it’s a manic Monday with rain coming down in the lower Hudson Valley of New York all week long.
There are days your tryng to get anchored in a routine to bring you clarity. Wishing I was on this dock from my weekend excursion further upstate near Albany, NY.
Remember when you could make an appointment at the doctor online or on the phone and just show up for your appointment. Now we have to pre-register before we show up to our appointment, verify we have no symptoms of current said pandemic scare. Remember when we could walk in the doctors office once we arrived? Now we wait in the parking lot and text HERE to a faceless administrator, and then wait for the code word to enter the building. This is an honor system that banks on the fact that we are honest and have no symptoms, what about the asymptomatic people? How are we protected from them and ourselves? Because now all we do is give our code word “water bottle” and we get access in. No temperature check, just make sure I have my mask on and we’re in. We touch nothing that doesn’t need to be touched, hand sanitizer stations everywhere. This is the new normal. Which is a phrase, in itself, that has us all fatigued of saying.
This applies to hair appointments, mask required, temperature check done and sit and get your hair did. Grocery store, where a mask, stand 6 feet apart, don’t put your stuff on the conveyer belt till the person has paid and left the pay station. Get home take out your limited supply of santiziing wipes and clean all products of any potential germ, microbe, deadly disease. New normal. What is normal about any of this, does normal just mean, this is what we do now. I am sure much of what I have been doing now, that I call normal, was a product of a changed system way before my time.
I remember when you didn’t have to put everything through security system at the airport, I could keep my shoes on and not practically undress before getting through the gate. Remember when your friends could wait with you at the gate, or you could see your grandma come out of the plane. You didn’t have to show your ID multiple times before getting on a plane. This was just one of the many changes after September 11, 2001.
I have yet to fly during these uncertain pandemic times, I’m sure that’s a whole other level of change. When will we feel safe to travel? I have friends taking trains across the country, booking their own cabin, own bathroom, staying inside there box for 3 days, food delivered, wearing full on hazmat gear to protect themselves from said disease. This is normal.
Attempting documenting these changes so when I look back I can remember what it was like. Not that I long for the past, that would be tantamont to the slaves who left Egypt and longing for the good food the left behind, forgetting all the pain and suffering they had experience. This is a look back and reflect and move forward with a changed lifestyle. Great quote I heard this week “maintain my life, not my lifestyle.”
Oh yeah and the colors of the world have changed, its Fall up here in the Hudson Valley. Appreciate the blessings and not the maledictions. I’m full of bible references today.
OOOOh I miss this random post of the week. Mindless Mondays, just a stream of consciousness. A brain dump of everything going on.
We spent a weekend of people coming in and out of our rental house, since the owners are selling it. Unsettling to have strangers, masked up in your house during these times. And wearing a mask IN YOUR OWN HOUSE. I’m so done with this, but being careful to not let our guard down to keep us safe and healthy.
On the other end, we got out of the house a few times this week. Two haircuts, a distillery visit (outside with masks only) and a nature hike. On the later I discovered that I need hiking boots and am doing a Labor Day boot sale search today. Distillery visit was to Tuttlehilltown Distillery who makes Hudson brand Bourban and a botanical Gin, which we love. We decide after leaving we had our priorities all wacked, buying liquor instead of food.
Living on the East Coast and continuing my slow gardening obsession you notice different plants, and well Hydrangea’s come in so many colors and shapes. In California they are always round and mostly bluish purple, some pink and some white. But the ones here aren’t always round they are more elongated and so pretty. I planted two Hygrangea’s in my garden. One white and round and one white and elongated. Hmmm me and Rob? Don’t answer that. Let’s see what survives the winter. Right now my little garden area outside of my vegetable and herb box is so pretty. I’ll have to see if I can capture what i see. Above is a pink Hydrangea that was just outside the distillery to be enjoyed by all.
Brain dump done. Moving on to Labor Day shopping.
This is starting to become a thing. Every Monday morning I roll out of bed and shuffle to my light filled office (at home east side of house). and take a conference call or catch up on 35 emails. Then I unglue myself from my chair. Why is that so hard when really who wants to work on Mondays? AND then I go to the kitchen and make coffee, do the dishes and then turn around and inevitably something I have baked over the weekend is right there to go with my coffee. So sugar, though not really a good thing for me, is my friend on Monday's morning. If it helps me conquer this day, then why not. Enjoy your Monday.
This is how my mind feels today, only much slower. What a great weekend celebrating a dear friends anniversary and then a trip down memory lane to the the 80's bands Psychedelic Furs and B52's at the Hollywood Bowl.
Although you hear me complain, often, about the traffic here in Lala land, I should celebrate the great things we have here. This venue, Hollywood Bowl, being one of them. Every artist, accept maybe Patty LaBelle (who has a love hate relationship with the Bowl) loves this venue. They all seem genuinely honored to be here and as they travel all over the world to many venues, they always remark on what a great place this is. So I must say the Hollywood Bowl is special. It's a fun outdoor venue. From your seats, especially if your way up high, you can see two more Lala land icons, the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory. You can eat and drink alcohol at your seats and thru the entire performance. If you get box seats you can even have a waiter bring you food from the restaurants that surround the Bowl. Why is it called Hollywood Bowl, well for one it's in Hollywood and two it really is a big bowl carved out in a canyon. One of my favorite 80's movies has a great scene here at the Bowl, watch "Some Kind of Wonderful, " you'll love it.
So as you walk down the heart-attack hill you've climb to your seats at the top of the bowl, or ran to your shuttle bus, or hike up another hill, to your stacked car parking, only to wait for the person who was parked at the front of the line to finally come back so you can join the other thousand people trying to get home an alternate way you came here, try 3 freeways to get home, you are still happy that you've experienced great music, fun conversation and good food with your friends. Here's to hoping the Bowl buzz stays with me for the next 5 days, till the weekend.
This may be more of a Wanderlust post then a Mindless Monday. My Monday is filled with "where am I going next?" I'm antsy. I'm comfortable, too comfortable. Time to detach from "stuff" and get ready for changes, whatever they may be. I need to think "simple", SIMPLIFY. It's exciting and scary to think about moving, but I know we're going to do it soon, just not sure when and the big question WHERE. We have no idea, we just need a change. So here's to thinking outside of the comfort box of SoCal and seeing where the "spirit" moves us.
P.S. I'm obsessed with these luggage tags. My former boss bought me the orange one while he was in Tokyo, the others I bought on Amazon.com. So easy to find my homogenous grey luggage, in the sea of black and grey, revolving round the baggage claim. Turquoise square find here. Round lime green and similar orange found here.
Mindless: having no apparent purpose or rational cause. That's what I call my mind today. I can't seem to focus. The humidity last week has pickled my brain. Trying to be present with the task at hand. Here it goes:
During one of my shortcuts through the LA traffic I stumbled upon this mural. Literally down the street from a place I use to work at for over 7 years. I love these little pieces of sunshine that you find in random places. Who said a building had to be boring grey or white or cream. A little splash of color goes a long way.
Below are few of my favorite "red" things that are inspired by this mural. Some affordable some on my wish list and others are a pipe dream (uuhhuu Valentino Camo Sneakers!)
Painting hanging over the phone in the kitchen.
Painting hanging over the phone in the kitchen.
Chirp, chirp, chirp. I know it's been extremely quiet here. One must set a few priorities in life, and mine has been helping my 95 year old grandmother and my Mom in the good state of New Mexico. This is a Monday that I can try to access the past few weeks. During my stay here we've uncovered quite a few treasures and lots of stuff that I have no idea what we'll do with. We have had to decide to sell, keep, donate, or toss. No easy task, especially as there are so many memories attached. Oh I forgot the other option, what should we burn. More than once we've thought what a relief it would be if the house completely went up in flames, but we've just looked at the other option, to burn all the old paid bills oh and few pure weird things that just needed to be disposed of quickly. Below are a few of the things we've uncovered.
Biggest lesson learned here is "keep your life simple." Seriously the accumulation of stuff is beyond my comprehension, yet we so easily slip into keeping every sentimental thing. I can't wait to go home and clean out my house even more.
Grandma's china gifted to her on her 25th wedding annivesrary.
Grandma writing a note to my cousin, telling her the story of how she came into possession of the above china.
Singer sewing machine.
Letter from me to my grandmother.
Drinking glasses.
Gas cans.
Yellow hanging lamp.
Old phones.
Cactus blooming in the backyard.
Just guess which one of these items I am actually keeping.
Today I was motivated, worked thru my lunch, I think I just ate it at 7PM, emailed a few people I met at ALT Summit conference, booked our flights to Belize and pepped my mom up after her trying day as a care-taker. I know you saw Belize in there, more to come on that later as I reflect on that fact that we'll be going in less than 2 months.
People have started to post there reflections on ALT and I'm already loving them. My favorite so far is from This Heart of Mine. Amy was so honest and fully articulated the joy you get with being surround by other creative people, there is nothing like it. And everyone is SOOOO supportive. For this type of business, that is so crucial. We may take that for granted, but we get reminded when we attend this conference.
One of the big things about this conference is all the photo booths. Let's start with, I hardly ever take a selfie [image of myself, usually by myself, with my iPhone or camera]. Don't get me wrong I occasionally take them on purpose to check my hair or make-up, or maybe because I accidentally turned the camera myself, but I rarely post them. The photo booths at ALT make you get out of that self-conscious vibe real quick. If you want to participate in a brands giveaway or just document the fun your having with friends this is what you do.
For the most part it's a camera, you take 3 to 4 poses, it's best to coordinate with your friends on poses. But the one that seriously made Deborah and I laugh the hardest was the shark tank. First off we didn't realize it was a rapid fire of images, to make a video, so for our first intro it was hilarious, her being Tyra Banks "fierce" and me channeling my mother and being silly with the scuba goggles. The second time, I was a bit more obsessed with the wind machine and I have no idea what Deborah is doing with her arms. All I really know is I haven't laughed this hard in a while. Deborah and I were hilarious at 11PM in our hotel room watching these ridiculous videos, but at least we can make fun of ourselves. Maybe comedy is in our future if blogging doesn't work out. Here's to the selfies...ENJOY at our expense.
Always up for a good photobomber @andrea_creates
Deborah and Tanya...conference wives!
Did you know that JCPenney's sales Marchesa gowns? I found this out when I was checking out the JCP's newly revamped home section here. I was this close to trying on this dress and running out with it, they have a cute short red number that is adorable here. But seriously I have no events coming up and I don't foresee the Red Carpet in my near/any future. This day I was specifically looking at the Happy Chic Jonathan Adler collection as well as the Michael Graves Design tea kettles, toasters and other amazing modern home furniture by designer Sir Terence Conran.
I love when a brand that seems to have gotten stale works to revive itself. Though in much of my reading on JCP's troubles they have a long way to go, with new CEO out and old new CEO back-in, there's much to be done.
I personally felt like JCP was reintroduced to me, a middle to low income SoCal girl. Although I may not be the Middle American target, I loved seeing cool design in the store. Not sure this has fully caught on yet as it was pretty sparse in customers. JCP may have isolated their core audience with a no-sales approach in the past, but you have to admit the new home designs of the "store within a store" are appealing.
Did you also know they have Sephora stores within the store, I didn't either, and they've been there since 2009. Seriously great design should always be affordable, none of this Design NOT Within Reach. And this is so not a sponsored post, I just felt like I needed to say how I felt about JCP. It's is a Mindless Monday dump once again.
itsweet & savory
Lifestyle blogger who loves coffee, architecture, local cultural interests, good food and travel stories.
