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It's Monday and we've got another day at sea. Today I will indulge in a massage, resting by the pool with a book, and likely dinner with the entire gang for a celebration. It's my birthday! The evening's activity will be an 80s party. So thoughtful of Atlantis to plan a party with my favorite music on my birthday, don't you think?
[All these boys are gathered for my birthday party. Not likely. But we're celebrating anyway. And I'm not really blogging this on my birthday.]
We're all settled into our routine aboard the Atlantis Mediterranean cruise and headed our way to Egypt. But first, there are two days at sea. Surrounded by this...
[I don't know who these boys are and I didn't take this picture. I didn't even write this post on Sunday, because I'm not blogging while I'm away. Enjoy the eye candy anyway.]
It's Saturday and today is the day we set sail aboard the Celebrity Solstice. This is gonna be fun!
Assuming that the plane arrived at 8 a.m. as promised, Andy and I are in Rome. We're meeting up with Bernardo and Greg at the airport (they are staying right there), going to drop our luggage, and then taking the train into the city to begin our first visit to what is supposed to be an amazing city.
[I didn't take this picture. And I left the laptop at home, so I am not live blogging from Rome. I'll be back with new posts mid-September.]
If it's Thursday, then we're on my way to Rome aboard Delta.
[I did not take this picture, nor am I live blogging while on vacation. Andy won't let me.]
So tomorrow begins a big vacation adventure.
We're headed to Rome for a nine-day Atlantis cruise aboard the Celebrity Solstice, one of the newest ships on the seas. Egypt, Greek Isles, Naples, back to Rome...it's going to be amazing.
There's a whole group of us going: Chris and Drew (and Drew's parents) from Boston, Bernardo and Greg from Panama, David and Juan Carlos from Miami, Jim and Mateo from Detroit. And of course Andy and yours truly.
Andy's not letting me bring the laptop, so I won't do any blogging while I'm gone. But I'll write lots when I'm back and set up a Flickr site to share pictures.
Whenever I go into an antique store, I have one very specific thing on my mind.
The Franciscan Apples dishes, which I wrote about the other day, were never my quest. Frankly, I never even really considered collecting them.
What I have been after is a set of Anchor Hocking "Forest Green" deer glasses.
Anchor Hocking produced a wide collection of "Forest Green" glassware in the late 1950s to mid 1960s. My grandmother had a set of these glasses, another memory of my childhood. Upon her passing, they went to my father. But glasses, being what they are, break in time. There's only one left. It too, broke, but was glued back together. Today's is just sentimental reminder of the past.
So anytime I go into an antique store, my eyes search for just one thing.
My sister actually found a set a few years ago. But she wasn't sure if I'd want them, so she passed. Silly girl. Of course, when she went back, they were gone.
So while antiquing with my friend recently, I kept looking for green.
In the second store we entered, I found a cabinet filled with the stuff. Eureka!
But alas, there were no reindeer in sight. They had lots of glasses from the Square Dancing series, and even one from the Gay Nineties (Christmas) collection.
I inquired with the proprietor. He told me later that his heart sank when I mentioned them, because they had, in fact, had them recently. But of course, they sold. He even went into his stockroom to look, but to no avail.
So close! As a consolation, though, I bought the lone Christmas glass.
The other night, however, Kathy popped up on Facebook.
"I found the reindeer glasses on eBay," she wrote.
Having never been on eBay, I quickly registered and searched for the glasses.
And there they were. A set of four for just $8. I quickly made a bid and am now waiting for the bidding period to end on the 25th. So far, I'm the only one interested.
I've got my fingers crossed.
Now I have some justification for rarely making it to the gym.
It seems, according to the New York Times, that round is the new thin.
Apparently, "this summer the unvarying male uniform in the precincts of Brooklyn cool has been a pair of shorts cut at knickers length, a V-neck Hanes T-shirt, a pair of generic slip-on sneakers and a straw fedora. Add a leather cuff bracelet if the coolster is gay.
In truth this get-up was pretty much the unvarying male uniform last summer also, but this year an unexpected element has been added to the look, and that is a burgeoning potbelly one might term the Ralph Kramden."
You can read the full article here. I would write more about it, but a lovely bag of Oreos is calling.
I was transported back in time recently.
While visiting a friend recently, I got to see the small town she relocated to a few months ago. It was a quaint village -- almost a step back to earlier days really -- with nary a Gap, Victoria's Secret or Starbucks in sight.
As we stepped out from the car, I commented on the plethora of antique stores lining the main street. I continued with a story about antiques.
My paternal grandmother, who passed away in 1971, had a set of "apple" dishes. I have very vivid memories of her home, the dining room china cabinet (which has resided in my parents home since 1971) and the apple dishes displayed within.
Upon Nana's passing, my aunt has had possession of the dinnerware. Despite hints (subtle and not-so-subtle) from my father (her brother) and my sister (her niece and God-daughter), she's been unwilling to relinquish the dishes.
As I finished telling my friend this story, we stepped inside one of the antique stores. As we made our way through the store, I stopped in my tracks.
Yeah, you guessed it. There they were. My apple dishes.
[A bit of background at this point. The actual name for these dishes are "Franciscan Apple." They were introduced in 1940 by Gladding, McBean & Company. The company originated in 1875 to produce sewer tile for the American West, but its fame developed in 1934 when they started producing Franciscan dinnerware out of a plant in Glendale California. Franciscan stopped production in 1984 and the rights to its designs, including the apple dishes were ultimately sold to Wedgewood in the UK. The dishes are still made to this day, but in England. Of course, it's the Franciscan-stamped items that are of most interest to collectors.]
I had never really considered collecting this stuff. I saw a stray plate at a flea market in Fort Lauderdale a few years ago, but it was expensive. What I really wanted were my grandmother's plates.
But the store had six dinner plates, so I thought about it.
We left and wandered into the next antique store. There we found dessert plates, cups and saucers. Enough to complete a service for six.
My friend looked at me and said, "You told me the story, now here they are. It's a sign. You are meant to buy these and if you don't, you will regret it."
So I bought them. And today, when I got home from work, there was the great big box, sitting at my front door.
So my aunt, whom I love dearly, can keep her dishes. I'll duke it out with my cousins when the time comes.
* * * * *
I like antiques, but I'm not a big antiquer. I do, however, have an antique holy grail, and I came oh-so close in the second store. But that's a story for tomorrow.
My friend Luisa and I have a great many things in common. Many can't be revealed in such a public forum as this blog, but the one I can talk about is our shared sweet tooth.
A couple of weeks ago Lu sent me a link to Yummy Cupcakes, a Los Angeles-based bakery with outlets in Burbank and Santa Monica. She discovered the company shortly after moving to LA (go figure).
I checked out their website and was carried away on a virtual sugar high while reading their extraordinary menu. What really piqued my interest was the notion of a brown sugar cinnamon cupcake.
Well yesterday I arrived home to find a package waiting for me. At first I was puzzled, as I was waiting for a giant box via UPS, the contents of which I will write about in a day or so. I looked at the label and saw "Yummy Cupcakes" and I knew that my dear chocolate-loving friend was up to no good.
Inside I found an early birthday present: two jars of "cupcakes in a jar" -- a vanilla cake/vanilla frosted selection, and of course, the brown sugar cinnamon confection that I could only dream about.
So imagine this: a jar of layers of cupcake and frosting, just sitting their begging for a spoon.
I had dinner plans last night, so I put the cakes aside. Tonight I arrived home and opened one of them. Oh. My. Sheer delight. I've got a sugar high buzzing through my head even as I write this post.
So if you want a great gift idea, check them out. Sure beats flowers or fruit baskets.