…because he’s is one of the best Strong Mojo Warriors I have ever met; an indefinable essence of something magical:
We love you, Sam! Your band of Mojo Warriors always have your back!
#MojoWarriors #StrongMojo #CancerSucks
#BeThereOrBeSquare #ThingsThatMatter #StrongMojoForever
Calling all MAU Women’s Alumni! We are just one month away from our Annual BLR Play It Forward event. Time to register is now!
Click here and get your name in the mix of hometown fun & doing good. We want YOU!
A perfect time of year to be inspired by the Women’s World Cup:
BLR PLay It Forward 2015
July 11th
2pm
Willow Park Fields
Bennington, VT
Be there!
Remember. Celebrate. Live.
#BLRPlayItForward #PlayForwardGiveBack #StrongMojo
What a gorgeous view from the top:
Lucky us practicing our freedom to hike on a sunny day at this place.
No matter what day of the year it is, I am so incredibly thankful for all the people who make it possible for me to go, be, do, see anything and everything I want to in this free country.
#Thankful #FreedomIsEverything #Roam
Smiling this morning because of an unexpected text message coming in at 8:20am from my friend Franklin with this photo:
…accompanied by two little words:
ROAD TRIP.
Yeah! I even love the bug guts. It’s like I’m along for the ride with him. Totally awesome.
Now if I could only get these stickers spread throughout the land even more, and cheerlead more people to just hop in their cars and hit the open road of everything possible in this life.
*(Insert side note interruption of post…bonus! As I sit here at Starbucks writing, a guy sits next to me and I compliment him on being the second well-dressed man in that seat since my arrival. He’s reading a book about travel, National Parks, etc. We chat, chat, chat on general life stuff, writing, the importance of young people taking a Gap Year, etc. Super pleasant surprise? Absolutely. I could’ve talked to him for hours. A perfect stranger who shares much of the same thoughts on life. Love those kind of random interactions. It’s as if they are meant to be:)
There I go on a tangent again. Off to the gym…
Thank you for the photo Franklin, and the coffee chat, Russell!
Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all. I don’t know about you, but freedom is my absolute favorite thing, so here’s to honoring, appreciating, and giving huge thanks to those who serve so we can have it.
What do you do that makes you feel free?
#RoadTrips #GoingPlaces #LifeOnTheBlueLollipopRoad
Well happy Monday to me to wake up to an email from my 6th grade (and might I add, favorite) teacher of all time, Mr. B this morning:
Diane,
Here is a picture from the front page of today’s Banner. I thought you’d like to see. Nice t-shirt, eh? Good choice for the scholarship. Hope you are well.
And then there was a link to this:
Yay! How proud are we of our July 2013 Blue Lollipop Road Memorial Travel Scholarship Winner, Mercedes Chen?!
We thought she was deserving of our scholarship dollars in 2013, and to find this surprise today in May of 2015? That. Is. Awesome. I love that someone we chose for a winner, who embodies the spirit & zest for life our friends had, continues to do good for the community we grew up in.
High-fives & BLR love to you, Mercedes! Glad you are wearing the BLR colors with pride. Keep doing what you’re doing!
#GreenUp #HometownPride #NeverForgetWhereYouCameFrom
From a friend this morning via text:
I went to a bookstore yesterday to try to find this book I’ve been wanting to read…they were sold out of that book, but I came across this in my search and had to get it for you:
(The photo came in on my phone screen and the text continued…)
I don’t know anything about it, but it seemed too Peacock-esque to pass up:)
Do cool sh*T? Quit your day job, start your own business and live happily ever after?! Does this author live inside my head or what? (And I guess my friends know me pretty well, too.)
Recently, I wrote this post after my sister sent me Jen Sincero’s Badass book that I read in about 22 seconds. That was just a couple months ago and here pops in the above book. (I see a pattern here.) I haven’t yet read a page in this one, but I have a feeling based on the title and what I read about the author, I’m going to love it.
Did Jen Sincero or Miki Agrawal “steal” anything from me? No, of course not, they just beat me to the punch on finishing & publishing books like these, and jumping out to the world in a focused way asking for people to pay for sharing their knowledge & experience. (Man I have to get better at that whole charging for the value I bring to the table, thing.) At least I’ve been plugging along with my book, so sometime this century you will see me shamelessly self promoting my written words all typed and bound so pretty on shelves around the world.
This will happen.
Until then, I will take extra motivation and inspiration from badass & cool (see what I did there? HA!) author ladies like these.
Are you doing cool sh*t, or at least trying to?
Thanks for the book, A!
#LifeIsShortDoCoolShit #TodayIsTheDay #BeatOfMyOwnDrum
Photos from things I read:
Believe!
On the hustler note, I challenge you to NOT dance during this ridiculous song:
Here’s to the hustling, the moving, and the (booty) shaking, to make life what you want it to be.
How are you making things happen?
#LifeOfAHuster #DoIt #GameOn
Those rare times when someone takes a few extra minutes out of their day, just to be nice, do something good or go the extra mile. Those are awesome times I wish would happen more. The below email popped in my inbox unexpectedly last week from someone we met on vacation in December of 2013:
Dear Diane and Kevin,
I just took a Facebook tour of your photos. It totally amazes me just how much you have traveled and how much you two have seen. I am so pleased our paths have crossed. Knowing people like you and Kevin has certainly enriched my spirit. I guess I am getting older and I am definetly not the man I use to be but when you share your life through photos like the ones on Facebook I am so grateful I did what I did when I was a younger man. So keep on doing what you are doing. Be happy, smile, love, live. Life is like a grain of sand on the beach. So small and so precious. Keep me in the loop with the Blue Lollipop Road .
Your admiring friend,
Andy
How sweet is that?
If had to guess, Andy is mid-upper 60’s. He’s single and travels alone a lot. When we met him he wasn’t afraid to sit down and talk to us (or anyone else for that matter.) He was kind, funny, and full of stories. I could tell he was a hard worker. An all-around interesting guy. We shared several meals with him during that week of vacation- we kept running in to each other and we all enjoyed spending that time together. And the end of the week we exchanged contact information and from there we’ve just kept in touch a few times via email.
This is letter makes me smile huge, and feel thankful, proud & motivated- to do more.
Everyday I wake up trying to think of ways to motivate and inspire people to be fearless, get out and travel, to explore beyond their everyday surroundings, and to talk to strangers. I know travel changes and teaches people, in a way that nothing else does and it is my biggest wish that everyone do more of it. I lobby to convince scared parents to let their kids take a Gap Year, or go on an exchange program, I try to convince adults their lives aren’t going to fall apart if they decide to quit that job or person they hate and go on a walkabout to get to know themselves again or to recharge, I myself explore all the new people, places & things I can on a regular basis so I keep pushing and stretching myself- and so I have stories to share here. Hopefully these are the reasons people like Andy above write me and tell me to keep doing what I do. I love that.
Here are some photos from that holiday vacation:
Ahhh…the Bahamas.
Dear Andy,
Thanks for cheering us on! I promise we will keep being happy, smiling, loving, and living. You are right- life is like a grain of sand on the beach, so small and so precious. We’re glad there are people like you out there who recognize these things, live accordingly, and share in our adventurous spirit! We hope to see you “on the road” again.
Diane 🙂
Here’s to never knowing who you’ll meet and what friends you’ll make!
How do you connect to make new friends?
#LettersOfInspiration #RoadFriends #LiveLikeYouMeanIt
This sassy, fashionable, world-traveling, 77-year-old, was the hostess of the Oscar Party I went to on Sunday night. I’d heard about how fabulous Ms. Grazia was for weeks. That was true and then some. This woman has the smile, energy, and the sharpness of a 27-year-old. She’s warm and welcoming to everyone around her. We had a blast.
Don’t you just love the sparkly vintage gown?! (Perfect that Lady Gaga is in the background on TV, too.) I’m about 40 years behind this lovely woman, but I hope to carry half the effervescence and joy for life that she has- for the rest of mine.
You inspire us with your never-ending smile, Grazia! – And absolutely embody my remember, celebrate, live mantra, by truly celebrating life. Love it!
How do you all out there, celebrate life Grazia-style?
#Oscars #LivingItUp #Ageless