Well, LAA-TEE-DAH! (Dec '06)

I received a call earlier in the year to shoot an event for Jenny Craig Int'l. This is the second event I've been asked to do for the company - and wow, what an honor! Until I arrived at this event I had no idea it was going to be such a production. And "production" it was.... film crew, writers and photographers from the TV show "Extra! Extra!" AND "InTouch" magazine were on hand!!! And as the "official photographer" of the event I had an all access pass to everything - and the inside scoop on the surprise star performance! This event was held at the Disney Grand Californian Hotel & Spa - "Where Magic Meets Grandeur". (Guest star? American Idol Season 2 Finalist - Kimberley Locke!!!)

This annual event hosted by Jenny Craig Int'l honors the top franchise owners, franchises and sales personnel. Wow... this event left me speechless! Check out the pics of what each guest received at their tables...

Child's Perspective (Dec '06)

This giddy child has the look of someone getting ready to experience DISNEYLAND for the first time!

And this is what it looks like from a child's perspective...

MERRY. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! (Dec '06)

It's a good thing… to see CHRIST back in Christmas! It really truly is. It makes me supercalifragilisticexpialidocious-ly happy to see on TV commercials that stores like Wal-Mart, Target, etc have passed over the politically correct propulsion to say "Happy Holidays" in place of "Merry Christmas". To my joy Target added the words "Merry Christmas" to their TV commercial – and the other day and I just about fell over! We have one of those fancy digital video recorders and I practically jumped out of my chair and yelled at my husband to Rewind the commercial so I could make sure I truly did see the words "MERRY CHRISTMAS" across the bottom of the TV screen. We pressed Pause at the right moment and sat there… just a bit stunned.

Welcome Christ – you've been welcomed back into the Holiday season! And once again I will still heartily say to retail clerks and Starbucks baristas "MERRY CHRISTMAS" … and wait for their response. Nine times out of ten this is what happens next – they take a quick peripheral-vision inventory of where their manager is and then say semi-quietly "Merry Christmas" in response. That's OK – I don't expect them to say it as heartily as I did – but just to hear those words gives me hope…. that truly Christ IS welcome in this season.

Even if it's to simply tug at our hearts to remind us that Christmas isn't all about buying gifts for people and "keeping up with the Jones' " – but more importantly a season of peace and joy and hope. This season of the year, whether or not your are a person of faith, serves to remind us that our world is bigger than our hour-long round-trip commute to work. At this time of year our hearts are open a bit more… our giving nature kicks in… and inevitably we are just a bit more human… even for a day. Baby steps…