Nothin' Fancy

Was so excited for a little Halloween BBQ and trick or treating tonight!  Not only was there great food and great company, but there was a bounce house!  These two seemed to find something even better though.

Yesss.

This makes me happy.  Shopping for single people!

Kindness.

Oh, Bob's.  My favorite little grocery store.

I was assessing the broccoli in the produce isle and turned to grab a plastic bag. Every roll around me seemed to be completely out.  A gentlemen walking towards me with two bags smiled, reached out and handed me one.

I assumed he'd accidentally grabbed two and it was meant to be.  But as I grabbed the bag, he returned to the full roll of bags and got himself another.

Casualty

After a long day of loading in for my Harvest Event this weekend, I came home to this picture waiting in my inbox from one of my crew members.  Totally made my day.

So Simple

After a frustrating day I complained to a friend, "I REALLY REALLY REALLY just want today to be over."

And in his brilliant wisdom he answered, "Today IS over.  It's tonight."

A Pay Off

Today, the rain figuratively and literally put a damper on my sunshine.  From the moment I stepped out of my house this morning, everything seemed to go wrong.  Insane traffic, dealing with the government, soaked shoes, destroyed creative projects, insane traffic, more rain and more rain and more rain.

Putting my key in the front door tonight was such a sigh of relief, I thought I might open the door and immediately lay down on the floor.

But before I did that, I grabbed my mail (all of which appeared to be junk) and tossed it in the recycle box.  An envelope fell out of the pile and onto the floor and I almost threw it away again before noticing it was from a claims agency.  I decided to open it, convinced I'd probably been duped again into opening some crap junk mail.

I was completely wrong.  It was a claim for $500 from a car accident I was in this summer.  My car is actually fine.  And now I have $500 to spend on something fabulous.

Dinner anyone?

Home Is Wherever There Is You

Melt in my seat lyrics.
I dare you to not smile while watching one of these.

My friend Matt reminded me of this today and a fellow blogger mentioned it a few months ago.  And, just like she says, it deserves the attention it gets.

I'm posting both of these videos because they both make me smile that comfortable, long, warming smile that only music can create.  I have a fave -- but it doesn't matter.  Flip a coin and watch one -- or enjoy both for their separate goodness.

And dance today -- even if it's in your car or the shower.  Just for a second...smile big and dance.

A thought

I was getting ready for an evening of martinis and Mad Men and noticed there was a neighbor dog howling and whining for almost an hour.  At first, I thought..."Meh, slightly loud and annoying, but man, I wish I had a dog."  And then my Lassie radar turned on and I thought..."What if someone is hurt and the dog is crying for help?!"

Which was immediately followed by, "Nah, someone else will check."
(Which was followed by that thought for the next hour.)

I sort of hate that reasoning.  People die, can't get up, get kidnapped, don't get help...primarily because people think:  Someone else will help.

I made it all the way to my car and started the engine before I had to FORCE myself out of my car, walk to my neighbor's complex and pick a door to knock on.

They seemed surprised, defensive and almost annoyed that I had even bothered.  "No, our dog is quiet, I promise."  I tried to explain that I wasn't annoyed or upset -- just worried.  They didn't seem to hear me.

This isn't a HEY, LOOK AT ME -- LOOK AT WHAT I DID post.  This is a realization that LA has slowly and surely changed me.  And I'm frustrated.  It took a ton of convincing to get out of my car to "waste" 3 minutes of my time to check on a fellow human-being.

Buuuut....man did I feel relief afterward.  Even if they couldn't quite understand my intentions.

Dearly Beloved...

Three weeks ago I gave a speech at a wedding that I didn't even make it through the first two words.

Last night, a 4 year old gave a speech.  With a microphone. And killed it.

She said, "I just wanted to say that this is really pretty. [pure silence....] And I'm really happy."

So great.

Like father, like son.

I was at a 4 year old's birthday party today and even though the entire day was pretty sunshine-worthy, there was one moment that stuck out.

After cake was served, a dad and his 3 year old plopped down in the grass and sat in exactly the same position -- knees bent, feet underneath their bums and sort of a straight-ahead gaze.

I could tell the dad was exhausted and happy to sit.  He used a fork and slowly enjoyed every bite while the little boy used his fingers to eat.  They both barely looked at the cake as they stared ahead into nothingness and finished their cake.

Then in perfect sync, they both used their fingers to diligently get every last spec of frosting off their plate.  One swipe at a time, they scooped it up, licked their finger and then did it again and again.  Until the plate was clean.

$1.25 please

I was headed home from Laguna Beach tonight and was aimlessly following my phone's GPS which put me on a toll road.  I hesitated at first, but then thought...whatever, what's it gonna be...like $2?

Wrong.  $4.75 for a few miles of fancy toll road pavement.  I was slightly annoyed at first, but then realized I'd paid for a road to myself.  There wasn't a car in sight and I forgot how great that feels.

Ya know, the open road.

Hard to find in the City of Angels.

And then I found five dollars...

A little tip:
When telling a story that seems to be dying quickly and everyone is losing interest...simply finish the story and then pause appropriately and say, "...and then I found five dollars."

It needs to be matter-of-fact, shrug your shoulders and bring your pitch up at the end of "dollars" -- works every time.

Well, it has for me.

But today, for real, I found THIRTY DOLLARS in my pocket.  I mean, it doesn't get better than that.  It's like free money.  And it made my day.

Swim. Bike. Run.

I was at the LA Triathlon today and almost started crying as I watched a mom cheer on her son.

She had been standing across the race path from me, sort of pacing and reaching her neck out over the crowd looking for her son.  Once she spotted him, she looked down at her watch, her eyes widened and she squealed at the top of her lungs.

She yelled "Oh my goodness, that's such a good time! Go, honey, go!" And as he passed, she turned to start running with him.  She put her hand over her mouth in disbelief and pride took over her body.  It was as if she could clear a skyscraper building as she did a hop, skip and jump to catch up with him.

I watched her all the way to the finish line with tears running down her face and a smile ear to ear.