countdown to costa rica

one week.  one week until my first 'real' vacation of the year.  i TRIED to take a vacation in july but ended up working for most of it.  so i really. really. really need a vacation.  some people in my situation might take the opportunity for a staycation, but a staycation for me, would mean checking the blackberry, cleaning the bathroom,  etc. etc.

no, for me, it's 'leave the country' time.  only problem is that between now and then i somehow have to finish packing up the boxes in my office (we're moving down the road), and successfully pull together our annual k9k fundraising event.

in this case 'my office' includes my cubicle and my three storage areas overflowing with event and promo items, and trust me when i say that organizing, packing, and labeling some 200ish boxes to go out while waiting for my some 20+ k9k boxes to come in, has a way of messing with the mind.  just gotta get to next week!

since last we met

i've:

traveled to nine states

visited seven national park units

eaten at six diners, drive-ins, and (or) dives

wandered through three haunted houses/trails

landed twice in urgent care

had one date


i've also:

drunk from a sulphur well

honky tonked my badankadonk

reconnected with old friends

tromped around a cemetery at midnight

enjoyed fall colors in new england

celebrated my 35th birthday

gained a brother-in-law and a niece

become diamond at hilton

become platinum on american


you'll forgive me if i've been remiss in blogging. i will try and be better:)

sast presents: conversations

the background: most of you know that, among other things, my friend and co-worker vicki and i share an interest in horses, and she has friends that work at the nearby race tracks.  recently she stopped by for lunch and we were talking about when we could find some time to go watch the races.

vicki: tim asked when we were coming to the track.  he said we could come early and ride.
me: ride what?
vicki: ride the horses. get them warmed up.  it's $15/hour.
me: $15/hour? that's cheap!
vicki: no, they pay YOU $15/hour
me: they pay me???
vicki: yes, for exercise riding.
me: they PAY. ME?? 

needless to say, when my knee is strong enough to get back on a horse, i will be taking full advantage of this!  exercise riding a racehorse? heaven!

**********

the background: every year my company hosts a consumer event in the long beach area and we rely on other employees to volunteer for the event.  i received this email today from one of the would-be volunteers, and it made me laugh heartily!

Good morning Tara,

I still have in my mind last year's event, when you passed by me, going fast on a golf kart. I saw you driving the golf kart with one hand, while the other held your walkie talkie, and you were giving instructions to someone, one foot on the pedal, pushed to the floor, and your splinted leg sticking out of the kart, a bunch of employees in the back with scary smiles, holding themselves tight.  I understood in that moment what true multi-tasking meant!

Please sign me up again this year.

ha ha ha ha! sounds about right!

the sweetest place on earth

the sweetest place on earth is anywhere my family is. but before getting a taste of that particular sweetness, i headed to hershey, pa for an event.

it's been a few years since i've been to hershey, and though i didn't get to do too much exploring, i did fulfill a year long dream...a visit to the chocolate spa.

the dream was thwarted last year with my various knee injuries preventing me from attending this particular conference, and, because i had used a groupon the week prior for a chocolate facial and cocoa scrub, i decided to forego the chocolate treatments and indulge in a mojito sugar scrub.

never having done a scrub before, i wasn't sure what to expect, but ultimately i decided it's got the perks of a massage with the added benefit of some yummy smelling exfoliation to boot.  and boy was it yummy smelling!  so much so, that i ordered the product upon my return home.

oooooooooohhh. mojito!

the masseuse?/aesthetician? was absolutely fantastic and it was a comfortable and thoroughly enjoyable experience. i would highly recommend it to anyone, and i can't wait to use my scrub (which just arrived today!)

after the conference, it was time for the real sweet treat.  my flight (because it was significantly less expensive) was originally scheduled to depart from harrisburg to dulles at 7:40pm, with a quick layover before my flight from dulles to la.  but, since i did not have to remain in pennsylvania, i opted to get up at 3am to try and get on a 6:50am standby flight to dulles, leaving the whole day open for me to spend with my family.

i learned two things: 1) it now apparently costs $75 to fly standby (if you make the flight), and 2) if your layover is more than four hours, it is considered a 'stopover' and they will try and charge you for a one-way ticket.

i had an amazing ticket agent who, upon learning about #2 from her supervisor, found a way to circumvent the system when said supervisor was distracted elsewhere.  truly, she went above and beyond, and i was incredibly grateful.

i arrived in virginia at 8:30am, was picked up by dad, and headed to the homestead to catch a couple hours of sleep before meeting up with kate, chris, and the girls.

for those of you who may not yet know, my sister recently got married (a justice of the peace ceremony) and i gained a niece!  her name is whisper and she is 4.  kendyl is enjoying being a big sister, and i think it's a really good thing for her to have that opportunity.

we met at potbelly's for lunch ( a favorite stop when i am back east) and kendyl did not disappoint....literally running across the restaurant, yelling my name, and jumping into my arms for a giant hug.  best. feeling. ever! i hope she is still doing that when she's 15 and 22 and 45, but i guess maybe that's not realistic. :)

me and my girl

after lunch we headed back to the house and spent the entire day talking and playing and catching up.  i was so grateful that they were all willing and able to set aside their normal saturday tasks to be with me, and so grateful that my work provided me the opportunity.

can't wait to see them all again at christmas!  it will be the first time my WHOLE family will be together since adele was born and kate got married, so i am counting down the days:)

august: birthday month o' fun

the end of august will mark a big milestone for me - my 35th birthday. that's right, the birthday that forces you to admit that you are in your 'mid' thirties, no longer sliding by in your early thirties like 34 agreeably let's you do.

while i wrestle with the number and not having yet turned some of my hopes into reality, i decided that instead of getting gloomy and despondent (like i did when i turned 30), i am going to spend the entire month of august CELEBRATING and pampering and laughing and loving and dreaming and learning.

to kick off the birthday month o' fun, a southern california tradition, the pageant of the masters.

i learned (months ago) that this year's theme was 'only make believe,' and i couldn't help but wonder if they chose it just for me, somehow knowing that my birthday was coming! yea or nay, it was ideally suited for me and my friend vicki and I met up in laguna beach for dinner before the show.

laguna tends to be overly auto-congested with challenging parking, so the evening was off to a good start when i found a space about to open up in an otherwise full lot, and the driver of the departing car offered me his parking ticket, so i could avoid the hefty lot fee. happy birthday to me:)

i had chosen a restaurant, based on my friend yelp's high marks, called the lumberyard, and we were more than pleased with the selection. reasonably priced, dimly lit cozy atmosphere, and blue cheese & bacon mac and cheese to DIE for.

after dinner, we headed over to the art festival to peruse the various works before making our way into the bowl for the event.

the pageant is an annual event, taking place june-august every year, for, i think, the last some 70 or 80 years, and is best described as a series of 'living pictures.' works of art are recreated in larger than life size, with living people standing in as the subjects of the sculpture or painting. looking at the works of art, you'd have no idea you were looking at actual people unless you had binoculars and could watch them blink!

the evening was full of fairies and dragons and myths and legends, and i was certain that this had been the perfect way to begin the birthday month o' fun celebration!

and to continue it, last weekend, i scheduled a facial and massage at a local spa. i had purchased a groupon for the treatments, and though i'm not usually one to spend money on those types of indulgences (my indulgences usually lean towards the gadgety and blingy), it was such a good deal, and the offer so tempting, i decided that the birthday month 'o fun needed some pampering. A LOT of pampering!

i arrived at the spa, pleased to find that while it was small, it had a nice atmosphere and the staff was friendly. i spent the first hour enjoying my chocolate facial and the second, my cocoa massage. and yes, the 'chocolate factor' was what made it solo deliciously tempting!

i was especially glad i had taken care of my weekend errands BEFORE the appointment, since the mellow blissful haze lingered (and was allowed to do so) for the rest of the day.

i'm now hershey, pa bound for work, and there are a couple birthday month o' fun events already locked in for the coming week, at least one of which will involve the chocolate spa at hershey hotel. let the celebration continue!

yosemite

a couple of weeks ago, i had my first weekend at home in ... a really long time.  so i decided to leave again, and absconded myself to yosemite!

truthfully, our camping trip had been planned for months, when my roommate got campsite reservations back in march.  and though i would have been happy with some downtime in my own space, i was equally excited to be somewhere there would be absolutely no cell phone reception. woo hoo!

on thursday night, i headed up to the santa barbara area to meet up with my friend jesse and get our gear and food consolidated and organized.  the two hour drive took three, thanks to la traffic, but as a result, i opted to take an alternate route, up the pacific coast highway to the 101 (also a coastal highway).  it ended up being a great solution, despite it's ineffectiveness in reducing the travel time, as many of the recent stressors and exhausters of the last many weeks melted away while i enjoyed the ocean views along the way.

arriving at jesse's late, with my dog cordy along for the ride (her first camping trip), we quickly commenced the sorting and organizing, before sitting down to chat and get caught up.  in the early hours of the am, we finally called it a night, knowing we wanted to get an early start and had a six hour drive the next day.

morning came too early, but a little later than planned as we both overslept. by the time we finally got ourselves together and got on the road it was nearing 11, and the uneventful (thank heavens) drive landed us in the wawona campgound, site #30 by 5:30.

heather and her friend holly had come up the day before, and seemed to still be out and about, so we evaluated the site and planned tent placement, set up jesse's new camp kitchen, and got a fire started.

heather and holly arrived shortly after, and we learned that heather had twisted her ankle on the way down the glacier point hike.  because i was the only one in the group who had no interest in hiking, i had planned to hang out at the campground during the day, enjoying the sun and the river running behind our site,  chilling out with cordy and a book while the others went out adventuring. but with heather's 'condition', the plans changed quickly, and it looked like saturday would be a tour-by-car day.

i got dinner ready for jesse and i (joking with my roommate about how it was the first time in over two years she had ever seen me cook) while he set up his one man tent...and by one man, i mean, it's a ten man tent, but he set up a cot, and end tables and a chair, and by the time he was done, it was a the waldorf astoria of camping.

i was impressed (and only a little jealous) of his pampered camper tent setup.  but after dinner (blue cheese burgers), and dessert (reese's smores), and some campfire chatting, i settled in comfortably to the 'girls tent' for an early night and enjoyed my air mattress in 'heather's hilton.'

morning came early, as it always seems to when camping, but i'd had a good night's sleep (unusual for camping), and was pleased to find that jesse was getting started on our bacon and eggs.

after breakfast we hung out at the camp waiting for our 5th and final camper.  she had been supposed to arrive the previous night but was a no-show, and with no cell reception, we didn't know where she was or if she was planning on joining us at all. so, we decided we would wait another half hour for her to arrive, and if she hadn't, we would leave her a note at the campsite.  we were still discussing the note when her car pulled up.

she had made it up the night before, and successfully found the campsite, but since we were all ensconced in our tents (just barely as it turns out), instead of coming in and hitting the hay, she headed to a nearby hotel for the night, and had come to the campsite to try and catch us.  but it turned out she hadn't showered or brought her stuff with her, so we twiddled our thumbs for awhile while she went back to the hotel to get herself ready.

our first view of yosemite valley

eventually she made it back and we all piled into heather's car...four girls, a guy, and a dog, and headed towards hetch hetchy reservoir.  since holly wouldn't be able to hike, she wanted to see a part of yosemite she had never seen, and the rest of us were on board.

had we known how bad the traffic in yosemite valley would be, or how far hetch hetchy really was, we might have nixed it, but we didn't, and we made the most of it.

gettin wet at bridalveil falls

since we were snail's pacing it through the valley, we made a couple of stops, first at bridal veil falls, then at the yosemite visitor's center (for my passport stamp), and ended up wandering through the ansel adams gallery, where i was specifically invited to come in by an employee who called me in from off the porch, telling me that i was more than welcome to bring my dog inside.  awe - some.

back in the car, we headed for hetch hetchy, and truthfully, i'm not sure it was worth the drive.  it's a beautiful place, but it doesn't compare to the valley and it is way out of the way on windy roads.  and of course, the fact that i couldn't take cordy on the dam meant my experience was 'less than' what it could have been.

happy puppy

we made the most of it of course, and all of us indulged our inner 10 year olds when we passed the sign below on the way back:

to poop, or naut?

from hetch hetchy, we made our way to glacier point, where heather had hurt her ankle the day before.  unbeknownst to them at the time, you can also drive up to glacier point, and the views were spectacular.

view of half dome from glacier point

the sun was going down, so we decided to head back to camp, where jesse and i enjoyed a chili dinner and we all enjoyed chatting around the campfire before calling it a night.

the next morning i woke up, dare i say it, refreshed!  it was the best camping night's sleep i've ever had.  the temperature was perfect, heather's lent air mattress was comfy, and cordy was a perfect snuggle buddy!

lower yosemite falls

after breakfast, we broke camp and headed back into the valley to see yosemite falls.  it was still crowded, but the weather was so perfect, and the falls were full and beautiful. we enjoyed them for a time before deciding it was time to head home.

with a quick stop to the visitor's center to pick up a stamp, and a passport for jesse (yay, another convert!) we made the six hour drive back to santa barbara safely and uneventfully.

while camping always makes me a little tired, and the laundry was piling up, it was a great way to escape, and we couldn't have asked for a better experience!

as usual, tons of pics, here.

urbanized

note to the reader:

by popular demand, the following virtual retelling will be extremely detailed, in fact, it's probably going to read like a 15 year old's diary entry, because truthfully, that's kind of how it made me feel. i find no shame and will harbor no embarrassment about reconnecting with my inner 15 year old!
 
the cast:
me - an event planner for a pet insurance company who frequently attends conferences

vicki - my co-worker and friend, a veterinary technician who was asked to attend one of our human resource conferences (normally only goes to veterinary conferences) and bring her dogs to entice attendees to visit our booth

mike - a colleague and friend

terry - an event planner for another company, whom i met a year and a half (ish) ago standing in a very unnecessarily long long for onsite show services.

reed - a co-worker of terry's

the setting:
the society for human resource management (shrm) annual conference
las vegas convention center, las vegas, nv, 105 degrees (if you're wondering)

the background:

-with nearly 50 events on my annual event calendar, i don't always pay attention to each conference program, so just a few days before the start of the event, i discovered that the sponsored (meaning large and recognizable companies pay for a well-known performer to entertain conference attendees in exchange for marketing opportunities) performer, was grammy award winning country superstar and all around hot aussie, keith urban. 

-vicki would not have normally attended this conference as she is strictly veterinary, but the hr channel folks requested her presence (with her dogs) at the show.  truthfully, i think her attendance was one of many pieces that fell into place in just the right way to make for a surprising night

-terry and i bonded over frustration, and have enjoyed seeing each other a few times over the last year+.   during show setup we crossed paths and swapped numbers and made plans to connect later and to connect at the 'main event'.

-this type of performance is very different from a 'regular' concert.  they are usually held in an exhibit hall, which is one level of concrete floor.  there are no stadium seats, and the seats available are first-come-first-serve. it is also much more intimate, since a performer like keith urban regularly sells out entire stadiums, and the exhibit halls hold far fewer people.  in this case, an estimated 5,000 people attended, which, for a keith urban concert, is 'intimate'

-also in attendance at the event were two co-workers and a spouse, and my sister's boss and co-worker from virginia

the story:

vicki, mike and i arranged to meet at the show at 6:45.  since the show was scheduled to start at 8pm, i figured we would have decent seats and enjoy a nice evening.  

since i had the wristbands required for entry, i first met mike, and we found and saved seats, before i headed back outside to meet vicki and bring her in.  it had been my intention to save a few seats for terry and his co-workers, just in case, as we had tossed around the idea of meeting up.

mike, me, and vicki

when i returned with vicki, the entire row (other than our seats + 1) had been 'saved' by someone else, and shortly thereafter, terry texted me to see what/where we were.  i told him we had an extra seat, but that i understood if he wanted to stay with his group.  he decided to do so, but shortly after his arrival at the center, he texted again to tell me to come meet him at the stage.

our seats were in the front of the second section, and since the concert hadn't yet started, when i scanned the stage, i saw him easily.   i told vicki and mike i'd be right back after saying hello, and when i got up to the stage, i asked if he planned on staying there.  he said he absolutely was, but since the seating was open, i suspected he (we) might not be allowed, since it clearly obstructed the view of those sitting in the front rows -- but he said that he had confirmed with the contact at one of the main sponsors that it would be alright.  so, of course, i decided to stay with him.

i just kept thinking that i wouldn't be able to afford tickets like that at a 'real' concert, and even if i could, how early would i have to be standing in a ticket line before the show sold out,  and i couldn't pass up the opportunity to be that close.  i texted vicki and told her to join me, and texted mike to ask him if he minded staying with the seats and the bags for a bit.  this may sound lame but mike is not a big country fan, and truthfully, i just knew he wouldn't care.  

while vicki was making her way to the front, we were joined by terry's co-workers, one of whom was reid.  he had to ignore a few comments while making his way up to join us, as he is probably 6'3" and nobody likes a tall guy in front of them.  but as it would turn out, i think his height was a huge factor in the evening's events. 

and as we waited for the show to start, i told reed the story of hanging out with jason aldean and his band many years ago, and was fully confident that that would be the coolest band encounter story that i would ever have to tell.  wow, was i wrong!

the show started and keith instantly had the audience rapt.  his stage presence was incredible as was his ability to entertain.  he performed three or four favorites from center stage (we were stage left) before moving to a microphone at stage right to perform another.  at that point, we knew that he would find his way over to our side of the stage eventually, and we were all anticipating it eagerly!

an example of his engagement with the audience--he left the stage at one point, traveling around the room, before landing on a platform in the middle of the giant hall, where he proceeded to sing a couple of songs so that the people at the back of the room could actually SEE him.  in that moment, i fell a little in love with him:)

there were a couple of other great moments before it got really exciting for me, including an on-stage stumble that he made light of, via song (happens at about 1:05 in the clip):

finally, it was our turn. he had started the song 'kiss a girl' and during a musical interlude in the song, he made his way to our side of the stage.  we were all excited to be within a couple feet of him and i was very focused on getting some good photos.  so focused, in fact, that i was completely oblivious to what was about to happen until out of the corner of my eye, i realized that terry and reed were pointing emphatically at me.

there was a brief flicker of understanding, followed by a brief flickr of panic, and i quite literally tried to melt into reed and become invisible.  my long time friends and blog readers know how terrified i am of being in front of people, and while i know how crazy this sounds, in that split second, if there had been enough room for me to run, i would have done it and not looked back.  but instead, reed gave me a gentle push, and suddenly, keith urban was holding my hand and walking me around the barricade to the security guard, who then escorted me onto the stage.

he told me to go to center stage and wait for  a minute, and when i got there, i made the mistake of looking up and seeing the, literally, thousands of people looking at me!  i also had NO IDEA what i was going to be doing up there, and truthfully, if i had known, i probably would have taken a stage dive then to get out of it, but it all happened so fast, i was saved from myself.

the next thing i knew, keith had chosen a guy from the center section and a girl from the right, and the microphone was in front of my mouth and he was asking me what my name was and where i was from.

i do not know what happened in that moment.  i was possessed or something because i YELLED "im tara from huntington beach, california!'  and the crowd went wild.

you know how people say that? 'the crowd went wild'? and it's usually tongue in cheek?  well, the crowd literally went wild.  i don't know if they all just really like california or what, but they were clapping and cheering and hooting and i understood why rock stars like being rock stars!

keith then asked the same questions of the guy and other girl, and the crowd was... supportive.  i still don't know why they reacted to me the way i did, but even in that moment, i knew i was the crowd favorite.  of course, what i didn't know is that that would dictate the rest of my onstage experience.

i still didn't know what we were going to be asked to do, but i suspected there would be some sort of keith urban trivia game going on, and i knew without a shadow of a doubt that i would completely blow it.  the pressure was just too high.

and while i began to dread what was to come, all of the sudden, there was a microphone in my hand and keith said 'it's really easy, just sing the chorus.' and the music to 'kiss a girl' started back up and i didn't even take a breath before belting out:

I wanna kiss a girl
I wanna hold her tight
And maybe make a little magic in the moonlight

(so far so good)

Don't wanna go to far
Just to take it slow

(oops, a memory lapse, but fortunately keith was on the ground next to me mouthing the lyrics)

But I shouldn't be lonely in this big ol' world
I wanna kiss a girl!

and the crowd went ballISTIC! now keep in mind, i was not focusing on vocal quality or vibrato or anything, really.  something just clicked in my mind when i started singing and a little voice said 'go big or go home - if you're gonna fail, fail spectacularly.'

so i was truly, legitimately surprised, when the audience reacted the way they did.

keith moved on to the guy and the other girl, and again, i could tell that the response was not as strong.  but i didn't see what was coming, which was that he asked the audience to pick the  best performance.

now despite the fact that the audience SEEMED to have thought i did the best job, just about every insecurity i have (and some i don't have) ran through my head.  the guy was cute, the girl cuter, and i was pretty sure i didn't have a shot at 'winning'.  i was preparing myself for the ego blow, when he put his hand over my head and the audience erupted.  he did the same with the other two, and again the response was supportive but not as frenzied.  i knew i had taken it, and couldn't believe that the girl who was taller than and weighs more than the country superstar had somehow won over the audience.

he came back over to me, put his arm around me and announced that there was a clear winner.  the crowd cheered and clapped.  at some point in this quickly passing moment, (maybe he also gave me a hug??) i whispered 'nothing like stage fright, right?' and he responded, saying 'you did awesome (how do you spell that with an australian accent?), you can SING!'  and i basked. had the experience stopped there, it would still be the coolest experience of my life.  but it didn't.

i know it's blurry, but it's also proof :)

of course, it took me a second to realize it...in fact i actually started walking off the stage, and he grabbed my shirt and said 'stay here'.  so i stayed while he took the girl over to the guitar player and the guy over to the bass player and grabbed me and took me up to the center stage mic, and the two of us began singing the rest of the song.

even in the retelling, i can't help but wonder if it was all a dream.  i kept trying not to crowd him since we were sharing the same mic, so he kept moving it closer to me until i finally just accepted the insane fact that i was going to be four inches from his face for the rest of the song.

the audience was so supportive and so into it, and i found my friends who, really, i owe the whole experience to, and gave them a 'can you believe this???' look, which turned out to be photo documented.

i also thought about the couple of co-workers i knew were in the audience (who i later found out had gotten their whole section chanting my name), as well as my sister's boss and co-worker from virginia, and just how cool it was that there were people there who would tell the story.  as excited as i am to tell it, it is also pretty cool knowing that other people are telling it.  does that make sense? does it seem vain?  trust me, it's not vanity, but pure gratitude.

i have had a life FULL of amazing experiences.  and every single time, i wonder why.  why i am so lucky.  i'm no more special than in the ways that we are all special and unique, and i have no idea why a guy (reed) who i had literally met a couple hours before would make such an effort to put ME in a spotlight, or why keith urban decided to take him up on his suggestion, or why an audience of 5,000 people decided that they liked me...and while i still find myself pretty mindblown by the why's, i am immensely grateful and unbelievably humbled.

towards the end of the song, keith interrupted himself to say/sing "maybe you wanna kiss a man, but i don't want to kiss a man', and during the last chorus, he changed the last line to 'i wanna kiss a man' for my benefit:)  as we finished, he gave me a warm and surprisingly genuine hug and whispered ' you were so great.' and i told him how amazing an experience it had been and thanked him before making my way off stage.

and what was probably a 6 or 7 minute experience? came to an end.  or, almost, anyway.  i was surprised at the reaction i got when i returned to the crowd and my friends.  people were touching my arms and grabbing my hands, and telling me how awesome i was.  and when i got back to my group, reed gave me a big hug and said 'i didn't know you could actually sing.'  yeah? me neither.  at least, not like that.

yes, i've sung in choirs and small groups and i know that i have a decent voice, but you cannot prepare for something like that--it is so completely different from anything any normal person like me would ever experience in my life. and i was sooo not trying to sing WELL, i was just trying to 'fail spectacularly'.

keith ended up playing for just over two hours, and even that endeared me to him.  as i understand it, that's about the length of his regular concert, and i felt certain since it was a relatively small group for him and a different kind of group, and because sheryl crow (a couple years before) had performed a short set, that  he might be on stage for an hour-ish.  but boy did he give us a show. and me in particular!

when the show ended, it took us about an hour to get out because people kept stopping me.  my co-workers found me and were as stunned and excited as i was, and every few feet someone would recognize me and tell me how good i was and how lucky, and the look on some of their faces was pure awe.  again i thought i could understand the appeal of superstardom, just a little:)

the experience was such a whirlwind, i didn't have much time to think, just react.  i know there are things i've forgotten because they were so quick (ie were there two hugs or just one?) so i'm grateful that there were so many people taking photos (since i had none of my own), and that my colleague mike, ended up taking video of the entire thing (which i'm still waiting on). i've talked to my contact at the show, who emailed me to tell me that it 'couldnt have happened to a better person.', about getting a copy of whatever footage they have as well, and my only complaint is that they were all from the wrong angle, so of course, my chin and arms are terrible in all of them;)  oh, and by the way, you know how they say you should always wear clean underwear in case you're in an accident?  my new motto is 'always wear black in case keith urban pulls you on stage.' after all, black is far more forgiving and flattering...and SLIMMING!

as you might imagine, i'm still 'high' from the experience and i expect to be for awhile.  if you're in the car with me anytime in the near future, you'll be listening to keith urban.  and if you call me, your ringtone will be 'kiss a girl'.

there are many many many photos of the experience, some of them mine, some of them from friends and strangers, but all the ones in my possession are located HERE.  when i have the video(s) i'll try and post, but i understand at least one of them is a huge file:)

lastly, i'll say one more time how grateful i am.  every once in a while i get discouraged because my life is so far from what i thought it would be and wanted it to be at this stage in my life, but i also know and recognize often, just how blessed i am, that while i'm waiting for those dreams to come true, i get to have unbelievable experiences like this.

i. sang. with a grammy winner. on stage. in front of thousands of people.

so, so, sooo blessed!

the fam damily

back on schedule...sort of.  i arrived in virginia in the early evening and dad picked me up from the rental car place.  on our way home, we made a little detour and stopped at kendyl's daycare, which also happens to be a tae kwan do studio.

needless to say, i had been aching to hold this little girl in my arms again, and when she saw me she yelled my name and jumped into them.  i know one day, maybe when she's 12 or 13 or 14, it won't seem as exciting to have aunt tara come for a visit, so i relish every moment of that excitement and happiness.

we said our temporary goodbyes and headed home.  i hopped in the shower, and then it was time for dinner. the bonus for the evening was that not only would my sister and kendyl be coming over, but my cousin jamie recently moved to the area, so dinner, and the rest of the evening, was just one hilarity after the next.

kendyl has always been a good 'poser',  but she decided that she wanted to be behind the camera this time and just kept snapping away.  turns out, she has a pretty good eye! to check out the complete series, click here.

eventually it was time to call it a night.  i'm always sad to have to say goodbye to kendyl, especially since i won't get to see her again until christmas, but i was grateful to have even a little bit of time with her and the rest of the fam.

the beauty of unplanned plans

the beauty of the unexpected is that the possibility exists for wonderful things to happen.

on wednesday, before i knew that three days later i would be in south carolina, a random itunes clean out made me think of some extended cousins i hadn't seen in over a decade.  we had spent a couple of summer vacations with them in thousand islands, ny at their idyllic cottages on the idyllic island where cars were quickly traded in for bicycles and golf carts and afternoons at the ice cream parlor, picnics on the beach, and sunset boat rides.  you can perhaps imagine why this particular group of people make me think warm happy thoughts.

it all started when i came across a band that, long ago, my second cousin (i had to look that up) jamin, and i had both shared a love for. so i did what anybody would do;  i headed to facebook to see if i could turn up anything. pretty quickly i was able to find jamin and his mother judy (my first cousin once removed).  i added them as friends, thinking i would silently cyber-stalk them to begin the reacquainting process, and was reminded that judy had left new york and was now running a bed and breakfast in south carolina.  my internal dialogue, quite literally, went like this:

"one day, i'm going to have to go check that out!"

i could not have possibly foreseen that in just twelve hours, i would be making travel arrangements that would allow me to do just that!

i sent off an email on thursday and waited to hear. and when sunday morning came without a response, i simply assumed that there were other commitments, being so last minute and all. until i checked my email, and learned that she had been simply trying to coordinate the arrivals of my second cousin, gretchen, and my great aunt, who had flown in the night before for their annual vacation. score!

my two hour drive to charleston was mildly eventful. see...i got pulled over. for going twenty miles an hour over the limit. doh!  guess my california lead foot got the best of me.

BUT, he gave me a warning.  a WARNING!  i truly don't even know why. i was pretty resigned to my fate, and simply told him that i was sorry, and i obviously hadn't been paying attention.  and after he ran my license and car rental agreement, he came back to the car saying 'twenty miles an hour. twenty miles. i NEVER do this, but this is a warning. SLOW DOWN,' shaking his head the whole time.  i'm not sure which of us was more surprised, but not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, i thanked him profusely and got the heck out of dodge before he could change his mind!

the rest of the two hour drive to charleston passed smoothly at nine miles over the speed limit. i have never been to charleston before (i still can't quite believe it, and it kind of hurts to say) and the drive in was full of oohs and awes, and aaahhs. and when i pulled up to lavender and lace, i discovered that  it was everything you want a charleston b&b to be:  a delightfully old antebellum house with wrap-around porches on multiple levels that make you want to drink mint juleps and sit on porch swings. it was absolutely lovely! as was my reunion.

i still, in hindsight, cannot believe my good fortune.  i have expressed on many occasions how grateful i have been that my family is  so amazing, and that feeling extends beyond far beyond the first branch of the tree.  to be able to reconnect with my cousins and great-aunt was such a blessing!

after catching up on the last fifteen years, it was time for me to head out

i couldn't leave without making a couple of stops at the national park sites in the area, so the first on the list was fort sumter.  fort sumter is most notable for being the place at which the first shots of the civil war were fired.

due to time, i wasn't able to take the boat over to the fort, but i enjoyed the displays and the information at the visitor's center.

from there, it was on to fort moultrie, which is fascinating for other reasons.  

it was built in 1776, and is unique for having been built with palmetto logs. because the palmettos are softer than woods normally used, the walls would absorb the shock of the cannons without exploding, and it is even said that cannon balls would BOUNCE off the walls. uh-mazing!

and with seven new stamps in the parks passport, it was time to keep on keeping on.  afterall, i had a date with some very special people!

my stop for the night was in raleigh, nc with colby and julie. and while cost was a factor in opting to drive, rather than fly to va, colby and julie were the primary motivator.

i would have liked much much more time with them, but since just three days before, there was no inkling of a possibility that i would be sitting in their kitchen laughing, and learning of the death of osama bin laden together, it was all icing.

the unexpected

the thing about being a planner, by nature, and by profession, is that things are planned.  the unexpected always exists, but you plan for that too.

last month our parent company (who 'is on your side') asked us to be involved in an event they were participating in.  i was originally scheduled to attend, but it was then determined that it wouldn't make economic sense for me to do so, since the event was on the east coast and i, am on the west.  they did not know that i was already planning on heading east for another event only a couple of days later, but no matter, we would send one of our reps living in closer geographic proximity.

unfortunately, though, the reps father passed away, and with less than twenty four hours notice, i was making travel arrangements to leave for hilton head, sc.  the arrangements were a bit crazy. one hotel one night, a different the next night.  and because of the last minute nature and its associated costs, i opted to drive from hilton head to virginia where i would be spending a day with my fam before a drop off in maryland for the next event.

and the trip in was equally as wild.   after taking off forty-five minutes late from dallas, we were informed that there had been a mechanical issue and we would have to land back at dfw.  the catch was that the fuel tank was too full to land, so we'd have to fly around for 'awhile'.

every fifteen or so minutes, the pilot would come on and tell us that we would be landing in 15-20 minutes. that meant electronics off and no getting up from the seats.  and i believed him the first time.  and the second time.  but by the third and fourth time, i had had it.  instead of making the two hour flight to savannah, we flew in circles for an hour and a half.

now, i'm pretty patient about travel glitches, but this one was so far off the 'logic radar' that i was as close as i've ever been to truly losing it. when we landed in savannah, it took nearly thirty minutes for someone to come out and bring our plane into the gate.  then thirty minutes for the bags. then the hour drive to the hotel. and by the time i got to the hotel, it was 3am.  3 hours later the alarm was going off, and i was heading out to the event.

fortunately, things started looking up from there. i got to the event with no obstacles, and since it was quite literally on the beach, i was instantly relaxed and happy.  everything went smoothly, and i was really pleased with the exposure we got. the organization was so thrilled to have us there, and they all had such a good energy about them that it was truly a pleasure to be there.  and of course, it didn't hurt that i got to pet dogs all morning!

after the event i headed to my new hotel, the hilton head marriott resort & spa (yes, it was as good as it sounds) and slept for several hours.  when i woke up in the early evening, i decided that i needed to go enjoy the beach, so i headed out to do some exploring.  since the only thing between the hotel and the beach was the pool, i didn't expect to make a rest stop, but just behind the pool was a copse of carolina grass and several hammocks.

i just couldn't resist, so i crawled onto one and did some reading while lenjoying the sounds and smells of the ocean..

there is just something different about carolina beaches.   from a purely aesthetic perspective, california beaches are far superior, but  i truly think the overall EXPERIENCE of a carolina beach wins out hands down.  it feels more relaxed, and less like a social 'scene', and there are hammocks, and you can swim in a swimsuit in april, and don't need a wet suit in august!

after i'd sufficiently 'rested', i headed thirty yards east, where i was reminded again how wonderfully warm the atlantic ocean is!  i was nearly knee deep before i remembered that i was wearing a skirt.  and i spent the next hour enjoying the warm water and the sunset, before calling it a night.

marriage

i'm not awol, just can't keep track of where i'm at or in what time zone.  while i continue to question that, i wanted to pause for a moment and share.  if you had the opportunity and interest to watch the royal wedding, it may sound familiar, if not, it's an absolute must read.

i watched the wedding by accident, and for a few reasons ended up being glad i had done so, this speech by the bishop of london being the greatest among them.  it is a wonderful explanation of and tribute to marriage.

Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves.

Many are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one – this is a joyful day! It is good that people in every continent are able to share in these celebrations because this is, as every wedding day should be, a day of hope.  

In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future.

William and Catherine, you have chosen to be married in the sight of a generous God who so loved the world that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

And in the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife are to give themselves to each another.

A spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.

It is of course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. And people can dream of doing such a thing but the hope should be fulfilled it is necessary a solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of generous love.

You have both made your decision today – “I will” – and by making this new relationship, you have aligned yourselves with what we believe is the way in which life is spiritually evolving, and which will lead to a creative future for the human race.

We stand looking forward to a century which is full of promise and full of peril. Human beings are confronting the question of how to use wisely a power that has been given to us through the discoveries of the last century. We shall not be converted to the promise of the future by more knowledge, but rather by an increase of loving wisdom and reverence, for life, for the earth and for one another.

Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make one another their work of art. It is possible to transform as long as we do not harbour ambitions to reform our partner. There must be no coercion if the Spirit is to flow; each must give the other space and freedom. Chaucer, the London poet, sums it up in a pithy phrase:

“Whan maistrie [mastery] comth, the God of Love anon,

Beteth his wynges, and farewell, he is gon.”

As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life. This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive, we need mutual forgiveness, to thrive.

As we move towards our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with light. This leads to a family life which offers the best conditions in which the next generation can practise and exchange those gifts which can overcome fear and division and incubate the coming world of the Spirit, whose fruits are love and joy and peace.

I pray that all of us present and the many millions watching this ceremony and sharing in your joy today, will do everything in our power to support and uphold you in your new life. And I pray that God will bless you in the way of life that you have chosen, that way which is expressed in the prayer that you have composed together in preparation for this day:

God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage.

In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy.

Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.

vegas

finally, a vegas trip MY way.

the one and only conference that i just get to attend, and my co-worker diana and i had booked rooms at one of the new city center properties: vdara.

vdara is a non-smoking, non-casino, all suite hotel, and though it's on the strip, the complex of sister hotels and residences is so large that you can't see or hear the strip unless you are on a high floor.  definitely my favorite hotel to date.

workshops went well, but after we were finished, diana and i decided to have some fun.  we went shopping!
i was on the hunt for sunglasses and she was on the hunt for tiffany's. i am happy to report that we were both successful.

not ready to call it a night yet, we headed next door to bellagio where we were amazed to find it in 'full bloom'.  we had no idea we would be walking into spring, and we just couldn't get enough.  between the tulip fields (my favorite!) and the butterfly house, and the merry-go-round, we were giggling little children!

we made a stop for dinner before heading outside to watch the water show out front, and ended up staying for three shows, talking and enjoying the aquatic performance before calling it a night.

the next morning, we finished up our workshops, and spent our last couple of hours in vegas getting hot stone pedicures, thanks to a groupon we bought last month.  after almost two weeks on the road, it was the perfect way to finish off the trip before heading home.