I love the anticipation and planning of being in this elegant, magical city next week!
In honor of World Theatre Day ….because the arts are important
A while back (15+ years ago) when I started menopause some older, and wiser, women equated it to puberty and at the time I thought that’s ridiculous. Now I realize it is a lot like puberty in reverse…you lose your period, your body goes all out of whack….and some friends doing the dating thing can be disappointed and heartbroken…like high school!
I’m one of the lucky ones that never had PMS growing up. I literally got my period on Christmas…reeeaaallly?…what a gift that was….and was regular as can be until I had a partial hysterectomy at 38. I had to actually put a dot on the calendar to remember that it was going to happen and be prepared, because I never had mood swings or cramps or basically anything. I know…you’re thinking “BITCH!” That’s okay…’cause the blessing I had through puberty did not carry through to menopause. Holy shit it was like being hit with a ton of bricks!
I was so moody in my early 40’s that at one point I said to the was-band, “I don’t even like myself”…who the hell is this person inhabiting my body! Yes, mine was pretty wacky, but that doesn’t mean all women have the same experience. I know some that hardly have any symptoms…to which I say “BITCH!” Oops, I mean, lucky them!!
When I was doing a little research on the topic I came across this article at womentowomen.com. It’s actually a very interesting article and I’d recommend reading it, but there’s one sentence at the beginning of the article that reads “Menopause is a gift, a lantern lighting the way to significant transformation in all areas of your life. I want you to know, unequivocally, that you can feel and look better than you ever imagined after menopause, even if your symptoms right now are terrible.” At first reading I thought…’what the hell is she talking about!’…but I’m now on the other side of menopause and, except for the weight gain part, it is a pretty great time of life. It was hell for me going through it…hot flashes, sleepless nights, moodiness, blah, blah, blah….but coming out on the other side has had some really nice benefits (to clarify, I’m not talking about the wackiness of the last 5 years).
You don’t have to worry about your period anymore…woohoo! You don’t have to worry about getting pregnant. I feel like you get a better sense of self and confidence in your decisions. I used to be someone who never said “no” and sometimes did things I didn’t really want to do just to be nice, or to fit in…I don’t feel the need to do that anymore. Personally, I’ve learned that it’s important to keep all those people around you that bring you joy, happiness, friendship and love…and it’s okay to let go of some people that kind of suck the life out of you. It can be liberating! So, yeah, in a way I feel like a kid again, before I went through puberty…weird?!
I used to say to younger people who asked for advice about parenting…each stage of child rearing is a different kind of easy and different kind of hard. In some ways it applies to menopause…each part starts out as a different kind of hard, but eventually it’s a different kind of easy. Coming out at the end of it can be really great if you can get through it and you look for the silver lining! I have some of the most amazing women on my rowing team…as well as other facets of my life…that are confident, strong, awesome women in their 60’s and 70’s…so BRING IT ON! I’m looking forward to that next chapter…and the possibilities it holds.
….and if you’re going through it right now I promise that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel….hang in there!
My friend, and teammate, Amy’s husband has been part of the renovation of Lido Marina Village on the Balboa Peninsula. That’s the first I heard that there was even a plan to rejuvenate this gem tucked in the corner below the PCH bridge. When I lived in my little cottage down near Lido I rarely went over to this area. It was tired, a bit stinky and really, just not much reason to go. You could see the potential of the little shopping village…quaint, right on the water, ambiance. How did it become so disheveled?
Since I’d heard of the renovation from Amy I’ve basically been watching from the water, during our turn around in the channel at rowing practice, to see the progress of the project. About a month or so ago I noticed the sign for the restaurant NOBU, slated to open in April, and what looked like another restaurant adjacent to it might already be open. I checked online and the restaurant was already open and called Zinque (pronounced zin-kae the website is lezinque.com which was a bit confusing when trying to find it). I had to see what it was all about and how the “village” was shaping up. WOW…I predict the village will be a new go-to hang out…and the restaurant was yummy!
There were four of us and we sat out on the patio overlooking the water…with tons of crew practices rowing in the bay beyond. They have a happy hour nightly that ends at 6:30..so we started out with drinks and a couple of the flatbreads….alsacienne /pancetta, onion, gruy├¿re and mushroom/ wild mushrooms, gruy├¿re, herbs….from the happy hour menu, as well as some Castelvetrano Olives. Among the four of us there were hamburgers, fries, brussel sprouts, tuna tartare tartine and pate…and I’m pretty sure nobody was disappointed! I’d highly recommend. The wait staff was nice and the ambiance is lovely.
The village itself has been upgraded so nicely and it’s just the face lift this place needed. You should probably go now before the construction is done and it gets really crowded! I envision that it will be THE PLACE to go, see, and be seen! It screams upscale, chic, exclusive. I can see an episode of “THE HOUSEWIVES…” filmed here. It’s pretty cool…..the shops are very well curated, but, warning…quite expensive.
“I found I could say things with color and shapes that
I couldn’t say any other way–things I had no words for.” Georgia O’Keeffe
I’ve always been a fan of sculptures and the tangible-ness (is that a word?) of a 3D piece of art that you can touch. Street Art…no so much! When I was in London I became a bit enamored with street art….again, I’m behind on this trend too. I only slightly followed street art, ├á la Banksy, but some of it in London was so cool that I had to photograph it. It’s funny once you notice something how it becomes part of your consciousness and seems to pop up more often. I also took pics of some street art when I was in SF recently and I’m sure I’d walked by those same walls numerous times on past visits.
So, here you go…some random street art and sculpture from London…
….and here are a couple from SF…
Keep an eye out for street art near you. I’m looking forward to photographing more on my upcoming trip to Paris and NYC!
Does it annoy you when you get recommendations for clothing, books, web sites, etc..as your looking on Instagram, Facebook or just random websites? Sometimes it’s creepy and frustrating and I can’t believe that somebody knows all my everything…. and then sometimes I think it makes the world a smaller place and I appreciate and even click on some of the links.
I was reading the Sunday NY Times and they had a really interesting and thought provoking article titled “Having Built a Bubble, Sites Sell a Way Out” or online it’s titled “How to Escape your Political Bubble for a Clearer View”. It says that “the filter bubble describes the tendency of social networks like Facebook and Twitter to lock users into personalized feedback loops, …” and it makes total sense. Everyone was so shocked that Trump won and how could it have happened. Well, if all your “feeds” and “likes” are about say “Hillary Clinton” or “I’m With Her”, you probably got bombarded by websites that backed her, articles about her, etc…. I encourage you to read the entire article because it goes on to say that those same websites, FB/Twitter, etc.. and other companies are trying to broaden how you see things, giving options for plug-ins to broaden your feeds.
So, yeah, it can sometimes be annoying for the world-wide-web to know everything about you, but the feed back can also give you a false sense that everything you’re thinking and doing in terms of politics is in line with the majority…which obviously wasn’t the case this past election. Okay, yes, Clinton did win the majority, but let’s face it, most who voted for her never thought there was any chance of Trump winning…electorate, majority or anything…and your feedback on social media didn’t help that perception.
On a lighter note, I have received lots of good recommendations via those feeds for books, some fun & funky clothes, must-see places to go in a city that I’ll be traveling to or just random events around Orange County. So all that spying can come in handy at times.
There’s so much happening so quickly on the internet that it’s hard to keep up with all the plug-ins, websites, apps, etc…. but I’m confidant that there are companies that will keep trying to “help” and persuade us in a certain direction….be alert, be vigilant, come to your own conclusions!
(PS…IF YOU’RE A WINDOWS 10 USER AND WANT TO OPT-OUT OF SOME SPYING CHECK OUT THIS “HOW TO” ARTICLE)
…in honor of pizza monday, a tradition in my home for over 15 years!
I.AM.Sooooo behind the eight-ball on this one! Have you heard of the word “HYGGE” (pronounced Hoo-gah)? It was THE word of 2016…and I’m just getting around to it now..ugh! Similar to the post I did on coincidences the word “hygge” has entered my life frequently and randomly for the past seven months.
It all started last July when I did a non-simultaneous home exchange with a lovely family from Copenhagen. When I returned home my guests had left a lovely note and a candlestick, telling me that my home was so hygge. I looked up the word and found out that it means “cozy, contentment and well-being” and was so flattered that my home conveyed this feeling to their family. Of course when I went to Copenhagen for the World Rowing Masters Regatta in September the word hygge kept popping up here and there, but I wasn’t paying much attention….much to my dismay now.
It is not only a Danish word, but it’s practically a national ethos that the Danish have embedded in their culture. Think fireplaces, big woolly sweaters, blankets, candles and an overall feeling of a big hug. Knowing my guests felt that warmth just by inhabiting my home for a week got me verklempt! It’s totally how I feel about my home…as I assume you do yours…but to have someone else tell me that just warmed my heart.
I need to back track now. I have a thing for phrases and have had many Wall-Words up in my home over the years…you know those little phrases that you order online, they come in a roll and you just stick them to the wall. Well the previous ones I’d had in my home had all been painted over with my detour move to the beach. Now that I was back home, I was itching to put up some wall words…so, after my exchange and trip to Copenhagen, “hygge” seemed perfect. I didn’t want to put up just one word randomly, when I had an epiphany! In thinking back I realized that my friend & neighbor, Bernie, had come into my house years ago and said, ” your home is so gezellig!” (pronounced heh-SELL-ick) …..and my friend, Gina, from Ireland with whom I did my first home exchange, said to me “You need to put up ‘N├¡l aon tinte├ín mar do thinte├ín f├®in'” (I’m not going to even mess with that pronunciaton…click here) Gezellig is Dutch (Bernie is from Amsterdam) and loosely translated as “cozy” or “heartwarming.” ‘N├¡l aon tinte├ín mar do thinte├ín f├®in’ is Irish and translates to “there’s no hearth like your own hearth” or “there’s no place like home.”
So, those were my words. I ordered them, put them up on my wall leading to the kitchen right before Thanksgiving and that was that….FABULOUS!
….and then I read an article in the NY Times this past Sunday and thought, “Wow, I am so on trend!” and asked Taylor and Kate if they had heard of this word. Not only had they heard it, they both knew all about it, Kate sent me another earlier article in the NY Times …and my ensuing research showed that, yes, I was on trend, but way behind in the trending!
Here’s what I found out….
So why not take a lesson from the Danish and add a little hygge to your life this weekend. Throw a log on the fire, light some candles, invite some friends over (or not) and enjoy the beauty and warmth that emanates from your home and life!
