the instituto venezia

School started today. It is pretty fun! I haven’t been inside a classroom for a long time so I’m a little rusty. I still really like knowing all of the answers and I can’t wait for the teacher to call on me. I also still love being the class clown. Our class is full of people from all over the world, which makes it very exciting. Today I learned how to count to twenty and ask what your name is. My brain is so scrambled with all of the bits and pieces of all of the languages that I know bits and pieces of that I can hardly speak English at the moment. I am settling in to my new home well. Pietro still isn’t home from his trip and I still can’t wait to meet him. It has been nice having the place to myself. I went to the store for the first time and tired to figure out what things were and where they were. I had to hunt for the eggs cause they are so fresh that they are just on a shelf not in a refrigerator. I made Gnocchi for dinner with fresh tomato sauce and a salad that I made with greens that I bought in the open market. Venice is a beautiful maze that I am learning how to navigate in. I made it home tonight with no wrong turns for the first time and I felt very proud!! They are a million tourists everywhere. My favorite part of the day is early in the morning before the streets get too crowded. The evening is also amazing! The city is lit up like a Christmas tree. Lights shine up on the buildings so you can breath in there beauty. I’ve never been anywhere as romantic as Venice. It is unreal how beautiful and magical this city is. I am so grateful that I ended up here. I really am the luckiest girl in the world. Ciao!

not going to win the amazing race

For those of you out there who don’t know what the amazing race is, don’t worry about it; just don’t ask me to be on your team. I was really bad at navigating my way from London to my hostel in Venice. First of all I have too much stuff. I really thought I had done a good job packing until I had to carry it for three hours. I thought I had it I figured out how to get to where I was going, once I arrived in Venice. I mean I spent an afternoon at the apple store in London using there free internet, gathering all sorts of useful information, heck I even helped some tourists at the airport in Venice find the ticket counter. All of that hard work would have been great if I didn’t miss the bus from the airport cause I walked half a mile out of my way to what I thought was the bus stop. When I finally arrived at the water bus stop to take the boat into Venice, I missed all of my boats cause I kept asking Italians where to go and they all had great ideas that meant me walking back and forth between docks, effectively missing every boat. When the last boat left I broke down crying, (for only the second or third time that day) and sat down and said a prayer, thanking the universe for this excellent opportunity for faith. After my eyes had dried this friendly Sri Lankan man, who lives here in Venice now, took my bag (I know, I know, that’s how you get your stuff stolen but he didn’t seem as fast as me so I took the chance) carried it to the other dock, and then proceeded to take me on two boat transfers to make sure I arrived at the front door of my hostel safe. He did try to pet my hair on the way over, which I thought a bit forward until another Italian guy sat down next to me and started pet my hair. I thanked them both nicely and said “basta!” my new favorite word. The hostel was this huge building with giant doors and really small signs to direct you around once inside. I arrived at 1:15am (only three hours after my flight) and my entire room was asleep. Ten beds on a Saturday night asleep?? I thought this was very strange for a youth Hostel UNTILL I woke up at 6:00 to find a bunch of women in their 60’s running around getting ready. Then I went to the bathroom and someone had stolen all of the toilet seats. I mean really, how much can you even get for a dozen toilet seats? I was really excited about the free breakfast cause I missed dinner the night before. I had been dreaming of eggs and bacon and yummy croissants, instead I got a baguette and a cappuccino, which was really good for free coffee, but not quite what my stomach was hoping for. I then proceeded to go the total opposite direction of where I was supposed to meet my host for the next month. I had to take a boat back to my starting point and then I walked through the town up and down a million steps and a dozen little bridges with all my stuff. Yep, ahh ha, feels good, that’s right!! I finally got where I was supposed to be and met the loveliest girl named Elena who didn’t speak any English so we just smiled a lot. She took me to my Hosts house because he’s in San Francisco on holiday right now. His name is Pietro and he comes home tomorrow. I think we are going to get along swimmingly. His house is right on a canal and its full of South American artifacts. He is a surgeon for a living, and from the looks of things very well traveled. I can’t wait to meet him. He has a Mac too!

can’t wait to get on this train

London. I used to think I loved it here. I’m not complaining, well maybe just a bit, but I don’t understand how anyone lives here and is happy. I guess that’s why I could do it before because I was so not happy. The last few days has felt like a month. It was a chore. I was hoping for an easier time, but I just didn’t luck out that way. Easy in London seems to be directly proportional to the amount of money that you have. I was trying not to spend money unless I had to, and unfortunately I had to quite a bit. The exchange rate (2 dollars for every 1 pound) made me more panicky than I have felt in a long time around money. I think it has to do with the fact that one pound really is like one dollar. You get the same bang for your not buck!
All that aside, yesterday when I finally met up with my friend Amy, we had a great time. She is currently on a break after performing for the last few years with a cabaret show that toured around the world and is based out of a Speigltent in Germany. I mention the Spiegaltent because it’s the same kind of tent that Teatro Zinzanni uses. She even knows some of the performers that used to perform when I worked there. Her show was very similar, only they didn’t have dinner like Zinzanni. Amy was looking for acts for a show she is helping to produce here in London and so we went to eight hours of comedy. That’s right people eight hours. The first four were spent at a Woman’s comedy night at a club called Turnstiles in East London. I got lost going to the bathroom when I realized that had once had a job working there decorating for a club night. Yet another blast from the past. The ladies did there best under the circumstances (there were 10 of us in the audience and 5 were there for dinner and not for the show) after we escaped, I mean left, we headed over to a great cabaret show at proper comedy club. The first act was by a guy named Frank Isanazi. He was dressed in a Frank Sinatra type outfit except his hair and mustache looked very similar to Hitler. He then sang Frank’s songs with the words rewritten as if Hitler had written them. The most particularly offensive one was called “Auwishcraft” It was hilarious!!
I’m getting ready to get on the train to Gatwick Airport. I am very pleased that the moving with all my stuff part of the trip is almost over. I feel a small attack of princess every time I have to lug my stuff somewhere. Goodbye London, may we only meet again if I’m so rich that I don’t care how expensive you are!!

letter from london

Dear Blog,
Its been a while since we chatted. Well a lot’s happened in the last couple of days. I arrived in London via an amazing Virgin Atlantic flight. It was so hip and comfortable. I slept most of the way because I had been up 24 hours the day before, I was very knackered. It worked out pretty wonderful cause when I arrived I was pretty awake to deal with the customs line. It was like a line at Disneyland only the only ride at the end was a tube ride. I made it through customs this time with no hassles. It felt pretty grown up. I gave the woman at the money exchange window 175$ and received 77pounds, a lovely exchange rate if your doing it the other way. I had to just give in to how expensive it is. Thank God I’m only here till Saturday. What are you like London?? Well I forgot how loud and harsh my American accent is until I heard it here. When I lived here the last time I had a pretty English accent after a month or so. This time I’m holding on to my harsh vowel sounds. I have a whole stay in Italy to loose my American accent. I’m staying at a Hostel in Earls Court. Its been a while since I slept in a bunk bed with five other girls. Its an adventure in itself. What else? Lets see today I went back to Greenwich my old neighborhood. I worked in a quarter of the pubs there and drank in all of the other ones. I have been dreaming about going back there (literally) so I had to stop by and see where I used to live thru the lenses that perspective and time have given me. I sat down at bench that I used to sit on and just started crying. I had a really crazy time before and there were a lot of feelings that came up. It felt good to address them. I had a feeling I would bump into my old boyfriend and as I sat there he rode by on his bike. We didn’t bump into each other right then but I saw him a few minutes later and surprised him. It was great seeing him and hearing about life in Greenwich, its exactly the same as when I left. He told me where a couple of people I knew worked and I did stop bys freaking people out. It was fun!! After Greenwich I went to Waterloo station and hung out near the National Theatre where my friend Alesha works. I am getting pretty good at napping in coffee shops so I took a quick nap while I waited for her to get off work. Then we had a really nice dinner and had a great catch up conversation. I am so blessed to have such amazing people in my life. I hope you all know how treasured you are. I have these amazing friends scattered across the globe that when I see them I just feel like home. Today I head over to my friend Amy’s house, we went to Dell’Arte together, and then to Venice Saturday afternoon. I can’t wait for the extreme culture shock. I can only imagine what it going to be like. I can’t wait!! The pictures are of the pub I used to live above. My room is the small window near the sign. They remodeled, when I lived there it was a total dump. The view was wonderful though. The picture with the river is the view from the window. And that’s Aleasha and me at dinner. And the tube ride!

last day in NYC

Today was my last day in New York and boy did I shove a lot of fun times into one day. It all started early in the morning as I headed out to wait in line for rush tickets to SPAMALOT. After successfully obtaining the cheap tickets ($21.25 instead of $66.00 depends on your definition of cheap) I headed over to central park to meet up with Natasha, Ivan's mother, for an amazing lunch at the Boathouse in Central Park. Afterward I had the joy of going over to her home in on West 47th and seeing one of the most beautiful views I've seen since I arrived here. Tonight we saw the show and laughed big laughs and enjoyed a good broadway musical, something I haven't done in years!! Zeb got really cool slippers of killer attack bunnies...I'm jealous but there was no room in my bags for fuzzy bunny slippers. In five minutes the super shuttle will be here to take me to the airport. Its currently 2:45am ny time. My flight to London is at 7:30. I hope that I can sleep on the plane. I am feeling super excited to be leaving the country, and also a bit nervous traveling overseas. I'm sure it will be easy breezy, but I can't help thinking they won't let me in the country for one reason or the other. Fingers crossed. I love you all and can't wait to get to blog the Europe part of my journey!!

rock n' roll karaoke

yes, you heard right, rock n' roll karaoke with a live band at Arleans Grocery.
tonight I had my NY stage debut singing "heartbreaker" by pat benatar. Kirsten, Zeb, Marty and I went for it and each of us rocked the house in our own fabulous way!!
As soon as I figure out how to post the videos on youtube I will have a link to this page so you can watch the magic that is us rocking out, for yourself!

sunday, sunday

Today I had brunch with Kirsten at Public the restaurant that Zeb works at in Soho. We ate the yummiest poached eggs in greek yogurt and corn panckes. Sooo Goood!! Then I headed up to Central Park with everyone else in the city to enjoy the fabulous weather. It was 73 out today. Amazing. It’s been quite an experience living here this week. Feeling what it feels like to be a New Yorker, seeing if it fits me. I think it does. I have really enjoyed getting to spend time with Zeb and Kirsten. Kirsten and I had a super fun day and night!! Tonight we spent time with her friend Aleasha. She’s from Virgina and oozes southern hospitality and charm. We met her new puppy huckleberry and hung out with Texas Brian and his drummer John. We kept it real by eating Brooklyn BBQ for dinner. All and all another great day in the city. Wish you were here!!

lazy daze

Slept in today and enjoyed a lazy afternoon in Brooklyn. The neighborhood that I’m straying in is called Prospect Heights. 7th Ave and Flatbush Ave. I like it. After a good afternoon of doing nothing I headed out to Canal Street where I perfected the art of haggling for a handbag. The trick is that you start off interested when the handbag is 35$ then walk away and it goes to 25$ then you offer 20$ and settle in the middle. I got a great Dolce& Gabbana knock off for 23$. After getting my bargain-shopping fix I headed over to meet my cousin Jeffery and his lovely partner Sarah for dinner. They were off to see Harry Conick Jr. at the Radio City Music Hall. I was so jealous, Harry is such a hunk!! I really enjoyed seeing their beautiful faces, even though it wasn’t nearly long enough. After I headed back over to B town to meet up with S.Pete, Matt, and Kyle. I love that so many of my favorite people live in New York!! I got to meet their roomie Cliff and the cat and the turtle. They have a great apartment with a lovely veranda. It has been really lovely getting to hear about everyone’s life in NY. I still feel like it would be amazing to live here. What does the Universe have in store??

springtime in ny

Its offical, I’m in Love with New York!! I keep asking myself why I don’t live here. I think the only reason is the weather and today it was absolutely beautiful!! Today I finished up the sights of Midtown and got lost in the garment district. I knew I was there when I saw a store called the Stretch House and when I looked closer saw that it sold only spandex fabric which was a great relief I couldn’t imagine what a Stretch House was. I also found a store window that had no “window” so I got to be a model for a minute. Today was really spring in New York, the sun was out and New Yorkers were happy. I met up with Zeb, his sister Amber and Marty Brown today in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Marty, Zeb, and I met in 1995 at drama camp, it was really fun to get hang out with the old gang. We then headed over to the movie theatre and saw the new Will Ferrell movie Blades of Glory. It was bedazzelicious!!! Then Amber made us tacos at her house. It was just like home.

get with the times

So day two in the big apple was just as amazing as day one. Today I ventured on the subway by myself and went uptown to have lunch with the beautiful Adriana Baer. I got to see Colombia University and eat a yummy veggie lunch. Then we schlepped back downtown thru times square. I have begun to sort of understand the up down east west thing, although it can be very difficult when your standing on a street corner to figure out which is which. I then cruised around the 5th Ave shops and stalked the entrance at the NBC studios for a while hoping that SNL would see me and decide that they needed me for a sketch. A girl can hope can't she?? Then I had the pleasure of meeting up with my friend Gabriel, who was in town from SF for business, and headed downtown for a show at The Upright Citizens Brigade, where we reunited with Adriana and her honey Brian for an 80% hilarious comedy show called the OH Hello Show. Then it was off to the East Village for dinner at Abigail’s, a vegetarian raw foods restaurant. ( I stuck to my plan except for a mid afternoon french fry breakdown) Life is Beautiful and tasty!!

bagels, hot dogs, hot nuts, and pizza

Zeb and I ate our way thru the city today. We started with bagels that tasted better than any bagel I've ever had.
( they were right) then we took the subway out to coney Island and cruised the pier. No trip to coney island would be compleate without a trip to nathans for a hot dog. I had the crispy golden hot corn dog and an ice cold lemonade. Next it was Manhattan where every other block you are tempted by the sweet sugary smell of hot nuts. They forgot to mention that I shouldn't eat the whole bag! Then we headed to John's Pizzeria in Greenwitch Village for some of the best pizza I've ever had the pleasure of eating( they were right again) And then there was the gelato.....tomorrow I'm eating all raw foods.

dreams

I am a very lucky person. Blessed. So far I have experienced tremendous ease as I travel. I arrived at the airport an hour before, checked my bags, walked up to the gate, waited a few minutes and boarded the plane. My flight was right on time and a third of the seats were vacant so I have an entire row to myself. Lucky. The in-flight movie was Dreamgirls one of my favorite feel good movies. It got me thinking about this trip to New York. About my dreams. Ever since I was a little girl I have dreamed of living and working in New York City. The last time I was here I was thirteen and on a field trip. I remember that my classmates were terrified of the city. They were clinging to each other in fear. I insisted that we all take off our name badges, stand up straight, and walk with confidence. We were going to do our best to blend in with the locals, and merge with the energy of the city. I feel like a little girl again. Excited, hopeful, and giddy. New York City here I come!! The artwork in the photos is from the walls of Zeb and Kirstens apartment in Brooklyn. It feels so wonderful to be reunited with old friends, I missed you guys!

flashback

How could I forget my trip to Irvine.
What a day it was!!! It truly was the highlight of my trip to So Cal. Asian food and memories of the good old days before...
where did those sayings come from??
my brothers, fro yo, and freezing cold breezes
don't worry, it will get more exciting
I promise

single girl traveling alone

Is it really that crazy that I'm traveling alone? I never really think about it untill someone LOOKS at me like I'm crazy when I tell them I'm heading off to Italy by myself. Tonight I got the crazy look, and I felt alone for a minute. I forgot for a second that what other people feel comfortable with and what I feel comfortable with are usually miles a part.
Today we went to Little Italy in San Diego and ate Pizza. It wasn't on the "foods you won't find in Italy" diet but it was tasty warm and cold. Gotta love the late night cold slice! Today I also discoved that my i-pod doubles as a pocket disco and that its all I need to get my boogie on! Thank goddess for technology!!

reunion with the avocados

Back in avocado land
did you know that I grew up in the avocado capital of the world?
actually, its not quite the avocado capital of the WORLD, but we like to think it is.
my dad's new house actually has an avocado grove
it so avowonderful!!
spent some time with my cousin Darian Starr today
we ate yummie sushi in Temecula and giggled a lot
gave hugs to a beautiful old friend Marti and her stunning family
played fire engine with two five year olds
and met a budding starlet julia
shes six and ready for her close up
ate mole with Tatiana and Blair
on a strict "foods you won't find in Italy diet"
tried to share the brilliant film Pootie Tang with my fam
and then the worst happened, the DVD died
R.I.P Pootie
say sa da tay and feel okay!

san francisco in the rear view mirror

Today I flew from San Francisco to San Diego
It didn't really set in that I was leaving untill
the car ride to the airport
the goodbyes of the last few days sunk in
and the sadness of leaving my favorite place
with my favorite people behind set in
my lovely friend drove me to oakland
as he drove off it became real
the next chapter begins


"This is the beginning.
Almost anything can happen.
This is where you find
the creation of light, a fish wriggling onto land,
the first word of Paradise Lost on an empty page.
Think of an egg, the letter A,
a woman ironing on a bare stage as the heavy curtain rises.
This is the very beginning.
The first-person narrator introduces himself,
tells us about his lineage.
The mezzo-soprano stands in the wings.
Here the climbers are studying a map
or pulling on their long woolen socks.
This is early on, years before the Ark, dawn.
The profile of an animal is being smeared
on the wall of a cave,
and you have not yet learned to crawl.
This is the opening, the gambit,
a pawn moving forward an inch.
This is your first night with her, your first night without her.
This is the first part
where the wheels begin to turn,
where the elevator begins its ascent,
before the doors lurch apart."

Aristotle-Billy Collins

see you soon sf
you are loved

grass valley

The view out my window as I pack my bags for Italy

the journey begins

Today marks the beggining of my journey to understand more about who I am by discovering where my family is from.
More specifically, the Italian side of my family.
Over the last four months I have gone from living in a studio apartment,
to a room in a house,
to a foam mattress on the floor.
Letting go of my attachments to things, and keeping only the things that I'm not ready to give up yet.
Freedom
New Adventures
Letting Go
My heart is full of love for my beautiful home here in San Francisco
My friends who have inspired me and filled my life with joy and love
Saying Goodbye
PAUSE
I will see you again
different, changed, and fresh
The trip begins today, visiting my mom in grass valley, angelic massage with myrah, (my heart chakra is healing)
Papa Jess will be with with me as a spirit guide, he is happy that I am returning to his homeland