Fun and Games in May!

We kicked off the month with a festive Cinco de Mayo class. Beth, Peggy and I team taught a fabulous class complete with limes, limbo and laughs!

Shake it up Carla~

Bonitas Muchachas!

Our Annual Mother/Daughter class is always a lot of fun.

My mom popped up on stage for one of her favorite routines to
"Shake her Tail Feather!"
(Too bad we don't have a photo of that!)
Later that weekend we headed to Dodd Stadium to watch the Defenders Minor League Baseball game and to kick off the game with a fun performance.

Michelle, Terri, Annette & I joined many other Jazzercisers from Connecticut for a special Breast Cancer Awareness event.
Our District Manager, Lise, presented a check for $67,000 representing funds raised by Jazzercise for various Breast Cancer charities.

It was a busy, but exciting week!

The Checkered Flag Team Rides On!!!

On Saturday night I headed to New York to stay at my friend Joe's apartment to be ready for the Five Boro Bike Tour in NY the following morning. This is a photo of Joe's "hobbit size" kitchen which I just love. You can reach everything without moving.

There were five of us camping out before the Tour and we had a nice dinner and relaxed to get ready for the BIG ride.

It was a real thrill to participate in the Bike Tour. It is the largest recreational cycling event in America and the ultimate tour of NY.

The journey began in Lower Manhattan, after of course, a quick stop at Starbucks.
I learned that the multi-talented Glade can bike with a Grande cup of Starbucks coffee in hand.
Go figure!

Our team was the "Checkered Flag" Team which made it amazingly helpful to find one another in the crowd. Here's the team at the start....Tim, Glade, Joe, Mia & me!

Joe & I model the flags. Although I learned that you need to be careful when riding by trees with low branches and using the porta-potty when you have a big flag on your head.

I don't know what's happening with my helmet in this photo!

Uh, I should mention that Joe (just call him Tour Boy when you see him) and I DID NOT train for this event....so we really did not know what to expect.

We went north through the heart of Manhattan to Central Park and continued on to historic Harlem and the Bronx, returning south along the East River on the FDR Drive.

The flags were a big hit and all day people were yelling out to the Checkered Flag team to cheer us on.

It was amazing to see so many people (30,000) of ALL ages biking together.

We went from Queens and then into Brooklyn.

Mia & Tim are still smiling -- they're pros at this!

No, I really mean it. Tim is ACTUALLY a pro and rides for a professional cycling team, so we were in good hands.

Glade & I stop for photos at the Verrazano Bridge before heading to Staten Island.

Those bridges are a !@#$%^&*!

We made it the full 42 miles!

After crossing the finish line, we took the Staten Island Ferry back over. It was my first time in Staten Island and I just had the urge to break out into the 'Working Girl' theme when I was on the ferry.
We stopped to catch our breath and take a peak at the Statue of Liberty. Then we enjoyed tasty burritos and stopped for cookies at the Fairway Market
(be sure you know the rules of conduct if you stop in!)


It was a very inspirational day and I highly recommend it!! I was very proud that I did it.

I definitely hope to return next year and will be packing my flag away safely until then!


GO TEAM!

A Farewell to Nanny

On February 21st, we said good bye to my Nanny (Agnes Wilson Hallett), was passed away at 102 yrs of age! This photo was taken at her 100th Birthday Extravaganza!



Below is my contribution to the funeral service:

It is amazing to think that my grandmother (Nanny) has lived through 18 Presidents and inventions that have changed the course of history over the past 102 yrs. It is fun to imagine her as a young girl as the “Charleston champion” kicking up her heels on the dance floor. But it is also inspiring to think that she was also at one time a single working mother after the untimely death of her first husband, something that even today is impressive, but in those days was rare. That surely showed her immeasurable strength.

Going to her house on Sundays for dinner I always looked forward to her broccoli casserole and Toll House cookies and you knew that she would always take the time to play with us.

Some of my favorite memories of Nanny are how she always played so patiently with us for hours. Whether it was playing dress-up in the attic, playing “school” in the basement with the big chalkboard (there was no one who had better penmanship than Nanny!) or playing out in the yard picking up apples and watching the birds in the birdbath, or teaching us to recite her favorite poem “I Wants a Piece of Calico”, or watching us play on the beach on our many family vacations to Ocean City…..she was always calm, patient and never tired of playing the same things over and over.

But probably the best legacy Nanny left, was the example of her marriage with my grandfather. I never once heard my grandparents argue or raise their voices to us or to one another. She was a devoted and loving wife and they were still holding hands after over 70 years of marriage. This is truly an example of love and what I’ll remember most about Nanny.

Well miss you Nan!

Party for Pina

To continue a tradition which begun a few years ago,in March some of our Jazzercise friends gathered to celebrate

Pina's 5th Jazzer-anniversary!

We enjoyed a delicious brunch L'escale Restaurant in Greenwich.
www.lesacalerestaurant.com

What a beautiful place!

Pina checks out her fancy duds (purchased of course by Star Shopper Angela).

Uh, I think this is Pina's surprised & happy face!


Congratulations Pina and looking forward to many more years of fabulous classes from you!

Jazzercise Hits Rippowam

I had a lot of fun dancing with the cool girls from Rippowam Middle School. We ran a class through the fall and again in this winter.

Here are a few of the posing at our last class and showing some attitude.
These girls can dance!

President's Club Award Luncheon

I had the honoring of traveling to Providence for the Northeast District Meeting to receive the President’s Club Award –Platinum status. This award demonstrates that the Stamford/Norwalk Jazzercise franchise operation is in the top 100 franchises worldwide. Above it's me and the "P's" - Peggy, Pina, and Pam. Well done everyone!!!!

Fun in the Village

After a busy week of work, there's nothing better than hanging out with friends, relaxing and laughing. Saturday, I headed down to Greenwich Village to see a wonderful show staring Paul Stroili,

Paul's one man show, "Straight Up with a Twist", is about a straight guy who knows all the wrong things.


I met a bunch of my friends there for the show. Most of us have shared many years doing community theater together in this area, some sharing the stage with Paul, many years ago.

This made it even more fun to see him in action!

Since we were in the front row (thanks to Paul) OF COURSE, he dragged our two non-theater guys up on stage for the audience participation segment.....That's Paul on the left, with Larry & Ted being very good sports!

http://www.straight-up.com/

After the show we headed over to Cafe Figaro for a great meal, yummy chocolate mousse and hours of conversation.

Another old theater pal, Tom Fagan (now Tom Cleary, as Fagan was already taken in the Actors Union), joined us. Haven't seen Tom in over 20 years so there was plenty of reminiscing about the theater days and catching up to do.

And here's our theater gang....Diana, Joe, Tom, Jura and yours truly!

If you're looking for a good laugh, Paul delivers PLENTY!
Check out "Straight Up with a Twist" . But hurry, because the New York run is limited.....and let me know how you like it!

Think Pink....Dancing for a Good Cause

On January 25th a roomful of enthusiastic pink clad women (and one man!) gathered to dance and sweat for an important cause.

Aren't Pam & Pina pretty in pink?

Classes were team taught (that's me having fun OFF the stage for a change!) and high energy!

Some were veteran customers, and others were brand new. But everyone managed to stay on the right (or was it the left?) foot.

The event was the idea of Peggy Devlin whose sister is battling stage 4 breast cancer. Anyone who knows Peg, knows that she sure can throw a party!

Beth was the co-organizer....and volunteered her home (and her husband and kids) for the event.

Here she is getting in one last routine before she had to head out early to get things ready for the party. I'm pretty sure she took off the pink boa before hitting the kitchen, but you never know!

Amy recruited her husband Jay to come for the fun and he managed to keep up with the ladies (but notice, no boa for Jay!)

Lots of hours were spent in preparation making fabulous gift baskets to raffle at the event and raise more money.

Later we enjoyed delicious food, killer desserts and an endless supply of pink cocktails at Beth's home.

There was plenty of laughter too!

Beth's husband, Larry was our attentive bartender. YES, real men DO drink pink drinks!

Wow... we hardly recognized some of our buddies --- this bunch cleans up well don't they!

Christine Sinclair treated the group to a song...singing I Am Blessed from her latest CD.

And such a fitting song it was....as many of our Jazzercise extended family are blessed to be breast cancer survivors.....including my mother Arlene, Beth's mother, and to those who are winning the battle such as Annette and Tina.

Survivors were recognized with roses and those who have lost the battle were recognized on the beautiful angel wings on the bulletin board at our Center.


Over $5000 was raised that evening and will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation to continue the search for a CURE.

Thank you and God Bless to everyone who made this evening a success!

Happy New Year!

It was a blast to ring in the New Year at the Owczarzak's among lots of friends (Jura & I pose with our champagne toast).

The O's lost just about everything earlier this year in a fire and are still in their temporary rental, so spending this evening with them was extra special. We talked about what REALLY matters in our lives, like our families and amazing friends.

Everything else is just stuff!

MAKE IT A WILD AND FABULOUS YEAR!