GOSSIP FROM THE GIRLFRIEND GATHERINGS

Learning from YOU to empower ME !

Take a Minute to Click-It for LOVE

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HiResMy father was my hero.   He encouraged my adventurous and independent spirit.   He died in a tragic car accident in 1990.

I was lucky enough in life to finally meet a man who touched my heart and embraced my adventurous and independent spirit.   He died in a tragic car accident in 2007.

Both would still be here sharing my life had they worn their seat belts.

Their deaths are still heartbreaking and the fact they could have survived if they had buckled up is still a crushing blow.

When I get in my car each day and click on my seat belt, I think of them.

Each year approximately 33,000 persons are killed in a car crash and 50% could have been saved had they used a seat belt.   It is a known fact that men are 10% less likely to wear a seat belt.

As you travel for the summer holidays and vacation road trips, please wear your seat belt.

If there is someone in your life that does not wear a seat belt while driving and/or riding as a passenger, please ask them to do it………for you and for the love of others.

Be explicit.   Nag them.

Do whatever you can to induce them to wear a seat belt.

Help save their lives and your heart.

 

QUESTION(S):

How do you feel about encouraging others to wear seat belts?

Do you adhere to seat belt safety laws consistently?

Sister-Girlfriend MeetUp 2014 – A Rejuvenating “Blast” in St. Lucia

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122When women come together something amazing is bound to happen.   This was the case at the first Sister-Girlfriend MeetUp at the Coconut Bay Beach Resort & Spa in beautiful St. Lucia this past week – June 11 thru June 15, 2014.

 

A small group of women joined together with their best friend (sister-girlfriend) and with women they were meeting for the first time.   There were dynamic discussions, laughter, sharing, revelations, tears, and precious moments of rejuvenating solitude as we felt the sun on our faces and the ocean trade winds blowing through our hair.   Even though I had hoped for a larger group, I am pleased with the smaller group that attended because our interactions were more focused and I gained valuable insight for future meetups.   I also gathered some wonderful topics for future blog posts.

 

We shared our meals together and we shared a “meet and chat” after dinner cocktail period.  The resort offered a huge buffet for each meal and three different restaurants for dinner.   The food was great and the Long Island iced teas were fabulous!   Our days were free to do as we individually pleased.  The resort offered numerous recreational activities onsite and we did indulge in those activities – gym, dance class, hiking, etc – as well as just relaxing in those wonderful lounge chairs watching the ocean.   Also, we enjoyed offsite activities as a group, local shopping, a communal mud bath in the sulphur springs at the world’s only drive in volcano – Soufriere Volcano, a walk thru the botanical gardens in the rainforest, zip lining, and a very warm, relaxing shower in the Diamond Waterfalls.   Overall, everyone told me they enjoyed their time in St. Lucia.

 

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The ladies enjoyed the meetup so much that during the stay in St. Lucia I was asked several times about the plans for the next Sister-Girlfriend MeetUp for 2015.    Next year, the Sister-Girlfriend MeetUp will be on the Turks and Caicos Islands in July, 2015.    Details are being worked now and more information will be posted around August 1, 2014.

Here are some photos from our activities:

 

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NaBloPoMo #8 – How Often Do I Eat Out at Restaurants?

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Some years ago my guy and I were visiting my mother in which other family members were there, too.   My sister questioned me about the contents of my refrigerator and my guy pulled out his American Express credit card and said “Here is her refrigerator!”   Some years later, another special guy laughed when I suggested preparing a meal for him and exclaimed “You’ll cook?  That’s funny because you eat out every night!”    The fact is I absolutely love to eat out.

We all eat at least 21 meals a week.   Currently, I eat the average of 7 meals a week at a restaurant – whether it is a full-service restaurant or a fast food restaurant.    This rate is the lowest for me.    There was a time in the past where I ate 14 out of 21 meals at full-service restaurants.    Living in the Greater Houston area, it is very easy to enjoy a variety of food at different restaurants without becoming bored.   Also, I will drive 70 miles to enjoy a fabulous Sunday brunch like the offerings at the Hotel Galvez in Galveston, Texas (http://wp.me/plATX-20).  My decision to eat out at a full-service restaurant is usually because I am attending a social event or meeting some friends and I pick up something at a fast-food restaurant because it is convenient on a day when I want to write or read after the “day job”.

I have a wonderful group of friends and we gather together to eat out and chat (thus the name of this blog site!).   The gatherings have evolved to choosing restaurants that offer healthy, tasty meals which alleviates my guilty conscience about eating out.   I am a social person who treasures variety in life so I will always eat some of my weekly meals out on the town.

NaBloPoMo #7 – Why do I Make Unhealthy Food Choices?

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I make unhealthy food choices sometimes because I am an emotional eater.   A blue mood will drive me straight to something cool and smooth – ice cream – and tensed/stressed feelings can only be salved via crunching through a bag of chips or cookies.   It took a long time for me to accept this fact about myself but the knowledge has made me cognizant of the motivation behind my unhealthy food choices – to alter my mood.

I blogged about this discovery in July 2013 “Mood and Food – A Toxic Combination”(http://wp.me/plATX-46)  and started following some of the steps mentioned in the blog post to avoid the emotional eating trap.    I haven’t completely avoided unhealthy food choices but I am making progress – one step at a time.

NaBloPoMo #6 – How Do I Balance Good Nutrition and Good Taste?

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Good looking and good tasting food is very important to me.    In my quest to eat healthier, I strive to find those healthy food items that are tasteful.   I will not eat food that is healthy but tasteless.   I am willing to enhance a food item with spices, healthy sauces, etc. but will definitely strike it from my list if I cannot make it appealing to my taste buds.   I know this attitude limits my menu of healthy meals but I would rather rotate a few very tasteful meals than have many mediocre tasteless meals on my eating plan.   I have discovered that any healthy food items made by nature (fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc.) are usually more tasteful than the “man-made” nutrition food items (snack bars, protein shakes, etc.).

Now when it comes to desserts it is very difficult for me to balance good nutrition and good taste.   I love desserts and have not found any that have been made with healthy substitutions to be tasteful.    Therefore, I choose to allow myself certain celebration experiences where it is allowable for me to have a regular dessert.