Dear (Your Name Here),
The photos above (and on the card you received from me) were all taken by me during my travels this year. Looking back, I saw a lot of beauty and had a lot of fun with great people in 2013.
I am still working in DC as a writer-editor at the Inter-American Development Bank's Multilateral Investment Fund, which continues to be a rewarding and interesting place to work. I love having colleagues from so many different countries and I love knowing our work has an impact on so many lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. I have had the opportunity over the last few months to take language lessons through work and my Spanish is slowly improving, though it really is true that learning a new language is not quite as easy at 40+ as it is at 14...
So - Top row, left to right. First photo is from Sanibel, a lovely island off Florida's Gulf Coast that is a great destination for shell collectors. I have visited several times with my parents, sisters and their families. The top middle photo is from Ojai, California, a sort of mystical hippie spa town north of Los Angeles, where I participated in a weekend yoga workshop/retreat organized by Laughing Lotus, an NYC-based yoga studio I endorse heartily! I also endorse visiting Ojai in the spring, when the orange trees are blooming. Amazing!
The next four photos were taken during my August vacation, during which I spent two weeks driving up and down the East Coast visiting friends and family. It was by far the most ambitious road trip I have ever undertaken, and my aging red Ford Focus, "Ruby," met the challenge, especially once her battery was replaced by a AAA guy in my college roommate's driveway. Thanks to #ETUpNorth hosts Lizzie Skurnick in Jersey City, Esther Choo and Rob DeMayo in Providence, Don and Denise Terry in Falmouth, Kathleen Stanley in Wellfleet, Kristin Leary in Wolfeboro, Amy and Colin Sheehan in New Haven, and Ellie Terry and Tim Vierling in Brooklyn. The photos representing the trip were taken on Skaket Beach in Orleans, Cape Cod while catching up with Margie Nilson (upper right), on Lake Wentworth in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire while staying at the Leary family "cottage" (middle left), at Laughing Lotus Yoga Studio in NYC (center photo - really, check it out if you get a chance), and at Yale University in dear old New Haven, Connecticut (middle right).
The bottom left corner photo is of the cathedral in Guadalajara, Mexico, where I spent a week in the fall for a work conference, writing speeches, editing press releases, and learning about the production and consumption of tequila. Bottom middle photo is of the barn on the property of dear friends DeeDee Slewka and Horton Beebe-Center, who moved to Rappahannock County, Virginia over the summer and were kind enough to host me for my birthday weekend. And the bottom right photo was taken over Thanksgiving weekend in Falmouth, Massachusetts, the delightful Cape Cod town where my parents now live.
I am already looking forward to 2014, which will bring many new adventures, including my 20th college reunion (of which I am a co-chair) in May, and my youngest sister Ellie's wedding in September!
Wishing you a joyful, peaceful, and awesome holiday season.
Love, Elizabeth
