Tomorrow, in Jerusalem

Can't wait to see this one tomorrow!!

Goodbye Swimming Hole, We Hardly Knew Ye

I was so looking forward to an idyllic summer, jumping off our porch into our new neighborhood swimming hole (aka the construction pit that has been filling up all winter with gangrenous-green-trash-filled water). 

Sadly, today, they drained the whole thing. 

Guess I'll just have to go back to lounging by the crystal clear Olympic-sized pool at the Embassy. Le Sigh.

Groovy...

I only hallucinated a teensy bit after trying a new brand of 'shroom flavored ramen tonight.

White Elephants

Some friends of ours invited us over for dinner and a White Elephant party. There were some pretty great gifts (an abacus, a Daffy Duck bobble head, a bag of six-month old licorice, a toy truck, some stickers). Susan ended up with a container of mushrooms and I got a can of Mirinda aka Fake Orange Fanta. 

My favorite gift of the night (and one I was sad not to get) was This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was opened up by a three year old, who refused to trade because he was so thrilled..."I'll read it all before nap time!!"

Birthday!

I woke up to a trail of ribbons that led me to a pile of presents. The day only got better from there...a long nap, dinner with some great friends, a White Elephant Party, a viewing of the Vicar of Dibley and a cupcake cake. I submit that there is nothing better than ending your birthday with Richard Armitage and cupcakes.

Thanks my friends and family for making it a loverly day!

try as we might, we couldn't get a picture where I didn't have blow-up doll lips

Dinner with a Friend

There is something utterly delightful about checking Facebook and finding out a good friend is randomly in the same town in which you happen to be vacationing.

Annie - I can't wait till our next dinner date...maybe Barcelona or Athens next time?

Some Extras from Prague

It was pretty cold and snowy in Prague and we weren't exactly prepared for the weather conditions. We basically held onto each other's arms the entire four days, for warmth and to prevent ourselves from falling and breaking our tailbones on the slipper cobblestones.

We came near to the tailbone breakage once, when trying to go downhill to the Strahov Monastery:

And we came close to freezing while waiting for Petrin Tower to open Monday morning. This guy refused to let us in:

Leading to a period of time during which we wondered if we would have to slit each other open, to stay alive. We did jumping jacks instead:

In Which We Go to Prague

Susan and I decided to take advantage of the long weekend and take a trip to Prague. It was truly marvelous. 

We saw all the sights, including Jeff Goldblum and Fisher Stevens (#5 is ALIVE!). We ate freshly made pasta and homemade bread, incredible Mexican food, crispy duck leg, and, of course, lots of sausage and goulash. We went on a ghost tour during which we learned about very many fake ghosts. And we purchased like a million pounds of salami to bring home with us.  

All in all, it was a gigantic success despite the weather, which tried to kill us (going from 68 degrees to 28 degrees was quite the shock to our systems). Some pictures, to make you jealous, er, commemorate the trip:

Buzz Lightyear at the Lenin Wall

stopping to see Mr. Kabourek

freezing cold statuary on the Charles Bridge

tiny adorable snowman in front of St. Vitus Cathedral and Prague Castle

blending in with the statuary in St. Vitus Cathedral

touring the Municipal House, which we plan to recreate as our house, when we marry riches

a Kentuckian, at the opera

a Washingtonian, at the opera

trying not to die while going downhill on a sheet of ice

atop the Astronomical Clock Tower

the Jewish Cemetery

looking for ghostly orbs in the Old Town Square

ahhhh, Prague

Safety Kids

We rode in a cab with some friends on the way home from dinner tonight. Our friend in the front seat insisted on buckling up and our cab driver, reluctantly, complied...

In Which Sherry Becomes a Movie Star

Susan and I decided to go check out Iraq al-Amir, which was suggested as an interesting "caves and ruins" type of place to visit by a friend of mine. After being horrifically lost for an hour and a half or so, we finally found it.

As we were getting out of our car and searching for a bathroom, two guys approached us. "Excuse me," they began, "we are University of Southern California students. We are filming a movie and were going to source a local car but it didn't work out. Can we use yours?"

I looked around at the 15 or so cars parked next to ours and was puzzled but figured, why not let Sherry have his moment in the spotlight? I told them that we were leaving in 27 minutes so film quick. Susan and I gave them the keys so they could move the car around as necessary (they had a scary looking policeman guarding their every move, so I was only slightly nervous) and then we took off to see the caves and ruins.

After climbing up a steep flight of stairs, we reached some VERY unimpressive caves. In fact, if the view hadn't been so bucolic both going up and coming down...

...I might have said some phrases into those caves and let them echo my displeasure at having driven so far for so little. Instead, we let Willy pee on every rock he saw and then took some pictures to document our unimpressed-ness:

And then started back down the hill to find them frantically finishing up filming.

As we waited for our keys, I noticed the cameramen appeared to be filming us. I turned my back, not wanting to upstage or outshine Sherry, the true star of the film. When we began our 51-point turn, to get Sherry out of the parking lot, I looked over and confirmed that we were, in fact, being filmed as the cameraman had shifted his position to get a better shot at us.

I officially proclaim Susan and I in the running for 2014 Best Supporting Actress and Sherry as Best Actor. Coming soon to a university near you!

Sweating to the Oldies or Curling my Hair...You Decide

Now that my hair is finally long-ish again, I can start following all those alluring pinterest/youtube videos that promise everything from beach waves to ballerina buns to side braids to messy up-do's in just five easy steps.

Last night I went for "no-heat curls" discovering, in the process, a potential side job for Susan's cloth headband.  

Before:

After:

It didn't turn out half bad...next week at church I'm going for the Pretty Dirty Princess Bun, for sure.  If only so I can tell people "Oh - yeah - this is my Pretty Dirty Princess Bun..." and wait for the reaction.

The Dancing Bear

We are teaching Wills a new trick, one we call "the Dancing Bear". This is actually my Dad's favorite trick to teach the family dogs. Usually it takes forever to teach them but, since he'll do just about anything for carrots, it hasn't been too painful.  Sorry about the super intense and vengeful Mumford and Sons soundtrack:

Spring Cleaning

Yes, I realize it is early February. But it was 70 degrees this past weekend and I felt the urge to do some around the house spring cleaning types of things.  

So, we changed out a billion lightbulbs, cleaned out and organized the laundry room, wiped down the kitchen cupboards, combined and refilled spice jars and cleaned out our air conditioning filters. Plus I did five loads of laundry, made and froze lots of spaghetti sauce, took out all the recycling, watched half of How I Met Your Mother, Season 4, and finally put all the suitcases and Christmas decorations down in the storage unit.  

I felt so smug by the end of the day I could hardly stand myself.

look at how happy she looks up on the scary, rickety ladder!