on being 28.

i meant to post this a while back, but tomorrow became 4 days, 9 days and now, 2 weeks later... but here it is: a recount of experiences at age 28.
this past year was more than i could've imagined, most of it, normals of daily life-living sprinkled with bursts of inspiration and the deepest heart stirrings this girl could've asked for.

in some sort of liz-brain logical order…these are the things i want to remember about year 28.

• started noticing a lot more white hairs. stopped pulling them out (except on days i feel ocd), and haven't managed to fully accept them yet. :\
• i joined a dance troupe. learning choreography kicks my ass --hard, but it feels great to be challenged in a new way
• backpacked in the sierras for 7 gloriously hard days; i learned to receive help.
• became a vegetarian
• nine months later, began an intense love affair with all sorts of meat. (funny how things work out.)
• had the most intense creative flow that kept me up for 36 hours
• shared my soul at TEDActive
• met a magnetically charming man
• had a profoundly sad ending with that magnetically charming man
• met a couple, on a boat, on the way to a desert island in puerto rico; spent a few unforgettable days with them eating the whitey-white bread, canned squeeze cheese, and faux spray butter sandwiches and skinny dipping under the moon
• my dad was diagnosed with 4 life threatening aneurysms. he decided not to get surgery. he's still alive.
• 2nd year of a new tradition of barrel tasting in sonoma
• 2nd year of a new tradition of volunteering at western states
• a dream comes true: private show with gregory alan isakov
• yosemite. that last look.
• had my first official break up with a friend
• a joy parade in east palo alto, inspired by bob goff
• raced in the inaugural born to run ultra; ran 10 miles
• beloved point reyes with old friends - steph, seiwei, jeff, nathan
• 7 days in my beloved state, montana
• 3 of 4 weekends, spent bike camping
• crossfit skeptic turned evangelist
• battled injury after injury; running came to a significant halt
• grew a wart; burned off the wart
• annette births abby joy.
• spontaneous road trip to arcata, ca in a sub24o trip
• joined a small group at my church, to experience deeper community
• had my first (and probably last) experience of harbin hot springs. 
• finally went to ashland, oregon: one of my heart's callings
• finally went to chicago, illinois: another one of my heart's callings
• finally went to santa barbara: one of my local destinations this year, to visit yon
• made a lot of new friends: emily, jenny, mary, lisa, billy, matt, samuel, kristen, jen, cole, janet, isaac...
• started the gratitude jar and it's shown me that i am most frequently grateful for people
• gave a commencement speech at art institute sf
• started dreaming up how/when i can do BOSS 28-day survival school
• started dreaming about how/when/where i might be able to bike tour for an extended time
• allowed my heart to get stirred by someone i only experienced through the typed letters on my screen. which made meeting in person, extraordinary.
• i cried in front of my boss
• applied for the amazing race with that same boss; got rejected; and did it again, but better.

29 | surprise!!!!

i am generally pretty low key about my birthday. (well, maybe except for my sweet 16th when i had fliers made, a dj, and a bunch of people - many whom i barely knew - at my house for a full on dance party. but that was another life ago.) this year, i had planned on going to work, having a quiet dinner with heather, and going to rehearsal. easy peasy. 

in fact, i woke up feeling kinda sick and wondered if i should work from home that day. but my manager, richard, had put a hold on my calendar from 10-2pm to have a generative conversation about ux/ui design for a website. i was really looking forward to that meeting, so got myself together and showed up. 

10am rolls around and i don't know where richard is. i head over to the zamzee office and receive a spontaneous happy birthday song, and find out that richard's not there. in fact, lance (who was also supposed to be part of this meeting) says, "i don't have that on my calendar, and neither does richard." my face contorts. i'm confused. 

i head back to hopelab, and richard rolls over to my cube and asks me to hold put until 11 when he'd be done with his meeting. "well, chris and i were going to get tea...is it okay that i come back by 11?" richard's face stalls and he hesitantly says, "uh yeah, i think that'd be fine." i'm confused.

i go to chris' office to say that i only have about 30 minutes to grab some tea, but ask if he'd still like to. he doesn't really respond. hahahaha. he wishes me happy birthday and hands me a gift. i open it and LOVE it. the gift is so him -- oozing thoughtfulness and creativity!  anyway, while i'm sitting there, heather shows up holding up a large sign that says, "are you thankful for lizzy? of course you are!" (that has georgia mae's beautiful artwork all over it!) while shouting those words and blowing a birthday horn. oh! and pulling a garden wagon with a tree in it!!

shock. 

continued shock...

anyway, my friends/colleagues were encouraged to write something they're thankful for about me on clear ornaments with a white sharpie, and then to hang it on my new tree! (which, i might add is a very resilient tree - a characteristic that heather heeded to mention several times, perhaps subconsciously since i managed to kill a japanese maple earlier this year.) eep. :\

after all of the office shenanigans, heather whisked me away to get a pedicure and to eat lunch. we walked around downtown redwood city with happy birthday crowns on our heads, while a small yellow cloud of balloons followed every step. hehe, we also brought joy to people who cared to stare. :-) 

the day was sheer delight! every part of my birthday was perfect - spontaneous, unexpected, meaningful, fun!, & quite peaceful. the gift of being surrounded by people i love and who love me, is better than anything i could've hope for.

i am so grateful for this amazing life i've been given. truly, i have been experiencing a transcendent joy, bringing me right into the heart of Love. 

thank you everyone. 

in particular, thank you richard for using your boss rights to place a fake 4-hour meeting in my calendar & thinking quickly on your feet! ;-) and thank you heather for knowing me so well, for loving me so well. i can't imagine my life without your friendship. 

white & fuzzy

guess who has a new rug in her new cube?

i'm in the process of igloo-izing my very light tan cube. 
simplify, simplify, simplify
de-clutter

& wear green crocs!

the amazing race | the submission

one of my goals this year was to apply for the amazing race. hahahahaahah. (that was a genuine laugh, in case you were wondering if it was real.) i'm laughing because this goal is pretty stankin' random, and i don't think i would've thought of it if i didn't have some special people in my life i could imagine doing it with. i'm feeling like a lucky girl right now. 

when i mentioned it to my boss richard earlier this year, we both realized quickly that we should apply together. well, the deadline for the application sprung up on us two days before it was due (july 15), so we scrambled to put something together. for a moment, i was worried that we wouldn't be able to meet up to make a video because richard was in montana, but we coordinated meeting up at sfo on deadline day (without a panda suit, sorry).

so here's everything we submitted for season 20 of the amazing race: (my photo, his photo, our photo, a 70 word bio, and a 3-minute video)

team bio: Richard is Liz's boss. They’re a dynamic duo defined by good communication, brilliant brainstorming, and serious fun. A once polite, professional relationship has grown into authentic friendship. Still, Richard gets micromanagy under stress, and Liz is queen of at-the-deadline delivery. They’re sometimes prone to "magical thinking" and are working on being more practical. They share a passion for travel, adventure, and courageous experimentation. They try, fail, and get back up!

team video:

submitted!

if we don't hear back by august 15th, then it means we didn't make the first cut. call me optimistic, but i think we have a really good chance because i'm pretty sure the show has never had a boss/employee team of color, and definitely not one who have won. we're a unique blend.  just sayin.  ;-) 

friday morning thots 2.18.11

my manager sent me a simple and encouraging note this morning, and it spoke directly to this part of my mind that tends to overcomplicate things. thank you richard.

"Remember, your whole talk is about authenticity. The beauty there is that you don't need to overthink it - present what's real for you, and you've fulfilled your promise! Enjoy the journey."

:)

thursday morning meeting.

work is not just work for me.

being a part of hopelab for the past 1 year+9 months has been one of the most redemptive experiences i've had to date. there are some core aspects of the culture that breathe life into me. seriously.

today, i was inspired.
(ha ha, no surprise right? well, wrong. it was particularly striking because lately i haven't been inspired in the ways i used to be, but that's another story).

here's the thing....
i wasn't inspired by anything unusual or what you might think would be typically "inspiring."
i was struck by something i've observed many times before* at hopelab; it was our values in action, specifically our value for continual learning & growth.

how?
these things were happening:

this is a sticky note i took during the meeting.
as i saw the above take place, i jotted it down because i wanted to remember how effective it was -- not just for the workplace, but when applied to the rest of the areas in my life and relationships.

learning & growth doesn't just happen. it takes work - hard work.
today, i learned that unearthing assumptions, testing them, clarifying my thinking and being able to articulate them are crucial to success.** And, it's vital to do these things without shame or blame, in a judgement-free and supportive space.

this is where it's hard work (for me at least).
there's a critic in my voice that likes to tell me that i messed up. that i suck. that i blah blah blah blah blah. so, creating that judgement-free space in my head is quite possibly one of the most difficult things for me to do. to see it played out so naturally during a normal 10am meeting, made it real in a way i hadn't expected; and i'm enlightened to have experienced it. this is my reality!

work is not just work for me.
it's a playground of illuminations. fun. relationships. productivity. creativity. and continual learning & growth. how cool! :)


--- --- ---
*those are the truest sources of inspiration
**my current definition of success: to learn is to succeed

3 things official

1. I'm finally a regular employee at hopelab. This week was my first official week, and what an eventful week it was! Lunches, fun, good company, flowers, and two days off?! Because today is our joy day and friday's a holiday, I'm excited about time to do some lil life in different and familiar contexts. (definitely fun pictures to come!)













2. my keys make a new sound.

3. maricar and james are officially married. here's a teaser picture from their wedding (sorry about the color quality; blogger's been really annoying with messin with the goodies)


















i leave with a quote from william wallace in celebration of july 4th: "Freeedoooooooooooooooooooooom!"

frozen pulp

a couple weeks ago, we had these really interesting citrapacs sitting in the HopeLab freezer, awaiting our consumption. i gave it a try, not knowing what it was going to be like. my tongue had such a curiously wonderful time.


it was so light, that i felt like i needed to consume 13 of them in order to feel like i actually ate an orange. don't worry, i only ate one, so that my co-workers could experience a party in their mouths too.

take a joy day.

...seriously....take a joy day.
HopeLab has been given July 3rd off as a day to engage in something JOYFUL. The associated homework was that we'd have to share what we did. That's the best homework assignment I've ever gotten, EVER in my life!

baby was happy today

Lunch time at work today. We had quite a spread, including this very chicken-like ingredient called Quorn. (It seriously looked, tasted, and felt like chicken even though it is meat-free and soy-free, made primarily of mycoprotein -- oh, everyone knows about MYCOPROTEIN).

My favorite: milk chocolate covered strawberries.

ragamuffin

I received a bunny today. She was made by someone named Betty who hand makes these lil darlings. The story goes that Crispina, started making these little dolls during college, and has been expanding her collection ever since.

















What's unique about this doll is that each one is "made with love and a diverse assortment of recycled wool sweaters." Thanks Betty for your handmade bundle of assorted wool love. o WOW--that just felt way too mushy. I have to explain. It was emotional at work today during our staff meeting as we reflected on Monday's event. Pat got me this ragamuffin because it symbolized the type of work I've done. Rag-like, muffin-producing work. In addition, I had to open my card in front of everyone because it started to sing....."hey now, you're a rock star, get your game on, go play" ..... and of course, I started waving my arm and dancing.

















CONTEST ALERTY:
Ragamuffin Bunny needs a name. Email me your best 3 names for this bunny by Friday 3/21, 9am PST and the winner will receive something unreal.

what the ruckus

It came and it went - the Ruckus Nation Grand Prize Event was the finale after months of preparation. This lucky lady got a really big foam check on Monday afternoon for an additional $50,000 bringing her total to $75,250.

Here's a small window into my Monday, March 17, 2008.

This is part of the idea gallery where the winning ideas came to life through visual representation. Like this one, where tweens awkwardly pretended to be tetris shapes.

















This is Jesus and Mary; they're both fans.



































This is Sven's head + Maria's feet.












Sven and Maria are designers we worked with to create the idea gallery displaying the winning ideas. It was super to have the opportunity to work with these folks. Plus, curly haired brunettes = fun fun fun in the sun sun sun. That's right...triple the amount that blondies experience.









Ps. the guy on the very right is Brett, also with Daylight.