There needs to be a place where happy grandmothers and friends of happy grandmothers can celebrate. A place where they can shop for themselves and for each other and for the people in their lives under three feet tall. A place where they can be seen and valued as the cool people they are. I had my light bulb moment standing in a card store.

I had rushed out to find a Happy New Grandmother card for my friend, Carmen. She had just announced with unbridled joy that her first grandchild was on the way. “Where are your grandmother cards?” I asked the sales clerk with the bored look and nose stud.

She pointed a bony finger in the direction of the new baby cards.

“But I was already there. The only cards I saw were for grandparents. I don't know my friend's husband. And those sappy teddy bears on the front are so last century. I need something more hip.”

The sales clerk cut her eyes at me as if to say you wouldn't know hip if it kicked you in the shins.

I'll show her, I thought. I'll just make up my own line of grandmother cards and other fun products. And I'll name it Bubbee for my Jewish grandmother, and Bliss for me and my blissed-out friends.

And so Bubbeebliss was born.

The Bliss in Bubbeebliss

Yes, my name really is Bliss. It says so on my birth certificate.

I started bubbeebliss after many years as a speaker, writer, and teacher. My desire is to give voice to a new generation of women. Psychology Today and People Magazine have featured interviews with me highlighting my take on a myriad of women's issues.

I've appeared on national radio and television shows. Women seem to really take to my message: We shall be invisible no more!

In addition to speaking, I love writing. I've written for newspapers such as The Jewish Bulletin. And I've published essays in the San Jose Mercury News and the San Francisco Chronicle.

God is in the Detours: Going Off the Map at Mid-life is my first book. I look forward to seeing how it impacts people's lives.

I've also owned my own business and enjoy inspiring other women to reach for success. For about ten years I ran a company that provided training programs to corporations. We worked with companies such as Dole Packaged Foods, Symantec Software, and Williams-Sonoma.

After my training business, I taught at a university. Oh, and at forty I went back to school and earned my graduate degree at Stanford University. And ran the Seattle Half-Marathon, as well.

In my spare time I explore the woods and the islands of the Pacific Northwest. And text my children mercilessly.

But, above all, I can't wait for my own grandchildren to start popping on the scene. My children are in their twenties, so I might have to wait awhile. Until then, I intend to enjoy and celebrate everyone else's.

Bliss is my name, and also my state of mind.

I believe that happiness is the most outrageous act of courage.

My motto? Love the Present!