LIVING NOW BOOK AWARD 2011 -

GOLD MEDAL

& Our Trip to New York City!

Mirror Makeovers Traveling Cancer Book has been very busy traveling for signatures in Italy and Peru and those stories will be up soon.

Even though it did not get to travel with me on this adventure, it was so amazing I still wanted to share!

This book has lead me to several wonderful adventures in this past year; new friends, new projects, new non-profits and the public speaking ability that I was not sure I had until now. I have been able to give back and tell my story in the hopes of helping others, but this last adventure was truly amazing and one I will never forget!

I was made aware that my book was up for an award back in the beginning of the year and that I would find out in April. The award ceremony would be held in New York City in May and jokingly I told my Mom that if I won this award she would have to go with me to the City. Well, low and behold…I WON and not just won but won a GOLD Medal!! How exciting!! The title of the award is Living Now Book Award 2011 honoring books for better living!! And in all our excitement my Mom did decide to go with me!! And to make this an even better trip was that two of my good friends John and his partner Dennis live in NY now and we got to stay with them! What more could a gal ask for: an award, a trip with my Mom (who is an inch shy of 80), and two wonderful friends to stay with! Life really is good!

Well us gals took off for our trip and headed to the Big Apple the last weekend of May. John and Dennis met us at JFK and off we were on our NY adventure! My Mom has not been to the city since she was a child, so it was like being there for the first time for her so we wanted her to see the sites! John and Dennis being the best tour guides you could ask for spent their weekend painting the town with us. If things could not get any better, John’s parents who we had met on their visits to California when John and Dennis lived here, came to the City for the day from Pennsylvania to surprise us! And what a fabulous surprise! We ate at Lansky’s Deli and then spent the day at the park, it was COLD, but amazing! All this and the awards ceremony was still to come.

On Monday, mom and I caught up on some rest and got ready for the ceremony which was held at The Providence, this was originally a church and then a recording studio for the likes of Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix and several others. The ceremony was in the late afternoon in order to have everyone ready for Book Expo America which took place the following day.

After getting ready we took a taxi ride to The Providence and what a fun afternoon. The awards ceremony was wonderful! I met other interesting authors, met several people I had spoken with only through email but had not meet in person and I won a gold medal! The medal is just beautiful and I am humbled by experiencing such an honor for a book that I created to help others! Just take a look below!  After the awards, John and Dennis met us and we celebrated at the Marriott Marquis, not only my award but John’s new full time job ! What fun! I wish it was vacation and award winning all the time!!

So after such a fabulous weekend in the City, my Mom wanted to head over to Niagara Falls, she had never been and since we were in the state, why not?  So we took the train from Penn Station to beautiful Niagara Falls! It was wonderful! Life is so amazing if you stop to just enjoy it! I am so blessed to have my Mom with me and even more blessed that she is almost 80 and well enough to travel and have fun! And such wonderful friends who just pampered both of us but especially Mom on her big trip! John and Dennis are two of the best people I know and I miss them terribly here in California, but am so happy that modern day travel can make it so easy for us to travel all the way across the states to visit! For those of you who might not remember, John helped with the video and has supported the book and me for as long as I have known him, just truly an amazing friend!

So our journey to the Big Apple was a huge success but not because of the award although I am still so grateful, humbled and truly amazed at the honor, but because I spent some amazing time with a wonderful supportive mother and two of my best friends!

Again….Life REALLY is good!!

Here is one of my favorite photos of Mom and I at the Falls! What a trouper she is!!

Stay posted as my next blog will tell you all about the FORCE Conference – Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered in Orlando, Florida and my first speaking session at a Conference!