Long Island Trips....commencing now!

We're off to Patchogue today to collect a few cases of beer from Blue Point Brewery. They were generous enough to donate them to our upcoming fundraiser, Forward, on May 11th. Post Lent it's been a while since I've done a beer tasting so today might have to be the day.

Island DiVine 2009

I can't believe our event is just over a week away. After all the planning, plotting, motivating, pleading, we're almost there. Almost means we still have to sell another 50 tickets at least - yikes! Ironically, when I was involved in Junior League in SD, events like Forward that had so much appeal - great food, open bar, fabulous venue, amazing raffle prizes - sold tickets like hot cakes! Today, JLSD has their Island DiVine event, which offers all these same qualities. If you're in SD, consider going - it's always a rock star event! Hopefully Forward can pull the same success off on May 11th!

A plus of heading out to Long Island today is a visit with my best friend's cousin and her wife. They are fabulous hosts, chefs, entertainers, and sommeliers. We always have a wonderful time with them and make trips to Long Island such a blast. It might not be quite warm enough to get in some pool time, but sitting on the porch sipping a great read and snacking on Italian salume, cheeses and olives sounds just divine.

Random Ramblings

So I just signed up for Twitter...and really it was motivated by the need to spread the word about my fundraiser, FORWARD, that is two weeks from today. But I'll be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing and how to really take advantage of it. Unlike Facebook where I'm rather adept, I'm still wet behind the ears here. And "twitterspeak", excuse me? No clue. Maybe I'm beyond in years...but it's kind of fun. You follow people you wouldn't necessarily follow on FB and you can say what you want without having to share your history, photos, etc. Not that I'm that secretive...but, well, you know.

I submitted my revision of my Ghana piece to my class - I cut out 3 whole pages! And, according to my mother, a lot of the funny parts. Hmm. We'll see what my class says. Cutting it down to 2,000 words was quite a chore. Sadly the part about the non-Oscar winning Ghanaian film classics hit the cutting room floor. One of my classmates told me it was "mean". It was mean that they made ME suffer through that movie for FIVE hours. Mean? Are we in 5th grade? I guess she'll be relieved to see it's gone. Once I get their feedback I'll post the revision for you all to read and see what you think.

My next task will be researching some newsworthy pieces for my trip to Berlin, Basel, Lyon, Lake Anasee and Zurich in July. If you have any insider tips, let me know. Otherwise I'll be hitting up the tourist bureaus here for some leads.

Here's a photo to break up this babble....I like it a lot. Shocking, I know.

Slovenia...and a very small soap box.

It's my second to last class tonight and I'm a total slacker and didn't do my homework. Honestly, I'm exhausted. From traveling coast to coast two weekends in a row to co-chairing a fundraiser for the Children's Aid Society to actually doing my real job, I just didn't dedicate the time. So, I'll try for next week...in the interim, I'll share the topic. Feel free to pass on any suggestions if you are so inclined.

Stumped and Tired.

Assignment: An editor offers you an opportunity to write a piece on Slovenia for their magazine. You have to come up with your own angle for writing about Slovenia as a travel destination.

So, first of all I have to outline my research process: 1) select an angle - anyone been to Slovenia or have any unique thoughts on trends there? 2) prepare my travel plans...piece of cake, this is my favorite part and 3) prepare my agenda when visiting - what will I see, who will I interview, etc. Part and parcel to each of these steps is coming up with unique ways to access this information - FB, Twitter, NYTimes Travel, tourist bureaus for Slovenia (most are in NYC fortunately.)

I'll also need to add essential facts about Slovenia to facilitate my reader's understanding of the angle. That part will come through my research. Funny, I have enough time/energy to write this but not do the rest. Oh well. Next week will be that much more exciting with the actual piece, my re-draft of my Ghana piece (trying to publish it!), and whatever homework awaits for me then.

A side note on charity work....for all that know me, you know I've been involved with fund raising for various non-profit groups for years, most notably Junior League in San Diego (where I met some of the most amazing and some of my best friends ever.) And those same people know I can't give less than 100% to that effort. I get that not everyone shares my enthusiasm nor willingness to sacrifice their time and effort. That's fine. Do whatever you want with with your personal time. I would (if I could.)

But what does frustrate me is people who join organizations with the legitimate goal of helping but then totally drop the ball. Or drop off the face of the Earth. I mean, just tell me you're flaking and leave it at that. But don't portend to be a philanthropist when you really prefer to blatantly ignore my e-mails, phone calls and desperate pleas for some help, any help. I mean, I'm a volunteer too. That being said, I'm tired. The stress of asking, encouraging, pleading, helping, facilitating, mitigating, and feeling that it's still not enough because the collective result isn't meeting our goals. It's exhausting. But I know there are the mighty few of us that have been TOTAL rock stars and after we've passed this hurdle, we have some strategic planning, some much needed hair cutting, and some infrastructure building to do. And then maybe next year I won't be so damn tired.

Happy Easter Everyone - May the PEEPS be with you!!!!!!!!

Sailing into the Sunset

Tracey & Angela - Mrs & Mrs Beal!

The last two weekends have been a whirlwind of activity from coast to coast. First, I was in Miami for a bachelorette party. We had a grand time - no drama, no divas - but it was so fast that I don't think I ever really relaxed despite the South Beach warm weather, great company, and fabulous itinerary.

Our fabulous jazz singer.

Fast forward four days and I was headed home to San Diego for a dear friend's wedding. Tracey, blogger extraordinaire of A Bicycle Built for Two, is a San Diego native and we decided to move to New York together in 2008 (I arrived 6 months after her.) She and her now wife,  New York native, Angela, had their ceremony this past Saturday on the Yacht America sailboat in San Diego bay. The weather was AMAZING even for San Diego standards. And for the 20 or so of us who traveled back from the East Coast, it was even more incredible after the winter we've suffered through.

Sunset over the Del Coronado.

The backdrop of Downtown San Diego, North Island and Coronado made the perfect decor for this emotional and touching affair and the group gathered to celebrate were the best of the best. The officiant was the husband of the bride's good friend who happens to have a PhD in poetry. Obviously he did an amazing job. Totally apropos readings were done by Angela's youngest sister and Dawn, another childhood friend of Tracey's. And Tracey's sister, Ali, killed it with the maid of honor speech...equal parts riotous, emotional, articulate, sincere and just awesome.

 

Coolest. One bride wore gold boat shoes and the other gray & white converse with the wedding date printed on the side.

Yacht America

Paying homage to Angela's ancestry, there was catered Greek food that was scrumptious, a bevy of cocktails and mocktails and the BEST desert ever. VG's cake and doughnuts. I mean, it's just the "bizness" when it comes to cakes. Whenever and wherever I get married, I will try to get a VG's cake fed exed for our eating pleasure. Enjoy a few pics from the day...

Sailing around San Diego Bay