if you had asked me...

...yesterday afternoon around 2:45 pm, if i was in good shape to leave, my answer would have been a very big "scarily so!" and, then 3pm hit...

i was walking in the door from picking up snacks, for my daughter's hebrew class that was meeting here, and although i was a little disgusted by the weather (we have had black ice and grey skies, with yesterday rain, snow and nothing but cold all in a short amount of time...), when the phone was ringing....

with no time to take off my gross shoes, i went running through the house looking for the phone, and yeah! it was a new client call! it made me happy that i ran through the house without taking my shoes off and i was even happier i didn't slip in them running for the phone. anyway, it sounds like a cute couple. they actually own pomg bike tours, which looks like a great bike tour co...check them out at www.pomgbike.com, here in vermont....but how to pull together their info and proposal before i leave, as they would like to depart the day before i return, so all will need to be done by tomorrow?!

anyway, after getting the kids snacked up and ready for hebrew, i went online to begin working on this for them, when i saw my new work e.mail account sending me 14,000 old deleted e.mails!!! by the time it was done it was sending me over 31,000 of the same old deleted e.mails.........aarrrgghhh. if i could tell you how much time i have spent on the phone with my web hosting company this week alone, over this very issue, you would either giggle or turn to alcohol. so, there i was again, and now i'm mad! i feel bad taking my frustration out on the new person on the phone, when i call however, after 6 times in the past day and a half explaining the same issue and having them doubt me, and then start all over "recreating the situation" so they can see for themselves?! and the heavens would open up, if you could ever get a supervisor on the phone, much less the same person you spoke with an hour before, so as to not have to go through all of this again!!!!

you might ask, "allison, did you get it worked out?" well, as my computer is flipping out right now deleting 31,437 e.mails, the answer would have to be a big "NO!"

so, it might be better off if you just don't ask me anything today....

hope your day is a good one.

a

traveling, dialoguing, arting,

i am currently "dialoguing" with a women who is preparing for her second trip to the d.r., and she made my day, by saying that although, they stay in an all inclusive, they take the gua-gua, and check out the local towns and are thinking to take a trip into santo domingo for carnival! yeah!

another exciter this morning, is a friend who went to india a few weeks back sent pics of her incredible trip! what a way to start the morning...the colors got me charged up to get away. anyone who knows me, knows that i think this place is too quiet, missing to many colors, sounds, and smells...maybe now you understand why the exterior of our house is purple, and the music is almost always making the windows vibrate. can you say, flavor baby?

looking for something to do this friday? first friday art walk....i will try and pass along more info in the next day or so however, definitely check out: pine street artworks, at 404 pine st.and see liza's show about the history of america's photobooth. so cool.

and this for my zumba friends....i seem to be having troubles uploading pics to my blog. i can add video, which i will try later....so, instead i will e.mail the photos of my little travel buddy to lwe and they can be posted there for you! installment #1...."where we going?"

have a great day.

a

life is what we make it....

as i sit here feeling like i am forgetting to take care of some things before i go, or having trouble getting on touch with some people in the dominican, or feeling overwhelmed by my need to have this adventure....i am reminded how lucky i am.

in the past few weeks here in vermont, we have lost a couple of our young people, way before their time. high school kids out doing what we have all done; be a little reckless and enjoy their passions and hobbies..essentially, living life. as a mama, my heart bleeds for those families. as a human, i feel the loss to the world for not having an opportunity to be exposed to what these young people were going to bring to our world.

so, i am reminded that this need to see and learn new things is crucial. my life is what i make it. and, although my first thought is to grab my child and not let go. not to let her out of my sight. i refrain. i want her to make her life as rich as she can. to touch people's hearts, to make others laugh, or to teach them something new. i want for her to reach for the stars. to be all that she can be.and one way i hope to teach her this, is by doing it myself. after all, my life is what i make it.

happy monday.

a

what a week...

one week from right now, i will be settling in with my host family in santo domingo! what a week this is going to be...

today i had my last class with my zumba family and i already miss their smiles and their passion. we had a full class again today and they were all so positive. thank you ladies for such a wonderful send off! keep reading the blog to find out about my travel adventures.

so, now we know how much spanish i need to learn...i mentioned in my last posting that i thought i was going to switch houses mid stay...but no! i get a classmate as my house mate! a woman from germany will be joining me the 2nd week! yeah...someone to share in the adventure with!

i had my friends that are joining me at the end of the trip, with my daughter, meet with me last night to go over the trip. even though it was late and we were all tired, it was fun to talk about the trip. they are going to be very interested in exploring the natural wonders of the country, which will push my daughter and me into unchartered territory. this has some interesting potential, and will definitely be good for my kid. we tend to be art, gallery, music, food people.

we still have no hotel in samana, which i really want to figure out this week. also this week is errands, laundry and packing. i am going to try and stay calm.

also, a hearty congratulations to my mama for her very successful vermont 3.0 tech fair! and for selling their home this week. what a week! what a week this has been for them.

a

so much to say, so little time....

don't worry, i haven't run out of words, just too many things going on as my time is running out! yikes.

so, i just found out i am switching families mid stream, so that i can be with another student...maybe, i will be the only student my first week? the good news, is that i would get private lessons for the cost of group. the bad news, no one to hang out with. the even badder news, if you will, i will have no one else to not understand what the heck is going on with!!!!! it will be all up to me to come up with the answers! and i just bought my family a present, back i go for some more...vermont made maple candies and maple butter for pan.

so, when my family arrives in santo domingo, we are going to stay at the new hotel, to check it out. i think it might be too small for the girls trip, but good to know about for others, and ME!

highlights of the girls trip to the merengue festival in santo domingo:
*welcome cocktail party and dinner overlooking the ocean
*walking tour of the old city
*a fun filled lunch at el conuco, for traditional food and dancing
*learning to make traditional rice and beans in a home and eating it!
*merengue, merengue, merengue
*horseback riding on the beach
*traditional lunch on the beach in sosua
*sun and sand

worked on trying to update my ipod last night, to no avail. aaaarrrgggghhh, technology has me so irritated. now, it appears to be more screwed up than ever.

ok....so, you guys must all go to the vermont 3.0 technology jam this weekend at lake and college st. check out the website at: http://www.3.com/.

gotta run. have a good one. and stay warm!


a.

oy

so, have found a new hotel right in zona colonial (old city) in santo domingo and i think it looks amazingly cool. it looks like, if i do say so myself, how i would decorate a small boutique hotel, if i were to do so. but it has been brought to my attention that the hotel i usually use while in zona colonial is more authentic.....oy.

the old hotel: has the old world, straight out of christopher columbus' era authenticity, (and the service is always great, and i know the ladies that work there, and my daughter even knows an elderly gentleman that visits every year when we do!) http://www.hotel-palacio.com/

the new hotel: has the modern beach caribbean vibe, right in the middle of the city. it has only been open a few weeks, and i am excited for them and want to help them be successful.(so far they are the only ones who have even tried to give me dates for the merengue festival!) www.cocoboutiquehotel.com

speaking of the festival, i began working on the itinerary for the girls trip! oh my gosh, i got so excited! it is going to be a great trip. cool, festive, busy, and plenty of down time....right now, if pushed, i would say the dates are: july 24 to july 31.we are going to begin in santo domingo, staying at one of the above hotels, have a welcoming cocktail party and dinner on the ocean, enjoy an artist studio, have a typical lunch at a colorful restaurant, merengue our hearts out, see the old city....and move on to the north coast for beach time, where we'll have lunch on the beach, horseback ride and everyone will have time to do whatever they want! my heart begins to race with happiness over it all....oy.

i can't wait. bring it on, baby!

a

ps...would love to hear your opinions on the hotel choices.

good news, bad news....

i don't seem to be able to ask that question and not mess up the answer! i ask "would you like the good news or the bad news first" and then seem to get my response all jumbled up. but since i'm not posing the question, i can answer authoritatively. generally, i am the type of person who asks for the bad first, so that i can walk away feeling the positive. but in this case, for discussion purposes, i must begin with the good news.

good news. as i mentioned a few days ago, my hits to the blog and the website have shot through the roof. through cross pollinating my businesses, newsletters, talking about it all so much more, people are looking and i'm loving it!

bad news. looking. just looking. are they stashing the info in their sweet memory boxes, to call upon on a later day, when they will need my services? or are they blankly staring at my words and walking away with their brains so overwhelmed and ovestimulated with websites, colors, pictures, words, that there is no longer room to process? in a world of over stimulation, am i just adding to the fray? and now, i am just one more thing to tune out?

well, if i work under the premise that: no matter if i am now becoming a contributing factor to add in our society, and i want to continue promoting myself, how do i turn those looks into more calls, and then more sales? all of this leads to todays tasks.

1. look into ad words
2. think about the home page for all dominican travel and how to turn it into a selling demon page, without being hit you over the head, in your face about it.

have a great day.
a.-

ps...one more good news bad news thing....bad news....today in burlington, vt the high is 28 and the low 19 degrees, and WINDY!. good news: today in santo domingo, dominican republic, the high is 81 and the low 67 degrees!!!! less than 2 weeks baby!

wow.

i have to say that i am quite exhausted, so not sure if any of this will make sense.....but i'll try.

i was up early preparing for my zumba class and working at my desk. i sent out my new all dominican newsletter (see yesterdays post) last night via e.mail so the responses were coming in, starting very early this morning. and then i began checking out the statistics for my all dominican site and my blog.....how exciting is this???? visitors from south korea, switzerland, japan, china, greece, seychilles (a cluster of 115 islands in the indian ocean)!!!! and today, even my blog had visitors from australia, spain, brazil, netherlands, canada, brazil and united kingdom. not only that, but the hits went through the roof today. my daughter says she was one of them! i love it. wow.

my zumba class was overflowing full and i introduced the class to my friend who is going to teach african classes while i'm gone. it is going to be such a great match between all of them. all of my ladies are so delightful. great energy, happy and willing to try anything. i love them all and will miss them dearly.

then off to a meeting with my mom (lkpeal) and lisa (cadieux)...(check out their info in my networking section) re: planning some events for the area and how we want to work together. 5.5 hours later, we have some plans and everyone has a job to do so that we can meet up again before i leave. wow.

2 weeks from right now i will be with my family in santo domingo. wow.

a.-

alldominicantravel.com newsletter

www.dulcefuegodesigns.com

i have a front page for the new website! it is so very exciting, and makes everything seem so real. i can't believe the progress i have made in a few short weeks. my own blog has been google-alerted to me twice since i began it just a week or so ago! people i run into, who are on my e.mail lists are telling me they have checked it all out, and asking me specific questions! tomorrow i hope to send out my newsletter announcing all of this....

i am down to 2 weeks before departure to the sunny dominican! i need to tidy up all of the things i have begun over the past few weeks, clean off my desk, and start thinking about packing. so that when i return i hit the ground running. i want/need/am determined to keep this crazy energy up and to make it all happen for me. so, upon my return....clients!!!

here's to being the queen of all i can see!!! it's "la reina" to you!

a.-

ps....i would love for everyone to leave comments. without them it's sort of like talking to myself, and then answering myself. on the one hand, it's sort of cathartic and satisfying, on the other, it could make you go mental wondering if anyone is really reading this.

whooooo-hoooo....

by george, i think we've got it!

thanks to darling wendy, (blue bottle design group) who worked patiently with me on my website for dulce fuego designs.....to http://www.dulcefuegodesigns.com for a coming soon page, and you will be able to get the vibe of what we've got going day i think we got it! in the next day or so you will be able to check on.

also, finished my all dominican travel newsletter that will go out once the coming soon page is up, and by friday sometime, the big changes (all the dates) to the adt website will be made.

an old friend called me tonight but i was too tired to pick up the phone, so instead i googled him and here is a link to the cool stuff he is doing. will listen to his message tommorow and try to reach him then. i think he will be pleased with what my plans are for next month.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=209013710

if this doesn't work go into "my space" and look up collective fusion. he is the percussionist.

i love talented, driven and passionate people. they fill my soul.

well, going to move my butt from the chair to the sofa for a movie.
a.-

remember who you are...

while growing up, my mother often said; "remember who you are"....today i saw a sign at a client's house; "remember who you want to be"!!! how appropriate at this very time in my existence to turn around that constant lyric that has played in my ears for so many years into something new and fresh.

"remember who i want to be". as the new year rolled in, i sat down and made a couple of lists of what i hoped to achieve, accomplish, make happen this year... one list even spelled out, down to the details, the type of man i am looking for.

what i can tell you here and now... i want to be a better mom. a better friend. a better daughter. a better business woman. a better zumba instructor. take better care of myself. and even be a better girlfriend (once i find a boyfriend!).

i look forward to taking risks while i'm in the dominican. safe risks, that is. stepping out of my comfort zones, pushing myself to learn as much as i can, to try new things, to talk with and meet new people. santo domingo is going to be a big challenge. the north coast will be a big challenge for my friends, as they see me sit my butt in the sand, and only get up for a cold water! i'm not kidding.

"remember who i want to be"....i challenge you to the same.

buenas noches.

a

2 steps forward....

and 3 back!!!

yikes, i spent the day putting out fires.

1.work related (had to be back on the phone with hosting company about things i thought i handled all last week, just to name one).
2. personal (plumbing problems, anyone know a good plumber/electrician/painter for me to marry?).
3. even my child has been having issues with relationships (it can make a mother go mental when she can't make things right for her child, and instead has to listen and give advice on how to be a good citizen of the world).

in the end, i have to admit it....i lost it a little bit. but thanks to good friends with big ears, i was talked down off the edge.

oh yeah...the 2 steps forward...
1. our local zumba contingency is going to be getting some good local press! be checking the free press...
2. and i heard about my host family in santo domingo! dona ana y su esposo y su sobrina. i will have a 30-40 minute ride by public transportation, to and from school, but will have my own bedroom and maybe my own bathroom! the bathroom part makes me very joyful! (no snickering please....)it appears to be in a middle class neighborhood, and this family has been a host family for over 10 years with the school....oh yeah, they have a little dog named mikey.

well, there you have it folks....money sent. family arranged. and today i pulled out my new toiletry bag and began filling it with my things....all bright and shiny and waiting with anticipation!

sleep well. i know i will.

a

panic sets in....

so, a dear friend mentioned yesterday how excited he was going to be to read my daily musings while i am away... how cool i thought, until panic set in that is! daily musings? that sounds so prophetic, as if i have something really interesting or important to say....which i don't think i do... as we all know, i have plenty of words spilling out from my tongue, but do i really have something to say? i think not.....

so, instead here is sort of my to do list:
1. create newsletter for all dominican travel (if anyone knows how to delete pages from a new windows template, PLEASE let me know)
2. get the verbal word out about all dominican and dulce fuego
3. does anyone have press contacts that i will be able to send press releases to?
4. since a strength of mine seems to be connecting people, why not do it more efficiently? have you (is anybody really out there reading this?) noticed the networking bar on this blog? (you tell 2 friends about me, and i'll tell 2 friends about you)
5. figure out how i can update pictures to the blog, if i am using an internet cafe while i'm away. would prefer to not have to take a laptop with me.
6. listen to anyone who has great ideas on how to promote business in a grassroots sort of way, and find out if anyone has tried the igoogle promotional pay as you click ad words concept?
7. and last, but not least....if you know of anyone planning an event or wanting to travel for music and dance to the dominican republic, please pass their names along!

alrighty then...now you can plainly see what i am working on today besides my piano lesson, meeting with my fellow zumba instructors and wiring off my money for spanish/dance homestay portion of trip!!!! that will make it all so real! talk about panic?!

a

expectations....

as we all have learned, life doesn't always go according to plan. we think we are cruising along, and then there is disappointment! yikes. sometimes, it is our choice to go in another path, and sometimes that path is forced upon us....much to our chagrin. but what can we do?

i do try to believe in the whole, " well, it must be happening for a reason", "look at all you are learning" hoo-ha, that we all spout when someone else is going through it. but really, we all know it's not easy for us to swallow when it's us that change has "unwantingly" forced itself upon.

i am here to say though, that no matter the circumstances...i am loving this learning process. making the blog, already figuring out that i could update the template and make it look more like me. learning and thinking about how to promote myself. wow! it's tremendous. working on a new site...it's exhilarating.

just remember, we make changes for others and others make changes for us....we can't help it. one decision can be a life catalyst for another. just pay it forward. when you can, help others through change, be a constant, network for them and remember the good in people. if we expect the best in others we will get it more often than not.

expectations....they sure do change. here's to being realistic, optimistic and focused.

a

here i go....

wow...today is january 9, 2008, and the goals i have set for myself this year are well under way! no wonder i'm exhausted, in a pumped up, energetic sort of way! i could not be any more pleased with my direction.

the year began with a beautiful celebration at pine street artworks. lisa cadieux and i, with the help of deana and john, victor, dj raul and family, liza cowen and my daughter, pulled off a glittery entrance for 2008 to make an appearance. the energy was spectacular, the lighting off the charts and everyone seemed pleased with a fun, family friendly place to celebrate!

and the rest they say is history....this week marks the birth of dulce fuego designs. this is the umbrella company for my space, event and travel design businesses. all dominican travel website is getting a loving clean up this week, and dulce fuego's website is being created as we speak.

this blog will be adoringly looked after by me, as i write to you from the dominican next month, and i post info about events and interiors i am working on.....

next month the posts will be from the d.r. as i study spanish, dance several hours a day, live with a family in santo domingo, and travel to parts of the country i have yet to see. not only will i be learning at every turn, i will be making new, as well as renewing familiar contacts, for all dominican travel and for design/event contacts.

so, i welcome you to dulce fuego designs (sweet fire designs) and wish you much joy, much health and much happiness this upcoming year!

a