the other venice beach

this past weekend, 80% of the ladies of the CT headed down to take on SoCal, specifically, the little town of Venice Beach, apparently "where art meets crime."  sarah's been living down there with kimo all summer, and hosted us for a 5-star weekend - complete with beach time, yoga (yeah, i know), the Getty summer sessions at night party, pinkberry, beach cruisin on bikes, happy hours on the boardwalk, sushi, shoe shopping, a house party, rock band, and just pure chillin and relaxin at the witness protection bungalow. we arrived with some solid stereotypes in our heads, all of which were basically real. think: the big lebowski meets arrested development meets the hills meets rock of love -- all combined on one place, and live. so, so, soooo amusing. the amount of silicone implants, bad tattoos, weirdo sense of style, neon/80s mumuus and shades, 80s architecture, segways, hippies selling sage, head shops, skateboards, crazy entrepreneurial people, surf bums, rappers, aspiring rappers, writers, more writers, porn stars and even more porn stars walking around is astounding. the trip was perfect! i  even had celebrity sighting on my Virgin America flight -- Lil' John was in 1st class.  "HOOWHAT? Yeahhhhhh. OKAY....."  we can't wait to go back for another round.

an oldie but goodie, from "the Onion"

POINT
European Men Are So Much More Romantic Than American Men
BY ALYSSA LERNER
JUNIOR, BOSTON UNIVERSITY

COUNTERPOINT
American Women Studying In Europe Are Unbelievably Easy
BY GIOVANNI DI SALVI

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/34198

goin' back to cali'

home's not soo bad. in the past week, i have seen a bunch of pals and, gone rock climbing, ran along the ocean, went on a date, interviewed around town, inhaled sushi, mexican, thai, and german foods, attended a b-day party in the valley for a 1 yr old, and hiked into a bavarian beer garten in the woods (Javier was there!)

not too bad for being home for 6 days (tho i am still working like mad on a return to work abroad in Sept and even got a phone call from the italian friends in rome this morning).

things i already miss:

- real produce
- real sunshine and blue sky
- not knowing what day it is, in general
- not knowing what day it is, because of the # of people out at night
- the roma ragazzi
- partying with my friends and family
- paris with nat and alex
- cheesey music
- whole fish
- gelato for dinner
- fountains and art

- white pants
- real design

watch this space for updates. fingers x'ed for another round in september...

one last wedding party (well, at least until november)

songs overheard on the beaches of greece

- Sweet Child of Mine (the muzak version)
- John Denver "country road" mixed with "you are my sunshine"
- Eye of the Tiger (straight up orig version)
- Slim Shady
- anything by Shaggy
- La Isla Bonita, Madonna
- that awful "bad boys" song from the show, Cops
- anything, and i mean, anything, by ABBA
- Sade
- Fresh, by Kool and the Gang
- Peter Bjorn and John

- I'm So Excited, by the Pointer Sisters
- What is Love, from a Night at the Roxbury
- Michael Jackson mixed with Lionel Ritchie

athens hipster scene and some long lost relatives

athens, home away from home

athens' version of primanti's:

mykonos (is windy)

signed, sealed, delivered.

some highlights are below...all santorini picts are here -- http://picasaweb.google.com/allisonlchapas

pro leisure tour: boat trip + rehearsal dinner