The beginning

Okay.  Starting at the beginning--- Why the Eiffel Tower and why Phenomenal Woman?  Well, my beginning was Paris, France....or more accurately- Versailles.  I was born in Versailles while my dad was in Paris for 3 years on business.  I've always had a profound connection to that city even though we moved back to the States before I turned one.  And- I've only been back one time....on my honeymoon!  So- it seemed like the best background photo for my very first blog.

As for Phenomenal Woman......well, I lay zero claim to this amazing statement.  It's my favorite poem by my favorite writer Maya Angelou.  "The swing in my waist, the joy in my feet"--- ahhhh, just divine.  I feel like I've spent the majority of my life reading, watching movies, going to museums & plays, traveling, photographing, etc to be truly moved by a single piece of art or a single moment caught in time- like a drug addict looking for the next big fix.  When I read Phenomenal Woman for the first time, it was one of those perfect drug moments.  Check it out!

Total side note: I felt the same way when I read "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings," heard Ani Difranco sing live for the first time, hung my son's first art project on our wall, took a picture recently of my daughter that undoubtedly captured what she is going to look like as a surly teenager, saw the original cast of "Rent' from my 3rd row center seat in NYC when I was a freshman in college or when my husband and I were mistaken for Parisian locals on our honeymoon -- that feeling of bliss, excitement and absolute understanding.  Truth: I also felt that way when I read "Eat, Pray, Love" and kept telling my husband that I was going to pray in an ashram in India for 4 months while he smartly ignored me and watched football over my gesticulating shoulder.

Now- for the big question-- why do a blog?  Well-- when I'm in the right mood with the right people, I can actually tell a really funny story.  And- a few people who love me far too much have told me over and over again to write....write something, anything.  And since we just left NYC and moved to South Carolina to start a new adventure/chapter of our life, I've decided to start embracing things that scare me or seem ridiculous......like Tough Mudder type events.  Have you heard of these things?  They are like 12 mile obstacle courses that you run in the mud: you get electro-shocked, crawl through tunnels, jump in freezing cold tanks of water, etc all the interest of 'fun.- not even cash prizes.  I guess I could save $150 bucks and just have Brad (my husband) spray me with a hose in the backyard while I run in circles for three hours....it's cheaper, I still wouldn't need to do a pull up and I wouldn't have to find a babysitter--plus the pictures would be fantastic-- but I want to embrace the insane so I'll probably be signing up for one of those events in the future too.  Just stop me if I start talking about a neck tattoo.....I don't think people really recover from neck tattoos.

Anyway- this blog is for me....but hopefully also entertaining for you.  I want to be more aware of my life's journey, I want to embrace the awkward, I want to push myself, I want to be more -- well, ME I guess.  I want to put it out there so I have to follow through on all of it.  Let's see what happens......