What's the Skinny?

I am so excited about my new purchase I can't stand it. And, no, it's not camera equipment! (shocker I know!). The other day I decided to stroll through Kohl's with a pocket full of coupons, hoping I'd find some loot. And I did! Granted, not as much as I was hoping, but I was still very happy. I bought a few advanced Christmas presents and some bowls for the kitchen and a few drape options for the guest room. But the purchase I was most excited about was my skinny jeans! Yes, you heard correctly. I bought skinny jeans. I couldn't believe it either. I mean, me, in skinny jeans? It's like an oxymoron! Before you say I'm being too hard on myself let me explain. I know that I have curves. What can I say, I'm a curvy girl. And that's not a bad thing. My hips create the illusion that my waist is tinier - and I'm a big fan of that.

But being the curvy girl that I am, I never believed I could pull off a pair of skinny jeans. I usually see them on thin, stick-figured girls (they look more like little boys) and of course they look good on them. And it's not all in my head either - I have actually tried on a pair of skinny jeans before and OMG - they were horrible. A complete disaster. It looked like someone had shoved a pear into a condom. It just wasn't pretty. Ok, so I don't really have the "pear" shape - my legs are tiny. But I do have hips, so when you put something tiny on them and then there is nothing to flair at the bottom to balance them out . . . well I'm sure you can picture it (if you are brave).

But then I had some inspiration. We went to Tampa awhile back for our good friend Jen's 30th birthday. Now Jen is ALWAYS stylish and I've always envied her clothes. So when she came out ready to go out for her birthday, she looked adorable as always. And what did she have on? Skinny jeans! Now the reason this was inpirational to me was because Jen is built similar to myself (except she is in better shape!) - she's got some curves and hips as well. And the jeans looked AMAZING on her! Where did she get them? Ann Taylor Loft. I should have known. It's only my favorite store on Earth - my mecca you could call it. I truly believe I need to take a pilgramage there at least once a month. Unfortunately, Jeremy forbids that - seeing as we would be broke.

So fast forward to the other day. I'm in Kohl's and see some skinny jeans on the rack. And what really made me stop to look is that they are Vera Wang skinny jeans (ok, Simply Vera if I have to be 100% accurate). And I have always wanted to own something Vera! (I do need to give a shout-out to my good friend Laura for buying me my Vera toasting glasses for my wedding - that was my first thing Vera. But I want clothing as well . . . ) So I figured "what the hell? I'll just try them on." And I was pleasantly surprised. They were sort of cute. I put them on. Turned a little in the mirror. Took them off and tried on a few other things. Then put them back on again. This happened a few times. And each time I put them on, I liked them a little more. But what pushed me over the edge to take the plunge was the price. They were 30% off and I had an additional 15% coupon! I just couldn't pass this deal up. So I grabbed them and didn't let myself think twice about it.

The next day I decided to try them on. I rolled them up a tad so they looked like cute capris and then threw on flip-flops and my Alabama jersey and I was sporting it, if I do say so myself. I haven't worn them rolled down yet, but that time will come. I am especially looking forward to wearing them with my UGGs. Finally! A pair of jeans I can wear inside the UGGS without them all bunching up! I still feel a little self-conscious about my hips, but as long as I pair them with a long top, I'm A-OK! *sigh* I'm in love. Oh, so this means if you ever see me in them, and they actually look horroble, please do NOT tell me and let me just continue to be delusional. Thanks!

Prague - 2 of 2

Welcome to America! Oh wait, it's not America, it's just Americanized!




We did a city tour at night with our tour group. We went to a local pub as part of our night tour and this guy came in and played his accordian for us.

Here is the city and Prague Castle by night. Sorry for the clarity of these photos, but I didn't have a tripod.

This is Prague's version of the Eiffel Tower. We were told by our tour guide that Mr. Eiffel was from the Czech Republic (ok, obviously it wasn't just the Czech Republic at that time) and they recreated it in Prague. And the Czech people like to say that their Eiffel Tower is taller than the original - due to the huge hill it is on!

While walking the Charles Bridge, we walked by these street performers.

One night we decided we didn't want to go out to eat and went to the local market across the street from our hotel. The market was completely Czech - nothing, absolutely nothing, was in English. It was a great experience - especially trying to find some cheese! So this is what we got - the local beer (Pilsner Urquell) as well as Budweiser, some cheese (I have no clue what one was and the other was some brie), fruit (apple and grapes), some sausage, and bread. Then we had a little picnic in our room. It was great!

There is a huge metronome (yes it really moves) up on the hill here. See the red pole-like thing? That's it.

Some more of Prague's beautiful bridges and the Vltava River.

The towers on Charles Bridge, Prague's most defining landmark. Until the 19th Century, Charles Bridge was the only bridge to cross the river. There is a statute on the bridge depciting John of Nepomuk - a saint. He was a 14th Century priest to whom the queen told her secrets. When he refused to tell the queen's secrets to the king, Father John was killed and thrown off Charles Bridge. Devout pilgrams touch an engraved plaque to make a wish come true (yes, I touched it!!!!!) There are now other statues on the bridge as well, dating from the late 1600's to early 1700's. However, most are replicas and the originals are in museums.

There were a lot of street vendors on the bridge as well - it reminded me of the French Quarter! The bridge is currently under reconstruction and it gets really crowded during the day because they have one portion of the bridge closed down. So we didn't cross the bridge during the day, but went back at night.

St. Mary the Victorious holds Prague's most precious treasure: The Baby Jesus (aka, the Infant of Prague). The Infant has become famous for worship and miracle tales in Prague and Spanish-speaking countries. South Americans come on pilgrimage to Prague just to see the Baby Jesus.

(yes that's the Baby Jesus in the case)

Church of St. Nicholas (built 1703-1760).

Someone having a little fun with the pedestrian walking sign. There was so much graffiti in Prague, but this was actually funny and unique.

Walking to Prague Castle (up on the hill).

The Na Valech Gardens within Prague Castle. It was so beautiful - a maze of greenery. And there were peacocks roaming around inside!

The Grotto - also in the gardens.

On our last night in Prague we went to Klub Architektu, which was recommended to us by Erin's (Jeremy's sister-in-law) parents (who used to live in Prague). It was also recommended by Rick Steves' guide book. It was in a medieval cellar - we almost couldn't find it because it was off the street in a courtyard-like place and then you had to walk down . . . a lot. Oh and it didn't help that the maps in Prague SUCK! None of them were right - some streets just weren't listed. It was weird. But it was well worth it! We had some original Czech food and it was delicious - the best goulash Jeremy had the whole trip . . . and he ate a lot of goulash!

That's all folks. Next up . . . Vienna!

Prague - 1 of 2

"So, Prague . . . that's an interesting choice. How'd you decide to go there?" Yah, that was the normal response when we told people where we were going. I mean, most NORMAL people don't go to Eastern Europe for their first trip abroad. What can I say? We definitely are not normal. We like to be original and unexpected. Plus, we had heard from so many people how beautiful Prague was. And they were right. Prague was amazing. Unfortunately, the trip over there was less than steller. But, let's start from the beginning.

We woke up at the crack of dawn - yup, around 4:00 a.m. Why you have to be at Tallahassee Regional two hours before the flight is beyond me. I mean, it's Tallahassee - they have a total of like 5 gates! (yes, that's being overly dramatic, but you get my point). And since we are world-class procrastinators we didn't actually go to bed until around midnight. Needless to say we were exhausted. Then there was "bad weather" in Atlanta creating delays everywhere. So we were about an hour or so late. Thankfully since the problem originated in Atlanta we still made our connecting flight. Now New York . . . ah, New York. We arrive from Atlanta and realize that in order to get to our next gate we have to actually leave the airport and then re-enter and then GO BACK THROUGH SECURITY. Oh yes, you read that right. It was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. And frustrating. And then we end up on Czech Airlines which is even smaller than most of our airlines. Jeremy had his butt fully against the seat and his knees still hit the seat in front of him. And everything was in Czech! We didn't expect that. We figured it wouldn't start until we were actually IN the Czech Republic. So that was interesting. But what WAS nice was the fluffy blankets and water and headphones they gave you - for free. Along with the wine. Oh yah baby! Luckily, the movies were still in English!

After being awake for almost 24 hours we finally made it to Prague. Customs was a breeze (but as someone told us - they'll let everyone in, it's trying to get back into the U.S. that is the problem!) We step out into the airport terminal ready to take on the Czech world. We mentally prepped during the plane ride. No Americanized food while we were in Europe. That was the deal. We step out and see . . . The Holiday Inn and Courtyard Marriot and McDonald's and Burger King and KFC . . . the list goes on. I think my jaw dropped.

But let's move on (since I just accidentally posted this and wasn't finished, so I have to hurry before people start seeing the unfinished version . . . lol)

Here is some of the local architecture (I loved that so many of the buildings had flower boxes):






The bridges over the Vltava River in Prague are so beautiful!






This was an art museum:


They had a ton of public transportation:

As we walked around the city, we stumbled upon Havelska Market, the local farmer's market, that was set up in the 13th Century for the German trading community.

There are lots of little alley ways around Prague:


This is Tyn Church (pronouned Teen) in the middle of Old Town Square. For over 200 years it was Prague's leading Hussite church.


This is Parizska Street - it had all of the really expensive stores on it (Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Gucci, etc.). It was also the only street lined with trees leading into the town center, so that was an easy landmark.

Old Town Square has been the market square since the 11th Century - lots of history here! Today there are lots of outdoor cafes and horse & buggies.

Church of St. Nicholas viewed from Old Town Square.

This is a view of the Restaurant u Prince Terrace. It is located on the rooftop of the five-star U Prince Hotel facing the Astronomical Clock. It has the best view, but is supposed to be incredibly overpriced.

A view over the city from the top of the Old Town Hall. The Prague Castle is in the background at the top of the hill.

There were some beautiful murals made out of tiny mosaic tiles inside the Old Town Hall.

The Old Town Hall, which has the only elevator-accessible tower in town.

The Astronomical Clock. It takes several versions of time: two outer rings show the hour in Bohemian time and modern time. Arcing lines and moving spheres combine with the big hand and the little hand. The circle below the clock shows the Zodiac signs and was added in the 19th Century. At the top of the hour there is a very short show. First, Death tips his hourglass and pulls the cord ringing the bell; then the windows open and the 12 apostles parade by; then the rooster crows and the hour is rung. Unfortunately, the clock was heavily destroyed in WWII so most of it is a reconstruction.

This is the Pinkas Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter. The walls are covered with the handwritten names of 77,297 Czech Jews who were sent from Prague to the gas chambers. Unfortunately, the entire Jewish Quarter was closed on the day we were walking around town so we didn't get to see the inside of the synagogue.

In the Jewish Quarter:

Statues that were at either end of the Cechuv Most (one of the bridges that we used as a landmark).

Lamp posts on the same bridge:

Statues off the side of the bridge:

Stay tuned for part 2!

Day trip to Dresden

I have gotten a lot of slack from people lately. Everyone wants to know why I haven't posted anything about our Europe trip. Truth is - we didn't end up going. We decided to stay in town and camp out in the house for 12 days. What? I can't pull one past you, huh? Ok, fine, I've just been extremely busy catching up with work since I got home. But I'm tired of hearing all of the whining, so I put my nose to the grindstone to be able to get out at least SOME of the photos. In fact, this is only a very small portion of our trip. While we were in Prague we decided to take a day trip to Dresden, Germany. While it did cut almost an entire day off our Prague trip (which does sadden me greatly), Dresden was also amazing. The way the city was devastated during World War II and how it has come back to life - wow. It was so beautiful! There was so much green space, which I think is why we ultimately loved it so much. We always like to check out areas where the doggies can play when we are in new places. And when we ate lunch at a nice little outdoor cafe in the town square, we truly experienced the language barrier for the first time since being out of the United States. Lunch was interesting to say the least. We ordered traditional German crepes and cold German beer. We got a few laughs from the locals at the table next to us (at least, I interpreted it as laughing . . . since you know, they could have been talking about why Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent got a makeover for all I know. It's not like I could understand them. But since I'm a little paranoid, I tend to believe that they were snickering at us young Americans).

It was a short day trip, but we got to see the highlights. And we did at least make it back to Prague in time to go out and have an dinner at an authentic Czech restaurant. But more on Prague at a later date.

We almost ate at this Italian restaurant on the river - mainly because of the Beer Garden! But we resisted since we had eaten Italian the day before.


This building has always been a cigarette company. But they didn't want it to look like a factory so they disguised it as a mosque. So the pillars are actually smokestakes. It currently belongs to Phillip Morris.


There were some beautiful "homes" (more like castles) on this hillside right on the river. There was green space all around the river, as well as biking and walking trails. It was so beautiful! The yellow house below with the vineyards (on the left) was owned by a gold maker. Yah, this was his summer house. Must be nice. In the second photo, the castle-like home with vineyards (on the left) was owned by the inventor of mouthwash. The other castle looking home has been turned into a hotel.




I forget what this next building is (you better get used to that saying because I'll be writing it a lot - there was so much beautiful architecture in every country and I just snapped away . . . but of course I forgot what most everything was. :-( Sorry!) But, in Dresden they like to call it the lemon juicer. Hehe, it really does look like one doesn't it?!


After googling the phrase "Dem Vaterland Zu Zier Und Ehr" I realize that many people have taken a similar photo as mine and yet no one has explained exactly what this building is. Sheesh!


The next photos are of the church in the middle of the main square. It is right next to the Opera House and the palace. In fact, the Royals had the green bridge built (in a photo below) to connect the palace and the church so that they wouldn't have to walk outside during bad weather. Very smart, these Germans! Notice the different colors of the stone that makes up the church. The story behind the different stones is that the church was practically destroyed during WWII. But they had the skematics of the church, so the engineers disected the rubble of the church, and logged each piece manually. They then identified the missing pieces of the church and had those remade. So the dark, black stone is the original stone from the church that was inventoried. And the lighter stones are the remade pieces. Interesting, huh?!






And here is the palace . . .










This mural tells the story of the monarchy and the details depicted in the mural also comment on the history of the country for its leaders' style, religion, etc. For example, in the second photo, you can see that the first hoof of the horse is stepping on a rose. The rose was the symbol of freedom of religion essentially from the previous monarchy - that king allowed the people to practice any religion that they wanted. When the son came to power he banned all other religions except Catholicism - hence why his horse is stepping on the rose. But if you look very closely, you can see another rose directly behind the horse's back hoof. This rose symbolizes the king that came next that once again allowed the people to practice whatever religion that they wanted.




The statute in the square. I can't for the life of me remember who it is of though. There were way too many statutes of men on horses on our trip!


The Opera House. It was undergoing some reconstruction, which is why you can see scaffolding in the picture. I actually didn't take many photos of the Opera House because there was just so much scaffolding everywhere that it really wasn't as beautiful as it normally would have been.


This was like a huge courtyard inside the palace. Originally the entire city was walled in to protect the citizens. I believe this is part of the city walls.






This is still all the courtyard in the palace. But if you look at the photos in order, they show how the wall connects around. Think of it as a fake panoramic!






It was a great trip! I'll try to get the rest of the photos together as soon as possible!!!

The San Diego Zoo

Although it is about as out-dated as "The Rachel," I just have to finish my California post series, which includes our trip to the world-famous San Diego Zoo. Jeremy hadn't been to the zoo since he lived in San Diego while in high school. Needless to say he was due a trip to see the animals. Although I had been to the zoo the previous summer, I still enjoyed our trip and I got to see the new Elephant sanctuary area that they were constructing the year before. There's really no need for narrating. Nothing too exciting happened while we were at the zoo - no stampeding elephants, no ravenous lions, no monkeys throwing poop. It was a very tame day. So I'll just post some of my photos of the beautiful animals.

The flamingos greet you the moment you walk in the gate.


Jeremy having some fun.


Hippos


We waited in a long line to see the pandas. I thought that maybe the experience would be different a year later - plus since Jeremy hadn't been to the zoo in so long I figured it couldn't hurt to wait in line to see them. But, just like last year, it was a tad disappointing. You stand in line to be shuffled through the viewing area and then the pandas are no where to be seen. Luckily I did get one photo of a panda's back. Joy.


The giraffes were fun and actively eating lunch.




All of the koalas were sleeping - as usual.


The camels were interesting. This one was foaming at the mouth and his hump was a little floppy. I was a tad concerned he had co-mingled with the pigs and caught the swine flu.


Here we are at the Elephant Odyssey. It was pretty cool! And, no, it was not simply because the elephant is the mascot for the best college football team EVER! ;-)






An owl.


At the end of the day we jumped in the air cart and rode over the park.

California Vacation - Part II

The second phase of our vacation we spent in Los Angeles with Jeremy's cousin Michael and his wife Mia and son Jack. We got up bright and early and rode the train down the coast. I had done this last summer and it proved to be a very economical means of transportation. For this trip it was $108 total for both of us to go from Gover Beach all the way to San Diego! You can't beat that!! In fact, our rental car from San Jose to San Luis Obispo cost us a whopping $150 for one day!! It was ridiculous! So the train is the way to go. Plus, you don't have to deal with California traffic, which is always an added benefit.

On the way down, I was able to get on the computer and do some blogging and playing. But that is only because Jeremy brought his air card. Unfortunately, the train did not have wi-fi. But there were outlets so my battery would last the entire time! We had our little seating section all to ourselves, which was also nice. We arrived in LA around 11:30 a.m., which was pretty good timing.

Michael picked us up and we met up with the rest of the family and went to lunch at this great little Mexican restaurant. After a quick change of clothes (because it was sweltering hot in LA! Completely different from SLO) we met up with some of Michael and Mia's friends at one of the popular parks in the neighborhood. It was beautiful! Really high up and overlooked the baseball stadium, as well as the city. There were a ton of people out playing soccer, but we chose to play bocce ball. SO MUCH FUN! And of course we had beer, lots and lots of beer.

That evening we went to a local place that had true deep dish Chicago pizza that Mia raved about. She is from Chicago and was complaining that no place had been able to mimic "true" Chicago pizza, until this place came along. I wish I could remember the name of it. The pizza was HUGE! I had one slice and was done. Then we had some time left before they had told the babysitter we'd be home, so we went to this little bar they like and sat out on the rooftop. It was a lot of fun.

The next morning we headed out again on the train, destined for San Diego. It was a short trip in LA, but it was great to see Michael and Mia and baby Jack!

I took a ton of photos of Jack. He was just so cute!!
(And yes, that is him with a beer. What can I say? The kid loves the stuff! Ok, don't get your panties in a wad - he did actually drink it!)



(I promise, it wasn't open!)










A few of the family:








Michael and Mia's friends:




The view from the park we went to. This is the baseball stadium:


And the LA skyline, complete with some smog!

California vacation - part 1

Our California vacation started out to a rocky start. As I mentioned on my pre-vacation post, we weren't flying out of Tallahassee until 4:30 p.m. Unfortunately, I completely underestimated the time we would arrive in Grover Beach. I had hoped we would get there around 1:00 a.m. California time - which would be 4:00 a.m. our time (yes, I miscalculated the time difference in the pre-vacation post!) Well, it didn't quite end up like that. Of course we were extremely delayed leaving out of Atlanta. Why was I even surprised?!? It is to be expected. It is Atlanta after all. Needless to say, by the time we finally arrived at my aunt's condo in Grover Beach and got in bed, it was well after 3:00 a.m. their time (aka, 6:00 a.m. Florida time). We were exhausted!

We did sleep until 10ish, but even that wasn't enough. But when you have limited time in a location and a lot of people to see, you have to get a move on. So we headed to San Luis Obispo, met up with my parents, dropped off the rental car, and then went out to see where my grandma was buried. Here is a photo of me and mom at grandma and grandpa's grave.


There was this house on the way to my grandparents' house that had boots lined up along their fence. It was such a cool photo op!!!

The sign above my grandparents' garage:


Beautiful flowers growing around the garage:


My grandpa's old '65 mustang. I really wanted to buy it and bring it home and rebuild it. But to haul it across the country would have cost a small fortune. :-( So I'll have to settle for the memories of it.


My always had grandparents' so many different types of fruit in their backyard: limes, loquats, oranges, grapefruits, pears! It was so much fun to grab fresh fruit off the trees.

A sentimental moment and some family.

My grandparents' house.


That night we still hadn't adjusted to the time change, so we headed back to the condo early and went to bed. It was glorious!

The next morning we were meeting my parents at The Apple Farm for breakfast. As we pull into the restaurant, I look over and recognize a cute little blue car. "Wow!" I thought, "it looks like a smurf . . ." Well, lo and behold, when we walked into the restaurant there was Kara and Ben!!! They had driven all the way down from Monterrey to surprise Jeremy and me! OMG!!! It was such a wonderful surprise! I had been a tad disappointed because it had looked like I wasn't going to the opportunity to meet up with Kara. And then next summer she is heading to China. So I was sad thinking that I wouldn't get to see her until possibly 2011 when we attempt to go to China to visit. So I was estatic when I realized she had come down to visit for the day!!

Mom and dad:


Jeremy and me:

Kara and me:


Kara and Ben:


And the four of us (it was REALLY bright out!):


After breakfast, Kara, Ben, Jeremy, and I headed out on our own. We went to Morro Bay and walked along the street looking at all the shops. Ben attempted to climb Morro Rock, as you can see from one of the photos below. And then we sat and chilled with a beer. It was a great afternoon. Then we headed back to my grandparent's house for the BBQ. It was about that time we realized that we (ok, more like Kara, Ben, and Jeremy) got really burned from our Morro Bay adventures. Whoops!

Ben trying to "climb" Morro Rock:

The boys. I just love this series of them.

An old woodie (hehe) all refurbished.

A fun (and yummy) candy store!

Morro Rock and the surrounding bay is so beautiful!

That night my uncle and some of the cousins bar-b-qued and we all ate outside on grandma and grandpa's old deck. At the end of the night I had an emotional breakdown. Kara and Ben had left to drive back home of course and then I realized as we were driving away from the house, that this was the last time I would get to see that house. My mom, uncle, and aunt were actually in negotiations at that time with a possible buyer. It happened so fast. All my life I had hoped that they wouldn't sell the house when my grandma and grandpa passed. I somehow hoped that I'd find a way to be able to purchase it from the rest of the family. The location is perfect and I have always wanted to live in California. There was always this little voice in the back of my head saying "this is the way to own land!" But unfortunately, we don't have that kind of money. And no one asked us anyway. So I realized that I would never again get to see the house that I spent so many of my childhood summers. It was a sad night.

The next morning we got on the train and headed down to L.A. But I'll save that post for another day.