Motivating Others

 Many of you have asked to see the speech that I delivered at the Equinox Annual Sales Forum in January of this past year. It is about 15 minutes long so grab a drink and settle in :)  In order to get such a big file uploaded to the blog, I had to dramatically reduce the quality so it is not as sharp as you might like but you can clearly hear the speech.  

I say "amazing" way too much and use amateur words like "major" when describing my surgery but for my first gig, it's not that bad.  Please note the standing ovation :)

Watch Cycle for Survival's Check Ceremony

I have watched the check ceremony 20 times and I still tear up. It is amazing. Click here to check it out!  Cycle Check Ceremony

Self Magazine Loved Cycle for Survival

Click here to read what Lucy Danziger, the Editor-in-Chief of Self Magazine had to say about her experience at the event! 

Chemotherapy Reject

I guess all of the excitement and craziness from the event has caught up with me.  I went to get my weekly "spa treatment" and I was turned away due to low white blood counts.  There isn't really much the Dr's can do about that except tell you to sleep and eat well and come back next week and try again. I was frustrated by this news because it has only happened to me 2-3x over the past few years.  Oh well, when you've had chemotherapy on and off for 4 years I guess it is bound to happen (I don't like to admit that my body gets worn down more easily but it is the truth).  

So this week I am trying very heard to take it easy.  The 3 day weekend has been making it very nice. I have been spending most of the weekend catching up on the huge pile of tasks that have accumulated since Cycle for Survival completed (and the tasks that I haven't paid attention to for months because of Cycle!).  Today, I am personally signing all of the team captain letters. It is very important for me to thank each and every person but the good news is that we had over 225 teams this year. So, to write a personal letter to each is TIRING!

The highlight of the week BY FAR was attending Barbie's 50th Anniversary Fashion Show at Bryant Park.

I was a huge Barbie fan growing up.  So huge in fact, that beyond having the Dream House, the pool. the plane, the car, the van and every other accessory I could get my hands on, I actually was a finalist in a Barbie Designer contest about 30 years ago.  We got to wear our "Barbie designs" in a fashion show and the winner actually got their costume made into an actual Barbie outfit.  I wore this hideous plaid jumper that was my Purim costume but I still got to walk the runway and meet Sarah Jessica Parker who was the judge (she was Annie on B'way at the time).

Barbie is making a BIG DEAL out of the anniversary and they are planning a ton of historical, buzz worthy events.  Everything from building a real version of Barbie's Dream House in Malibu, CA to hosting an "over the top" fashion show during fashion week where famous designers create outfits for Barbie.  Over 50 designers created design tributes to honor the iconic, timeless style of Barbie. It was amazing!  Pam and I attended and everywhere we looked there was another designer or a celebrity.

Among the designers honoring Barbie were Diane von Furstenberg, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, Vera Wang, Nanette Lepore, Badgley Mischka, Katherina Malandrino, Anna Sui, Kimmora Lee, Marchesa, Carmen Marc Valvo, Kenneth Cole, Donna Karan, Monique Lhuillier, Betsey Johnson, Nicole Miller, Juicy Couture and Rag and Bone (to name a few).

Oh, and who is that sitting right across from me but Heidi Klum!  Pam had to hold me back from telling Vera Wang that she was the best part of my wedding day (and I had to hold Pam back from telling Tory Burch that she was her idol!)  It was great fun. Now, if I could only figure out how to create a fashion show for SpongeBob Square Pants...

A Fresh Start...6 Floors Down

Dave and I have been looking to buy an apartment for a while now. However, once my cancer returned, we decided to put the search on hold.  We didn't want to be closing on an apartment or in the process of moving when I might be having surgery or recuperating.  We also figured out that the buyer market should hopefully become even more favorable over time. So, long story short, we decided that although we weren't going to be buying a place, we still wanted a larger space for the near term. 

Luckily, a bigger apartment opened up in the building and we had about 4 days after we returned home from vacation to pack up, paint and move into 

our new home...apartment 9D.  The apartment is really nice and now that we can look back with most of the moving behind us, we can appreciate it.  However, it was not easy getting there.  You don't realize how much STUFF you accumulate until you are moving.  Dave and I purged a ton of things and we are thrilled that we have a lot less clutter.  However, we also wanted to buy a lot of things and it was amazing how much effort it takes to pick out exactly what you want.  

• Does the sofa come in the shape and the fabric that I like (the answer is 'no' and it will take 12 weeks to custom order the one you like)?  
• How come the dining room table that I want is no longer available at the warehouse? 
• How come the couch that we wanted to put in our 2nd bedroom doesn't fit?  
• How come determining what size flatscreen TV to buy is the HARDEST decision a guy makes next to buying an engagement ring?

I guess I shouldn't complain. It is actually nice to obsess about something beyond cancer!

Well, the good news is that we are slowly but surely making decisions and it looks like by about April our apartment will look presentable to the public. I am just hoping that my surgery is not scheduled before then.

Of course we scheduled our move for the same day that I had chemotherapy which was a great move. I got to leave the chaos for a few hours. I have never been as happy to get chemo in my life :)   I promise to write again as soon as I can find myself through the sea of moving boxes!

Just What the Doctor Ordered

St. Maarten was just what the doctor ordered!  Dave and I were on such a high from the event that it felt a bit like our wedding!  We spent the entire vacation reliving special moments from the day and making a list of all of the things we can do to make the 2010 event bigger and better (is that possible?!?).

The good news is that there is really nothing to do on the island of St. Maarten so we had no choice but to do NOTHING.  The weather was great and our days consisted of sleeping, exercising, eating and reading on the beach.  My friend Kim gave me the entire T

wilight Series by Stephanie Meyer and I was addicted.  I got through the first book in 2 days and was so upset that I didn't have the second book with me. Luckily, there was a woman on the beach who had just finished the second book so she let me borrow it.  Those books are the perfect beach read.  

The vacation was a much needed break after the craziness of getting ready for Cycle For Survival.  I will make sure to post pictures and video from the event as soon as I have them. 

On the way home from vacation, the reality hit us that we are going to be moving into a new apartment in our building later on this week.  Yikes!  It's a good thing that we had a few days of R&R.