Free Festivities

My family and I went to a great 4th of July celebration this past Sunday at the Woodland Hills Valley Cultural Center. My brother and his family have been going for some years now and this year, my family decided to join in on the festivities.

There was a great cover band playing the best hits from the 70s to today. We scoped out a spot right in front and enjoyed some fun music. Everyone brought yummy picnic food and enjoyed the nice weather.

Then, around 9pm, we saw an amazing fireworks show set with patriotic music. It was pretty spectacular. And the best part about it? It was all free! The music, the show, the great company--didn't cost a thing.

The Valley Cultural Center will have free concerts all during the summer months, and they'll even have a "Movies on the Green" series where they'll show hit films and a surprise movie selection on certain nights, as well. Again, all of it's free.

To see what other events they have going on, visit their website: http://valleycultural.org/. It makes for a fun, free, festive time with some good company!

Pot Luck Protocol

I recently went to a potluck party and chose to bring a dessert for the get together. It got me thinking about whether there was a protocol on what to bring to pot lucks. I've found that the food usually consists of everything from made-from-scratch items to picked-up-from-the-drive-thru dishes. And I understand that some people are cooks and some just aren't.

So is there a protocol when it comes to what to bring to a potluck?

I think the bottom-line is that as long as it fits the requirements (party theme, casual get together vs. a nicer holiday party, budget restraints) then all dishes are welcome. What's even better is if you can supply a throw away container so that there's no need to keep tabs on your serving platter!

Positivity

I consider myself a pretty positive person. That's been pretty hard to maintain lately. Too much positiveness can really take a toll on someone so I'm allowing myself a little "down" time.

The economy's tough, no doubt. And many of us are facing stressful financial situations because of it. We all want to be successful. If we can be happy, too, well then that's just icing on the cake!

So I'm really trying to take this time to find out what makes me happy and how I can make a living doing it. I'm envisioning what I've dreamed of all those times when I was stuck at an bad job. What kind of job would I do if I could have the power to shape my career?

What would you do? As Robert Schuller once famously asked, "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?"

Word of the Year

I know a lot of people who are choosing a word to represent several areas of their life and the goals they hope to achieve. I've never done this before but as 2009 drew to a close a word popped into my head that represented so much of what I'd like to accomplish: reconnect. With myself, with others, new friends, old friends, projects, etc.

So what's your word?