About

Hi I’m Jani. My sweetheart, Brent, also known as “Honey Brent” – HB for short, and I have been happily together for 29 years. I’ve lived on two islands, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic and the Big Island of Hawaii in the Pacific, as well as several states. We have seven beautiful adult children… not one like the other, and 14 grandchildren that either call me Jani, Grandma Jani or just “Grandma”.

My choice of a poppy as part of my logo is for two reasons: being from California where the golden poppy is the state flower, I grew up loving poppies. The red poppy has great significance to me as a remembrance of my father, a pilot in both WWI and II, my cousin who died a war hero and my sweetheart, HB, a medic in the Vietnam War. Serendipity? Well, that pretty much describes my life!

I have learned throughout my years, but I’m no fuddy-duddy grandma and my promise to you, my reader, will be to keep this blog moving. I’ll share wisdom that I’ve learned from my mother, whose mother taught it to her. I promise an entire gambit of emotions under the family section of the blog!

I do know fashion and love it! Having been a fashion and special events coordinator for a major department store chain, my responsibilities included coordinating many large fashion shows and photo shoots. I believe I can help you with what the latest trends are without dressing over the top. Style is a statement of how you feel about yourself; it doesn’t have to empty your pocketbook. There is no generation gap when it comes to being stylish! My personal philosophy is beauty within transcends outward appearance.

HB and I love to explore new recipes, adding our own twists to make them signature. We will always have some fun new recipes to share with you. We will do our best to introduce you to our favorite foods and discoveries.

I’m really excited about this blog and know that this venture will present me with all kinds of wonderful new friends. My hope and desire is that you will feel that you’re walking in my footsteps as I take you to some marvelous lands and great travel destinations, introduce new recipes, fashion and share family experiences.

There are several people that I would like to thank for helping me get this blog up and running. First and foremost, I want to thank my daughter-in-law, Marie of Make and Takes and my son Jordan, for their constant encouragement and ongoing help in understanding the blogosphere. Thanks also to John Zacharias, our dear friend and artist from Edmonton, Alberta, who designed the logo for jani serendipity. Finally, thank you to Will, my son-in-law, for all his help.

Email me: jani{at}janiserendipity.com