Sharing Thanks

My daughter's after seeing Rock of Ages! Don't stop believing! Wishing everyone a happy and gratitude filled 2013. Yesterday my family was blessed to get to go into New York City and see "Rock of Ages." My husband gave us this experience gift Christmas morning. Our family loves musical theater and going to broadway this time of year is a gift. It was nice to see NYC dressed up for the holiday season. I loved the gigantic Christmas lights I saw on Sixth Ave! Where else can you see a building wrapped up in a beautiful red bow! Here is what I am thankful for. Thanks to the TKTS man who sold us awesome orchestra seats for Rock of Ages. The Theater Development fund runs the TKTS ticket booth in Times Square which helps make Broadway affordable for families. Thanks to the performers in "Rock of Ages." The energy on stage was electric. Enjoyed reliving the rock'n sound of the 80s and one of my all time personal favorite soft songs, "More than Words....

A thoughtful gift from my daughter Becky We have had many wonderful family holiday celebrations over the past week. So my many moments to be joyful about. I enjoyed watching people open the gifts I have bought them. I try to buy small thoughtful gifts and love watching someone get excited over opening a package of their favorite pack of gum. Here are some thoughtful gifts that I received and am thankful for this holiday season. Love this book by MJ. Ryan "Attitudes of Gratitude" that my daughter Becky gave me. Wonderful quotes and suggestions for living in Gratitude.  My mom included a picture in each of our present boxes this year. Seeing my at six in my hula dance costume was priceless. Thanks Mom for sharing such wonderful memories with your generous gifts. I love getting useful gifts. So I was happy to get a new can opener, as my old one has stopped working. Also loved gift cards to Dunkin Donuts. I must admit their iced coffee even in the winter is a guilty plea...

Loved these vibrant purple flowers at Union Square Market This time of year we are fortunate to be able to celebrate many holidays with friends and family. One of the things I love about our extended family is the diversity. We are Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Quaker, and Muslim. If our family can get along I believe World Peace is possible. I think we may need a Buddhist and Hindu to marry into our family to make it even more diverse.  Last night we got to celebrate Hanukkah a little late at my brother's house. Our family has a tradition of waiting to celebrate until we can all be together. We have been known to even have a pre-thanksgiving.  This is what makes my family so special because what makes the holiday is us being together! Here are my thanks: Thanks to Ginny for making a delicious dinner. The potato pancakes were yummy! The pot roast was juicy and tender.  Thanks to everyone's generosity. We had a nice time exchanging holiday presents. I love watching ...

Love these Patriotic Nutcrackers I love getting out my Nutcrackers as part of my home holiday decorating. I had a very wonderful weekend filled with music. Every year the South Shore Symphony performs the Nutcracker with Leggs Ltd. Dance featuring professional dancers! I love the Nutcracker music and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to play it. I love sitting next to the harp and hearing the introduction to the Waltz of the Flowers!  Here are my thanks for today. Sharing thanks for seeing angels dancing at the beginning of Act II of the Nutcracker. Thankful for talented beaming kids whose radiating smiles lit up the auditorium.  Thanks to my parents and my husband, who came out to see the Nutcracker on Saturday night. My parents treated us to dinner at Greek Town. The food and company was wonderful. Hats off to my mom who has been sharpening her Scrabble skills with an App on her Ipod. She creamed us playing scrabble afterwards. Thankful to take to my older dau...

    Bryant Park Lights in NYC I decided to celebrate my first year anniversary of sharing thanks by doing a redesign. I have made it easier for people to share what they are thankful for. Just leave a comment on any post you like and it will appear in the new Recent Comments section. Since I am celebrating my blog turning one it is a wonderful time to reflect on the impact that focusing on gratitude has had on my life. I am amazed that I have had over 4,000 page views and have readers from many different countries stop by and visit my little blog. A special thanks go out to Janine and SKautz who have shared what they are thankful for too throughout the year. My hope is that other people will have the courage to share a small joy that they are thankful for. My post on enjoying a Latte got the most views this year. Loving coffee is universal. Writing this blog has helped my creative soul blossom. I love thinking about the small joys I have experienced during the day. My life...

Indian Corn, taken at a New York City Market I feel like I lost a few weeks. I live on Long Island where everyday since Sandy hit things are getting back to normal.  Hurricane Sandy was kind to me, I was only out of power for 5 days, and we just suffered a few downed tree branches. Luckily our downed tree branches did not hit our house or our car. It has been hard to see our coast get hit so hard. I loved the Long Beach Boardwalk and it is frightening how many people near the coast have lost there homes, and cars.Our family gathered together at my Mom's who was lucky to get power back in just 3 days! She hosted us and my brother's family from NJ. We spent the time cooking together and playing scrabble feeling happy to be in a safe place with lights and heat. I have been very thankful these days for the simple things: like waking up and seeing the lights on my digital clock working; cooking a hot meal, heat and taking a hot bath or shower. If you want to help the victims of ...

Loved these colorful Italian Soda bottles at Eately in the Flatiron District in NYC Its a rainy Friday here on Long Island today although my disposition is definitely sunny side up.  Got my car back from the garage. I broke down on Wednesday in a parking lot thankfully. The garage that fixed my car did a great job and it is driving smooth. Here is what I am thankful for! Thanks to Wayne Lipton who put together an amazing movie slide show to go along with our film  concert this weekend. It was fun playing this great music from movies and seeing pictures from the movie. This made the dress rehearsal so much fun. Wayne really puts a lot of great time and energy into the South Shore Symphony! Thanks to the Kris Brothers garage in Dix Hills who fixed my car. It was great to get it back together. I know its sounds funny to say I love driving my Honda Odyssey! Thanks to my Dad for being our knight in shining armor for picking up Liz and I from the Art League after the car b...