I got my Ticket!

It's only July, but I'm really excited to attend the California Governor and First Lady's Conference on Women in October! This will be my 3rd year going and I know I will come away inspired yet again.

The highlight of my first conference was seeing Barbara Walter's interview with then-almost-retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. She was quite spectacular (Justice O'Connor, that is!) pleasantly down to earth and not at all pretentious.

The second year, 2006, I was fortunate to be sitting front and center at a table sponsored by BP and WOW - that was phenomenal! The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson was beautiful and also very real and personable. The Dalai Lama, of course, was my favorite! It was an amazing experience to sit in an arena of 11,000+ people and the only thing you could hear was the air conditioning! It was also very nice to discover that the Dalai Lama has a sense of humor! Quite the funny man he is. Love that.

So this year, there are MANY speakers on the list and I can't wait to hear the main arena speakers - I hear Ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair will be there...and maybe the spouses of the 2008 Presidential nominees, including Bill Clinton?!?! We'll see. They'll be some break out session speakers that I'll want to hear as well. The exhibit hall will be filled to capacity with people with great ideas and people with great books.

If you have the opportunity to make it to Long Beach, you should - it is well worth it! I'll see you there!

Summer Reading

I love to read. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I have a nightstand with about 10 books stacked up...books I started because a friend recommended them, gifts from friends who know I love to read, books that I picked out and just haven't gotten to yet...and then I find myself going to the library to get MORE books! My husband shakes his head and asks WHY I don't just finish the stack next to the bed?! I say - it's just too tempting to pick up books - I want to read them all! Sounds a little like an addiction doesn't it? But I guess if that's my worst vice, life is good!

Anyway, I just finished a book, Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and really loved it! I think I never would have picked it up on my own...it was in the TEEN section at the library. And the story is about a seventeen year old girl falling in love with a vampire. HUH? How is that a good story?! But it is! It was so well written the author had me believing it. I love an author who can make something crazy sound real. It's so Stephen King! So I recommend you run out and get this book. For you or for your teen! There is a sequel too and a soon to be release third book in the series and I'll be getting my hands on those soon too!

Enjoy your summer reading!