GOSSIP FROM THE GIRLFRIEND GATHERINGS

Learning from YOU to empower ME !

Best Things in Life #10 – Experiencing Snow

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My Patio SnowLiving down here on the Gulf Coast in Houston there aren’t many opportunities to experience snow.   In the course of my lifetime, I can count the number of times it has snowed here on 1 ½ hands.    The snow that fell to the ground did not last long and melted in a few hours so I guess you can’t really deem that as “experiencing” snow.   Yet, my entire hometown would shut down for the day because we Houstonians don’t know how to drive in those conditions.

My good friend that lives in Cleveland, Ohio would laugh at me when I told her it snowed in Houston.   She told me I didn’t really know what snow was like until I experienced it in a true snowbound city.    After hearing this taunt a couple of times, I decided to take her up on it and went to visit her in the month of February for a long weekend.    This was when I truly experienced snow for the first time.

It was beautiful to look at as she drove me to her home from the airport but when I stepped out of her car I felt like I was about to do the James Brown split.   Apparently, I had the wrong type of soles on my shoes for walking on an icy driveway.   It was so very cold and the snow started to fall really hard like one of the heavy rain days in Houston.   My girlfriend wanted to go out to introduce me to her relatives and have dinner.   I wanted to stay in her house because to me it was a blizzard outside.    She assured me it was not a blizzard but just a normal snowy day.

We drove down streets with snow heaped up like hills on the side.   I noticed it wasn’t so white all of the time and that snow could get a dirty brown color turning into slush.    At one point, we stopped by the grocery store and I saw these unusual contraptions in the store.   When I asked my girlfriend to identify it she gave me a big belly laugh.  She could not believe I did not recognize the contraption and had never seen one.   It was a snow/ice scraper for the car windshield.    I told her we did not need such a tool in Houston so how would I know about it.

I stayed a few days sliding across driveways and fearing for my well-being when we were out on the roads.    When we were in the airport for my return flight home, I was so happy to see the word Houston on the marquee because I knew I was heading to a warmer climate.  After that visit, my girlfriend and I made a pact.   She can come and visit me anytime from November to June and I would visit her anytime from June to October.

Another snow experience was a ski trip to Denver.   I only went once.   I spent the entire trip on my butt with my skis tangled up.   My friends had to help me untangle my skis several times.   Finally, I just sat on the sidelines drinking hot chocolate.   I did not even make the bunny hill.   However, I did enjoy snow tubing.   It was exhilarating!   I have never been so out of control as sliding down a hill of ice on an inner tire tube.

So, I know you are now wondering why is experiencing snow on my “Best Things in Life” list?    It is on my list because it is a beautiful natural gift from God and whatever happens in it is worth experiencing.

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QUESTION(S)

Do you enjoy experiencing snow?   Why or Why Not?

Girlfriend Gathering Review – “A Soulful Christmas” at the Ensemble Theatre

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Girls Night Out

 

 

 

 

 

 

This past weekend my girlfriends and I kicked off the 2014 holiday season by attending our first event of the season at the Ensemble Theatre in Houston, Texas (http://www.ensemblehouston.com).   As a long-time subscriber, I can always count on the Ensemble Theatre to add a different spice, a different flavor, and a different flair to the traditional offerings on the Houston theatre scene during the holiday season.    Their production of “A Soulful Christmas” is a refreshing new addition for this season.

A Soulful Christmas

When I heard the title I knew we would enjoy some great music and we were not disappointed.   The musical ensembles mesmerized us with their rendition of familiar Christmas songs from the 1940’s to the present and the story that was wrapped around the music was very original.   The talent of the singers, actors, and dancers was of stellar quality and it was difficult to keep still in our seats.

Since it is still early in the holiday season, I don’t want to be a “spoiler” about the production so this post about it will be short.   For those of you in or near Houston, I highly recommend that you get a ticket as soon as you can because I know all of the shows will sell out.

QUESTION(s):

How do you “kick-off” the holiday season in your town?

H-Town Happenings – Hanging Out with Oprah and Her Trailblazers!

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It was fantastic news when I learned months ago that my hometown – Houston – was on Oprah’s The Life You Want Tour.    There was only one thing for me to do – buy a ticket and mark the dates.    So this past weekend Oprah and her Trailblazers (Deepak Chopra, Rob Bell, Elizabeth Gilbert and Iyanla Vanzant) graced our presence here in the Toyota Center.   We gave Oprah a hearty Texas-sized welcome and showed her there are many here who really love her!

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The positive energy was contagious among the attendees as we hung out in O-Town and inside the Toyota Center jamming with DJKISS as she played funky celebration music for us (http://www.kissthedeejay.com).   Needless to say, there was a huge female presence at the tour but, surprisingly, there were many brave and secure men in attendance, too.   We, attendees, wore these wonderful bracelets that lit up in various colors at certain points during the event.   This small item united all of us and made us one with a directed focus in the Toyota Center.   It was simple yet amazing.

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When Oprah appeared on the stage in the Toyota Center it was thrilling.   Just the fact that she created this tour is inspirational because it demonstrates her genuine commitment to enlightening and inspiring the world community.    Oprah shared with us her thoughts and feelings about her life journey.   She encouraged us to open ourselves to the unlimited possibilities of the universe and to have faith that God will be with us and for us on our journeys.

As a person who learned Transcendental Meditation (http://www.tm.org) in 1995 and paid $1000 to learn, Deepak Chopra delivered a fabulous life-changing gift to every attendee when he taught and led a TM session.    He imparted his wisdom to us on the importance of the mind-body relationship and it’s relation to our spiritual well being.   This was a rejuvenation moment for me because I have not practiced TM for many years now and just started again last week.   Also, I have also neglected my spiritual life even though I believe the quote from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin – “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.”   So Deepak Chopra’s directions were of special interest to me.

Rob Bell gave us guidance on finding purpose, finding joy in our daily lives and reconnecting with God.

Elizabeth Gilbert challenged us to step out of the lives others have built for us and to set off on our own quest.   She helped me to realize that all of those times I packed up and traveled away from my daily life were mini-quests.   I knew that at a gut-level and secretly felt guilty about it but now I can fully embrace it.

Iyanla Vanzant directed us on the art of forgiveness and the importance it has on acceptance and moving forward in our lives.

We, the attendees, worked through exercises in the workbook that was provided to help us identify what we have been called to do.   We were guided by Oprah as we awakened to the life we want, viewed and rated our lives today, discarded negative language and chose a new language in our lives, and created a specific NEW vision for our lives to declare into the universe.   It was INCREDIBLE as Oprah patiently guided us through these workbook exercises.    She even gave us homework to send her our new vision before Sunday, 10/19/14, 5pm CDT and I tweeted mine on Saturday night.   She told us she enjoys reading them.   It was challenging to describe it in 140 characters but I did it.

Near the end of the event, there was a session where Oprah selected a few of the attendee questions to be answered by the Trailblazers.   The tour ended with Oprah encouraging us and giving us permission to have a limitless vision for ourselves; to open ourselves to God’s purpose and be obedient.  She told us to get clear about what we want and to have faith that it will happen.

I have wrapped myself with all of the positive energy and guidance from Oprah’s The Life You Want Tour Weekend to implement in my life.  One of the quotes I learned there that resonates with me is one by Paulo Coelho, “And, when you want something all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”   Today, I wrote a full page document on the specifics of the new vision for my life and I have declared that vision to the universe.   I know I have work to do.  I know the work will be challenging.   I know there will be some “letting go”.    And, because of this weekend, I know that now I am ready.

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QUESTION(S):

Do you want a new limitless vision for your life?

Women History Maker – Mollie Taylor Stevenson Jr.

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As we all know, March is National Women’s History Month and, in Houston, we are putting on our cowgirl boots to head on over to the Reliant Stadium for the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show through the end of the month.     So, with both women history and rodeo in mind, I decided to share with you a history maker right here in my hometown – Houston.    This woman has made a mark in Women’s History and in African-American History as being one of three African-American women inducted into The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.   At the time of her induction, Mollie had the honor of her mother, Mollie Taylor Stevenson Sr. being inducted at the same time.    Before her mother’s death in 2003, Mollie and her mother were the only living African-American members of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.

(http://www.cowgirl.net/HallofFameHonorees/Stevenson,Mollie.Jr.html)

(http://www.cowgirl.net/HallofFameHonorees/Stevenson,Mollie.html)

Mollie is well-known in the Houston community as a world-famous cowgirl, historian, and rancher of her family-owned ranch which is one of the oldest African-American owned working ranches in the United States.   The Taylor-Stevenson Ranch has existed for 150 years and is still home to Mollie and some of her siblings.   In 1988, Mollie and her mother established The American Cowboy Museum to educate the young and the old about the contributions of “people of color” to the taming of the West.

Please read more about this female maverick at (http://www.cowboysofcolor.org/profile.php?ID=95)

and her trail-blazing family history at

(http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/native-texan/article/Historic-ranch-lies-in-Houston-s-shadow-4638390.php)

and

(http://capitolwords.org/date/2002/03/14/E365-2_honoring-mollie-taylor-stevenson-sr-and-mollie-tay/)

I have not visited The Taylor-Stevenson Ranch yet but it is now on my day-trip list and I will “round-up” some of my girlfriends to join me.

In gathering information for this blog post, I read several inspiring information about other inductees in the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.   They even have honored Sacagawea who assisted Lewis and Clark!     It is worth a visit so check it out at (http://www.cowgirl.net/AllHonorees.html).

On my next visit to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I will certainly drop by for a visit!

H-Town Happenings – Houston Ballet Guild Nutcracker Market

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On this past Saturday, I was able to mark “Done” on my H-Town bucket list next to the entry about attending the annual Houston Ballet Guild Nutcracker Market.     Since 1981, the Nutcracker Market has raised money for the academy and scholarship programs of the Houston Ballet Foundation.   As a native Houstonian, I had been a subscriber of the Houston Ballet and attended the performance of the Nutcracker several times as a Christmas tradition but I had never attended the Nutcracker Market.   So, I called up a few girlfriends and we decided to have a field trip.

The venue for the Nutcracker Market is the Reliant Center which is on the same complex as Reliant Stadium – home of the Houston Texans football team.   As usual, there was adequate parking and a shuttle service to/from the Reliant Center.   We arrived early, a few minutes after the opening for the day, and there were already a considerable amount of shoppers in the booths.   I was expecting handmade beautiful Christmas decorations and merchandise for sale but there were all sorts of other merchandise from jewelry to furniture to back massagers and even cowgirl boots  ( I guess the latter should not have been a surprise in Texas!)   There were approximately 300 national and international merchants.

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My girlfriend and I were not interested in jewelry so we focused on the non-jewelry booths.    The booths with Christmas decorations were wonderful and the most amazing to me was the “Linda Jeanes Original Santas, L.L.C” booth with beautifully detailed Santas of all sizes.   The designer is Linda Jeanes at http://www.lindajdesigns.com.   There were many other booths with Christmas decorations and here are some of the pictures.

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Another booth that caught my eye was one that had elaborate handmade birdcages and the prices were just as high as they stood.

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We traveled up and down the aisles tasting some of the culinary fare from cherry salsa to toffee to rum cake (that would have made me drunk had I eaten an entire slice!).   We had only planned to peruse the market with no intent to shop but I succumbed to the test drive of the back massager by Casada.   Every person that sat in that massage chair did not want to leave it.   It is a wonderful item in that I can put it on any chair and even use it in my car.    My girlfriend succumbed to the call of the Old Gringo booth and ended the day by buying two pairs of beautiful cowgirl boots.

Overall, we enjoyed our visit to the Nutcracker Market.   It was very well-attended and I now understand how the Nutcracker Market has contributed $22 million to Houston Ballet Foundation since 1981.  If you are a jewelry lover, you could attend all three days and not visit every booth but, for everything else, a one-day visit should suffice.