It took 33 hours to get there because of a delay due to the Iceland Volcano Ash, but once in Ireland, we had a grand time. We started the week with the Irish wedding, which was a blast. Ursula looked gorgeous, and Johnny looked quite cool with his braided mohawk.

Boy, do the Irish know how to have a good time! The wedding started at 2:30 pm, and was going strong when we snuck out at midnight, exhausted. Johnny told us the wedding would go until 5 am! I secretly pointed the camera through Ron’s arm to get this shot of all the empty beer glasses.

After a fun wedding and a good night’s sleep, we took off in our rented car to see the countryside. We used one guidebook the entire trip, “Back Roads of Ireland,” that I got at Costco for about $8. Worth every penny! We spent three days and did about ten of the drives in the book. It advised to take two to three days for each drive, but we found it quicker than that. Plus, we didn’t stop at every ruin or monastery the book recommended. Ron drove the entire trip, thank God. (I offered to drive, but he wouldn’t have it!)

Had to get used to the steering wheel on the right side of the car. Ron did a great job driving on the left side of the road!

Ireland has LOTS of cows.

And gorgeous scenery. This is the Cliffs of Moher, which is petitioning to become one of the seven wonders of the world.

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A typical roadside scene.

Beautiful seaside villages. This is the town of Cabh.

Adorable Bed and Breakfasts. This is Jenna and me leaning out of the window at the Heron’s Rest B&B.

The Heron’s Rest B&B is right on the water overlooking a natural swan habitat. This boat was the view out the window. You can see some swans in the background.

One of my favorite towns is Galway, in the west of Ireland. I’m not alone in liking it; it’s the fastest growing city in Europe. A great feature is the pedestrianized streets. Here’s the Galway Quay, a popular street filled with lots of quaint shops– we bought a few fishermen’s sweaters here!

Kissing the Blarney Stone was hilarious. You have to lay on your back and kiss it backward; once you do, you are bequeathed with the gift of gab. This guy kept telling me to scoot back to reach the stone. And for you wondering germaphobes, there are NO anti-bacterial wipes!

I think the fable is true, because I couldn’t stop talking afterwards! The Blarney Castle is on gorgeous land. We took advantage of the lovely backdrop to get some family shots.

Ron took a couple of Jenna and me.

A sweet picture of Jenna.

Ron and me.

It was a lovely trip, and we hope to go back to Ireland again one day. Have you ever been? Let me know what you think of the pics!

Yes, stranded!

The Iceland Volcano has erupted again, and all flights to Ireland and Scotland were cancelled today. Before we left Los Angeles we called British Airways, as we were afraid this might happen. They assured us not to worry so we went ahead with the trip. Made it to London no problem. And get this: I flew Coach, but Ron and Jenna went Business Class. You see, I happen to think Business Class is a big fat waste of money. What’s the big deal about a bit more leg room? So I stubbornly REFUSED to go Business Class.

Well, I didn’t know that British Airways’ Business Class is like being in a Penthouse in a Vegas Hotel. Here’s Ron and Jenna in their FULLY reclinable seats. Yes, that means FLAT.

Did I mention their menu? They had a choice of Duck Salad with Walnut Vinaigrette, Beef Fillet with Black Truffle Butter, or Pan Roasted Scallops with Saffron Potatoes. In Coach, I didn’t get offered a dinner. But I did get a 6 ounce diet coke.

The water bottle is just to give you a size perspective. British Airways does NOT give out those big water bottles in Coach.

But do I regret my decision to slum it in Coach? Uh, NO WAY! Because with the money I saved us I’m getting myself an iPad 3G! Yes, and it will a GUILT-FREE purchase!!! Take that, my pampered, rested, and well fed husband and daughter!

Sorry, I digress. Our connector flight to Dublin cancelled, so tonight we’re in a London hotel near the airport. Tomorrow morning we’ll try to catch another flight to Dublin so we can get to the church on time! Ron’s longtime employee Ursula is marrying an Irishman, Johnny, on Friday afternoon.

If the flight tomorrow is also cancelled, we’ll just stay in England this week, rent a car, and roam the countryside. It would be a huge bummer to miss Ursula and Johnny’s wedding, but we can’t afford to get stranded in Ireland. Luckily her Mom, Dad, Brother and Aunt made it to Ireland just before the airport closed, so we’re all happy about that.

Hopefully we’ll be able to fly home next Tuesday as planned, and Ron can get back to running his business, and Jenna can get back to school.

Whether we end up in England or Ireland this week I will post pictures when I get a chance. As the Irish Blessing goes,

“May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.”

Visiting San Diego is especially great because I get to see my old friends from high school. Here’s a pic of some friends I hadn’t seen in 34 years! We had a wonderful time at Casa de Pico. Fabulous margaritas. We closed down the place!

I also get to see my brother Kenny and his family. I ADORE each and every one of them! Kenny’s wife Heather is pregnant with their SIXTH child! This pic is of Heather and daughter Skylar.

Along with the amazing people and incredible weather, I love San Diego because of its history and charm. Balboa Park has some incredible architecture. Check out the Casa de Prado Theatre.

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And I LOVE the old houses and lovely streets in Mission Hills, near Old Town. Mission Hills is a beautiful neighborhood, with Craftsman and Spanish Colonial style houses– no tract homes here! It's especially sentimental to me because I grew up in this neighborhood. My dad bought this house in 1970, for $40,000 bucks.

It’s actually two stories. You’re looking at the 2nd story. The first floor is down below on the canyon. Here’s a pic of the canyon.

Gosh, I wish Dad had kept that house. It’s worth SO much more than $40 grand now. The house directly across the street is for sale for $1.2 million. They just lowered the price from $1.7! (sorry, I don’t have a good pic of it.)

But here’s the house three doors down, to give you an idea how lovely the homes are in Mission Hills.

And here’s a charming Craftsman on Hermosa Way:

Makes me want to move back to San Diego! Maybe when my husband Ron retires in about 15 years. Seriously. I’d love to live in either Mission Hills or the neighborhood of Kensington. Check out these ADORABLE Spanish Colonial houses in Kensington!

Isn’t that so charming? The Spanish Colonial homes in this area were built between 1920 and 1930. Note the tile around the doorway on this home.

And this one. I just love it. Nothing huge, but dripping charm and quaintness.

When can I move in?

Now, if San Diego makes you swoon, wait till you see my next post! We’re heading to Ireland today, and will be gone for a week. We’re attending a wedding of one of Ron’s longtime employees, who is marrying an Irishman. Thrilled to see Ireland! I’ll try to post to this blog while we’re in Ireland, but it may be difficult– if so, I will share pics when we get back next week.

They’re everywhere in the backyard.

And one of my favorite spots to sit, read a book, and enjoy the view is right here.

Only problem is, the bird bath is looking pretty shabby from all the rain.

So time to bring out the paint and give this Walmart special (on clearance for about $19) a makeover.

First, I paint the entire bird bath bowl in Caromal Colours Country Living Bayberry Textured Basecoat.

Then, I give it a coat of Country Living Paprika Textured Basecoat.

Then, I get out the rough grit sandpaper and sand in random areas all over the bowl to give it a rustic appearance.

Fill the bird bath with water.

And admire my hard (well not really) work.

P.S. Did you notice I changed the front porch header picture for this blog? Let me know if you like it!

Ben Gibbs: Career Success, Marriage, and Parenthood.

Ben’s hard work in UC San Francisco Medical School paid off. After graduating, he entered the Navy and did a rotating internship at Naval Hospital, San Diego, where he was selected as the most outstanding intern. After one year aboard a Navy submarine tender, he returned to NHSD for his surgical residency.

Here is Ben at about that time.

Ben spent several more years as a Navy surgeon, serving on the staffs of Portsmouth Naval Hospital, a few months aboard the USS New Jersey, and finishing out his military career as head of vascular surgery, Naval Hospital, San Diego. His Navy career took place during the Vietnam War. After his twelve years of active duty he entered private practice in 1972, but remained in the Navy reserve, retiring as Captain, USNR around 1980. During both his Navy and civilian practice he participated in teaching at UC San Diego, being appointed as Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery.

He has written papers on general surgery and vascular surgery topics. His interest in carotid artery surgery led to his eventual focus in that area, resulting in some landmark papers which may have influenced in that specialty.

Marriage

Ben’s personal life was rockier than his medical career. He married his high school sweetheart, Carol Norman, at 22. He and Carol had three children.

In 1967 Carol died. This was devastating, as daughters Cheri and Laurie were just six and four, and son Kenny was two. At the time Ben was in the Navy, and shortly after Carol’s death he was transferred to Portsmouth, Virginia. Before moving across the country Ben married Donna Marie Wentz. They had two boys, Christian and Trey.

That marriage ended in divorce and Donna passed away in 1980. He then married Natalie Hubele, and that marriage also ended in divorce. He looks back on those days as difficult, but informative. He may not have been entirely at fault for the failure of those three marriages, but he willingly accepts some of the responsibility for poor choices.

In 1996, Ben married for a fourth time, to Jean Thielen, and acknowledges it was the best decision in his life.

Their happiness partially reflects his growing maturity, but he still gives Jean most of the credit. They have a daughter, Sarah, 13, who came along as a late and unexpected blessing.

Parenting

As a dad, Ben took his kids on lots of camping trips, particularly to Cottonwood Cove at the Colorado River. As mentioned in the last post, he has a life-long love of flying, having learned to fly in his teens. He and the kids would pile in the plane and fly to a remote desert area with no automobile access and a dirt runway, and camp on the river shore. At night the wild burros would come to the water and disrupt the sleeping family, lined up in a row under the stars in their sleeping bags. Ben would reassure the kids not to worry. “They’re more afraid of you than you are of them.” There were also numerous trips to Baja California, flying in to beach landing strips, camping, and fishing from a Zodiac. And motorhome trips to the Colorado River and Bitterroot River in Montana.

Bitterroot River

Eventually, he would own a vacation log cabin on the same river.

Accomplishments

Ben is proud of his kids. “They are all great communicators. Youngest daughter Sarah plays the piano and shows great poise when she performs at church. Daughters Cheri and Laurie are eloquent public speakers. Son Kenny is the Singing Fireman of Los Angeles, and sings the National Anthem at ballgames. Son Christian, a musician and music writer with several CD’s, was in the Broadway musical “Passing Strange”. Son Trey writes poetry, showing talent, humor, and sensitivity. I have interesting kids. The fact that all my kids are so talented makes me question their paternity,” he says, tongue in cheek. “A man never knows for sure.”

When asked how he wants to be remembered, he says, “I’ve written some pretty good philosophical articles in letters to my friends and kids. Most discuss the importance of individual responsibility and libertarian philosophy. I try to ask questions and have people come to my way of thinking on their own. As a result, I’ve been persuasive.”

Today

When asked how life today is different from when he was a child, Ben has a lot to say. “Life was very different. We had no concept of television. Most people had only a radio. We had one bathroom, and clothes were washed by hand or in a ringer washing machine. We had ice boxes rather than refrigerators. The ice man would come to put ice in the icebox. When I was in high school we got a black and white TV. We would watch I Love Lucy, Ronald Reagan’s Borax show, Ed Sullivan, Sergeant Friday, Bonanza. Today, even the poorest among us have a TV, a refrigerator and a washer and dryer. The level of poverty has constantly risen. When I was a kid, the poor had nothing to eat. Today’s poor would have been considered middle class when I was a kid. But in today’s standards, I would have been considered poor as a kid. And my dad would NEVER have thought of accepting food stamps. He had pride and believed that hard work led to success.”

Like his dad before him, Ben’s hard work has paid off. Today he lives on two acres with a small vineyard in Walla Walla, Washington. He enjoys pruning the grapes, making wine, investing in the stock market, philosophizing with friends, traveling and visiting family, and spending time with his wife Jean and daughter Sarah. He has made a difference in the field of medicine and to those around him by sharing his philosophies. He has had, and continues to have, a fulfilling life.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about Ben Gibbs. In an upcoming post I will share some of his political philosophies– which are bound to get you thinking!

As a young boy, Ben (Lucky) walked two miles to Grantville elementary school. Three teachers taught all six grades, with two grades in each room. Mrs. Bender taught 1st and 2nd, Miss Ritchie 3rd and 4th, and Mrs. Ellis 5th and 6th. Mrs. Ellis was also the school principal. Each class had 30-40 kids. If the students didn’t do their work, or didn’t pay attention, the teachers would occasionally rap their knuckles. “We often went to school barefooted. Sometimes red ants would crawl over our feet and bite us– that hurt!”

But the teachers’ discipline and devotion paid off.  Eventually Ben and his fellow students graduated to schools in the downtown San Diego area. The students from Ben’s small school excelled. Because of this, he feels strongly about today’s education system. “We need more good teachers and less administration.”

Ben’s creative skills earned him a mention in the local newspaper. “In junior high school wood and sheet-metal shops I built three little sail boats and raced them in a model yacht regatta. My sailboats won first, second and third. One won for how it was built, and the other two won for speed.

A popular kid, Ben was elected Junior Class Vice President. And his long hair got him voted “Best Hair” in junior high. It was the 1950s, and boys used to wear “pompadours and greasy stuff on their hair. First it was Fitch Jelly, then Bryllcreem, with the slogan ‘a little dab’ll do ya.’ But right after the yearbook came out, I got a butch.”

Here’s Ben around the age of 17, 1953.

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Sports

Ben was active in sports. He was elected commissioner of boys’ athletics for his high school. In junior high he had enjoyed softball, football and track. In high school, basketball was his favorite sport. He was too small for first string varsity, so played on the B team. “My strongest skill was being able to shoot long set shots, now called 3 pointers. I was elected ‘Most Valuable Player’ and Team Captain for the Hoover High B team. I think we came in last in the league, but nevertheless the San Diego sportswriters named me to the all city team, probably out of sympathy for Hoover High.”

Church

Ben attended Sunday school, and he remembers Mrs. Barker’s class. Sunday school caused some consternation which he still struggles with. “Mrs. Barker was quite a fundamentalist. She taught that Jesus was going to come and those of us who weren’t saved would be left behind. Believing friends would be gathered up into the clouds, but questioners wouldn’t get to go. This made me feel guilty and fearful. The teachers would say ‘you’ll know if you’re saved. All you have to do is accept Jesus Christ as your savior.’ I tried, but didn’t have the rapture experience that some of the kids reported. I think some kids pretended, and the others may have been under the spell of mass psychology.” One summer, Ben attended a church summer camp. “During campfire everyone went down in front to get saved, including me. But now I look back upon it with some suspicion that I was under the influence of the crowd. I still have trouble with people who are touchy-feely about their religion and totally lacking in questions.”

College

After high school,  Ben went to college at UC Berkeley. It was there he decided to pursue medicine as a career. He had not grown up wanting to be a doctor. It was a fluke decision that would shape his life, and he remembers it happened like this: As a freshman at Cal he stood on the lawn with thousands of other kids to be counseled about his major and assignment of classes. The peer counselor, a girl two or three years older than he was, asked Ben what he wanted to major in, and he said he wanted to be a Forest Ranger. She advised him not to do that, and suggested he declare Pre-Med because it was broader and would cover classes he needed to be a Forest Ranger. But Pre-Med would give him more career options.

So he took her advice and declared his major Pre-Med.

Medical School

To his surprise, during his third year at Berkeley, Ben was accepted into medical school even though he wasn’t an all-A student. He credits his success with taking a challenging course-load. He never chose the easy classes. As a co-op housing manager, he’d go to bed right after dinner and get up in the middle of the night to study so he could concentrate after the other kids were asleep. His house mates would party, but Ben wasn’t nearly as social as some kids his age. He had to focus to get good grades.  At Cal in those days, ROTC was required, and being a private pilot, Ben chose the Air Force ROTC. He took the aptitude tests for Air Force pilot cadet training, and was assured acceptance. So the acceptance to medical school at about the same time made for an interesting decision regarding his career path.

Odds of getting into medical school were about one in 14 in those days.  Odds of getting into flight training were maybe one in three. Ben chose the more challenging course of medicine, and never regretted it. But he feels that the other path, possibly resulting in an airline career, might also have been satisfying. His love of flying did not suffer. Over the years he obtained advanced pilot ratings including commercial pilot, glider, multi-engine, seaplane, flight instructor and instrument instructor ratings. He has owned several planes and has accumulated almost 5000 hours of flying experience.

I hope you enjoyed Part II of Ben Gibbs’ story. Coming Up in my next post about Ben: Career Success, Marriage and Kids

He grew up with little money, digging ditches and working in his father’s local grocery store. A good student, he went to UC Berkeley. He wanted to be a Forest Ranger, but on the advice of a stranger he decided to major in Pre-Med instead. Eventually he became a vascular surgeon who helped streamline surgical techniques developed in the 1950’s. Cardio-vascular patients now have quicker recovery times and fewer complications, partly because of his and others’ contributions in those early years of vascular surgery. Today this 74 year-old has six children, and twelve grandchildren, two of whom are with him here:

Ben lives on a vineyard in Walla Walla, Washington, makes Cabernet Franc wine, invests in stocks, and enjoys spending time with his wife and 13 year-old daughter.

This is the story of Benjamin Franklin Gibbs, Jr.

My dad.

Benjamin Franklin Gibbs Jr. was born on Friday the 13th, 1936. Bad luck? Not to his parents. They nick named their firstborn son Lucky. All of Lucky’s extended family was in San Diego. His father’s side came from Massachusetts, where they lived for hundreds of years. They were among the first settlers of the United States, and immigrated to the Boston area from England in the 1600s for religious freedom. His mother Bee came from a long line of Swedes. Some of Lucky’s ancestors were of royal blood, but Lucky’s immediate family was not wealthy. His grandfather was a grocer, and later his dad was one too.

Lucky’s dad, Ben Sr., believed that if you worked hard you could get ahead. Bee was into art and music. Lucky takes after his parents, and became a hard worker who is also artistically inclined. He also has a sense of humor. His first childhood memory involves his sister and mom. He says, glibly, “I remember my mother nursing my sister, and my getting into bed with them and wanting to take part in that.”

Another early memory involves World War II. Lucky was five. “It was the day of the Japanese Invasion of Pearl Harbor. My mother was vacuuming and Franklin Roosevelt was talking about Pearl Harbor on the radio and she stopped vacuuming to listen. Her jaw dropped, and she said “Oh No!” Later in the war they had to ration everything. “You could only buy so much meat, food, gas, and soap. You couldn’t buy more than you needed, because everything was directed to the war effort to support the troops. After the war there was a cold war, and everyone was talking about shelters. People worried about getting bombed by Russia, and we had to get under our desks in bomb drills. There was also a tremendous prejudice against communists. They were called Reds.”

But despite the war, Ben (Lucky) had a normal childhood. His childhood heroes were Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. His favorite songs and music were by “Sons of the Pioneers.” He sang a lot, and enjoyed songs like The Sons of the Pioneer’s “Cool Water” and “Tumbling Tumbleweeds.” He played games like cops and robbers, hide and seek, and tag. His favorite toy was a cowboy gun and he went fishing in the river with his grandfather. He looked forward to Christmas. “Santa Claus came. I remember getting an architectural drafting set with a T-square and triangles. It was my favorite gift. “

The family had lots of dogs. They had an English setter named “Lady” and a bunch of Dalmatians. “The female Dalmatian,
Chi Chi, had litters of twelve, two or three different times.” There were also a lot of animals around the yard—chickens, rabbits, horses, turkeys, geese. They were for utilitarian purposes. Lucky’s mom cooked macaroni and cheese and spaghetti, and they had family dinners. Meat came from the yard animals or they ate the older, unsalable meat from his dad’s store.

Lucky helped at the store. About 4:30 or 5:00 on some mornings he and his dad would get in the Model B pickup truck and go downtown to stock up on produce. He helped stock the shelves. The oldest food would go forward and the freshest food went behind. He sorted pop bottles for redemption. During profitable times he got paid. “I got up to 25 cents an hour for working in the store, but only if I didn’t slough off. My dad taught that you did an hour’s work for an hour’s pay.” He also did chores around the house, for which he sometimes received a meager allowance. “I had to weed the garden, water and feed the rabbits, water and feed the chickens, feed the goats, and feed the turkeys. At age eight I got a used bicycle that my dad bought for $20 and painted. I rode that bike for many years and used it through my teens for a paper route and personal transportation. Later I earned money for flying lessons and college by digging ditches.”

Coming Up in my next post: Ben Gibbs– The School Years.

And here he is trying to eat it.

Tummies full, we headed out toward 5th Avenue. Our first stop was the Lindt Chocolate Shop. They have an ENTIRE wall of chocolates, floor to ceiling!

Spent a pretty penny on chocolate, then headed back to the “Avenue.” (Don’t I sound just like a Manhattan local? Props to me!) We didn’t have a lot of time as Jenna had to be at the hotel for a 2 PM dress rehearsal, so when we passed the Shoe-Shine Man on the street corner, we hesitated. But her boots needed polishing, so Jenna stepped up on the platform and had her first on-the-street shoe shine experience.

Her boots have never looked better!

Time was running short, but we managed to walk through Bryant Park, where the final contestants on the TV show “Project Runway” are doing a fashion show.

We raced back to the Wellington Hotel, and dropped Jenna off with the choir. Here’s Jenna with her friend Julianna before the show.

It was just Ron and me now, with several hours to kill before dinner at six. I’d been wanting to see the American Museum of Natural History, but my family’s not big on museums. Ron really didn’t want to go, but I dragged him along anyway. The animal dioramas are amazing. Here are the lions:

Here is a pronghorn antelope:

Here’s Ron while I was enjoying one of the most amazing museums in the world:

Actually, at this point in the day I was pretty tired too, and wanted to rest also. We didn’t stay long at the museum, and grabbed a taxi to get back to the hotel and give our sore feet a break. (We West Coasters aren’t used to all this walking!) Rested up a bit and got dressed for dinner and the Carnegie. I was looking forward to meeting an old friend of mine from high school and college who I hadn’t seen in over 30 years, Tim Knotts. Tim and his wife drove to Manhattan from New Jersey to meet us for dinner at the Porterhouse Restaurant. We also met my brother Christian and his wife Andi and son Cassius. Dinner was great, but a bit rushed as we didn’t want to be late for the show. Good thing we got to the Carnegie when we did, as the Valencia Vikings Choir was first up. We got there just in the nick of time! Jenna looked wonderful on stage, and the venue is amazing. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but here’s a shot of Carnegie Hall on the front of the playbill.

The Valencia Vikings Choir is heads and shoulders above the rest, and I’m not being biased. They are one of the premier choirs in the nation. Here is the write-up on the Choir in the Playbill.

Of course the choir kids are talented, but the Vikings Choir wouldn’t be where they are today without the direction of Christine Tavares. Christine has had a tough year, and is in the process of getting divorced. But she still manages to care about each and every one of the choir kids, and coax amazing sounds out of them. She is an incredible musician and teacher. Here is what the Playbill says about her:

The evening was over too quickly, as was the trip. We had to be up early the next day for our flight home. I love coming home after being away– it was heaven to sleep in my comfy bed after several nights on a hard, lumpy one. The dogs and cat went crazy when we walked in the door– they must have missed us as much as we missed them! When I unpacked Jenna’s suitcase (she had a lot of homework so I did her the favor) Oscar climbed in. He must have thought we were leaving again, and wanted us to take him along this time.

But even though the vacation in NYC flew by, we made memories of a lifetime. We had a great time with family and friends, toured Brooklyn and Manhattan like locals, enjoyed an incredible Broadway show, and ate at some fabulous restaurants. And the vacation was capped off by a lovely jazz concert at Carnegie Hall and seeing our daughter on stage.

I can’t imagine it getting any better than that.

April in New York City is a great time to visit. The flowers and trees are in full bloom. GORGEOUS!

After Central Park we walked down 5th Avenue to do some shopping. Jenna is a clothes horse, and she LOVED the H&M store. It’s huge and reminds me of Las Vegas, with the big ads.

I’m glad Jenna likes H&M, because you get A LOT of clothes for the money. She looked so cute today, in her ruffled H&M mini-skirt, black tee, leggings and boots. Here she is in the outfit sitting next to Ron at the 92nd street park on the Upper West Side of NYC. We made a special trip to this little park because it was featured in one of my favorite movies, You’ve Got Mail, starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. The park is where the two main characters meet for the first time.

On Wednesday we headed to Brooklyn to meet up with my brother Christian, his wife Andi, and their six-month-old son Cassius. Cassius is a doll, and we were SO happy to finally meet him! He has the sweetest personality, and is really curious about the world around him for such a little guy! Check out his big, adorable, amazing eyes.

Christian and Andi’s apartment has a lot of character, and is a “railroad” apartment, where all the rooms are in one row from front to back. They are casual, hip people– Christian is a musician and Andi is a professor teaching acting. They know how to entertain– comfortably and casually. Here’s the cheese platter Christian threw together in a couple of minutes. It was PERFECT!

It was cool to see Brooklyn, as it has some neat neighborhoods and some pretty streets. Like in Central Park, there are lots of flowers and trees in bloom, and the brownstone buildings are unique, historic, and interesting to see. So different from our suburban world in Southern California.

I love how so many streets have buildings with stairs out front where you can sit and relax and watch people walk by.

There’s even this gorgeous park, Marine Park, that has a view of the Manhattan skyline, along the Hudson River. It was about 85 degrees in Brooklyn yesterday, so lots of sunbathers took advantage of the warm weather and nice view.

Today we had another great day walking around the Garment District of Manhattan, but the highlight was having dinner at Maze, a restaurant by Gordon Ramsay. The food, as you would expect, was exquisite. A fantasy for the taste buds! And after dinner we went to see Ron’s client Kelsey Grammer star in La Cage Aux Folles on Broadway. The show was so much fun, hilarious, and well done. Kelsey played the part of Georges, who owns a transvestite club in France. After the show we went backstage to see Kelsey. Jenna was thrilled to meet him, and when he found out she was singing with her choir at Carnegie Hall, he was impressed. “It takes a long time to get there,” he said. Here’s a shot of Jenna and Kelsey backstage.

What a night! After the show, as we were walking back to the hotel, a nice pedestrian took a shot of the three of us, happy and beaming from the incredible evening.

And we haven’t even gotten to the most important day of the trip– tomorrow at Carnegie Hall! Can’t wait to tell you all about it! Thanks for joining us for the Carnegie Chronicles. Stay tuned!

Since we’ve been to New York with Jenna several times before and done all the touristy things, she opted to travel independently from the choir and stay in the hotel with Ron and me, and meet up with the choir kids for rehearsals and the big performance. Jenna and I planned to arrive in NYC today and spend the next couple days shopping and exploring Central Park (the Balto statue is a favorite). Ron would fly out on the Red-Eye on Tuesday night and meet us Wednesday morning at the hotel. (He’s a CPA and it’s close to April 15th, so he’s working Monday and Tuesday).

All went smoothly in the morning. We had to be out the door at 8:30 am, but Ron and Jenna were up early and even made chocolate chip pancakes. The coffee smelled great as I headed down the stairs. Love that husband of mine! The bags were packed. We got out the door on time. Drove an hour to LAX. Kissed Ron goodbye and watched him drive off. (He planned on getting a few hours of work in, then meet his mom for Easter lunch.) Got the bags checked in and went through security no problem. The security gates always stress me out– having to take off shoes, unload the computer, get through the metal detector without being frisked– but this time it was easy and stress-free. It was relatively quiet at LAX at 9:30 AM on Easter Sunday. Yay.

A few minutes later Jenna and I were seated comfortably at American Airlines Gate 39, with an hour and a half to spare before boarding. I was happy for the long wait actually, as it would give me more time to explore my new iPad (which I got yesterday, the day it launched, and will tell you more about in a future post.) Jenna grabbed a $20 out of my purse and got us some pretzels, water, and the latest Teen Vogue for her to read. We settled in.

At 9:50 AM I was absorbed in my iPad, but was distracted by Jenna cocking her head listening to an announcement. It was hard to hear, but sure enough, the man on the speakers said “Flight 40 cancelled.”

Checked the ticket, and saw it was our flight. So I made a mad dash for the ticket counter. Found out the flight was cancelled because of mechanical problems. All Sunday flights to New York were full. So we’d have to wait until Monday. It took another 45 minutes but we got tickets on the Red Eye to New York, arriving Tuesday morning. We’re only missing one day in New York.

The only big glitch is that our checked bags were routed to JFK, so we don’t have our clothes– hopefully they’ll be waiting for us when we get to the airport Tuesday morning! And luckily Jenna listened to Miss Tazares, the choir director, and packed her choir dress in her carry-on. That move saved us a LOT of drama!

Ron came back to the airport and picked us up, and we were able to meet his mom and a couple of her friends for Easter lunch. It was a lovely day, the restaurant is on a lake, we sat outside and they played Italian music; it was almost as good as being at Lake Como in Italy! Much better than spending Easter in an airplane.

Luggage snafu aside, I like to look on the bright side– two fewer nights in NYC means we save a boatload of $$$ on the hotel– which pays for my new iPad! Whoo hoo!

Here’s Ron and Jenna at the restaurant; you can see the Westlake Lake in the background.

Coming up the next post of @ Home With Cheri: Exploring New York. (Hopefully!)