Oh Europe, how I love thee

In case anyone doesn’t remember, I recently took a trip to Europe with my husband and immediate family.  The voyage was a huge success and we are riding out the “no more vacation days for 8 months” high as best we can.  Totally worth it!

I’d have to say, we traveled to a lot of places for a limited amount of time at each spot, but Barcelona was certainly among my favorites for sure.   Las Ramblas is an adorable touristy street, with well, see photo below.  You can’t help but enjoy yourself!  But be sure to have plenty of Euros, that street is a tourist trap and therefore EXTREMELY expensive.

Sangria mugs as big as my head, maybe bigger

It also was pretty surreal to be in a city that hosted the Olympics.  Most of the venues were fairly run-down, but to imagine the Olympic divers and runners in their respective events, next to the main Olympic torch, you couldn’t help but feel a small part of history.  And this was after the airline lost our luggage, we were still happy beyond belief!

Olympic Torch next to the Country Flags

Olympic Athlete footprints throughout the walkways to the stadium

 

It really isn’t just the Olympic vibe that gets you excited about Barcelona, it is a wonderful little city, surrounded by these huge parks on either side of it giving stunning views, with a bustling ”5th Ave” type street or a quaint little side-street with adorable shops.  There are of course phenomenal churches to view, just as every European city has, but it has a uniqueness that we couldn’t really match to the other places we traveled to. Granted, we were able to stay 3 whole nights in one place, so perhaps our view was skewed, but I’d recommend a visit if anyone has an inkling!

Only thing that would have been better is if we would have stayed an extra couple of weeks to see Spain win the World Cup.  I’m sure the country was buzzing out of control in excitement!

Sto andando a Milano

I am not fashion forward – or even remotely creative in my outfits. I’ll point to one of Rock Juice’s own, Steph, as my own style icon. I attribute my run-of-the-mill style mostly to my budget, but also because I’m kind of lazy and I don’t want to spend a million hours rooting through bargain bins for that thrift store find of the millennium. That being said – I tend to devour blogs about fashion – namely The Sartorialist (which I would never have found had it not been for another fashion forward fancy, Mo, of Just Say Maux.)

I love this blog for a million reasons – sometimes I even print out the pictures and pretend that I’ll try and find an outfit that closely resembles the ensemble.

I also love this blog for this reason:

I’m moving to Milan where I will track him down so he can fall hopelessly and unconditionally in love with me.

Happy Friday!

Trip anticipation

I leave for my very first trip to Europe in less than 5 days.  It gets me so excited for travel, but at the same time, the anticipation before leaving pumps me up so much, I almost don’t want to go for fear that it will be gone when I get back!  When I went to Thailand back in November 2009, we spend so much time chatting about what we were going to do and eat and buy and when we got back, it was so great to remember the good times, but it was sort of sad that the build-up was over!

I’m hoping I can almost bottle the anticipation and ride that through the summer, who knows the next time I’ll be leaving the country, but I want to remember the feeling in case it doesn’t happen for a good while.

Mediteranean Cruise Itinerary (not to make anyone jealous, but this explains the anticipation even more)

Oh yeah, then my husband and I go to Paris for a few days…I am spoiled I know…but you gotta do it!

Om nom nom nom.

Since my current job leaves me with ample time to surf the internet, I find myself scrolling through blogs upon blogs about food. Most recipes I’ll print out or copy to take home, only to be added to the pile of things I’ll never actually make. Until I found this:

I am a big fan of “eggs in a basket,” you know – when you cut out a hole in your toast and fry an egg in the middle? (Recall when V makes this particular meal for Evey in “V for Vendetta.” LOVE that movie.) And I could eat biscuits everyday for the rest of my life – so this is just the perfect breakfast.

Now that I’ve found this, I will spend the rest of the day thinking about it and making plans to eat it this weekend. Everyone is invited for breakfast on Saturday!

Recipe and photo courtesy of http://www.internetcookingprincess.com/

Ah yes, this is how it’s meant to be.

Blackbirds

by Julie Cadwallader Staub

I am 52 years old, and have spent
truly the better part
of my life out-of-doors
but yesterday I heard a new sound above my head
a rustling, ruffling quietness in the spring air

and when I turned my face upward
I saw a flock of blackbirds
rounding a curve I didn’t know was there
and the sound was simply all those wings
just feathers against air, against gravity
and such a beautiful winning
the whole flock taking a long, wide turn
as if of one body and one mind.

How do they do that?

Oh if we lived only in human society
with its cruelty and fear
its apathy and exhaustion
what a puny existence that would be

but instead we live and move and have our being
here, in this curving and soaring world
so that when, every now and then, mercy and tenderness triumph in our lives
and when, even more rarely, we manage to unite and move together
toward a common good,

and can think to ourselves:

ah yes, this is how it’s meant to be.

One Wish

A man was riding his Harley along a California beach, when suddenly the sky cleared above his head and in a booming voice, the Lord said,’Because you have tried to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish.’

The biker pulled over and said, ‘Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can ride over anytime I want.’

The Lord said, ‘Your request is materialistic. Think of the enormous challenges for that kind of undertaking; the supports required reaching the bottom of the Pacific and the concrete and steel it would take! It will nearly exhaust several natural resources. I can do it, but it is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of something that could possibly help mankind.’

The biker thought about it for a long time. Finally, he said, ‘Lord, I wish that I and all men could understand women; I want to know how she feels inside, what she’s thinking when she gives me the silent treatment, why she cries, what she means when she says nothing’s wrong, why she snaps and complains when I try to help, and how I can make a woman truly happy.’

The Lord replied, ‘You want two lanes or four lanes on that bridge?

Dear generic ex-boyfriend,

An example of MORE

I remember the days when I’d break out my coloring book and Crayola crayons and set up shop next to my American Girl Kirsten doll, and just color.  I’d make sure that I stayed in the lines the best I could, and with each coloring session I got better and better.  By the time I’d reach the end of the coloring book, I’d be slightly ashamed of the first page and reveling with pride at the last page. 

I look back and think about my crayon box, I think I had maybe 20 colors?  I don’t really remember other than thinking, WOW this is a lot of colors!  I recently found this and couldn’t believe what I saw!  That’s how many colors Crayola has now.  If I thought I had plenty of colors back in the 80′s, what do the kids of today think? 

I remember being told, “Less is More” and today all I feel with media and outside influences is that, “More is not nearly enough.”  MORE, MORE, MORE.  BIGGER, BETTER, MORE!  I think this coloring is an example of that…I mean who needs this many colors?  How can kids even choose which crayon to pick up?  What ever happened to simplicity…in COLORING…or in life?

Why Alcohol and Amazon does not a good cocktail make

from Party America <csfj4j38sbwn65j@marketplace.amazon.com> reply-to Party America <csfj4j38sbwn65j@marketplace.amazon.com> to StephOh date Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 4:28 PM subject Order 553300 is on its way! mailed-by amazon.com

hide details 4:28 PM (18 hours ago)

Hello Steph,

The following order was processed today and will ship via UPS Ground.

Order number: 553300

Shipping to:

StephOh
xxxxxxx
NEW YORK, NY
USA

Contains:

———————————————————————-
Qty  Product Code – Product Name                         Status
———————————————————————-
1    58319 – Skeleton Costume Adult                      shipped
Carrier: UPS
1ZA67R660348792608
———————————————————————-

A Dance-gasm

This has GOT to be the best dance movie yet to surface…I’m freaking out a little bit in anticipation…I mean ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!