What a long, strange trip it’s been.
Posted: August 12, 2010 Filed under: Spouse 2.0, the boys, travel 2 Comments »Yesterday, we traveled from Jeffersonville, Vermont all the way home. Along the way, we made a few stops. This one is at The World’s Largest Kaleidoscope – a 60′ silo converted into a… you guessed it… a kaleidoscope. So my hub, the boys and I laid on the floor, listened to the music and watched the show. I couldn’t resist capturing a bit for your enjoyment….
Another day, another city.
Posted: June 24, 2010 Filed under: Spouse 2.0, travel, work 1 Comment »I’ve been doing a lot of business travel lately.
Part of me hates leaving town. I love being home. I miss kissing the kids goodnight. (Yes, they still let me kiss them goodnight!) And I love the quiet time with Andrew when the house is still after everyone is asleep.
The other part of me cherishes climbing into fresh hotel linens at the end of a long, productive day with the air conditioning set at exactly the temperature that I like. And as long as they’re not too perfumy, I love having new soaps to try. I know, silly, right?
It’s an adventure to be alone in a different city, to move to the pace of it.
But I hate eating dinner alone in restaurants.
Tonight, I get to have dinner with Shelly, who incidentally, has a very cool twitter necklace. (I might have to get me one)
But I digress.
Traveling has its downsides. Like the woman on the plane who coughed the entire flight. And its upsides like the fact that I read half a book on the way here and plan to finish it on the flight home tomorrow.
I had a great meeting today and am excited for the one scheduled tomorrow. So that’s all good.
But being away reminds me (not that I forgot) – there is no place like home.
Does size matter?
Posted: April 9, 2010 Filed under: travel 11 Comments »Our week in Italy has been a lot of things.
Enlightening.
Tasty.
Rewarding.
Educational.
Fun.
I’m having trouble uploading pix from here, so I’ll share them when I get back. But meantime, there is one thing I feel I can’t ignore.
Size.
Everything here is smaller.
What does that say about us Americans?
I’ll try not to put too much judgement into this, but it’s hard to ignore.
In our apartment in Florence and now in Rome, everything is compact.
The refrigerators are small.
The drinking glasses – the largest ones are the size of our juice glasses at home. The smallest ones are the size of shot glasses.
You can’t get a ‘large’ coffee anywhere. Trust me, I tried. True, the espresso was divine, but I really crave a grande.
The cars are little – smart cars, Fiats…. and lots of motorcycles and scooters. We saw only one Hummer, 2 minivans, and 1 Jeep. Everything else was small.
The buses are little. And electric.
Portions are smaller. (Good thing, too. Trust me, I had plenty to eat!)
The Coke cans are smaller.
The people are smaller. Well, thinner, anyway.
The washing machine here at the Rome apartment is tiny. VERY cute, too. It’s a Candy.
We found kitchen cabinet hardware that we love, love, love while we were here. When the salesperson asked how many we needed, she almost fell over when I told her how many cabinets we will have.
What does this say about American lifestyles?
As we get ready to move into our new home – our larger home – I have to ask myself these things. I think I have fairly straight priorities.
But, I can’t ignore the question.
Does size matter?
Life’s a beach.
Posted: October 28, 2009 Filed under: the boys, travel 4 Comments »
I’ve only been to Long Island 3 times.
1) At 17, to visit Hofstra University. Way too congested for my taste.
2) At 25, to go to my friend, Beth’s, wedding – not sure the town but I sure remember the traffic! (And I remember that my brand new car got scraped in the parking lot at the synagogue. No note, of course.)
3) With Liz when I was 31 (pictured here) with Davis at 15 months to Montauk.
My first brush with LI was at camp. (Incidentally, I took Andrew and the boys to see my camp last summer. One of my first years, there were girls in my bunk from Harrisburg, Lebanon PA, Hazelton, Philly, and one girl from Mineolalangilan. Everyone else seemed to know where that was so I didn’t dare ask. But when I went home and my parents asked about the bunk, I told them.
Imagine the belly laughter that ensued.
But I digress.
I love this photo of Davis and me on the beach. I love remembering. He laughed and ate champagne grapes and butter for dinner while Liz and I had a gourmet meal. If I recall, he ate some mussels and clams, too, neither of which he’ll eat now. On the other hand, his taste for butter has definitely maintained – possibly even grown.
The beach there was so peaceful. And while it’s never peaceful having a toddler, it was lovely.
My little baby is in high school. He’s as sweet as ever except for an occasional eye-roll.
Time flies when you’re having fun.
Life is a beach.
Brunswick Stew
Posted: April 4, 2009 Filed under: the boys, travel Leave a comment »At the rest stop in Georgia – hey kids, Brunswick Stew was invented here.
The response: “At the rest stop?”
Unplugged
Posted: November 16, 2008 Filed under: travel 6 Comments »I think I have a problem. I can’t turn it off. Or maybe I just won’t.
I’m on a train on the way home from New York – just pulling away from the Metropark Station.
And I’m blogging. And listening to This American Life. And checking my email intermittently.
Crazy.
But I’m really happy because I love these things and when I get home to the boys I’m going to want to be with them & not be distracted by technology.
But I digress.
New York fascinates me. I love watching people and there were so many people to watch. I mean so, so many. Which leads me to one of the things I hate about New York.
The crowds.
I abhor crowds.
And traffic and being in a taxi driven by a normal enough looking guy who was clearly being channeled by Evel Knevel.
I detest the smell of the subway entrance.
And yet. It’s one of the most amazing places in the world.
Times Square at night is an awesome sight. The food is beyond. We had dinner last night at Olana & it ranks among the best I’ve ever had. Taboon on Friday night was delicious for apps. We had dinner later at Aroma.
We stayed in an apartment in Hell’s Kitchen. Very different than in Sleepers. We walked and talked an laughed.
And shopped. (got a work outfit and a nice outfit)
And all in less than 48 hours.
Loved it.
But can’t wait to get home to what I love the most – being with Andrew and the boys.
The view from our window.
Washington Square Park is closed and under construction. But still, there are guys by the chess tables at night calling out in a loud whisper, “Moke, moke.” Good to know the construction hasn’t dampened business.
Subway signs at 50th Street.
Aroma Restaurant – East 4th near Bowery. We ate in the wine cellar. It was very cool – literally and figuratively.
Another view from our place.
Bleachers set up for the upcoming T-Day parade.
These are in the backseat of the taxis. Very cool – Zagat’s, maps, more.
Breakfast at Sarabeth’s – delish!
Olana was really pretty…
We didn’t get to the show (they don’t film on weekends anyway) but we did walk past the building in Hell’s Kitchen. Couldn’t pass up the photo op.
