Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite

Well, I hope they didn't but what the heck is all over me? I'm at my FL digs, my happy place aka Skittles House (very colorful, quelle surprise>) And I wake up with bumps on my face, arm and back and despite the array of otc pharma's, I still look like hell. OK, living in FL part time is wonderful AND challenging, watch out for alligators, watch out for snakes, watch out for mold, watch out for bugs, watch out for....enough, enough. This is when I look forward to going back to Chicago to be the city chick that I really am.

I Never Met a Sequin I Didn't Like:-)

I was speaking at the DanceTeacherWeb conference in Las Vegas this past week and between the glitter of the costumes everywhere plus the glitz of Las Vegas, I was "home". People often ask me if "I've always been like this?" glamourous, glitzy, outrageous and the answer is a resounding YES! Now I have the answer, you see I've been in sparkles since I was four years old at my first dance recital and I guess I just never outgrew as many do. It just fit my self perception then and still does to this day. Alot can be said for sequins, rhinestones, glitter, sparkles...it makes me happy and I believe deep down many people secretly wish they had, as they say, the nerve to wear it. I even had lavender sparkle wall covering in my living room in my Westport home, yes, I wear it, I look at it, I surround myself with it, it's just me, what can I say, no apologies, I just love glamour, always have, always will. Carpe Glitz!

An Experience List

An 'Experience List' is all about the experiences you want to have while living life to the fullest!

Have I ever told you about my “experience list” and why you should have that over a bucket list? A bucket list...now really, how negative is that? Things to do before you die. An experience list is things you want to experience while being fully alive.

I started mine way back in the 70s and some of the things I’ve checked off of it are driving at the Indy 500, safari in Africa, Oktoberfest in Munich, cocktails at the Hemingway Bar at The Ritz in Paris, drinking a Guinness while singing at an Irish pub in Dublin, cavorting naked in a Baden Baden German spa (TMI?), dancing in a Greek Taverna...

Do you get the picture? It’s not just about traveling somewhere, it’s about the experiences you want to have. Some that are still left on my list include tango in Argentina, ride the Orient Express, have a Mint Julep in Millionaire’s Row at the Kentucky Derby, hear Bocelli sing in Tuscany, and the list goes on. BTW, if you can help me achieve any of those, well, have at it. I would be humbled and delighted. As I tell my audiences, dream big and put it out there and one day someone will come up to you like Courtney Cole in Indianapolis who offered to make my Indy dream come true. And she did! I got to drive this beautiful Corvette!

That's why I live by the motto, Carpe Diem! Be outrageous, it's the only place that isn't crowded!

And the Beat Goes On

Here I am in Las Vegas speaking for the Dance Teacher Web conference at the gorgeous Red Rock Casino and Resort. What a great looking crowd, fit, young, spirited. It certainly is a trip down nostalgia lane for me as I reflect on my early years as a professional dancer and how the lessons learned in the studio have served me in business and life. The discipline of a performer has played a role in the accountability that has driven my growth. The risk of trying one more pirouette, kicking that leg higher, leaping faster, stretching farther, all became metaphors for life skills. What lessons do you recall from your first career, your first mentor/teacher, your first attempt at something new and how do you connect the dots?

The Days of Wine and...Chocolate

I spoke at Hershey this week. I checked in and was offered a choice of milk or dark, I chose the dark. I got to my room and there were Kisses everywhere, the chocolate kind! I spoke the next day then treated myself to a chocolate facial and no, I did not try to lick my face...altho' the thought did occur to me:-) And if that wasn't enough, the client invited me to partake of a wine and chocolate tasting. My insulin must be screaming by now. Oh, I forgot to mention, I don't drink, especially wine (may indulge in the oh so chi chi girlie martini once in awhile). And there I was, drinking Llama Old Vine Malbec with Milk Chocolate Praline Truffle Tart. Followed by Chocolate Box Shiraz with Scharffen Berger Extra Dark(didn't know Hershey made that), did you? Yummy, here comes my favorite, Cullari Coco Nostra (it was a wine with a hint of chocolate) but we still had it with Dark Chocolate Decadence Torte.

By now, I am silly with wine and high on chocolate but managed to try the Rancho Zabaco Single Vineyard Zinfandel. Oh why, oh why, couldn't it be the cheap white zin' that I love so much and my son reprimands me not to order in a restaurant and embarrass him, lol. That red is accompanied by an assortment of Hershey's Bliss Favorites. Four down (and me) and one to go...Ah, one of my all time favorites, Neirano Moscato d'Asti (shows you how sophisticated my wine taste buds are). Washed that baby down with some white chocolate cheesecake. Flew there as a passenger, came home as cargo.