Around the World and Back Again

Ok, so finally the blog about the trip to VA and back (I’ll save the reunion blog for later). I must admit – it will be a pretty boring entry and that is a very good thing. Bottom line is that Cora wasn’t too bad on the trip and we had NO meltdowns – so at least we weren’t “those people” on the flight.

We knew it was going to be a long day of travel. Basically we had to be at the airport by 9:30 for our 10:30 flight. We then had a two hour flight (ish) to Detroit, followed by a 45 minute lay-over and another 2 hour flight into Roanoake. After getting to Roanoake we would have to get our luggage and then pick up our rental car and then drive two hours to get to Nellysford. Oy vey. Lets just say I did not have very high hopes and imagined an very angry screaming, fed up baby on the drive if not before.

Well I am happy to report that both on the way there and on the way back Coco slept on the 2 hour drive, and the first flight. She was awake both times on the final flight but was still a good girl – we just had to keep her entertained. In fact on the flight back into Des Moines it was another mother’s little one who threw the 40 minute screaming fit. I felt terrible for her (she was traveling alone with her little one) but so relieved that it wasn’t us!

We had a few grump-ifying experiences. One, none of the airline gate attendants would allow us to use Cora’s carseat even when there was an empty seat (or on some flights, many seats) available. Sooo poor Ryan had to lug the carseat carrier around for two days for no good reason. Two, we had a rude family in the row in front of us on the flight back into Des Moines (allowed the kids to listen to DVD’s without headsets thus blaring the movie Garfield to the whole cabin, refused to spend anytime interacting with their own kids – too busy reading books, and once when Coco dropped her paci and it rolled up the aisle in between the husband and wife, they just looked at the paci and turned away causing Ryan to unbelt himself and try to grope up the aisle for it.) Nothing horrible – just bad manners (which are, unfortunately, so prevalent these days).

So all in all a good trip and a huge relief. I don’t think we’ll be making our trip to Paris anytime soon unless we somehow spring for First Class, but at least I wouldn’t be daunted in the slightest to make a short trip to Chicago or Denver with the munchkin now!

Yes, Please

Every time I think that I'm getting a little on the hefty side I start my usual diet-o-the-week. In order to have motivation (and visualization - which my holistic sister will tell you is very important) to stay on task I usually take a picture of what I want to end up like and put it up in prominent places (bathroom mirror, refrigerator door, etc). I've used everything from the Victoria's Secret Swimsuit catalog to a Target Ad. Just whatever I find that motivates me.

A few months ago I was flipping through some magazine or other in some waiting room (can't even remember where!) and I came across an amazing Rolex Ad. I realized that I was going about this all wrong. I had been pulling out ads of airbrushed L.A. beauties half my age and then, when in two weeks I wasn't their mirror image I got discouraged. The ad was of the most amazing silver-haired woman I'd ever seen. I realized that instead of thinking about how I

wanted to look 15 years ago, perhaps it was better to imagine what I want to aspire to years down the road - realizing that if I didn't act now, I'd never get there.

I wanted to pull out the ad, but since it was not my magazine (and since there were witnesses around) I didn't. I tried later to Google it, but not knowing the model's name it was hopeless. There are a bajillion hits for "Rolex watch magazine ad". Bummer. But then, as I sat in my tiny cabin this past weekend with my sister, I was leafing through her Town & Country and there she was! It was a Taryn Rose shoe ad and not only was I free to rip that baby right out, it actually talked about the model so I also had her name.

I've since done some research and found out the woman who, for me, holds the key to beauty in aging is named Carmen Dell'Orefice. She is an American model who holds the title of the longest continually working model in history. While that unfortunately makes her sound like an ancient John Deere, she is far from. As I Googled and Wiki'ed her for more info I was amazed at how beautiful she was (and always had been). So, ladies and gentlemen, THIS is my new aspiration. Not to look like an 18 year old now, but to aspire to look something like this as I age. Now I am quite aware that I don't have ice blue eyes, or cheekbones like knives. That's not the point. The point is that it is not impossible to say trim, fashionable, and beautiful as you age. Oh, and in case you're curious, Ms. Dell'Orefice is currently 77 years old.

The Ad that Inspired me

The Ad I Rediscovered

Some other beautiful photos