At the end of April, I took a short, spontaneous trip up to Seattle to visit with some dear friends from the leadership program I went through in 2004. Fiona was visiting from London for a weekend retreat, so I flew in to stay with her and Lisa for some much needed “beauty” time. These fabulous ladies inspire me to no end.

The last time we were together was at the end of April 2008 in London.  I really love how we continue to keep in touch and support each other. Next on our list is a reunion with all four bellas in Brussels where Tina lives.

I was happy that I also got to squeeze in a lunch with my former Ladies Who Launch leader friends, the uber talented Melody Biringer (who is on the cover of the latest issue of Seattle Woman) and the super savvy Hazel Grace Dircksen of Socialbees. More inspiring women!

Thanks to the support of my girlfriends, I was finally initiated into the world of premium denim! Woohoo! I even had buying a pair of designer jeans listed as a goal/reward, so I can now happily (and fashionably) check that off the list. And I had my first reflexology treatment, too! Very relaxing.

While the trip was much too short, I enjoyed every rejuvenating moment of pampering and connecting and can’t wait to visit with them again!

My pal Mindy Tsonas just unveiled her newly redesigned wishstudio, a gorgeous online space brimming with creative inspiration.

I’m blown away by this beautiful virtual community space that Mindy has created. It’s an inviting place where creative souls can gather and where wishes grow wings. Lovely! In addition to the wishstudio blog (where I’ve been a contributor for the past couple of years), there are now online workshops (I can’t wait for the wishfull*retreat happening at the end of the month), discussion boards, an inspiration lounge, and lots of other yummy goodies. Please stop on by and check it out!

The wishstudio is also featured in the spring 2010 issue of Artful Blogging. It was the perfect thing to snuggle up with while I nursed my cold last week. I loved reading about how the wishstudio got started and Mindy’s dreams for where it’s heading in the future. Here’s to wishes coming true!

Britt Bravo and I joined Tranquilista Kimberly Wilson and her beau Tim Mooney for dinner at Cafe Gratitude in Berkeley. Kimberly was in town doing her west coast book tour for her fabulous new book Tranquilista: Mastering the Art of Enlightened Work and Mindful Play. We gabbed, we laughed a ton, and we brainstormed about our creative women entrepreneur event, all while enjoying a delicious raw meal.

Here’s the darling couple. Tim is such a great guy. It was fun to learn more about all the cool stuff that he’s up to, too.

You can check out Kimberly’s TV segment about financial finesse on The View From the Bay below.

Saturday was my friend Cami Walker’s book launch party for her New York Times bestseller 29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life.  At the event, her spiritual guide Mbali Creazzo, who gave her the 29 gifts prescription, shared some words of wisdom and her mediation teacher Angel Stork led us in a visualization.  Then Cami read us one of her favorite chapters about the gift she gave to her grandmother.

The 29 Gifts Boutique launched at the party, too.  The booth was brimming with so many inspiring goodies including this mandala print by Eileen Bradley of Sacred Circle Art.  The online store will be up soon, so check the 29gifts site for more info.

Here’s my sweet friend Kate Prentiss who designed many of the darling gifts in the boutique including the handmade ceramic birds and a gorgeous giving journal where you can document your daily gives.

It was so great to see Cami and catch up with good friends.  And most of all, it was very uplifting to see the amazing, positive impact of this worldwide giving movement that has now reached 38 countries and nearly 7,000 givers!

P.S. – You can see more of my photos from the event here.

This morning my friend Cami Walker, author of the new book 29 Gifts, was interviewed on the Today Show.  Her story about how a month of giving changed her life is super inspiring, as is her fabulous book which I finished reading last week.

I participated in her 29-Day Giving Challenge last spring and got a lot out of it.  It was fun to find creative ways to give gifts of all kinds (from flowers to feedback) and more importantly to be part of this positive movement.  If you haven’t joined yet, why not give it a try?  It could be a great challenge/structure for doing NaBloPoMo, which starts in November.

For those of you in San Francisco, Cami is hosting a book launch party on Saturday, November 14th. Hope to see you there!

On Sunday, I enjoyed book club with my dear friends.  We should probably call it food club, though, since the incredible meals tend to overshadow the book discussion.  And with delicious food like this, who could blame us?!

Our book selection this time was the Guersney Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  I enjoyed the book and how it unfolded over correspondence.

Ahh, but enough talk of the book and on to the food… For appetizers, Christina made a fancy version of Scottish eggs (a quail egg rolled in chicken sausage and breadcrumbs and then fried to a yummy crisp).  They were amazing!!

Our main dish was this scrumptiously rich dover sole stuffed with crab and shrimp.

And here’s the ultra-talented chef, Christina!  Thank you, Christina for working your culinary magic.  I love getting to hang out with the book club ladies!  I’m guaranteed good laughs, great food and a grand old time.

Following a brilliant night of creative visions at the Dream Box workshop, I had another fantastic day in D.C.  I took my second yoga class at Tranquil Space and then strolled around Dupont Circle enjoying the sunshine and soaking up the local neighborhood character.

That afternoon I met up again with creative beauties Ana, Lauren and Chai to check out the Crafty Bastards art fair.  We had a great time admiring all of the amazing handcrafted goodies.  I picked up a cute felt necklace by Jenny Wren for myself (I’m wearing in the photo below).  I also loved seeing these items: a super cool chain necklace laden with little handbound books from The Black Spot Books and Rania Hassan’s unique paintings that incorporated 3-D knitted pieces – so clever!

In the evening I had the chance to meet up with the lovely Ananda, another creative beauty.  We enjoyed a great conversation and yummy dinner at one of Ananada’s favorite local spots, Teaism. I felt so blessed getting to connect with so many of my online blogging friends in-person during this trip!

Then on Sunday I headed to Georgetown for the Creativity in Business Conference to lead my Right-Brain Business Plan breakout session and commune with other creative spirits.  What an awesome trip.  I look forward to returning to the capital city again for more fun, creative adventures.

What a treat it was to visit Leah in Boston this past weekend.  She’s such a sweetie!  Not only did I have a blast co-leading our Creative Play workshop with her, I really enjoyed just hanging out, meeting her great hubby and her cute kitties and getting the local’s tour of the city.

On Friday, we walked around Newbury Street.  I wanted to check out OAK which had lots of cute handmade goods.  We also stopped into the Fluevog store and Leah scored some super awesome turquoise shoes!  So cute!  I tried on a bunch of pairs, but alas, the boots I wanted didn’t quite work out for me.  I will continue coveting .

We also went to the art store and I asked Leah to give me some expert advice on supplies.  I picked up a quill and some ink to play with — fun!

One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to see Leah’s art up close and personal.  If you think her paintings look beautiful on her website, you’d be blown away at how gorgeous the colors, layers and textures are in-person.  I spent so much time just poring over all her amazing art!  I knew I wanted to buy something, but it was really hard to choose.  I ended up getting the cool mixed media piece above called Blackbird Forest.  It feels so quiet and serene to me and I love that she used some Asian newsprint for the background.  It fits in nicely in my dining room.

Leah surprised me with this darling “yoga Jenn” painting.  I absolutely love it!  And it’s perfect on the altar in my yoga/meditation room.

After seeing several cuddling cat photos on Leah’s blog throughout the years, I enjoyed finally getting to meet the four meows.  Tabbers is certainly a character!  Even though I’m allergic to cats, I couldn’t resist petting him especially when he would just come and plop himself on my lap.

Sadie snuggled up with me for a bit on the couch when Leah and I watched Glee.

Here’s Emma hiding away in an empty moving box.  Shy Sasha remained elusive during the kitty photo shoot.

And can you believe this gorgeous pond is within walking distance of Leah’s beautiful new house?! A hike through the woods on Sunday was the perfect end to a perfect trip.  Thanks Leah for being the hostess with the mostess!  I look forward to your visit out here when we bring Creative Play to the Bay Area — woohoo!

I had so much fun in Boston this past weekend visiting with Leah Piken Kolidas.  Our Creative Play workshop on Saturday was a blast and it was such a treat to finally meet so many creative souls and online friends in-person.

Carolyn Rubenstein of A Beautiful Ripple Effect and her co-worker Whitney got crafty.  I was so happy to have Carolyn sign my copy of her new book Perseverance.

I met Kerry and Dayna on Facebook through my Right-Brain Business Plan page and was thrilled to hear that they were coming!

Creative goddesses Julie and Margaret collaged up a storm.

Leah’s friend from high school, Judean, joined in the fun, too!

There’s Mindy Tsonas of Wish Studio in the gray next to Janet O’Connor of Dolci.  Mindy shared a bit about Saturday here.

After the workshop, Mindy, Melba McMullin (who braved a hellish commute from Cape Cod), Leah and I did a road trip up to New Hampshire to catch the Squam art fair.  I’ll share more about that exciting adventure later!

Here are the pieces that I put together.  We used small cards to encourage quick collaging.  Since we gave permission to be messy and silly and to make bad art, I found it so much easier to make some wacky things that I probably normally wouldn’t do.  It didn’t need to make sense or look good, but boy did some of my images make me laugh!

I have much more to share about my trip, so stay tuned.

The other weekend Brian and I met up with the fabulous Carla White and her husband Colin while they were visiting the West Coast.  They’re such a fun and adventurous couple.  What a treat to finally meet Carla in person.  Our hubbies had lots of interesting things in common, too!

One of the things I love about the blogging world is connecting with so many cool, creative people online, in person and through snail mail.

In a couple of weeks I’ll get to play with Leah Piken Kolidas in Boston and some of my other blogging friends at our Creative Play workshop.  I’m really looking forward to finally getting to meet everyone in real life!

Recently, Hope Wallace of Paper Relics sent me some delightful goodies in the mail.  I adore the quote that she included and admire how her style permeates all that she does.  Both Hope and Carla participated in Susannah Conway’s Unravelling e-course and loved it.  I’m excited that I made it in to course that starts later on this month (it sold out in record time!) and know I’ll meet more creative souls in the Unravelling community.

Monica of Creative Beast sent me this darling card which was handmade by her late grandmother.  How precious is that?!  I love the color and the intricate detail.  Monica’s note was so sweet, too.

If you’re looking for more creative connection, join Leah, Connie and me on Connie’s Creative Juicy Life podcast tomorrow at 3pm PT where we’ll be chatting it up about Creative Play!