At the end of April I took a short trip to London to visit with four of my dear friends from my leadership tribe. It had been about three and a half years since we were all together, so we were thrilled to have a mini-reunion.

The four bellas - a radiantly pregnant Tina, Lisa, me and Fiona - were happy to be together. We have been connecting off and on on the phone over the past several years and it’s always like a breath of fresh air when we’re all together. Fiona, being the fabulous idea generator that she is came up with a “development day” concept where each of us got time to share what was going on in our lives and get support, coaching, insights and feedback. Pretty awesome considering we’re all trained coaches who care deeply about each other!

Beks‘ son Callum and Fiona’s son Pierre meet for the first time. Too cute!

A gorgeous view from Richmond Park where we spent a warm, sunny afternoon with the boys.

All five of us together before heading out to dinner at a delicious Turkish restaurant.

An afternoon at Petersham Nurseries.

We dined on yummy sweet potato and ginger soup in the lovely Petersham Nurseries greenhouse. Just heavenly!

A view of the Thames from the Petersham Hotel where we enjoyed high tea complete with finger sandwiches sans crusts and scones with clotted cream. A table near us had a group of gray-haired well-dressed women and we joked that that would be us forty years from now at one of our future reunions! I love to think of us continuing to make time to connect like that. These women are such an important part of my life and we have seen each other through lots of growth and transition. I am so glad I said yes to this spontaneous trip to spend time with dear friends.

Just when I thought I was done with my travels, I found out last week that my dad was in the hospital with pneumonia. So last weekend, I took a quick trip down to L.A. to visit the family. It was unsettling to see him weak and out of breath. What a relief to watch him perk up when my nephews popped by. Fortunately, he’s doing much better now and is finally back at home resting and recovering.

Being in my hometown brought back some fond memories of my Japanese/Chinese-American heritage. On Saturday night, my sister-in-law’s mom cooked a Chinese New Year dinner at my brother’s house. I delighted in eating one of my favorite childhood treats, almond jello, for dessert. I do miss the days when I would receive those little red envelopes from my grandmother on my dad’s side. We didn’t really celebrate a traditional Chinese New Year, but as a kid, you bet I was willing to say “Gung Hay Fat Choy” in exchange for a bit of pocket money ;).

The next day, after visiting my dad in the hospital, my mom took me to Little Tokyo for lunch. I had a delicious warm bowl of udon. I remember going to J-Town do shows in a performing arts group called Inochi and taking part in the Cherry Blossom Festival. Next time I’m down there, I want to see the Japanese American National Museum since I haven’t been to its newer, larger space.

Being home and spending time with family reconnected me to my roots. For someone who’s typically thinking about the future, it was refreshing to be reminded of where I’ve been and where I came from. How do you reconnect with your history and heritage? What traditions do you honor in your life?

The past 10 days have been a whirlwind of excitement, connection, fulfillment and fun! I visited Washington DC to be a Circle Coach for Quest, returned home to lead a dream box workshop at It’s Yoga and then flew out to Cleveland for our Ladies Who Launch leader training. I had a great time at all the different events. And this weary traveler is happy to be home (where it’s not snowing!).

Quest was amazing. What an honor to help shepherd our Questers on their journey of discovering their leadership essence and taking action on their inspiring Quests. I look forward to seeing how they each continue to make their unique impact on the world!

The icing on the cake was meeting up with my friends John and Marie last Saturday night in DC. I hadn’t seen John in about three years and this was my first time meeting Marie in person. What a treat!

Had one day back home to make dream boxes with the yoga teacher trainers including students from Mexico, Israel, Japan and all across the US. I’m always so moved by what the participants dream of and create!

Next up, Cleveland! On our first day there, Launy, Corinne and I ventured to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’m no music buff, so much of the paraphernalia was beyond me. But I did get a kick out of seeing a letter that Madonna wrote to a friend while she was at the University of Michigan, Jim Morrison’s report cards from grade school and drawings that Jimi Hendrix did as a kid.

California girls Launy, me, Corinne and Claire braving the snow. It was so much fun to be at the training with these smart, savvy gals. And we’re so excited to bring all our launching energy back to our fellow Bay Area launchers.

Oh, and I just had to take a picture of the infamous chocolate cake that magically appeared after every meal. Good thing we had yoga class Friday morning to work off such decadence.

And finally, a beautiful shot of all 14 leaders in training from across the US and Canada along with our awesome trainer Stella. What an amazing group of women!

Last Friday through Sunday Brighid and I co-led the third retreat of the 2007 Cheryl’s Dreaming Big leadership program in Indiana. Our retreat kicked-off with some intense storming (literally - lots of thunder, wind and rain; and figuratively - lots of group tension and unresolved issues). I must say it was pretty exhausting and challenging to hold the space for this natural, yet difficult, phase in team development.

One thing that helped me get through it was walking through the labyrinth at the retreat center. Before entering the path, you can hold an intention or inquiry. For me it was around how can I stay with the mess of the storming phase. With every twist and turn, I questioned, “How much longer? When will this end? Where is this going?!” And then I relaxed into it and trusted that I would find my way to the center. I leaned into this insight throughout the weekend. Labyrinths are a great meditative and focusing tool. There’s this really cool portable labyrinth that I imagine would have a similar effect.

The other take-away I had from the retreat was remembering that the program we created is a great laboratory for learning and practicing leadership, not only for the participants, but for myself as a co-leader as well. Brighid kept reminding me of the lessons from an insightful book called Leadership and Self-Deception. This powerful parable reminds us to relate to people as people with hopes, dreams, needs, wants instead of objects or obstacles that our in our way. By shifting my perspective to being “out of the box” I was able to rise above the muck of the storming and group dynamics and reconnect to who these wonderful people are and what they have to offer. The other thing I kept coming back to was the idea that from the crap of group storming comes the fertilizer which nourishes the ground for a beautiful garden to grow. It’s a natural cycle.

How are you with conflict and tension? What are some ways that you move through the storming in your life? How has going through the muck helped new opportunities to blossom for you?

[tags]labyrinth, leadership, leadership and self-deception[/tags]

My mom and I share the same birthday. I guess you can say I was her birthday present! This past Sunday, my mom celebrated her 70th. We threw her a party at my brother’s house in Southern California with 40 of her closest friends and family. Some of her girlfriends are from back in her Junior High days and it’s always fun to see them together laughing and having a good time.

While we got things cookin’ in the kitchen, my mom relaxed and knitted a sweater she’s working on. Since it was my day, as well, I made sure to take a break from all the prep to do something nice for myself (as us Ladies Who Launchers would say). My brother has a nice swimming pool in the backyard, so in the afternoon I went for a quick dip to cool off. It was fantastic and just what I needed! And earlier that morning, my dad took my mom and I out to brunch at a yummy place called Dish.

My nephews are so cute! Matthew donned chef’s attire and served his specially concocted appetizers of “mini sandwiches” while dapper Austin greeted guests at the front door and took their coats. Matthew is very artistic and Austin is very athletic. It’s fun to see how different they are. Matthew, being the artist that he is, drew a handmade card for my mom. It was so darling and included a picture of a “grandma” knitting on the front, similar to the photo I took above!

For my gift, I had each guest write a special message on a little card to place in a handmade blessings box for my mom. She was touched by all the wonderful sentiments that people shared.

I hope that when I’m 70 that I am still as creative and active as my mom. And that like her, I am surrounded by so many people who love and care about me, too.

[tags]family, birthday, blessings box[/tags]

We returned from our Alaskan cruise on Sunday. Since I hadn’t had a chance to post yet about our final port visits, I thought I would do a quick catch up from where we left off… in Ketchikan.

Plus Brian just posted some amazing pictures from the trip that I wanted to share. That’s him on the whale watching boat with his monster lens. He also used that to get super close up shots of the glaciers, so check it out!

On Friday we spent a short stay in Ketchikan which is Alaska’s first city and the salmon capital of the world (according to the sign!). Since the zip line excursion and lumberjack show were sold out, we ended up taking the “Duck Tour.” What is a “Duck Tour” you ask? Well, it’s a ride around the town’s streets and waters in an amphibious bus/boat. And to make it complete they have quacking duck whistles for purchase on-board. Needless to say, we didn’t partake in the raucous! Not surprisingly, Ketchikan, like the other ports we visited had it’s share of totem poles and brothels. There seemed to be a theme!

In Victoria we only had time to grab a nice dinner with our friends Julie, George and their son Jaden (that’s us eating dinner together on the cruise ship a couple nights before). Wow, non-cruise food never tasted soooo good! We wished we could just stay ashore and hang out in the beautiful downtown Victoria a bit longer. We peeked in a couple of shops on the main street before things closed down for the evening.

Definitely seems like a wonderful place to come back and visit again when we could have more time to explore. I had visited there with my parents when I was about seven. The street lamps flanked by flower pots are still as charming as I remember.

Before heading off to the airport in Seattle on Sunday, we were able to get in a couple of hours at Pike Place Market. A feast for the senses, the market overflowed with fish mongers, colorful flower stands, piles of fresh, organic produce and other gourmet delights. We also saw the original Starbucks coffee shop which, like all other Starbucks, was a hub of activity. And we enjoyed a delicious bowl of chowder and a crab sandwich before dashing off to catch our plane.

Back on land, I’m glad to be home. I enjoyed the natural beauty of Alaska’s landscape. Yet, it’s really nice to be in capris, a t-shirt and flip-flops again enjoying the famous California sunshine!

[tags]travel, Alaska, cruise, Ketchikan, Seattle[/tags]

One of the highlights of cruising Alaska is viewing the magnificent glaciers from the boat. This morning we floated along Glacier Bay in the southeastern part of Alaska.

We saw Marjorie Glacier up close and even witnessed some calving. A thunderous boom was then followed by chunks of ice falling into the water. It was amazing to see the cracks and crevices of this giant masterpiece of nature.

Later we saw John Hopkins Glacier from a distance. With its winding path of ice it’s easy to imagine it carving away the valley between the tall rocky mountains.

There are 14 glaciers total in Glacier Bay park and we were fortunate to see four of them in this beautiful, pristine sanctuary.

It was pretty chilly on deck, so I was glad that I brought my super warm parka and bundled up! And that Brian was there to keep me warm!

He was using his huge telephoto lens and got some really nice detail shots of the glaciers.
[tags]travel, Alaska, cruise, Glacier Bay[/tags]

Today we docked in Skagway, an old gold rush town that was once full of brothels. Brian and I strolled the quaint main road in the morning. Since we weren’t really into buying furs or jewelry, Brian shots some photos of the town while I got in some quick painting.

In the afternoon we headed off to our musher’s camp and sled dog adventure. I’d been looking forward to seeing the pups all day!

The chorus of dog barks reverberated from the musher’s camp as we approached the entry way. Although we didn’t do the grand tour that takes you on a helicopter to see the dogs on a glacier, I still enjoyed the carriage ride through the woods. These working dogs, eager to run, jumped in the air raring to go. According to our guides, they are pound for pound as strong as horses and getting pulled along the trail by 16 Alaskan huskies, we could sure feel their power.

At the camp, one musher hailing from Massachusetts shared with us his tales of 140-mile a day runs with his dogs. His passion for these pups really came through and it was cool to hear about his experiences out on the tundra.

And then of course, the moment I had been waiting for… the chance to cuddle with puppies! I got to hold a really adorable Huskie/hound pup who really loved chewing my scarf, jacket and even earrings! What a cutie.

This picture is of a young dog named Silver. I’ve been studying how Brian shoots pictures of Emmett!

[tags]travel, Alaska, cruise, Skagway, dogs[/tags]

We started our Alaskan cruise on Sunday. Granted this is our second cruise in less than a year, we are NOT cruise people! I repeat we are NOT cruise people! We had booked this trip with our friends Julie and George before we went on the Mediterranean cruise with Brian’s family in the fall of last year when we learned we don’t really dig the cruise lifestyle. Anyway, it’s pretty funny, though, because even though we’re on a different ship since it’s the same cruise line the ship is almost identical to the one we were on for nearly three weeks. So the good thing is, we know our way around. Plus, it’s fun to be hanging out with friends this time.

After a day at sea, we docked in Juneau. Our adventure for the day was whale watching aboard a really fast jetboat. We spotted sea lions swimming in the water and some lounging lazily on a colorful buoy. A mother humpback and calf surfaced and we caught sight of them briefly. Although we didn’t get too close to the whales, it was cool to see them spray up water with their blow holes (our guide said at rates of something like 320 mph!). We learned about their migration patterns between Alaska and Hawaii. They come up to Alaska during the summer months to feed on the rich algae-filled water and then migrate back to the warmer oceans of Hawaii to mate and then later to give birth. One interesting factoid that he shared was that you can tell the age of a whale by looking at its ear wax. Gross but kinda cool! Much like the rings in a tree trunk, the layers of wax indicate years of age on a whale. The darker rings are from the six months when they are in the Alaskan algae rich waters and the lighter wax from the six months when they are in Hawaii.

During our tour, we also spotted several bald eagles. These majestic birds can have wing spans up to 7 feet! Alaska is definitely teeming with beautiful wildlife and lush scenery.

[tags]travel, Alaska, cruise, whale watching[/tags]

Before embarking on our Alaskan cruise, Brian and I visited one of my dear friends from Leadership, Lisa and her family in Seattle. I hadn’t seen Lisa in about a year and a half, so I really enjoyed catching up in person and hearing about how well her life is going. And I hadn’t seen her daughter Willow in more than two years. She is a real sweetheart and has the cutest smile and laugh.

We went to a park near Washington Lake where many families were barbequeing, swimming and having a good ole time. Willow peddled her Radio Flyer tricycle around the trails and played on the slides and swings. Lisa even showed us the Willow tree she and her husband Kelly planted for Willow on the banks of the lake. Kelly is a helicopter instructor and while we were playing with Willow at home, we heard a helicopter hover over the house. At dinner we found out that it was indeed Kelly circling overhead to say “Hello!”

On Sunday, Lisa took us out to the Fremont fair where we browsed many booths of unique and artistic wares. Fremont is a funky little part of Seattle. It even boasts a neon Rapunzel sign with blond hair hanging outside the window of the draw bridge leading into the town. I loved the neighborhood tour of the city and getting a taste of Lisa in her element. What a treat.

[tags]travel, Seattle[/tags]