What a Weekend!!

I am coming off one amazing weekend. My close friend - and frequent travel partner - Kendra got married to a fantastic guy, Brian, on Saturday, and me and friend Kelli W. got to officiate the wedding! I find it hard to write only because of all the emotions I still feel over the day: gratitude, for having been asked to be a part of it; confidence, for knowing what a great life these two will have together; joy, for connecting with so many people I got to meet and reconnect with; a little sadness, for anticipating losing out to the hubby on some future trips with a great friend.

My mother caught this moment, when I was honored to lead them both through the ring exchange.


It was such an amazing day to be a part of and to witness. And the best part is in knowing that the party is just beginning, as we have a lifetime of celebrations ahead of us. Isn't that awesome? Isn't that such a great part of friendship?! CONGRATULATIONS BRIAN AND KENDRA!

PS: If you'd like to get a glimpse (nothing more) of the bachelorette party in Whistler, Canada, and my slow ride up to it, check out the photos here. We had GREAT FUN, though I am still miffed by the dude at the border asking me if the car was mine!

Eat Pray Travel

When I left my job earlier this year, a then-coworker asked me: "So are you going to do an Eat Pray Love kind of thing?" And I replied to him: "If I tried that, I wouldn't make it out of Italy."

I soon leave for the Motherland with my Mother (no, I am not sure what she calls it). And in preparing for this excursion, I find myself with an overwhelming number of emotions. Earlier this week for example, I was putting songs on my mom's iPod that included some that I hadn't heard in a very long time. You see, just short of 10 years ago, I lost a dear first cousin, Dimitri. Those of you who are either (1) Greek or (2) knew me in high school may remember him as he did spend a couple of summers with us. Dimitri was about six months older than me, putting him about a year younger than Bro, so he was able to forge a meaningful relationship with each of us. I remember my dad telling me then how excited *he* was that Dimitri was coming, because Dimitiri was a little younger than the age my dad was when he immigrated to the US, and he understood the wide-eyedness of the coming to America experience.

In time, Dimitri's dream was to immigrate here too. Back then, he and his accent were a clear hit at summer camp. He had developed a following. And he loved it. He was full of personality. And drive. He put himself through business school and was able to parlay that into a sales role with a leading Greek software company, specializing in shipping companies. His firm had occasion to make a sales call in Seattle, and given that he had family here, well, they sent him of course. I had just started a new job. Though I was driving my dad's hand-me-down, an '84 Cadillac Eldorado (dad's from the era where Cadillac used to be the actual Cadillac of the line), I was looking at buying a new Miata. And of course, while I was with D, we talked about cars. His dad, Mimi, was the car nut in the family, and his love of hotrods ended up infecting most of us. So D and I were together in the Caddy, and I asked him what he thought. He said, "Get it, and enjoy it. And buy a stick-shift."

When I ended up visiting Greece in May of 2000 after many years, I was so eager to see him. I was traveling with two friends and he came to pick us up. The material difference from the last time that i had seen him was that he had been diagnosed with cancer. It was a very aggressive kind; my family kept urging him to come to Seattle for treatment. When I saw him, he put on his best face. He picked us up in Syntagma Square and took us to one of his favorite restaurants. I forgot he was sick. And he didn't want me to remember. By year end, he did come to Seattle. But it was too late. The cancer had gotten the best of him, and on February 5th, 2001, he passed. In an act of generosity, his mother gave me the book of CDs that he brought with him. The collection he brought spanned ABBA Gold to Yiannis Parios (his favorite) to Herb Alpert. After he died, I listened to those CDs incessantly, until I just couldn't anymore. I hadn't heard the music until this week. And when I did, I wept. (Pause - as I am now.) I cry because I ache to see him again, to witness his zest for life, his passion for fun, and to talk about the latest addition to the Aston line.

While there are those who are absent, there are a great many who are present. And what I have come to learn as I have gotten older is that the richness of all of these relationships is what makes me me. I am instantly accepted when I mention who my parents are, or who my grandfather was. It's my family. It's where I come from. And it's where I need to go to. "Anticipation is the purest form of pleasure." Though I am not sure if the person who said this had ever spent time in Greece, I don't wholly disagree. The thought of seeing my cousins, aunts and uncles again delights me. It delights me to the point where I think about certain people, knowing that I will be with them soon, "να τα πουμε απο κοντα," that instantly puts a smile on my face.

So to all of you who are staying put and not headed anywhere, I urge you to pick up the phone or write a short note to someone you love. Keeping people close, no matter the distance, takes effort, and it takes less than you think. Remind them of why they matter to you. Do not wait to create joy for yourself or for someone else. You may even make someone's day in the process. My commitment to you (and to me) is to do the same.

Blue Angels

For those of you who grew up in Seattle, you'll know that Seattle's annual Seafair celebration is kind of a big deal. It starts early in the summer with things like the Seafair Pirates invading Alki, the milk carton derby on Green Lake, the Torchlight parade, the sailors in town, and of course the Blue Angels. Their arrival marks the time of year when I don't care how much NEA funding gets cut in exchange for jet fuel. And I get kind of excited to watch them, as evidenced from my wardrobe.

Though the weather was less than cooperative this year than last, the Angels did their low show, and it was as awesome and loud as ever. Check out the photos.

Also, I have FINALLY learned to add captions to photos on the gallery, so the link above and the links below from Mexico and Oregon now actually tell a story (or parts of the story that I'm willing to share). Enjoy!!

More to come!!!

Long time no see...

Hmmmm well I had coffee today with a familiar face who expressed to me that my blog is dry. Yes indeed. I'd love to tell you that I've "found myself," "fell in love," or "won the lottery" but I haven't been searching, tripping, or buying tickets respectively. "What have you been doing?" you ask. Well, that's also a complicated answer.

A picture is worth 1000 words. (I once asked a high school English teacher if I could just draw the essay rather than write out the 1,000 words; she was less than pleased with me at the idea.)

March 2010 Zihuatanejo Mexico.
The only picture that's missing here is the one Shanthi so so so badly wanted to get (well other than the one of the crocodile, but that's another story). We were entering the water after letting ourselves bake all morning and she commented on how high the waves were. My response? "They're fine. We'll be fine." The final sentence of "What could possibly go wrong?" didn't actually make it out of my mouth because I was too busy swallowing heaping amounts of salt water while desperately trying to hang on to (1) my contacts and (2) m'bottoms. As I was coming to, a photographer appeared from NOWHERE only to ask if we wanted a photo. Only to never see him again, we waved him off, thankfully for me, but Shanthi was kicking herself for not capturing the moment where I was a mess and she was still put together. I have assured her--as I will all of you--that we have many many years in front of us that will include many such moments.

For highlights that were documented, please visit the below link to see me, Shanthi, Bernie, Kendra, Katina and Marlene enjoying the weather, sites, and stairs of this beautiful Mexican fishing village. And its one Greek restaurant (I swear they find me, I swear) where they played the theme to Zorba and I danced and Katina was nowhere to be found...how convenient.

MEXICO Highlights:
Photos from a Plane!
Shrimp Tacos
Life is a Beach
Olga's home cookin'
Fun about town
Helping Marlene with her Beachtime PB


June 2010 Depoe Bay, Oregon and environs
Anyone who knows me knows that I love a good pun. I might even say that from time to time I upset people I love because I simply cannot control my verbal response (shots of punicillin don't help). So when I had trouble finding a B&B on the Oregon Coast, is it any surprise to you that I shouted "SOLD!" to myself, alone in my apartment, when I found "Pana-Sea-Ah," the B&B to "cure your ills"? The innkeeper was a great guy and reminded me of my friend Jamie. I felt at home immediately there. I took about 3 days to drive the Oregon Coast and back, to take in what I could from Astoria to Newport. Do I remember the crazy native names of the points? No. Can I recall the places where I ate (well other than "Tidal Raves")? No. Do I remember the stretches of roadway where I had the most fun? Absolutely. Below is a link of some points that I really enjoyed, and yes, those photos are taken from the driver side of a fast-moving vehicle, and joyfully so.

OREGON Highlights:
Bridge to Astoria over Columbia River (I love bridges so you will see many photos of them)
A rainy Cannon Beach, but lovely nonetheless
CHEESE!
A plane that's mounted above ground (this one made no sense)
My "Garden Room" at the B&B. If you have to ask why it's called that...
Views from the room, the day of arrival and the next day when the sun came out
Driving down the coast from Depoe Bay to Newport, and stopping along Yaquina Bay and Otter Crest Point
The inside of a lighthouse where the technology that was developed to reflect light is still used today
A dead seal. I watched kids throw rocks at it. I also was downwind from it, and I do not recommend that.
Newport's marina, home to some of the loudest seals I have ever heard
And really fun road signs (another travel interest of mine)


More to come. I PROMISE!!!!

There Was This One Time...

People: Who knew that one could be so busy and occupied when not working?! I have so many stories I want to share, from Whistler (was there for the Canada win of the Men's Skeleton) and Mexico (two words: shrimp tacos; another two words: with bacon). Of course, I am just getting my head around all that I want to write, but I am experiencing technical difficulties, as my internet access has been flakey at best. So, I have sought to find free wifi (thanks for all those suggestions!!) to take care of some things, I still haven't found time to do things like my taxes. So I promise promise promise to write more soon.

In the meantime, I leave you with this thought: If you had a month to spend however you wanted, what would you do?

Trying Again on the Photo, Again.

I Need Someone Who Knows How to Get Things.

So last summer I anticipated late winter doldrums and planned a trip with some of my closest girlfriends. Though some could not make it (we'll have some babies to celebrate this summer and fall, and have recently welcomed William Constantine Hughes!), coordinating shedules was still a bit of a bear. All I knew about where to go when I asked them if they could make it was we're going someplace sunny and probably sometime in February. We finally settled on late February and the number of bodies.

I started to look for places via the interweb. I found several properties in sunny locales and in the process was reminded that I do not like this kind of thing. Managing details that is. So I found a place Trat fit the requirements but that I didn't love. My old and good friend Marlene gave me wise counsel: just pick a place that you want to go to and we will all be ok with this. Things always work out-esp when friends are nearby! So I dumped the place in PV and then found this one, a condo owned by a very nice lady named Mona who lives on Manhattan's upper east side. That actually makes her name Moe-na.

I am so glad and so fortunate that the timing of it all worked out that we left Sunday the 28th. This allowed me to voluteer at the Olympics. And now, in a span of three days, I have gone from sub-freezing weather to swimming in a warm ocean.

If you haven't figured it out by the title or the photo, I am spending this week in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, with some of my dearest friends. The photo was taken on arrival at our/Mona's place. I am flanked by Marlene (left) and Bernie. Katina and Kendra are with me, and Shanthi is on the way.

I think we're going to be just fine.