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Just another day at the Office

Babysitting is hard work.

Being a dog is hard.

See that dent? Yeah, I accidentally put that there. My car was fine.

On our way to the park!

Do you think they could have gotten any closer?

Baby Benjamin again!

A new dress always makes me feel awesome.

A pinterest inspiration. I managed to score all the candle holders on clearance. Everything cost me under 20 bucks.

My new favorite pair of shoes.

Brad rescued this grill from the dumpster and rebuilt it. I was dubious of it's safety at first, but it hasn't blown up yet.

This makes me happy.

Baby Benjamin!

It's boot weather (sort of).

I wish!

Style File 9-10-12

 So. Please excuse my wild hair in these photos. I have yet to master the top knot that doesn't involved a million little fly-aways. Any suggestions for that?

 Do you have an outfit that just makes you feel really BA? This is that outfit for me. I feel very myself in this outfit and very confident. I don't know what it is about it. I suspect its the shoes.

 I also like this outfit because it's easy, but the oomph is in the details.

 Oh, this might also be the first time you've seen my new glasses! I love them. A lot.

 This is my quick attempt at a detail shot. I just picked up this lace shirt from the Limited, off the clearance rack. I like it a lot, it's comfy, girly, and something that I can dress up or down for work. Since I spend most of my time in the office, it's important for me to get pieces that work well in the office AND on the weekend.

Can we talk about these shoes for a minute? They make me swoon. The bow. The lopard print. The low comfy heel. The pointed toe. I basically love everything about them. I'm not usually an animal print type of gal, but these just called to me from the DSW clearance rack. I think my husband was slightly less than thrilled about them. He has some funny "shoe rules" that I generally disregard.

So what have we been up to lately? Our church recently launched a second campus, and Brad is pretty involved with the sound side of that. So he's been busy setting things up, researching, and making recommendations to purchase things. Plus he's been busy with his class. I've started school too and trying to settle into a new routine. I've struggled with the motivation side of things this time around. Oops.

Roman Holiday (Style File 9-01-12)

 Ok, so... I'm way behind on this, but here is one last style file from our vacation. These photos are primarily from the Colosseum.

 It was super HOT in Rome. My strategy was to dress cool, so for me that means dresses. Plus dresses are easy to pack and wear with little thought in the morning. Who wants to spend precious Rome time figuring out what to wear? Not me! You've seen this dress probably multiple times; it's a workhorse in my wardrobe and I wear it a lot.

 I also chose to pack flat sandals. Now, by the end of our time in Rome, my sandals had rubbed some raw spots on my toes...but for the most part they worked for me. I chose sandals because they're fairly comfortable, kept my feet cool, and looked good with my dresses.

  In addition to it being hot, we did a lot of outdoor sightseeing. This made a hat necessary, because I have fine hair and fair skin. Sunburnt head is the worst! I actually bought this hat from a street guy, so it's probably of dubious legality... but it was cheap and kept my head from being burnt. Which is very important to me! Also, this photo is from the Castel de St Angelo

Lastly, my sunglasses were also a must. So sunny all the time! This photo was taken near the Spanish Steps.

So to wrap up my thoughts about vacation, I thought I would give some tips for each place.
London:

• Bring an umbrella and a jacket, no matter the time of year. It was pretty cool and rainy when we were there!
• It takes longer than you might think to travel around, so make sure you have extra time.
• Take a tour first thing!
• I found the food to be kind of so-so. I know good food in London exists, we just didn't have much luck finding it!

Paris:

• Umbrella again!
• Be prepared for some people to be rude about not speaking French. Don't take it personally and don't let it bug you. It's just the way it is there! learn a few phrases, showing you tried will help! 
• Try to stay somewhere centrally. 
• The Metro can be confusing, but using it is way less expensive than the taxis. That said, during rush hour, don't expect to be able to just zip around the city. It takes a lot of time and is very crowded.
• There are pick pocket schemes out there. If anyone wants you to sign a petition (esp. in a tourist area) don't do it. They work in teams, one is distracting you with the petition, the other is picking your pockets. Think about it, why would they want a bunch of tourist signatures anyway? Another scheme is a street vendor coming up to you and braiding a bracelet on your arm, but then not letting you leave until you pay a lot of money.  
• The Paris pass was wonderful if you're going to a lot of the monuments and museums.

Rome:

• Pickpockets are also out in Rome, but if you keep your stuff close to you, you'll be fine.
• Don't be afraid to use the bus system. They don't have an extensive Metro system, so the buses are actually way more accessible. 
• Get the Roma Pass. You can use any of the public transport for free. Plus you can skip lines and get discounted entrances.
• Eat a lot of gelato. Drink Ceasanase wine; it's only grown in Rome.
• The Trevi Fountain is always always busy. Just one of those things!
• Walk around a lot. Explore. That's the point of Rome!

All Three Places:

• Sunblock. Why ruin your vacation with a wicked sunburn?
• Public transportation is the cheapest option, always.
• If you don't want to stick out like a sore thumb (as a tourist), dress nicely. People in Europe don't wear t-shirts and jeans the way we do in the States. Tennis shoes are also not really something they wear. That said, no matter what you do, you're going to look like a tourist. Especially in places where English is not the language.

Roma Recap!

 Rome. Oh I loved Rome. I ate some of the best food I have ever had in Rome. I loved almost everything about it, except it was pretty hot. BUT. The whole experience was amazing, albeit hot. I tried to minimize my picture sharing...but...well there is still a lot of them. Rome is so full of architecture and ancient ruins. The Piazzas are the social areas where lots of bars and restaurants are. The Piazzas are literally squares, many with fountains in them, where people congregate. These things are old too. Like centuries old. We spent a lot of our time just wandering the streets of Rome and turning corners to see where we ended up next.

Here's what we did in Rome:

Day 1:

• We woke up and went to Pizza Navona (where a Bernini Fountain was), grabbed a cappuccio and croissant on the way. 
• After exploring for most of the morning, we grabbed some pizza to go and then went to the Vatican. We went in St. Peter's Basilica (which was breath-taking, BTW) and then through the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. Let me just say this was so crowded. It was hard to take it all in because so many people were there. I felt like a cow being herded, which really wasn't far from the truth. We couldn't take many pictures due to the people and the restrictions on taking pictures. 
• After the Vatican, we got some gelato. It was amazing.
• It was very very hot, so we went back to the hotel to cool off and take a bit of a rest. When it was dinner time we headed toward the Pantheon, where we checked it out and then ate dinner. This meal was one of the best we had the whole trip.

Fountain of the Four Seasons in Pizza Navona

mmm...Gelato

These fountains were all over Rome. Fresh, cool water readily available. We never had to buy bottled water, it was awesome.

The Pieta-- St. Peter's Bascilica

 Day 2:

• Took the bus to Ancient Rome stuff. We saw so many ruins including the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Took a good part of the morning and by the time we were done with Lunch it was so hot, so we headed back to the hotel for a rest and regroup.
• When it was a bit cooler, we went to Castel St. Angelo, which is basically an old fortress/castle that the Popes used, and at one point it was a military outpost. It was very very interesting, and very cool to go in. It also had a very awesome view from the top.
• That evening we made our way to the Trevi Fountain where we tossed in some coins and explored, ending up near the Spanish Steps and in another Piazza.
• we ate dinner at a pizzeria, and they had the best pasta of the whole trip. So tasty and so delicious. I will remember that one for years to come.
• We went back to the Trevi Fountain to see it lit up at night and to see if it was any less busy at 10:30pm (it wasn't). We were both worn out so we headed back to the hotel for the night.

The Colosseum

The Arch of Titus- this is a depiction of the Sack of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

This is apparently a very very well preserved temple. That bronze door is apparently original to the structure and that's amazing because most other ruins had the bronze absconded for money long ago. They think this one got left because it's very thick, very tall, and pretty impossible to move.

St. Peter's Bascilica from the top of the Castel St. Angelo

Trevi Fountain

At the Spanish Steps

Spanish Steps!

Trevi Fountain at Night

Day 3:

• We headed toward Campo Di Fiori, which is an outdoor market, for breakfast and to do a bit of shopping just for fun. It's in the middle of a Piazza and surrounded by lots of resturants and such.
• Took the bus up to Repubblica, to go see the Ecstasy of St. Theresa (in a tiny little church). It ended up being closed when we first stopped by, so we went and took a bus tour until it reopened. Let me just say...skip the green bus tour. It was terrible. TERRIBLE. But it did get us off our feet and took us out to see a few things we might not have seen otherwise. After the bus tour we went back to the Ecstasy of St. Theresa. I didn't photograph it because it seemed very irreverent to do so. The church was tiny and there were people praying, so I didn't want to disturb the sanctity.
• After that we went back to the hotel to cool off (it was so hot) and get everything packed.
• Later, when it had cooled down and we were packed, we went to Trastavere to get dinner and take one last long walk.

Outdoor dinner in Trastavere

A picture of a side street near where we ate dinner in Trastavere. Very very picturesque.

View from a bridge. I thought it was pretty.

Paris ReCap

 Alright, this post is way picture heavy. I couldn't decide which pictures to post and which to not post.

We took the train from London to Paris. It was awesome and I highly recommend the Eurostar; very smooth ride, and two hours later we arrived in Paris.

 After arriving, dropping off luggage, and taking a walk, we met up with our bike tour. We loved the tour! It was a great mix of big touristy stuff and quirkier little things that are just fun to know.

 See that black dot above the window? Yeah, that's a cannon ball from the French Revolution.

 There is a street artist who puts up these Space Invaders all over Paris. They've just left them up. Mostly because they're cool.

 Back end of Notre Dame. It got Photo Bombed. Sorry about that. So the first half of the tour was amazing. But then it started pouring rain and it got a bit miserable. We finished it, we went off to Musee d'Orsay, where many Impressionist Paintings are housed. We couldn't take pictures there, but I definitely recommend it. 

View from our Hotel Balcony

 Our second day in Paris, we went out to Versailles. It was very busy, but very cool. So much history and art there, but I won't put up a bajillion pictures of everything in Versailles.

 After returning from Versailles (which was about an hour outside of Paris), we walked around and did some shopping in St. Michel (see the above fountain. It's St. Michel).

 During our walk, we found a sweet crepe place right by the Pantheon. After enjoying a wonderful crepe, we went to the Pantheon.

 The Pantheon was unexpectedly cool. Voltaire and Rousseau are buried there.

 That evening, we saw the show "How to become a Parisian in 1 hour". Unfortunately, we had lots of trouble finding the theatre and we missed the first 15 minutes of a 1 hour show. It was very funny though, so I'm glad we eventually found it. After the show, which was in the Montmarte area, we walked to the Opera Garnier (the Paris Opera House). Did you know this is the Opera House that the Phantom of the Opera takes place in? We didn't go in because it was late at night, but it was still awesome to see.

Stained Glass in Notre Dame

 Our Third day in Paris we went to Notre Dame. The church is very beautiful, but I was disappointed in the lack of reverence in it. I did enjoy myself and very much enjoyed seeing all of the beautiful stained glass and sculptures inside.

 After Notre Dame, we went to Sacre Couer, which sits up on a gigantic hill. It is a very beautiful church, and there was still some reverence in this one. No pictures inside, but we took lots of the outside. We went all the way to the top to get a great panoramic view.

top of Sacre Coeur

After climbing to the top, we just walked around Montmarte, got some lunch at a crepe place, did some shopping, and just...strolled. We spent a lot of time just enjoying the quaintness of the neighborhood.

Mondrian

 That evening we went to the Centre de Pompidou, which houses lots of Modern Art. We didn't have a ton of time in the museum, so we took a ton of pictures. I love modern art, so this was one of my favorite stops.

Our last day in Paris was spent doing some last minute exploring and shopping. The way our travel fell, we had until 3pm before we had to get to the airport to fly to Rome. Brad really wanted to go to the Arc De Triomphe, and I'm so glad we did. Not only was it just cool to look at, but it had a great view of the city. We still had time to kill, so we went and looked at the Moulin Rouge (we did NOT go in). Then we went back near the Arc De Triomphe and did some shopping before heading back to the hotel and off to the airport. Stay tuned for Rome!

View from Arc De Triomphe