NakedJen for Congress!

Dave and I flew home last night to Santa Cruz and I'm back at the cafe this morning doing the writing thing and relishing all that is Santa Cruz.  It's foggy.  It's cool.  The people who keep Santa Cruz weird are all out and about doing their morning thing.  It's definitely good to be home.  While I was in DC, I actually flirted with the idea that we would move to Adams Morgan.  Ha!  As soon as I got home last night I realized how absolutely ridiculous that idea was.  My heart and soul belong in Santa Cruz.  With the ocean and the patchouli smells wafting down the sidewalk.  With organic food literally on my doorstep (my neighbor (hi Kath) reads my blog and left us organic strawberries on our door step as a welcome home present last night).  With two independent movie theaters two blocks from my house playing my fill of good Sundance-type movies.

My biggest sadness last night was walking into my house and not having Clyde there to greet me.  I reallyreallyreally felt his absence last night.  I think I some how tricked myself into believing that he was "here" while I was away on my travels.  And yet, I felt his energy when I walked in.  Kind of odd.  Kind of upsetting.  Kind of comforting.  I am definitely still really missing him.  And some day I will get another dog, but we're so busy traveling that now still isn't the right time.  We leave in ten days for the Oregon Country Fair and then right after that go to Newport, RI.  And then I'm in LA and then Maui.  And then I go back to Tennessee to be the doula for the grand arrival of "babynaked".  Plus we're going to Wisconsin and Chicago somewhere in there.  Craziness.  We're also both trying to volunteer again for Sundance for January, so maybe by February I'll be ready to get another dog.  And maybe, just maybe, by then I won't feel this huge gaping hole in my heart and soul so much.  A naked girl can hope.  It may be that hole just never goes away.

So, now that I’m back in Santa Cruz, home where I belong, my primary focus is getting the word out about Dreamsweet Organic Medicinals and doing some guerrilla marketing.  One really fun idea that has percolated up is to have "tea" parties.  These would be kind of like Pampered Chef or Tupperware parties, but would instead focus on holistic health. 

The way I envision a Dreamsweet Tea Party is that I would serve a variety of the teas (and possibly some Clyde’s Cookies and other lovely delicious treats) and would also give a brief talk about holistic health and how it can complement your regular medical care as well as possibly help to give you optimum health by supporting your body's own capability to heal itself.  Not preachy, just informational.  And the host or hostess of the "party" would get a free consultation and Individualitea for either themselves or anyone they choose.

I really think this could be a great way to get the word out and to get it to people who might otherwise not know about how this all works and just how beneficial it can be.  I know just from my travels in the last month (I had three of my teas with me) that a lot of folks were more convinced of the benefits after actually chatting with me face to face and trying the teas for themselves than just by looking at the web site.

If I can get enough parties scheduled in any particular area of the country (or world for that matter), I can also travel where ever.  I'm trying right now to put together some parties locally and in Los Angeles to see how they "fly", but, again, I really think this can be a nice way to get the message out.  We'll see.  If you’re interested in hosting a party, please do not hesitate to contact me.  I’m thinking I’ll create a fun “Dreamsweet Tea Party Package” that I can mail to folks so that they have everything they need to host a party and, of course, I’ll come and press the flesh.  Why I’d even do it naked if someone asked me to! 

So that’s the news for Friday.  It is naked Friday, today, and that picture I’ve shared is 100% genuine.  I really wanted to take pictures with all the national monuments while I was in DC (especially the White House), but let me tell you that DC is a whole new place since 9/11.  Gah.  I have never seen so many special police officers in all my life.  And the Washington Monument is “under renovation” and I couldn’t even get near it.  Boo.  I felt kind of sacrilegious taking a naked picture at the Lincoln Memorial as well as any of the War Veterans Memorials, but the Capitol.  No problem, obviously.  Although, as soon as we took this photo we noticed that the special police for the Capitol had taken notice of us and we abandoned our thoughts that taking a picture on the actual steps of the Capitol would be a good idea.

I hope wherever you are, every one of you spends just a little time getting naked yourselves today.  I’m so happy to be back in Santa Cruz, land of unabashed nakedness, that I may just spend my entire day naked.  With the sand between my toes and the ocean crashing at my feet. Santa Cruz is a wonderful place to be.  Patchouli smells and all.