India

I recently had the opportunity to visit India with my company's philanthropic organization, OneSight - a family of charitable vision care programs dedicated to improving vision through outreach, research and education. Through OneSight, Luxottica employees, doctors, partners and other community volunteers give the gift of sight.

My team and I traveled to the city of Jodhpur in the city of Rajasthan. It was a desert city - hot and dusty! We were able to help about 9,500 people see! Below are some of my favorite shots of the city.

Michigan Wildlife

In July of 2009, I went to Michigan. My mom and Jack had a cabin in Onekema. It's kind of up towards the north of the state, and on a beach. Niiiiiice! Here are some shots of the wildlife I encountered.













The deer that welcomed me to the cabin. They were so sweet!














A baby deer (see the spots?) that wandered by the cabin.













Looking for food (and soon hiding from me) near the cabin.

























Seagulls looking for the crackers I just threw! Not a bad beach view for five days, huh? :)

November 24, 2007

Lake Tahoe is simply stunning. I can’t find the right words to express how good being around this kind of beauty makes me feel. I could spend hours staring out into the clear, turquoise-teal water. Roman and I visited Sand Harbor Saturday morning.

November 23, 2007

After a breakfast of apricot cream cheese-filled Frency toast, we spent the day with the family. We drove to Carson City to Aunt Bonnie’s house, where Stephen’s 10-year-old daughter Emma and her older sister Lexi were there. Emma’s an adorable little girl who looks so much like her dad.

Jenifer joined us, and after Bonnie gave us a tour of her house and all the projects she’s working on (she’s very talented), we had lunch at another casino! Casino Fandango had semi-decent food - they had a little of something for everyone. They also had mirrored ceilings.

I set my camera’s timer for 10 seconds and told everyone to look up. Unfortunately, not everybody really understood what I was doing, so it’s not a perfect picture. But even the finest Persian rugs have flaws.

After lunch, we paid Uncle Tim (Mom’s & Sylvia’s brother) a visit. I think I met my Uncle Tim when I was about eight. He came to Cincinnati for training and stayed with us when I was around 13. I liked Uncle Tim because he was the first grown-up to ever treat me like a real person. He joked around with me, taught me how to make this thing called salsa, and gave me sips of his bourbon. Which was nasty.

He was a fun-loving guy with a dry sense of humor - precisely why I liked him so much. To honor him, we brought him some of his favorite things: beer and pretzels.

We toasted him and felt like he would have appreciated the gesture. We left the beer and pretzels for him. Sylvia said he was most likely sharing the beer with Uncle Pete. I think Uncle Pete took one drink of it and requested a Riesling.

The city of Genoa, where the cemetery is, was full of deer. Not like deer we have at home - they travel in packs and aren’t at all afraid to post for pictures. They were everywhere!

We went to Bonnie’s house for a little while, and by 9:30, we all were feeling tired. Jet lag stinks. I’m a night owl, and I want to be in bed every night by 9pm! Also oddly enough, I’ve been getting up around 7am! Readjusting to Eastern Standard time will be fun...

November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving! We awoke to a wonderful breakfast at The Black Bear Inn bed and breakfast. It was some sort of fritatta with sun dried tomatoes, peppers, onions and spinach. There were rosemary potatoes and fruit to go with it. The place sells a cookbook, and I’ll be bringing one home!

The Black Bear Inn was built in 1998 by Jerry and Kevin. They didn’t miss a detail in the design. It’s a wonderful, relaxing, peaceful place to stay. Every room has a cozy fireplace.

Out back are cabins. The cabin rooms differ from the lodge rooms in that they are larger, and each one has a kitchenette and private outdoor patio. Also out back are tree sculptures created by a local artist. Most are bears, but there’s also an eagle.

We planned on spending Thanksgiving with family and didn’t have a lot of time to do anything between breakfast and the time we had to be somewhere. It was a beautiful day, so we decided to drive 20 minutes to Emerald Bay. The overlook was crowded with tourists (like me) who all wanted tons of pictures. The only difference was that I only had about 10 minutes to capture it all - we had to get to Jenifer’s house.

Jenifer decided to not tell her mom (Bonnie) that we were coming. We got to Jenifer’s house around 2:30, and Bonnie showed up around 3:15. She cried when she saw all of us. It was a good surprise! She gave Sylvia the biggest hug. She also lost her husband (Uncle Tim, mom’s brother) too soon.

Jenifer’s brother Stephen was also there. He’s just a few months younger than me. Somehow, he managed to score an elk hunting license (which apparently is like winning the lottery). He decided to spend Thanksgiving with us and leave to go hunting Friday.

Jenifer decided not to spend the day cooking for everyone, and I don’t blame her! She made reservations for us at Roxy at the El Dorado casino. Dinner was great - butternut squash soup, turkey and mashed potatoes, and a yummy caramel ice cream dessert.

After stuffing myself, I had to play some slots. I do not like to gamble. I don’t like parting with my money. But Mom gave me four bucks, so I couldn’t resist! The penny slots were calling. Needless to say, from the look on my face, I lost it all. It’s so not fair.

November 21, 2007

We got up pretty early on Wednesday morning, and it was cold. So cold, that the windows were dewey.. on the inside! We slept really well. The beds at the Pelican Inn are featherbeds, and sooooo comfortable.

We set out for Tahoe this morning. Our plan was to be on the road by noon. Google maps said it would take us about four hours. Little did we know, we were in California. The state with more people in cars than blades of grass. The drive would take us all day...

Before we set out on our all-day trek, we stopped off at Muir Beach. I needed to hear the ocean. A few weeks ago, an oil spill closed the beaches in San Francisco, including Muir Beach. It killed all kinds of birds and wildlife, but I'm not going to rant about that right now....

It was a beautiful day, and the beach had just reopened two days before we arrived. It was a little chilly, but the air was crisp. I thought it would be cool for Roman and me to have a picture close to the water. It took about five shots to finally get this one! We weren’t exactly wearing the best clothes and shoes for kneeling in sand, and we had to keep running from the waves, but it was fun.

So after about eight hours in the car, we were all a bit tense. Traffic was horrible, and we all needed a laugh. We pulled over for gas, and to lighten the mood, I insisted on a photoshoot with a carved bear.

When we reached our B&B, The Black Bear Inn, we were exhausted and just crashed. More on the B&B (which is awesome) later.

Notes from the Road (and Sky)

November 20, 2007

And we’re off! (L to R: me, mom, Matt Damon, Roman, Aunt Sylvia)












* Skybus food is pretty decent - but pricy.
* Aunt Sylvia puts ice in her bottled water. Instead of pouring the water into the glass with the ice.












* Roman’s sitting next to a guy who’s farting (note giant box of raisins in wall pocket).












* The skybus staff has a good sense of humor












* We have five captains flying on our plane...
* Scott is our main captain, and it's his last day. He thinks that because of this, he doesn’t have to wear regulation gear (note Snoopy shirt).












* We’ve experienced some severe turbulence already. Roman thinks we hit one of Santa’s reindeer.
* There was a woman in the lavatory when we hit said reindeer. I’m sure at her Thanksgiving dinner, she’ll be thankful for not peeing her pants.
* Aunt Sylvia sleeps with Matt Damon.












* Skybus doesn't actually fly into San Francisco - it flies into Oakland. Remember to make car reservations for OAKLAND.
* Matt Damon won’t leave me alone (sexy, my ass. more like stalker)












* Getting to the Golden Gate Bridge from Oakland, without a map, is a bitch.












* The Pelican Inn is a pretty cool place to stay.




































* It’s only 5:30 here, and it’s 8:30 at home. I’m STARVING, an we don’t eat for another hour. Am hoping headache is due to starvation.
* There is no internet access at The Pelican Inn.
* Live musicians who pretend they’re Scottish are interesting.












* Michael’s girlfriend Joclyn (sp?) fits in really well.












* Fish & chips for dinner at almost midnight my time will upset my stomach
* My family is pretty darn cool
* I really need to go to bed! It’s after midnight my time!

Herding Cats

The vacation has begun. Getting the cats to the vet wasn’t fun. I love our vet (Dr. Bryan Gibson at Landen Maineville Animal Hospital), and everybody who works there is great. It seemed like a great idea to board the herd with the people who can best take care of them. But our cats have claws, and we’ve never taken all three out of the house at the same time.

Cleo has asthma. She was easy. She protested a little, but ultimately, she gave in. Indy and Allie were tougher. Indy has muscles like no animal I’ve seen. Roman had him, and he almost got away. Allie got away and scratched up my back along the way. I think it took about a half hour of hunting, coaxing and eventually pulling to get her into the carrier with Cleo.

After about 20 minutes of filling out and signing forms, we were all taken back to the cages. Man, they were small. Indy got a space of his own since he’s still young and rambunctious. Cleo and Allie are together in a larger space. All cats have a towel that they all lay on and a pillowcase of mine and Roman’s. Corey at the vet said that was a great idea.

The most horrible feeling in the world is leaving your babies, and having them look at you with that pleading, terrifying look. Man, it was harder than I thought it would be. But I know they’re in good hands, and if anything happens, the doctor is in.