An Adventure........

ad·ven·ture
adˈven(t)SHər,ədˈven(t)SHər/
------------------------------------
1: an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks; the encountering of risks
2: an exciting or remarkable experience
3: an enterprise involving financial risk

My visit to Abu Dhabi, New Delhi and Dubai has come to an end, and not only am I left with jet lag...but also memories that I will literally cherish for a lifetime. Thinking back, I would say that we definitely had more than a vacation... We had a trip, better yet an adventure.

It felt good to see all those months of planning, worrying, preparing, relinquishing control and finally execution come into fruition. The events that led up to our trip, definitely set the tone for the scene. It took a lot to get us there, and our week falls short of nothing but pure grace.

Act I

By the time last Wednesday rolled around, my nerves were pretty much shot. I was so worried that something would go wrong that I could barely sleep the night before. I had packed days before so I knew I was not forgetting anything, but still... I just felt nervous. This trip was my first international flight overseas. I have left the country before (Mexico, Jamaica, The Bahamas) but never have I went anywhere that required a total flying time of more than six hours. To reach our final destination we had to fly out of Houston, to JFK in New York, then take a direct 12.5/13 hour flight into Abu Dhabi. That puts us at about 16 hours in the sky to reach the United Arab Emirates...

Two of my friends have flight benefits, so they were flying standby to New York and meeting my other friend and I there prior to departure. Simple enough, right? Of course.

By the time my flight out of Houston started to board, the friend who was heading to JFK with me was no where in sight. She had gotten stuck in traffic due to a wreck on the freeway and was greatly delayed. I told the gate agent to expect her late arrival as I walked through and found my seat on the plane. As my anxiety levels reached the boiling point, she finally texted me that she had made it through the security line and was about to get on the plane. Crisis diverted...

Our flight to JFK went smooth, and we roamed around JFK for a while then finally stored our luggage so we could frolic about the city until our flight that night. We took a taxi to the Green Acres Mall in Queens, and en route there got a text saying that only one of our friends was able to get on a standby flight to NYC from Houston. The other was still waiting....

As we window shopped the sales, text after text kept rolling through updating us of our friends travel status. She made it on one flight, but that flight was delayed and by the time we had walked the ENTIRE mall, she was still sitting on the runway in Houston. At this point in time, the sinking feeling started to set in that she was not going to make it in time. By this time our other friend had landed, and was battling LaGuardia Airport who was now refusing to turn over her luggage (which happened to beat her to New York) to him. Okay, so if she makes it, she just won't have luggage.... As our thoughts went into the abyss, we remembered that she always leaves a copy of her passport at home with her family when she is abroad... A few Facebook messages later with her little brother, and her luggage was finally on the way to JFK with our other friend.... But where was she?

By the time 9'o clock that night had rolled around, we still had not heard from our friend until finally a text that she had landed and was en route to JFK. We proceeded to check into our Ethiad flight only to find out that they had upped our boarding time and would be locking the gates in the next thirty minutes....

Insert explicits

As we all had our mini-melt downs, the realization that she was not going to make the flight began to sink in even further.... We prayed. We stalled the line. Prayed some more. Gawked at Donatella Versace. Prayed again. Then, finally just said it was out of our control. My friend went ahead and did the ceremonial tagging us in at the airport and included our missing in action friend in the check-in... Putting it out in the universe. She had to make it! As we made it to our seats, we could barely contain our anxiety. We discussed other flight options for her, maybe she can just get on the Friday flight and meet us there...we already have her luggage.... We just needed her. As the crowds began to thin, finally we could breathe. She had made it. We don't know how, we didn't care why, but she had made it....

Literally.minutes.before.takeoff.

The energy and endorphin's kept us up the first few hours of the flight...
Then, I was drugged...
I slept 8 hours,
then woke up and read the remaining couple of hours before we landed.
Until finally we had made it.

Welcome to Abu Dhabi International Airport.... The stifling heat hit us at the door. We breezed through customs, survived a bus ride to Dubai, checked into our hotel and finally set off to experience our first night in the city...

Needless to say, we were exhausted and just wanted food... We had a taxi drop us off not too far from our hotel & we agreed upon a restaurant called Chic-Sea in the Satwa Roundabout. Pretty much everything on the menu reminded us of chinese or thai food that we would've ate in the US.

We devoured our food, tipped the waitress to her surprise & delight, made our way back to our hotel and stayed up entirely too late mapping out our plans for the next day.

This would be the beginning of many delays that turned into deliverance, and sleepless nights that turned into mornings filled with tired laughter and stories that will live far beyond our 5 days in town.

-End Scene

Take Off....

It hardly seemed like reality, as I sat in the corner of the couch at my aunts house, trying to find a signal on my phone last Christmas. My reception never worked well in Mansfield, Louisiana and some of my fondest Christmas memories will forever be me standing in the bathroom of my grandmothers house trying to find a signal.

But back to last Christmas..... As I spent what will now always be known as the last Christmas I'll have ever spent with my grandmother... In the middle of the country.... With no distractions or cell phone.... My friends, who were all in civilization for the holidays that year were busy plotting and planning. You see, while I was in Louisiana a glitch fare was posted advertising flights round trip from New York City to destinations such as Mumbai, Abu Dhabi and South Africa for virtually nothing.... 

By the grace of God or some powerful forces in the Universe, my text messages started rolling through at warp speed...

Should we, should we not? To fuck it, let's pull the trigger & before the night was over my friends not only had purchased tickets for themselves, but my good friend Noelle had booked a flight for me as well since technology had me shackled in small town Louisiana and I couldn't purchase from my position on that couch.... So she did me a solid until I could get back to Houston to pay her back. That reminds me, I need to thank her again for that. She always comes through in the clutch... But I digress. 

Needless to say, by time I made it back to Houston, I had a trip booked to visit Abu Dhabi and Dubai in September of 2015....

Which brings us to the present.... And that trip is slated for take off tomorrow. To say I'm excited is an understatement. 

Life truly has been a whirlwind since last Christmas and I genuinely thought this day would never get here. The night before our journey to the Middle East, which also now includes a stop in New Delhi, India. 

I've dreamed of moments like these... To just be carefree and explore the world with some of my closest friends. Although life will only take pause for a minute, and I will return to my current reality once this trip is over.... I'm just grateful for a moment away, to clear my thoughts, explore, and hopefully find my center. 

I'm ready to travel. I'm ready for take off.....

Daddy.

People always say that losing a parent is one of the hardest things in the world to deal with. I can fully attest that losing a parent who is physically still here with you is just as hard.

Watching someone lose themselves, the love, the trust, the memories, every piece of everything that makes them, them..... The frustration, the confusion, the bewilderment of not knowing where you are... The paranoia, the blank expression that used to be filled with love and admiration from daddy... Fading away.

Glimmers of you peak through, but the you in "you" dulls as each day progresses. The anger, the sheer moments of painstaking rage.. You were so much in control of taking care of us, that it kills you to have these roles reserved. You were strength, you were my hero, my motivation, the one who kept me on track, who pushed me, inspired me.... but today do you even remember my name?

Sickness robs you of your sanity, your reasoning, your wit.... your cool demeanor, the charming personality... the man who without failure always told me I was beautiful and encouraged me to do my best.... every. single. day. A father, constantly involved... Make daddy some A's... You're beautiful, your're smart, you're my world. Truly daddy's little girl. Spoiled.

Spoiled by him, and it is literally killing me to see him disappear each day. Memories fade... Moments disappear. Time frozen, but in a time before I existed. The past. Long term memories. The yesteryears. You remember the past, but not the part that I was a part of.

A time before daddy's little girl stole your heart. Moments of remembrance are fleeting. I long for that bond. I yearn for the moments taken for granted.

And while they're leaving you,

I still cling to the memories of,

Daddy.

It's hard watching someone you love disappear right before your eyes.
Not all diseases are physical and take a toll on your body.
Some diseases creep up on you in the form of misplaced keys, forgetting where you parked, paying that bill twice, struggling to say the right word....

That leads to anxiety, stress, misdiagnosis....
Confusion.

Slowing down of cognitive functions, until it's too late to slow down the progression.

There is no cure.

Alzheimer's is a despicable disease.

You already stole one grandmother,

& now you have come after Daddy.

Mood.

And then, all of a sudden it was August.

Yet, despite the fact that time has been moving at a rapid pace, I feel like this has been one of the longest summers ever.

And I am over it.

Things haven't been all bad, and I am beyond grateful for that. But the bad, has definitely been bad.

But I digress.

The good...

I recently got a puppy.

The bad: him.

Introducing Pepper, my miniature schnauzer. He was born the same day my grandmother passed away, and from the moment my friend posted a picture of him and his siblings, I knew he had to be mine. His brother, Cosmo, also came to join the family & is with my goddaughter.

Having a puppy around has been a nice distraction from all of the everyday happenings, but it is hard. He is a furry ball of naughty mischief. How something so small could have so much personality still baffles me, but I look forward to watching him grow out of the stage he is in now into becoming a man smart adult dog.

He's super adorable, but definitely bad.

But I love him nonetheless.

Planning: My friends and I leave for Dubai/Abu Dhabi/New Delhi, India in less than one month. The planning is.... a lot. This is my first trip over seas, and I am not only nervous about being so far away, but also trying to figure out everything I need to do to get ready for our trip.

Coordinating amongst the four of us who are going, has been interesting & I am looking forward to our trip finally getting here.

The anticipation, coupled with the preparation has me on edge. I'm just ready to go & enjoy at this point.

Feeling: Stressed.

I've tried to battle the feelings of anxiety and stress coming over me, but it has truly been hard. I have to literally tell myself to calm down, so I won't completely lose it. And so far, so good.... but still. I feel like it won't take much at this point.

Praying & meditating. Trying to make a conscious effort to control my thoughts and emotions.

I feel like life came at me so hard, that I backed away from being faithful & praying like I used to.

I've slowly but surely come around. I feel more confident that things will work out for my good...for all of our good, but alas my humanity has been strong, thus weakening my spirit.

I'm getting back on track though.

Reading... Has kept me calm. Book club meetings have provided an outlet. It's easy to escape your reality when submerged in someone else's....


My mood: Random. All over the place. Grasping for balance. Forcing myself to smile, even when my heart is crying loudly from the inside and my brain is yelling obscenities from within my head. Trying to find an outlet. Trying to focus on bettering myself....

But we are going to be alright. I am going to be alright.

And then one day, August will come around again & I'll be in a much different mood.

& the right now won't seem as bad.

It will actually be better.

Adjustments.

Adjustment: a small change that improves something or makes it work better; a change that makes it possible for a person to do better or work better in a new situation.

ie. Me currently.

This summer has been interesting.... I wish I could say it was interesting in the new love, excitement, sunshine--lollipops and rainbows everywhere sense....but alas, that has not been my existence. This summer has been filled with life lessons, loss, change and adjustments. This has been one of those facing reality, growing up even when you don't want to seasons. I'd be lying if I said I was enjoying it, because I have not... but in the greater scheme of things, I've had no choice but to embrace it and face each day as it comes the best way I know how.

I've made a lot of adjustments.

I've tried to stay positive, and focus on moving forward.

I've tried to forget the pain, but I've come to the conclusion that maybe I'm not supposed to forget it. It's okay to have moments of sadness, but instead of letting them consume me I've tried my best to let those moments empower me. Motivate me to uphold the legacy, do big things... carry on.

My recap from the last month is a blur of work, sleep, deep thinking, extreme Houston heat & whatever else it is I have been doing to bide my time. Nothing too exciting..... This past Sunday, I did manage to remove myself from the center of my bed & ventured out to Houz of Ink to get a tattoo of my grandmother's signature on my shoulder....

I always loved her signature... It was nothing too fancy or elaborate like some signatures are, but to me hers always meant something. It resonated with me. Simple, yet embodying so much class, with a dash of innocence mixed in. The tattoo artist was able to make a replica of her actual signature from a document we found that she had signed. It didn't hurt as much as I remember from my first tattoo, so I am glad about that. I think it came out nice, and it makes me feel good to have a part of her with me (literally) forever....

Aside from that, I've really just been focused on getting back into the swing of things...

Making adjustments, and trying my best to stay positive as I adjust to my new normal.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Just adjusting.

Friends, Food & Festivals.

So many friends, both in real life & social media life, have been taking the time to check in with me, offer listening ears, send cards and condolences or just take the time to physically be present with me. It has definitely been hard lately, but regardless I know I have to continue to push through. After all the family have gone their separate ways, the calls do begin to lessen and the process of moving on begins. It's in these moments that sometimes people need you the most to just make sure everything is still okay....

This past week I spent a lot of time with friends. One of my girlfriends randomly texted me & asked if I had plans Wednesday night. She had an extra ticket to the D'Angelo concert and wanted me to join her. To say I was excited would be an understatement.. He put on a wonderful show & just spending time with her and a few other positive ladies really set the tone for the remainder of my week.

I actually received a lot of random texts last week.

I'm usually not a complainer (especially not on Facebook), but at some point I must admit I felt as if I had reached my breaking point. I posted a status that warranted a large outpouring of responses. Some positive, some commiserating in agreement & others taking the tough love approach to get me out of my feelings. One of my guy friends told me that despite how I was feeling, I had to go on & continue to press forward. There is still a legacy to be continued... I can't give up now.

After he slid into my text messages to expand on what he meant by his tough love response, I really did begin to feel better. Almost an obligation in a sense.....

Because despite how it may feel, there is still life left to be lived.

As the week progressed, additional friends reached out to me.
One stated he had tickets to an event on Friday night & wanted met come with him, and two others wanted to meet for dinner or happy hour. I was able to consolidate all three of those requests and we ended up at Max's Wine Dive for a late happy hour/early dinner. I figured all three would mesh personality wise, aside from the fact that they all didn't know each other. Fortunately I was correct in my assumption....

We ate, drank, talked about life & shared testimonies on the various ups & downs/trials tribulations that are reality for us all. After we ate, we all four left to head over to the event. There were performers and booths set up promoting different events & products. We enjoyed drinking some more, mingling among the crowd and listening to the live music. We grabbed food from a truck outside at the end of the night and went our separate ways.

I'm pretty sure I would have spent my Friday night alone, with too many thoughts but I am so grateful for them ALL for actually wanting to spend time with me.... A much welcomed, yet out of the blue evening.

Another friend & I had planned to spend Saturday at a trunk show, then finish our evening at the 1st Annual Fresh Dark Festival. We learned about both events via social media, and wanted to do something different outside of reading and Netflix the entirety of the day. We were both feeling lazy, so pushed our meet-up time back a few hours. While I was trying to figure out what to wear my best friend from high school randomly sent me a message. She was on my side of town and wanted me to come meet up with her. I hurried up and got dressed, met up with her and to my surprise she had baked chocolate chip cookies for me. So sweet and unexpected.

We parted ways, and I pre-gamed with my friend & then eventually made it drunk to Fresh Dark Fest. The Fresh Dark Festival is a music festival celebrating bohemians, consciousness & free spirits. There was a full line up of performers, visual artist doing a live painting, jewelry and tons of positive energy. I enjoyed every minute of it. We sat outside watching some of the performers for a few minutes, and as it seems to be the theme for my week I got a random text from another high school friend whom I had not seen in years stating he had seen my check-in on Facebook and was in the area. He came to meet us and that made the night even more enjoyable.... I was joined by my best friends little sister later in the night & we all just enjoyed the energy and the people.

I also decided that I wanted to give up being an attorney, and devote my life to being a hippie.... Joking, but not really.

So many beautiful people & beautiful vibes........

It was a much needed deviation from the norm.

My Sunday has been low key, a much needed rest from a busy week and weekend.

I gave my daddy his gift for Father's Day & was blessed with a miraculous nap. Now I am shifting my focus towards getting ready to face this next week.

I'm grateful to be loved. I'm grateful for living.

Most of all, I'm grateful for the random moments that mean more to you than others probably would ever imagine.

I guess I am just grateful.

Surprisingly, these were not the only random outpourings of love I received. A friend randomly bought me a Groupon for an on-line novel writing course, and I talked to a very dear to me friend whom I met through blogging years ago. I received a card in the mail & numerous other visitors to my inbox. It is truly a great feeling to know that after it is all said & done there are people in your corner willing to go the extra mile to let you know how much they care...

True gratitude.

Le Diner En Blanc

Yesterday the much anticipated Diner En Blanc had its inaugural event in the city of Houston.

The event was originally scheduled to be held on May 30th, but due to the storms and floods in our city it was moved to June 14th. A lot of people were upset by the scheduling change, but in all honesty it worked out well for both my guest and I. Many had never heard of the event, and it wasn't really well publicized here. I only knew about it via social media, and was fortunate enough to get on board.

Diner En Blanc is a concept that started in Paris, France over 20 years ago, where a group of friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time decided to meet up at a random place for a picnic. They decided to all wear white so they would be able to recognize each other. That event then continued to grow, and now thousands gather in Paris and other cities around the world for the event.

A lot of preparation and planning went into the event....

Almost too much planning..... From the outfits, to the food, finding the right place settings, the right table and white chairs, to deciding the menu... it was a lot.

A lot of time... A lot of thought. Just a lot...

But once we made it to our meet-up point & to the secret location that the event was being held at, things began to fall into place.....

I was in charge of aesthetics and my date was in charge of getting our food prepared and organized to bring to the location. The inaugural event was held at Discovery Green, which is a popular outdoors destination in our city.

Of course the attire required for the event is all white, and it was truly magical to see the 800 plus guests all decked out in their white attire for a elegant and peaceful evening outside. Aside from a few raindrops, the weather cooperated with us.

I was a little disappointed to see so many people in off-white, ivory and khaki seeing as the rules stated any colors other than white would not be allowed. I sent the dress I originally wanted to wear back to LuLu's because it was Ivory... I found the outfit I actually ended up wearing the week of the event. I wanted to wear suede camel colored heels with my dress, but it had rained so much that I didn't want to risk ruining my shoes so I wore flats the whole night.

The humidity and heat somewhat died down once the sun went down.. We enjoyed getting to know the two couples sitting on either side of us and enjoyed our dinner of penne arrabiata and strawberry spinach salad. For dessert we had strawberry-banana gummy bears, coconut covered apricots and gourmet white chocolates from World Market.

There was a DJ providing the soundtrack for the evening, and a lot of patrons were dancing the night away. We were too hot for that much movement... Despite it being almost 9pm it was still hot, but I digress....

It was so much going on it was hard to capture every moment. I wish I could've taken pictures of some of the elaborate table decorations & crazy white outfits some participants came up with. Aside from a few organizational issues, date drama & humidity/scattered showers, the night turned out being better than I could have anticipated. My only regret is that more of my friends had of known about it and could've been able to attend & that I had of been able to share the memories with a significant other that would have been able to cherish the memory as much as I would have liked to.

Of course there is a major back story regarding the date drama & whom I was accompanied by, but that's neither here nor there. Yet another memory to add to the memory banks.... and a digress seems about right here.

I'm not sure if I will attend Le Diner En Blanc if it returns to Houston, but if I do I am happy I got the chance to see how it is done so I can be better prepared for next year.

Regardless, I am truly happy to have been a part of this event!

If only I could attend the Parisian version!! Definitely a bucket list aspiration!