Well, I had planned on a big ol' post to show you all the fun things I've been up to, like going to this cool underground art show with some girls from work....
... and going to my roommates' wedding with Kerri...
... and eating the most amazing gelato this side of the Atlantic Ocean (these were cayenne gelato and lime/mint sorbet)....
But I have been recently, some might say suddenly, informed that I get to go to L.A. with one of our editors for a week! I'm very excited....
... and very freaked out. But mostly excited. So, in another week I'll have a big ol' post about that. Until then, stay classy, America.
A couple of weeks ago, Shannon, Kerri and I decided to go to Philly for the weekend. Since car rental was much more expensive for more than 24 hours, we decided to make it super-quick.
We started off at 1:14pm on Saturday and Shannon valiantly volunteered to drive the first shift... the most difficult shift... the shift getting us out of the city. She did what any of us would have done: she panicked, freaked out a bit, made us navigate and guide her, took many deep breaths, and succeeded in driving us to Philly.
Kerri celebrated by getting down in the car with her special summer mix CD, featuring Alicia Keys.
We sadly looked to the fourth seat, empty, which should have been occupied by Jennifer. But she was too busy being in ITALY. Sheesh.
We stopped on the way at a rest stop/shopping area and tried on sunglasses.
Before we knew it (1.5 hours), the City Of Brotherly Love came into view.
We checked into our hotel and were surprised to learn that there was only one big bed.
Shannon was wary.
After cuddling for a few minutes, we arose and saw that Shannon had applied her messy-sexy look.
And I found that my sunglasses had gone a similar route.
We left the hotel to go see the sights. Well, a few of them. We went to a museum and saw this gorgeous, larger-than-life statue outside.
So we had some fun with it.
This was also the museum whose steps were featured in a little flick called "Rocky." So, like every other American who has been there, we mimicked the famous running/rejoicing scene.
Then we headed downtown to South Street, which, for those of you in AZ, or from AZ, is very much like Mill Avenue. Well, Mill Avenue in the late 90s. Sorta indie, sorta hippie, cultural and artsy downtown area. I liked it a lot.
We had pizza at a famous pizza joint. If you click on this pic and open it in its own window, you can see how funny and cantankerous the signs are.
Walking around, we saw lots of cool street scenery.
This was embedded into the asphalt on the road:
That night, we got all dolled up and went out dancing.
Afterward, we went out for some famous cheesesteaks, which are not pictured because I didn't take my camera out with us. But it's no big deal. I didn't really like the cheesesteaks.
The next morning it was already time to leave. We parted from the city misty-eyed.
Goodbye, Philly.
After another short hour and a half, we arrived at the... well, you can see.
We cranked up the New York City-appreciation mix CD and Shannon celebrated as Kerri drove.
... and we arrived at Dollar Rentals at 1:12pm. By the skin of our very noses, I tells ya.
By Saturday our trip was nearly over. We squeezed in a trip to the Bazar Sabado, or Saturday Bazaar for those not in the know. It's an in- and outdoor fair for crafts, food and more!
Sam, Phoebe and Caitlin accompanied us.
They have ALL kinds o' stuff there. Everything you can imagine as far as trinkets go. I was in souvenir heaven.
This face was huge!
This stuff was from a vendor who made little sculptures from found objects... i.e. trash. They were very cool though.
Here are a bunch of masks, similar to the ones in the Stephens' household.
Sam & Phoebe got some for their NYC digs.
They even had freshly-made food at the bazaar.
Dustin bought me a pair of gorgeous bright red earrings (which you can see in the first picture of this post) and I bought myself this bold yellow shirt. Oh so Mexican.
There were some characters there, to be sure.
We all decided it would be a great idea to get some jicama with lime juice & chili powder at the bazaar. It ended up being a terrible idea, but I'll get to that later.
We got home just before Mexico played their last World Cup game. Everyone was dressed for the occasion.
Mexico scored right off the bat and we all rejoiced.
... and then Mexico lost, unfortunately.
That night we went out for a final dinner all together. This restaurant (whose name escapes me) was amazingly beautiful, situated directly across the street from Diego Rivera's studio.
By the time we got there I was so hungry I thought I was going to pass out.
But I immediately ate some bread and we gathered out in the courtyard to have a full family + jenna portrait taken.
Then we all returned to our table and had a feast for kings (and queens).
Dustin and I took a little walk around the hacienda premises and found a little girl's birthday (we assume it was birthday) party.
And this cool gazebo (I have a thing about gazeebos).
This cute statue.
And Dustin took a picture of me beside the fountain out back.
And what would dinner be without seeing how nice the ladies' room is?
It was nice. We came back to the table to find the Stephens clan clowning around.
(Tommy, rock star brother, and Caitlin, actress sister) The ride home was a little crowded.
Later that night, we went to see Dustin's mom. She lived nearby in yet another beautiful house.
I finally got to meet Dustin's mama.
She was very welcoming to us, and even showed me some pictures of Dustin as a five-year-old.
So cute! After our visit, we went home and enjoyed the backyard by night.
The next day, Dustin, Phoebe and I all woke up feeling... how shall we say... under the weather. I think perhaps that the jicama had been soaking in tap water or something and it made us sick. Darn. We had been so good about not drinking the water.
Oh well. It was our final day, and Dustin said goodbye to his beloved rabbit Velvetina.
And the aptly named Sugar.
Dustin almost didn't even make it to the airport. So we traveled with some precautions.
Mr. Louis sat down with us in the airport and had some tea/coffee with us before our flight.
On the plane, Dustin was still fascinated by my peeling sunburn.
I wasn't very excited about flying. In a heartwarming addition to our flying comfort, a family with a handful of children (handful in every sense) made good use of the three empty rows surrounding them (which also happened to be the rows separating us from them). The kids ran around, yelled, played, jumped up and down on the seats... the works.
By the end of our five-hour flight, I was less than amused.
The culprit:
And we also had to watch "Failure to Launch" on the plane. My eyes hurt from rolling for two hours. Besides that, it was a wonderful trip. I finally got to relax, a feat I haven't accomplished in years. I got some fresh culture and got to spend time with a rad family. Each one of the Stephens' family members is smart, vivacious, creative... and kind. They made me feel very welcome and I had a blast in this beautiful city.
On Tuesday morning, we woke up super-early to go to the Teotihuacan pyramid remains. We tagged along on a hotel "turibus" (tour bus) so no one would have to drive us (and so we wouldn't get lost on the way). We met up at in this gorgeous hotel lobby.
Cruising out of town, we realized it was Naked Protest Day.
We stopped along the way at a workshop that crafts trinkets out of obsidian, this beautiful black mineral with swirls of gold in it. This dude was our guide around the workshop, and boy was he hilarious. I think he thought we were on a honeymoon.
He made us drink tequila made from the plants they have on site (which we later regretted, after being in the sun for several hours).
They had a great gift shop.
I bought myself this pretty li'l ring.
We then made our way to the ruins. There was a whole civilization to see. They painted the walls of their stone houses.
Finally we arrived at our Everest. We looked upon the first challenge of the day, the Pyramid Of The Moon.
We climbed with enthusiasm, determined to make it to the top.
But the heightened elevation and steep steps made it difficult... we had to take a few breaks.
Look at how tall these steps are! It was quite a hike, especially for two people who never exercise. But we victoriously made it to the top.
And looked out to the second pyramid, that of The Sun, which was even taller.
But we knew we could do it. We didn't stop to take pictures. We just hiked until we reached the top.
On the way home, we stopped at a little restaurant... actually, I think it was the same place as the workshop... something tells me there was a kickback in there somewhere between the shop and the hotel. But it was cute nonetheless.
Dustin got to quench his thirst.
I fell asleep in the turibus on the way back, and was cranky to know there was yet another stop on the tour. However, I'm glad we did it... it was this church built on a site where, apparently, the Virgin Mary had appeared to this dude and requested a shrine be built for her. The priest didn't believe the dude, so the Virgin Mary gave him a blanket with her image embedded in it. So they built this amazing church, which is now sinking, because Mexico City is built on what's basically a swamp.
John Paul II was the only pope to ever have visited Mexico City, and not only that but he did it 9 times. So they built him a little something too.
The church is under renovation (because of all the sinking) but it was still beautiful inside.
While it's being renovated, they built a temporary church. It was very different, much more modern.
Had awesome stained glass.
And it had the famous blanket on display... and far from anyone's reach. Apparently the Virgin Mary was astoundingly artistic, especially for an apparition.
The gift shop was totally stocked. It reminded me of the knick-knacks from The Empire State Building. And the whole trip was guided by this terrific man. He explained everything to us in Spanish, English, and French.
The next day we went to Diego Rivera's studio/house.
We were only allowed to go into a couple of rooms. But it was quite interesting to see the artist's space.
And he had a fabulous staircase. Then we went to the coolest place in all of Mexico City...
... it was enveloped by bold, bright colors....
Frida Kahlo's house.
They wouldn't let us take pictures inside, so we took a million outside. But the inside was full of her paintings, and paintings of her, and her journals. You could see the brightness of her personality and the vivaciousness of her relationship with Diego all over the place. It was sad, inspiring, and absolutely beautiful.
Here are pictures of their backyard.
You get the point. We, of course, attended the gift shop.
Luckily they had some postcards of the house's interior. They don't do it any justice, but it's better than nothing at all.
The dining room: Frida's bedroom (and brace): Following the theme, we visited the house that Leon Trotsky stayed in when he lived near Frida & Diego. The museum was filled with protest art.
We took a bunch of pictures there but I don't have them on me at the moment. There was one of the sparse kitchen and bedroom the Trotskys inhabited, and one quite darkly humorous one of me surrounded by the bullet holes, angelically....
But for some reason this was the only one I could find at the moment.
I wanted to see more churches, so we went to this one. I don't remember the name.
The interior was vaulted and dramatic.
Outside, we soaked up the culture in a little town square.
The Mexican Flintstones:
We went into a little shop and I was blown away by these gorgeous lamps:
Then we got some famous ice cream.
I had tamarind sorbet. Dustin had some kind of berry that he didn't like.
On the way home, I saw the Oscar de la Renta outlet and just about peed my pants.
When we got home, we found that Dustin's other brother, Louis-Jose, had arrived from Los Angeles.
We celebrated the weather by having an outdoor lunch.
Poor Caitlin had just had some teeth removed. Her usual fiery spunk was nowhere to be found.
That night, Dustin chilled with Sugar...
... while I chilled with my torturous pyramid sunburn.
Sigh. This is a lot of stuff to cover. Okay, so the next day we went to this art museum (which is also sinking).
It was guarded by sculptures of heroism and godliness.
There was art inside.
However, in the middle of our art appreciation, there was a fire drill. How weird is that?
People just milled around the square.
But D. and I got active and went exploring. We found a really old church and thought, hey what the heck. You can never have too much God, right?
All of the churches we visited in Mexico were unbelievably ornate, usually decorated with gold or at least gold leaf. This was no exception.
And they really know how to do ceilings.
Aren't confession booths fascinating?
They got St. Francis In A Box.
Outside, the courtyard, filled with modern sculptures, was set off by the backdrop of crumbling structures.
(This one got a little friendly.) There was some great people-watching to be done.
We headed back to the museum in hopes of completing our art-viewing mission. I had to stop at the fountain and appreciate its design.
I went to the ladies' room and loved the lighting.
As I was waiting for Dustin, I looked around and started taking pictures.
... of pretty much everything that caught my fancy.
We ended our visit with a tour of the El Greco room.
Next we went to... you guessed it! Another church! I don't know why, but I just find them so interesting... architecturally, artistically, aesthetically, culturally. This particular one was the biggest one I've ever seen, I think.
And minutely detailed.
This one was also under renovation.
Dustin and I had a quiet slow-dance near the altar, and this woman politely reprimanded us, asking us to stop because "this is a place of respect."
Then we went to... this other place... my memory's already failing me. I think it's some kind of national building. Government building. It might be called The National Building. I dunno.
It was muralized by Diego Rivera himself.
On the way home, we saw many an interesting sight against the just-about-to-rain sky.
We came home to another picnic.
The last Stephens sibling, the lovely Mrs. Phoebe Linder, had arrived with hubby Sam in tow. She modeled Maggi sauce for us.
It was Louis & Karen's 21st anniversary. Louis surprised her with flowers and new earrings.
We all celebrated with pounds upon pounds upon pounds of Mexican candy.
Okay, one more day. We didn't do much all Friday, it was another relaxing day. We had lunch in the fancy dining room.
And then ALL NINE OF US got into the pool and played games. This is where the Stephens competetive spirit came into play like crazy. Every action to be done in the pool became a contest. "Hey, look, I walk around the pool on my hands!" became the prevailing contest of the night, followed by a swimming race, followed by who could get out of the pool without using their hands the fastest (ahem... I was the reigning champ on that one). It was my favorite part of the whole trip.
... followed by one more game of Dictionary, which Caitlin won by a mile.
One more post, to come next week. If you read this whole thing, I thank you. I commend you. I did it just for you.
Alright, here we go.... it's going to be broken up into a few parts because it's taken me three days to do just this first part... I don't want to do a gigantic post and I know you don't want to spend three hours looking at my blog. That would be the modern equivalent of having you over to my house to see slides of my vacation.
So we left on Saturday morning, early, and spent an hour in the check-in line. It was totally rockin'. Once aboard the plane, I tried to control my anxiety and fear of flying while Dustin hopped into the empty row behind us to take a 4-hour nap.
Despite fear, I always must admit that being above it all is beautiful.
Dustin woke up and did his impression of Jesus.
We landed and were grateful to be picked up by Dustin's dad, the wonderful Louis Stephens. He took us home and we had a much-needed lunch. I swear, it was the best salami sandwhich I've ever had.
Then Mr. Louis (as I've come to call him) took us up to his studio to see his oeuvre of art.
These were my two favorites, of many.
While Louis rooted around looking for paintings to show us, Dustin and I goofed off, as we do.
I love the texture of paint; sometimes I feel that palettes themselves are artistic in their own right, the colors blending and forming sculptural mounds.
I found myself wishing that I had an entire room in which just to paint. Mr. Stephens had this place filled with books and decades of collection for found-object art and painting inspiration.
We returned to the main house to find this adorable literary pair, Dustin's stepmom Karen and brother Tommy. The family that reads together stays together, no?
Later that night, we got a li'l hungry and walked down their beautiful Mexican street...
... To a little place called Taco Inn. It was DELICIOUS.
Dustin's family has... much character.
(that's his sister Caitlin, by the way). The next day, Dustin and I took a trip to the local archaelogical museum. We hopped in the car and I saw something I'd never before seen: Dustin driving.
The first song we heard on the radio was, ironically enough, "New York, New York" as we cruised the freeway. Don't worry, Mom, I didn't drive at all the whole trip.
What you've heard about corrupt police over the border is, unfortunately, true. We got pulled over and hosed by a cop that made Dustin pay him 700 pesos (that's $70 to you, Gringo) to avoid the bunk ticket he threatened to give us. I wanted so badly to take a picture of the cop talking to Dustin, but didn't want to make things worse if he caught me, so I didn't.
They wrote this thing on his hand so that, if he got pulled over later that day, they would know he's already paid off at least one cop that day.
We got to the museum safely though, and it was a lovely building.
With a rad fountain. And cool ceilings. They had a hologram showing us that regardless of race, we all have skulls.
There was this artist's rendition of early peoples doing caveman activities. This one of childbirth really caught my attention.
We saw all kinds of cool art and artifacts from civilizations before us, including the Teotihuacanos and Tenochticlan (I hope I'm spelling it right).
This was a calendar... so they think.
After awhile, we just had to start impersonating the artifacts.
Emerging from the museum, we saw that a crowd had gathered in the park area. There were vendors of all sorts.
The aforementioned crowd:
They were watching the Los Voladores De Papampla, which is a group of men in ceremonial dress and song....
... who climb up this huge pole, unharnessed...
... and twist on this thing until it's taut....
..... and then swing, dangling, all the way down.
Pretty interesting. Then we went home and had dinner with the fam.
And, it being Father's Day, gave Mr. Louis some giftos.
The next day was a chill-out day. The main reason for our visit was because the Stephenses are renting out the house and moving to NYC, so the kids had to come home to go through all of their childhood stuff and decide what to keep and what to bestow upon the needy and the eBayers. So that was just what we did on chill-out day.
Dustin got to take a trip down memory lane with some old yearbooks.
Awww! (I don't even recognize him without the facial hair.)
Here he is, showing off his sensitive inner child with an old Cabbage Patch Doll.
Look at all this stuff that the orphans and the eBayers will inherit!
That afternoon Louis was invited to see this up-and-coming artist's studio and works-in-progress. He invited Dustin and me to tag along, and we were pretty sure we were gonna get lost when we saw him peering at the map so intently.
While he figured it out, Dustin and young Thomas played a quick game of Ping Pong.
Tommy won, much to Dustin's chagrin. This was just an inkling of the Stephens' siblings competetive nature (more on that later).
So off we went.
We absorbed the culture all around on the way. This was shortly before the presidential elections, so the city was teeming with propaganda in every direction.
This little flower stand was pretty.
I noticed that almost all of the cabs in Mexico City were little green VW Bugs. It amused me, but I guess it's only as weird as having thousands of yellow taxis in a city.
We even saw Jesus on the way.
I couldn't stop taking pictures of everything!
We arrived at Claudia's place and she showed us her studio area. It was airy and lovely, like pretty much everything else in Mexico City.
She showed us her art.
It was very interesting. She frequently used the theme of... well, let's say rapture. More specifically, the facial expressions resulting from rapture. She researches certain situations and then makes a series of paintings meditating on the situation. There was one of fans at a soccer game, one of a church mass led by a lucho libre wrestler/priest, and this one of a faith healer.
... and some other ones that aren't postable on a family site, but well-executed nevertheless.
And they're so small! .... but she was working on some big ones too.
It was pretty cool to have it all broken down for us by the artist herself. She was sweet and very welcoming to us.
And her apartment was beautiful. Just look at this ceiling!
More paint textures... She had, like, 20 cats and kittens though, and I, and my sinuses, were none too pleased.
(Even though they were pretty darn adorable.)
After Claudia's, we came home and Dustin whipped up some snacks.
I had jicama in the Mexican style for the first time... sliced up and covered in lime juice and chili powder.
It's like, whoa. A flavor explosion. Doesn't it look delectable?
I couldn't resist the juice. Whilst eating the jicama, we played a little game called Dictionary. You may also know it as Balderdash. It was fun for us nerds. You get a, you guessed it, dictionary, and pick out a word that of which none of the players know the definition. Each person writes down a fake definition, except the reader, who writes down the real definition. Each definition is read out loud and you vote for whichever you think is the real one. If you guess correctly or if someone guesses your definition, you get a point.
It's fun. Each of the Stephens children is not only smart, but creative as well. So it was a fun challenge.
Dustin won that night, but only by a half point, which I lost by not being able to control my giggles, which gave away one of Tommy's fake definitions.
That's all for this post. Coming up: Pyramids, outdoor bazaars, and swimming competitions, oh my!
... and very freaked out. But mostly excited. So, in another week I'll have a big ol' post about that. Until then, stay classy, America.
... and very freaked out. But mostly excited. So, in another week I'll have a big ol' post about that. Until then, stay classy, America.
