catch-up and amsterdam!

another whirlwind of a week...

the few post-landmark days in cville were great; i had the chance to connect with dream, brian and cassandra, and flame and that felt really good, to see myself in a new way and continue re-creating myself. i'm getting ever more excited to plunge into this c'ville community with both feet!

then it was back to TO for one night of frantic packing and off on saturday morning with ezra, driving up to Philadelphia to play a sunday wedding. we were staying with some really awesome folk, (friends of the bride/groom). they are 2 families sharing a huge awesome house in west philly, part of a 7 property land-trust. they pool their mortgage payments, taxes, and maintenance expenses. our host is a midwife, and her husband teaches business (focusing on progressive small businesses) at temple university. i picked their respective brains about doulas and about starting a co-op.

saturday night we collected madog and then hit south street for some busking. we were camped out in front of a kitchy-skeleton store which was a totally awesome back-drop, right next to the all night philly cheese steak place with a line around the corner.

we rocked out for about 20 minutes, with people eating up, dancing the jig and generally gettin' happy when the inevitable cop came by to shut us down. we moved on to the UPenn area where there was a college-freshman party in the streets goin' on... the wedding on sunday was just beautiful. it was at a botanical garden, small and fairly DIY. it was nice to see the philly jews again, that scene is so sweet and comfy. i teared up throughout the ceremony. dinner was delicious--sweet potato lasagna, kale, and kambucha at the bar! and we played a ROCKIN' hora, with multiple people up in the chairs and lots of hijinks.

and now, i'm in amsterdam! yesterday sky and i walked across the city. its so pretty and nice with big bike lanes, tons of little shops and dark, cozy cafes. the absence of chain stores and ads is very noticeable and the whole city has a peaceful, relaxed feel to it. i'm still struggling with jet-lag and general disorientation but its getting better. more to come...