My Marrakesh

Marrakech: and Thomas Cook City Spots Guidebook

Eeek!  She had had a book published! 

Oh my, that pseudo-Moroccan girl clearly was prone to exaggeration.  She most definitely had not had a book published.  But she had updated a guidebook on Marrakech:  Thomas Cook City Spots, to be exact.  She was told it was on the book stands on this very day.  And she assumed that her name was in tiny letters somewhere inside. 

In addition to oodles of phone and address confirmations, highlights of the guide book updating process included: 

* Testing home made ice creams in ice cream parlors.  Demanding second tastes just to make absolutely sure of quality.  Putting only her most favorite in the guidebook.

* Loitering in gorgeous riad guesthouses, pretending to be a potential guest, meanwhile stealthily taking undercover notes

* Spending ridiculous sums of money while updating the shopping section.  Rationalizing the purchase of approximately 63 pairs of Moroccan sequined leather slippers.  Sigh.

* Sneakily slipping in a few of her own photos.  (shhh....don't tell the publishers!)

* Observing whether the snake charmers on Jemma el-Fnaa square were truly able to charm the snakes or whether the snakes had a skeptical look in their eyes.

Needless to say, it was arduous, and it was harrowing, and the blogging girl barely made it out alive.  But it was all for the good of her beloved new homeland. (Isn't this when the national anthem is supposed to start playing in the background?)

Peacock Pavilions: and feng shui me

Jayme Barrett was the mind/body editor of a magazine.

She had been featured on television and radio.   

Her book had been on the best seller list. 

She lived in Los Angeles.   

She was visiting Marrakech.

She was leaving the following day.

The blogging girl sat at a long narrow table with 15 others.  They were there to learn from Jayme how to feng shui themselves, their homes, their lives. 

Jayme spoke to them in a way that was reassuring, telling them they wouldn't need to throw out all their things, they wouldn't need to buy expensive props, they wouldn't need to start over.  She spoke and they listened. Questions were asked and answered.  Heads nodded around the room. 

There wasn't enough time. (Wasn't that always the way these things were?) And so during the break, the blogging girl asked, Please, before you leave Marrakech, would you have time to come for a consultation at Peacock Pavilions?  It needs some help, you see.  It needs some care, you see.  It needs an added insurance policy.  It needs feng shui. 

Amazingly, Jayme said yes. 

So, the next morning, the two of them set off for Peacock Pavilions.  They walked through the olive grove.  They walked through the three pavilions.  It seemed...........(Could it be?) that Peacock Pavilions was already quite feng shui.  The entrances were where they should be, the rooms were oriented in the right ways, the beds could be placed correctly, the bathrooms were just as prescribed.   There were things that could be done to make things better, to improve things, to keep the chi in the rooms, to counter the fast flowing straight hallways, to adapt the exuberant windows.   But overall, overall, it seemed that the feng shui stars had aligned themselves positively over Peacock Pavilions. 

So thank you, clever architect Chris.  And thank you, sweet feng shui Jayme.  And perhaps most of all, thank you....Oh, thank you, kind universe. 

P.S. Anyone coming to Marrakech from the US? Kind courriers desperately needed. Thank you.

Marrakech: and paper fantasies

If only I had the right notebook. I would write a novel.  I would write an opus.  I would charm you with my wit and wisdom.  I would dazzle you with facts astounding.  If only I had the right notebook, I would make plans, big plans, and they would be ingenious.  I would make timelines that actually worked.  I would perfectly print grocery lists, jot down the very best recipes.  If only I had the right notebook, I would never forget a birthday, I would never forget a number.  I would become an artist.  I would become a poet.  I would write a lyric, I would write a love letter, I would write the president. 

*

Oh if only, yes if only, I had the right…… or the write……. notebook....

Arab-inspired notebooks from paperblanks, which believes in journals as functional art.

Many thanks to the lovely blog, The Art of Living for sharing the notebook secret.

P.S. Do hop over to the great blog winosandfoodies.com for a Moroccan muffin recipe.  Yum.

P.S. If there are any Australian readers coming to Marrakech soon, please drop me a line.  I have a favor to ask.  Thank you.

Forced to grow older but not to grow up...

Ah, bedtime.  Made all the more enjoyable when one is to read children's stories to those adorable creatures who live in some of our homes.  Now it's true that I buy children's books as much for myself as I do for Tristan and Skylar, something that Madonna, surprisingly, seems to understand.  On the back cover of her book, The Adventures of Abdi, it says:  ...books for children (even grown-up ones).  Madonna has me pegged to a T.  Go figure.

The book description of  The Adventures of Abdi relates:  Long, long ago, in a land far, far away, a little boy named Abdi was given a very big task - to deliver the most precious necklace in the world to the queen.  Come along with Abdi on his fantastic journey into a magical world of ruthless rogues, savage snakes and deadly dungeons, where he remembers the wise words of his mentor: 'Everything we have been given in life is always for the best.'

While Madonna's story-telling prowess is mediocre at best, the illustrations by Olga Dugina and Andrej Dugin are some of the most gorgeous I have ever seen in any children's book.  The turbans and snake charmers made me feel like the book's adventures might be set in the Arab world, adding to the story's charm for me.  And combined with medieval renaissance-like imagery.... enchantment. 

The artistry is worth the price of the book.

So to magical lands far, far away, I say, Yes!  I say, Take me away!  Or perhaps you already have....