Hello Again

I'm back to say "hi." I know I'm very inconsistent, but sometimes I like to come back to the blogging world because you all are so inspiring.

The last few months I was able to travel quite a bit - Mexico, Chicago, Maine, Las Vegas, and Colombia. (Yes, the country.) I was also promoted at work. And turned 26. So, life happened and still happens.

What truthfully prompted this return is that I have a couple of sponsored posts coming up, so look for those. Also, my very good friend Colleen is blogging because she just moved to Thailand to be an English teacher! I love her blog so the least I can do is return the favor should she ever get bored and want to read about my life in Michigan; ) Plus I always want to blog, it just falls to the bottom of my to do list.

So allow me to share a quick moment in time from my summer (I had my first lobster roll, appropriately in Maine), and I'll be back soon to share more stories!

Heading to Philadelphia

Hey friends! Happy Friday. I'm taking a weekend trip to Philadelphia and am looking for recommendations! I've been once before - 10 years ago (I'm feeling super old right now). Anyway - suggestions for a vegetarian/vegan cheese steak? This is my main goal. Also, I'm sooooo looking forward to a high temperature of 49 degrees on Sunday. Do I sound crazy yet? I'm even feeling like 20 degrees is 'warm' these days. Oh, cruel winter, how I hate you.

Throwback from my Philadelphia trip - 10 years ago!! Whoa.

What are your weekend plans? Going anywhere fun or still snowed in?

I'm Baaaaack

I haven't blogged in two months, and I don't really have an excuse for that. What I do have though, is several good excuses to begin again! I think I was trying to hard to blog like every day, but that's just not me. So I'm going to go with the flow, hopefully impress you with my new Canon Rebel shots (none yet though), and just blog what I feel!

Croatia last June.

You probably don't know that I head to Turkey and Greece for two and a half weeks in less than a month. I've been really focusing on how to pack light. It's hard for me because I honestly don't want to wear the same outfit four times like all the tips suggest, but I have taken some advice to heart, or I plan to at least.

Have any of you been to Turkey (Istanbul or Cappadocia) or Greece (Athens, Santorini, Mykonos)? I'd love to hear your travel secrets, best things to see, and packing suggestions. Did it get chilly at night? Did you find more souvenirs than you'd imagined? What are your favorite shoes/sandals that are comfy and cute? Will I really feel that out of place if my legs and shoulders aren't covered? Please fill me in!

That's all for now, but I'm happy to be back!

Quick Library Stop

Andrew and I stopped at the library earlier to get a few vacation guides (and a couple cat and blogging books, as you can see)! I snapped a few photos to share. 

Just having a little fun with the Photobucket editor; )

With any luck, this will become a reality in late summer!

What a gorgeous cover!

A new way to check out, you place your books in the designated area, and it magically recognizes all the ones laying there! It was so impressive!

Happy Sunday! What's your week looking like? Mine looks busy, plus it's the first full work week I've had in a while! Hope I can make it through!

Postcards From Italy

i am finally home from my fifteen day vacation to croatia. we were there a majority of the trip, but also saw a little of montenegro, slovenia, and venice, italy! maybe scheduling the venice days at the end of the trip wasn't the greatest idea (emotions were high, people were tired, etc.) but it was a pleasure to visit, especially if it does in fact sink one day. i didn't think venice smelled too bad, but dang, was it super expensive, especially compared to croatia! restaurants and bars charge like three euro a person just to sit down, even if you buy a whole meal, so that added on about $20 a sitting for our group. i don't think it was my favorite place in italy, and i'm not even sure i'd go back, but i'm glad i went! here are a few shots: ) 

Postcards From Croatia

hello! i have been enjoying the last few days in the beautiful country of croatia. i'm literally on a moving boat right now heading toward the island of vis. gotta love wifi. don't have much battery left, so here are just a few shots!

we stayed a night in obrov, slovenia

trogir, croatia

off the balcony at our hotel in trogir, croatia

tory and i in milna, island of brac

milna at night

andrew, sailor man. 

exploring stari grad on the island of hvar

stari grad, hvar

statue of croatian poet

dinner in jelsa, on isle of hvar

we made a friend who i named kava. wishing i could have saved him and taken him home. what a cutie for real.

do vidjenja!

Not to Brag or Anything, But...

so this is it, andrew and i will be headed to europe on friday! It's scary how fast time flies sometimes. i think we have gathered most of the supplies we'll need (dual voltage flat iron, really nice headphones, travel journals, new swimsuits!), and we have the itinerary mainly set. we are trying to learn some important phrases (kave, mollim = coffee, please). we even practiced going over the canadian border memorial day weekend because we fly out of toronto (eh, no issues!). since croatia is a fairly less-traveled destination, i'm not sure how much preparing we can really do, but we are super excited! here are a few of the places we'll be visiting!

trogir, croatia: we are spending a couple of nights here before taking off on the boat. can't wait to explore it!

split, croatia: we're taking off on our rented sailboat from here. yes, we're sailing. i'm hoping not to be the (wo)man overboard.

isle of hvar, croatia: one of our stops as we sail! eric clapton was just there, I hear!

isle of brac: another island on our tour of dalmatia.

dubrovnik, croatia: we are renting a villa here for about a week (I'd be staying in hostels if I wasn't going with andrew's family, so this is beyond belief). they are filming "game of thrones" here, which I've said before,

but we love that show! i hope we get to have a beer with peter dinklage!

budva, montenegro: hopefully one of our excursions from dubrovnik. it's supposed to be really beautiful here.

mostar, bosnia and herzegovina: we are really hoping to go on this excursion as well. i think the bridge is the most iconic part, but i'd love to see bosnia!

venice, italia: the members of our group have all been to italy, but not to venice! i'm really excited for this part. gelato, bellinis, gondolas, cappucinos, and tiramisu!

and that's our trip! i'm hoping to have internet access so i can update you all. have you ever been to any of these places? what's the best vacation you've been on?

Let's Go Today, In a Heartbeat

i cannot believe how soon we are heading to croatia! today is may 2nd, and we leave june 8th. i am a little concerned because i feel like so many plans still need to be made for the trip and we need to buy a few more things on our croatia list... and in the meantime we are trying to figure out andrew's whole car situation. but overall i know it will be great, and i think we have most things booked at least - plane tix, hotels, villa, boat... yes! a boat! we are sailing between some of the islands for a few days of our trip. this is something i have never done. i have barely been on a moving boat (i have a few times though!), so i am somewhat nervous for this leg of the trip. i'm sure it will be amazing, and i read that the sailing is pretty smooth! we are also going to be staying at a villa in dubrovnik, which is where they are filming the game of thrones scenes that take place in king's landing. i realllllly hope they are filming there when we are visiting! that would just be an added bonus.

since we are actually flying into and out of venice, italy, we are also spending about two and a half days there at the end of the trip. i have been to italy, but not venice. i'm sure it will be gorgeous and that the gelato will be my friend. 

i wish i could post more details about the trip but i honestly don't know what it holds for us. we are hoping to go on a kayak tour in dubrovnik, which is pretty much the only water activity i have any confidence or skill at. we also want to venture a little bit into bosnia and herzegovina since it is so close by. montenegro too? and we'll be driving through slovenia to get to croatia from italy. 

have any of you been to croatia? where is your next trip to?

*i did not take the photos in this post, but i will soon have my own!