Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The rush of not breathing

Seussical Jr. is over. The show went up two weeks ago. I had feared it, dreaded it, thought for sure it would be terrible. But it wasn't...it went so incredibly well! Afterwards I had so many people come up to me and compliment me on a job well done. Nobody could believe how fantastic it was. I had a conversation with the Godparents of one of my kids Emilia...who played JoJo on Sunday. They said they had recently seen another children's production, which was torture to sit through and as they drove up from Manhattan to see Emi in Seussical they dreaded sitting through another show but they were floored, they shook my hand and congratulated me saying "It was AMAZING!" I went to Stop & Shop to get the flowers for my 8th graders and the florist said to me "Oh, Seussical! I have had a lot of people coming in for flowers for that show, they said it was incredible." 

I have never had the reaction after a show as I got from Seussical. Yes, everyone is always saying how great the shows are, and how much they loved them, and with each passing year it gets better and better. But this was a whole other level. I was so proud of all of my kids. They definitely pulled it together and it all turned out incredible. 

The day following the performance I hopped on a plane with family and friends to Italy. It was a much needed two week vacation. I sat on the beach, I ate a lot of gelato, walked up a number of stairs, basked in the glow of the gorgeous Mediterranean. It was a magical trip. We spent one night in Naples before traveling by boat to an island off of Naples, Ischia. It was beautiful, and our hotel suite that Carrie and I were in had a loft and it overlooked the Mediterranean. Breathtaking. We stayed there four nights, eating delicious food and spending quality time with each other. 

Following Ischia we made our way to Positano, where we had rented a villa for seven nights. WOW! The villa was incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Three floors, again overlooking the Mediterranean. A beautiful terrace on the first floor and the third. It was so nice to relax. So nice to spend time with my friend Carrie, who I never get to see since her move to DC. 

The best part of my trip was a trip to the Thermal Spa Poseidon in Ischia. I can't even describe in words how beautiful this place was. It was an outdoor spa basically, pools of varying degrees of thermal waters, which were naturally pooled into the basins from the center of the mountain. Starting off at a cooler temperature until you reach 40 degrees Celsius (which I believe is around 80 degrees Fahrenheit).  The hot pools were alongside an ice cold pool...from 40 celsius to 15 celsius (80 fahrenheit to 45 fahrenheit I believe. Going from the hot to the extreme cold was an incredible feeling. You step into the cold and you feel it immediately, the nerves under your skin tingle and as you immerse yourself fully into the water the coldness constricts your breathing and your lungs. It's difficult to take a breath. But it's invigorating, and it leaves you with this amazing feeling. You only stay in the cold for at the most 30 seconds, and that's all you need. It's a rush. And it's addicting. 

Oh and also...we met Denzel Washington. 

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