Update on life..

Hello Blog World :) I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted! Things have been crazy busy! I hate gaps this long, because I tend to forget what's been going on, but here's to trying! :)

I have gone on two great trips in April. One was to a womens retreat that I had the honor of speaking at, Rubies & Pearls Conference in Frazier Park, CA ~www.rubiesnpearls.com. It was a GREAT weekend, and I had a blast. Got to see a lot of old friends, and hear amazing speakers. It was so fun & I cannot wait until next year!

I also got to go up north to San Francisco & Sacramento. I am from the Sacramento area (lived there for elementary school & junior high school), so it is always fun to go back and see old friends. I went to celebrate a pre-baby weekend with my good friend Lindsey. While I was in Sac on Friday night, I also got to see my old friend Becky so that was a lot of fun! San Fran was a blast, we went to one of my favorite places.. Burke Williams! So that was really nice. And then did some shopping, eating, and hanging out. It was great! Can't wait to meet baby Wyatt! :)

Last weekend I went to Ventura, so that was a lot of fun. Got to see two good friends so I was happy. Also saw the movie the Backup Plan.. Umm, pretty intense!! We walked out not wanting to have kids anytime soon! Haha.. Too funny.

I have been really busy planning a Casino Night for my non profit, Cancer Hope Foundation. YOU ALL SHOULD COME! June 5th, Saturday. Great night out!! www.cancerhopefoundation.org! Tickets are $35 per person in advance. I'm SO excited for the event!

And in addition, I am preparing for Haiti! I cannot believe it is less than a month away!! I leave May 23rd to go to Miami for the night, and then off to Haiti I go. I am so excited to be there. :) I have been blessed TREMENDOUSLY in the past week! Last weekend when I was in Ventura, one of my dear friends donated a TON for my Haiti Trip, and then on Monday, one of my good friends in Santa Monica wrote me a huge check! I was so amazed and in shock! And then I got another check in the mail yesterday! What an amazing week. I was SOOO thankful for all the donations. It helps SO much! Now I just need to pick up my malaria medicine, and I think get one more vaccination, pack, and prepare! Thanks to everyone for the prayers and support, I am SOOOO thankful!!!!!! :)

This past week was busy busy! Went to Ventura again on Wednesday night for a 'swap' party. It was so cool. You basically bring 10 items to donate, and they are all organized by type of clothes/size/etc. and then you get to 'shop' and swap. It was so cool, I walked away with a ton of great clothes!! :)

This weekend should be fun! I am going to SPRING CLEAN my house, have a bridal shower, birthday party, hiking, etc. Should be great!! I have a mountain of laundry that I need to get cracking on, and hopefully a lot of relaxing :) Yay.

I am having a party next weekend at my parents beach house since I am housesitting, so I am really excited for that. I need to work on the menu!! So hopefully I will be posting next week about the hike, and recipes from the party! :)

I also started a new blog that I will put the link to next week, so you can check that out. That is going to be dedicated to restaurant reviews, hike reviews, recipes, etc. It will be great. I will be sure to keep it linked to this one :) I just want to make it nicer before I link them. Should be good!

Hope that things are going great with everyone, and I will definitely post more soon.

Sending blessings your way!
xoxo

Restaurant Review

LA is known for having great food and amazing restaurants, and until recently I haven't made a huge effort to explore and experiment with trying new places. Soo, my goal is to start trying a new restaurant at least once a month, hopefully more! And I will be posting reviews on here.

This past weekend, I went to a great restaurant that I highly recommend. It's called The Mercantile. Here is the website: http://www.themercantilela.com/

The Mercantile is a great wine bar/gourmet market & restaurant. It is a cozy, cute spot in the Hollywood area of LA, and parking is easy. You can park on the street or they have a lot with an hour of free parking.

I had the fondue, and it was amazing. They serve it with yummy homeade bread, and you can add on sides -so I got apples too. It was delicious. In addition, we got a cheese plate for our table, which was great. The wisconsin cheddar was very good. I had a great Pinot Noir from New Zealand, which paired great with the fondue. Lastly, they have an amazing dessert selection. They have homeade treats and ice cream. I had the mint chocolate chip ice cream with a little mini oreo. It was a great meal, and I hope to go back soon!! :)

If you're in the area-you should definitely try it!!

xoxo

HAITI

Hi Everyone :)
Just a quick update on Haiti. Plans are underway & I could not be more excited. The dates most likely will be: May 22nd-29th -but if not, then it will be August 6-13th! I just submitted the final application and am awaiting final confirmation! I cannot wait. :)

I will send out more details as I have them, but one of the things that they did ask, is that our team collect items to bring with us. Here are the items that I will be bringing. If you'd like to contribute just let me know :) Thanks!

*Toothbrushes
*Toothpaste
*Shampoo
*Conditioner
*Small Toys
*Crayons
*Pencils & Pens
*Writing Tablets
*Childrens Clothes
*Childrens Shoes
*Tylenol
*Vitamins-Children
*Vitamins-Adult
*Soap
*Hydrocortisone Cream
*Pepto-Bismol
*Ibuprofen
*Baby Powder
*Aspirin
*Cough Medicine
*Hair Brushes
*Band-Aids

The organization I am going with is called Vision International Missions!

I will keep you all posted on details :)

Thanks for the love, prayers, & support!

Love,
Sara

Eat Pray Love

I am SO excited for this movie to come out:
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-julia-roberts-eat-pray-love.html

If you have not read the book yet, you need to get on it. It is truly inspiring! I am excited because I love the book & I'm excited because I love Julia Roberts. I know she will be great as the start of this film.

So check out the trailer & buy the book today, and get ready for a great movie. :)

Don't forget to also rent FOOD, Inc if you haven't seen it yet. It will change your life.

Sending many blessings your way!
xoxo

Three Great Things!

Happy Thursday! Here are some cool things I wanted to share:

1) Stamps to the Rescue:
These are stamps designed to raise money for animal shelters throughout the US. It's to encourage & promote adopting shelter pets. It's such a wonderful cause - and a super easy way to help! The stamps are SO cute! I personally love mailing cards & letters, and so I love cute stamps to go along with them. :) Be sure to get some! They go on sale in April, but you can pre-order now. I just got 3 20-packs! So excited for them to arrive :) Here is the site: http://stampstotherescue.com/

2) Whole Foods App! Check out the Whole Foods Application on the iphone. It is so great, packed with TONS of great recipes. Lots of great vegetarian & organic recipes. I plan on making at least 3 great recipes per week, starting tonight. I'm about to go search for the perfect dinner recipe. I'm sure it's on their website too, you should check it out! :)

3) One more iphone app! My uncle creates applications for the iphone, so support him. He has a new app out, called: InAWorld Drama. It's a cool app that let's you create little videos that are like movie trailers. It's a lot of fun, and pretty cheap too - only $1.99. Check it out!

One last thing, so I guess it changes it to four great things :)
--I just read a great article about Michelle Obama & her Let's Move.gov organization. It is great. I think it's such an amazing cause -and that it's one we definitely have to do something about, so I am really happy about the awareness that MO is creating. Check it out: www.letsmove.gov.

Have a great Thursday! :) Hope everyone had a great St Patricks Day!

A few interesting things! :)

Howdy :)
Hope everyone is doing great! Life has been crazy busy, and it looks like it's just going to get busier. I guess that's good though, right? My newest project is planning a Casino Night, for my non profit organization that I am on the Board of Directors for-Cancer Hope Foundation. www.cancerhopefoundation.org. Become a fan on Facebook, Join our cause on Facebook, & follow us on twitter -@campkeepsake! I am really excited about the Casino Night-but it is going to be a huge undertaking. If anyone has any good contacts--food donors, alcohol donors, prize donors, etc. Let me know! I would love any help :)

Haiti plans are still in the mix! The dates so far are May 22-29th, but my cousin is getting married the 22nd -so I'm seeing if I can leave that night, but not sure. Might have to push back the trip to June - but hopefully can still go in May! I am so excited for this, you have no idea. I will continue to post details as I get them. I am getting lots of info in the mail soon, so once I get that it will be easier to post & plan!

Movie & Blog Recommendations!

This past weekend, I saw the documentary called FOOD,Inc. I think that everyone should see this. It truly will change the way you look at food. It is crazy. Like there were moments that I wanted to scream, moments I wanted to CRY, and just general shock and awe. It is insane. I think everyone should see it, seriously. It's not a feel good movie by any means, but it is extremely educational and entirely necesary.

Oddly enough, going along with that topic, I read an article about this blog, and thought it was very interesting. Check it out:
http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/

Oh, and over the weekend I also saw Alice and Wonderland. Loved it. I thought it was great. If you see it, be sure to check out the credits, and look for my friends name -Jules Eschilman, Animation Coordinator. So cool!

Hope everyone is having a great week! I will post more soon.
xoxo

Hello :)

Hello Blog World :)

So sorry that I have been missing in action. I don't even know what has gone in during the past month or so- but I guess I will update with life, here and now.

Life is good. Busy as always with work & church stuff. Also working on planning a Casino Night Fundraiser for Cancer Hope Foundation (the organization that I am on the Board of Directors for). Need to get back to hiking - I haven't been hiking in FOREVER. I miss it so much! All this rain messed it all up. I also need to get my cooking game plan back in action & get on that. This weekend I hope to take some time to organize, clean, and plan meals, and HIKE. That would be blissful :) Going to see Alice & Wonderland this Friday night with friends, so I'm looking forward to that. Also have a big celebration with the family on Saturday to celebrate my mom, step dad, & grandmas birthdays. My mom & step dad turned 60--whew! I feel old just saying that my parents are 60 :) ha ha ha..

Last weekend was good. Got some relaxing in, did my 2nd job of childcare at church, and went to Ventura to see some friends. It was really fun - aside from driving in the rain to get there. :)

Two exciting things that are going on --

1) I am planning & preparing for the Rubies N Pearls conference that I am speaking at! www.rubiesnpearls.com I am so excited about this opportunity to talk about an issue that is SO close to my heart -- Social Justice! Not sure exactly what I will be speaking on, but I hope to inspire and motivate the women at the conference to make a difference in the world. :) Can't wait!!

2) I am going to HAITI! I will be traveling to Haiti in May, to assist with the relief effots - with a non profit Christian organization. I can not wait! This will be such an amazing opportunity to serve those in need - and I'm sure an absolutely incredible experience. A friend of mine that is a doctor went a couple of weeks ago with this same organization, and said that it was incredible. I will keep everyone posted on details and fundraising efforts. I will probably be fundraising for my trip, and also collecting supplies for the trip. The person I spoke with from the organization said that we will be taking supplies out to assist with aid- like toothbrushes/toothpaste along with medical supplies, etc. So it is very exciting!!! I am starting my countdown for May!

Aside from that - I am just focused on moving in to a bigger place. My NY dreams will be put off and/or on hold. There is just too much going on here that I want to be around for- so I don't think that moving that far away would be good. I'd spend all of my money flying back home for special events! There are lots of weddings & babies coming up - and I definitely want to be around for those :) So that's where I am at with that. One day - hopefully I will live there and/or have a job where I can travel there often for work :) Until then... I need a better place to live! I have been wanting to move for umm.. years now... So I am hoping to get that done! I cannot wait to have a bigger place where I can entertain people and have parties. I love hosting game nights, wine nights, dinner parties, etc. and have not been able to do that in 2 years now. Uggh! Not to mention the primary reason why I am moving -- to get a dog! I have seriously been waiting and planning on getting a dog for over 3 years now, and want to make that dream a reality this year! hopefully within the next couple of months!! The non profit organization I volunteer with, Much Love Animal Rescue- has some really, really cute new dogs. I fell in love with Scorpio. Go see him at: www.muchlove.org. Crossing my fingers that I can get a place quick and that he's still available to adopt by then! :)

Other than that... trying to plan a vacation for 2010. Obviously Haiti will be my main focus -but I hope to get away for another trip too.. I am looking into Italy and/or Costa Rica. Italy - because I'm Italian, and have wanted to go there -FOREVER! and would LOVE to see all the historical sites and see the history there... and Costa Rica, because it's beautiful too - and much cheaper/closer than Italy. So choice 1 is Italy & 2 is Costa Rica. Of course, I am always open and exploring other options! Those are just the focus places for now. :)

Life is good.. I can't complain. I have amazing friends & family, and great opportunities to travel and serve in the world. I love it! Looking forward to all the next adventures that life will bring.

Sending lots of love your way..
xoox