These are the days of living in the sunshine, with a llama and our BFFs.
Life is good.
nAmAste.
Tag Archives: Michele
Live Love Laugh
My birthday is coming up and I received this birthday gift today from one of my BFFs along with a pair of silver dangling earrings and salted caramel chocolates. She knows me well and more than the material gifts, I loved the gift of time with her. She makes me smile and is a good listener and story teller and I just admire her so much. I wish I had half her ability to remember details!!
Thank you M for coming to spend the day with me.
How did you live today?
Who did you love today?
When did you laugh today?
I lived it up by hiking and having friends over and playing with the kittens. I made Vietnamese Banh Mi Chicken sandwiches and spring rolls for dinner as requested by my husband and snuggled in with my family to watch the Warriors win tonight.
I loved my friends and my family today and I loved my mama on our phone chat this morning.
I laughed when Charlie snuck up from behind and startled me.
Today was good. Hope you had a good day too, living it up, loving and laughing out loud!
Namaste
Ready for Summer
We had a pool party today to celebrate the end of the school year. I loved seeing Charlie in his new tank top and munching on juicy watermelon.
I also loved that the parent chaperones set out a fruit table for the first snack break before lunch with no other junk food options. This was a brilliant idea and all the kids filled their plates with healthy food.
The lifeguards had the kids swim across the shallow end to earn a wristband if they could get to the other side without touching the bottom or the sides that entitled them to swim in the deep end. Charlie was the first one in and was successful. I love the shadow of the tree reflecting on the still water in front of him. 
Pools and watermelon and sweet, fresh fruit are getting me excited for summer vacation, that felt like it began today, even though we have one more week left of school scheduling.
What do you have planned to do this summer?
Have a great weekend and Happy Birthday to my BFF Michele and my sister cousin Laurie!! I’m so glad you both were born. xoxo
nAMaste
Friendvestments
I am rich!!
I just got home from visiting one of my BFFs and my daughter said to me on the late car ride home, “Boy, you must really love her to drive an hour and a half to meet her.”
I acknowledged her wisdom and agreed with her. I told her that I was lucky enough to have friends that I love just being with and don’t care what we do. For example, as we were driving to go see my friend, she called me to say she had to stop at the car shop. I told her no worries and that I would meet her there. And so we did. Her kids all jumped in my car and I got to play with them while she finished her work. When she came back to my car, she gave me a hug and said she knew we were best friends when we could have fun just hanging out in the parking lot. I love that she was comfortable enough to go to the car dealer when she knew I was on my way to come see her and that she knew I would be perfectly fine with that.
This is life at its best. Friends helping friends. Friends sharing the journey. I love this life.
The rest of the day we enjoyed watching the kids play and catching up together like old friends do.
My favorite part of the day was when the mothers and daughters and furry babies sat on the couch together sharing stories. None of us wanted to leave.
Friendvestments. Jeff came up with this cool term when I was telling him about my wonderful day. It means time spent investing in building friendships, which provides the greatest returns of all.
I am rich!!
Thank you for my gifts, M!! xoxo
Being in the Moment
I didn’t take any pictures today and instead just enjoyed the moments without feeling like I had to capture what was.
Instead, I just enjoyed the conversation, the scenery and just being.
I went for a hike with my BFF and although it was only 6+ miles, we probably could have gone 50 miles and not even noticed or felt tired. We were so happy to just be together out doing what we love and chatting and sharing and catching up that we hardly even noticed where we were.
I love these moments when time just passes by and you don’t even realize it because you are so content doing what you’re doing.
I was going to cook dinner tonight and then another friend dropped by, took off her shoes and decided to stay for awhile. I love when friends do this. I broke out the goat cheese from Harley Farms, some fresh red grapes and sliced the bread i picked up at the produce market today, and opened a bottle of my favorite Hess chardonnay to share with her. We sat together for over an hour and just caught up and enjoyed each other’s company, while our kids played outside.
I love this life. I love the simplicity of it all and just flowing with whatever comes my way.
Life is a miracle and I am loving it.
How was your Saturday?
TGIF – Carmel
Today I got to have a mini-vacation.
Suzi and I drove to Carmel to visit our BFF, Michele. She moved away this summer and we miss her so much. Luckily she still lives within driving distance so we can still see each other, even though we can’t go on our weekly hikes and BMWs.
Carmel is about an 1 1/2 hour drive from Silicon Valley and is a dream destination. After we dropped the kids off at school, we began the reverse commute to see our friend.
Suzi and I enjoyed the beautiful drive and chat along the way, while anticipating our arrival. We were so happy to see our friend again.
We made the best of our time by going on a 6 mile hike in a new place, just like we used to do.
I loved every minute of it.
I was so bummed when we had to leave.
We enjoyed walking through the hills, taking in the sites and nature and animals, and enjoyed a small lunch together out in M’s backyard before heading back over the hill again. We didn’t want to leave!!
We miss her so much!
Life is good. So glad that we took the time to play and to enjoy the moment. Laundry can wait. Go outside and play, my BeLovers!! xoxo
Wanting to Be Several Places At The Same Time
Ever have days like this?
I wanted to be four places at the exact same time. I see this becoming a trend – at least this week and I’m struggling with making decisions. One of my birthday goals this year was to be more decisive, more quickly. I tend to think of all the possibilities and what will make everyone happy or cause the least discomfort and sometimes (no most times) I have the hardest time making a single choice. I’m practicing. Isn’t that what this life thing is all about anyway? It’s the practice… no one really has it all figured out. We’re just practicing. Don’t you feel better just knowing that?
So today I had to drop off Charlie and then I wanted to watch the USA – Germany game, hike at Rancho San Antonio with Julie and play grass volleyball with the volleyball girlfriends, who I adore. I decided to do all three, but that didn’t work.
So I decided to actually hike while the weather was still comfortable and checked the game score on twitter wherever I got reception. I had to postpone playing volleyball another week and just hope the ladies will play again next week and I won’t have to miss out on the bumping, setting, and spiking! It was a crystal clear day and a beautiful day to be up on the mountain.
It made me miss my BFF Michele who has recently moved and won’t be hiking with me weekly. That’s ok though, because we’ll just find new ways to explore nature and solve the worlds’ problems in the couple hours we’re disconnected from the “real” world.
Julie and I actually stopped at the top to sit on the little bench and just soak up the sun and magnificent views. Now that she’s a working woman, we don’t get much time to work out together like we used to. Working out together used to be our social time too. Luckily she has this summer off for us to play more and get stronger together!
We saw a few deer, lizards, a snake,
birds, goats, and chipmunks while we were out.
I especially loved the big oak trees too, that remind me of Thousand Oaks.
Life is good and I’m glad I picked the hike today, especially since the USA lost.
Hope you had a love filled day. xo
Sit Happens
How often do you sit still?
I have to admit that this is hard for me, but today I sat and truly enjoyed the moments. I slowed down and I have to tell you, a strange thing happens when you slow down. The day feels like it lasts forever! It no longer feels like time is rushing by. What a beautiful thing.
I sat outside in the cold fresh air and enjoyed the first cup of coffee of the day with Michele. We made breakfast for everyone and then we sat at the table and watched the fog come and go and the sunshine sneak in. We sat and chatted and enjoyed our kids and her dog and each others’ company. We just sat there and relaxed, with no rush and no hurry. We had ideas of what we wanted to do today, but we let the day unfold and enjoyed the moments.
Sit happened. Life happened. And it was good today.
How was your day? Did you find time to sit and just be? I hope so!
Joy
What brings you joy? You know that feeling where you can’t stop smiling just because you are?
Here I Am.
It’s what this blog is all about. Finding joy in the moments of living and enjoying all that is. I choose to share my (positive) moments to remember and to hopefully inspire you to live in your moment too and to focus on all that is good.
I so appreciate the beauty and love and friendship that is shared with me and surrounds me – the best that life has to offer. I wish the same for you.
Namaste.
Photos are from Carmel Beach tonight, just before sunset.
Life is good.
Joy
Where do you find joy?
I find it everyday in many places and seek it out and celebrate it out loud. My daughter thinks I’m crazy. I think I’m just joyful.
I wish you joy every day in little and big ways, by yourself, with friends, at work, at play and with your family. I wish you enough. How did you experience joy today?
My joy came from finishing wrapping all our gifts.
It came watching my mom and Charlie play war together.
It came again when working out and taking the bakfiets out for a ride to the park to check on the boys. I felt joyful that the sun was shining and I was wearing a tank top in December.
I felt joy preparing gifts and food to share at a party tonight with friends.
I love this life right now and am still thankful for all the joy that surrounds me and you.
Get your joy on!
Namaste.
here i am 