Yesterday was my birthday.
A lot has happened over the last year. And sometimes we move so fast that we forget to enjoy where we are in this moment.
This weekend was about relaxing, reflecting, and really enjoying where I am in this moment.
My wonderful husband whisked me away for the weekend. First, we started here - at Chateau O'Brien - for an early St. Patrick's Day celebration.
Excellent wine, live music, way too much food! I had met Howard O'Brien at a charity function about 3 years ago - if you're ever in the Virginia area, I highly recommend visiting his beautiful winery. The Tannat is superb and worth every penny. (We also had a nice Malbec while we were there).
Next, we spent the weekend here - Harmony Manor
Now, I have stayed at some of the finest 5 star resorts around the world. No, we're not extremely wealthy, but I am married to one of the luckiest men in the world who truly believes all you have to do is ask and people will generally want to help you. For $99 one night, we stayed on top of Mandalay Bay in a suite that took up the whole floor - had it's own kitchen staff entrance and a private elevator guarded by security. It was called the "Coral of the Sea" room. We've also stayed at a 5-star resort in Ireland, simply walked in at the last minute and they had one room available - gave it to us a highly discounted rate (I think $150 bucks! - we even flew first class on Aer Lingus both ways just because he asked for an upgrade)...but I digress.
So Harmony Manor - 10,000+ square feet on 30+ private acreage and we had the whole place to ourselves. This place has 13 bathrooms, a bar with pool table and fireplace in the basement (5 fireplaces in all), a massage room, 5 car garages, 4 suites in the main house (one suite has his and her bathrooms!) and two apartments over the garages. The views are just stunning -and our host, Kimberly Fort, was an absolute joy. (Tell her Roxine sent you when you make reservations!)
View from the sitting room attached to our suite
Finally, as we were leaving on Sunday afternoon, we took a drive up towards Skyline Drive (we were going to ride a portion of it on our way back, but it was still closed due to snow and trees down - "Snowquestration" of last week dumped over 18 inches there). So as we were headed back off the mountain, we stopped at a quaint glass maker's shop - Glasswork's Gallery and, as I have said before, there are no coincidences.
As I was walking upstairs to the second level, a beautiful blue wall hanging caught my eye. I stopped dead in my tracks as the first few words captivated me...
Something Snapped Inside of Her
'ENOUGH ALREADY!" She Screamed
It's time For Women
Everywhere
to Claim their Worth,
their Value,
their Beauty,
their SACREDNESS
No More Of this Believing the Darkness
that's Been thrust Upon them
No More taking the Blame For the
Sins Of Others.
No More Claiming themselves As Failures
When In Fact.
they Are Survivors.
It's time For Women to Stop.
to turn Around.
to Face those People Who Have Hurt,
Harmed And Wounded
And Let them Know that they Refuse
to Be Destroyed.
they Refuse to Carry the Burden.
It's time For Women Everywhere
to Claim their Power, their Beauty
And their Right to Shine.
It's time for Women Everywhere
to Place the Palms Of their Hands
On their Wounds,
Acknowledge the Pain
And Change the World With the Lessons
Gained From that Pain.
It's time to Move With the Wisdom
Of A Survivor
And to Know Our Strength.
the World is Waiting For Us.
Let Us Step Up Now to Reclaim Ourselves.
And to Reclaim the World.
~Terri St. Cloud
My husband bought it for me for my birthday.
I am hanging it in my office as soon as I hit "send" here.
Yesterday was my birthday - and I have earned every single one of those 45 years. I wear it proudly. I am a survivor.