New Years in old haunts

I've been back in the US for a few weeks now and I've seriously neglected not only the blogs I stalk but also you, my curious clicker. I guess I've been pretty busy, catching up and eating well. Sebastien and I have been to DC, Boston, Cape Cod, Mill-E-Walk-Kay and now chilling out in Columbus, Ohio. We skipped southern VT, and put off Toronto Canada, and once again ended up not meeting up with a billion people we meant to. But we had some good times and some great foods. Did I mention the foods? Because I may have come back to America just for the sheer diversity of foods.  Just a little bit.

Australians are fatter than us. Tell all your friends.

Christmas was at my mom's place. It went exceptionally well. Surprisingly so, in fact. I guess it has to do with my youngest sibling being 16 all of a sudden and the fact that Sebastien isn't one to sit on the couch and watch the women work.
I left my camera in a friend's car, on the trip back from Revere beach and it just arrived via le mail, broken. My "big gift" from my mom, an Ipad, was also broken upon unboxing and I'm pretty much fed up with the mail system and electronics altogether. At least I didn't have need or want of an ipad.

Yeah, I'm all set with where this is going.

This trip wasn't about gifts. It has really been about laughing till my sides hurt and seeing more stars in a night then I saw in a year. Boston is always a good time and I loved catching up with my friends from High school there. One of my besties has a new boyfriend and I'm so happy to see where this is going.

 Not only are they adorable together, he  also lent Sebastien and I his copy of Skyrim. We subsequently saw very little of Boston this trip by day but a whole lot of Skyrim by the afternoon, when we awoke. Must obtain copy. Must keep boyfriend of bestie. Anybody who would willingly part with that game is better than any of us deserve. If she breaks up with him, she's getting punched.

Cape Cod is so, so beautiful. The salt air and the sound of the wave crash make me want to mix my metaphors with something that burns going down and comes back up as poetry I only share with the  midnight sky. I have to stop myself from trying to drink the sea's water whenever I stand at her edge. It's an urge I have never been able to explain.  But the ocean is our oldest friend and my closet relative.  It's so nice to be in total darkness walking down a quiet street, testing my blue eyed night vision, sharpening my skills-- such privilege!  I was amazed at how many coyotes and shooting stars I saw. I had forgotten the way there are no yellow lines or sidewalks or need for either on some of my favorite roads. I wish my camera had been there to capture how calm Chatham harbor can be at 3 AM, or that I could better explain the taste of a Cape Codder when no one around you is calling it a vodka, cranberry.
My mom made my absolute favorite dish, scollop casserole. Pronounced:

scal·lop

   [skol-uhp]  Show IPA

noun.

 Not to mention both her signature pineapple upside-down and cheese cakes, respectively.  I visited with all of my brothers and sisters and their kids too.  Everybody is in a much better place than where I last left them. I leave invigorated.  My cousin had the first baby among her siblings and it's so cute seeing her parents get to be grandparents for the first time. I know they're overjoyed. 

This one is actually my mom. She's basically as cute as the kid.

Here in Ohio we've been with Sebastien's family taking a lot hikes.

Yesterday's hike involved a lot of jogging back in the half dark when the park was clearly closed. It's cool, I needed the run and whenever I jog in the wilderness I always feel like Legolas trying to catch up with Hobbits and Orcs. 

But who doesn't, really?
Hey, Hocking hills is hardly New Zealand or Middle Earth, but damn if it ain't the grand canyon of Ohio....I don't know if it is but Sebastien's dad will tell you as much.

We'll be here until the 4th and I'll have one week left in DC to get some paper work done while Sebastien heads back to Paris, ahead of me. I have no idea who I'll stay with for a week in DC but I'm pretty sure I've got credit I can cash in on. I think this is the last year I'll ever give sausages as gifts. Life is just one big dick joke to some of my friends....sort of explains why we're still friends, I think.

En bref, 2011 was a great year for me. I finally made it to Africa and this year I have designs on Asia.       Can't you just see me and Seba backpacking through India? Plus, I sort of plan to move to China someday once my non-existent kids are bigger. We have put in our applications for the Peace Corps so more of Africa I may soon enough see. Bringing it back briefly to Skyrim, if I may-- I realized that I refuse to die without seeing the Northern Lights or vacationing in Bora Bora.

Ok, Bora Bora has no connection to Skyrim whatsoever but it's still pretty dope.

Seba likes to joke that we should go to Tora Bora instead of Bora bora presumably because he's mean.

My only resolutions for the coming year are to look even better naked and spend all my money on excellent clothing, great food and travel.

Well, that's about all I have time for, atm. We're making the Bûche de Noël tonight, I'll link pictures if it comes out cute. I have two great posts coming up thanks to some old drawings and book reviews I found. One involves David Duchovny, the other involves the Snark Squad. Be looking out for those.
Personally, I'll be burning the stub of a white candle for my intentions tonight. I hope the New Year brings you closer to your goals and the ones you love, closer to the self you want to be and the state you want to be in. You're kind of a sucker for waiting until now, but I guess it's not too late.

Check out the Quadrantids meteor shower on January 3rd if the weather is good where you are, or tune in at 1AM to hear it pass! Have a safe New Year's Eve, please.  Taxis rides are always preferable to ambulance bills, so make good choices. Wow, grandma, wow. This is why I'll be settling Catan and eating all Trader Joe everything instead of whooping it up with the young and the restless. Whatever you do tonight, make sure to have fun.
:)

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Project Life

Today was the day! The camera I bought earlier this week finally came in the mail after what seemed to be FOREVER. Christmas morning I reached in my purse to grab my camera only to find it was dead. lifeless. broken. As the annoying person who constantly has their camera out, my family probably found this to be good news. Nope. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, but I think a picture is worth so much more than that. A picture captures moments that may otherwise be forgotten. Spencer has had about enough of me taking pictures, and we're not even married yet.

As part of my New Year's Resolutions, I'm going to try to be better at documenting life. This is something I wish my mom and Grandma had been better at growing up. I want my kids to have something fun to look at when they're older. I'm usually not very good at writing in a journal which is why Becky Higgins is a lifesaver. She's created the coolest project called Project Life It's basically one picture, for everyday in the year all set up in a nice album. Starting January 1st, I will be taking one picture everyday to document our year. I did this a few years ago and LOVED it! It's really fun to look back through a year worth of pictures! 

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A Beginning Blogger!

I'm giving in and starting a blog today!
One of my New Year's Resolutions is to be better at writing down, and documenting my life with words and pictures- this is the perfect combination of both. This upcoming year is going to be one of the best of my life, and I want to be able to keep family and friends posted with everything that's going on! I might be bugging some of you awesome blogger friends soon since I have no clue what I am doing! :)

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Two Days in Amsterdam

I wish I had more time to tell you all the things I took mental notes on concerning our two-day trip to Amsterdam. But I really do not.  Instead, I will share my general impressions and photos that speak to my musings. Have to hurry, so have to keep it simple, keep it light.


Point the first: Amsterdam has the best fries in teh worldz.

Well, maybe it's the sauce--you can get a cone full of them anywhere--but the homemade stuff we got at Vlaamse Friteshuis was the finest in the city. (Trust and believe we came to this conclusion through rigorous experimentation)The sauces you see are Dutch Mayonaise and Joppiesaus. Granted, to my most of me,  mayo sounded gross, but you need to try it yourself--it doesn't taste like what we have back in the US. Swearzies.

#2
Amsterdam is a bike snob's wet dream

Totally getting out of your way, please keep ringing your bell. No seriously, keep ringing it. This world is your bike lane which I have mistakenly crossed through--pretending I didn't know you've got places to go and that your destination is more important than my own. We're clear. Moving on.

My relationship with law enforcement is much less oppositional when doing what I want to do isn't illegal.

For I have been to Mecca, the cheese is dope there. The dope is also dope there. (YUP) But that cheese, though, we went to a tasting of six different kinds of Gouda. If you're in town, check them out.

Fun Fact: My best friend and I travel well together.

Even if Eurobus had us going nuts.

I didn't take pictures in the Van Gogh museum because no one else was doing it and I hate being chided. However, I remember seeing these paintings:

Sometimes I want to lick the color right off the canvas. 

These were all done during his French period. Dutch paintings are too dark for my taste.
Pictured below is from his time in Holland. 

This was not cherry-picked.

Ever since I read The Botany of Desire  nearly a million years ago, I've been interested in seeing this flower market.

We got there at day break and had the Bloemenmarkt all to ourselves.

It was my first time eating Indonesian food too.
We were wicked stoked to get there just before the early supper special ended.  (I'm a very exciting person, I know...) The coconut milk drink (not pictured) tasted like flavors making love in my mouth....if such a thing was possible and also not disgusting to describe to readers as imaginative as yourselves.
Mmmmmmmmm, delish.

We also came across a lot of great street art.

Though I admit some of those are accidentally cheeses.

New rule: Trust what I know. From now on, we'll always use the application Guide Pal and Guides Gallimard map/travel guide--they've given us great ideas,  easy to follow directions and plenty to try out and explore on a reasonable budget--in London, Budapest and Amsterdam.
I recommend them highly.

Verdict: Amsterdam is the Vegas of Europe. It's a great place to go with a few friends and a lot of money. Book wayyyyy in advance and don't expect the prices to be reasonable on the weekend. We went midweek and would go midweek next time. Yes, we want to go again--durring a different season when we have more money and don't have to take that horrible bus. Eurolines, you're proof that I can't be a diplomat. Thank you. I hate you very much.

Well, that's about it--be checking into the Chipster Diaries if you want to hear more about the foods we tried in the Netherlands. (Linked above is his post about Joppiesaus flavored chips. Check it out!)

And so I'm off--wish me luck. I've got more traveling to get done--we leave for the States today!

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