adrienne-is

I had one of those intense life flashback moments built for afternoon cinema on the TV today. I’d just finished eating a delicious breakfast made by my husband-to-be and started in my duty of doing the dishes. The hot water from the faucet was pouring down on my hands as I circled around-and-around the plate with the sponge. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. Although I knew I should have cut the water off, I couldn’t. It kept running along with my memory and I was trapped in a flashback.

My mind had placed me back 11 years past. The clothes I wore-I could see them exactly and I could feel them against my skin. Even at this very moment I can remember the exact blend of the fabric – 65% cotton/35% linen. Not all that unusual for someone who spent their after-school hours around other people’s dirty laundry. My blouse was a sleeveless button up with a collar and white. My bottoms were typically khaki colored skirts, shorts and sometimes pants. This was my uniform at the dry cleaners, my first real job ever during high school.

He was a clean-cut gentleman, twelve years my senior and a patron at my job. He might have been in a time or two before the day he dropped off his business slacks for cleaning and politely asked if we could exchange contact information. A bit shocked, I inquired whether he knew my age or thought differently about my youthful appearance? What was his angle? Where was he going or did he want to go? Did he not know I had a boyfriend at my high school who I was insanely in love with?

My hands were starting to turn into fleshy, shriveled, human raisins, signaling it was time to cut off the running water I’d been wasting and snap-to. Still, I was there in the memory. Then I thought that if I could return to the past how I’d like to go in his shoes. And forgive me if this sounds a bit narcissistic, but I’d want to meet myself fully dressed and ready to dry clean your clothes-his clothes. I’d like to see his perspective of me.

Never ever did I think he’d be the one I would be marrying soon. Did I not mention how madly and wild I was for my teenage love? Did I ever see it coming? Could I have imagined or dreamed it? No.

Does it feel good? Yes.

Work has been sucking up my time and energy which is why I haven’t been here much. Also, in case you didn’t already know, when I’m not traveling I don’t feel as if there is really a whole lot to say. I’m usually busy planning travel to have something to come back and say. Ho-hum.

As of the moment I am fighting an itchy, drowsy right-eye (imagine a pink-eyed monster) and I should be crawling into my bed soon. Just trying to catch a little bit of the Grammy’s and finish up some emails before calling it quits. Seriously wishing for more time in a day and that this update wasn’t so lame. I just wanted tot pop in and let you know that even with a bum eye, I’m still sexy. Just kidding.

On a very serious note, I have been working quite a bit, planning my teeny-tiny destination wedding, prepping to be a bridesmaid for a friend’s wedding, struggling to keep up with my Farsi studies and trying to stick to my fitness routine (more running and core). Okay, it is past my bedtime. I love you all.

This whole getting marriage thingie has me thinking about the future a lot. More than I’d like to, to be quite honest. Decisions, descisions, decisions…

Men ride inside and atop of a tap-tap down the road in Haiti. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

If God is love or if he ever knew love, it wouldn’t seem so for many of us based off the way he repeatedly torments Haiti. Trust though that there are people so devastated and bewildered by the recent quakes that God’s love and prayer are the only two things they have left. So for us out here watching on CNN, BBC, and various other broadcast networks, I don’t think they would want us to stop our prayer or hope for relief. However, prayer with action is extremely powerful and if your heart moves you, take action.

I recently rallied everyone to vote for a travel piece I wrote on Trazzler about Haiti. With just a few clicks from friends, friends-of-friends and strangers, I was able to win the contest. I wrote my piece on Haiti hoping to give others a glimpse at the country as a desirable travel destination. When I heard this news, I couldn’t even watch it on TV. I didn’t want to imagine it; that the poorest country in the western hemisphere had been hit by a 7.0 earthquake. (Pause) Now, I’m asking you to join me in taking action for something bigger. Don’t just join a fan page on some social network. Don’t just say “poor Haiti.” You can do something even if it is small.

1. If donating money isn’t an option for you at this time try putting a care package together. Look in your closet for clothing to donate or assemble hygiene kits. Imagine the things you’d NEED if you’d lost everything in an earthquake and were homeless.

2. If donating money is an option for you (even if it is as small as $5) do it! Many of us are weary about forking over money to agencies. (Myself included.) There will be many accepting your funds to help Haiti. Do your research if needed and commit to giving something. Yele, Habitat for Humanity, and the Fuller Center for Housing are three organizations, I will be watching personally and collaborating with if possible. Note: The links above take you to relief projects specifically for Haiti.

3. Spread the word. Post ways of getting involved or donating on your Myspace, Facebook, Twitter feed or write a blog.

4. Hope, pray and continue to keep Haiti in your thoughts over the coming weeks when the next big news story wipes it off the headlines. Oh, and take action.

God is love.

There are so many places I need and want to be this year. I’ll be working my tail off until end of March to allow for some extended time play-time later down the road. As of right now there will be no travel prior to April. Boo!! Here’s a look beyond April.

April: Hawai’i for a week
May: Los Angeles, CA for a week
June: Montana for four or five days
September: Nigeria (wishful thinking and hopes of meeting my fiance’s family)
October: Ethiopia for a two week Global Village project

What else? Well, I have FF miles to burn and would like to get a little more island action on or maybe check out some of those famous European cities (like Paris) which I have evaded for some time now. I think the list above makes my planning plate pretty full at the moment so I suppose I better focus on the above first, especially Montana! Eek!

I wasn’t even going to entertain this, especially since the talented Jaime Case Ford beat me to expressing similar engagement ring sentiments in her witty Wedding Road Trip blog. However, a good number of you have requested a photo of my engagement ring and so here it is. The text around the ring is in Latin and says, “Nostrum iunctum est Sarcalogos.” (Our unity is Christ.) I had some time on my hands today and decided a quick snapshot wouldn’t hurt anyone. STILL – it is just a ring and since Jaime said it so perfectly on her blog, I’m going to have to ask you kindly to leave my blog and read this.

Welcome! Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Funny how some free attractions can offer far more to the visitor than those which charge a fee. TECO’s (Tampa Electric Company) Manatee Viewing Center is certainly worth getting off I-75 at Big Bend Rd to check out. Now that I’m practically in the neighborhood and with temperatures being a cool 41 or so degrees outside this morning, it all made perfect sense: go see the sea cows! Oh, and did I mention the attraction is free?

It’s hard to imagine why any creature would spend the winter soaking in waters beside industrial smoke stacks, but apparently the manatees like warm water. (And apparently the water temperature today was in the 60’s.) There are plenty of manatees floating around and unless they pop their heads up for air, their backs resemble large stones in the water. The best place to spot them is from the large observation deck where other marine life can also be seen.

Smoke stacks, smoke stacks, manatees, manatees, smoke stacks, manatees. Photos: Adrienne C. Wilson

If you watch them long enough they do back flips in the water just like whales do. I kid. A manatee will not be twirling in air, but there are some fish springing from the water. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

Yup, that’s me. I practically rolled out of bed, strapped on my camera bags and ran out the house. It was sort of a now or never situation in joining my mother. Please donate to the sea cows. Photo: The Mothership

When you can’t feel your hands anymore and it gets too cold, go inside to the museum to warm up and read up not only on the manatees, but on TECO as well. The museum isn’t huge, but it has enough information for adults and enough entertainment for children to keep everyone please for at least a good 20 minutes or less. Inside the museum, I learned that genetically, a manatees is closely related to an elephant, ardvark, and hyrax. That’s super crazy considering they all looking almost nothing alike.

Manatee bones in the museum. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

If you’ve got the time to kill continue outside of the museum and down the trail to see more of nature’s splendor like red mangroves, coastal berm, and various bird life. My mother and I took to the tidal trail, but my battery didn’t have much more go and so it died. Next time, Gadget, next time.

A solid number of dresses were tried on today (not all pictured here) and by the end of the three hour fitting, I was really starting to enjoy myself. The key word there is, “end.” Accompanied by my mother, her friend Linda (the woman who drove my mom to the hospital when she was prego with me) and my high school friend, Chinyere, I did my best to play into that moment of extreme excitement over a dress. The thing is, I’m very easy to please and there were so many beautiful gowns making it difficult to choose just one. As my mother’s luck would have it — the very dress I turned my nose up at on the hanger is more than likely the one I’ll be wearing on the day I say, “I do.” Leave it to my mom to have impeccable taste.

So which dress did I choose? Well, you’ll have to wait and find out. :p In the meanwhile you can take a peek at some of the other gowns that had previously won me over. It was this Nere Emiko Beth Elis piece that made my heart start beating 20,000 beats per minute. It was the same piece that almost made my heart stop when I found out the price starts at $4,000. Jenny Packham, a UK based designer, has plenty of dresses that make my mouth water and tears run from my bank account. If I were a rich girl without a conscious and there were no people starving on the planet anywhere… Sigh. Lastly, these three J. Crew pieces also were in the running: one, two, and three. (For dress number three click to start the Spring 2010 look book and the first dress in the look book is one I was digging as well.)

And so the elopement planning continues…

I’m calling 2009 “The Hodge Podge Year,” because there is really no better way to describe it. From work to play it is obvious I was all over the place. (Still not sure how I feel about the year, but it is over now.) There was definitely a lot of downtime and my working the occasional promo gig. My personal achievements were small and many (in my own eyes) and in regards to money, I’ve never been more of a starving artist, vagabond and humanitarian than I was this year. None the less — I love my confetti like life.

I thought about doing a month to month review, but have decided to list by categories instead.

WORK: This is what makes 2009 feel most off-beat. I didn’t work as much as I would have liked to and I dabbled in a few new things. As stated above there were the usual local promotional jobs which included Nestea events at the Rays games, the MacDill AFB Airshow, AT&T at the fair in Miami, AT&T at SEC in Tampa, and other day stints across the Tampa Bay area.

Over the summer I worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate at the Homeless Coalition in Hillsborough County. This proved very challenging on the pocketbook, but highly rewarding and eye-opening. I surveyed the homeless population with other VISTA members and helped to put on the Homeless Health Fair in partnership with the VA. The event went really well and the attendance was up from previous years, which means more individuals in need were serviced.

Aside from the above I spent a little time at the Census bureau and now I’m working for a temp agency until my assignment ends in March 2010.

TRAVELS: This is the one area that seems pretty constant. I went out and about to various locales for many different reasons.

1. D.C. / Maryland: In town to work a promo during the inauguration of Barack Obama. I had my first book signing in Wheaton, MD and got to see Adele in concert in addition to visiting the Manifest Hope art gallery. Very good semi laid-back times minus the super cold temps.

2. New York / New Jersey: I went up to visit my friend Tyne and her newborn baby girl. While in town I had my second book signing at the Sister’s Uptown bookstore in Harlem and saw many good friends on my short trip.

3. Rome, Italy: My friend Muna wanted to celebrate her birthday in one of her dream destinations and I was happy to celebrate with her. We spent a week in Rome and saw a number of ruins, museums, basilicas, catacombs, and graffiti. My best memories in Rome were created by the couch surfers who hosted us. Let me not forget the GELATO.

4. Charleston, S.C.: During this trip I had two book signings and got to spend a little time with my family. I took the Amtrak train up from Tampa into Charleston, which made my first (long) domestic train ride.

5. Toronto, ON: For my birthday getaway I decided to cash in my FF miles with US Airways and head up to the north. I had a really great time with my hosts Sara and Davoud. Toronto is a great city I’d love to explore more of in the near future. It certainly put the taste in my mouth for more Canada travel. Here are some of my favorite photos from my trip.

6. New Orleans, LA: Since I couldn’t make it to my friend’s wedding I decided to pop into town for a pre-wedding visit. Had loads of fun visiting my girls from the 6th and 7th grade. Nothing like a little reunion.

7. Key West, FL: Just a little R&R session with my sweetie for a few days. Nice place to photograph, but a bit boring if you’re not into drinking and water sports. I did dig the food a lot!

8. Nairobi / Kisii, Kenya: Spent 17 days in Kenya as a Team Leader for a Global Village project in Kisii, Kenya. It was a hard trip for me, but a much needed experience. You can read more about the trip here.

LOVE: After two years of dating and 11 years of friendship, my significant other decided to ask me to marry him on October 24, 2009. My answer was, “yes” and now I am trying to plan a small ceremony for the two of us in 2010. For those who may have missed our engagement photos you can find them here. I don’t think I should have to say this, but it was a definitely a highlight in this hodge podge year.

LOSS: A good friend of mine passed away in September and he is missed very much. Of course I feel as if it was too soon for him to leave his family and friends, but I am sure there is a bigger reason and needs for him in the heavens. This was probably the first loss in my adult life that really had an impact on me. He was a truly remarkable human being.

SUCCESSES: Whether I became my dream or not — I’m not certain. I did dream a lot. I set small goals and in retrospect accomplished a great many with very little resources aside from a great network of family / friends.

–I was blessed enough to do several book events outside the state of Florida and a few here at home. I shared stories about my family and listened to strangers tell me about their long lost relatives. (So incredibly feel-good.) For the first full year of promoting my children’s book, “Isaac and the Bah Family Tree,” I’d say I did a fairly good job. I just have to keep writing and keep pushing.

–The pages in my first grade Persian book are almost at their end which means I’ll be entering second grade Persian. I don’t think I am perfectly ready yet, but that is what these first few weeks in the New Year are all about. STUDY!

–Although my digital cameras didn’t get much love this year, I did a lot of Lomography and they keep getting better and better.

Officially signing out for 2009. Happy New Year all!