I'm not even quite sure what's happening here, but it makes me laugh to look at.

Hope everyone had a sunny and love filled Memorial Day weekend! Blog posts to come, I promise :)

This little lady has been waking up at 6:30am every morning for the past week, which is far from Auntie Trish's preferred hour of rising (let's just say there's not a whole lot of "shining" to be done at 6:30am from me). Normally after a quick bribed-with-a-treat potty stop, I attempt to coax her back to sleep for at least another hour (though mostly it ends up being me day dreaming while she snores like her life depends on it nuzzled up in my ear), but today I decided to take the opportunity to get moving a little earlier. I could have moved slowly--farting around on the internet for awhile while I sipped my coffee to only, you know, head to work and be on the internet while I sip coffee--but we got ready quickly (I got ready quickly while Lucy ate breakfast, a marrow bone and another treat for potty #2) and left to greet this sunny day. Normally we keep a pretty brisk pace on the walk to work, but today I let the crazy fur ball sniff whatever she wanted for as long as she wanted, only hurrying her a bit in order to stop her from eating a giant piece of garlic outside an Italian restaurant, a gelato spoon, a cigarette butt a man just flicked and the slowest pigeon in San Francisco. We chose the sunny side of the street the whole way and strolled through North Beach as if we had no where to be besides exactly where we were. We were first in the office, played fetch with a bouncy blue ball down the hall, made a smoothie and a hot water with lemon (my new favorite diet addition) and got a head start on emails (or in her case, a head start on nap #1). It was a pretty good start to Tuesday.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that while I don't want to wake up every day at 6:30am (hint hint, Lucy, 7:30am sounds like a great Wednesday start time), sometimes a little encouraging to rise and shine is greatly needed (and appreciated).

love and light,

Trish

A few weeks ago when my very dear friends Kell & Britt came out to San Francisco for a much needed east coast meets west coast visit, the subject of friendships and social lives came up in one of our many wine fueled girly chats (good grief I live for girly chats). I attempted to explain both my current struggles in balancing/maximizing play time/rest time and my increasingly difficult relationship with one friend in particular, whom I've felt a bit used by as of late. To summarize; it's become more and more apparent that this person may be more interested in the social circles I can open for them, than a friendship with me specifically. This changing dynamic between us has lead to my increased sensitivity to all things socially related. Even at 28 (almost 29!) years young, I fully admit I still get hurt over feeling excluded...especially because I work so hard to connect others and make them feel included. In fact, I'd say that's a large part of my pays-the-bills job at Weebly: working to make folks feel positively connected. So, when the efforts are not reciprocated, my spirit doesn't feel very big.

"Yea...totally...I'm with you", Britt said. "We have major FOMO."
 
"Um...excuse me? FOMO?" I replied, "Should I be offended right now?"

Britt (laughing): "No no...FOMO! Fear Of Missing Out!"

After I got over the fact I'm finally old enough to not be hip with the kid's lingo anymore (I'm still wrapping my head around YOLO), I let this term switch on a major light bulb.

I realized I've been feeling some major FOMO lately coming at me from multiple directions. I see my east coast friends continuing to be amazing and loving and successful and a part of me aches to be with them; to share in their joys and journeys first hand. In addition to that, when you live in a bad ass city like SF (or in Britt's case, NYC), the mini corner-of-the-world you inhabit is truly your oyster. At any given time there are probably dozens of appealing activities happening at once; these places are a foodies, dancers, hipsters, music/culture/festival/art-lovers heaven and it's hard not to get sucked (or pressured) into a 24/7 social scene. And finally, my relationship with B has continued to grow and flourish in ways that make me deeply wish we were together more often to share in day-to-day life.

I have a feeling I'm not alone in this occasional insecurity. Social media makes it 10x harder to fight FOMO, amirite? It's an odd challenge our generation is faced with. One scroll of a news feed can yield a seemingly endless supply of coulda/shoulda/woulda/what about me? (you can read my thoughts on that here). So how do we make peace with having to balance it all? How do we not let this (#whitegirlproblem) overwhelm us to the point it takes away from all the good we are blessed with being surrounded by?

I came up with a few suggestions on how to move past FOMO:

1. Don't take anything personally. Honey--the world keeps on spinning no matter how you choose to spend your time, or who might offend you with their choices...so be lighter. Observe your/their behavior without judgement and then just keep living your life.  Hardly anything truly is as it seems from the outside.

2. Be Present. The more time you spend thinking you should be/could be/need to be elsewhere (or stressing over what-comes-next) the more you are going to miss out on the joys surrounding you in the present moment, which is the only time we are ever guaranteed. While practicing being present, you can also try to.....

3. Give thanks for where you are, what you have, and who you're with. Shift your perspective from scarcity thinking to abundance and gratitude thinking. It will only serve to lighten your heart and bring in more people/things/adventures to be thankful for. The more you practice this, the easier it will become to take notice of your (ordinary to extraordinary) blessings.

4. Don't compare yourself to others. I posted a quote a few days ago about this and I want to repeat it again, now; Comparison is the death of happiness.  Stop peering over your neighbors life fence, pining for their perceived greener grass and instead get to tending your own dang garden; dig deep, sweat, pour love into what you have...feel the sunshine on your face or the rain falling to your feet while you're at it. I love what B said last week about having an attitude worth helping--you are a unique, powerful being who is worthy of good. Own this! Get moving! Your corner of the Universe will bloom in ways you never imagined if you stop comparing yourself to others and simply embrace what you have and stop fighting your own natural growth.

5. There is a difference between fitting in and belonging, which is actually what we crave as humans during a FOMO moment. Brene Brown says it perfectly: "Belonging is the innate human desire to be part of something larger than us. Because this yearning is so primal, we often try to acquire it by fitting in and seeking approval, which are not only hollow substitutes for belonging, but often barriers to it."

Don't forget you belong to yourself, first and foremost...(and you will always be enough).

No FOMO,

Trish

Reflections of SF loving and living.

xo, my pretty city...lots of xo.

In Gratitude,

Trish

Guest post by Brandon Fell

Have you ever sat at work staring at the clock, performing the best Samantha you can to try and make the hands spin faster? Fought the traffic to get home only to wake up the next morning and fight the traffic into that place you didn't want to be? Kinda like Groundhog Day, except you can replace a cute furry creature with your life? I call this rock bottom, and it serves as a fairly strong indicator that you may want to explore other options. The good news resides in the last word of that sentence - options.

Recently I've embarked on a career-180, rendering my original PSU undergraduate degree one very expensive four (and-a-half cough-cough) year, um....experience. (Love you mom and dad).

But you know the saying, as one door closes...

...force another one open! No one is going to hand you anything, but you will always find people who are eager to help, provided you present yourself with an attitude that is worth helping. That's where the hard cheese comes in. Recall what your parents told you to say when posing for pictures when you were little. Cheese! And cheese hard! There are but 2 facial expressions conveying positive emotions that are recognized universally across all races, religions, languages, and geographic locations. As you may have guessed, one is smiling. I've stormed my way into a whole new industry, equipped only with eagerness and cheese. And it's gotten me farther in a couple of months than 4+ years working a "normal" job. The difference lies in doing what you want to do.

Temporarily set aside factors such as income, schedule, and taking a step or two backwards. If it is truly what you want to be doing, these things will follow suit. For now, they are about as useful as the combination locked inside the safe. Dad always told me, "if you enjoy what you do, you never work a day in your life." He's 2 years from retirement, and if you ask him, he'd tell you he's still awaiting his first day on the job.

But I digress.

Am I the best trainer? The smartest? The most cutting edge? Hell naw. Not even close. But I relish in helping people reach for their personal goals. And who doesn't love service with a smile? How about service with a genuine smile? The genuine smile of someone who once thought that hours at work felt like days, but now flips through calendar days like the pages of your favorite book?

It also doesn't hurt having an abundance of love and support in your corner; family, friends, partners. Albeit I received the overwhelming "do what makes you happy", there was consensus surrounding a new career associated with my fervor for fitness. You may be familiar with my partner; one who wears many hats in my eyes. She's evolved from random summer-time co-camp counselor, to long-time acquaintance, to friend, to girlfriend, to best friend, to damn-we-really-have-something-here. As an ideal partner would, she's had my back since day 1, well before our current status, or dare I say, the Holy Grail of all relationship statuses...FACEBOOK OFFICIAL (puhhhlease). She sees what makes me happy and goes beyond encouraging me to pursuit my dreams. She volunteers and whores my personal training services out regularly - acting like my agent - if you can imagine Jerry Maguire snorting rainbows, unicorns, and glitter. But she made taking a life-altering leap feel as routine as telling her I love her; effortless, natural, and just flat out right. 

So when you decide to take your leap - career or otherwise - don't forget the hard cheese. It's highly contagious...and as of today...no known immunizations exist.

_____________________________________________________________

**(blushing) Editor's Note**:  Thank you for bravely sharing a piece of your story, B. Whatever it is that makes your pulse race, go for it! I'm so proud of you and your new life adventure, and honored to be a part of this journey with you...it's all happening!!  (And for the record, my dear readers, yes--he is as dreamy as he sounds). xo.

Yep. You read that right.

When was the last time you said you ate Unicorn Poop for breakfast?

Man. Sometimes being a "grown up" is so freaking awesome...

My super sweet and super talented friends David and Stephanie Hua dropped this delicious treat off at Weebly this morning, which was about as pleasant a surprise as pleasant surprises can be. Stephanie is a food writer in SF and keeps a drool worthy blog about her adventures in cooking, dining and food-cherishing here. I highly recommend getting a batch of your own Unicorn Poop ASAP cuz this sh*t is uhhhmazing and your friends/family/coworkers will think you are the absolute best friend/family/coworker for hooking them up (supporting small business + sweets + getting praise for simply having to hit "place order" = #winning) .

Thanks so much for starting my work day off so magically, Hua family!! The Weebly team will devour these goodies in no time ;)

In Gratitude,

Trish

ps-- Steph also shared a batch of her nutella stuffed cookies, aka Nookie, which are equally as delightful despite not coming from a mythical creatures....well...you know.

Only a few pages into Brene Brown's The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are and I can already tell this book is precisely what I'm needing to get lost in right now.

I have this mental image of my spirit (my heart, my soul, my sacred space of just lil ol' me) that includes a small flame of sorts. Sometimes the fire is blazing; I'm energized, inspired, alive to the fullest and feeling as if love and light are pouring effortlessly from me, just begging to be shared with others. And sometimes, the flame is teeny tiny. More of a pilot light than an actual flame, in fact. A bunsen burner as opposed to a hearty camp-fire with s'mores and sing-a-longs.

This flame is always burning to some degree (even in the darkest days of my life it never fully went out), but there are just times when it feels like I have to tend to it a bit more gently than others. Protect it like a mama lion; nurture it back to the strength and power I know it can achieve.

Right now I feel a bit more on the pilot light side of the spectrum (hence my super sad lack in blogging). To be clear--nothing is "wrong". Life is actually A-OK and trucking along as smoothly as one could hope for. There is much to be grateful for. But I have learned over the years that when my little flame is feeling tired, it is far more essential for me to simply love it as is...to give it time and space to be; to feel it is enough...than it is for me to poke and prod at it, forcing it to be something it's not, which really only burns me (and sometimes other people) in the end.

I think everyone has this flame inside them; an urgency to live your best life, to shine as brightly as you possibly can. But if you're anything like me, achieving this can sometimes feel like a lot of extra, unnatural work.

So I'm taking my time in tending my fire right now, and my hope is we can all remember that piling heavy logs of plans, promises, and over-commitments only serves to suffocate a flame, while giving it some breathing room...some fresh air...every once in awhile encourages it to roar once again.

love and ever growing light,

Trish

After almost a year of planning, researching, building, co-creating, dreaming and expanding, my company is thrilled to announce the launch of our freshly re-designed and envisioned website building platform under the love filled motto of Start something.

{**insert excited applause and rallying cheers of encouragement**}

It ain't always easy to start something, amirite? It can be humbling, a little scary and oh.my.word ever so jarring on those comfortable vs. vulnerable levels. It takes real courage to put ourselves out there; to be you, me, us in the most authentic ways. Take my blog, for example. Being a writer is pretty much the only thing I've ever consistently wanted to be since I was a kid and while my spirit felt really ready to share via this medium years ago, my ego often spoke louder in a voice of concern and worry, causing me to silence and question what I really wanted. To this day I occasionally take a deep breath before hitting "post" and then sweat out whether or not my writing is worthy of being shared...whether or not anyone is actually listening...for some time afterward. But I go for it. Each time I log in, I'm taking a leap. And I'm so glad Weebly is the tool I use to keep The Grateful Life growing. I am so glad Weebly is the tool I rely on to hold me accountable for my best life possible.

Obviously, folks could point out my Weebly employee status and note I am a bit biased in my support of this platform. And, really, they wouldn't be wrong--I am incredibly proud to be a part of this team and am pretty much big-mama-style beaming at their successes thus far. But I also deeply wish to emphasize how this same status allows me a unique peek into the inner workings (the spirit, if you will) of this company; how it gives me a pulse on the very, very positive energy these creative minds wish to pump out into the great wide web and subsequently, the world.

They didn't ask me to write this post. In fact, they'll probably all blush when they see it and then modestly shoo me away so they can keep working without my annoying quirk (we're calling it a quirk, just go with it) of worrying if their spirits feel big or small. But here is what I want you to know about the Weebly team, based solely on my own behind-the-scenes, personal observations, experiences and exchanges with them over the past 2.5 years:

My dear Friends, Grateful Lifers, entrepreneurs and dreamers--they are rooting for you.

They (we!) are excited to see how our users--past, present and future--will keep utilizing this product to help respond to that piece of themselves that says they've got something special to offer. Whether it be tangible services and products, or messages, visions and ideas--we want you to show us what you've got. We want you to know that is your ticket to success. That piece of you that desires to be heard and to connect in a plethora of unique ways?  That is your innate creativity (we all have it, I promise) and we are genuinely listening and hoping to support you in bringing this satisfaction, joy, and sense of purpose into the limelight of your life.

So, if you have been needing a final sign to follow your heart and really start something...consider this it. Speak your truth. Give permission to your passions. Instead of asking your spirit what if it doesn't work out?, dare to ask what if it does?

And if there comes a time in your journey to your best life possible where you question your capabilities and wonder whether anyone out there truly believes in you, please remember:

We do.

love and light,

Trish

Every Monday night a group of Weeblies snuggles up together (OK OK, there's no actual snuggling, that's just my dream world) to watch a dvr'd episode of Game of Thrones together in our movie room downstairs. To help entice folks to stay late (in case all the Medieval violence and nudity isn't enough) I try and either order food in or, time permitting, whip up a little dinner treat myself.

This week I was super craving breakfast for dinner and decided to treat the GOT crew to stacks of batter dipped French toast with Nutella, strawberries, powdered sugar and pure maple syrup, bacon and eggs. With so much sweetness happening on the French toast I felt a bit like Buddy the Elf ("Is there sugar in syrup? Then YES!") creating a mound of not-so-healthy, but it turned out deliciously and was a huge hit with the gang.

Le Recipe:

2 cups of Bisquick
1 1/4 cup of milk
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
10 slices of bread (I used thick, fresh, French loaf)

Mix batter, dip in bread, lay on buttered up griddle for 1-2 minutes on each side (or until golden brown). Slather on Nutella, pop in some fresh strawberries, sprinkle with powdered sugar and hug with some pure maple syrup. You might be thinking the syrup is totally unnecessary, but...you would be wrong. It really adds the final touch of yummo!

Enjoy :)

love and light,

Trish