Skinny streets, archways, and people sitting on stairs

I have been lucky enough to travel to and throughout Europe several times now. When my friend and former roommate, Laura, asked if I wanted to come visit her in Madrid sometime whilst she is teaching there, I didn't hesitate. I just got back from traveling with my buddy Laura to Madrid, Cordoba, Seville, Granada, and Toledo. I've said many times you can drop me anywhere in Europe and I'll be happy, and this is true. I'm not the first person obviously to enjoy traveling about oversees, but I doubt too many others have payed tribute to the specific items I'm about to describe. I've tried to figure out some of the specific things that captivate me when I can't seem to put my camera down. First, I have found that I have a weird love of windy and/or narrow streets and they are abundant basically everywhere I've been in Europe. I love that you have no idea what you're going to find once you turn the corner (usually another windy street.) Examples:

Second, I love archways. They make me happy, they are like frames you can walk through. Even better, archways/pathways connecting buildings over streets. I love this. Don't ask me why, I can't fully explain it. They are wonderful. Observe:

Notice some of these combine my love of narrow streets and archways - what's not to love? Finally, those old time city planners knew their shit. If you put a bunch of stairs in front of your churches, or various other landmarks, people will sit on them. They will gather and relax and basically block the way so people can't walk past, but it's ok. You won't mind, you will just sit down and join them. I speak from experience:

There are many, many other things I enjoy about traveling to new cities especially oversees, but you can't possibly describe them all. Visually, these were some of my simple favorites. Til next time!

It's been over a year!!

It has been over a year since my last post. I cannot believe this, and I am sad that I have not kept up with my musings on life. So back by popular demand, I am here and writing out my words of wisdom. Ok, so there isn't really a ton of demand for my musings, but at least 3 people have asked me when I'm going to start up my blog again. I must not disappoint my 3 fans!!

So what have I learned over the past year, you ask?
I have learned that the older you get, the faster life moves.
I have learned that it takes about a year and a half to get tired of a job, haha - just kidding people from work!
I have learned that improv is a lot of fun (maybe I will write a whole blog about my improv classes that I have started)
I have learned that improv is difficult and does not come naturally to everyone (myself included)
I have learned that you shouldn't date somebody just because they are from Europe and you like their accent (This lesson however doesn't seem to be sinking in after multiple dating fails.)
I have learned that I'm going to be an Aunt by the end of the year!
I have learned that Seattle is beautiful. . .observe:

I have learned that New Mexico is spicy and full of wine:

I have learned that South Carolina is pretty great too:

And finally I have learned that there are always fun new things to see in Chicago

Bye and hope it will not be so long before you 3 hear from me again ;)

Hmmm

It's been awhile since my last post. Not only because I've been busy, but because I don't really know what to write about. I've been doing fun things which warrant writing about - such as the Poland vs. US soccer match, starting a bowling league, and finishing up my sailing lessons but I don't really have a lot to say about these things other than they were fun! I would do them all again!

Hmm, I feel that work has been taking up more of my thoughts lately. It is going well and I'm excited about my current project because I'm getting to add healthcare design to my resume, but I can see a lot of overtime hours in my future, which I'm not terribly excited about. I like what I do, but I want to keep doing things like soccer matches and sailing, etc. Somehow I've managed to luck out in my design life so far as to not work too many crazy hours (with a few exceptions over the years), but relatively speaking, haven't had to work into the night too many times. I'm happy to be back to work (for over 3 months now - time flies!) but want to keep making my out-of-work activities a priority as well.

So yeah, bowling is coming to a close in a few weeks and I'm up for suggestions on new adventures now that sailing is over. Some possible trips I see in my future but alas, those are difficult these days because of work as well.
Hopefully next time I will have a crazy story to tell. For now, just going along business as usual.

Old habits die hard

I am nearing my 2 month mark at my new job. Life now finds me so busy that I don't have a lot of time to reflect. When I got the job, I think I got a little over-excited and started making way too many plans. Part of this is because the warm weather is nearing an end (tear) and everyone is trying to cram in as much fun as possible before the Chicago hibernation months hit. I have so much going on that I'm having trouble finding time to schedule my remaining 2 sailing lessons-I've only had 1 so far and it was lovely. It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed climbing all over the boat. My next one, weather permitting, is next weekend.

And now a random story I find interesting. I was walking home from a Cubs game last week with my friend Kay and it was dark. As per the usual, I was engrossed in whatever girl-talk we were having that I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. I did not notice that we were walking down my old street where I lived for 2 years, but moved from about a year and a half ago (in the city at night all the streets kinda look the same - haha). I did not notice we were on my old street until we walked by my old apartment and out of habit, I reached out to open the door to my old building. It took me a second of looking around to figure out where I was and why I had the desire to go into this building (no - I was not drunk.) Half of me was amazed that I could walk down this street I used to live on for 2 years and not realize I was walking down my old street, the other half of me was amazed at despite not being conscious of where I was, my subconscious knew exactly where I was and was not going to let me walk by without entering that apartment.

So the point of this? I don't know. To force a point - it's easy to slip back into the past. I am surprised at how easily I am re-adjusting to the working world. I hope to not get bored of it too quickly. So far life is anything but boring and I'm excited to see how it progresses as the excitement of summer comes and goes. Next up. . .I signed up for a bowling league with some new coworkers! Yes - I'm a nerd and couldn't be happier to find some bowling buddies!

Working Girl

So it's been a few weeks and I've been getting some requests for updates. I haven't done any new blogs since I've started working - not because I don't have the time - but because I've been trying to figure out what I think about it. It's been almost a month now back in the working world and I think it is only just starting to sink in that I have a job.

When I was not working, I would wake up every morning and have to remind myself of what was going on in my life: "Ok, today is a Tuesday I think, I have plans to go for a run with a friend" or "It's 10am, did I oversleep on anything? No, ok, I guess I should do some job hunting." or my favorite "Where am I? Oh yeah, in a hostel in Poland." Today I woke up exhausted and had a more familiar thought from my past, "I'm soo tired. Wait! It's Saturday, I don't have to do anything!" I am still reminding myself on a daily basis that I have a job now and need to get up to go to work. Luckily so far I like my job and it's not too hard to make myself go.

So, my goal now that I have a job is to keep doing interesting things so that I don't fall back into my lifestyle I had before becoming unemployed. I had gotten to the point where I would go to work, come home, watch tv and go to bed during the week. Sure, I would go out on weekends, but I became pretty boring during the week. My first attempt to keep life exciting - I signed up for some sailing lessons - future blogs to follow. Also I've been doing a lot of weekend travels to weddings (see picture of my sister's wedding and me dressed up in the mother-in-law's old vintage dress which I wore to the rehearsal dinner), I went to a cubs game yesterday, and I've still been making time to paint!

I think the biggest change in my mentality after being unemployed for almost 6 months is that I seem to think everything is temporary now - more so than I used to. I keep thinking that this job could end any day now and I'd have to figure out something else to do. I don't know how long I'll stay in Chicago bc several of my friends moved to other cities to accept new jobs. Even this week I got a request for an interview at another firm - when it rains, it pours. I found myself thinking, "Well, I did this job for a month, maybe I'll do this new job for awhile."

And even though I'm so much busier than I was a couple months ago, I keep wanting to fill my time with more and more things. I even contemplated finding a retail job for the weekends. I think my mind is going nuts and doesn't know how to handle all of this new excitement of being busy in life again! It will wear off shortly I am sure and I'll be wanting to find ways to take things out of my life so I can sit around and watch a little tv, but for now, I'm happy to be energized and excited about work! (Please, please, work drama stay out of my life as long as possible!)

How to choose a story

I have returned after my month of travels to the windy city and I believe it has taken me a full week to recover. My stomach was pretty upset with me for all the strange things I was feeding it and not happy to even go back to my regular diet here in the states.

Annnnyyyway, enough about that. London was delightful! Ireland was gorgeous! Poland was crazy! What? You want more details than that? Ok, ok

So one of my favorite things about traveling around Europe (I have many favorite things about traveling around Europe) is all the legends / stories they tell about their land and tourist attractions.

For instance, Smok the Dragon that once lived under Wawel Castle in Krakow that liked to feast on young virgins. Or the great Irish Giant Finn McCool who supposedly built the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland to fight the Scottish Giant, Benandonner. Finn McCool did not realize until after the causeway was built that Benandonner was much larger than himself. His wife therefore dressed Finn as a baby so that when Benandonner came over to fight he was afraid because if the baby was that big, then the father must be very large indeed. Benandonner tore apart the causeway on his way back over to Scotland. According to scientists, the thousands of hexagon shaped rocks are the result of an ancient volcanic eruption - not as interesting as the giants in my opinion.

Another favorite part of traveling are all the street performers. I can do without the moving statues, but the musicians I enjoy. I have included a video of my favorite - I love these boys; it is a video from the Temple Bar area in Dublin. Another favorite was a puppeteer in the Zakapone mountains in Poland and some break dancers in Krakow.

Oh! And the lack of clothing accepted by the Polish people! Whilst climbing some gorgeous mountains in Poland we saw several people hardly dressed, but my favorite was a pretty large woman walking about the mountain sporting only a bra for her top - not a sports bra, mind you. I also went to a waterpark in the mountains with my newly wed in Poland friend, Courtney and my travel buddy / roomie Tanya. Can you say Speedos? I know this is not only a Poland thing, but my American eyes are not used to seeing that much of well, you know, out in public places with children around.

Well this was a less cohesive blog than what I usually provide, but that's what you get after a month or random adventures in Europe. There are just too many stories to tell. I will try to tell a few more in future blogs because believe me, there are some crazy stories. Basically I am so happy that I was unemployed and could spend a month traveling, I really can't think of much else I enjoy more. I'm hoping the post-trip depression I always get doesn't set in too quickly.

London Bridges Falling Down

So I'm nearing the end of my stay in London. I leave for Dublin tomorrow. Coming here again has been great, and has renewed my love affair with this city. I would love to live and work here, but am finding that it may not be meant to be. When I decided to do some job searching in Europe I knew my chances were less than great, less than a long shot really, but thought I would try anyway. Hours/days of email writing, networking, application writing, and office tours later and I find myself with zero leads to a real job. The only 'bites' I've had are potential job leads in Chicago, which don't get me wrong - I'm greatful for in this economy and I do in fact still love Chicago. So much so that I went to see the broadway musical Chicago whilst here in London (it was amazing!!) After I am done with my travels I will see if it is not too late to pursue my Chicago lead and pray I won't go too many more months without work, although a summer at the beach does sound pretty tempting if this falls through as well.

Well then, London. . .it's a postcard quality photo around every corner. Between the accents and the architecture and actually finding some tasty food, I'm in heaven. Speaking of food, check out the 'jacket potatoes' - not my most healthy choice, but then, when am I ever healthy? For those of you not familiar with the London lingo - Jacket potatoes are baked potatoes. Other language differences include chips vs. crisps, minding the gap, taking lifts and nobody can give me a clear definition of the word 'Cheeky' although I am familiar with the word - it's just not thrown about in the states the way people use it here.

I find myself being more proper despite my best efforts to maintain my American identity. Saying things like 'quite a lot' and 'a bit' more often with a slight british accent and then wondering what's happened to my voice. I'm one of those people who starts immitating accents when I'm talking to people with accents and am working to stop this. I can't help it. Maybe my subconscious just wants to fit in, but am probably making a fool of myself in the meantime. I should start saying things like 'dude' and 'which way to the McDonalds?' to remind myself of where I'm from.

I'm sad to be leaving London, but am ready to be around more people I know and love again. Another 2 weeks of travel here I come! Oh man, I'm exhausted already just thinking about the rest of my roaming about Europe. It's a tough life ;)