By Adi Raz
The second Provisional meeting of the year really helped us get in the holiday spirit! It is always so exciting to see all of the Provisionals in one room-so much positive energy is contagious. I think a lot of us were still on the sugar rush from the Sprinkles Cupcakes at the General Meeting.
(Be sure to visit Sprinkles Cupcakes at Stanford Shopping Center 11/29-12/3 to purchase the special Home Tour cupcake. All proceeds from the sales of this cupcake will benefit the JLPA•MP and our Community Projects)
After being treated to a delicious meal of pasta, salad, and those amazing olive rolls, we were all set to get started. I love how the Provisionals who plan the meeting get to introduce the speakers. It was especially sweet to see a daughter Provisional introduce her mother Sustainer. It served as a reminder that the Junior League transcends the generational gap and is a family within a family.
The theme of the November meeting was Fundraising and we got to hear all about the different ways the Junior League raises funds for its various Community Projects. It was really interesting to learn about the Endowment Fund and how one can contribute to it. We heard an update from The Shop and got excited to do a little holiday shopping there. And of course, who can forget the Home Tour, which is looking to be the most glittering event on everyone’s event calendar. Beautifully decorated homes, a cocktail party, and a holiday boutique-who can resist? (Tickets are still available!!!)
My favorite part of the evening was the Done-In-a-Meeting Project. I don’t think I have ever had more fun wrapping empty boxes, and I know they will look so beautiful under our tree at Home Tour. We also collected more utensils to make ornaments for the Kids in the Kitchen themed tree. Although we may have arrived in our heels and work clothes, nothing stopped us from sitting cross-legged on the floor, gabbing and wrapping boxes. The Done-In-a-Meeting Project really represents the heart and soul of what Junior League is all about: helping to build communities (one roll of wrapping paper at a time).
To learn more about our Community Projects, click here
To learn more about the JLPA•MP Endowment Fund, click here
To follow The Shop on Facebook, click here
To learn more about and purchase tickets for Finishing Touches: A Holiday Tour of Fine Homes & Boutique, click here
November 19, 2010
November 16, 2010
November is Inspirational Role Models Month
posted by Summer Brill
November is Inspirational Role Models Month, did you know that? I didn’t either, until Amy Truel (DIAD co-chair) told me today. She told me she found out by reading the AJLI (Association of Junior Leagues International) Blog Connected. The AJLI (www.ajli.org) has a wonderful website full of interesting articles, links to a blog (yes, they have one too!) links to their Facebook and Twitter and access to AJLI membership.
Read this post on the AJLI blog about Inspirational Role Models Month and chime in on the AJLI comment section. We also want to hear from you here! If you have an Inspirational Role Model, tell us (send to stories@thejuniorleague.org) and we’ll post on our Blog or self post on our Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/jlpamp).
Who inspires you and why? I’ll start…
My Inspirational Role model is my friend Jill. We’ve known each other since our days at Arizona State University. She now lives in Chicago and I’m in California, but we keep in touch via Facebook, text and email. Although she is a plane ride away, she continues to inspire me with her thoughtfulness and unending support for her friends in need.
When my brother was in Iraq with the Marines, she started sending him letters and included funny articles, notes from her friends and general words of thanks and encouragement. She was not close with my brother before he left to serve, and I’m not sure they met more than a handful of times either. I did not ask her to write, she did it on her own. It didn’t take a lot of time, but her impact was great. He told us how getting letters from non-family members really lifted his morale and that of his fellow Marines.
A few years ago, a friend of hers had a daughter who became very ill and continues to rehabilitate to this day. From the very beginning, Jill rallied support among her friends, family and coworkers to lend encouragement and support to this friend of hers. I began to follow the progress of this young girl and even donated to one of the many many fundraisers put on by Jill and her friends to support this family. I’ve never met her friend nor the little girl, but I think about them often and keep tabs on them and lend support from afar, because Jill brought them to my attention.
And she continues to keep this family in the minds of those around her by continuing fundraising efforts through runs and activities. Just last week she climbed the Sears Tower in honor of her friends in need! These are just a few of the ways Jill supports those around her. She is the first one to participate in any donation or drive. She doesn’t hesitate ever to support those in need. She inspires me to lend support great and small.
See, that wasn’t so bad! Share! Tell us who your Inspirational Role Model is. Need some “inspiration”? Read the AJLI Blog post here, then send us your Role Model and why, we’ll share on our Blog. Or, share yourself on our Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/jlpamp).
You can access the AJLI member area with your AJLI number. It is located in your profile in our Member Directory. In the Member Area, choose ME on the Quick Links section. In your profile, the second box down has your AJLI Member ID. You can use this on the AJLI website (www.ajli.org) to create a unique login and password. Still can’t find it? Contact webmanager@thejuniorleague.org.
November is Inspirational Role Models Month, did you know that? I didn’t either, until Amy Truel (DIAD co-chair) told me today. She told me she found out by reading the AJLI (Association of Junior Leagues International) Blog Connected. The AJLI (www.ajli.org) has a wonderful website full of interesting articles, links to a blog (yes, they have one too!) links to their Facebook and Twitter and access to AJLI membership.
Read this post on the AJLI blog about Inspirational Role Models Month and chime in on the AJLI comment section. We also want to hear from you here! If you have an Inspirational Role Model, tell us (send to stories@thejuniorleague.org) and we’ll post on our Blog or self post on our Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/jlpamp).
Who inspires you and why? I’ll start…
My Inspirational Role model is my friend Jill. We’ve known each other since our days at Arizona State University. She now lives in Chicago and I’m in California, but we keep in touch via Facebook, text and email. Although she is a plane ride away, she continues to inspire me with her thoughtfulness and unending support for her friends in need.
When my brother was in Iraq with the Marines, she started sending him letters and included funny articles, notes from her friends and general words of thanks and encouragement. She was not close with my brother before he left to serve, and I’m not sure they met more than a handful of times either. I did not ask her to write, she did it on her own. It didn’t take a lot of time, but her impact was great. He told us how getting letters from non-family members really lifted his morale and that of his fellow Marines.
A few years ago, a friend of hers had a daughter who became very ill and continues to rehabilitate to this day. From the very beginning, Jill rallied support among her friends, family and coworkers to lend encouragement and support to this friend of hers. I began to follow the progress of this young girl and even donated to one of the many many fundraisers put on by Jill and her friends to support this family. I’ve never met her friend nor the little girl, but I think about them often and keep tabs on them and lend support from afar, because Jill brought them to my attention.
And she continues to keep this family in the minds of those around her by continuing fundraising efforts through runs and activities. Just last week she climbed the Sears Tower in honor of her friends in need! These are just a few of the ways Jill supports those around her. She is the first one to participate in any donation or drive. She doesn’t hesitate ever to support those in need. She inspires me to lend support great and small.
See, that wasn’t so bad! Share! Tell us who your Inspirational Role Model is. Need some “inspiration”? Read the AJLI Blog post here, then send us your Role Model and why, we’ll share on our Blog. Or, share yourself on our Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/jlpamp).
You can access the AJLI member area with your AJLI number. It is located in your profile in our Member Directory. In the Member Area, choose ME on the Quick Links section. In your profile, the second box down has your AJLI Member ID. You can use this on the AJLI website (www.ajli.org) to create a unique login and password. Still can’t find it? Contact webmanager@thejuniorleague.org.
November 10, 2010
November 02, 2010
The First Provisional Meeting of 2010-11
By Madeleine Douglass
The year’s first Provisional Meeting went off without a hitch. First of all, the food was delicious. An evening of listening to inspiring JL stories becomes even better when butternut squash ravioli is brought into the mix! It was great to see all the familiar faces from the Retreat again too, as we had had a Mentor Group dinner between the general meeting and this Provisional meeting but hadn’t had a chance to get the whole class in the same room again.
Naomi Chavez-Peters was such a charismatic and engaging speaker that it was hard not to be in awe of all things AJLI. It doesn’t hurt that our group’s table won some candy to snack on during the talks! It was a great behind-the-scenes look at the larger community we have all just joined, and it really gave me a sense of pride to be involved in such global service efforts. The video of the Katrina relief trips, of course, made everyone tear up – not just because of the hardship these families have endured, but because of the way JL groups from across the nation came together at a time of need. It truly demonstrated that we are all connected in our mission.
Polly Neumann’s introduction to SPAC was just as inspiring in a different way. SPAC incorporates real women’s ideas into statewide legislature to not only help where help is needed, but to try to curb that need and creative positive preventative measures for all Californians. It was great to hear exactly how our ideas can be turned into something concrete that has real effects on our state.
My favorite part of the meeting, however, was the DIAD project – I miss the days when paper-cup phones were all we needed! Drawing old-school phones on the cups, our table joked about how these kids wouldn’t even recognize them; and then, seriously commented that we wished they had these lessons for everyone these days. It’s a great cause that JL has taken up, and it was fun to get an inside look at those “little steps,” like paper doll decorating or cup-phone construction, that make it all possible.
In the end, though we’re all busy and life is hectic these days, going to each JL meeting only makes me more excited for the next!
The year’s first Provisional Meeting went off without a hitch. First of all, the food was delicious. An evening of listening to inspiring JL stories becomes even better when butternut squash ravioli is brought into the mix! It was great to see all the familiar faces from the Retreat again too, as we had had a Mentor Group dinner between the general meeting and this Provisional meeting but hadn’t had a chance to get the whole class in the same room again.
Naomi Chavez-Peters was such a charismatic and engaging speaker that it was hard not to be in awe of all things AJLI. It doesn’t hurt that our group’s table won some candy to snack on during the talks! It was a great behind-the-scenes look at the larger community we have all just joined, and it really gave me a sense of pride to be involved in such global service efforts. The video of the Katrina relief trips, of course, made everyone tear up – not just because of the hardship these families have endured, but because of the way JL groups from across the nation came together at a time of need. It truly demonstrated that we are all connected in our mission.
Polly Neumann’s introduction to SPAC was just as inspiring in a different way. SPAC incorporates real women’s ideas into statewide legislature to not only help where help is needed, but to try to curb that need and creative positive preventative measures for all Californians. It was great to hear exactly how our ideas can be turned into something concrete that has real effects on our state.
My favorite part of the meeting, however, was the DIAD project – I miss the days when paper-cup phones were all we needed! Drawing old-school phones on the cups, our table joked about how these kids wouldn’t even recognize them; and then, seriously commented that we wished they had these lessons for everyone these days. It’s a great cause that JL has taken up, and it was fun to get an inside look at those “little steps,” like paper doll decorating or cup-phone construction, that make it all possible.
In the end, though we’re all busy and life is hectic these days, going to each JL meeting only makes me more excited for the next!
November 01, 2010
The Shop: Not a Rummage Sale Anymore!
By Tara Roussel
Far surpassing its humble beginnings, The Shop, our long profitable resale shop on Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park, is celebrating 40 years!
About 50 Shop customers and volunteers visited our 40th anniversary celebration last week to honor this institution and all the good work it has funded in our community. Shop co-chair Jan Woolsey said a great time was had by all, but especially by four lucky attendees who won one of our League’s original cookbooks, Private Collection: Recipes from the Junior League of Palo Alto. Quite a lucky thing, since those books are selling, used, for $67.50 on Amazon!
Said Jan of the Union Bank-financed celebration: “It was a really fun way to honor people involved in The Shop over its entire 40-year history.” Several past Shop Committee Chairs were there, as was the wonderful Shop staff. Congratulations to The Shop staff and volunteers, and thanks to our generous sponsor Union Bank for all the fun!
If you have a donation to bring to The Shop, please drop it at the back door Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Then, stay to shop! See a complete wish list here, along with more info on hours. Thanks for supporting The Shop!
Proceeds from The Shop help support our Community Projects, to learn more about our Community Projects, please visit our website.
The Shop is located at 785 Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park. Follow The Shop on Facebook
Far surpassing its humble beginnings, The Shop, our long profitable resale shop on Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park, is celebrating 40 years!
About 50 Shop customers and volunteers visited our 40th anniversary celebration last week to honor this institution and all the good work it has funded in our community. Shop co-chair Jan Woolsey said a great time was had by all, but especially by four lucky attendees who won one of our League’s original cookbooks, Private Collection: Recipes from the Junior League of Palo Alto. Quite a lucky thing, since those books are selling, used, for $67.50 on Amazon!
Said Jan of the Union Bank-financed celebration: “It was a really fun way to honor people involved in The Shop over its entire 40-year history.” Several past Shop Committee Chairs were there, as was the wonderful Shop staff. Congratulations to The Shop staff and volunteers, and thanks to our generous sponsor Union Bank for all the fun!
If you have a donation to bring to The Shop, please drop it at the back door Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Then, stay to shop! See a complete wish list here, along with more info on hours. Thanks for supporting The Shop!
Proceeds from The Shop help support our Community Projects, to learn more about our Community Projects, please visit our website.
The Shop is located at 785 Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park. Follow The Shop on Facebook
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