Thursday, April 28, 2016

Where Have I Been?

I'm scratching my head trying to remember what I've been doing that's kept me so busy I haven't had time to check-in for a while.  Hmmm...

I did some work, as in a "real job", for an awesome Interior Designer.  Writing her press kit and website info was easy because I LOVE her design aesthetic.  You might have seen some of my (very over-shared) photos on Facebook.  No???  Click here to see her Guest House for the Pasadena Showcase House of Design.

Facebook-- Gawd I've spent too much time on Facebook lately.  I dove into it for the above mentioned job's social media push.  But I'm afraid I'm too easily addicted to endless scrolling through posts that really have no relevance to me just to see what the handful of people I truly love are up too.  It's become a bad habit that takes up too much of my day.  I have to quit cold-turkey!

So anyway... that all took several weeks, was a total blast, and now I'm "retired" again.

And we went to Israel for a fabulous family wedding.  I so love it there.  Great family (on my husband's side), amazing food, perfect weather and wonderful people.  This trip we spent all our time in Tel Aviv.  The purple Jacaranda trees were in bloom.  So were the kumquat trees at our hotel.


We stayed at a small boutique hotel called The Norman.  It's a lovely hotel with a chic Moroccan vibe-- Hip but quiet in the middle of the city's Rothschild section.  My idea of perfect.

Since we were exhausted, we camped out in hotel room's bed far more than usual to catch up on our sleep.  The linens and duvet were scrumptious-- And by Frette!!!  Do you know them?  I did-- and what I know about them is that they are far to expensive to ever be on my bed at home!  But there they were in all their glory at The Norman.  It was like sleeping on, in, and surrounded by, a silky cloud.  Heaven.

One morning I woke and figured out how The Norman tracks these gems of sheets-- Senors!  Yep, they are actually sewn into the seams so guests don't walk off with them!  Never saw that before.


Traveling though, not so fun.  I've come to the sad realization that a 10 hour time change and 20+ hours of flying and layovers are just too much for my body.  Talk about a killer.  It took nearly 5 days to adjust and catch up then it was almost time to come back home again.  Once we actually returned home it took another 5 days to get myself together.

Makes me wonder how I traveled like that for business all those years.  I know I was younger but sheesh-- It really wore me out.

While in Tel Aviv I discovered a new cookbook-- New to me at least, and I'm working my way through the recipes.  The amazing thing about the food in Israel-- and let me tell you-- we ATE and ATE and ATE, day in an day out-- was that both my husband and I actually LOST weight by the time we got home!  The menu is so filled with fresh vegetables and fish that even though we indulged, we felt great and dropped a few pounds.  That was an unexpected treat at the end of a vacation!


So now it's almost May and I'm working on getting central air conditioning in our house.  Last year's brutal two month heatwave was the straw that broke the camel's back. We live close enough to the ocean that we really didn't miss having it in the past but climate change, global warning, or old age-- whatever you want to call it, has changed things at Casa Jenkins!

How are YOU?
Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com  -  Joanna Jenkins



13 comments:

  1. Our daughter got to visit Israel once. Jet lag (IMHO) takes training. The more you jet the better you body learns what to do.
    My advice - do the blogging before the facebooking.

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  2. wow you have been busy Joanna, nice to hear from you! Your trip to Israel sounds wonderful.

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  3. I've never been to Israel and I've NEVER lost weight while traveling. Something I'd like to experience some day. Welcome home, Joanna! :-)

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  4. I like the design -- modern, bright and sophisticated with some classical touches. We do have central a/c but hardly ever use it. We prefer an open window, up to about 85 degrees.

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  5. Well, I sure see why you haven't been blogging! You've been living your life, which is the most important thing! Absolutely fascinating -- the travel, the sheets, and good for you taking on work that you love and no doubt do very well! (I'm with Bill, though -- blog before FB! Although once you click in, it's so hard to leave!) Welcome back, you've been missed!

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  6. You've been busy, but FUN busy! I'm envious of your trip to Israel, how very exciting. And sensors in the sheets--who knew?

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  7. You have been so busy and I have been following your adventures on Facebook. I've learned to do it for short amounts of time a couple times during the day and that is it, but it's a black hole for some. Your trip sounds amazing. However I can't imagine being in a plane for so long, that is what holds me back from traveling a lot now, well that and the fact that I set off all the alarms with all my metal parts and have to be searched - no fun. Hugs!!

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  8. You've been so very busy, no wonder you've been away from blogging for a while. Welcome back! What an amazing trip you had. Just reading about it is exciting.

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  9. As a semi-recent convert to FB, I feel your pain. It can be very time consuming to glean very little information. Still it's nice to see what most folks are up to.

    It sounds like you had a great time in Israel. I would love to see it one day. I'd also like to come home healthfully thinner!

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  10. I don't like Facebook! Too many lovely bloggers LEFT blogging for Facebook, never to be heard from again. *sniff* I'm happy all is good in your life, yaaa for air con! We need it in summer here too.

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  11. I'm so glad you had a good trip. Did you tape all of your valuables to the back of the furniture? I do that when I travel, and sometimes at home too. Anyways, the whole thing sounds scrumptious, from the food to the sheets to the trees. And the wedding of course. My secret to facebook is not "following" about 90% of the people on my friends list. They have no idea that I can't see their posts. Hope you are having a nice summer my dear. kiss kiss xo xo d

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  12. hoping you are doing well…i miss the blogging group where so many of us had such a strong and regular presence…but you know, life gets in the way and for that i am grateful. i mean really…who doesn't want to have a life….right :) HUGS!!!

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  13. I feel you on those layovers and flights. mine were about the same getting to nepal and coming back.

    so you are re-retired? ha. sounds funny.

    israel would be fun. i would love to visit sometime.

    its good to poke the head back in and see who is around. thanks for popping over - and i wish you all the best jj

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