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Of course I love this one too...

Homeowner's Insurance

So, as of yesterday at 5pm, I am officially a homeowner again. And it feels damn good. I walked through the house last night and, well, yes, there are a few things that need to be done. Yep, it needs to be cleaned (badly), the carpet probably needs to be replaced, there are about 500 nail holes in the walls (I wish I was exaggerating), it is in dire need of a fresh coat of paint (there are EIGHT different colors of paint in the house...nope, not exaggerating) and, thanks to the former owner's two Beagles, the entire place smells like dog. (Yep, my favorite smell.)
And I've never been more excited!
As I stood there in the empty living room last night, tears flowing down my face, I was SO thrilled to BE in MY home. I can't wait to get in there, clean it all up, fix it all up and have you over for dinner. You know me. Im already planning to have a big Christmas open house!
First things first though, I have been calling insurance companies for rates on home owner's insurance. Maybe it's just me, but I find it somewhat entertaining to talk to insurance company people.
Their initial question to me is always, "What is the value of the contents of your home?"
To the first lady, I said, "Oh, I guess maybe $3,000?"
She laughed out loud on the phone! She nearly yelled, "That's impossible!"
So I hung up on her and called the next company.
When asked the same question, I figured I would adjust as to not get chastised again and answered, "$5,000."
Robert, the gentleman on the other end, said, "No, you're not understanding. You need to walk around your house and add up the value of everything you own. Furniture, electronic equipment, art, silver, EVERYthing, including (here's the good part) your jewelry and your furs."

This time I laughed out loud. And I told him I would call him back.
I grabbed a paper and pen and started walking around my one bedroom apartment--which contains every single thing I own--and began to add up the value.
My couch, purchased in March, was $499 on the clearance aisle at Living Spaces. My hope chest--purchased in 1981 for my graduation and containing all my high school memorabilia--is currently serving as my coffee table. I don't know--$100? My 'bar' was $199 at Cost Plus (LOVE that bar) and all the dishes and glassware on it came from TJ Maxx. The dining room table and chairs were $300 at a consignment store. (And I really LOVE that set!) The TV is new to me, but I got it from a friend and it was 200 bucks. The DVD player was $24 at Target. Bookshelves all came from IKEA--Allison and I put them all together---and were MAYBE a total of 300 bucks. On to the bedroom...

My bed (which I LOVE) was $159 (IKEA) and $250 for the mattress. The nightstands--which are perfect--were a combined $100 (at the same consignment store.) My 'desk' was $19 at Ikea.
Now here's the funny part. I opened my jewelry box (which belonged to my Nana)--and only one pair of earrings in there cost more than about $12. (Thank you Claire's) They were a gift on my 21st birthday and may have cost $150--in 1984. I don't wear any other jewelry. And, hard as it is to believe, I don't own any furs. No art work besides my art.com finds. And to my entire closet I gave a very generous total of $1000. It's three pair of jeans, about 20 tee shirts, lots of flip flops, a few sweaters and my Harrod's bags. My work suits are the only thing that brought up the total. Oh, and I do have that new pair of running shoes.

Even when I added in my Macbook Pro, My iPad, iPod and my BlackBerry, all of it STILL barely added up to my original $3000 estimate!

I called the guy back.

I said, "OK, Roberto,--What is the lowest amount you are going to allow me to say?"
He laughed and said, "$10,000."

Here's the deal--my life is amazing. It's EXACTLY what I want in every single way. But there's not many things in my world that have any monetary value. I have often joked that if a thief broke into my house, he'd be so disappointed, he'd turn around and leave. But the truth is...my home is full of treasures...MY treasures. My pictures, my old 45s, my Santa collection, my little plates and statues and knickknacks from all over Europe, the little clay bird that Allison made in 3rd grade and Zac's plastic Dodgers locker, my antique postcards, my tea cups, my bowling trophy, my Bobby Sherman lunchbox, my books...and all my photo albums!

My valuables are invaluable! They are the stuff that have stories...all the stuff that makes me smile with good memories...all the stuff that brings me JOY--all the stuff that make me ME.

So, of course, I took the $10,000 insurance policy.

Heck, if I have to, I'll upgrade the TV and buy a new pair of work shoes.

But all the money in the world isn't going to replace my valuables.
Nope, MY stuff is absolutely priceless.

Start spreading the news...

Back in my old life, we took MANY trips to New York City--my most favorite city in the world. We had a nearly annual tradition of visiting the Big Apple--diligently attempting to go at a different time of year every time. I'm lucky enough to have seen snow in Central Park in Winter (to the tune of 18 degrees), flower stands BRIMMING with Iris and Sunflowers in Spring, I've sweltered in the 90% humidity of Manhattan's Summer and been captivated by the GLORIOUS colors of a New York Fall! I've been to BOTH Yankee Stadiums and stood on the route of the Macy's Day Parade! I've seen fireworks over the Hudson River on 4th of July, celebrated Thanksgiving Day with snow on the ground, and have seen the FABULOUS tree (which I can never take enough pictures of) at Rockefeller Center--several times. I have even been to the traditional Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village...to which, there are no words. (Be sure to ask my mother sometime about getting on the wrong Subway at the Brooklyn Bridge...it's a story she DELIGHTS in telling over and over again!)
Most of the time, we rented an apartment on the Upper West Side...so we could feel like we lived there! It was at the Olcott--27 West 72nd at Central Park West which just happens to have a Dallas Bar B Que in the lobby. Having quickly become a favorite of our NYC traditions, the very FIRST thing we ALWAYS did was head to dinner for a NY's finest BBQ chicken, cold slaw, cornbread and honey butter at Dallas BBQ! It's still always on the must-visit list when we are in town now and always HIGHLY recommended to friends who are visiting NYC.

The BEST and most favorite of our New York traditions was seeing a Broadway Musical (sometimes two!) I am OVERJOYED to have been to at least a couple of dozen Broadway plays over the last 25 years! Honestly, there is nothing I LOVE more than getting all dressed up fancy and going to the theater! I LOVE the smell and sounds and FEELING of live theater! I love leafing through the Playbill and ALWAYS thoroughly enjoy the decor and architecture of every one of those amazing old theaters. Love the live orchestra, the costumes, the lights...Still, today, going to a musical is top on my favorite things to do list!

For that lasting bit of Hibbard tradition, we always bought the poster of the plays we experienced, carried them home--gingerly--on the plane, had them framed and hung them (very proudly) in our home.

When I moved out of the house in 2005, I must admit, the last thing on my mind were those posters. But over the years, I have often wished that I had them. They were so beautiful and such a reminder of the great SONGS and incredible MUSIC, SO rich in tradition...and SO full of memories of our trips to New York.

As I thought about how I might decorate my new home, I once again wished I had those posters. I decided to text my former husband to see, if by chance, he had them in storage and would like to give them to me! (Hey, it never hurts to ask!) Within a few minutes, he text me back a photo of the posters, hanging on the wall of his home. I thanked him for getting back to me so quickly and let him know how nice they looked at his new place.

But you know me...I really wanted those posters.

So I had to come up with Plan B.
I immediately got online--eBay, Amazon, Broadwayposters.com--you name it...and I bought FIFTEEN of the posters--all for less than $50! I quickly jumped over to Target.com and bought FIFTEEN black frames ($9.99 each)...et VOILA!My Broadway Musical walls in my new home will be a reality!
I know EXACTLY how they will be hung--three rows of four posters on the main wall in the living room. South Pacific, Oklahoma and The Music Man will be hung in the guest bathroom as they each l have a very 'retro', almost 1950s look to them!
(I know, I should have been Marion!)
Oh, the South Pacific, Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, Wicked and Evita posters should be here any day now--those were each 69 cents on eBay!

There were a few posters that I was not able to locate...The Secret Garden, Damn Yankees, Once on this Island, Grease, Three Penny Opera...and a few other oldies. I'll definitely be on the lookout for those.

I'm absolutely stoked tonight as I look at these posters that SERIOUSLY make me happy!
Same joy, same songs, same memories.


I should get the keys to my home first thing next week...
Let me know when you want to come over and sing a few show tunes...

'There were bells on the hills, but I never heard them ringing, no I never heard them all,
til there was you....'

You've got to ask yourself one question...

Luck is when opportunity knocks and you answer

Thank you, Nana

I was in Santa Ana the other night and, as usual when I’m in the area, I drive down Poinsettia Street…the street where my grandparent’s lived when I was a little girl.
The house still captivates me--I know they paid something like $8,000 for it in 1957--and the memories FLOOD my mind when I drive by. Roller skating in the back yard (this is where Gina broke her teeth out while we played Wonderama), eating frosted (and always slightly burned) Pop tarts on blue (gas station) paper towels, and drinking (ice-cold) milk out of glass bottles (my Grandpa was a milkman for Adohr Farms.) The best memories of all are the long baths with (lots of) Mr. Bubble in my Grandparents' GIANT bathtub!
(I often wonder how big it really was…it was massive to me when I was little.)
One thing I truly remember is that my Nana never stopped cooking and cleaning. (I am sure that's where I got it.) I recall watching her clean out cabinets, wash walls, darn socks, make pasta from scratch, roll meatballs, cook up delicious peppers and make great big salads in that GIANT wooden bowl! And no one did a better job washing my hair, cleaning out my ears, trimming my fingernails and covering me with Johnson’s Baby Powder after a bubble bath!
I always LOVED being at my Nana’s house…I felt so well taken care of and OH so loved.

As I got older, my grandparents moved from the little house in Santa Ana to a mobile home, first in Orange and then in Lake Forest. Once they were within a few miles of me, I tried to stop by once a week or so to say hello. My Nana was always working on something--cutting coupons, cleaning out drawers, but always stopped to make me a capicola sandwich when I came in.

And, she would always ask me what was up. She knew me. She could read me. She asked deep questions and I told her the answers. She encouraged me to stand up for myself…and, ultimately, she thoroughly supported me when I left my marriage. “You’re only 42!” She said over and over and over again! “Your life is just beginning!” She’d go on to say that if she could have left my Grandpa 50 years earlier, she would have. She said it wasn’t done then--she just suffered—in silence—and "offered it up" for 67 years.

At the end, once my Grandfather died, she told me of her lack of love for him. Oh yeah, she took very good care of him, but he was never very loving or kind to her. She spent a lifetime wishing things could be different. (And cooking and cleaning.) She just didn't want the same for me. Also, of course, since I was not married in the Catholic Church, she would tell me that I was never really married anyway. And, when I was able to see the Pope in Rome in 2006, she told me that it was a sign...it was OK for me to be single.

Thank you, Nana.

The key to all of this was her genuine relationship with me over my whole lifetime (I was 45 when she died--she was a week shy of 95) and her amazing honesty with me toward the end of her life. She was proud of me living alone, being independent and she LOVED that I was traveling the world! She knew that I was getting a second chance…a chance that she would never get.

My Nana took good care of me from the time I was born til her last days on earth. And I have to admit, the gift of her transparency and encouragement was almost as good as the bubble baths and Poptarts.

Almost.

Good Charlotte

This is my dear friend, Charlotte. And that, yes THAT is her (beloved) dirty martini.

Charlotte is a regular at the hotel--she lives across the street--and I have the great JOY--the real privilege--of visiting with her once a week or so. Today Charlotte came in with some family members and was SO excited to bring them to my desk and introduce them all to me! After catching up, they headed out for lunch at Mosaic--which was to be a continuation of Charlotte's NINETIETH birthday celebration! Her birthday is actually just few days--and forty two years--before mine, but Charlotte says she's celebrating this one all year long!

I think what I love most about Charlotte is that she comes in by herself most of the time. Dressed in matching shirts and hats, decked out in serious walking shoes and wearing a gigantic smile--every single time. She's always so genuinely happy to see me, will put her elbow on my desk and want to know what's new in my life. I fill her in a bit, she tells me of her latest adventures, then she usually asks me to walk with her over to one of the restaurants.
I always (very happily) oblige.

If it's Sunday afternoon, the last seat at the bar has been saved for her arrival. She'll ask a good looking manager or waiter for a boost onto the bar stool (she is all of four foot nine, if that!) and then anxiously looks forward to seeing which of her boyfriends is working the bar. No need to tell you that the bartenders absolutely LOVE her--AND they each know exactly how she likes that martini! (Though she's confided in me that one of them makes it better than all the rest!)
Well into year 91 on the planet now, Charlotte continues to travel extensively, walk on the beach each day and thoroughly read through the New York Times, which is tucked in her bag at all times. She also drinks dirty martinis on a (very) regular basis.

Today I told Charlotte that I want to be JUST like her when I am 90!
I told her that I look forward to bellying up to that bar and JOINING her!!

She laughed and winked and said with a smile,
"I'll save you a seat."

My 2300th blog post

The best things in life...(in no particular order)

1. Being in Italy
2. Finishing a good book and having another ready to start
   
3. The amazing joy of genuine friendship
   
4. Kissing
5. Dark Chocolate See's Molasses Chips
6. Being completely debt free and having taken the vast majority of my money out of the stock market just in time.
7. Sitting out on my little patio
   
8. Vin Scully
   
9. Someone saying "Good Morning Beautiful!"
   
10. Being very happy exactly where you are
11. A hot bubble bath at the end of the day
    
12. Someone calling me Juju or Jewels
    
13. Finding and giving the perfect gift
    
14. Someone who loves music and wants to sing with me!
    
15. Taking LOTS of pictures
    
16. Shared memories
    
17. Being able to say I am a college graduate. And that Allison and Zachary are too.
    
18. Concerts. Especially if I can sing all the songs...
    
19. Going out to breakfast!
    
20. A call from one of my kids
    
21. COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE
22. The full moon. Especially hanging over the ocean!
    
23. My job. Every single day.
24. Home grown roses!
25. A great beer. Or two.
26. A sweet text from a friend
27. Spending time at Barnes and Noble
    
28. Being in the mountains
29. Kind, sweet, complimentary words
    
30. Blue cheese stuffed olives
31. Margaritas on the rocks
32. Having people over for dinner
    
33. Slow dancing in my living room. Or my kitchen.
    
34. Inside jokes
35. Remembering people's names
    
36. Apple Pie. Peach Cobbler. Bananas Foster. Chocolate Bread Pudding. (Warmed, of course.)
37. All things Baseball. Especially the Dodgers. (Yep, even when they're 10 games back...)
    
38. Great, real, deep, meaningful conversation.
39. My laptop and my BlackBerry
    
40. Warm biscuits with butter and honey
    
41. Touching fingers/lingering glances
    
42. An afternoon nap
43. Spiders, snakes, lizards and cool bugs
44. Packing a suitcase to go somewhere
45. Something left on my front porch
    
46. Laughter!
    
47. Someone who makes my heart beat...
48. Blogging
49. Having people who read my blog
50. Having enough thoughts, ideas, hopes, dreams, wishes, likes, dislikes, joys and experiences to write at least another 2300 posts...