nakedjen

Beach. METREAT. Was there something else?

Months and months ago, we hatched a plan. I think it was actually all Michelle's idea, truthfully, but when you say the word BEACH to me, it's like a spell, utter and complete, and I don't really hear anything else that you say after that and just nod my head YES.  You could ask me to then wash all your dogs, paint your bathroom, perform a variety of sex acts and maybe even eat at McDonalds, and I'd just be sitting there nodding YES.

The word BEACH is that dramatically powerful when whispered in my ear.  Now you know.

The plan was to hit the beach in Florida, Destin to be specific, and celebrate the very things that make us friends, take a break together to just hang out and be, to spend as much time as we could laughing.  Laughter, as we know, is great medicine, and it comes in big, bold, tsunami waves when you get to share them with your very best friends.

So we picked a weekend that happened to actually be free (not an easy task when one of us is a kick-ass event planner by trade and another is a press secretary to a Congressman) and then threw open the doors to invite absolutely anyone else who might want to join us.  Seriously.  Doors wide open.  If you wanted to come, you were invited. Just had to let us know so we could make sure there was a beach towel for your ass and a pillow for your head.

I'm leaving on Thursday morning to go.  I can't believe that the METREAT is actually really and truly here.  That I get to go swim in the warm ocean, play in the sand. and laugh until my guts hurt.  It's that last part, the laughing until my guts hurt that I'm looking forward to the most.

Meanwhile, today, there was a flurry of email exchanges in preparation for Thursday.  Because, well, it's this Thursday.  Of course, if someone had not reminded me, I may have missed the entire thing because let's face it, I'm not so good with calendars and dates and knowing where I am supposed to be when.  Not good at that at all.  It's the reason I'm a terrible dance partner, as I mentioned.  I will RSVP yes and then show up three days after the cotillion (of course that might be on purpose because, let's face it, I'm not exactly cotillion material!).

Anyway, here's the email I sent in response to the flurry of emails about arrivals and departures and planes and trains and automobiles.  I'm just really grateful someone other than me is totally in charge.  Otherwise we'd be having this METREAT at a bar in Salt Lake.  With some strangers.  Where we'd have to buy them all free drinks just to get them to be our friends. 

Beautiful People,

 

If Hayden gets in at 5:30, then I can wait until 5:30!  Don't rush.  Do not forget the KOMBUCHA!  Because if you forget the KOMBUCHA, I will perish and die and you will have a dead fairy on your hands that you'll have to bury in a field and then have to create some very elaborate story about how I just never ever arrived in Tennessee and you have no idea where I might have gone and how did anyone even know that I was headed in your direction?  Or you could just tell them that the KOMBUCHA killed me.  The people who are against the modern health food movement would LOVE YOU for that. Forever and ever. 

 

Anyway...

 

Michelle, who wrangles my crazy better than even I am capable of doing, has sorted out that I do arrive at 5:00.  She also has sorted out that someone needs to print out the check-in business and arrival business and perhaps, oh, I don't know, where the fuck we might be going?!?  She's so good at that stuff.  Really top notch.  You want Michelle on your team, you really do, if you're ever cast in SURVIVOR.  Make your alliance with her pronto.  Stick with her to the very end.  In fact, do not stab her in the back.  Ever.  Just let her win the million dollars.  Because, honestly, she'll do amazing things with it.  She'll make the world a much more beautiful place.  And what were you going to do with it anyway?  Save a few homeless dudes with some peanut butter sandwiches?  Now really.   No, let her win it and do great things!!

 

Where was I?  Oh, yes.  About to board a plane.  To a vacation.  A METREAT.  With all of you.  When it does land safely (let's all hope that it doesn't get stuck in a tornado and I'm whisked away to OZ...although, well, there's glitter there and we all know I love glitter...do you think I can get the ruby slippers?!?) I'll go gather my bags and just wait.  For you.  Whenever you appear it will be like magic.  A beautiful thing. 

 

I can not wait.  Can you all tell that I am in desperate need of this vacation??  Only 3 more sleeps!!

 

xo

 

Jen

P.S.  For those of you who like to come to my house and steal stuff, the dogs want you to know that they're NOT GOING.  They'll be right here and Stella has her eye on you.  And her orange frisbee.  So just forget it.  Right now.

P.P.S.  Oh, for fucks sake.  Of course I'm not just leaving the dogs to their own devices.  What kind of dog mama do you think I am?  Buddha would totally burn the house down if he had to cook dinner for the two of them!  There will also be their fab dog sitter who has a black belt in some sort of martial arts staying here with them.  For the cooking.  And, you know, to make sure no one walks off with Stella's orange frisbee.

P.P.P.S.  You're welcome to join us.  For this METREAT.  Or the next one because we're totally doing this every.single.year.  It's a way to celebrate YOU, celebrate friendship, and laugh until there's no more laughs left. 

P.P.P.P.S.  Shout out, from the bottom of my heart, to SMILE BOOKS, for their sponsorship of this METREAT.  They make beautiful photo books that can capture every important event in your life.  Like this one.  This one that is celebrating the people that make me laugh the most.

Magic Time

The real magic lies in being able to be fully clothed and yet completely naked all at the same time.  I am always naked.  It is quite different and not quite the same as being nude.

This is an invitation.  Not to be nude.  To be naked.  And a fairy.  With me. 

As we know, the festival that I love, that I adore, that celebrates all that I believe, is upon us.  I’m going, as I always do. 

I’d like for you to join me.  Yes, you.  I have a camping site for four.  At present there’s just me.  That means there’s room for three more.  Of course, there’s room for even more than that, as the campground can accommodate far more than just you and me and all those others, too.

I’m leaving Salt Lake City in 28 days. I’d love to have you drive with me. Or meet me there. Or perhaps you’d like me to pick you up along the way.  There are a myriad of possibilities, just like the fair's myriad of bewitching paths. Which one will you choose?

Life is an adventure.  I feel like so very many of you have known me and loved me for so very long.  Sharing this most special joy with you, well, I can think of nothing better. 

There’s magic waiting for you in your yes.

40 Films. 10 Days. One Nakedjen.

I promised that I would come back and update my film schedule once it was at least a bit more finalized.  I just stopped by the Sundance Box Office (oh the joys of living in Utah!) and picked up my pass and some of my tickets.  I also asked about more tickets and sorted out that, well, I am hitting this festival like a programmer and may have forgotten all about the word SLEEP. 

Ah, well, I'll sleep when I'm dead.  This is MY BIRTHDAY FESTIVAL.  It is well worth celebrating it in the best way that I know how.

I'm going to be the first to admit that I'm a bit of a nerd about all of this and am now going to make sure all of you really understand that by sharing my calendar.  That I made.  To show me where to be when.  I also put all of this in my phone but since every single one of you who knows me better than I know myself also knows that the phone will be lost within seventeen minutes of the first moments of when I arrive in Park City on Friday morning, it is best to have a back-up.  And perhaps a back-up to the back-up which is why, dear sweet Internet, I am publishing the calendars right here.  Because I know, oh yes I do, exactly where to access the trust old Internet for free while I'm at the Festival and so, worst case, well, at least I will be able to pull up my own blog and remind myself that not only do I exist (yes, sometimes I need to remind myself) but also where and when I should show up next.

You all think I'm joking.  But I also know that at least Gail is nodding her head and thinking, "Good planning, Nakedjen!"  Gail is also thinking that I should perhaps email a copy of all of this to her.  The only problem with that is that if I've lost my phone, I've lost a way to text Gail and actually say, "HELP!"  I'm the first to admit that there's a special spidey sense where in Gail might actually know without my use of phone or Internet that I need to know, but I'm still not exactly certain how she'll work out getting me the information. 

Plus, Gail is attending to far more important matters these days in the form of a brand new beautiful human being.  So, I am truly thinking all contingencies need to be completely my own. Thus the calendars.  Posted here. 

 

My list with links to the actual films:

ATTENBERG

CONNECTED

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

The Future

We Were Here

The Music Never Stopped

HERE

My Idiot Brother

How to Die in Oregon

Happy, Happy

A Celebration of Music in Film

Terri

The Devil's Double

!Women Art Revolution

Troubadours

Margin Call

Little Birds

Homework

Bobby Fischer Against the World

Another Happy Day

In a Better World

Page One: A Year Inside the -i-New York Times-/i-

Shorts Program IV

Pariah

Power of Story: The Big Idea

KNUCKLE

The Lie

The Green Wave

TBA

Magic Trip

In a Better World

The Oregonian

Shorts Program III

I Melt with You

 

If you happen to have found your way here to Utah and you also happen to be coming to Sundance and you'd like to meet up with me for any of these films or just because or find yourself thinking it might be fun to FESTIVAL for the very first time, feel free to contact me either via Twitter @nakedjen or through this website. 

I will happily grab your hand in mine and be your personal fabulous festival fairy guide.  In fact, stay tuned because I have some more great ideas about exactly how to survive ten days and 40 films and truly embrace and experience and squeeze every last drop that Sundance has to offer.  I promise you don't need drugs.  Well, nothing terribly illegal.  If you get here, we'll make it happen. 

Roll The Dice

Nickel slots spinning endlessly in despair. Ancient waitresses teetering on stilettos in torn fishnets hawking watered down cocktails in hoarse whispers. Frat boys sucking on cheap cigars and yelling hit me, baby, with a high five. Elvis. Always Elvis.

And a naked lady. Appearing tonight.

Vegas, Baby.

Kaboom!

I dreamed last night that I was sorting out plane tickets using every available frequent flier mile available to me on all available airlines, switching them from this airline to that airline, cashing in that gift and this, to gather and compile enough miles to put all the men who have abandoned me on the very same plane.

A plane that I knew, with absolute uncertain certainty, was going to be blown to smithereens in the sky by a carefully planted IRA bomb.

It was all so carefully calculated. Gathering all of them in one place, cajoling them, getting them each to agree to take the flight.

I even, in this particular dream, welcomed each of those men on to the plane, buckled them into their seats with a kiss and a smile, and then leaned down and whispered gently in their ears, "I love you. Always."

It's October.

The month of my own personal kaboom and I'm as fragile as a leaf turned a firey golden red and touched at the edge with a silvery frost.  Ready to go crunch with the slightest touch of your foot.  

While many are donning demonic masks and asking for treats, my face is already a mask trying to hide my own internal pain that I'm truly afraid will crack into thousands of pieces if I allow my truths to surface.

So instead, I try to sleep and I have nightmares. Of planes going kaboom in the sky.  Except that I really do know that a plane going kaboom, the imaginary visceration of those men who abandoned my heart, is just that: imaginary. My own way crazy mind's path towards helping to put my heart back together again.

Kaboom.

Because we all must write. Celebrations at Blogher.

I'm on my way to NYC later today. For BLOGHER. You know, that conference full of women (and some men) who happen to blog in some fashion or another and who gather to squeal and compare their shoes and pedicures and their outfits from the Gap and to make sure that they look somewhat like their avatar on Twitter?  Yes, that conference.

I'm grateful that I get to go despite that bit of snark.  The chatter and anxiety and stress leading up to the actual conference are enough to make me complain loudly, many times, in the weeks leading up to my departure that I really would rather not go, but, oh yes, I will go, I have to go, I absolutely must go.

And it isn't just to get naked in the lobby even though I'm pretty sure that's what a whole bunch of folks want to believe.  I want to share right now, before I even leave Salt Lake City, that I do not go to Blogher just to get naked.  That actually is about the last reason I go to Blogher.  That's not to say I will not get naked, I'm just saying, it is NOT the reason I go.  I'm not there to shock and awe (or make you puke on your cute shoes).

I go because of you.

You inspire me.  You are special. You write words and share your stories and bravely bare your own souls.  You make me laugh.  You make me cry.  You find ways to write a sentence that make me sigh with gratitude.  You find the beauty in the smallest things.  You remind me to not take life so seriously.  You also shake me to my core and wake me up.

You feed me. You clothe me. You take me on journeys to the end of the earth and back.

I really go to meet the hearts and the souls behind those words on a screen and to thank you for sharing so very much of you with me. 

To thank you. For sharing. And to discover even more of you who I never before knew.

Because there are so many of you. So very many. It's a huge wide crazy wonderful web of loveliness out there.  You are weaving it. Every single day. 

I go to celebrate you. Each and every one. You are all, truly, a gift.

Let the celebration begin.

There's much to love in The Canyons, perhaps even you.

Remember how I went to the best conference ever and stayed at The Canyons and just could not say enough WOW words about the resort or the conference and, um, also happened to get married while I was there and confused everyone for a bit until I assured you that I just really like to collect husbands and that I won't be actually getting married to anyone REALLY until we all can get married to anyone we want?

Remember that?  I hope so because I've got more WOW words to share and it will help if you really do already know the back story.  So if you don't or you weren't here or you've just arrived to see the naked pictures and you're not going to read the words, I suggest you reconsider that part about not reading the words (really, it's all about the words for me!) and go read this first.

Now that your memory has been refreshed (or you're totally caught up) let me tell you about last night.

Jyl, the uber-talented superhero (no really, she's absolutely a superhero and this naked girl wants one of her capes!) behind Mom It Forward and the very popular Girls Night Out (#gno) twitter parties sent me an email late last week asking if I wanted to participate as a panelist for a Girls Night Out for The Canyons.  I think before the email even had a chance to truly land in my inbox I had already shouted OH GODDESS YES! I absolutely loved my short little stay there for the conference and as I'm a girl who always really does like to give back, it felt good to be able to share my love of The Canyons with her larger audience.  I was really touched that she even asked me!

Jyl then told me that some of the women would be convening at The Canyons and invited me to join them there to join the twitter party live.  Now how fun would that be?  Of course I said yes.

This is where we give mad props and a huge shout out to Libby Dowd, the Director of Public Relations, at The Canyons.  HUGE MAD PROPS.  The next email I received was from Jyl who said that Libby had contacted her saying she believed I was a vegan and wanted to be sure about my dietary requirements so there would be food for me to eat during our gathering.

People, I want you to know something.  We all know I'm a girl that travels a lot.  I stay in really special resorts and hotels in amazing spots all over the world.  That kind of attention?  Just doesn't happen.  Ever.  Not only that, but Libby actually went in search of a vegan dessert before I actually arrived at the resort last night.  Her kitchen at the Canyons didn't have one, but since Whole Foods is actually in Park City, she went there to find one just so there would be an option for me.**

**(After I hit publish, I realized that this kind of attention has happened in my life before in OTHER ways, of course! And actually, it has happened in terms of my penchant for the food that I eat at Soneva Fushi in the Maldives (where I had my own chef who I even shopped with and where I also managed to use ALL THE AVAILABLE LEMONS on the atoll) and at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong where the oh so handsome concierge, upon learning of my very particular dietary needs, made it his mission to find all the very best organic vegan spots for me to eat in Hong Kong...and not only that...he would have some of those special things delivered to my room.  That man, I should have married him, too!). 

Let me say this again.  This just does not happen.  But it did.  I felt so absolutely loved and I wasn't even a guest at the resort!  I was just coming to participate in PR event with her team.  But I'm telling you that that attention to detail extends throughout the entire organization and every single member of the resort team.

I know this because when I arrived at the Canyons resort?  When I walked up to the concierge desk.  The very concierge desk where I had my impromptu wedding a few weeks ago?  My husband was not there. But the concierge who was there?  She said, "Oh, I hope Juan has not left yet.  He got off at 5:00 p.m. today and I know he's going to be disappointed to have missed you!" 

I have stayed there exactly once.  I haven't been back since that cupcake induced madness.  Yet those were her exact words when I walked in last night and asked where to go for the Girls Night Out gathering.  I'm thinking I need to be spending a lot more time there because, people, the Canyons is a wonderful extraordinary place where everything just sparkles and your life truly is just magically better!

And guess what?  You, yes you, can go experience all this magical special attention yourself.  You may not need an extra husband, but perhaps you'd like to enjoy some amazing food, ride a gondola, ski some of the best snow on earth, drive a snow cat, or indulge in spa services at the Golden Door?  It's all possible and you just have to enter the give-away, click your heels three times, wish upon whatever stars you see and hope. 

The details of the give-away are right here.  I suggest you go enter.  Now. 

There's lots of reasons why Utah is not so bad, why I keep signing up to live here.  The Canyons resort is most definitely one of the best of them.  I hope you win!  If you do, I promise to come and visit you while you're there.  Good luck!

The love is in the giving and I've always got so much more to give

I mentioned that I am a very blessed and lucky and well-loved woman.  I also will share that I love fiercely, as well. Without any real rhyme or reason or in any true particular important order, a few of the magical heart awakenings that occurred during my little trip to the fair.

* There are many angels among us. You may bump into one or two or even seven of them while wandering the myriad of paths. Keep your head up.  You don't want to miss them.

* One of those angels is most certainly named Ichabod.

* It's okay to blush when security calls you Tinkerbell.

* Medicine comes best when it's wrapped in a hug served by a friend along with some really good food. 

* Boys like breasts. It's just how it goes.

* There is no way on this Earth to ever have too much glitter.  Ever.

* False eyelashes actually do melt if it is hot enough.  Eyelash glue is an allergen. Remember this.

* After twenty-four years it is still possible, oh yes it is, to have your mind completely blown at the fair.

* Even when you're absolutely sober.

* You really do like Pink Floyd. You just forgot that you really do like Pink Floyd.

* You've gotten really good at saying YES.

* Saying YES has, in turn, gotten very good at providing you with some beautiful opportunities.

* Gratitude is good.  So are hugs.  Long meaningful hugs filled with gratitude and love? The very best.

* Religious experiences can occur while you're naked and singing songs around a fire pit.

* There are magical messages to be gleaned in the glint of a child's wide-eyed wonder. Don't miss it.

* Your own palm tells quite an interesting story.

* Singing Shakedown Street with Bob Weir can, well, I'm a Deadhead people, let's just say there really are no words to truly describe what happened.

* Twenty-six hours together in one car can give you a myriad of reasons why you should never get married.

* To each other, that is.

* The more things change, the more that they absolutely stay just the same.

* A Tofu Tia is still one of the most satisfying meals on the entire planet.

* Your best friends will always continually surprise and delight you.  Don't forget to tell them you love them.  A lot. A whole lot.  Yes, even more than that.

* Sometimes the very best kombucha is wearing a beet.

* Bliss is wrapped in all kinds of packages.

* You might just be best suited to be a love slave to a clown.

* Don't forget to hug the trees.

* Your heart chakra radiates at 10000 volts.

* Love really does look fantastic on you.  

Now to go out, spread the joy and the love and give it all away.  It's all in the giving.  Dare to give freely and you'll be amazed at what beautiful and magical and special things can happen. 

The ABC's of EVO '10 (or The Best Tech Conference I've Ever Attended!)

I got really lucky last weekend. No, seriously. I'm not sure which magical fairy I made happy in the recent past, but someone up there likes me and made it possible for me to attend the EVO '10 conference at The Canyons Resort in Park City.  (The magical wings were worn by the conference founders, the incredibly beautiful Jyl of Mom It Forward and the oh so sassy Rachael of Today's Mama, but as neither one of them really KNEW me before last weekend, I just have to kind of believe that some of my other magical fairies must have been sprinkling that famous naked glitter around somewhere to make it all happen!).

I have gone to a lot of tech conferences, as we all know.  I've hosted them, I've been the booth babe, I've stood in hotel ballrooms in foreign cities and blah, blah, blah, Mr. CEO of course you want this fabulous new software product that will give you a ROI you just can not possibly believe.  I'm also the girl who burned out in the BOOM that was Silicon Valley in the late 90's and early 00's and said enough is enough.  It takes a lot these days to even get me to a conference much less make me happy about it.  

EVO '10 blissed me out! Because I'm a natural born blogger and can't seem to shut up and because I use a lot of words and I seem to always find that I have a lot to say, I'm going to give you some of the kernels I gleaned that led me down that blissful path.  Perhaps they'll make you want to join us on the mountain top next year.

a. I am living the first draft of my authentic life. There is no second draft. This is it. And I will make no apologies for it or for the muddy paw prints that sometimes make it a bit messy.  Life is messy.  Especially when it is yours and when it is truly authentic. 

b. It is especially lovely to be ordinary.  I'm beautiful when I'm ordinary. Ordinary is absolutely okay.

c. No slagging. Remember that you are always just one Google click away from the last words you published on the Internet. Everything is archived.  Just be nice. It's not that difficult.

d.  If you don't ask, you will not get. I've been saying this for years, but it is still true. You need to truly ask for what you want. Be clear and be direct and ask nicely.

e.  You know how to be gracious. As Emily Gilmore has said since your monogrammed birth on this planet, REMEMBER YOUR MANNERS.

f. Sweet Tooth Fairy cupcakes will make you very high.  Like crazy high. It's best not to eat them if you're sensitive to sugar. Also, they're not vegan. Why are you eating the non-vegan cupcake ANYWAY?!

g. If you do eat the cupcake, it might be best to refrain from calling the concierge at the very lovely resort "DUDE".  Not everyone is from California.  Especially in Utah. 

h.  However, you may also end up the evening MARRIED to the concierge.  Collecting husbands can be quite confusing to those who really love you.  Make certain that everyone understands this is NOT A REAL MARRIAGE.

i.  When in doubt about the location of the SEX TOYS, it is best to just trust your spidey sense.  It has never let you down, it is never going to let you down. Especially when it comes to free stuff.

j.  Life is too short not to be beautiful. Take the time and the effort to make it beautiful for others, too. The joy and the smiles are worth it.

k. Write thank you notes. Always.

l. Ziplines down the sides of mountains in Utah are excellent for teaching you that you really are fearless. Seizures?  What seizures??

m.  Not everyone understands "naked".  That's totally okay. 

n. Share your passion generously.

o. Your laugh is really loud. It sometimes wakes up half-naked men half way down the hall wearing towels.

p. Never apologize for being blissful.

q. Stop, shut up and really listen.

r. Your numbers are never a measure of your value or your impact.

s. Bacon, muffintops and farts.

t. It's just a house and it doesn't matter. LIFE MATTERS.

u. Storytelling is a political act. 

v. Odd Molly really is your best designer girlfriend.

w. There is always a kindness to be celebrated every day.

x. Sharing a suite with seven strangers can sometimes result in more blessings of kindness, love and friendship than you could have possibly ever imagined. You are one very lucky naked girl.

y. Joy, grace and gratitude.

z. Lead with your heart. Your mind can always follow.

A bit of grin and bear it, a bit of come and share it. You're welcome, we can spare it!

New York City.  I often write about how London beats my heart, how every molecule in my body just vibrates on a whole new frequency whenever I am lucky enough to find myself dodging umbrellas and inhaling the aroma that only the London Underground can possibly belch (those of you who have experienced it know!) and dropping my spare pence into the hats of waiting buskers as I practically skip down the sidewalks of SoHo and Covent Garden and Neal’s Yard.  Oh yes, Neal’s Yard.  Is it any wonder I adore that city so very, very much?

I lived in New York City a long, long, long time ago.  For a very short period of time.  A blip in the life and times of Nakedjen, all things considered.  Seriously.  A blip on the screen.  If you blinked, you would have certainly missed it. 

It won’t surprise any of you to know that the reason for my short stay, for the blip of my existence in that city, for my rather quick and awkward departure was that, no, I was not exactly booted from the city environs as I found myself sinking into a puddle of despair and chose to leave. 

No one would smile at me.  Or make eye contact.  And it made me even more bat shit crazy than I already am.

Now, that said, I still adore New York.  ADORE IT.  That same vibration that I find when I am lucky enough to be sharing all things London in London, I also find myself enjoying when I’m in New York.  Let’s face it; I’m a girl that just thrives on the collective beating heart of a city.  New York’s heart beats loud and proud and oh so strong that you can hear it even when you’ve hit every mute button at your disposal.

I arrived last Thursday, thanks to those kind folks at Southwest Airlines.  My visit was far too short and I realized that about seven seconds after I landed and found my way to a waiting taxi.  I was already counting the seconds I had before my departure on Monday and pondering how I was possibly going to do all that I wanted to do.  

I talk a lot about how I am a girl who loves madly and who is very well loved.  What surprised me, though, really and truly, are just how many beautiful people I know and love truly madly and deeply in New York.  I also may or may not have collected one or seven more along the way during this trip.  But we’ll get to that later.

It’s no secret that as much as New York is a cacophony of sounds it is also a cornucopia of amazing food choices.  There’s nothing you can not find to eat in New York if you know where to look.   Including my beloved Kombucha. 

Shout out to every small grocer in the East Village who stocks their shelves with my very favorite flavor.  I’ll say this with the utmost love and gratitude, because Whole Foods didn’t have my favorite flavor when I decided they would be my Kombucha provider of the day and I nearly had a meltdown of glacier proportions at the thought of having to drink something OTHER than Trilogy.  What was most amusing for my friend, Kim, who was with me at that very moment was that Whole Foods in New York has an ENTIRE WALL devoted to Kombucha.  All kinds and varieties.  But on that particular day, at that particular moment, they were out of Trilogy (I had them check in the back!) and it amused her that with 100 different choices, I was being so petulant about not having the ONE that I wanted.  Some naked people are kind of particular about their Kombucha. That particular Whole Foods does get high praise from me, though, for their very, very vast and spectacular hot food bar.  The vast array of choices!  Tasty! Delicious! I got to have Indian, Thai and a raw beet salad all in one go!

Many thanks, also, to all the independent coffee purveyors who were happy to give me shots of organic espresso in my 20 ounces of coffee each day to keep me bright-eyed for screenings of all those films. 

I have to give a specific and very special thank you to the folks at Lucky’s Famous Burgers.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Kim and I were at the point where we were ready to gnaw off our OWN ARMS (perhaps sharing with each other?) when I (yes me!) pointed to Lucky’s and said, “Let’s just eat there!”  She burst out laughing and said, “Really, we’re going to eat a burger joint?” But low and behold the heavens opened, the angels sang, a woman named Jen was ready to take our very specific order (because it is a Jen Universe, you know?) and there were 100% vegan burgers on the menu! 

I need to tell you that burger?  DAMN DELICIOUS.  I also may have found myself a very loving and adoring husband in that burger joint, but we’ll save that story for later.

I need to also profusely thank the folks at Atlas Café who handled me and everyone who knows me with aplomb and kindness and true generosity on that Saturday morning when we all descended and took over their tiny restaurant.  Even their other customers were lovely and accommodating to the maddening crowd.  Not that we’re mad, just a bit zany, really.  There were just a lot of us in a very small space.  And we all know I’m noisy!

Their menu is chock full of vegan options and the folks who work there are quite nice about even making the non-vegan menu options vegan, if you just ask.  Seriously, they’re just lovely people and I would gladly go back there.

Of course I’m saving my most favorite and best find of my visit for last.  The best for last, isn’t that how it always goes? There are magical elves who have abandoned their shoe-making responsibilities and are now using all their sorcery to create gourmet organic vegan ice-cream in flavours that will positively blow your mind.

The folks at STOGO use the best of the best ingredients in their ice cream and it was love at first bite for me.  I may have asked my ice-cream purveyor if he would please marry me.  He’s now one of my many husbands and that story will come later, as well. The ice-cream, though, is worth a trip or two or three.  I ate three flavors in my short visit there this time.  The Hemp Chocolate, the Peanut Butter Fudge and the Salted Caramel (which is truly like crack ice-cream!).  Trust me, people.  I’m uncertain they make a flavour not worth eating.

I can’t wait to go back and get more in August.  I also wish someone in Salt Lake City would open a place just like that one.  We consume MORE ICE CREAM per capita here in Utah than any other state in America.  A STOGO outpost would do just fine here.  I will house the magical vegan ice cream elves.   Let’s do it, STOGO.  Pretty, pretty please?

Oh, but one final shout out. 

To my good friends at Brita Filter For Good.  They were not part of TriBeCa, but that bottle of theirs, the one I have from Sundance, the one I take everywhere and am especially fond of for travel on airplanes, was the object of abject jealousy from many of my festival counterparts.  I know I'm like a one woman self-appointed Filter For Good ambassador, but you know what?  I'm so happy to do it.  That bottle starts conversations!  I get to talk about clean water, the importance of having a BPA free water bottle, Nalgene products, Brita Filters and how we can all save the planet by just saying no to bottled water!  So, thank you, Brita.  Again.  I love my little green bottle and a whole lot of other people are wishing they had one, too!

Ahh…reasons to be cheerful.  Films, excellent, harrowing and thoughtful and their reviews are next.  Coming soon to a blog post near you.  Please stay tuned.