Archive for Marin
Kids Kids Kids Fun things to do around the Bay Area
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I have noticed many people landing on my site after searching for ‘fun things to do with kids around the Bay Area’.
I decided to do a little research for you since it is almost summer!
Marin Mommies (Marin, Bay Area)
Marin Twins (Marin, Bay Area)
Travel Is More Fun With Kids (Bay Area)
Bay Area Kid Fun (Bay Area)
Fun things to do in Oakland (Oakland)
Explore Jack London Square (Oakland)
Visit a Farm (Petaluma)
Play with Stickers (Petaluma)
Bay Area Discovery Museum (Sausalito)
Red Tricycle (Bay Area)
Grape Juice Kids (Wine Country)
510 Families (Oakland, Berkeley, East Bay)
Hope this list helps! Please leave a comment below if you know of other fun things to do around the Bay Area.
Hugging Trees
Posted by: | CommentsMarin County has the reputation of being a “tree hugger” community.
Yesterday I discovered even the trees here in Marin like to hug each other!
Sunday Gratitude 3
Posted by: | CommentsAnother Sunday, another week to be grateful for.
Inspired by my Twitter friend Michelle’s (@RiteHereNow) writing prompt:
My taxes being done! Thanks to Celia!
My FitBit and my friend ChefAmy who got me started with it so we could go on virtual walks together.
All the wonderful, creative, energetic and inspiring entrepreneurial women who took the time to walk with me this week.
My mom.
Marilyn – Vision Art Studio
Celia – Graterol Consulting
Betsy – Little Fluffy Clouds
Lissa – Mind Over Medicine
Diane – Diane Fischler
Maria – Small Change Blog
Wildflowers popping up all over Marin County.
What are you grateful for?
Sunday Gratitude
Posted by: | CommentsInspired by my Twitter friend Michelle’s (@RiteHereNow) writing prompt:
I am thankful for…
Friends
Family
Forgiveness
and
Food!
Thankful for my hike with Twitter friend Maria (@alembic) yesterday in China Camp.
Thankful for the wonderful dinner shared with @ernestoadiaz and family last night. Also thankful for the opportunity to try new recipes. For instance, Mejillones con Chorizo prepared by Ernesto. This recipe will most likely show up on his new blog soon.
Thankful to my friends who have invited me to watch the Oscars with them tonight!
Thankful for my mom who is open to going on a last minute adventure with me next week. She’s coming up here for a whirlwind 24 hour trip to attend one of Marilyn’s vision book workshops.
Finally, thankful for forgiveness, for those people who have stuck with me through all the ups and downs and drama over the last 20+years.
Thank you.
Vision Board vs. Vision Book
Posted by: | CommentsWe’ve all heard of vision boards thanks to the movie The Secret. I always liked the idea of a vision board to help me get more visually focused on my goals but what I did not like was the blatant display of what I wanted in life. It made me feel a bit vulnerable. I didn’t want my family and guests in my home to give their opinions of my visions. I wanted my visions to be MY visions and was not interested in other people’s criticism or opinion of them.
What I used to do was make mini vision boards on construction paper. This worked well for me because I could tuck them away in a folder of my desk and look at them in private without the peanut gallery having a say in my “woowoo” stuff. 
However, I have recently discovered something even BETTER and more FUN than my mini vision boards and they are called Vision Books! The vision book idea came from my friend Marilyn LoRusso who runs the Vision Book Art Workshops out of her home in Marin County, California. She leads us through creating vision books re-using old, hard cover novels, that we alter.
Here are two of my vision books:
Tucked inside those pages are my visions and dreams wrapped up in a pretty package. Marilyn’s workshops have been so successful she is now offering an online version of her workshops, it’s actually an 8 week vision book rainbow journey, as she calls it.
Oh and you don’t have to be “woowoo” to benefit from Marilyn’s workshops. Our local newspaper, the MarinIJ recently wrote a piece about the workshops. When I started taking the workshops I had no idea where I was going with my vision or what my vision even was. I just new I was ready for a change. A lot of wonderful things have changed in my life in the last year.
If you are feeling overwhelmed and unhappy with your life, it is time to give yourself a break and take care of yourself. Creating a vision book is one way of doing this.
Click here for information about the Online Vision Book Rainbow Journey.
How to opt out of receiving the Yellow Pages
Posted by: | CommentsIf you take a walk around Marin County today you will likely see phone books, covered in plastic, laying around the street, floating in gutters. I just did.
Instead of just walking straight to the recycling bin with my phone book, I decided to take the time to figure out how to opt out of receiving this dinosaur in the future.
I have to say Marin County Valley YellowPages is making an effort to be more environmental and they do offer an opt out Website address right on the front cover, however, I’d rather an opt in effort than and opt out but hey it’s a start.
10 not so simple steps to opt out of the Yellow Pages that have been delivered directly to your gutter without asking:
- Go to: www.yellowpagesoptout.com
- Enter your Zip code
- Fill out the form. (Not so pleased it is required to ‘register’ before opting out). Provide them with your full name, email, telephone number and home address.
- Log in to email to receive password and further instructions.
- Follow instructions in email back to Website to log in with your new random password. Log in.
- Click on blue button which reads, “Make Selections Now”.
- Adjust the quantity for each book offered to you to “none”
- Click on Save Changes button.
- Read opt out agreement and check box next to this statement: I have read and understand the above disclaimer.
- Click Confirm button.
Are you are a business owner wondering how the heck you will advertise your services without the phone book? Have you considered trying social media? If you need some support or training in how to use social media for your business, contact me for a consultation. I offer customized one on one trainings.
Excuses, excuses, excuses
Posted by: | CommentsWhy is it so easy to skip a workout?
I came up with hundreds of excuses in my mind and body to NOT go to my first official CrossFit workout today. Actually, my first official Foundations CrossFit workout (the beginner training sessions you take before doing the real thing!)
- I was tired.
- Tonight is last night my spouse is home before leaving on a trip.
- I felt like I was coming down with a cold.
- My shoulder hurt.
- My wrist hurt.
- My back hurt.
- I had a major asthma attack today (after being totally asthma free for almost a year).
- The list goes on and on.
I just about convinced myself I might actually die if I go to CrossFit. BUT, instead of crawling in to my bed when I got home from work (what I really, really wanted to do after a day of struggling to breathe), I put my workout clothes on and prepared myself an early, healthy dinner.
After eating my delicious dinner (chicken, asparagus, and mushrooms) and digesting it for a bit, I reluctantly dragged myself out of the house and down the hill to the CrossFit gym.
I nearly had a panic attack in my car while I watched the previous, more advanced class come to a close. I was just about to drive away when I saw a woman walk in to the gym, then saw the trainer come over and greet her. It was obvious she was new. While I was telling myself I could do this, if she could, I saw another woman enter the gym and once again, saw the trainer welcome her. So, I hopped out of my car and headed in to the gym. Ended up being a class with 3 other total newbies like myself and 3 semi-newbies. It was a great class! I learned all sorts of new things like how to do Burpees.
My first official CrossFit class was not easy, but I survived.
Time for a change
Posted by: | CommentsI have never been one to set resolutions in January because… well… we all know how that goes. BUT it just so happens that the end of this year 2012 (fortunately, not the end of the world) is the time when I decided it is TIME FOR A CHANGE!
Being that I am now 42 (and look nothing like the avatar you see on this blog which was a cartoon based on a photo taken of me 4+ years ago) I decided it was time for a BIG change.
Here is the plan:
- No more commuting to San Francisco day in and day out (will save the details of this for a later post)
- Finish my book (committed to writing for 30 minutes a day for the next 30 days)
- Post more on this blog
- Join Crossfit
- Make the rest of my life the best of my life!
Yep, I am going to join Crossfit. Let me give you a little background on what a BIG deal this is for me. First of all, I do not like exercising! I am “skinny fat” (term I learned from Jeena Cho). When it comes to exercise, I am lazy. Truthfully, I would much rather stay home and blog or watch an episode of Glee. However, my vanity and my desire to have more energy in my 40s is now overriding my laziness. Also, I’m at a point where I know I need to do something drastic, something big, because I know whenever I do something outside of my comfort zone or something that scares me, something better always happens.
Why Crossfit? Well the answer is simple: I want to look like Tamara Holland and my neighbor Kat and they both do Crossfit. I told you, vanity was one of my driving forces. Oh and there is a Crossfit gym just down the street from my house which goes along with number 1, no more commuting to San Francisco. So, by February I will be starting my Crossfit training. I am committed to trying it for 1 month and will see how it goes after that.
Are you wondering why I am telling you this? The reason is, if I put it in writing and send it out to the world to read I am much more likely to actually do it!
Do you have any big plans for change?
My new motto: “Do one thing every day that scares you.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt
I hope I don’t regret this post…
Everybody Loves Ricky
Posted by: | CommentsFor over 2 years now I have been taking the Golden Gate Transit bus #4 to work every morning. It is early and usually dark when I get to the bus stop. Strangely enough I look forward to my early morning commute and that is because of Ricky, the bus driver! He was always there on time and always greeted me with enthusiasm and a warm smile.
Awhile back GG Transit changed the schedule and Ricky was no longer the driver on my usual bus route. I missed Ricky. The morning commutes just weren’t as fun without him. A few weeks ago a nice woman named Ali came up to me at the bus stop and asked if I had been one of the regular riders on Ricky’s bus. She told me he was retiring and invited me to take his bus on his retirement day. That is when I figured out where Ricky had gone. He’d been driving the earlier bus! The one I never take. The one that left at 6:39am. I’m more of a 6:49 or 7:04am kind of a bus rider.
Today, December 5, 2012 is Ricky’s last day driving the #4. I am going to miss Ricky’s beautiful smile and contagious positive attitude towards life. I am grateful I had the opportunity to be a rider on Ricky’s bus.
Thank you Ricky!
Seems I am not the only one who loves Ricky:
The bus was full of people on this stormy, dark morning who arrived with thank you gifts and well wishes for Ricky.
PS. In all the excitement I left my umbrella on the bus.
I smiled as I walked 2 blocks in the pouring rain to my office and arrived sopping wet.
Have you ever looked at yourself through the eyes of a homeless person?
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On this dark grey morning at the bus stop, the typical southern Marin white-collar commuters sleepily waited for their bus to pick them up and deliver them safely and comfortably to the financial district of San Francisco.
While we were waiting, a homeless man shuffled up and quietly said “Excuse me may I sit down?” as he made his way through our small crowd to the covered bench.
He sat right next to where I was standing. He smelled like you might imagine a homeless man smells. He opened his can of iced tea and took a sip.
Nobody looked at him, nobody looked up from their phone. I looked at him. He didn’t look back, he just looked down and mumbled to himself. I wanted to say something to him but I didn’t. I wanted to treat him like a fellow human being and ask him if his tea tasted good, but I didn’t. I was scared. I wasn’t sure how he would react. I’ve had some very unpleasant experiences in the past when engaging in conversations with certain homeless people and this has left me with a wall around myself that I do not like but it is a wall of protection. I feel like a jerk but I don’t know how else to take care of myself.
I wonder why he decided to come sit there instead of other chairs nearby away from the crowd. Maybe he was lonely, maybe he wanted some human contact. We weren’t able to or we chose not to give it to him. We just looked down at our phones pretending not to notice him. For a moment I saw myself through his eyes, I put my phone in my pocket and just stood there next to him trying to be fully present and offer love instead of fear. I smiled at him as I walked passed him to get on the bus. He mumbled something.
I wonder where he is going to sleep during the storm tonight…
I am thankful my family of origin decided for Christmas instead of buying gifts for each other we will give the money we would have spent to charity.
Some resources in Marin for homeless people:
San Francisco and Marin Food Bank
