leaving tomorrow...

I'm so excited... Yesterday, I called the airlines every 2 hours with no changes.. Then, this morning I called again and got a flight out to Turkey tomorrow... yay!! I hope, it's smooth flying from here.

I'm hoping to continue this travel part of my blog from Turkey, so, we will see how easy that is. The jewelry there is supposed to be fantastic!! And I would love to show you picts..

Our journey is planned like this.. Antalya (on the coast), Konya (a little north, where Rumi died), then to Cappadocia, the "fairy towers" of sandstone, i am soooooooooo excited about that place.. we will end our trip with a few days in Istanbul and I will stay on for a few more after that..

yay!! thanks for all your support and listening to me whine about something I could not change or do anything about.

update: ideas & opportunites

Ok, so my whining has slowed down and I am regulating my emotions a bit better this evening, but I am still pissed at Eyjafjallajokull even with all it's beauty spewing from the depths of the earth!!


photo by Neal Karlinsky


I am amongst many millions of people being put out over the last few days and I can hardly say I'm being put out... More like put on hold, from the confines of my own home (and yes, to me they are confines)... If I can't get to Turkey, which at this point does not look good, I will make other plans since I've already rearranged my life for the next two weeks and I am a die hard traveler, super die hard...

So, does anyone have any good ideas? I thought maybe I would go visit my mother-in-law for a few days, because we were supposed to travel to Turkey together. And then go to Hawaii!!

Or, I could drive down the coast of California and go to Esalen for a few days or go to NYC....or even Mexico... The ideas are endless really.

I am blessed with this life and feel so lucky and happy to have been given the opportunities I have, and made the choices I have with those opportunities..

DAMN YOU VOLCANO!!!

So, my degree is in geology and I did want to study volcanology, but I'm a little bit pissed off at that damn volcano in Iceland.... My flight to Turkey is cancelled and I can't get out of here until a week from now, which leaves me almost no time in Turkey.... So, I just need to bitch..

I know my life is awesome and I know I just got back from India and I know I've just had 2 glasses of wine and I know I have nothing to be complaining about in my life....BUT, GOD DAMN YOU STUPID VOLCANO... Didn't you know, I had plans to go to the coast and swim amongst the Roman ruins? Didn't you know I had plans to go to Cappadocia?


Didn't you know I love adventures and that I planned on having several over the next 16 days? Seriously, didn't you know that I live to travel, and travel to live?? Didn't you know that?

So, I'm stuck here in Seattle, with blue skies today (thank you God for that), not crying (yet), but whining in a kind of major way...

I'm trying to figure out how to get to Barcelona or Morocco or somewhere else that is not here... been on the phone for hours and wish so badly I had been on the same flight as my husband who will be flying into Istanbul in a few hours...

Grrrrrrr.....

my first moments in India... journal excerpt 09.24.1999

Many years later, I now realize how completely auspicious my first day in India was 11 year ago.






09.24.1999

MY FIRST DAY IN INDIA.
I made it safely woo hoo!! I inhaled and felt something familiar.. The smells, the sights, wow! I'm on sensory overload. The men wear these drab tan and gray clothes and then a woman will walk by with the most beautiful sari. Really the colors are so fantastic, they glow on their beautiful dark skin.

Arrived at the airport everything went extremely smoothly. I shared a taxi with some other travellers. The 30 minute ride to Colaba was full of sights... My first observations were the poverty, the pollution, dirt, and these beautiful women.

I took a nap at the YWCA (my guesthouse for the first few nights) and went out to get some food. The first thing I ate in India was a masala dosa...I met some other travellers and wandered around with them trying to look for the market with clothing. So, we walked and walked. Finally, we made it to where we wanted to be and all the shops were closed. Oh well. So we walked some more and came across these people splattered with hot pink powder and the streets were covered with it as well. We followed the trail of pink and eventually came upon a celebration for Ganesha (the elephant looking God) There was a huge parade and people were dancing and singing and playing the drums. The procession lead down to the Sea where they put thelarge statues of Ganesh. I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MANY PEOPLE IN MY LIFE!! Today was the last day of a 10 day festival celebrating Ganesh and it was amazing.

It was a spectacular first day in India. I made it back to my hotel room. Life is good, it's time to sleep.




It turned out to be Ganesh Chaturthi, the Hindu festival for Ganesha, the elephant God of new beginnings, he removes obstacles and is worshiped at the start of many things. For instance, at the beginning of your work day or the beginning of a new business. For me, I did not know any of this at the time. I actually knew almost nothing about India, but somehow I landed in Mumbai on that auspicious day. The day that changed my life forever, my first day in India. The last day of the festival and the most festive of them all, the large statue of Ganesha is paraded through the streets along with dancing and singing. It is then submerged in the sea symbolizing a ritual see-off of the Lord in his journey towards his home in Kailash while taking with him the misfortunes of his devotees.

giving back... with sacred jewels

Kathy and I spent a whirlwind few days in Jaipur scouring the market and when we came upon these sacred pendants, we looked at each other and sighed.



These are oxidized silver discs hand-painted (in 22k gold) with hands and feet, a symbol of respect in India. This is a revered symbol all over the world meaning different things to different cultures, but even without meaning, they are awesome!!!

With all that India has given both of us, we want to give back. So, with the purchase of one of these beautiful pendants, we will give a portion of the sale to this wonderful organization, an orphanage near Jaipur in India. We only have 28 pieces left!!!



Each pendant with a 18" chain is: $108

there are three styles
1. 28mm X20mm oval feet pendant
2. 28mm circle hand pendant
3. 28mm circle feet pendant

Contact me if you are interested in one of these special necklaces!!

new goodies at Essenza

Thanks to all who stopped by our trunk show last Saturday, it was a very fun girls day... also thank you to our host Jennifer (you should check out her hilarious blog)

I just got back from delivering lots of new goodies to Essenza. They have a nice new collection of my gold from this year, a beautiful star ruby ring, a Mexican fire agate ring, plus much more including one Ganesha necklace, one Shiva necklace, one lakshmi necklace and one elis... Stop in and check them out, it is such an amazing store!!



Also, Les Amis will be carrying some of the scarves we bought in India...

India Feb. 17, 2000.... an old journal excerpt

UPDATE on an older blog post from 2010, but this is really about a journal entry from Feb. 2000: Now it's been 17 years and I just saw this post again... I wanted to share a little from my first time in India... It changed my life forever and I still feel the same 17 years later... Sigh....


It's been 11 years since I first started going to India. And oh how I love her. Her people, her energy, and her spirit have given so much joy, so much growth as well as a lot tears and bugs in my tummy, but we won't focus on that...

It was February 2000, I was 24 years old and so sick with amoebic dysentary. And sitting on the rooftop of my guesthouse in Dharamsala, thinking.... writing... wondering...

Here is an excerpt from my journal over 10 years ago, it was about one month before I was going to leave India after traveling there for 6 months:

February 17, 2000

"It makes me so sad when I think about leaving India. It's less than a month now and to think of all I have learned and experienced in the last 8 months.. Wow!! I realize it's just the beginning. I have so many ideas and dreams. I know the only way they will happen is if I make them. 'Everything is possible' as they say here in India.

I'm sitting on the rooftop of my guesthouse enjoying the mountains, the sun and the breeze. The air is clean and sweet as the mountains over power in the distance. How do I describe these feelings of happiness? I hope they don't fade with the new territory. I need to take all I've learned, seen, and experienced on this journey and make my life complete.

After 8 months of traveling alone, I know I have courage to conquer the challenges that lie ahead. The life here is easy, but the initial shock was not, getting through all that, helped me to develop a sense of empowerment which I hope continues.

I need to take this trip to another level, reach out and inform, support and push people to live their dreams. As I wrote to my parents last night. 'I am a dreamer. Their are few in this world who have the opportunities or courage to live their dreams, but the people I know who do, have few regrets and enjoy. And to me that's what this life on earth is all about... Being happy!!'

We tend to get caught up in the day to day and forget to live. We wake up each morning to a routine, not to a new day. Everyday is special and different, we must not forget that.

These are the things I need to remember when I return to the pressures of living in the United States."

For me, it's fun to read my old journal entries and go back to what I was thinking then as a 24 year old. The thoughts that swept my mind. And how some things change and others don't.. In my next few blog entries. I am going to find a few more of these and post for you to read. Plus, I have exciting new jewelry.. We are selling it with the idea of giving back. So stay tuned!