Fondly Faring-Well

As I sit here at the kitchen table in my mother's house, the same table at which I would sit every morning before elementary school, reading the backs of every cereal box in our cabinet and scarfing down my Golden Grahams, I come to a realization: this holiday season, I have been "home" for the most consecutive days in almost 4 years. I've been here 5 days. Between making home-made meyer lemon curd and cookies for the neighbors, three nights in a row of prime rib, beach jogs, and movie watching, suffice it to say that this weekend was one of indulgence, togetherness, and joy.

The past year has been incredible. I have ridden camels, motorcycles, jet skis, horses, and private jets. I have stood on the southernmost tip of Greece with the ocean air in my face, and hiked to see a giant Buddha on a mountaintop in China. I have wept from the deepest part of my soul at the wailing wall in Jerusalem with hundreds of other women, and rejoiced at the beauty of being so close to such rich, meaningful history. I have gazed up from underneath the Eiffel Tower at night, and strolled through Monte Marte on a Saturday afternoon. I have discovered vintage stores I will always return to in Berlin, London, Paris, and New York. I have toured the world with friends and collected new ones in each place I visit. I have fallen in love.

I am the luckiest bish I know. Seriously. Hey God? Thanks. <3

Monte Marte in Paris

Hannah, Tanaka, and some of the crew on the roof of our hotel in Israel

View from the water in Tel Aviv

Hong Kong high rises

WOO-HOO!

The rain that has plagued Los Angeles for ages (7 days straight), is rumored to be clearing up tomorrow, and I hope and believe that my favorite type of weather will be upon us. I predict, with my glass-half-full know-how, that tomorrow will be chilly, and the sun will be shining. That's the kind of winter I'm used to. Perfect jogging/hiking/biking weather - OK, I'll stop being a spoiled native Southern Californian now. The truth is, this is the most rain we've had in ten years. The reactions have been downright ridiculous. Nearly every update on facebook and twitter from LA dwellers has been about the relentless bad weather, and Los Angeleans everywhere are lamenting their asses getting fat because they don't know how to exercise indoors. Crisis truly has hit our fair (or maybe not-so-fair anymore!) city.

No, but seriously -

Stop complaining everyone. It's rain. Just thank your lucky stars, you know, the ones on Hollywood Boulevard, that you don't have to shovel it away every morning.

Love,

Ashleigh :)

A Lost Moment

I'm in a restaurant in the Hong Kong airport. This Airport is way too big; maybe it is just that I'm extremely jet lagged, and walking feels like a chore. I chose this restaurant because of it's proximity to the ladies room.

"Hello, yes, just one please." I'm ushered to a small table in the back by the window. I face the restaurant - I much prefer watching people that anything else. There are two women who look to be about 28-30 to my left. They both have ordered pizzas. I hear the prettier one say,

"Sam and I were talking, and he kept saying how beautiful you were. I said to him, 'are you just trying to butter me up?' and he says, 'yeah kinda.'"

Ouch. Way to deliver a sneaky insult to a friend.

She goes on to state, "I'm just a cut and dry type of person..." and after that I stop listening. People who make statements like that are just doing publicity work, and usually sound more like they are trying to convince themselves of something. It's kind of like facebook, AKA our own self-projected image of who we wish we were.

I think Comedians are kind of geniuses, because they have studied human behavior as an outsider - they are perpetual people watchers, or culture watchers. They are able to find patterns and make tragic (the truth hurts!) observations about life and our nature as a culture of humans. Maybe that's where the "sad clown" stereotype comes from, for he is a man who has thought enough about his own kind to realize the commonality of his own flaws.

The two women just left. The both ate the exact same amount of Pizza.

Recently, I made a decision which will/has already begun to change my life completely. I keep going back and forth about how I feel about it - most days I know for absolute certain that it was the right one. But then there are those few in-betweeners. Those pesky little doubts that creep into my head, quietly at first and then, before I've even noticed it, drown out any and all logic; from there it's just sheer panic. Thank God I'm a list person. Whenever I feel myself start to freak out under the pressure of this aforementioned change, I categorize and organize whatever is going on in my brain into a word document, along with the steps needed to fix/complete/accomplish it, and I feel much better.

This is not one of those days, thankfully. It almost started out that way, but I quickly opened that little "recent document" on my computer, and voila, assurance. (If I were a pessimist, I'd call it denial, but I'm not...right?) All silliness, really. Of course, whatever happens, I know I'm going to be fine. I do tend to think that a little healthy anxiety acts as motivation, so I don't mind it........much.

Last week, I purchased a loverly new camera, the Canon G12. I can't say enough nice things about it. The pictures are fantastic, especially in low light with no flash. YEE! See for yourself...

Last weekend, we went to London for X-factor. I had a great time, despite the cold, and it was so nice to be there during the holiday season - the white lights and wreaths lining every street, the gorgeous red, green, gold and silver shop window displays - it was beautiful! Hannah, our keyboard player from this last tour lives there, and she and I enjoyed an indulgent 3 hour Saturday brunch at this adorable little restaurant in Kensington called "Bumpkin." We hadn't seen each other in the 3 months since tour and thought the occasion called for a Bloody Mary or 2....

As if Los Angeles were trying to prove that it is, indeed, superior to any other city, when I flew back into LAX the weather was perfect. It was warm, the skies were clear, and the wind was pleasant. Matt picked me up and we went straight to the beach to meet friends for a bonfire -bocce ball - BBQ. It was oh-so-nice. Nothin' like watching the sun go down over the ocean in the middle of December!

Hope everyone is happy and healthy this winter! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New year!