Shall We Danzón?

While on a recent visit to Mexico City I drove past a park with a large crowd of people and with wonderful music playing. As we drove past I could see that people were fairly dressed up and I was curious. So we decided to circle the block, find a parking spot and head over to the stage.  

What a fun discovery!  Every Saturday at the Plaza de la Ciudadela (and apparently in several other parks in the city) folks young and old, though I will say I saw more older than younger, gather in the park to dance.  It's beautiful. Groups of friends bring picnics and set up tables, people bring folding chairs and most everyone has dressed up to enjoy a Saturday afternoon of music.  

The danzón evolved from a Cuban creole dance and the dance still remains popular in Cuba, Puerto Rico and throughout cities in Mexico. One of the things I was fascinated with is the "break" in the music.  Sixteen bars of the music is played, then repeated, and then the melody changes. The dancers all seem to know to stop at the "break" in the music, and most just strike a pose and wait until four bars of the melody has played.  It's really quite a sight. Many of the dancers are seniors, and they are in their finery and many of the women are in high heels (I stopped wearing heels back in my 40s)!  In fact a few of the ladies had beautiful fans and during the four bar rest, they pulled them out in a most romantic, flirty gesture. 

It was a treat to be able to enjoy seeing so many people out enjoying a Saturday afternoon. 

He had just asked her to dance

These two were beautiful dancers

He was giving lessons

The guys in the background were just warming up

The "Break" in the music

These two were having so much fun!

And in her coat pocket, she had a fan

The crowd was growing

If you ever happen to be in the area, plan to bring your dancing shoes and stay awhile.

Some Things Never Change

Yesterday as I was down in my basement packing up Christmas decorations I found a folder with some memories that were packed up in an old briefcase.  Most of items in the briefcase were memories from my children but then in the midst of the folder I found an unexpected treasure.  Can you imagine how surprised I was to find one of my childhood drawings in the folder?  

The paper was yellowed with age and had been torn but the colors and the drawing were still easy to see and as I looked at my work, all I could think is that some things never change. I love flowers, birds and butterflies.  I would much rather take a vacation to see nature than to tour a big city. I just loved seeing this photo that puts me in the center of the photo, surrounded by trees, flowers, a butterfly and a bird. This was back in 1965 when I was 9 years old. What a fun discovery and a reminder to remain true to my authentic self. 

Happy New Year! 

“Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” 
― Lucy Maud Montgomery

Friends, It's Been a Long Time...And I've Missed You

Are you still enjoying your holidays?  Oh how the days, weeks, months and years seem to go by so quickly.

Family Gathering - Christmas 2017

 It has been over a year since I posted anything on my blog and I've really missed posting, sharing and connecting. It seems that with every passing day there is more to do with less and less time. As I sit down to write this post it is nearly impossible to figure out where to start. In fact, I took a look back to see what I was last blogging about.  So I see I was talking about Mexico.   

The "blue hour" in Park Güell, Barcelona

Hierve el Agua, Oaxaca, Mexico

Did you see that post? The one where I was trying to decide between visiting Puebla or Oaxaca, Mexico (and Puebla won)? Well since my last post, I'm happy to say that I've visited both cities. My trip to Puebla was a long weekend visit and  a solo trip.  I fell  in love with Puebla but was still longing to go to Oaxaca. This November my husband and I spent a week in Oaxaca and it was heavenly. It was one of those slow (well sort of slow) vacations where we relaxed. Our hotel had a rooftop patio so we sat up there to watch the sun rise and set. Then at night we sat up on the roof just to be out under the stars.  It really was heavenly. 

I finally got to walk in a field of sunflowers!!!

Trip to an elephant sanctuary in South Africa

We've managed to take several trips since that last post and I'm so grateful for each and every experience.  We are budget travelers which allows us to take more trips but we cut a lot of corners to do so.  And because of my work schedule, most of our trips are jiffy trips over long weekends. It's amazing what you can do and see in 48 - 72 hours. In the past year we've been able to visit Bogota, South Africa (we were able to do some driving around and it was incredible), Barcelona and Oaxaca and I'm looking forward to doing some planning of future trips on New Year's day.  I've got several magazines and decided it would be fun to create a new vision board with goals and wishes for the year, including my travel dreams!

As I looked back at my early blog posts, my first post is dated December 29, 2007. In that post I featured my granddaughters and niece.  It seems so long ago and so much has changed.  My niece is now a freshman at Berklee School of Music and the grandgirls are now 15 and 13!

Christmas 2007

Goddaughter's dance recital

Lantern Festival with friends

The past year was a hard one for me in many ways and yet, the year was filled with amazing and wonderful memories too.  I lost two friends in 2017 and both deaths, which were less than a month apart, were shocking tragedies. For months it was difficult to find happiness, but as the end of the year approaches, I realize there were happy moments that should be recognized and cherished. But, I'm ready for a new year with new hopes and dreams.   

As I get ready for the long weekend, I'm looking forward to a nice quiet few days to have time for reflection, reading, setting goals and creating order.  My sister brought me a box of cookies from my favorite hometown bakery and I'm looking forward to curling up with some delicious sweet treats before putting myself on a more healthy regime too. 

How about you?  Any big plans for NYE or the coming year?   2018 is nearly here. Happy New Year!!!   I'm so glad to get reconnected.  Let's do this!

Carolina Herrera and SCAD FASH

Last fall SCAD, a/k/a Savannah College of Art & Design, opened a fashion museum that has promised to host international fashion exhibitions, lectures and more. One of the first big featured exhibits was Carolina Herrera's Refined Irreverence showcase of 99 designs and this weekend seemed like the perfect time to see it before it ends at the end of the month.

It was exciting to see everything from the basic white blouse, day wear to formal wear to bridal wear. The exhibit covers over three decades of design and features designs worn by Angelina Jolie, Renee Zellweiger, Sandra Bullock, Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, of course Carolina Herrera and more.

One of the things I loved most was being able to get up close to see the detailed work.

If you happen to be in or near Atlanta, it is worth carving out time to see this exhibit.

What Happened to those "Lazy, Hazy,Crazy" Days of Summer?

Life just keeps speeding up with some days full of excitement, others with too much to do, lots of good times, too many emotions, changes and through all of it, celebrations of summer.

There haven't been too many nights for sitting on the front porch to watch fireflies or much time for summer reading yet though I've almost finished The Promise of a Pencil and I've really been inspired by it. Have you read it? I'm just getting around to organizing my summer book list so if you have suggestions please pass them along.

Meanwhile here are some of the things we've been doing over the last few weeks. 

Watched my son and daughter-in-law in a special military salute during the Braves game

Took an evening tour of the Center for Civil and Human Rights Museum, a place everyone should visit

Took my granddaughter to camp 

Attended the Rosie the Riveter Conference. We are pictured with Fran Carter (age 95), the founder of the organization

Walked through the Vineyards in Midtown Atlanta!

Found time for a Girl's Night!

Said goodbye to a friend headed to law school. Hello Chicago!

Went to New York to celebrate my college friend's marriage and had a blast meeting friends that I've heard about for decades

Celebrated the 5th annual PRO BONO & COMMUNITY SERVICE WEEK. Incredible!

Took time to remember one of my mentors. Esther was the "Queen of Pro Bono"

Discovered contents from my one of my grandmother's old purses; a real time capsule - the deposit slip is dated 1978

Spoke at a conference in Detroit with some of my closest friends

Enjoyed seeing my son and his family have some great times together before my daughter-in-law's deployment. We won't see her again until January 2017

Enjoyed seeing a friend in Buenos Aires but I'll save details about this trip for a future post!