Happy Birthday Mom!

Today my mom would be turning 57, in two days its the 4 year mark since she lost her battle with cancer. I really can't believe its been that long, that so much has happened without her. I am so sad that Sienna won't have her as a grandma, that she isn't here to see me as a mom. But Sienna will definitely know about her Grandma Vivi and hear stories and memories of what made my mom such an incredible person.

My mom was so very talented in the arts. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in Dramatic Arts. Acting was her biggest passion, and she also studied set design and costume design. She was part of many community theater plays and it was so fun as a kid to sit in the audience and watch her on stage. She was great with many accents and would talk in the appropriate dialect for weeks around her shows. We had fun helping her with her lines, and hanging out back stage with her. She was a very proud member of the Screen Actors Guild, and loved everything about Cinema. Every year for the Academy Awards, we would make ice cream sundaes and root for our favorite films.

Drama wasn't her only passion and talent in the arts. She loved to sew, and claimed to have sewn her first shirt for herself at like 4 years old. She would sew us Halloween costumes and doll clothes. She also was fabulous at knitting, crocheting and quilting. Her next biggest passion was photography, and she converted our laundry room into a dark room. This was one art I actually was decent at. We would take day trips to take pictures, then develop them at home, it was so much fun. And she loved to dance, even in her 40's, she took tap dance for fun and would practice on our wood floor in the kitchen. The list doesn't end there, she was also great at painting, drawing, and for many years had a job framing pictures which she was amazing at. I just wish I had even a little bit of her artistic abilities!!

Her last job was working for the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in LA (FIDM) as an international student advisor. She LOVED this job, as she loved fashion. Each year, the faculty would take a trip to a city known for fashion. My mom was so interested in different cultures and languages, loved to travel, take photos, and go to museums. In 2003 when I graduated from college, my mom's gift to me was for me to go with her on the trip, to take her husband's place. I am so grateful to have had this experience with her! Being a twin, I really hadn't had much individual time with my mom, so this was so special to me.

We decided to travel for a week before the work trip started, so we started in Paris, her favorite city. I hadn't been there yet, so it was perfect for her to show me around. We stayed in a hotel room the size of a walk-in closet right in the city. We saw all the sites, walked a ton, took photos, ate and drank cafe ole at little cafes, drank wine, she tried hard to speak french, and we had a day full of museums (Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Picasso Musuem and the Pompidou). The next stop was London, my favorite city, where she had never been. I studied a semester abroad in London 2 years prior, and was dying to go back and so proud to show my mom around. We stayed in a hotel right at Picadilly Circus, walked even more, took many more photos, saw the main sites, visited my school's campus, drank beers in pubs, and went to the Original Hard Rock Cafe (she loved going to Hard Rocks, and collected glasses). We also saw Richard III at the Globe Theatre (recreated as it was back in Shakespeare's Day) and Noises Off (a play that she had been in years prior).

The work trip was a week in Barcelona, somewhere neither of us had been. It was so amazing, I want to go back like now! There was a good size group of people, a fun young group that my mom joined. We were out late, drinking sangria and eating tapas each night. There was a big holiday, in which they had massive celebrations in the city center with free live concerts and dancing into the wee hours (dinner was around 10 pm and "discos" had no cover if you came in before 2 am). We took some more amazing pictures, both loved the Gaudi architecture, rode bikes along the beach, and soaked up the culture. Did I mention I want to retire there?

Today has been emotional thinking of my mom, especially now that I am a mom. I am remembering her my watching her favorite show, Fawlty Towers and drinking chardonnay. Happy Birthday Mom! I miss you so much.