Amy Venezia

The TEN things I LOVE on this FRIDAY, JAN. 1^st, 2010!!

1. Joy was one of the emotions that greeted me this morning…haven’t felt her in awhile. I don’t think she enjoys hanging with sadness~ so with some soul searching and decisions, she was one of the first in line this morningJ

2. That for the first time in my life I truly DO NOT care what people think anymore. I used to say it and think it, but never felt that way. After taking a long look at how futile it is to care about what someone thinks when they have no idea where you are coming from and are also seeing through their own life lenses that have nothing to do with you? Well, I feel like I just got a get out of jail for free card- WE ARE ALL RIDING A HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR-MYSELF INCLUDED!

3. I love the people who have been brave enough to let their words be heard in this world- those who move my soul- Rumi, Don Miguel Ruiz, Paulo Coelho, Wayne Dyer,  all of the philosophers…just to name a few.

4. I love going outside in the morning and listening to the birds sing- part of they way I meditate I guess.  I individually focus on one bird at a time. It is amazing when you do that, to hear the differences in tone, octave and melody. Talk about beautiful and getting you in the moment.

5.  I love my body. I am grateful for my health and have come to love every inch of my uniqueness. Even the junk in my trunkJ

6. The smile from a stranger- when you look up and catch them smiling at you. Means as much to me for some reason than when friends do…I guess because that person is seeing you for the first time- and something inside or outside, or something you have done, has brought a smile to them. That is pretty cool.

7. How the dog I am sitting- a giant Golden retriever/Shepherd mix- gets up in bed with me and lays, vertical, like a human next to me and falls asleep. Like my own big space heater…

8. The new project I am working on…not gonna jinx it- but it is pretty coolJ

9. Pumpkin pie- I am ashamed to say I ate a whole one in two days:)

10. I LOVE that the sun is out today!!! Makes me happy happy!

Happy Friday and Happy Newyear!

Make it a good one:)

1. Hugs from friends that make you feel warm even when it is freezing outside…

2.Going into a bookstore and getting lost in time. Just like when I was little and the book fair came to school. I would stand mesmerized…taking in all the sizes and covers and smells of the pages.

3. How, when hearing someone play a haunting melody on a piano, I literally can feel a symphony of emotions stir in my heart…like the person’s hands are caressing the strings of my soul and not the piano keys…

4. I finally finished decorating my bedroom and now it feels fit for a Queen…a kinda goth, renaissance QueenJ

5. The dreams I have been having lately…full of wisdom and healing.

6. Fried chicken!

7. The story of The Cupcake Collection in Germantown…very inspirational and just goes to show you that if you listen to your heart and leap, great things come from that.

8. Mother Mary…I am not Catholic~ but whenever I see a statue or a picture of her I feel love.

9. How lately I have been making a little afternoon snack of hot green tea and chocolate chip cookiesJ it feels good to give myself a little treat.

10.  Living and learning~ what a gift…

Happy Friday!

1. The squirrel that got a smile out of me this morning. He was sitting in front of my truck eating…and he was going at it 90 to nothin’- I mean he didn’t even take a second to breathe… I looked at him and thought “I feel you man”- since I am known to eat like that…then I thought that maybe there is a good possibility I was  a squirrel in a past life…that got the smile out of me.

2. How a broken heart is a heart that has loved in some capacity. Period. And when it comes down to it, that is something to be grateful for.

3. When I see feathers on the ground as I am walking somewhere. For some reason I see it as the Angels saying, “We are here…”.

4.  How, when I went to eat pancakes this week I found I couldn’t even finish half of one…I thought to myself, how can it be that when I was  little I could scarf down three and now I can’t even finish one? I then realized when I was five I wasn’t drinking quad shot mocha’s ten minutes before pancake time. Might have somethin’ to do with it?

5. My friends who held me up when I couldn’t stand this week…you know who you are and I love you. Thank you.

6. Compassion. If you don’t  hold it for yourself and others? Your love and your faith is nothin’ but a scam. This week? I chose compassion~ strangely enough, not for another, but for me. That was a huge revelation for me this week. A 35 year coming revelation.

7. My nephew telling me how excited he is that “thanks” day is coming. So beautiful.

8. Lady Gaga’s new song “Bad Romance” and the artistically killer video…

9. That I am like the energizer bunny…I can take a lickin’ and keep on ticken’…I acknowledge the fighter in me.

10. Humility- not the kind religion shoves down throats- humility in the sense that when you experience something in life that causes great pain and exposes your weaknesses and wounds, it can be accepted with open arms -on bended knees, knowing that an opportunity has been presented to you to heal and be even better in the next moment. I cannot put into words the love I feel for a Universe that would be so loving as to give a chance to make beauty from ashes. THAT IS LOVE.

Happy Friday…

The TEN things I LOVE on this FRIDAY!

1. The thrill of diving into something or someone, not knowing if there will be hell to pay or arms to catch yaJ

2. The blueberry doughnut I treated myself to last night on my way home from a friends…

3. Those rare times you meet someone in life, that when you look them in the eyes, you see their soul. That is a magical and stunning moment.

4. The release that laughter begets…

5. How I am so starved ,I am about to eat my laptop, but am committed to finishing this list firstJ

6. Gratitude- makes the world go round.

7. Candles…I just love them. If I could? I would never use electricity.

8. Hearing these four words, “ I HAVE A DREAM…” that is all I need to  hear to light my fire and inspireJ

9. The homeless people who have been camping out in the alley behind my building- they play their guitars at night and sing…and then get into fights.

10.  My family and friends~ I am a blessed girl!

Happy Friday!!!

The TEN things I LOVE on this FRIDAY!!

1. How I went to get my coffee this morning and go to use my check card and it declinesJ  With a line of about 20 people…I had no cash on me…slightly humiliated, though keeping a sense of humor since I suck at keeping track – I call my banker, who is the best banker on the planet-  he laughs at me and tells me I am $3 overdrawn- good news is? Since I made a deposit right away, no NSF fee! WOOHOO~gotta love AVENUE BANK!! And Sante…my bankerJ I just love being a writer…

2. A hug from my nephew…he makes me feel my heart…every time.

3. Brilliant ideas… no greater high than creating.

4. When my friends find  love…just makes me feel good seeing them so happy.

5. Stopping to smell the roses…literally. There are still a few hanging on where I go for a walk everyday. I always stop and smell them…now that I come to think of it, they make me feel my heart too.

6. How I am learning to take care and love myself enough that when those around me show me love, I make them feel like they are appreciated instead of annoyingJ

7. How my nephew demands to listen to Coldplay every night while he falls asleep- and when I asked him if he knew the song “strawberry swing” , one of my favorites- he had no clue. I found out it was because it is one of the last tracks on the CD and he is knocked out by thenJ Too cute.

8. My friend Scotty’s fried chicken and macaroni and cheese…yummy.

9. How I had a rare visit to McDonald’s yesterday- got a sausage biscuit and a hash brown. Drove past a homeless man selling newspapers for a dollar.  I passed him since I had no cash on me, but then turned the car around and asked him if he wanted my sausage biscuit- he said, “No darlin’ they have been giving me breakfast all morning. Would you like a newspaper?” I said, “ I don’t have any cash on me…sorry.” He said with a smile, “ That is ok! Let me give you one anyway.” He had such pride in his eyes to be giving me something that I couldn’t pay for. That is cool….

10. I LOVE LIFE~ LOVE~and everything in between.

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

The TEN things I LOVE on this FRIDAY!!

1. How the last thing I dreamt this morning before I woke up- was an old lady made me hot chocolate with little marshmallows and handed it to me with a smile. A complete stranger, with not many teethJ Regardless, I woke up feeling like a little five year old girl.

2. How my post http://www.amyvenezia.com/2009/09/02/crack-maybe-whack-but-a-leopard-can-change-its-spotsoh-and-i-bawled-writing-this/ , got thousands of hits in one day and the greatest outpouring of emails I have ever received in the ‘less than one year history’ of this blog. Seriously, took me hours to respond back to all of themJ

3. The two little boys that I passed in the park yesterday on my walk. They were with their parents and when I walked passed them , asked me if I can do a cartwheel. I said, “Yes..”- they said, “Well, will you do one then?” I laughed until I looked at them and saw they were serious. I said I would if they would do one too. So they both did one and then this 35 year old chick did a cartwheel in the middle of the park with complete strangers…obviously I haven’t used those particular muscles in a while.

4. The 40 day risk that musician, Nathan Lee started on September 1^st. This guy is truly one of the brightest lights I have witnessed in this lifetime. Basically, he is showing up in 40 cities for 40 days- just finding a place to play at.. check out the website…follow along…help him out if you can- http://www.40dayrisk.com

5. How I saw the biggest ass spider I have ever seen yesterday while watering flowers and I didn’t pass out or run like a little school girl…trust me- that is big.

6. How lately I have had genuine excitement going to the store and picking my ingredients and fresh flowers and wine- then coming home and making this amazing meal…and it is just for meJ I truly have felt romance in doing those little gestures… that is a great place to be in life.

7. How I actually met a child named Cialis on Tuesday…at least it wasn’t Viagra- what goes through parent’s heads???

8. My journey. I am sharing more and more of it  and in doing that realize I am getting to the place a painter probably gets to when the masterpiece starts coming together. Flaws, mistakes and beauty. Flaws probably only the artist could spot, others more obvious. A masterpiece none the less.

9. Love. In every one of it’s demonstrations. 

10. How in being self employed, a four day holiday weekend means nothing to me. I will still write, still work, still create. And maybe have a hotdog…oh, and a doughnut of course.J

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

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The TEN things I LOVE on this FRIDAY!!

1. How I went to cash in a lotto ticket and left my I.D. in the car- the girl looks at me and says she is going to need to see my I.D.- I proceed to go back and forth with her about how it is in the car and is she really going to make me walk back out and get it? Does she really think I am under the age?  With no smile she replies, “YES”… so I am walking out aggravated until it hit me, WHY AM I ARGUING WITH A WOMAN WHO IS TRYING TO SAY I LOOK YOUNGER THAN I AM??? DUH! I came back in and handed it to her with a smile…

2. Waking up to rain…

3. I love fall- as a child I used to sit outside at the first inkling of it with a sketch pad and pencils. I could not draw for the life of me- but the sound of the leaves dancing and the crisp air hitting my face sure inspired some awesome stick figures…

4. Working out so hard that I feel sweat in places a woman wouldn’t or shouldn’t admit to…Yeah, I said it, get over itJ

5. Tater tots…

6. How sometimes I catch myself rubbing my feet together like a little cricket when I am falling asleep.

7. How I am 90% geek inside…I really am.

8. My family and how much we love each other.

9. How the cat I am watching came into the bathroom the other morning as I was brushing my teeth and just randomly bit me on the calf and ran off…guess he was ticked I was brushing my teeth before feeding him.

10. Singing to the top of my lungs at home- not sure how the neighbors feel about that.

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

 The TEN things I LOVE on this FRIDAY!!!

1. The start of the TENNESSEE TITANS training camp- yeah baby!!!

2.  The lady on face book that called me naïve because I said we all just need to love each other! Pissed me off- until I realized that is exactly what I am talking about! So, love you -political lady on face book!

3.  Life…I love life. The ups and downs… the changes… the losses…and the occasional winsJ

4.  How my father greeted me with a hug yesterday and said, “Honey, you are the only person I know that can look like a million bucks when you don’t even have one.”J The life of a starving writer…

5.  I love my best friends Alice and Crown Cherry- two phenomenal women who inspire me everyday.

6. I love when my writing mentor reads something I have written and tells me, “Amy- that is just brilliant.”

7. How my friends at Starbucks pressed coffee for me this morning because I wanted something different than what they were offering- it pays to fork over half your income to coffeeJlol

8. Talking over wine, in the wee hours of the morning, feeling so inspired by the friends and the conversation.

9. Saying “wee” hours just now reminds me of my parent’s nick name for me when I was a little girl… “Wee-Wee”… I won’t tell you why.

10.  How everyday- I get a bit closer to the truth…because I have been seeking it since my first breath…seek and you shall find.

Happy Friday!!!

Me @ 3 years old:):)

The TEN things I LOVE on this FRIDAY!!!

1. The fact that it is National Tequila day!

2. Rumours East… it reminds me of a little place I went to in the South of France…just lovely.

3. Nathan Lee-Just heard this guy’s music for the first time yesterday- If you have not heard his music- you are missing a piece of your soul…

4. How my friends Kitty Kitty and Rosco are not afraid to suck the drip off of a wine bottleJ Well, maybe Rosco isn’tJ

5. Meeting someone new and instantly connecting with them.

6.That my good friend “Billy Bob” is on his way back here- I love me some Billy Bob…

7. The times when a Kitchen Deva possesses me and I whip up something so good someone should give me one of those “atta  girl” taps on the ass and call me chefJ

8. Hearing rain when it softly falls on leaves…there is nothing more peaceful- yet powerful than that sound.

9. Freedom

10. The words of Friedrich Nietzsche and Rumi… it is like they stick their finger in my soul and stir me until I am moved…

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

The TEN things I LOVE on this FRIDAY!!!

1.    How in committing to this list every Friday- on days like today when I feel like I have nothing to offer and am a little less than grateful – it is writing this list that always gets me back to what is real…

2.    The feeling that laughter gives me- it is a combination of release, gratitude and childlike innocence all rolled up in a big smileJ

3.    A long hug- the kind where you can feel your heart hugging the other person’s heart…

4.    Forgiveness- I know I have that on this list a lot- but to me, it is the sole reason and lesson for being here. Not money, relationships, friends, family or fame…When the day comes where you find you forgive something that is so totally hurtful and wrong in nature? Not to gain a thing, not because it is easy- but because you have learned that in affording someone else freedom of an offense you set yourself free in the process…I am learning this, everyday. And on this Friday, I LOVE that.

5.    Those rare days that I allow myself to sleep in…till 8J

6.    Music and moving my body to it.

7.    My conversation last night about not being attracted to “beefcakes” and the comment someone said, I will call her Aphrodite because she is a GoddessJ, about how if “their pecs are bigger than her breasts there is a problem!”-That made me LOL…

8.    Rainbows and puppiesJ In scrolling this list just now to see what I have written so far, this is what it is reminding me of… rainbows and puppiesJlol

9.    A soft kiss on the lips- one that lingers for a split second…that is yummy.

10. Starbucks Gazebo coffee…my new lover.

Happy Friday!!!