The Weekend Report

The joke in the Pacific Northwest is that summer starts on July 5th but I feel we're in the thick of it now.  We've taken advantage of our last few weekends and have been road tripping and exploring and camping and brunching like its our job.  The hubs has been charming and full of funny jokes and stories and every outing turns into an adventure.  Like the time we bought 24 bottles of organic lemonade.  Huh.

My library queue of available titles is turning against me.  I now have books coming out of my ears and a careful schedule of when to actually check them out so as to prolong the time I have to read them.  I had forgotten what it's like to always be in the middle of a book and to be able to get away so quickly into another world.

The sweater I'm working on is in limbo.  I tore it out and started it again on smaller needles (size 1...I think I might be insane) to get the gauge the pattern calls for.  I have asked three experienced knitters for help and have gotten three different answers which worries me.  I may just have to stubbornly get through this without further consultations.

I want to take a summer break from work.  These long, sunny days with nothing more pressing than a library book and a knitting project to occupy my time are good days indeed.

Travelogue: NYC

Last weekend, we took a short trip to New York City where we met up with some dear friends we haven't seen in four years, had dinner in a small but boisterous Italian restaurant (cash only?!) and went to Magnolia Bakery for cupcakes, where the hubs was mistaken for Ryan Gosling and, let me tell you, cupcakes with a Ryan-Gosling-look-alike is among the best ways to spend an evening in New York.

It's a good thing that we now live on the west coast because being 3 hours behind is the only way I could sustain our sightseeing schedule.  We were out past midnight almost every night which violates every instinct of my 80 year old inner self but it was so worth it.  We were able to see a lot of Manhattan, most of the major museums, a Broadway play (Chaplin!), the Top of the Rock, and do a bit of general exploring.  I ate my fair share of bagels and pretzels and pizza (oh my!), had a mini-panic attack on an extremely crowded subway and logged a few good miles on a pair of pink flats.

I can't say I fell in love with New York City the way I fell head over heels for Buenos Aires but we enjoyed ourselves tremendously.  Seeing the city did something to the patriotic part of my heart that I hadn't expected. My experience as an American feels somehow more complete having visited the site of so many important historical events.  Plus New York prices make Seattle living seem small and inexpensive.  I came home inspired and thankful for what we have.  Thanks for the perspective adjustment, New York!

{city bakery breakfast}

{from the Astor Turret in the Museum of Natural History}

{hotel floor}

{central park}


{moma: a version of The Scream}

{moma: patio}

{yup}

{hubs  + elk, Museum of Natural History}

{Top of the Rock: yolo}

I Felt Like Cheering

This is the first hour where I feel I've been able to catch my breath since our trip "home".  It's strange to feel like home is multiple places but I suppose that has always been the case.  I always have a sense of homecoming when we visit my grandma because I have so many memories of her house, the fields, the back 40, Sandy Lake, and the little country cemetery where my great-grandparents and my grandpa are.  I feel there, more than anywhere else, like this is where I'm from because of the way my grandma sees the past in the field her mother used to plow and the neighbors they used to know and the place where the little country school house stood.  It's where she grew up and my dad grew up and I've seen pictures of my infant self being passed around the same breakfast table where we ate last week.  There's something grounding in knowing how a place used to be and how it still is.  It felt good and familiar to be in North Dakota and in my hometown but there wasn't the same sense of homecoming.  Maybe because things are changing and it's hard to feel the same about a landscape that I used to know and don't anymore.  I haven't lived at home for almost 10 years (which is mildly alarming to realize) and as much as I love North Dakota, I'm not from there and will never feel like I'm from there. (The breathtaking flat.  And that wind!)

When we stepped off the plane and I saw the 'Seattle' in a Seattle's Best Coffee's sign, I felt like cheering.  When I drove to work on Monday in mild morning traffic with the Olympics jagged and beautiful in the distance, I felt like cheering.  When I got into the passenger seat of Ryan's car after a week of driving not our car, I felt like cheering.  I feel at home here because this is where our present is and we have each other.  Home is where the heart is, as simple as that.

I have woefully few pictures from our trip, just a few here and there, but here are some from more relaxed moments during the week.

{Modesty Blaise + Caribou}

{up north}

{first date lunch: repeated 9 years later}

{viking church}

{more viking church}

{my dad's t-bird}

Middlefork Camping

{charred and delicious}

{that's what i'm talking about}

{garfield mt.}

{darling spot for a picnic lunch}

{picnicking}

{camping feet = happy feet}

{more smores}

I had a wonderful weekend of much needed r&r thanks to the hubs.  Man knows me.  When I texted him at 10:30 one morning that I had just ordered another pair of Toms, he knew it was one of those days that drives a girl to desperate, spur-of-the-moment retail therapy and kept his husbandly remonstrances regarding excessive shoe shopping to himself.  Instead, he packed us off for a delicious weekend of camping, hiking and roasting things over a fire.  I spent hours staring at the treetops from the hammock, reading and even took a two hour nap on Saturday afternoon.  Amazing.

There's a lot of good camping around here...if you can squeeze in a reservation.  I love the idea of having all our camping gear packed and ready to go at a moment's notice but unless you plan ahead to make a reservation, the chances are slim that you will spontaneously find an open site.  Spontaneous or not, I hope there's more camping in our future this summer because coming home pleasantly tired and smelling of wood smoke means the weekend was a good one.

snapshots from a long weekend

We spent a lovely long weekend in Victoria, BC.  (No bigs, just a weekend abroad for the hubs' birthday. Fancy.)

We took a passenger-only ferry up on Friday and spent the day wandering around downtown.  On Saturday, we went to the Royal BC Museum and a local castle.  The bed and breakfast where we stayed was adorable and the breakfasts totally delicious.  I kinda want to live full time in a B&B.  Spending so much uninterrupted time together was exactly what I needed as a little getaway from our daily work routine and it's these little adventures that make me glad I'm married to my best friend.

Even when the only other person walking ahead of us on a quiet street farts and my best friend turns to me and loudly exclaims "What was that?!" and I shoot eye daggers at him and at the lady's hastily retreating back and then have to swiftly avert the eye daggers when she turns around to confirm that we did in fact hear it.  Yep, sorry.

But aside from THAT, love the man and our long weekends away.

Travelogue: Some Time Away, Some Time Here But Lots and Lots of Family Time

The last two weeks have been busybusybusy for us.  We had some big, very special family events; 6 birthdays (some more or less belated), a graduation, a wedding, 2 receptions, 1 wedding anniversary and very sadly, a funeral.  There was a lot of cake to be eaten, even a turkey!, two dozen Krispy Kremes, thousands of pictures snapped (mostly not by us, for once), lots of 'helloiloveyouitsbeentoolong' hugs followed by 'goodbyeiloveyouitsbeentooshort' hugs, loads of hastily done laundry (as in, 'ohshootthedressIneedtoweartomorrowisdirtyandstillpackedinmysuitcase'), many soggy tissues from tears shed in happiness and sorrow and many, many shared laughs.

We were in Albuquerque for 5 days, home for 1 day, in Lincoln for 4 days and home again on Memorial Day and then unexpectedly sick and (trying to) work(ing) for 3 days before the next wave of family events.
We had a wonderful time on each leg of our trip and will have some very good memories from this time.

Some of my personal highlights have been:

• Sharing a cheese plate with Ryan that included a cheese that "tastes like a haunted house".  His words, not mine.  The man has the heart of an English major.  I've known it all along.
• The giddy "I'm home!!!!!!!!!" feeling when the plane touched down in Albuquerque. 

Albuquerque

• Hearing my aunts and uncles reminisce about my grandpa who died when my parents were only newlyweds.
• The day I spent roadtripping with my husband and cousin through beautiful mountain roads and towns, ending with a visit to my grandpa's grave site in a beautiful national cemetery.

Haagen Dazs in the Santa Fe plaza

• The look on my brother-in-law's face as his bride was coming to him down the aisle.
•  The quick and tearful (on my part) hug I shared with my new sister-in-law moments after she became a Mrs.
• RUNNING (in heels) to see the "fireworks" that turned out to be real and not a ruse to get the newlyweds out to see their decorated car...
• Sitting in our bathtub with every single pillow we own in a heap beside me, waiting for the insta-almost-tornado to be over and texting my sister updates from the radio.
• Grilling for my mother-in-law's birthday and then having all the siblings sitting around for a cozy after-supper chat.

There were infinitely many beautiful and dear moments from this last week and I'm so glad for each of them and glad for the family I have.

But my introverted self is craving serious alone time...maybe like the rest of the summer...after the next couple weekends, of course!  We have more very special family/friend things to look forward to soon!

Travelogue: Tot Ziens, Holland (A Little Awesome and Awkward)

We've been home for a week now, with mixed feelings.  I missed texting, strong black tea in a large mug, my couch and cereal.  I definitely did not miss severe winter weather, the daily work routine or having to make my own bed and clean up after myself.  Why doesn't our apartment have a housekeeping crew?

I liked the Netherlands.  Ah lahked it ah-lawt.

Here are some things that are awesome:

• Mamas ride bikes in 3 inch heels.  And a mini-skirt.  And have a toddler in a seat between the handlebars.  And bring home the groceries in the saddlebags.
• Dutch chocolate breakfast sprinkles.  Mmm...a little chocolate at breakfast time can be a very, very good thing.
• 3 air kisses are better than 2!
• Grocery hand baskets with an extendable handle and little wheels so you can drag it around instead of carrying it on your arm.
• Stroopwafels.  Come to America, please.

And a little awkward:

• If you are tall, your short guest will only be able to see the top of her forehead in your bathroom mirror.
• Schoolgirls who dash across major intersections while you stand timidly at the crosswalk, waiting for the light to change.
• Some restaurants have pets...cute unless you're an icky-animal-hair-on-me-or-in-my-food-freak out.
• Having to start every interaction in Dutch until they realize you didn't understand anything after "Hallo."  And then they switch to perfect English.
• A majority of the population who consider leggings to be equivalent to pants. Not so.

Travelogue: Winding Down (Citizen M, Meatballs and Monkeys)

Our last two days in Amsterdam were a lot of fun.  Our hotel was mind blowing - all sleek and modern with a community hostel feel. But instead of grungy college kids there were hot professionals in suits.

Part of the lounge area in part of the lobby

The room was tiny.  There was no closet, no desk, no bathroom, no counter space and practically everything in the room could be controlled by a single remote, the lights (on and off as well as color), the blinds, the shades, the temperature, and the TV.  It was like Ikea and Apple had a baby.  The bed was its own super cozy cubby.  We loved it.  

After checking in, we found a recommendation in the guidebook for typical Dutch food and took two trams to get there.  It was packed with locals, mostly 70 year old men, but we found a small table for two near the door.  Ryan ordered stewed beef and I ordered Grandma's meatballs, which turned out to be a single giant meatball that was fan.tas.tic. Also, the side of fried potatoes....a moment of silence that such wonderfulness exists in the world. 

Clean plate club

The difference between our hotel and the little place where we ate dinner was stark.  It was high-tech v. down home but we felt that neither the old nor the new was out of place.  They both felt right and typical Amsterdam. 

We started Wednesday at the Albert Cuypsomethingsomething market, which was recommended to us for people watching and oh, boy did we see some interesting people.  The rest of the market was fruit and vegetables, fresh seafood, cheese and junk.  Not even interesting junk.  Just junk, cheap clothes, shoes and electronics.  
 Then we took a tram up to Station Centraal and wandered around.  It's the busiest, noisiest, dirtiest, most touristy part of town.  And my least favorite.  We found Chinatown and the Red Light District and paid €5 to see Oudekerk (old church).  Or rather, we paid to see some very creepy art installations that they had on display while the church was being renovated.  Scary looking human figures covered in black plastic breaking out of a 50's style TV?  A breastplate of armor covered in little clay penises?  Gimme back my 5 euro!    
We had Dutch pancakes (like crepes) for lunch and went to the Waterlooplein fleamarket.  This market had cool junk.  Vintage buttons, tableware, medals, postcards, books, shoes and some handmade crafts.  It covered several blocks and made for some fun browsing.
Then we had some coffee.  We discovered that a Funky Monkey Bambino is a smidge of espresso, a lot of chocolate milk and even more whipped cream.  So, we found a lot of excuses to duck into coffee shops to warm up and enjoy whipped cream a hot drink.

Two Funky Monkeys, please

Thus concluded our last full day of sightseeing in Amsterdam!  Good times. 
I'm glad we scheduled our time so we were able to approach everything as vacation instead of a speedy sight oriented regimen.  I'm also glad that we left the city for a few days to see Maastricht.  It provided some context for Amsterdam and it was a nice foil to the hustle and bustle of the big city.
One more travelogue coming up!

Travelogue: Mmmmaastricht (Rolling Suitcases are Loud on Cobblestones)

We arrived in Maastricht 6:00 Sunday evening after a 2.5 hour train ride from Amsterdam.  It's a much smaller, quieter city than Amsterdam - cobblestones, church bells and an ancient Roman wall.  Our hotel is centrally located in one of the city squares and there is a lot of good eating and shopping nearby.  Let me repeat: Shopping.  And eating. I am in European heaven.  The hotel itself is old and a little funky.  There are two doors to our room - a bright red door without a lock and then a step forward to a white door with a lock that leads into the room.  Our key is old-fashioned, like skeleton key old fashioned.  Oh, and the carpet is different on each floor and crazy.  And the toilet is super weird.  That's all.

We had dinner at one of the nearby cafes.  I had something called vuurlees, which the menu loosely translated as "meat in vinegar".  Um, yikes.  It turned out to be chunks of stew meat in what tasted a lot like barbecue sauce.  It came with a side of french fries but ketchup was an additional order that cost .65 cents.  (Charging for a squirt of ketchup is an odious practice that needs to go away forever!)  Ryan had a mouthwatering steak in a mushroom cream sauce.  Then we devoured a Belgian waffle with homemade vanilla ice cream and a warm cherry sauce.

Today we wandered around the city - had a late breakfast, a long walk near parts of the ancient wall, a cozy lunch and some shopping near the hotel.  There's an old cathedral that's now a beautiful bookstore and there are many of the same clothing and shoe stores that I've seen in Eindhoven and Amsterdam - de Bijenkorf, V&D, Hema, Van Dalen, H&M.  On a random note: there's also a Body Shop.

Tomorrow is open for whatever, possibly a climb up a church tower, a tour of a mill/bakery and maybe more traditional Dutch food?  More travelogues on the way.

Travelogue: What's Up, Amsterdam? (The Snuggle Bus has Arrived)

In the last week, I have:

• Been to Belgium three times. (But the combined trips equaled about a half hour, max.)
• Eaten Dutch Chinese take-out.  (What's with all the eggs? Seriously. One dish came with a couple fried eggs on top and another dish was completely saturated with scrambled eggs.)
• Eaten Dutch McDonalds. (Possibly a little grosser than American McDonalds)
• Started VACATION with my HUSBAND. (Take that, job)
• Seen Rembrandts and Vermeers. (Worth it)
• Been to the house where Anne Frank & family hid during the war. (Wow)

I finished up the last three days of work related training on Wednesday and bid adieu to Eindhoven.  The hubs arrived on Thursday and now we are in Amsterdam.  We took a train from the airport and a tram from the train station and when we stepped off the tram, we walked down a beautiful sunny street overlooking a canal and I fell in love with Amsterdam a little.
We are staying near Vondelpark, the Amsterdam equivalent of Central Park, which is off the Museumplein, or the area where all the major museums are located.  It's a little far from the center, which I was apprehensive about at first but now I'm glad for.  Where we are is quieter and more residential.  What little we saw of the center was noisy, dirty and touristy, like all big city centers.

On our to do list:

• EAT FRENCH FRIES from a street vendor (okay, that might be just on my list)
• Hit up the Van Gogh museum
• See more of the city center

Stay tuned for ravings about French Fries as the travelogue continues!

Travelogue: 7 Days in Eindhoven (Weekend Review)



Veldhoven office lunchroom



It has been a fantastic, crazy, fun, thoughtful, stressful, short week.  My Dutch coworkers are the nicest people ever.  One of the girls I have been working with for a year through email and phone calls greeted me with a hug and 3 air kisses - one on each side and a final one on the original side.  I miss the air kiss from my days in Chile.  On my first day in the lunchroom, I asked someone where the water dispenser was (turns out we were standing in front of it - um, awkward.) and they asked me if I would like hot or cold water and then gave me the glass they had poured for themselves. Wow. 



Le toilet. That grey "box" next to le TP is the flush



I am a little tired of eating out, however.  I was worried that I was going to be stuffing myself silly but I feel like I'm starving to death half the time. Partly because I have no food when I want to eat and it would be unseemly to snitch a whole basket of fruit from the hotel breakfast buffet. 



Just a few of the small dishes from an Indonesian restaurant. The table was LOADED by the time everything was brought out



My Friday night grocery store haul. Those mini stroopwaffels are my new BFF. I loves them.



My dinners from this last week include: pork schnitzel, stuffed mushrooms, an assortment of Indonesian dishes, meat and boiled potatoes, scallops, and partridge. Other notables include: roast duck salad (yummm), creme brulee made of duck liver and topped with apple jelly (meh), roasted fennel (still ick) and a Dutch croquette (yikes) which is basically shredded beef and extremely thick gravy miraculously held together and then breaded and deep fried. Served on a slice of white bread but if you put it on a stick, it would be right at home at the State Fair.  Not exactly health food.



Banned Frank (from the Van AbbeMuseum)



"I ordered this yellow thing from the exhibition assistants but later on I completely forgot the reason for this" (from the Van AbbeMuseum)



The weather is hovering in the upper 30s and low 40s with rainy drizzle at least once a day.  It doesn't stop the bikers.  People here bike everywhere all the time.  There are tiny school age kids biking to school, professionals biking to work and elderly people biking...wherever elderly people need to go.  The doctor?  I've seen several parents with baby bike seats up in the front between the handlebars and couples with the girl sitting on a shelf thing over the back tire.  Most bikes also have saddlebag looking things in the back for storage.  And the bikes are all the same style, nothing fancy, mostly black or silver, no gears and usually with a bell and a light.  It's kind of awesome.



View from my hotel window


Overall, it's been a great week, in and out of the office, and I'm looking forward to another 3 days of work and then the Ryan+Jessica show is going on the road!  Can't wait.

More travelogue updates to come!