A Taste of Italy

Here are a few pictures of our beautiful trip to the Amalfi Coast in Italy.  This part of our trip was idyllic, and we hope to make it back for our honeymoon.  

The View from our B&B in Conca dei Marini (above)

Praiano

Positano

I love those feet!

Jeri checks the map for a path from Minori to Ravello

The Hike to Ravello (sans backpack)

The Hike to Ravello (with backpack)

The view from above

Jeri makes a friend while on a conference call (don't tell Kiki)

Peggy Ann

I am not sure how or where to begin.  The truth is that there are no words that will ever come close to describing what the past few months have been like, but I feel it important to continue our story of this year in London.

On June 25, 2010, my sweet partner lost her mother, unexpectedly.  Peggy was just 64. 

Everything since that phone call, which came to us 2 hours after we had arrived in the south of France, has been affected by that one little moment.  Our lives will never be the same.  My sweet Jeri is desperately sad and I grieve with her and for her daily.

Peggy was a beautiful, thoughtful, charismatic, caring, fun, nurturing and loving woman.  When I look at Jeri every morning, the old adage rings in my head.  The apple does not fall far.

I wish I had the words to adequately honor her, or the strength to tell you the story of the day-to-day since she has been gone, but this experience is so personal that I cannot.  All I can do is write her a letter, just as I have done so many times before… I am not sure where to send it, or how to address the envelope, but I know it will reach her.

Dear Momma, 

I just wanted to write to tell you what a good job you did raising Jeri Jo.  Her goodness is unmatched by anyone I have ever known and I am so grateful to you for creating her.  She is perfect.  And, I want you to rest now, and have some fun up in Heaven… I promise to take good care of her from here.  I know you miss Jeri, and I know you love her.  She misses you too. 

I’m sorry that I get upset by your leaving so soon, but I can’t help it.  I have so many stories I want you to tell me.  I want you to come live closer to us and let me help take care of you.  I want to bring you groceries and make sure you take your medicine.  I want to sit at your table and eat the cookies you undoubtedly made for me.  I want to hear you laugh as you reminisce about Jeri Jo’s antics.  I want to keep filling your mailbox with letters.  I want you to check our blog to see if we have posted anything new.  I want you to be at our wedding.  And I want to love you in such a way that expresses my gratitude for the gift of your daughter.  Above all though, I want you back so that Jeri can call you.  She needs you.

I will try hard to be your strength now and do for her what you have always done for her. I will be there for her, I will comfort her, I will give her courage to endure.  I will hold her hand.  I will listen.  I will be grateful when she calls just to talk.  I will pack her lunch, make her dinner and give her a snack before bed.  I will keep all the letters and cards she has ever given me.  I will shower her with gratitude.  I will cherish time with her above any other gift.  I will cry with her, I will laugh with her.  I will love it when it snows and we stay home together for the day.  I will be fiercely loyal.  I will beg on the street for food before I ever let her go hungry.  I will write of how I loved her before I knew her.  I will decorate my heart with her accomplishments and measure my wealth by her happiness.  Most importantly, I will love her and take care of her all the days of my life, just like you and I talked about.

With eternal gratitude and love,  

Amy

The Parentals

Words cannot express how wonderful it was to have my parents here visiting us in London.  When Jeri and I first decided we were going to leap across the pond, I was not sure whether or not Mom and Dad would make it over for a visit.  I was so excited when they called to tell us their flight info, even more excited when they loaded 20 lbs. of peanut butter into their luggage, and elated when they arrived at our door.  


The time flew by, and Jeri and I are still laughing about all the fun dinners, trips, picture-taking marathons from momma and "beans again" cheers from dad.  We literally ate and drank as if it were the holidays, albeit English-style.  The pub nachos and burgers were a hit, and the raw fish was a... um... another hit.


Borough Market and the Portobello Road Market were both accomplished in one day, with a stop at the Ferrari store in between. Mom and Dad saw the entire city by bus (and boat), taking pictures for us so that we could see all of the "tourist" stuff we have yet to see in person, and even checked out some fabulous museums so that we can tell our other visitors where to go. (Mom kept saying "this will be perfect for Reed and Madi)


Here are a few more highlights... 

On the patio (note- jackets in June)

Filter Coffee at Borough Market

Raw Shrimp and Wine

More Wine...

Happiness

I am so glad to have had such quality time with my parents.  When Jeri and I tucked them into the cab early Monday morning, I held back my tears until the door closed.  We missed them instantly.  

With love,

Amy

Tetbury

We have become big fans of the English countryside and of the Cotswold's in particular.  This Friday we decided to go to Tetbury, a small town in the Cotswold's an hour by train directly west of London.  We gave John and Barbara a backpack for the adventure.

                                                                  

Tetbury has 1300 years of recorded history, which is always so hard to fathom when our history in the US is only 200 years old.  Prince Charles and company have a home in Tetbury so apparently it is not unusual to see them at the polo field and around town; however, we didn’t stumble upon them.

                                                            

We stayed in a beautiful bed and breakfast run by a lovely artistic couple.  They picked us up at the train station when we arrived and welcomed us into their home that was exquisitely designed and decorated with jaw dropping art.  

                                                    

Within 15 minutes of our arrival Amy and her Mom were baking scones in the kitchen.             

                                                                        

                                                            

John was in the backyard talking to Gary and I was finishing up emails in our luxurious bedroom. In true English style, we enjoyed afternoon tea and fresh baked scones in the yard and then set off to check out the town…which took about 30 minutes.  Dinner wasn't until 7:30 so we decided to duck into a real "pub" and have a "pint".  

                             

With still more time to kill and wanting to get everyone laughing I encouraged a game of pool before making our way to the small café where we were scheduled for dinner.  The pool game was hysterical. Truly, a highlight of the trip.

Just as the restaurant name implies, we sat at the bar in the cafe, "The Chef's Table," and watched the chef prepare our meals.   Needless to say, we dreamed about running an open air kitchen brasserie in Seattle.

                               

On Saturday Gary and Nicola prepared a stunning breakfast that equipped us for the antiquing that we were hoping to do.  We walked through town and through many shops, but found nothing compelling enough to drag home on the train.  We've since decided that we got spoiled in Brighton at Alex MacArthur's shop, check her website out, you'll see what I mean - http://www.alexmacarthur.co.uk/

We visited St Mary's Church (and cemetery), which was built in 1777 and is described as "one of the best Georgian Gothic designs" and walked through the pillared outdoor market in the center of town that wool merchants once used as a trading floor. 

We jumped on an afternoon train and when we arrived in London had to sort out how to get home because, as often happens, several tube lines were down.  We were all pretty tired out when we finally arrived home, but Amy and I decided to run down and join an evening yoga class. 

Sunday was a nice relaxing day - we stayed in bed drinking coffee and playing on the computer, planning trips, etc until noon.  Amy's parents did a reconnaissance of a few museums which they raved about and we did a Pilates workout in the afternoon. For dinner, Amy made her new specialty - Indian food.  It was a super relaxing day and another great weekend.

We hear that the northwest is finally starting to get summer weather, that's great!  We are very much looking forward to seeing everyone in August and hoping for some nice weather while we're there so we can get out and enjoy Discovery Park.  We miss our lighthouse.

With love,

Jeri Jo

Gratitude for this life

Sunday, June 6

London

We took a 9:15 yoga class at our new yoga studio this morning.  The instructor ended our practice by saying “It is a privilege to live this life, to breathe this air and to inhabit this body.  It’s an honor to enjoy our home, this planet, and to give and receive love.”  It set the tone to spend the day thinking about all I am grateful for, which is a lot.  A good yoga practice eliminates, even if just momentarily, the need to get to the next thing and reminds you to enjoy what is occurring in this moment, and then the next, and then the next. Connecting to that is why I love yoga.   

Our dear friend Aimee (one half of Kiki’s Adopto-Moms ) is in London on business this week.   We introduced her to our favorite pizza place, “Made in Italy” where pizza is on an ultra thin crust and served by the metre!  We got to catch up an all things Seattle, hear all about Kiki (they think she’s so smart she might be a Mensa cat) and begin to plan our upcoming trip with she and Coleen. 

Amy’s parents arrive on Tuesday, which will be great!  We’re very excited to have them here in London with us for a couple weeks.  Stay tuned for our adventures…

With love,

Jeri Jo

Big Gay Brighton

Fri/Sat, June 4-5

Brighton, UK

Friday night we took a train up to Brighton, the gay capital of Europe (little did we know…)  It’s a fantastic Bohemian and artistic beachside village that provided a nice little escape from London.  We stayed at a small B&B that was right off the beach and explored the village on Friday and Saturday.  They have an area called “the lanes” which consists of very narrow paths littered with great boutiques, cafes and restaurants.  Every few hundred yards are open courtyards with tables and chairs filled with people drinking their lattes, eating a meal or relaxing with a glass of wine.  Intermittently we found a few different bands playing and art galleries supporting local artists.

It was great to breathe the fresh air, and to see a huge body of water (it was the English Channel).  It reminded me of how lucky we are in the Northwest to be surrounded by so much natural beauty.

I made a reservation at a highly recommended vegetarian restaurant (purported to be the best in the UK) as a surprise for Amy (but ended up telling her) and it was incredible!  The food had an Indian inspiration, was extraordinarily fresh and was amazingly creative.  It was a great find and we’ll definitely venture back to Brighton, both for the fresh air and the vegetarian cuisine!

We both made the clean plate club!

With love,

Jeri Jo

Americans in Paris

Wed-Sun,  May 27- 31

Paris, France

I had a few client calls in Paris (boy, was THAT interesting) and we decided to make a weekend out of it.  Amy had never been to Paris so it was fantastic showing her around and reacquainting myself with the city.  Paris is tough because there’s simply so much to see and do and a weekend (or a week) isn’t sufficient, so you have to decide what you really want to see and then promise yourself another trip to hit the rest.  We explored virtually every neighborhood (arrondissement) and must have walked 10+ miles each day.  It’s hard to describe the beautiful architecture that envelopes the streets of Paris.  There’s a feeling of elegance, strength and antiquity everywhere you look.  There are very few modern structures, but most are in surprisingly good condition.  If you have an appreciation for the aged and beautiful, Paris is the city to visit.

Arche de Triomphe

We stayed near the Arche de Triomphe off of Champs Elysees (see above).  We explored the Marais district, the Louvre and Tuileries, St Germain, Montmartre (I made Amy watch Moulin Rouge a few  weeks ago to get in the Montmartre mood) and Montparnasse.  I finally remembered how to get around on the tube in Paris, so that was fun and made everything a bit more accessible.

The Tuileries and the Louvre

The view from Montmartre

The highlights were seeing Notre Dame and watching Amy at the Eiffel Tower.  I forgot that it lights up each night – that was a fun surprise for us both!   We spent most of our time admiring the city, walking through the different neighborhoods and trying new cafes. 

Au Revoir,

Jeri Jo