No visit from the Green Fairy

I had my first taste of absinthe the other night. My husband and I had dinner with my sister and brother-in-law, and after dinner, my brother-in-law brought out a French absinthe set:



He explained that absinthe, as of July 1st, was now legal in the US. We all felt very bohemian and artsy-fartsy, as according to Wikipedia, "it is better known for its popularity as an alcoholic drink in late 19th- and early 20th-century France, particularly among Parisian artists and writers. Due in part to its association with bohemian culture, absinthe was opposed by social conservatives and prohibitionists. Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, and Aleister Crowley were all notorious "bad men" of that day who were (or were thought to be) devotees of the Green Fairy."

After tasting the drink, my opposition to the beverage is not because of its sometime illegal nature, or supposed risk of hallucinations and wild behavior, or its association with counter-culturalists and "creative types." I now abhor the stuff because it tastes like black licorice. Nasty, crappy, poor-excuse-for-a-candy black licorice in liquid form. And that, my friends, is truly criminal.

Today, after some research online, I learned that the absinthe that is legal in the US is so because it doesn't contain what makes true absinthe absinthe: wormwood. The FDA prohibits the use of wormwood in products meant for human consumption because of its toxic nature.

So no visit for us from the Green Fairy. But I still felt tres chic!

Has it been that long?!

Wow, it's been about ten months since I last posted here. I took time off to plan a wedding, get married, honeymoon, move into a new apartment with my new husband, unpack and put away and make the place cute, perform in two shows, travel, build a new website, model in a few photo shoots, start writing pieces for a one-woman show, and about a million other things that pulled me away from blog-land.

Our wedding in Hawaii was amazing and magical, and more than I could have hoped for. I never imaged I would have a "destination wedding," and looking back, I can't imagine doing anything else. We had a lovely, worshipful, romantic, simple ceremony on the beautiful grounds of our hotel, right next to the beach, with the sacred site of Black Rock in the distance. We had twelve family members and friends in attendance, and it was so nice to all be in Hawaii together to celebrate our union.



Before we chose to get married in Hawaii, I heard so many of my married friends who had bigger weddings say how little they remembered about their weddings. They said that half of the people who were at their wedding, they only knew were there because they saw them in pictures later, how they never got to eat any of the food they had paid for, and that the whole thing was one big blur. By doing what we did, we got to spend time with our guests in a relaxed setting, and I remember every single moment.



I would say it was the happiest day of my life, but each day with my new husband is better than the last. But it was definitely ONE of the happiest days of my life. And I feel so blessed because as amazing as my wedding day was, with my husband William, I know that the best is yet to come!