I am on Oprah!!!!!! (.com)

Today I was tipped off to something pretty incredible, one of my photos made it on Oprah.com!!!!!!

A while back I submitted a photo to the "Spirit" section for a "Breathing Space" gallery. 20 images were selected and the artists name and comment is placed below the image. Did I get one of my images into that 20....NO, but they used my photo for the banner to link to the gallery. No photo credit....bummer, but I am happy to have it there, and am harboring no resentment, but I will certainly mention it to her as I am sitting on the butter yellow leather chair discussing my new book. (Which she will likely have graciously endorsed.) They have mirrored the image, but I am pretty certain it is mine.

Anyway, if you want to view the rest of the photos from that morning, you can see them here: http://www.ineedchocolate.com/photo-galleries/morning-fog/

If you like the image, I have a number of products for sale on my CafePress site including; a calendar, ornaments, cards, clocks, a joural, apron, pillows, tiles, and of course prints. Check it out at: http://www.cafepress.com/BrendaLevos

Here is the original image, what do you think?

OK, so the book, I am getting a lot of "I didn't know you were writing a book" feedback, so here are the details:

• Book about half written
• Shopping for Agent/Publishers
• The book recaps my memoirs of the birth of my 15.6 ounce daughter (now 12) Hope. Overall, I want to the book to convey the message of keeping a positive attitude in the face of adversity. I am hoping for a broader appeal than just the traditional premie audience, but don't want to exclude them either.
• I am hoping this book will be followed up by as second about my fathers motorcycle accident, head injury and recovery. All while his sister (my aunt) is diagnosed with cancer, and I also get a "pre-cancerous" cells report. Again focusing on keeping a positive attitude throughout it all.
• The third book in the series will discuss the journey of my mothers diagnosis with ovarian cancer and our losing her to that battle. Again, facing adversity, our inner strength and the beauty of a life lived.

Here is a sneak peek excerpt (unedited) from book 1:

What happened next reverted to that slow motion portion of a movie, a dream. Things are moving quickly, yet you see everything in slow motion. You have a heightened sense of awareness, the doctors eyes, the nurses. What are they holding in their hands? The room in my recollection couldn’t possibly have been the one I was in, it seemed to be glowing, lit from within. I felt as though I was outside my body watching from a distance, and yet in my body too, in shock perhaps, highly medicated, likely. Why do they appear so hurried?

So I ask the question. “How soon do you think we are going to have to do this?” Expecting an answer of a month or so. He responds, “You are crashing, this needs to be done in 30 minutes or we could lose you!” His delivery left no question, without truly hearing the words, it was evident, the gravity of this situation. The words aren’t fully out of his mouth, and absolutely no semblance of reality has begun to set in even as one of the nurses approaches the bed, flips up my gown and starts preparing me for surgery. Is this really happening? What does he mean I am crashing? The gravity of that instant, the flood of emotion, and reasoning, the heightened awareness, is indescribable. All I can utter to Tom is to try to find our parents. And as those words leave my lips, nurses push my bed out of the room and into the operating room.

If you would like to receive updates on the progress of the book and be notified when published, please e-mail me at b@brendalevos.com

Welcome the return of the elf

I know, I know, the elf is SO last year, but I couldn't help myself, I had to try out the new and improved "Elf Yourself." New this year are a couple of different musical selections.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Think differently about your space and decor

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to visit a dear friend who just moved into a new apartment and we did a little dreaming of how to decorate and arrange her new space. I began thinking of new and innovative ways to make a space your own when you may not have full authority to do what you want. Sure, paint is an easy option, but what else. I began digging a bit on the web to see if I could find something thought provoking, innovative. What I came across were some pretty interesting things, which sparked a number of others.

The first one here is from the site of Duncan Wilson. What he has done is simply mounted white photo corners on a wall for an interesting display, easily changeable and because they blend into the wall color even if not full still add an interesting texture. Another thought I had was to attach them with a little plastic snap, so that corners could be rotated allowing for more non-standard size options.

The other item on the site that I found quite intriguing was the Post-it note wall. This one starts with 4 layers in differing colors. but could we take if further? What if you had a blank wall, non-textured preferably, perhaps even a glass window you wanted to obscure. This would be great in a hallway. Purchase hundreds, or thousands of post-it note pads line them up side by side creating one complete surface. They could be all the same color, or create a pattern of different colors on the wall. The beauty here also is if you use say 100 sheet pads, there becomes this depth as well as the certain pads are more depleted than others. Maybe you spell out your name or the name of the company you work for, your tagline, or theme. Have Sharpies in varying colors nearby. If you are in a traditional office setting with the ceiling tiles. Use the hanger clips and run elastic strings, or perhaps fishing line from the ceiling. Attach to the sharpie cap and hang varying colors at varying heights for another interesting effect.

You can create this same effect if all you have is your "office cube." What about taking one wall and making it a post it note wall. Maybe you create a mosaic with varying sizes of post-it pads and colors. Or if you have a rather conservative office manager perhaps just a nice border or brightly colored post-its.

Cool idea, but what is THAT going to cost me. Well a very quick estimate of the real 3M Post-Its in a multitude of colors is going to run you in the range of $25 a square foot. Ouch. You could extend that by splitting pads in half or quarters, or perhaps buy in bulk if you can find it. Hey there you 3M people how about it. How does a girl get her hands on a 10,000 pack bundle of 3" post it pads? I even have art installation in mind here. The best ones to get, I believe would be the ones with alternating colors in on pad, so the color and shapes of the wall changes as you use it.

So, as your are building your budget for the coming year, or perhaps you have a little extra left in your "office supplies" budget, wink wink, that you use or lose for the next year. Consider taking on a little office project.

Remember, think outside of the box. You don't have to contain your writing to one 3" pad, break across the borders drawing over multiple pads at a time. Shredding of your notes? not necessary, instantly shredded! or makes a nice puzzle for the nosy office types.

Have fun, and if you decide to create your own 3M Post-it wall, shoot me a photo, would love to see it. If you need help, you know where to find me.