Adventures in Inspiration

Life has been quite an adventure for me lately!

A post or two ago had a photo of a lovely coral and pearl cuff I recycled from an old moth-eaten Andrew Gn cashmere sweater. Little did my friend Joselle know that it and a matching necklace were going to be given to her for her birthday! Here is a photo of her ROCKING her new Pop Culture Princess custom-made jewelry. Thank you Joselle for your support (and your card, it means the world to me and is on my inspiration wall!)

I have been working a lot lately in another area - bartending and serving at special events. Something has to pay some of the bills, right? It's been quite an adventure - I have had the privilege of working some incredible events such as the Grammy's, NBA All Stars, Directors Guild Awards, Critics Choice Awards, and the Academy Awards! Strange how life takes you places you always wanted to go, but in very unexpected ways.

I also worked the TED conference this week, and was able to eavesdrop on some amazing "TED talks" - each presentation is allowed to go 18 minutes and is on ideas that are worth discussing. Some of the highlights were seeing Bill Gates and his presentation on education, seeing Roger Ebert and hearing his new "voice" publicly for the first time, Morgan Spurlock holding court, and watching Reed Hastings (Netflix CEO) mentor. It was an incredible array of amazing minds working together to learn more about how to make this world a better place.

The absolute highlight for me was Eythor Bender's presentation. He is the the CEO of Berkeley Bionics, and presented an exoskeleton they are working on for both military and civilian applications. After showing an example of how it could be used for the military, he brought out Amanda Boxtel, a paraplegic who was injured 19 years ago in a skiing accident. She is wheelchair bound and was told she would never walk again. In the photo posted, she is walking again for the first time.



Her joy was boundless! There wasn't a dry eye in the house (including mine). Standing ovation - it was like watching a miracle occur before you.

Needless to say, it inspired me to no end seeing what the human brain, technology, design, and willpower can do. I am constantly amazed at our world, and the way the universe works.

Off to work later at the Reagan Library on Air Force One. Wonder what will inspire me today? -luv J


PS: keep good thoughts for me as I am a finalist for a position with an incredible company. And healing and loving thoughts to mi famiglia as they have suffered some recent losses that have been very hard on them.