BlueViews

Bridal shower pictures from Pamela…

http://share.shutterfly.com/view/flashShareSlideshow.jsp?sid=0AatGTRm4bNmLtA

Jennifer posted some snapshots from the bridal shower as well…

http://share.shutterfly.com/view/flashShareSlideshow.jsp?sid=0AasWTFszat2LJCg

and the dinner reception…

http://share.shutterfly.com/view/flashShareSlideshow.jsp?sid=0AasWTFszat2LKXA

Willie took some great candids at the reception too…

http://share.shutterfly.com/view/flashShareSlideshow.jsp?sid=0BaNHLVu3ZMnLA

We have a one-week, one-bedroom timeshare reservation for NYE at the Playa del Sol Costa Sur resort in Puerto Vallarta with a Thursday check-in on 12/27/07 that we aren’t going to use. If you know of anyone who may be interested in heading to Jalisco, Mexico for the holidays, please feel free to have them contact us to make an offer for the room. Here are some websites with more info about the place:

http://www.playadelsolpv.com/costasur/

http://www.intervalworld.com/web/cs?a=1503&resortCode=CVA&parentResortCode=CVV

http://slc.vriresorts.com/resorts/resort.php?resort=85&template=resort

Namaste

I’m posting pics from my Honolulu visit to see my sister Marilyn at:

http://blog.myspace.com/jacqueline_blue

It’s a quick peek at some of the fun times in paradise!  Enjoy!  Namaste  : )

[A is for age:] 33 for another month… go Libras!

[B is for beer of choice:] Guinness by far

[C is for career:] The title on the card either says "Project Manager, Interior Design" or "Renaissance Diva" depending on what mood I’m in and when you see me  ; )~

[D is for favorite Drink:] Water with lemon

[E is for essential item you use everyday:] SmartPhone 8125

[F is for favorite song at the moment:] Immortal, Invisible

[G is for favorite games:] Loving up everyone in the Universal Family and playing life full out

[H is for hometown:] Um… Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Arcadia, San Diego, Phoenix… we moved so much I can’t really pick just one.

[I is for instruments you play:] Voice now; piano, flute, piccolo, guitar, tambo then.

[J is for favorite juice?:] Cranberry

[K is for kids?:] Not yet but one of these days, God willing.  I adore children and the beautiful reflections they are of love.

[L is for last kiss?:] Gypsy licked my face tonight because I forgot to wear flip flops, so she couldn’t lick my toes.

[M is for marriage:] Never been… was asked once, but we were so young and silly and drunk… I said, "Ask me again next year."  He couldn’t and I was glad because I couldn’t accept.

[N is for name of your best friend(s):] Divas, you know who you are!

[O is for overnight hospital stays:] I can’t recall ever having to stay overnight in the hospital for my own condition, only as moral support for friends or family in ER.

[P is for phobias:] I’m not afraid of much anymore… perhaps situations where people are not clear that they’re loved and appreciated.  That really freaks me out  : )

[Q is for quote:] Together making a difference

[R is for biggest regret:] I have lost contact with Juan Felipe Lagos Lucero.  If anybody knows where that guy is nowadays, give me a holler!

[S is for self confidence:] Diva Blue.  Enough said.

[T is for time you wake up:] Usually between 5-6

[U is for underwear:] Comfort and function without the frills

[V is for vegetable you love:] I’ll eat them all.

[W is for worst habit:] Scratching bug bites until they bleed and scab

[X is for x-rays you've had:] I swore I broke my baby toe last month, but it was just stubbed super bad and not fractured.  It’s still sore!

[Y is for yummy food you make:] I order extremely well and make great restaurant suggestions.

[Z is for zodiac sign:] Libra… back to A…

I have been at RA for Nicky’s Week pretty much until close every night.  This morning I got up after about 3 hours sleep to haul around town running errands before driving to Tucson.  My sister recently graduated from U of A and needed help moving out of her apartment. 

We packed and stuffed my dad’s SUV to the brim… but she’ll have to make a return trip next weekend because all of it wouldn’t fit!  Have you seen that industrial size shoe horn lately?!  We could’ve used one.  Or a vacuum pack plastic wrap machine like they do at the airport for international flights.  With what we could get in there, we unloaded it all at my parents’ house.

Everybody cleaned up and hopped back in the car.  Starving, we beelined up to RA Kierland for dinner.  Lots of pork gyoza, tootsy maki, edamame and Red Bull later, we were stuffed and quickly succumbing into food coma.  We tried to stay for a little while longer.  The raffle drawing is at 10 PM.  Amy Sun and Nicky’s family were supposed to be arriving soon… but we didn’t hold out.  Not even the Red Bull could give us wings.

We’re already all at home in our jammies.  I’m done.  I remember a conversation once where a girl said to me, "I am the possibility of living life to the fullest, until I’m all used up."  This week has been very full.  I have been so pleased with the turn out.  Tonight I’m treating myself to an early finish and a good night’s rest.  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…  Namaste 

There’s a saying that giving is a gift in itself to the giver.  The part of the gracious act that swells the heart and moves the soul feels so miraculously good that it’s better than any manufactured drug or self-serving vice. 

I am halfway through Nicky’s Week and in bliss.  Tonight at RA Kierland the table next to us started up a conversation as we were deciding which raffle ticket package to get to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  As "coincidence" would have it, they were Nicky’s family!  Last year when I helped promote the fundraiser for children’s cancer research, I had exchanged numerous emails with Nicky’s mom.  Every time we were supposed to be at the same location, our paths didn’t cross and I never met her in person.  It was so special to finally meet her, Nicky’s dad and little brother.  There is something extremely magical about shaking hands and putting a smile and voice with the names that I know so well.

I’m not sure if I can adequately express how one child’s light and passing can make such an opening in the world’s awareness.  Yesterday at RA Tempe we had a discussion about how stories of greatness are historically magnified after a person’s death…  Mozart, da Vinci, Jesus.  During life, they were "just people" who sometimes were ignored, persecuted, celebrated, misunderstood, loved, missed.  Nicky was a bright and sweet kid who kept a positive attitude despite the illness that overtook his physical body.  In honor of that beautiful spirit, hundreds and thousands of people nationwide will eat, drink, be merry, and share time with friends this week at RA Sushi to raise money for the hospital and other kids going through the same experience.  Would all of them have known that 12,500 kids are diagnosed with cancer every year and the incredible programs that St. Jude provides without Nicky’s Week?!

I am honored to be one piece of that One community.  At happy hour tonight I got a phone call with an update that a dear friend is finishing up his sixth round of chemo.  With prayers and hope, in another couple weeks if all goes as planned he may be given the blessed distinction of "in remission" as his diagnosis.  I almost cried.  This is the why…  why I would be ringleader at a different RA location every night this week to promote the event.  And how small it seems that all we have to do to help is go to lunch and/or dinner, order particular items on the menu, so that 100% of our tabs can be donated to the hospital. 

An insignificant cost… in comparison with how happy it makes me feel to be a part of it.  Namaste 

It’s time once again for the infamous Kierland RA "Wednesday 100"… remember what a great time we had last year?! And it was all for the kids!!!

Just order the following items on the menu and 100% goes to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital:

- Tootsie rolls

- Pork gyoza (potstickers)

- Edamame

- SKYY vodka drinks

- Red Bull

- FIJI water

Come on out to play this week at

- Tuesday Tempe
- Wednesday Kierland
- Thursday Old Town Scottsdale
- Friday Ahwatukee
- Saturday Tucson

I’ll see you there!!! Namaste

Read Jacqueline’s story on the Power of Service in
Go to the Amazon page and read the reviews… the book includes stories of several people who grew through strengths from being laid off. 

I was touched by Kitty during this time and shared my lessons learned while unemployed.

Buy the book now!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 19, 2006

CONTACT: AMY SUN, 480-222-0191

RA SUSHI RAISES FUNDS FOR ST. JUDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
Order RA’s signature tootsy maki, edamame, pork gyoza or selected beverages
to support the hospital May 28-June 3

PHOENIX – RA Sushi is launching its second annual fundraiser this month with a weeklong program called “Nicky’s Week,” which benefits the internationally recognized St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

RA will donate 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of tootsy maki, edamame, pork gyoza, FIJI Water, Red Bull and selected beverages to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  Opportunity drawing prizes will also be available at each location throughout the week as part of the Nicky’s Week Fundraiser.  Nicky’s Week will culminate on June 3 with a special evening when the prize winners will be announced.

The fundraiser was developed in memory of longtime St. Jude patient Nicholas “Nicky” Mailliard who died February 2005 after a long battle with brain cancer. Nephew of one of RA’s founders, Rich Howland, Nicky held a special place in the hearts of RA associates throughout the organization. RA created this benefit in honor of Nicky and as a way to further promote the exceptional attention and support provided to all families with children receiving care at St. Jude, including many families from Arizona.

“St. Jude played a critical role during Nicky’s illness by providing state-of-the-art care and by providing important information to our family. I want to help ensure that the programs at St. Jude remain available to any family that is forced to deal with the extreme heartache associated with the serious illness of a child,” said Rich Howland, one of the founding partners of RA Sushi Bar Restaurant.

RA hopes to raise $100,000 for the national children’s hospital, which will help pay for the development of treatment and cures for such diseases such as brain tumors, leukemia, childhood HIV, and other life threatening illnesses in children.  All ten RA Sushi Restaurants, including the four Valley locations (Old Town Scottsdale, North Scottsdale, Tempe and Ahwatukee) will be working to raise the dollars for the restaurant’s second companywide benefit.

The public will be notified about the fundraiser via advertising, the Internet and through in-restaurant announcements. Anyone wishing to donate may simply order the menu items associated with the benefit. Information about personal donations will be available at each location as well.

Guests will be able to purchase opportunity drawing prizes for a variety of gifts, gift certificates, event tickets and St. Jude merchandise throughout the week.  The weeklong fundraiser will culminate on Saturday, June 3 with a special “Nicky’s Week” dining event, including the announcement of the prize winners at 10 p.m.

About RA Sushi
RA Sushi is best known for successfully combining distinctive sushi with a trendy, hip atmosphere. A destination for the young and chic, as well as serious sushi connoisseurs, Phoenicians have been long time fans of RA’s fresh sushi sliced to order along with outstanding Japanese fusion cuisine in a fun, lively environment. RA has four restaurants in the Valley, as well as locations in Tucson, Las Vegas, Chicago, San Diego, Houston and Palm Beach Gardens. For more information on the RA restaurant locations visit www.rasushi.com.

About St. Jude
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Founded by late entertainer Danny Thomas and based in Memphis, Tenn., St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world. St. Jude treats children from Arizona, across the United States and around the world at no cost to their families. For more information about St. Jude, please visit www.stjude.org.