Inspiration Friday in NYC

Slept in a little and had a nice big breakfast before heading out into the city. Took the subway from Union Square to Time Square to check on the show tickets. Afterward, I headed to MOMA for the first time and was absolutely in awe. I was so inspired and so humbled and so aware of how much creativity is available to everyone. It makes me ask the question too about WHAT IF Monet or Richard Serra decided that their idea wasn't any good and chose not to express it on canvas or through sculpture? Total tragedy...


On my way to the subway...Union Square.

Inside MOMA from the 5th floor looking down on the second. This place was amazing...hence, the following art pieces that are displayed there:

What Happened to us?

Dan Perjovschi

Soli got back to the hotel at about 5:30 from her conference and we headed out with 24/7 to a few places. Really nice people and enjoyed being out and about...

Soli and I at Bar 13 on Friday the 13th!

Soli and her peeps from 24/7

The most intense 23 year old ever...Hope he made it to his date!

In the cab on our way to the Meatpacking District to eat at buddha-bar. So good...It was so good. I took photos of our food below. Mind you, it was much better in person but I tell you it was well worth the trip to eat and hang out in this restaurant.

We ended up stopping in a place called Revel...It reminded me of Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans. There was a garden in the back...Pat O's is much better but we stayed for a little bit and took in the social scene and then headed back in a cab to the hotel.

mind pour -- what's with secrets?

JUST BECAUSE IT'S YOUR SECRET, DOESN'T MEAN IT'S TRUE.
Glinda

how many times in life do you know the truth about something or someone but no one else seems to see it? do you tell? do you keep it to yourself? i have kept secrets before for people...secrets that could've damaged a situation or a person's reputation. i read once that secrets are like stars -- hot, volatile, concentrations of energy. it's true. they can be so powerful.

the worst part of holding onto a secret is watching yours fall out in the open by the very person you've been "protecting" for however long. i've seen it...from a distance and up close and personal.

i can't say that i choose to hold on to secrets much these days. if a friend needs me to be discreet or a shoulder to cry on, i'm there. but many times, it's not secretive stuff...it's just life. what's interesting is when releasing a "secret" out there, so many times the letting go allows someone else to be inspired and possibly do the same because they either have a similar secret or they know how you feel about what you've been keeping inside. your choices, your actions, cause things to happen around you and they cause things to happen in other people.

whatever your secret may be...however "bad" or "good" just remember that it only exists that way because you choose it to. ask yourself what it would look like if you just let it go?

Happy Birthday Be Frie Hubby!

Hope it's a beautiful day with your new little one...First birthday as a daddy --

HOW SPECIAL IS THAT! Enjoy!

"Hallelujah! Find rest in the King of Heaven..."

workin' out in appreciation

back at work day and the traffic was light so i wasn't annoyed or frustrated on my way in. did get coffee on the way (always a plus) and caught up on emails (plus plus). it was quiet since a lot of people are out celebrating (extra plus) which means i had a chance to catch up on some of those to do's that get pushed back due to others' to do's.

left the office and went to work out. such an awesome session. we did cardio, pilates, yoga and then ended the session with some thai massage. who wouldn't want to work out for that? even though i haven't made major progress, it feels great to be following a program that requires me to stretch a bit further than i normally do. soccer is great but i like the pace of the sessions. calming and concentrated. plus, i don't get as many bruises and dirty from the grass.

headed to ID for a quick carry out order. ran into jk and talked for awhile. i love their hot tea. it's never the same when i make it at home. it must be environmental or something. k. (restaurant owner) gave me a necklace and bracelet as well as some tea from Taiwan. she is so sweet.

it's days like these when everything seems to be in motion and time is full of good moments that i breathe in and i breathe out the gratitude i have for everything right where it is. i'm surrounded with those who have been brought into my life so we can continue our growth and our journeys to fulfilling our passions and our dreams. i have no regrets, no incompletes, just presence and possibilities. so grateful...so thankful. amen.

Happy 4th of July!

Yea so this day was rather long and I was thinking it would be a day off but quite the contrary. I woke up around 6 a.m. and met up with Mr. Wonderful at Mead Gardens for the Watermelon Run. Took photos of the crew and then came back home. Did a few errands along the way. Then, after Mr. W. took a quick dip in the pool and showered, we headed to a friend's 4th Bash/Housewarming in a new neighborhood. Their house was so brand new and huge...5 bedrooms and 3 full baths. Really sweet! Ate party food until my stomach hurt and then headed to Rock Star Family house for some more party food and fireworks. Since Mr. Wonderful was running on fumes, we decided to take off right as the fire in the sky was happening. He couldn't hold his eyes open. I have photos of the festivities that I will post soon. Overall, it was a great celebration of our Independence Day! So glad I have good friends to share it with and a great guy to go along with me. Muah to ya!

naps in the afternoon

so, today was a particularly nice day because i was home. did a few things but nothing too overwhelming. i read a few things in the "reading" room and then took a nice afternoon nap. it was so refreshing. i think i overdid it a bit on the weekend so it was a good catch up. i look forward to using this new part of the house that is finally semi-clean. i still need more book shelves...don't we all. i guess it's a good problem to have. i think offices should allow optional nap time. i was more productive after a shot of sleep. something to think about when making policy changes or giving feedback about what's missing in corporate america. :-)

inspiration meets inspiration

Kathy called me on Sunday afternoon about her meeting up with Senator Barack Obama. She was so excited and said that it was an amazing experience. She also said that I would've enjoyed it too! Wish I could've been there with her. Check her and Angel out above with the Senator. To think, we had the same type of photo of the three of us the night before...I think I can hang with Barack. :-)

not officially a party until someone jumps in the pool

The House is Warm! Thanks all! :-)

So, had a little get together on Friday night. Lots of fun and I'm already thinking about my next one. I have photos that I need to download and sleep that I need to catch up on so I shall write more later.

One quick thing...Missed you Fi! Laura and Nate specifically asked about you. Next time!

Oh and Heidi...I am so glad you were there to save the day!

party party party - pics part I

HAGGIS wins again!

So, the Monday night team is a new one and we are doing well. We won last week 1-0 and last night night 4-1. Excited about having a good season. Tomorrow night is the first Wednesday night game since last month so VooDoo Posse is coming back!

Happy Birthday Charley! Mr. Hollywood!!

walking miles and organizing closets

so, we had an extra visitor over the weekend. we dogsat for miles who belongs to rock star family. not sure what kind of dog he is but he's small to medium size and probably over ten years old easily. mr. wonderful had a great time hanging with him...taking him for walks, playing in the pool, throwing his tennis ball back and forth. it was really nice to have him over and to see how it would be if we were to get a dog. now, our dear sweet cats were a little crazy especially bib who is diabetic and obese. he kept hissing and swatting. totally harmless and totally unnecessary given that miles was super sweet to him and little gringo the entire time. in conclusion, miles is the perfect low maintenance dog.

in addition to watching our little four legged friend, we also did a lot of things around the house. it was good to just clean and catch up on some things. there's still things to do here and there. we are making progress. i organized two closets that were in desperate need of assistance. they now look wonderful as well as the pantry and our master bedroom closet. for the longest time, i wasn't sure what was in there. now i do. everytime i organize, i think of the creative organizing blog. good stuff!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNY!!! I LUV YOU!

To MY Jenny on her birthday -

I wish you all the JOY you can wish!

Hope to talk with you soon and I hope you got to celebrate Shanghai style.

I'm throwing you a birthday party in December when you visit.

Send me your invite list and I'll start planning now. :-)

breakfast with the asterisk

heidi is a much better asterisk hunter than i

the third Zabi is here!

From our brilliant friends across the pond...

Here ye, here ye, the new son of Stephen and Christina Zabinski, born 20June 2007, 11:10 a.m., weighing in at 7 lbs 12 oz. with thick chestnutbrown hair: Sir Cambridge Anderson Zabinski. Height unknown. See below photo. Tarry not.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD BABY CAMBRIDGE!!

Mr. Wonderful and I can't wait to meet the little Zabi!

Happiness to Michelle!

Happy Birthday to my cousin Michelle!

Hope it's a beautiful one for you.

Fun Fact: Every time you celebrate someone's birthday at a restaurant or other public place, you are technically committing copyright infringement by singing "Happy Birthday to You". The song was written 1893, and copyrighted in 1934. Although the original copyright would have expired in 1991, two intervening acts of Congress have extended it through at least 2030. This would explain why some restaurants make up their own silly birthday songs for their staff to sing to patrons. The song earns about $2 million per year in royalties.

Happy Father's Day!

to best brother -- his little one is just the sweetest

to Rock Star dad - his little girl giving gifts to DAD at Father's Day breakfast

Chicago

Back from Chicago!

Absolutely freagin lohooovvve Chicago!

Had a hard time leaving the "windy" city today. More to come...but in quick style, I was on official business but had a chance to fun it up here and there:

-- boat tour
-- bus tour
-- museums galore
-- great weather
-- wonderful walking and biking trails
-- big john (hancock observatory)
-- milennia park
-- WICKED -- defying gravity (thank you kathy!)
-- Frontera (SO AWESOME) Grill
-- Lou Mitchell's (thanks again kathy!!)
-- Showkat (Hyatt Bell Hop)
-- The People of Chicago!
-- Glenn the cab driver
-- Gino's East (WOW!)

Visiting Kathy's New Boyfriend Lou

On our way into Lou Mitchell's for Breakfast in Chicago

Kathy totally in love with Lou...He's awesome.

Lou was nice to me too...Giving me extra turkey sausage and a delicious mushroom and cheese omelette along with a pancake and some greek toast. Fresh OJ and all kinds of other stuff that you need to experience when you're in Chicago.

sometimes all you can ask is why

this morning i received sad news about a co-worker losing his twenty-something year old son to a tragic accident. immediately, pain hit my heart twice since he recently experienced the loss of his father and now, his son. it's times like these where you just don't understand. it's times like these where you see how people are so fragile.

not sure whether to send along my condolences...i just did that less than two weeks ago. for now, i pray that he and his family allow themselves time to grieve and soon find a sense of peace in this tragic loss.

Shoving off Seven Years of Sopranos

just watched the season finale of the Sopranos...i kept anticipating the kind of ending where guns are blazing and people are being taken out left and right. trust me, it's not my thing at all to want a violent end to what is one of HBO's best shows ever. instead, the ending left you wondering, confused, disappointed (mr. wonderful more than me) and so uncertain that it compelled me to rewind my dvr and make sure i didn't miss something somehow. but, nope, that was it...credits are rolling and no one is shooting anybody so it's over...just like that. it's over. i was left with so many questions:

-- what was with the cat? especially when it was staring at chris' picture?
-- did sil live? (i just realized i've never posted before about this show so i really don't know how to spell one person's first name.)
-- what was with paully? there was speculation that he flipped but in the end, he just seemed scared of death and strange about things with "T" and with everyone else?
-- the fed guy who tony met up with in the beginning...why was he so excited to hear when phil got popped?
-- who were those twin babies and that woman that phil was with?
-- did anyone else feel nervous for tony when he was on the balcony with janice?
-- was AJ's psychiatrist aware of tony's condition? she seemed to have a look on her face that said she knew what he was all about.
-- for a second while tony was in the backyard, did anyone think that maybe the ducks would make a comeback?

moving forward, i will enjoy picking back up with the new shows and some of the old shows that seem somewhat interesting. this was a good one though. one i'm gonna miss. so, thanks for the journey. oh yes, the band JOURNEY...Of all songs, they ended it all with "Don't Stop Believing."

here comes the confusion again.

---
thanks to super boss woman at the house, i just got turned on to this article featured in The New Yorker on June 4.

here's a snippet at the end of the article: The end is a mystery, but we know one thing: “The Sopranos” defied Aristotelian conventions. It is a comedy that ends with a litany of the dead and missing. Whaddya gonna do?

--
another great post about the sopranos. thanks heidi!

rainforest baby shower

it's a girl!!

went to Susan's baby shower today at the rain forest cafe.

first time i had ever been to a shower there so it was kind of ironic when the "rain" would begin to happen around the restaurant...it supported the whole "shower" theme. lots of fun overall and i love this photo jami took that shows me right looking somewhat confused as the gifts were being opened.

Stars are out

Carolina girl from Discovery and Dragonfly
at the STAR Awards