I was taking my morning walk yesterday and as I was trotting along on the Munter trail across the street from Clarkson University, I noticed two woman about a quarter of the way down the trail. One was standing and leaning against a tree and the other one was trying to motivate her friend to keep walking.

I finished the 3 mile loop in about 45 minutes and as I was looping back around, I saw the same two women in the same spot. This time, the woman who was leaning against the tree was now sitting on a nearby tree stump and her friend was trying to be patient with her, but obviously wanted to keep moving and finish their walk. I could see that she was slightly embarrassed that I had already completed my walk and they were still debating and had really only gotten to the main entrance of the trail.

I had another water bottle in my nap sack so I pulled it out and tossed it to the gal sitting. She seemed very appreciative. I then offered to sit with her while her friend went and finished her walk. She looked nervous at first, but then she took me up on it & so for the next 40 minutes, “Tree Stump Sitter” and I shared stories. We talked about crafting blogs and flowers we both liked. We discussed whether we thought Justin Bieber was going to make a good husband or not and other mindless chit chat. You see, it wasn’t so long ago, I was that woman sitting on her very own tree stump.

Dehydrated, overweight, plagued by physical ailments, and trying to combat severe nerve, muscle and bone pain. I was weak from a lifetime of injuries with absolutely NO fitness or health routine in my life to speak of. My eating habits were atrocious and I felt like my body was constantly failing me at every turn.

I had been living with not one, but several “invisible illnesses” at the time. When I say that term, I am referring to things that affect your physical or mental health that are not apparently obvious to others by simply looking at you. For a more complete list of “invisible illnesses” or so you can see if you or someone you know or love might have one, I have listed this website below to read up a little more on what some invisible illnesses that might fall in to that category are. It is not a complete list, but a generalized one to start from.

https://www.disabled-world.com/disability/types/invisible/

In addition to these “invisible illnesses”, I was also recovering from a severe motor vehicle crash I had been in several years prior that took numerous surgeries and procedures spread out of the course of the next 5 years to recover from. This combination really limited my ability to live independently and I was no longer able to drive when I lived in San Diego, mainly for health reasons, toward the end of my stay there.

I could barely walk up the stairs to my apartment building. My dear friend Frances would pick me up about once a week and we’d go grocery shopping but I was still a borderline disaster even on small trips and outings like that. She would offer to go on walks with me around our neighborhood (much like the two women I saw on my walk yesterday), but we never made it more than a few hundred feet before turning around. Eventually I started having groceries delivered to my apartment and it meant I didn’t need to leave the house for very much.

Then I moved home to New York in 2013. It was hands down, the best decision I’ve ever made. I was probably the sickest I had ever been in my life when I moved home and I slept for approximately the next 6 months. Waking up only long enough to eat, occasionally shower, go to the bathroom, maybe read a magazine and go back to sleep again. I “hibernated” and it was exactly what my body needed to do.

By the beginning of that summer, my Mom and I tried to do our daily walks together. I could barely walk a half mile before I would often need to sit down and have to have her go get the car and come pick me up wherever I was on our route. Over time, I slowly built up my endurance. By the end of the summer, I could walk about a mile without stopping. Then at the end of 2014, I began my struggles with rejecting my pacemaker and forming life threatening blood clots in my heart vessels.

That period of challenge is my life lasted almost a full year at that time. At the end of that year, my body decided that it was time for it to unload all of that extra fluid that it had been carrying around and I all the sudden started to dump all this excess water weight. I suddenly felt lighter and like I could breath better. I felt as if I had more stamina and more strength in my body overall. My heart and lungs were working properly for the first time since I was a young child.

I had taken such a long road to get there and finally, I was seeing these small improvements happen right before my eyes. The the amount of walking I was able to do every day increased dramatically. I eventually got up to where I was at least getting my 10,000 steps in everyday (which is a little over 4 miles for someone with my stride) and many days I’d walk between 6-7 miles (more like 14,000 steps) with ease. I felt encouraged, strong, healthy, accomplished, and like I could really see the progress in my body and cardiovascular health. I had made huge strides physically over the last couple years and that made me very happy and proud.

I wanted to say to the gal sitting on the rock yesterday, “You’ll get there. Don’t give up. It’s so much easier if you just keep trying. This is not the “sweet spot” yet, but it’s coming and it’s WORTH IT!!

I am GRATEFUL, THANKFUL AND BLESSED for the body I have. I’m thankful for it’s never ending ability to change and grow and bounce back. I’m also thankful for how it always does it’s best to support me through this wild journey I called life! I have been trying to treat it right and it has been repaying me significantly in return. I hope maybe our “Tree Stump Sitter” will give the trail another go and keep moving forward. We all deserve to live our best lives! It’s what the GOOD STUFF is all about.

#liveyourbestlife

#gratefulthankfulandblessed

Do you have friends you can pick up with just where you left off? Friends you can literally go 15 years without seeing and it feels like a week? Because I do. And I love them. I had a most magical day yesterday with my friend Valerie & her twin boys at Valerie’s parent’s place on Sacandaga Lake. It was just Val, her Mom, the boys and I and it was perfect. I had a day where I was just by myself and so i sent her a text out of the blue to see if she might by chance be around as we ALWAYS say we’re “going to meet up one of these days”. And she was in fact around !! She suggested we go to the lake and it was an absolutely perfect day!!

Val was one of my best friends in college and she was a year older than me. When she graduated before me, I was so sad, but I knew she would go on to do great things. Val always knew from the time she was a little girl that she wanted to be a teacher. She had an older sister and an older brother and she would say, “Lisa would play Doctor, David would fix things like cars or anything with wires and I would teach all my animals & dollies.” And that’s basically how it happened.

Valerie is elementary school teacher and also a fantastic Mom. She is raising two little gentlemen who are so lovely and polite, but also just fun, funny kids. They clearly know they are so loved & kept teasing us all afternoon that we were “chatting like teenage girlfriends”. It was the cutest thing. And we were!! We could have talked for hours, and they knew it. But they knew they had Val’s full attention if it was needed and at the same time, she had a special visit with a friend that day so it was a nice time for them to explore and play together.

Valerie makes you feel like everything you say is the most important thing that’s ever left your mouth. I realized after I left her that I want to do that more. I want to listen more and be more attentive. I want to engage more with my friends and loved ones or even people I don’t know so well. It’s such a gift to give people your full attention and to not constantly be checking your phone or wondering what time it is or who has messaged you or whatever our little quirks or triggers might be. But to really listen to someone and give them that time together is such a gift. That is something I am going to try and do more often. Because things like that matter. It really made an impression on me. It made me realize how wrapped up in myself I can be at times and how much I cherish the moments with these dear friends and loved ones. I hope to have many more times “chatting like teenage girlfriends” in the future with Valerie and I am so glad we had our lake day together yesterday. It was special and I’ll hold it close for a very long time.

#soulsisters #teenagegirlfriends #greatsacandagalake #twinning

As I was sitting at the airport in Montreal, Canada waiting to pick up my best friend Kym so we could start our epic Canadian road trip the other day, I got to thinking of all the things that she & I have shared with each other over the years in the ways of helpful tips, tricks & life-hacks. Kym is the best at finding alternative ways of doing things, & I like to think I’m pretty clever too. So I thought, “Maybe I should write about some of these things for others to learn. Then we can share the wealth & hopefully, others will start sharing their helpful hints & it will catch on like wildfire!!” So here are three of my “helpful tips, tricks & life-hacks” that I thought I’d share this week. I’ll try to do this on a semi-regular basis so that it can become an ongoing recurring segment on here.

THE DOUBLE SHAMPOO:

Start with a small amount of a basic cleansing or clarifying shampoo (I like to use a tea tree clarifying one to start usually if I have one). Just wash your roots letting the suds wash the rest of your hair as you rinse out the shampoo. Then if you really want to switch it up & give your hair some added “oomph” or if you just want to use up some old shampoo you have, use a different kind of shampoo for your second shampoo.

You can use the same shampoo for both washes if you need to, but I think you get best results if you mix up the types, as it just keeps things fresher & your hair from getting to used to the same product every time, so if you use a color shampoo normally or a voluminous shampoo, now is when you might want to use that, (I use a purple shampoo to keep my blonde hair bright).

After you’ve done the first wash of your roots, won’t need much shampoo, (no more than a nickel size amount) so once again, try to focus in at your roots but you’ll notice how the suds will really kick up much more from the initial wash you did & it will be much easier to work up a lather. Wash your ends into the lather & then give it all a good thorough rinse. Condition as normal & repeat at least 1-2 times a week or depending on how often you wash your hair, do this every time you wash it. If you do any deep conditioning treatments or hair masks, I would recommend doing them about once a week (or however often you normally do them), but you’ll notice how much less oily your hair feels & how clean it feels when you do the double shampoo. I can’t tell you how many friends I’ve told about it & they have come back & said it was quite literally life-changing. That may sound dramatic for something as small as a shampoo switch up, but when you try it, you’ll see the difference.

METHOD HAND SOAP:

Method antibacterial hand soap is an amazing product, but not just for washing your hands…it gets out other amazing things besides germs! This stuff is absolutely amazing when it comes to getting blood stains out of clothing. As someone who was on a blood thinner for several years, I would bleed at the drop of a hat when I would cut myself on the tiniest little thing & it would stain a lot of my clothing & sheets. I found Method hand soap is magical when it comes to getting blood stains out of fabrics. Never again ladies, will you have to sacrifice a favorite pair of panties when it’s that time of the month or will you have to recycle a shirt because your kid got a bloody nose on it. This stuff will make it completely DISAPPEAR!! Try & get the Antibacterial Foaming Hand Wash. I find the blue Sea Mineral kind in the clear bottle works the best, but I imagine any kind will probably work just as well. You can get it from Walmart, Target, Amazon & even Lowes.

BABY SHAMPOO:

Baby shampoo as a makeup remover is a helpful hint for sure for those with sensitive eyes. I don’t exactly know why or how it works but baby shampoo is a tried and true hypoallergenic makeup remover proven to work and not irritate eyes. Because it’s so gentle and has so few chemicals in it, it’s recommended for those with sensitive skin and tender eyes. It can get just about any amount of make up off in just a few swipes. You just put some on a cotton ball or Q-tip and swipe it softly over your eyes, or you can gather some up on your hands and rinse your entire face and watch the night come off like zebra stripes across your face.

I first heard about baby shampoo as a makeup remover from my reconstructive surgeon after I had surgery on my eye years ago and was slowly starting to wear eye makeup again. I had a graft made up of foreign tissue in my lower eyelid that wasn’t producing tears like the rest of my eye. The doctor was insistent that I could only wear makeup if I diligently took it off every night before bed and didn’t use chemicals to do so. The graft still had a chance of rejecting itself and he didn’t want any infection from bacteria caused by leaving on old makeup to be the cause for that. Other chemical removers & makeup wipes stung and felt too harsh for my new eye tissue and so I started to use the baby shampoo every night. I still keep a small bottle in my shower and next to my sink in my bathroom at home. The best part is, you can get the small bottles in the travel aisle of the drugstore for really cheap and you don’t need to use very much of it. It’s a great bargain and great for your skin and eyes.

Tune in next time to find out what product treats bug bites, dry, calloused & cracked heels, & rough & bumpy skin all at the same time. Also, if you have any suggestions, tips, tricks or life-hacks you would like to share, feel free to message me either in the comments or at my email: miranda.britt33@gmail.com and I’ll happily share them as this is what “the GOOD STUFF” is all about!!

“We’re gonna be so skinny!” “Yeah, we’re gonna do sit-ups and sprints and toe touches EVERY DAY!!” “Look at my stomach…I hate my stomach. At least YOUR stomach is flat!!”

This was the conversation I overheard from a group of 8 or 9-year-old girls at the beach today as I sat with my friend on our blankets and soaked up some sun. For a brief minute, I thought about letting it all roll off, & hoped that maybe they wouldn’t be in for a lifetime of dieting and an abusive relationship with food. I hoped that if I spoke up, maybe the tricks to stop the hunger and fight the pounds from creeping up on the scale they inevitably would weigh themselves on daily for years to come somehow wouldn’t feel so punishing. That maybe it would be one girl less who struggles with anorexia, bulimia or overeating.

Then I confidently cleared my voice and interrupted them mid-sit-up and said, “Ladies, none of you need to be skinnier. You are all BEAUTIFUL! Healthy and strong is what it’s all about!” And then I simply flexed my arm muscle for them & gave them all a little wink and a big smile.

I’m sure they thought to themselves, “Who does that old lady think she is telling us what’s beautiful?” But maybe, for a split second, they’ll remember it at some point. Because if it starts this young, does it ever end? I support all my friends and their health and weight loss journeys and think that getting your body to a point where you can not only feel good ABOUT yourself but feel good IN yourself and in the body you have is incredibly important. We only have one body and it’s important that we take care of it and nourish it properly and give it the proper activity it needs.

My Dad used to say I was like a tomato plant as a child, “if you gave me food, water, and sunlight, I just grew!” That’s what I wanted to say to those girls today. Don’t count every calorie you eat. Save the diets for when your health requires you to make that change. Exercise because you’re a kid who can’t sit still and you love doing cartwheels so much you literally can’t stop!! Parents and adults, let’s be mindful of the diet talk, and the “fat chatter”. Kids are sponges, & they hear everything we say and mimic what they see and what we do. I can tell you not one of these little girls had an ounce of unwanted fat on them. My own struggles with food began far too young and I can proudly say they ended once and for all about 5 years ago, but it was a battle to get there and not one I would wish upon anyone else. 20+ years of unhealthy habits to relearn and re-train was far too many.

The upside to my story was a mom of another child sitting nearby happened to pull my friend over to chat a little later on and asked her if she knew me. Karen said “Yes, we’re friends” and the woman said, “Good!! Your friend said something to those girls that I had wanted to say to them myself but didn’t. I was really glad she did.” She did a GOOD THING”.

They say you should “find your people”. Link up with those who understand you and who you feel you can be yourself around. It’s a survival tactic that calls to our most primitive instincts. Animals have been gathering in herds and groupings of similar species since the beginning of time. It’s not just a way of sorting ourselves out but also a way to socialize and to find those who can support you, understand you, love you, protect you and help you grow.

These may be the people who you raise your children with. They may be your neighbors, a core group of folks from a place like your church or school or some other local meeting place. Or if you’re like me, they will be people you will wait for…and wait for. You’ll hope and pray and wait a little more until finally one day, you find them…or, really they find you. They will be wonderful people who live in your community and have lived there all along but you just needed to meet them at a women’s retreat, or a wood stacking party or some other fun local social gatherings.

Sometimes it takes work to find your people. You have to put yourself out there and you have to be willing to do the work. It can feel an awful lot like “friend dating”. And sometimes you have to take the initiative and call a new friend, remembering that other people might have some of the same difficulties and struggles meeting other people that you maybe once had, so don’t take it personally if it takes a few tries to meet up. I promise you, in the end, when you have a squad like the one I’ve been blessed with, you will realize that it’s all so very worth it.

Join things, go to meetups, ask a friend to introduce you to people because a brush fire that starts small can become a full-blown forest fire of friends. Soon you’ll be wood stacking, wood stripping and swimming in every body of water in your little community. But you’ll have the best time doing it. And the margaritas are pretty great too!! To the ladies I’ve had from the very beginning to the friends who have only recently popped into my life, YOU are TOTALLY what THE GOOD STUFF is all about!!

#SQUADGOALS

#findyourpeople

Recently I met a newer friend and her 9-week old baby for coffee and some chit-chat. We were just getting to know each other and I never know how the conversation is going to go when the inevitable subject of “what do you do for work?” comes up. It’s not that I’m ashamed of the fact that I don’t have a traditional job, quite the opposite in fact… I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed at having to explain why I don’t have one.

The many complex health challenges that I have faced in the past that have lead me to the place where I am at my life currently sometimes can feel a bit overwhelming to outsiders who I just meet. I am aware of how physically “normal” I look on the outside, (& what a blessing that is). I also know that because of this, it sometimes is hard to comprehend how all these crazy things could happen to one person & how they could come through it so seemingly “unscathed” and look so “fine” and “healthy” on the outside. So when I met with my new friend Sarah, she didn’t ask me “what I did”, instead, she asked me “how I enjoyed filling my days.”

It was a wonderful question and while I still did launch into a bit of my backstory for her, I also included other details I might not have otherwise thought to tell her had she not so eloquently phrased her question as she did. We had a wonderful talk and it got me thinking about all the things I really do enjoy filling my days with, like writing this blog and taking wonderfully long nature walks around different parts of the North Country. It also made me think about the things I hope to fill my days with in the future.

On Wednesday, I spent most of my day with my friend Janet and her 3 kids. Janet is currently filling her days taking care of her kids, Nicholas, 6 years old, Juliana, 4 years old and little William, who will be 2 next month and the house they live in as well as being a supportive wife to her husband, Nick.

Janet is a wonderful mother and she is one of the hardest working people I know. Janet and I were talking the other day about how she feels very lucky to be able to have the opportunity to have this time at home raising her kids. We were discussing, however, how on occasion she has experienced some “mom shaming” amongst different groups of women. In this particular instance, it was between the “working moms” & the “stay at home moms”. One group was saying “I could NEVER imagine not going to work” while the other group was equally shaming the moms who do return to their jobs right after having their babies. Everyone seemed to have an opinion on the subject and no one was right or wrong.

Even though I’m not a parent, I can absolutely relate to this because I don’t have a traditional “job” I go to every day but sometimes I feel there is a misconception about what I must do all day. I often feel like I’m judged when I tell people I’m “actually not working at a traditional job right now”, even though I know it’s the best decision for me.

Janet and I were talking about how at the end of the day, it would be nice if we could all just support each other and lift one another up regardless of who goes to an actual “job” at an office and who doesn’t. In the age of the remote workplace, things are changing so much that it’s going to be a moot point in the very near future anyway. What you do and where you work shouldn’t define you as a person and your self-worth shouldn’t be tied to whether or not you go to an office each day. There are so many other wonderful things that make us the people we are today and we both wish to focus more on what makes us kind, caring, and responsible individuals in addition to being hardworking ones. Like my new friend Sarah said, “there’s nothing wrong with sharing how much you like your job if that’s your thing, but it is also ok to talk about how much you love to run or spend time with your husband and child or just hang out with your friends.”

I am really hoping that I have the opportunity to ask the next new friend I make or person I meet, “How do you enjoying filling your time?” Because the answer can be so interesting and you can learn so many wonderful and really great things about a person by their answer. I encourage everyone to try it and really listen to the answer you are given. It’s a GOOD THING with many wonderful answers!

“Life can be so sweet, on the sunny side of the street”. These words come from a song written in the 1930s during the Great Depression when there wasn’t often much to smile about, but they go on to explain how you can leave your worries behind if you choose to walk on the brighter side of life.

Music can often inspire emotions & feelings in people. Songs have provided a form of comfort & soothing for as long as people have been around. Mothers have hummed lullabies to their children to soothe & calm them, slaves have sung spirituals & work songs as a way to not only convey messages but to also uplift spirits in the darkest of times. And music therapy is an important tool when working with people who have all kinds of conditions and ailments. From Autism to Alzheimer’s and even cancer patients fighting to regain their lives again benefit from the healing power of music. To paraphrase a quote, “music soothes the savage beast”.

I try & always subscribe to the philosophy that it is so much easier to be positive & happy than not. Even through the darkest of times, I have often listened to music when I need to be uplifted. I have what I call my “O Happy Day” playlist which I have shared below & you can feel free to copy on Apple Music or just jot it down with a pen and paper.

A particular favorite song lyric of mine is from a song written at a similar time as “On The Sunny Side of The Street”. It says, “When you’re smiling, the whole world smiles with you.” It talks about how smiles and laughter can be infectious and spread from person to person in a most wonderful way. That song is appropriately called “When You’re Smiling”.

A third song I love when I need to feel a boost of sunshine in my life is “Put On A Happy Face”. It was written a bit later than the first two songs I mentioned and was actually featured in the Broadway musical “Bye Bye Birdie”, but it sings about how “gray skies are gonna clear up…put on a happy face”. Frowning is not only unattractive but no one wants to be a downer all the time. So “spread sunshine all over the place and put on a happy face.”

Sometimes there is nothing better than a great song about positivity to lighten your mood or brighten your day and give you hope that things will be alright. Give some of these songs a listen and remember that there are lots of GOOD things happening in the world even when you may feel like all you hear about is the bad. I hope you’ll consider walking on the “sunny side of the street” (with appropriate SPF, sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat of course).

* I should add that this playlist is always evolving and I would love suggestions so feel free to leave some in the comments for your favorite “Happy” songs. I’ve already added Stevie Wonder’s “As” and Pharrell’s “Happy” to it since I started this post…they’re JUST too GOOD not to!

Sometimes small-town communities are just the best. When you find your people it’s a really cool thing. My friend Cori is just great & we’ve been spending quite a bit of time together recently. She’s someone I met several months ago at a women’s retreat & then we finally connected one on one a few weeks ago and just hit it off. We have a whole bunch of friends in common and I’ve made some wonderful new friends through her too.

Yesterday Cori had a “Wood stacking Party”, which has become an annual event for her. She heats her home with wood throughout the winter. So she has a big pile of firewood delivered to her house that she needs to be separated, stacked & a majority of it loaded into her side porch so it can be easily accessed all winter long. Definitely not ideally a one person job if it can be helped.

A few weeks ago, Cori sent out a message on Facebook announcing the “Annual Wood stacking Party” and yesterday was the big day. It was a blast. They say “many hands light work”. But “they” can also take it a step further and help provide great conversation, extra sets of eyes and arms to wrangle kids, arms to form assembly lines of wood-stackers, & a sense of accomplishment with the satisfaction of knowing you’ve helped out a friend with what would have been an otherwise overwhelming task.

The fellowship at these types of gatherings is my absolute favorite part. Working hard, then swimming, eating, playing on the front lawn with the kids and munching on snacks while grownups enjoy some adult beverages and ending the night around a big fire under the stars.

So many people came up to me yesterday and said, “You’re Miranda! I’ve heard so much about you!!” It was absolutely lovely and the gals I did know already from the Women’s Retreat I attended earlier in the spring, I got to know even better. Sometimes having that “friendly soul-click” with someone or a few “someones” is just priceless. It’s a feeling of ease like you’ve known that person forever but in reality, you’ve just met them. I’ve had that happen several times lately and it’s a really wonderful feeling and connection.

We were blessed with great weather and a few people went swimming which was just fantastic and it really did feel like a community effort. To have people you can call & say, “Hey, I could really use another set of hands, I’ll feed you if you come help & bring some friends”, is a pretty great thing and I feel lucky beyond measure to have a few of those types of people in my life…and after yesterday even a few more.

When you find “your people” it’s a really GOOD THING. Hold on to them and cherish the gift they are in your life.

#manyhandsmakelightwork

We’ve all met them. Those girls who are the “Queen Bees”. The “Mean Girls” who seem to love to tear other people down. It used to feel like a high school problem, but now, girls as young as pre-school are experiencing this phenomenon.

My good friend was telling me about how her 3-year-old doesn’t like dance class anymore because she feels like the other girls are laughing at her. And adults aren’t a whole lot better. In an age where Roseanne Barr is garnering so much negative attention for her tweets about the appearance and race of another grown woman and Samantha Bee, and Michelle Wolf are using their comedy routines to cut down other women, it’s easy to feel a little disheartened about things.

But I won’t lose hope. I believe in building women up, not tearing them down. Celebrating their looks, talent, and intelligence. Nothing could have made me happier than seeing Serena Williams kicking butt at The French Open in her first grand slam in 16 months since having her baby girl, Olympia. Serena is an example of a strong, beautiful, talented and very smart woman who doesn’t take crap from anyone. She works hard for her success but has a vulnerability to her as well. She almost lost her life giving birth to Olympia and her journey to make a full comeback has been no small feat. When Serena stepped out at the French Open she was dressed like a real-life superhero. And personally, I loved everything about this. What an amazing thing for young gals watching tennis to see.

I recently saw an interview with comedian Tina Few (who wrote the screenplay for the movie “Mean Girls”). She talked about the motivation behind writing the movie which now has been made into a Broadway musical 15 years later. Fey explained how she had based the idea on a book about “Queen Bees and Wannabes” by Rosalind Wiseman. She said wanted to find a way to both empower young girls with humor and also help “dethrone” some of these “Queen Bees” by calling attention to them. In the interview, she commented on how it was an interesting process updating the movie to a musical after so many years, but how the subject matter still seemed relevant, as we still have mothers raising their daughters to “fight dirty”.

My Mom and I watched “Mean Girls” together the other night and every time I see the movie, I am so thankful for the wonderful group of friends I had in both high school and college. It can be such an alienating time and having a strong support system can make such a difference. Your teenage years are tough enough that finding your people or even just one person can be so key to making it a more bearable time.

I recently made a new friend named Cori and she and I were having drinks the other night and talking about our “superhero Moms”. How lucky are we that we both have Moms (& Dads) that are so wonderful they inspire us and make us want to do the same and be as equally inspiring. It was nice to share stories with her and Cori reminded me of some of my good friends from childhood who helped make me the person I am today. She’s definitely someone I’m looking forward to adding to my “squad of gals”.

I know that when I started this blog, I did so with the intention of creating a space where I could hopefully put some “goodness” out in the World. It was right around the time of the 2016 US Presidential election and there was so much negativity flying around on social media. It was my hope to carve out a little spot for just some “good stuff”. I know that sometimes my topics can take a turn for the serious and sometimes they are very lighthearted but in the end, I always have the goal of wrapping things back around to a positive note. I encourage people to read and leave comments but to also try and leave with as much good as you possibly can. The world is a tough place, so give yourself a break and let this be a safe space for you too. Soak up some goodness and leave any of the meanness and negativity you may have encountered throughout your day behind. Feel the “GOOD” and spread it. ✌🏼And no matter what, don’t let the mean girls win!

#findyourtribe

#squadgoals

https://youtu.be/aJOTlE1K90k

So I just got back from a weekend in Boston with my cousins, (Ali, Rachel, & Emma), Ali’s husband Tyler, my brother Matt & my sister in law, Candice. We all got together for the baby shower of my cousin Ali and then had a cousin’s weekend & we had so much fun. Most of us met in the hotel room my cousin Emma & I were sharing in between the shower and dinner and that’s where the shenanigans began. The way family can tease each other is unlike anything else in this world. It’s always in good fun and there is absolutely no malice in any of the jokes.

When my dear, sweet brother announced that I was dressed like a mime, we all just dissolved into hysterics and piled into the elevator to go for a walk around Beantown. As we left the hotel we went to Faneuil Hall to browse the shops and my cousin Emma announced loudly that “the cherry blossoms were so beautiful”. She was quickly informed they were Japanese Magnolias but yes, very pretty indeed. Again, we laughed about “Emma & her cherry blossoms” all weekend.

Then somehow at dinner, the subject of the time I threw up my fake teeth at a wedding came up. Yep, nothing is off limits amongst family. The story, in short, is, after my car accident, I lost my top 4 teeth. Before I had them permanently implanted, I had a false bridge (dentures essentially, which I used to refer to as “the D’s”). I went to my friend April’s wedding less than a year after my accident and hadn’t had alcohol in nearly that entire time. Two glasses of champagne later, I was pretty toasted. I left my date Tommy out at the bar with our friends after the wedding and went back to my hotel room where I proceeded to get very sick to my stomach. And flushed the toilet. With my teeth down them. I crawled into bed & passed out.

In the morning I woke up missing my teeth & went looking for them. When I realized what had happened, I started screaming. Tommy thought I must have been really hurt & jumped up right away. When I explained through my hand covering my mouth what had happened, he couldn’t stop laughing. Honestly, no one can ever stop laughing when I tell this story. It has gone down as an urban legend amongst our group of friends and people still ask me if it’s true. I ended up having to fly back to CA without my top 4 teeth & ended up begging my dentist to make me a new set of “D’s”.

SIDE NOTE: I also threw away a set of “D’s two days before my grandfather’s memorial service a year later. My dentist at the time, Dr. Davey, was a saint for his quick ability to get my new teeth in such a short amount of time!!

So many stories were told this weekend, laughs shared, forks dropped (for once NONE by me) and memories made, and it was decided by everyone that my next blog post was to be called, “Well at least I’ve got my teeth.” Because people always say “Well at least you’ve got your health.” But I can do one better. And I’m pretty sure, no, I’m POSITIVE that is a REALLY GOOD THING!!

#mulhollandmadness

#philadelphiateethparty

#justatouchofthebeetus