I am wrapping up a week’s vacation today with my mother who came to visit me on Martha’s Vineyard.   It was our longest stretch of time together alone in my adult life and it turned out totally relaxing and fun!

Last day of vacation — my sweet mom and me

And, we weren’t the only ones on the island taking it easy – POTUS (President Obama) and FLOTUS (First Lady Michelle) were also here.  And, in a moment, I’ll tell you about how we missed actually seeing them everywhere we went!

But first…

Congratulations to Christine Wagner who last week hosted another successful Women on Fire Tea Party in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  I love her Southwestern twist on traditional tea party fare. Azadero cheese with salsa and goat milk flan for dessert were on the menu.  Yum!  I’ve got to get out to New Mexico and experience this myself at one of Christine’s teas!

Glowing faces at the Women on Fire Tea Party in Santa Fe!
Front row: Cecelia Dardanes, Cynthia Savage, Sienna Steiner
Back Row: Sue Wetsel, Anna Molitor, Sandi Reeder,
Christine Wagner, Amy Winn, Barbara Wilder

While the tea party food may vary, some things, however, at Women on Fire Tea Parties stay the same no matter where you attend:

The inspiration, strategies and support of fabulous women connecting with each other and sharing what they are “on fire” about in their lives.   Those elements are always present, and I hope you can go to one soon!

Last week many of you commented and shared your own stories about your mother or loss of your mother in response to my spending a week with my mom.  Thank you.

I so treasured this time with my mother knowing how precious these memories are.
It was the easiest, most stress-free week I’d had in a long time.  We simply did what we wanted to all week long.

We:

• Ate
• Baked
• Napped
• Reminisced
• Created greeting cards with Women on Fire Blue Cullen and Nancy Rogers
• Hosted an afternoon tea party for a dozen women friends, all Women on Fire:-)
• Took the ferry over to our neighboring island Chappaquiddick and had a picnic
• Went to see the movie Eat, Pray, Love. (I loved it. My practical mom’s take on Elizabeth Gilbert’s travels to Italy, India and Bali to find herself: “Well, that’s sure different.”)

Even though we were tangled in traffic a number of times to accommodate the President’s visit, it was no big deal at all.

He and his family vacationed a mile or two up the road from us.  Everywhere my mom and I ate or traveled, we always seemed to be right behind them by a few hours, minutes or seconds.  We went to breakfast at our favorite State Road Restaurant, and the staff was abuzz because the Obamas had eaten dinner there the night before!

Here is a little video I took of my sweet mom so you can get a feel for her funny, delightful personality.  She’s talking to you from the same location in the restaurant where the President ate lobster tempura 12 hours earlier.  She’s feasting on a Limpopo (If you know what it is, please write me because I’m still not sure!)

If the Video Of Debbie’s Mom does not show above click this link to play

And, now it is time to say goodbye to her until the holidays (sniff, sniff). It’s back to work for me with much exciting work ahead.

Soon, I will launch an audio series interviewing inspiring women to address many of the issues we struggle with as women.  I am so excited about sharing these powerful women with you.

I hope you, too, are about to make the transition of summer-into-fall with great hope and promise.

Please check out the calendar for some ways you might take your interests and work to the next level.  As always, feel free to share what you are looking forward to in the comments section below.