Big Sur is one of those magical California places that makes you stop for a moment (many moments, actually) to think about how fortunate you are to live here. The spectacular coastline meets a lush, green, forest prime for hiking and camping--whether you are an avid outdoors-man or a wanna be tree hugger like me, everyone can agree this corner of the world is mama nature at her absolute finest.  This was not my first visit to Big Sur (and certainly not my last!) but I was happy to finally enjoy a meal at the Big Sur Bakery, a highly recommended establishment with fresh wood fired treats and...as I learned Saturday...an owner who hails from New Jersey (*fist pump*).  I was also delighted to stay at a campsite I'd yet to adventure in, which happened to be right near the beach where we watched a heavenly sunset over the Pacific ocean, glass of wine in hand. We got super lucky to have the best weather I've ever had while visiting Big Sur, particularly the fog-free blue skies on the drive down, which showcased the sweeping ocean views so clearly it made our car gasp with delight at each passing curve. We cooked up some chili for dinner, egg sandwiches with guacamole (side note: since moving to CA I have learned that avocado or guacamole makes EVERYTHING taste better) for breakfast and stretched our limbs along a quick trail hike that ended at a beautiful duo of waterfalls. I just finished reading Wild, by Cheryl Strayed, a few weeks ago (two thumbs up!) so the timing of this adventure fit perfectly with my fresh admiration for all things hiking/camping/nature induced introspection. My lungs and my heart feel fuller this morning, for sure.

Big thank you to Meggie for organizing this mini road trip and for letting her old lady cousin tag along! It was so fun to relive our 4H camp days together, with a new west coast twist. I'm lucky to call you both family and friend!

Anyone want to go camping again soon?!

In Gratitude,

Trish

Rushing or resisting.

Seems like everyone I know is always either rushing on to the next thing, or wholeheartedly resisting it--days, weeks, events, places, seasons. Sometimes we are racing for more pleasure; sometimes we are racing for less pain. Sometimes we are resisting both of these, whether consciously or not. It's great to have things to look forward to, but what happens to everything in between? It's great to have goals, dreams and plans, but what happens to the joy of here and now? My friend Jill calls this particular phenomenon "moving the goal post"--telling ourselves real satisfaction, happiness, contentment lies just ahead, if only we can make it to a certain point, and then changing this point (many a time) to a never ending, just out of reach, place of if only, when, then.  It's great to appreciate where you are, always, but what happens when you try to block the natural flow of always changing life? When you cling, refuse to let go, and persist to resist?

Seems like we are always either rushing for change, or resisting it entirely.

It's exhausting, no?

This weekend I'll be camping in beautiful, glorious, heavenly Big Sur with my cousin and her friends and am planning to bring my schmancy camera along to document the adventure. I'll be breathing deeply the fresh mountain-meets-the sea air. I'll be moving my body along winding trails, stretching my limbs from consecutive days spent hunched over at a computer. I'll be going with the flow of Meg and her crew, just happy to be along for the ride.

I'll be celebrating the season I'm in, because soon it will be over, anyway. No rush or resistance will change it one bit.

The time will pass on its own terms, anyway. Even if I want it to move faster; even if I wish it would slow down....it will continue to pass on its own terms, anyway.

Isn't that just a total well...shoot, truth?

Learn to let go. Learn to let it be. That's my assignment for this weekend in my wonderful life.

love and light,

Trish

Darlings,

If there is one band you should ride out the remaining few and precious days of summer to (or, in San Francisco's case, start finally welcoming summer to), it's my new favorite fellas, Smallpools.

Now, I may be slightly biased considering I went to high school with the manager (Hi, Greg!!) and am friendly with the lead singer (Sean! So happy for you!), but their music really speaks for its upbeat self and doesn't need my humble two thumbs up to help sell it. Dre and I had an absolute blast at their SF show last week and are super grateful for their generous and kind hospitality in hosting us. They are a seriously talented group and the fact that they are such genuine and fun guys certainly doesn't hurt, either.

I highly recommend their self titled EP! It's great for solo room dancing, windows down car rides, shower (or public?) sing-a-longs and pretty much any scenario where you might need a boost of the happies.

Here's their first single, Dreaming, for your listening pleasure...

OK, so technically March of this year probably doesn't so much count as a "throwback", per say....

...but I wanted to finally share this little video of me and Tilly, the sweet, soft, sleepy, cuddly Koala from my trip to Australia with you and so for our purposes today, this video is "throwback", k?

A few quick notes: As you'll see I can barely breathe I am so excited. I am also trying super hard not to burst into tears of pure joy, happiness and love and can assure you my heart was racing from the moment I laid eyes on her. One of the staff members at this particular facility tipped us off that you can sometimes finagle a few extra seconds with the koala if you ask the handler a bunch of questions during your photo opp, so you'll also see me bombarding the poor lady with any non I-heart-animals-so-much-it-makes-me-a-freakazoid deranged thought I can muster. We are told ahead of time not to touch their head/ears/face (I forget specifically why, but I think just to keep things structured/safe) which I promptly disregard when I snuggle my face into her ear around the :50 mark. Lucy the bulldog will tell you I am a sucker for soft animal ears and frankly, Tilly was lucky I only briefly nuzzled and didn't full out Lenny (hint: Of Mice and Men reference) her. This was definitely a highlight moment of our trip (and my life!)....

And because he is just so dang cute, here is B's turn with Tilly, who clearly loved him more than she liked me as she went straight towards nuzzling in his neck. I wish the video quality was better on this one, but you get the general warm and fuzzy idea:

Once, when I was fighting super hard to keep the bathrooms at work either male or female and not change them to unisex (I will spare you my soap box arguments...for now), our awesome designer made me a fake sign to put on the door to help my cause. I found it again today while I was transferring/deleting/organizing old files and I'm thinking I'll have to print it...laminate it...and put in on my own bathroom door at home simply because I love it so much.

Cartoon Trish is a freaking babe, no?

Then, as I was telling B about my feelings remaining the same on the matter this morning (especially now with our growing female population), he tried to encourage me by saying the gals here have to "stick together! rise up! yes we can! change gone come!" and emailed me this piece of art he whipped up:

After I get a grip on my hysterical laughter, I think this is all the inspiration I could possibly need to keep fighting in the battle of the bathrooms.

Yes We Can!

Trish

"So did you pack your lunch pail for your first day?!", B asked as I waited for the bus yesterday morning.

"No! I'm a bad mom to myself! Can I have some money to buy, instead?", I giggled in response.

"No. You'll just spend it on Nutter Butter's..."

For almost 3 years I have loved playing the role of Joyologist at Weebly HQ in San Francisco. I have loved planning events, working to boost company morale, camaraderie and overall employee wellness. I have loved watching this team grow from myself and 8 young men to myself and 14 young men...then outgrowing our tiny office into our current, beautiful space....then welcoming our second female hire...and still growing...growing...growing. I have loved it all, even when I didn't feel like I loved it.

But it was time. Time to explore my potential, my creativity, my skillset; time to spread my wings and move on...

To another role with Weebly!

Ha! Did I scare ya for a second there? As if I would actually leave Weebly...psshh. I'll be a barnacle on the wall they have to scrape off before I willingly leave this company. I'm one bad happy hour away from an orange W tattoo on my butt for pete's sake. Leave Weebly? You've been day drinking again.

I am going to admit something a little humbling to you, though: Yesterday, my first day not sitting up front, greeting everyone as they walked in, playing the Joyologist part I created and feel so comfortable in, was pretty weird.

Not good or bad. Just weird.

As I took my seat towards the back of our open floor plan, amongst a wonderful group of fellow Weeblies, I began to get the sinking feeling of shit. did I just make a huge mistake? I suddenly felt incredibly...small. Inexperienced. New. This was a jarring emotion to settle into--me, the chick who held her own amongst 14 boys for a year, suddenly felt like the new girl. I did not feel very brave about this change at.all. and let me tell you, I didn't like it one bit.

This is so weird, I texted to B as I peered out from behind my new computers, eying everyone as if I hadn't just seen them all the day before (or for the past 3 years). I feel so eerie! Like a big fat phony. A little kid at her dad's work.

Well at least you got your Nutter Butter in your Hello Kitty Lunch pail, he shot back in his typical jokes-can-be-supportive fashion...and these things take time. No rush.

Ah yes, time. The great equalizer, the one thing we cannot rush, even if we try.

One of my favorite TGL posts ever actually came from B just a few months ago, and is one in which he talks about what it's like to change careers, including taking a leap to feel fulfilled in your work. He essentially encourages us to go for it, and go for it wearing the biggest smile possible (a hard cheese, as he calls it). It takes hard work and commitment for sure. But it also takes a positive attitude. So, I put on my hard cheese at Weebly...which is really a place I am lucky to consider my second home already...and completed a full 45 minutes of Marketing pieces before needing to tend to Joyologist transition tasks. Phew. 45 minutes. The team may have glanced a time or two over to me with concerned looks at my odd cheese face (or maybe not, nothing I do surprises them at this point), but I dove into those 45 minutes with more passion and excitement than I've felt in a long time.

OK. It's time for a self pep talk. These are the facts: I hold a degree in Communications (concentration in Advertising and Public Relations). I have 3 years of "study" under my belt on all things Weebly; product, team, customers, goals. I really love to write. I'm pretty good at connecting. I believe in this company's mission. I have ideas. And I have the guts (gulp, most days) to see them through. Being on our Marketing team is a good fit...I can do this!

Yesterday I was reminded that, even in the most ideal scenarios, change can be f*cking uncomfortable. But it is also very, very necessary. It is the natural way of life and growth. And it's OK to feel f*cking uncomfortable in the midst of change. It's part of the process that keeps us, I believe, humble and earnest and open; it's part of the process we need to learn to trust most, as it includes our unique capabilities and talents. It includes the strength in who we authentically are and what makes us come alive. It includes our worthiness. (Note to self: you are worthy of this positive change)

Plus, it's not brave if we're not scared, right?

On to day 2....

Cheers to the cheese.

In Gratitude,

Trish

Hello Grateful Lifers! I hope this little post finds you well. It's a typical SF "summer" right now, which essentially means I am wearing boots and a cozy sweater in this foggy, cold weather. As a Jersey girl used to sweating her butt off in August, I don't know that I'll ever get used to this change (though it is a nice excuse to stay bundled up inside with coffee and a good book). There are some pretty big changes happening in my neck of the woods at the moment (all good!) which have caused a mode of less-social media/blogging-more-planning/growing/manifesting and I'm hoping to get back into a more frequent groove of hanging with you guys soon, but until then I just had to pop on and share this treasure of a San Francisco establishment....

On Sunday I had the extreme pleasure of being joined by my dear Kimmie at a delightful spot called Lovejoy's Tea Room, located in Noe Valley (a neighborhood I have admittedly hardly spent a moment in since moving here). There is just something about a classic tea room, with it's tiers of tiny cakes, sandwiches and scones...its mismatched china and feminine, yet quirky decor...its total acceptance of a delicate, light, cheerfully refined side of being a girl...that sends my heart a flutter, still, at 29 years old in the same way playing "tea" as a child was a frequent and cherished past time with my sister.

For two hours we chatted over delicious cups of tea and sweet, buttery scones, oohing and ahhing and practically squealing with delight at each new decor discovery (a knitted tea cozy!) or tiny frosted treat (I feel like Alice in Wonderland!). We were joined by multiple bridal showers and birthday parties, my heart practically melting into a puddle upon seeing two little girls wearing tutu's and carrying glittery, star shaped wands enter the shop with their mama.  The staff was warm, helpful and attentive to all our needs. It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon and my iPhone shots below truly do not do it justice....

I highly recommend an afternoon at Lovejoy's to anyone craving a touch of the playful feminine. I personally can't wait to go back if for no other reasons than a) I could eat those delicious scones every day and never get sick of them and b) I want to wear one of their Pippa and Kate Middleton style hats while dining! Hey, it's likely the closest I'll ever get to feeling royal.

In Gratitude,

Trish