Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
SAY WHAT??!!?? (yes...)
To the casual reader, the previous posts may have been mere fodder for the masses... whoo-hoo, Steph and James are on holiday!
However, the more keen observer may have noticed something very, very different...
Look again:
"What??" You say... "It's just Stephanie playing with fire again."
Perhaps.
Look again.
Closer...
Even Closer:
Is anything out of place?
Do you see something that doesn't belong?
No that's not a new tattoo...
I never thought (and I'm sure most of you never thought either) that I'd see a ring on that finger, but in truth, it fits, James fits, and I am the happiest woman alive right now... and it feels something like this:
a goofy kiss across the stickshift in a convertible that's going
120 km/h through the twisty roads of Europe.
Yeah... something like that.
However, the more keen observer may have noticed something very, very different...
Look again:
"What??" You say... "It's just Stephanie playing with fire again."Perhaps.
Look again.
Closer...
Even Closer:
Is anything out of place?Do you see something that doesn't belong?
No that's not a new tattoo...
YES, I AM GETTING HITCHED.
I never thought (and I'm sure most of you never thought either) that I'd see a ring on that finger, but in truth, it fits, James fits, and I am the happiest woman alive right now... and it feels something like this:
a goofy kiss across the stickshift in a convertible that's going
120 km/h through the twisty roads of Europe.
Yeah... something like that.
A Nice Easter Weekend
Coming up the drive to James' family home in South France after a grueling 12 hours of delayed flights, missed connections, and knee-knocking airplane rides invites you to breath a little deeper and walk quite a bit slower. The house is in Gattiere, a secluded town north of Nice where every shop closes for an hour at lunch and you can walk from one side of town to the other in minutes. A beautiful change from the hectic New York concrete skyline.
Lunch was everyday on the patio, over looking various French towns. On a clear day, you can see the Mediterranean just beyond the hills in the distance. Here the family gathers - having just woken up or been working in the gardens since dawn - and the day commences...
Afterwards, the afternoon is yours... to catch some sleep like James' brother Simon here, or catch some sun instead and contribute to the gardening facelift that the grounds around the house are undergoing... everyone here saved at least one tree from the ivy or built one section of a pathway wall...
Outside the house is an open-stove fireplace. The quinessential pizza oven! I have never had a pizza anything like what came out of this oven... fresh ingredients, wood-burning stove, cooked to perfection!
Easter lunch was a more forman occassion... we all gathered with friends of the family for a delicious meal after attending mass service at a tiny church in the center of the town.
Landscape Artists?
So much has already been done to bring thirty years of overgrowth under control... The walls and levels, which were once covered in ivy, are now blank canvases for lawns, gardens, swimming pools... reality does indeed leave much room for imagination!
Off we go! James' brothers Tim (the youngest) and Nico (second youngest) and I to hack and chop our way through the landscape!
Off we go! James' brothers Tim (the youngest) and Nico (second youngest) and I to hack and chop our way through the landscape!
Veni Vidi Vici Venice!
Before leaving for Nice, I had made plans with an old friend of mine, Brian, to meet him in Venice for dinner one night. Seeing as how he had no cellphone or internet connection during his tour of Italy, I couldn't very well cancel... so we took a quick drive along the coastline of southern France and Italy and across the mainland, which looks astonishingly similar to rolling grassy hills of Tennessee - only that the buildings are made of stone. And have been in existance longer than the United States.
well, maybe not so quick... never did figure out why the entire motorway came to a complete stop in the middle of the afternoon. We translated the Italian truck driver's description into somthing along the lines of "fire-breathing dragons are ravishing the countryside!!"
But we did eventually make it in time for dinner, and to see the lights come on across the buildings in St. Marks Square. One of the most stunningly beautiful twilights I have seen in my life... Here the sky grows dark over The Basilica:
I honestly had not been feeling 100%, probably all the travel and time adjustments... but when you're in Venice, this face doesn't last too long!
The next morning we were up early and headed back to the Square to go inside the Basilica (more pics soon) and roam the Square with Brian and his brother Michael before they headed off to Munich... Brian is on the left here and looks EXACTLY like when I knew him 16 years ago. Will try to find evidence of this!
And then James and I were off to meander the quiet, narrow passageways of Venice ourselves... I desparately wanted to get lost for days, but we were due back in Nice in time for the evening Chelsea football (read: soccer) match.
well, maybe not so quick... never did figure out why the entire motorway came to a complete stop in the middle of the afternoon. We translated the Italian truck driver's description into somthing along the lines of "fire-breathing dragons are ravishing the countryside!!"
But we did eventually make it in time for dinner, and to see the lights come on across the buildings in St. Marks Square. One of the most stunningly beautiful twilights I have seen in my life... Here the sky grows dark over The Basilica:
I honestly had not been feeling 100%, probably all the travel and time adjustments... but when you're in Venice, this face doesn't last too long!
The next morning we were up early and headed back to the Square to go inside the Basilica (more pics soon) and roam the Square with Brian and his brother Michael before they headed off to Munich... Brian is on the left here and looks EXACTLY like when I knew him 16 years ago. Will try to find evidence of this!
And then James and I were off to meander the quiet, narrow passageways of Venice ourselves... I desparately wanted to get lost for days, but we were due back in Nice in time for the evening Chelsea football (read: soccer) match.
(I'll post more Venice pics later - Blogger only allows 5 per post)
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Book your tickets now!
As you know, getting going in New York
PROUDLY ANNOUNCING….
Stephanie’sNew York
PROUDLY ANNOUNCING….
Stephanie’s
And this is not just a random play in a forgotten black box theater. I am directing CURFEW, written by Academy-award winning writer Arthur Jolly, as part of the acclaimed American Globe Festival, with two incredibly talented actresses: Susan Stout and Casey Geraghty.
Mark your Calendars and Get your Tickets! The show is just off Times Square on Friday, April 27th at 8:00pm. At this performance, the audience will participate in selecting the best play of the evening, so y
THE DETAILS:
~~~~~~~~~~~
Date:
Friday April 27th at8:00pm . Run-time is approximately 1 1/2 hours.
Venue:
AMERICAN GLOBE THEATER,Times Square 's longest-running Off-Off-Broadway theatre, located at 145 W. 46th Street
Cost:
$15. This festival sells-out every year and tickets are already on sale! Best not to wait. Purchase your seats by either calling American Globe Theatre at 212-869-9809 OR going to www.theatermania.com to purchase them online. Only pre-paid (not reserved) seats will be held once it sells out. And seriously, where else can you spend $15 on a night-out in New York?!
Afterparty:Date:
Friday April 27th at
Venue:
AMERICAN GLOBE THEATER,
Cost:
$15. This festival sells-out every year and tickets are already on sale! Best not to wait. Purchase your seats by either calling American Globe Theatre at 212-869-9809 OR going to www.theatermania.com to purchase them online. Only pre-paid (not reserved) seats will be held once it sells out. And seriously, where else can you spend $15 on a night-out in New York?!
Drinks nearby directly afterwards!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRO!
May all the presents you open either
look like This
or
bring this Look to your face!
look like This
or
bring this Look to your face!
Oh YEAH!
NSEW in Full Effect
Having
flown West for the completion of "New York Blind",
driven South to see my brother and friends in "The Greatest City in America",
and having no intention of going any further North until the weather starts cooperating
- it's time to head EAST... all the way over the Atlantic, down to the south coast of France to find a little sunshine, lots of space to breathe, and a few games of chess between hours and hours of eating.
Back next weekend...
flown West for the completion of "New York Blind",
driven South to see my brother and friends in "The Greatest City in America",
and having no intention of going any further North until the weather starts cooperating
- it's time to head EAST... all the way over the Atlantic, down to the south coast of France to find a little sunshine, lots of space to breathe, and a few games of chess between hours and hours of eating.
Back next weekend...
Heading south for the winter weekend!
I've been waiting to put this post up for a while... not sure why though.
After a full 12 hours of non-stop snow in New York City, James and I trudged our way to the rental car shop wondering if we were actually going to make it out of the City... the highway speed was dictated by signs all the way down to D.C. "35 MPH". And not a drop of snow on the road. Even the cops knew that speed limit was ridiculous. As I was driving down the New Jersey Turnpike I thought to myself "hmmmm, that dark Crown Victoria with tinted windows, that just pulled on to the road is probably an undercover cop"... and proceeded to continue at a steady 85 MPH. Sure enough he pulled in front of me, put his lights on... and slowed me down to 35. And when I was going mind-numbingly slow enough, he took off. Punishment enough even without a ticket.
Eventually we made it down to DC, where Tom now lives... saw his awesome apartment and took a stroll around the original Great Mall of America. Of course, it was freezing so we found the optimal place to spend a few hours:
In the IMAX movie theater at the Air and Space Museum.
Somehow that wasn't "American" enough. And here we are hosting a Brit to the nucleus of our country... the center of what makes everything run... Capital Hill, Washington Monument, Smithsonian... but let's get real here.
Let's go to Baltimore! It's claim to fame, after all, is written all over the benches...
(Disclaimer: This was the only bench we could find that hadn't been set on fire or been claimed by a homeless person)
This is where my girlfriend Kat and her husband live... both working at Johns Hopkins, which is probably the only reason that this boarded-up, dying-while-standing-up, frighteningly-forgotten town is still on the map. Well, that and Duckpin Bowling.
"What is Duckpin Bowling?" Kat asks as Justin and James check out the scene... well just look here to find more... It's the Sport of a Lifetime! And we went to the #1 rated Duckpin Bowling Lanes in Baltimore...
But I'm not going to spoil it for you! This sport is sweeping the nation! Find out for yourself how "Duckpin bowling combines the elements of fun, excitement, challenge, competition and sociability into one fantastic activity!"
And after that wild ride, how could we possibly bear leaving America's Greatest City for... New York City? At least there were no speed limit reductions on the way back. Not that they would have slowed me down anyways.
After a full 12 hours of non-stop snow in New York City, James and I trudged our way to the rental car shop wondering if we were actually going to make it out of the City... the highway speed was dictated by signs all the way down to D.C. "35 MPH". And not a drop of snow on the road. Even the cops knew that speed limit was ridiculous. As I was driving down the New Jersey Turnpike I thought to myself "hmmmm, that dark Crown Victoria with tinted windows, that just pulled on to the road is probably an undercover cop"... and proceeded to continue at a steady 85 MPH. Sure enough he pulled in front of me, put his lights on... and slowed me down to 35. And when I was going mind-numbingly slow enough, he took off. Punishment enough even without a ticket.
Eventually we made it down to DC, where Tom now lives... saw his awesome apartment and took a stroll around the original Great Mall of America. Of course, it was freezing so we found the optimal place to spend a few hours:
In the IMAX movie theater at the Air and Space Museum.
Somehow that wasn't "American" enough. And here we are hosting a Brit to the nucleus of our country... the center of what makes everything run... Capital Hill, Washington Monument, Smithsonian... but let's get real here.
Let's go to Baltimore! It's claim to fame, after all, is written all over the benches...
(Disclaimer: This was the only bench we could find that hadn't been set on fire or been claimed by a homeless person)
This is where my girlfriend Kat and her husband live... both working at Johns Hopkins, which is probably the only reason that this boarded-up, dying-while-standing-up, frighteningly-forgotten town is still on the map. Well, that and Duckpin Bowling.
"What is Duckpin Bowling?" Kat asks as Justin and James check out the scene... well just look here to find more... It's the Sport of a Lifetime! And we went to the #1 rated Duckpin Bowling Lanes in Baltimore...
But I'm not going to spoil it for you! This sport is sweeping the nation! Find out for yourself how "Duckpin bowling combines the elements of fun, excitement, challenge, competition and sociability into one fantastic activity!"
And after that wild ride, how could we possibly bear leaving America's Greatest City for... New York City? At least there were no speed limit reductions on the way back. Not that they would have slowed me down anyways.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
