Category: California

My Singer and I

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When I was a little girl, my sister and I shared a room and this room hosted my moms Singer sewing machine that was neatly stored in a sewing table. The rule was that we cannot use it before we are old enough to go to school.

My middle name is „curious creativity“, which is a curse and a blessing. So here we go, waiting for my mom to leave the house, so we can sew clothes for our dolls. Not a great idea as it turned out, because I zigzag stitched right through my thumb! Adrenaline kicked in (fortunately) and I ribbed my finger out from that monster, taking the whole presser foot needle holder with it (unfortunately). ☹️

Then the pain kicked in, then the guilt, then the creativity how to hide all this mess from my mom. She still doesn’t know…..

55 years forward, my thumb still reminds me of that sewing adventure, especially when the weather changes… But I’m a loyal person and after moving out of my parents house when I was 19, one of the first things I bought was a Singer sewing machine! Not dishes or bed linens, a sewing machine. And that Singer was brought to the US shortly after our plans had changed to stay indefinitely instead of the initial 2-year contract. Can’t live without my Singer! 28 years later, I still live in the US, that exact Singer is going to travel again. Destination: Italy.

Singer at SFO

It is very interesting what a conversation starter the Singer is! From “what an interesting looking suitcase you have” to “my mom used to have a Singer just like that”. It was a fun trip! And here we are in Germany, waiting for the final part of our transition. This time it will be a car drive to Italy! 🇮🇹

Saving $$$

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Ted is known for being frugal. Sometimes cheap, sometimes stingy. In order to save money on this trip, he combined all these characteristics and got a dental surgery here in Germany, saving himself at least $2000. In California his dentist told him to see a specialist for a root canal (dentist $400, root canal specialist $400), Ted decided to have his tooth extracted and I suggested to go do that in Germany instead of paying an arm and a leg in California.

So we arrived in Angermann on Wednesday and Thursday he went and saw a dentist (€27}, and a specialist on Friday morning for a consultation and the surgery at the same day a few hours later, which cost €300, since we don’t live in Germany, we don’t have health insurance, so these prices cover the entire cost! What an incredible $$$ difference this is!

Extracting a tooth is usually a $150 procedure, but Ted’s tooth was inflamed and it had developed a zyst inside his sinus that needed to be removed, with stitches and everything. So my offer to get the pliers and jank that tooth out with a few twists (and shouts) wouldn’t have been successful. And maybe would’ve ended up in a divorce…

The gold crown, a relict from the time when Ted’s teeth were still complete…

47 C (116 F) vs 15 C (59 F) or heatwave vs German summer

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Germany in July: rubber boots would be a good idea. Or at least a rainproof jacket, insulated, an umbrella and don’t forget a scarf! Outdoor venues are closed, it is freezing f🥶ing cold! Yikes. I’m wearing underwear, socks, long pants, T-Shirt, Sweatshirt, layers and layers, and I’m still cold. I have an extra wool blanket on my bed and I’m cold, despite wearing a nightshirt!

Paso Robles, California on the other hand is dealing with a heat wave right now. 47 degrees Celsius (=116 F), that’s when the air flimmers and everything comes to a standstill. PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) are switching off the power, air conditions won’t work, your barbecue steaks in the freezer will defrost and there won’t be any ice cubes for your drinks. Americans like to drink everything with ice cubes. I mean, they have a little taste of something in their glasses filled with ice cubes and when they’re finished, half the glass of ice cubes will be thrown in the sink. Hard to understand when you grow up in Europe…

When I moved to the US 26 year ago, I always thought that everything will be the same, except the language, and since I learned English at school, I thought I’m prepared for the challenge. Little did I know! The language I learned turned out to be the medieval cousin of the American language spoken in the US. Not only do Americans have a chewing gum in their mouth when they speak vs English people, who have a hot potato in their mouth, they also use different words and you have to be careful to stick with the proper vocabulary. So don’t buy rubbers for your children’s first day of school equipment when they are just in 3rd or 4th grade. That’s more appropriate for 10th grade, when they really need a rubber / eraser / condom 😳. And calling a doctors office to ask for a date with a gynecologist isn’t such a fun idea either, because a date is something very different than an appointment, one less professional and more romantic than the other. And there are so many more examples of “sitting in the clanger” which means to “put one’s foot in one’s mouth”. But luckily I got a big portion of humor and I hope all the people around me got the same, otherwise they’d just turn around and laugh, roll their eyes, be shocked or otherwise not be my friends anymore.

In college, where I teach fashion design, it is a bit challenging in its own way. Officially there are lots of possibilities to make mistakes and the list is long on what you can say or ask. For example I cannot ask a student where he/she/them is from. That is a micro-aggression, indicating that – because they look different or speak with an accent – I assume that they are not as good as their American classmates. I look different myself and my German accent is recognized as soon as I open my mouth. So I kinda sit in the same boat, but I’m not allowed to ask my students where they’re from?!? And in Fashion Design I’m supposed to say chest, high point, rear and bottocks instead of breast and butt. Sometimes I catch my students with this frozen expression of a shocked deer in the headlights because I say the name of a body part in an inappropriate way and I think: c’mon people, get rid of that prudish political correctness and start having fun again! 😳😳😳

Leaving

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Leaving California is not easy. You leave gorgeous weather, perfect temperatures, crisp ocean water, and a lot of happy people, because the weather does affect your mood, in case you didn’t know!

Leaving California is also great for your wallet: nowhere else are prices so ridiculous, over the top and beyond, nowhere else they expect tips for services not performed, and nowhere else those tips are expected to be 30% [[additionally to a $790 dinner at Justin – I almost had to postpone my trip 😬! But I have to admit that we did receive a gift bag, a special goody bag, filled with a tiny micro jar of seasalt (1/2 teaspoon) and a small bottle of Fiji water, I’m talking plain drinking water]]. So I’m glad to go to „anywhere-is-cheaper-than-California“ country now! Good bye!!!

Kombucha. $7.67 (16 fl.oz = 473mL)

6 more nights at home…

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… and 5 days left until we leave: those will be filled with a few college related, end-of-the-semester meetings, final grades and all that stuff. And it will also be filled with lunches and dinners with our besties, our friends who we will not see for a while. Some of them have to wait until we are back in town, some of them can’t wait and they will come and visit us in Spain and Italy, join us for a cruise in Iceland or other places in the good old world. And we are so looking forward to this!!!

So if you are traveling in Europe these next 6+ months, please get in contact and we’ll figure it out: There is always something to celebrate: my birthday (during the cruise from New York to London), our anniversary (Hamburg), Ted’s birthday (Iceland), etc. Never a dull moment! And if there is nothing to celebrate, we will celebrate our friendship, our adventures together!

But we are still here and getting ready to pack our suitcases – between lunches, haircuts, doctor’s appointments and more lunches and dinners…..

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Leaving Salinas

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Yesterday was a big day: we left Salinas. Meaning, we moved out and away and that was a lot of work! Sorting through memories, collections, paperwork, (Ted) and books and clothing and more books and way more clothing (Edith). This has been difficult. Downsizing to a house that is 1/4 the size of the Salinas house didn’t help.

And then there is the emotional wake-up-moment when you change your address and you don’t go there any more. This is difficult, especially for Ted, who was born and raised in Salinas, who plays/played dominos with his brother every day they both are/were in town (and they both are/were in town almost always), who never left Salinas except for college and a 4-year stay in Arizona. For me, Edith, leaving Salinas was not that difficult, except the moving part itself. Sorting, schlepping, donating, combining, reducing, blending and merging; that sort of thing. And then there is this glimpse of a heartbreak to leave that picture perfect resort like house with a pool and my spacious studio! But hey, let’s go on a trip! How about we start in Europe?

Isn’t it the memories that count? Not the pounds?

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Eight days until we will launch our combined weight of 357.7 lbs into an airplane, that then will fly us to New York. Upon arrival we will have lost 20 lbs, our combined Covid-add-ons and we can lightweightedly sail over to the old world, “where they lived happily ever after”.

End of the dream. It is true though, we do have a combined 357.7 lbs and – to be realistic – we’ll keep them for a while. But we do have many walks and hikes planned: for example up a volcano in Iceland (Ted’s birthday hike), a funky history walk in Reykjavik or an 8 day hike in Sicily (Aeolian Islands & Taormina). But that follows a whole week of eating and cooking, wine and olive tasting in Naples. Hmmm, I guess we will just see how many pounds we will bring back home…..

Moving is fun, isn’t it?

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The definition of moving is “transferring furnishings from one residence to another”. That sounds easy, almost like grocery shopping or getting a pedicure. But it’s not like that. And it’s not only like transferring furnishings from one place to another, it means packing up your life, your children, your habits. It means stepping out of your comfort zone and find / create a new comfort zone. Moving involves changing, finding, discovering. It’s like traveling, except your luggage is bigger.

The average American person moves 11.4 times during their life. The average German woman moves 4.6 times (men 4.4 times). I just did the math: I moved 27 times in the last 37 years. 5 moves were moving my store & studio, 22 moves were moving my house. One move was from one continent to another, 5 different cities in Germany, 8 different cities in the US. If I continue this moving habit, I’d be moving 50 times by the time I’m 90 years old! In many ways I’m not the typical German, 27 moves mean I moved every 1.68 years (1 year and 8 months). Does that make me a nomad? For German standards: definitely. So is my real name Edith Nomad Schneider then?

And does the fact that I moved so many times mean that I like to move? I can tell you this: I am pretty good at moving. I don’t like spring cleaning, I just move! But that does not – I repeat DOES NOT mean that I like it. And every time I move I hope it is the last one EVER!!! Well, and then there are those conversations like Ted and I had yesterday:

Me: What has to happen that you move again?

Ted: I think if you would die, I’d move because everything in our house would remind me of you.

Me: You know that one house around the corner, the Spanish architecture, all black and white; if that’s for sale…..

So much for that, I think I’m not done yet. But I hope I’m extending my average of 1.68 years / move.

And yes, Ted is a very sweet guy!

So here we are, pretty much all packed up. The movers will arrive in 5 hours, they will load up our belongings and bring them to our storage. And the rest we’ll move to our newly built home in Paso Robles. Our house here in Salinas will be rented to a nice family and in 16 days we will be packed up again – this time just for traveling: 6 months overseas. I mean 6 months, not 1.68 years. 6 months is a mini-move. And I’m so used to moving, a mini-move is just like that: a move. Again. But mini makes it sound more fun. And that’s what we are planning to have: fun, fun, fun!

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Shoes

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How many shoes do you need when you go on a trip? Of course it depends on your destination. And the weather. And the activities you’re planning. And the season.

So what if you travel everywhere from Iceland to Morocco, you travel from June until December, you plan city walks, museum visits, dinners from fancy to street food simple, go dancing, walking, swimming, rainy weather and sunshine, etc. etc. etc.

And what if you are a fashion forward fun and fancy outfit fan, who packs everything in blue, white and pink?

Part of all those nights we have before we take off will be spend sleepless, filled with thoughts of the shoe collection…..

A: exercise / walking / hiking / colder weather / rain / travel

B: shopping / dining / looking pretty / dancing

C: swimming / beach / hot weather

What do you think?????