Yesterday as I was sitting in my office, without air conditioning, in 95 degree weather feeling the beads of sweat sliding down my face I thought wow this is miserable I can't stand this! Fans were whirring in every room with barely any relief. I was thinking how do I cool myself off? Put a bowl of ice cubes in front of the fan? Fill a baby pool with ice cold water and just sit in it? Walking around my office naked was not really an option. Sooooo I started thinking about all of the fun, romantic things I have done where the weather was a bit more comfortable.

As I sat back rocking on the back two legs of my chair I began day dreaming about the last cruise my husband and I took in the Mediterranean. I could see myself sitting on a deck chair dressed in a floral sarong with one shoulder bare enjoying the cool breeze of the wind as the ship sailed to our destination. I had a Pina Colada in one hand and a very good James Patterson book in the other. With my large lens sunglasses on I almost felt like Jackie "O" sailing on one of Aristotle Onassis's yachts on the way to my private Greek Island. Oh how wonderful just relaxing and not worrying about anything and staying cool! However, as the sweat continued to roll down my neck my day dream ended in about 5 minutes - not bad but defiantly not long enough!

My next thoughts took me to a Hawaiian Island with cool island breezes and enchanting sunsets. I see myself on a comfortable lounge chair at the edge of the beach - again with a Pina Colada in hand and another great James Patterson book. Of course my vision also included a very slim body perfectly squeezed into a skimpy bikini (not my usual one piece in a defiantly not so slim body). What wonderful thoughts! This day dream lasted another 5 minutes - Ahhhh I am inching closer to sun down!

After those wonderful thoughts I began to have another great day dream that included being with all of my grandchildren. The kids are wildly splashing in the pool playing Marco Polo - which is all fine but after about 100 "Marco" "Polo's" it could have a damper on the moment. But no, this was a perfect day dream that could have gone on forever. You see my grandchildren are scattered all over the country and definitely not close enough for my taste. Every moment spent with them is ever so precious and I wouldn't trade those moments for the world. This pleasant day dream lasted at least 20 minutes. Afterwards I found myself sifting through pictures of each and every one of them and wanting to just pinch their little cheeks and give them a big hug. It was a melancholy time for sure.

After that wonderful daydream my husband and I decided to go down to the beach. You see we are extremely lucky to live about 2 miles from a beautiful sandy shore front. Our community was sponsoring a Reggae concert that evening, on the beach, for free. It seemed that everyone in town had the same idea so finding a parking place was definitely a chore. I think we could have walked from home as we had to park almost a mile away. It was a wonderful evening the temperature had dropped to the low 80's. We spread out our blankets and set up our beach chairs in a strategic spot not far from the band and not far from the shore and unfortunately in front of the swing set on the beach. All of those little darling swinging children were kicking the sand onto our blanket as they thrust themselves too and fro. As we drank our pre-blended Pina Colada's and munched on our sand covered cheese and crackers - compliments of the swinging children -we sat back and listened to the music and watched the sunset paint the sky in brilliant hues of red, blue and yellow.

The large orange ball that was the sun began to slowly set and as it hit the horizon it quickly disappeared. As it was quite orange the sun promised us another day of heat which probably meant another evening at the beach - hummmm life is great!

Now what does this all have to do with party planning? It gave me a couple of ideas to implement at home during those hot summer days and evenings. How about planning a camp-out party in the backyard? Pitch a tent, set up lawn chairs and roast hot dogs and marshmallows on the open grill. Place outdoor bug free candles around the camping area so in the evening you can watch the stars and reflect on the day.

If camping is not your thing how about a romantic mini backyard luau for two? Prepare some pulled pork for sandwiches or grill island fish and vegetables. Put down straw mats on the ground in the back yard and place Tiki torches all around to provide some light as the evening grows dark. Don your neck and shoulders with silk lei's and serve either Mai Tais or Pina Coladas and coconut cake for desert. Just think you won't require a designated driver for this at home event.

Enjoy and keep cool!

The rules of etiquette for a tea party apply to both children and adults. With children, however, primarily the basics apply and most importantly make sure they have fun!

The first thing you should do is to send out an invitation that not only communicates the time and place, but also if there is any particular requests for your guests such as, if the tea is in your garden, the invitation may indicate to bring a hat.

For a Lady's full tea, usually three courses are served such as scones, tea sandwiches, and sweets. A Light tea will consist of just scones and sweets.

A traditional tea includes Jam/Preserves or Curds which are usually placed on the scone and then topped off with a dollop of clotted cream. Have your guests spoon a small amount of the Jam/Preserves or Curds onto their plate and then add the dollop of clotted cream.

For a children's tea serve flavored teas along with cookies or small tea sandwiches made of cheese or peanut butter and jelly. For a little girls tea party they may want to wear a special hat and dress up with a boa, pearls and purse.

It is always nice when the hostess asks one or two of her special friends to share the duties of pouring the tea. This allows the freedom for the hostess to mingle and entertain her guests. It is always best to alternate pouring the tea so no one person is saddled with that task for the entire time.

Smaller teas and children’s teas are usually given at a table. Larger teas are typically served buffet style, and guests may sit or stand.

For teas at a table, the napkins should be placed on the plate or to the left side. At a buffet, they are placed near the cutlery.

Never blot or wipe your lipstick with a linen or cloth napkin. Lipstick stains rarely come out in the wash.

As a guest, if the tea is at a table, remember to unfold and place the napkin in you lap. If you have to leave the table, the napkin should be picked up by the middle and placed in your chair. Never place the used napkin on the table until the tea is over.

If you are using two teapots fill one pot with very strong tea, and have one pot with just hot water. This way you can allow your guests to request either strong, medium or weak tea. Then you mix the water with the tea to get the right solution.

At smaller teas, once everybody is seated, the hostess pours the tea and always ensures that each guest's cup is full. The hostess then offers milk (never cream, since it is too heavy for tea), sugar or lemon. Lemon is best served in thin slices that can be floated in the cup. Milk and lemon must never be added to the same cup, since citrus instantly spoils the milk.

When stirring your tea, be careful not to clink your spoon against the cup. Gently swish the spoon back and forth without touching the sides of the cup. When you have completed stirring the tea, simply remove the spoon and place it on the saucer behind the teacup and to right of the handle. If the tea is hot, do not blow on the tea. Leave your teacup on the table to cool.

When standing and drinking tea, you can hold the cup and saucer near your chest, then take the teacup off the saucer and bring it to your mouth. If you are sitting and drinking tea, leave the saucer on the table. Hold your teacup by its handle, using a bent index finger and thumb to pinch the handle. Unlike the grasp used with a coffee mug, you never want to ring your finger through the handle. Do not stick your pinky out when drinking tea. Just hold the teacup normally.

If all the courses are laid out on the table, eat them in this order: first the scones or muffins; then the tea sandwiches, and last the sweets. It is okay to eat most items with your fingers at a tea party. If something has a runny filling, then use a fork. Take small bites of the tiny sandwiches. Never stuff the whole thing in their mouth, even though it's small.

If tea is served buffet style, never put dirty dishes or napkins back on the tea table. The hostess should have a designated place for the used dishes, tea cups and napkins.

When the hostess signals the end of the tea party she will place her napkin on the table. At this time, guests do the same.

Most of all enjoy!

Have you ever thought about re-inventing yourself? I never really connected the dots that where I was then - to where I am today was "re-inventing" until I watched a segment about Julia Childs on Good Morning America this morning.

Julia started out her career in publicity and advertising in New York. In 1948 her husband was assigned to the US Information Service at the American Embassy in Paris - hence Julia enrolled in the Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School. It wasn't until 1961 at the age of 49 she and two french colleagues, she met while in school, published her first book. After moving back to the states in 1963, at the age of 51, she started a TV cooking show. She clearly reinvented herself!

It dawned on me this morning after watching that segment that I in fact have been "re-invented". I wanted to exclaim hallelujah! I began my career selling educational software, which I did for 25 years. Even though I was extremely successful my heart was just not into software sales. It was a job, a career - a way to make a very good living. At the age of 55 I decided to retire from the corporate world and tried my hand at consulting. Still not fulfilling!

I remember that while I was working and traveling I never had the time to find just the right items for my kids birthday parties, friends bridal and baby showers and holiday entertaining. For me, my parties had to be perfect, coordinated and unusual. Many a corporate meeting I spent (under cover of course) jotting down notes about the perfect party business for me. It was my dream!

So when I created my company at the age of 58 young- I in fact was re-invented! Thank you GMA! I saw that there was a need for coordinated high quality and unique party supplies all packaged into one "party box". Posh Party Box was created out of my love for planning amazing parties and events. It is a place where busy women (and men) and those without the creative gene can visit and find everything they need for the perfect celebration.

The moral of the story is no matter the age, if you have the desire and the passion you can re-invent yourself. As I reflect on my life I never believed that at my age I would be a woman entrepreneur! Even though it comes with unbelievable challenges and many sleepless nights I would not dream of swapping places with that person who worked in the corporate world for anything! So if you have the passion and you have a good idea - go forth and re-invent yourself!

Who's Your Remarkable Woman?

I am a member of NAWBO OC (National Association of Women Business Owners - Orange County, CA). This is a great organization for woman entrepreneurs to network with other woman business owners and to learn about women business owners success stories.

NAWBO has declared October "Remarkable Women" month. On October 15 hundreds will honor three successful woman business owners for their leadership, ingenuity and tenacity.
In addition to this Posh Party Box is sponsoring a Remarkable Woman Video Contest. NAWBO also wants to hear about other remarkable woman who have been inspiring and made an impact on your life and others. We want to hear about their achievements and leadership and the extraordinary things they have done. This could be a mother, friend, sister, daughter, teacher, grandmother or mentor. Two minute Videos will be submitted and then posted on the NAWBO-OC Facebook and Twitter pages as well as the NAWBO-OC YouTube channel. The three winning videos will be selected in early October, and honorees of the winning videos will receive a surprise gift and copy of the video courtesy of NAWBO-OC and PoshPartyBox.com.

Stay tuned for more as time goes by!