Wild Geese

Last night I spent some time with one of my newest, most favorit-ist, persons on the planet!  

She read to me, a poem, by Mary Oliver.  It is called Wild Geese.

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild gees, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like wild geese, harsh and exciting--

over and over announcing your place in the family of things.

-Mary Oliver

Source

"You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves."

Liberating, isn't it?

Today I am celebrating the Christ in you and me!

Because everyone LOVES a little holiday cheer!

A few FABULOUS BLOGGERS have come together to bring you a great October Giveaway...

One lucky winner will win a 100 dollar gift card to Party City to grab those Halloween tricks and treats.

The Giveaway runs from September 18, 2012-October 13, 2012.

Open to the US only.

Click HERE to complete your entry!

A Rafflecopter giveaway disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by participating blogs.  Fete is not responsible for the winners prize.  For questions or comments on this giveaway please contact 

A Thrifty Diva.

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Reminder: Great Giveaway

Because everyone LOVES a little holiday cheer!

A few FABULOUS BLOGGERS have come together to bring you a great October Giveaway...

One lucky winner will win a 100 dollar gift card to Party City to grab those Halloween tricks and treats.

The Giveaway runs from September 18, 2012-October 13, 2012.

Open to the US only.

Participating Blogs are as follows:

Thrifty Wifey | Life With Lovebugs | Crazy About My Baybah | Fete | Dollar Sore Deals | Mommy Blog Designs | OC Deal Mama | The Good Penny | Lots 2 Save | Saving Said Simply |A Thrifty Diva Surviving mommy Hood |

Click HERE to complete your entry!

A Rafflecopter giveaway disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by participating blogs.  Fete is not responsible for the winners prize.  For questions or comments on this giveaway please contact 
A Thrifty Diva.

Click here to like Fete on Facebook.

Click here to follow Fete on Pinterest.

Click here to follow Fete on Twitter.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Since joining the SA Bloggers group on Facebook, I have been giving a lot of thought to what Fete is all about.  I mean, what is my message?  What is my niche?  What am I offering?  Who are my readers?  (Other than my mom, my aunts in McAllen and one aunt in Scottsdale!)

Most of the bloggers in my group have a very distinct purpose and can neatly fit themselves into a category:  mommy blogging, food blogging, travel blogging, sports blogging, fashion blogging, lifestyle blogging, thrifty blogging etc.  They are able to support one another, share with one another, optimize their message, identify their targeted demographic and gain opportunities through clear and concise purposing. 

Fete has never had a one-track message.  It was born out of the need to identify daily celebrations during a time that was not particularly “celebratory.”  But, oh, how it has grown.  It is a place where I celebrate my favorite television show of all time…much to the annoyance of others.  It is a place where I share products, movies, music, books that have made an impact on me.  It is a place where I share sweet memories and dream future possibilities.  It is a place where I can celebrate love and loss, hope and rebirth, old friends, new little loved ones, auntie Patty’s sweet babies, cousins aspiring to great things…and ultimately the joy of being.

So as I consider what Fete is and what it purports to exclaim…the only words that come to mind are “life-living (out loud).”  Fete is a “life-living (out loud)” blog.  Did I just create my own niche?  Possibly.  But it allows me a succinct way to define my main purpose to others. 

Fete is growing!  I am excited for the possibilities!  Through new friendships I now have more eyes on Fete!   In fact, I have doubled my Facebook followers this week alone.  (Thank you friend…you know who you are.)  Fete will be moving to an interview format from time to time.  I have three interviews lined up that I am incredibly excited about.  I am also starting to learn the art of the “give-away.”  (I am currently participating in one for a 100 dollar gift card to Party City.)  I have a pretty cool “give-away” planned…it’s just a matter of learning some of the software out there….it is an ENTIRELY NEW WORLD for me.

Slowly, I hope to move Fete into a profitable project for me.  This is a bit of an art….in that maintaining the original focus while entertaining sponsors might be a delicate dance.  I want to maintain a crisp, clean visual image on the screen.  I don’t necessarily want to be a blog that advertises…but I do want to be a blog that supports and promotes people, products, ideas, etc that I find thrilling! 

So, I thank you for allowing me to share my future vision with you.  This exercise has allowed me to tighten up my focus and give some real thought to where I want to go from here. 

My life is changing hour to hour and it is “freakishly okay!”  (My new favorite descriptor to the age old question,  “How are you?”…Thank you Marti Leesman for that!)  Given the rapid evolution into Patty version 2.0…I expect Fete to change and morph along with me.  I am excited to see where this will take me! 

Happy Reading, Fete-ish-istas!

Click here to like Fete on Facebook.

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Great Giveaway!

Because everyone LOVES a little holiday cheer!

A few FABULOUS BLOGGERS have come together to bring you a great October Giveaway...

One lucky winner will win a 100 dollar gift card to Party City to grab those Halloween tricks and treats.

The Giveaway runs from September 18, 2012-October 13, 2012.

Open to the US only.

Participating Blogs are as follows:

Thrifty Wifey | Life With Lovebugs | Crazy About My Baybah | Fete | Dollar Sore Deals | Mommy Blog Designs | OC Deal Mama | The Good Penny | Lots 2 Save | Saving Said Simply |A Thrifty Diva Surviving mommy Hood |

Please allow the Rafflecopter to load below.

A Rafflecopter giveaway disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by participating blogs.  Fete is not responsible for the winners prize. For questions or comments on this giveaway please contact A Thrifty Diva.

Click here to like Fete on Facebook.

Click here to follow Fete on Pinterest.

Click here to follow Fete on Twitter.

The Bacon-ator

What is YOUR Kevin Bacon Number?

Mine is 3!  Yes 3!  Not even six degrees separate me from The Bacon!

Here's how.....

Source

Kevin Bacon was in Frost/Nixon with Michael Sheen.

Source

Michael Sheen is in Twilight: Breaking Dawn II with Marisa Quinn.

Marisa Quinn is related to me!  So there you go...

Google now offers you an opportunity to learn your Kevin Bacon number, too, or anyone else's for that matter.   Go to Google and enter in "Blah blah blah's Kevin Bacon Number" and watch Google calculate that person's Kevin Bacon Number and connect the dots for you!

(Note: A gorgeous Marisa Quinn at the Alma Awards which will air this Friday.)

I am lovin' my first giveaway!  Fete has been invited to it's first giveaway by A Thrifty Diva!  (Thank you, Michelle Cantu.)

The giveaway event goes "live" at 12.01 am TONIGHT!!!!  Visit A Thrifty Diva and get yourself entered to win a 100 dollar gift certificate to Party City in preparation for your Halloween!

Click here to like Fete on Facebook.

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Christmas in September

Dear Santa,

Thank you for my early Christmas gift.  Since Jace' snagged her own apartment and claimed her Keurig  back...well, things just haven't been the same.  It takes a REALLY LONG TIME to boil the water for my French press every morning.  This will make brewing coffee easy, breezy, snappy and speedy!  Of course, it will also make "sneaking in" that second cup a delicious, dangerous possibility.  It was so sweet of you to keep me in mind today...an ordinary day in September.  When I arrived home I actually let out a little squeal of glee!  It actually made me forget...for a second...that Mary Gertrude killed a lizard and brought into the house.  I can't wait to wake up tomorrow morning, Santa!  

See you soon?  In case you were wondering....I am vibing hard on an iPad...I don't really NEED one...but...

Love always,

Patty

COFFEE, COFFEE, COFFEE!!!!!! -Lorelai

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Put On Your Dancin' Shoes

I will never forget the day I got the "green light" to purchase my first pair of pointe shoes.  Year after year after year after year of preparing my body for this considerable progression FINALLY paid off.  My ballet instructor's wife met my mother and I at Melba's on 10th Street and we tried on pair after pair finding just the "right fit" for my foot.  I had a gnawing feeling she was going to suggest Capezio's Contempra Style, which at the time, only came in a VERY pink color.  I secretly hated the shade and I wanted the Pavlova's instead...for the Pavlova's were a much more demure, almost peach hue...so pleasant to my eye, especially when lit from above while gliding across a stage.  We walked out with the "too pink" Contempra's and I remember a small lump in my throat.  It was bittersweet.  I was allowed to dance with the "big girls" but only in "little girl" pink shoes.  I wore those shoes out until the box broke and my next pair were Pavolva's and I just adored them!  I loved watching my feet move in the mirror....as if they were something separate from me.

Source

My dancing years are far behind me now.  However, my body often yearns for movement...movement that can not be satisfied by traditional forms of exercise.  I am constantly dancing around my house inventing whole dances, fancying myself quite the choreographer.  But not even that fills the void.  

I recently was in the audience of a burlesque performance and I watched a pole dancer, named Black Orchid, perform an unbelievable piece using a pole as a prop.  I sat, mouth agape, astounded at what she was commanding her body to do.  As it would happen, her colleague, Jennifer Huff (aka Intimate Spins) was sitting next to Jace', Michael and me.  We IMMEDIATELY asked for her card and I was standing in the "Try Me" Pole Class the following Thursday at Soft Sensuous Moves.

I have now completed Level One and tonight was my first Level Two class.  My instructor, Brown Sugar, informed us we would need to have our shoes for the first class of Level Two.  I selected my shoes on Tuesday evening.  I giggled a little as I remembered the day, over twenty years ago, when my mom drove me to select my first pair of pointe shoes.

 

The mission and vision of Soft Sensuous Moves are EXACTLY in line with my current mission and vision for my life.  So...I could not pass up the opportunity to ask if she was in need of a Pilates instructor.  As it turns out....SHE WAS!  (I adore how the universe works sometimes.)  I am now teaching Soulful Pilates on Tuesday evenings at 6.15 pm.  Stop on by for a visit!

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