Three GREAT happenings around here!

Tonight!

7 - 9

Be there.

This is my AwesomeFashionableGodFearingFunLovingFriend Todd

and SweetJill's (she's all that other stuff too!) store.

According to his blog they are offering a 

15% "event only" discount

30% discount on last season Tart

the first 20 guests will receive a FREE Tart Burnout Tee!

Plus champagne and cheese will be served.

I know they are very excited about adding this line to their inventory.

So I'm excited to see what all the buzz is about. 

I'll be there and I hope to see you.

And remember that Edge carries the wonderful

Tierra Mia Organics goat milk soap

that we looooooove!

And what awesome stocking stuffers 

they will make. 

You can refer back to my post

"A Good Clean Story"

for more on why I looooove this item.

Haiti Orphans Benefit Concert
Sunday 10.23.11
that bar 148 E Prospect Ave
Danville 6:00 pm

Join us for a fun and casual concert to benefit Haitian orphans from the island of La Gonave, Haiti. 100% of all proceeds will be given directly to the orphans project.

Currently the orphanage is housing  over 70 children, some who lost their parents in the devasting 2010 earthquarke.

Shine is partnering with Okipe, an non-profit co-op to help develop a brand new living compound for the children including living quarters, kitchen, classrooms and staff facilities. To learn more, visit www.okipe.org.

ThatBar is graciously supporting the event by providing the facility free of charge and by donating 5% of the food and drink proceeds. Food and beverages will be available during the concert. Check out the menu @ www.thatbardanville.com. Please remember to thank them for their support.

History of Painters Facebook page @ www.facebook.com/historyofpaintersband

I am sooooo excited about this event!

Some of you may have seen the flyer I posted last week.

Tickets are only $10! 

Ten Dollars!!!!

Seriously.

Come.

I grabbed this information for my blog from Eventbrite

which is where you go to get tickets.

It's simple!

Click on the Eventbrite link 

(the highlighted word will take you there).

Then under Ticket Information

follow the steps to order your tickets.

If you are bumming because you have a scheduling conflict

you can make a donation to the cause right there under

Ticket Information.

Not long ago, I did a "blowing bubbles" post about 

a friend of mine that I sincerely look up to

as one of my HeroFriends.

Some of you might remember

and if you don't

look it up under "older posts".

That HeroFriend of mine, Bill Cody, is the director of Shine,

which is organizing this event.

So if you come, you can meet this 

RockStarHumanitarianPeopleLoverWorldChanger

yourself, in person!

Please, please, please invite your friends,

treat them by purchasing their tickets.

This is such a fun, fun, fun way

to make a difference!

And the band!

Holy Cow!

We are so lucky to have this 

San Luis Obispo sensation up here in our parts.

They are a very sincere alternative/folk

band that are dedicated to, according to their webpage,

"making honest music that makes a difference."

That's why I am so excited,

not to mention, that I've heard a few songs,

and they are awesome.

I'd like to mention that the name of the venue 

suggests that this a crazy bar atmosphere.

I'd say that this is true any other night,

(or actually early afternoon - sorry ThatBar)

than this. 

I have been assured that this event 

is absolutely, 100% family friendly,

in spite of the location!

I'm definitely bringing my kids.

Hopefully some day soon,

I'll take them to Haiti,

but since I can't do that now,

this is what I'm doing

and 

I sure hope to see

you there.

Drop me a comment if I'll see you there.

I'd love to hear from you.

And here's another thing I'm looking forward to.

Just for fun!

One of Calli's FabulousDancingInstructorsMissJenny is going to be 

performing in:

I am so excited to support Miss Jenny's talent in this exciting show.

She and her TrulyTalentedEquallyFunMissMegan have

been wonderful influences in our community

to the young girls who are privileged 

enough to have landed in their

dance school

Ace Dance Academy.

I, and all the other moms, who have discovered them

are truly grateful for their dedication, 

professionalism, unwavering commitment to the

artistry of dance.

They are a bunch of gorgeous and genuine

women who respect 

the gift of dance and their stylistic diligent consideration

of the age appropriateness of

costumes and body movement

have truly blessed our family and 

our dance community.

You will never need to overt your eyes during one of their shows.

You will leave feeling uplifted and in awe of the

wonder and beauty of choreography with  

integrity.

So, that was quite an unplanned plug for 

Ace Dance Academy.

Good luck getting in if I just sold you on it

and I hope I did.

With the amazing, beautiful, professional

team of instructors that they've lined up,

they are a very full house but even if you have to sit on 

a waiting list,

I wholeheartedly promise that 

IT'S WORTH THE WAIT!

(and there are openings, it may just be the few classes my daughter takes that are maxed out).

Now, back to Hairspray!

Since MissJenny is one of the lovely ladies that has 

stood in our family as a positive role

model for my little girl for several

years now, you can bet 

that I want to support

her talents outside of classroom as well.

So we're going!

And I certainly hope that I've encouraged

you to attend as well!

Embrace the Camera with the Anderson Crew

Today is my first day

to
Embrace the Camera 
with the Anderson Crew.

What fun this is!

This picture of Calli and I was captured on the Iron Horse bike trail.

I took it (well I didn't take it), my friend Cynthia took it just moments after I finished the fall decorating projects that you read about Monday and Tuesday.

I hope you read about them.

Someone did.

Anyways, it was a lovely day for Calli and I.
Our boys were gone.

They were busy working on the Annual Woodchopping Trip to the Grandparents.

The sons and grandsons travel up every year on Grandma "G"s birthday to get them all 

set up for winter with firewood and a party at Chevy's for Grandma.

It's a wonderful event that we all look forward to every year and

since this year, we girls couldn't make it, we tried our best

to pack in a bunch of fun girl time.

It began by sleeping in, OOPS sorry chickens (usually Jake lets them out), 

to rushing over to Calli's very first pet sitting job for Carol, my SuperFunFriend from

6 girls 3 boys, so far...

After loving on Broddie and Willis

the sweet little dogs

we got coffee at our new Peet's in town,

then we cruised the Farmer's Market

and bumped into our good friends there.

After that we took a quick walk down to Gardenseed, 

probably our favorite shop on earth,

to buy a gift for Carol who had her birthday

earlier in the week.

We were so happy because months before Calli & I found this item
that made us think of her immediately.
Something that spoke to the seamstress talent in her that
we admire.
We went back to it and lo and behold-
it was STILL there, as if little shopping fairies were
saving it for Carol.

Well Gardenseed is right around the corner from Edge

so we popped in there for peek at all the new Fall offerings.

And we can't go to Edge without visiting our friend Missy at Twigss

Floral Studio next door, 

but OH sad, she was closed.
She was probably delivering gorgeous arrangements to some 
fabulous wedding or party.

So to cheer ourselves up we went next door to Twigss,

which is my favorite little shoe store Tootsies,

and they were having a $20 sale.
That cheered us up.

This was probably a perfect day!

I found a pair of zebra and black leather wedges, 

all funky and strappy

for $20!
Yes a perfect day, except we were just getting started.

We returned home with tomatoes, gift and wedges, but instead of making lunch, 

we made fall decorating projects.

I finished up the entry way.

Calli made a bouquet.

Then we found ourselves on the bike trail.

We love to ride our cruisers down the trail, especially this time of day, this time of year.

I do my running on this very trail and have some of my best talks with

God on this very pavement.

However,

we weren't doing any of that this time.

We were making a movie!

Aren't we faaaaaaabulous?!

Actually no.

Jake,

my son,

who is ultra creative and amazing,

(much more about him coming in the near future)

is part of a student film production company

called 

"Soda Jerk Productions".

They were filming a scene for their Hitchcock style film.

So that's what Calli and I were doing.

Taking pictures of them filming.

On the bike trail.

But then,

we went to another film location, then

raced home so that

six sweet girls from Calli's 

Thursday night group

could come over for a sleepover.

Hide and seek in the dark,

dancing with the strobe light on
"I throw my hands up in the air sometimes",

manicures and pedicures,

and a whole host of silliness filled our evening.

The neighborhood gangsters, 
I mean the raccoons, (is there a difference?)

 even made an appearance

to the delight and terror of the girls

who had just snuggled in for the night.

Calli and I really packed in a ton of fun

in one day

but with all the awesome things

going on around us,

this is the only picture we got!

Well there were some in the car but we took them ourselves so someone's always squished out of the frame, usually Calli, so it leaves me looking huge, and who wants to see

pictures of mother and daughters 
waiting in the car 
with huge heads anyway? 

So.

This is the only picture we got!

Thanks Cynthia!
Thanks Anderson Crew for prompting us to take more pictures!

A Good Clean Story

Love It!

Good clean fun.

This soap is hand made locally

using 

raw goat's milk.

Everything in it is pure,

natural,

nutritious

and 

lovely for your skin.

I learned about it from my friend Jeff

who travels everywhere becausehe

is out there changing the world

in an

AWESOME

 way!

I met him in Kona several years ago and 

have been introducing him to everyone I love

whenever he lands in San Francisco

for a weekend.

So he met my friend Todd, who owns a swanky,

little, fashion boutique "denim bar" called

EDGE,

and Jeff jumps in there whenever he's around.

Todd gave him a  soap bar from the denim bar (ok, not funny) to try

and apparently it was the magic thing that worked on his

troubled skin.

No more bumpy skin!
Heard the song "Baby Got Backne?" 
Sorry, just trying to lighten things up? Jeff does not have 
"backne" but there are a lot of people out there that do
and are washing it away with this
miraculous little sudsy stuff
from raw goat's milk.

It sounded like Jeff had tried everything for his bumpy bumps
 and this soap is the THING that worked!

So I started buying it for him and shipping it to wherever he was

and using it myself

and making my

14 year old 

wash his bumpy skin with it too.

It's amazing!

It's all I'll/we'll use now.
Here's another awesome reason I love Tierra Mia Organics.
I relayed this story about the soap to a friend of Sylvia, the beautiful lady
who makes the fabulous soaps, 
and after hearing about my friend 
changing the world, 
posted on her website that it was their desire as management to GIVE Jeff his soaps
because they appreciate what he's doing out there.
So Amazing!
I stumbled upon this inadvertently and called them personally to say that I'm the one
who told the story and I could hook them up if they meant what they had 
claimed about giving him soap.
They meant it!
I love the soap so much more 
knowing that they are made
by 
integral, generous, and devoted
people with a precious spirit
who care about the things I care about.
I really get the sense that they are 
in the soap making business
to help people. 
Now, back to the bar!

I love the velvety lather it makes.

I love the way my face and skin 

stay soft

after

washing.

I love the scent, especially the Almond Coffee and 

my second favorite 

is Clove Black Pepper.

They smell "good enough to eat", as my dad used to say-

which I actually did once as a kid.

It was strawberry soap, so I avoid fruity scents all together

since that episode of running screaming naked through the house,
slipping on the trail of bubble bath water I was
leaving everywhere left a permanent 
disflavor 
for 

fruity bar soaps.

(Sorry to get off track there. True story though.)

All of their soaps are

Gluten Free.

They use 
No surfectants.

No Sulfates.

No Parabens.
It is recommended for 
oily skin
acne
exzema
babies
sensitive skin
shaving bumps
dry skin
and
pure enjoyment.

And if you go to their website

Tierra Mia Organics

then you can read about why raw goat's milk soap

is better than commercial

varieties

and you will probably want to run out and get 

a few bars

yourself.

I buy them at EDGE in Danville

because I love Todd too

and the soap was the only thing I could 

personally use

(until recently when they began offering

chic little threads for women too.)

You can also find these soaps at any of the

Whole Foods 

locations

or on the Tierra Mia Organics website.