So Much has Happened!

I haven't posted in a long time and I guess it was because I was so busy. My sister got married in May, I was in her wedding which was beautiful. I went to Turkey, my first Muslim country ever. Then I went to Italy and took Ryan with me for his birthday. Here is what Ryan wrote about the trip:

A Little City Called Rome and Something Shiny
A couple of weeks ago, my girlfriend Heather found out she would be headed to Rome, Italy for work. Knowing that my birthday was on the 11th of July, she invited me to come along with her. The plan was that we’d be able to spend time together when she wasn’t working during the day, and also tack on a couple of extra vacation days at the end of her trip.

When I realized the trip was actually going to happen, I knew it was my chance to do something really big. I mean, really BIG!

You see, Rome is Heather’s favorite place in the world. The architecture, the people, the food ... it is all amazing ... While living in Rome as an undergraduate, Heather learned Italian and fell in love with the Eternal City. I figured there would be no better place to surprise her.

Earlier in the week, we had visited Villa Borghese (Rome’s Central Park). We happened upon the most romantic restaurant I have ever encountered. Nestled away in the park, overlooking Rome and the Vatican City from it’s terrace, the Casina Valadier provides the most breathtaking view from your table (and amazing food!) “This will be perfect.” I thought to myself.

Since we were absolutely exhausted from spending the 11th at a Mediterranean beach (I know, tough life, right?), we decided to switch our reservations for the evening of the 12th for the celebratory dinner.

I must have checked my suit jacket one hundred times on the way over to the restaurant that evening, making sure my "gift" was secure.

We arrived at the restaurant just as the sun was setting behind the Roman skyline. Beautiful.

I made extra effort to make Heather think that my reason for ordering champagne once we were seated was to celebrate my birthday. Shortly after toasting my 32nd birthday, I took Heather’s hand into mine. I looked into her beautiful, blue eyes, and began telling her how much she meant to me …

Shortly thereafter, I was on bended knee, ring extended; my heart open.

Yes.

We’re engaged!

We spent the rest of the dinner taking in the view and talking about the rest of our lives together.

After dinner, we walked over to the Spanish Steps. There in the Piazza di Spagna, a horse and carriage awaited us for a tour of Rome under the moonlight.

We tossed coins into the Trevi fountain, vowing to return to our favorite place in the world, which now has a deeper, stronger meaning to both of us.

A New Year... and no Posts Yet.

I just realized that it has been forever since I wrote anything new. Since October, I haven't really moved too much closer to buying a place of my own, but I have been saving money. Which, for me, is a huge step. The holidays were good, lots of family time. And I'm still very happily dating my boyfriend. So life is pretty sweet. Here are a few things I've been up to in the last two months.












We went down to the Mall with about a million other people to see Barack Obama sworn in on Inaurguration Day. It was an amazing experience. Somehow in Washington, DC (often called the Crime Capital) more than a million people from all over the world were able to gather together and enjoy a united feeling of hope and joy.... And no one was arrested or hurt or anything. Pretty cool.

My boyfriend and I also went on our first vacation together. We found a great deal on flights and hotel in Las Vegas, so we snatched it up. We stayed at the Planet Hollywood Hotel, it was very nice, very chic, very fabulous. Maybe not Bellagio fabulous, but still very good.






















We went to some shows, ate a lot of food, played a little blackjack, experienced the weird hooker card street vendors and just enjoyed the cheesiness in general. We also took a day trip up to the Valley of Fire, which had crazy rock formations and beautiful colors.

Another Trip

I just got back from another trip to Europe. This time I went to Ljubljana, Slovenia and London, England. Since I had never been to Slovenia before I took a lot of pictures there... also because it was BEAUTIFUL!!
We also drove up to Bled, Slovenia one afternoon. It is a beautiful lake at the bottom of the Alps with a cute little island in the middle. Also there was a castle on the hill, this was the view from it.
I fell in love with Ljubljana, there were cafes all along the river, everyone was super nice and the weather was pretty nice almost everyday.















And here are a few of me in London.



I had a pretty awesome time!

Oregon Part 2

Ok, so I did get a bit lazy about typing... although I don't think anyone actually noticed.

My cousin's wedding in Oregon was great fun and a good time for my family to get together. There were some funny things I noticed about the event though. About half the people in attendance seemed to feel that flannels and jeans were proper wedding attire. Didn't bother me, just found it a humorous split in the crowd between "The Flannel/Jeans" and "The Tuxedos." Also, during the exchange of the rings, my cousin (always the comedian) took a swig from a flask handed to him by the best man and then proceeded to pass the flask to the other boys. Silly boys.
The rest of my trip was spent in Eugene, Oregon at my uncle's new place, which was huge and on top of a hill in the woods. It was a great place to have the family hang out, eat a lot, play poker and enjoy the view from the top of the hill.















We also took mom and dad to the coast, since the girls and I had enjoyed going there when we were out West for our road trip. The only problem was that it rained all day. But we were not going to let that stop us from having a good time and taking pictures.




We had a great time, I can't wait to go back!

Now Some Pictures

The Chinese Garden in Portland

Congrats Cous!

I returned home Tuesday after being in Oregon for a week. My cousin got married to his longtime girlfriend in Portland and we all partied hard. It was such a West Coast affair, three minute ceremony and hours of dancing. Pretty Nice.

My trip started in Portland. My sister and I had to wait for my other sister's flight to come in. So we had plenty of time to explore Portland. First we had lunch at Kell's Irish Pub, since it wouldn't really be Saint Patty's Day without going to one. We went to the Chinese Garden on a tip from our waiter. What a cool place! Then we drove around a bit and found Pittock Mansion, it was incredibly beautiful. Before we headed back to the airport, we ended the evening at Powell's Bookstore. I even got to go to a book reading by Joshilyn Jackson (The Girl Who Stopped Swimming) she was very cool, I bought her book and I will have to post later about what I think.

Day one in Oregon was pretty packed. Day two was much more laid back. We got into Eugene super late the night before, so we slept in as long as possible. Than we got to hang out with the family, see my uncle's new home and try to stay warm during all the rain.

We headed back to Portland the next day and got to see the place where the wedding would be, McMenamins Edgefield. It was a crazy, cool place. We had the rehearsal dinner and the wedding there. They had a winery, brewery, golf course, distillery, pubs, restaurants, spa and pool hall there. I got myself over to the spa for a pedicure, it was the nicest pedicure I have ever had!!

Not only did my toes look great, but I had a glass of wine and a nice setting to top it off. I'll finish up my trip and post pictures next post, since this is getting a bit long.

Bonita Miami

I'm back home to chilly DC and missing Miami already. We arrived Thursday night and the weather was such a wonderful change. Thursday morning in DC the snow started, so I was a little worried about actually getting to start my weekend getaway. But I escaped the cold and just in time.

Friday it was 80 degrees and we headed to South Beach. We had a great lunch at the Beacon and watched all the beautiful people walking by. Friday night we had dinner at Sushi Samba, a cool place on Lincoln Road, and then did a little salsa dancing at Salsa Mia at Yuca. The people there (not me) even did that awesome Cuban Rueda dance like from that movie Dance With Me. Is that retarded that I just admitted that I've watched that movie? More than once? oh well, guess I'm a nerd. Check out their site, they have video clips of everyone dancing. It is the same club that Giada De Laurentiis went to on her Weekend Getaway show, pretty cool!

Saturday was also a sunny day, not 80 but still nice. The girls and I had a spa day after a luxurious breakfast. Then we ended up doing some shopping and having dinner at a Nicaraguan restaurant in Miami Lakes.

Sunday was a bit rainy and chilly, but my friend and I went to South Beach again to walk around and look at all the hotels. The Art Deco Festival was going on along Ocean Drive, so there were street performers and booths selling crafts. But we just focused on the hotels and buildings. My friend is an architect and had never been to Miami before, so she was very excited about looking at and inside all the hotels. We ended up eating lunch at Wish, which was fabulous, and just generally enjoyed the sites. We ended the day with going back to our friend's place and hanging out with her Colombian family.

It was a great time and a good way to warm up during one of the coldest weeks this winter.

Looking back

Now that I have had sufficient time to recover from my jet lag, I find myself in the post vacation blues. I am still half packed from my trip (completely sad and disgusting I know, but I did have a weekend trip to Chicago in there), peeling from my sunburn, showing people pictures, handing out souvenirs and telling stories. But my trip is over and I'm back to work, sitting at my desk and starting to get pale from the lack of sun and fluorescent lights. Don't cry for me, I know I just got back from vacation while most everyone else was stuck at work or at home.

Looking back on my vacation I realize that I not only had a great time, but I still have a lot of things I need to see in Cape Town. I did not climb up Table Mountain, didn't go to Robbin Island, didn't go to a Township, didn't drive down the Garden Route or go to a big reserve for a better safari experience. So I guess I now have some things on my list for my next visit.

I did, however, get from my vacation in Cape Town loads of memories, new friends and time with an old friend. Which, to me, is better than any walk up a mountain or a prison (no offense, Mr. Mandela). I feel truly blessed to have friends who are willing to take me into their homes and lives for two weeks, feed me, drive me around, and give me a trip I will never forget.

Thanks Sara and Mattias!

Just in case no one believed me....

Here are a few pictures from the Great White Shark Project (that was the name of the company we went with to see the sharks).



I tried to take pictures in the cage, but the water was a bit murky. Here is my best shot.


I think I like this last one the best.

Pictures from Africa

Since I couldn't do anything about pictures until I got home. Here are a few main highlights.

Last Day - Cape Town

My last day in Cape Town was pretty relaxed, we were still recovering from the sun burn. So stupid to not put on sun block! We shopped around town and I tried to make sure that I bought enough gifts and souvenirs. I know I'll never forget this trip, but I still needed to have tangible reminders.

Friday night we started off the evening with a picnic on the beach in Camps Bay. Some of Sara and Mattias' friends and a bunch of other people got together to enjoy the sunset... only problem was it was too cloudy to see the sun. But we had a good time with food, wine, volleyball and fireworks. The fireworks were someone else's but it seemed to be perfectly planned.

We then headed into town for dinner, I wasn't really hungry at this point but we had plans. We went to a place called Hayko or something like that. It was a very nice Japanese tapas place, I know that sounds silly but that is how it was explained to me. After dinner we went for drinks at Bang Bang and then a few other places. Since it was my last night in Cape Town and another friend of the group's first night we really celebrated. I felt like I had truly one of the best vacations ever and everyone was so nice to me... not just my friends.

Day Eleven - Cape Town

Yesterday we went out to Langabaan, to a national park up on the West Coast of South Africa. We found a deserted beach and had a picnic. We also laid out (to get tan) but we ended up getting burnt. I look like a tomato!

We had dinner at a cute little place on the beach which had excellent seafood. The restaurant was in a fishing village with all white houses. It was a nice day to just relax and enjoy the weather. Except now I'm wishing I had used more sun block.

Day Ten - Cape Town

Today I had to get up super, super early (3:45 am)! Because I went on a safari! Cape Town has a limited amount of game reserves really close by, so the place I went wasn't really huge but it was a good first safari ever place to go.

I was picked up at about 4:45 am from the house and arrived at the Aquilla Game Reserve at about 7:45. We were greeted with a "wake up drink" of sparkling white wine, registered and then had breakfast. I met a really nice girl from New Zealand who was on holiday by her self and on the bus with me. We hung out all day together which was nice cause I can handle being alone, but having someone else to talk to is much better. At about 9 o'clock we loaded up in the Land Rovers and started the adventure. We saw buffalo, springboks, zebras, giraffes, elephants, hippo, rhinos, and lions. The game reserve is trying to establish it's animal population, so there weren't loads of some animals. But I didn't care. I was just so happy to have the chance to see everything in a semi-wild environment. Half way through the safari we had a little break to stretch our legs and to have a glass of champagne. It was hilarious standing around next to the zebras and girraffe, sipping champagne and feeling like I was so far removed from my "normal" life.

After the safari we got the chance to pet more cheetahs, so I definitely did that again. I mean, how many times will I get to do that in DC?

We then were fed lunch at the lodge and I ran into the Scottish guys. So we all had lunch together and hung out a bit before we daytrippers had to get back on the bus to go home. When I got home we had a group of kids come to the house for Halloween. There were about 15 of they and they were so cute.

Day Nine - Cape Town

Tuesday morning we got up early and met up again with Sara's friends, but this time it wasn't for a relaxing lunch. We went to a yoga class, and not just regular yoga, we did Hatha Yoga (the hot one). So we sweated like crazy and I got to feel like I was inflexible and retarded. It was great.

Then we went to lunch at a cute wrap and smoothie place called Buzz. After we went home and cleaned up we went to the Waterfront and walked around. We ended up having a beer and hanging out with two South African guys. It seems like the people here are super friendly.

We then went to a Gladys Knight concert, I know who goes to those!? But Sara's friend got free tickets, so we decided to make it a girls night. The concert was held at the Grand West Casino, I felt like I had stepped into Las Vegas. I was surprised at how fun it was. The dinner we had wasn't so great, but the concert part of the evening was hilarious. Gladys rocked out and she even had her brother, one of the original Pips, come to pump up the crowd. I definitely would never have gone to that concert back in the States, but I was glad that we went.

Day Eight - Cape Town

Monday we went into town and had lunch with all of Sara's Swedish friends on Long Street. On our way to lunch we got to see the parade for the triumphant Springboks, World Cup Rugby Champions. It was so exciting to be a part of a city's celebration for their sports team. Everyone was screaming and waving flags. People were hanging off of balconies just to get the chance to see the team.

After lunch Sara and I did some shopping and ran some errands. We were sort of tired from our weekend so we didn't do much else. But she did take me to the studio of her friend who makes jewelry, Phillippa Green. I bought so many bracelets! Check her site out, she makes really great stuff.

Day Seven - Cape Town

Sunday afternoon Sara and I had a "girl's" luncheon to attend. One of Sara's friends was celebrating her birthday and we were invited. It was at the Radisson Hotel on the water. So even though I can go to a Radisson back home, the view from the restaurant wasn't like home at all.

Sunday evening Sara, Mattias and I went out to dinner in Camps Bay (where they live) and ate outside with a view of the beach. They live in an area that is like South Beach but with a calmer and more relaxed atmosphere. I'm really enjoying Cape Town, it is SO beautiful.

After dinner, Mattias ran into an old colleague from Scotland. So we had a drink with three Scottish guys. I enjoyed the accents!

Day Six - Cape Town

Friday night after cage diving, Sara and I went to a local pub to "celebrate" our shark experience. We had loads of fun hanging out, drinking, and dancing with the people at the bar.

Saturday we tried to recover as best as we could in the morning. We went to a farmer's market in Woodstock which had great food and a few crafts. There was a girl at the market who made beautiful purses, I couldn't afford one that day but I think I'm going to order one when I get home.

Saturday night everyone got together to go to some old brewery turned into a night club for a party. Apparently, South Africans are into themed parties. The one we went to was called "Dirty Dirty" and was a post-Apocalyptic theme. It was very interesting to see people's interpretation of that. One guy was wearing a knit cap, stripped tight tank top, 70s style running shorts and bedroom slippers. Clubs in other countries are fun!

Day Four and Five - Cape Town

Thursday we didn't do to much during the day, it was great! First we went to lunch in Cape Town and were going to walk around afterwards, but it was so nice outside we decided to go back to Sara's house and lay out by the pool. Then Sara, Mattias and I went to one of their friend's apartments on Long Street and had a braai. Which is a South African barbeque, pretty much the same as back home, but more fun to say. We went home after and got to bed early since the next day we had to get up.

Today I survived Shark Cage Diving!! Sara and I went out to Kleinbaai and swam with the fishes... or rather sharks. I got a bit sea sick, but I didn't let that stop me from getting into the cage and watching the sharks. The water was a bit murky, so I don't think my underwater pictures look so great. But I did take a lot more pictures from the boat and I think those came out ok. I thought that I would be scared, but I actually wasn't. The sharks weren't like in Jaws or anything. They were very graceful and seemed to not even care that we were around. Except for the fact that the crew kept throwing fish parts into the water.

We had heard that the cage diving thing was a bit controversal and that surfers thought it would have sharks associate food with people. But one of the crew, who was a surfer, said that it was actually a good way for people to understand that sharks aren't super aggresive and they are nomadic, so wouldn't be in the same place for long enough to have the food/people association. Which made me feel better, so I could cage dive with my conscience free.

Day Three Cont. - Cape Town

Yesterday I got to pet a cheetah!!! Actually more than one cheetah and take a few pictures of some super cute babies. The Cheetah Rescue we went to made you pay to pet them and there were different prices for petting adults and babies. No one was buying the tickets to pet the adults, so I did. It was so weird to be that close to such a big cat. They are incredible!

We also went to more vineyards. These ones were even more beautiful then the ones the day before. The annoying thing was that my camera battery died half way through. Stupid camera! But I at least got pictures with the cheetahs.

Day Three - Cape Town

Yesterday we went to Costantia, which is part of the wine lands of South Africa. We did a tasting and took a walk around the vineyards with the dog. It was a bit chilly but beautiful. The wine was super tasty.

While we were having our wine from the tasting we sat outside on a picnic bench. Across the way was a tour group from China having a really good time (I think the wine effected them a bit). They started to video tape us, then one of the ladies from the group came over to say hello and pose with us for a picture. It was funny and strange. Now when those people go home to show people their videos, their friends are going to wonder who the random white people are with the wine.