International Lessons

Things I learned in route through Florence/London/Madrid/Rome - Europeans have better restroom signs.

See above: A man changing the diaper in a family restroom. A woman with fancy hair and an evening gown. A man with a hat and pipe. A woman in a princess-poof cocktail dress.

I could not have been more excited to use these public toilets.

to-be-mentioned butt-wipe pictured above

Second thing I learned: when you have the whole three seat row to yourself on an international flight, move to the middle as to claim it. This butt-wipe who stayed in sunglasses the whole 12 hour flight, swooped in and ruined my airplane-bed right before take off. Not his seat. Not mine either I guess... but I had plans for that row.

I death-glared his stupid indoor-sunglasses and his dumb poofy  hair the whole trip. I think he could feel the hole I was boring into his skull with my lazer vision.

Oh well, lessons learned. More about the trip with fun photos to boot later this week!

Florence?

Remember that time that I found out I'm going to Florence - TOMORROW - for work?

Fantastic.

I love my job.

See y'all when I get back!

Mixed Media Beaches

Artist Danny Phillips makes me miss the beaches in Michigan. But his art also brings me a sort of brightness and joy. Enjoy him this fine Friday.

Body Busted

I love this print from PaperBirdArtwork. It illustrates the recharge I was forced to sit through this week.

Apparently, I pushed my body's abilities a little too far between running in terrible shoes that my 10K Mentor tried to tell me not to run in and then helping dear friends move to Dallas.

I tend to insist on carrying the boxes the guys say "they'll get because they're heavy".

Screw you guys. I'm tough.

Yup - super tough - until I'm laid up, home from work Tuesday and Wednesday groggy from muscle relaxers that the doc prescribed.

Lesson learned. But happy to be back in action today. Though touching my toes is still a no-go.

Moonrise Kingdom

I just saw the trailer for this... and I would say it looks like a must-see. Have a lovely long weekend.

The good ol' days. Kind of...

A coworker, who grew up in the 40s and 50s, sent these my way yesterday. Can you imagine being a woman at this time? The genesis of advertising fascinates me.

Take a look. The first one is actually pretty clever, though demeaning. 

Anybody got a toothache?

Faux-retail therapy

Sometimes I just want to buy old stuff. Etsy helps with that. I can put it all in my shopping cart and forget about it. The wallet never actually gets involved. This is one of my favorite oldie shops. 

(When shipping is just as much as the item, it is no longer in my shopping cart.)

Notes to Self

Field notes - to self:

No amount of excuses makes up for the fact you were, in fact, wrong.

Cooking is hard, but when someone eats it and likes it, you feel like you just won top-chef.

Cold oatmeal has the consistency of snot. Eat it warm.

Naturally curly does not mean maintenance free. It will take more than 10 minutes to get ready. Accept this.

1/8 a tank of gas goes faster than you think. The gas light means fill up.

Your bed isn't going anywhere. You can sleep later. Get up.

Vitamins work better when you take them more than 3 times a month.

Putting something you don't want to loose someplace "safe" is code for someplace you'll never look again.

Your best friends assure you that you could run your office if they'd just give you the chance, instead of acknowledging you may be a bit over-confident for 24. (god bless 'em.)

Coffee is never, I repeat, NEVER best the next day. Wash out the pot.

Pinterest is not real life. Pinning it doesn't mean you did it. Or will do it. It's list making with pictures.

Similar but Different

I was perusing blogs yesterday in an effort to entertain myself for the last 23 minutes of work and came across this little gem: How I found LOVE on the Internet. 

Skype leading to Romance for Amanda and Andrew. Photo Credit.

This young woman, Amanda, blogs the story of how online dating became something meaningful for her. I have a close friend who found her knight in shining armor the same way. They just got back from adventures in Chicago, London and China. I have certainly changed my thinking of "who" utilizes online dating.

Me and my very good man.

Although the outcomes, the starting off-points, and the partners are similar but different, it seems clear - it's sure nice to be in a good relationship, and good partners are awfully good to find.

Craigslist kindness

This weekend I decided I needed to go through my belongings and see what isn't being used anymore. I figured it was time to post some things to craigslist and see if anyone would bite.

One of the items I posted was my very old ipod nano. It's a 1st gen people. Do you remember those?


After a lot of unexplained interest in my $15 nano, a friendly craigslister informed me that Apple is doing a recall of this particular model, and if I send it in - I'll get a latest generation nano replacement for free!



Thank you craigslister - I didn't expect such a random act of kindness today. I'll send that sucker in!

Isn't it lovely when people surprise you?

Bon Weekend.

I think it is a well-known fact that ladies brunch.

Tomorrow I shall be a lady. Brunch at Taverna with bellinis and vanilla french toast, followed by a mani-pedi courtesy of one very sweet fiance. He gets engaged to a good friend of mine and I get a mani-pedi day with her out of it? Yes please! All of you - go get engaged, I like free spa treatments!

Get moving

This morning on the way to the airport with one of the downstairs-dwellers, Carolyn, I had the chance to talk about the mental barrier that stands between individuals and their exercise goals.

I would never call myself a runner. 6 months ago I would promise you I could never run more than a mile in one go without dying. 

But three days ago, I ran my first "training session" with Carolyn for the Cowtown 10K. We ran 2 miles, and would you believe it - I didn't die. In fact, I felt fantastic.

We let mental barricades keep us from being our healthiest selves. Challenge yourself and be surprised. If this 10K goes well, I'm seriously considering training for a San Diego marathon with Carolyn, or maybe a sprint triathalon. Now that - would be something. 

Gypsy Queen

One of my best friends has always been my gypsy and I hers. It's more than a nickname for her, she is a modern-day gypsy. Currently, she lives in San Fran and works for Google. Below is a perfect photo representation of her.

Today, I'm thinking of her. Somewhat inspired by a comment she posted (egriffindor) on Instagram relating to this picture and the ring I'm wearing, that she got me in Ireland.

It so happened that a song that makes me think of both of us was recently added to a CD for me via my honey. Cam Penner anyone? How is this guy new to me? The song he's playing in the background is the one that I'm in love with. "Throw your hands up." He introduces some of his band throughout this particular video. Enjoy folks. What a lovely Wednesday we're having.

Break Summary

Well, I'm back. The Champaign expedition was both enlightening and exceptionally exciting. 

The images above provide a brief summary of the highlights. From left to right, working from top to bottom.

1. Stella, our adopted chihuahua, is pregnant. With our blind sheltie's puppies. She is due in the next two weeks, at least 4 puppies. We are calling them shelly-huahuas. If you are interested in driving to Illinois for one of these sure-to-be adorable gremlins, contact me.

2. Christmas on the 26th was lovely, since my Dad couldn't be with us until late Christmas night. He had to preach in Atlanta, and then board his plane to Illinois to arrive by 9 pm. Presents abound and Christmas Cheer was in excess.

3. The new house is beautiful. We got one day of snow, and this photo features what we call the "narnia post" in our side yard. Everything is closed in with a white picket fence, and the favorite room of the house is most certainly the living room with its fireplace.

4. Our family friends, the Manikowski's, came to visit. It has been at least 4 years since I have seen them. We had a phenomenal time drinking, eating and playing euchre. I forgot how much I love big card-game tournaments.

Happy New Years to all.