instead, I fell asleep. 

So I woke up around 6:45am and several of the girls were already up. WHYYYYYYYY?????!!!!!! Oh, did that slip out? My bad. Anyhoo, I started baking the birthday cake immediately and once I got it into the oven, I cooked breakfast. Crescent rolls, pancakes and bacon with Honest juice. All organic, of course. They tore it up!! I silently patted myself on the back.

After that we needed to get dressed and load up to head to the bowling alley. What? You thought it was over? Heck no! The party was JUST getting crunk! Wait? Is that word still in? It seemed appropriately placed right there so let me know if that was a foul on the play. Anyway, they loved the bowling and my little girl felt wildly celebrated. She also discovered that she’s pretty darn good at bowling (with the bumpers of course). There were a couple of late pick ups so I didn’t get back to my bed until around 4:30ish. I fell asleep around 6 and slept through until the next morning. Talk about tired!! But it was all worth it. Can I get an Amen from the parents out there?           Thanks. J

I'm An Idiot

So, here I am, wide awake for the last hour or so after going to bed close to 2am all because I somehow thought it was a good idea to "snack" on about 20ish chocolate covered coffee beans around midnight. Genius! I'm so brilliant sometimes that I literally just sit in complete awe of myself. #sarcasm

On the inside, I'm exhausted, and yearning for deep sleep but my body is wide awake and ready to go. How I tricked myself into sleeping for 2+ hours, I will never know. This is where I should probably mention that I don't ingest caffeine. Well, not usually. I'm honestly not sure what happened tonight. I feel like I may have been possessed momentarily or perhaps under hypnosis? I have no idea why I did this to myself.

Am I the only one that has ever done something this idiotic before?
(This is when I close my eyes and repeat, "please tell me I'm not the only one," over and over to myself.)

11.28.15 Sinus Revolution

So it’s pretty clear that my sinuses are plotting against me. They are all jacked up and the timing couldn’t be worse. Well, actually, maybe it could. Thankfully, I wasn’t sick on Thanksgiving but next week is my daughter’s birthday. Well, I guess getting sick now is much preferred to getting sick later. So, do you know what I did? If you know anything about me, then you know I did NOT run to the store for medicine to treat my symptoms. Oh no… first, I always try to heal at home with a blend of home remedies and homeopathic options. That’s exactly what I did. Here’s how I believe I'm going to get through a possible sinus infection: essential oils. They are not a cure all but they do support my immune system so 


I drank this mixture every morning and throughout the day as needed.
1 giant tablespoon, Really Raw Honey© (that’s the brand I used but use any local raw honey)
1 drop Lemon essential oil
1 drop Wild Orange essential oil
1 drop Peppermint oil
Boil water then add to mug

Warning: You may have to close your eyes for the first few sips, as peppermint oil can be “stingy” to the eyes. Also, all essential oils are NOT created equal and all may NOT be taking internally. Email me directly if you want to know what brand I use or where I got them.

 He's so cute, isn't he? lol! 

SINUS CLEARING, PAIN, ETC.:

I strongly recommend saline nasal cleansing solutions like a Neti Pot or a Sinus rinse of some kind. They get the muck out! And who wants muck in their nose? I say, get it out! By any means necessary. Personally, I stay faithful to two particular kinds. NeilMed Sinus Rinse and Xlear are the two I use. Be careful with Xclear, it can burn a bit if you overuse it. I would use just half a bottle on each side. Xlear is great for when you just can’t shake that pesky cough or it just doesn’t seem to be clearing like you think it should. I used Xlear once, maybe twice per day and the NeilMed in between if I needed more relief. Also, a Neti Pot works too – I just find that if my sinus infection is REALLY bad, sometimes the Neti method doesn’t provide enough pressure to get through the muck – since that’s the official term we are using.

Another essential oil blend that helps maintain overall health is DigestZen or a digestive blend near the navel 3-4 times each day. In the morning and evening, 2 drops of peppermint directly under your tongue. Do this for about 4-5 days max, then switch it up if no relief. WARNING: The peppermint drops under the tongue will set your face on fire (no, not literally) for like 5-10 seconds. Muscle through it. You will live and it will be worth it!

I will keep you posted…