Author: thestampsinmypassport

A professional serving the travel industry for 25 years. Expertise and knowledge in sales, customer care and knowledge of the world. Sharing my knowledge, travel stories and tales from around the world in an engaging way.

A Portrait’s view of American History

On By thestampsinmypassportIn Uncategorized1 Comment

I am a very proud Canadian and love my country. I do have to admit that I have seen much more of the United States than I have my own country. It is not intentional I suppose, I have had many opportunities through family and friends living in different cities and states, combined with my career in the travel industry has netted me out some amazing American experiences.

When we were planning our trip to Washington DC last year I made a list of things that were on my ‘to see and do’ list, and after that, whatever else we could fit in would be bonus items.

While we barely scratched the surface on the Smithsonian museums, we did get in 3 out of 18. Not a lot, and the one I wanted to get into (the newest one Museum (African American History) was still too new and still need a ticket to get in.

On the list was a visit to the National Portrait Gallery to see President and Michelle Obama’s portraits. Their portraits were unveiled as part of the 50th Anniversary of the Gallery. One the second floor is where all the portraits of all the presidents are on display. Outside of the White House it is the only place to house all the Presidents of the United States.

It is quite a large gallery and to be honest, I wasn’t overly interested in the ‘first’ Presidents, but more to the times in my life that were actually relevant. As you would expect there was a line to see President Obama’s portrait. It was interesting observing some of the folks in line to take their turn at taking a picture. Many of them were African American and wanted to take a selfie with both portraits. The Gallery had a record-breaking 2.3 million visitors in 2018, about a million more than in 2017. Many I am sure were there just to see The Obama portraits. You don’t have to be on the same side of the political aisle, but there is something to be said of the “first” person to do anything, let alone be the leader of the free world. I stood there when it was my turn and thought about that for a moment. Took my photo (NOT selfie) and then moved on.

Michelle Obama’s portrait hangs on the third floor. The exhibit is called 20th Century Americans . It took some time to find the room she was located in, but once there, again there was a line, mostly young women waiting for their moment.  The combination of people showcased was from a wide range of backgrounds—Jane Addams, Douglas MacArthur, Robert F. Kennedy, Sandra Day O’Connor and Michael Jackson, among others—tell the story of America’s 20th century through today. Michelle Obama’s portrait hangs on the third floor. Mrs. Obama’s portrait hung prominently in the centre of the room beside a unique painting of LL Cool J.

Mixing my love of tv and pop culture to this story, as I was staring at Mrs. Obama’s portrait I was drawn back to the series finale of Scandal just a month before my visit. If you remember, the show ends with Olivia Pope staring at her portrait in the Gallery. Knowing now that there isn’t a display for first ladies but only a hall for Presidents, one’s imagination is left to think – Did Olivia end up becoming President?

If you are planning a trip to DC, I would add the National Portrait Gallery to your list of museums to visit.

Don’t forget the sunscreen

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Music is a very important part of my life. Lyrics to songs are part of the fabric of my life. When I hear certain songs I can go back to the time and the place and what was happening in my life during that time the song was on the charts.

I am a child of the 80’s and if you know me you know I am stuck there musically a lot of the time. I am drawn to much of the 70’s as well. Camp played a big part of that with James Taylor, Carole King, Don McLean and more. But the 80’s is where my musical heart lies. Yes I did enjoy a good boy band which would be 90’s but that is where I draw the line.

When I had my onboarding at WE the first day our trainer started off the morning with introductions. He wanted us to say our name, department, and what our OST was. I already knew that ORG spoke in acronyms but I was thinking, what the heck is an OST. It stands for Original Soundtrack. What’s your jam, he replied when asked.

If you know me well, you know the answer to my OST. I will answer at the bottom of this post.

There is a song that came out in 1989, that has more of an impact on me now than it would have had back in 1989 when I was 18 years old, just about to finish high school and embark on the next journey of my life. The name of the song is called Everybody’s free, but I always referred to it as Don’t forget the sunscreen.

I don’t hear it often anymore, but it comes on when I feel I need to hear the words. It isn’t really a “song” but more of poetically spoken word by Baz Luhrmann. (song writers Nigel Swanston and Timothy Cox). Today it came on while I was having lunch. Put the fork down and listened to the words. The words that really do have meaning now at this time in my life.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99
Wear Sunscreen
If I could offer you only one tip for the future,
Sunscreen would be it
The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists
whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…
I will dispense this advice now…Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth
oh never mind;
You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself
and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked…You are not as fat as you imagine
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind The kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you. Sing
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts. Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss
Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements. Stretch
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…
The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t
Maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t
Maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…
What ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either
Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good
Be nice to your siblings they are the best link to your past
and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get
the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard
live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft
Travel

Accept certain inalienable truths prices will rise, politicians will philander
You too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young
prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you
Maybe you have a trust fund
maybe you have a wealthy spouse
but you never know when either one might run out
Don’t mess too much with your hair or by the time you’re 40, it will look 85
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it
Advice is a form of nostalgia,dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth
But trust me on the sunscreen

I needed this today. If you did as well, I hope it helped.

My OST is Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey. It is the song that I will always sing as loud as I can. In my car, in my condo, on stage at a Bar Mitzvah, you will find me.

What is your OST?

Live your best life,

Lisa

Ladies who Brunch – Starving Artist Waffles and Espresso

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In a city like Toronto that has over 7,500 restaurants it is great to always find new places to go and experience great food ideas and spend time with friends. Our most recent lunch spot was a restaurant called Starving Artist Waffles and Espresso.

With seven locations in and around the GTA there is probably one not to far from where you are, and I would recommend a visit. A busy restaurant with a line and you are only seated when your whole party arrives and it is important to note that it is cash only.

As the name suggests their decor focuses on local artists and they change out the art every six weeks. If you are an artist and don’t know about this, I would check it out.

The premise of the restaurant is boldly stated right on the menu:

Warning: Everything is made of waffles. On waffles. Between waffles or made in a waffle iron.

One would think that having a menu that is only waffle related would make it easy to decide right? Wrong. Do you want sweet or savory? Do you want eggs benny on a potato waffle (yes you heard correct a potato waffle) or smoked salmon with cream cheese between two waffles with dill IN the waffles. These were just a few of the choices that our group chose for our lunches. The menu was two full pages and too many options to list, but you can read the full menu here.

The sides were either a green salad or a fruit salad and a choice of maple baked beans or homemade potato salad. a bit odd but both were so tasty and complimentary to the food we were eating.

I chose a savory sandwich that had chicken , cucumbers and their ‘house sauce’. I know that our friends in the southern states have chicken and waffles as a regular menu item. This was not fried chicken, but it was very tasty. It was strange to want to put maple syrup on the waffle with the chicken and cucumber in the sandwich but the flavours melded well and it was enjoyable.

We were celebrating our friends birthday and looked at the dessert waffles before we started and we knew we were going to have to sample something decadent. We opted for the Split This! …. Waffled banana, ice cream, strawberries, chocolate, caramel, strawberry syrup, whipped cream. You did read correctly, the banana was waffled. It says on the menu made for 2. We were four and it was HUGE. See for yourself

There are many different menu items and I would go back and try something different. Overall a very delicious experience to check off our Toronto food bucket list.

Where are we off to next – stay tuned to find out!

Please feel free to let me know if you have a great place for us to try in the future Ladies who brunch days out.