THREE WEEKS!

It's really hard to believe but only three weeks until Spain! Thank goodness (somewhat) the time has flown by because I feel like I've been looking forward to this for forever but it has always seemed so far away. Now it seems so close!

I'm going through my calendar at work and declining and cancelling meetings and it's so liberating. I just won't think about all the unanswered emails I'm sure I will have upon my return :)

Next item on the planning agenda is to think about what I'm going to wear. As a girl, I am sure I will overpack but maybe somehow I won't overpack toooo much. I tell myself I'll only pack what I need, but I know I'm lying. It's just so hard to make decisions! Who knows what I will want to wear? How can I plan for every type of event that I won't know will be happening until we get there? Maybe I'll just to plan to buy fun things while I'm there... yeah that sounds like a beautiful plan!

Hasta luego! (estoy practicando mi español!)

Woes of finding a place to stay in the South of Spain

The only piece remaining to be booked for our trip to Spain is a place to stay for one night while we are making our way from Seville to Valencia. You would think this would be easy. But oh how wrong that thought is. So far we have tried 4 different places on airbnb and been shot down every single time (although, to be fair, we did some of the shooting down too).

However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise because looks like our original ferry to Ibiza got cancelled and we'll be booked on another one that leaves about 8 hours later. This means more time to spend on our winding drive along the coast of Spain! So really it's good these people didn't work out because now we can have a little more flexibility on where we stay.

Cross your fingers for us!

Housewarming fun

Had a lovely time at the housewarming last night! Thanks to all who came out :) And hopefully those were there got a chance to meet my lovely parents--they're the best in the world!

Can't wait to have people over again. Next step is actually putting away everything upstairs. Easier said than done though...

Finally the Big Move is complete

It was quite the stressful last 7 days. From packing up everything to the actual moving, it was all a blur--aside from the 6 hours it took the movers which actually seemed like forever. But FINALLY, we are out of the apartment and in the new condo!

It still amazes me how much space we have. I knew we wouldn't have enough to fill it up but even with what we have it seems like we have still have so much room. Guess that means I need to go shopping! One of my favorite activities. So the plan is to hit up Ikea this weekend and buy me some furniture. Because otherwise I don't know what people would sit on in our living room, and we can't have that.

And in case you were wondering, Watson is already enamored with the new place. He was in panic mode when I dropped him off at a friend's while we moved (and I have a scar to prove it), but now he's happy as a lark and running all over the place. I just hope he doesn't decide his litter box is too far away...

But anyways, excitement about the condo! And so glad to be there! Now to spend more as we shop to get organized and fill it up. Not a terrible problem to have :)

Getting ready for the Big Move

I suppose I should take a break from my Spain planning and focus on my move to the condo I just purchased about 1.5 miles away from where I currently live downtown. I'm calling it the Big Move.

I am oh so excited about the big move and cannot wait to begin living there. It's a FANTASTIC space with tons of room, fun colors, move in ready, a wet bar, and well I could go on and on so I guess I'll just show you some pictures I took when I went for the home inspection. And then you can all be jealous :)

 

The plan is slowly coming together...

If you know me, you know how impatient I am and you will understand that I am oh so excited to have most of our planning out of the way for Spain and Lisbon!

As of this weekend, we are now successfully booked for all of our accommodations except for the driving tour, and all of our transportation except the train to Lisbon (which you can't book yet) and the rental car. It's so close I can smell it! But maybe that's the nachos I had for lunch...

Anyways, my friend Sam just left yesterday for Italy and Paris and I am oh so jealous. Now I am impatient to depart on my own fun trip. So... with that said... is it August yet?

Spain planning has commenced

We met for a while on Saturday to map out our route and as you can see in the map below, we are going to try to fit in a lot!

I think at this point, I'm most excited about Madrid, Lisbon, Ibiza, and Barcelona. Should be a fantastic time! And the traveling along the coast should be beautiful as well.

Is it August yet?

Finally... I am going to SPAIN!

So... just booked a flight to SPAIN! I am so excited! It's been on my list of countries to visit for the longest time and I am finally, finally getting to go! I'll be there at the end of August into the beginning of September and flying into Madrid and out of Barcelona.

Needless to say, this means I will probably be posting more to this blog! You know you can barely contain your excitement at the prospect of that. I know you subconsciously are looking forward to more blog posts so you can live vicariously through my travels.

Now begins the planning and I'm hoping we'll make a trip to Portugal (increases the chances of meeting my future husband Cristiano Ronaldo) while we're in the near vicinity.

I'm honestly too excited for words so before I start speaking gibberish I will cut myself off.

YEEEEEEEEE!

Official Cincinnati Resident!

I know this blog has seen a significant decrease in usage since my return to the states. But now that I'm a working girl, my life is a lot less exciting. I've heard that a lot of you would love to see pictures of the apartment and since Jody's (my roommate) parents are coming this weekend, it will be clean! And this means a perfect opportunity for photographs. You know you're excited.

As far as that thing I call a job, all is going well! I'm back in the same organization I interned in so the learning curve was a little less and I already knew all the people. And I love them! That's one of the great things about P&G: the people are so fantastic. And the work is always interesting and challenging, which makes it more fun.

Jody and I will also be going to the Cincinnati Open (Western & Southern Union Open), a tennis tournament featuring all the big names (!!!). I'm super excited and know this is my opportunity to rub elbows with some famous athletes. It'll prepare me for when some of the Olympians come visit our offices now that the games are over. I'm quite pumped about that too!

Well I suppose that's all for now. I'll try to update as fun things happen in my life!

Our Lessons Learned

In the event any of our readers want to take their own trip, here are some of the lessons we learned on our travels:

• We want ice cream too often to use it as our safe word. (yes, we're fatties)
• Nothing ever makes sense in France. Ever. 
• The Ely (England) train station is the spawn of Satan. 
• The luck of the Irish does not apply to everyone. 
• The Calanques are God's preview of heaven. 
• Ossau-iraty is the best cheese in the world. (literally we found out thanks to google)
• A decent repertoire of French is useful when witnessing a crime. 
• We need to marry the owner of a fabulous yacht in Monaco. 
• French men don't know how to be subtle. And thats putting it nicely. 
• London is the most expensive city in the world. 
• Always keep your purse close. 
• No one in Paris knows the song "Ni**as in Paris" but someone in Cap d'Ail knows "Call Me Maybe". 

Back in the USA!

Well, back home safe and sound, sitting on my couch in Alabama. It's lovely! I had great time on the trip but let me tell you, I am SO GLAD I don't have to lug those bags around anymore!

As you can see below, I uploaded the last bit of pictures so if you're interested, definitely take a look :)

Channing and I have made a list of lessons learned from our trip, some serious but mostly funny and I'll try to post that tomorrow. You never know when you may decide to follow in our footsteps so we definitely want to be helpful!

Thanks for joining me on the ride and if you want to know more, feel free to let me know!

It's good to be home!!!!

Cap D'Ail & Monaco fun

And here is the last group of pictures from the trip: Cap D'Ail where we stayed (less than a mile from Monaco) and the sites of Monaco. I wish we could have gotten pictures of the casino but that was forbidden for some reason. We actually had to check our cameras in at the door. Odd.

The Plage Mala aka a beach in Cap D'Ail

Casino in Monte Carlo and the views of the Mediterranean from Cap d'Ail

Walking around Cap d'Ail

Plage Mala again! But we had more sun this time :)

Excited to be in Monaco, and would you look at all the yachts???

I. Want. One. And the track from the Grand Prix the week earlier, still intact!

The Palais of Monaco! And one of its guards

I loooooove the beach views! And the cathedral on top of the hill

Odd baby sculpture outside the Museum of Oceanography... and a jellyfish! Weeeeee

I guess they're funny at the aquarium and talking about sushi. And cool fish!

Sebastian the crab! And an old submarine thing

Interesting art, one of many that was deemed unfit for minors. And Aye aye captain!

A boat from Ireland! And yeah, that's a jaguar. 

We wanted to steal it. And this yacht.

Seriously, where can I get one of these? The car and the yacht.

Look closely, an Alabama license plate!!! And another shot of the Monte Carlo Casino

Actually I think I'll just take the Lamborghini. 

Photos from Nice!

Below and here are some pictures from Nice! Love having the fast wifi of home!

Our first meal in Nice and our waiter gave us a free drink! Now that's hospitality! And a cool church in downtown Nice

Our meal on the beach and it's oh so French: a baguette, cheese, wine, and ham; Channing is loving it!

Spotted: old man in a speedo. I think I'll pass on that one. And our mystery deserts that ended up being some cookie and chocolate mousse concoction?

Apparently in Germany they are very technologically advanced and have jet packs! And what we thought was a wedding party but actually turned out to be some sort of protest

The view from Castle Hill, and one of it's "cascades"

The cascade was beautiful! And who knew that Watson made it to the South of France?

At the Museum of Contemporary Art: a dress made entirely of plastic bottles, and um... I don't even know but it's art?

The promenade outside the museum, and looking towards the Nice Acropolis