Piana degli Albanesi

I've been wanting to visit my mom's home town during Easter for a really long time. This year we're finally doing it. There are 15 of us from the Bay Area, my Uncle Matt and Aunt Mary, my cousins David & Nicolle along with their kids Beatrice and Margaux, my cousins Michael and Marianna and their children Matteo and Milanna who is only 2 months old, my cousin Mark, and the four of us. We were the first to arrive and it was wonderful to be greeted by Enza, Mariucca and Guiseppie at the airport. The last time we visited Piana was 12 years ago when Dave and I were just engaged, so it's wonderful to be bringing our girls with us this time. We enjoyed the drive through Palermo back to Piana. Once we arrived we feasted on croissants with Nutella and espresso. We walked around town, visiting the old house where my mom used to live, and then we went back to the town center where we bumped into Paolo and were treated to gelato and more espresso. We had a gigantic lunch of pasta, vegetables, fruit, olives, and bread, with more espresso to drink! It was so wonderful to have all of the cousins together, Enza and Salvo with their university-aged children Rosanna and Guiseppie, Mariucca and Paolo, Francesco and Ornella and their kids Guiseppie (7) and Nicolo (4), and the four of us. The four kids enjoyed drawing together and even figured out how to play "Nascondino" (hide and go seek) together even though they don't speak the same language. Many giggles were had watching the kids play together. After a giant meal, we headed back to Enza's house to enjoy a much needed siesta. Later that evening we drove out to the Lago and enjoyed looking at wildflowers while the kids chased around a stray cat. We enjoyed another meal of fresh cheese and bread, olives, wine, and fresh fruit and vegetables. We had a great talk about politics and personal  beliefs and it was so cool to discover  I that Guuseppie and Rosanna are Bernie Sanders  supporters just like me.  The girls got to enjoy delicious canoli for dessert and had no problem staying up until 10pm with all of the excitement. 

The rest of our Bay Area cousins (11 more) will be arriving on various flights this afternoon and we look forward to having everyone together to celebrate Easter.

Montefioralle Winery & Pisa

The drive through Tuscany was stunning -- rolling hills covered in grape vines and gorgeous stone homes and wineries dotting the valleys. We toured a very small family owned winery which produces less than 1000 bottles annually. We sampled several aged Chiantis and a Prosecco. We all got to enjoy fresh bruschetta with oil pressed from olive trees on the grounds, and homemade almond cookies. The girls found a playground and enjoyed teeter tottering and swinging in the park surrounded by the gorgeous views.

After the winery, we drove onto Pisa and checked into our hotel. We had a gorgeous view of the leaning tower of Pisa from our hotel balcony and almost didn't want to leave. We did eventually head into the town center and checked it out in person. After enjoying dinner al fresco and listening to the tunes of a guitar player we crashed out early.

Osteria ai Pioppi, Parma & Florence

We left Venice early Saturday so we could stop at Osteria ai Pioppi, a magical place that I read about years ago. The entire place was built by one man, who had a dream of building a human-powered amusement park. All of the rides function on gravity, centrifugal force, and human power. There are slides, merry-go-rounds, toboggans, zip lines, a huge assortment of swings, and even a roller coaster. Mattea's favorite was the giant slide, and Arianna loved the zipline. The kids didn't get to ride the roller coaster, but they had fun watching me ride it! Arianna fell asleep in the car ride after, and Mattea stayed up to enjoy the ride to Parma and talk about how she was getting to stay up way past her bedtime. We arrived in Parma late in the evening, but woke up at the crack of dawn to head out to a Parmesan cheese tour the next morning.

Parma is the only place in the world where true Parmesan cheese is crafted. It's made by hand, from recipes that were passed down from generations. We got to watch the entire process from milk fermentation, to heating, salting, and drying. Some of the cheeses there had been aging for four years. Twice daily deliveries of fresh milk made for non-stop work for the three employees at factory "3333." After the tour we got to sample cheeses of various ages and also enjoyed glasses of prosecco. Then we headed back to our hotel for a late breakfast. The place we stayed at was actually a university housed in an ancient monastery that hosts artists who stay on-site to study and practice art. We enjoyed exploring the grounds and checking out the various sculptures in the garden.

Later that day we drove to Florence in the Fiat we rented. Our hotel was centrally located and within walking distance of Santa Maria. Our first day there we visited Michelangelo's famous "David." The girls thought it was funny that he shares a name with Daddy, but found the fact that he was naked even more amusing. Upon seeing the statue for the first time, Mattea exclaimed, "Oh, he even has curly hair like you, Daddy!" After exploring the Academia Gallery we ventured off to the DaVinci museum. It was outstanding! They rebuilt a bunch of the machines that he sketched out in his journals over the years and you could operate all of them. They also had a few of his journals on display which were fascinating to look at. All of his handwriting was done from right to left as a mirror image -- many theorize it was so that people couldn't claim his ideas as their own. Overall, it was a great hands on museum and definitely a highlight of our trip. The next morning we walked to Santa Maria and visited the cathedral. After that we walked all 414 steps up the Campanille. The girls did awesome and were the youngest ones by far. Later that afternoon we visited the Galileo museum. We were pretty disappointed after such a cool hands on experience at the DaVinci museum the day prior. We hurried through and then wondered out to the Mercato Centrale, a cool little market consisting of a bunch of food vendors and bars. Gelato topped off our final evening in Florence.

Tomorrow morning we'll wake up early to tour a Tuscan winery and then drive to Pisa.

Venezia

Venice is one of my most favorite cities in the world. The kids loved it just as much too! On our first day in Venice we caught a boat to Murano and had an amazing tour of a glass blowing factory. At the end of our tour, we got to make bracelets from glass beads. That evening we caught a gondola ride with Venice's first female gondolier. It was a gorgeous night and we enjoyed watching the sunset from our gondola. The next morning we climbed up San Marco and enjoyed a view of the piazza from above. After that, we caught a boat to Burano, an island known for its lace making and colorful buildings. The kids stumbled across and amazing alley of homes, each of which was painted a color of the rainbow. They had a blast running up and down the colorful alleyways. We were sad to leave Venice, but excited to explore more of Italy.

Amsterdam

After a very long flight with a stop over in Frankfort, we finally arrived to Amsterdam. The girls were total troopers on the plane ride and enjoyed the meals and movies and coloring in coloring books. Arianna slept like a baby for most of the evening hours, while Mattea stayed up like a night owl watching movies.

We visited the Anne Frank Museum. There was no photography allowed but the memories of it will be ingrained in our minds forever. It's hard to believe such atrocities were committed such a short time ago, and even harder to believe that racism still exists today. Afterwards, we stumbled upon a park and the girls played on a tire swing with a Dutch girl who was about their same age. They couldn't understand each other, but nevertheless had fun taking turns pushing each other back and forth on the swing. Watching children from two different worlds delight in play together provided a small spark of hope that our world is slowly changing for the better. 

Later, we toured the Van Gogh Museum, where many of his famous painting are housed in a large multi-story building. It was fascinating to explore his mind through his works of art, and how his style of art changed from his happy go lucky early years, to his darker years where he suffered from depression. We enjoyed learning about the different techniques he used in his art. Photography was only allowed of one of his sunflower paintings, which the kids happily posed by.

The next day we caught a bus to the Keukenhof Gardens. The tulips only bloom for one month out of the year, and our timing was perfect. The entire garden was filled with hundreds of varieties and colors of tulips, and each section of the garden had its own unique design and layout. We enjoyed listening to music from an organ, and the kids snacked on hot dogs and fries. We're excited to plant the bulbs we purchased.

Our last day in Amsterdam we took a tour to a cheese factory, a wooden shoe manufacturer, and the windmills. The wooden shoes are made from a machine very similar to a key duplicating machine. The kids ended up each picking out a pair of unpainted shoes so they can add their own colors and designs to their new garden shoes when we get home. We really enjoyed seeing the old windmills that still function, and learned that they power much more than water pumps -- some were used for manufacturing.

We all really enjoyed Amsterdam -- the people were warm and friendly, the food was organic and very fresh, and the sites were amazing. Next, we're off to hop on a plane to Venezia!

First day of Preschool

After being on "summer break" for over 3 months, the girls are finally going back to school. They had an awesome summer, spending all of June and July with Daddy before he went back to work, and then the month of August with Grandma and Papa. Their last week of vacation was filled with fun, with a week long visit from cousins Ella and Dylan. They had a blast swimming, going to Fairyland, and hitting up several local parks.

We've been driving by their preschool several times a week in preparation for this day, and every time we did, they excitedly pointed out the window and exclaimed "Oh, my Firehouse School." We were able to visit the school last week and the kids got to explore their "Castle Room" and meet some new friends while we hung out in the yard with the other parents. Their teacher, Stephanie, made a "home visit" on the Monday before they started school, so the girls had a chance to get to know her a little better before they actually started. They played in their room with her, set up the train tracks, and introduced Stephanie to "Bobbie" and "Bobbie," their lambie ("yammy") pillows.

Today Mattea and I woke up early to get ready. She asked for me to braid her hair into two braids with purple pony tail holders, and then she picked out her outfit for the day and gathered up her stuff. I had to wake up Arianna, who was still sleeping (usually she's the first one up, but not today). She had her monkey "Paya" brush her hair with the purple brush, and she picked out a bunny dress to wear. After breakfast, we gathered our stuff (blankets, lambie pillows, stuffed turtles, and monkey lunch bags) and headed out to school.

The girls were super excited to walk in, and we were greeted by Spot, the stuffed Firehouse baby Dog and his mommy dog at the front. The girls were the 2nd and 3rd kids to arrive and they greeted Stephanie with a big smile. They washed their hands as I unpacked their things into their cubbies, and Dave stowed their lunches away. They immediately gravitated toward the train set and the play kitchen, and Daddy and I prepared to say our goodbyes. We both got lots of kisses and "boo to your noses" and after some hugs, we asked if it was okay for us to leave. They both smiled and said yes, and then Stephanie asked if they were ready to play, and they both excitedly said "yes!"

And off Daddy and I went to work... I couldn't imagine a better first day. 


It's moving day

After 15+ years in Southern California (15 for me, and 10 for Dave), we are officially moving. I came to LA as a young pharmacy resident, and leave full of knowledge and experience, and most importantly with my husband and two children.

We have cherished our first home (the "Acacia house") for nearly 9 years. When I first moved in, I was a single girl, but since then, the house has grown to be full of love. The room that used to house the turtles, Skip and Steve, was taken over after the birth of our girls, and with that came laughter, love, and a new sense of amazement.

We hosted many backyard BBQs, filling our home with friends and family, welcomed visitors from out of state, and some even from other countries. The girls have had their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd birthdays in our backyard, and last year we had my 40th birthday party here as well. It feels strange to leave a home where we made so many memories, but we have a lot of new memories to make and a whole new world to discover in Northern California.

We've been reading the "Berenstain Bears' Moving Day" (Dave has read it nearly 30 times over the past month), and the girls have a very deep understanding of what this entails, as evidenced by their curious questions. "How we get bed through door?" asked Mattea. "Can I bring green (her blanket)?" asked Arianna.

They watched with curious eyes as our "moving bears" packed up nearly everything in our house. The last night in our home, we all slept together in the family room "camping" in our sleeping bags, as the beds had all been taken away. Even though the house was empty and I didn't have a pillow because the movers accidentally took it already, I still felt a sense of comfort.

Today we leave Southern California and embark on a new journey -- a new town, a new place to live, new friends, a new school for the girls, and new jobs for Dave and myself. We leave with hearts full of wonderful memories we will cherish forever.



Today is the day!

I took it easy on Sunday, April 17 , mostly sitting on the sofa reading. I went to bed early Sunday night. At this point, I could no longer comfortably sleep in our bed, as it was too hard to get up from to have to use the bathroom, which seemed to be an hourly occurrence by this point.

I was awakened early Monday morning, April 18, around 6am by a gush of water. I immediately knew that my water had broke so I called to Dave from the sofa and said "I think my water broke." He got up much quicker than his usual self; we called L&D and told them we were coming in. By the time we got our stuff together we ended up leaving the house in the prime of LA rush hour traffic on the 405. Ugh. It took about 45 minutes to navigate 10 miles up the 405, and upon our arrival we parked in valet and were whisked away by the nurses to the maternity ward.

I don't why I thought so at the time, but I figured I would deliver by the end of the day. It was really exciting! My parents, sister, niece and nephew were on their way to UCLA, and in the meantime, our amazing nurse set up the whiteboard in our room with a place to place bets on the time of arrival. Everyone was banking on tonight, especially me! Time ticked on, the evening rolled in, and things were moving along slowly. They determined that "Baby A's" water broke (the lower left baby), and that "Baby B" (the upper right baby) still had an intact sac. I was having contractions according to the monitor, although I couldn't feel them at all. At this time I was measuring about 2cm dilated. I was placed on NPO status and couldn't eat or drink anything except for occasional ice chips. Talk about torture! The fear was that this would progress to an emergency C-section and they needed to ensure I could tolerate the anesthesia without fear of vomiting. I was STARVING!! I hadn't eaten since Sunday evening dinner and it was now a full 24 hours later.

Dave spent the night on the sofa next to me, and the next morning we were greeted by Dr. Boyer. She informed us I was still on 2cm dilated, and suggested starting ptocin. We were in a timeline crunch, being that one sac was popped already, and the other was intact. The usually don't like people to go more than 48 hours once your sac has popped. We agreed, and the ptocin began, as did an IV infusion of fluids. Things started moving along, I could begin to feel the contractions, although they weren't to the point of being too painful at this point. However, the thirst was killing me. Every once in a while, my favorite nurse would "sneak" me some frozen juice ice chips (so much more satisfying than water). My tongue was so dry that my entire mouth continually stuck together. Labor was progressing.... 4cm, and more. We could see the contractions getting bigger on the monitor. That night, we realized, we need to make a final decision on our names. We worked on our list a little more, and narrowed it down to 2 pairs. We decided to sleep on it.

We woke up the next morning, after having contemplated the names individually at night, and both spoke nearly at the same time, selecting the pair Arianna and Mattea. We didn't know who would be who yet, but we knew we wanted their names to be unique. Arianna, derived from the Greek culture (we were engaged in Greece on Sept. 11), is also found in the Italian culture, a nod to my mother's roots. It's a beautiful name and we both fell in love with it immediately. The most popular Arianna the time, was Arianna Huffington, of the Huffington Post. Mattea, of Hebrew origin (a nod to my husband's roots), is very unique, not even making the top 1000 names in the U.S. Census Bureau report. It can be found in the Italian culture, as it is a feminine derivative of the name Matteo. Ironically, even though it is so rare, after her birth we met a number of other Mattea's (my parents' neighbors' daughter and a co-worker's daughter).

By 9am, things were moving along. I was noted to be fully dilated (finally!) and we were rushed into the delivery room. Delivering twins is no intimate process. We had 2 NICU teams present, along with our doctor, nurses, and a number of medical students. In all, there were about 20 people present, and I was gowned up (as well as Dave), and placed under a giant spotlight for all to attend to. I had been pushing for about 2 and 1/2 hours already (since 9am), and then they began to see "Baby A's" head. Dave was so excited to see her for the first time. Dr. Boyer was trying to help guide her out, but then noticed that her arm was stuck over her head. The entire team of delivery people began manipulating me in every possible position in an attempt to get her out. Dr. Boyer ended up actually reaching up inside and trying to pull her through. THAT was not fun and I was becoming really uncomfortable. After many attempts in numerous positions, our little lady still refused to move her arm and she was beginning to show signs of distress, occasionally dropping her heart rate. It had now been more than 48 hours after my water broke, and not only was there risk for infection, but also she was at risk due to stress, as she was stuck. They quickly decided to proceed to a C-section, turned up the epidural, and within minutes we were presented with Baby A (she was beautiful and looked so much like Dave's grandfather and we both immediately noticed she inherited Daddy's adorable "moon eyes"), and the following minute, Baby B (she still had her eyes closed and looked so peaceful sleeping away through all of the chaos around her). They were amazing!

Each NICU team took one baby, quickly cleaned them off, cleared their nasal passages, and weighed and measured them.

Baby A born Wednesday, April 20, 2011, at 11:53am. She was 4 lb. 5 oz. and 16.5 inches long.

Baby B born Wednesday, April 20, 2011, at 11:54am. She was 4 lb. 9 oz. and 18. 1 inches long.

Being that they weighed so little, they were taken to the NICU along with Dave, for assistance with breathing and feeding. Both had NG tubes started to aid with eating (they were so early, that hadn't yet developed their sucking reflexes) and they both needed supplemental oxygen. They were placed on EKG monitoring as well. Dave spent the entire day with them in the NICU, peaking at them through their incubators. I had a rough time post-up, and developed rigors from the anesthesia as well as severe nausea and heaving (I was in starvation mode, so nothing was coming up). My mom sat with me in the post-op recovery "area" (the maternity ward was full, so I was shuffled to the waiting area at L&D). My mom went off to peak at the girls and I took a much needed nap. I was in severe pain post-operatively, and given that I was housed in the waiting area, the intern rarely came by to check on me. I was beat tired and in severe pain. After spending the next few hours in rigors, I eventually fell asleep with Dave next to me in an upright chair and my suitcase in the hallway.

I woke up the next morning, and things were better. It was a new day, and I was being transferred to a delivery room, FINALLY! The nurses there were so much more attentive. My pain was quickly brought under control, and a sweet nurse came by with a wheelchair to escort us to the NICU. Dave had seen the girls yesterday and spent considerable time with them, but I had yet to meet them.

We scrubbed up and entered the NICU. There were beeps and alarms everywhere, and it was quite a sterile environment. But in there, our girls were lodged next to each other, beds 10 and 11, the healthiest, most beautiful girls in the entire unit. They had name signs on their incubators, "Baby A" and "Baby B" and the nurses inquired what their names were. I looked at them and immediately told Dave, Baby A looked like Arianna, and Baby B looks like Mattea. Arianna was given the middle name Lilian, after my dad's Aunt Lil, Arianna's great Aunt Lillian. And Mattea was given the middle name Anne, after my middle name, and my mom's mother, Mattea's great grandmother, Anne Plescia.

I went back to my room relieved, but still stressed out and in pain. I still could not eat. There was concern that they may have accidentally clipped my ureter during the emergent C-section, as there was notable bleeding. This led to me being whisked away to Imaging for an emergent MRI on Thursday evening. The imaging tech struggled and had a very hard time getting the dye injected, which led to multiple attempts, and extravasation of the dye into my body (very painful!). Eventually they got the line established and whisked me into MRI which showed everything looked great. I was allowed to begin walking around a a little more, and finally given the okay to start eating Friday morning. It had been 5 days since I last ate (my prior meal was dinner on Sunday night). The nurses brought me the menu and I think I ordered cheese enchiladas, rice, beans, and 5 side dishes. Apparently, breastfeeding/pumping moms are entitled to free meals and unlimited sides -- I was in heaven.

The girls ended up staying at the hospital for about 2 weeks each. They were in the NICU for the first week or so, and then the step down unit ("feeders and breathers" unit) for another week. All of the nurses were amazing and they taught us a lot. But it was an extremely draining experience, both physically and mentally. I was discharged home after about a one week stay, which made visits more complicated for us. Dave and I slowly got into our rhythm, spending days at the hospital, enjoying holding our girls for a few hours, feasting on free meals, changing their diapers and bathing them, and occasionally taking a short walk into Westwood (we were like zombies every time we exited the hospital, flooded with bright lights.). I pumped every 3 hours, around the clock, all through the night. Eventually our girls were transitioned from tube feeds, to tiny bottles, with only the oxygen supplementation remaining for Mattea. They continued to monitor their breathing and heart rates, and they were growing like crazy.

On May 5, we brought Mattea home, and on May 6 Arianna came home.

These past two weeks have been the most crazy, yet amazing time in our lives thus far. We are all doing great. The girls are amazing and each is already developing her own unique personality. Arianna is definitely the active one, she's always moving around and she loves to grip our fingers tightly. Mattea loves just relaxing quietly under a our hands, soaking in the warmth and resting quietly.

We appreciate each and every one of your phone calls and emails. Although we have not had time to respond to them, we are listening and reading all of them when we have time, and we appreciate the love and support from all of you. We will try to reach everyone personally as we have more time over the next few weeks. Here are a few photos for now. We'll try to post more later.

Is today the day? Wait, we don't have names yet...

My estimated due date is May 30, 2011, however, as Dr. Boyer continually tells us, twins can come at any time. We just saw her two days prior and she said everything looked good, but I've had this really heavy pushing feeling for the past few days like they are already starting their descent. Up until this week I was still up and about, working full time at the hospital. This week, however, began my first week of a shortened work schedule, 20 hours/week, working from home.

Today is Saturday and I was out at the mall (call me crazy!), making some last minute returns and exchanges. My tummy is absolutely huge at this point, and its very uncomfortable to walk around. I decide to park nearest one of the stores I need to go to, make my exchange, and then drive back home for lunch and a break, and then return for another quick exchange. I end up standing on my feet in line for a prolonged period of time, and I remember trying to lean on various displays to help support my weight. I'm kind of surprised that no one asks me to go ahead of them (I would have for someone else, noting the discomfort). I make my return, and then realize I'm really winded and tired, so I start my trek to the parking lot. I start to walk out to the car, which is nearby, and by the time I sit down, I notice I have a cramp on the left side of my abdomen, just above my hip bone. It briefly dawns on me that this may be contractions and the beginning of labor, but based on the location, I quickly write this off. I call Dave and we chat for a little bit before I begin the drive home, and inform him I'll call Dr. Boyer's office "just in case." I speak to a nurse in the labor and delivery clinic, and she reviews my chart and informs me that because we're considered "high risk" (due to a twin pregnancy), Dr. Boyer advised it was best to come in for evaluation. I call Dave and tell him I'm driving to UCLA and to meet me at L&D.

I walk in to L&D and they immediately greeted me by name, as they were expecting me. I'm taken by wheelchair to an exam room, and placed on a monitor and they immediately begin looking at the babies via ultrasound. They confirm the girls look fine, but note that the monitor is picking up contractions (which I can visualize on the monitor as well). Dave arrives and they begin me on an lactated Ringer's IV and a dose of terbutaline. They observe for a while, with repeated ultrasounds, all the while confirming everything looks great and the contractions are slowing. Woo hoo! After a few hours, we are sent home, and I'm told to take it easy.

Freak out moment! That list of names we've been narrowing down still consists of 14-15 pairs of names. We get home and immediately pull out our list of "pairs" of compatible names. I must point out, that Dave and I are both extremely analytical, and our name picking process was no small feat. Here's what we had been working on for the past few months:

We read a number of name books on our own and each came up with our lists of 'loves'. We decided not to share our lists with each other at first, so as to not introduce bias. Our goal was to come up with 15 names each. I think he came up with about 30 and I got stuck at 7.  We presented our lists to each other, with a plan to scratch out the names on each other's lists that we absolutely didn't want, leaving a big list of possible names that we would both consider. From there, we Googled each name, read about the meaning, where it was derived from, learning who else has this name, and analyzing how popular it is according to the U.S. Census Bureau information, including looking at trends.  This helped to limit things down a little more (names with meanings we didn't like were eliminated). From there, Dave went to work, entering names into a spreadsheet based upon style (old-fashioned, modern, common, unique, etc.) and pairing potential matches together for the twins. We ended up with 14 pairs of names.

Well, the realization that I could deliver any minute set in, and we spent the evening whittling our list down to 7-8 pairs. I also packed my suitcase, which included two adorable preemie outfits and beanies. We went to sleep feeling well prepared.

50 bands I have seen live

1. The Beach Boys -- 1st concert ever. I saw them with my parents at Circle Star -- my Bay Area peeps will know this place for sure.
2. Belinda Carlisle - 1st concert not with my parents. I saw her at Great America with Alison.
3. Depeche Mode
4. Morrissey
5. New Order
6. Counting Crows -- even managed to get backstage!
7. U2
8. UB40
9. B52's
10. Erasure
11. Michael Franti and Spearhead
12. School of Fish
13. Chris Isaak
14. Madonna - fourth to last row at Staples Center
15. Ride - got to meet them and take photos with them too!
16. James - got onstage three times and backstage once. I even made their magazine publication with a centerfold shot of a SF Union Square concert on a rainy day with Radha and I dancing around on stage.
17. Sting
18. Annie Lennox
19. Trashcan Sinatras
20. Dave Matthews Band -- my 1st concert with Dave. This was our 2nd date. Tix were compliments of James who couldn't make the show. We sat in the second to last row at Staples Center.
21. Beautiful South
22. PIL
23. Foo Fighters
24. The Wonder Stuff
25. Public Enemy
26. Inspiral Carpets
27. Stone Temple Pilots
28. 10,00 Maniacs
29. ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra)
30. Barenaked Ladies
31. Blur
32. Catherine Wheel
33. Alice in Chains
34. Unwritten Law - multiple times as my 2nd cousin used to be the drummer
35. The Cure
36. Men, Women & Children -- featuring Dave's cousin on drums!
37. Jesus Jones
38. EMF
39. Jewel -- the best was at Humphrey's on the Bay in San Diego, one of the most beautiful concert venues I've been to.
40. Jack Johnson
41. Ziggy Marley
42. Ned's Atomic Dustbin - back in the Live 105 free summer concert days
43. Oingo Boingo
44. Toad the wet sprocket
45. David Gray
46. Charlatans UK
47. Jane's Addiction
48. Mighty Mighty Bosstones
49. Crowded House -- ohh, so many times. they are just as beautiful every time too
50. Guns n' Roses
51. The Housemartins
52. Indigo Girls
53. INXS
54. The Killers
55. The Lightening Seeds
56. Matchbox Twenty
57. The Offspring
58. Bad Religion
59. Pennywise
60. Puddle of Mudd
61. R.E.M.
62. Squeeze
63. The Stone Roses
64. Van Halen

Okay, that was more than 50, but still not all of the concerts I've been to. Special thanks to Irena for being my lifelong concert buddy. I think 70% of the concerts I've been to have been with her, and some of the bands listed we've seen multiple times together. Most definitely some of the best times!!

Side note -- I still have the tix stubs from each of these concerts, dating all the way back to when I was in 6th grade.

Thailand -- Bangkok, Kata, Railay, Chiang Mai, and Pai

Bangkok

One word can easily describe Bangkok -- INSANE. After arriving from Cambodia, we experienced a major culture shock the second we stepped into Bangkok. The air is so polluted, you can see it, feel the weight of it, and taste the pollution every time you open your mouth. Many people walk or drive their mopeds with masks over their faces. We arrived at our hotel, the Baan Chantra, and we're amazed to find a small oasis in the heart of a big, crazy, loud city. We stepped foot into the hotel lobby, and were asked to remove our shoes, and were quickly greeted by ice cold water as we sat at the desk to check in. The owner at the front desk was extremely warm and welcoming, and she personally escorted us to our room on the top floor. Outside our room was a beautiful wooden deck, surrounded by lush plants, and the sounds of trickling waterfalls. However, once you stepped foot outside, you were immediately bombarded with the loud noises of tuk tuk taxis and cars zooming everywhere, driving sometimes head on into oncoming traffic. The worst thing about Bangkok is the scams. Everywhere you try to go, you are quickly approached by nicely dressed men, asking you if you need help finding something. They seem really nice at first, but then continue to inform you that the place you want to go to is "closed for aBuddhist holiday" and they recommend that you go with them to their friend's store, which is having a huge sale. Within the first 10 minutes, we were probably approached by 5 different people, asking us where we are going, if we would like a ride, informing us that the boat we want to catch is not running today, or the temple we want to visit is closed for a holiday. It became very tiring, very quickly. We saw a few temples in Bangkok, including the Grand Palace and the reclining Buddha, and cruised through part of the city via a river boat with locals. We visited Khao San Road, which is essentially a street designed to entertain foreigners -- it's full of cheap souvenirs, cheesy bars, loud music, and prostitutes. We quickly realized that was enough of Bangkok for us. The constant attempts at scams wore quickly on us and we were very excited to get out of there. On our second and last day in Bangkok, we got up early to go visit a floating market where vendors sell various foods and cheap souvenirs via boats in the canals. The hotel owner packed us a 'bag' breakfast to go, as we had to be out by 6:30am, which was half an hour before they begin to serve breakfast. The floating market was okay, but we really enjoyed the trip out there because we met a really cool British couple who had been traveling through Southeast Asia with their 3 year old son. We really enjoyed swapping travel stories and talking to them about anything from the war to the economy and everything in between. They expressed gratitude that we finally "got rid of the Bush era" and they referred to the new president as "Our Obama," stating the opinions of Americans were finally coming out of the gutters. We met numerous Europeans who stated they and others they knew have refused to travel to the States while Bush was in office. After visiting the floating market, we returned to our hotel and the hotel owner offered us to use our room to shower, even though it was hours past the time we checked out. We were really thankful for the shower, but most thankful to be finally leaving the chaos in Bangkok.

We arrived in the Bangkok Airport to catch our flight on Bangkok Airways to Phuket. I should mention that Bangkok Airways is my new favorite airline. We booked our flight the night before departing and paid only $60. Because we booked so late, our tickets were handwritten and personally dropped off at our hotel the evening before. Bangkok Airways offers all guests access to a beautiful lounge in the departure terminal, full of cushy sofas and chairs, free food (pastries, pineapple cake, coconut rice rolls, bean cakes, coffee, tea, and juices) and free internet and wifi access. They also give you a full meal on each flight, even if its just an hour flight. Wow! We didn't even get a bag of pretzels when we flew from LA to NY on United. The flight was great, and we even got to enjoy the sunset from the sky as we began our descent into Phuket.

Kata

We caught a ride to Kata from the airport in Phuket. Kata is a beach town in the southern part of Thailand. We had heard how beautiful the southern part of Thailand is, but were shocked to see how developed it had become. We checked into our hotel, the Sugar Palm Resort, which sat atop a hill overlooking the city of Kata. The hotel was modern and very chic but on the hill behind it you could see a bunch of garbage. We walked down the hill from our hotel into the town of Kata and were greeted by loud American music, Italian restaurants, prostitutes sitting outside bars luring in men, and Indian businessmen who owned shops who were constantly trying to shake men's hands and entice them into their stores to have custom silk suits made. It seems that after the tsunami the entire southern coast of Thailand was destroyed, and American, European, and Asian corporations or businesses came in to capitalize on the opportunity. Kata definitely caters toward American and European vacationers. Its essentially a huge resort town, with no Thai culture left at all. It was really quite sad. The beach was beautiful, but full of tourists. We managed to find some "Thai" food amongst all the Italian restaurants and bars, but the quality was disappointing. It was also quite awkward seeing the young Europeans next to us eating dinner with a Thai prostitute, who was probably in her late teens or early 20's.

We decided to catch a bus the next morning back to the Phuket bus terminal to head down to Krabi where we could catch a boat ride to Railay, another beach town in the southern part of Thailand. Before we got to the bus terminal, the bus stopped in a small local market and the driver accepted some money by a man who approached the bus and announced it was the end of the line, instructing everyone to get off. Unfortunately, we were still a mile or two from the bus terminal. We had to carry our luggage through the town, trying to locate the bus terminal, without a map. After walking about half an hour, we located what appeared to be a bus terminal, but was actually a privately run business chartering buses that looked legitimate, but probably weren't. Luckily we quickly found the real bus terminal and bought our tickets to Krabi. During the 3.5 hour ride from Phuket to Krabi , we stopped frequently and vendors walked onto the bus, trying to sell food or drinks. We made it to Krabi safely and then hailed a taxi from the bus station to the boat terminal. Once again, we were approached by more scam artists this time trying to tell us that the last boat of the day already left. We ended up paying much more than we should have to catch our own private long tail to Railay.

Railay

After a 45 minute boat ride, we approached the town of Railay. It was low tide at night, so the boat docked as close as it could to the cement sidewalk strip that leads up to the land. It was extremely slippery and I almost fell down in the water with my luggage.

Railay sits on a very narrow strip of land, surrounded by water on both sides. Although its not an island, because its surrounded by water on both sides, it has an island feel to it. You can walk from one side to the other in about 5 minutes, and because they allow no cars, you can only reach it by boat. The town of Railay is small and quaint, primarily small motels and guesthomes on the east side, and larger resorts on the west side. The beach was beautiful and we had a great time swimming in the warm water. We went for a short hike up some rocks (with the help of some ropes) to a view point of a lagoon. We even saw some cute monkeys in the trees. There wasn't much else to do there, besides enjoy the sunset and the beautiful beach. After two nights, we caught the long tail back to Krabi to catch our flight up to Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai

Although it's the 5th largest city in Thailand, Chiang Mai has somehow managed to retain some of its culture. Its not nearly as hectic as Bangkok and there are far fewer scam artists. We walked around town and saw some really cool temples in the middle of the city. Dave is really enjoying the food from the street vendors, even though he doesn't know what most of it is.

On our second to last day in Chiang Mai, the hotel owner started to talk to us about how "rish" we could become if we teamed up with him to sell his "precious gems" and his homemade medication that cures Parkinson's and Alzheimer's and also works as a "love medication." Urgh, more scams. Needless to say, we checked out the next morning, after hitting up a national park.

Pai

We caught a 4 hour bus ride to Pai and were surprised to find a quaint, laid back town in the very north of Thailand. Pai is filled with restaurants and cafes and not much more. We're staying at a really cute bungalow style room on stilts, overlooking the river. On our second day in Pai, we decided to take a long walk to a waterfall that was supposed to be 7 km each way, but because we got lost it ended up taking about 6 hours total round trip. At least we got to enjoy some of the countryside though. We managed to avoid the wild pack of dogs on foot, although I almost had a heart attack at one point when we were confronted by 5 barking and growling dogs in the middle of our path up the hill.

We found a great restaurant that serves awesome curries. The best part besides the food is that they keep a pet monkey in a cage in the back of the restaurant. I've been talking to him and holding his hand through the cage and I thought we had developed some sort of friendship. Then all of a sudden he grabbed the plastic ball at the end of my shoelace and managed to stretch my 4 inch elastic shoelace three feet long and put the tip into his mouth.

Today we rented a motorcycle and cruised all around the outskirts of Pai. We went to a natural hot springs and relaxed in the warm water. There were some people with bags of eggs in nets tied to the ends of bamboo sticks who were making hard boiled eggs in the hot springs. Tomorrow we'll catch a flight out of Pai on a single prop plane back to Chiang Mai. We have a long layover before catching our flight to Bangkok, through Tokyo and then back to LA.


Cambodia -- Siem Riep

We arrived in Cambodia and caught a taxi ride from the airport. The ride from the airport to the town of Siem Riep was fascinating. We saw people living in bamboo and hay homes alongside rivers. Everyone was hard at work, from kids as young as 5 years of age, to grandparents. We saw kids helping to dig ditches and haul cement. Even monks were outside doing heavy labor. Most people live off the land, either fishing or farming. There is very little other work, other than the limited tourist industry -- working in small hotels, roadside diners, or driving taxis.

Shortly after checking into our hotel we caught a "tuk tuk" (motorcycle attached to a wooden cart on wheels) to tour the sites. Our driver, Sanni, was awesome. He's 29 years old and lives on a farm with his wife who is 25 and their 3 year old son. After rice season, he moves away from his family and stays in Siem Reap, about 2 hours from his village. He rents a small room so he can work as a tuk tuk driver to help bring in more money. He speaks very good English, even though he didn't believe us. He hopes to save enough money to go to the university in Siem Reap to study English more and learn to type and use a computer so that he can someday get a better job, working in a restaurant, or as a professional tour guide to large groups.

Sanni drove us around for 4 days, about 12 hours per day, and explained a lot of the history to us. We toured Angkor Wat and all the surrounding temples. The temples were amazing. Some were built as early as the 9th century. It's amazing they are still standing. It's mind blowing to think they built these things without any modern machinery. They essentially hauled large rocks across miles of farmland and stacked them stories high, and then carved very detailed pictures on the faces of the buildings. Much of the temples are being restored and maintained by donations from Japan and Korea to pay salaries of local Cambodians. Angkor Wat is stunning, especially at sunset, where it has a magical glow to it.

We drove by a children's hospital where a Swiss doctor provides free care to children. Sanni pointed out that during malaria season ("river fever"), all the children line up outside the hospital the evening before to wait for the hospital to open. The next morning we drove by there was a huge line of families outside. This prompted us to go see a Cambodian doctor to get a prescription for Doxycycline for malaria prevention.

Next Sanni took us to tour a floating village. The houses are built on bamboo stilts and the entire town survives off fishing alone. After the floating village, Sanni hiked with us to the top of a mountain to enjoy a sunset over a view of the city.

We continued our journey with Sanni and next went to tour a land mine museum and a war museum. It's sad to see all the destruction and killing that these people had to endure. Every person there was affected personally by the war, and they still have a hard time talking about it to this day. The young man who gave us a tour through the land mine museum lost both his parents during the war. He is about 6 years younger than me and now lives with his uncle and works in the museum as a tour guide. He is missing three fingers and has a huge piece of shrapnel in his leg near one of the main arteries, and a smaller piece right next to his eye. He had two land mines go off in his presence during his lifetime. One killed his two childhood friends as they were walking around just outside their town, and the other resulted in his loss of fingers. He had a hard time telling the story to us but he explained it to us after we had a long conversation with him about war. After explaining his story to us, he gave us both a big hug and thanked us for listening. Sadly, many of the injured receive no health care support from the government, and rely upon donations and volunteers for support. They estimate there are still 2-3 million land mines buried in Cambodia.

After touring the land mine museum we went to a national park to hike up to a river where many of the stones on the bottom of the river have carvings centuries old. While he was waiting for us, Sanni picked some mushrooms to bring home to cook for dinner. We opted to eat at lunch at the restaurant. When we were driving back to town, we stopped on the side of the road to watch a family making sugar from palm trees on the side of the road. They offered us samples of brown sugar candies which were delicious. After that we went on a hike up to a temple that sits on the highest point in Siem Reap. We enjoyed the sunset at the top of the mountain. We went to an amazing buffet dinner and traditional dance show later that evening.

Our last day in Cambodia, we went to tour a stone carving school which provides free art education to people who are deaf and mute. The idea is they can attend the school for free, and once they learn to master the art, the school helps them set up a business where they can make carvings to sell. Following the tour of the stone carving school, Sanni drove us on the tuk tuk miles away from Siem Reap, the town we were staying in. We drove as far as we could on the tuk tuk, and when the dirt roads became too rough and narrow, we parked the tuk tuk at his friend's house and Dave and I each hopped on the back of a motorcycle to continue our journey to another floating village. Our ride out to the village was like nothing I've ever experienced. We hung on really tight as we bounced through dirt roads and muddy puddles. At one point, we approached a small river we had to cross, but our drivers made it through without falling over. We got a little wet and muddy, but it was so hot, we didn't mind. Dave stopped to take a photo of some rice farmers, and one of the women giggled and said in Cambodian to Dave "He has long hair, like a girl," which Sanni translated for Dave. I thought it was really funny. In the floating village, the entire family works together to fish out of the lake where their homes float. Even kids as young as five years old were doing what they could to help out with the work. One family invited us up onto their floating home and we watched as they sorted fish by sizes and types. Then they wait for large fishing boats to come and buy the fish off of them, to sell them to markets in Japan and Vietnam. Sanni purchased two fresh fish to take home for dinner. After touring the floating village, we hopped back onto the motorcycle to drive back to the village. When we were crossing back over the river, there were some farmers with a plow being pulled by bulls. The cattle and plow got stuck in the mud and Dave helped the other farmers try to push the plow out of the mud. Unfortunately, it was really stuck. After touring the floating village, we walked through a small town by the river. The village had no electricity and their water was supplied by wells sponsored by various countries, mostly from the U.S. and Japan. We went to visit a school and purchased books and pencils to deliver to the students, and each student thanked us. They were extremely grateful. After touring the village we went back to the motorcycle driver's home and he invited Dave and I to take a rest on their hammocks. They helped wash the mud off our shoes using water from their well. After a well deserved rest, it was off to the airport to fly to Bangkok.

The food in Cambodia was amazing -- spicy curries, excellent noodle dishes, and great beer (Angkor beer). The city of Siem Reap was a bit loud and people honk their horns as often as we use our turn signals. In contrast, the countryside is beautiful, very lush and green.

Somehow the people in Cambodia manage to make the most of what limited resources they have. Motorcycles fill up their tanks with gas from whiskey bottles being sold from stands on the side of the road, and people cook in woks outside their homes near the street. Its not uncommon to see families of 3-4 squished onto one motorcycle, and because there is no garbage service, people have to burn their garbage in the front of their homes. We got woken up numerous times each night to the sounds of dogs howling and barking while hunting for food in packs, and roosters announcing daybreak long before sunrise.

I must say, the people of Cambodia are some of the nicest people I have ever met. Everyone there was so friendly and warm, asking us where we are from, what we do for work, and everyone was happy to help show us around and teach us about their history. Although many people live below the poverty level, there was no threat of pick-pocketing. Everyone works really hard, but I never heard anyone complain about how hard their life is or how little they have. We became quite attached to Sanni and it was hard to say goodbye to him. We exchanged e-mail addresses and hope to stay in touch. When we get back to the States, we plan to mail him the photos we took of us together. I hope someday he gets to go back to the university to study more so that he can achieve his dreams. He really deserves it.


25 Random things about me

1. My favorite foods are ice cream and mushrooms, but not together. Have you ever tried Cold Stone’s Mud Pie Mojo? It’s the best, second only to my homemade version of it.

2. I almost shed a tear when I sold my ’89 Integra. I went out and took photos with it, several of which I was actually hugging the car. My husband thinks I’m crazy. I really loved that car though. I got it when I was 16 years old, and sold it when I was 33. It reminds me of my high school days.

3. I was completely surprised when Dave proposed to me. He carried the ring in his backpack for 3 weeks as we toured the Greek islands. He surprised me one evening as we were sitting on the balcony of our hotel room over looking the ocean in Mykonos.

4. My favorite vacation was when I spent 4 weeks living in an RV and driving through New Zealand with Dave. We spent the majority of our nights parked on beaches and slept to the sound of ocean waves.

5. I think I have the best job in the whole world. I help people with mental illness and feel like I really make a difference in the quality of their life.

6. I have a mentor to thank for helping me to develop my professional career and couldn’t have done it without her.

7. My favorite childhood memories are: 1) spending holidays with my huge extended family, sometimes up to 50 people at one person’s house; 2) being pulled around in a wagon or tractor by a Miller or Ludwigsen boy; 3) “bonfires” in a pie tin on Berkshire Drive with Michelle, Kirsten and Alison, and 4) cruising through San Francisco in Radha’s Z with the T-tops open, blasting Duran Duran “Wild Boys” with Yvonne and Irena.

8. I haven’t eaten any meat (and yes, that includes all types of seafood) since I was 10 years old.

8a. My sister blames me for “making” her vegetarian. I blame it on my 5th grade
teacher, Mr. Ferguson’s, description of where hot dog meat comes from. Yuck!

9. I have published a book.

10. I hope to go to Thailand and Vietnam sometime soon.

11. I had lunch with my dad at the same Chinese restaurant every Saturday afternoon from the time I was in grade school through my early adulthood. I still go every time I go home to Millbrae.

12. I wished I lived in northern California.

13. I have just as many close guy friends as I do close girl friends.

14. I admire my husband for starting his own business. I don’t have the guts or the determination to do something like that.

15. I’ve learned more about history in the past three years than I have my entire life. I now see things from a whole different perspective.

15a. Pacifica Radio has changed the way I think about everything.

16. I have an amazing sister.

16a. I love that her daughter shares her same personality and looks exactly like her
when she was little. It makes me feel like I’m back in time.

16b. I love that my sister takes after my mom and I take after my dad. It's cool that
we're both so different, yet very similar at the same time.

17. I think my parents are the best in the world, and have always thought so, even through all my teenage years. Every day I think how lucky I am to have them.

18. My favorite place in the entire world is Yosemite. I’ve been so many times I can’t even count. I think one year I went three times, once in the winter and twice in the summer. Every time I go there, I feel like I’m at home.

18a. The first time I went to Yosemite is when I was two months old. My parents were
trying to pull the stroller up onto the bus and dropped me on my head. They
immediately packed the car and drove back home.

18b. The first time I told Dave I loved him was when we were hiking to Upper Yosemite
Falls.

18c. I’ve hiked Half Dome twice.

19. I love going to concerts and still have a tendency to end up on stage.

20. I LOVE 80’s music. It reminds me of my high school friends.

21. I’ve converted to Apple -- I now have an iPhone and an iMac. Its kind of ironic, as my husband is a computer programmer.

22. I never dreamed some of best friends would live all over the U.S. and even out of the country. I wish we could all live within a few miles of each other, how it used to be growing up.

23. My mom is from a in a small town in Sicily. When my parents visited just before I was born, people were still riding donkeys.

24. I hope that one day Dave and I can design and build a custom home that's off the grid.

25. I wish everyone were more open-minded and more accepting of diversity.