Patricia Sands

Author

the power of friendship

Coming up for air …

by

While I’ve been working on the revisions for my next novel, I’ve also been preparing for an exciting speaking event coming up soon. No wonder my e-mail box is overflowing and I’m waaaay behind on all the blogs I love to follow. Sorry, gang, I’ll get caught up … sometime …

The fourth annual Power Of The Purse one-day women’s conference will be held on Thursday, September 27th in London, Ontario, not far from Toronto.

This high-energy and enjoyable day celebrates all women including those making an impact in the corporate world, women as creative forces in the arts world, as researchers and healers in healthcare and as generous philanthropists helping those in need.

A local non-profit charity is supported through this event and the important work of Anago’s Parkhill Therapeutic Residence is being spotlighted this year. Anago serves complex needs girls requiring protection, youth at risk with the law, and individuals with developmental challenges who may also be medically fragile. Kudos to them for all they do to make the community a better place to live!

I’m honoured to be among the dynamic … oh yes, we all are, honest! …  presenters for the day along with my fabulous friend and speaking partner,  Susan Sommers, co-author of the ‘must-have’ fitness book Power Source For Women.

Although Susan and I write in very different genres, our messages are based on the same philosophy.  We focus on women’s stories and  celebrate how they empower and support each other through the connections they make.

Our presentation reaches women of all ages with a message about fitness, friendship and the potential and possibilities change can offer at every stage in life.  Be a possibilitarian (thank you Amber West!) and make life the very best it can be!

The best part for us is having the opportunity to hear the incredible stories of other women. They inspire and motivate us every single time we are asked to speak! We love it!

Later in the day the Conference Centre is transformed into the popular Vendor Networking Marketplace showcasing local entrepreneurs and their products and services.  It is a terrific chance to connect, support and learn who is doing what in your community … okay … and to indulge in a little retail therapy too!

If you live in the area, we hope we’ll see you there. It’s going to be a blast!

Have you attended a conference like this? What was the most important part of the day … and not just those fabulous earrings you couldn’t resist!

Thank you/Merci beaucoup!

by

I’m dashing out the door to meet with my editor but want to say an enormous

THANK YOU

to all the readers and supporters who responded to The Bridge Club as Book Of The Day yesterday on eReaderNews. 

The Bridge Club shot up to #4 on Amazon’s Movers and Shakers/Digital Text! Woohoo! Thanks a million, everyone!

 

Choopy’s Cupcakes and Coffee Shop

by

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Mon Dieu, what a day I’ve had! There’s malware in my Hotmail apparently sending messages to everyone in my address book that I’m in distress in Greece and need money! It took a few hours of phone calls to Microsoft for them to figure out why I couldn’t access my Hotmail account. Now I will have to wait another 24 to 48 hours before I can get back in.  If you happen to receive one of those messages rest assured I’m not in Greece! You know me, I’d rather be in France!

We were up north visiting friends at their beautiful cottage for three days this week and without internet service. I’m now paying the price with overflowing blog and social media matters to take care of.

So I’m taking the easy way out this week and reposting this piece from last year about one of my favourite places in Antibes and the delightful young couple who make it happen. If you are anywhere in the neighbourhood, drop in to see Vincent and Julie!

HERE IT IS:

I love success stories, don’t you? The reason I’m a little late posting this is because I took a few hours this evening to watch the movie The Help with my DH. As well as being an important and well-told story,  author Kathryn Stockett’s backstory about writing The Help is one everyone should hear. It’s a true success story.

She received 60 rejections over a five-year period before one brave agent with an eye for a good story saw the truth in it. Click here to read it from my archives, in case you missed it. She’s hilarious and her personal journey is inspiring to all of us who believe in our writing.

Okay, I’m getting off topic … as I do … this post is about France and it’s about success. It’s about a young couple I met in Antibes whose story also inspired me.

Meet Julie and Victor, the owners of Choopy’s,  who are natives of nearby Nice and about as sincere and delightful a young couple as you could ever hope to meet. This warm and welcoming shop is in the old town of Antibes, through a short archway off Rue de La République.

I have to admit I’m not a true coffee drinker, unlike my DH who is an espresso afficionado.

I am … full confession here … a faux-coffee drinker. I need chocolate in it . Give me a Café Mocha or a Moccacino and I’m in heaven. I appreciate how seriously the French take their café and I know it’s kind of bad manners to even think of having anything but a café (i.e. espresso) or a café crème so I had been pretending for several weeks that I was cool with that (plus a LOT of sugar). But I wasn’t.

So … Choopy’s was new and had a cosmopolitan ambiance AND they had free wifi – bonus! I wandered in one day to see if possibly they might have one of these North American aberrations on their menu. They didn’t. “Pas de problème!” said Victor with his wonderful smile. “Explain what it is and I’ll make you one.” I did and he did. Magnifique!

Julie, a beautiful and engaging young woman, is a graduate of a prestigious 5-year culinary program. Vincent has a degree in business and finance. Soon after graduation they began working. It took no time for Julie to realize she wanted to be in contact with people and Vincent knew he preferred baking cakes to crunching numbers. Their quest began to figure out just what it was they could do to make this happen.

Like so  many other young people, they packed up and had an adventure working and traveling in Australia and Bali. All the while they were on the lookout for something that might be a sign as to what sort of business they should open. It didn’t take long for the sign to appear and surprisingly it was in the shape of … CUPCAKES! 

It seemed as if every coffee shop in Australia also served cupcakes. Mon Dieu! Qu’est-ce que c’est? Who had heard of cupcakes in France?  Not many. You can find more types of pastries in France than practically anywhere else in the world … but not cupcakes!

Visiting cupcake bakeries in Australia before they left, they were convinced that this was their future.  A bit of research back home indicated only one bakery in Paris was making cupcakes. Amazing. I mean, seriously, who doesn’t enjoy a good cupcake … or two?  Julie has become a cupcake goddess and every kind I sampled through the summer was über-delicieux!

Along with the ever-changing selection of cupcakes there are several other equally delicious choices to accompany your coffee. Victor’s banana bread with it’s mouth-watering crunchy topping has already established it’s own reputation.

Lunches and Sunday brunches are also served with all ingredients fresh from the daily market. Get there early as the space fills up quickly. The word has spread and this bright, hard-working and absolutely delightful young couple are seeing their business become a most successful venture.

It was always a pleasure to stop in and see how busy they were. Their energy and commitment to their business is evident in everything they do. Customer service is their focus and after just a few months it was obvious they were becoming a very important part of the charming old town in Antibes. Never too busy for a smile and a friendly exchange, make sure you stop by the next time you are in the neighbourhood!

The strawberry cupcakes are to die for … but then, so are the chocolate … and  … um, well, the Cupcakes De Noël are out now too. Just try them all!

And ask them how they decided upon the name of their shop … very cute …

Here’s their Facebook link. Stop in and “like” them – they deserve it. Merci beaucoup!

What are some success stories that have inspired you? Have you ever done your homework, taken a big breath and begun something completely new and different in your life? Would you do it again?

Pass me another tissue please

by

I’ve been wiping tears from my eyes all week with the Olympics under way. Every time there is a medal presentation and the winners emotionally respond to their national anthem, so do I.

Do you only choose certain events to watch in the Olympic Games? I watch more television during the Olympics than any other time and every sport suddenly seems to be interesting … even weight-lifting. Seriously. Part of the reason is the great job the networks do presenting the personal stories of many of the athletes. The journeys so many athletes and their families experience on the way to participating in the Games offer valuable life lessons for all of us to hear.

The Canadian coverage is presenting many of these inspiring stories in a feature called “The Difference Makers with Rick Hansen”. I simply keep a box of Kleenex nearby. I know I’m going to need it. My post today is not just to celebrate those athletes, it’s also to say a few words about the amazing Rick Hansen.

I’m sure there are few Canadians who do not instantly recognize his name but many of you in other parts of the planet may not know of him … and you should.

In 1957, at the age of 15, Rick was thrown from the back of a pickup truck on his way home from a fishing trip. A spinal cord injury left him paralyzed from the waist down. Fate has a strange way of impacting life.

Rick was inspired by teachers, coaches and family as he came to terms with his injury and set new goals from new dreams. He went on to become one of Canada’s most decorated Paralympic athletes.

In 1985, Rick and a handful of friends set out from a parking lot in with a dream. The plan was for Rick’s team to accompany him as he wheeled though 34 countries around the world in order to raise awareness of people with disabilities and raise money for research. The Man In Motion World Tour was born.

Rick describes the beginning of the tour with his own terrific sense of humour.

“The first memory that always comes back is the miracle that allowed us to even start the whole thing,” said Hansen laughing during a recent phone interview. “We were so young and naive and full of that optimism that anything can happen and we had no idea what we were going to encounter.

I think that was a prophetic moment when we left the Oakridge Shopping Centre parking lot and we drove the motorhome that had my wheelchair on top in a box on straight into the overpass, because the motorhome was over height. It was in front of these 200 well-wishers who probably didn’t think I could do it either. ’Yeah this guy is going around the world in a wheelchair and he can’t even get out of the parking lot.’”

Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/rickhansen/Rick+Hansen+shines+spotlight+Canadian+difference+makers/6656122/story.html#ixzz22M7FJkNc

They did indeed get out of the parking lot after making an adjustment or two and spent the next 26 months wheeling more than 40,000 km in countries around the globe. Awareness of their quest grew as time passed and media exposure increased. When Rick and his team arrived back home in British Columbia in 1987, his personal journey into making a positive difference in the lives of others had really only just begun. It has never stopped.

The Rick Hansen Foundation was established and has leveraged the $26 million raised during the original Tour to more than $245 million in investments toward spinal cord injury research, rehabilitation and quality of life initiatives.

Rick Hansen truly is a role model and inspiration. He is not only a dedicated athlete, proud Canadian, and one of the most recognizable men in our country and  but also a person who exemplifies the idea of paying it forward. There’s no one better to introduce the wonderful personal interest stories we are seeing during the Games.

Please take a few moments to visit his website. There’s even a page where you can send an online Rick Hansen medal to someone who inspires you. How cool is that?

Do you get emotional when you watch the Olympics? Is there an athlete in this year’s Games whose story has stood out above others and particularly touched you?

The logo on this page is courtesy of the Rick Hansen website.