The Incident.

Every year all the employees of the agency I work for, attend a retreat that takes place in Wakefield, VA, about an hour and a half drive from Norfolk. We usually carpool and this year was no exception. I was not driving, so I enjoyed taking pictures. See Gloria’s car in the rearview mirror. Suddenly … Continue reading →

Good Bye 2009

So let’s see if I can summarize my year in few sentences.First of all I want to say that I am glad there are not too many extremely exciting events to report. How strange that this would have bothered me few years ago, instead now I am so grateful ….So, here it goes. I took my yearly … Continue reading →

November Nor’easter

“Heavy rain and very windy conditions…especially near the coast. While inland winds will barely reach 30 mph, winds along the coast could easily gust between 45-50 mph for several days. Wind and rain are combining with high tide cycles to cause coastal flooding along the Virginia coast. Beach Cam shows the storm in progress”. That … Continue reading →

Pink Link 8

First stop: Los Angeles! I went there in June to visit my daughter. During our shopping travels we visited this small and friendly apothecary-style beauty shop on Sunset Blvd, called Le Pink, decorated with vintage perfume bottles and toys. Jars of penny candy are casually placed amongst high end beauty products, like soaps, lotions, candles, … Continue reading →

At The "Veterinario"

The white fluffy thing trying to hide is Lilo, my mother’s poodle. He’s hiding because he knows is at the vet clinic for his annual check-up. My daughter and I joined this “fun” event while we were visiting my mother in Italy this past summer. My mom convinced Lilo to sit on her lap, but … Continue reading →

Congratulations, Stephanie!

I just had to dedicate a post to my daughter who, beside being the best thing that ever happened to me, is such a great person. I often wonder “how did she become the way she did?”. I just want to brag a little, please allow me. When she was a baby, she never kept … Continue reading →

Caesar [Favorite Foto on Friday 2]

***Usurping The Mouse Pad*** Caesar was a tiny kitty cat when he started usurping the mouse pad….Now he usurps every seat, bed, sofa, in the house.He practically owns the upstairs of the house.

For My Eyes Only

Marina…you are courageous!

I just joined the group named “Be Proud of Who You Are” where you are challenged every week [or how often you wish] to post a compliment to yourself. The title of this post is my first compliment to myself. It was first pointed out to me by friends and then I began telling myself … Continue reading →

Published!

wow-weeee!My “long tail cat” has been published here!!!![It’s a site featuring art on Moleskine notebooks]

Question:

does Marina like Good & Plenty?

Finally!

Today I had a great day. Finally!Everybody was happy at work and we had a good time. I am really tired now, but I don’t feel as bad as the last couple of weeks. I think this is due to the fact that I finally have accepted the fact that I am better off without … Continue reading →

Are You Grateful?

I updated my ongoing list of things I am grateful for

Super Powers

I am a strong believer that everything happens for a reason. I also believe, like the apostle Paul says, that all things work together for good [Romans 8:28]. Obviously, when negative or hurtful things happen, it takes a little bit of time before I can stop and try to find what message I am getting … Continue reading →

Marina is over me too!

“Marina is over me too!” This sentence was copied from a Myspace comment that a friend(?) of mine sent to a friend of hers. I’ll call them friend1 and friend2, respectively.The ironic part is that she, friend1, is the one that announced to me with an email that I was paranoid and therefore [I’m assuming] … Continue reading →

Humongous Caterpillar

This morning, while walking in my backyard, I noticed this colorful object. I thought it was one of Oreo’s rubber toys. But I was sure I never got him a caterpillar.I touch it with a leaf and…IT MOVED!!!!I have never seen such a big caterpillar!!!! Look: it’s bright green with those black spots looking like … Continue reading →

Few More Good Things

Here are 4 items I recently purchased in Italy: a pink Moleskine volant; a Faber Castell Jumbo Pencil: it has a triangular shaped barrel and soft comfort dots for non-slip grip. a triangular three-hole sharpener that snaps shut to keep shavings inside when not in use. It can be used with all pencil shapes, as … Continue reading →

One Year of White Pages

I have a passion for high quality journals and pens. I always had.The origins of this are explained in my profile, if anybody is interested….. While I was in Italy last month, during one of my frequent visit to my favorite cartoleria [=stationary store], while looking for Moleskines, I came across this interesting set by … Continue reading →

Clipping

I really enjoyed these words by Steve Osborne [from one of his blog posts at The Writers Bag ] “Writing is therapy. Socrates claimed that the unexamined life is not worth living. Taking the time to honestly document your soul on paper is a powerful form of self-examination. It heals. It guides. It calms. It … Continue reading →

I Heart Runts

I recently traveled to Italy with my daughter to visit my mother. Shopping was our favorite pastime, there.On one of our shopping trips, I came across a cute little doggie purse that I thought would be perfect as a gift for a little girl I know. After choosing the dog breed, I proceeded to pick … Continue reading →

Laugh Lines

I want my face to be infallibly carved with laugh lines when I’m old & gray, to reveal the happiness I’ve lived to know. As seen here on PostSecrets.