I know I’ve mentioned this before, but as much as I love sharing kid and family stories here, I hope my girls look back and see that their PARENTS also had a life. Turns out January was a particularly good start for me with lots of fun things to do with friends (yes, kids, Mom even had a few friends!)

I don’t do “New Year’s Resolutions” per se, but I do like to have something I give some effort to each year, and this year, I’m working on saying “Yes!” to more things that I know I will enjoy and think I don’t have time to do.

And it’s not lost on me that today is VALENTINE’S DAY, so I hope the LOVE that follows isn’t lost on you, either!

This January started with an opportunity to attend a taping of the Andy Cohen show with my friend Sharon (who is the most connected person I know), which featured Anne Hathaway & Matthew McConaughey. It was filmed in downtown LA with a reception room offering a cocktail to warm up the crowd – and now that I’ve seen the show, I know how fitting that is!

The show is called Watch What Happens Live and airs on Bravo, hosting some amazing celebrities and getting your “not-so-typical” talk show information from them. First of all, he’s funny. And second, you’ll pretty much have to watch one to get what I mean. If you’re looking for one to watch, here’s the one we were in the audience to watch. It was a tiny audience (maybe 25 people?), so if you listen closely, you might even hear us doing our part, clapping, laughing and cheering appropriately.

If you’ve never been in the audience of a show, you should give it a shot. It’s always fun to see what happens behind the scenes. We were allowed to take a few pictures but ONLY in the breaks when they weren’t filming. Below is a shot of the set and a publicity shot with Anne Hathaway:

That same week I headed to the Magic Castle with my friend Rebecca, who is a licensed magician and member of the castle, and who offered a few friends a cool opportunity: Dinner at Magic Castle and a shuttle to/from Pantages Theater to see Wicked. We had a super fun evening (see picture above of me and Karin at the Pantages), and though I had already seen Wicked a few years ago, it’s just as great a second time.

On Friday of the same week, I went to dinner with friends, Sharon (same Sharon as the celebrity magnet above), her boyfriend and our friend Danielle. It was Sharon’s last day at Aquent, where we’ve worked side-by-side for over 19 years! Danielle had recently left just before Christmas after 12 years the three of us shared at the same company. A bittersweet end of an era, but finding great friends at work – and knowing they’ll always be friends! – is a wonderful gift. Combined there are almost 80 years of Aquent experience in this picture:

And yet, we look SO YOUNG, right?!

I followed up that dinner with a fun lunch with my friends, Meister (she’s also a Sharon but I refuse to let go of her fun maiden name) and Debra on Saturday. We’ve been sharing meals on a regular basis for over 15 years, and in fact, Debra hired me almost 20 years ago! Our lunch at Mantee in Studio City was relaxing, fun and appropriately long. We three gals can talk, I’ll tell ya.

What.A.Week. Between our fun start to the year with friends (I haven’t even mentioned Palm Springs, which we went to twice in the first 2 weeks of January with friends, a book club event, a celebratory work trip to San Francisco, a Super Bowl party, and a few other spontaneous friend connections this year), we are exploding with joy from all the amazing people we are fortunate to have in our lives. I’ve found that SAYING YES is perhaps easier than it sounded, and oh so rewarding.

So Zoe and Ella, when you read this I hope you know that your parents have a rich life both because of you and because of all the friends that surround them. I wish for you the same and hope when you get the chance that you, too, say YES. It’s worth it.