You Can Always Get What You Want

and if you try sometimes, you'll get more than you need!

The end of 2009 sparkled and dazzled itself on my sunwarmed face in gorgeous Bahia... and on my last day in Brazil, I looked over my itinerary with TAM and United Airlines only to find myself grunting at the 24 hour travel plan ahead of me.

"Ugh... 24 hours of travel in and out of airplanes?"

However, as I made little grunting noises and sipped on coconut water, I thought to myself- "what if I made this into a game of awesome?"

Game of Awesome? Yes, Game of Awesome. I'll explain...
I thought about how I could perceive this 24 hour situation as a good thing, and not just good but friggin' awesome! So, low and behold I noted that I had a 6 hour layover in Washington, D.C. Hmmm, I have always wanted to see my nation's capitol! I could take a cab and just go with it ... and wait, maybe a friend of a friend could meet up with me.

I got started and updated my facebook status with a plea for an adventure in D.C. and asked if anyone knew anyone that would be up for one. Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson- here comes an Ella!

I landed in D.C. two hours late, leaving me now only 4 hours to get through customs, find a place to stow my bag, and get a roundtrip cab in rush hour traffic. Hmmm, not so awesome but looking and listening around the terminal I figured out an even better plan.
Snow storms and late arrivals had left many a passenger in limbo and people were itching to get on stand-by. I offered up my ticket and United spotted me with not only a complimentary flight out on the following day but a roundtrip voucher within the U.S. that was valid for one year, a grand hotel stay and a meal voucher. Pretty friggin' awesome!

Bonus- a friend facebooked me with a contact in D.C. at this point. (Thanks Andrea!!)
Within 20 minutes I had a new friend coming to pick me up at the airport with a bevy of winter garb for all I had were sun dresses and tank tops from Brazil. Boy, was I grateful that I wore my leggins and a longsleeve shirt on the plane.

So, all in all, the game of awesome was so ON! Mr. David Ley, my newfound friend and tourguide, turned about to be one of the coolest and sweetest people I've met. Three cheers for trust, surrender and flippin' your perspective to "how awesome can I make my life?"
We tooled around D.C. for the day and had a great time snacking, snapping photos (David of DC/Sedona is a photographer extraordinaire) and scampering about town.



To say I had my way with D.C. (and a friggin' blast) would be an understatement!

On my way out, I decided to throw my little snowhat in the ring once again...

"Hey David, when you leaving D.C.?"
"First week of February I'm heading back to Sedona in my truck."

Wow, I've always wanted to drive cross country and check out Sedona to boot...


Hmmmm wheels are turning and yes, I landed back in D.C. today.
It's amazing to look back at exactly a month ago at this moment and realize that with a tweaking of my perspective, my whole month changed into this realm of possibility, of trust, of complete joy, of wonder!

I'm embracing my choice that has just led to a thousand more exciting and fresh choices... keeping this up and my face may begin to hurt from all my smiling.

This month is dedicated to opening and asking for what we want and knowing without a shadow of a doubt that we create our experience.

Here I come U.S.A. - ready for round two of the game of awesome????


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Game on!

Welcome to Life Ella Mode.....



Stay tuned as D.C. gets snowed in, I'll be setting sail for Charleston along
the Atlantic Coast soon.