Crossing Doves

The artist in me decided to rear its creative head again during a conversation with a close friend of mine. I felt inspired by the gracefulness and perseverence she and her family exemplify while going through some of life's challenges. To represent hope, faith, serenity, and sisterhood, I created a painting for her. And, as timing would have it, I got to give it to her in person (she lives in Philly) as a housewarming gift!

The colors in this acrylic painting are white, raw umber, and deep turqoise. This is a contemporary piece illustrating the Fish (painted in white on both the left and right canvases) integrated with the Cross (painted in deep turqoise). The symbolism in this painting is subtle, portrayed in a modern, abstract design. The center canvas contains two white doves with a Cross in the background. All three canvases are united via each cross on each canvas.

Congratulations on your new home Micheletti's!

61st Emmy Awards - I Was There!

This weekend, I attended the 61st Emmy Awards at the Nokia center! My sister, who works for PWC invited me as her guest to be a seat filler! I have never seen so many celebrities in my entire life! As a seat filler, you are pretty much guaranteed seating in Rows A-L and are amongst the talent. How it works is that anytime there is an empty seat in the front, you sit there until the celebrity returns (sometimes they don't return). I sat as close as 3rd row right behind Drew Barrymore and Justin Long as I was keeping Kyra Sedgwick's seat warm while she and Kevin Bacon were backstage getting ready for their presentation. I actually got on camera a couple times, but the most noticeable was during Jimmy Fallon's presentation for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics! I'm actually sitting on the right of the screen, second seat from the aisle and as the winner walks towards the stage, I get my 3 seconds of fame. Unfortunately, due to the fact that I had been on my feet all day, had not been fed more than a sandwich at 11AM, and was wearing a dress that was pretty tight, I felt naseaous and had an unbearable headache causing me to leave the awards ceremony and give up my awesome seat so that I could rest outside. =( At least on the way out, I ran into Adrian Grenier - yeah! I'd have to say that the best part of my experience was seeing the entire cast of Entourage (more than once) and seeing Drew Barrymore up close and personal. On a more personal note, I was happy to spend an extended amount of time with my sister. It was such a great experience that I am going to try to attend the Oscar's next year (crossing fingers)!

The stage was so beautiful - here's my illegal shot of it!

Disneyland Half Marathon - The Happiest Race On Earth!

I did it! After eight weeks of training, I successfully ran 13.1 miles at the Disneyland Half Marathon! The race was so much fun and the course was relatively easy. What made it entertaining was being cheered on by the cast of Disney from Donald Duck to Mickey and Minnie to Lilo and Stitch! There were also the Ducks cheerleaders, hula dancers, the Disney staff, and police officers applauding and cheering the runners on. What was neat was that spectators could track their runners online at the 5k, 10k and 15k mark and they'd even see an estimated time of completion so that they could be sure to meet their family and friends at the finish line! I am so happy that the race is finally over - I was so nervous that I'd get picked up if I didn't maintain a 16 mins/mile pace! Thank goodness I trained! The first 6 miles was like a walk in a park where I felt like I could run forever. Miles 7-10, my body began to ache, but I was only about 25% tired. Once I hit miles 11-13, I got a side stitch, my feet and legs started to cramp, and I started to get really tired because the sun was now fully blazing. I focused on my breathing and gave myself a pep talk. "Do not stop running! You've got to make the last two months of sacrifice and training worth it!" As I approached the finished line, I kept hearing folks saying "you're almost there!" which gave me an adrenaline rush and allowed me to give myself a little push to finish strong! I swear, I am such an emotional sap. I kept wanting to cry during the last .2 miles because I was in such disbelief that all my training was finally going to pay off, but I held it together knowing that I had to look good for my finish line snapshot, haha - vain I know! Thank you so much for those who wished me good luck on my big day, and a special thank you to E* for supporting me at the finish line!

Apparently, I was smiling throughout the whole race!

Almost at the finish line

Crossing the finish line!

Hurray! I made it!

Meet Chibi

This picture makes me happy and breaks my heart at the same time... Chibi is my brother's girlfriend's dog. He recently underwent surgery to remove a tumor in his head and this is a picture of him after he got his stitches out. *tear*

Second Chance by Jane Green

This book was recommended to me by a colleague who told me that she "laughed and cried" while reading it. Any book that can trigger those types of emotions is my kind of book! On my book scale, 1 being I couldn't even finish it and 10 being I couldn't put it down, I'd rate this book as 7/10.

The story is about a group of friends who have lost touch over the years, but are reacquainted when one of their friends Tom gets killed in a terrorist act. There's Saffron an actress who is a recovering alcoholic and is secretly dating an A list actor who is strategically married to another actress. There's Holly who is in a loveless marriage and finds herself lusting over Tom's younger brother and struggles to walk away from her controlling husband. Then there's Paul who, with his lovely wife Anna, cannot conceive children. And then Olivia, who is newly divorced and strives to find herself again.

I think that readers can identify with the struggles the characters go through. It's about supporting each other through thick and thin, embracing what life has given to you, and standing up for what makes you happy. If you're in the mood for a chick-lit book that's a no brainer to read, definitely check this one out!