Xavierism

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas...

Celebrate the True Meaning of Christmas, Be thankful for all Blessings; big and small and Feel the Love & Joy of the Season. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas...

Friday Love!

***Random Play

*Jennifer Knapp: Letting Go

*Matt York: Mine

*Jamie Drake: When I Was Yours

*Laura Marie: Last Of The Ones

*Aaron Beaumont: Nothing's Forever (Not Even Goodbye)

*Diana Winter: Escapizm

The above Random Play is by far one of my favorites ever! Jennifer Knapp's latest CD, Letting Go, is exactly what I would expect from her...pure magic. Jamie Drake's first full length CD is one of the best things I've heard from an indie singer/songwriter. Jamie's vocals are raw with emotion and depth. Love! Matt York and Aaron Beaumont? Fine ass male singer/ songwriters. Laura Marie's Last of The Ones? This Chica is one of my all time favorites. Diana Winter? I've had her CD for almost two years and I never tire of listening to her voice and songs. Amazing voices & songs! This is the Random Play that I will use during tonight's dinner party.

I'm looking forward to spending time with my close friends. Yesterday, I thought about the wonderful friends in my life..each are a true blessings. Good friends will always get you through...always. It's so true. House is cleaned. Rodan is preparing his dishes. I'll be preparing mine in just a bit. Red Velvet cake for dessert. Wines are chilling. Life is good. Wait, I take that back...Life is great!

*****Cheers!*****

Current Mood: Thrilled & Hungry!

Current Music: Jamie Drake's Enough

Fab Friday Night

I enjoyed another fabulous Friday evening with real friends. Fabulous food, great conversation, and awesome music at a friend's gig. Overall, it's been a great Friday.

All day, I've had Diana Winter's September Song playing in my head. I love this Italian Musical Diva. Give her a listen & enjoy. Cheers!

Current Music: Diana Winter's September Song
Current Mood: Happy & Content

On Our Way to Lost Leaf

On Our Way to Lost Leaf on 12seconds.tv

I had a great time Friday evening. I enjoyed special time and dinner with Kat, one of my oldest and dearest friends here in Phoenix. We then headed down to Lost Leaf for a bit of Phoenix Friday Nights fun. It was great to see so many friends. Kat, Marc, and myself decided to have a Chill down at Hob Nobs Coffee House. Good food. Good friends. Great times.

*Song playing in the clip: Diana Winter's Just A Little

Short & Sweet

Clockwise: Stephanie, Toni, Mark, Kat, and Myself.

***Random Play
*Jaymay: Autumn Fallin'
*Nichole Nordeman: Woven & Spun
*Justin Young: All Attached
*Diana Winter: Escapizm
*Tracey Thorn: Out Of The Woods
*Dave Yaden: Bear Me Up

I was reading over old blog entries from 1998. I can't believe I was reading words and emotions from ten years ago. I could remember actually writing many of those entries. So many names of friends throughout those journal entries are still in my life. I'd be lost without my close circle of friends.

I have been looking forward to this week for many reasons. I'm thankful for the weekend. I enjoyed sharing time with Kat, one of my best and oldest friends. This past Monday afternoon, I decided to invite a few friends over for dinner. It turned out to be a great dinner party. We served a Pork roast, turkey balls, and a tasty Zucchini tart. For dessert, I made a Spiced Plum Gingerbread Cake. Conversation flowed like a rich wine. New friendships were made.

The house was painted. A new G3 Baracuda Pool Cleaner is doing it's job in the pool. It no longer looks like a swamp. Morning coffee with the birds by the pool will be enjoyable again.

The month of October has been rough. This month marks the anniversary of Buelita's death and Father's first Birthday since he passed away. I surrounded myself with love. I've wrapped myself around my faith. I'm more than okay. I'm truly blessed. Time for a slice of Spiced Plum Gingerbread cake.

*****CHEERS!*****

Current Music: Tracey Thorn's Raise The Roof
Current Mood: Contemplative and Loved

167

With friends at VinciTorio's

***Random Play
*Annie Lennox: Medusa
*The Weight: Home
*Amanda Kaletsky: Between You & Me
*Allison Sattinger: VOX
*Five for Fighting: Two Lights
*Judith Owen: Here

Blog of the Day: Tailrank. Tailrank basically tracks updated news in the blogosphere. According to the site, they find the hottest stories by tracking conversations between blogs. I was thrilled to see that one of my posts was tracked on the site. Since then, I've enjoyed the site and it's official blog.

***I have just confirmed Charlotte Martin for an April 5th guest spot on KPNX's Arizona Midday Show. If you're a local, TIVO this musical diva. The show airs at 11am on weekdays. Don't miss it! Char is opening for Veruca Salt at The Clubhouse that same evening. This will be one awesome show you won't want to miss. Be there!*** 

I thought I posted a blog about the weekend. I did just that in my own perfect little world that exist not far from Never never land.

I had a great weekend.  Sunday afternoon, we headed over to Laura's to celebrate a special occasion. The band, Hung Dynasty, officially performed it's 50th gig! Laura, the bass player of the band, hosted the party and all the members of the band & a few friends were present. I did make a Chocolate Coffee Zucchini cake. If anyone would like the recipe, email me and I'll be happy to send it your way. Afterwards, we stopped in at one of our favourite Italian restaurants in the valley, VinciTorio's. We stopped in to see & chat with Laura, Ginger & Mario, the owners, along with our favourite waitress, Karina. Karina happens to be an up & coming model from the Phoenix area. It was nice to stop in for a quick dessert & catch up with our friends.       

I've been extremely busy with work. Clients are keeping me busy along with many projects that I'm working on...it's all good. I love early mornings. I love the smell of coffee early in the mornings. It always reminded me of my childhood days when I spend the nights over at Buelita's. The smell of coffee would be the first aroma one could smell throughout the house. Then the smell of breakfast would follow. Once I would be more alert, then I'd recognize the music from a Spanish station. The mornings at Buelita's were always the same. This morning, I found myself reliving those memories while making client calls and returning emails. Mornings were so much fun without the responsibilities of every day life.

Since I blog often about Jann Arden's Journal and my weight training/loss, it seems that those that type in "Jann Arden weight loss" on any search engine, you'll find this blog, Xavierism, near the top of list. Reason that I mention this is that since Jann Arden lost 60 pounds, many of her fans have clicked into blog and have read about my weight battles. I have received many emails of support and encouragement. Many simply wrote to state that they're going through the exact same thing. I read through many personal stories about the struggles of weight. There were times when I felt as though I wanted to give up or simply stop short of my goal because all I could think about was a "quick fix" binge. Thanks to personal friends, blog friends, and many of Jann's fans, I am proud to say that I have finally reached my goal. I have lost 63 pounds. I now weigh 167 pounds.

Through out this whole experience since last August, I concentrated on myself. I didn't concentrate on numbers, calories, and what were the best foods to eat but instead I focused on eating good foods. Foods that would sustain my body. I now eat 6 to 7 small meals a day. Because of weight training, I feel muscles I never knew I had. I feel my body changing. I never knew that this could happen to me. I look forward to my sessions at the gym & my runs. I feel as though I have the energy & drive to use my body. I now look forward to the mornings and am excited about dressing up for meetings & social events. I can remember feeling so low about my self image. I've experienced the highs & lows and I hope to remember how I'm feeling at this moment. I know that I must continue this lifestyle. I can't switch it off. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually I've never been in a better place. I'm so thankful for taking back my own life. I look forward to sharing with each of you my joys & struggles as I continue to maintain this healthy lifestyle and keep the weight off.

I'm smilin' with joy. I'm proud of my accomplishments. I look forward to completing my first half marathon. Life is good. Life is damn good!

*****CHEERS!*****

Current Music: ANNIE LENNOX's Waiting In Vain
Current Mood: Blessed, Thankful, Pleased, & Rejuvenated

LA, Hollywood, Musical Divas, & Good Times!

Smilin' with Genevieve, Cameo Hill, Jennifer Vazquez, and Whitney Steele @ The Paisley Violin.

***Random Play
*Jennifer Vazquez: Bend
*Brig Feltus: Love & Light EP
*Johnny Lang: Turn Around
*Amy Roberts: It Is
*Skye: Mind How You Go
*Justin King: Fall/Rise

I was eager to wake up and tackle today's projects and goals. First thing I did was make coffee  and light incense to create a calming, energetic, loving, and positive atmosphere within my own personal space. I forgot how much incense can help create and bring such positive auras. I usually burn incense during evening hours...but I've learned that it's during the day that I need the reminder and good energies around my spirit.

Last week, I was in LA/Hollywood on business. As far as business, it was a successful trip. I gained the confidence of this corporate client. I will be doing more work with this certain client in the future. Of course, when one is in LA, one must take in it's nightlife. There is so much to do. It's an open space free for all...and I made shure to take in as much as I could while I was there. Rodan joined me on this trip so we were able to enjoy time together when I wasn't working.

Rodan is like fish out of water when he's not near the ocean. So sharing an afternoon at Malibu Beach and driving along the freeway taking in the sights and sounds of the ocean was such a treat.

We took in an evening of site seeing in  Hollywood. We never get tired of Hollywood. As often as we head out to LA, it's always a joy to take in Hollywood Blvd.  We enjoyed a showing of Peter Pan, the digitally remastered version, at El Capitan Theatre.

Super Bowl Sunday

***Random Play
*Amy Roberts: It Is
*Brian Vander Ark: Resurrection
*Raina Rose: The Prophet, The Panhandler, & The Moon
*Morley: Days Like These
*Matt Jones: The Segue EP
*Amanda Kaletsky: Between You & Me EP

*Blog of The Day: I love Jann Arden's latest blog entry. Take a moment to enjoy Jann's words & thoughts.

It's Super Bowl weekend. I'm not a huge fan of The Bears or Colts so we'll probably watch the game from home. A Sunday evening at home with Rodan & the feathered angels sounds like a perfect evening.

Jill & I enjoyed First Friday at our fave places. It was great catching up with her. I remember during our first few minutes of conversation, she said, "Wait a minute. I can't believe you've lost so much weight!" I have the most amazing fruit flies. I'll be spending time with Jill on Tuesday evening at the Justin King & Ten Dollar Outfit gig...Sweet!
 
I've now lost 58 pounds. Five more pounds and I'll be at goal.  I still can't believe that I have lost the weight. I hope to never have countless pity parties over weight issues. I must remember this is not about a diet alone...it's about a lifestyle change. I have a new personal trainer...Jeff. Oh man...he's one handsome stud. I had my first workout with him on Friday. I look forward to our sessions. I'm happy to report that during my last runs, my right ankle hasn't been a problem. I'm taking my time with the longer runs and concentrating on merely getting used to running three/two times a week.

The Pursuit of Happyness. Last night, Rodan and I decided to take in a movie. We have so many movies to see & review before The Oscars. I'm glad we decided to see Will Smith's latest flick. This movie is warm hearted. It was such a joy to see Will co star with his own son, Jaden Smith. From the opening scene, each person can identify with the main character, Christopher Gardner. From beginning to end, you're wishing and hoping for a happy ending. I highly recommend this movie.

Time to enjoy Sunday. Take care & Enjoy the moment!

*****CHEERS!*****

Current Music: BRIAN VANDER ARK's A Million Things
Current Mood: Relaxed & Happy

Blessings Galore!

Ella Wishes Each of YOU a Very Merry Christmas!

***Random Play
*Morley: Days Like This
*Ginny Owens: Long Way Home
*Maria Long: Here With Me
*Edie Carey: Another Kind of Fire
*Melissa Polinar: Self Titled CD
*Judith Owen: Here

*Coffee of The Day: Gevalia's Royal Vinter Spice with Cinnamon Vanilla cream.

First of all, I'd like to welcome all the "Jann Arden Weight Loss" searchers to my blog! Because I've written about Jann and my continued weight loss, I receive so many hits a day. So thank you to those interested in searching and reading on Jann's weight loss. From the recent pics that I've seen of Jann, she looks great! I admire her for losing weight for all the right reasons. She was of great inspiration as I began my quest to eat & live better. I've enjoyed Jann's talent and magical presence on stage a few times. So I thought I'd include a pic with Jann taken in 2004 after her Phoenix gig. As always, Jann was a talent of sorts; singer, story teller, teacher, and comedian, all roled into one.

Every day, I stop in to see if Jann has updated her Blog on her Site. I look forward to the release of Jann's next CD release, Uncover Me, due out in February 2007. Please read Jann's latest blog entry! I'm still laughing inside thinking about her hotel incident. Again, thank you to Jann's old & new fans for stopping by. Feel free to make yourselves known and say hi!

The holidays always make me emotionally vulnerable. The little things make me cry. Of course, their tears of joy. Okay, so a few are tears of sadness and pain...but the past is the past and I have no powers to undue the hurt. I'm blessed to be where I a at this point in my life. I can't help but think about my Grandmothers. Great women of Love. I miss them dearly. Although I know for certain that their love exists within my spirit and soul, I wish I could hug them again and thank them for helping me be the person that I am today.

I'm so glad that many of you have received my Christmas cards. Although the dork that I am, I accidentally skipped over a few Christmas card while placing stamps at the post office so a few were returned. Ugh. Couldn't the Post Office just deliver those few out ot the kindness of their hearts & pockets? Oh well, so a few dear friends will receive their cards late. ***Thank you to those of you that took the time to mail Rodan and myself a card. Personally, I love receiving cards during the holidays season. With all the hustle & bustle of life, I'm always honoured to receive holiday greetings via mail. So a huge thank you to those that did just that.***   

As of today, I've lost 49 pounds. I'm at 181 pounds. Imagine that? I'm so proud of myself. I never thought I'd sit here and update about weight loss. The running part has come easy this week. My work outs have been hell! I'm complaining to God and my angels hours before my private sessions. Susan, my private trainer, says I'm doing well...so that's good enough for me. Susan also plans to run the half marathon in January so I hope to train with her on running sessions before the actual event.

Thursday evening, I had a wonderful time sharing dinner and private time with my beautiful fruit fly, Anita. Anita is all woman! She's a beautiful, intelligent, witty, sexy, fun loving, confident, no BS kind of woman! Even better, she knows how to work pumps! She had on a great pair of Marc Jacob pumps. Ahhhhhhhhhh...even I was thanking God for allowing such beautiful hand crafted items to be a part of this earth! Did I mention you could bounce a couch off of her buns of steel? It's true. Anyway, we had a great time catching up and sharing great food and conversation at Furio:  Restaurant & Bar.  Then it was on to hit a few pubs; Six and Suede. Maria Lisa & Rodan met us at Six. Anyway, I could go on and on about Anita. Thank you, Anita for sharing time with me. Rodan and I look forward to the next time!

Last night, I met up with friends at  Chaser's in South Scottsdale to see & hear the bands Hung Dynasty and The Dorsets . The Dorsets are AMAZING! Great vocals & high energy song after song. I highly recommend that you check out their music! ***The Pic to the right was taken last night while Hung Dynasty performed their set.***   

The weekend will be filled with great friends, good food, wine, Conversations of gratitude and thanks with God, my Saints & Angels. I'm honoured to praise the heavens for all of the good fortunes in my life. May your Christmas, holiday season, or which ever festivites your faith and spirit celebrate, be filled with love, joy, & hope. Blessings galore to each of YOU!

*****CHEERS!*****

CURRENT MUSIC: JUDITH OWEN's I Go To Sleep
CURRENT MODE: Peaceful

Music & Joy Without Martinis!

Edie Carey

***Random Play
*Edie Carey: Another Kind of Ending
*Jerzee Monét: Love & War
*Harry Connick, Jr.: Only You
*India.Arie: Testimony: Vol. 1,  Life & Relationship
*John Mayer: Continuum
*Nadine Zahr: Underneath The Everyday

Monday morning arrived far too quickly. I've already had a cup of coffee. I must admit that I greeted the morning sounds of the cty with sincere happiness. I had a great weekend.

Friday evening, I spent the late evening with Laura & Alicia at  Cafe Boa. My favourite local band, Ten Dollar Outfit, provided the musical entertainment for the evening. It was great catching up with Laura. We became friends thanks to LiveJournal. I get to see both of these chicas this Friday. Laura is a member of Hung Dynasty and they're playing a gig at Chaser's in Scottdale. The Dorsets, another local band, will be sharing the stage with Hung Dynasty...so mark your calendars, people! Be at Chaser's this Friday evening!

Ten Dollar Outfit, has a new Live CD out! It'll be soon be on sale at CDBaby.com. In my opinion, they're by far Phoenix's best band. It's only a matter of time before an A&R rep "discovers" this trio.

Saturday evening, Edie Carey, performed a gig at Mama Java's Coffee house. Since we had to be at a few other places & parties, we stopped in before the gig began so I could purchase her new CD. I was hoping to say hi to her but she wasn't available. Edie's new CD is truly a gem. Her voice, songs, and lyrics, are exquisite. I've always loved her delicate voice. For all the folksy music lovers, this is a definite artist & CD for your collection. We were then on our way to celebrate holday cheer with friends.

After cleaning the house yesterday afternoon, we decided to chill and enjoy the Christmas movies featured on  TCM. Anything with Barbara Stanwyck is a perfect way to spend an evening. She'll always have a special place in my heart. I love all of her movies but Stella Dallas will forever be my fave Barbara Stanwyck film. I didn't feel that great later in the evening and crawled into bed early.

I feel fabulous this morning. I'm looking forward to my workout today. Can't believe I feel that way about exercise! I ate very well this past weekend. I didn't binge or eat too much. Considering all the fun things we did this weekend, I am proud of myself. I'm on a mission.

I am finally happy to say that our Christmas cards are on their way. I feel bad for mailing them so late this year. What I love most about writing Christmas cards is the moments of reflection I have for each person as I write their card out. For many, I'm thankful that we share a great friendship and bond. Many, I've lost touch with but are still special. Others, I'm not shure what to think. I hardly ever hear from a few. I did come across a few on my address book that really shouldn't be on there anymore. If I don't make an attempt to keep the friendship intact, I'd never hear from certain people. So I simply deleted those individuals. I'm looking forward to this Christmas. I've been given so much joy. I'm blessed.

On with the day! Have a great week, Everyone! 

*****CHEERS!*****

CURRENT MUSIC: EDIE CAREY's The Night
CURRENT MOOD: Bouncy