Kava Bar Experience

Groupon can certainly lead you into unknown territory, especially when you select Groupon purchases with the question in your mind that says "I wonder what this is....". However, I was in Asheville Groupon collection mode for new places, so the Kava bar experience was purchased with an extra strong TBD status attached to it! The process of getting there indicated our slight fear of it though. Putting it off to the last possible day that we could use the Groupon, we paced around outside the establishment for awhile, craning our necks for inside peeks. Finally, like children opening a closet that they know is not allowed, we opened the door and peered into a very relaxed atmosphere of couches, wood flooring, and incense. For reasons beyond my understanding, Eric and I both instantly assumed it was a legal place to produce pot or something as signs did promise a "euphoric experience without the alcohol." As such, we were a little worried about Elle's presence, so we tentatively walked towards the bar in the back (it was empty at the time we entered) waiting for a worker to freak out and kick us out. However, the welcome was offering Elle a sweet tea, so I was then leaning towards the belief that it was a pot smoking establishment that is firmly falling into the southern mentality that all children must be served sweet tea.

However, the Groupon offering of a Melanesian Tea Package for two turned out to be.... a Melanesian Tea Package for two. Funny that. The secret apparently is that the kava root from the Polynesian Islands does have a euphoric relaxant that actually is recommended to absolutely NOT mix with drugs or alcohol. With a picture of Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife sharing a ceremonial kava bowl with some chieftain in the South Seas (1966), I finally become convinced that this is legit; at least on a nominal level.

Unfortunately, while experience was actually incredibly cool and it did leave me very relaxed, it also make me want to throw up and gave me a headache. However, it was well worth the cultural experience, and where else to try really unique cultural experiences outside of the indigenous culture besides Asheville....as we are discovering day by day. I was initially confused why it was insisted to have "pineapple chasers" (variety of cut up fruit), but after a shot of the kava, trust me, you want the fruit chaser! The kava numbs your mouth in a very nice way and has an incredibly earthy tone, but the effect on the stomach.....the fruit was welcome. The real chaser to the whole experience was loose leaf tea of your choice to made up and sipped, which frankly, was awesome. Fresh cinnamon black tea was greatly enjoyed.

Would I return? Yes.

"Hold the kava and go straight to the French press of cinnamon black tea." :)

6,000 miles in eight weeks....

If you are shuddering, we are very different in our approaches to life pleasures. As soon as I was old enough to drive, it was not uncommon especially during stressful situations to get in the car and drive....where-ever. I always dreamed to have the possibility in my life where jumping in the car for hours at a time was perfectly acceptable. This is a moment where I'm taking the time to celebrate that arrival! Eric understandably flies everywhere because weekends would be destroyed if he consistently drove back and forth to Boulder, Atlanta, DC, Boston, Pittsburgh, and of course downright logistically challenging for London, Dublin, Brussels, etc. However, I have a little girl who is equally adventurous and I do not answer to the same sort of deadlines from clients the way I do, ie, they don't care if I'm on the Arctic Circle as long as I'm online. Thus, in my travel planning for the next two months, I realised suddenly just how much driving my adorable Mini, Ellie, and I would be experiencing.

Another major celebration is blowing past 100,000 miles on my odometer for a 2009 MiniCooper. We have partnered in travel from Canada to Mexico, Pheonix to Cape Cod, Toronto to Orlando and quite a few places between. Thus, we toast this special occasion by slapping another 6,000 miles, but only after rewarding the little motor-er with a fresh new set of tires and brakes next week :)

So what is this 6,000 mile madness?

Nicely tucked in Asheville, it's time to shed the nest. Heading up to Indianapolis for three weeks where Eric will swing in on weekend, but is spending the majority of the time in Texas (I really hate Texas). Then we meet again in Asheville for a day, putting south to Orlando for a conference and Ellie's first Disney trip (anybody want to volunteer to take her instead of me? I really hate big fake creatures walking around trying to hug me - I'm told that I kicked Mickey when I was a kid). Back north to Asheville for a whole 1.5 weeks, then heading way up there to the world of ice and snow (otherwise known as mosquitoes and water in summer) to Minnesota for a conference and my doctorate (handily in the same city). While I'm out in the hinterlands, I decided to go southwest to the Black Hills for a few days, a location where I've kicked myself for not visiting while only five hours away in Denver. Eric goes who knows where during that time, and then we meet each other again the following week in Boulder, puttering on home for a few weeks break.

This was to be a quiet fall with little travel action, so there is some spectacular failure on that level, unless we can say Fall doesn't really start until October, in which we succeeded greatly. While I look forward to Malta and Rome for half of December, I'm sad that even my adorable Mini will not fit the plane. It's especially too bad because many of it's fellow colleagues will be running around both Malta and Rome thinking that sidewalks are perfectly appropriate parking spots and that those funny things with two legs need run over because they are in the way....

Seven Deadly Sins

One of my new favourite things is the Seven Deadly lowball set we have for the Gin and Scotch collection. These etched glasses are especially fun as each sin is characterised by an humourist artist.

Just as an odd habit, I tend to select the sin that I feel the most likely to be broken in that day based on how the day went up to that point. I assumed that I would always be Wrath and never, ever Sloth. However, Sloth is often selected and I've yet to select Wrath. Possibly all my initial assumptions that I was always angry was my by put out that work was unnecessarily being created...I say this especially since those are the scenes that pop to my mind when I think how much less angry I should be as a person.

Greed and Gluttony occasionally gets chosen, and if you know me at all, then you know that Pride is the most common. Ironically, I had a dream that Pride had fallen out of my hand and smashed to a million pieces, which was most disconcerting depending on how you wanted to interpret that. 

Regardless, it would seem that I have pretty much zero personal awareness of Wrath, Envy and Lust, but I like looking at their representations :)

Guns, Germs, and Steel (book review)

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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