i ain't bashfull, i'm from nashville!

hillsboro village


hanging out with chet atkins


walking down the aisle


cars & kels


mel & kels

music city

mom & dad all dressed up


birds on a wire....hundreds of birds were circling by these wires last night at sunset, it was beautiful!


we found this cute patio at a newly opened restaurant called rumors, the chefs were outside picking herbs for their nightly specials....there were little single sized porch swings to sit on and sip wine in the warm night, picnic tables...so cute!


an artist's cooperative we found in east nashville


your lovely bloggers

nashville, tennessee!

carson playing an air guitar on the pedestrian bridge in nashville


looking pretty on the bridge


melissa sang an incredible duet!


kels, mom, brooke & melissa


melissa and her dad on a southern porch swing

pictures from the eastern seaboard

lake champlain in vermont


carson looking out the window on the adirondack train in upstate ny


upstate ny


eating a real piece of ny pizza at village pizza


melissa & sarah on the staten island ferry


rochester, vermont, where adam's family's land is

pictures from montreal

a sideways view of our blooming tea flower at camilla sinesis


lunch


fred & carson


melissa & cimon


moules & frites


old montreal

bonjour!

we arrived in monteal yesterday evening and meandered our way through the metro down the french-named streets to fred and cimon`s apartment....we met cimon on the street and he gave us his keys. what a transition, the rolling hills of vermont, the most rural place i`ve maybe ever been on saturday, to the busy streets with another language, to a small apartment of our good friends! last night we walked to the IGA grocery store and spent quite a few minutes walking through the aisles looking at the different foods, all the pates, the milk sold in big plastic bags, the local framboise beer, etc. we finally settled on some brussels sprouts in tribute to kira and cooked a big saute with them, broccoli, onions, garlic and melted cheese as we played a few rounds of mario kart on the supernintendo! fred got home at that point from his weekend in his hometown and we talked for quite a while until simon got home from his metal concert. they are such wonderful people! we awoke this morning to two plates of various pastries from the bakery down the street, and drank coffee and tea and orange juice with our friends (fred and cimon are friends we met through kira who met them in thailand last year; they came to burning man with us and it seems like we`ve known each other forever).

vermont was so beautiful; i came to the conclusion that it`s the most charming state i`ve ever visited. no billboards, such old buildings and stonework and farmer`s markets and maple syrup and local food focus and small towns and the land... especially saturday, when we went down to rochester for sarah and adam`s vermont wedding celebration, to his family`s property (in the family for four generations now). it was so wonderful to see his mom again, and to meet his grandmother and hear of her work with helping young girls go to school in honduras. we had corn on the cob and lots of cheese (i don`t know when i`ve ever eaten so much cheese in my life as in vermont!) and there were at least 7 apple pies on the table. the land is rolling green hills and the green mountains and the trees just starting to change (if only we were there two weeks from now, i bet it will all be color!) we spent much of our vermont time at sarah and adam`s beautiful house on lake champlain, with the windows of our bedroom overlooking the lake, the sailboats, the canadian geese, the seagulls. it is so fun to be in new places and to meet new people, to see how they live, to be a little part of their circle.

today we are going to walk around montreal and find the delicious mussels and fries on rue de st. laurent....maybe we will even find the teashop i went to when i was here last time, camilla sinesis. cimon is leaving at four for switzerland (!!) and carson, fred and i are going to find something fun to do this evening.

everyone said traveling would change us...

am i on the puget sound?

Hello from Vermont!

This is carson here, trying my hand at the blog for the first time! being out here on the east coast is not so different as i expected. we are staying at a beautiful house on lake champlain, which feels to me a lot like the puget sound. i have walked around the lake, to the lake, looked at the lake from the window, all in an attempt to not let go of my northwest roots! It's been scary at times coming to terms that i am indeed off on my trip and not in the comfort of my familiar home. saying goodbye was a challenge i had overlooked and it hit me full on the last week before leaving...but it taught me a valuable lesson on how much i love (my) people and to remember to take advantage of that as much as possible in every day. new friends or old. and so here i am getting ready to adventure on past this lake that reminds me of home. tomorrow we are going into burlington to explore this quaint town, the age of the buildings emanates clearly. old brick and styles that match my ideas i've read from books jump out life size and shock me with their impressiveness. tonight lived up to my expectations as well: a bet that was made over a game of texas hold 'em came to fruition as mel took home all the chips on a pair of kings. the winner received a pint of ben and jerry's ice cream (peanut butter cup) and a 4 person, 1/2 hour massage. she ooohedd and ahhhhed her way through the session and was a blissful puddle of joy. we also attended an anusara yoga class this evening focusing on muscle energy, pulling our inward reflection closer to the center, remembering to give ourselves permission to send out our self-expression with every breath we let go of. thank you again for all the friends and family that came to support us in leaving, and for everyone who didn't make it thank you as well for thinking of us and sharing in our experience!

carson

vermont!

we arrived in vermont last night after a long flight and layover across the country. we spent four hours in the philly airport watching the sunset over the terminal and plane wings and discovering a delicious little restaurant called au bon pain. right before our eyes, a woman made a huge salad with fresh field greens and all the vegetables and feta cheese of our choosing (this was much tastier than our leftover thai food we had eaten previously!) i think we were a little tired but we were quite appreciative of the fresh greens.

this morning we took a walk with my friend sarah and my deep tissue teacher from heartwood, warren (so lovely when friends congregate in random places!) lake champlain is beautiful and seagulls fly about. we walked to a cliff and watched the water sparkle. it is beautiful here. luckily the license plates say "vermont" so that we know we are here...sometimes flying on a plane can be so disorienting, like, did we REALLY just fly 3000 miles in five hours?!

thanks to everyone who we saw in the last couple of weeks for making our goodbye remind us how much we appreciate and love and are blessed by who we know!

sunday sunrise at burning man

in furry coats and bright colors and a red feathery halo, we welcomed the sun on sunday morning at the playa. being up all night to arrive at the temple with hundreds of others as the most beautiful golden light bathed every crevice, every prayer, every word someone wrote, every picture of a loved one or a beloved pet or of what was being let go of...

it is so amazing to be open.

melissa

oregon country fair july 2007