“I’m not leaving the Acropolis until we get a photo with those Blues Brothers!” I declared to my companions from our Greece Teacher Tour.
We were standing next to the 2,500-year-old Parthenon (the “Most Perfect Building Ever Created”) under the radiant sun in Athens… but I couldn’t take my eyes off of the five men dressed in spiffy black suits who were milling around like typical tourists.
“Why do you think they’re wearing [...Read More!]
Traditional Greek dance consists of men in fluffy white skirts spinning and jumping. And it’s great!
On our last day in beautiful Nafplio, Greece, our Greece teacher travel tour nestled into a golden-lit family restaurant for a traditional dance performance. Hoo boy!
While the two female Greek dancers maintained a stately dignity throughout, the male dancer duo went wild. Did the fluffy white skirts bring out their inner male dancing beasts???
UP went the arms of the [...Read More!]
If you’re totally baffled by the title of this article, just read on.
Research suggests that in marriage, men need a room of their own to do Man Things. This sanctuary is often referred to by the term: “Man-Cave.” A Man-Cave is the sanctuary in a shared home in which a man can be a MAN, and the lady of the house stays out.
In our house, my fiancé has a Man-Cave, and [...Read More!]
“Oooh, Miss M.!” squealed my students the day after I got engaged. “Your diamond engagement ring is HUGE!”
Well, folks, it’s time to come clean. I do not have a diamond engagement ring.
What I really have is… a $25 crystal ring. Hah!!!!!
Colin and I bought the fake ring together, laughing uproariously the whole time, from the back of a sketchy store in Boston’s Downtown Crossing. ”The funniest part about this,” I squeaked amid gales of [...Read More!]
I just got a call that my wedding dress has arrived and is ready for my fitting! Ahhh!
Not only is this thrilling, but it is also highly relevant to this article about royal palaces around the world. Why? Because my dress is white-ish, and so are most royal and governmental buildings in Europe and America! This is in sharp contrast to the bursting rainbow colors of Asian royal buildings and wedding [...Read More!]
It’s become a game now. A belly-spotting game.
“BELLY!” I shout in delight, and Gareth and Colin turn to look and smile.
“BELLY! DOUBLE BELLY!” hollers Colin, jerking his head towards two different naked-bellied men within fifteen feet of us on the crowded street.
You see, it turns out that in China (especially during the scalding hot summer months), it is perfectly acceptable for men to tie their shirts halfway up their chests and [...Read More!]
Hello. Ahem. Pause ogling that photo over there for just a moment and look over here at these words, please.
The image you see to the left is a real Miami mannequin, which boasts (as you may have noticed) somewhat un-real proportions.
What you observe over there is merely one of about forty-thousand Bust-a-licious Mannequins in Miami. These top-heavy plastic ladies are in EVERY South Beach window these days!
You see, at a certain [...Read More!]
When foreign folks ask which cities in the United States I most recommend to visit (cities, not unmissable national parks like the Grand Canyon), I always say: New York City, Boston (I’m biased on that one), Washington DC, San Francisco, and… South Beach, Miami!
Because it’s so far “down there,” a lot of people skip Miami and focus upward, but Americans and visitors, alike, if you haven’t yet been to Miami, put [...Read More!]
My dear friend Meg and I were sitting in an open-air Spanish restaurant in Washington DC earlier this month when we noticed it.
“Women here in DC dress well,” declared Meg as she chomped into a garlic shrimp and gazed onto the street. My friend was feeling particularly fashion-conscious that week, as an article had just come out declaring her native San Francisco one of the sloppiest-dressed cities in the U.S.
“I mean, [...Read More!]
Imagine you are schlepping a bulbous suitcase down the stairs in New York’s Penn Station on Christmas Eve, squeezing through hundreds of stressed travelers to board the train for DC. Imagine you’re sweaty and cold at the same time, irritable and achy, overwhelmed and jostled, when suddenly:
HAPPINESS!
Look to the left to see the conductor who greeted us!
People of the world, how can you NOT smile upon seeing such a sweet smile, [...Read More!]