Adventure – Days 5/6

Santa Fe market

Wow, once again, hard to believe I have not had time to catch my breath – this was supposed to be a VACATION!

Last I wrote, it was July 10th, and I was just pulling in to Santa Fe, NM.  I had fallen in love with Taos, and wasn’t sure I could love Santa Fe as much as I did the last few stops, because I just didn’t feel ready to be in a big city.  The major highway and off ramps were already stressing me the minute I arrived, but thankfully, my awesome Priceline score – Santa Fe Suites was there to make it all better.   What a great little place this was!  It was south of town, and a great place to call home for 2 days.  A nice kitchen, cable, internet, and I was right at home!

The minute I pulled into downtown Santa Fe, I fell in love – again.  What a great place it was.  I had so much fun photographing the locals.  I spent the entire day on the 11th, cruising the town, browsing the shops, sitting on the Plaza, and even went to see some of the local churches.

I found myself really missing the kids today, as there would have been so much there for us to share, and enjoy, but, I still managed to have my own share of FUN.  I spent most of the afternoon looking for the perfect spot for lunch, but it was Sunday, and many places were closed.  (Isn’t this a tourist town??)  So, I grabbed a quick bite, and decided to save my gastronomic pleasure on dinner.

That night, I found a cute little place with a balcony, overlooking the Plaza on San Francisco street.  The chips and wine were great – dinner was ok, but I met a really sweet family and talked most of the evening with them.  They were taking almost the same trip I was, only backwards, so they had lots to share about Sedona, Grand Canyon, and Bryce/Zion, so I was really excited to get some inside info.

The next day, I got up at sunrise, and went out and hiked the Aspen Vista trail, a nice 6 mile round trip hike.  It was a chilly morning, and a beautiful view at the top.  I can’t get over how quiet it is in all of the places I’ve seen so far.  I mean, really quiet, and it’s so peaceful and beautiful.  I just don’t know how I’m going to come home and get accustomed to the noise and the pace again!

I just had to go back and say good bye to the Plaza in person.  I took the opportunity to eat lunch at the Shed, one of the restaurants I wanted to hit yesterday, and had a great lunch in the outdoor patio.  Now, I was done, and time to move on – to Sedona!  The land of the red rocks!

See ya there!

Deb

Adventure Cantor heads west!

Last year, I decided to take my favorite vacation – to the NC mountains, the place that I have always felt most at home.  Only that time, I invited Lauren to go with me, which I knew would not be the traditional way I love to enjoy the mountains, but nothing could replace special mother-daughter time.  Well, we experienced 10 days of rain, in a tent, with very different views on what vacation was, and while I still remain true to nothing being able to replace mother-daughter time, it will never happen again on a camping trip!

This year, after a whirlwind year of weddings, B’Nai Mitzvah, awesome travel experiences, and business development far beyond my wildest expectations, I knew I needed a vacation.  But I also knew that heading back to my comfortable spot in Elkmont, in the Smokies, was not going to cut it.  I needed adventure, I had a bucket list, and the mountains and adventure of the midwest were calling my name, louder and louder, and I could not deny that I needed to see Colorado, and go somewhere I had never been before.  I wanted to sit on mountains, pray, explore, plan, reflect, and experience life.  Yeah, I know, I sound like that book – but while I just might write one of out of this experience, this is just coming from a place inside of me – telling me I need to go.

I never in a million years thought it would happen.  I boldly decided that in order to do this trip right, I needed 3+ weeks, and so I looked at the calendar, and blocked the time, and set my intention for what this trip might become.  Airfares were high, but Southwest came along with an email to my inbox (I don’t know how – I’m not even a Southwest frequent flier) but it was advertising fares at their lowest to Denver.  I checked my intended itinerary, found an amazing fare (with ** 2 bags free **) and booked it on the spot!  OMG!  Not only did I set the intention, but I took the first step in making it come true.

I never thought this day would arrive, but here I am at FLL, waiting for Southwest flight 173 to Denver.  I may know where I’m going the minute I get there, and I know a general itinerary, with a few commitments along the way, but otherwise – I am completely “flying by the seat of my pants”.  I have decided to allow the universe to take me where it wants to lead me, and I’m surprisingly fine with that – although, my heart is pounding out of my chest as I write.

Last night, I stayed at Casa Spiegel (Mom and Dad’s) and had a wonderful dinner with them, and Michael and Marsha (friends).  In the afternoon, I got to spend time with Nancy, Lexi, and Mike (Sister, niece, b.i.l.) and Lexi even came over to play and help me finish packing.  It was a great way to spend the anxious jittery time, with the people I love most in life, and that brings me to here, and now.

I’m so excited that when I get to Denver, I’m going to spend my first night with Brooks and Aly, my very special bride and groom from Playa del Carmen, this past April.  Aly has so generously offered to supply me with camping gear, take me to my rental car, and send me off on my adventure tomorrow morning.  More good times.

Ahead of me – I have booked 2 white water rafting trips, 3 nights of camping in Grand Canyon, and the most amazing itinerary ever along the way.  Me, and a rental car, a plan that will get carved out as I go, and yes Lauren – bear and people mace.  I’m ready to go.

I’m so thankful for the year that brought me here.  I’m so excited for what will be.  I’m so proud of myself, for making it happen.  And right now, life just couldn’t get any better.  (Well, it might be a little better if my ipad had arrived before my departure, but…)

I can’t wait to share this trip with all of you.  I hope this blog and my experience encourages anyone who wants to create change in their lives, to set their intention, and do one thing at a time to make it happen.  I hope it shows just one person that you can do whatever you dream – if you just dream it hard enough and believe in it enough.  I have the best life.  And it’s about to get even better….

Traveling with a ketubah? Read this first!

I’m happy to re-print an article written by Daniel Sroka, the amazing artist from ModernKetubah.com.

I work with so many Destination Brides, and I know that so many brides must encounter this challenge when they are getting ready to travel for their weddings.

If you are in the ketubah market, I highly recommend Daniel’s work, as an original, inspirational artist and designer.  Enjoy!

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by Daniel Sroka of www.modernketubah.com

When my wife and I got married, we were still living in San Francisco, but our wedding was closer to our family in New Jersey. Let me tell you, planning a long distance wedding has its challenges! One of which is how to safely bring your ketubah on the plane with you. I get asked this a lot, so I thought I’d share some advice. First, have me ship your ketubah to you, not to the wedding site. It is really important that you see your ketubah in person, well before the ceremony. This will let you look it over carefully, and make sure that it is exactly what you ordered. And if it got accidentally damaged in shipment, this will give me a chance to replace it for you.

Traveling with your ketubah

I ship your ketubah rolled between sheets of acid-free tissue paper, and placed in an extra-strong shipping tube. Experience has shown that this is the safest way to ship unframed fine art. (Shipping it flat is both more expensive, and results in more damage.) So the best way to travel with a ketubah is to reuse this shipping tube. Place your ketubah between the tissue paper I provided, and carefully reroll in and place it in the tube. You now have a safe and portable package to carry with you. Be sure to bring it with you in carry-on, or stash it safely deep in the middle of your suitcase, surrounded on all sides by clothes.

ketubah_shippingtube

When you arrive

When you get to the location of your wedding, take your ketubah out of the tube, and let it unroll. The paper will keep its curl for a while, but don’t worry. The paper of your ketubah is 100% cotton-rag, so it will easily “forget” the curl over time. When you remove it, you could gently use the tube to roll it in the opposite direction to remove the curl more quickly. If you feel uncomfortable doing this, just lay it flat like I suggested for a day or so to get rid of the worst of the curl. For my own wedding, I used an inexpensive poster frame to flatten the ketubah, and then protect it throughout the wedding and reception. When you are ready to have it framed, your framer can make sure that any remaining curl is removed.

See ya soon!

I feel like I just got back from the Sykes/Krew wedding in the Bahamas, and now it’s time to depart again…this time for ARUBA!  I’m heading off to the brand new, beautiful RIU Palace in Aruba, where I will officiate the Jewish wedding of Evelina & Felix.  This is a 7-month-later flashback to “Russia-Meet Mexico”, except, this time Russia is heading to Aruba.  Evelina was referred to me by Rita and Dan, and there’s a connection there – which I’ll tell more about when I get back.

In the meantime, I’m waiting for Michael to settle in from the trip, and send me his pictures, since I left my camera card in my laptop last weekend.  As soon as I get them, I will post pictures, and a review of the Sheraton Cable Beach, and then I will post about my 4 days in Aruba.

Stay dry, Florida!