Tag- I'm it!

I got tagged today by the lovely Mattye Lee and now I get to reveal five things about me that you don't already know. I took me all day to think of these five things because I'm such a blabber-mouth that I think I told you all just about everything there is to tell without exposing any not-so-innocent bystanders... So here we go.

1. I used to be a pretty good bowler in spite of myself. You see, my stepmother's family are big into bowling. And since she knew I hated it, I was made to bowl every Saturday morning for what seemed like an eternity, but was actually like 7 years or so... I was on a team/league and everything. It was so not my thing. But after seven years of anything, one gets good at it even if it is against their will... But, finally, when I turned 15 I got my first job, which leads us to previously unknown fact #2...

2. When I was 15, my then best friend moved away to Virginia and I racked up a $700 phone bill the first month that she was gone. So, in order for me to pay for the mega-phone bill, my Mom hired me out as an indentured servant to her best friend, Yvonne, who owned a flower shop. That was my first job and I loved it from the first minute I was there. I learned so much from Yvonne, who I now consider my second mother, that I was able to work very successfully in the flower industry for over 10 years. I was working as a floral designer when I met Felix and it was the last job I had before taking on my current job as full time Mommy.

3. I have participated in what seems to have been a miraculous healing. In the winter of 2000, me and Barbara (the one I went to Jamaica with) were at a reggae concert at Lupo's in Providence, RI. I think it was Stevie Marley... We were dancing and having a great time when these people bumped into us because they were dragging an unconscious and convulsing young man towards the door. So Barbara-on-the-spot bends down and starts giving him Reiki (we are both Reiki Masters) and I put one hand on her back and one hand up in the air and add my Reiki stream to hers. It probably only took a couple of minutes or so but seemed like hours, and suddenly the kid sits up and looks around with the most beautiful look on his face, then stands up and walks out of the club. All the people who were around us were standing in a circle looking at us like we were aliens. We were embarrassed and went outside to make sure the kid was alright but he was gone. His friend said he was having a drug overdose. It was a very profound moment in my life.

4. My favorite food is honey. I try to give it up all the time because it isn't technically vegan, but I always go back to it. I also use it to wash my face with and to put on cuts to help them heal faster. That's also why I get called Queen B, because of all the honey eating. Lincoln told me the other day that I like honey as much as Winnie the Pooh... Unfortunately I also share Winnie's aversion to calisthenics...

5. Now, this last one is kind of embarrassing and, well, it is just weird. Whenever, I am talking to someone from another country, especially a non-English speaking country, I take on this weird semi-British accent completely non-voluntarily and start speaking very clearly and enunciating like crazy. I think it started when I used to talk to my Kashmiri friend, Hanief, on the phone all the time. I think I just do it in an effort to help whomever it is that I am trying to communicate with to understand me better. I'm not sure that it helps though... My friends laugh at me and make fun of me for it which I think is mean because I truly DO NOT do it on purpose. I had to work really hard on not doing it in Jamaica especially because I didn't want to embarrass Barbara in front of her family... I think I did o.k. though, because no one laughed at me while I was talking to them... But, they could have just been trying to be nice.

So there you have it, 5 things you didn't know and probably didn't even want to know about me but...

Oh, and by the way, how do you like my new tunes? I take requests, you know...

Big blessings to everyone out there and sweet dreams!

I'm a 3rd world girl at heart...

So I am finally back. Jamaica is/was paradise. Our one week vacation turned into two weeks (we couldn't bear to leave) and even though I have been home for about 10 days, I still feel like I left a big part of me in Jamaica. I felt this way when I came home from India, too... You see, I don't do the touristy travelling thing. No all inclusive, plastic, environmental nightmare resorts for me! I was shocked to learn that many of those places do not even allow local Jamaicans to walk on their beaches, never mind actually enter the resort (unless of course they are there to work for slave wages...) We had a real Jamaican experience and I am forever grateful for it!

We (me, my sista/bff Barbara, and little Lincoln) stayed at the adorable and very real-life Jamaican Ansell's Thatchwalk Cottages on Negril Beach. We started and ended every day with a swim in the perfect aquamarine sea. In fact, Lincoln even learned how to swim all by himself while we were there! The healing vibes that come from that gorgeous water cannot be expressed in words...

However, the best thing about the whole trip wasn't the beauty, the sea, the food, the excitement of the whole thing, no, it was the incredible people. You see, Barbara is married to a Jamaican man, named Owen, who has three of the most darling brothers in the entire Universe. The three brothers (Norris, Howie, and Vanlie) basically took care of us the entire time we were there. They got us anything we needed, cooked for us, took us all over the place and made us laugh countless times. They were fantastic!



We also got to take a trip up into the mountains to Barbara's mother in law's house. It was an incredible and totally mind blowing experience to see how people can live so simply off the land and be so much happier than most affluent Americans... We had a wonderful time with all of the nieces and nephews, who were all so brave, smart, and hysterical! They picked fresh cacao pods for us and showed us how to eat the lovely fruit. Interestingly, they often throw away the cacao beans, which, by the way, were an astonishing purple color!



As far as food goes, Jamaica is very vegetarian/vegan friendly in the form of Ital cooking, the traditional food of the Rastafarian's, who we all know I hold an extra special fondness for... We ate at a great place called "Just Natural" and also at the more fancy "Hungry Lion". I wasn't focused on eating raw, even though it would have been fairly easy to do. I was having too great of a time to worry about it! Howie and Norris cooked real Jamaican food for us and it was great. One morning Norris showed up with a big bag of ackee, yams, and breadfruit, all fresh picked from his Mom's trees! We definitely would not have gotten that at an "all-inclusive"!



My experience in Jamaica was perfect. I didn't ever want to leave and I could see myself living there very easily. I felt fantastic and beautiful and free. I felt myself thriving and was blissfully happy. Lincoln felt the love too and it was great to see him experience the West Indian side of himself! Now that we are back in Florida and back to "reality", whatever that means, I am realizing that a major shift occurred in me during my time in Jamaica. My priorities have changed and it will be interesting to see how it manifests in my life...



Most importantly, I want to send my hugest dose of gratitude to my darling sista Barbara for making the whole adventure possible and for being such a loving and supportive blessing in my life! Thank you more than I can ever express! xxoo



Big ups to all of you peaceful warriors out there! Big love and Irie vibes to each and every Emperor and Empress! One Love!