Things I am loving and/or that impacted my life this year,
David Letterman 'Top Ten' style:
10. The Daily Love…need I say more? I love the name and I love the blog. The daily e-mails are insightful and uplifting, and offer great perspective. You should check it out.
9. Jason Mraz… A few years back I started reading his blog at a time in my life when I needed a big helping of positivity. The man never leads me astray- his posts are always awesome. I can’t wait for his new album.
8. Real mail and kazoos…I have just started messing around with watercolor pencils, and I have fallen in love with making my own cards. Which I write in- with my hand. And sometimes mail to someone special- with a stamp. Admit it- real mail is fun to get. I think so at least. The best thing I got in the mail this year? A kazoo. Really. Which leads me to #7…
7. Music…Man, I love music. Particularly when it is made with kazoos. Just kidding (or am I?)- but let me explain the music~mail~kazoo connection. I believe it was through the afore-mentioned Jason Mraz’s blog that I came across a great artist/band named Kris Orlowski. Now, in my house we love all things sting-ed, and I am always on the lookout for good string-ed music. So Kris Orlowski & The Passenger String Quartet’s ‘Freemont Abbey’ quickly became a house favorite. When Mr. Orlowski came out with another album, I ordered it straight away, and it came in the mail a few days later with a lovely note of thanks and a kazoo. We already loved the music- but my son was way impressed by the note and the kazoo. It was a great way to show him how rad it can be to support great music. The new cd- 'Warsaw'- sounds like the Pacific Northwest to me, and I miss my family up there so I love it. It is beautiful. And a little birdie sent me two more copies right before Christmas, so I gifted those to a few friends.
6. Beauregard Food Co…This local eatery has great food and great people. The owners and staff are way friendly, the food is always fresh and they buy local. I have spent many an evening relaxing with a good friend over a Cajun stir-fry, veggie pizza, or even just beignets. They have a bakery that makes the best cookie I have ever had- look for the ‘sweeties’. During crawfish season they have a seafood boil every Saturday night- it is definitely on my to-do list.
5. The Scripps Kelp Cam…Scripps is always near and dear to my heart. My son and I go to the aquarium every summer when we are in California, and it is one of our favorite things to do. (There are some killer tide pools at the bottom of the UCSD hill- just North of the Scripps Pier) They have a camera- the Kelp Cam- in their Kelp Forest and it is the most relaxing thing in the world. If I need a zen moment I just pull it up and watch the kelp sway. Ahhhh…
4. ''It Starts With Us'' and 'Love Bomb'…Every week I get an e-mail from each of these online projects with an assignment that will make someone’s day just a little bit brighter. The motto is ‘All it takes is 15 minutes a week to touch hearts and change lives’. Take a minute to check it out, and then sign up!
3. Tuck Everlasting… If I haven’t read the book my son is reading for school I like to check it out so we can talk about it.
~Reading to your kids and encouraging them to read is SO important~
I still read aloud to him every now and then (he is getting older but he still humors me). So now we read in tandem, and just recently we read Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. I don’t know how I never read it before- it is truly a beautiful story. What a great introduction to figurative language.
2. You…thanks for reading this.
And the number one thing that impacted my life in the biggest way in 2011- - -
drum roll please…
1. My kid... The Squid. He is the number one thing every year. He is on fire this year too- he was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society, was recognized for making a difference in his community/school and got to have lunch with his principal, he is a math tutor at school and loves math, he is killing it on cello AND had a solo at his Christmas concert, he’s been recognized as a leader by his teachers, his grades are awesome and he is working hard…the list goes on and on. He makes me so proud. We have a bunch of new volunteer opportunities coming up in the next few months and I am really stoked about it. We make a great team.
Happy New Year!
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