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As 2015 comes to a close, I want to wish everyone the Happiest of Holidays full of time spent with family and friends, and a wonderful New Year full of adventures in 2016!

Please visit our new blog location, now called "The Eye", which resides on our website. I might be posting an occasional personal item on Joanne's Eye, but for the most part, all the excitement has been moved over. Interviews with Cathy Waterman and Jen Meyer have been posted, as well as jewelry stories including our designers. You can also stay updated on our Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter Feeds.

My personal hope for the New Year is a wider circle of giving back. Charles and I are deeply devoted to Food 4 Kids - North Texas Food Bank; The Family Place; and The Dallas Holocaust Museum for Education and Tolerance. Please check the links if you want to learn more or make a donation in our names.

It's a new day, and we hope you enjoy the changes!

Love,

Joanne

Please accept my apology.....

From New York With Love!

From Alysa:
The holidays in New York are always exciting and very manic. For me, it’s always a mix of taking it all in and staying within an arm’s reach of the madness! I like to make one single jaunt to Midtown to see the festive holiday windows at big box department stores and the large Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, but other than that, my favorite holiday experience is taking in the smell of my local evergreen sidewalk salesperson steps away from my apartment. This year, here are a few things about the holidays I am loving:

Jewels by JAR

Very few things scream holiday like diamond encrusted works of art set in a dimly lit palace-feeling room of the MET with throngs of visitors.

Everyone in New York (and in the jewelry world in general) is abuzz about JAR! For those of you who don’t know, JAR is the nickname of renowned jewelry designer Joel A. Rosenthal. Jewels by JAR, which is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until March of 2014, features more than 400 exquisite pieces of jewelry.

The jewelry simply drips in the most beautiful materials imaginable. JAR’s work is intricate sculpture meets flawless one of a kind stones meets precise artistry. JAR’s atelier is on the Place Vendome in Paris, across from the Ritz, and appointments are highly sought after. After feasting over this exhibit, it’s no wonder!

A personal favorite at Jewels by JAR

Rolf’s

Rolf’s = Christmas. I had heard about this place for a while but didn’t quite understand how dressed up Rolf’s gets for the holidays until I went to have a drink with some friends.

There is something over the top festive (and almost a tiny bit hokey!) about this restaurant and bar that puts me in a party mood (you would be too if you saw its thousands of little lights). The bar’s frequenters are part happy hour crowd, part Christmas fanatics. If you’ve never been, you should make a pit stop there soon! 

Rolf's is brimming with holiday cheer between Nov-Jan!

Chelsea Market

This massive emporium of yummy food and gifts really shows off during the holidays. Little twinkle lights in all corners, the smell of fresh cappuccinos and iced cookies, and the excited faces of tourists new to the city light up my life year round, but especially during the holidays.

There are so many little shops worth checking out, and you won’t leave without getting at least a couple of snacks. My favorites are the little cookies at Sarabeth’s, the tacos at Los Tacos No. 1 (they are almost as good as the ones I eat when in Texas), the full lobsters from the Lobster Place, and the wake-me-from-the-dead coffee at Ninth Street Espresso.

The signature clock and holiday lights at Chelsea Market.

For Next Year:

The holiday season has come and almost gone, and a few of my festive bucket list items still didn’t get scratched off the list. Next year, I’m going to make sure to take a trip to the Dyker Heights lights in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, made famous by the PBS documentary “Dyker Lights”. Can you believe I have also never seen the Nutcracker and Rockettes? I’m not sure how that’s possible as, by now, I'm almost a New Yorker, but I’ll definitely be hitting that next year too!

I've never seen so many holiday lights and can't wait to visit!

SUMMER 2013, THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS. CHAPTER 1: We're Having a Moment......

It's been a glorious Spring and start of Summer, and if I could just bottle it up to capture it forever, I would. The moment is so surprising, I honestly don't know who to thank. 

Truth be told, we receive double issues of JCK Magazine (to the Jewelry Trade what Vogue is to Couture Designers) and the first thing I do is toss the 2nd copy in the recycling bin. Charles was flipping through the April issue when he stopped, went "Wow" and caused me to make a dive to retrieve the discarded duplicate copy from the trash. 

I was floored to be included in the "Power List" of the 50 Most Influential People in the Jewelry Industry which also included the CEO's of LVMH, Cartier, Tiffany, Harry Winston, & even Michelle Obama. Charles has promised to pull my head out of the clouds and keep me grounded, and he knows how to do it -- Practice makes perfect!

 

As if that weren't enough to make my day, my month, my year, Ylang 23 was named in the July Issue of Town & Country to a select list as one of America's 50 top Independent Jewelers. We have always adored Town & Country's brilliance in showcasing the top talent in Designer Jewelry, and under the stewardship of editor Jay Fielden the magazine has now set a new standard as the see-all be-all of luxe living.

 

 

And lastly, a nomination by the Women's Jewelry Association, the Award for Excellence in Retailing under 15 stores... well, let's just say that life is sweet. If you're going to the event July 29, hope to see you! 

But let's give credit where credit is due. We are only as good as the collection of designers we carry, and we are in awe of their talent. A highlight of my year is seeing, inhaling, applauding, visiting, and buying from the most exceptional jewelry designers in the world in Las Vegas at the June shows, most notably Couture. Truth be told, some of our favorite designers do not show in Vegas, or anywhere else but their Studio. It would certainly make life easier, but we still love them! This year was exceptional and we suggest that you fasten your seat belts for a season of 'shock and awe'. 

SUMMER 2013, CHAPTER 2: Brilliant Design and the Fun of Buying in Vegas

It was a simple question by Couture, the Show, posted on their Facebook page:

" Now that the dust has settled on Couture 2013...what was your favorite part of this year's event?!?"

My answer of "camaraderie and the explosion of so many new designers & creative work" did not even begin to scratch the surface.

Don't tell Charles that I could actually spend more than four days in Vegas buying jewelry at the Couture Show. His achy feet were yearning  to head home to Dallas after a couple of days. But it's true. Despite a ridiculously tight appointment schedule due to the addition of new designers, we fell behind as we greeted old friends who have been showing at Couture for years, and met those who were new to Vegas.

It was one dizzying day after another with So. Much. New!

We were dazzled as always by Irene Neuwirth's new gemstones featuring emeralds, left speechless by Arunashi's couture pieces (we were thrilled that he won a major design award!), and couldn't scoop enough  of Jamie Joseph and Todd Reed's new one of a kind rings. While color was clearly driving the season (think juicy opals from Gurhan), there was beautiful new gold with and without diamonds from Laurent Gandini, Janis Savitt and Adel Chefridi.

 

Arman Sarkisyan reminded us why we love him so much and his Fall collection just soared! We were enchanted by Jemma Wynne's gem tipped bangles (coming soon!), and adored Armenta's tiny mosaic masterpieces. Erica Molinari's new magnifying glasses are amazing, and the new rings from Ila & I, Yasuko Azuma and Megan Thorn were irresistible.

We took a break to attend friend and editor Beth Bernstein's event  to preview her new book, Jewelry's Shining Stars, and are delighted that six of our designers are included among those profiled with beautiful double page spreads:  Todd Reed, Arman, Jamie Joseph, Megan Thorne, Jemma Wynne  & Adel Chefridi.

SUMMER 2013, CHAPTER 3: It's All About Our Designers...

Behind every great design is a talented Designer. And behind every talented Designer is a story, a family.

The amount of preparation it takes for a designer to get a collection ready for Vegas is crushing. It takes creative juices, discipline, reinvention, production management, mental toughness, fearlessness and maybe an occasional therapy session with whomever is willing to listen. 

Seriously, we thought everyone would need a drink by then, so we hosted a reception honoring our designers, spouses, and key staff who we had worked with and included a few favorite Couture and press friends.

Marion Fasel brought her entire InStyle team which livened up the party; Women's Wear Daily's Roxanne Robinson-Escriout surprised us by showing up with a close friend of hers from Vegas who is a client of ours we had never met!

It was fun introducing some of our younger designers to the veterans and Press friends. And we loved hosting the spouses of Rosanne Karmes (Sydney Evan) and Kim Carpenter (Todd Reed).

Dana Colby (formerly assistant to Cathy Waterman and now working with Andrea Fohrman) was skillfully navigating her first trip to Vegas with 'Bebe on Board'.

Afterwards, we all tumbled out to the Couture Welcome Party and an electric performance by Neon Trees.

Friday we attended an event hosted by Town & Country and Gemfields, where we viewed a major one of a kind collection of emerald and ruby jewelry designed by the world's leading designers, including Jemma Wynne. It was also a wonderful opportunity to connect to Stellene Volandes, Town & Country's Style Director.  

The last evening was awards night and we loved meeting Andrea Fohrman's husband Syd who had just flown in and seeing Arun Bohra (Arunashi) win a big design award. I love the picture I took, Arun with his award and his wife Ashita with her own, a stunning pink Hermes Birken bag. Way to go Ashita!

No show is complete without Tipsy, Fiona's 4-legged constant companion (Gurhan). I wish I could bring my pups Eddie and Tuey, but they not so people friendly. 

And in case you think that Couture is all about the jewelry, Jamie Joseph debuted a sexy Lanvin dress in this year's color sensation -- green.

After so many years of working with our designers, we have formed friendships based on loyalty and mutual respect. It only took four days to get pumped up for the season, and I promise it will be a wild one.

THE GLAMOUR OF TRAVEL? REALLY? I SAY, THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: A TRILOGY

Dorothy clicked her ruby slippers to get back to Kansas, but I prefer my fluffy pink Uggs (a birthday gift from my son) and the warmth of home, complete with Charles and loyal pups Eddie and Tuey.

TRILOGY | PART ONE: 51 HOURS IN LA WITH CATHY WATERMAN, IRENE NEUWIRTH & JENNIFER MEYER

My best way to jump start the Spring Season when late January Texas weather is chill is to head West to spend time with designers and personal friends Cathy Waterman, Irene Neuwirth and Jen Meyer.

Some day (but not this trip), I will finally stop at Randy's Donuts by LAX. Happy to see that his business is still booming! My first stop was the Four Seasons, as I just had to meet my favorite new Facebook friend, Eric Buterbaugh, aka Florist to the Stars. We had a great visit and the flowers were amazing!

The mood at Cathy Waterman that Inauguration Day Monday was festive, as she (and the rest of the World) had gotten word that First Lady Michelle Obama was wearing her jewelry. Spending the afternoon at Cathy's light infused Studio visiting with her and daughter Claire over the newest creations is inspiring. Trays of twinkling rings and earrings at my fingertips made me feel like a Princess, and it was hard to make my picks. Gretchen was in the garden taking pictures, and I couldn't help but wander through the cucumbers, lemon trees, delicate lettuces and other home grown wonders to take a few shots of my own.

Monday night Jen Meyer whisked me away for a girls' dinner in Malibu where we discussed balancing marriage, children, work and fashion over amazing food . Fresh off her CFDA Fashion Fund win, her life is crazed: think 2 adorable kids, husband Tobey Maguire whose movie "The Great Gatsby" is opening in Spring, and back and forth travel to New York for fashion events, not to mention the demands of designing and producing jewelry for insatiable customers such as Moi. It was fun to run into one of Jen's best friends, Courteney Cox, who was having her own girl's night out with adorable daughter Coco.

It's great to talk about the jewelry, but my high was touching and trying on Jens' new designs on Tuesday, as well as visiting with Meegan, Caitlin and other Studio staffers who we just couldn't live without. As usual, Jen was juggling that day, arriving at the Studio having just completed a field trip hike with Ruby's class.

Irene Neuwirth hosted dinner Tuesday night in Santa Monica with Lizzie, Woju and mutual friend, clothing designer Gregory Parkinson who was getting ready for New York Fashion Week (more on this later!). The Italian food was over the top, and the warmth of friendship mixed with great wine made for a wonderful evening.

Wednesday was my day at Irene's Studio, and the amount of new work to choose from knocked me over. Thankfully, Woju had some ideas, or I never would have made it in time for my flight back to Dallas. Truthfully, it's hard to function with Teddy Neuwirth competing with the jewelry for attention. I just love this dog, Texas born and adopted during a Dallas Trunk Show.

TRILOGY | PART TWO: 110 HOURS IN PARIS

With scarcely any downtime, Charles and I jetted off to Paris for some family and friend time, as well as inspiration. Of all the cameras I usually travel with, this time the go to was my iPhone 5. Admittedly, I'm a tourist, and have taken hundreds of pictures of Paris landmarks, which I never tire of. For this posting, I offer up a list of Bests:

Best Window: Hermes Faubourg St. Honore

Best New Store: Hermes Rue de Sevres on the Left Bank, once the site of Paris' oldest swimming club, is a must see. Hermes stores designer Denis Montel has kept the original swimming pool concept with the tiles and waves of wood including huts, which form a fashion fantasy.

Best Mosaic Rotunda: Au Printemps Department Store (which also gets the honors of best new department store remodel)

Best Childhood Memory (my kids, not mine): Le Manege (Carousel) across from the Eiffel Tower, at the foot of Les Jardins du Trocadero

Best Shopping Cappucino Break: Vive le Cafe at the Bon Marche with Texas sized macarons.

Best Flea Market: The Paris Flea Market at St Ouen, the great old original.

Best People Watching: Place du Palais Royal (across from the Louvre), where you can meet our best friends Patrick, Marie and Justine who own the Best Souvenir Shop, Gregory's. Be sure and tell them we sent you in! I got lucky and met "Bubble Man" who was charming the kid in all of us.

Best Hostess Gift: Hediard

Best Camera Spots: All of it. My favorites are Les Jardins du Palais Royal (Charles' favorite spot in Paris); La Pyramide du Louvre, Place de la Concorde, and the Flame (remembering Diana). And of course any angle of the Eiffel Tower, especially during its once an hour light show at night.

TRILOGY | PART THREE: 39 HOURS IN NEW YORK WITH THE CFDA, JEN MEYER, FINN, GREGROY PARKINSON & FEATURING NEMO

Yes, as everyone was trying to escape New York, I was one of the crazies who flew into Blizzard Nemo, but Nemo be damned, I had a lot of ground to cover in a very short time. I was determined to visit Finn, surprise Gregory Parkinson during his NYFW presentation and attend Jen Meyer's CFDA presentation at Milk Studios that evening.

First stop was at Finn's Studio to meet designer Candice Pool and see the new collection. I just have to say 'Wow'. I have a love affair with the Finn aesthetic and the new designs were so beautiful, I just cannot wait to receive them! Candice and Karly were appropriately prepared for Nemo with their cute Hunter boots, and I was getting the impression I needed to buy a heavier hooded jacket to ride out the rest of my stay. I found a great Canada Goose jacket nearby (which pup Tuey is still barking at, as it has a coyote lined hood).

Following a quick surprise pop in to see daughter Alysa, who was hosting a blogger event at Jack Rogers (great new metallic Jacks collection!), I was off to Gregory Parkinson's at the hot spot Nomad Hotel. Gregory's collection was divine. Think elegant party separates in rich laces and overdyed, embellished and embroidered fabrics. The presentation was packed with press, and it was wonderful to see friend David Rees of Ten Thousand Things, who along with partner Ron Anderson, made the custom jewelry for the bohemian chic collection.

The CFDA event was over the top. Each winning designer (Elder Statesman, Jen Meyer and Tabitha Simmons) had a giant studio space to display their collections. Naturally, my date Alysa Teichman and I spent the most time at Jen's, along with Diane von Furstenberg (CFDA President and Jennifer Meyer's new mentor), Steven Kolb (CFDA CEO), Jen's husband Tobey Maguire, Leo DiCaprio, and many other friends and fashion luminaries. But the star was the jewelry and we are excited to be carrying the explosion of new designs.

Friday night Nemo blew in, but by Saturday, the great meltdown started. Alysa and I enjoyed brunch and a bit of shopping, including a hit at Trader Joe's goodies as a departing Mom to Daughter gift.

And with that, it was back to Dallas. I couldn't change into my slippers fast enough to hang out with Charles and the pups. Travel is great, but there's no place like home. Period.

My Brain on Bytes and Pixels: Celebrating a Dozen Years Online

When I was a kid, I loved Surprise Balls. For those of you too young to know this childhood pleasure, it is a wonder of strips of brightly colored crepe paper, wound around and around into a ball, and along the way, small treasures tumble out and make you smile. It was easy to start, delightful to unwind, and bittersweet when you got to the end of it.

The internet has been one big surprise ball to me, with one difference: it just never ends.


I can't remember exactly when my love of photography and the written word morphed into a passion for all things online. I've always loved to write, and can thank my high school typing teacher for pushing me to write really fast. I was top of my class at 98 words a minute, a skill which serves me well to this day. I've always loved to draw and paint, but despite numerous classes and lessons, I abandoned the paintbrush for a camera which could capture the images I had in my head and saw through my eyes. College was pure joy: as a journalism major, I brushed up on my photo skills and spent many days and nights in the darkroom (like surprise balls, most darkrooms have been archived!).

Landing in the retail jewelry business was a fluke, but a lucky one. I photographed jewelry suspended in fishbowls or threaded onto flowers (a Cathy Waterman staple), and sent out postcards with clever copy.

The first camera which started my digital revolution was a Mavica and I may have been the first to jump to get one (buying new cameras has become a lifelong passion, even though my husband calls it "just another addiction"!) Images were recorded on discs called floppys, although I have no idea why a stiff piece of square plastic would have a "limp" moniker. With the highest camera resolution setting so that my postcards would not look fuzzy, no more than 4 images could be captured on each disc, so my stack of floppys was quite large. And Cathy Waterman was of little help when I brought too few Mavica discs to shoot her over abundance of merchandise.

Unwrap my surprise ball a bit and there it was right in front of me: The Internet, rich with websites. I had to have one of those too, and in 2000 I sketched out my desired 7 sections page by page and picked the third web company I interviewed . Coincidentally, it was the only one we could afford (we're still together after all these years!).

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME

Our new website Ylang-Ylang.com (we have since changed our name to Ylang23.com) was rich in imagery, but at the time, nothing was for sale, as no one was selling expensive jewelry on the internet at the time. Several months later, we offered 6 items for sale, and by the end of the year, had added our highest end which was Cathy Waterman. I couldn't tell Cathy over the phone (fear factor!) so I hopped a plane and watched her shocked reaction as she powered up her (quite slow) computer. "But Joanne! You can see my things!" (Added to the drama was Cathy covering her eyes with her hands).

Exactly the point.

Ylang23.com is our flagship now. We have undergone 5 major relaunches, and there are more in the pipeline. Last month our site was viewed in 186 countries, even though we now ship internationally to (only) 106 of them, with locals shopping on our site in their own currency. That's all great, but we still get the most pleasure  from answering the phone. Our web copy in 2000 describing our "ultimate level of service" hasn't changed a bit: "Imagine someone on the other end of the phone who knows the merchandise, and can even help you find pieces from previous collections."

There are many days lately when, even though our terrific staff is working and many hands are free to answer the phone, I dive for it first. It's a simple pleasure that none of my internet toys can satisfy: meeting a new customer, or chatting with an old one, asking where are you calling from and what is the weather and where are you traveling next, and yes, let me tell you more about the item you are asking about. (And when I get in over my head, such as knowing the exact stampings and sizings of Heather Moore or the rainbow of colored silk possibilities for Catherine Michiels charms, I can always say, let me put a Specialist on the line, since all of my Sales Gurus know every bit of it).

ARE WE THERE YET? THANKFULLY NO! IT'S NOT THE DESTINATION, IT'S THE JOURNEY

Facebook is fun, but Twitter's launch in 2006 which was not widely publicized was made for me. My first account was personal and my first Tweet in 2008 was: "signing up for Twitter..."; I have no idea why my second tweet was 8 months later. But then the floodgates opened and I haven't stopped since. In 2009, realizing that most of my Tweetable world was related to Ylang 23 (the kids were begging, "Mom! Don't Tweet about me!", I changed over to @Ylang23.

(Notable Tweets: 1. I obviously thought Adam Lambert should have won American Idol! 2. I was thrilled that Debra Messing named Ylang23.com her favorite website.)

ANOTHER TOY IN MY TOY CHEST: POLYVORE!

In 2008 I added another pastime: Polyvore. Wow, it was just like the bulletin boards of old and so much fun. I was honored to have been asked to host a Polyvore competition for "Stand Up to Cancer", since I am also a Breast Cancer Survivor, and just couldn't seem to create enough Polyvores to honor friends. Ylang 23 was also one of the first to install a mini-Polyvore directly on our site so that everyone could join the game. What was really a blast was hanging out with Polyvore founders Pasha Sadri & Jess Lee at a conference in NY. In another life, I might have taken a short detour and asked for a job.

Since then, there have been many new toys dangled in front of my face but none as inviting as Pinterest. A visual feast, it is fun to see what others are "pinning" and truth be told, I love making my own boards, whether they be personal or for Ylang 23.





During a recent vacation in California, something familiar caught my eye in a trendy coffee shop, a small bowl of Surprise Balls, which I had not seen in years. Knowing that my favorite Art Director was celebrating his birthday the following week, I just had to buy him one. No surprise, he had no idea what it was, but I imagine the learning experience was fun. We should all have as many surprises in life.

Last night as I was dozing off and checking tomorrow's news on my iPhone, I was shocked and excited to see that the Internet was about to gift me with



June Column in InStore Magazine

JOANNE TEICHMAN: THE GIFT OF TRAVEL......AND THE WARMTH OF RETURNING HOME

My earliest memory of travel was bitter. I was 2 1/2, and remember going with my family to visit my Grandmother in Dallas. I was put down for a nap in the center of a big bed (yes, believe it or not I remember that bed!) and when I woke up, my family had vanished. My parents had taken my older sister to Mexico and left me stranded with Grandma, and needless to say, I was not a happy camper. 

Life got better, as my parents loved the long car trips, mostly to Colorado which was cool in the summer and West to New Mexico. We visited cousins in Cincinnati where we had pancake wars, and visited an aunt in Muskogee, Oklahoma, who had a very slick boat which made me feel like I was in a movie. The long car rides were a challenge, but the destinations were divine. My sister and I rode horses, took scenic trains, ate restaurant food and read books. I also remember one of our many trips to Miami where our hotel had live flamingos in the windows and a white sandy beach outside. My love of pink flamingos has stayed with me, whether they are real or plastic. Wish I could say the same for sand, my feet really prefer the tile by the pool. 

Mother took copious travel notes in my baby book, and I later learned that the Mexico trip was not the first where I was left behind. I had a lot of catching up to do! 

All I wanted for high school graduation was to join a modestly priced teacher led trip to Europe, and I got my wish along with my best friend Jeanette. My high school nickname was Twiggy, due to a pencil body, short cropped hair and short, cute tent dresses sewn by my Mom, so naturally, I inhaled Carnaby Street & the rest of London. Paris left me wide-eyed and we had fun buying long wigs and meeting kids who were traveling with other groups. Music is my life, and every time I hear a particular 'Moody Blues' or 'Rolling Stones' song, I remember where I was on that trip. Little did I know that it would be 12 more years to meet my future husband, Paris born and in the city the week of my first visit. 

During one visit to Dallas (age 10 at the time), I was playing in the exotic filled trunks in the attic of my favorite aunt. She was a world traveler many times over, and I asked her to take me with her someday. When asked where I wanted to go, I thought of the farthest place I could and said, China! 

Imagine my surprise that during my freshman year of college I received a note from her: "Happy Birthday and an invitation to join me and 8 other family members to Expo '70 in Kyoto." My memories of that trip where we skipped all over the Orient are with me today, and I still long to go back.  

Since college, there has never been a time where I wasn't working full time -- not even a relaxing gap between jobs -- and a chunk of the fruits of my labors went to buy bus, train and plane tickets or hit up Hertz for a rental car. 

Skip forward and travel still makes my toes curl, especially with Charles & the kids. It took a pre-wedding trip to a Dude Ranch in Colorado to learn that Charles had always wanted to barrel race on a white horse (named Abe), he was a natural! We have taken the kids to Paris again and again to visit family, to California, Canada and Mexico, to Wyoming & Florida, to Italy, Morocco & Turkey, to Tanzania, and this past holiday to Australia where we marveled over the New Year’s Eve fireworks over Sydney Harbour. 

At this point, you might label me as privileged, and I can't disagree. 

But we have also taken them to the Dallas Zoo, Farmer's Market, The Komen Race for the Cure, and driven to Ashdown, Arkansas where I was born. 

Travel doesn't have to be expensive or far, it is an adventure and experience which never fails to leave a deep imprint on my soul.  

In High School I attended a Summer Science Institute at the University of Kansas, and remember the black girls teaching us white girls how to dance in the halls of our dorms (Music: "Windy" by The Association). That couldn't happen in my Arkansas high school, where the town swimming pool was filled with cement rather than to be integrated. 

Several years ago, Charles and I joined a community service trip to Cuba, and along with the badly needed medications we packed for the pharmacy, I packed gifts of toothbrushes which were in short supply. On the streets of Havana, I gave a Mother and daughter a set complete with toothpaste, and remember they were frantic that I not move from my spot so that they could retrieve the Grandmother to ask for a third. Simple pleasures that we take for granted revealed through a trip. 

One of Alysa's most magical trips was sneaking into the hospital to be the first to hold baby Jake. The nurses were SO not letting me get any sleep (yes, 18 years ago, one was expected to stay awhile), so we just decided abandon ship in the middle of that same night and surprise her with Jake the next morning. 

There is nothing quite like sitting patiently on a river bank in Tanzania and being the only family watching tens of thousands of Wildebeest stop and start and stop and start and finally, one decides to cross the river (or is accidentally shoved) and every one of them follows. Makes you wonder about lemmings and life. 

And Jake catching his first fish at a friend's lake house, an hour from home, cost a lot less, but maybe made our spirits soar even more. 

Trips with friends are special times. While we were living in New York, we explored Bed & Breakfasts with best friends Melanie & Roger, and duked it out over who got the bigger of the tiny clapboard house bedrooms. My favorite Bed & Breakfast was the one which claimed: “fresh eggs from our chickens, bacon from our pigs, and honey from our bees”. Still tasting that breakfast -- and savoring our friendship -- now. 

In San Antonio, we floated down the lazy river with friends Helene & Joe & kids. We celebrated our kids winter birthdays at Mexican restaurants and talked about life over margaritas -- and our dreams, most of which have more than come true.  

Kidnapping our parents, all of blessed memory now and less impulsive than Charles & I were, was the most delicious fun, to thank them for a lifetime of love and education and instilling in us the love of travel. When we still lived in New York, we surprised them with tickets to Israel for the 6 of us. It was a challenge as my parents traveled from Arkansas while Charles' parents met us from France. There were major glitches in the trip, a rental car which wouldn't hold all of us, rooms which were wrong, and behind the scenes, Charles and I scrambled for 2 weeks and were personally fried, even giving up sleep to make the next day's plans flawless. But our parents had the times of their lives, and declared that it was the perfect trip and “we should do it again”. 

For many years we had my Mother living in Dallas (the last of the surviving grandparents), and we seized every opportunity to shake up her world. She had a lifelong battle with depression, and the last bout was when she collapsed under the weight of taking care of Daddy, and had to be moved to Dallas and eventually hospitalized. The first day she was discharged, the sweetest outing was to the Dallas Arboretum with the kids. The flowers held the promise of Spring and healing, and it was all uphill from there for my Mom. 

We dragged her to Hawaii & Mexico, and in later years when she was battling cancer, scooped her up on an impulsive 36 hour visit to New York to see the last day of "The Gates" by Christo. It was a crisp and chilly day, with snow still covering Central Park, and Mom was wide eyed over the whole event, more than keeping up with us. Another punctuation mark to her lifelong comment: “In my next life, I want to come back as a Teichman child.” 

At this point I'd like to comment that the only trip that you want to avoid is one to the Emergency room, which we had several of, but if you take your camera as I did, you can make it fun!! 

New York has been a destination for many reasons, we met and married there, we have friends and business there, and Alysa now lives there. When recovering from breast cancer, I received an unexpected invitation to attend a private lunch (which a friend won at a school auction) with Rudy Giuliani, America’s Mayor. A 24 hour trip to a city which was very windy that day was a challenge for my wig “Esmerelda” and me, but we triumphed, and I took inspiration from his personal story. On another visit, we visited the fallen towers of 9/11 less than three months after, which I have previously written about. The heartbreaking visits to the fire houses are still with me. 

When the kids were little, we gussied up outings ("Let's take a trip to McDonalds!" "Let's take a trip to the Museum!" "Let's go bowling!" "Let's take a trip to the Food Bank!"). "Trips" to neighborhood Fourth of July Parades, especially when the kids were in them were the most fun and remind me of all of our freedoms, especially the freedom to travel. 

And what of the "Warmth of Returning Home”? Sleeping in your own bed and under your own roof is highly underrated, and besides, whether it is travel to the grocery store, or back from a long vacation trip, our dogs Eddie & Tuey are the most amazing welcoming committee and remind us that there really is no place like home. 

A final note: Sometimes planning is not so perfect, like traveling to Australia and realizing at our final stop that there were no koalas there and that we totally missed them on the first stop! Time to take a trip to the Dallas Zoo, where the Koala Walkabout just opened!