Spring Is In The Air

Sunshine and blooming flowers what's not to smile about?

Well last night was officially "Spring Forward" which I for one couldn't be happier about. Why? Because this Greek Girl is sick and tired of snow. In fact if I never see another snowflake so long as I live it would not be soon enough. Now many people don't like "Spring Forward" simply because it means losing an hour of sleep. Personally I don't mind giving up an hour of sleep if it means that spring is one step closer. So close in fact the first official day of "Spring" is only ten days away.   

Now apparently the Debbie Downers over at the Weather Channel did not notice that we just had "Spring Forward" or they forgot because they are already predicting a snowstorm for the middle of the week to hit the Northeast. So I am going to do just like I did last time they predicted a snow event for us and pray like the dickens that they are wrong, it misses us, or it just floats out to sea. I don't care what happens to it so long as it misses my humble abode. In the meantime, I am going to think about why missing an hour of sleep is OK in my book for "Spring Forward"... Here are the Top Ten things that came into my noggin.

1. No more snow.

2. Spring Air, I love the smell of spring in the air... don't you?

3. Cadbury Mini Eggs... Hello Yummo!

4. More daylight hours which means more time to be Outside.

5. Spring Break which usually means (for myself & Mr. Aston) a road trip to FL to see family.

6. More reason to drink Iced Cups of Happiness a la Dunkins on a regular basis.  

7. Almost time to fold up the sweaters and put away the cold weather gear and dust off the flip flops.

8. Blooming flowers, I love the see Tulips, Lilies, and Crocus's.

9. Ice Cream.

10. One of my very favorite things about this time of year.... the sunshine, just being able to soak up some sun whether it be a park, a beach, or the backyard.... just relaxing during downtime enjoying the rays.  

So here's to Spring finally getting it's butt in gear and finally saving us from Old Man Winter and his long winter wrath.

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava :D xo
www.avaaston.com

Vacation

On my way to Iced Happiness in the sand...

Many of you know the Greek Girl likes her flip-flops accompanied by a large iced-coffee in my clutches.  What makes it better is when it is in conjunction with a trip somewhere that involves sand between my toes.  Yes, I know what you're thinking, "didn't you just get back from Florida like 2 months ago?" The answer is: Yes.  Yes I did.

What you don't know is that because I was there for business reasons, and ended up rescuing a dog while I was there, then I had to leave a day early to get home in time for an audition...  Unfortunately I did not get enough vitamin D therapy.  So since the 4th of July is right around the corner, what better time to head on back down to Florida, see some family & make up for lost relaxing, right?

Well you may be wondering, what equates to fun in the sun for me? I am going to keep it simple.  By simple I mean: flip flops + bathing suit + iced coffee + sandy beach = Happy Greek Girl!  I am going on vacation, and I don't want to work any harder than I should.  So if you need to find me for the next ten days or so, I will be either in the ocean or lying in the sand, and most likely holding one of my favorite beverages in my little Greek Hands.

Hope you have a fabulous 4th of July, get to spend some quality time with friends & family, see some gorgeous fireworks, and do whatever makes your heart happy!

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava  :)
www.avaaston.com

Pizza By The Slice

Picture this, last year during Easter week I'm sitting there drinking a hot cup of happiness brewed fresh from my new Keurig machine as I was getting my day going.  The checkbook was balanced, workout was done and I was all ready to start the day. So I'm just sitting there updating my Facebook, googling this and stumbling upon that when all of a sudden Yahoo tells me where to find the country’s best pizza.  All I could think was, “Is it true?  Can the country's best pizza be right here in my own backyard?... 

Just then my iPhone rang snapping me out of my pizza daze and it’s my manager Mr. Bricks.  But this time he’s not calling to ramble on about McRib's being back again.  To my surprise he is actually calling to tell me I need to get my Greek butt in gear because I have an audition in an hour.

Perfect I’m thinking, I’ll slide on by and grab a slice of the country's "best pizza" right after my audition.  So I grabbed my sweetie, laced up my sneakers and together we set out on a mission.  We were super excited.  See when it comes to pizza by the slice it’s something of a tradition or almost a religious experience for us.  In a way it’s like a perpetual Easter Egg hunt.  We go around all over the place searching high and low in every town we travel to, in order to find the best slice.

In my noggin nothing quite compares to a fresh hot slice washed down by an iced cup of happiness followed by a little chocolate treat.  Being that it was right around Easter we were already in the egg-hunt mode and we were off.

So we hurried off to my audition as fast as we could because we were both about to digest our spleens.  I race inside and flash my Greek baby-blues and flip my golden locks.  (Yes I booked it – hello people… Cystex Cranberry).  Then as fast as could be I was back in the car on 21^st and 5^th ave in NYC.  My sweetie had already entered the location of the Pizza-Joint that was proclaimed to be the “best slice in NY” into his iPhone GPS.  We drove right past what up until then we had considered the best pizza in the city, the one we had always gone to.  We felt a little kick in the heart as though we were about to cheat on them.

We raced uptown on 8^th ave, then right on 57^th and a quick left into Central Park to cut down on time.  Dodging people on bikes and skates buggies and pigeons we came to 110^th street just before stopping outside “Presidential Pizza before making a halting stop and almost ran down a meter maid while doing so.  “What are we getting?” I asked.  Without blinking he said, “The usual.  The only way to truly know if the pizza is as good is to go with a good old fashioned slice of plain.”

I stroll up to the counter, “Give me two slices of plain,” I say.  I was probably bouncing like a little kid in a candy store with a grin from ear to ear as I said it I was so hungry.  Then the man slides me two pieces on some paper plates.  I dab off some of the grease with a napkin so I won’t drip on my outfit or my sneakers.  Then I sprinkle them with oregano just before leaving to join my sweetie waiting in the car.  I hand a slice to him and we both revel for a few seconds in the joy of knowing we are about to eat the holy grail of all pizza.  We both simultaneously chomp down and I'm thinking  “Good Grief - I want to die"… not because it was good but because it was the worst piece of pizza pie I had ever had.  Then about the same time we both say "this pizza is Gross!" It was like chewing on a piece of cardboard.  There wasn't enough sauce, and the cheese was like rubber.  The iced coffee and Cadbury eggs were going to have to save the day, and save the day they did.

The moral of the story... you can't always believe everything you read on the internet.  Sure it was muckery to go on a wild goose chase to eat what in my humble opinion was the worst slice of pizza I have ever had, but at the end of the day if that's the worst thing that happened, I'm doing pretty good.  I'm happy, healthy, I have a sweetie, four fur~babies, and a heavenly father who loves me so much that he sent his only son to die for me.  Yeah, it's Easter Sunday, he is Risen and that means for me - life is pretty darn good.

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com

Why Old People Go To Florida

As I was growing up I always heard stories of cantankerous New Yorkers who would go to Florida for the winter.  I thought that was silly, who doesn't like a good snow storm now and then? My sisters and I secretly thought it was the hot Florida sunshine that turned the older ladies hair blue.

Well, I was such a naive little Greek girl.

After experiencing the winter that we did in New York this year, I hope I never have to go through something like that again. Buuuurrrrr, I get cold just thinking about it. So to treat myself, I decided to spend my Easter vacation in Florida this year. Maybe just to try to see if I can get that punk look with some blue hair action happening on top of my Blonde coconut.

It didn't take long to convert me. After one week, I decided that when I get old (about Mr. Brick's age) and when I am no longer on tour with my music, I'm going to be a snow bird, and fly south for the winter. 

Like in the video, this has been my social agenda for the entire week:

1. Lace on sneakers - go for run on beach.

2. Swing by Dunkin Donuts for iced coffee (yummo)

3. Chill on beach

4. Send Mr. Bricks a postcard saying, "I bet you wished you were here"  (The thought of Mr. Bricks in a speedo...ok, I just threw up a little in my mouth) Next day repeat steps 1 -4

Blessings,

Ava

xox