New York City Edition!

WHAT I’M READING: Picked up Sarah's Key at the airport yesterday, for the simple reason that Augusten Burroughs had a blurb on the front saying it was "a shocking, profoundly moving, and morally challenging story...nothing short of miraculous. It will haunt you, it will help to complete you..." With a recommendation like that, I wanted to read it. Just started reading last night, and it's living up to its billing. It alternates between Paris in 1942 and Paris 60 years later.

WHAT I’M WATCHING: Watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona on the plane yesterday. Loved it. Saw that Penelope Cruz is nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role in it, she was fantastic.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: The sounds of Manhattan from my hotel room (the Hotel Elysee on 54th between Park and Madison). I'm on the 11th floor, so it's a bit muted, but the horns and sirens are still out there! Ahhh, New York City!

WHAT I’M WEARING: It's a bit brisk here! Brought my red coat I bought in London back in November and my black boots, that should keep me warm today as I traipse around Manhattan.

WHAT I’M EATING: John's Pizza today. Love pizza in Manhattan!

WHAT I’M ENJOYING: Being in New York City. I love the vibrancy of this city, the energy and the people.

WHAT I’M SNIFFING: Toasted nuts from a vendor on the street corner. Almonds. Brought some back to the room with me last night. Yum!

Holidays

Just cannot shake the holiday blues...there's really no reason to be blue. Had a lovely Christmas, surrounded by my family. I'm not sick, my daughter isn't sick. I'm off work for another week. Have tickets to the Rose Bowl to see my favorite team. But for whatever reason, I'm....blah. Down in the dumps. Curled up in a ball with a book, not wanting to do much. Is it the season? Maybe. Is it the weather? Maybe, it's colder at my parents' house than at my house in Southern California.

Madison had a nice Christmas, got just about everything on her list. Santa found her even though we were away from home (whew!). My parents hosted our annual Christmas Eve party and the food was fabulous, the holiday nog (complete with brandy) flowed, and there was plenty of laughter. Christmas itself was nice, surrounded by more family.

Still not back at home...maybe we'll hit the road tomorrow. We need to be back in Southern California by Wednesday, in time for the Rose Bowl -- that's the only time frame.

Hope you all had a lovely and peaceful holiday!

England!

Back from a week in England...glorious! My daughter and I had the best time -- good mother/daughter bonding time (I'm hoping it will help come those teenage years!). We left last Saturday on a non-stop flight from LAX on Air New Zealand (side note, the best airline I've flown, by far, customer service-wise). Landed at Heathrow and had a car waiting. The car dropped us at our hotel in Kensington, close to Kensington Palace. It was so.cold.and.rainy -- so different than California! We loved it! Our room wasn't ready so we dropped our bags and did a very English thing -- went to TEA! We have a special tea room we love, the Muffin Man. By the time our trip was over, we had eaten at the Muffin Man EVERY DAY in London! A pot of tea for two and cucumber sandwiches fortified us for some shopping on Kensington High Street.


Then back to the hotel for a short nap (for me) and some TV watching (for Madison) before taking a cab over to the London Eye. There was a Christmas fair going on and we got some hot chocolate and crepes made before our eyes (like on the streets in Paris) to munch on while we wandered the booths. We crashed the first night and slept until noon....

....and then more shopping! Can you tell I love, love, love shopping in London?! Took a cab to Oxford Street, a great shopping street, and spent about three hours shopping (with another tea break). In the cab on the way over we passed something called the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park and Madison really wanted to go, so that evening we went. Super cool -- she went ice skating (I watched, since I fell in May that kind of thing is out for me) and rode all kinds of rides. It was like a carnival. So fun for her. Then we went to dinner at a nice restaurant, didn't get back to the room until after ten. We had an early train to catch so we went straight to bed.

The next morning the hotel called us a car to Euston Station, where we caught a Virgin Train to the Midlands. London is wonderful but the English countryside is something special...we were met at the station by friends, who took us around Rugby (the town where the game was created). Went to a museum, a few shops, and a great little tea shop. Our friends, feeling sorry for us being out of America for Thanksgiving, cooked a turkey with all the British trimmings -- stuffing, roasted potatoes, parsnips, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower with cheese sauce. For dessert (or pudding, as they say) we had a Christmas pudding with brandy sauce, a throughly British dessert. Very sweet gesture!


Coventry was the best day out, I think. Madison was fascinated by the story of Lady Godiva (Coventry was where she rode her horse naked through the street) and bought a tiny statue. We went to a parish church where a 'doom painting' has just been unveiled. The painting was painted in 1435 (the folks thought the end of the world was coming because there had been an earthquake) and depicts what the end of the world will be like. The Puritans, for some reason, didn't destroy the painting but merely whitewashed over it. It was forgotten for years but recently found. There is only one other painting like it in England but it has been repainted; this one has not. It was gorgeous! We visited the cathedral that was bombed by the Germans in November, 1940, and not rebuilt -- there is a new cathedral adjacent. Powerful is all I can say. And there is a fabulous museum in Coventry that was so kid-friendly; Madison was able to interact with all the exhibits. She had a really fun day!

The next day we took the train back to London and did some shopping for my mom (she sent me with a list). And then....THE LION KING!! What an amazing show! What a gorgeous theatre! WOW! and WOW again! Superb.


A bit more shopping and eating and then a flight back to Los Angeles...it was a marvelous trip that went by all too fast! If I didn't know myself so well, I'd be sad it was over, but I have a feeling I'll be back in England before too terribly long...and back to work tomorrow....

Six Things

Heather tagged me, so here goes:

Six things that make me happy, in no particular order:

1. Interacting with my daughter Madison. That girl is something else! Last night we bought tickets to see The Lion King while we are in London, and she lobbied HARD for the primo seats. We ended up center stage, row 8. Can't wait!

2. Settling in with a good book on a rainy (or cloudy or fallish-feeling or really ANY) day. Right now I'm reading Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian and I'm enjoying it. Couldn't put it down last night to get to bed, in fact!

3. Going to a live sporting event. It can be my beloved St. Louis Cardinals or my favorite college football team, the USC Trojans (boo, on the road AGAIN this weekend), or even a Lakers preseason game like I'm going to tonight, but put me at a live sporting event and I am happy!

4. Traveling. Anywhere. Madison and I are going to London the end of November and we are super excited. I have the "travel bug" for sure. Put me on a plane and I'm happy.

5. Learning. The classes I'm taking right now, at USC, are amazing. That doesn't even begin to describe them; this is fast becoming the best academic experience of my career.

6. Finding a new treasure. That book I've been wanting to complete my collection. Or the saucer I've been missing from my 1940's collection of Homer Laughlin dishes. The internet has certainly changed my collecting habits, but wandering around shops -- that makes me happy!

Weekend Getaway

Went up to Santa Barbara for the weekend. Just to get away...it was nice. I had never been up there. The downtown was cute, kinda reminded me of Miami, not as vibrant or hip, but it definitely had a 'feel' to it. Quite expensive, shopping-wise. Took Madison to see the mission she did her 4th grade report on -- La Purisima Concepcion. It was about an hour outside of Santa Barbara, near Lompoc. It's the only mission that is a California State Park. I was pleasantly surprised by how clean and nice the mission was. The volunteers all dress in period clothes (early 1800's) and answered all our questions, and gave us a bit of history.


Bought a pair of custom made jeans. Lori mentioned the site on her blog, and I decided to jump in and give it a try. The process seemed very thorough and there is a guarantee on the jeans -- if I don't like them, I can have another pair made or get my money back. The downside will be waiting 4 to 6 weeks for the jeans to arrive. That makes sense, given that they are being made just for me. But still, I'd like them sooner!

Tomorrow I have a one day training on an Intervention Program I volunteered to teach. My district, in an effort to save money, did away with summer school. Instead, we're asking kids to stay after school an hour two days a week for this program, from September until Thanksgiving. No one wanted to teach the program, and I do mean no one. I finally volunteered because I figured there was no way my school year could be any harder than last year, and I know I will do a good job with the kids. Did I just jinx myself by saying my year won't be harder? I hope not!

West Palm Beach

Hello from West Palm Beach! It's gorgeous here -- not too hot or humid (like everyone warned me it would be, they were all WRONG) and simply put, BEAUTIFUL. I'm staying at my cousin Vicki's father-in-law's house (he's not here, he only comes a few months out of the year). It's in a gated community, on a golf course, next to a lake. Can it get more perfect? I don't think so!

South Florida is a dream. The beach Vicki and I have been going to is Jupiter Beach and, compared to the beaches in Southern California, there is NOBODY THERE. We drive right up and park the car right on the street. Parking is free. What is that? That doesn't happen where I live. Then there is a little wooden area to walk through (there is a path) and it opens up to the beach. Literally, there are wide open spaces to set up our chairs and towels. Nobody behind us or in front of us, or even next to us for several feet. Unheard of where I live. The water is about 85 degrees and crystal clear. We take the boogie boards and float. My knee feels so good in the water! Great therapy! The only bad thing I have to say is that even with sunscreen my back got so much sun that it's starting to peel :(

There's also a pool in this community, and we bought a frozen Bellini mix and took that down to the pool one night. There was nobody there but we still had a blast. It was raining (in July? For a West Coast girl, that was a novelty!) and we put the lawn chairs under the eaves and drank our frozen Bellinis and watched the rain hit the pool. It was fun!

Yesterday we drove down to Miami, to South Beach. What a different feel that town has! Hip, vibrant, young. Very fun. We ate at the Front Porch Cafe overlooking Ocean Drive and then did some shopping along Collins Avenue. It was super H O T in Miami though, much more so than in West Palm Beach.

We've been to the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach. After going to the finest museums in the world, the one here just doesn't compare. They have one Monet (it actually had palm branches, I had no idea he painted one of those) and one Picasso. And the City Place shopping area in West Palm is nice, too -- we also took a tour of the area, by land and sea. The tour guide said there are three types of money there -- old money, new money, and your money. She pointed out the house the owners of QVC are renovating and said that was an example of 'your money.'

Still have three more days before going home. I'm super relaxed, which is what I needed from this vacation. And when I get home, I have New York City to look forward to -- I love summer!!