Capture the moment with a smile

This is a very special week for me for a lot of reasons. First, it’s the first week that I’m another year older (dear God, I hope wiser), and I’m feeling good. Secondly, I’ve been able to check off a lot of things off my list of 25 things to do…

As you may have seen, I’ve officially become a ‘published…actually columnist’. YEA!! I am now the official New York Bridal Fashion Examiner at www.examiner.com. What does that mean? I write about anything/everything that has to do with weddings and bridal fashion. For me it’s fun. I love any reason to get dressed up, even though I don't do it often enough. NO, not necessarily am I walking around town in a bridal dress (that would be crazy, even for me), but I do go to a lot of events and have the opportunity to interview people who may be interesting to my readers. While it’s a p/t position, it really does take a lot of time to do the work, but I enjoy it. I’ve actually received some positive feedback, and I hope I get better as a writer. Hey, one never knows where this can lead right?? So click on the link - OFTEN!! Even if you're not living in NY, you can take advantage of some of the tips I'm going to post.

I have a busy week coming up – Tuesday, I’ll be on the Mike and Juliet show, Rachael Ray show on Wed, and bridal events Wed. and Thurs nights. In between all that, I’ll still be looking for a job and who knows…maybe writing will become the new career. Hmmmm. Ok, so with these 2 additional shows, I only have 2 more to go to and still more than 1/2 the year left. EASY!!

One of the 25 was to ‘capture the moment’. We were really lucky in NY this week as it snowed and we had the first ‘real snow day’ in a long time. I spent time in Central Park photographing the park and the people in it. As I walked around in the peace and true quiet of the park, with the snow falling and the wind blowing, I felt so peaceful. Then you hear the squeals of children as they sled down the hills in the park and it was magic. I was really lucky that I was able to ‘capture their moment’ of pure joy; having fun and not minding the cold. Sooo much fun and it made me think – it’s times like snow days when you really want to have a child (or just act like one). You can be an adult and still find the moments for a snowball fight or making snow angles under the guise of ‘playing with your child’. If you don’t have children, then it’s ok to let your ‘inner child’ come out and play – no one will think your strange.

I wanted to change someone’s life this year. Not just my own, but I wanted to have an impact in someone life. So I found the perfect opportunity and will be doing it on Saturday March 7th. What am I doing?? Being tested to see if I’m a bone marrow match for someone. Why? Well, when I was little, my maternal-grandmother lost her sight. I always wished that someone would donate their eyes so she could see again and I remember thinking that if I could ever make a difference, I would at least try. So this is being done in honor and memory of my grandmother, Charlotte Green. I don't know if I'm a match, but you won't know until you try right?

Jasmina Anema is a 6 year old little girl that I don’t know. What I do know is she is already in the fight for her life. She is suffering from a rare and especially fatal form of leukemia that will probably kill her soon if she doesn’t’ get a bone-marrow transplant. My heart goes out to her for several reasons, including the fact that she is adopted, and has no siblings so finding a donor match is really hard for her. What makes it especially difficult is that in the national donor bank, African-Americans are underrepresented in the network. When I looked at her big brown eyes I just couldn’t not do it. I’ve already been a registered organ donor (for 10 years already), and want to feel like I can do something. The test to be a donor is really easy (a simple and pain free; just a swab of my cheek cells) and won’t take any time at all. Let’s put it this way, for the amount of time it will take (5 min), if it could help – why not? I may adopt a child one day and if this was my child, I would want, as many people as possible to offer to help if they could – wouldn’t you?? So if you are African-American and want to make a difference, call the national donor bank in your area for more information.

Finally, I did take a picture with someone famous “Chase” - my artist. I’ll spare you – cuz I don’t like it, but he’s famous and I did take my picture. I’ll work on having a photo with someone else famous at another time.

A very good week – and you know what…I’m happy for the first time in a LONG time.