Season's Greetings

After shoveling the driveway, the girls dig out Rico, their new dog-faced brother. Jen and Dan supervise from the comfort of the family room.

I have no idea who these people are. Chances are, you don't either. But you may have received a Christmas card from them in the past. 

Several years ago, I ordered my Xmas cards from a popular website. Instead of MY Xmas cards, I received these. The site sent me the correct ones and said they  would replace this family's as well. They told me I could dispose of these. 

But I didn't. I sent them to all my friends anonymously.

I had them going too. As Dan told Julie, "We got Christmas cards from people we don't even know!"

My plan was to continue to age and alter the photo and send greetings from Dan, Jen, Emily, Samantha and Baby Rico. Until Tim blurted out "It's Hayley. She did it. She sent the cards."

He's cute. He's darling. I love him so. But he cannot keep a secret! So, most of you found out then it was me. And if you weren't let in on the secret then, now you can rest assured that you don't need to feel bad - you really didn't know them.

But I am sure that they would still wish you joy, peace and love this holiday season.

As do I! I hope you had a magical Christmas and that 2009 brings you all that you deserve. 

And P.S. I wouldn't tell Tim any secrets if I were you.  

 ByeBye-Boobies Follow me to my other blog - we will post updates and pictures as we trudge along the road to happy destiny! 

Great Party! Spectacular Women!

This is me and my friend, Mari Robeson. You may know her as the owner of that awesome boutique in the Village of Arroyo Grande: Mari Robeson Home, Divine Details for Home & Child. 

You may know her as that hot chick that used to work in advertising with my husband (at a company that shall remain nameless) and drive that little red car. Or as one of the amazing dancers who shined with Miss Pat. 

You may not know this, but Mari is responsible for how incredibly cool the new decor for Rosa's Italian Restaurant in Pismo Beach is. She is a crazy good designer and a spectacular woman. 

Mari's boutique had it's second anniversary party earlier this month. She always does something fun and funky to make it enjoyable for her customers.

She had her friend Christine Mason Miller come to sign books. Christine is an artist. 

Christine is also the author of Ordinary Sparkling Moments. You simply HAVE to get this book. I bought a few for Christmas presents and I cannot tell you how glad I am that I kept one for myself. And even thought to have Christine sign it for me! 

Really, if you are looking for something unique, this is it. Why not start a trend and give a few as New Year gifts? A  delightful way to start the new year would be with a cup of tea and Ordinary Sparkling Moments. That is my plan.

Christine is also a blogger: **Sparkletopia**. Her posts are short, sweet, profound and jam packed as full of information as you can get in a few short paragraphs. I don't know how she consistently does it, but she does. You need to RSS this gal!

Her book is also her art. Did I mention that Christine is an artist? You can check out more of her art at her Etsy shop. 

If you are local, you can get Christine's book at Mari Robeson Home (151 West Branch, AG), or you can order it from any of Christine's sites. 

And, in case you are wondering what I was doing with some of the royalty of spectacular women? Mari asked me to serve and taste wine from Cleavage Creek. Oh, haven't you heard? I'm on a bottle of Cab Syrah! 10% of the gross proceeds go to cutting edge breast cancer research. I was chosen among these 5 other spectacular women and breast cancer survivors to be part of the Women of Cleavage Creek. 

Meet 2008 Women of Cleavage Creek. They are left to right: Kathy Von Riper, Maimah Karmo, Theresa Larson, Patricia Wix, Heidi Marble, Hayley Townley. 

I'm honored and humbled. If you live on the Central Coast, you can pick up a bottle of my Cab Syrah at Jaffa Cafe (1212 Higuera, SLO), or you can always order directly from Cleavage Creek.com. The wine is great, the cause is spectacular. 

I'd be delighted to sign a bottle of wine for you! 

Thanks again to Mari for inviting me to be a part of her anniversary party. And thanks again to Christine for signing my books and adding There Is Life After Breast Cancer. com  to her blog roll. 

I just love networking with spectacular women! 

Emotional Rollercoaster

I'm getting off the emotional rollercoaster now.

My mastectomy is now January 6th, 2009 in San Francisco, instead of December 29th (and instead of December 22nd).

I'll spare you the gory details here (but you can click over to ByeBye-Boobies to read them and have yourself a chuckle). 

I'm hoping to get a good night's sleep tonight!

 Boobs may come, and boobs may go, but funny lasts forever! 

Yesterday sucked.

I woke up early to get to a meeting in Montecito. As I was on my way out the door (literallly, keys in hand, purse on the shoulder), it got cancelled. We decided to go anyway to see my sister & brother -in law (the only highpoint of the day). 

We decided to get donuts, since I can eat whatever I want before my surgery**! We stopped and I made this huge deal out of getting 2 donuts, instead of one, because I can! When we got into the car, Tim accidentally spilled milk all over me and my seat. In order to get away from it, I moved quickly and then my coffee cup spilled into my purse. 

Once I got those messes cleaned up and only had one napkin left, we got on the road. I reached into the bag of donuts. They only put one donut in my bag, not two. Good thing I only had one napkin. 

When I called to confirm my surgery** appointment for December 29th, the scheduler said "Oh, I forgot to tell you, the doctor is going to be out of town that day. We will have to reschedule." 

Yesterday sucked. I should have just gone back to bed. 

And for those of you wondering, don't worry. I didn't cry over spilt milk. But I might have leaked a little about the scheduling screw-up. 

**You can read about the impending surgery on my ByeBye-Boobies blog.  It could be this Monday, December 22, or possibly January 6th, or sometime after that. Good times. I'll keep ya posted.

Telemarketers

Don't you hate it when you are in the middle of something and the phone rings and you are tripping over stuff to answer the phone and then you can't find the phone and then you finally get to the phone and you hear a recorded voice saying, "Important information regarding your car warranty..." 

Little do those boneheads know that one of my cars is a 1990 Ford Mustang, and the other is a 1965 Mercury Comet Station Wagon. My car warranties ran out eons ago. 

And then you hear them say that this is their final attempt to contact you regarding it. And then you believe them. And then you are at home again. And you are wrapping Christmas presents and trying to clean your house because you have a holiday party at your house tonight. And then the phone rings and you are tripping over stuff to answer the phone and then you can't find the phone and then you finally get to the phone and you hear a recorded voice saying, "Important information regarding your car warranty..."

I can't take it anymore. 

Wrong place at the wrong time for their sake. I happened to be standing right next to a police whistle that a friend of mine gave me. 

I pressed one to talk to somebody about the car warranty. And when they answered? 

I blew the whistle as loud as I possibly could. 

I wonder if THAT will get me off the damn calling list. 

Please visit my other blog, if you dare...it's an account of my upcoming mastectomy and reconstruction ...http://ByeBye-Boobies.blogspot.com

Breaking News, Coffee Everywhere

This is going to change everything. Click here for the news story that made me spew coffee out my nose and now I have to go clean my screen. I"ll be back shortly. 

RECYCLING IS A GOOD THING!

I am trying to clean my house. Somebody messed it up. Probably the dogs. But seriously, I have wrapping paper, presents, etc all over the place. I just had a birthday and ended with some fabulous presents from my fabulous friends (you know who you are!)

As I was taking inventory of my loot, I was taking out the tissue paper from the bags and flattening it out and refolding it for use later. Old habits die hard! My mom used to make me do that! Although I stopped saving the wrapping paper from gifts, having to carefully cut off the tape marks and reusing it - sometimes you have to know when to say when! If you get a present from me and think it's coincidence that I got the same bag that you got me, it's not. It IS the same bag. And the same tissue paper! Besides, recycling is all the rage these days. 

But am I turning into my mother????? 

This is a nice (but not easy) segue for you... Most of you know, my Mom passed away from a secondary recurrence of breast cancer in her 40's. I just turned 42. 

I'll start of by saying EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OKAY!

We found another lump in the same breast my original cancer was in. The tests that have been run have not shown anything weird, although, everybody wants to take out the lump just to be sure. I have done lots of thinking, crying, talking, etc. (When I say "I", I mean, of course, my hubby and I). 

So, the end of this month, I am going to be getting a double mastectomy with reconstruction (from fat they take from my tummy). It's basically a new-boob-flat-tummy-surgery-thing. 

You can read all about it over on the blog I set up specifically for this. I didn't want to have to bore you to tears with all the boobie stuff here, and there is plenty of other stuff I can blog about in the meantime on this blog. Believe it or not, I'm not running out of things to say! HA! 

So, be sure to book mark ByeBye-Boobies.blogspot.com. RSS-subscribe is even better. (Let me know if you need me to walk you through that one!)

Margerie got me this fabulous t-shirt that she created on her Cancer Speaks shop. I plan on wearing it home from the hospital.

I appreciate the things my Mom taught me. Recycling is good for the environment! 

I'm a Spirited Woman!

You know how when you find Something that is SO spectacular and you wonder to your self, "Self, how could I have not known about this??? Why has nobody told me about this??"

I had one of those moments this week. And you are about to as well, so grab your coffee or tea and sit down, listen and get ready to smile and click!

I got my Cleavage Creek newsletter in my inbox this week (did you?) I noticed that they were sponsoring a really fantastic Holiday Guide. And, as you all know, Budge Brown and his team are fantastic at finding really cool things that truly make a difference in the world (yes, that's me on the far right - autographs on bottles of Cleavage Creek Cabernet Syrah, anytime you want).

Just as I clicked over to The Spirited Woman.com to check out aforementioned Holiday Guide, I got an email from Nancy Mills, Founder of Spirited Women, Creative Fun for Inspired Women. She invited me to join her team of Spirited Women from all around the globe. For those of you who don't know exactly what that means, it's like going to a new school and having the really pretty, funny and popular girl who everybody loves, invite you to sit at her table at lunch. At least I think it is - that never happened to me, but I would imagine this is what that would have felt like! 

Serendipitous? Surely. Score? Big time.

After spending a few moments cruising around The Spirited Woman.com, I decided that Nancy might have to be my new BF! How could I not know about this site, this guide and this cool lady?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I have now downloaded the Spirited Women Holiday Guide, and you can too. It's not just for women - guys can download it too, and maybe find some great ideas to give to your Spirited Woman for the holidays.

I am passing on this great find to you. I'd love to keep the guide for myself, but I'm a giving gal. You may consider it my gift to you. All wrapped up with one of those recycled-from-a-magazine-crazy-fun bows (under Environmental Gift Wrap Options in the guide - you can make them too!)

It's a guide to help you think out of the gift-giving box. Give back. Create change. Take a leap. Make a difference. Inspire others by the fact that you are inspired. And, oh yes. Have fun along the way.

Click HERE to visit The Spirited Woman. 
Click HERE to download The Spirited Woman Holiday guide.
Click HERE to buy Cleavage Creek wine, and help find a cure for breast cancer.

Everybody wins today. Make it a spectacular one.

XOXO, 

Hayley

This post sponsored by www.ThereIsLifeAfterBreastCancer.com

In memory of Karen Patterson Tustin, my Mom. 

b. October 4, 1944, d. December 6, 1991

 

Great Christmas Gifts!

Cleavage Creek - 10% gross profits to breast cancer research! Breast cancer survivors grace each bottle.

GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFTS!

I am available for signing my Cab Syrah bottle! (That's me far right!)

If you are in San Luis Obispo, you can also purchase my wine at Jaffa Cafe at 1212 Higuera.

What do you get?

1 + 2 = 3

1. Precocious 3 year old
2. Gumball machine
3. Gum in random spots

Our little friend, Aubrie, comes over on Sundays to visit. She is 3. The first thing she does is go for the gumball machine (you don't even need pennies). I have no idea how much she goes through each time she is here. I do know her Mom is always telling her to spit out the gum and "no more gumballs!"

We found this ABC* gum while cleaning up the other day. The pig is ceramic (not made out of gum). But the little spots all around him? Chewed up gum. Ya gotta laugh about that!

I'm afraid to look under the tables, and chairs and desks around my house. 

*ABC= Already Been Chewed