Sharing Thanks

The best Tiramisu Milkshake with a dash of color and even a magic wand! It was nice to have a magical Monday! We had a wonderful night out with some good family friends. Here was what I was thankful for yesterday. Thankful to have a great night out with our friends the Gera's! They suggested going to "Diner by the Sea" in Long Beach, NY. We were lucky to get a table as this diner is a popular hang out. I splurged and go this Tiramisu Milkshake that came with sparkling sprinkles and even a magic wand.  You know I just had to get the french fries too. Thankful to have an upside down night. Since we decided to start with dessert first, we walked done to the beautiful Long Beach Boardwalk. I love listening to the pounding surf. Thankful to see my girls enjoy running on the beach, climbing a life guard chair and taking tons of fun pictures together. They also dipped their toes in the ocean. Thankful to hear some great sounds of summer from a live band that was pla

Led by Ariel at the East Meadow Public Library Sometimes the best things in life are free! Take the time to see what your local library has to offer. Connecting with people in your community is in an easy way to enjoy your life. Being part of  a group can add energy to your life. I started my morning today in this amazing Meditation class. Here is what I am thankful for about meditating! I am thankful that Meditation allows me to sit in the quiet moment and focus on my breath! I focus on breathing in energy and breathing out a relaxing AHHHH! of stress. I am thankful that every week Ariel, the man who leads this Meditation class makes it new and interesting. The hour flies by and I applaud his efforts to provide new visualizations and affirmations everyweek.  You can visit Ariel's website at  Energy Shift Yoga . Find out about the free meditation class he offers on Saturday mornings at 9:30 am! I am thankful to have bathed in a rainbow of light during the meditation class

Beautiful blue waters of Bermuda in June It's amazing how rejuvenating a vacation can be. I have taken a virtual vacation for the past few months and it feels great to be writing a blog post for sharing thanks today!  In March my 12 year old computer got a virus! Today I am happy to be blogging from my new Lenovo and am learning Windows 8! Being offline for a few months forced me to venture outside more and I was surprised how much more time I had. I am going to be starting a blogging calendar and try to work more efficiently. Sometimes something good can come out of adversity. Enough of my blogging blues and more about sharing what I am thankful for from my recent Bermuda Breakaway vacation with my friends from college. I am thankful to just look at this picture from my phone and get lost in all the amazing blues of Bermuda waters. Thanks to Liz and Ellen who encourage me to crash the sigma kappa reunion cruise to visit our friend Lynn in Bermuda! I am thankful to be an ho

Sharing thanks for this Superbowl Commercial that tells the inspiring story of Derrick Coleman, a hearing impaired football player for the Seattle Seahawks. I love that they used Derrick Coleman's voice in the spot to tell his story. Derrick chose for people to know him as an NFL football player, a goal he worked hard to achieve despite his obstacles. I'll be rooting for Seattle today! I have a soft spot in my heart for this team. My daughter Liz is also deaf and wants to be known as a film director or actress. She knows how Derrick feels about batteries that help her hear with her cochlear implant everyday!

Photo by Ellen Birch. Taken at the Museum of Modern Art Water Lilies room. Art evokes emotions with color and light! To establish a grateful attitude focus on the beauty that is available to you everyday. Notice the light, and color of a moment. Sit and breathe in the beauty of that moment. Carry the picture of the moment in your mind and use it to bring you to a relaxing state of mind. I had many wonderful moments this long weekend.  I was thankful to be able to spend Sunday with my good friends at MOMA! We were energized by art and learning about the artists. One of our favorite places to go is the Water Lilies room at MOMA. The colors are mesmerizing and reflective. We sat in the room and soaked in the beauty and light of Monet's genius. It is one of the most relaxing places in New York City. I was thankful to have a good belly laugh with my friends. We went to a modernist art display and were chuckling over a piece of art work that resembled a stainless steel 

The Emmons Lab from the University of California has done a lot of gratitude research in the last decade and has found that the simple act of saying ThankYou   has many health benefits. Want to keep those New Years Resolutions? Then learn to say thank you! In one study people who kept gratitude lists were more likely to make progress toward achieving important personal goals over a two-month period compared to participants who did not keep gratitude lists. To learn more about this ground breaking gratitude research listen to Robert Emmons himself! I'm devoting the Month of January to help you start a gratitude habit! Each post this month will focus on techniques that will lead you down the road to thankfulness! I invite you to try these exercises! The first exercise is to start your day by waking up to gratitude! When you open your eyes to wake up, continue laying down in bed and take a deep breath. Breath in a "Thank You" Breath out a "Thank You"

Happy 2014! I look forward to sharing the new adventures I will be thankful for in the coming year. Let the good times roll. There is something liberating about putting on silly hats and tumbling into a photo booth! I love this crazy, silly photo of my family. This photo reminds me of many happy moments I was thankful for in 2013. In celebration of the New Year I am going to write some blog posts on how to add a dash of gratitude into your life. Being grateful is a choice and a mindset that can be developed by anyone, with practice. Here are the grateful moments in 2013 that this photo reminds me of. I was thankful to celebrate the wedding of my nephew Nick to the incredible Jess! The wedding in Philadelphia was a joyous event. They had a photo booth at the wedding with some silly accessories that led to many fun family photos. Our family gathered and danced the night away and toasted this beautiful couple. I was thankful my daughter Becky had a wonderful summer learning ex

A journal half homemade by my daughter Liz Sometimes the best gifts are those that come from the heart. This year my husband's family decided to do a homemade gift swap at our after Christmas party. I enjoyed watching my daughters and husband figuring out what they could make and bring for this gift exchange. It was fun to watch everyone around the kitchen table making their homemade gifts for the party! I've been busy enjoying the holidays, seeing close friends and family. I have so many reasons to be thankful, its difficult to pick just 4 for this post! I am thankful for all the gifts I have received this holiday. We are a family that is a tapestry of religions. Our best holiday is when we are all together celebrating! I loved hearing all of the voices at my Christmas Eve Party belting out  "Oh Chanukah, Oh Chanukah!" and "The 12 Days of Christmas" I was thankful to do a bit of reorganizing before the holiday party and found Holiday songbooks I had m

I am a dog lover! Seeing this short compilation of cute dog vines made me smile. If you enjoy this please share a smile with someone. I am always thankful for a chuckle or a smile. I loved the dog whose best friend is a hairless cat! Here is what I am thankful for today. I am thankful for safe travels that brought my two girls home from college. Thank you Mega Bus, whose bus from Pittsburgh was almost an hour early. Thanks to Jet Blue. They wisely cancelled the flight from Chicago on Saturday. They rescheduled Liz for a flight home on Sunday. I recently watched Loved Actually which opens and closes with families and friends reuniting at airports. There is a special magic when you reunite with loved ones. Thanks to Dr. Cornell who did my Mom's hip surgery. The nursing staff at the Hospital for Special Surgeries is phenomenal. My mom is happy to get a new hip and is on the road to recover. Thanks to the nice folks my dad and I met yesterday while waiting for my Mom to be out

I am thankful for seeing this Piano Guys playful video of  "Angels We Have Heard on High." These vibrant  classical musicians are using their talents to inspire young musicians. There is also something magical about the inside of a piano! One of my favorite parts of Christmas is the music it has inspired! As a kid a loved going caroling. Singing outside with a group of family friends warmed my soul. This week seems all about music to me so here are my musical thanks! Thanks to my violin piano student Irina! She actually introduced me to the Piano Guys a few months ago. She is a 9th grader and loves watching the classical music videos they make. I am thankful that Piano Guys is creating excitement for classical music to a new generation! I am thankful for the South Shore Symphony Orchestra. We are performing the Nutcracker with the Leggs Ltd. Dance ballet company this weekend. I love immersing myself in the music of the Nutcracker for two weeks. This community event i

Pittsburgh Duck at night at Point Park. I was thankful to get to see the Pittsburgh duck before it swam away on my recent trip to this fun city. My older daughter is a senior at the University of Pittsburgh and we went to visit her during parents weekend. We were lucky to be able to stay at the Grand Wyndham hotel across the street from Point Park. I was amazed how many families and people came to see the duck. We had stayed here in the Spring and the park was empty. Here is what I was thankful for in Pittsburgh. I am thankful for the artist, Florentijn Hofman, for creating this floating art installation. Hofman says, "The friendly, floating, four-story-high Rubber Duck has healing properties!" The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust brought the duck to Pittsburgh to kick off the Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts. It is estimated that over 1 million people have gone to see the duck in Pittsburgh. I am grateful for installation artists whose work inspires us to experienc

Smiling Rocks found on Caumsett Beach I love taking walks in nature and finding unexpected surprises. I went for a walk with my good friend Stella at Caumsett State Park and was surprised to find these smiling rocks on the beach. They look like they were left by creative kids with a black crayon! There simple designs made me smile. Smiles are contagious. I just started a new pinterest board dedicated to smiles. It is hard not to smile when someone smiles at you! Smiling is an easy way to spread happiness. You can view my new Pinterest board at Smiles . Here is what made me smile today! I am thankful for a beautiful October Day! Enjoyed walking on a 68 degree, sunny October Day. I enjoyed finding a beautiful small red leaf on the sidewalk! I am thankful to the Banfield Vet center at the PetSmart at Huntington Station. They took good care of Oreo and gave her all her shots for this year!I am thankful to my Mom who came with me to the vet with Oreo. Oreo loves my mom. It was nice

My daughter took a video production class in London this summer. She enjoying making videos as well as acting and singing in her classmates videos. Felicia Garcia made this video which features 4 young women with inspiring advice. I love hearing my daughter's beautiful singing voice which opens the clip. Here is what I was thankful for today! I am thankful that my bad cholesterol numbers went down and the lipitor I am taking is working. Went for my annual physical today. Now I need to schedule a mammogram, pap-smear, and colonoscopy. I am trying to take better care of my health. I am thankful that my daughter Liz is becoming more independent.  I am thankful to be playing the beautiful Symphonic Dances by Leonard Bernstein. This music featured in West Side Story is breathtaking. I think Somewhere, is one of my favorite songs! It's a rainy day here today, I was thankful to walk the dog while it was only a light drizzle.  Please share the video. I love this message of Go

I enjoyed seeing this video on the Huffington Post's Good News this morning. When we are helping each other we inspire others to lend a helping hand. I was in Chicago helping my daughter move apartments. She is a college freshman and had a difficult first room mate experience.I am not going to focus on her negative room mate experience, instead I want to thank all the people who helped her move into new apartment with new suite mates. Thanks to the staff at the Residence Center at Columbia College who found a good alternative housing for my daughter. They listened to my daughter's concerns, reassured her, encouraged her, and found an alternate placement quickly. Thanks to her RA Nick, who helped us move these huge boxes to her new building. We all looked like keystone cops, with these boxes on dollies moving through the streets of Chicago. Thanks to some kind strangers who stopped to help us get the boxes back on the dollies when they fell off.  Thanks to my friend Stell

Baskets of apple's at Jo Jo Apple's in Point Lookout I am here to report that their is kindness in the big city of Chicago! I have so many reasons to be thankful today. It is easy to write this blog post because my gratitude is over flowing today. Thank you to Gene!!! Gene found my daughter's wallet in a cab. He contacted my daughter's podiatrist in Chicago since it had a local phone number to report finding her wallet. The podiatrist called me to give me his contact info. Gene took the time to bring the wallet to my daughter at her apartment at Columbia College. He wanted to make sure Liz got the wallet because there was over $100 in the wallet along with her bank card. This random act of kindness will never be forgotten. I am grateful for all of the rebuilding that has been done at Long Beach. I went for a stroll on the new boardwalk yesterday. It was wonderful to see the people out enjoying the sunshine, a sparkling calm ocean, and this new beautiful wide boar

Go Pitt Band! It's been a very busy weekend. My daughter Becky is a senior at the University of Pittsburgh. We love to go see a home game at Heinz stadium every fall. This year I have become an empty nester. My younger daughter is freshman at Columbia College in Chicago. So I enjoyed spending 2 days with my daughter in Pittsburgh and 2 days with my daughter in Chicago. Here is what I was thankful for. I am thankful for the safe travel provided to me by planes, trains and automobiles! My husband loves traveling by train! We started our journey by car to drive to my parents who hosted my dog Oreo for a few days. We took the train to NYC and then Amtrak to Pittsburgh. We even got to go through the famous "Horseshoe Curve". If your a true train enthusiast you know about this engineering marvel that allows trains to go around mountains. We got to Pittsburgh, and walked and caught the 61 Bus to our hotel. Our hotel was near the University of Pittsburgh so we walked to get

Seeing this video today gave me a smile. Yes Beluga Whale's do boogie. Music soothes all of our souls! Here is what I was thankful for today! Thanks to the postal worker who helped me tape up a box to send a care package out to my daughter in college. Thanks for a beautiful sunny day. I enjoyed walking Oreo around the neighborhood seeing some fall floral color. I am thankful to offer a helping hand to family friends, after they got into a car accident last night. Luckily no one was injured. I was happy to provide a ride. Thanks to my cousin Barbara who sent my daughter a graduation present in the mail. She will be thrilled to get something special in the mail! What made you smile today? If you want to share what your thankful for you can write your thanks in the comments! Tweet your thanks with hashtag #sharingthanks or @sharingthanks. 

  Love apples picked fresh from the trees! Happy September everyone! I love stopping at this farm on 9H in the Hudson valley when I am coming home from my parents Adirondack country house. It is apple season! Do you have a favorite? Mine is Granny Smiths! I love the green apple taste with that extra zing of tartness. I love making apple pie this time of year. I have been busy getting my daughter's off to college. I thought this would be a good time to reflect on the summer of 2013 and share what I was most thankful for this summer. I was thankful to see my daughters Becky and Liz get closer this summer! Becky was Liz's biggest fan at her improv show at the UCBEast comedy club. Liz had a great time taking the improv class at the United Citizens Brigade where she learned the art of long form improv. Every show is a different show. If you are looking for a great place to see improv, they have many shows at a reasonable price at UCBChelsea and UCBEast! I was thankful for all

My daughter Becky on a Seadog Speedboat ride in Chicago I have been posting photos to help you stay cool! I recently had a wonderful time visiting Chicago with my 2 daughters! We loved our Seadog speedboat ride on Lake Michigan! I love this picture of Becky with her hair flying in the breeze! Here is what I was thankful for! I was thankful to take a road trip with my two daughters to Chicago! We had fun spending five days together. We lunched in western Pennsylvania and spent our first night near Cedar Creek Park on the Ohio shoreline! It was pouring buckets of rain, but we enjoyed a lake view at a nice restaurant by the lake. I was thankful to get tickets to a show at Second City . We enjoyed the improv comedy show. My daughter Liz had the thrill of being asked where she worked! She said she was unemployed! We had a good laugh, when we told her she could have said she is a college student! We heard a funny joke that we keep telling to remind us of the trip. What did the big tom