wow.

there is so much going on that i can't begin to go through it all.

happy first of march! exactly 2 months more until my no-fun adventure with hodgkin's lymphoma hopefully comes to an end. that alone is enough to make me want to jump up and down for the rest of my life. seriously.

my first book discussion on images of america: greeks in queens took place at the bayside historical society last friday (thankfully, time flies, especially during chemo week when you're stuck in a sleepy-haze). i had the best time and met a lot of great people. here's some photos...

it was quite fun. between events like this and friend-based fun about to happen, i couldn't be happier. it'd be great if chemo was over already!

really, chemo sucks cuz you want to end it as soon as possible and as a result, you stay home more. but i'm making plans to go (and be) out all the time come springtime.

it can't come fast enough.

so please, if you have any ideas of fun activities (new york based or otherwise, cuz we all know i am NOT staying home) please let me know. whosthatgamine@gmail.com

can't wait to catch up on your blogs now!!

ha.

So, the writer in me has something new going on. Apparently, breathing comes as naturally lately as writing does. Literally.
Ha.
I've found that writing is actually the key for me to keep my mind straight, be it a list, a blog post, a chapter or drawing for one of the 15 books I'm working on.
By the way- by 15, I am not exaggerating. Definitely not by any means exaggerating. In fact, I've cut back on   quite a few novels and have narrowed everything down to 15. I figure by the end of 2014 I COULD be done, IF I get an agent or a publisher interested in (at least) the trilogy I'm writing.
I guess you can say that writing has become a bigger part of me than I thought would be possible.

I guess, with my schedule and everything coming up, it should be expected that I am a little more stressed than usual...because usually, I'm not stressed at all.
Usually, I leave everything up to the universe and it all works out for me in the end...but yes, anxiety has set in for me at the age of 30.

There is so much to look forward to, that I know my to-do list, as short (compared to what's going on) as it can be will collect dust anyway.

So here are a teeny list of my goals for this summer:

• visit some museums i've not been to, and write/blog about them
• figure out places i've been to i haven't blogged about.
• blog about the books i've read this year, which will be no easy feat.
• maybe knock some items off my bucket list
• get just a smidge more organized!

what are your goals for this summer?

love me,

the globetrotting gamine

the procrastinating queen

i have come to the conclusion
that i am the queen
of procrastinators.

i have not even closed to PARTIALLY
(does that make sense?)
getting over this writers block.

can someone who is so into
organizing and listmaking
also be such
a
procrastinator?

though- i am a lucky, lucky girl.
the other night, i thought to myself how
absolutely thankful i am
for my family, friends, puppy...
incredible husband...
book about to be published...
ability to cook (yay!)...
having travelled to 25+ countries...

yeah, if things were anymore perfect
people would throw rocks at me...
which is mean to say, but i know that's how they feel
from their words or lack there of.

it's sad since i'd like nothing but the best for everyone
in everything...
i literally can spend all day researching, writing, etc.
which is  very fitting about this new-ish career choice of writing.

thus the procrastinating schtick that has moved in to my brain
is not helping anything...

so pray that my muses come back
to kick me in the tush
so i can get a move on
on my next books!!

visiting my shop here...

and my facebook page for 'Greeks in Queens' here...

and thank you for all of your support...texts...e-mails...words...everything!!

the whole truth.

see that photo?

please look at it clearly.

yes.

i did it :)

i published a book.

lookie- my name's there...

this is what i've been toiling over/relishing/going crazy over

since i've been back in the states.

i am so happy-

that this opportunity presented itself to me,

and that my love of writing/history/photography/

and piecing everything together

has bought this to pass.

so...yes.

just a na-na-na-na-poo-poo

to the people who fueled my fire

and pushed me to accomplish yet something else

that is freaking amazing.

and it's just the beginning :)

learn more about my signings, reading and events, here

and thank you so much

for your kind e-mails, comments, texts, and snail mail.

you

are

fantastic!!

warmest,

globetrotting gamine

over and out :)

kalamata- it's not only olives

"so, i'm greek, right?"

one of my most favorite lines from 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'.

being a Greek means that if your family had the means, you've had summers in Greece at least once in your life.
I've had about 20 summers in Greece, give or take.

being a Greek means that you have to travel to Greece at least once after you get married...be it to another Greek (which is preferred by most hardcore Greeks, or wanna-be hardcore Greeks) or to a xeno (which means a non-Greek).

have fun trying to bring a Greek who doesn't speak, read or write Greek down to Greece to meet your family- especially if you're married. Fortunately, we didn't have that problem.

Our only problem? Where will we pick up our breakfast before we get to the beach?
LML and I had two requisites for summers in Kalamata- constant access to the beach and some R&R throughout the day.

done and done.

I remember that there were days we would go to the beach twice- in the morning and then during sunset. It was beautiful to watch the sun setting high in the sky while swimming...floating in the arms of your one and only.

The 45 minute walks to get to the beach, and back were also crazy worth it- probably because of our never-ending conversations. We loved walking by cafenia (cafes), watching the tourists (haha), snapping pictures (me- and LML telling me not to because we'd look like tourists)... and the amount of exercise we got between all that walking and all the swimming would lead ultimately to...

gelato.

Now, i don't have any pictures of the gelatos we would get. Why? Because the last summer we were there, my camera decided to kick the bucket about one day into our one month vacation.

Oh, Gelato.

Our nights consisted of: waking after our ciesta- getting all dolled up and hitting a different cafe for coffee or a beer (we'd sampled all the beers in kalamata during our last summer there)...or hitting the hookah cafe on the beach and watching the bellydancers... or going for the most incredible pizza in the world at Pizza Roma.

Ho. Ly. Cow.

Holy Pizza.

food...beach...swimming...r + r...what else is vacation all about?

love me,
the globetrotting gamine

"seek happiness"

happiness.

shot in greece.

where i'm from.

love me,

the globetrotting gamine

oh tuesday, tuesday

oh tuesday,
today you had me thinking about all i have to do and all i want to do.
you had me tying up loose ends at the homefront, so that i can venture out to places like this:

i have so much i would like to do this year- that i'm thinking

being home accomplishing what needed to be done

and planning out my year

was not at all bad...

in fact, i've quite enjoyed myself other than being sick.

LML and I have planned out our globetrotting for the year...

i guess you'll have to stay tuned :)  ...

and yesterday, while he lovingly prepared stuffed cabage leaves

(or laxanodomades, as we Greeks like to call them)

we daydreamed and drank wine about

all the fun we are SO ready for.

we have mapped out a not-so specific plan of action-

mine is a little more specific than his.

wherever we go, he's more of a traveler than a tourist...

we almost never go the tourist route...

and i am a total tourist in the state

of new york.

my type-a (when did that happen?) personality

is telling me to be a little more like LML

but i am just so EXCITED about what this year has in store.

if this weekend was any kind of prelude to what

we're headed towards this year- bring it on, 2011!

so if you live anywhere in the tri-state area

or have visited, and would like to hear my thoughts

about somewhere you've been...

please let me know!

i'd like to keep you as entertained and happy as possible this year!

lots of love <3

Visions of Kalamata, Greece

I had a friend once who told me, "There's nothing in Kalamata but olive trees!"
I asked her if she got off the cruise ship she'd been on and she told me no.

How are you to know what is ANYWHERE unless you explore?

I didn't know then that I was going to marry someone from Kalamata. (well, i KIND OF did, because I'd been crushing on LML since I was 13 and i just *knew*)...so for our "honeymoon" we went to Greece again but for the first time together.

I fell in love with Kalamata.
It's part city, part country and part awesome beach vacation.

Not that we were able to go swimming the December we went.

see, that's the town square. during tourist season, it's filled with little tables and chairs in front of the coffeehouses, all the shops are open and people are just spilling around on the way to some appointment or the other. It's a hop, skip and a jump from the country OR beach. Love it.

That's me in front of the train station. Though I haven't been on it, I've heard it takes you to Olympia...where I also haven't been yet, though LML has.

I can't wait to go!

Welcome to the beach/boardwalk/marina area. The beaches are awesome.

These pictures really make me want to whip out that camera again.

Anyone want to teach me how to use a darkroom?!

LML's Grandfather's old bicycle on the rooftop.

Though I don't tell LML all the time, I can't wait to go back

but at the same time

there's so much world to see!

is there anywhere in the world that is the most special to you?

i'd love to hear your stories <3

mystery of the vasilopita

welcome

to the mystery of the vasilopita post.

i'm greek. 100%, as LML is.

our parents are 100%.

what happened ancestreally, before them-

Egypt has been mentioned

but moving on...

have you been paying attention? KIDDING!

So to wiki-sum it up:

what is a vasilopita?

wikipedia definition:

On New Year's Day families cut the vasilopita to bless the house and bring good luck for the new year. This is usually done at the midnight of New Year's Eve. A coin is hidden in the bread by slipping it into the dough before baking. At midnight the sign of the cross is etched with a knife across the cake. A piece of cake is sliced for each member of the family and any visitors present at the time, by order of age from eldest to youngest. Slices are also cut for various symbolicall people or groups, depending on local and family tradition. They may include the Lord, St. Basil and other saints, the poor, the household, or the Kallikantzaroi. In older times, the coin often was a valuable one, such as a gold sovereign. Nowadays there is often a prearranged gift, money, or otherwise, to be given to the coin recipient.

Many private or public institutions, such as societies, clubs, workplaces, companies, etc, cut their vasilopita at a convenient time between New Year's Day and the beginning of the Great Lent, in celebrations that range from impromptu potluck gatherings to formal receptions or balls.






Saint Basil's Feast Day is observed on January 1, the beginning of the New Year and the Epiphany season known as the Vasilopita Observance.

the question remains: WHAT HAPPENED WITH OUR VASILOPITA?

so my Father picks up the Vasilopita a day in advance every year. His nameday (and my nephew's nameday, is on New Years Day)
Daddy gets very organized. He writes everyones name on a strip of paper, grabs some toothpicks, and arranges everything around the vasilopita. We're supposed to cut a piece for each member of the family, the house, the Saint and God.

Whoever gets the lucky coin, which is wrapped in foil carefully and baked into the pie before buying it- is lucky the entire year of the entire family.

If it's the house, God, Saints, it's all good.

if it falls to the youngest members of the family, still good.

But this year?

No one got it. No ONE.

It was not there.

Unless, I eated it?

Would you go back and complain?

LML's suggestion: let's just say I won :)

I love him :)

love me,
the globetrotting gamine

what to do with soggy tomatoes

an interlude before beginning my kind diet journey...

what do you do with soggy tomatoes?

don't throw them away...

cook with them,

or make them half a meal ;)

Tomatoes and Eggs

(like am omellette, but Greek-Style)

1- cut up your soggy tomatoes and throw them in your wok or frying pan with extra virgin olive oil!

2- adjust egg amount to however many people will be consuming the delish-dish. i use a lot because sometimes i make a sandwich the next morning for myself.

don't you love my plates? on sale at century 21 back in 2005- when we got married!

3- shake whatever you think appropriate into the eggs. a pinch of salt, pepper, oregano and garlic powder for me.

add to your tastes.

4- my favorite part- beat the eggs into submission.

5- they should look something like this when you're done

6- if it's too juicy, get rid of some fluid. if not, throw in the eggs!

it's a party in there!

7- flip flop the eggs and tomatoes until it looks like most moisture has been absorbed.

LML likes the final product piece-y but an omelette-like way is good, too!

it's all the same when it's taking up residency in your stomach...right?

what's the weirdest thing you put in an omellette?

love me,

the globetrotting gamine

views from the acropolis/parthenon

picture perfect. bring lots of camera discs :)

love,
globetrotting gamine

if you're travelling to the acropolis...

*pic of me and my niece at the top, 2000*

three tips if you're travelling to the acropolis...

keep in mind that you have to wear comfortable shoes. it's quite a hike!


make sure you pee before you begin that hike...


bringing toilet paper with you is helpful! believe me....


hope i helped :)

days like this = i love coffee

I know, I didn't blog yesterday. I'll totally tell you why. I have so much to say today. For example, men. What's their problem? What do they do, just roll out of bed and figure- hmmmm, today I'll be a douche!

Yeah, I think that's what it is.

Yesterday morning, all was well. Everything was fine. Throughout the day, fine.

He comes home. With a haircut.

Very cute when he cuts his hair, I must say but...

Me:: "OMG, LML. Didn't I tell you not to go back to that guy to cut your hair?"

Him:: "Do you like it?"

Please note: VERY IMPORTANT! I don't usually say anything unless you're really looking like an asshole on whatever given day. I will point out that thing in your teeth, your booger dangling out of your nose, your hair sticking up and your eye crusty...I *will* point it out. When I point out something, I am *not* talking out of my ass and expect people to do the same for me. Which is why I made this comment.

Me::"You're very cute but i don't like the way he cuts your hair. It's like he's pulling down three strands from the back of your head and chopping it off. Why doesn't he buzz it, or cut it evenly?"

Him:: "Ok, don't worry about it."

Me:: "But I TOLD you..."

Him:: "I'm going BALD, ok?!"

Me:: "You're GOING to go bald if that guy keeps cutting your hair!"

Him:: "No, I am bald!"

Me:: "*I* would do a better job cutting your hair, and I've never cut anyone's hair!"

Him:: "Bald!"

You get the picture?

Meanwhile, my chicken and potatoes get *rave*reviews from him...until the next conversation...about a friend's birthday which went pretty much the same way. All night long. Hopefully, the spell broke this morning!

Because all night, he had his boxers in a bunch when I was trying to bother him throughout the Olympics.

Which seriously piss me off by the way. When I was younger, I LOVED the Olympics. Now they have people talking every two minutes instead of showing me the events. JUST SHOW THE EVENTS!

I don't care what you think about how they maneuvered that trick. I don't care that you're an announcer on another channel. I am not watching the Olympics to see you and have you get paid, I want to see the people play in the EVENTS.

You'd think that the Greeks did this at the first Olympics? Yeah, to each other when they were watching it with a group of friends. Not out loud so everyone could hear. Buggers...

Geez.

Inspiration: woman's world magazine

As I've mentioned before- I love magazines. I read every magazine I can get my hands on because I know there is SOMETHING in there that will be of value to me. A recipe, a quote, a thought spoken by a designer. But, every time there is a new issue of Woman's World out, I throw one at LML and smile. When he asks what, I say gimme. He laughs at my magazine obsession.

In Woman's World magazine (article excerpt below from 12/14/09), there is always an article about health tips from around the world. (World's Healthiest Women) and this month there was an excerpt about Greece. Lower your bloog pressure by slowing down. It says the following:
"Greek people's calmer lifestyle is a big reason why they're 96% less likely to have high blood pressure than Americans! Chronic stress leads to high levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which constricts the blood vessels and raises blood pressure, says Steven Jonas, M.D., author of 30 Secrets of the World's Healthiest Cuisinees. Relaxing can reduce your cortisol levels by 10%, lowering your systolic bloof pressure by up to 30 points."

No offense to Woman's World and Steven Jonas...but if you've ever travelled to Greece, you have known this. The lifestyle there is not as it is here. There, they work to live. Here in America, we live to work. Greeks enjoy their coffee in the morning, break from work for a siesta mid-day, and go back to work in the afternoons. Siesta is when they (we) recharge for the happenings of the nighttime. Greeks are always getting together with their friends, family...going out to eat, checking out new places, going over new ideas and gossip.

It's what keeps us (Greeks) young.

So Mr. MD Steven Jonas- sorry. Us Greeks knew all about relaxing and our healthy lifestyle way before you did. What other reason would be for us to be labeled as leisurely, happy and healthy folk?

It also could be a reason why we're still going strong- we are one of the world's oldest cultures. Is the secret in our diet, lifestyle, education, likes and dislikes?

You be the judge :)

(and please don't have high blood pressure...blogging is a good way to ease stress!)

Love,

MG