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Shimmy on the High Seas

Shimmy on the High Seas – A Cozy Murder Mystery After languishing on a shelf for the past three years, I’ve dusted off the unfinished manuscript for my first novel, “Shimmy on the High Seas.” Originally, I wrote the bulk of the 30k-word text during NaNoWriMo in November 2018. I then worked on it here and there through 2019. However, I realized I really needed to take a cruise for research…

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Lets Try This Again... Vegas 2020

Lets Try This Again… Vegas 2020

Paris Hotel, Las Vegas

2020 has been a heavy year. I’ve cancelled a pile of travel for business and fun. I took a moment to flip through my calendar for the rest of the year and realized that I had set aside time to take a vacation with my mum to celebrate our birthdays. Originally, we booked a cruise to Mexico during October, but that is, sadly, not happening.

Grand Canal Shops at the…

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53 Days - aka - Travel Budgeting

53 Days – aka – Travel Budgeting

Courtyard of Casa Etnika, Mazatlan Mexico – Fantastic Spot for Coffee

My mum and I like to take a cruise together every year. She is located in San Diego, so when we can’t decide where to go, we take our “default” trip from San Diego to Mexico. She lived in Mexico for many years, and enjoys every opportunity to get back! I especially enjoy Mazatlan and we always stop at Casa Etnika to enjoy a…

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Goodbye 2019 - Hello 2020!

Goodbye 2019 – Hello 2020!

This year was pretty difficult here at Studio Davina. If you have been following me for a while, you may have noticed that I seemed to fall off the radar a bit. In June, I lost one of my closest friends, and my housemate to a heart attack. After 12 years of sharing a roof, we had become a family of three, and over the past six months, I’ve been working on cleaning, healing, and getting used to…

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Big Trip? Make a Calendar!

Big Trip? Make a Calendar!

One of my favorite things to do after a big trip is make a calendar for my family and friends. This is a great idea for gift giving, or just to hang in your office to remind you of the beautiful places you’ve visited. In this post, I’d like to share with you the process of making my 2017 photo calendar.

In the winter of 2016, I traveled through the UK on 14 day business trip. I was out on a…

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A scene from the Algerian Theater - Columbian Exhibition 1893

The Chicago World's Faire in 1893 is often used as the starting point for tracing the history of belly dance in the United States.

The truth is, there were middle eastern dancers spotted at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876 as well as individual dancers performing in major cities like New York.

And while Sol Bloom made a big deal about "Little Egypt" doing the "Belly Dance" in the Streets of Cairo Exhibit at the Columbian Exhibition of 1893, there were middle eastern dancers performing in various exhibits along the Midway Plaisance.

In this illustration, you can see a dancer performing an Algerian Scarf dance. If you look close, you can see that she is holding a small scarf in each of her hands. Her costume is very Turkish in cut and style, which is to be expected as Algeria was part of the Ottoman empire at this time and urban clothing was influenced by the Turkish style.

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“Beauty from the Trees”  1920′s era Palmolive advertisement.  What do I have in common with Palmolive?  We both are from Milwaukee, Wisconsin!  This company went on to be best known for laundry soap, but in the early part of the 20th century, it was a beauty soap known for the skin-softening ingredients Palm oil and Olive oil - the genesis of the company name. 

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Panama Canal Passage 2018

Panama Canal Passage 2018

During my cruise through the Panama Canal, I tried getting some cool time-lapse videos. Sadly, I had people step in front of me, bump me, and once my tripod fell over! Needless to say, it was a complete and utter fail. However, towards the end of the trip, we realized that we could buy a professionally made time-lapse from the photo area.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5yFJqLY59U&w…

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San Diego - Dec. 2018

San Diego – Dec. 2018

After two years of saving and planning, I finally went on the most amazing 15-day Panama Canal cruise in Dec. 2018! I’m home and still processing the more than 10,000 photos and video clips that I accumulated along the way. It’s going to take some time to sift through these images and videos, choose my favorite images and delete the rest.

Holland America Volendam,2018 – Photo taken in Key…

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Peperonata

When I get home after a long trip, I almost always settle in for a big round of home cooking. One of my favorite comfort foods is a big batch of Peperonata.

I learned how to make this dish in Italy way back in 2005. I spent a few months in Florence and took a series of cooking classes. This dish was an amazing discovery, a revelation in simple Italian food. Every single “Italian Mama” has a…

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The Bucket List

Do you have a travel wish list?  When I was younger, I kept a bucket list of places I wanted to go and travel experiences I wanted to have. These days, I don’t really keep a classic “Bucket List” of places I want to visit before I die.  Instead, I keep a “Travel Wish List” that is more expansive, detailed and useful when travel planning. It includes new places but also places I’ve visited before…

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Cruise Cabin Essentials

In less than two weeks I’m off to a “Bucket List” trip on a 15-day cruise through the Panama Canal. Two weeks before every cruise vacation, I start packing the items that I consider essential for comfort in a tiny cabin for a lengthy voyage. Ordinarily, I’m a big fan of building “kits” that each has their own bag or pouch and keep like items contained.  However, the items in my “Cabin Kit” are…

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Fisherman's Warf, San Francisco

Fisherman’s Warf, San Francisco

One afternoon I took a day trip via train to San Francisco.  When I have friends visiting from out of town, they often love to visit “The City.”  From my home, you can hop on public transportation and get up there in about an hour via Caltrain.  

Fisherman’s Wharf is a tourist mecca.  There are always loads of people in this part of town. On this day, with the sky a brilliant blue, it was…

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Castello di Amorosa

Castello di Amorosa, Calistoga California

California’s famed wine country is one of my favorite day trip destinations.  Just three hours north (or five if traffic is problematic,) the drive through Napa Valley from Napa to Calistoga is full of beautiful landscape, stunning buildings, and of course, the wine. However, I often choose to “do” wine country during the winter.  The crowds are thinner,…

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5 "Body" Essentials I Pack for Cruise Vacations

5 “Body” Essentials I Pack for Cruise Vacations

For me, the goal of a cruise vacation is to relax. The movement of the ship, the sound of the water, the smell of the sea, and the ability to completely disconnect from the internet all lead me to a state of tranquility that no other style of vacation provides.  One of the ways I can clear my mind before this trip is to make sure that I’ve packed everything I need for a comfortable cruise.

Pack…

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Design is a Process - During the month of November 2018, I’ll be taking readers on a journey of design from concept to completion as I work on a #Bellydance #Costume I’m calling “Golden Goddess.”  

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Looking Up in NYC, Oct. 2018

Looking Up in NYC, Oct. 2018

Last week I had the opportunity to visit friends in NYC, hang out, see some sights, and get some research done.  Over the course of six days, I was able to hit the New York Public Library Main Branch as well as the Jerome Robbins Dance Collection at Lincoln Center. Because I spent most of my time with my head down, combing the archive for information about my current research subject, Salome c.…