And there the story begins....

I've decided to take a temporary departure from my typical posts and do something a little different.  I started this little blog of mine about a 1 1/2 years ago as a way to distract myself from the intense schedule that is my life.  For quite some time, longer than I can remember, I've traveled for the majority of my time....running up and down the East Coast, across the country and occasionally overseas, like I was running to the grocery store.

I remember one day, I had 3 presentations that began with a breakfast in Florida, lunch in Los Angeles and a dinner in Las Vegas...and I didn't think twice about it. An abnormal schedule actually for me, became quite normal.  Thankfully, I really love what I do.  My blog was born as a result of passing my time due to constant delays at the airport.  My husband and I were renovating our home...and I was researching different things and one thing led to another - and I discovered the world of blogging.  And boy - has it enriched my life.

So I decided to join in on the fun and I'm so glad I did.  I've made many friends...and due to my traveling, I've have been able to take the online friendship to the next level and meet a few of you in person - which has been a wonderful thing.  I hope to continue that as time goes on.  

I purposely decided to not integrate much of my life into my blog - because for me - this has been my refuge away from it all.  A place where I can just express all of the things that I love and just be myself - without having to connect all the other dots of my life.  As a matter of fact, the only people who even know I have a blog - besides all of you...is my husband and my mother. I've chosen to keep it that private.

Lately, I've not been posting as much...and actually have been contemplating  to stop blogging.  I've decided to continue because I really do enjoy it.  The expression of creativity, the camaraderie that I feel with all of you...the knowledge I've gained (I mean where else would I have learned about Chalk paint) is something I don't want to lose.  

But I have decided that I want to share a little more about myself and some of the experiences I've had...in hopes that others will find it interesting but also, I'd like to chronologicalize this part of my life.  So for the next week or two, instead of sharing my typical coastal decor posts - I'm going to post about one of the most life defining experiences that I've had - and that is how I chose to celebrate my 50th birthday.

It was actually my first foray into blogging.  I started a private blog about my adventure because so many of my friends and family were worried about me (behind my back I know they were all talking about the fact that surely I would come to my senses soon as I must be suffering from the female version of a mid life crisis)...and so the blog was started to keep them posted on my whereabouts.  

So I hope you'll find the next few posts interesting, funny and hopefully inspiring...about how I chose to handle the milestone of turning 50.....since I live in a world where one of my closest friends sent me a note (instead of a birthday card) saying that she was ignoring the fact I was turning 50 because she couldn't deal with it.  And my boss (also a dear friend) sent me an email saying let's just pretend it's not your birthday...because we all know what turning 50 means.

So when I called my boss and told her what I was planning on doing and asked her for the time off...the first words out of her mouth were...."Who are you and what did you do with my friend"?

And there begins the story.