Tonight I attended a private book signing with Maria Shriver at Books Inc. in Palo Alto. Silicon Valley Moms Blog hosted the event and it was a blast! Maria spoke for about 30 minutes, discussing her books and answering questions. She then signed copies of her latest book "Just Who Will You Be?" and we sampled her new venture, Lovin' Scoopful...more on that in a minute!
Maria was awesome. Gracious and kind, a great speaker, good sense of humor and beautiful (that hair!). She was so easy to talk to. Hope she's ready to be my friend because I'm ready to be hers. ;) I read her new book "Just Who Will You Be?" a few weeks ago and enjoyed it. A simple, fun, thoughtful book. One line that stuck with me is that you should never use the word "JUST" to describe yourself (i.e. "I'm just a mom"). SO TRUE. How many times have we all done this? Stop it! You're not "just" anything! :)
I was happy for the opportunity to sample Lovin' Scoopful, since this IS a food blog, after all. Lovin' Scoopful was delicious! You can currently find it in California and the Pacific Northwest. It's 1/2 the fat, 1/3 the calories...but still creamy and good. The best part of Lovin' Scoopful is that 25% of the proceeds go to Special Olympics. Yes, 25%. It's a great product supporting a great cause...and Maria sure would be happy if you bought some! Lovin' Scoopful also gave each of us a goodie bag with bowls painted by Special Olympics athletes. It was a very sweet gift.
A few highlights from thoughts Maria shared with us this evening...
- Everyone should take a time of stillness every day. She talked about how she grew up in a large family and didn't know you COULD do that. She does it whenever and wherever she can. Yesterday her time of stillness was in her closet...sometimes she bursts into tears...sometimes it's hard, with to-do lists running through her head. Regardless, she finds a moment to be still, alone, everyday.
- Go home, get online and look up "The Journey" by poet Mary Oliver.
- In her words, "You all have one wild and precious life. May you all be blessed with men who understand that!" :) (She said the men should understand that about themselves, too.) Go out and live your wild and precious life to the fullest! Find joy in your life!
Thanks to Silicon Valley Moms Blog for a great event! It was wonderful meeting Maria and all the great women who were there this evening!
13 comments:
That's so cool that you got to meet her! A few weeks ago, I got to meet Tom Brokaw when he gave a speech at MIT (where I work). I was so in awe of him...and he signed a book for my dad for Father's Day. I can't wait to give it to him!
seriously, the hair! And the woman! So inspiring!
so, how's the governator?
What awesome photos of the event! I wish I had thought to take photos of the goody bags and ice cream.. :)
Wasn't she great? I wrote a recap of the event on my blog as well!
Lucky you! It sounds like a fun night.
I have always been super impressed with Maria Shriver. I've seen several interviews with her and she just seems fabulous. Thanks for sharing your night Jane!
So, I dreamed last night that my husband couldn't make it to my parents house because he had to attend a Shriver wedding. I couldn't figure out WHY I would dream that... Then I clicked over here and remembered reading a vague reference to Maria when you last posted! Hahaha.
So cool Jane! That's awesome you got to meet Maria Shriver. I'm jealous. Anyway, you're blog is so inspiring, I love it. I hope I can someday get my single parents blog to be that cool.
That's awesome! What a GREAT picture, too!! I read a few of her books and even used the one about alzheimers when my grandfather was dying from it. She's a fascinating woman!!
love this post. looks great and has cool content! you are a professional!
wow! you're getting really good at photoshop!
What a cool opportunity! Sounds like a great evening:)
Jane, you look awesome!! She doesn't outshine you one bit!!
Wow, how exciting! Wish there were a group like that around here in San Diego!
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