| Four Days, Three Events and 1,063 Miles |
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Wednesday feels like it was a month ago. Not in a bad way. In that time/space distance you feel when you have put a lot of miles in… 1,063 to be exact. As you know from my entry PG&E and the Fresno Women’s Network, last Thursday I had an intense day scheduled that started with a speaking engagement at PG&E in San Francisco. From there, I had to swing by Redwood City to pick up Dante and then drive to my hometown of Fresno, 162 miles away, for the Fresno Women’s Networking event. That was just the start of an extended weekend that took us all over California and just a mile away from Reese Witherspoon’s wedding in Ojai. So much happened in such a short time that I feel the story is worthy of telling in four Acts. Act 1: Thursday, March 24th, 10:30 am - PG&E’s San Francisco Office During most of the 30 mile drive from my home to PG&E’s office in San Francisco I kept hearing myself say, “You know, people in their right mind aren’t on the road right now”. The bay area was experiencing a torrential storm and several times I watched debris fly across the Highway 101 as I slowly crept toward the city.
I arrived at PG&E’s office with 30 minutes to spare but learned that when it rains, people don’t take public transportation so all of the parking garages were full. I called Lisa, my contact at PG&E and let her know I would be there as soon as I could find parking. As I drove around looking for a garage, I watched pedestrian’s umbrellas flip inside out from the wind. I am not the girliest of girls but I admit to cursing the weather, because I was having an exceptionally good hair day.
I finally found a parking garage, gained my bearings and with an umbrella in one hand and a box of books in the other, I slowly made my way toward PG&E’s offices. When I arrived, Lisa was waiting to greet me and help me through security. I looked up at the clock and realized it was 11:55 am and I was supposed to start speaking at 12:00 pm. I would have no time to test my PowerPoint presentation, relax for a moment and get centered or even to check and see what my makeup looked like. I then looked down to see that my gray dress pants were soaking wet from knee to shoe. I can honestly say that I laughed out loud. I realized that this was a moment in my speaking career that I would never forget. This was either going to be the best speech of my life or I was going to wash out (forgive the pun).
I had been told that these lunch time speaking sessions usually garner 30 – 40 women so I brought 25 copies of Living the Savvy Life. I was shocked when I walked in the room and saw close to 100 people waiting for me. I laughed again, slightly hysterically. Within minutes, my PowerPoint presentation was up, Lisa introduced me and I stood, soaking wet in front of 100 people as I told them the wonders of Living the Savvy Life.
I’m not sure if it was sympathy or if it really was one of the best speeches of my career, but after the session, I sold out of books, signing every single copy. The immediate response I received from the attendees was tremendous and reminded me of why I enjoy speaking so much. Sitting in front of a computer writing books, articles and blog entries is a lot of fun, but there is nothing like that connection to an audience.
I was even further pumped on Sunday night to come home to an email from Lisa informing me that they had received great feedback from the attendees and that she believes my presentation was one of the most popular lunch time sessions they have had. She also placed an order for 20 additional copies of Living the Savvy Life because she had so many requests for it.
I learned a powerful lesson on Thursday – having a sense of humor and the ability to just go with it sometimes pays off… and so does driving in the rain when people in their right mind won’t.
Stay tuned for my next blog entry titled: Act 2, Thursday, March 24th, 1:30 pm - The Fresno Women’s Networking Event
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| PG&E and the Fresno Women's Network |
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I am really looking forward to my action packed day tomorrow starting with a presentation from 12pm – 1pm to PG&E’s Women’s Network in San Francisco. From what I hear, they are a proactive, engaging group so it should be a lot of fun.
Immediately following the presentation, I will head back down the peninsula and swing by the house in Redwood City to pick up Dante. From there we will (safely) barrel down the road to Fresno to host a booth at the Fresno Women’s Network from 5pm – 8pm. If you happen to be attending this event, please stop by and say hello! You can meet me, Dante and my mom as the three of us will be working the booth together.
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| Affordable & Nutritious Grocery Shopping |
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A few months ago, after reading yet another article about how it's too expensive to feed your family nutritious food I realized that yelling at my computer that you CAN feed your family healthy food at affordable prices wasn't doing anyone any good. So, I decided to take action. I asked Coach Erika of Fearless Fitness and FFIT@home if she would team with me to teach an Affordable & Nutritious Grocery Shopping seminar. Together, we approached the store manager of our local Safeway if we could do the seminar at her store. She agreed and on January12th, we had our first seminar. This morning, we offered the seminar again and had a fantastic time. What I love about what we do is that we actually walk down each aisle as Coach Erika and I show attendees how to get the most nutrition bang for their buck. As a bonus, back in January, we had the head of the meat department come out and talk about ways the butcher can help save you money. This morning, Margarita from the produce department pointed out several great bargains on seasonal items. If you would like more information about our Affordable and Nutritious Grocery Shopping seminars, but can't get to the Foster City area, please send an email to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We may be able to bring our seminar to a store near you.
* Coach Erika and I during today's seminar.
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| Nine Days of Fun... |
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As I look at my calendar for the next nine days I am taking a deep breath, smiling and holding on for the ride… Saturday
Saturday is our Savvy Home seminar at Fearless. From 12pm – 2pm I get to talk about how to affordably turn your home into your own personal sanctuary. This is one of my favorite topics and I am really looking forward to the event.
Saturday is also the 17th anniversary of mine and Paul’s first date! It’s crazy to think that much time has passed. I remember driving up to Redwood City from Fresno for that first date and how nervous I was. Who knew that we would eventually buy a house, get married, start The Savvy Life, start Fearless Fitness, have a kid, start FFIT@home and travel the world? I can only imagine what we are going to accomplish in the next 17 years!
Sunday
I am also very excited about doing the Affordable and Nutritious Grocery Shopping seminar at the Safeway in Foster City again this Sunday. If you are in the area, please join us from 10am – 11:00 am. Coach Erika and I will be teaming up and taking shoppers down each aisle as we share our favorite tips for buying healthy and nutritious groceries at affordable prices.
Thursday
Thursday is going to be an especially fun day. I will be in San Francisco from 12pm – 1pm to give a presentation to PG&E’s women’s network. When I am through, I am going to swing by the house in Redwood City, pick up Dante and haul butt down to Fresno to host a booth at the Fresno Women’s Network from 5pm – 8pm. My mom is joining me for the event so it will be a blast. Dante and I will stay at her place that night before heading home the next day.
Friday
Friday I plan to stop by Chowchilla on my way home to have lunch with my Dad and stepmom Linda. I have to be at Fearless by 3:30 pm for two private lessons that I teach and will then teach my regular classes from 5pm – 7pm.
Saturday
This weekend, Paul has a gig teaching a sword seminar at a private school in Ojai, California. We will be jumping in the car and driving down first thing Saturday morning. I am grateful to our friend Jesse who is house and pooch sitting for us all weekend. Thank you Jesse!
Paul taught this same seminar last year and we had a blast! Apparently, Reese Witherspoon is getting married in Ojai on Saturday. It is a very small town so we may be able to do a little celebrity spotting while we are there. After the seminar concludes on Sunday at 2pm, we will jump in the car and head home.
It’s tough to complain about our crazy schedule because this is all stuff I/we love to do. Next week is just going to be a little more intense than usual.
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| Females with a Mission Radio Show |
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| Harry Potter and the Trip to the Foster City Library |
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Dante wasn't feeling very well yesterday so I opted to get him home as early as possible. Our library books were due so we made a stop to drop them off. Once there, Dante wanted to go inside and since he wasn't coughing or sneezing, I decided we could do a quick visit before heading home. I just made sure he didn't touch anything while we were there in case he was contagious. We picked up a few more kid's books and stopped by the DVD section. I really am impressed with the diversity of DVDs they had to offer. It wasn't the typical PBS documentaries that you might expect (no disrespect to PBS - I am a big fan). I was really surprised to see Kill Bill on the shelves and Dante spotted a copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. We added Harry to our pile and checked out. We then spent a lovely evening visiting Hogwarts from our living room while munching on pepperoni and pineapple pizza - an excellent way to recuperate from whatever ick that had Dante down earlier in the day. We plan to start taking better advantage of the DVD section of the library! |
| The Budget Smart Girl |
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I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Susan Palmquist of The Budget Smart Girl. Being featured on Susan's site is especially exciting for me because we have known each other for a very long time. Susan previously freelanced for The Savvy Life and is someone I have thoroughly enjoyed working with! Read her interview at http://budgetsmartgirl.com/2011/03/03/the-budget-smart-girl-newsletter-march-2011/ |
| Oatmeal Waffles & Backgammon |
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Owning our own businesses means that weekends don't always start on Friday nights at 5pm. Yesterday, my weekend started at 4pm after Kevin and I wrapped up a Savvy Life meeting. After Kevin left, Dante and I challenged Paul to a game of Backgammon. Paul accepted our challenge and opened a bottle of Moylan's Imperial Stout for us to share. We both love dark beer and Moylan's was fantastic. The flavor of espresso and chocolate almost knocks you off your seat. This isn't a beer for the faint of heart. To go with the stout, I reheated french fries that were left over from lunch. We then spent the next half hour eating, drinking and listening to Dante yell "checkmate" every time one of us beared a checker. After Paul beat me by just two checkers, I decided it would be a good time to switch to Gin Rummy - one of our favorite games. We traded wins back and forth until I finally called it a night. This morning I was in the mood for waffles. For a long time I have been on the search for a really good, relatively-healthy waffle recipe. I ended up making Oatmeal Waffles. My search is over. These waffles have oomph! The texture is not bogged down by the oats and even though I substituted regular flour for whole wheat flour, you would never know it. In lieu of syrup, I slathered them with my mom's homemade orange marmalade. Delicious! Give the recipe a try next weekend and let me know what you think!
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| Savvy Day Tomorrow |
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Tomorrow we are hosting our Living the Savvy Life seminar. Of the five seminars we do on a regular basis, this is my favorite. Although, I love doing our Savvy Kitchen, Home, Travel & Entertainment and Wardrobe & Beauty seminars, I believe creating a strong financial foundation is crucial - and that is what the Living the Savvy Life Seminar is all about. Once you establish a strong financial foundation, then you can have fun getting savvy in the other areas of your life.
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| My Mom - The Original Savvy Woman! |
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Last week I received a call from my mom. There was a lot of background noise and I didn't understand what she was trying to say at first. Then I heard her shout "Honey, can you hear this?" That's when I heard the distinctive sound of a slot machine paying out. She then yelled, “I just won $1,300!” That night, I received the following email from her.
Hi Missy,
Well we sure had a good time at the casino. Just happened to be my lucky day. Hit one large and several small jackpots. So.....I did the Savvy thing according to my daughter. I stopped gambling, visited with Frances, read my book and brought my winnings home. I just called for a payoff on our car loan...will be paying it off today!!! Yea! Big Hug and Kisses to my Dante.
Love you, Mom
When we receive windfalls, it can be easy to let it slip through our fingers by spending it on whims. Instead of frittering away the money, my very savvy mom put it to excellent use and paid off her car early! Congratulations mom!
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