Couple of Crumbs

Summer Lovin’: On My Terms

By: Red Velvet

I was in the middle of ranting to one of my best friends the other night, about the many things frustrating me at the moment, when she interrupted me to say —
 
“Lots of standing up for yourself this week!”

Truthfully, I hadn’t even looked at it that way.  It’s been more of a — I’ve been keeping things bottled up for too long and it’s making me feel crazy so I’m just going to come right out and say what I think — kind of thing.  But describing it as standing up for myself, works for me too!  So I responded back with, “I know right!” (And felt rather proud, might I add.)

It’s funny how my life can feel so stagnant one minute and completely insane the next.  On the personal side of things, I’ve been planning (and/or baking for) family events just about every other week.  Engagement parties, baby showers, birthdays.  I love it but at the same time, it’s really tiring (and hard on my wallet).  And on the work front, well — I am busy, busy, busy.  I stay late every day, barely have time to get my daily dose of chatting with friends (oh Google chat, how I miss you) and even work from home just so I won’t fall behind on my growing number of projects.  Tell me, who’s not going to snap under that kind of pressure?

Last week, I snapped (and I feel so much better for it).

I have this coworker who I feel completely comfortable showing my annoyance towards (it’s a sign of trust I swear!).  But there’s been this one thing that has irritated me forever and I never felt like I could tell him since it might come across as unprofessional (and we weren’t as close as we are now).  He asked me up front last week what was it about him and so-and-so’s friendship that bothered me.  And instead of giving him some vague answer, I told him — that person is kind of a two-faced bitch who says crap behind your back while I defend you and it’s about time you realized that (in reality, this was phrased much nicer).  The other implication being, you also better appreciate what a good friend and coworker I am to you because your job would be 10x more difficult without me on your team.  Luckily, he got it and two long conversations later, I’d like to believe we’ve become better friends for it.  Turns out, he was actually more aware that I thought.  He made it very clear to me that he not only appreciates all my hard work but sees me as one of his few good friends at the office.  He also gave me his perspective on things which helped me to understand him better (though I still don’t completely agree).  For the longest time, I’ve just been so tired of certain individuals at my job getting undeserved attention for being a flirt (like the so-and-so mentioned above) while other individuals (like myself) count on their work ethic to speak for itself.  It’s frustrating to be around.  So while things may not change, the point is - I said something and that felt good.  

Sometimes it’s about more than just the end result.  In the end, my confession (or rather, burst of anger) may not change my work situation but I spoke up.  It drives me crazy when people tell me that I’m passive or quiet because I’m not.  Just because I’m not aggressive the way others want me to be or all in someone’s face the minute I don’t like something, it doesn’t mean I don’t speak up.  Work is the perfect example.  At my job, I’ve had six different bosses.  With the exception of my current one, I’ve told every single one of them what I really want to do professionally.  I want to do product design in addition to web development and I want to get more involved in that area of the company (I semi got what I wanted).  When I had a project manager I hated for years, I complained every week to my boss-of-the-moment about her (they eventually reassigned me to someone else).  

I speak up.  But I do it on my terms.  

I guess that’s what this whole rambling entry comes down to.  Being myself and speaking up when it’s the right time for me.  Maybe it takes me a little longer than others to tell a person how I feel but I do tell them.  And sure, sometimes I do get a bit envious of those people who always know the right thing to say (and say it immediately) or can fit in to any social situation they’re put into.  But at the same time, I like who I am too and how I choose to handle things.  Why do I have to fit into these specific labels or stereotypes? Shy or outgoing.  Passive or aggressive.  Loud or quiet.  All I can do is be myself.  

A person who’s a weird combination of all those contradictory qualities.  

* * *

On My Terms is part of our Summer Series.

Summer Lovin’: Opa! (Part 2)

Welcome back!  In my last post, I told you about the disappointing news of a shortened stay in Santorini.  Would this be enough time for me to experience my own Sisterhood adventure?  Would I be able to go for a donkey ride, and hopefully not fall off like Tibby?
 
We had a 4.5 hour catamaran ride to Santorini on Sunday.  Once we settled into our hotel, the Hotel Daedalus, J, E, S, and I took a cab and booked it over Oia, one of the most beautiful places to watch the sunset, before it was overtaken by other tourists.  We ended up watching the sunset as we ate dinner (toast for me) on the rooftop at Pelekanos.  I really wished that we had changed beforehand, because it was quite windy and cold!  Luckily, the restaurant had fleece blankets for us to use.  Unfortunately, S, J, and I got colds from that night, and were sick for the rest of the trip.  After dinner, we explored Oia, bought more souvenirs, and took some nighttime pictures of the breathtaking views.  
 

Overlooking the Caldera

Sunset at Oia

Monday was jam packed as J and I got up a tad too late to take a tour around Santorini.  We also couldn’t take a tour of the hotsprings and the volcano, since it involves being able to swim.  (Something which I have to teach J and RV to do :P )  Instead, we kind of made our own little tour and headed for the beaches - Kamari, the black beach and Akrotiri, the red beach.  We took the bus over the Kamari and spent a couple of hours there.  The sand there is incredibly hot!  You definitely have to keep your shoes on.  The interesting thing is that the sand here, isn’t really sand, but it’s more gravel-like.  Here, again, I pretty much stayed under the umbrella (gotta love those umbrellas) when I wasn’t taking pictures.  

Kamari beach

Kamari beach

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Summer Lovin’: Opa! (Part 1)

Giggles is a 20-something graphic designer, discovering her love of travel. She also loves to cook, especially bake, and is trying to start her own bakery. Check out her blog where she writes about culinary adventures, make up, and photography.

I’ve always wanted to go to Greece because of those pictures you see on the Greek Isles calendars in Barnes & Nobles. But I have to admit, the real push to go to Greece came from watching the movie version of one of my favorite book series, The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. After wanting to go for years, my cousin J and I finally went on a 10-day tour of Greece, specifically Athens (2 days/1 day), Mykonos (3 days), and Santorini (2 days) recently!  Now, I don’t want to be negative about my trip, because I definitely enjoyed the views and the relaxation, and the views, and exploring. Did I mention the views? But unfortunately, anything that could have gone wrong, went wrong.
 
Getting to Greece was nothing short of a minor miracle because for some inexplicable reason, the tour company decided to send us to Montreal for a transfer flight to Athens, even though direct flights from New York were available.  And of course, we had less than 40 minutes to catch our flight!  But once we were on board and landed in Athens, we were smooth sailing.
 
Or so we thought…
 
Even though we left NJ on a Monday, our first official day of the trip was a Tuesday.  After having no more than 2 hours of total sleep in the last 24+ hours, and settling into our room at the Acropolis Select, J and I decided to go exploring and grab some lunch, since we didn’t have to meet our group till later that evening (we quickly made friends with E and S, from Toronto).  During lunch, I started to feel symptoms I’ve felt before - signs of dehydration.
 
Oh crap.

Needless to say, I didn’t eat more than a few bites of grilled octopus (which was a staple for most of the meals I could eat) and chicken souvlaki, and drank a bunch of water. I think it was the combination of the plane, the super strong sun, and the food, but I couldn’t eat anything except for toast and pita, a few bites of things here and there to try, and a butt-load of Gatorade for the first 8 days of my trip.

The street to lunch.

Despite this setback, we ventured on. So we decided to explore Athens on our own.  We walked around the Acropolis (Acropoli), which is an incredibly long walk with amazing views of nearby towns/villages, and of course the Parthenon.  Even though I knew I was there in Athens, it didn’t feel like it was real - the thought of me being in Greece hadn’t kicked in.

The Parthenon {R} and arch wall {L}.

One of the other highlights besides the Acropolis that day, was when J and I asked (well, J asked since I felt like crap) a pair of firefighters where the nearest “water closet” (WC) a.k.a restroom was.  We thought he was telling us that “we had to go in the trees.”  Apparently he meant it was a small stone building hidden behind the trees.  Can I add, that most of the officials (police and fire people) were ridiculously good looking in Greece?!  I actually wanted to go back on our last day of the tour to ask if they wanted to hang out with us… and I NEVER want to do that.  

The fire fighters were at the end of this walkway.

While walking the narrow, crowded, winding streets of Athens, J and I found row after row of cute little restaurants, shops, cafés, and bought tons of souvenirs in the Plaka (old village).  Everyone was pretty friendly, helping us out when we asked for directions or inviting us to sit and have some drinks or food, granted this may be because we were clearly tourists.  But we were on a mission.  We had to find “The Poet Sandal Maker.”  One of J’s friends had mentioned that we should go there for custom leather Greek sandals.  So, after a while of walking down some fairly sketchy streets, we finally found his store!  Initially I wasn’t going to get sandals because it’s really hard for me to find shoes that fit my feet, but when I found out he could really customize the sandals — changing out straps for thicker straps, and making said straps fit around really chubster, small feet — I was ecstatic!  I bought myself 2 pairs, as well as pairs for my mom and my sister.

The next day, we did a guided tour of Athens and the Acropolis.  We walked up the stairs of the Acropolis, through the Propylaia (the entrance to the Parthenon) and saw the Parthenon, (unfortunately under restoration for the next 5 years), the Erechtheion, and the temple of Nike Athena.  The site took me back to AP Art History class, where I had seen the Parthenon through only slides and books.  It was just amazing to see everything firsthand!  I was starting to remember things like “Doric segmented columns,” and other structural terms.  The guide told us of the history of the Parthenon — starting as a temple dedicated to Athena, being used a church and a mosque, and then being blown up by a cannon ball from another island that landed in the middle, which caused much of how the Parthenon stands today.  The Erechtheion is a temple dedicated to both Athena on one side, and Poseidon on the other.

The Parthenon.

Ruins - the top of an ionic column.

The Erechtheion, Athena side, with 5 maidens.

Walking around on the Acropolis gives a 360° view of Athens, including an aerial view of the Theatre of Dionysus, where we later sat in the actual seats that the patrons did.  At the base of the Acropolis, is Aeropagus (Mars Hill), a marble hill, that we climbed and had awesome views of the Athens and the Parthenon. The bus tour took us to the area around Parliament, University, and Olympic stadium.  We also explored the Temple of Zeus, which is a temple that had 104 Corinthian columns, now down to 16.  

Aerial view of the Theatre of Dionysus

Mars Hill

Parliament

The Temple of Zeus

After the guided tour, J and I did more shopping (some more leather goods), including getting my Hard Rock Café pin (to continue my dad’s collection with every city I’ve been to), we headed to the New Acropolis Museum, a museum dedicated to the Acropolis. It turns out that the museum is built over an ancient part of Athens, and you can see the excavation site with all of the pottery work, stone walls, and the grid work of the ancient city!  I totally should have brushed up on my art history before coming to Greece.  I saw so many figures of Kore and Korai, Athena statues, relief work, classical statues as well as Byzantine style work.  It was amazing to think that these items were from thousands of  years ago, BC!  The third floor is really interesting, as it is set up as an exact replica of the pillars and relief work as the Parthenon, and explanations of the relief work on the pediments.  After educating our minds and kinda falling asleep (we did the head-bob thing) during the video of the Parthenon, J and I needed a little caffeine pick-me-up and got some coffee at the museum’s cafe that overlooked the Parthenon.

The museum excavation near the entrance

Ancient pottery seen in the floor of the museum

Iced cappuccino and Greek coffee, with the Parthenon

Thursday started with a 4:45 a.m. wake up call to get on a 6.5-hour ferry ride to Mykonos.  Ouch.  I took some pictures of the different ports we stopped at along the way - Andros and Tinos.  The bus ride from the port to the hotel was actually pretty exciting because of the buildings.  I think that a lot of movies that take place in Greece are shot in Mykonos.  The tour director told us that there’s a Mykonian law that every building must be whitewashed every year before the Greek Orthodox Easter, and the accent color can only be selected from half a dozen shades of blue and green.

Homes in Mykonos

Soon, we arrived at our hotel, the Dionysos Hotel, dropped our stuff off and made a beeline to the beach.  Mykonos is definitely an island for relaxation and late night partying.  I didn’t do the late night partying since I was still sick, but I definitely enjoyed the relaxation part.  If you look at me now, I’m still pretty pale - haha - since I spent most of my time under the umbrella.  It was so relaxing to sit out on the beach, take a nap, have a quick dip with the fish, and then come out of the water to grab a bite with beach side service.

The hotel’s lounge/pool area

Ornos beach, 1 block away from the hotel

Later on, we ventured into town with the group.

I fell in love with it.

J, E, S, and I separated from the group and decided to get drinks to watch the sunset in “Little Venice.”  We were literally a step away from the water, and had a clear view of the sunset.  It was perfect.  Afterwards, J and I parted ways with E and S and had dinner- of octopus and squid, of course -  right by the water and the windmills, which Mykonos is known for.  We missed the bus back to the hotel, but stayed, hung out a bit looking at the shops, found the beautiful port area and got some gelato.

My strawberry juice and J’s Piña Colada

Sunset at Little Venice

Famous Mykonos windmills (before sunset)

Friday entailed an excursion out to Delos.  This is an uninhabited island (minus the archaeologists) that has the most well preserved residential ancient city.  The island is named for Apollo, which makes complete sense because the sun was super strong and it was effing hot!  The guide showed us residential quarters, the slave market, the local theater, and even the bathrooms.  It was fascinating to be able to walk the same streets as the people of ancient Greece.  Of course, J and I went to the museum before heading back to the ferry to go back to Mykonos.

Approaching Delos

Unfortunately, I think being under the sun for those few hours, plus the little beach time made me sicker.  After dinner with J, E, and S, I had to go back to the room, while the other girls went out to the night clubs in town.  I think they went to a few places - Lola, Jacuzzi, and Scandinavian Bar.

Don’t worry. Back at the room, I had an adventure of my own.

Let me preface this by telling you that I’m arachnophobic.  I was standing in the middle of the room, with nothing near me, getting ready for bed, when all of the sudden i feel something wet hit the side of my left heel.  I look down and there’s a giant-ass black spider on me!!!!  I freak out and spazz, shaking my leg to throw the spider like half way across the room.  Once I somewhat compose myself, I look at it and it’s trying to crawl away but it’s back end won’t move.  It turns out the freaking thing basically killed itself when it landed on me, and that splat was its guts!!!!  So I shot it with Febreeze, and left it for J to dispose of it when she got back that night.

Saturday, J and I got up way too late, and spent the day at the beach.  On the way back to the hotel, I got my extremely brief ride on an ATV with the rental guy we met on our first day.  That night we had dinner with the tour group, and unfortunately I still couldn’t eat much.  We also found out that our stay in Santorini would be cut short because of a general transit strike on what would have been our last day, when we were supposed to be traveling back to Athens.  We had to basically cram everything that we wanted to do in Santorini into one day.

J & me on an ATV

That news was really disappointing to me.  Santorini was the island I was most excited about going to because of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.  I was really looking forward to spending all of my days in Santorini experiencing similar things that Lena, Tibby, Carmen, and Bridget did.  Okay, maybe not the whole falling-madly-in-love-with-a-guy-who-saves-me-from-drowning situation, but as a Fine Arts major, I would have loved to be able to draw some of the scenes that I saw, just like Lena.  

Maybe next time!

Read about what I actually did during my stay in Santorini on Friday…

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Opa! (Part 1) is part of our Summer Series.

FF’s Deathly Hallows Part 2 Review

By: Funfetti

The night before I went to see The Deathly Hallows, Part 2 I was trying to think of the last time I felt so sad about a movie or television show ending. Up until this, major entertainment milestones included watching the last episode of Dawson’s Creek (I forgot to tape it for some reason, and I made my next door neighbor bring it to my house right after it was over) or hearing that Rent was closing on Broadway or rushing out to buy the last book in The Baby-Sitter’s Club, even if I haven’t read any of the current releases in a bunch of years. Many bloggers have said the same things in the last couple of weeks – how much the series has touched them, how these characters are just like members of their extended family, and how, quite possibly, the series will never really be over.

So it’s strange to go into a movie theatre and be totally excited and sort of sad at the same time.  Especially when you know the ending. But here I was with a big group of Harry friends, armed with a packet of tissues and sour patch kids. Except, TMI, I had to pee from the very beginning… and I even went before the movie. (Lots of water.)

And for two hours plus, I was so riveted I didn’t even remember I had to go to the bathroom once.

Honestly, the movie wasn’t perfect and I still liked Part 1 better. I thought they did a great job with the plot, the instrumentals were moving, and there were several parts that were totally heartbreaking. (I cried a lot.) I guess I was just hoping for perfection in the worst way with this final chapter. I wanted the flashbacks to be more involved and stronger. I wanted the final battle between Harry and Voldemort to have more action. His death to be more dramatic. I would have loved for a more elaborate epilogue. Don’t get me wrong – I thought it was well done. Loved Ron’s beer belly. But I kind of wanted them to speak to each other, and a zoom out on the train heading back to a Hogwarts that is all pieced together again. Fade out.

 (S)

But those are just small details. The feelings that I had while reading the final chapters of DH were there. The fear, the helplessness, the rush, the sadness, and at some point, the joy of defeat, triumph, and the possibility of moving forward. While the images on screen were not always the way I had imagined, all the elements worked together to make those feelings so real to me. So many moments I was thinking… I’m not sure if I could ever be as brave as Harry. Especially when he finds out he must die.

Another thing I loved about the movie this time around was the humor. It was still there, and I was really impressed with Ron’s comedic timing. I think he really turned it up this time, for sure. I also liked the scene where Harry is reunited with his peers, asking them to search for something somewhere. Not only did I love seeing so many of the characters we have grown to know so well, but hey, it was a light moment in the middle of pure chaos.

Yet again, the main three showed just how much they grew as actors, and truly embodied these characters. This time, I definitely thought there were standup performances from Neville and Draco, once again. (God, it’s amazing how gorgeous these guys turned out since that first movie.) I think the scenes surrounded these two particular characters were so key to the entire series. Neville never thought much of himself, and look at what he became. Draco thought too much of himself. I’m sure he never imagined not turning in Harry to Voldemort, or even being saved by him when everything looked too bleak. (This scene is the reason I love Harry the most. Who would go back for the “enemy”?)

 (S)

It’s impossible to go over every detail. It’s just like every time I reread the series and realize just how many small (or not so small) elements I’ve forgotten. It makes it brand new for me again. I think that’s why this series is such a gift. A miracle almost. It’s the classic story of good vs. evil but we have managed to attach ourselves so much to these characters and stories but not enough to know them fully. There are always more questions, and more details to discover whether it is by rereading the books or rewatching of the movies. Can you imagine the day when our children are reading Harry Potter in their classes as we read The Chronicles of Narnia or A Wrinkle in Time? Amazing, isn’t it? They’ll even have the movies to supplement all those books. (Lucky ducks.)

And for me, it will always be the friendship of these three different people that will stand out to me the most. Three people who met on a train, and in classes that very first year. A boy with a scar who had never known was it was like to have a friend. Quite suddenly, he became a boy with a home, and friends with two people who were willing to risk their lives to help him defeat the biggest villain of their world. Sure, they fought. They didn’t always understand each other. But it was that friendship that gave Harry the strength to accomplish all that he did. To understand why what he had was so much important than the power and strength Voldemort had worked so hard to acquire. So in the end, the fact that they were standing on that platform 19 years later together, that was the prize to me. No matter how we got there.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some reading to do.

RV’s Review of the Deathly Hallows Part 2

By: Red Velvet

[Note: Spoilers ahead!]

After the movie was over, the first thing one of cousins asked me was - “Did you cry?”

Yes!

I cried, I laughed, and I held my breath in anticipation (even though I knew what was going to happen).  It was a perfect ending to the series.  

The movie picked up right where it left it off in Part 1 and the action didn’t stop for a second.  Going in, there were specific moments I wanted to see captured on screen (even though I haven’t read the book since it came out, some scenes are still pretty vivid in my mind).  I wanted to see Snape’s story told (I’ve been waiting to see more of his childhood with Lily Potter!), the truth of his allegiance and the moment he asks to see Harry’s eyes before he takes his last breath (tear!).  I wanted to see the battle at Hogwarts, Mrs. Weasley’s take down of Bellatrix, Ron and Hermione finally kissing (still a Harry/Hermione ‘shipper deep down but I’ve grown to like these two).  And of course, the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort was as epic as I expected it to be.  Everything was just so well done and every important detail (I wanted and more) captured.  I was really happy with how this movie (and the whole series really) turned out.  

I can’t but feel sad though and I’m sure everyone who’s grown up with this series feels the same way too.  I’m going to miss the anticipation of waiting for the next movie to come out and the experience of seeing them at the theatre.  Every year it’s become this tradition between my cousins and I to go watch them together.  All seven of us taking up half a row, my older cousin daring our youngest to scream “Snape killed Dumbledore!” in the parking lot (and me yelling at them both to shut up and not spoil it for everyone) and the lunch/dinner following the movie.  

Not only that, I’m going to miss the characters themselves.  Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint will forever be Harry, Hermione and Ron to me.  They brought these characters to life and we got to see them grow up on screen (which I think is pretty unique for a movie series!).  I’ll miss Harry’s strength and determination, the comedic relief Ron brings (the bit about Ginny not being all that excited to see him and threatening to kill Harry if saving Malfoy kills them both - had me laughing out loud) and Hermione being the voice of reason for just about everyone.  I could go on and on.  

Is it crazy that I’m already itching to see the Deathly Hallows Part 2 again (I’ve been watching HP movies since yesterday).  I guess for all my talk just now about it being the end, I’m not quite ready to let go yet.  And with that said, here’s to the end of an amazing series - I hope you all left the theatre feeling as happy (and probably a lil’ weepy) as I did!

—-

(Photo source)