Amor

My amor, King Benjamin Gwyn, got me this bike as my Valentine's Day gift. It is so sweet and legit. He has started this hobby of bikes and I wanted one to ride with him. For weeks we scoured through Craigslist postings and finally found one I really liked. It was junk and the stupid and mean lady that tricked him into driving all the way down to St. Cloud for it totally lied to poor Ben about it's condition. Jerk. Luckily Ben found this bike last minute and completely surprised me with it. I love it and it is perfect to me, not to mention I look super cute on it right? Thanks Amor for treating me so well. You are more than loved!

Wednesday - A World Away 3

Paris.... not a place I have ever really wanted to go before, but after checking out my friend Esther's pictures to France I kind of became obsessed.... My trip to Paris would be a pretty traditional and touristy experience. All of their must-dos are pretty obvious.

First, the mode of transportation I would prefer would be the traditional scooter. Depending on who is there with me, I'll either ride on back with my honey or a cute Parisian boy.... Either way, I'm going to look super chic and windswept the entire time.

My scooter buddy and I will race along the streets of Paris until we reach the massive round-about circling the Arc de Triomphe (aka the Place Charles de Gaulle). This massive structure represents the soldiers who died during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.

As I said before, I am also going to go with my one true love and place a padlock on the Pont de Arts and then we will throw our key into the water below signifying our never ending and unbreakable love for each other. We then will promise to come back together one day.

After such an exciting scooter trip thus far, I will want to stop for some grub at Cafe des 2 Moulins (or the "Two Windmills"). This is where Amélie worked. I loved that movie, so it is only fitting that I would stop by. It's named after the two windmills in the area, the Moulin Rouge (yes, the cabaret) and the Moulin de la Galette. maybe, if I got lucky, I could zoom past the Moulin Rouge and satisfy my urge of seeing the real one, since I love the movie so much, without seeing too many risqué things in the red light district.

I would then take my delicious grub and have a super touristy, yet totally romantic and epic picnic on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower. I'm sure I would have some delicious baguettes and maybe some cheese if I could find some that I liked not melted over something (I hate cheese, but I feel it would be very Persian).

Once lunch is over, I would get back on the scooter and I would head to Musée du Louvre. Who wouldn't go there? I mean the Mona Lisa, Medieval stain-glass, Ancient Greek and Roman statues and SOO MUCH MORE! I heard that if you were to spend 4 seconds looking at every piece of artwork in the Louvre it would take me three months to see everything! That is incredible.

One thing I would need to experience would be seeing the Palace at Versailles. The palace and gardens are bigger than the island of Manhattan. When I found that out, all I could think about where the New Yorkers who complain all about how far they walk to everything and then thought that back during Marie Antoinette's time, people walked all of those gardens for fun!

The hall of mirrors has more attempts at reconstruction in the 18th century than most palaces. After seeing the movie Marie Antoinette I would love to go and walk to halls. Maybe I would get to meet one of the Maries, I honestly wouldn't care which one.

At dusk, I'll walk along the River Seine where I will wonder if Jean Valjean and Javert really had an epic conversation and if Javert through himself into the river. I'll probably contemplate my life and all the happy things that I've been though and the hard times too. I'm also pretty sure I will be wearing black cigarette pants and a black and white striped shirt with a beret and red scarf. This will be ultimately Parisian.

Then, before I leave, I will have to meet up with Pablo Picasso at the beach.... and introduce him to the bikini like this lady did.

I'm really excited to be able to do this one day.It's going to be easy to want to be a tourist in Paris; most of the other places I have wanted to blend in. Not here. I want to try to be like everyone else.

Next week....

The Mondays Cure

Okay, I was mistaken by what I needed to cure my Monday-itis. This is all I really needed:

The guy in the sunglasses, not me taking the nap. End of story :)

A Case of The Mondays

Today I feel like this:

I need:

+

+

To = this...

Have a happier Monday everyone. This LIFE photo spread helped mine out a lot :)

My Crafty Side

The beast is finished. After much more time than I planned (I really only had Friday's to devote towards the project) I have accomplished flipping my garbage pile find. I think for an amateur and for not knowing anything about refinishing, I did pretty awesome. Jillian helped me out a lot with this. It it weren't for her help, I would have been super lost. So without further ado, here is the entertainment center turned armoire...

As you can tell, I was pretty stoked to finish it. Now, all I have to do is see if I can even get it into my house. I realized about a week or two ago, that we might not actually be able to maneuver it through the hallway into my bedroom, so that will be the next fun adventure. Basically, I am super proud of myself and this awesome result from a little bit of determination and hard work.

Valentine's

I love all minor holidays. Halloween, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day. Pretty much any holiday that still requires you to go to school and work, I love. Not only do I love them, but I tend to make them a big deal. It's weird, I know, and I partially blame my mother. With that said, I usually always get stressed out on Valentin'es Day because guys have it easy. Get one of these three things and you're good to go :

1. Card

2. Flowers (my favorite anytime of the year)

3. Candy

Girls, not so much. I'm pretty sure Valentine's Day was created just for women. I almost always have no clue what to do for my man. This year, that was not a problem.

1. Card. Totally found this awesome card online for like $15. No way was I paying that so I decided to duplicate it. Here is the end result:

2. Flowers. I think Ben would have thought me a crazy person if I gave him flowers so... moving on.

3. Candy. Ben doesn't eat a lot of sugar. Partially because its bad for you, mostly because he gets really sick from it. I'm pretty sure he's hypoglycemic. So I saw the idea for a fruit basket with these cute stickers to put on the fruit. I made it and I think it was a success. The stickers said cheesy things like: We make a great PEAR, I love you BERRY BERRY much, You're the APPLE of my eye, I'm BANANAS for you and ORANGE you glad you're my valentine. Here is the template via Twig & Thistle just in case you want to do this whenever.

Basically I succeeded this year and I was relieved. I love my Ben more than anything. He is the most amazing, humble and patient man I know. I'm blessed to have him in my life and I honestly couldn't have ever had a better Valentine than him (well, except for maybe my dad.... or grandpa....). Happy belated Valentine's Day!

P.S.

Ever since I figured out the whole April 23rd Spain Valentine's Day thing, I'm pretty sure I'm adopting that into my holiday excitement. Lucky Ben. He gets two days this year for me to overly celebrate my love for him :)

Wednesday - A World Away 2

I don't know if it is because March and St. Patrick's Day are right around the corner, but I've been obsessing over Ireland for the past month. Green lush countrysides, eclectic cities and a raw a deep history (not to mention accent). What more could a person love? I love this little blog post idea because it is giving me the opportunity to find out things I would have never know. The world is beautiful; It must be discovered!

First, St. Patrick. Who is he? Why is he important? Did you know that he isn't even Irish? He was actually a Brittan and was taken captive by the Irish and made a shepherd. Pretty crazy that he would become their saint huh? I guess karma does work :) Any hoo, he escaped back to Britain and had an impression from God telling him to return to Ireland as a missionary. Every year on the last Sunday in July people climb mountain in Mayo County where he fasted for forty days. So whats the deal with March 17th then? It was a Catholic holiday to celebrate St. Patrick. Also, St. Patrick's original color was blue, not green, but eventually green became popular due to soldiers in the 1798 rebellion wearing green to make a political statement. Cool huh?

Other than St. Patrick, I want to go to Claddagh and have my love give me a ring. Legend has it that Richard Joyce of Claddagh was to be wed to his true love. While out fishing days before the wedding, his boat was captured by Algerian pirates and Richard was forced into slavery. Richard was sold to a wealthy Moorish goldsmith who taught him the ways of being a goldsmith. Richard created a ring for his love. Many years later he escaped and made his way back to Ireland and found his love. She had never married and they immediately were wed. He gave her the ring that he had made with her in mind. The hands represent friendship the heart was for love and the crown represented loyalty. To me, these are the three key things to a happy marriage. A note of caution, you wish bad luck with love upon yourself if you buy one; it must be given to you as a gift by someone who loves you. I'll get one of these one day, from someone I love and who loves me and we'll get it in Claddagh.

Anyone who knows me knows I love Halloween. The Irish have their own. It is still celebrated on October 31-November 1 and it is called Samhain. Not only is it their Halloween, it is also their new year. The Irish believe that the year was divided into two parts, the light and the dark. November 1 to March 1 represents the dark half of the year. In the olden days, the people would prepare a massive feast held for their guests of honor, their dearly departed. Everyone left their doors and windows unlocks so the spirits could go freely and a cake was prepared just for them. If a human were to eat the food left out for the spirits during the festival, they

condemned themselves to an eternity as a hungry soul.

St. Bridget's Complaint. Made famous by the movie Leap Year a woman can propose to a man on Leap day (February 29th). St. Bridget pleaded with St. Patrick to let women propose once every four years so they didn't have to wait so long for men to decide. Very interesting. I think it would be awesome just to go experience this in Ireland (supposedly its huge). I wouldn't personally do it because I think it is a man's place and not a woman's. It is still kind of romantic. Also, any guys who happen to read this, if a man refuses a proposal from a woman on leap day is required to pay a fine. Crazy huh? Also, next year (2012) is a leap year. Maybe I can check it out then :)

Ballycarbery Castle is one of old history. It is also the setting of an old Irish tale of Diarmuid and Grainne. Grainne was betrothed to Fionn and he was an angry old war lord. She fled from him with Diarmuid, one of Fionn's soldiers. They bounced around from place to place until they came upon Ballycarbery Castle. The view was supposed to be so beautiful they decided to make it their home. there are many beautiful castles in Ireland, but the area, County Kerry is beautiful and could make for a really romantic stay. I want to stay there one day and roam the castle ruins.

Okay, until next week, Slan (Irish for goodbye). Next week's destination...

Wednesday - A World Away

Lately I have had a massive fear. That fear: never being able to quench the thirst that I have to travel. To most, traveling is a luxury and not mandatory. Not with me. I must travel. I need to travel. I will be a very unhappy person if I don't travel.I have no money to travel. Every few months I get into this funk because I'm restless where I am and want to flee and just experience the world around me and see it in all of its glory. Then I remember that isn't how I should be, yet I can't make those feelings disappear. I tried to keep it at bay with couch traveling... where you read travel books with tons of pictures so its like you're traveling (BUT not!). It didn't work. Thus I have decided to come up with some solutions:

1. I promise (and yes, my kids can hold me to this) to take my family on an epic adventure once a year, and every two years try to make it out of our country.

2. Until then, take a trip once a year. Even if it is just to Georgia or Alabama or Alaska. I think the whole long drive/plane ride once a year can quench it.

3. I'm blogging once a week about a place that I am dying to go to. Kind of like a mini travel book/blog post. So without further ado..... Espana!

I have so desperately been wanting to go to Spain. I have no clue why! I think it started with the Bachelorette season with Jillian and Ed and they went to Spain. It was so beautiful. The flowers, the culture, the people.

The Alhambra at Granada. This is where King Ferdinand and Queens Isabella lived. They are Spain's most remembered and beloved King and Queen. They were a very powerful crown and revolutionized Christianity in Spain. Their palace, Alhambra, is said to be the most beautiful palace in the world. Built during Moorish rule in the 14th century. The Middle Eastern architecture is stunning and I literally drool over the history.

In Pamplona I want to run with the bulls. The excitement, the tradition and the sheer terror are all things that I want to experience. In doing research, only 15 people have been killed since 1910 and it was mostly from stupidity (like the one man who decided to entice the bull with his red jacket). I want to sprint down the streets with people wearing red and yelling. It sounds magnificent to me.

On April 23rd, I want to be in Barcelona to participate in the romantic tradition of giving books and roses to my loved ones; it "lover's day." Supposedly, a dragons was slain by St. George and from the dragon's blood came a red rose which he gave to a princess. On this day, the men give the women flowers and the women give the men a book. That is my kind of Valentine's day. A book. Nothing could be more romantic to me (and when I say this, I mean an old book, one with history and meaning). Barcelona has an amazing history and is like an open air museum. Every where you walk there is history. I want to be engulfed in that.

Falles in Valencia. I thin I would need to experience it firsthand to truly understand it. From what I have read, it is a festival that lasts a week long. Each year, the neighborhoods of Valencia hold fundraisers for the festival and create a massive papier-mache statues (falles). During Falles, all the massive sculptures are burnt in a bonfire, thus igniting the entire city into flames (at least it appears that way). It is a festival held in honor of Saint Joseph, the saint of Carpenters. Supposedly it started out in the middle ages as a holiday where the carpenters burnt their excess wood to celebrate the spring equinox. One March, I will be there to witness this first hand.

Before:

After:

One day I will walk down Gran Via, Madrid, one of Madrid's liveliest streets. It appears to be similar to Broadway in New York. This to me would be the central apart of Madrid, the capital of Spain. Shopping, theater, tapas and culture.

There you have it. My trip to Spain. One day, this will all be true. Next week's destination....