Sum Summer

I LOVE summer!  It is my favorite time of year for many reasons.  One, it reminds me of my favorite place to live, Florida.  Two, I (like many women) feel my best with a sun kissed tan.  (I know there are people who love the snow white theme on their face and thighs, good for you toothpicks!) And three, the fact that you have sunlight until at least 8pm making the day longer and thus more productive, makes me a happy girl.
 I also live for the Jersey Shore.  It's dreams of the shore that get me through the cold Jersey Winters. (That and a tropical vaca circa February or March)
 Some of my fondest childhood memories are from the Jersey Shore.  Beach days where you get lost in the sand and the fun game you play with the seagulls where you try and eat the sandwich you packed for lunch before they swoop down and steal it only inches from your mouth.  Falling asleep with the sound of the ocean while the sun is beating on your bikini belly.  Nights on the boardwalk with hoodies and fries.  Shopping in all the little stores, trying out henna tattoos and flirting with the boys.  Graduating to the age of Beach Bars and No Shower Happy Hours.  Atlantic City nightlife, the trouble you find on girls nights away.  Bike rides on the boardwalk in the morning.  Renting the house with the perfect deck and crab nights with frozen daiquiris.  I could literally go on forever.
 I was so busy with work and life and planning to take mom away for her birthday that I let the normal time I call the realtor to show me houses, just pass right by. It should be fun to try and find the perfect house this late in the season, but I don't care, I love it.
 But now that I am not a kid, it isn't the shore all summer.  Because of course, I have to work now.  I think that is the one thing complaining students will never truly appreciate until it is gone, SUMMERS OFF! So I need something for the in between visits.  Introducing, the mini pool...

Our first swimmer

Sharing the love

Now I don't have a large back yard (or I would be introducing the fabulous in-ground pool), so I was working with what I could.  And I love it.  When I woke up today the first thing I did was put my bathing suit on.  And I look forward to doing that on the weekends I'm home, and the week nights after a long hot day.  I already bought floats, I have already been floating.  I am sure my yard would look nicer with the green grass and open areas, but who would use that!  I am very excited to entertain and share this with my friends and family.  With a little Pandora Radio and a drink in hand you can close your eyes and float all the way out of the yard.....

Magical Disney

I have been away on a Magical Disney Vacation.  (that is how they explain it on the commercial, right?) Well, it is true.  It was a wonderful vacation with just mom and I to get away and celebrate her birthday.  It was beautiful every day and not one drop of rain.  We took in sun and the pool, had  fabulous meals, and got to spend time with dearly missed family.

We were lucky enough to be visiting Epcot during the flower and garden show, and it was beautiful!

 While in Epcot we took advantage of traveling the countries to eat and enjoy the sights around the world.  We decided to do dessert before our main meal in a Patisserie in France, goodies below.

 If you go to Epcot, you absolutely have to eat your main meal in China.  And for this Italian girl to say that, you know it isn't to be missed.  The sesame honey chicken is perfect and share it with someone else so that you can also enjoy the cucumber salad (one of the many yummy apps) if you can fit that in your belly as well.
 Below are some shots of our adventure in Mexico.  They have a great boat ride that is a really relaxing and beautiful ride that just happens to be in air conditioning if you need a break from walking in the sun!

 On my moms actual birthday we had the best dinner. Downtown Disney's Fultons Crab.  Everything we ate was amazing and our view over the water was perfect.  When it got dark we actually saw some of the night fireworks at the surrounding parks.  *If you like mushrooms, ask for the mushroom fry app, wow.

We both had this as our dinner choice.  Allowed you to try fish, crab cake, and the most perfectly cooked plump shrimp

 Our last night in Orlando was perfect, because we were surrounded by family.  <3

Mom with the Witzel clan.

My handsome cousins (Ryan and Tyler) and beautiful cousin Kaitlyn

 One thing I noticed was new to Disney since my last visit: the influx of princesses.  And I don't mean Cinderella.  Every little girl we passed was dressed to top in a Princess outfit: shoes, hair, dress, wands.  It was adorable.  We enjoyed pointing out each new "Princess" we passed.  We noticed they had set up shops within the parks were little girls could "transform." A dress alone was over $50.00.  It wasn't until we were riding the bus home after a long day of walking, and I looked over at this little "princess" that I thought about it.
 Disney really is a magical place.  It makes dreams you couldn't even imagine on your own, come true.  Some of what you see is so beautiful and imaginative, it makes your own brain want to step up its game.  And that is for an adult.  A child's eye can barely take in everything that lies in front of it.  Everything seems so big and opportunity lies around every corner.  Details adults can appreciate are lost on children.  But the children have the better view, because they still believe in every thing they see.  They still believe anything is possible.  Yes, it may have cost the father on the bus close to $100.00 to have his daughter in that outfit, with her sparkle bun and perfect shoes.  But he gave her what I imagine every parent wants for their little girl.  He gave her the belief that she was a Princess.  Maybe when he handed over that cash and watched her light up as people doted on her hair and makeup, he was actually the big winner.  And I would bet there is more then one parent that watches and hopes that in her lifetime, she will find the real Prince her dreams believe in now.  And that he will make her feel like a Princess everyday.  So arguably some people will call this new "Princess Store" that latest Disney pull for the last dollars in your wallet.  But I say, money well spent. 
 As a last note, Disney does have more rides then I could mention here.  A few I would suggest you don't miss: Pirates of the Caribbean, the Mexican Boat Ride, Tower or Terror, Mission Earth, and Peter Pan, to name a few.  But one thing I would absolutely not miss is the Walt Disney Exhibit.  You begin by walking through a museum of sorts that takes you through Walt's life.  Pictures and words walk you through his childhood and the road that lead to the idea of "Disney."  You walk yourself right into a movie that through random clips, allows Walt himself to narrate.  You see the first drawings of Mickey Mouse (named by his wife) all the way to his idea of Epcot and bringing the world to one place.  I can't even pretend that I didn't feel a wave of emotion that brought tears to my eyes.  To me it is so moving to see such an imagination come to life.  I both idolize and envy Walt.  His life is remarkable, his mind is beautiful.  Walt never did get to see Epcot and Disney complete and as successful as it is today.  But I was standing right there, in the middle of this man's dream.  Whether you buy into the idea of Disney or not, there is no escaping the magnitude and power of his ideas and the courage of his dreams.  It is inspiring.

This is why I'm hot, I'm hot cause I'm fly, you aint cause..... You only take one class

Travel back with me a few days. I was exhausted after running around the world for work and errands, starving for dinner, and craving the couch and zombie land. However, summer is around the corner and after a winter of over eating and indulging with my girlfriends I don't have the luxury of skipping the gym.....again.
So now I'm waiting against the lockers of the gym for the class before mine to end so I can spend the next 45 minutes working on or rather off, my butt. This class I'm about to take is mostly squats and it always makes walking the next day difficult, which I love. So I'm feeling pretty proud of myself for making it to the gym a few times this week. And that feeling lasted about 5 minutes, when the class before mine ended. I noticed as that class was packing away the step blocks they were using and clearing off the floor, that they weren't all clearing.
The skinny young girls were sticking around for class number 2! They are doubling up on classes! The skinny "brats" don't leave, they kill two at a time! I am not doing well, I'm a slacker! Dreams of being a consistent "gym goer" have fallen to the ground. Sure I can attend one class and pack it up like the mushys, call it a good night because it was better then my butt imprint on the couch. But I'm only fooling myself. So it looks like I'm about to step up my game.
Thank you young, energetic, super tight gym girls- for reminding me of my gym potential. While I may hate you for it during the classes, my clothes will thank you later. They hate to be squeezed on.

Forever or Never

I always try to stay out of Forever 21. Why you say? Although trendy and good for a cheap quick save, the clothes always always fall apart. Where did they get the balls to call it "forever" 21. It should be: "for a week...tops," 21.
However, in a mad dash to collect a few items for a quickly planned Disney trip, I find myself mid center of this store. It's the biggest store in the mall. Now the bigger is better theory is never true, (ok, a few instances it was) but usually draws a crowd. Me being the crowd today. I have one hour to fill the suitcase. And even though as I'm in the dressing room I'm asking myself, "Is it worth it for one wear?"- I walk out with a bag. One long strapless dress and a white top which I decide I will wear on the plane. At checkout the cashier asks me, "are you aware of our return policy.". Which I am, so I reply, "yes, I can't bring it back when it rips." She looks up,laughs, and fills my bag. It's the deal at Forever baby. If forever would describe a long marriage of love and devotion, Forever 21 is that one night stand you knew was a bad idea at hello.

Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts

Today was the PIFA, hosted mainly on Broad Street.  Most of the street shuts down to pay homage to all the local theaters, artists, street performers and even some restaurants that turn food into art...(Brasserie Perrier, yum) 
 Today was more like fall weather then Spring, so with jeans and sneaks we took to the speedline to check out what they had to offer.  It was a nice day to walk city blocks because it wasn't too hot to be comfortable, and thank goodness for that because this draws such a large crowd and I don't do well with smells of hundreds of people. 
 By far the street performers shined.  We saw a performance done by two men in tights (that hardly ever seems ok to me) on a trampoline, one where you as the guest could sign up to learn, in front of a crowd, to swing on a trapez- and be tossed in the air!  There were three stages that offered musical and drum performances.  And then our favorite- street walkers...

She was beautiful! She stayed perfectly still until they played angelic music over the speakers and she slowly moved while standing in the fountain and water started  cascading out of each of her finger tips.  She kept everyones attention the entire time.

She walked among the crowd on her stilts while the fountain girl did her performance.  She found her way to a tree and lifted her arm to it, as to make them one.  Some people walked right by her not realizing.



Only time I ever saw grass right in the middle of Broad.  They laid sod for two city blocks to give people a place to eat and relax.

  We skipped the street carts of hotdogs and long lines attached to the better food tents and walked a couple blocks away to eat at Fado.  On our walk back to the speedline we stumbled on a large Ross and tried our hand. This is a shot of our resting outside of the store with our little bag of treasures.  I was sitting on a bench and that is Ants head that was overtaken by the 6:00 sun.

you can only really see our feet in this shot, but I love it.

We did find a small theater group that will be putting on a musical we would both want to see, The Great American Trailer Park. The picture of the three ladies with blond hair, dark roots and super tight shirts that were tanning themselves in front of the trailers is what sold Ant.  We also got a free tickets to Helium comedy club.  If you don't mind squeezing into mounds of people this festival is worth you time.  While I did enjoy it, and I always look for a reason to walk around outside, it did remind me that I am not a city girl.  I would much rather wake up on a quiet lake somewhere and hear my thoughts then be crammed into a city with too much of everything around.  But for a visit, this was perfect.

Bossy Pants

It is time to admit it, I have a girl crush on Tina Fey.  I can't find anything that isn't fabulous about this humble actress and comedian.  She is smart, well read, hysterical and down to earth.  To top it off she is all for empowering women and creating equal opportunities and roles for female comedians.  I would buy her dinner. And maybe a car.

 When I saw that she wrote a book based on her own life, I had to grab it.  I can't remember what I paid for it, but I would have paid double.  It is not often that a book can make you literally laugh out loud.  I couldn't put it down and it made my entire night last Thursday.  She created each chapter as an example, life lesson or belief that comes from her own personal experience. And since viewing things through her eyes is a hilarious ride, you can't help but finish it in one sitting. 

 It is a good reminder that if you can find humor and irony in things, nothing seems that bad.  She uses herself as a example of life for what she deems to be an "unattractive" teen.  And not in a "pity me, I hate myself" kind of way.  More like an, "oh yeah I got all the boys...sike."
 My favorite chapters (if I had to choose) included  one where she pulled so called "fan mail" where men insulted her looks, talent and so on.....and she responded with her own letters.  I re read one letter 3 times just to keep laughing.  Then I called someone to read it to them.  It was the best possible response.  *Look for, "PS., you know who does have a funny bone in her body?...your mom, every Sat night."
 She also created a chapter about how she got into Saturday Night Live and how her role grew through the years.  I loved when she mentioned the first time she met Amy Poehler (another girl crush) at a read through for  a skit.  It was before women had major roles on SNL and they mainly played the girlfriend or wife besides a man who told all the jokes and got all the light.( I know, you are shocked men need serious ego strokes in all they do, good thing we came far from that!)  She recaps watching Amy change her lines in the read-through and spit out some racy funny comments of her own.  At the time, Jimmy Fallon was the big deal at SNL and he told her he wasn't sure about that.  Amy told him to go F- himself.  "And I thought YAY, here is my friend!" was Feys response.  My kinda girl.  The two of them together changed the roles of women on SNL forever.  Can anyone forget the Palin/Clinton skits they did?  And the cheerleaders are one of my favorites, equal light for the woman and man (Will Ferrell, <3 you too, but the women were killing it!)
 She even got into her role of writing and producing 30 Rock and her internal struggle with mom or work.  Although she does beat herself up at times in how often she needs to be away, she does see the bigger picture of what she is doing with this show.  And it is clear to the reader this project is like a baby to her and she will have a hard time ever letting it go.  The career women of today can relate to that in what they have created for themselves pre-baby, and although the meaning attached may not line up (we aren't all creating jobs for 100's of people and breaking comedy strides for women on NBC) we all have worked for a reason for where we are.  Tina lets us feel OK about that. 
 When you close the book you realize it isn't so much a story of a comedian in the making, but the women she has become.  Or maybe who she has been all along, and learned to embrace and magnify.  If it were a children's book and we were looking for a moral, we might find the following:
If you do what you love, you will find happiness
If you stay true to yourself, you will become your best self
If you listen to everyone else, you suck
If you want to break a glass ceiling, you are your only obstacle
In doing things for others, you give yourself a gift
If someone insults you, throw them a mom joke, or become more successful, it is the best revenge

 If you need a laugh, pick up "Bossy Pants"....in a Barnes and Nobles near you.

Oh Brows!

To zap or not to zap, that has been the question.  I have been rolling back and forth with my gut on this eye surgery.  I was 100% sold on never having to wear contacts again.  Ahh, the joy of traveling without a package of contacts and being able to wake up and just run!  And I would never again be sitting in an important meeting where my composure and control would dictate the sale, and then boom, contact rips and I have to pretend like I can still actually see everyone and no I am not crying thank you.  My eyes just tear up when I am passionate about something!
 But alas, the Internet had offered up so many horror stories of PRK gone wrong, so the night before my surgery, I put it to a halt.  I saw another doctor that day, did more research and then the call today.
 I am lucky enough that my mother works for a very prestigious and well know eye surgeon.  Said surgeon had asked why I wanted this procedure done, and when the response was simply to never wear contacts again, he yelled "NO."  Why would you want to transform forever an otherwise healthy cornea, just because you are being lazy about contacts.  Today I can see clear, with the help of my plastic friends.  Would I give that up for a chance of constant halo and double vision at night? YES!- IF I wore glasses.  Glasses are awful. I understand that now that I have spent slightly over a week in them.  I could go on and on about the limitations and frustrations of a pair of glasses.  You never see the world completely or with peripheral vision.  Lights and sun glare off of them.  When it rains, they do not have their own windshield wipers. (Does anyone remember Duane Wanes glasses from Different World? He could pop that flap up and down anytime, very sexy Duane) You can never create a great smokey eye, eye shadow is lost on a glasses eye altogether.  And the shower, its awful to take a blurry shower.  I would resoundingly say YES if I were a glasses person.  But I pop in these little contacts and life is clear. I don't think I want to risk that. 
 So today I popped my contacts back in. Ahhhhh, what a huge difference this makes.  I looked in the mirror and saw my complete face for the first time in what felt like forever.  In my mind, a silent conversation went like this:
------"Oh, this is so much better, OH, there is my face, I forgot what my eyes look like and  OH HELL, hello unruly brows! My little guys have been having a party this last week it appears.
I do my make up blind and pop the glasses on.  It doesn't matter how accurate it is, because glasses hide most of it.  And apparently, the eye brows as well.  They were just hanging in every direction, like an 80 year old man who just woke up and said F it, I'm old, I can rock this.  So I now have a date with my eyebrow brush a pair of tweezers and some face cream.  At least it was a good laugh this morning. Eyebrows, sorry you were neglected!