ROME

October 20, 2010
Roma!!
- get off boat 7:30 (late arrival)
- walk to train station for 1 hour 20 min ride to Roma Termini
- get on Metro to Coliseum!!
- get back on Metro to Spanish Steps, walk up and down the steps.
- walk to Trevi Fountain!! Throw a coin and eat delish gelato (Alli had melon, everyone else has nutella).
- walk to Pantheon!!!! Scale is VAST!!
It just kept getting better and better.
- walk to Piazza Navona and bought art.
- took bus to Vatican City. St. Peter's square was closed (papal audience at noon). Arrived at Vatican Museum at 12:30 so we barely missed seeing Pope Benedict. Saw the Laocoon!!! Saw Raphael "School of Athens"!!! Saw 3 sister missionaries in the museum for their P-Day. Saw the Sistine Chapel- ah!!!!! It really is as amazing as they say it is.
- snuck out a side door from Sistine Chapel and got right into St. Peter's Basilica when they re-opened it after the papal audience.
- saw Michelangelo "Pieta"
- saw the Baldachino- the scale is HUGE!!!
- ate lunch sitting on the steps of Bernini's perfectly designed piazza- the arms reaching out.
- took the train ride from Hell back to port (over crowded, hot, had to stand for an hour)- we call it the Pit of Dispair. Les counted 35 people crammed in to the entry-way/loading area standing without A/C for an hour.
- dinner and hot tubbing to soak our aching muscles.
- ordered hot chocolate from room service- it came with hot milk :)
BEST. DAY. EVER

Naples, Sorrento, and Capri

October 19, 2010
Naples, Italy
-Walk Through Naples and miraculously found Corso Gharibaldi when we asked a paperman and we were already on the street :)
- train ride to Sorrento took aprox 1 hour
- walk through Sorrento in the rain, cute shops, lemons and coral.
- walked down to shore and took water taxi to Capri.
- hike up to the City of Capri.
- drink in the view of island!!
- walk down alleys with designer shops
- more jewelry stores.
- more amazing views and photo-ops.
- take water taxi back to Naples across the bay.
- dinner in Carmen
- Name That Tune: 70s songs
- Beatles Manics Show

On the train from Naples.

Sunny Sorrento wasn't really sunny for us :(

Hiking up the island of Capri to the town of Capri.

The view was SO worth it!!

Getting on the Ship and Our Day at Sea

October 17, 2010
Happy Birthday Lacey!!
-woke up and had breakfast at Starbucks across from Hotel.
-checked out of hotel and booked room for next week
-walked with luggage to Place de Catalunya and down las ramblas to the CC monument. Then we walked to the sea port terminal and across a large bridge to port B (Royal Caribbean) and checked into our cruise.
-talked to head waiter about eating at 7pm not 9pm.
-lunch at the buffet- the Windjammer Cafe. We had breakfast there almost every morning.
-explored the pool area, spa and walking track.
- walked the royal promenade and entered raffle (welcome expo).
-found rooms
-watched the boat pull out of Barcelona harbor at sun set!
-ate dinner and had a mix up because head waiter didn't really change our time to eat but it all worked in the end.
-Beatles music in the Vault where we saw some Asian lady dancing by herself and having a great time.
-majority rules game
-party around the world parade
-singles dance at the Vault- fun!! The boat was SO rocky that you could see the crowned dance floor sway- especially during line dances :) it was awesome!!!
-ship is very bumpy/rolley/rocky- to the extreme.

October 18, 2010
Day at Sea on boat
- ate breakfast (eggs Benedict!!)
- took nap until 1:30 pm
- Oktoberfest in the Royal Promenade (yummy pretzels)
- walked to very front of ship and saw some coastline as we sailed between Corsica and Sardinia.
- went to highest point on ship (sky bar)
- saw ice show!!
- mini golf and watched the end of soccer tournament.
- snack at Promenade Cafe.
- got ready for Formal Night at dinner.
- dinner at Carmen
- sat in "our spot" Aquarium Bar
- saw "Music in Motion" in La Scala theater.

Getting lost in Barcelona is...

Fun!!

Adventurous!!

A little frustrating!!

Hilarious when you discover you've been walking down the exact street you've been looking for all afternoon!!

October 16, 2010
Barcelona
- arrived at 3 pm
- took airport shuttle to Place de Catalunya and walked to our hostel. Jenny and Lacey were going to meet us there.
- walked to Block of Discord which was only a block away from our hostel.
- walked down main boulevard to Place de Catalunya and stopped at the Information Center.
- started on our search for a souvenir shop I saw listed online on Carders Street.
- walked through Barrio Gothic and saw charming streets and cafes.
- finally found Carders even though we were already on the street. I really get confused when streets change names mid-street. Oops :)
- walked back to the Eixample district and ate at Que Que tapas bar listed by Rick Steves. I've discovered I do not like tapas.
- back at hotel to sleep. I was so happy that we made it all afternoon with not wanting to die of tiredness. Too bad we really weren't able to sleep because the streets were full of loud people ALL NIGHT LONG- it was a Saturday night and Barcelona football had a game (which we found out had won b/c of the people cheering in the streets at 2 AM). It did not get quiet until the sun rose.

Bon Voyage

10 days in Europe and my suitcase only weighs 26 lbs!! Funnily enough- Lesley's carry-on also weighs 26 lbs!! I guess we must be twins :)

We're on the news!!!

This is a snippet of a news story tonight on Fox 13 News. We participated in Making Strides for Breast Cancer at Liberty Park- a five mile walk to raise awareness and support. At the very end, a reporter asked to interview us so we were all nice and sweaty from speed walking but we were happy to answer her questions. She interviewed all of us (mom, Andrea, Lesley, and ended with me) and then her camera man followed us a little in the park. Lauren was still in her jammies that just happened to match our tee-shirts. I had to give a shout-out to Weight Watchers and Gina's Tuesday Turtles!!
So now I'm basically a legend "let's face it, it happened" and "I'm no longer carrying photo ID because people should know who I am" (Sue Sylvester)

iPhone Proposal in Movie Theater

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMRBGtyQuXk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

It's the most awesome proposal I think I've ever heard of- it took him
4 months to put it all together!!

Sent from my iPhone

Best "Saturday" Ever!!

So today was my day off this week; my "Saturday".
It was the best "Saturday" I've had in quite a long time!!!
It started out with a weigh-in at Weight Watchers (lost 4 lbs- thank
you stomach flu!!) then I washed my car. Lesley picked me up and we
met Haley and Aaron at the Aquarium. It is so fun to see Ronan and
Aaron play- it's like they're brothers!! They run and hug when they
see each other and then get super excited to see all the animals. I
don't know which was more entertaining, watching Aaron and RoRo or
seeing all the fish :)
Then I went with Haley to Rumrz (aka Eat a Burger) for lunch. It was
so nice to just sit and talk with her- it feels like forever since
I've done that with one of my sisters. She lent me a book about
positive management styles (which I read in an hour. I will review it
here in a later post).
Then I went to return something at Target and as I was browsing around
the clothes I ran into my best childhood friend Irene and her son
Luke!! We ended up going to dinner together and catching up. Irene is
one of those friends that you don't see very often but it seems like
no time has passed when you finally get to see eachother. The last
time I saw her, Luke was just a couple months old and now he is a
flirting toddler!! So Adorable :)
The night ended with the Netflix arrival of "Bride and Prejudice"-
totally awesome blend of Bollywood and Western movies. Loved it!! Plus
Sayid from Lost plays the Bingley character.
This was a day that I really needed and I am so grateful to Lesley and
Haley for letting me tag along on the playdate and to Irene for
following the promoting to go browse around Target while her husband
was in class this afternoon!!
I feel rejuvunated and will ready for work tomorrow and this busy
weekend at the gallery (General Conference/ Ladies Night).

Sent from my iPhone

OMGosh!! My Singles Ward is like a Jr. High Dance

You know how at a Jr. High Dance, the boys stand on one side of the gym and the girls on the other and they rarely meet in the middle?

 

Well imagine that scene.

 

Got it in your mind?

 

Good, now switch the location to an LDS Chapel and instead of sweaty prepubescent tweens, picture 25-35 year olds.

Instead of lining the walls, the sexes are separated by pews.

 

Yup, there you have my singles ward yesterday!! I was looking around and all the girls were sitting together on 1 pew and the boys (I could use the word “men” but that would be a gross misuse of the word) huddled together on another- rarely mixing it up between the 2.

 

It was the same in Sunday School. The teacher found it so ridiculous that she made everybody move so that it was boy-girl-boy-girl, and it took a lot of effort to get it that way! The boys were dragging their feet and not switching seats while the ladies were being compliant and getting up and making the boys move.

 

What is going on?!!

 

Do girls have koodies?!

 

Are they afraid if they even sit next to one of us, we are going to fall madly in love with them and stalk them like unto Fatal Attraction?!

 

 

 

Saturday Seething (part 5 of a 444 part series)

First off- BIG thank you(s) go out to Jenny and Haley for bringing me medicine when I was sick earlier this week. You SAVED me!!!! Thank you Jenny for bringing me a super bug killer pill that got me to stop throwing up- your kindness in offering it the minute you found out I was sick means so much to me.

Thank you Haley for bringing me blessed Zofran that took away the nausea, even super early in the morning with Aaron still in his jammies.

And a big Thank You to Lesley and my Mom for bringing me drinks, saltine crackers and making me cups of tea. I love you all!!!

 

So it is Saturday, and I am working (yet again). The word Saturday used to hold a happy meaning of relaxation and Eat-a-Burger lunches, but now it is just another word, much like unto Wednesday or Monday.  It is not that I really mind working Saturdays, it’s just that everyone I know isn’t working and I imagine they are going to lunch or getting pedis, or shopping.  Whenever I have days off, they usually are when everyone is working so I have no one to hang out with. I typically end up staying home all day on my days off and clean and/or play with Millie and Fiona. It’s funny b/c I don’t have TV or Internet access at my apartment (which made being sick SUPER boring!!)- so I don’t really know what I do all day.  I guess Millie and Fi are excellent time wasters and zap it away- ha ha!!

Back to Saturday- I am working next Saturday as well for General Conference and then I won’t be working another Saturday until November!! That is partly due to the fact that I will be spending 2 Saturdays in Europe!!! I cannot wait for my cruise and I already have my luggage tags for the boat and registered my trip with the State Department.  It is hard to believe October is nearly here. I guess that is a good thing about working so much, time passes quickly.

 

I know I complain a lot but I truly do love my job- I love talking with people interested in art. I love frame designing with clients. I love researching new art and finding out the latest releases from artist.  

My job is pretty awesome and glamorous!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trax

So this afternoon I find myself on public transportation on my way
downtown to take a look at an original Del Parson for a client who
lives out of state. Trax is actually quite enjoyable for a people
watcher but I feel I can't really people watch because i don't want
people to talk to me. I have forgotten why people usually have ear
buds in while on public transportation (like in the Tube)!! I do have
to admit I feel kind of metropolitan and a little grown up taking Trax
downtown. The only reason I'm taking Trax is because I don't know
where to park- ha ha. This way I can just jump off and back on once
I've seen the piece. It's a win-win :)
I should take Trax more- but then there are some weirdos but that
makes life interesting, right?

Sent from my iPhone

Insight for the day

You never really notice how dirty your bathroom floor is until you are
laying on it for hours making "contributions" to the porceline gods.

Sent from my iPhone

TMI Thursday:

I've begun working out again (shocker) and I've been doing light
weight lifting and muscle toning instead of my go-to cardio on the
eliptucal. I have done so many squats and lunges in the last two days
that I can hardly sit down!!!
People with amazing bodies must be sore ALL the time!!

Sent from my iPhone

Saturday Seething (part 4 of a 444 part series)

1. The AC has been broken at the gallery (again) since Wednesday. It
has been hovering around 80 degrees so it's not that hot but just hot
enough to make you miserable and plus there is no air movement in this
corner of the building. Blah....
2. I know I scheduled myself for this but I'm really bummed to be
working ALL of Labor Day weekend even though I also worked ALL
Memorial Day weekend. And apparently there is a thing called holiday
pay but my company doesn't do that.
3. I no longer get paid overtime so the minute I hit 40 hours I'm
closing the gallery which mean I get to close at 6 pm today!! It's
okay because I'm pretty sure DB is closing early tonight too.
4. I sold my first original painting and yet I feel like I did
something wrong; I guess I thought I'd feel differently about my first
original sale. I love the artist and working with her and the client
has been wonderful and actually quite fun. I thought I'd want to do a
happy dance and make a Leatherby's run after the deal was made but I
simply took a deep breath and got back to work. I guess I'm just
maturing into a more pratical lady.

So now my dear friends, go have a fantastic Labor Day weekend for all
of us left laboring in our offices/jobs!!

Sent from my iPhone

Inspired by this...

Remember my post back in the Spring about resurgence of British Anti-
War posters in popular culture? Well I found this a few weeks ago in
my "research" and wanted to share it with you.

My how they've grown

Happy adoption day Millie and Fiona!!

Planning a Trip

So Jenny, Lacey, Lesley and I are going on a Western Mediterranean cruise in October (2 months away baby!!) and I am so excited to plan our port excursions.  We start in Barcelona, sail to Naples, Civitavecchia (Rome), Livorno (Florence), Ville-Franche Sur Mer, and Toulon, then back to Barcelona.

To be totally honest, I am quite overwhelmed by how much I want to do in each city and how much can I actually accomplish in a few hours. The activity I love most is simply walking around with my camera and soaking in the culture and sights of a city. Most of my Italian art background is in architecture so that approach really appeals to me. Plus, I have never been on a cruise before so I am not sure what to expect.

 

We arrive in Barcelona Saturday afternoon and we do not board the ship until Sunday around 1 in the afternoon. The things I want to accomplish are strolling the Ramblas, Gaudi’s Casa Mila and Park Guell, and the Block of Discord. If I have time, I’d love to see Gehry’s Fish. Our hostel is in the Eixample neighborhood which makes the Gaudi and Modernisma sights fairly easy to get to. (Well most of Barcelona is easy to get to.)

So we board on Sunday and then whole first day is at sea.

 

We get to Naples on Tuesday and the only problem with that is the Archeological Museum is closed that day, and they have the best artifacts from Pompeii and Herculaneum. So with that in mind- I want to get pizza margherita in Naples, then take the train to Sorrento which is the gateway to the Almaphi Coast. 

Sorrento is known for lemons and the Italian dolce vita. Then we could take the hydrofoil (water taxi) either to Capri or just back to the port in Naples. It sounds relaxing for a great introduction to our trip.

 

The next day is Rome!!! There is so much I would LOVE to do in Rome but my top 3 are:

1. St. Peter’s Square/Basilica (except it is closed Wednesday mornings for private audiences with the Pope so it will have to be an afternoon activity).

2. The Pantheon

3. Trevi Fountain/Spanish Steps

and I’ll add a 4. The Borghese Gallery (to see Bernini sculpture!!)*

 

Sure I’d love to see the Forum, the Coliseum, etc but I really love Baroque Rome more than Ancient Rome (except the Pantheon- it is my top favorite ancient roman site). Sure I’d love to go to the Vatican Museum and swoon in the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment” (oh and that little thing he painted on the ceiling!! LOL) or all of the extravagant regalia of the Catholic Church, but I only have a few hours in the Eternal City.

 

The next day is Florence and the port is quite a way away from Florence itself.

My top attractions in Florence are:

1. Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise (and all the other doors on the Baptistery of course!!) well basically everything included at the Duomo.
2. The Uffizi*
3. The Academia to see Michelangelo’s David (the real one, not the replica they have on the street).*
4. Ponte Vecchio

 

After our two insane days in Rome and Florence, we get to relax on the Cote d’Azur in Ville Franche Sur Mer!!!

Now we could be more active and take the train to either Nice or Monaco, but I am really leaning toward a relaxing day along the French Riviera. They have a Savonnarie factory (soap) where admission is free and they have a great factory store. The town square becomes a spontaneous market whenever cruise ships come (yay!!).

 

Our last port is Toulon and both Lesley and I have had a hard time figuring out what there is to do there. The cruise ship’s excursions offer daytrips to Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, and Cassis.

 

Like I said earlier- I would be happy to walk around and enjoy the cities and embrace the beautiful chaos that is southern Europe. Do any of you have suggestions or tips to either cruising or traveling in Italy? Am I missing any “must-see” sight?

 

 

* Need to make reservations in advance

That 4:30 Feeling

I don't drink energy drinks but I LOVE the 5 Hour Energy commercials
with "that 2:30 feeling"- that is SO me most days at the gallery. Its
not that I fall asleep it is more like I cannot focus. Every day
around 4 pm I need something to pick me up. I used to have a secret
stash of Starbursts that I'd dip into for my 4 o'clock pick me up but
I had to get rid of that habit with my weight problem. Then I switched
to clementine oranges in the Spring but I think I must have OD'ed on
them. I used to take a quick walk in the parking lot but it got too
hot- I would get back to my desk and have sweat running down my face,
which is not a good thing in my profession. My trick as of late has
been a cold water refill in my water bottle but that isn't doing it
today. I'd love a slurpee or a crisp apple, or sour watermelons...ummm
sour watermelon!!!
Do any of you get "that" feeling during your day? What do you do to
combat the "2:30 feeling"? Any tips or suggestions would be greatly
welcome :)

Sent from my iPhone