Wordless Wednesday – Every picture tells a story

The year was 1998, my children and I were visiting my brother in Manhattan Beach, California.

What was your most favorite day of your life?

Recently I was able to help some friends with one of their family holidays. I felt like a fairy godmother with making their wishes come true. The saying is true…”It is better to give -than to receive.” It made me start to think about the last 50 years and what has been the best day of my life. Could there really be one, single best day of a person’s life?

What’s your favorite day you can remember?
Was it when you got married first time or second time?
Was it the birth of your child?
Was it graduating from school?
Was it buying your first home?
Was it traveling to Paris?
Was it traveling to Hawaii?
Was it finally landing the job of your dreams?
What was the single best day of your life?

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Seven ways to be a good Guest

With Christmas and Chanukah now over with for this year – we are all facing our next holiday of New Years Eve and New Years Day. Be considerate and most of all be a good guest and show respect to the person who invited you.

1. R.S.V.P. – tell your hosts whether you can attend and do so immediately.

2. Be on time – Try not to arrive too early; and do not arrive more than 15 minutes late.

3. Be a most willing participant – Whatever the host offers – such as party games, a new souffle, or meeting new friends and acquaintances. Be a team player.

4. Offer to help clean up or whatever they need (within reason).

5. Don’t overindulge with alcohol or the pate. Leave some for the other party guests.

6. Thank the host/hostess twice – on the way out the door and with a phone call or email note the very next day.

7. Ask permission before you post photos to Facebook or Twitter the next day.

Make someone happy

This weekend – I told my Husband I would go with him to TWO football games. UCLA vs Stanford on Friday and we will tailgate.

He also wants to see USC vs Notre Dame on Saturday, I said okay. He feels like the happiest man on this earth. My hubby is a retired football coach, he loves college football. He still teaches high school biology and science. He often tells his students about the importance of attending college and recently hung Pac 12 pennants in his classroom. To inspire them, by the way did I tell you what a good guy I am married to.

Photo of the Day – November 25, 2014

Thankful for my friends – celebrating the friendships over the years.
Happy Thanksgiving 2014

Dressing (and Stop Stressing) for Commercial Auditions! Pt. 1

Poisematters:

Great advice

Originally posted on After the Audition:

Have you ever felt stressed before a commercial audition because you are madly attempting to find the perfect thing to wear? It’s hard enough to memorize a script with finesse, battle a case of the nerves (if they surface) and make it to the audition on time – never mind put together the perfect outfit.

We’ve all been there, feeling the tension building up as you pull apart your closet because you know that what you wear (however pathetic this might sound) is actually pretty significant to your audition. What you wear is part of your first impression! Your clothes will be seen by casting directors, agents, directors, clients and maybe even an entire creative team, who will determine if you book the job that day.

Not to make you feel more stressed, but each of these decision makers has visualized (to some extent) in their mind what the actor…

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My youngest is turning 29 tomorrow

The air in Southern California has finally turned cool, and today it was in the 60’s…unbelievable that fall has arrived, thank you.
I love this time of year….after Halloween is over; it reminds me of this special time of year. As you see my son was born late….almost 3 weeks late. He was due in mid October and made his debut (naturally on November 3rd).
I still remember answering the door on Halloween night in 1985; all of my neighbors were asking when he was coming….and my reply was, “when he is ready”.
Children are a gift and he is out in the world being ultra fabulous. Both of my sons are still single and no grandkids yet; except for a furry grand dog named Charlie. They are on their own time table; and this generation does their own thing. Feeling blessed and loved tonight, and wanted to share.

Photo of the day

Over the weekend my husband and I went to the UCLA football game against Utah at the Rose Bowl. It was a warm sunny day and we walked towards the stadium, we heard a gentleman yell out, “Coach D”! We turned around and spotted a former student my husband taught in High School over 19 years ago. It was a lovely encounter, especially when the young man says that the Mr was his favorite teacher.
My take away from this moment, was to tell friends, teachers, colleagues when something is important. Don’t wait, because you may not get another chance.

Remembering Robin Williams – from my days at Disneyland

I will never forget the first time I met Robin Williams – the year was 1991. I was a VIP Tour Guide Hostess at the happiest place on earth, Disneyland. Robin had just finished up making the movie “Hook” and was taking a short break to come and have lunch with two old friends.
Demi Moore and Glenn Close amongst others in the party.

Robin was funny and loved the park, he danced around New Orleans Square prior to lunch at the Blue Bayou. I had the honor and the privilege to be his tour guide 5 different times at Disneyland. He was kind, generous, interested in others and all around good guy. He would speak in several different accents all the time; from ordering his food – to asking a simple question.

After his many trips to Disneyland, he sent me a gift to my home. It was the an autographed copy of the script “Hook”, he was one of a kind. He will certainly be missed by many.

Random acts of kindness

Last Thursday, I came home from work and found 3 new plants in my front yard? At first – I thought it might be a nice gesture of a neighbor or even my father or our gardner. All of these likely sources denied planting anything in our yard. It was quite a mystery to my husband and I….we kept asking family members, neighbors and none of them owned up to the mystery planting.

The three little plants are lovely and it appears that they might be plumerias or fuschias. Needless to say we are enjoying them – and we still don’t know who did the good deed – there was no note or message; just freshly raked dirt and lovely plants. Below is a quick snapshot from my iPhone of the plants.

There is another group of gardeners that perform yard work in our neighborhood and usually on Saturdays; often my husband will take them out some cold drinks and says hello to them in Spanish. I am now thinking it might be their good deed.

Random acts of kindness are just that….good deeds at random and most of time they are anonymous. No matter when they occur – the lesson is to treat others with kindness everyday. Happy July 8th, here’s your official invitation to treat someone with kindness.