Lost in Venice

While visiting Fenny at F For Fabulous, I was inspired to peruse the photos from my trip to Venice last year. The best part of Venice for me was getting lost... My sister, Sharlene, our friend, Doan, and I would get up in the morning, eat breakfast, and then leave the apartment with no real purpose in mind... just wandering around Venice, getting lost.  I was particularly good at it, I must say. To the point where my sister objected to my leaving by myself, as I would get very turned around and not recognize key landmarks. I did this once, and luckily had my iPhone with GPS, or I would've stayed lost forever in that stone and brick maze! We made many lovely discoveries while we wandered.


Here are some photos that I took...

I became obsessed with all the lions in Venice. These are just a few of them. I took many photos of the lions. As you know, it's on their flag as a symbol of their city. I love it.

Venice was not our first Italian city on this trip. We had already been a few days in Stresa, Italy, at Lago Maggiore. Then we had stayed in Levanto, near Cinque Terre. We had eaten so much Italian food that in Venice, we searched for and finally found a Chinese restaurant! Yay! We were desperate for another flavor for our palates. Luckily, we got our craving fulfilled at this little Chinese restaurant under a viny, leafy canopy, hung with paper lanterns. 


As we wandered, we found many cats in windows... it was nice to see pets around. They were well taken care of, that was obvious. We also wandered into little gardens, mostly around public buildings, and sometimes as just a view into someone's little courtyard. These were especially enticing. We had our own, though, which was really nice! 


It was magical! Even on the days when I was laid up with some kind of flu/cold, I was able to watch the boats go by outside the windows of the apartment we stayed in. The wide French doors opened right onto the canal! It was definitely an experience to remember.
Ciao, Venezia... I miss you!

2010: A Year of Big Changes for Me!

In January of this year, I quit my corporate job of 12-1/2 years. That was a big, difficult thing to do, but I feel it was necessary for my personal growth. I still miss the people I worked with there!

My Going-Away Party

I moved to Los Angeles in January, leaving behind some friends, my soul-sister BFF and my family, but also living closer to my sister and some other friends. I rediscovered my creative side here, and started blogging in earnest! I made new friends, and I was inspired by them. I visited Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and started making plans to move there in the summer.

The apartment I shared with my roommate in LA

My view for 6 months

Book making had challenges

LA at night

Books I made

Paper art inspired by my friend Lucy

The cats had to make adjustments, also

Griffith Park Observatory

I also started my Etsy shop with the books that I made, and other little things that I created. I sold some books in my friend's Silver Lake book store, Ivanhoe. I explored Los Angeles, and made plans for a trip to Europe for a friend's wedding in Stresa, Italy. My sister and I traveled together to Paris, Stresa, Levanto, Monterosso al Mare, and Venice Italy. It was an amazing, whirlwind trip! We traveled with other friends, too, which made it that much more amazing! And just to underscore the magnitude of this trip, I have wanted to go to Paris since I was five years old. When I was standing there, under Le Tour Eiffel at night, I felt this hugeness inside me that came from the realization that I had finally attained one of my life-long dreams. It was big. My eyes filled with tears and my sister came over and gave me a huge hug because she knew, too, that it was a big deal for me. It was amazing to be there with her for this first time to Paris! I loved it completely!

With friends in a cafe in Paris

I think you know

Pyramid at the Louvre at sunset

 The next part of our trip, to Stresa, Italy, wasn't something that I had ever craved, but it was a joy anyway! This resort town under the Alps is beautiful and friendly. We all relished our notoriety here, I think. We were the youngest people in the town for a while! And oh, so glamorous, too! It was a wonderful experience!

Where the wedding took place

The walk to the wedding

Wedding reception

 After the wedding, we took a train to Levanto, Italy, via Milan. It was a town next to the Cinque Terre towns that we planned to visit. Levanto is adorable in it's own right, however, and far less crowded! The Mediterranean seems to be just as beautiful in Levanto as in Monterosso al Mare.

The Mediterranean from Levanto, Italy

Church in Levanto, Italy

 We took another train to Venice, and I must add that this is another city that I've always wanted to visit. It fulfilled my expectations completely! It's a twisty, ecclectic, visually stunning city. The men are flirtatious and forward! The colors are rich and hold the patina of age very well. We took tons of pictures in the mostly empty alleys all through Venice, as well as around the canals where most of the activity occurs. 

Venetian Gondola

Venetian goodies

Taking pics in the alleys of Venice

 But on top of the trip to Europe, I also had a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with my sweetheart, and a cross-country roadtrip to the east coast from the west coast! In the dead of summer, no less, and with loads of my things stuffed into my Mini Cooper!

View from the pool at my resort in Mexico

Yummy Mexican food

Visiting friends in Tucson, AZ

Texan sunset

Me in New Orleans

 As amazing (and hot) as the road trip was, it was also very exciting for me to have a new town to get familiar with. I explored Bethlehem, PA, and the surrounding areas, including New York and New Jersey, both alone and with my boyfriend. We also moved into a place that would fit me and my two cats, and all that I came with!

Historic structures

Moving day

Shells from New Jersey's shore

A delicious welcome from a friend in PA

Hawk Mountain

 I also got to see what Autumn is REALLY about! I blogged on it quite a bit! For more pictures, see these blogs.

 It has been a fantastic, scary, exciting, and FULL year. My life has changed dramatically since the beginning of this year. I know that next year will bring lots of joy and excitement and love, as this past year has. I hope that for all of you, you will have as much or more JOY and LOVE as I have had! In all that you do going forward in 2011, never forget what is important: LOVE, Gratitude, Friends, Family and connections. Stay connected to the Universe. Stay connected to your loved ones, and stay connected to yourself.

Thank you for your connection. Thank you for your creativity and happiness that you share with me.

Peace, love and joy to you all from me here in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania... xoxo

Venice Bookstore Palette

Most Beautiful Bookstore in Venice

When my sister and I were in Venice this past May, we came across a bookstore that touted its claim as the "Most Beautiful Bookstore in Venice" outside its door. Intrigued by the cats that were sleeping in their outdoor basket homes outside, and the interesting entryway, we ventured in. There were gondolas filled with books, boats filled with books, gondolas suspended from the ceiling (filled with books) and piles and piles of books everywhere!! The store owner was a really nice man who liked us a lot, and it was apparent that he had a lot of cool books in three main languages: Italian, English and German... the three languages that he spoke. The whole store had a bookish musty smell to it that I love. And out back there was a really cool little courtyard for a breath of fresh air, I suppose. The entire place had this crumbling old paper color to it that I tried to capture with this palette. Here are a few more pictures of this cool place...

The entrance to the bookstore

Cat baskets with sleeping cats inside

Green courtyard out back

A bathtub filled with... books, of course!

A view down one part of the bookstore

 So, in looking at the general colors of the bookstore, what do think of my palette? Does it represent the feel of the place? If you ever go to Venice, I'd recommend stumbling across this place. (Ha ha!) There aren't really any ways to explain how to get there, though... you just sort of wander around until you see something you like. That's the only way to go. If you actually try to find specific places, it's an exercise in futility. (My sister and I tried to get to the Dorsoduro, an entire AREA of Venice that is basically "the bottom" of it, and had a VERY hard time! We never actually got to explore it, as it took ALL DAY to find it, and then it started to pour and we had no umbrellas.) But if you stumble across this place,  definitely go in and wander about. The owner is friendly and likes it when people just hang out for a bit and admire his store. It's really fun and gives you a bibliophile's view of true Venice.