Enjoy An Evening with New Chamber Ballet

Performances this Saturday and Sunday.
Order your tickets now, only $25 ... www.newchamberballet.com

 

Breaking Bread in L'Aquila (Italy)

L'Aquila, a region of Abruzzo Italy.

A town, I must confess, I have never visited.  But one of which I have heard often.  My dear friend, Maria Filice, speaks of L'Aquila lovingly and, with smiles.  Always with smiles.  It is the hometown of her late husband and a place where they shared many memories. 

On April 6, 2009, there was a devastating earthquake in L'Aquila.  As you can imagine, my friend was concerned for her friends who live there, and quite saddened at the damage. 

One year later, on April 6, 2010, the first anniversary of the earthquake, Maria's first book will be launched, Breaking Bread in L'Aquila. Maria was greatly distressed for the people of L'Aquila and vowed to publish a cookbook in their honor. My friend has the most sincere heart and gives out a great deal to those around her.  And, she has always been a fabulous chef with an innate talent.  I spent Thanksgiving 2008 with her and was overwhelmed with her ability to come up with a recipe idea, blend a few ingredients, and serve up the most scrumptious meals I have ever tasted outside of Italy.

Read, in Maria's own words, the background of this wonderful cookbook and why her marketing campaign is based on a promise she made to an elderly woman there in L'Aquila:  "We Have Not Forgotten." 

Available April 6, 2010.   Pre-order your copy!

Maria is donating the net profits of this book to help re-build this beautiful city. 

Also, check out Maria's blog, Food and Fate.

About the Author
Maria Filice, first-time author and food stylist, is a first-generation Canadian-American Italian. Maria grew up following her Calabrian family’s old country values. She learned from the best—her mother, grandmother, and aunts—whom she watched from the time she could barely walk. While she observed her relatives cooking together, with a little of this and a little of that, she listened well.

Today, her relatives and friends are delighted as she entertains them in her kitchen with her storytelling and her cooking. In both her kitchen and her professional life, Maria’s philosophy is to live life to its fullest. Her lack of formal training cannot diminish her passion or dissuade her from taking risks with her cooking. In truth, her fresh eye has allowed her to excel. Her natural flair for food styling reflects her personal style and demonstrates how a simple recipe can look beautiful.

Maria’s warmth, humor, and gregarious personality always make guests feel motivated to discover their own style in the kitchen. Today Maria Filice resides in Upstate NY as publisher of Telos Press, as well as publisher, author, and food stylist for Food and Fate Publishing.

Spring Preparations

The last of the pictures are hung & carpet unrolled ... finally! 

The Key to My Happiness

"Be happy for this moment.  This moment is your life."
           ~ Omar Khayyam


Recently I've been asked several times how it's possible for me to assuredly know who I am, what I want in life, and all that entails.

I giggle.

If I don't know myself by this age, when will I?

I wasted too much time in my earlier years to waste them now.  When I divorced, I decided I would never again live unhappy.  The problem was, I didn't know what would make me happy.  So here's what I did:

• I headed to my family's cabin in the woods for a weekend of self reflection.
• I got very honest...real & raw...with myself about how I was living and compared that to who I truly was inside.  (Not who I wanted to be, nor who others thought I should be.) 
• I identified what it was about how I had been living my life that caused me to be unhappy:
• I wasn't actively going after the life I envisioned for myself.  I was allowing myself to be stuck in daily circumstances.  I was spending my time looking back and regretting choices I'd made, things I'd done or hadn't done.  And, of course, it felt like forever since I laughed.  
  
• From that came guidelines to keep me from those things that made me unhappy.  And so...Karen's Life Equities were born.

 Karen's Life Equities:

1. Laugh - laugh hard, laugh a lot, laughter will get me through anything

2. Dream - never stop dreaming, never stop pursuing my dreams
3. Move Forward - always move forward, grow, expand my mind
4. No Missed Opportunities & No Regrets

~ August, 1998

Living by these 'guidelines' led me to discover so many things that make me happy.  I've learned I'm easily bored so I need constant new discoveries to keep me engaged in life.  I've learned that exploring new places and countries feeds my soul.  That when I meet really good people, I must invest to keep them in my life v. falling into my habit of getting caught up in daily responsibilities.  I've learned dancing as a couple, whether salsa or other, gives me an instant hit of happiness.  I've learned not to beat myself up when I'm less than perfect.  And that having people who accept me and love me for who I am at the core + laughter is the foundation of my happiness.

I've also learned many things that I don't enjoy.  But just simply trying them, trying something new, made me happy.  I've learned what things, while I enjoy them at the moment, take me off course and end up bringing me down on my happiness scale.  So, while it is sometimes difficult, I try to avoid those situations.

Of course, there are a few assets that are key to staying the course...

• trusted advisors:  grounded friends & family members who hold me accountable by calling me out on my 'stuff'
• faith that God wants me to enjoy my life
• genuine hugs
• and, oh yes, a good therapist helps, too!

Happiness is circumstantial.
Joy of life...now that is what is constant.

So, net net, for me, it's not about knowing what I want in life, but rather, knowing what I don't want.

Cincinnati ~ My Hometown Favorites

What better place to share than home?  After a wonderful weekend visiting my family, here are a few of my hometown favorites:

• Havana Martini Club for salsa dancing...no one ever leaves a stranger.  Nelson & Beckie were in town...met up with Michael Drake.  The ole gang back together!
• Boca for delicious dinner.
• A stop at the most talented hair salon, The Chambers-Packer Studio, where Angie Packer works her magic! 
• Crossroads Community Church had a great message on one of my favorite topics:  Freedom. Freedom from fear, freedom from guilt, from religion. from negative self-talk, from our past, from labels others put on us, et al.  Brian spoke of the damage we do to ourselves when we allow these things to continue.  Listen to the podcast of the March 7th message which includes 5 steps to from from these things.
• Breakfast after church at the local diner, The Echo, where you run into, oh, everyone!   
• Call me Black Beard and shake in your boots when you dare play laser tag at ScallyWag's.  9 back-to-back games!
• The amazing Contemporary Arts Center and Cincinnati Art Museum!

Lounging around with Mom & Dad, my nephew & niece spending the night, hanging with my brothers.

It's like having a warm blanket around me.

Central Park, 20.9" of Snow!

The fourth largest one-day snowfall in history for us.  And so ...

Snow angels, snow balls, hot chocolate ... too much fun in Central Park yesterday!

making my snow angel:

isn't she pretty?

 

  

 

I love trees and these made me smile:

 

  

a lone umbrella frozen on the lake:

Trapeze School!

"Curiosity is a set up for discovery. Anger is a set up for destruction. The attitude with which you approach problem solving is so entwined with the choices you perceive, one is hardly distinguishable from the other."
~ Jonathon Conant, President and Co-Founder of Trapeze School New York


It's time to challenge myself again and live up to my "do one thing every day that scares you" mantra.  Stay posted ... I'll be reporting on my high flying experience shortly!  (postponed due to dire need to play in the snow.  stay tuned...)