"Take me to Church"....ETA Spotlight #3

Good Sunday Eve...
Hello from Ava, your Balcony Blogger....
Thank you all for taking this blog up over 52,000 viewers thus far. We are embarking on some great things and great stories to bring you.  Hopefully, you will enjoy our newest feature, the ETA Spotlight once a month. This slot is designated to my last blog post each month...the other 3 weekly blogs can be about anything and everything...mostly staying with our evolving theme: EMPOWERMENT, THROUGH BUSINESS, ENTERTAINMENT AND FASHION....


Nothing fits all of those words better than the KING himself, Elvis Presley. Just a quick re cap... I went down to Graceland in August to do a story on the new complex the week prior to Elvis Week. This year marked the 40th Anniversary of the passing of Elvis Presley.  You can scroll back a few blogs to get to that story if you'd like to see it. I then thought of all the FABULOUS ETA's ( Elvis Tribute Artists) Across the Country and thought how cool it would be to spotlight these fine entertainers along with all of our love for Elvis.

  Our first spotlight went to ETA Richie Santa from Long Island, NY.... Last month we spotlighted  Jimmy T. as Elvis from Exeter, PA  and this space is now dedicated to Doug Church of Indiana.... Wow ! I am so excited about this feature and I am also honored to have met and become friends with these ETA's.  Enjoy the journey with us..... 

When I say, "Take me to Church"...you KNOW that's an expression of something that is so spiritual it reminds you of going to that place you love to pray in...whether it's Church, Temple , or the side of your bed in your room....it's a spiritual place that is sacred....a place that is truly Amazing !

I had the pleasure of seeing Doug in Hammonton, New Jersey a few months back. I was blown away. I have loved Elvis for a long time yet I never got to see him perform live. I was just a teen-ager when he passed away. Funny, I remember to this day, exactly where I was when I heard the tragic news. 

So I got to see Doug in this brand new event center space in Hammonton  KATHEDRAL.   Find Kathedral on twitter as well @kathedralnj     

What an experience. A packed house, standing ovations in droves and a concert fitting of the KING....that's what I got to see..... I then became friends with Doug on line and soon after was able to chat with him personally by phone.  I swear I felt like I was talking to Elvis !  All this aside, let's get into some stuff here.... 

These ETA's have a love for Elvis that is amazing.  I remember loving that Doug mentioned in his show, " I am not Elvis, I am just paying tribute to the man and the music ".  The quote was something like that.... and the other ETA's I have interviewed and spoken with share the same sentiments.  I love the fact that they all have this circle of friendship that is also truly amazing.  

Doug is the  1991 Images of the King World Champion and a Veteran of the Legends in Concert stage show. During his 20 plus year career, Doug has performed all over the U.S. and in more than a dozen Countries Worldwide. 

Doug also offers a program where you can learn to move and sing like Elvis..  "Sing like the King". 

Doug has earned the moniker "The True Voice of Elvis" for his uncanny ability to mimic Elvis Presley's singing style. 

In speaking with Doug, I found him to be a humble man, gracious in every sense of the word.  I am hoping to get a chance chat more with him this August, when I head back to Graceland to do a follow up story on the ETA experience there.  

For now, watch out for our ETA spotlights in the last week of each month right here. As always, you can reach out me at www.4astar.com for any information on my blog etc... 

If you are in the Indiana area, catch Doug Church, "The True voice of Elvis", at the American Countryside Market every Wednesday evening.  Find out all the info on Doug's FB page... 

His web page is www.dougchurch.net  . You can see and hear some video there too. 

Doug also has a TVOE Face Book group page.... 

"TAKE ME TO CHURCH" With a true artist, performer, and one of the best ETA's in the biz... 

                                                          DOUG  CHURCH 

Let's take a 4 minute listen as Doug performs "My Way"....

Video taken by Susan Quinn Sand

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The weekend Warriors !

Hey all,

Whew ! Another  crazy weekend.  Today it's Monday and I find myself a little overwhelmed...... I'm pushing through that with great tools around me as I recoup from a Weekend Warrior position.... It's times like these we need to take a step back and reflect on what we do.... You can't keep all your frustrations, your hopes, your drive bottled up. You can't run on all 4 cylinders and not take a break. Even when you drive your car for long distances, and those of you that know me, know I love the road trip.... I LOVE to drive.... that car still needs a break and a time to relax..... that said, let's take a look at this weekend and fill our cups with MY weekend warrior and the warriors with me that made it so special.....

First..... Friday ... Our mastermind series continues "  A KNIGHT'S OF THE ROUND TABLE HAPPENING" This time with MASTERMIND AND A MOVIE.... All I can say is WOW... at our discussions after the movie  and continually over the weekend, we heard several different views on the subject matter from the movie. That is what makes us all human and feel something. It was definitely an emotional journey.... I just want to give a shout out and thank you to our movie/mastermind attendees:  Lisa Diane Hall, Sylvia Henderson, Marco Panting, Doreen Prinzo, Michelle McLaughlin, Michelle Verbit, Gabby Verbit, Tamar MacLean and Wren, Marcia and Ed Moser, Raymond Tyler and Angel Anes....
What started this journey was meeting Author Ron Hall at the eWomenNetwork conference this year in Dallas, Texas.

There we were treated to a wonderful interview with Founder and CEO of eWomenNetwork , Sandra Yancey. Seen here interviewing Ron. ( If you visit my Face Book page, you can watch the 45 minute interview...very compelling)

Ron shared an incredible journey of his life. He wrote the best selling book along with his real life mentor Denver Moore over a 3 year period . The  book was made into a major movie with Greg Kinnear playing Ron.  Through this journey, Ron has helped to revitalize shelters for the homeless and raise much needed funds. He also sells packs that people purchase to give to shelters which include a back pack filled with things like socks, water bottles etc... If you can , catch the movie
 'THE SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS ME".  I can't really give away the movie by telling you more.... yet you can watch the interview ( which goes a little deeper than the movie) or even read the boo. It was a great evening of mastermind-ing with our special guest Sylvia Henderson.

Sylvia is an Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur, Radio/TV Host and good friend.... She came in from the D.C. area to view the movie with us and facilitate discussion as well as talk about how and what we do with our ideas once we have them..... ( Possibly as Ron's real life wife Debbie saw in her dream).... We then took Sylvia with us on some of our "roller coaster weekend warrior adventures" . We even squeezed  in  a little time to walk on the Atlantic City Boardwalk and take in some ice cream and a few sites....

That night, Saturday, we were honored to be able to tape my new TV Show at the beautiful Arts Garage in Atlantic City, New Jersey. There we were invited to the first "Art of Fashion" event brought to the facility by Designer and Entrepreneur Tonya Khadijah Wright . My TV show airs on line on the 4th Thurs. of each month at 2:00 PM EST....

After the taping, we were able to  interview various people on our media platforms including our friends and affiliates of  Awesome T.V.  

With that I'd like to talk a little bit about Mark Legrand and the Mark Legrand Boutique .
As you may have already heard, Mark is our manufacturer for Ava's Eye Bagz and we are so excited to have them made in the USA and right here locally at the Mark Legrand Boutique.
Mark specializes in all types of events and designs and makes clothing from the Couture Wedding Gown to African American Attire.... check out his web page at www.marklegrandboutique.com 
If you are in the area, stop into the shop at 711 N. Main Street Pleasantville, NJ and tell Mark that Ava sent you !

Moving on to the main event Saturday evening.... it's all TONYA KHADIJAH WRIGHT

Find her on Face Book at Khadijah Wright of WrightTouchProduction

Making her debut at the Noyes Arts Garage with ART OF FASHION

I had the opportunity to chat a little with Tonya as we were taping my TV show for the WBTVN. Shout out to Marco Panting, Mr. Panting Photo/Video who tapes all of our shows and makes the team behind the scenes look very well.... 

                                                                       Mr. Panting (above)
                                                                  Lisa Diane Hall  (below)

Shout to John Staples , lead photographer for this event.. JBMS 1 Photography  and Gerald Triglia 

Lead Videographer   World Fashion Photographer and Videographer. 

Shout out to Lisa Diane Hall of LD TV and Shalanda.... Guests on my show ...

Getting back to Tonya now...

....What a blessing to experience this first event with her. The runway was set, the models were changing and the vendors were prepping for a great night as we taped our show from the Oriental Arts Studio of Kenny Ho

Tonya incorporated 9 designers into this first show including Mark Legrand and a couple of youth designers.... It was an amazing event with gorgeous clothing gracing the runway surrounded by Art.

Part of Stockton University, the Noyes Arts Garage of Atlantic City features a varied palate of artists and artisans throughout the garage space right off the Atlantic City Expressway. 

Tonya partnered with the garage for the Saturday evening event. She brought in 13 vendors including Sweet E's cakes . A fun evening for all ages. Youth designers and models as well as Heather Hires who does body art and graced the runway with  2 hand painted shirts....

.(that's the shirt made of all paint directly on the skin)..... AMAZING !

So hat's off, heels up, sneakers jumpin' and capes flowing to Tonya Khadijah Wright 

We look forward to more from her as she grows ! Here are some more photos from the show including designers Tonya Wright/ Mahindini Jain/ Mark Legrand  before we move onto Sunday.....

Photography by John Staples

Shout out to ALL  the beautiful models and designers !

Mahindini Couture

Painted Body Art shirt by Heather Hires

Below:  Tonya Khadijah Wright

Sunday  -  Wedding event at  Greenbriar Oceanaire in Heritage Circle , Waretown , NJ

We were a vendor at this event promoting our brand new Bridal Tour Excursions

www.eyeontheshorebridaltours.com 

This event was put on by the great people at JSWA 

Jersey Shore Wedding Association 

 of which I am a member.... reserve your seat now for the Nov. Bridal tour

A great time had by all .... including a 10,000.00 give away to one lucky couple ! Door prizes, food and wonderful vendors !

AND IF ALL THIS WEREN'T ENOUGH FOR A WARRIOR ..... I even found time to drop off a green screen to the fabulous Alyssa Lego ( courtesy of Tim Devine )

Alyssa Lego and Amanda Witowski have partnered up to create Autism awareness among our youth and then some.... being teens themselves my hats go off to them too as they are bringing not only awareness yet powerful messages of positivity  to the forefront of a Society in desperate need of that !

Alyssa Lego crowned miss Northern Lakes Outstanding Teen 2018 and Amanda Witowski crowned National American Miss N.J. are no strangers to the scene. 

With the creation of  "Shop , Sell, Strut" these fabulous young Women are turning heads to causes and creations that are made for the public eye !

Stay tuned for more about "Shop, Sell, Strut" Season 2 coming sometime in April..... 

In the meantime, find your Weekend Warrior, your Warrior friends...tear it up to the World and then take a step back to relax and take it all in !

See you next week !

Enjoy !

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Do you think about your 3 ???

Wow.... I was amazed as I was digging up things on this topic...wanting to lead it into the 3 new boys in my life...yes, you heard it right.... let's go back and explain.... see where YOUR 3 fits into .....YOU

I find it amazing to see the power and the magic of  3..... How we use it everyday, how we relate and react to 3. Many cultures view 3 as a source of Power... In China, 3 sounds like the word that means life ...so it is viewed a lucky....  No matter what you believe, you can't deny the power and the magic of 3. I believe I did a blog on that alone awhile back... let's just take a looks at few things...first, in doing some research, I found that the brain recognizes and remembers things in 3's, Speeches are set to have 3 easy parts.... Now we can say and do and research facts, figures and mysteries about many numbers and how the make us think etc... yet there is just something magical about the number 3.... let's take a look.....

That is from Schoolhouse Rock....

let's look at some other mysteries, slogans, sayings and then tie this together.....

PAST/ PRESENT / FUTURE
FATHER/SON/HOLY SPIRIT
RED/WHITE/BLUE
THE NINA/ THE PINTA/ THE SANTA MARIA
BEGINNING/ MIDDLE/ END
SNAP/ CRACKLE / POP
ROCK/ PAPER/ SCISSORS
SMALL/MEDIUM/ LARGE
TALL/VENTI/GRANDE
MIND/BODY/ SOUL
THE 3 MUSKATEERS
THE 3 STOOGES
THREE'S COMPANY

STOP/DROP/ROLL
ANIMAL / VEGETABLE/ MINERAL
HIP/ HIP/ HOORAY
THE SUN/THE MOON  THE STARS
READY/ SET/ GO
SEX/ DRUGS/ROCK AND ROLL
YESTERDAY/ TODAY/ TOMORROW
ME/ MYSELF/ I

AND it goes on and on and on.... now we don't want to do just " THIS THAT AND THE OTHER"... like any old "TOM , DICK AND HARRY"...  We can always put "3 COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN" and wish... We can talk like the  the King in the "KING and I" and end with ....

"Etcetera, Etcetera, Etcetera"....

...we can even  "STOP , LOOK, AND LISTEN".... to the signs....OR we can put ourselves in the best place like a real estate agent and brag about ....
"LOCATION , LOCATION, LOCATION".... any way you slice it, the power and the magic of 3 is all around us....

A couple of my favorite sayings are :  "Good Better Best"....Never let it rest 'til your Good is Better and your Better is Best !  I also like,
 " There are 3 kind of people in the World... those that MAKE things happen, those that WATCH things happen and those that WONDER WHAT'S HAPPENING !!!  "LOL

If you catch a leprechaun, folklore has it that you will have 3 wishes granted !
And of course  THE THIRD TIME IS A CHARM....


Let me take a quick look around my life with you. I was married 3 times... this third time, I found the Love of my life.... on the internet no less.... Our whole wedding was  RED/WHITE/ and BLUE
We had 3 Bridesmaids and 3 Groomsmen . Our Wedding bands are also filled with RED/ WHITE/ and BLUE and MY bands are 3 separate bands... crazy, right?  I have 3 silver bracelets I wear daily on my left wrist and I usually have 3 fingers adorned with rings on a daily basis.... I was 33  when I had my Daughter....and that Love of my life?.... we met in 2001.... add those numbers together for a total of 3.

If you are familiar with the Borromean Rings, they are interlocked.rings.. If any single ring is removed the 2 remaining rings fall apart...

The New York Times had an article out that mentioned this:

In English, thrice has a secondary meaning of “many times,” c. f., Tennyson’s “Thrice blest whose lives are faithful prayers,” or the untoppable grooviness of being “Three Times a Lady.”

In the Olympics, there are medals, Gold/ Silver/ Bronze  for the places 1, 2 and 3.....there are no medals for 4th place , 5th place etc.... only 3

Now let me bring this together with my reason for another post about the magic of 3's..... 

I am truly blessed to have 3 new boys in my life.... Not my children, not new babies ( OMG), yet professional boys... all 3 studying in the field that I love.... The Arts..... The are  Marco Panting ( The Mr.), 

Mijatovic Polanco ( Mike Swagg)... and ....

Terrence Kingg ( The King of Urban Design).  

Seen here at a fundraising event with favorite teacher "Karrie"

Let me not forget that these soon to be graduates are among the tops in their field of study.... they have each gained accolades , awards and recognition in what they do. They each take pride in Community Service, They each have the drive and desire to be successful in their fields and they each appreciate the power of the positive connection..... This is why I love them so much. We are building a much needed sense of loyalty and professionalism among us through the power of barter/ business/ and boundaries... ( Wow, 3 words I just threw together).... Is it always perfect.???... Of course not ! Is there always room for learning and growth.... EVERY DAY !  Yet THIS  is the kind of youth I want around me. This is the kind of World I want to see of  INclusivity, diversity and growth... and I am so lucky  to have it  these 3 boys !  I love you guys so much  and  now my readers, over 51,000 , will get to know you a little bit....I look forward to working with each of you as we grow together.... Watch out for these 3 as we rise.... When we learn to connect the dots.....we get a whole picture !  

Find them on Face Book and watch for more including the MAGIC of these 3 Young Men !

Marco Panting

From the Mark Legrand Boutique

BELOW

Mijatovic Polanco

Terrence Kingg

Hand Painted and designed by Terrence Kingg (Below)

Enjoy !

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