That is what I wish for each of you.
So many possibilities -  just pick a direction and see where it takes you.

I like to laugh. Do you like to laugh?

I thought you probably did. I bet your friends do too.
So why don’t you all join me at:

The Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach
Thursday, November 10, 2011

Dinner is served from 6:30 PM until 8:00 PM
and the show is from 8:00 PM to 9:30 PM
(there is a (2) menu item minimum purchase per person)

The generous folks at The Comedy & Magic Club will let me keep
100% of your ticket price of $15.00 to put towards my fundraising goals with the
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training

To order your tickets, you can make a donation directly on my
fundraising page for $15.00 per ticket
http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/honolulu11/dcetorelli

When paying, please write in the “Comment” section  something like “4 tickets for the show”  so I know that your donation is for tickets and not just a straight donation. Upon notification of this transaction, I will contact you with details of the evening and we can figure out the best way to get your tickets to you.

Thank you so much for your support in my
fundraising efforts for the Honolulu Marathon
with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training –

your donation is greatly appreciated – and what could be better?
You can enjoy a fun evening out, and help save lives all at the same time!

I look forward to laughing with you!
Best Wishes, Donna

I dare you not to fall in love…

Fori Romani

Colosseo

Inside the museum at the Colosseo

It’s a museum – there has to be artifacts, right?

CINGHIALE!

Piazza Mignanelli – directly outside of our apartment

Restaurants beneath our window made for a very colorful
late-night party atmosphere. Combine that with the wild seagulls
that chose to sleep during daylight hours, and you realize
one reason why the Romans probably like their caffe’ so strong.

Creative parking

Really smart parking

Il Vaticano

Surprising they let you take photographs of the paintings –
without a flash though, that is why they came out so dark.

Fontana di Trevi

Piazza del Popolo

Il Vittoriano

Fori Romani

Inside the museum at i Fori Romani

Piazza Navona

Kathmandu Boutique of Santa Monica is an enchanting shop
offering a unique collection of treasures from Nepal.
Whether it is trinkets of silver and semi precious stones,
candles, incense, or ritual objects,
richly colored and embroidered clothing,
or objects of art and intriguing home furnishings,
your could spend hours meandering through the many rooms,
and find countless items to keep you thoroughly delighted.

Owner Reena Gauchan is sure to make you feel welcome and right at home.
She offers a quarterly open house where guests are invited
to feast on exquisite homemade Nepalese delicacies,
while enjoying some really magical music.

Their next open house celebration will be held
June 15, 2011, so don’t miss it!

You won’t find a more pleasurable and inspiring shopping experience!
For those of you that don’t live in the area,
you can visit the online store at www.kathmanduboutique.com

Last year over $1 million dollars was raised
towards ending childhood hunger just by holding bake sales through
Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sales.
If you enjoy baking, roll up your sleeves and get out the flour -
It’s a fun and relatively easy way to help make a difference.

Here are some photos from our event last Saturday.
It was a perfect day, gorgeous weather with a nice breeze,
my kids and their friends came out to assist us,
and we were graced by friendly, generous patrons.

My beautiful mom, Arlene, scoping out the situation
before we open up for business.

Situated between the tee ball field and the dog park,
we thought it was a good idea to bring some tasty treats
for our furrier friends -
Homemade Vegan Peanut Butter Biscuits,
which seemed to be a hit – even with some of our two legged friends -
Go figure…

In honor of earth day, we also had the honor of sharing my brother,
Rick Reynolds’ fabulously fun and enlightening publication -

The EverGreen Twins Activity Book

A wondrous and relevant resource on Ecology and Sustainability,
that ‘teaches to multiple intelligences through
active, visual, hands-on-learning.’

More than an ordinary activity book, it contains:
Clever and challenging puzzles like Eco-duko^tm,
crosswords, word searches and mazes;
Eco-friendly projects and experiments that kids can do themselves;
funny cartoons, and fabulous illustrations designed for coloring

We were able to hand out some of these coloring sheets
to the kids on Saturday, and completely thrilled
with the characters, they got right to work!

A perfect day at the park.
We exceeded our fundraising goals,
and will aim even higher next time.

Thanks to those of you who supported our efforts!

Have a sweet tooth? A dog or two?
Perhaps a couple of kids who like to hang out in the playground?

Come on, you need something really decadent and delicious
to go with that latte. We’ve got you covered.
Join us at Dominguez Park for:

toll house cookies, cranberry orange biscotti, white chocolate cherry drops,
potato chip cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, italian lemon love knots,
chocolate almond biscotti, israeli tahini cookies,  chocolate croissants,
banana bread, double fudge frosted brownies, and more,
plus some extra special biscuits for our furry four-legged friends

It’s breakfast for champions to be sure,
and not only will you satisfy those sugar cravings, but you will be
helping out children in our community.
It’s a win/win, and we like those!
So, we’ll see you there…Best wishes, Donna

Go check out Glass House Studio
for a unique learning experience in the world of glass.
Whether it is creating beads from these alluring sticks of glass,
making paperweight globes, or trying your hand at larger things like vases,
you will sure to come away from this wonderful, fun experience
with a sense of accomplishment, a feeling of meditative peacefulness,
and the impetus to want to learn more.

Star Wars revisited

Smoothing and rounding out the edges

My mama’s bumpy bead – makes me happy…

Kilns

Salvaging blurred shots

Bryan – our very friendly and ever so patient teacher
(sorry to catch you with your mouth open there, Bryan)

Remnants of unfortunate kiln explosions

At the end of our 4-hour bead-making class,
Bryan demonstrated how he makes ornaments

Which shot do you prefer?
I didn’t manipulate the color in the first one,
and the blur from the heat came out pretty cool, I think.
But I really like this black and white version – smokinnnnn’

Fascinating process from beginning to end

Random pile of gorgeous ornaments  -  even got to take one home
Thanks for everything, Bryan!

Greetings!
I am pleased to introduce you to my new business website
at www.akindhand.com

Offering Errand Services, Companionship & Personal Assistance
to residents of the South Bay

I look forward to lending you a kind, helping hand!

Mastering the art of illumination – as I look back at these photos taken at
The Venetian in Las Vegas, I realize that so much of what makes Vegas Vegas
is the exceptional, sometimes restrained yet sometimes
completely over the top use of lighting.
It’s what makes this rendition of St. Marks Square so very happy-making
and surreal. I look forward to experiencing the actual place
to finally see the grand inspiration for all of this.

Great memories of my Mom’s birthday celebration with my sister….
And next time you happen to get there,
make sure you go to the Mirage to see
Cirque du Soleil’s LOVE.
You don’t even need to be a big Beatle’s fan to thoroughly enjoy it
– so different from their other shows –
equally as magical and moving.