Surfing

Truth be told, I've been surfing again. A lot actually. There are amazing people doing amazing things out there in the world. Here are a handful of the wonderful things I found:

Create and order your own custom chocolate bar at Chocri. Sounds like fun. May make a great gift for the chocolate lover in your life. You even get to name your bar! Read about Kerrin's personalized chocolate bars.

These are the types of items that get me into trouble. Little cute things. I can walk away from most things, I'm really not a shopper, but I'm defenseless when it comes to colorful, cute, little useless bits. Thank goodness this is an online shop, one degree of separation at least gives me the illusion of control.


Are you as obsessed with maps, places and cities as I am? Love these totes, cards and onesies. And check out these cutting boards. Wouldn't they make a great house warming or wedding gift? I love the little heart on each one!!

Another funny site - Catalog Living. Seen it? Love this one.

Thanks to my mom I now know the names of the mystery trees we saw in Rodemack. The bean tree is a catalpa tree. The lantern tree is a goldenrain tree. I wonder how a tree known as the Pride of India (another name for the goldenrain tree) ended up in a little village in France?

And this beloved site, for those moments when only kitten pictures will do.

Tell me what's caught your eye lately!

Schueberfour

On Saturday we went to Schueberfour, Luxembourg's biggest fair. We all agreed that the highlight this year was the ferris wheel ride.

Fair food! This year we tried the currywurst - sausage with a curry/bbq/ketchup-y sauce, sprinkled with cumin. Had to get the traditional potato pancakes too .

(not quite) vintage europe

While in Seattle this summer I made a little visit to our storage unit. One of the items I was after was a photo album from my first trip to Europe. I loved the idea of comparing photos from then, 1996, and now.

After college Bryce and I set off with backpacks (after spending a cushy week with my parents in Tuscany) and a Eurorail pass to see the wonders of Europe. It was my first trip to Europe and Bryce's second, he went with his class in high school. I was pretty intimidated by the thought of the trip - the languages, trains, cities, and unknowns. I wanted to have every hotel pre-booked and all train reservations made before we left. Obviously, I didn't understand how easy it is to move around here. I was a bit neurotic. Bryce was very patient with me and we settled somewhere in the middle, with a fair amount of reservations set.

We started out the trip in Tuscany, seeing Florence, Sienna, San Gimiano and a handful of smaller hill top towns. We then ventured forth to Zermatt, Paris, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Brussels, Antwerp, Bonn, and Lubeck; obviously not in that order.

I thought it would be fun to share some of these pictures with you. I'm starting a series of posts called, (not quite) vintage europe where I'll share a photo or two. Maybe it'll inspire you to dust off your (not quite) vintage travel pictures and reminisce with me.

Say Hello to My Little Friend

Ain't she a beaut? The CitiZ with Milk Jug. Wanna know they best part? She belongs to me, I mean us. This wonderful union came to be through a family who was moving back to the States. After owning it for only 4 months they had to sell it. I was lucky enough to snatch it up before anyone else. And let me assure you, it was quite a steal! The bottom line is that this CitiZ with Milk Jug and me were MFEO. It was destiny.

I am loving the milk jug. I would never consider buying one of these machines with out it. An espresso or lungo (what is that anyway?) shot is not going to do it for me. I need some warm milk and lovely foam, please. This milk jug knows a thing or two about lovely foam, I'm happy to report.

Now each morning I savor a latte macchiato. It is really such a treat. I can even make one that looks just like they do in real life. I still need to buy one thing to accompany my (our) new machine - Macchiato glasses! I must have more than 1. So I can make you one when you come to visit. What do you think about these? These? Definitely not these.

Friends in Brussels

Sunday was an extremely exciting day! We drove up to Brussels to meet up with friends who were on their way to Rwanda. You heard me right. Rwanda. And not just for a visit; to stay. For 2 years. The visit was special for so many reasons: 1) We hadn't seen each other in years.2) We'd never met their son 3) They are embarking on this incredible adventure in Africa!

It was perfect that they had a stop in Brussels. We had 2 great days with them. We didn't really *do* anything. Oh sure, we laughed at Mannekin Pis, drank lots of Belgian Beer (mostly the Trappist variety,) a few of us had mussels. The visit was not about Brussels. It was about being together. And that we did. And then we sent them off with love and good wishes.

This is the Atomium. It was built for the 1958 World's Fair. We didn't go in it, but did enjoy seeing it.

Free face painting in the park at the base of the Atomium. My girls will never say no to that!

You can follow the Rwanda adventure here (ahem, as soon as they have connectivity.)

Spotted at the Supermarket

PLUMS! Bought my first Mirabelle and Reine Claude plums of the season.

Botany Castle

You know how you go into an experience assuming it's going to be about one thing and then it turns out to be about another? Well, that's how it went on Saturday afternoon when we decided to check out a little village in France. I assumed our visit would be about seeing the village and the castle. Wrong. It was about the plants.

It started when we passed this cool tree with leaves that looked like Chinese lanterns. Anyone know what kind of tree that is? The girls scavenger instincts came out and lanterns were carried up to the castle grounds.

Up the path to the castle we passed a hazel nut tree. Eva found a cluster with 4 nuts!

Around the castle we ran into our next specimen; a tree with long beans hanging from it. Around this time I fished out a plastic Cheesecake Factory bag from my purse so the girls had a place for their treasures. The bean tree was absolutely beautiful. The light coming through its branches even more so.

Back into the village and nearing the car we saw this interesting plant. Unfortunately there was nothing to collect from this one.

We'd love some help identifying our booty. Any botanists out there?

Our trip wasn't about the quaint French village. But it was about something equally wonderful and that is great by me.

Just in case you're curious -
We went to Rodemack, France. 20 minutes from Lux City. It is listed as one of the 139 most beautiful villages of France. More pictures here.

Sunny Friday

Friday the girls and I set out to visit Malbrouck Castle. It is located in a tiny little village in France called Manderen. Manderen is only about 35 minutes from Lux City but in that short drive we actually drove through 3 countries - Lux, Germany and then France. Crazy. Only possible in a teeny country like Luxembourg.

What brought us to Malbrouck was not so much the Castle itself, but the art exhibit that was showing there. It was the work of Niki de Saint Phalle. Are you familiar with her? She is responsible for the large, colorful sculptures of very curvaceous women (among other things, as I learned.) The exhibit covered her career as a artist; starting with her collages, then moving to drawings, sculpture and even film. She used to be a fashion model, which I find so interesting - a woman with a "model" body creating such rotund and generously sized women in sculpture.

Niki de Saint Phalle refers to her curvaceous women as nanas. She began creating them after witnessing the pregnancy of her friend. The nana came to symbolize maternity and femininity - and every woman. Luxembourg has a blue nana, placed right near the post office in the center of the city. She is referred to around here as The Blue Lady.

The girls were happy to go see more sculptures by The Blue Lady artist. Their color and whimsy easily captured the girls attention. We also packed a picnic lunch. Picnics will get them to go anywhere!! The Castle's courtyard held our favorite works. There were 3 large, mosaic (she was influenced by Gaudi) nanas glittering in the sun! There were also 4 totem pole statues. I always get excited seeing a bit of American history in Europe. de Saint Phalle was born in France but moved to the States, living in California and on the east coast.

The only down side to this exhibit was the rule about photography being prohibited! I tell ya, those mosaic nanas in the courtyard were begging to be photographed! I resisted. I followed the rules. Sigh. Here you can see a short video of the exhibit (scroll down a bit.) Better than nothing, huh?

If you are a local, I highly suggest this exhibit. Better hurry, though, it's over at the end of August.

Rainy Days are Over

Thank goodness! But the weather upon our return to Lux was horrible. Fall-like. Rainy, gray, cold. I thought summer had officially gone. Ah, it was back today and we didn't waste a second of it.

During those rainy, dark days when we were fuzzy and tired from jet-lag, the girls really got into these HAMA beads. Have your kids tried these? They are a great quiet activity. I bought Eva a pack a few years ago and she was really too young to get into them. She was re-acquainted to HAMA by her Auntie Lena on our trip to Seattle. We picked up a few packs here in Lux and the girls have really been enjoying them.

Wondering how we spent our first sunny day back in Lux? Check back tomorrow!

Whew.

Hello again! I've missed you all. How is your summer going? Or should I say, how was it? We're back in Lux after a wonderful, full, 2 weeks in Seattle. Actually we've been here for over a week now. Just slowly going through all the stages of jet-lag - must sleep NOW, fuzzy fog, I'm fine . . . until 3:00, okay, now I'm really over it . . .why am I so damn tired? We find the jet-lag much worse going east. I'm sure the huge let down of leaving loved ones factors into it.

Here are a few of the highlights from our trip:

::The annual Pine Cone Drive-in!! Are you wondering what the features were this year? I know you are. That Darn Cat, Jurassic Park, and Breaking Away. Of course there were classic cartoons for the kids before the main feature. Bugs Bunny this year. He's hilarious.

:: In addition to the Drive-in, my in-laws organized a treasure hunt on the walking trail they built around their property. It was truly the kids' best day EVER!

:: My baby turned 4. Sob. Sob. Sob. Just kidding (sort of.) We celebrated my niece's 5th birthday too.

::My girls met their newest cousin!! He. is. so. sweet.

::A family get together at my mom's. Love the Canadian relatives. They're great peeps!

::Picnic in the park with friends!

::Saying a formal goodbye to my Grandmother, complete with yellow roses and pecan tarts.

::Spending time with Emily, Jeff and Linc, Wednesday night dinner at Tara & Wendy's, Dinner with the girls, shopping with Lori, Denny's lunch, steak dinner with Erik & Lena, visiting with neighbors, petting Gus, dinner with J,B,D,K & kids, serious shopping, Target binge with Lena, pool party at G.G. Lucy's, and much more that I'm sure I'll remember tomorrow.

Yaaaaawn. I'm off to bed. It's great to be back.