Tag Archives: Pebble Beach

Best Wishes for a Wonderful Thanksgiving filled with Gratitude

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Best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend to my family, friends, clients and associates.  May we all live with gratitude every day of the year.

Susan and Allan on Thanksgiving
Susan and Allan on Thanksgiving
Autumn splendor
Autumn splendor ~ walking among the aspens at Lake Tahoe in October

 

 

It’s Like Being On A Perennial Vacation? Living the Monterey Peninsula Lifestyle

Living the Monterey Peninsula Lifestyle

Late lunch on Schooner's deck at the Monterey Plaza hotel
Late lunch on Schooner’s deck at the Monterey Plaza hotel

My husband and I moved down here from San Francisco 17 years ago and ever since then, it’s been like we’ve been on a perennial vacation!  What ‘s great is you don’t have to put aside a whole week to get away somewhere to become refreshed, relaxed, and replenished – all you need is a few hours!  It was our dream to move here for years.  Whether you live in Carmel, Pebble Beach, Pacific Grove, or Monterey.  Natural beauty and “vacation living” is close by and lots of time spur of the moment!

Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay

For instance leaving work this afternoon on a warm, sunny, beautiful afternoon about 1:00pm,  I decided to give my other half a call.  Being very hungry and about to go grab a sandwich at the 5th Avenue Deli in Carmel, I thought my hubby might still be available for lunch.  As it turned out he was just heading home from a round of golf and was delighted to contemplate a lovely Friday afternoon meal at Schooner’s which I suggested would be a great way to end the week.  (Of course, as a realtor, my week never really ends and I will be working both Saturday and Sunday- which is the reason I need to constantly sprinkle in “vacation time” when I can get it!)

Susan Clark, enjoying the views of Monterey Bay
Susan Clark, enjoying the views of Monterey Bay

My point is – we had an amazing afternoon bathed in sunshine and  dining on seafood while scanning the bay for otters, kayaks, and cormorants.  Most people would have to drive for hours to get an enjoyable afternoon like this – we only had to drive about 12 blocks from our home.

Allan Freidson delighted in the sea air!
Allan Freidson delighted in the sea air!

For Allan our lunch was his “19th Hole” having just finished a round of golf.  For me it was a nice reward for completing work and errands.   I was able to spend the morning getting ads created, preparation for a listing presentation, calls to clients made, and getting prepared for my weekend open houses.  I even had time to run by Pac Rep to return my Centennial parade costume!

If you don’t live here and are reading this, consider living in this amazing place.  We certainly have never been sorry to have settled in God’s country on the Monterey Peninsula.

Dreaming of living here on the Monterey Peninsula?  Share your dream on ShareYourDream.com where others have shared theirs.  I promise your dream will come true!

Astronauts, Astronomers, and Academics ~ Pebble Beach Authors & Ideas Festival

Pebble Beach Authors & Ideas Festival 2016  at Stevenson School, Pebble Beach

James Newman, astronaut
James Newman, astronaut.  Currently a professor of space systems at the Naval Post Graduate School.  Logged 43 days in space including 6 space walks totaling 43 hours.

What a great idea Cindy and Jim McGillen had 10 years ago to create a venue for great minds to come together and share their intriguing ideas. Twenty-seven plus nationally renowned authors and innovators gathered in Pebble Beach this weekend to share their knowledge and great ideas with the participants.  The attendees were generous sponsors of the festival, paying guests, and educators who were invited as guests.  I was lucky enough to be one of the volunteers helping with the event so I was able to hear many of the speakers when I wasn’t on duty..

Secretary Leon Panetta
Secretary Leon Panetta

Secretary Leon Panetta kicked off the festival with a thought provoking speech on Friday night.  Prior to serving as the 23rd Secretary of Defense, Panetta (a local Carmel Valley resident) served as the Director of the CIA, White House Chief of Staff,  Director of OMB, and before that a Congressman in the House of Representatives from 1977-1993.  The amphitheater was packed with an enthusiastic audience.

Student presenters

 Thousands of school children of Monterey County participated in the Student Ideas Festival thanks to the Carmel Ideas Foundation.  Some students were also given the honor to be student presenters introducing each speaker as they came onto the stage.  What an opportunity for students to have such an amazing experience!

Amphitheater at Stevenson School, Pebble Beach
Amphitheater at Stevenson School~ John Hennessy speaking.

Presentations took place in several different venues.  Speaking here in  the outdoor amphitheater is John Hennessy.  After a 16 year term as president of Stanford University he is being hailed as transformational after remaking the university from the inside out.

John Hennessy
John Hennessy

He is now the founding director of Knight-Hennessy Scholars program designed to lure the best students in the world for graduate education at Stanford with the goal of “doing good for the world”.

Cara Hale Alter
Cara Hale Alter founder of SpeechSkills ~ author of The Credibility Code:How to Project Confidence and Competence When It Matters Most

The other venues included a large auditorium and small break out sessions in classrooms.

Cara Hale Alter
Cara Hale Alter

Cara Hale Alter was a popular speaker who has provided training to the world’s leading companies and top-100 law firms.  She teaches how to project confidence and competence.  Don’t miss buying her book on the subject complete with video demonstrations!  Just as an aside story about Cara, she and I both recognized each other when she checked in at the registration desk, but couldn’t figure out how we knew each other.  We finally figured out she had been  my Jazz Dance instructor 25+ years ago in San Francisco!

The Credibility Code by Cara Hale Alter
The Credibility Code by Cara Hale Alter

Dr. Bernie Roth was very interesting and a kick to listen to.  He is a Stanford professor who is the Rodney H. Adams Professor of Engineering and is also a  co-founder of Stanford’s “d-school” which teaches “design thinking”.   Early this year I completed Stanford University’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Certification program which included a day at Stanford learning all about design thinking so I was very interested in what he had to say.

Dr. Bernard Roth
Dr. Bernard Roth in his break out session.
Dr. Bernard Roth, a Stanford University professor.
Dr. Bernard Roth, a Stanford University professor.

His book, The Achievement Habit is a “Don’t Miss” read.

The Achievement Habit by Bernard Roth
The Achievement Habit by Bernard Roth

The authors all had book signings in the bookstore and there were long lines of people clutching their books in hand for a personal moment with the authors to get a personalized autograph.

Authors signing their books for eager readers.
Authors L-Hampton Sides and R-Peter Ricchiuti signing their books for eager readers.

The amazing array of authors is just too long to include in a short blog entry.  There was Dan Buettner who discovered the Blue Zones where there is the highest concentration of centenarians; Kathlyn Cooney, an archaeologist who has researched ancient Egypt; Professor Andrew Fraknoi, who makes astronomy a joy to learn about, and Mas Matsumoto, an organic peach and grape farmer who had written about the family succession on a family farm.

mas-masumto
Mas Masumoto, an organic peach and grape farmer with a story.

There were so many more stunning presentations with great ideas flowing that there isn’t room to talk about them all.  Just make a note in your calendar to come next year last weekend in September to the

2017 Pebble Beach Authors and Ideas Festival.