Eathquake!!!!

Channeling Cherie Currie

Taylor Momsen, aka Jenny or "Little J" on Gossip Girl, thinks she's all grown up.  She went from being a typical pretty blond girl to channeling Cherie Currie from the Runaways.  Taylor is now the lead singer for a band called The Pretty Reckless which I didn't take seriously until I saw that they played at the Montreux jazz festival this year, not that her band has anything to do with jazz though.  I've always liked girls who can rock and Taylor definitely can!  I think she's an idiot away from the stage with her attitude and thinking she's so grown up, but I checked out her music on You Tube and actually like some of it.

Note that they are both 16 or 17 in these pictures.  The Runaways crashed and burned after being together only 3 years.  Let's hope Taylor doesn't have the same fate.

Taylor Momsen



Cherie Currie



Who Says You Can't Go Home

Jon Bon Jovi got it right when he sang Who Says You Can't Go Home.  My husband and I left California seven years ago for a lower cost of living.  True, we now have a nice house, good jobs and an easy commute, but we've come to learn that those aren't the things that really matter in life.  We are thinking about quitting our jobs, selling the house we love and heading back to the Golden State.  For him, it's to be closer to his parents.  For me, it's just home and where I feel like I belong.  In California we'll have a horrible commute, a smaller more expensive house and who knows what kinds of jobs (if any) given the state of the California economy, but it's what we want. 

I don't think we are alone in this thinking either.  Right now two of my acquaintances are driving across the country with all their belongings and dogs in a truck to go back home.  One couple is going from California back to Tennessee and another couple is going from Minnesota to California.  Both just want to be home.  This just goes to show that no state is better than another, it's home that matters.

Wish I Was Here

My trip to Jamaica with my friend Jenn seems so long ago.  I badly need another vacation!

My Favorite Men

My New Business!!!

It's official...I'm a small business owner!  There's not much to it yet, but Palm Paradise Travel is all mine and it will be whatever I make it.  I'm in the process of getting everything set up and then I'll be open for business.  This isn't like all my other ideas where I just talk about them.  I'm doing my best to not overwhelm myself to the point where I do nothing.  I'm taking it one step at a time.  I have the LLC set up and a tax ID number and a few other things are in the works like the logo and web site.   It might take another month or so to get it all up and running, but very soon, I will be a travel consultant for my very own company.  I will be focusing on the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii and cruises, but will be able to book other places as well.  Oh, and I'm not quitting a my day job.  This will be an at home business on nights and weekends.  More details to come!

So...anyone want to book a vacation???

Travel Bucket List

Continuing on my posts about bucket lists...since my passion in life is travel, here are places I want to go.  I work my #$%^ off these days at work so most involve a lot of relaxation.

1. Lizard Island, Australia
2. Over water bungalow in Bora Bora
3. Champagne region of France
4. Cook Islands
5. Jalousie Plantation, St. Lucia
6. Peter Island, BVI
7. Palm Island, St. Vincent & The Grendadines
8. Grace Bay, Turks & Caicos
9. Costa Rica
10. Spend an extended period of time in Paris
11. Take a helicopter tour over the Grand Canyon and then go river rafting on the Colorado river

Should I ever become fabulously wealthy and want more adventure, here are some more places.

1. Pyramids of  Giza
2. Safari in Africa
3. Machu Picchu
4. Hike the Appalachian Trail
5. Drive across the country

Here are some the more interesting things I've already done.

1. Mardi Gras in New Orleans
2. Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef
3. Saw an opera at the Sydney Opera House
4. Climbed the harbor bridge in Sydney
5. Hiked the Na'Pali coast in Kauai
6. Climbed Uluru (walking around it was better!)
7. Watched the sunrise and sunset over Uluru
8. Went to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
9. Went to the top of the Empire State building
10. Had a drink at the top of the World Trade Center in New York
11. Took a bus tour thru Europe
12. Mountain biked thru the Alps
13. White water rafted thru the Alps
14. Swam under a waterfall in Hawaii
15. Visited the beach bars of the BVI, including the Soggy Dollar Bar
16. Had a picnic in the French country side
17. Christmas in New York

What's on your list?  What have been some of your favorite place you have visited?

Love, True Love

Passion

My last post got some interesting feedback.  One person actually reminded me of something that absolutely belongs on my bucket list...owning my own business.   This has always interested me, even when I was a kid.   I not only wanted to be a chef...I wanted to be a chef in my own restaurant.  In college I took a class on entrepreneurship and interned at a non-profit that helped women start their own businesses.  In grad school I took another class on entrepreneurship and interned at an incubator that helped international companies get a presence in the US.  I have the passion, but am too risk averse.  I scrapped the idea of the dog bakery because I just didn't stick with it.  I didn't have a passion for it and I had to admit that to myself.  Also, many of the online dog bakeries I was tracking went out of business. 

I have something else in the works right now that I do have a passion for, but there is very little money in it.  Since my day job pays the bills, I'm going to give it a go in a side business that I do have a passion for, even though it won't pay the bills, but could make me happy. 

Any guesses???

No Bucket No List

My husband and I were talking about bucket lists the other night and things he'd put on his if he knew the world was about to end. These aren't things he'd actually do (because most are illegal) unless he knew the entire world was about to get hit by a meteor or something equally catastrophic. It got me thinking and I couldn't think of one thing I would do. Does that mean I've led a full life or that I don't aspire to much?  Of course there are places I want to travel to, but I don't think those really count as I've been to the places in the world that I always wanted to see. 

Today I read about a teenage girl dying from cancer who started a blog with her bucket list.  She is going to write about it as she ticks things off, although she's not well enough to complete them all now. 

I still can't think of anything I would do and this bothers me.

What's on your bucket list?