Mothers Day 2015 Part 3

Once Upon An Apron

Event supporting Chula's Mission

Mother's Day weekend gave me an opportunity to enjoy a variety of things from a walk on the beach to sipping on wine and a little time with my daughter. Thanks to Chula's Mission my daughter and I spent an afternoon enjoying lots of fun things that I shared here.

Before being invited to attend this event honoring the bond between mothers and daughters I had never heard of Chula's Mission and found that what they are doing is both inspiring and very much needed.

The founders Lyndsey Ruiz and Mayra San Juan shared a bit about what they do before the discussion with Media Moms kicked off.  I loved hearing their personal stories that moved them to start Chula's Mission. These are two women that clearly were deeply impacted by their own mothers and want to make sure other girls who have lost their mom will have mentors and form bonds that can continue the work their mothers started. It would inspire anyone to want to get involved with this non-profit organization.

Lyndsey and Mayra presented celebrity chef  and restaurateur, Brian Malarkey, with a plaque for his vision in helping see Once upon An Apron as both a meaningful experience and a successful fundraiser. Brian is the mastermind behind Green Acre, a farm to table eatery featuring organic foods straight from their onsite garden. Of course he deflected the recognition back the Lyndsey and Mayra for their efforts and the spirit behind the event.

Laura Cain of the Jef and Jer Show moderated a panel of Media Moms discussing the juggle of work, motherhood and self care.

Before the panel discussion started

I loved Laura's questions and was engaged the entire time with the responses given by these local media moms: Jodi Kodesh, Courtney Dwyer and Marcella Lee

                         


One of the epiphanies that was so refreshing to hear from the panel discussion was when Marcella Lee shared that she carries around this mom guilt about not spending enough time with her kids. While making bracelets and decorating her apron, she asked her daughter if she thought they didn't spend enough time together and her daughter's reply assured her that all the mom guilt was self inflicted. Isn't that something? To be at a Mother Daughter event and be able to walk away with the gift of releasing that mom guilt? I loved it!

There was awesome raffle held at the end of the panel discussion with plenty of desirable gift baskets. Amberly and I each had 6 tickets and crossed our fingers for our number to be drawn. She had her heart set on this one as she's very fond of turtles....

While we did not win any of the raffle prizes, I was pleased to have contributed to such a wonderful cause!

After the Media Moms panel discussion, I was able to get a quick selfie with Laura Cain and told her that 20 years ago she played an intricate part in asking my then crush to Prom on the air and got to tell her we've been together ever since. I'll have to write that story here on the blog some day!