I was reaching for my gratitude journal, but decided to write a blog instead. It’s been an exciting week or so and I felt the need to document things here.

Read Between The Wines Book Event

The books in color are covers I created!

This weekend the publisher I work with had a book event in Canonsburg, PA that paired wine with the opportunity to meet and buy our books! Most of the authors’ book covers were created by yours truly. I felt like it was my own little art gallery! It was wonderful connecting with them again. It was fun talking to visitors about my journal and how proud I am to have been able to work with the authors in the room.

Be sure to stop by my book portfolio!

And check out Aurora Corialis Publishing!

Persistence Journal News:

After months of persistence working with Niagara Parks Commission - on April 18th, my journals arrived at a warehouse a few miles from the brink of Niagara Falls, Canada. As of May 1st those books are on the shelves of 4 gift shops throughout the park in the immediate vicinity of the Falls.

I sold 23 journals at the Read Between the Wines Event - I’m hoping this bodes well for my Niagara Parks venture!

Pixie Dust Alert!

If you know me or have read my previous blogs, I talk about pixie dust moments in my life. They appeared and gained that name during my cancer treatment in 2021, and they continue to show up in my life. On Sunday - I was cleaning out that pile of “I don’t know whether to throw this out” papers and came across a doctor’s appointment printout that somehow ended up in there. The appointment was for a follow up oncology appointment THE NEXT DAY. Had I not decided to go through this pile that had been building up for 3 months, I would have missed the appointment!

So my husband and I go to this appointment, and things get confusing real fast because there are no less than three Karens in the waiting room. Not “ask for the manager” Karens… ACTUAL KARENS. We all had to get blood tests and seeing doctors or getting treatments, so we had to be carefully herded in and out. We would shout out “WHICH ONE?!?!” each time a nurse came out to collect a Karen. It certainly entertained everyone in the oncology waiting room.

Between these ins and outs, I was sitting underneath the TV screen in there. Instead of some TV show, they usually have an “oldies” music choice station on. I would often find comfort in songs coming up from The Monkees or the Everly Brothers or other meaningful artist. Today, I was surprised to hear more of an “elevator music” vibe going on in the very full waiting room. So as I chatted with my husband, I realize I knew the song playing directly over my head, but I couldn’t place it.

I stood up and saw the song name: “Something Sort of Grandish”. If you know what that is… I would be shocked. I knew exactly what it was. That is a little-known song from a little-known and little-appreciated musical called “Finian’s Rainbow”. It starred an aging Fred Astaire and Petula Clark as his daughter. It’s a fantasy musical about a leprechaun and his pot of gold that could be found - you guessed it - at the end of the rainbow.

Strangely enough - this deep cut song is sung by Petula Clark and Og, the leprechaun. Strangely enough - I’ve actually seen Petula Clark live on stage in the musical “Blood Brothers” when it came to Pittsburgh. Strangely enough - my journal features a rainbow in the landscape of the photo of Niagara Falls.

But, of course there’s nothing strange about it - it was pixie dust yet again. I’m feeling much more than “grandish” about all of this. I’m feeling over “that old devil moon” about it. I’m looking forward to finding that pot of gold in the gift shops of Niagara Parks as my journal sells as well as it did at that book event!

**So, is Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust done yet?**

Well, no. Yes, the persistence journal was supposed to help me with that. My persistence got misdirected toward getting it into the Niagara Falls gift shops. I DID start using one of my journals with a list of all the things I wanted to achieve so I could work through them through the pages… but I think I accidentally gave it as a gift or sold it. YES, I sold my hopes and dreams. If you have them, let me know.

That being said - in fall of 2021 I got inspired to create another journal, and it’s almost done! I took this photo at a place called Dufferin Islands just upriver from the brink of the Falls a number of years ago and I thought it would be perfect for another journal. Again the beauty aspect came in. As I thought about it, I wrote….

Autumn is a time when leaves are shed from trees in preparation for the coming winter. If trees retained their leaves, the heavy snow would break off their branches.

Sometimes you have to let things go to move forward. Letting go puts you on the path to thriving, Autumn is a beautiful reminder of that idea. Letting go can be a beautiful process.

Letting go seems at odds with persistence. But sometimes you have to let go of what does not serve you and the things you want in life. They are companion journals and I look forward to finishing this one up soon. Then maybe I can let go of journals for a little while and get back to writing my book!

Thank you for reading!

Be sure to check out my journal on amazon - and on the shelves of the Niagara Parks Gift Shops at Table Rock Centre, Victoria Place, Marketplace and the Power Station!