The Savvy Life

Paul and I are very lucky that Dante is one of the healthiest and happiest kids we have ever been around.  So, when he is sick, it really throws us for a loop.  At the ripe old age of four years old he had his first fever ever this week.  For a kid that hasn't been feeling well since Monday, he is a trooper - never whining or complaining. 

He has been watching a steady stream of original Looney Tunes (thank you again Uncle Kevin for gifting him the entire DVD collection over the last four birthdays) and recovering on the couch with plenty of fluids and a steady dose of children's Tylenol.

If there is one bright side to kids being sick its that it slows down your pace.  Although the newsletter is typically scheduled to go out today, I have put it on hold.  Instead, of pulling it together as I do every Friday morning, I am making breakfast, fluffing pillows and enjoying focusing all of my attention on my kid.  In fact, I am going to get off the computer right now and go back to it. 

That's all folks!

This Saturday is my birthday and I'm trying to decide how to celebrate.  I'm a little bummed that Paul will be at a Mixed Martial Arts seminar in Brea, CA for the weekend.  However, this is an event he looks forward to every year as it gives him an opportunity to train with some of the top coaches in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship).  I did tease him that he needs to tell Erik Paulson, the coach that runs the event, that I'm usually pretty easy going about this kind of stuff, but this is the third year in a row he has scheduled this seminar on my birhday! 

The one thing I am looking forward to is taking the entire day off from FFIT, Fearless & Savvy and spending it with Dante.  The problem is, I can't figure out exactly what I want to do.

• Part of me wants to just stay at home, work in my garden and maybe watch a few movies that evening.
• I have thought about heading to Common Ground in Palo Alto to do a little garden shopping and then heading up to the Farmers Market at College of San Mateo.
• Another part of me wants to take Dante to the Legion of Honor in San Francisco and then spend the day playing tourist in the city.
• What I really want to do is do a tour of a sustainable farm or urban garden, but I can't find a tour that coincides with Saturday.

I'd love any suggestions you may have for what I should do to celebrate the day!  My only restrictions are that I would prefer not to drive more than an hour and it has to be something Dante can do too - i.e. no wine tasting.

By the way, it's my mom's birthday on Saturday too (I was her 25th birthday gift) so if you see her, wish her a happy birthday as well!

In a few minutes, I will pack Paul, Dante and 48 plastic, candy filled eggs into the Nissan for the two hour drive to my Tia (Aunt) Francis' ranch in Snelling, CA.  Once there, we will celebrate the holiday with food, conversation and one of the biggest Easter Egg hunts imaginable.

I had an unexpected break in my schedule yesterday, so I stopped in at my favorite Goodwill store in San Mateo.  After dashing and grabbing about 10 items to try on, I finally settled on a pair of brand new Ralph Lauren jeans that I purchased for $7.49.  The color and fit are perfect to dress up with a pair of heels or dress down with sneakers or sandals.

I blew through Goodwill so quickly that I decided to head to Old Navy to see if I could pick up a MUCH NEEDED pair of yoga pants for Fearless.  I lucked out there as well and found a new pair of workout pants for $19.50, plus I found three tank tops for just $4.25 each.  I grabbed one in white, one in dark gray and one in a beautiful burgundy.  During the summer I live in tank tops so I am happy to add a few new colors to my wardrobe.  For a total of $39.74, I added five new workhorse items to my wardrobe.

I just posted an article from a site that alleges Jennifer Aniston is selling her home as a way to declutter her life.  Whether it’s true or not, I imagine that celebrities struggle with clutter issues like the rest of us. 

My office has become a clutter hotspot recently.  As I wrote in my entry, Not-So-Patiently Waiting for Target, I am in desperate need of a new bookcase.  Until my coveted furniture item goes on sale, I try not to look at the books stacked in the corner. 

Another clutter issue I have is the items for my seminars and speaking engagements.  Since Living the Savvy Life came out, I have been doing an increasing number of events so the materials I need have also increased.  The loveseat in my office is slowly disappearing beneath a pile of posters, handouts, book holders, tripods and other items.  Unfortunately, I haven't found a permanent, easily accessible home for these supplies. 

I am making it my mission this week to get these items organized and find a home for them in my office.  To ensure it gets done, I am making myself accountable by telling all of you that I’m going to do it.  If by Saturday I don’t post that this task has been completed, please send me a barrage of emails encouraging me to – just do it!

One of the things my husband Paul teases me about is my lack of patience.  I like to think of it as an asset because I won't wait around for things to happen.  I'll do what I can to make things happen. But, occasionally, it's a nuisance.  For example, I've spent the last four Sunday mornings anxiously sifting through Target's Weekly Ad hoping the bookcase I want to purchase for my office goes on sale.  Target, like most grocery stores tends to rotate through sale items on a six week basis.  If the bookcase is going to go on sale again, hopefully it will happen within the next two weeks.  The waiting is driving me CRAZY!  I'm almost convinced Target is teasing me!  As I not-so-patiently wait, I'll just have to continue to ignore the books stacked in the corner of my office waiting for a permanent home. 

I know better than to buy strawberries in April.  It's not the season.  Yet, somehow I was wooed by the bright red berries in the plastic container.  Strawberries are Dante's absolute favorite fruit so I thought it would be a nice treat for him.  

As I anticipated, the strawberries had no flavor.  So, I decided to use a trick my grandmother taught me to liven them up.  I sliced the berries, added a tablespoon of sugar and let them sit for a few hours.  Last night when we got home from Fearless I made homemade whipped cream (which took less than 3 minutes) and made a simple layered dessert of whipped cream and berries.  Dante and I thoroughly enjoyed our decadent and mildly-healthy dessert!

I think my habit of cooking large batches of food comes from growing up on a farm.  As a rule, my mom and grandmother would cook for 10 even if there were only three of us for dinner.  Every day I would come home from school and know there were delicious leftovers from the previous night's meal waiting for me as an after school snack. 

There are a lot of perks to owning a martial arts school and one of them is getting hired to teach seminars outside of the school. In addition to teaching Mixed Martial Arts, Paul is a nationally recognized expert in Western Martial Arts (European Sword Fighting). One of our longtime students attends a private high school in Ojai, CA and invited Paul to teach a three hour seminar to the kids in his sword club. I don’t begrudge my high school education, but what I would have given to be able to have a sword club at my school!