The events coordinator, Kimber was my contact person and arranged the whole thing. (Well you know what I mean, obviously there were other people involved, but she was the person that told me what was happening.)

As with most events it starts out with a simple request of doing the keynote and then wonderfully blossoms into something much bigger. In this case I was asked to do two morning news shows to help promote the event, do the one-hour keynote dinner presentation, and then do a closing keynote the following afternoon. The date was set, the plane reservations made, the schedule written, and of course I made arrangements for my son to come so we could do a sand dune buggy riding adventure together. While I was at it, I also decided to call a teenage YMCA buddy of mine, Deanna who relocated to Arizona and have dinner with her. I knew it was going to be a very packed three days.

Thursday, June 22

Spencer and I arrive in Phoenix airport; a very cheerful woman named Susan picked us up from the airport at 4 PM. We threw our bags into the car and were introduced to the 115-degree weather...of course we are told it's a dry heat so it's not as bad. My feeling is if you are in an oven and it's 115 degrees, doesn't matter weather its dry or wet...you're still baking.

In route to our hotel...Spencer spots his favorite restaurant...a Jack in the Box. (Yeah, I know - class all the way) His mouths savors and being a totally willing host, Susan pulls a sudden right into the drive through...she smiles. "Gotta keep our guests happy." Eight tacos later Spencer is thrilled...it's then I find out that my son actually has Jack as one of his friends on his myspace! (I vow to look into this further, never trusted those big headed clown looking people.)

With stomach full, we pull into the Valley Ho Hotel...a very chic retro hotel that reminds me of a cross between the Jetsons and I Love Lucy. (I gotta admit my first thought when I heard the name Valley Ho, was that it was a description of the type of women in town...I started thinking...whoa exactly what type of getaway where these girls going for and what on earth was on the agenda!)

Anyway...the Ho was very upscale so we were safe. We were given the keys to our room, which was on the first floor next to the swimming pool.

Spencer and I drop our bags and tour the hotel. Turns out the festivities for the Girlfriends Getaway weekend have already started with a boutique social hour and belly dancing lesson to shake things up...literally.

Spencer and I order room service. Spencer takes a dip in the pool, while I meet up with Tess. Tess used to be a news anchorwoman and now works with John C. Lincoln hospital doing PR. She is going to escort me to the TV show in the morning. She and I instantly get along when we both realize we don't drink coffee and that cranberry juice gets us drunk. Who would have thought such bizarre things we'd have in common. Tess goes over the message points I need to say on the TV show for the next day.

I call my girlfriend Deanna and arrange to meet her Saturday afternoon at the Sand Dune Buggy place, since she says lives too far from hotel to meet me here.

Go to bed relatively early...got to get up before the crack of dawn.

Friday, June 23 – The BIG DAY

Up at 4 a.m. for a 5 a.m. pick up to the TV station.
Tess is all bright and cheery – wow she must be a morning person. I'm wearing my blue suit (which I'm sure is not Arizona hot air attire) and feeling a tad sleepy ...but I know I'll be ready to smile on TV and invite woman down to the event.

We arrive at the station at 5:30 a.m. At the station, Tess (who also did makeup professionally at one point) touches up my make up. At 5:50 I go on air. I do a fast talking demonstration, mention the sponsors and invite women down to an entertaining and informative weekend.

By 6:30 I'm back at the Valley Ho...Since I know I have to leave again to the station to do the midday show I decide to sit by the pool for a bit, thinking that the dawn sun would be cool...eh...wrong answer...my feet burn as I walk across the cement pool grounds.
I decide to go in the pool to cool off. I see a bee struggling in the water. I debate whether to let it die a slow drowning death or save it. I scoop it up with my sunglasses and place it on the ground. I then leave quickly in case this Queen bee was really trying to kill herself and gets mad at me for ruining her suicide attempt.

Back at the room I order breakfast...Spencer still sleeping in accordance with teenage rules.

By 10 a.m. Tess is back again to take me to the studio. This time the segment was longer and I joked around with the news anchor. I also did a fast talking demonstration of the Three Little Pigs.

By 12:30 I am back at my hotel once again. I get a call from my friend Deanna. She caught the segment on TV and realized I was in Scottsdale and not Phoenix...which is funny because she and I talked four times and apparently didn't communicate that very fact. We talked how ironic it was that it took my TV segment to get the facts straight. Now knowing we are close, we made arrangements for her to come to the dinner and show that night.

It's now 1:30. Spencer and I grab a nice lunch in the Valley Ho lounge.

At 2:30 I decide I should get some sleep to be fresh for the show tonight. But as I'm dozing off, I realize my sense of exploring will not let me sleep. I announce to Spencer that we should go into town (Old Scottsdale) to buy gifts for our loved ones back home since we might not get another chance.

So Spencer and I walk down to the end of the block (which was not a small feat in the 115 degree unshaded heat). We wait in a sliver of shade cast by a pole for the free trolley to take us into town. The trolley is supposed to run every 15 minutes. At this point, us two New Yorkers, decide that 115 degrees feels exactly like 115 degrees. While we wait we see an army of ants pass by carrying umbrellas. Now we know we've seen it all.

The air-conditioned trolley finally comes. We ride into town and find this great store that had a ton of really cool "Arizona" type knickknacks (lizard statues, snakes, coyote stuffed animals etc.)
Within a ½ hour we reach our shopping tolerance. (Shopping is not Capo trait.)

However as we stroll back to the trolley stop...I spot this really cool cougar statue in the window of a store named, Zaman's collections. Once inside...I see this gorgeous opal bracelet...after some negotiation on price I decided it was a nice pre-birthday present for myself. (Hey, I like to buy, just don't like to shop...besides a girls gotta treat herself nice.)

By 3:30 we are back at the hotel.
Spencer went swimming and I tried to take a nap. Apparently trying to sleep midday is the universal telepathic signal for everyone you know to contact you via cell phone ...after about an hour of constant calls, I decide sleeping is not in my immediate plans so I decide to go over my talk.

I try once again to sleep, but instead lay there in that half awake, half sleeping mode.

Seven p.m. was the official start time for dinner. I was to go on at 8 p.m. or more precisely, when the tables were cleared and the dessert was served. The audience can't laugh if their mouths are full.

At 7:15 I wasn't at dinner yet. Of all times, I started to doze. A few phone calls asking my whereabouts quickly snapped me out of it.

At 7:45 Spencer and I went to the event hall for dinner.
We were at a special table that was comprised of the team players who put this event together and my buddy, Deanna.

We all joked and ate. Spencer excused himself at one point...I think there was way too much estrogen in the room for him...after all it was a Girlfriend's getaway, and outside of the waiters and one handsome surgeon that the girls were swooning over, Spencer was the only other bona fide male.

At 8:15, I stepped out on stage. I joked with the audience about the heat, the cute doctor who I teased all night, told them motivational stories, and gave them the message of why they were here...to take care of themselves, by allowing themselves some down time with girlfriends...then I talked about dreams, goals, and passions, told some jokes and ended my talk.

After my hour was up, I sold some books, signed some autographs, raffled off some gifts and sent the women on their way to rest or enjoy the nightlife.

As I headed back to my room, a group of women were sitting on the outside veranda (in the heat). They said the room inside was too cold. I on the other hand wanted to crank the AC up a few notches.

We sat down and then did what women like to do best when men aren't around...joke about them. One woman said, "I bought a king size bed just so my butt doesn't touch his in the middle of the night, by accident, because then the next thing you know they are grabbing ya, thinking you gave them some kind of cave woman signal for sex." For an hour we hung out exchanging stories and nodding heads.

At 1 a.m. I realized I should probably go to sleep. My body agreed.
I thanked the ladies, and told them not to be surprised if some of their stories wound up in my closing keynote speech.

Saturday, June 23

Up at 7:30 a.m. Munched down a quick buffet breakfast and then headed to the vendor boutique area to sell some more books. Spencer of course was still sleeping.

I shared a display table with a woman affectionately called, Momma. She has a cooking and also wrote a cookbook, called Momma and Me and You. She was a wonderful classy lady. At one point during the event I saw she was crying. Turns out she had lost her son only a few weeks before to cancer. In fact a lot of women at this event had either been cancer survivors or had lost a loved one to cancer, me included. Momma and I got in to a conversation about the spirit world, and we comforted each other as only "girlfriends" can.
I think, in my own little way, I made her feel better. Before I left to do my closing talk, I hugged her and gave her a copy of "Almost a Wise Guy" ...I think my dad's message in the book might help her deal with her son's passing.

At 9 a.m. there was a breast cancer panel discussion with top physicians (included the cute doctor from last night) answering questions about breast cancer. Some of the cutting edge technology they were talking about was fascinating. For example this one New Zealand scientist said they are able to target the cancer cell and stop it in its tracks...the way she described it was "like taking the wheels off of a moving car". The medicine for it is not in the market place yet, but these are amazing discoveries that may one day soon slow the growth of cancer.

At 10 a.m. There was a Coldwater Creek fashion show featuring cancer survivors and their girlfriends. The music in the background was "I will survive". (A song that has been an anthem for women for years.)

The girls strutted down the stage having overcome a major obstacle in their lives. Two models who stuck out were an 80 year old woman and another woman who had just finished treatment...at the end of her modeling she proudly took off her wig and held it up. She exclaimed, "I survived" then gave a cute butt wiggle. We gave all the models a standing ovation.

At 11 a.m. it was time for me to do my closing speech. I wondered how on earth I was going to follow that modeling show...but then I said to myself, "Capo...do what you always tell people to do...speak from your heart". So I got up there and did just that.

Kimber had given me some message points she needed me to talk about during the closing session. One of those points was to talk about Oxytocin...something that I had never heard of. Well actually I had heard of it, but had no clue what it did or was.

So after some research on the web I found out that, Oxytocin is a chemical that the brain releases which promotes bonding and stress reduction. It is released in women who have pleasurable interactions with their girlfriends. (And for any men reading this, no it doesn't mean it's time to whip out the video camera...we're talking...laughing and having bonding time...or another way to look at it would be... if you don't want to have sex with your male counterpart, simply hang with your girlfriends and get the same results but with less hassle, less mess.)

Oxytocin also brings your blood pressure down, makes your immune system stronger, improves memory and sleep, and stabilizes mood swings. (Man if it could only help you lose weight it would be the miracle drug.)

I also found out that Oxytocin experiments have been done and they found that when you spray it in the air, people are more likely to trust you and hand over cash to you. It comes in a spray bottle for $57.
(I told them I would be selling it in the back right near my books)

I closed the talk with asking them to make three promises - a past, present and future promise.

The past was to think of one girlfriend that they lost touch with and to reconnect with her this week.

The future promise was to take one girl's number from this event and make a new friend.

And present promise was to look at themselves in the mirror the next time they put on makeup and really look at themselves and say, "I love you!"

I told them that that promise was going to be the hardest...because we often easily give love to others, but don't give love to ourselves.

Then I announced I was going to love myself by taking myself and my son on an adventure...a sand dune buggy ride in the desert (keeping with my Live everyday as if it were your last philosophy) ...hell it was a perfect day for it...a mere 112 degrees, a cold front had obviously come in.

When I got off the stage, a woman Elizabeth came up to me and gave me the nicest compliment. She said...when you were recommended to us we were told, "She'll make you laugh, she'll make you think, she'll make you change your life. Thank you...Fran you did all that!"

I was thrilled...what more can you ask for than to touch the human heart. I hugged all the women who put this event together. I thanked them for a wonderful event.

Then I dashed to my room, changed into my shorts and headed off into the desert sun. We had one wild adventure.

We capped the night by spending time with my friend Deanna and her family. It was an awesome weekend and a helleva Girlfriend's Getaway, plus one son.