smile for the horsey

i had the pleasure of witnessing the pure joy on ethan's face during his first pony ride today. pure, pure joy. this baby makes me smile and see the good in the world every single day. we are blessed.

how music, food and dancing can change the world

this week i had the pleasure of joining edelman colleagues from around the globe at the annual leadership academy in chicago. it was an intensive 4-days of learning, role-playing, knowledge sharing and getting to know more of the edel-family. the highlight for me was spending time with richard and dan edelman. it's taken almost 6 years but i finally got to tell both of them just how much this company means to me. how i truly believe this is the best company to work for and how blessed i am to be part of the edelman network of smart and inspiring people.

i was honored to receive an amazing education that i will definitely apply to my communications approach moving forward. part of that communications approach and education was learned through sharing food, music, dancing, stories and libations with my colleagues from argentina, india, england, italy, germany, sweden, japan, china, hong kong, brazil, spain, indonesia, australia, singapore, canada, amsterdam, france, dubai, belgium, ireland, russia, mexico and the u.s.

let me tell you the #1 key learning: regardless of where someone lives or what language they speak, everyone is hungry for good food (especially deep dish pizza from gino's east - YUM!). everyone craves movement and learning. everyone (almost everyone) enjoys music. we are all one unified people. i will always try to remember how interconnected we all are and that at our core we all have similar needs and cravings. i truly believe if we all took time to remember that there would be less hatred and more acceptance. amen.

you've just got to endure

you know those crazy weekends where there’s so much going on you’re more exhausted after it rather than more rested? that was this past weekend. 99.9% of it was awesome. friday night barry celebrated philip (and julie’s) upcoming nuptuals with his best guys. i got to have a relxing evening at home with monkey. saturday morning i went to see deb (she's doing so much better!) while ethan took a nap. barry got to rest, too. then mom and marty came and got us and we endured ridiculous traffic to costa mesa to drop off ethan at the snyders. ethan LOVES being with his cousins and had a blast. he is truly so adaptable. love him. us adults drove to manhattan beach to celebrate val and chris' engagement! yay! so excited for them. after the party we drove back to costa mesa to pick up ethan and then endured a nighttime drive to san diego. we got to the nasty place where we stayed around 12:30am and got a couple of hours of sleep while we endured a really disguisting room. roaches in the bed. fecal matter on the wall. i mean really, really nasty. poor mom, marty and barry had to endure my crabiness and complaining about the situation but really it was so nasty. we then got up at 5:15am and got to see jamie and david at the starting line of their first 1/2 marathon. so exciting to see the anticipation and joy on these folks faces. really wonderful. we then endured the closed roads while we tried to find jamie and david [and jen, doug and emily] along the race path. we never found jen, doug or emilly but we did find jamie and david around mile 12. we watched as thousands of people endured the pain of stiff joints, warm sun and sheer exhaustion. we then walked the last 1.5 miles to the finish line. we then got to watch thousands of people make it across the finish line. such glory! truly remarkable. we then had lunch with jamie and david, stopped at the snyders to pick up our shoes that we forgot at their house and endured more traffic back home...the last 45 minutes of which were stinky thanks to ethan. exhausted but we endured it and i'm glad we did. here's what i learned...you don't have to run a 1/2 marathon to endure a whole lot of shit. smiles. happy monday.

saying a prayer for deb

today i witnessed humanity at its core. i watched as one of my best friends, deborah, went in for surgery to have her thyroid (and the cancer) removed. the good news is that deb is doing really well. the doctor believes she is cured and she is already talking. yes, she's in pain (which sucks!) but she is cancer free and that is a blessing.

ronnie and i walked into deb's pre-op room just as the hospital rabbi was saying a blessing to our dear friend. there stood dahlia (deb's mom) and larry. it was emotional and raw. i stood there watching my brave friend - mother of three, wife to one of my oldest friends, devoted friend - and all i could wonder is when did we get to be the age where we have to deal with these raw and all-too-real life events? i loathe this part of being an adult.

look, i don't know how it felt for deb to go through that today however i do know where she mustered up her strength. she got it from being a mom. she got it from closing her eyes, saying a prayer, and remembering that she is a strong and powerful woman.

i love you deb and i'm very thankful everything is ok.

the happiest day of my life

marrying barry was the best day of my life. i love ethan but the day he was born was scary, uncertain and emotional...that was the most rewarding day of my life but two years ago today was my happiest day EVER.

i got to marry my very best friend. i got to party with almost all of my favorite people. i got to stand up in front of our village and speak these words to my love:

Barry,

I know I tell you a million times a day how much I love you and how lucky I feel to be your partner. So when writing this letter to you I had to dig deeper to figure out just why it is that I love you so and why I feel blessed to be standing here becoming your wife.

First things first, you are funny. You keep me laughing and constantly lighten my mood. Your silly humor is indescribable and I love it.

You are strong. I’m not referring to the amount of weight you can lift, I’m talking about your character. When you were sick a couple of months ago and we were both really bummed about it you told me that we had choices. We could let it tear us up or we could move forward and not let it define us. You are amazing in that way.

You are loyal. Your dedication and ethics are the strongest I’ve ever known.

You are a wonderful friend. You are always willing to lend an ear, fix things, provide advice or just a smile when its needed most. I really think you are so awesome and I am glad we are friends.

I’ve never met a more sensitive, caring, warm, loveable human being. I felt the moment we met that this was it. You make me just so very happy when we are together.

I love you and I pledge my loyalty and faithfulness to you forever.
I love you for who you are as an individual and I promise to never lose sight of it.
I believe in you and promise to always be your biggest cheerleader.
I love you ‘cause you get me and urge me to bring the best of me to our relationship.
I love you because we are a team.
I love you for the time and attention and joy you bring to my life and because you always bring strength and imagination to our relationship.
I love you for being true with your word, our love and my needs.
I love you because you share your feelings whole heartedly with me.

Barry, I promise to keep myself open to you, to let you see through the window of my world into my innermost fears and feelings, secrets and dreams.

I promise to fight fair.
I promise to grow along with you, to be willing to face changes in order to keep our relationship alive and exciting.
I promise to laugh and cry with you.
I promise to love you in good times and in bad, with all I have to give and all I feel inside the only way I know how.
I promise to be by your side through it all and for always.

I love you more than I truly ever thought possible. Thank you for asking me to marry you. I feel truly honored to be your wife.

those words are more true today than ever before. i love you barry. happy anniversary.

my pledge to put down the cookie

"women, food and god" is a fairly new book and the latest approach oprah thinks can help women lose weight. the premise is that you have to recognize that you can live your best life with what you have in front of you and that our connections with food are based on our disconnection with our real life. ouch.
i was at a charity event on thursday night and i had a cookie. then i had another cookie. truth be told i wasn't hungry. i wasn't bored. but the presentations for the event were about to start and i was going to have to sit still for 30 minutes. i wouldn't be able to check my blackberry. i wouldn't be able to talk. i wouldn't be able to get up and walk around. i would have to be still. in that stillness there would be the chance that i'd think about what has been happening the past week - friend's being sick, stress at work, barry looking for a new career, the little time i spend with ethan during the week.
when did i become this self centered? when did i become this cynical? when did i become the one to complain? when did i become the one to sweat the small stuff? that's not who i want to be. that's not who i believe i am. that's not my best self. who i am is the hard working mom and wife and friend and daughter and sister and aunt and co-worker who loves life and sees the positive in every situation. i'm the one that helps to problem solve.
so, my pledge to myself is this...to sit still. to focus on what's actually in front of me and not think that every situation is about me or an opportunity to focus on me. to see the positive. to recognize the problems in life but recognize that there is so much joy. to radiate that joy to others around me. to enjoy those moments when i can be still and appreciate what's in front of me. to live my best life.

i'm not perfect

today i'm going to write about real life. today life is scary. i'm not sure what our next step will be but i'll take scared over unhappy any day. i think about just how much i love ethan and barry and how even in the most uncertain of times my life feels blessed.

i was the subject of a "fireside chat" today during our monthly staff meeting. i was asked what i consider to be perfect happiness. i of course said "ethan". then i was asked what is the virtue that i consider most overrated. i said "perfection". i don't understand those that strive for perfection. it would be exhausting. what i strive for is balance. i strive for living my best real life and being proud of who i am. here's the thing about real life. it's beautiful. it's raw. it's what you make it. it's really imperfect and that makes it wonderful.

one of my favorite songs from ethan's playlist is "i'm not perfect" from laurie berkner. i think it's a good thing to teach our kids..."i'm not perfect, no i'm not. i'm not perfect and i hope you like me that way."

on another note, today i'm grateful for barry. b, you are strong, powerful and wonderful and i'm so glad you're my partner in life. keep the faith.