Yes, I Lied on the Mexico Surveys

This was not my first trip to Mexico.  Nor will it be my last.  I have family in Texas, so I've even driven over the boarder a few times.  During which, boarder patrol stopped us and asked many questions about ME.  Because when I go to Mexico, I don't come back looking like the rest of my family.  I turn much, much darker.  Maybe I wasn't meant to be a gringa.

Seriously.  Did you know that Grand Rapids, MI only gets 84 days of sunshine a year?  That's worse than Seattle.  And FAR from Mexico. I love Mexico.

Mostly, I think I love Mexico for the people.  And because I sit around developing working theories about everything in life, here is my theory about why the people of Mexico are so nice (including many Mexican immigrants here in Grand Rapids that have become some of my favorite people):

1) The weather is awesome



2) The food is amazing (I could eat Mexican every.single.day of my gluten free life)



3) The music is exceptional



We've been studying customer service and surveys at work.  So, I was thinking very profoundly when I was given a few surveys in Mexico.  But, let me admit here.  I crumbled.  And lied.  I couldn't tell them that their Mexican food wasn't as good as the last place.  Or their music.  You see, we became instant best friends with our wait staff..and sometimes bus drivers...and people on the street.  The people of Mexico inspired something in me--an inability to say anything negative.

It got me thinking.  How did this culture of smiling, hard-working, family oriented people arrive at something so different from American culture?  Did the beautiful environment breathe art that breathed life? Or something different?

This is why I travel.  To meet people.  To observe how to become more un-American.  Oh, right, and for more days of sun.  One more, then (the view from our $67 a night Westin room- thanks to hotwire.com)...

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Leave A Light On, Chicago

I've paid taxes in 3 states and 2 countries.  I've lived in the middle of nowhere, the city and the suburbs.  So, I'd like to relay to you--with prior research and extreme conviction--

You can take the girl out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the girl.

And Chicago is MY city.  Because Grand Rapids is nice and all, but it really doesn't count.

Every so often, I HAVE to get back home.  To walk the crowded streets, ride the "El," eat at my favorite restaurants, talk to some of my favorite people. 

Meet my brunch buddy, Clay.  We go out for other meals, but I always think our best conversations happen over brunch at Nookies.  Fantastic food.  Great vibe. It's BYOB and the couple next to us was splendidly mixing their own Mimosas.
Of course, we stopped to see the Green River on our way to brunch...


Then, we did what true Chicagoans do on a Saturday- a nice mix of walking and El riding as we shopped and strolled our way through the city.  Of course we ducked in for an afternoon cocktail at Adobo Grill.  Chicagoans, you know.

And finally, dinner!  Enter my tapas teammate, Dara.  We really don't ever discuss where to meet for dinner--it's always tapas at Cafe Iberico.  There are other tapas in town, but we will heatedly argue with you about why Iberico is the best ever.  We co-chair the fan club.

Luckily I was in town for two dinners, so my cute mom came in from the suburbs and met me at another fabulous place- The Grand Lux Cafe. We always request the rotunda- a huge room of windows overlooking the bustle of Michigan Avenue.

I don't want you to leave thinking I'm just a wanderer and foodie (although not bad choices for a life).  Chicago is rich for me because it's the place where I've grown the most intellectually.  Here's my favorite study spot overlooking Rush St. I re-lived my Grad School glory days and worked here for a few hours. That view is life-giving and creativity-injecting.

So, leave a light on, Chicago.  I can't seem to stay away for long...

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What Defines My Days

I'm entering into the season of my job that has me working most Sundays.  And so I CRAVE days "apart".  I yearn for the next vacation.  But if you follow my blog or facebook, you realize that I'm one of the most vacated people alive.


Here's my philosophy.  Vacations help me remember who I am.  I'm still desperately trying to determine how to live my daily life with rhythm despite a job of many colors and the passionate pursuit of volunteering and social excitement.

Days apart define the rest of my days. 

I love what Eugene Peterson says about sabbath and vacations in an interview he did with Peter Santucci:

Holy days are a background rhythm for your life that you fit the rest of your life into.  You don't take a day off; you take a day apart.  The Sabbath defines the rest of the days.  That's a totally different way of viewing time than our culture views it.

It's not easy.  It requires long training and persistent determination.  But ultimately it's easier to live this way than to live fragmented, crazy.

One of the things we experience when we live this way is that we become integrated without even trying. 

When people take-- to use the secular word--vacations, they slow down.  They are leisurely.  They spend their time talking.  They relax.  They find that they're capable of it.  People don't go on vacations to get integrated, but they go on one and become integrated. Integration is a by-product.  You don't go looking for it; it happens. 

The beauty is that once you experience moments like this, you can't go back to your crazy life.  You have to breathe differently. 



 
For more on my trip to Bali, Indonesia, see this post. Life-altering.

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Kiss me, I'm...

Just waiting for the next holiday.

No, not the one with hearts and valentines.  I don't celebrate that one.

I'm Irish.  I love the one, true, dye-your-river-green-Chicago holiday.  My favorite of the year. 

I was reminded of it last week when I braved the ice and snow to get to the West Michigan countryside for Fenian's, the "Best Irish Pub in Michigan."

Wednesday is their Traditional Irish Music Session.  And musicians come from far and wide for an Irish Jam.

      photo by Grand Rapids Magazine, September 2006 (but it really did look like this when I was there)

Right there in the little town of Conklin.  Irish Fiddles and Penny Whistles and everything.  It's almost like Ireland.  Ah, Ireland.  I miss you.






Don't you love how music unlocks our memories?  It's a good thing that penny whistle player I know travels with me.  She really is the best in Ireland and Michigan.  You should hear how many people ask her to join their bands...

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Long December and There's Reason to Vacate

Here I am, back in the cold midwest, dreaming about the glorious days of my 10 day Arizona/California vacation. Here are the highlights for you:

Delivering Food to Families
• I’ve been thinking a lot about authentic community. I want my home and my spirit to be welcoming to all kinds of people- all ages, all cultures, all stories. In order to do so, I need to not only do the inviting, but I need to get invited in. My friend Carly and her friends in the Redlands have been invited into homes because they deliver food to families living with AIDS. As I joined them (and laughed so hard that it made the #1 of my vacation), I started to think about returning to my community with fresh love for people and perspective for what true community takes. I love that my vacation was about more than playing and exploring. It was about people. And serving. And thinking.

That Glorious Mountain Air
• I spent 4 days hiking in the mountains. I LOVE the mountains.




78 Degrees and Perfect
• You know how I can’t chose if I’d rather be at the beach or in the mountains? California is the perfect solution.


P.S. While I was watching surfers on the Santa Monica Beach, I was getting text alerts about the severe winter weather warning in Michigan.

Great Times with Old and New Friends
• The number one question I got about this vacation was, “Who are you going with?” And when I said myself, I think people were a little baffled. But, you don’t need to have someone else sign the rental car agreement to make sure your vacation is filled with old and new friends. I'm so lucky to have friends all over the U.S. And to be able to collect them as I go, too. Beautiful, wonderful friends.



A 12 Hour Disneyland Day
• I was a Disney child. We sometimes even went twice a year. And as a children's program developer and director, I have a great adult appreciation for Disney. I still get swept away by the magic sometimes. But, I'd never been to DisneyLAND or California Adventure, so a 12-hour-park-hopper I became!





May you find days of friends, rest, reflection and magic in your December as well!

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Summiting Cathedral Rock

Kate has been a friend of mine since 1997. It really all started because of Dr. Parker's merciless comments about our recorder-playing abilities in "Music for Teachers." And then we spent some amazing summers at camp together. Our dance parties with kids in the CoCo dinning hall eventually led to soiree's in cocktail dresses when we were roommates in the Chicago Coachouse. It was great to catch up at Kate's new Arizona home and enjoy some of our favorite things together.

Dining at The Mission in Scottsdale:


The Scottsdale Sunset. Kate claims it's like that always. So jealous.


The next day we drove to Sedona. And picked the hardest hike. Summiting Cathedral Rock. Please note that it is pretty much a vertical hike. And allow me to quote Kate: "This is totally like rock climbing except without the harnesses and belays and safety."


Sometimes hikers need to crab crawl down the mountain...


I tried to stay vertical mostly so that I could look cool. Speaking of cool, once upon a time Kate and I had matching black pleather pants. So for this hike, we bought matching tank tops that say, "There is no I in team, but there is in ice cream." We'd like to thank our sponsors, Ben and Jerry. Our favorite men to invite to our Chicago apartment.


I wish this could capture the glory of the Sedona sun. I tried.


The view from the summit.


More beauty around every turn.

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Packing Light

Rachel, a great blogger over at Small Notebook wrote a post called, The Beauty of Packing Light, and inspired me to pack for my long trip in a carry-on. I was genuinely thrilled to be among the minimalists. Until my bag had to be checked after all (no more room in the overheads) and got ruined. And started a cascade of other vacation problems...

Upon arriving in Palm Springs, I discovered that my cute new small suitcase was completely beat up and the handle no longer extended. Guess what? United doesn't cover any damages but were nice enough to give me an ugly strap so that I could still wheel it. Thanks, guys. I left in a bad, bad mood and looking like a luggage-fashion disaster.

When I saw my rental car (booked with this coupon code and corporate code in case you need to save $75 too), I thought my luck was turning. It was a cute VW Beetle. In Red. Perfect for my AZ/CA roadtrip. However, my GPS ran out of battery power a minute outside of the airport. The cigarette lighter didn't work. Since it was midnight, I navigated (or drove around in circles) to the Palm Springs Quality Inn and decided to deal with it in the morning.

They should change their name to Dumpy Inn. And I should have spent the extra $27 and stayed at a $77 4-star hotel from hotwire. I usually do that, by the way, and have never, ever regretted it. But I was trying to save every penny. STUPID. It smelled, I had to keep my shoes on the whole time, I found hair from the last person and there was a homeless person outside my door. Here's a picture for you. Please notice the lovely, ripped seating that I rolled in front of the door. And the huge gap between the door and the frame. And my luggage strap. Not how most people see Palm Springs, I'm guessing. :)I woke up feeling awful from the dirty, musty room. And the anger issues. And the fact that I was too scared of diseases to shower there. So I packed up my little VW and went to exchange it. By the time I had my THIRD car from Alamo, I was able to get a working one. A Chevy Cobalt. Without Cruise. Felt like a severe downgrade, but at least my vacation could begin. And you know what? Somewhere along the road I remembered who I was. And that it didn't matter what I was driving. Or where I laid my head. The purpose of packing light was for the freedom to roam and I wanted to spend every extra penny on my camera lens. I was humbled when I walked through the desert and captured moments like this at Joshua Tree National Park:Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. Psalm 95:6

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Biking Boston in the Fall

When our team traveled out East, they put me in charge of the Boston entertainment. I wanted to look really cool and smart, and since I didn't know any Boston locals (now I do!), I went straight to my favorite source, Trip Advisor. The #2 rated thing to do in Boston is to take a bike tour with Urban Adventours. Brilliant. Every city should do this.

We spent a 3 hour ride with fun, witty and knowledge bikers that incidentally got paid to be tour guides. We really saw all of Boston- from South to North- including history and Fenway! And the thing about biking in groups is that you become a force on the streets and cars have to yield to you. A welcome change.I'm going try to bike every city that I visit. It really is the best way to get to know the landscape and see the sites!

Bicycling Magazine rated America's Best Bike Cities. They are:
1. Minneapolis..................6. San Francisco
2. Portland, OR................ 7. Madison, WI
3. Boulder, CO..................8. New York City
4. Seattle...........................9. Tuscon, AZ
5. Eugene, OR.................10. Chicago

And, coming in at #26: Boston.

For those of you that are Grand Rapids fans, we're #36 on the list. But did you know that we're going to build 100 more miles of bike lanes by 2013? Anyone want to start a bike tour company?

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Eating My Way Through Maine

Have you ever blogged about your trip based on what you had for dinner?

Welcome to Maine.

Ron invited the Day Camp Team to his vacation home in Maine and we found out very quickly that our week of strategic planning would be well-fed.

I quickly fell in love with all things Maine. Lakes, rivers, ocean and green. No big-box stores, organic everything, fresh seafood everywhere and chefs that were dedicated to beauty and excellence of food.

The first night we got straight off the plane and went to King Eider's Pub in Damariscotta, Maine. Here's the team with Ron. He's quite the local celebrity.April, Danae, Jay, Ron, Craig, Tony

The second night we did dinner at home together. It was awesome. A 4 hour process of socializing and appetizers. Fresh lobster was the main course. When I say fresh, I mean, really squirmy and still moving.I wish we had more restaurants that looked like this in MI. The chicken at Francine's Bistro in Camden, Maine was the best I've ever had in my life. I know you're supposed to eat seafood in Maine, but did you see that lobster I ate the night before?

Ron saved the most fabulous for last--Primo Restaurant in Rockland, Maine. Melissa Kelly is the co-owner and chef. She took great care of us and was so nice (including extra not-on-the-menu appetizers for our table)! I would go to Maine just to eat Melissa's food. She does a daily menu based on what is the most fresh in their garden and greenhouse.Thanks for the pictures, Ron!

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