Love

There’s always more to the story

Since the day I met Vanessa Corral, she’s been dreaming up incredible ways to help the women of the HeartStories community feel more beautiful in their own skin. She cares deeply about capturing the unique beauty of each woman. She wants them to see the best version of themselves, not only in their hearts, strengths and accomplishments, but also in the way they look on the outside. While most media tries hard to convince us that we should all look one way, Vanessa pushes back, insisting that physical beauty isn’t about a cookie-cutter stereotype.

One look at her site or social media, and you’ll quickly see that Vanessa fully embraces the incredible beauty in our diversity.

She’s been taking headshots of our beloved HeartStories Members at our annual Holiday Ready GNO for the past three years in a row. But lately, Vanessa has been dreaming specifically, about ways to add value to our treasured HeartStories …

We had our very first holiday party at our new home over the weekend and it was, by far, favorite party we’ve ever thrown. It was imperfect, don’t get me wrong. I’m sure I unintentionally left people I love off the guest list (I’m so sorry!). I didn’t plan the kids activities very well. Like, I probably should have planned some supervision in the cookie decorating room. . . yikes. (So sorry also for the darling holiday clothes covered in red and green icing and the stomach aches due to ingestion of PURE sugar.) As imperfect as it was, the very best feedback I heard all night was “It was so ‘you’. ” When I asked for clarity about what made it “me”, the answer was that it was such a diverse group of people. Some of them knew one another, but many of them did not. Friends were asking me to …

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

This is our “10-year tradition group mirror selfie”. This makes me laugh because when we went to New York ten years ago, “selfies” weren’t really a thing, but we figured out how to get our own picture by arranging ourselves in front of a mirror. So of course this year, we needed a reenactment.

This is where we ended up.

One of the things I loved most about our little mother/sister trip to NYC is the sheer comfort of knowing that when surrounded with my family, I am surrounded by voices I can trust. As I referenced in my blog about walking side by side, it’s not that we all have exactly the same beliefs or do life exactly the same way. It’s about the commitment to love and support that undergirds our relationships. I may not always take their advice, but there isn’t ever a single second of doubt that …

by Crystal Gornto Inspiration Inspirational Women Love in Friendship Loving Yourself Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

When I arrived at our venue to set up Thursday night for Girls Night Out, I was pleasantly surprised to find the room decked out with festive holiday decor. A fully dressed Christmas tree reached up to the ceiling, and two life-size nutcracker soldiers stood guard at the front of the room.

We always bring our own design theme, but this was a welcome addition.

As is tradition during our Holiday Ready GNO, we needed to screencast a little closed circuit tv presentation of our hair & makeup artist’s tips and tricks, so that everyone in the room could see the techniques they were using on models, up close and personal. It’s also been a tradition that my camera skills, combined with a our not-so-professional equipment have sometimes made this part of the evening a comedy of errors. So this year, I was determined to get it all set up and do …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspiration Inspirational Words Love In Action Love in Family Loving Others Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

My sister Kim loves to host our family gatherings in her home. For as long as I can remember, she’s had the heart of a caretaker. If she wasn’t cozied up in the corner with her nose in a book, learning something new, she was helping around the house, reliably checking all her chores off the chore chart. Her love of learning and caring for people led her to study nursing in college. While I was out, gallivanting around (doing something to break the rules, no doubt), she was working long shifts at the hospital or caring for the elderly in a nursing home. She’s the one we all called when our babies were sick and we didn’t know what to do. She’s still the one we call most of the time when we don’t know what to do.

Hostessing, for Kim, is entirely grounded in her fierce love for people.

She may …

by Crystal Gornto Girl's Night Out Inspiration Inspirational Women Love in Family Loving Others Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

Waking up this morning to write felt especially hard. We’re already in such an emotionally heightened climate with the elections drawing near, the shooting at The Tree of Life synagogue on Saturday, is like a punch to the gut, that threatens to takes the wind out of me. I hear that cowardly whisper in my mind, “What can I say that would even matter?” I’ve learned to recognize that whisper as a LOUD reminder that I want to fight back by choosing not to be silent on things that matter.

Silence is easier, but connection through pain, is lifegiving.

We lost a lifelong family friend unexpectedly last week. Joe Perry and his wife Linda were loyal friends to my parents, and our family, through all of the years of my life, quite literally since I was four years old. The choice to attend the visitation was, of course, inconvenient. It meant juggling kids, homework, …

by Crystal Gornto Inspiration Inspirational Words Love In Action Loving Others Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat

There’s always more to the story

Life’s very best gifts

Voices you can trust

Thank them for their service

The heart of hosting

Oseh Shalom