I LOVE the advertising for the new DoveProAge products. Being (slightly) over 40 myself, I am thoroughly encouraged by Dove and by these beautiful woman! All of them over 40 (most over 50) and obviously proud of who they are and what they look like regardless of their age!
This is my beautiful friend, Bella when she was first born two and a half years ago, and tonight, when I had dinner with her wonderful family. I used to work with Bella's mommy and daddy, Jana and Leigh, at the church office and it's been a joy to have them as friends. (Bella is also big sister to baby Leighton.) Bella gave me a lovely tour of their home and we enjoyed a delicious barbecued chicken dinner. After dessert, we tried on some jewelry while loading up a Garfield Pez dispenser and crunching down all the candies...Yum! So fun to spend time with these great people. It was a beautiful night. A Bella Notte.
Though John Mayer is far more articulate than most of us in his expression of thoughts and has the giftedness to compose music to his journaling (resulting in pure genius), I think all of us can emotionally relate to the amazingly compelling songs on this album. I have listened to "Dreaming with a Broken Heart" at least 100 times, empathizing with every word of the gut-wrenching lyrics:
Most of these people are headed to Spain and Portugal in October with the same tour group and same (amazing) tour guide. Maybe next year I can join them on another tour.
I faithfully followed this brilliantly written and superbly acted HBO program from the premier episode through the end of season four. Unfortunately, I was never able to see any of season five, which was the last season. But thanks to Netflix and a bit of free time, I have now seen the first two episodes of the fifth season and three more arrived in the mail today! Six Feet Under is phenomenal. One of my favorites of all time.
Each year, about this time, I begin to eagerly anticipate the sight and sound of Vin Scully and the JOY of him becoming part of my life again. Vin and I spend just about every night of the week together from April to October. His voice, his endearing stories, his unbelievable knowledge and love of baseball enhancing my life each and everyone one of those nights. Mid-way through each telecast he gives a "20 years ago on this date..." or "on this date in 1965..." trivia story. Truth is, he can tell Dodger stories of 50 plus years ago--he has been with them 58 years! He ends that segment with "...that was quite a game...let's go back to this one..." And I always say it with him. There's a TV in my bedroom for just one reason: the occasional Dodger games that run past my bed time. I never turn off a game before it's over--cause 'it ain't over til it's over' first of all--and also, because of Vinnie. At the end of each game, he gives a little wrap of of the evening and then kindly says, "Good night everybody." I always say, "Good night Vinnie!" and go to sleep smiling. 
My friend Jana invited me to come have dinner with her family next week. I will be bringing dessert, which will, of course, be a banana cream pie. This dessert has distinctive meaning to Jana's husband, Leigh, who moved here from Australia several years ago. Leigh came to our home on his first night in California, and I had prepared a banana cream pie for the occasion of his arrival. (I offered to smile and make him a Vegemite sandwich but he chose the pie.) And he LOVED it! I made it on a couple of other occasions for Leigh after that and he has mentioned it to me in OH so many conversations since then. 
Just got back from dinner with my daughter, Allison. She will be leaving first thing in the morning for Kenya with several other Saddleback Church leaders. This is the fourth time Allison has gone on this trip and each time is an amazing experience for her! She'll be teaching, singing and loving on the people of Kenya. She is so good at that. She'll probably be running with flamingos, kissing giraffes and playing golf with monkeys too...you just never know what's gonna happen on that trip!
For MONTHS I have been sitting through the "coming soon on DVD" preview for Flightplan on nearly every movie I have watched. I never really wanted to see it, but EACH TIME I saw that preview, I got more and more concerned about where her daughter was! Then, I saw a different trailer for the movie which included the captain telling Jodi Foster, "your daughter was never on this plane." That was it. I had to know. 
take a picture of you on your first day of school each year? This mom did.
I stepped onto an elevator today that had about six other people on it. As I got in, I saw a person I thought I knew standing in the back.
Although this February 14th finds me what you might call "Valentine-less", I am most certainly not lacking love and/or lovely aspects in my life. And though there is not a romantic interest this Valentine's Day, my life is truly over flowing with love. It is brimming with irresistible qualities, people I adore and elements of joy that fill EVERY single one of my days with affection, devotion, passion and delight. 
My Grandpa John died last night. This is a picture from the last day I saw him which was about three weeks ago. He was in such good spirits that day...he kept asking when I was going to find a good Italian boyfriend! (He was 100% Italiano!)
Yep. Thanks to the DVR I am sitting here with my bowl of cereal watching The Police sing "Roxanne" on the Grammys. Fabulous! Love the Police. Saw them many times in tiny venues in the early days. Back when they had to sing some songs twice because they only had one album.
While reading my brand new "Sporting News Baseball" Magazine last night, I was fascinated and impressed with the number of players who are either over 40 or will celebrate their 40th birthday this year. Being in my (early) 40s as well, I find it uplifting and encouraging and, I guess, I am just kinda proud of all these guys. Even if you're not a huge baseball fan, these players have all been around for a while and you're probably at least familiar with their names.(If you haven't heard of them, well, it's a sure bet that you and I aren't dating.) These guys are the true, seasoned veterans and will be a pleasure to continue to keep tabs on as they begin the '07 season:Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield, Kenny Rogers, Reggie Sanders, Kenny Lofton, Randy Johnson, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Jeff Kent, Luis Gonzalez, Barry Bonds, Greg Maddux, Jeff Conine, Craig Biggio, Moises Alou, Omar Vizquel, and Woody Williams, (among others!) Honorable mention goes to Mike Piazza who will be 39 this year!
Today a guest came up to my desk and said, "Good Morning, Olivia!" 
Ok, Valentines day is less than a week away!! And of course, flowers, chocolates, and spa treatments are the typical Valentine's Day gifts for women. Sure, ALL of these gifts are GREAT, no doubt about it! Studies have shown that flowers can actually improve mood, relieve stress and lift spirits. And we all know now that chocolate, especially dark chocolate, can LITERALLY improve your physical health ...how great is that? And a day at the spa! Well, just about everyone would agree that a few hours at the spa and one truly feels like a whole new person. Nothing quite like being pampered, totally relaxed and having someone rub the kinks out. 
Special THANK YOU to Matt Jensen who completely SURPRISED me and re designed this page! I opened my blog this morning to find it highly personalized and custom designed for a baseball lover like me. Matt (Allison's boyfriend of 2 1/2 years) is an incredible graphic designer and one really amazing and creative artist. He is also hilarious, kind, thoughtful and has been the perfect addition to our family--my parents, my sisters and my nephews adore him. So do I. Thank you Matt for the new look...let's hope it helps the Dodgers too!
I bought this book last year, but for some reason, never opened it up. Today, I am not sure why, I pulled it off the shelf and decided to give it a try.
Eric Gagne is no longer a Dodger. How sad is that? And even though Eric spent most of the last two seasons on the bench with injuries, I am going to miss him tremendously. Dirty hat, un tucked jersey and all. 
1. If you build it, he will come.
About 10 of the Montage team were invited to join our Director of Banquets, Javad, at Caspian Persian Restaurant in Irvine tonight. Javad (on the right, with Jaime and me) is from Persia and was eager to have us share in this dining experience. We started with the dish below which is hummus, eggplant, stuffed grape leaves, tabouli, and chicken salad. I ordered the Baghala Polo, which is lamb and fava beans mixed with Basmati rice. We all sampled from one another--everything was so unique and delicious! And then the show began! A band came out and began to play and suddenly, there were Belly Dancers everywhere! Great outfits, amazing dancing. I gotta admit that all the songs sounded very much like Cheb Mami singing Desert Rose with Sting. Once the belly dancers were finished, the entire place got up to dance. It was an experience like none other...super entertaining...and just a totally different world. (And, I have to add, that one of the most fun parts of the night was that FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, I was able to talk about "The Office" with everyone!)
