The One with a Weekend Update + Photos in France

This week has been pretty fast-paced and busy! I have had hardly a moment to sit down at the computer, which actually is quite a good thing, wouldn't you say?

I ran a couple of times in the Fremont neighborhood. Love those leaves.

I made Paleo pumpkin muffins last night. They are SO good. I ate so many of them and need to lay off the muffin making for a while.

I indulged in chocolate sprinkles (Dutch sprinkles=the best!) in the evenings with my licorice tea.

I caught up on "The Office" episodes. This last season is actually quite funny I must say.

I waved good-bye to the blue sky.

I am welcoming this pouring rain and I'm about to run many, many miles in just a few moments. 

Last night Renae and I exchanged Europa photos. So I thought I would share a couple of Matt+Jenn photos that she captured with her camera.

 (At a cafe in Paris)

 (In St. Gervais, where we waited for the train in the Alps)

I have so many Europe photos, so maybe its a good thing to just interject them with regular blog posts. Then I don't have to take any real photos here in Seattle. Ha!

The One with the Photobook

 Finally my Europe photo book has arrived!! I love LOVE love it. Its simple and small and very easy to read. Now, whenever anyone asks to see my trip photos, I can just hand them this book and be done! I am glad I spend those two whole days getting sick of photos. It was worth it!

 It was super easy to drag and drop photos into the book. I just had a whole lot of them...that's what took so long.

One of my favorite pages was from Cinque Terre where I recorded our wine tasting adventures. I made a photo into an entire page!

I finished the book by adding a lot of extra photos to the back. It was a way to add photos I loved into the book that didn't otherwise fit. I got my book from Shutterfly. Just thought I would share my excitement!!

The One with all the European coffee

This is my first attempt to share some photos of my recent trip to Europe. Let's start with something small, shall we? 

I will give you a small warning...I am pretty sure this may get repetitive! Its all about the coffee that I drank in Europe, and only now have I discovered how many coffee photos I took! I can't leave any out, right?

So here we go!



My first coffee was at an amazing bar in Amsterdam. A cute cat lived in the bar and I loved that. Joy ordered for me because I was so nervous. (For no reason of course...everyone in Holland speaks English)

I was thrilled that my coffee came with a little cookie! Seriously, these Europeans know how to live.

I took a photo of these great containers at the house we stayed at in Holland:

The second coffee I purchased was black coffee and it came with a little cream, sugar and (again) a cookie. I was thrilled, of course.

Coffee in Germany was quite varied. I tried drip coffee...

A Latte Macchiato:

A Cappuccino:

All came with a little cookie! Joy noticed that the free cookies are smaller in Germany.

On my last day in Germany I was treated with a coffee made from home. One of Joy's friends had us over for breakfast and she made me a cappuccino with a fancy machine. Unfortunately the process was fun, but the taste was pretty bad.
 
Coffee in France was a bit varied. The first time we ordered coffee, we got espresso:

The next day I ordered a cappuccino and I got one with enormous foam and a bit of chocolate dust!

Another time, I ordered coffee and got drip coffee, but it was really a double espresso, I'm sure. In France, the coffee always comes with sugar cubes! It was interesting putting sugar in my coffee, since I usually just stick to cream or milk.

This photo just shows a shot of Espresso that I recieved with my lunch, which was a sort of egg tart.

One night in Annecy, we ordered dessert (tiramisu!) and I got a delicious cappucino, also with a little chocolate dust.

Coffee in Italy is something else. I must admit that despite trying all kinds of coffee in France (except for French press....couldn't find that anywhere!) we really decided it was not the greatest. But Italian coffee really lives up to its reputation. Its AMAZING.

My first cappuccino was in Milan at the train station. Its a bit of a cheat because it had caramel sauce on top, but I'm not ashamed of that...it was worth it. You can see a peek of that canoli behind it, also a delicious choice.

That same night when we got to Monterosso I had a cappuccino after dinner. Its pretty typical in Europe to finish your dinner with coffee! I don't mind.

The next morning I got another cappuccino with my cream-filled croissant. (I could do another blog post on those!)

Coffee in Venice was more about the experience than the coffee itself. This first photo is of our coffees at San Marco square where we watched the dueling pianos. This tiny drink cost 7 Euro! Oh, and there was a 6 Euro cover charge to just sit there and watch the concert. Maybe not something I would repeat, but it was a fun experience.

This next coffee was at a fancy place near Rialto....another expensive place of course. The furniture and silver trays are fun. This is yet another 6.5 Euro cappuccino.

This last photo was taken in Rome! We sat on the corner of Piazza Navona in the rain and I ordered a coffee with whipped cream. So they brought be a whole cup of it.
 
 So I will leave it there! That's enough coffee, eh? I have to say, coffee is what I miss most about Europe. We've got our espresso maker out and I'd like to make more cappuccinos. Somehow its just not the same. But I will keep trying!

The one I wrote in Germany

I will write quickly because I don't have much time! I am leaving for Paris in the morning, and Joy and I are catching the train in about 5 hours. Of course I still have to paint my nails and watch a tv show with Joy....so I wont be getting much sleep. :)

OMG! Time has been flying by. I have explored Amsterdam, seen some amazing windmills, eaten a Dutch pancake, ridden on the Autobahn (scary with Joy as the driver), drank lots of coffee, gone grocery shopping in Germany (so fun!), toured an amazing Palace, visited an ancient Castle, roller bladed through the streets of Duesseldorf with thousands of locals, ran 10 miles into the countryside of Germany, and spend quality time with my sister. So much more! I have taken over 700 photos. (Some are repeats...playing with exposure, etc.)

One week has nearly passed and I will head into a different country tomorrow. I am so looking forward to Paris, but also quite nervous about these scary French people I hear about. :)

Oh and I love Germany. Duesseldorf will be hard to beat. (Surprising...yes?)

Photos will come later, but to glance quickly at some photos you can check out my instagram feed on the sidebar. I try to instagram when I get back to Joy's place at night and I have wifi. Who knows if this will continue in France and Italy, but I hope so!

Good Night!

The One with Au Revoir

There are only 11 more hours until I will be leaving my warm comfy bed and heading to the airport! And yes, that means I will be getting up at 4 am!

Tomorrow I will be flying away to Amsterdam and will spend three weeks in Europe. I hope to keep in touch with friends via facebook chat or skype (if I can figure it out). Otherwise I will be completely UNPLUGGED for 3 weeks. Wow. So excited.

Matty and I made a little video tonight about our expectations and excitement about our trip. I think it will be fun to watch that afterwards! I thought it would also be a good idea to write a list of expectations/excitement here on the blog, so that I can see if it all pans out.

1. I am super excited for gelato in Italy. This has been abundantly clear in our house because I have been RESEARCHING like crazy. Apparently there is REAL and FAKE gelato. In Rome, our B&B is nearby the oldest and one of the best gelato places.

2. I am super nervous to ride those crazy trains.

3. I am super nervous to ride on a plane all the way across the Atlantic. Speaking of this, I am so NOT excited about jet lag. Today Matty and I woke up super early (as I will tomorrow) and maybe this will help???

4. I am SO excited for Paris. Even if it rains. I want to eat some real French pastries. And photograph them, of course.

5. The Cinque Terre has completely enchanted me. I have no idea what to expect. So far I am thinking it will be astoundingly beautiful, yet overrun with tourists. I am trying not to have high expectations.

6. I am SUPER nervous to try to speak French and Italian. I am not nervous at all about Amsterdam or Germany because I am just going to let Joy talk and translate!

7. I am so excited to run in each city we visit. I probably will not run daily, but at least one time while we are at each destination.

8. Photography is really exciting me the most.

9. I can't wait to tape things in my journal with washi tape. That's why I brought four rolls, ha! Oh, and I brought my Tim Holtz tiny attacher. That's probably my most random thing I'm bringing to Europe.

10. I plan to climb the Eiffel Tower and take photos from the top. I also plan to photograph it from the ground. I also plan to photograph it at night with all the pretty lights.

11. I simply do not have time to see everything in Rome. I want to see the Colessium, Roman Forum, St. Peter's Basilica, Trevi Fountain and Pantheon.

12. I want to get lost in Venice.


I thought I would leave this wonderful USA with some parting photographs of my favorite little six month old baby that I got to hang out with yesterday! :)

Pippa was delighted to eat a spoon while Ellen and I lunched in Edmonds. I will miss these two while I'm gone!! :(