a grand canyon adventure!

how and why it's taken 30 years for me to get here, i have no idea :) while visiting nevada with no real plans other than to spend quality time with some special people i love the most, we ended up making the drive to arizona to explore the southern grand canyon rim. it was absolutely breathtaking! these photos don't do justice for how incredibly amazing it really was to take in... and i would've been perfectly at peace getting lost here. yes, i'll be back.

"a mind that is stretched by new experiences
can never go back to its old dimensions."

a retreat up north... home away from home.

what a wonderful weekend "cabinning" up north to celebrate the birthdays of my soul sisters! there's absolutely nothing better than a weekend filled with laughter, great food, lots of libations and taking in the natural beauty wisconsin's northern-most point has to offer :) happy birthday L, G and S! <3

alexis bailly vineyard!

...since april, my dear cousin E has been wanting to play matchmaker and set me up with her friend M. over july 4th weekend, i found myself in the twin cities - where they're both from - and the timing just seemed to work out when i finally agreed to meet him. like most everyone i cross paths with, we hit it off fairly well :) so well, that i agreed to come back for a date the following weekend since i was going to be there again for a friend's bachelorette party.

truly... one of my best dates ever. if that's what you call it? haha. it was actually a series of little dates during the 3 days i was in town that included a hip hop show (dessa, cecil otter, a wolf and her claws - wow!) the first night i was there, an outing to the alexis bailly vineyard in hastings, minnesota for an afternoon of wine tasting and bocce ball that saturday. followed by a sunday brunch at a neat little finnish bistro in falcon heights. a stroll through the zoo... dinner, and concluded with a double movie date with my girlfriend before bidding farewell.

here's a fun[ny] fact: little did i know that M's buddy who i met during the hip hop show, he also joined us at the vineyard, was going to end up being our stripper for the bachelorette party saturday night too. lols.


thanks for being such a gentleman, M! if only all blind dates were like this! :) i'm smitten.

guess who went to the oprah winfrey show!?

a few months ago, i was on facebook when a friend asked who'd be interested in going down to attend a live taping of OPRAH in chicago during her last season. never ever having even watched a full talkshow before, i figured if this was a real deal - i might just get a new car out of it, haha, so i skeptically commented. before i knew it, my friend was following up with me for my info as she had to submit it asap... and before i even knew what hit me, we were on our way down to chicago!

actually, we were on our way to milwaukee first... where we planned to spend the night at my sister's and wake up early to drive the last stretch to chicago hoping to beat the morning rush hour. little did we anticipate the arrival of our company was going to be a soiree that night, smh. "makeup over makeup!" was all i could remember that morning while hustling out the door, haha... those details will be a blog post for another rainy day :) lols.


what an inspiring experience though! in retrospect, i can't believe i was fortunate enough to have gone to a live oprah winfrey show this october! her last season! it's only now after seeing her live that i understand why she has such a loyal following across the board! i wouldn't say i was converted, but i do have a newfound appreciation for her as a person who continues to inspire women all over the country. all in all, this was yet another incredibly fun but unexpected trip!

*on a random note, the last time i found myself in the windy city was actually to attend a jerry springer live taping! lols... and let me just say... wow! not something i'm proud of, but quite the outrageous experience one would expect to witness from the audience. yet another rainy day post to blog about! ;D

i heart nyc!

growing up in a small town in the midwest, i've always dreamed about visiting the great new york city and see - at least once - what i saw on television and in movies all my life! prior to leaving for the big apple, i created a list of specific sights to see, places to go and things i wanted to do - and to my surprise... by the time we left new amsterdam, every single item (but one - the bronx zoo) was crossed off! what an unforgettable time it was.

as a fan of bob dylan, i've been reading positively 4th street and it just happened to have several important nyc references that got me thinking about the opportunity to physically be in a space where some of these great people who've inspired me the most found their inspiration! in addition, folks like jack kerouac have always fascinated me because of a profound connection i feel with the philosophies of the beatniks of that generation... and therefore, it was nothing less than natural for me to be intrigued with the historical significance of places where their stories originated.

for example... greenwhich village, washington square, cafe wha and other popular venues of that era were where so many of these talented people frequented during the start of their incredible careers during a time that eventually came to shape an entire subculture. for me, i loved the idea of being able to literally visit and occupy the same spaces they had at one time - and if only for a second, live vicariously through the ideologies that carry their legacy.

other places to visit were more common, like walking through time square, taking a horse drawn carriage ride through central park, strolling the bustling streets of chinatown, taking the staten island ferry out to view the statue of liberty, walking the coney island pier - also the set from one of my favorite films of all time, requiem for a dream - 30 rock, and several other iconic buildings, etc. mission: accomplished!

when all was said and done though, i was glad to be back home! don't get me wrong, i love nyc and hope to return throughout my lifetime with different opportunities to zoom in my experiences on more specific things to do, but i don't know if i could ever live there long-term. the shortage of space, lack of green and just the socioeconomic divide from the homeless to the wealthy in that small of area just makes me a little sad to see how different that part of the country is from my homegrown roots in the midwest. here, our tallest building is 4 stories vs. the empire state building. and the people are just kinder. it's not that i mind the fast-paced big city life, it's just that i came back with the realization that i am truly a small town girl at heart! and damn proud of it.

a WICKED kinda weekend!

ever since gregory maguire's wicked: the life and times of the wicked witch of the west was published, it single-handedly changed my life and the way i thought of every literary character moving forward! :) i quickly fell in love with the story and everything about it... from its darker greener (not rosier) lens and its radical new evaluation of one of the most hated characters in all of literature - it was brilliantly inventive!

named after the main character in the beloved classic "the wizard of oz," i've always felt a parallel with dorothy gale growing up. but that was all quickly BS after maquire showed us that maybe the much maligned wicked witch of the west really wasn't as wicked as we were made to believe! #teamELPHABA haha.

the book is the basis to the tony award-winning broadway production... and when they were going to be in chicago, i couldn't pass up the opportunity and not go! so when my girlfriends were looking for a reason to getaway to the windy city anyways, we decided to get together and make a weekend out of it - and i'm so glad we did! it was amazing!

san diego zoo!

tijuana, mexico!

spent some time wandering the streets of tijuana, mexico and it was quite interesting! delicious foods and cheap drinks + cuban cigars = a fantabulous time exploring ;D see, it doesn't take much to make me happy. the only horrible thing was my pocket getting picked while waiting in customs to regain entry back stateside, smh. i was kinda afraid i wouldn't be allowed entry back ¯\(º o)/¯ omg! but everything worked out in the end, and i can laugh at the whole ordeal now... although, there's still nothing funny about it.