next stop.

my mother lived to be one hundred and eight, she said. and every night she had a glass of single malt scotch. 

so that was her secret? i replied.

and diet coke. once before her hundred and second birthday she was wheeling her recycling out and a neighbor commented on all of the empty cans: 'that stuff will kill you.' my mother laughed and retorted, 'hunny, i've been drinking it for a hundred years.'

she became our best friend for the rest of the evening. more stories up that sweet woman's sleeve than countries in the all world. it just so happens she's visited over one hundred of them. a hundred and sixty six to be exact! she exclaims.

sitting next to her is phil. a stoic older gentleman with a more muted sense of humor, rather large round-shaped spectacles, and a good head of white hair. a silver fox in his own right. they're pals, phil and marie. travel buddies, in fact. every other month they take a trip together. current destination: maui. next stop: switzerland.

but they're story is unique, you see. they are friends. adventurers, really. at eighty five and seventy eight {marie seven years phil's senior} they explore the world together because, well, it's too early to throw in the towel.

they met years ago on a group trip to timbuktu {yes this place does exist in the west african nation of mali. you learn something new everyday}. he sat next to her in a vacant seat at dinner and the rest is history. she resides in cincinnati and him, seattle. but, every few weeks they rendevous. marie lost her husband thirty one years ago and phil lost his spouse as well.

but now, they have each other. friends forever. next stop, anywhere.

i'll likely never see this fearless pair again, but i'll remember them forever. like they did for me, may they inspire you to live to be one hundred and to never be afraid to explore the world. it's not too late.

*preciousness found here and here.

gentleman.

he walks on the outside, closest to the street. always, no matter what.

they'd be en route to anywhere, really. saturday morning coffee. dinner reservations. or just a sunday stroll, and he'd be there without thinking twice. sometimes he'd carefully take her hand and, never skipping a beat, gracefully glide her to the inside where he could protect her. you know, just. in. case. in case something scary happened in the middle of that road.

it was what she loved most about him. his need to protect her. and, his good 'ol fashion manners.

he was a gentleman in every sense of the word. doors, they were his specialty. ladies first he'd silently whisper.

this all came effortlessly to him as if it was in his genetic makeup. he must have read the handbook, she thought to herself. or maybe it was that angel of a mother, caring father, or sisters three. {because somewhere behind every polite man is a good woman, yes?}

or maybe, he just really loved her.

*love this photo.

plan b attitudes.

so you guys, i have to introduce you to one of my sweeeetest new friends. oh, she's so cool.

meet layla. she's my pilates instructor!

yes, you heard me. p-i-l-a-t-e-s. it's been years since i've touched the stuff.

but every tuesday and thursday at our work exercise class, i'm requesting let's get those deep, internal abdominals so my core will be strong, and more powerful than ever. and flat. well, that's the hope anyway.

she speaks my language with her darlings and dears and when you're done you're done. and, she even touches on my most favorite talk of all, you know, stuff about the universe.



one day in class, before attempting headstands, she taught us this great saying her mom - louise - says {who happens to be a yoga teacher...all of the good ones are, aren't they!?} when you're having a bad day...

alright ladies, let’s grab an apple and a hunk of cheese and put on our plan b attitudes. go upside down and get your ass over your head. now, lay down, tell the universe what you need and it’ll come to you.

we all need a plan b, wouldn't you agree? to get upside down every now and then. shake things up. keep them a-movin' and a-flowin' {another thing we talk about often}.

i heart my new friend. i know you will too.

let's talk about the universe.

one time, in college, alexis and i drove all the way from santa barbara to the roxy in hollywood. it was a friday afternoon and it was time for a big best friend adventure. we tended to do that quite often.

the trip to see the one and only tristan prettyman had been planned for weeks. we were to depart around two with our printed map and directions. smart phones were a thing of the future.

i even remember what i was wearing. embarrassingly enough, ugg boots paired with a ruffled denim skirt from abercrombie and fitch. i swear that look was in.

our first stop was fred segal. our second stop was ashton kutcher's restaurant - dolce - and our third stop was truly the main attraction. the tristan prettyman concert. the internet told us we could buy tickets before the show for a whopping ten dollars. what a steal!

here's how the story really goes...

i bought the ugliest army green, fur-hooded, juicy couture, five-hundred-dollar jacket on our shopping endeavor. oh yes, the one with the be-jeweled "j" on the sleeve. apparently, back then, i had to have it.

it turns out that ashton doesn't hang out in his own restaurant around the earliest reservation time. yup, that would be five thirty. in fact, just as an fyi, you will be the only people - and youngest - dining in this swanky restaurant this early. which, mind you, will make pulling out your fake id way more intimidating than it needs to be.

however, nothing could rain on our parade at that point in our evening, because onto the much-anticipated show we went.

well, not so fast.

i'm sorry, she's all sold out.

but i called! i promise! i say to the woman at the ticket booth.

i'm sorry, there's no tickets left to her show tonight.

...and back home we went.




for as disheartening as that trip turned out, it's a story that will forever make me laugh. all of the silly details of that day make me smile.

throughout the years, tristan has only grown cooler in my eyes. she now writes a blog and is an aspiring yogi, like me.

often times, the things she writes are some of my exact thoughts. she's just cool enough to articulate them in a way that i am unable to. all i know is that more often than not i'm speaking out loud to her "me too! me too! yes, exactly!" we have the same way of getting all preachy. and that, in my opinion, is a great similarity to have.

to be quite honest, i think we'd be dear friends in real life. well wait, this is real life.

anyhow, the whole point of this long-winded {you know me, i'm always rambling to you} note was to share one of my most favorite things she posted the other day.

“first you have to know what you want, defined in terms of the end result. and then you have to physically move towards it, without defining the hows. at which point, the thing you want actually starts coming to you, on its own terms, from a direction completely unexpected. just carry on, detached from the details and timing, and perhaps act like you couldn’t care less.”

so, there you have it.

thank you, tristan, for always reminding me to trust in this universe. i hope someday our paths will cross. i promise i won't be wearing ugg boots.

*photos found among my pins, here and here.

surprise!

can i tell you the sweetest surprise that happened to me the other day? and i do love a good surprise. they happen rarely so it's important to really relish in them, which is why i'd love to share with you here.

it's wednesday evening at about 6:15pm. i'm attempting to do exercise tv in the 20 minutes i have to spare.

i get a loud knock knock knock on my apartment door.

i immediately panic thinking it's the guy below me coming up to complain about my jillian michaels jumping moves.

i peek out the peep hole {which i've never used by the way}.

it's the ups man! he has a rather large box for me to sign for.

i never get packages! unless of course i order them. exhibit a and b.

anyhow, clearly i'm making this short story long.

LOOK WHAT IT WAS!!!



a bottle of J champagne along with two flutes.

the best part. the note.



welcome to the aol family.

how simply delighted i am. a million thank you's.

i heart aol.

i have some exciting news to report on it's all happening.




things have come full circle in my career, friends.

i start at aol in a creative sales development strategy role on may 9th. i couldn't be more excited and thrilled and bursting at the seams with joy. i love that phrase.

it's been quite the whirlwind, hence the buzzing energy in my universe. i can't wait to share with you the many epiphanies i've had along the road.

the most exciting part. aol is it. i can feel it. it's my career. i'm in it for the long haul. i'm exactly where i'm supposed to be. magic.

do you know how good that feels? that's why we have to trust that every decision we've ever made in our lives is the right one. it's all about trust.

i think it's important to share with you how i went out on a limb and spoke from my heart when asked "why aol?"

trust me when i say this. it all falls into place.

life, that is.

_____________________________________________________

i have this vivid memory at about age eleven - 1996 it must have been. it's a saturday morning and i'm sitting with my dad, mom, and sister in our family's computer room. my dad has just purchased "america online" for our family's single desktop computer. the internet is this new foreign concept. it's dial-up of course...even with our "high speed" modem, it takes about three minutes to "sign on." step 1....step 2....step 3....verifying password. i still use the same one i created on that very day.

i remember feeling creative pressure to come up with the perfect screen name. something i'd carry with me and identify with for ever and ever :) i even had scratch paper and with the help of the "fam" finally came up with "gmsmiles4u." seemed so fitting for me. gina martini smiles for you. i only un-willingly gave it up when i made the jump from college to the real world.

oh, the days of the first instant messages and chat rooms. so much has happened and been said via gmsmiles4u. so much growth. seems like a lifetime ago to me especially to think how the internet has grown from there. i think this is why I'm so drawn to the digital world, especially aol. because it truly was my first internet experience. i identify with it. i have this sense of completeness thinking that i'd get to be apart of the organization...to help nurture the brand...to live and breathe it.

the way aol is creatively positioning themselves in the digital space right now is exciting. i think people are on the edge of their seats waiting to see what great new heights they will reach. like i mentioned earlier, aol.com has been my sign-on page each and every time i've signed on to the computer for the past almost fifteen years. i feel like i've been with aol every step of the way, routing on the sidelines as their biggest fan wanting them to succeed. i want to see how they will change the industry... i think it's a movement of sorts. every individual i've met has shown me nothing but great energy, as if everyone is on this same page. that cohesiveness is so refreshing to see. i feel a sense of innovation and this is a culture i'm dying to be a part of.

i'm not sure why, but i feel inclined to send you the blog i write: it's all happening. i started it a few years ago and i think it'll give you a good sense of how i see the world. it's gone through somewhat of a re-brand as well, like aol....a few theme changes here and there. it also started out as a place for me to document all that i am grateful for. then, as of late, it's recently transitioned to the things that inspire me...the things i want to remember forever.

i always remember though, that it all started with gmsmiles4u.
_____________________________________________________

...and off we go on a new adventure.

sherry.

i've been getting restless in the afternoons.

maybe it's staring at the computer all day. maybe it's improper hydration or lack of riveting work. maybe i need some b vitamin supplements for a little extra energy.

anyhow, that's beside the point of my story. it's just to preface you that i wasn't in the most energetic of moods this evening...how i usually prefer to be. i knew, deep down, that a rusty class would turn that all around for me even though i was questioning even attending at all.

sitting on my mat before class a woman lays hers next to mine.

"hi!" she says. and disappears.

moments later she's back. "hi, again. i'm sherry."

(it's usually rare to have such friendliness in y-o-g-a of all places).

i've noticed sherry before. maybe it's her incredibly slender physique, but i've definitely spotted her.

"hi, i'm gina"

we have small-talk for a few seconds until there is a short silence.

she then adds, "i rode on a scooter with a 'gina' during the 1989 earthquake. she was the only person i knew that had a way out of downtown with all the chaos that was going on. we hopped on that scooter and got the heck out of there. everything was crumbling and we just needed to get home to fillmore."

i thought this was the most endearing memory of someone with the name gina. can't you just picture two young women in their twenties on a vespa zipping home up the steep hills of san francisco?



great mental picture.

"...gosh, i wonder how she's doing, i don't keep in touch with her now."

sherry was my new best friend at that point. i told her i was five years old in 1989 and we joked how she was "old" and got married at twenty three. "age is relative though" she adds. she told me how she had to act older than she really was at my age because she was "signing deals with big clients and had to talk the talk."

now she's in her forties and chooses to "do things she's scared of" that she didn't do "back then," like get her yoga teacher training.

she showed me her decorated sigg water bottle after i showed her "peace love gina" on mine. hers had a squaw valley sticker on it "because i love to ski!" and a namaste sticker "that my husband gave me for christmas!" her next decoration of choice to fill the blank white space that was left was "an elephant sticker because i just love elephants!"

as the moments to the start of class approached i mentioned that i love to chant. "oh me too" sherry said. "i can just feel the joy in my heart when i do it."

i couldn't agree more.

and just like that, a complete stranger brightened my day. i vow to be more like her. to say "hi, i'm gina" to someone who least expects it.


*picture via one of the most talented fashion photographers i know.