Bom Dia!

After what appeared to be a flight that was not going to happen, I'm happy to report that I am back from Sao Paulo!  Not that I was happy to leave Brazil (it was a wonderful time), but at 2AM this morning when they were "trying" to fix our plane so that we could take off, I had serious doubts I'd be back on US soil today.  All's well that ends well, right?

Although I've traveled to many Latin countries, Brazil has never been a destination for me.  I've stuck to the Spanish-speaking countries.   In my new role on my project I work strictly with the Americas, namely Canada, Brazil, and Mexico, and I'm thrilled that I am FINALLY using that Latin American Studies/Spanish degree.  And Daddy said that my undergrad would never get me a job....

But since Brazilians speaks Portuguese and I do not, I found myself in this weird tri-lingual state all week - the group preferred me to speak in Spanish, and they would answer me in Portuguese. I could understand just enough context to "think" I understood, but my poor brain was so confused half the time.  Thinking/Speaking in my non-native tongue, listening in a language I've never been exposed to, stepping out for conference calls back to the States and reverting back to English.  I was a verbal disaster all week.

As I said, it was a wonderful week, namely because the people are so wonderful!  The Deloitte and clients teams were warm and welcoming, and I loved the opportunity to work with them in their home offices.  It's going to be hard to go back to the office and not kiss people on the cheek each day.  (Actually, I'm heading to Mexico City tomorrow, so I get one more round of besitos until I have to go back to cold - both literally and figuratively - New Jersey.)   Oh, and they gave me the best compliment:  "you are very Latin".  Since I'm convinced that I'm a Latina stuck in a Gringa body, I appreciate when others recognize the same.  

Other things I loved about Brazil:

1. Papaya - when was that last time you had that here in the States?  For me, it has been too long to remember.  It was delectable and I ate it every day.

2. Pao de Queijo (Cheese Bread) - These little heavenly rolls contained (what appeared to be) equal parts flour and gooey cheese.  And we Southerners thought cheese biscuits were good?  The Brazilians would laugh at those measly flecks of cheddar.  These are flat out delicious.  I, unfortunately, also ate these every day, sometimes twice a day.  

3.  Shoes - I love shoes wherever I am, but Brazil is known for their footwear. The team took me to this massive shoe store that was downright overwhelming, but boy did I luck out on some good deals!  Because they're currently going into summer, all their winter wear was on sale!  I bought some great shoes, including these beauties below.

Another country marked off the list, another set of wonderful people who have warmed my heart, and - of yeah - we did work a bit this week... :)

Now on to Mexico City for a few before my true patria for Thanksgiving:  TEXAS!

(Author's Note:  this blog author has been told that James' whereabouts do not ever appear on the blog, unless we are together.  This is more because he enjoys reading our blog more than writing on it, and not because his wife doesn't let him contribute, Mother Kerr.  For the record, James is enjoying a boy's hunting weekend over in Bama, and I hope he kills something so that I can try to make him blog about it.  No promises though.) 

The Murphy's are Hitched!

Well, it's official - Michael Murphy and Kellee Montavani are now married!  It's actually been official for about a week now, but I'm a little behind on my blog posting after a week in Orlando and Montreal.  So, let me jump back to last weekend when we headed down to South Georgia to see our good friends get hitched.

I have actually never been to James' hometown of Cairo, even after 4 years of dating.  It's about 4.5 hours from Atlanta, and (so far) there has really been nothing to take us down that far south.  But with Michael and Kellee's wedding in Thomasville, GA, a trip to Cairo was a must.

Since the boys headed down a day early to help Michael start off his wedding weekend the right way (with BBQ and Jack Daniels), the wives (Christina and I) drove down together that Friday.  We had a great trip and arrived just in time to go to the legendary MR.CHICK!  For years I have been hearing how Mr. Chick is the Cairo equivalent of Bush' Chicken, but although it was delicious they are not that similar.  Couldn't resist eating all my chicken tenders and fries, though.

Come to mama...

James and Ben then took me around Cairo and showed me where they had all grown up (which happened to be all within 2 miles of each other).  There's a lot to be said for a small town up bringing, and I can't complain about the type of boy I managed to find from South Georgia!  After the "tour", we got ready for the rehearsal dinner, James barely made it to the rehearsal, and we feasted and toasted at a low country boil to celebrate the couple.  After the dinner, the boys headed back to their bachelor cabin for some more "toasting" and the company of several stuffed deer.

The beautiful bride to be!

Another member of the wedding party...

The actual wedding day happened to fall on Mule Day, a celebration of harvesting cane syrup and all things fried.  This little town grows from 10,000 to 90,000 on Mule Day (supposedly), and it was some great people watching.  Lots of "interesting" arts and crafts, lots of people dressed head-to-toe in camo, and enough Stars and Bars to make this little liberal, a little on edge.   But, a great experience and delicious turkey legs and boiled peanuts.  Plus, we got to introduce our dear Yankee friends, Adrien and Kristen, to the deep South.  (Kristen, a native of Pennsylvania, confessed the farthest south she had been up until that day was Charlotte.  Oh, honey child...)

Homemade pork skins

Sugar cane

James and Jeremy, enjoying their "brontosaurus"

You read that right:  a FULL LB of pork on a stick

After soaking up the grease and culture of Mule Day, it was time to celebrate the nuptials!  My husband, a groomsman, looked super handsome, the groom was also looking quite dashing, and the bride was absolutely gorgeous.  Unfortunately I spent a lot of time dancing and eating and enjoying everyone's company that I managed no pictures except for this one with my honey.

Michael and Kellee - we wish you ALL THE BEST as you start this new phase of your life together.  May God bless you and keep you and bring you lots of littles ones to grow your new family.  :)

Fall Colors up in Jersey

Now, Jersey isn't nearly as bad as I make it out to be.   There is a reason that many wealthy folks working in New York actually call NJ their home.  There is some lovely scenery, great restaurants, and (most importantly) you can change from your Armani suit right into your velour track suit once you cross that state line without any shame!

Ah, I tease, back to what I was originally saying - I do enjoy parts of New Jersey.  This time of year, it is quite pretty.  Temps are getting cooler, and leaves are a changing. Below are just a few shots I captured from the past few weeks in Morristown.

Wait…does this mean I’m the “James Carville” of the Marriage?

Sometimes I have to remind myself:  I married a Republican.  I know, I know, this is SHOCKING to many people who knew me during my most liberal days during the early 2000s.  I have to admit that I always thought my marriage would mirror more of a Clinton couple than a James Carville/Mary Matalin scenario, but I do enjoy that James is actually smart and can hold his own in a debate.  So much so that sometimes I find myself using less and less of that great policy background I learned at LBJ, but instead resort to flat out name-calling.  “You’re a heartless conservative”, I say.  He tells me “just go ahead and shake that sand out of your head, honey” (indicating that us liberals like to bury our heads…)

We have a few rules when it comes to politics.  We’re not allowed to paste anything political on our cars since, technically, they’re “common ground”. This, of course, is not the case when I run, as James has said we can put bumper stickers and yard signs with “Sasser” wherever we so choose.  He has committed to voting for me when I run for office, and don’t think for a second I won’t follow him into the voting booth to make sure he does.  

Today is Election Day, and we both had to consider that we canceled each other out when we went to the polls.  Sometimes I convince myself that secretly James has voted for the Democratic candidate because I’ve swayed him...until I hear him say something like “let’s go tea par-tay!” (as he just said 5 minutes ago when Fox News – yes, we have that on in MY house – announced the Rand Paul win).   

Grrrrrrr……