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Birthday Love

By on February 10, 2012 in Family, Favorites, Happy Endingz® Eco Swimwear, Life Lessons

I have to say even though I keep joking about being so old now (I turned 29 on Jan 19th), I actually feel better than I ever have and am even more excited about the years to come. I use to think that was something people said to make themselves feel better about “getting old” (LOL!), but now I’m realizing it’s actually true… A few nights ago me & two of my girlfriends, who I live with, climbed up on the roof of our house with blankets and a bottle of Rose’, and just sat together watching the sun set. Our house is downtown, on the east side of Santa Barbara, and from our roof you can see the Riviera, & all it’s beautiful homes adorning the hillside behind us, and in front, the whole city, harbor & ocean expanding out to the Channel Islands that frame the horizon. To say we are lucky is a gross understatement; We are beyond blessed to get to experience this beauty every day.
As my girlfriends & I sat there watching the sun set, painting bright orange & yellow across the sky, I realized this is it; It doesn’t get better than this. I get to share the best part of my life with two people I love. I wish this for everyone because this is what life is truly made of… And that’s honestly the best part about getting “old,” you begin to realize it really is the little things in life that matter most, and being able to appreciate them is what true happiness is all about.

 

Santa Barbara Sunset

 

LOVE! this B-Day sketch of me in a Pink Happy Endingz® Bikini by JamesMalia.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It’s All About (Unconditional) Love

By on December 9, 2011 in Family, Favorites, Life Lessons

My cousin Neal sends out weekly inspirational emails about faith, community and devotion. I really look forward to these emails, because like most people I don’t spend enough time reading my Bible or praying, or even just thinking about others, and not about myself and what I want/need/am trying to do in my everyday life.  Last weeks email was titled “Love Builds” and he spoke in depth about the following verse…

1 Corinthians 8:1&2
Knowledge puffs up (makes arrogant), but love builds up (edifies). The man who thinks he knows, doesn’t quite know as he ought to know.

In his email Neal pointed out that we live in a knowledge driven society, which is good, but we sadly do not put enough emphasis on the importance of love… “Knowledge is good, but love is essential. If you think you know it all, but don’t truly love, then you’ve missed the most important thing you should have learned, love is the beginning and end of all things. Get smart, but don’t think you’re smart, because the second you do, you slip from smart to stupid. Get love, and lot’s of it, because love is the greatest thing of all. It builds you up, your neighbor up and the world up.”

I want to add that we need to try harder to practice unconditional love. But what does that mean? To me it means loving people in spite of themselves. I don’t mean let people walk all over you or take you for-granted or treat you like crap, actually I mean do the opposite. True, unconditional love gives you the ability to call people on their $hit, and ask the “hard questions” (as my step-dad says), even if you know you aren’t going to like the answers, because if you don’t ask, who will?

And unconditional love allows you to love someone in spite of their ability to love you back. It allows your love to be based solely on your own ability to love someone for who they are, regardless of how they feel about you. And that, to me, is a beautiful thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To sign up for Neal’s email list please visit www.enforum.us

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Debbie Reynolds: The Auction Part II

By on December 2, 2011 in Events, Family, Life Lessons, Random

In 1972 my grandma, Debbie Reynolds, formed the Hollywood Motion Picture Museum, a 501c3 nonprofit corporation, containing the largest collection of Hollywood movie memorabilia in the world. She assembled this collection from all the major studios over the last thirty years & is considered one of the most knowledgeable collectors in the field. The Collection includes almost every Academy Award winning film and star from the Silent Era forward through the late 1970′s.

The collection is so large and comprehensive that the public auction of it has been in progress over the last 2 years, ending with part II of the auction tomorrow in Beverly Hills, which will feature over 430 lots altogether including four Marilyn Monroe costumes from Gentlemen Prefer Blonds, Bus Stop, Niagara & Let’s Make Love. Don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase pieces of priceless Hollywood History. The breakup of this amazing collection will surely be remembered as one of the greatest tragedies in American film history, but we are hopeful that these one of a kind pieces will be purchased by those passionate about preserving them as my grandma did for so many years.

For details on the auction, information on the items for sale and how to register see www.hmpc.tv.

Debbie Reynolds Auction II on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Debbie-Reynolds-Auction-II

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Faith, God & Steve Jobs: How You Inspire A Generation

By on October 20, 2011 in Family, Favorites, Life Lessons, Travel

On October 5th Steve Jobs passed away. It was the day after I returned home to Santa Barbara from a trip to New York, and when I found out I was standing in Jill Johnson’s sewing room. We were chatting while she worked on a few dresses for me, when the girl working the front counter popped her head in the back and blurted out, “Steve Jobs died this morning! It’s all over everywhere, Twitter, Facebook, the News…” My heart raced and then sank. “We just lost one of the most influential people of our generation,” I whispered, leaning my right shoulder on Jill’s sewing table, as if trying to somehow prop up my now heavy heart.

Following Steve’s death my friend Mike Lewis, among many others, sent out a particularly great email in which he wrote that Steve will be remembered for what an “amazing innovator & visionary he was, but even more so he will be remembered for inspiring a generation. He often delivered what we didn’t yet know we wanted. That is what being an entrepreneur is about. Taking a chance and sharing your vision with the world of what you think the world should look like.”

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to loose,” Steve said in a riveting commencement speech he gave at Stanford University in June 2005, almost a year after he was diagnosed with cancer. When someone dies they are not remembered for how much money they made, what kind of car they drove, or how many pairs of designer jeans they had in their closet. You might think about these things in relation to the person, but what really matters, and what you will remember, is the way that person touched your life.

The last night I was in New York, (the evening before Steve passed away), I had drinks with one of my best friends from college. She moved to the city after we graduated from UCSB and now works for a bank, but during our conversation, amidst laughing about college memories & gossiping about men, she revisited a common struggle she has been dealing with since graduation. She, like many, has no idea what  she wants to “do” with her life. The bank is a job but what did she really want to do? What would make her happy, make her feel fulfilled and still put a roof over her head?

After mulling over a few ideas together Danee said to me,”Whenever I need inspiration I think of you Vanessa. I ask myself what would Vanessa do in this situation? You are one of those people who always does what you say you are going to do, it may take you a while, but you do it.”

So I was sitting at my computer last week thinking about this conversation with my friend & my own entrepreneurial aspirations when I received a very relevant email about faith which said, “Faith is the substance, the strong conviction that creates a physical reality…  Faith is the expression of my beliefs in a real and present world, in ways the world can see, relate to, and understand… Faith gets things done, because if its not getting done, then my faith is dead!”

After thinking about this message I realized, that my  my entrepreneurial spirit, that leads me to try even though I might fail, is my expression of Faith, in a way the world can see; Faith, not in myself because I’m so fantastic or gifted or talented or anything like that, but Faith in God’s plan for my life and the way my journey is meant touch others. And the only thing that could possibly feel worse then failure is not trying, not allowing the journey to allow me to help others along the way…

Steve Jobs expressed this when he said being an entrepreneur is, “Taking a chance and sharing your vision with the world of what you think the world should look like.” We all have this ability to touch people’s lives with our expression of faith. We all have an opportunity to share our vision of how we think the world should look by taking a chance on our dreams.

My mom died when I was 25. This allowed me to see first hand how fragile life is and that we are here for a very short time. And it’s not about money or a title or anything material, it’s about how we help others through the way we choose to live our life. (Or as my godmother says, “It’s not all about you!”) When you get this truth, you begin to understand that by following your dreams and living your life with passion you have an amazing ability to inspire others. And this is what life is all about. It’s about meeting, connecting & touching  people’s lives in a meaningful way. You are here to learn from, inspire and help others, which allows you to show your faith in a concrete way the world can not only see, but feel.

Today I was visiting my chiropractor who is also a good friend. He was asking about all my girlfriends and I was saying how everyone always falls apart at the same time and needs me & sometimes I feel like I can’t handle it. He simply responded, “But you do, and you will because that’s why you are here.” He had no idea I had been writing this blog post over the last week. All I could say was “You’re right, that is why I’m here.”

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Bible Study Every Tuesday at 7pm!

By on December 7, 2010 in Events, Family, Life Lessons

I’m so excited to announce that we are going to start doing Bible study every Tuesday at 7pm at my friends house on the Mesa. TONIGHT will be our first one so please try to come! I know a lot of you are going through really hard stuff right now or big life changes, as am I, so this is a perfect time for us to try to create a fun, safe, empowering environment to share, support each other and grow together.

Britt Merrick of Reality recently gave an awesome sermon on The Joy of Gospel Gain which has inspired us to center our Bible study around the concept of Faith.

Britt’s sermon on faith is fantastic so please take the time to check it out> http://vimeo.com/17512895

And if you would like to come tonight email me and I’ll give you directions: vanessamrivers@gmail.com

We will be getting take out for everyone so the worst that can happen is you come, eat free food and hang out with some new people. =)

You don’t have to bring anything but yourself, an open heart and any ideas you may have on how we can make this something we all look forward to every week.

xo, Vanessa

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A Real Man

By on October 13, 2010 in Family, Favorites, Life Lessons, Random

My godmother forwarded this to me in an email and I thought it was too funny not to share…

A Real Man

A real man is a woman’s best friend.
He will never stand her up and never let her down.
He will reassure her when she feels insecure and comfort her after a bad day.

He will inspire her to do things she never thought she could do; to live without fear and forget regret.
He will enable her to express her deepest emotions and give in to her most intimate desires.
He will make sure she always feels as though she’s the most beautiful woman in the room and will enable her to be the most confident, sexy, seductive, and invincible.

No wait… sorry… I’m thinking of wine.
It’s wine that does all that…….

Never mind.

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Firenze

By on May 23, 2010 in Family, Favorites, Life Lessons, Travel

On mother’s day this year a butterfly came to visit me. I was sitting outside on my patio writing in my journal and missing my mom more than ever, when out of no where a huge Monarch came and landed on a leaf next to my chair. In the two years I have lived at my place I have never seen a Monarch there before. My mom and I both love butterflies, especially Monarchs so I just knew that it was her way of being with me and for the afternoon I sat and wrote as the Butterfly sat on the leaf by my side. Later that day I sent a photo of it to my little brothers and my step-dad saying that mom had sent me a Mother’s Day visitor.

So when we arrived at the Westin Hotel in Florence or Firenze yesterday afternoon of course all I could think about was getting that picture. Anything I can do to feel connected to my mother still, brings me so much joy. Chiara knew how important this was to me so she called ahead to the hotel and told them about my dream to take a photo just like my mom had. So when we arrived the woman at the front desk told us we could get settled in our rooms, then meet her back at the front to go up to the suite on the 5th floor where my parents stayed on their honeymoon 28 years ago.

So we made our way up to our rooms which are absolutely beautiful, decorated in old world charm with high ceilings, plush curtains and an incredible view overlooking the Arno River and the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge. We got settled in and wasted no time in getting all of our cameras ready for the picture. And just before we headed down to the front desk again, Chiara handed me the room key and told me I should hold onto it for us. So I pulled it out of its paper slip and when  I looked at it my eyes once again filled with tears. There on the room key was nothing but the name of the hotel and a picture of a Monarch Butterfly. I handed it to my Dad and told him the story about the butterfly and all he could do was whisper “heavy” as he turned away to hide his eyes that were now also brimming with tears. I have only seen my father cry one other time in my life and that was at his mom’s funeral.

I have the word Believe tattooed on my left wrist. I got it when my mom got sick and every day since she passed I look at it to remind myself that everything happens for a reason and this is all part of a bigger plan. Life is sometimes very hard but it is also exciting, fun and beautiful and if you take the time to notice the little amazing things that are happening all around you, it is truly magical and you can’t help but believe… in yourself, in your dreams, in the people you love and in God. There really are no coincidences. Life is tough and things will come your way that you don’t think you can endure, but if you are on the right path and you keep your eyes and heart open, life will amaze you in wonderous ways everyday.

Mom sketching at the Westin in Firenze, 1982

Me writing in my journal at the Westin in Firenze, 2010

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Three Weeks with Dad

By on May 17, 2010 in Family, Favorites, Happy Endingz® Eco Swimwear, Life Lessons, Surf & Snow, Travel

I have never spent three weeks with my father. In fact I don’t think I have ever even spent three days with him. The last time we went on a vacation together I was eleven years old and we went to Maui. He made his girlfriend at the time sit in coach with me and my brothers and her daughter while he sat in first class. That about sums up the whole trip.

So in two days I am doing something very brave. I am going to spend three weeks with my father… and I am beyond excited. We are going to Europe and I have never been! My family is Italian on my father’s side, and we have relatives in Sicily that I will be meeting for the first time! My god-mom, Sue, said that she hopes we all come back in one piece because my dad is a very difficult person to be around. I just laughed at the this and explained that I have no expectations. I just feel blessed to be able to have the opportunity to have this experience.

And on top of being able to go to Europe I get to test out the first ever Happy Endingz® Eco Bikini on a boat off the coast of Italy. My Dad’s friend Garvin Brown, has a yacht called Lady Trudy and we are going to spend the last week of our trip cruising around the Mediterranean. So even if my Dad is on his worst behavior, I’ll still come back with some amazing photos and a great tan!

From: GARVIN BROWN

To: RIVERS JOHNNY

JOHNNY, I HAVE PUT TOGETHER SOME THOUGHTS FOR YOU TO LOOK AT WHEN YOU HAVE TIME.

1.  ROBERTO RUGGIERI WILL PICK UP YOU AT MALPENSA ON MAY 2Oth (SWU 1622 @ 17:40) AND BRING YOU TO MILAN.  THE 3 OF YOU WILL STAY IN MY GUEST APT. THAT IS ONE FLOOR DOWN FROM MINE.  ROBERTO WILL SEE THAT YOU GET TO FLORENCE ON THE 22nd.
2.  I SUGGEST THAT YOU TAKE A TRAIN TO BARI FROM ROME ON THE 27th..  I WILL SEE THAT YOU GET AROUND BARI, ETC..  LADY TRUDY WILL BE IN A MARINA NEAR BARI AND YOU WILL STAY ON HER.  NO ARGUMENTS, HUH.  MY PLEASURE TO SEE AN OLD FRIEND AND MEET NEW PEOPLE!!
3. AS FOR PALERMO, I SUGGEST THAT YOU KEEP YOUR FLIGHT AND WE WILL MEET YOU THERE WITH “THE LADY”.  IT SHOULD TAKE 3 DAYS, MAYBE LESS GIVEN GOOD WEATHER AND NO OTHER DELAYS.  WE WILL KEEP IN TOUCH BY CELL PHONES (DO NOT FORGET, ALL OF YOU, TO TELL YOUR PROVIDERS THAT YOU WILL BE GOING TO SWITZERLAND AND ITALY, BEFORE YOU LEAVE)!!
4.  WHEN I ARRIVE IN PALERMO, WE WILL PICK YOU UP AND GO STRAIGHT TO THE AEOLIAN ISLANDS FOR ABOUT THREE DAYS.  I, ALSO, SUGGEST THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR TICKET TO ROME TO DEPART FROM REGGIO DI CALABRIO (ACROSS FROM MESSINA-HAS FLIGHTS, STARTING AT 06.00 TO ROME).  BY THE WAY, WHAT TIME DO YOU LEAVE FROM ROME FOR LA/SF ON JUNE 6th.?

WELL, I GUESS THAT WILL BE ENOUGH TO GET YOU THINKING.  I AM SENDING YOU SOME PHOTOS FOR YOU TO GET THE FEELING…

AS ALWAYS…..ALL THE BEST.

GARVIN

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I Hate LAX

By on May 3, 2010 in Favorites, Life Lessons, Surf & Snow

I hate LAX. Not because it is one of the most congested places on earth, full of smog, cars, planes and people who are in way to much of a hurry, but because it is the only place where a traffic cop will pull up to a car and see a girl bawling her eyes out and yell, “Ma’am, you can’t stay here. You need to move your car. Ma’am, this is loading only. You need to move now.”

First off buddy if you see a girl under 30 she doesn’t want to be called Ma’am! I hate that word! Secondly, I know it’s suppose to be a form of respect, but if you’re going to be so freaking rude that you don’t even bother to ask a crying girl if she’s ok, why the hell are you going to bother calling her Ma’am?!

And beyond the congestion and the rude traffic cops, it’s just a sad place… At least for me. I mean I have had many times where I’ve been super excited to be at LAX, on my way to Cabo, Australia, Costa Rica or Hawaii for surf trips…Or picking someone up… But I’ve also had many times where I’m going to drop someone that I love off because they are leaving, and I don’t know when I will get to see them again…

I remember the first time I felt this way. I was 24 and had been living in LA for almost a year. I really despise LA for a million reasons, one of which is that most of the people there are extremely fake and obsessed with literally everything that does not matter. But at the end of that year I met an amazing guy and we bonded over our mutual hate for the city and how we both wanted to just get the heck out of there.

So one weekend, only a few weeks after we first met, I found myself with him in Scottsdale, AZ at the FBR Open. Tiger Woods was having an amazing game, but what I remember most about that day is that we drank too much beer and we agreed to go back to LA, quite our jobs, and each go some place we wished we were, because life is too short to stay somewhere you don’t want to be.

I decided I would move back to Santa Barbara, because I had missed it every day since I left after graduating from UCSB. He decided to move to the Caribbean and start a water sport company. So two months later there I was at LAX dropping him off and crying like a baby. I was overwhelmed with heart ache because I knew I would probably never see him again and yet we would now forever share a deep bond of a promise to never again settle for anything less than happiness.

Yes, I have definitely said my share of sad goodbyes at LAX and yesterday (ugh), I said bye to a man I love who moved home to Hawaii because that is where he is happiest. At least this time I know in my heart I will see him again. A friend once told me that people are in your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime and I have come to realize how true this is…

So I drove away trying to convince myself that although it is beyond painful to watch someone you love leave, it is also such a blessing and an honor to be that one person who they want to be there in those last moments before they embark on a new journey in their life.

Change is not easy. Leaving is not easy. But loving someone and letting them go and watching them leave is the hardest of all. So if you ever find yourself with a job as a bike cop at LAX carry a box of tissue, have some compassion and please don’t wear those ridiculously short, shorts. The last thing I want to see through a stream of tears is your hairy, white legs, while your yelling at me to move my car and calling me Ma’am.

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Less is Moore. Really.

By on March 17, 2010 in Family, Favorites, Life Lessons

I’ve been procrastinating on writing a new blog post because there is so much to write about that sometimes I get overwhelmed and just don’t write about anything. So tonight I decided to procrastinate by reading my email. After scanning through dozens of “will get to those later” emails I decided to open one I found from Daneé Shows. Daneé is my best friend from college and rarely emails me so by now I should know that all her emails are either going to be profound, or something about the two things she knows I love, love, love, surfing & snowboarding. Tonight unfortunately her email turned out to be from the profound category and therefore did not help me at all in the procrastination department…

A few nights ago I watched the new Michael Moore film, Capitalism: A Love Story, which focuses on corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans. This is an amazing film that touches the very essence of what is wrong with America. (No offense. I love America but we are far from perfect.) I sniffled as I watched a family lose their house in foreclosure and cried as I watched them desperately accept $1,000 from their lender as payment to clean out and burn their last belongings, leaving them with nothing and nowhere to go.

In the film there is also a story about how Wal-Mart profited from a life insurance policy it took out on a young woman who died unexpectedly leaving behind her young family. Stop. Read that again. Yes, Wal-Mart and many other huge corporations have taken out life insurance policies on employees, somehow feeling they deserve to benefit from the death of their workers. My mom recently died from cancer. If I found out some corporation made thousands or millions from her death it would take every single one of my friends holding me down to keep me from burning their building to the ground! (OK I would never really do something like that, but that’s how I would feel).

And in one of my favorite scenes from the movie, Moore drives an armored bank truck up to the front doors of American International Group, announcing that he is there to collect the taxpayers’ money that they received from the $700 billion government bail out. So to put it in perspective the same people who are loosing their homes because they can’t afford their mortgage are forced to pay taxes which go to bailing out the richest companies in the US. How is that even close to fair or right?

Anyway I won’t go on and on (because I could)…. The point of writing this is to encourage you to watch the movie, if you haven’t already, and to remind you to stop and really take some time to think about what you want out of life. I’m no expert on what you should or should not do in life and I’m certainly not rich but I’m beyond happy and I feel blessed every day to be alive. I think one of the worst things about our society and the one thing that is holding all of us back from being truly happy is our greediness and obsession with material possessions and having more, more, more. I’m not saying being succesful is bad. I hope to be very succesful one day, but not at the expense of others and not at the expense of enjoying the journey. I’ll keep trying till the day I die to achieve my dreams, but if I’m never “successful” in the eyes of our society, I will still be happy because I’m already doing what I love.

The following story is from Daneé’s email to me:

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village.

A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

“Not very long,” they answered in unison.

“Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?”

The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.

“But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children, and take siestas with our wives. In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. We have a full life.”

The tourist interrupted, “I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.”

“And after that?”

“With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant.

You can then leave this little village and move to   Mexico City , Los Angeles , or even New York City !

From there you can direct your huge new enterprise.”

“How long would that take?”

“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years.” replied the tourist.

“And after that?”

“Afterwards? Well my friend, that’s when it gets really interesting, ” answered the tourist, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?” asked the fishermen.
“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends.”

“With all due respect sir, but that’s exactly what we are doing now. So what’s the point of wasting twenty-five years?”

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