The Afterglow

AFTERGLOW; definition: A broad high arch of rosy light appearing in the sky long after sunset.

Yesterday, my special day in the spotlight as the 'Featured Blogger' on SITS Girls has passed and last night after all the excitement I was truly basking in the afterglow of it all.

Like all good things... you know... the poet Robert Frost says it so well in this poem titled, "Nothing Gold Can Stay".

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.  

*Note: This poem earned Robert Frost the 1924 Pulitzer prize for poetry.

Thank you to all those who visited my blog yesterday.  The support was fantastic!

Yo SITStahs!

Welcome to my blog... I roll out the PINK CARPET to you... and thank you for visiting 'Mama Lisha Lifestyle'...

Today is my special day in the spotlight among the thousands of SITStahs, the blogging SITStahs, the FABULOUS community of SITS girls... over 7,000 women bloggers supporting one another in this wild and crazy place called the blogosphere... where we're explorers of sorts...  21st Century explorers!

First... News... 
Did you know that, "More than half of web users will read blogs this year."... says eMarketer in a recent article, "The Continued Rise of Blogging".
Blogs will eventually become invisible...  that's not a bad thing, it just means that blogs are quickly becoming such an integrated part of our global social fabric that they will "become indistinguishable from other media channels".


About Me...

I'm a Mom (50+) and artist (painter), with a wonderful and dedicated (doctah) husband, and two great boys ages 12 and 14, who I love watching grow into (almost) men... and as their 'voices' and 'pits' call out, are BOTH experiencing full-blown puberty. 

  

Why "Yo" in my post title?... because I come to you from "New Yawk", and that's how they tawk around heea... the suburbs of Long Island... where seeking a richer life (as my tag line says) "for my family, myself, and anyone who will listen" is certainly a challenge and I love challenges!


Why Blog?
Having had a wonderfully exciting and fulfilling career (pre-kids and husband), I've had to reinvent myself along the way, using creative outlets that are available to me like painting, raising kids, and now blogging.

"I focus on family life with a creative and cultural bent. I like to write about food, fashion, family fun, art, music, and education."

Blogging is the perfect way to 'connect all the dots'... a way to tie your vision of things together, and connect that to people with similar interests, to cross-pollinate or link people and things together.  My post, Turn Off TV... Turn On Stumbleupon is about a great search engine, a tool connecting you to your specific interests.

How about a blog post for those of you who have had careers and are now full-time Moms... In a Former Life or one about the First Day of School.

For those foodies and fashionistas out there or Moms who just need some inspiration, there's Cranberry Compote Like Never Before, It's a Wrap!, or Spanx for Him?!

Epilogue...
After seeing my blog last month an editor of an online newspaper hired me as a freelance writer... so SITStahs, as they say around here, ya nevah know...

Wishing my SITStah bloggers wonderful things now and in the future...

Thanks for visiting!

Yeah SITStahood!

I'm so excited, no not that it's Friday, yes I'm happy it's Friday, but I'm excited about the BIG news I got last night after my husband and I were leaving Back-To-School night at my sons middle school.  Music to my ears...  those three (or is it four) notes that alert me to an incoming email on my phone broke the silence as we were leaving the parking lot.  After reading and rereading the email,  I realized it was a message notifying me that it was finally my turn to be in the mommy blogging spotlight... WOW!

That means that Monday, in just three days, it's my special day to be a featured blogger on The SITS Girls, The Secret is in the Sauce, a wonderfully supportive community of 7,000 women that blog.  They show their support by leaving comments.  I'm nervous and excited and I have work to do to get ready.

So for those of you that read and support my blog but have no idea what this is all about, first of all... THANKS...  and 'stay tuned' for a glimpse into the blogosphere and just how BIG and limitless it is... you may find some women whose voices you relate to and you may want to follow their blogs too!

Thanks Tiffany and Mama Kat!

Have a great weekend and as my Dad would say, "Hurry back y'all!".

A Local News Forum

Simply called Patch... "a local source for news, events, business listings, and discussion"... I heard about it through a friend, writer and teacher extraordinaire... Today was the launch of my local Patch in Dix Hills, NY, with editor Karen Forman.
I'm excited to be a contributor, writing articles with the 'Mom' audience in mind... about the spicy rumblings going on in my backyard...  especially when it comes to FOOD, where to get it, how to cook it, how other people cook it, how to eat it... fresh and healthy, one meal at a time!

Check out 'Patch' in your community, if you don't have one yet, maybe you can get one started!

Thanks Rissa and Sharon for turning me on to Patch!

Your Own Show

How would you like to be the CURATOR of your own show, a show of collections of things you love, that you can share with your friends... and follow collections created by other people (with great taste)... well, it's a brilliant idea, called Pinterest... it uses FB to find friends too!
The staff from sunny California (where else do most of the new ideas come from), suggests their favorites and all you do is click 'follow'...

Ben from Pinterest put it this way, “We both found ourselves asking friends for suggestions — good beer, nice gifts for cousins, books, art. We noticed that the people you really trust are actually collecting ideas all the time. They have folders on their desktop, links in emails, and bookmarks. We thought it’d be great if they had a space to share all those great finds. How cool would it be to browse your most well-read friend’s bookshelf, or dvd collection, or closet, or art portfolio? We both felt like you shouldn’t have to start a blog or spam your Facebook friends to share your taste."

Here are just a few things I like and pinned...

Try it... it's so much fun!!!

Out of Bars!

I'm on vacation this week in a beautiful and rural part of upstate New York...my plan to blog from here has been foiled two fold... Couldn't locate a 'Camera Kit' from Apple for the iPad to upload photos because Apple can't keep up with the demand on this wonderful new product including all accessories. Maybe I could have purchased one online a few weeks before leaving, but I thought I would find one at the Apple store... Silly me!
Truly the biggest obstacle to communicating with the outside world is, NO BARS!... No Verizon bars, no AT&T bars...except for one little spot about the size of my butt (sorry, my kids say that), butt really and truly... It's where I'm sitting right now sharing a litle patch of grass with some ants, and the signal is iffy at best.
Yesterday I must have tried to text or call my 14 year old son all day and into the evening... It's his first day at a tennis camp for the week, but NOT, because he also has spotty service... And we kept missing each other with broken messages!
Oh no, it's showering so I'll come back to my spot with the ants in a few minutes...
I'm enjoying the deer, the corn, the lake, and even the occasional ant... so if you're checking into the blog this week and the posting date hasn't changed in a few days I apologize now, and will be back home next week.
Maybe having 'no bars' is the antidote to a busy lifestyle... Maybe I should appreciate and consider this a gift!
p.s. I'm enjoying time with my husband most of all.

Holding My Breath

Artwork by Mari Kloeppel

"When you part from your friend, you grieve not;

For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain..." 

by Khalil Gibran

Today I'm meeting an old friend who I haven't seen in about 8 years.  She contacted me via email after the death of a mutual friend and coworker from many years ago, when we lived and worked in San Francisco. We're meeting for lunch about halfway between our homes... A nervous anticipation has plagued me since last night.  Yes I'm excited to see her... though at first I kept rehearsing what I'll say, what to cover, what not to miss, but then I realized that all that doesn't matter so much.  Just seeing her and the feelings we'll have are more important... now I can breathe again.  In fact breathing will help settle my nerves as I drive the I495 to our lunch destination.

Can't wait!... will let you know the details tomorrow.

"... And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. 

For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed."

Facebook...To Face or not to Face?

I don't do much on Facebook, but once in a while it really stops me in my tracks! Yesterday I finally(after about a month) confirmed a friend from high school. I'm not really sure why I waited so long... but turns out he's a professional artist making beautiful glasswork!!! I had no idea... check out "weinbergglass.com". Anyway, maybe there really are 'black holes' since I didn't receive any comments on my 1st blog. Does anyone care, other than the scientists who live and breathe it. They say that your professional peers are the only ones who do care about your work. Is that enough?

I went to "Back to School Night" last night for my 6th grader and when I mentioned my sons name to a few of his teachers they seemed to draw a blank. Oh well, how long does it take them to know the kids, or is he that forgettable. Maybe that's a good thing at the beginning. Forgettable... No Way... not my son! Was my friend from high school forgettable too? Well we weren't CLOSE friends... but forgettable... not any more. Oh how I love to network, almost as much as cooking.