My First Birthday Present of the Year!

My birthday is next week, but don't worry, I'll be accepting gifts all week long ;) Check out this rockin' baseball jersey I got from my family in New York. It belonged to my brother, Anthony, who is quite the sportsman. I got both red and navy blue, along with a beautiful bracelet. Something about sporting my bro's name on my back just tickles my fancy.

It's My Lucky Day

As I wait to board my plane, I am urged from a voice within to share a recent experience...recent as in, 30 minutes ago recent.

On Thursday my family found out that my Dad needed to have an emergency heart procedure. Despite missing the heck outta' my man and jonesing to get back to BREAKER, I wanted to stay in NY and see my fam through this unexpected trauma. I extended my stay until today (Saturday), and since I was booking a flight home on such short notice, seating on the plane was both limited and sucky. I got a center seat.

Today, as I was checking in, the lady behind the counter said, "You've got a center seat. Would you prefer an aisle or a window?"

"It's my lucky day!", I exclaimed. "I'll take a window".

She looked at me with an unprecedented intensity. "Every day is your lucky day, Elizabeth", she said. "Every day that you wake up, you say to yourself 'it's my lucky day!'"

Eyes wide and nodding my head, I thanked her. And she kept going, "There's some poor sucker who went to bed last night thinking he was going to wake up this morning, and he didn't. Every day you are alive, Elizabeth, it is your lucky day".

The truth is that I needed to hear that today. The past week has been emotionally draining, and the fact that the counter lady took a moment to share something special did a lot to fill me up. It serves as a reminder that even the smallest actions make a difference. Even when I think I'm not making a difference, I am. Even when you think you're not making a difference, you are.

I hope that in sharing this experience with you, I have made a positive difference in your life.

a-Jetting I go...

Rock Diva Does Little League

Oh yes, big sister is rockin' the little league practice. My brother was up to bat three times and hit the ball on his first swing each time. It was so cute to watch his little leggies run the bases.

Tomorrow it's lacrosse practice - yay!

Inspiration Comes From the Strangest Places

My grandmother, better known as Nanny Jean, passed away this past weekend, and before I had time to think or feel I found myself on a flight home to New York.

The service was yesterday; it was more of a memorial than a funeral, which was a relief to those of us - like myself - who aren't so big on "mourning". Family and friends came back to the house afterwards where we gorged ourselves on everything Italian. After telling what felt like 30 people about my life in LA, I felt drained. I stole away to my brother's bedroom to get some rest and recharge.

As I laid in my brother's bed attempting to sleep, the brevity of mortality hit me upside the head: A lifetime isn't very long at all. And yet, it's long enough. I've got all the time I need. And I've got no time waste. Struck by this paradox and the reality that "life is short", I felt compelled by urgency.

I've got the hunger; I'm chomping at the bit to indulge, express, create, and share. I wanna' use this life up and take advantage of all the world has to offer. I want to exhaust my potential and extend beyond my self-imposed limits. I want to rock hard, travel far, love fully, and live courageously. Mostly, I want to be of service; and leave every person, place, and situation, better off as the result of my having been there. I believe that by doing the former, the latter will be accomplished.

And so it is with gratitude that I say goodbye to Nanny Jean. And it is with certainty that I commit to being the courageous, loving, worthy leader I am, living the life of fun and abundance that I deserve to live.

And so it is...

Bring it On: Volume I

Writing lyrics is usually a solo venture of mine, and next to performing live, it is my favorite aspect of the whole (in)glorious process that is making music. Creating lyrics is my opportunity to transfer my feelings from my head & heart to the world at large. It's my chance to translate those feelings into real, relatable topics that make people go, "yeah, me too".

There are rare instances, however, when someone else's lyrics make me go, "yeah, me too" and we get to collaborate on something bigger than both of us. "Bring it On" is one of those rare instances.

My brother, Dan, had this poem that would get stuck in my head, and it was something I'd silently recite to myself:

Take me for a ride
and it's all long gone.
The fear is all that keeps us sane
If it's pain that keeps us strong,
Don't tell me when, just bring it on.

It was one of those scraps that hadn't yet been brought to life by a song. During pro-production, when I heard the riff that was to become "Bring it On", I felt the same onslaught of feelings that Dan's poem brought forth.

I saw myself standing before two divergent paths, knowing that one would bring me happiness, plain and simple; and the other, well the other held the promise of excessive amounts of fun, high doses of ecstasy, non-stop adventure, and all the pleasure that a grrrl like me could crave, only it was far more challenging and there would be swarms of people along the way telling me to turn back: it was a journey too long and hard for me to make, or worse yet, that seeking such fulfillment was merely a fool's errand.

So...which path do you think I took?

Check out my next post to find out ;)

The Snow in Maine falls Mainly on the Plain.

Today's my last day in Maine. That is, unless the snow doesn't let up. It's snowed about 20" in the past 10 hours and all outbound flights have been canceled. In some way I wish it would keep snowing so I could get stranded here with my family and avoid my busy life in LA for just one more day. . .and on the other hand, I really wanna' get back to BREAKER!

Here's some snowy pics from the veranda.

Family Fun with My Mac.

Gabe was totally enthralled by the camera on my Mac. He got the attention of my mom with his squealing and giggling, so naturally she had to see what all the commotion was about. She dug the little camera too, so we had some quality family time in front of the Mac.

Observe:

The Little Mermaid on Broadway!

My step-mom decided that a Girls Night in NY would do us all good. And what better way to spend Girls Night than in the city seeing a great show and eating delicious food? We saw The Little Mermaid on Broadway, which prompted my father to question my sanity many, many times.

I have to admit: I love all of the pre-1996 Disney movies, so I was eager to see the flick translate to the stage. I mean, c'mon, who doesn't love "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl", not to mention Ursala belting out "Poor Unfortunate Souls"? They're catchy and memorable songs!

The show was entertaining, and in addition to the standard "movie" songs, there were a slew of new tunes to explain the story further without dialogue, although none nearly as good as the original songs. The set was disappointing, however I am aware that since "The Lion King", I have unreasonably high expectations. In truth, it wasn't the best show I've ever seen, however I never cease to be amazed and amused by the whole spectacle of a Broadway show, and so I was thoroughly satisfied by The Little Mermaid on Broadway.

Even better than the show, I got to spend some much-needed quality time with three of the women who matter most to me: Atim, Angela, and Gabbie. It's in those locomotive lunges and sidewalk strolls that you really get to know one another.

I'm heading North on Sunday for some R n' R at The Mansion.

Because I Can.

I have been laughing ever since my brother enlightened me to the existence of this photo. I felt the need to humiliate my father even further by posting it on my blog. This is a picture of my parents dressed up for Halloween:

You see, it's not just the "are we really doing this dumb shit?" look on my Dad's face that amuses me. It's the fact that I make that same "are we really doing this dumb shit?" face. Damn, it's weird how much I look like that guy. Anyway, I'm proud of these two - they're hot! And I'm too jaked on Franziskaner to censor myself. 

Cheers to the iguana!

Twilight

Through my cross-continental communications with my sister, Gabbie, I understood that I had to read Twilight before seeing the movie. In her own words, "To Twi-hards, the movie is gonna' suck, but to people who haven't read it, it's gonna' be great." From what I gathered, it was better to be in-the-know than to be blissfully unaware that the movie was an utter disaster, paling in comparison to the spellbinding content of the books. My sister went on to say, "You'd love it, Tiz. It's a good read", and I was sold.

I borrowed Twilight yesterday from my best friend who had devoured the entire series months ago. By the time we were getting ready to meet for lunch today I was asking, "Can you bring the next one in the series?" She thought ahead and brought me the remaining three books, knowing that I'd be needing them soon.

Currently, I'm at the end of book one, and I'm hooked. I have my sister, Gabbie, to thank for my renewed bloodlust (and probable sleep deprivation).