my fabulous blog

We're always surprised to find that one publication or another has mentioned us. This week you'll find us at Brides.com where we are listed TheBigDay as one of the top 50 places to register!

The company I work for is TheBigDay.com - it's hard to believe that after the .com bust, I actually joined a .com. The company began as a honeymoon registry - a place where couples could list the expenses they might incur for honeymoon travel - and has morphed into The Big Day Travel, a full service travel agency. We still have the registry and those who are interested are able to use either service separately or the two together.

We have also moved beyond helping just honeymooners! The registry itself has been used for numerous anniversaries, birthdays, at least one retirement, and a graduation. We've booked travel to too many destinations to list here, although the majority of trips are to the South Pacific, Hawaii (Hawaii specials), Mexico or the Caribbean (Caribbean Honeymoon). Because we partner with travel agents with different specialties we are able to match travelers with agents who have "been there, done that."

So many times when we travel it is the chance encounters that are more memorable than the tourist destinations. So it has always been when we've gone to Paris.

On our last trip in 2004, we went for a picnic by the Seine with our friends and hosts, David and Becky Tepfer. David and Becky are a long time friends originally from Eugene, Oregon. They have lived in Paris for more than twenty years where Becky sang with the Paris Opera and David has a research lab. Their son, Dan, finished a masters degree in music in 2005 at the New England Conservatory of Music and now lives in New York City. If you're fortunate, you may be able hear him play piano when you visit the city!

The spread David had prepared for us was not only delicious, it looked fabulous - so fabulous that some others who were also having a picnic came over to admire the spread and ask for samples, which David was delighted to give them.

After our feast, we wandered along the river and happened upon some folks who were learning to tango. One couple danced with such grace and dignity that all eyes were on them. Check out the hat on the man in the photo - isn't he marvelous?





The first night in the city, we went to a Moroccan restaurant restaurant. We were seated in the upstairs with one other party who had a small, white dog with them (yes, you can take your dog to a restaurant in Paris). The waiter told us that the dog's name was Mystique and that he was a television personality who could communicate with people. He went on to get messages from Mystique throughout the evening and pass them on to us. Not only was the meal magnifique, we had a free show from the waiter! This picture, tiny though it is, shows the waiter bending over to receive communication from Mystique.

This month not only had a week with two Mondays, it was a month with two graduations! The first was that of Meena, who was my daughter's younger "sister" or "didi," when Amanda lived in Nepal several years ago as part of her undergraduate experience.

Meena has been in the United States for five years now. She came as a high school student who had, until the day she left Nepal, never flown on a plane, taken a hot shower, been to a fast food restuarant, or gone swimming. She had much to learn about life in the US! At the end of her one year high school career she was chosen above the many athletes in her school to receive an award as an outstanding athlete - never having donned a bathing suit or having been swimming before arriving in Marquette, Meena was swimming a mile by the end of the year. She has also learned to ride a bicycle (although I hear that the whole town had to watch out when she was on the road!), both cross country and downhill ski, and ice skate.

On May 6th she graduated Magna cum Laude from Northern Michigan University with a BSN - a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She received an award as the student who exhibited the most growth from the beginning of the nursing program to graduation, and the others in the class all gave her a standing ovation when it was presented to her.

What she has learned over the last five years has been phenomenal, thanks in no small part to her host family in Marquette, Sally and Bruce Closser. They have gently introduced her to the a very different way of life beginning with theri home in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where they have helped her build a support system that has encouraged her to achieve wonderful things that her birth family in Nepal can't begin to comprehend. As of last week, though, her Nepali family is in the US visiting with her and the Clossers. The reception they had for her after graduation drew well over a hundred people including the president of Northern Michigan University, didis from New Haven and Costa Rica, and another one of her US moms - me, from Oregon. Nepalis from Virginia and other cities in Michigan came to celebrate her accomlishments.

Meena plans to move to Oregon later this summer and get a job as a nurse. She hopes to find a program where she will be mentored for a year before enrolling in a graduate program. Long term, her plans are to return to Nepal where she will be of great service to her country.

The world of reality shows continues to amaze me. It includes everything from the Dr. Phil show to Survivor -- and they may have more in common than most of us realize!

Some actors I know in New York City (now "actors" in NYC is a VERY large group of people, but those I actually know is a much smaller group) recently auditioned for a new reality show, the exact nature of which they didn't know. Needless to say, actors all want as much time in the media as possible, so the prospect of being on a multi-week TV show is very appealing! Those who actually cast the shows don't particularly want to let the general public know that participants are actors, so they emphasize their other jobs - and we all know that most actors have other jobs to keep the wolf from the door! Thus, the list of professions came through as chefs, poets, archivests, etc. I'll let you know if they make it on to the show.

Another trip to New York City! This one was especially good as the main purpose of our trip was to see our daughter, Amanda, receive her MFA in Theatre from Columbia University.

Graduation comes in two acts: the first act being commencement for the entire University (over 11,500 were receiving degrees at this time) and the second which was for the School of the Arts (this was more like 125 students). Needless to say, if even 75% of the graduates and one or two guests for each show up, we're talking about a rather large crowd gathered in one place.



It's inevitable that a school that has been around for more than 200 years has a few traditions connected with it. One that we found particularly amusing (and that helped get us through the rather long processional of students getting their degrees) was items that the various schools carried in to identify themselves. The dental school, for example, carried a six foot tall blue toothbrush.

Most amazing, though, was the cell traffic in the quad as people filled the seats. From what we could see, at any given time about 20% of the graduates were on the phone (and if they weren't on the phone they were taking pictures). What we witnessed over and over was students calling friends and/or family to inform them where they could be seen. The conversations went along the lines of "I'm over on the right waving the sign for the School of the Arts!"

Another tradition that just didn't translate well into photos was that when each School was asked to stand to be presented for degrees, the students would throw or wave something related to their studies. So, the School Journalism threw shredded newspaper; Law, miniature gavels; Engineering, paper airplanes; etc. Those that didn't actually throw things often carried them, such as International Studies which waved the flags of many nations.

The best comment came when President Bollinger uttered the phrase "...which of you is the smartest" and one student responded "I am" - without skipping a beat, Bollinger replied "that remains to be seen."

Have you ever had a week than began with two Mondays? I think we all have at one time or another. This was mine - it seemed that every printer in the office failed at the same time and that we would never get to the fun part of working at the registry which is talking with the couples who register with us and their guests. With rare exceptions, they are a lot of fun albeit a bit frantic as planning a wedding is a mammoth undertaking.

Couples who use our registry make up some mighty clever items. One in particular photo shopped nearly every item in their registry. We featured one of them in the December 2004 newsletter.

One of my all time favorite honeymoon registry registries was this couple who went on a trip to the UK. Both the couple and their guests were terrific to talk with!

We keep finding ourselves mentioned in the news. Here's the latest on TheBigDay Travel!