HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS!!

If January is any indication, 2010 is going to be one fantastic ride for me. It surely has started off with a bang!!!

Some months ago I joined an online group on Martha Stewart's website. Its called Dreamers Into Doers. It began as a way for Martha to recognize and reward women who have non-profit businesses to help other women and their community. It expanded to women with all kinds of businesses and creative 'dreams'. No more prize money, but a new "Doer" is still picked every week, and the honor and recognition are still wonderful.

Just after Christmas I discovered this group planned to gather in NY to finally meet each other face to face - and to attend a taping of the Martha Stewart show. With the help of Martha's staff they also made plans to make a difference for women living in a domestic violence shelter. Through a flurry of emails and online postings, and with major involvement and help from Martha's staff, we flocked to NY January 19 and 20 for a most fantastic excursion.

My friend, Eileen, and I caught the 5:30 am train from Wilmington, DE and hooked up with Taryn, Holly, and Dawn once we got to NY. We walked to our hotel to store our bags before check in time, only to find the staff so welcoming and accommodating that they checked us in at 9am!! Waiting for us in our room was Lisa's wonderful home made banana nut chocolate chip bread - yum - we ate it right away.

We stowed our luggage and hot footed it off to the MSLO offices. Two members of our group gave fun and informative cooking demos in Emeril Lagasse's test kitchen! Pinch me I must be dreaming. Rachel, who arrived in the US from Ireland in the 1990's, gave us Irish Soda Bread, Bailey's Cheesecake, and Leek and Stilton Tarts - and stirred in great Irish stories along the way. Lisa made her Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread and Sourcream Lemon Pound Cake - pretty as a picture in her polka dot apron!

All that yummy food, plus a glorious spread from Whole Foods arrived at Studio A along with us and the women from the shelter. We walked into a perfectly "Martha" room with rows of white tables, with long white cloths, white chairs and a simple vase of multicolored roses on each table. The front wall was a bank of windows looking over the Hudson River with the Statue of Liberty off in the distance - a powerful feeling filled the room right from the beginning.

We filled our plates with food and filled our hearts with inspiration, encouragement and love from the many speakers of the day. Our 'Dreamers' group had lots of messages of hope to uplift the women of the shelter. Each Dreamer had donated gifts to the shelter according to their talents. When Debbie's handmade quilts were presented to three lucky shelter women emotion overwhelmed the room - not a dry eye in the house. We finished the day with smiles, pictures, exchanges of names and numbers - and hugs all around, plus Martha gift bags for everyone!!!

and that was only the first day ......