Purpose

Is expensive wine worth more?

In just 6 days, I’ll be “exploring the world” in a beautiful estate, with this self-professed reformed nomad, Heather Gee Cole, the founder of Toasted Stave. Through Toasted Stave, Heather provides wine tours and education from the Texas Hill Country to California and Oregon, all the way to France. She loves learning about who makes the wines we drink, how they were made, where the products came from, what kind of barrels were used, and how all of that affects the way it tastes.

And inevitably, how all of that affects the way it’s priced.

She began her career as a paralegal at a law firm and enjoyed a stink in the technology side of the medical field before somewhat coincidentally accepting a job, one day a week, learning all about wine at a wine bar. That led to her becoming the General Manager of the wine bar. “I had found my …

You might think that planning night at the movies for a girls night out would be the easiest of them all. It seems like it would be as simple as sending out the invite, picking the movie and food and everyone just shows up and Voila! I might have been thinking that too.

But oh the things we think we know!

I’m so stinking excited about Thursday night’s GNO at Cut! by Cinemark. It’s going to be such a fun night watching the chick flick, Crazy, Stupid, Love, (selected by our community) in our own private theater showing and our own private event banquet room. But let me just tell you right now, the planning has been intense! We’ve probably exchanged more than 100 emails and phone calls. We’ve made site visits, determined linens, discussed floral arrangments, measured space for our sponsors, calculated candy by the ounce, estimated dinner portions, approximated popcorn …

by Crystal Gornto Inspiration Inspirational Words Loving Others Loving Yourself Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

There’s something about summertime that brings out an extra dose of wild sibling shenanigans around our house. It’s the combination of all the extra quality time together, the lack of a structured schedule, and a diet that consists of “whatever we can find around here”. It’s midday nerf wars and late night movies. I remember the days like the ones in this picture when they were smaller and they thought it would be fun to try to learn to braid mom’s hair. I tried to sit back and enjoy it, even though I think I lost half my head of hair. These days, it’s trying to teach mom to shoot her nerf gun correctly and how, at a minimum, to stand up and run away while trying to learn to play Fortnite.

Summertime around our house has been completely different this year.

I used to keep their summer schedules completely full. They’d …

by Crystal Gornto Love In Action Loving Others Motherhood Priorities Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

“One day you will wake up and you will be so glad you did not settle. You will be so glad you did not give up. You will be so glad you did not sync yourself to someone else’s pace and you chose instead, to anchor yourself in a steady rhythm of grace.” ~ Morgan Harper Nichols

The images came in last night from Jenny Martell of JMar Portraits, our HeartStories GNO 3rd Birthday Party and I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling for one moment since. The album is brimming with photos of women laughing, smiling, hugging, connecting and enjoying life together. It portrays EXACTLY what I’ve spent 6+ years dreaming of, and 3 years building, through this girls night out. It’s happening.

Every single month, we get the privilege of reconnecting busy women to inspire the joy they crave and the courage to pursue their purpose.

At the end of the night …

by Crystal Gornto Community Female Social Entrepreneurs Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love in Friendship Our Story Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

There’s nothing that screams grown-up birthday celebration quite like flaming fireworks shooting out of a Nothing Bundt Cake inside a swanky restaurant. That was certainly the case at our recent gathering to celebrate my beautiful friend Britney. She’s a friend who loves to celebrate special moments for all of us, which makes it all the more fun to celebrate her. Give her a reason to celebrate, and she’ll radiate pure joy and sunshine (or flaming sparklers as the case may be).

But for many of us, celebrating adult birthdays can easily get lost by the wayside.

Time is moving so fast, and because we often wish it wasn’t, we’d rather sweep the birthdays under the proverbial rug, and pretend they didn’t happen. We’re so busy with all our adult responsibilities that it seems trivial, if not wasteful, to stop to celebrate a date on the calendar that only points to the inevitable …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love in Friendship Loving Yourself Our Story Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

I did something very unusual yesterday. I dropped the boys off for school and hit the road for Murphy, Texas to visit my friend Alison, the founder of Get Your Pretty On. Let me first just say that Murphy is WAY further from Frisco than I’d always envisioned in my mind. But wow, was that drive was glorious. Big open green fields lined the road. Creeks overflowing with water and yellow flowers painted the landscape. Horses grazed in the pastures. Suddenly, the hustle and bustle that I typically create for myself right after school drop off was exchanged for a beautiful backroad drive. I knew I didn’t “have the time” for this, but my heart knew it was exactly what I needed.

And it wasn’t just the drive.

It was also the friend waiting on the other side. The plan was that Alison and I would meet to broadcast a quick video introduction …

by Crystal Gornto Community Fashion Friday Female Social Entrepreneurs Girl's Night Out Inspirational Women Love in Friendship Loving Others Loving Yourself Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

Is expensive wine worth more?

Because you care

The only tiny bit that matters

A steady rhythm of grace

It’s not about the number

Sunshine for your soul