Artemas women take on Orlando

With Maria recently completing the Disney College Program, our family took the opportunity to fly down to Orlando to move Maria out and drive back to Chicago.

I don't really know why the rush, but as you know, our family can be ambitious. Because of that, we decided to do all four Disney parks in one day and start driving north a day after being in Florida.

Photos at the entrance of all four Disney parks:
Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom.

I haven't been to Disney since senior year of high school on my choir class's tour, but enjoyed a refresh to learn what people love about Disney. Eleni pointed out that compared to other amusement parks, the lines and rides are very visual - with intricate details and exhibits in the line and in the rides themselves. 

The city of Orlando is hilarious in itself, because after traveling and comparing it to other cities, it's the definition of tourist America. Every chain or fast food restaurant you can imagine is there. The road in between amusement parks is very basic and boring, with grass & trees and no real scenery on the way to each park. Overall, it's a rutty city built up by tourist attractions that make it a destination. 

It was a blast having Maria show us around and point out the best of each park, and we spent 2-3 hours at each one! Looking forward to more family trips in the future :) 

A true holiday weekend

This past weekend for the Memorial Day holiday, I took advantage of having Friday & Monday off of work and booked a flight to New York City. Rather than traveling with intent to explore the city, the purpose of the trip was to catch up with all of my friends who have embarked on their careers there. I stayed on the Lower East Side with Becca, who recently moved out there for her company, since she never really got a true visit being at Northwestern throughout college.

When deciding what I wanted to do while I was there, I realized I've been lucky enough with my travels that this was my sixth trip to New York in the past two years. While some were longer than others, my list of museums and tourist accomplishments was already pretty robust. This trip, I would observe the livability, eat, catch up with friends and let whatever happens play out.

After living in an urban area for nearly eight months, all of the nuances between New York & Chicago came to fruition. Manhattan is a lot dirtier & cramped than downtown Chicago. It is significantly more diverse. Dogs are allowed in public- in stores, on the train and even in restaurants sometimes. The variety of cultures makes PDA a lot more acceptable than it is in Chicago. And although overall it's an incredibly different culture from what I'm living in now, I absolutely loved it.

We slept in every morning. Walked nearly 30,000 steps in one day just exploring neighborhoods and shopping. Hung out on some of the most beautiful rooftops I've been on. Ran into friends & unexpected acquaintances twice. And I had plenty of good company along the way. The four days flew by, and even without a beach, it felt like more of a vacation than my typical travels. Thanks to everyone I spent time with for an incredible weekend!

Walking down the riverfront path at East River Park.

Becca, Colin and I trying the various brews at Brooklyn Brewery outside of Williamsburg.

Shaina, me and Sherman in Times Square. We got to see Shaina before her and her sister left for birthright to Israel. Twainers stick together!

A beautiful view of the city from a rooftop in Murray Hill.

Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity on the Upper East Side. The service was a perfect combination of English & Greek.

Walking the Chelsea High Line with Kara & Alyssa.

Becca and I ending the weekend by exploring the north end of Central Park and walking down.

A hilarious parody book

Exploring one of my favorite stores, Paper Source, we found a brilliant spin on one of everyone's favorite nostalgia books.

Goodnight iPad. I still can't figure out if Ann Droyd is the actual author…or if we just laugh at Androids & move on. 

Someone doing wearables right

In the marketing & technology industries right now, all buzz is around wearables - ranging anywhere from wristbands, watches, clip-ons and other devices that can be on our bodies.

What are our motivations for using them? What needs do they fulfill? How can we be advertised on them? How can marketers leverage our location data to be hyper-relevant?

The only way I feel wearables can be successful is if a company uses them to accommodate an existing need rather than create one.

Example 1: Fitness bands
These are incredibly successful for a niche market of those who already care and actively count health metrics, whether it be through pedometers or calorie counters. For the general audience, it's hard to adopt to this because these bands have created the fitness-tracking need. As a person who doesn't typically count my calories & movement, I have no motivation to set up the band, app & continue with it since it's not necessary to my daily life.

Example 2: Disney MagicBand
Last week at DisneyWorld in Orlando, I arrived and was given a "MagicBand." This MagicBand had a credit card attached to it, as well as a hotel room key - so I didn't need to carry anything around at all. This accommodated an existing need through replacement - replacing a wallet and room key with a wearable technology.

Good job, Disney!

The Disney MagicBand, live from the Boardwalk hotel near Epcot

Pinspiration: craft time

Despite not having a Pinterest, having plenty of friends in the crafting space inspired me to attempt some projects at my own. Here are two of them!

 US Corkboard Map

Traveling a lot the past few years and recently becoming fascinated with Instagram's photo map, I wanted to create a photo map of my own for the United States.

Recipe: Corkboard, US Map, colored tacks. Place a tack in each city you have visited.

LEGO Letters

Becoming familiar with LEGO bricks at work, we have plenty of them at our desks. A friend gave me this idea from Pinterest and for a co-worker's birthday, it seemed like a great way to consolidate the bricks in one place. Although it's fun to place them in scrapbooking / scattered format, if aligned correctly, you can even build on top of them!

Recipe: LEGO bricks, wooden letter, white paint. Go to a LEGO Store & fill a bowl of bricks for $9.99. After painting a wooden letter, use mod podge to scatter LEGO bricks on the wood. Build on top accordingly.

April Quote List

A little delayed…but can't forget about the monthly quote list. 

The biggest categories this month are social media comments, random stories and of course, funny Greek Easter & Holy Week stories. Enjoy!


Social Media Stories
"So people can't tell you've unfollowed them?" -Dad
“Here’s your Holy Week book. I wrote Artemas in here but at the very least I hope it’ll be hyphenated in the future.” -Dad

“I was lost in the world of Instagram on the bus and looked up and I was 6 blocks past work.” -Sarah

"What should I wear tonight?" -George 

"Look at the pictures Katie's tagged of you on Facebook and wear something else." -Christina

"Instagram flirting is indeed a thing. …I feel like everyone says this…but he looks cuter in person." -Meredith, as she shows us a guy’s Instagram

"Here’s my news. Anastasia is following me on Instagram, and so is the quarterback of Vanderbilt." -Dad

Random Stories

“God, babe I thought you were expensive to date. You’re more expensive to keep around!” -Steve to Helen, after seeing her nail polish purchase

"You know who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Malaysian airlines." -Dad

"I get neighborhood envy when we meet up with people and see other areas of town." -Becca, on NYC life 

“They have a house and patio furniture in their life and wanted to use it so we went over.” -Helen, on 20somethings becoming adults 

"I'm reading the fares and it says vomit in a cab. That's weird, like do they charge you for sneezing? If I were a cab driver, I'd want someone to vomit so I can make $50." -10-year-old boy while babysitting 

“I didn’t even realize, I got three different numbers.” -a friend on a night out in Old Town

"It just required so much patience and time to get around the zoo, I couldn't handle it." -Katie

“You won’t feel that way when they’re your kids.” -Irina and Becca

“You still will.” -Mom, on babysitting

"Do you really think I would board a plane without knowing how I'm getting home?” -Jessie, as she got a voicemail offering her a ride from O’Hare

"No story ever ends well when it begins with 'I had a whole bottle of UV blue to myself.'" -Kate

“You’ve already met his parents?”

“We’ve been dating since March 1.” -Shelley

“That’s quick. I dated a guy for 4 months and he broke up with me when my parents came to move me in because he didn’t want to meet them.” -Britney


“My parents didn't meet your Dad’s parents until our wedding!” -Jessie's mom, on the oddness of her meeting her boyfriend's parents immediately

“I don't mind drinking by myself, but not when I'm sad or upset.” -a friend 

“Do your Moscow mules come in a copper glass?” -Hannah, at Hubbard Inn.

"No." -Waitress
"Oh. Nevermind." -Hannah

"There is no ladylike way to eat this peace of meat." -Lauren

“That must be nice to not be a real adult and have to file your own taxes.” -Lauren to Brock

“What’s Native American for bicycle?” -Jill

“Did they have bicycles?” -Billy

“I’m an account person, remember, I have no discernible skills. It took me three years to learn how to send out a meeting notice.” -Billy, mocking his role and how people make fun of account executives in advertising 

"My roommate and I worked in the same building for eight months without realizing it." -an advertising friend, on the complicated 111 E Wacker / 225 N Michigan building 

"That's what's great about Florida, you feel great and like you have all this power when it comes to elections." -Lauren 

“I didn’t realize the movers were actually coming at 3 p.m., I thought they just told us that.” Surranda, on our move at work 

"Everyone that I text tends to have an iPhone (since the text is blue)." -Dean

"Really? Everyone I text doesn’t have an iPhone." -Christina

"First of all, how do you know that yet if you don't have one? Second of all, I feel like the people you text wouldn’t have iPhones." -Dean 

“Who was Bill Clinton’s vice president?”

*Silence*

“To be fair, we were like 5.” -Lauren 

“Would it be weird if I sent her a meeting notice to get coffee, only if it like has a funny name?” -a co-worker, on attempting to date someone at work

“Yes.” 

Greek Easter & Holy Week

“Were having a bit of a parking problem. The policeman guiding parking is Greek Orthodox, and he does understand when you are talking about him in Greek.” -Fr. Chris

“We were supposed to go out to dinner but my stomach hurt so I sent Papou to Culver’s to but some fish.” -Yiayia Nikie 

"I wasn't sure if other people like beets, but I really do so I just ordered them anyway." -Avro

“There was a cute guy there tonight so I’ll have to have [the priest] introduce us.” -a priest's daughter, at Holy Unction

“I told Eleni her Facebook was 1-dimensional and she had to expand her offerings.” -Dad

What do you mean?” -Katie

“It’s all pictures of parties.” -Dad

“I’m going to Instagram during the procession. HAHAHA.” -Dad

“16 likes on the Crucifix picture.” -Dad

“What would all these church people who need attention do without Pascha celebrations?” -Dad

"Sitting in Dad’s office reading the Orthodox Observer. It doesn’t get more PK than this." 

“Donations in the form of tiropita are accepted. I need a feta fix.” -Maria

"I think my husband forgot what your dad told him to do." -Pat at church, on her husband remaining static on Good Friday holding the cross

"Three or four families from church invited us over and we don't want to go so we said we’ll be with our nieces or our son in Chicago. Maybe they will come later." -Yiayia Nikie, pressuring us to come over with lies to parishioners 

"However late you stay out, do not compromise yourself." -Dad
"I won't be drinking that much." -Katie 

"This is Wisconsin. Beer is to Wisconsin as Starbucks is to Glenview." -Dad

“This is the one type of time I like going to church. It’s like a fashion show and I love showing off how pretty I am.” -Maria

"How was your Pascha?" 

"Fine, pretty quiet since our whole family got poached by marriage." -George P.  

Girls and their moms

In honor of Mother's Day, I wanted to comment on the relationship daughters have with their mothers in their 20s. About halfway through college, there was a noticeable difference in interactions between the majority of friends surrounding me and their moms. Freshmen year of college, people talked to their parents weekly, and sophomore year this grew just slightly. By junior and senior year, the vast majority of my friends were on the phone with their moms every day talking about anything and everything. Whether it was job & internship applications, questions about finances or drama with friends, Mom was there to listen.

Dependent or needy are not words I would use to describe my friends, but the role of family, especially moms, suddenly became stronger as girls entered their 20s. Hitting everyone to a different extent, the discernible growth in communication was true for me too and fascinates me to this day. So why does this happen? What spurs this uptick & development of the mother-daughter relationship? 

Mom is a neutral party, since other friends or family members might have a bit more bias. People sometimes think their friends will judge them, but you know your mom has your back and will always listen. She knows what's best for you and can read your instincts on things. She knows when to agree with you because it's what you want to hear, but if she disagrees with you, you don't get as upset as you do with others that you know. Sometimes when you call your mom, you want to share your stories but don't want to have to listen and reciprocate, as you do with people at your own level. She feels a sense of obligation and excitement when speaking with you, even if she is not fully attentive to the minute details of every story you share.

All of this builds up comfort levels and a relationship of co-dependence begins. Twenty-something girls start to think, "I can't live without my mom, and she can't live without me," which tends to be true. And although there will be fights or sometimes petty arguments, it's beautiful that this closeness exists. Happy Mother's Day to my mom all the Moms out there! Thanks for all you do! 

My mom and I!