Tesoro Jewelry and Art...

Ellie, too butch for cheerleading costume?

2011-09-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

We went to Target today to get some Eggo waffles because our coupons for them were expiring, also because they are delicious. (Jessica is an avid coupon-er/ money saver, she has many smiles one of her smiles is reserved only for saving money and clipping coupons.)

During pic taking

While walking in to Target we walked in to the dollar section and noticed they had dog costumes for Halloween. Devil horns and angel wings for Red, easy pick! Ellie on the other hand we had a dilemma, cheer leading costume or referee outfit? We both instantly knew that Ellie is just too butch to have a cheerleaders costume. Did we choose wisely? Whatever, I know my dog and she is NO cheer leader.


After pictures

I need quotes people!

2011-09-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

4pm came too fast today, we rushed to get all the packaging finished, and I was at the post office by 4:58pm (I was the last one in). More keychains and bracelets going out today!

Keep Calm & Carry On

Any ideas for new quotes to be put on keychains, bracelets, pumpkins, butterflies, scalloped circles, stars, or hearts would be much appreciated. I am constantly quoting things (quizzing Jessica) all day long, but it seems like when I sit down to try to think of a good quote for a key chain I got nothing!

Red snoring tells me its time to go out to the very disorganized workshop to start creating for the morn.

2011-09-13T20:58:00.000-07:00

I (Brian) have commandeered this blog. I now work full time with/ for my wife (well I say for she says with). I must say my wife is an absolute genius. This little one person company that she made has tumbled into a full on factory/ sweatshop.

Here is our daily routine: -> wake up-> eat breakfast-> print out orders for the day-> start stamping-> post more product on Etsy-> ink, bend, put on key chains-> print shipping labels-> package-> drive 90 mph to the post office-> eat dinner- cut metal-> reply to conversations and emails-> go to bed.

After looking at this list my lovely wife responded, "You don't do any of this." To which I can only say one thing, "someone has to watch the dogs."

Featured Seller: Lanamarenco

2010-10-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

Today's Featured Etsy Seller is Lana from Lanamarenco.

Lanamarenco features gorgeous handmade jewelry. Her PMC and Porcelain pieces are exquisite!

Porcelain and Hammered Silver Earrings

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you started your craft. I grew up in San Francisco and attended the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA and majored in Studio Art, concentrating in photography and ceramics. For the past few years I have worked at a paint your own pottery studio in Berkeley, CA. During the past 2 years I found ways to continue with pottery, learning to do what I love without throwing on the potter's wheel, I also discovered PMC (precious metal clay). I've been focusing on combining the two media and I think I have found what I was looking for my whole life: making jewelry. I was recently laid off and though that sucks, the past week has given me the free time to start my Etsy shop and really start my business. Now, I'm looking for ways to promote my work.

Besides crafting, what do you like to do. I have a puppy whom I love to train and play with. Since I got him, I go on a lot of walks and just love getting out into the sun and enjoy all that the outside offers. Not to mention that the outdoors fuels my creativity as I love floral and organic shapes.

How do you promote your work. I am trying to get to know other Etsy sellers through the online chats and the forums. I also have myself posted on my blog, website and Facebook. All my friends share my etsy links with their friends. Word of mouth has always been a great way of doing things. I have bought a couple of spots in the jewelry and ceramics showcase.

Name your top five books, movies, TV shows, musicians, or websites. DreamGirls (movie/musical), Michael Crawford (singer), Christa Assad (ceramic artist), Whitney Smith (ceramic artist who sells on Etsy), Ansel Adams (photographer), craigslist.org

What's next for you and your shop? I am currently look for a job, until then, I am focused on my etsy shop. Improving it by talking to other etsy sellers, promoting my work through other people I know in the field. Trying to improve what I make and create something everyone would want to have!

Thank you so much for your time, I really appreciate it.

~Lana

Thank you Lana for sharing with us! I wish you tons of luck and success!

Lana has great presence on the web - please check her out at her
Etsy Shop http://lanamarenco.etsy.com
Website www.lanamarenco.com
Blog lanamarenco.blogspot.com
Facebook Page www.facebook.com/pages/Marenco-Art-Studios/148566765182523?ref=ts

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Featured Seller: Heroicbeer

2010-09-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

Kathy from http//heroicbeer.etsy.com hails from my home state, California. (Ah how I miss California weather!) Her shop, Heroicbeer, offers amazing fine art photography prints.

Lantern - 8x10 Photo Print

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I'm in my late twenties and love taking photos. It's my creative outlet and it's a great excuse for me to go on a long drive and see something new!

How did you start your craft?
I've been taking photos since I was a little girl with a disc camera. I have my parents to thank for sparking my interest in photography - they were both hobby photographers.

Besides creating, what do you like to do?
When I'm not out on a photo adventure, I'm working on iPhone apps, playing with my cat Jihad, or baking something sweet.

How do you promote your work?
I keep a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/heroicbeer and like to make new friends in the ever-active Etsy forums.

Name your top five books, movies, TV shows, musicians, or websites.
My top 5 musicians:
Pavement
X (Los Angeles)
Smashing Pumpkins
Low
Yo La Tengo

What's next for you and your shop?
I'm moving to Los Angeles soon for work and fun. The change in scenery will no doubt inspire me and my camera lens!

Happy Sales Kathy!

Embarrassing bathtime photos!

2010-09-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

Oh the shame!

In an effort to save a little cash, I have started to regularly groom our dog myself. Manned with clippers, a shaver, some shamp, and my husband, the whole ordeal takes about 30 minutes. This is record time considering I once cut and washed my MILs collie and it took 2 hours!!!

It never ceases to crack me up that when you add water, our poodle terrier furball turns into a cross between a rat and a squirrel.

Thought I'd share. :D

Can't you tell she secretly loves it.

Featured Seller: Squidooink/Somewearintyme

2010-09-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone that checked out my new Featured Seller’s Featurettes and filled out a questionaire. I am so surprised at the response and I am so happy to be able to spread some creativity around!

If you would like a featurette and have an online shop, be it Etsy, Artfire, Dawanda, etc, check out becoming a Featured Seller!

On to my very first Featured Seller.....

From the Etsy community, we have Jen!

She is a busy lady with not one but two shops - Squidooink, where you will find a ton of assorted crafts and destash, and Somewear In Tyme, carrying delicate times past inspired jewelry/vintage items.

Here are Jen’s favorite items from her two shops:

On A Wing steampunk earrings - SomewhereinTyme

I love the length and how it has wings and clock pieces in it. Its so unusual looking to me

Giraffe says Love - Baby congratulations card - Squidooink

I've always loved giraffe's and had to incorporate one in my shop somewhere :)” Me too! I hear giraffes and foxes are next!

Tell us a bit about yourself. I'm terribly at these so here it goes. I am as some tell me a "crafty oozing out of my pores" type girl. I am always making new items, or writing, or reading. Always doing something creative and sometimes I sleep. My two shops kinda opened by chance I think, I never really intended to actually sell my work. Shortly after being forced to move and having my heart broken I open Somewear in Tyme. I don't think it would have ever opened if I hadn't had that happen to me. Squidooink was created way before Somewear In Tyme but after I learned how to make jewelery.

How did you start your craft? I learned jewelry in high school and kept at it, ripping apart anything I could find and making it into jewelry. Then a friend of mind got me into paper crafting, the rest is history ;) shortly after that I wanted to learn how to knit so I taught myself.

Besides creating, what do you like to do? Read and write my own stories, I would love to have a story of mine published one day.

How do you promote your work? The etsy forums, anyone I met, I wear my work, or offer crafting services to anyone, spread my moo cards everywhere

Name your top five books, movies, TV shows, musicians, or websites.

Books:
InkHeart - Cornelia Funke
East - Edith Pattou
Lord of the rings trilogy - J.R.R Tolkien
I"m assuming that trilogy uses all 5 slots

Movies:
Penelope
Enchanted
Legend
Phantom of the Opera
moulin Rouge

Tv Shows
Bones
White Collar
Lie to me
Eureka
Warehouse 13

Music
The rasmus <3
Evanescence
Three Days Grace
Florence and the Machine
The Kin

What's next for you and your shop? Grow expand, make new unique items. Make more cards, since I haven't done that in awhile, as for jewelry I'm trying out the domino/ picture frame pieces and enjoying that. I'm hoping to show case my work in a market next year!

Thank You!
Jen

Happy sales to you Jen! I hope everyone takes some tyme to check her out.

Want to be a Featured Seller?!

2010-09-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been hanging out in the Etsy Chat Forums and discovering some amazing shops!

It always amazes me how much talent and creativity there is in the world. Every single shop, and there must be over 100,000 on Etsy easy!, has so much creativity, ambition, and hope that I find myself wanting to know more about them.

So, I've decided I would like to do my very only Featured Seller postings here on my blog.

If you would like to be a Featured Seller, please send me an email at TesoroJewelryArt (at) gmail (dot) com and the following information:

1. Your Name
2. Your E-mail Address
3. What is your website or shop's name and link?
4. Tell us a bit about yourself.
5. How did you start your craft?
6. What is your favorite item from your shop?
7. Besides creating, what do you like to do?
8. How do you promote your work?
9. Name your top five books, movies, TV shows, musicians, or websites.
10. What's next for you and your shop?

I will e-mail you back as soon as possible with the date of your Featured Seller post!

Can't wait!!!

Checking things off the old To Do List

2010-09-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

Good morning!

Trade Days went well! I met a lot of nice people and saw some fun items! It was very hot and I think more people would have come otherwise. I bet October will be great!

I need to get myself in gear. I'm a little late in the week to make a Weekly To Do List but I just made one and man, I better get started!

To Do #1 - Make a fun Treasury!

Check. I would love if you would check it out and let me know what you think!

'Run away with the Circus' by tesorojewelry

Life Is A Balancing... junkyardglitte... $125.00	Circus Elephant on ... DotsAndDahlias $14.00	Circus Tent Sterlin... ThirtySixTen $26.00	The Big Top, Fine A... bomobob $30.00
ADMIT ONE 10 CENTS ... ruthmikos $20.00	Red and White Strip... thoughtbooks $12.00	neck loops circle s... missindie $30.00	Tom the Barker Prin... theblackapple $16.00
Red White and Black... olgaitaly $30.00	nancy drew hard hea... wendyandpeter $10.00	Vintage Circus Post... mybluetulipdes... $1.25	Pretty in Pink - V... MintyFreshFusi... $65.00
Circus Diamond scra... TheBlackSpotBo... $55.00	WHiMSiCaL Shabby Vi... LandofEnchantm... $4.29	NEW - CIRCUS Cupcak... DoodleZDesigns $9.00	Pantomime Mime Vint... AlteredArtifac... $3.50

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

The weekend has finally come! Ready to hit up Trade Days?!

2010-09-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

A highly anticipated weekend is now upon me! I have been so busy working up to my first big market weekend that I didn't even get a chance to blog it.

This weekend, Friday September 17 to Sunday September 19, I will be at the Third Monday Trade Days showing off everything from my two shops TesoroJewelry and TesoroArt and a ton of never before seen stuff! I've been a very busy bee creating, crafting, wirewrapping, picture editing, and organizing!

So if you are in the North Dallas area, come visit me! The Market is upon from 9 to 5 each day and showcases over 400 vendors selling "unique gifts, delightful home décor, trendy clothing and accessories, sporting goods, antiques and collectibles, landscaping materials, tools, and small animals along with many specialty “state fair” type food concessions."

I'll be offering special discounts every day and many pieces with be 10-25% my Etsy shop prices with Texas Sales Tax included!

See you there!

And the winner is....Did you win?

2010-08-31T10:29:00.000-07:00

Good morning everyone!

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated in my Giveaway this past week! I think it had a great turn-out with 128 submissions!

Before I announce the winner, I wanted to share some news! I got into a big craft fair in September. I am so excited - off my rocker excited! It's a 3 day event with over 120+ vendors. I can't wait but I am so overwhelmed getting ready! Anyone have any pointers for a big craft fair?

Ok, back to important business! Again, thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway. I wish everyone could be a winner so if you are a blog follower or reader (that's you!) I would love to give you 40%, hold on, 40% OFF, in my shop Tesoro Jewelry until Wednesday, September 1st 11:59 PM PST - that's 36 hours from now! Just enter giveaway anywhere in the "message to seller" and I will refund you via paypal 40% off your entire purchase! (Shipping is still free as always!). So, happy shopping!

I am pleased to announce the winner is......#102

d r u m r o l l please!

They call me Cee!!!

Congratulations and I will be contacting you shortly!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Giveaway: Ends Monday, August 30th

2010-08-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

So I've kept it on the DL for a little bit but it's time....I've opened a second shop on Etsy, TesoroArt!!! I just added enough items to put my total items to a whopping 6 - yay! I have big hopes for this shop - I want to have photography prints, fine art paintings and drawings, and custom artwork. I am so so excited.

In more Etsy news, I was so excited to see tonight that I had 2 items featured in Treasuries AND 1 of the items was from my second shop. How cool is that?


TesoroJewelry Featured

TesoroArt Featured

So, getting down to the good stuff, it's definitely time for a giveaway! I think it is only appropriate that the giveaway item be one of the items that was featured in treasuries tonight.

Chunky Ring - White Rock Crystal, Sphere, Round, Fun

How to Enter?

1. Become a follower of this blog

2. Visit my Etsy shops, TesoroJewelry or TesoroArt & share your favorite item

3. Heart Tesorojewelry or TesoroArt on Etsy

Do you Twitter?

4. Follow my tweets on my Twitter

5. Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter (please post link to tweet)

On Facebook?

6. Follow me on my Facebook page

7. Share this giveaway with your friends on Facebook

Have a blog?

8. Blog about this giveaway (please post link)

9. Grab my button and post it on your blog

9 chances to WIN! Woohoo!

And the oh-so-fun rules:

Giveaway ends Monday, August 30th at 11:59 PM (PST). Winner will be contacted the following day.
This giveaway is eligible to Worldwide.
Winner will be chosen at random via Random Integer Generator.

Also important:

Please post a separate comment for each entry that you submit. Each comment will count as 1 entry.
Please make sure to leave your Facebook, Twitter or Etsy user name so I can contact you if you win!
Have fun and good luck!

August Blog Carnival Post

2010-08-22T10:42:00.000-07:00

What was your favorite BOOK, MOVIE or GETAWAY SPOT over the summer?

If only this question was about the Spring because I would have a lot to say (see the 20+ posts from April & May about our Europalooza). Oh well.

Sadly, I did not get a chance to read as much as I would have liked to this summer BUT we did see a tonnnn of movies: Grown ups, Eat Pray Love, Inception, Expendables, Eclipse, Despicable Me, The Other Guys, Salt. I think that's it. Whew, that's an embarrassing list.

Out of all of them, I'd have to say my favorite was Inception. I loved the concept and how it all played out. I love Ellen Paige and Leo de Cap so that helped. It was a tid bit long but I walked out of that movie not having any questions and just replaying it in my head - which never happens! I don't remember liking a movie that much since Avatar.

What was your favorite movie this summer?

EtsyBlogger featured Etsy Artist - Patch

2010-08-22T10:04:00.000-07:00

Every month the Etsyblogger Team features an Etsian. So, without further ado, the August Spotlight is Patch. Now Patch must be a very busy bee because she has not one, not two, but THREE shops. I have one and a quarter shops and I'm overwhelmed. Below are her three lovely shops and a favorite item of mine from each shop!

Patch First Shop - lovely beaded Swarovski and bridal custom Jewelry

Handmade Jewelry - Simple Long Pearl Necklace - 53 inches with Vintage Silver Flower Brooch

Patch Vintage Shop - Unique Vintage Clothing

Vintage Blue Navy Dress

Patch Supply Shop - Packing supplies and other crafting stuff

Purple and Blue Theme - Origami Flowers - 10pcs

Happy Shopping!

There's no I in TEAM but there is ME

2010-08-13T16:57:00.000-07:00

I've joined my first ETSY TEAM. I'm so excited to be apart of the Etsy Bloggers Team. This week happens to be their team anniversary AND they are doing a huge team-wide sale.

You can check out the whole line up of Etsians participating in the sale - over 50 shops!

Etsybloggers.blogspot.com

Happy shopping!

Treasury Love

2010-07-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

I missed this weeks Treasury yesterday what with operation buckle down going on. So I was so THRILLLLLED this morning to get a message from Etsian NVBlondie that one of my Peace Sign Rings was included in her lovely treasury.

Check out this Hippie Chic treasury here!

Thanks NVBlondie!

***

Check back often because I feel a giveaway coming on! If you have a blog and are an Etsian, do you like to do giveaways? I think that it is a lot of fun. To help me out and maybe you out in the future, here's a list of places that I know of that you can submit your giveaways to:

The Give-away Diva - Easy blog to submit your giveaway for jewelry, apparel, and accessories!
Giveaway Scout - They are a giveaway search engine that publishes your giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, newsletters, etc. Their giveaway categories include everything - cooking, home and garden, fashion, jewelry, art, books, and more! You can submit your blog to be added to their network here and submit your giveaways here
Etsy Giveaways - Submit here any handmade items in your giveaway
Your Twitter
Your Facebook page

Happy Friday/Saturday everyone!!!

Heigh ho Heigh Ho

2010-07-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

Watch out! Big things are coming!

Well, at least for me. I have been putting my nose to the grind, working 24/7 on revamping my Etsy shop, taking pictures by the thousands, creating a new website, situating a domain, products for a 2nd etsy shop (still daunting), reading countless articles online about selling, and snagging promos wherever I can find them.

I really want to put 100% into this and while I feel I have, I'm plagued with doubt. Oh well, good thing I've adopted the motto, "build and they will come."

What I am sure about though, is that I'm exhausted! Starting your own super small home based business is not an easy task as I'm sure anyone who has a small home based business can tell me. But, or rather, BUT, I am having fun! And I'm sooooooo excited to be doing something I've always wanted to do. Create (hopefully soon, for a living).

For instance, I was given the opportunity to create a page for the Diary 2011 Project. It is a great collection in calendar form of creative works from hundreds of artists around the web!

I am not a paint shop expert and I had a horrible time trying to take a picture of my tiger but I think it all worked out well. I'm so excited!

Happy Thursday!

The giveaway winner is....

2010-07-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

Wait, a prelude first.

My Internet connection has failed me. Dark days are ahead For the next 10 days, or so AT&T estimates (please universe, don't let it be for that long!). I wasnt even able to do Friday Finds yesterday :( Nevertheless, my iPhone and I have become very close, dangerously close. We bonded wonderfully during or euro-vacay but now it's more of a love hate relationship. My iPhone is just not productive or conducive to all things etsy and online marketing.

OK back to bigger and better things. It's time to announce last weeks giveaway winner of the Howlite Ring (see post for picture). There was 114 comments for the giveaway! So awesome.

Drum roll please.

Random integer generator (random.org) says....

That's Deanna! Congratulations!

Have a happy weekend everyone.

Treasury Thursdays

2010-07-15T18:10:00.000-07:00

Did you know "Tesoro" means Treasure in Spanish? So, naturally, Treasury Thursdays are my new favorite day!

Today was my first treasury in forever so I was a little rusty on how to go about doing it on Etsy's Treasury Page. There have been some modifications since my last treasury. A couple wonderful Etsian's sent me links to their items and it was "love" at first site. Today's treasury comes at no surprise!

Now, I know today is not Tip Tuesday but did you know that if you have a shop on Etsy and sign up for Google Analytics, you can see how many Treasuries you are in at any give time. Included in Craftopolis' wonderful Etsy tools, check out the Treasure Tracks at http://www.craftopolis.com/#com=tt and give it a try.

How many Treasuries are you in today?

Happy Thursday!

What's up Wednesday

2010-07-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

Until I can think of something better. Today, I feel like saying, What's up?

Today, nothing - BUT, I have high hopes that I will work on my checklist and just maybe, if I'm good, make some jewelry or do a bit of drawing.

Being your own boss is exhausting, mostly because, if I perform badly, I can't fire myself. I'll just end up having to be rehired.

Tomorrow, I've pre-decided, is Tesoro-y (a.k.a Treasure-y) Thursdays. So, if you are an Etsian, please comment with a link to an item of yours and what theme you think it'd be perfect for. Check back tomorrow to see the group - you'll probably be in it!

Happy Wednesday!

Tip Tuesday: Backgrounds for Etsy Photography

2010-07-13T11:32:00.000-07:00

I have been inspired to do a theme day every week. We'll see how it goes!

Yesterday, for the first time in months, I photographed an item to sell on Etsy. It took me a minute to shoot, about 10 more seconds to scoot my chair two inches towards my Mac, 15 seconds to load the pics into IPhoto, and then finally 35 seconds to upload into Etsy. What is that? 2 minutes!!!

What do I credit? Not my lovely Mac, not my camera with its wonderful macro setting, but my background and location. More specifically, my placemats placed strategically infront of a double window.

I went through a lot of different backgrounds. Some were good, some were horrible, some pissed me off. I finally found "the one" passing through the aisle of Target. A cream-colored textured placemat. Beyond forces that I do not get, it worked. Now, they may not be the best pictures on Etsy (actually, I'm sure of it) but they are the best I've produced.

Here's a comprehensive list of all materials I've tried as backgrounds before finding "the one": (Please note: I am absolutely not saying that these do not work as backgrounds because I have seen fabulous pictures including most of these on Etsy. They just didn't float my boat. That's all)

Backgrounds:
Placemats
White paper
White tetured paper
Colored paper
Colored textured paper
Mirrors
Reflective black surfaces
Kitchen cutting board
Windowsill
Wood
Fabric
Ribbons (Glued nicely next to eachother)
Screening (the kind from a sliding screen door)
Foam
Carpet
Tile samples
Linoleum
Paper towels
Bottom part of wicker baskets

So my tip for the day, if you haven't found "the one" already, maybe try some of the above background ideas in your next item photoshoot. And, if what you use is not listed up there, please share your "the one"?

Don't forget! 3 days left in my giveaway. Participate here!!!

Good luck & Happy Tuesday!

Managing Mondays: Clutter is not conducive to creativity...right?

2010-07-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

I had a beautiful post ready for you today. It was full of hope, angst, and strategically placed comedic relief but Blogspot ate it. It was there and then it wasn't and I just can't bring myself to repeat myself (I admit, I don't remember most of it). So I'll just move on.

I've decided to dedicate Monday posts to keeping myself in check. Monday is the start of the work week for most so it's the perfect time to get my ducks back in a cute little row and take on the week. The Hub just started his new job over the holiday weekend and since I am attempting the challenge of "struggling artist" and staying home, I will work when he works so I feel like I have a job instead of a really awesome job where I stay in my PJS all day making jewelry and painting. If I don't make that mental agreement with myself, I could lose perspective and go wild and crazy, like read all day. I'm just saying.

So, first day on the job, I've failed already. If I didn't like me so much, I'd be fired because I slept in. However! he had to wake up at 5 am and I can't do that. I just can't. My body rejects every bit of that idea. So, I have completed another inner contract with myself to wake up a few hours later than that and work twice as hard to make up for lost time.

What'd I accomplish this morning? A huge project - my workspace! It has taken me 2 weeks to situate myself a conducive workspace for my jewelry, art, and crafts.

I expect that it will be clutterly organized within a couple of days and a full blown out warzone by this weekend.

Aside from this, I have built massive checklists to organize the constant nagging voice in my head to get crap done! I need to update my etsy item tags, reshoot items, organize my pictures, sort through magazines, buy supplies, etc. I want to create but I just can't with all of these things still on my checklist!

For all creative souls out there, how do you motivate yourself to do the not-so-fun stuff involved in your hobby/business? I think the not-so-fun stuff covers everything else besides creating the art, am I right?

I have a celebratory surprise!

2010-07-11T12:55:00.000-07:00

So this morning (errr, this afternoon) I woke up and really wanted to do a sale. Today's a big deal and I thought I should celebrate it here as well.

Today's my wedding anniversary to the love of my life. 2 years down! What? Like its hard? (what movie what movie?)

We originally wanted to get married on 7-12, which was a Saturday in 2008. After some bridezilla drama (not mine) with our reception place, we decided to get married the day before, a Friday, 7/11. Even though this meant we would be sharing our wedding date with a gas station, it quickly became our favorite date:

1 - it's so easy to remember i'm fairly certain my husband can never forget it
2 - i don't know why we didn't notice before but, 7 is his favorite number, 11 is mine
3 - it's the week after July 4th so doing something is usually less crowded and less expensive
4 - um, free slurpees at 7-11 on every anniversary, hello?
5 - it will always be the day I married my best friend who I love a million peanut m&ms

So, how should we celebrate it here?

In continuing with my love for the number 11, all rings in my etsy shop are $11.00. Just $11. This means a discount of 15% - 45% off on all rings!!!

The schematics: Purchase any ring(s) in my shop tesorojewelry.etsy.com and type "anniversary" in the message to seller and I will refund you via Paypal any amount over $11 per ring (excluding the $1 for shipping). If you would prefer not to use Paypal, let me know and I will send you a revised invoice. This sale will end today, Sunday 7/11, at 11:59 PM PST. (Update: Let's make it until tomorrow, Monday 7/13, at 12:00 PM PST. This way its a full 24 hours).

And there is still lots of time to enter my giveaway for a free Howlite Ring here.

Officially non-newlyweds

2010-07-11T01:24:00.000-07:00

Old married hag here...

Tomorrow, tonight, this morning, whatever, currently...today is my 2nd year wedding anniversary. I can NOT believe that 2 years has gone by, flown by actually.

We currently do not have any tentative plans for our big day except ask ourselves all day long, "What were we doing exactly 2 years ago?" When that gets boring, around 7, dinner and a movie sounds good. We haven't done that just the two of us since Paris (sometime in very early May).

I'm also super stoked that my first blog giveaway since our irresponsible euro-vacay has received a bunch of participants. Yay! Everyone has until the end of Friday PST to comment here.

Giveaway: Ends Friday, July 16th

2010-07-09T23:34:00.000-07:00

Now that my hubby and I are a bit settled here in Texas and my jewelry inventory has been laid out and organized into a less-horrific mess, I think I'm feeling my creativity mojo returning. To celebrate, I thought it was about time for a Giveaway.

Since its summer, I thought, they need something fun, something cute, and something simple. So, here ya go, a fun, cute, and simple Howlite ring to accessorize your favorite summer outfit. Please, it needs to be put to work poolside and/or during strenuous beach or lake lounging.

How to Enter?

1. Become a follower of this blog

2. Visit my Etsy shop & share your favorite item

3. Heart Tesorojewelry on Etsy

Do you Twitter?

4. Follow my tweets on my Twitter

5. Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter (please post link to tweet)

On Facebook?

6. Follow me on my Facebook page

7. Share this giveaway with your friends on Facebook

Have a blog?

8. Blog about this giveaway (please post link)

9. Grab my button and post it on your blog

10. Comment here on any of your summer plans coming up or just past. I will be living vicariously through all of you as we do not have any summer plans (as we shouldn't, see the last 10+ posts) :D!

I believe that's 10 chances to WIN! Woohoo!

And the oh-so-fun rules:

Giveaway ends Friday, July 16th at 11:59 PM (PST). Winner will be contacted the following day.
This giveaway is eligible to U.S. Residents only.
Winner will be chosen at random via Random Integer Generator.

Also important:

Please post a separate comment for each entry that you submit. Each comment will count as 1 entry.
Please make sure to leave your e-mail address in every submitted comment so I can contact you if you win!
Have fun and good luck!

Address update

2010-06-30T23:31:00.000-07:00

It's the first morning of our first day of the next chapter in our lives. Over the course of last week, spent lots of time with family and eating all our fave -only -in -Cali food, packed all our nonsense into a not so itty bitty space, watched it get hauled away, stuffed our car with furry and scaley creatures and drove 25 hours to get here. It's official, we've moved. It pains me to type this but this always been a so cal girl no longer lives in sunny so cal. Blasphemis I know.

If you had told me 6 months ago I'd be here now and did all we did in the last 6 months I'd turn to you in a cheesy new yorker accent and say "get outta heeeeer". But, it all did happen, in a blink of an eye sadly. It's cruel that one can experience two moves and a ten- trips-infused -into -one adventure within a blink of an eye but I have a feeling when I am 80 looking back, that'll be the cruelest blink of an eye. But oh what a wonderful blink it will be and for this past one, was.

And halting the mid morning glow of philosophical pondering, I have to say i am very excited. Excited to be somewhere new. Excited to try new things. Slightly not excited about the area (while lovely, I did leave southern California and currently experiencing what it's like to be in my own personal grossly sweaty sauna). Excited to be experiencing it all with my husband. And most importantly, excited for barbecue.

Rome to home

2010-06-07T10:04:00.000-07:00

6/1-6/5

Way way ridiculously late but here's the last of it.

So 3 priests are walking down the street in Rome... And thats all we got. This was a frequent sight while we were in Rome but we could never finish the joke out of "3 priests walk into a gelateria" or "3 priests walk into a pizzeria".

We were back in Rome for 2 nights so the first night we walked from our place near the Vatican to st angelos, over the bridge, to largo Argentina to see the cats (this time the place was crawling with cats)

And then to the campidoglio to see if we could find the lupus statue.

We saw a whole bunch of people walking around and taking pictures so we thought they were tourists and might lead us to the lupus statue. We followed them into a museum to the top floor but quickly realized we were in the midst of a wedding reception. We took a couple shots of the amazing view and quickly hurried out of there. However, Not before a couple of guards realized and hustled us outta there with apparent disapproval. Oh well, they didn't notice us going in and all signs were in Italian. Oops.

Finally found the statue hidden behind a building and about one foot high. Underwhelming right?

Bonus discovery: view of the back portion of the forum that we didn't have time to walk to before.

Revisited Spanish steps. Eyed an illegal LV bag.

The next morning we hustled with the mobs to st peters sq for the papal audience. It was very neat to watch and equally fun to experience with the huddled mass.

We left a bit early to beat the crowd to the Vatican museums. We literally ran down the street to beat a huge crowd.

Famous spiral staircase.

5 hours later we left and headed home. Went out for a final Italian meal around the block and then packed all our crap up after.

The next morning we had arranged for a shuttle to take us to the airport like before. The vehicle that came was pretty late and not the same car so we were concerned the whole ride it might be a scam or maybe we were just nervous from him going 220 kms down the highway. I guess it made up for him being late and We did need to get there early as everyone advises. But The place was absolutely empty and we had a good hour before the check in counter even opened.

We had a connection in Dublin which was a nice break.

Hello Ireland. Bye Ireland. I promise not to judge you on your airport food.

Even though it was a long long flight, because we flew aerlingus, it was awesome - private tvs, in flight meal, free snacks, blankets, pillows (so use to american air so this was such a luxury)

Finally inNY. We appreciated being in America so much after being gone for so long.

Grand central

Our flight got us into the city by 7 so by the time we got to our manhattan apt we just passed out so really no jet lag for us. By the next morning we were ready for our one full day in the big apple.

Started the day checking out battery park with a distant view of the statue of liberty, then to wall street, ground zero, up to central park, fao schwartz, down 5th avenue, Rockefeller ctr, times square with adventures in the subway inbetween. After riding many of the worlds most used subway/metro stations, NY has the worst.

That night

Empire state building. Slightly bummed we didn't go to the top.

Times square.

And that was it! There was definitely more we couldve done but we Had to stop or we wouldve dropped from exhaustion and probably dehydration.

Noon flight home on American air the next day. They suck. No amenities like aerlingus and we had to pay for our bags. Only redeeming thing for the whole turbulent flight. Chuck!

Made it home safe and sound. It was so great to be back home with my family and our puppy.

Our first meal? Mexican food please!

Yay! Home with the Jenk! We loved traveling and exploring new places but I definitely missed by girl.

Athens to Rome by B

2010-06-07T09:55:00.001-07:00

We hopped on a plane from Leo da v airport to Athens. This was the place that I wanted to go to the most so I was really excited when we landed. We took the metro from the airport to our hotel right by the acropolis, when we got to the place I couldn't believe our view! We stared right out of our hotel balcony right onto the acropolis hill. Just down our street was the arc of Hadrian and right across from that the temple to Zeus, and right around the corner Socrates jail cell! Athens is an amazing city just think, almost all of our modern ideas inventions and art have in some way there roots in Athens, can't do much without Pythagoras and all of his formulas. The first thing we needed to do was eat some food not just any food, gyros pitas. We sat down at a place right down the way from the Parthenon in the plaka, and the food and prices did not dissapoint. That night we walked around the plaka and I had ouzo for the first and last time. We also went to the famed mars hill to watch the sunset I didn't realize where we were till the next day when I was asking everyone where the apostle Paul Preached the gospel to the athenians, and they told me right there. I translated the plaque there the next day and it was Pauls actual address and call to worship the true and living God. " men of Athens I noticed on the way here that you are very religous people and while I was walking I saw a statue ' to the unknown god' him I declare to you today". What an incredible place to watch the sunset!!! On the hill we took a bunch of shots of the modern city of Athens which in some ways reminded me of Mexico city. The buildings seemed right on top of each other it was crazy looking, on one side you could see the famous port of Piraeus and on the other the parthenon it was easy to imagine yourself in the golden age of Greece sporting a toga and theorizing with the others. The next day we visited 2 museums. First we went to the national archaeological museum it was very interesting, they had many artifacts from all over Macedonia and even some from Egypt. I was amazed at all the liitle bronze statues of all the deities of the time they had what seems like a god for everything. We all know the main gods but they had other ones and some they took from other cultures like Egypt. Gods, gods and more gods I had to laugh looking at one such bronze goddess Aphrodite the goddess of beauty, because well the time had not been kind to this goddess she looked like some kind of monster. The coolest things in this museum for me were the more lifesize statues that they had like Zeus poised to throw a lightning bolt or Poseidon with a triton in hand. Next we went to the Parthenon museum which was just recently built it houses some of the original pieces of the Parthenon and areas around the Parthenon. The orig caryatids that were on the temple to Apollo are there they are quite impressive especially for being 2500 years old. There was parts of this museum that had a clear floor so you could see some of the excavations going on underneath awesome (Jess had a difficult time with this because some were very high up and it was a little weird and Erie being on a glass floor). Next we headed over to the Agora which was the social place of ancient Greece there were tons of ruins here so many that there ruins on ruins crazy this must be an archaeologists dream city. We walked down and went to the temple of Hephaestus the god of ingenuity, this is the most preserved ancient temple anywhere it is amazing! While we were strolling around the temple we noticed tortoises walking around in the grass, I love turtles and I have never seen them in the wild like this it was great I was taking tons of pics and video and then I realized we still have to go to the acropolis. We walked up there and it was pretty awe inspiring I can imagine the ancient peoples as they saw this place they must have thought truly that's where a god would live. It wasn't too crowded up there and we got to stay till they started locking the place up which was very cool. Over all Athens is quite a city I would deffinately go back there is so much to explore and experience.

The next day we hopped on a bus and headed over to nafplio which is on the Grecian peloponnesus. The bus ride out was beautiful we got to see the greek coastline and country side also we went through Corinth, which is just a small town compared to it's former glory. I thought about Paul writing to the Corinthians about love in 1 Corinthians 13 amazing that this is that city! We got to nafplio it was a gorgeous sleepy little beach town, perfect for some r&r away from the big cities. We instantly went off to the beach and it did not dissapoint, the waters were green and blue very tropical looking. I instantly wanted to rent some snorkel equipment so I ran into town and combed the place for goggles and possibly a snorkel but not one store had them it was extremely frusterating! That night Jess an I searched some more and found out goggles are called yaya yabano which def helped our search. We finally found some goggles so I bought them immediatly and took off for the beach too bad they filled up with water constantly oh well they were better than nothing. We ate tons of gyros pitas and Greek yogurt and relaxed a ton it was a really great time.

We headed back to Rome for one day so we could rap up our tour de Rome and Europe this time we caught the Vatican museums where I took a lot of pics of early Christian tombs and writings they were pretty incredible! I have to study the pics when we get home because thanks to school of ministry I could make out some of the words in the writings. We also caught the popes papal audience which was pretty incredible to be there as he was adressing the people. The cistine chapel though had to be the highlight just thinking about how michelangelo painted all of this monstrosity is quite amazing. St peters was humongous, the biggest church I've ever seen. We also went back over to the forum area and accidently crashed a wedding reception, although it was quite beautiful. Our time in Europe had come to an end but it was an incredible adventure and I couldn't have done it without or with anyone other than my amazing wife who has the patience of a saint when it comes to my directions and planning or lack there of. Thanks, my girl! I love you

Pisa and Rome

2010-06-01T03:51:00.000-07:00

5/24

Today is my birthday!

We had a nice breakfast at grazias, said goodbye to the pets, threw on our backpacks and caught a train to Pisa to break up our long train to Rome. Plus come on we had to see the tower that leaned.

We had about a 2 hour period to drop our bags, catch a bus, shoot the "picture", and back. Ah easier said than done. The bus signs threw us off and about 30 mins later we were on our way.

We were surprised by just how much it leaned. It was pretty severe.

The tower is located on the field of miracles which also has a less photographed baptistry and church.

Hustled back to the station just in time for a long 4+ train ride to Rome. This train sadly was the loudest and hottest train we'd be in to date. Bs allergies were also raging so we were sweaty sneezy messes.

Finally at Termini station in Rome. The station was huge and surprisingly not dirty as I'd read. We searched for the longest time for information so we could by Roma passes. They seriously have to update their signs. We made our way to the metro to go to our b&b. A note on romes metro: amazing graffiti under there and on the trains. Also out of all the metros we've been on (and we've been on alot now!) it was packed all the time. Not just at peak times but always!
Our b&b was a short walk from the metro in a quieter area. Our host was exceptionally friendly with a gorgeous home.
It was too late by the time we were all checked in to go anywhere so we went for dinner around the corner. Had the best brushetta! They didn't have cake so apple strudel was my birthday cake :).

The next morning we had our scavi tour under Vatican city. Walking into st peters square was definitely a reality check. It was a Tuesday so they were setting up for the papal audience tomorrow.

Our tickets said to talk to the swiss guard so while everyone was snapping pics of them, we cautiously went around the gate and B went to talk to them while I lingered behind Just in cases. We were too early so we went and took pictures. When it was time, we repeated going around the gate and the guard gave us the go ahead to pass into Vatican city (so cool!). This was worth doing the tour alone. We also saw the spot where the obelisk use to be before it was moved to the square. After we checked in, our small group of maybe 15 was led under ground. The hoards of people leaving the basilica were so confused at what we were doing - some tried to follow. The area under is temperature regulated for preservation so we had to wait a bit to enter. The tour was an hour and a half and was wonderfully guided. It was very cool to see the layers of st peters. At some points we could look up through ceiling grates and see the dome of st peters.

After the tour, we sent some postcards and walked towards Castel st Angelo, over the bridge, and to piazza navona.

Then to the panthenon.

And to the Trevino fountain. Stumbled upon an interesting building on the way.

And street artists.

Beautiful.

All the people doing the same thing we were.

We came back to our place and grabbed some laundry to do. We dropped it off and went exploring. We saw the equilino park nearby so we headed for that.

In the park, we rounded a corner and saw the coliseum. It was a big surprise because we thought we were too far up in the park.

We grabbed some salads, balsamic, and bread from the supermarket and had dinner on the terrace of our place. So nice. Then some gelato from the oldest gelateria in Italy (just around the corner) and called it a night. THIS day was my birthday because I decided my birthday was on California time and well it was just way more fun and exciting and involved no traveling via train from hell.

The next morning we hit palantine hill, the roman forum and the colosseum before our 3 pm reservation at the Borghese Gallery. We were a little rushed but we had an amazing time. Saw everything we wanted and from some great angles.

Took the metro to Borghese Park and had a little time to kill so we had lunch in the park.

The borghese gallery was a very nice museum. I knew that it was mostly a sculpture museum and that you had to have a reservation to go. Thankfully our host called for us the day before to make us a reservation. The gallery was like a villa built a few hundred years ago. Each room had amazing ceiling decorations and paintings that looked 3D. It also housed some of Berninis best work and my favorite, Apollo and Daphne. We finished a little before our 2 hour allowance and strolled back through the park.

That night we took the metro to the Spanish steps and hung out with the masses while the sunset. The top of the steps and the steps to the church on the hill had some amazing views of Rome and to people watch.

After sunset, we walked to the Trevi fountain to see the night lights on it but they werent on yet so we just walked around. We stumbled upon the campioglino (I think) which was perhaps the most chaotic piazza traffic wise in Rome.

We admit it. We were sick of pizza and pasta at this point so when we stumbled upon a cute semi busy Chinese restaurant with great outdoor seating - it just seemed right. We feasted on fried rice, wontons, orange chicken, sweet and dour chickens, and some other good stuff. It hit the spot.

Back to the trevi. More beautiful at night.

I think the crowd there is always the same size.

Back late to pack up for our early flight. Yay another travel day.

Rome was my favorite big city we visited. It seemed the people there were proud of their city and what stood their and still stands there thousands of years ago. I don't agree with articles I've read that Rome is extremely filthy. For being Rome, I thought it wasn't bad and well preserved. I also found Rome to be really friendly, well actually Italians as a whole over some of the other places we've visited this trip. Glad we are coming back.

Nafplio Greece

2010-05-31T14:40:00.000-07:00

5/29-6/01

We had a pretty 2.5 hr bus ride to nafplio which is a peninsula town on greeces mainland in the south east. The town is really small with a great harbor boulevard and a sandy/pebble beach on the the other side. There is also a fortress up on a hill overlooking the town and one in the mid of the harbor. The town boasts a Venetian feel (previously inhabited) with narrow streets and small shops and restaurants.

Our b&b was really nice with a great view of the cute streets and an airy balcony. We were on the top floor with a pointed rafter ceiling at the top of a super narrow wood staircase so it was like being on a treehouse.

Our three days there were pretty much identical.

We slept in then ate on the balcony.

We went window shopping then ate gyros.

We went to the beach for a few hours.

We napped

We strolled around the mountain on it's cute cobblestone path (only 2nd and 3rd night).

At night We took lots of pictures and strolled.

We ate. I miss Greek yogurt right this second.

Repeat.

Cute little kitten at the beach that was mama-less. She seemed looked after by everyone that went to the beach as we always saw food or drink around her.

Salzburg to Rome by B

2010-05-31T04:43:00.000-07:00

5/17-5/27

We took a train from Salzburg which by the way when we left was a whopping 3 degrees celsius to Venice which was about 22 degrees Celsius, nice! This time I slept like a baby on the train it was goodness. After we got off the train we looked right out the front doors of the station and bam there is the grand canal, pretty surreal. Surreal and busy I should say there are boats running every which way people walking all over the place and they all know where there going, so although there are no cars you might still get run over! We headed off to our b&b and by headed off I mean hopped on a water bus and we went to san Marcos square area and it was bustling. Our b&b owner Lorenzo recommended some restaraunts and geleterias mmm and we were off! We went first and saw the Rialto bridge which was very nice lots of shops and restaraunts and people asking you if you would like to go on gondola rides- gondola rides look fun but not fun enough to spend 100 euros on. We instead went and got gelato and it was great! Venice or venizia as they call it is so pretty during the day, but at night it's darn near fairytailish. The lights sparkle off the water and the moon joins in on the light every once in a while it is very cool. We saw the bridge of sighs and went into st marks over to murano and burano but nothing compared to Venice at night.

We were then off to Florence but first we stopped in to bologna for delightful food and to see the market and old city it was very pretty and the church there is very large. Then off to Florence we only spent a night and morning here. We saw the duomo, which is spectacular, and we walked a long ways and climbed what seemed like a mess of steps to see the statue of David by Leo da vi. (not the real one but a perfect replica). Then we went off on a bus to greve in chianti, beautiful countryside there in Tuscany vineyards and olive groves everywhere. In chianti we got a tour of a vineyard called verzzano named for the verzzano family who owned the land since about 1000 ad crazy! Giovanni verzzano, one of the sons of this family and a mariner, was the man who actually found new York. They have a bridge in new York named after him but Hudson always gets the credit even though he didn't come till years later. We toured the vineyard and the strafe place and then got fed a light lunch and got to try some of their wines, they were great and I am usually not a fan of wine. The wine however went right through me and although I peed before leaving the vineyard the 50 min bus ride back to Florence was slightly excruciating I thought for sure my bladder was going to explode!

Next we headed up to the cinque terre, which is 5 towns on the northern Italian coast on the mediterranean side. It is gorgeous there and we stayed in levanto which is not one of cinque terre towns but beautiful all the same. We relaxed on the beach did some kayaking Jesse was "attacked" by a bee haha it was perhaps the funniest thing ever although she would tell you that me being molested by a cat later was even better- not so. It was so pretty and nice there and the beachy feel was just what we needed to relieve some stress of constantly traveling.

After being in cinque terre for 4 days we departed for Rome but first we took a train to Pisa to see the leaning tower of said city. We got to Pisa snapped a couple of classic leaning on the leaning tower pics and got some questionable hot dog and pizza and got back on a train for Rome. The train for Rome seemed to stop every 6 inches and was extremely hot and to make matters worse I am pretty sure the allergy demon himself had crawled up my nose and stuck a pitchfork in my eyes. (This was also j's b day and I felt terrible because it wasn't going very well.) It was awful my nose was like a faucet and my eyes were itching like no tomorrow! We arrived in Rome nonetheless and I was glad to be off the train my first impressions of Rome were good the city looked very beautful and very big. The first day we went early to the Vatican to go on the scavi tour of the necropolis underneath st peters basillica. First we got to go right up to the Swiss guards hand them our paper and we were escorted to the excavations office it was really amazing we felt like VIP's. We got our tickets which we had to reserve months in advance and then we went in with a small group and a very informative guide. She explained to us that the necropolis is an old roman cemetary which was built on hill call Vatican hill. In the roman times there was a circus here as well and that was right where we were outside where Peter the apostle was crucified upside down. We saw tombs that were from roman times some pagan others Christian and some pagan and Christian. Constantine built a basillica here in about 300 ad to mark the spot where Peters tomb lied. He also built a protective cube around the tomb to preserve it. No one knew if it was actually there until 1941 when they excavated and found the cube and some bones with no feet attached. An independent company outside the vatican examined the bones and said the man was about 65 or 70 at his death and of a very stout nature as was Peter. It made me a little sad though because I know Peter wouldn't have wanted his grave site so venerated or a multi billion dollar church built around his body, rather he would say why do you look at me like I have done some spectacular thing, look instead unto Jesus. Peter loved Jesus more than even life and that's why he was put to death. The rest of the graves in the necropolis were also very interesting it shows graves first that are mainly roman and pagan to a roman pagan with Christian influences and then finally mostly Christian with some things pagan. Very interesting stuff!!

The next day we went to the colosseum and the roman forum, it was amazing! First we did the forum and paletine hill the roman architecture was incredible. We got to see the place where Julius Caesar was assasinated and where his body was cremated, one of the highlights for me was seeing the titus' arch built after the sack of Jerusalem it shows the plunnder of the temple in Israel being carried away by the Romans. I studied this in school so it really came alive being right there in front of it. We also saw a pagan temple turned church with the same bronze doors since the place opened nearly 2000 years ago. Roman history is amazing there is so much to learn apparently everywhere you dig in this city you will find some type of ruins. Next we went over to the colosseum, this thing is huge. All of these ruins look great for being so incredibly old. In the colosseum we learned about how many peoples final moments were spent inside the ring, sometimes they were prisoners of war other times they were common criminals or even people who the roman govt just didn't like. Gladiators were a different breed, many of them fought for fame and fortune and some for freedom. Being in this place you have to wonder how many people lost their lives right here. Over all Rome is a great city and we still have one more trip back here to the vatican to see the cistine chapel and the Vatican musuem.

Cinque Terre

2010-05-30T02:18:00.000-07:00

5/20-5/24

We were booked to stay in CT from 5/22 on but when we changed our plans in Florence we called our soon to be b&b host, grazia, to see if we could come earlier. Sadly for us, good for her, she was full. She was so helpful though and arranged for us to stay with her neighbor, a very sweet old lady. Grazia even picked us up from the train station and took us to her neighbors who didn't speak a lick of English. Our room was more Like an addition to the house with a external bathroom and sitting area. It was clean and nice but smelled horribly of mothballs so we have nicknamed the place just that. I think a week later and our clothed still smell like mothballs.

The surrounding area.

We dropped off our stuff and went into town for dinner but decided to just get gelato. Our town, levanto, is a very cute beach town. It's not in the famed five towns of CT (monteroso, vernazza, corngelia, manarola, and riomaggiore) but the town right after. I think it's better than some of the others. It had a cute beach promenade and sandy beach. Monteroso was the only other sandy beach.
We had gelato and caught the tail end of the sunset. How nice.

Next day we went straight to monteroso. Had some lemonade and sangria at a cute promenade bar. The lemonade was fantastic - ice with straight lemonade and sugar.

Then we plunked our butts at the beach and stayed their allll afternoon doing nothing.

Back in levanto, dropped our clothes at the laundromat near the promenade and had dinner. The area is known for their pesto so I had to try some. Best pesto I've ever had.

The next day we were able to move into grazias. She had let us have breakfast at her place even though we weren't staying with her yet so we were already familiar with her place. They are a agriturismo and are growing strawberries and green beans right now. Her property is pretty large with a couple fields, two huge greenhouses, and the house which is more like a villa. She also has 20 cats, 5 dogs, a pony, lovebirds, bunnies, and a whole slew of chickens. It was too fun hanging out there.

This guy whose name I forget but she said the word in Italian for bowling ball. He was a love and always always trotted to the fence when you were coming and going.

B got a little too much affection from this cat. They have an inappropriate relationship.

We jumped on a train to vernazza and B went rock jumping and swimming.

Spot him scaling the wall?

Our last full day we went to manarola to do the del amore walk to riomaggiore. It was really beautiful and there were locks everywhere hung from couples over the years. Some looked decades old.

this was my birthday eve do we went to a beachfront restaurant we'd been eyeing inl levanto. One of their rooms was empty do we sat in there and had a nice quiet peaceful dinner watching the sun set. Also had my first chicken dish in a month. Ah it was wonderful. Then gelato. Then packing up for our early morning to Rome the next day.

Athens

2010-05-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

5/29
Our travel day to Athens.

Our b&b host in Rome called us a shuttle and they were here bright and early for our 11am flight.
At the airport, Everything went according to schedule except as everyone was boarding they stopped boarding and sent everyone back to the gate. We were told a couple of different things about what was going on - someone mentioned tequila, I don't know. It was alright though, we'd be rushing sort of all morning and it was nice to just sit. We chatted with a family from Canada for awhile and about noon we were able to board. After clearing to board, most people were shocked to see this - a bus to whisk us to our flight. A first for us.

on board, We were told that a crew member had a family emergency and that they had to find a replacement - we assumed the pilot or co pilot. Unfortunately we weren't right off as there was a line for take offs. Ohwell, we weren't in a rush. In the end we got into Athens only an hour after we were originally supposed to because the flight was shorter than advertised.

The airport had the metro connected to it so after about an hour we were in the city center. I knew that our b&b was close to the acroplis but we were surprised at how close. It was such a good location. We were pretty much in their city center with all the restaurants and shopping - the Plaka.

The view of the acroplis from our balcony.

We walked around the plaka and window shopped. We ended up walking all the way around the acroplis. We saw a bunch of people on a hill right in front of the acroplis so we made our way over to investigate. After a couple of wrong turns and a oh so fun uphill, we climbed up and were so surprised to find this view. No wonder.

Athens looked sooooo packed. I guess a city that old would have such a population.

We had eaten a great dinner of Greek salad and gyros earlier so we grabbed some snacks and B wanted to try ouzo. Our place had an awesome rooftop that was surprisingly empty (the lobby however with wifi was packed with all of college kids staying there) and watched Athens and it's acroplis glow.

The next day we started early even though both of us were not in great shape. B was feeling horrible (shhh- too much ouzo for him) but we got it together. and headed to the National Archaeological Museum. Very cool. It was also a chance for us to see more of athens than the cute plaka area. Now I see where people get that Athens is dirty and a little sketchy. Again. Not surprisingly considering the city. We had no problems though and it was all fun.

It was supremely hot so we headed back to our b&b to finalize our transportation to nafplio the next day. Then we headed to the new Acroplis Museum. This museum holds the artifacts that were found at the acroplis and the surrounding area. 5 of the 6 Karyatids (famous lady statue columns that use to be on the temple next to the Parthenon) were on display. They really were something and it's too bad the 6th was missing (British museum has it). The really cool (but unnerving for me) thing about this museum is that it is built on ruins and there was clear flooring everywhere to show it.

We also stopped in their restaurant that had a great view if the acroplis for sandwichs and our first of many Greek yogurts. Delicious.

We hadn't cooled off that much but we had to go to the acroplis and roman agora before time ran out.

Parthenon

Walking around the roman agora and up the acroplis was amazing. We walked around, explored and lounged on probably the very places that some of the greatest people of ancient times walked, explored, and lounged on as well. I spent the whole day imagining how things had looked back then in all it's glory. It really is amazing how much is still left, preserved after all this time, for us to see.

We spent the rest of the night having dinner and shopping in the plaka.

We had originally planned to break up our bus to nafplio and stop in Corinth but unfortunately it was too complicated with back packs so we slept in late, walked to hadrians arch and the temple of Zeus and had some breakfast. Greek yogurt, omelet and a Greek frappé which ive had too many of already and its only been two days. I'm pretty sure they have them in the states but I'm not a coffee drinker so I don't know. I don't know why I like them so much but they are awesome.

Paris to salzburg by B

2010-05-28T07:13:00.000-07:00

We took a night train from Paris to Munich and it was quite a ride. It's about 10 1/2 hours and while we booked a couchette with beds they are deffinately not the comfiest kind of beds, especially if your 6 ft tall. Needless to say by the time we hit Munich I had gotten a grand total of about 3 hrs of not great sleep. It was cool though because we met this other couple from PA that was traveling around Europe as well we got to talking and found out that he had just proposed to her under the eiffel tower in Paris; how exciting! We checked in to our hostel in Munich and since we couldn't get in our room till 2 we decided to go see the first of the Nazi concentration camps in Dachau, Germany. It was an amazing musuem and exhibit and a very sobering place. I believe very strongly that these places should always be remembered and taught to children and our childrens children so that this kind of atrocity will never be repeated again. Some people I think blame God for the worst things that have happened in human history, but the truth of the matter is that God was not behind these torturings and killings, we were.

That night we got ahold of one of my friends from high school who lives in Munich and had a couple of 1 liter beers together at the augustiner beer hall. The next day we went to the englischer gardens and watched a bunch of people surfing in the middle of the park on a quickly flowing river. Surfers have such ingenuity when it comes to finding waves. The gardens were beautiful and the food in the park was delisioso! We came back and saw that they had been setting up some booths on the streets for what we know is ascension day. There were tons of booths and we thought they wouldn't be open until they day we left but they opened that night and some of them had food others had games some were Protestant others catholic it was amazing to see these two faiths come together in this way! We tried lots and lots of food it was all so yummshis. The thing that really impressed me though was munich's kicking music scene, they had tons of musicians lining the streets playing regae and folk and almost all in English great stuff! All the people were really happy and upbeat, the festival in a whole was a major highlight of my vacation thus far.

The next day we went to slazburg Austria this train ride from Munich to Salzburg was great! The scenary was absolutely gorgeous and when we got to Salzburg the scenary there did not disapoint. Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart and where he spent some of his time, so we went to see the house where he lived. It is pretty amazing to think that such a young boy could compose such amazing things! Salzburg was an amazing place all in all and they too had some kind of music fest which was also great. Good old Bavaria and there music scene who would have thought? And the food here was incredible so much so that we went out to eat at the same place every single night! I am pretty sure I have never had a better restaurant experience and I think I tried everything on the menu good stuff!!! The only negative about this city was the weather it was chilly like 38 degrees chilly and a little rainy but it made it very nice to be inside enjoying great food.

Bologna to Florence

2010-05-28T05:32:00.000-07:00

5/19

We broke up our train to Florence with a stop in bologna. Here we could tell was the start of Rome. Immediately we came across some roman ruins.

We walked down independencia to piazza maggiore where I read about restaurant that had good pasta.

Piazza maggiore.

After 2 trips to the tourist office and a few circles we found the restaurant only to find we'd already passed it twice. !!!!

The pasta was really good- we had bolognese and raviolli.
Hopped on another train (packed but short) and we were in Florence in less than 45 minutes.
Ok. We kind of lost it at this point. When we got to Florence we looked at the city and realized we just couldn't do 4 more days in a big city. Also, because of the mix up with the place I reserved, we just kinda picked a place to stay and while it wasn't terrible it was very very noisy and partly non functional. We quickly decided that to help ourselves not lose it we would just leave Florence the next day and go to cinque terre early. Our cinque terre b&b host was sososo helpful when we told her we wanted to come early. She didn't have any vacancy but her neighbor said we could stay with her. Also, very crucial, we were able to move our wine tour to tomorrow as well. Whew, all set. It was time to check out the duomo.
The duomo at first sight is breathtaking. I don't think we were prepared to be so mesmerized. It was huge and I couldn't even fit it in my photo frame at any angle or distance. We futzed around the piazza for about an hour listening to podcasts we had downloaded about the duomo. Then we grabbed some food and gelato with waffles. Got home early for the crazy morning we had planned tomorrow.

I really wanted to go to piazza michealangelo that overlooked the city but our wine tasting and tour in Greve in Chianti left at 9:30 so this meant we had to do the trek early. Real early (for us). We weren't sure how long it would take us but we figured 2 hours would do it so 7:15 we were off. We power walked it as the city hustled through it's morning. I was a little sad that we were leaving so early because Florence really is beautiful for a big city. Hilly with red bricked rooftops and rolling green hills with villas all around.

We had been walking for 45 minutes and then we came to this. Stairs that we couldn't even see the end of. I think I started laughing at this point. I dont remember why. Had to have been from exhaustion, not knowing if we were heading in the right direction, and Bs kneeling over and panting. Those stairs just kept going and going and going like the damn energizer bunny.

Finally we reached the top just as a lady, who was jogging up and down the stairs around us, began her descent for the third time. Show off.

I have to say...the view was worth it. Big time.

Sadly, we only had 5 minutes to gaze, snap my shot of the fake David since we were gonna miss the real one, before running back to our hotel. B stopped to give some kitty love though.

Grabbed our bags, dropped the keys, hustled to the station, on the bus to Chianti.

The ride was only an hour but it was wonderful to watch the onflow of Tuscan vineyards and villas. On the way we saw our first gas station in weeks. Our tour was at Castello di Verrazzano. On their website, they saw you can walk to their office within 15 minutes. They flat out lied. 25 minutes up the steep winding hill, our tour guide drives by saying he will pick us up because we has a good 1/2 mile left. After doing the 2 hour trek earlier, and this one with our backpacks, I was ready to not.walk.anymore!

Finally there!

The tour was very organized and really interesting. Our guide spoke English pretty well and was constantly trying to crack jokes with us but some were lost in translation.

The grounds were beautiful with grape vineyards and olive tree orchards everywhere.

After our tour, we all settled here for our tasting which included food.

Every table received 4 bottles of their reds, a table, a reserve, a classic, and a vintage reserved (I think). I'm still not sure which went to which but I liked my left and right. B liked them all and I'm pretty sure finished a bottle or two.

The point of the lunch though was to sample the wine with food. You really could tell the difference. The food was very good and surprisingly a large spread for each person. Light items but just right. The cheeses! OMG the cheeses!

The dessert - my favorite part and I will never look at balsamic vinegar the same again. They gave us p.r and a little spoon of their balsamic which was really like syrup. We were to chew the cheese and before swallowing, sip the balsamic. Sheer genius.

I wanted to bathe in it and maybe pour some over ice cream but at 48 euros for a teeny heavily padded bottle, I passed.

Back on the road (thanks to a lift back down the hill) to Florence for our immediate train to Cinque Terre.

Bye Tuscany. See you again.

Day 36/37: Venice.

2010-05-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

5/17 m
5/18 t

Night train #2. This one was a bit harder because it was so late (1am) and people were already sleeping in our compartment so we tried to be extra quiet. Didn't happen but we tried. Trying to manuever on the top bunks of a moving train in pitch darkness is not easy.

They woke us up after only 5 hours, 2 hours before we were due in Venice. Maybe to watch the scenery? We were served drinks and rolls and everyone gazed outside to watch Italy roll by. Sadly, we never got a glimpse of Venice really even when we pulled into the station. Once on the stations front steps though, bam, hello Grand Canal. It was very surreal.

We took a waterbus to our stop in front of St Marks Square.

Our B&b host , Lorenzo, met us and showed us the way through the maze that is Venice. Lorenzo was one of the nicest hosts we've had. Our room was large for Europe and especially Venice we thought. I was excited about having another hair dryer. Such a luxury. Our view onto the streets wasn't too shabby either. A little noisy at night though.

we headed to the famed Rialto Bridge to check out the market and then for gelato. It was very busy for so early in the morning. However we saw from the train that there were 4 cruise ships in port.

Grabbed our first Italian pizza slices too. So good.

And then there was gelato.

Saw some interesting shops a long the way. We really wanted to go into this old book store but it was by appointment only.

Everyone sold masks. Everyone. Everywhere

Dali-esque?

Strolled to St Marks Square. Kids were bring attacked by pigeons. Orchestras were playing. Gobs of people were standing in line. Sea air. Gelato eaters. Ah Venice.

Took the #1 water bus down the canal. It was almost dusk so everything had a nice glow. It was magical.

Afterwards we took a waterbus back to the Rialto to have dinner at a place Lorenzo recommended. B had the largest calzone of his life and I had the best carbonara I've ever had. We walked back to the the square to watch the dueling orchestras while eating gelato. Again.

Venice at night really is something. It felt like a fairytale and every once in awhile you could hear someone domewhere singing.

After a wonderful breakfast with Lorenzo the next morning, we headed to the north dock to do some island hopping. First stop Murano.
Murano is known for their glass making. I actually use murano glass beads in my designs.
One of their workshops was right at the boat stop.

There wasnt too much going on here. A lot seemed to be closed except a few restaurants and glass shops so after meandering a bit. ...Next island, Burano. They are known for their lacemaking and colorful houses. We wandered around here too for a bit and then headed back. Our ferry was an hour and we got a chance to see more of the islands and lido.

Back on Venice, we enjoyed some pizza (what else) and gelato (again what else) before heading to St Marks Basilica. We decided to wait until late afternoon after all of the cruising day trippers were off the island. We had seen yesterday ghastly lines.

On our walk back we saw some kids playing in a piazza. We were walking and one boy on a trike thought B was in his way so he peddled over, hit B and yelled something at him in Italian then stuck his tongue out at him. we both had our mouths open in shock but it was too cute.

After grabbing sweaters, we walked to Rialto again to take the bus to the train station. Yesterday we had grabbed tickets to Florence but our host there had just emailed that she had not written down our dates and so we were without a place the first night. We tried to exchange our tickets for the next day but too complicated so The rest of that evening was trying to find a place to stay in Florence, looking up train times, and eating more gelato.

Not too early the next morning and with a place found to stay late last night, we headed to the train station to go to Florence (with a pit stop in Bologna). The train strikes at the station caught our attention but it didn't affect our train so off we went.

Lorenzo told us he's lived in Venice his whole life and he doesn't like big cities. It was strange to us at first because Venice is a big city. But, after our time there, we get it's small town feel. The narrow alleys and hidden piazzas and the fact everyone seems to know everyone makes it more intimate. It's more like one big neighborhood.

Paris by B

2010-05-17T08:21:00.000-07:00

Paris
What an experience! I was personally not looking forward to this city- I had low expectations. For the most part I was pleasently surprised with the city. The people there seemed friendly, i had heard so much about them being extremely rude but this was def not true at least in my case. The history in paris is very very rich, and a little confusing. I guess I am ignorant to a lot of other countries rich historical backgrounds. One of the highlights was seeing notre dame it was enormous, and gorgeous it's hard to even fathom them building that place nearly 800 years ago! The louvre was also incredible, NOT the Mona Lisa part, but they had an incredible collection of early Mesopotamian artifacts and steles. One in particular the stele of mishak peaked my interest because the bible references this king many times in the book of 1 kings. One painting that caught my eye was John martins pandamonnium check it out online if you get a chance it's amazing! We did our fair share of walking around Paris but it was the biking that really made it interesting, they have bikes you can rent for 30 mins free and they are all over town it's great! Although if you thinking walking in Paris is crazy crowded and scary biking is even more so, one time I looked at J and she was peddling very casually and there was a double decker bus right behind her haha. Crazy, crazy but all in all Paris was a lot of fun I wouldn't go back to the city perse but deffinately to the country side of France, or maybe a different city.

Day 30: Munich

2010-05-17T01:39:00.001-07:00

5/11

Late last night we boarded our first overnight train. We weren't sure what to expect in terms of sleeping conditions and room mates. We were pleasantly surprised to find a couple (just engaged the day before) backpacking also from the states and we stayed up and talked with them. It seemed like we were the only people from the states on the train too. In the beginning of The ride we had an hour or so of light and the scenery was nice - couldn't tell if or when we hit Germany.
Our compartment was very very small and we all barely fit on the bunks except B who didn't fit at all. Sleeping was not as hard as I thought it would be but there were some snorers big time in the room which made it hard to fall asleep but funny - it was like an orchestra.

Bright and early at about 7 we rolled inti munchen hbf. The other couple was going to a hostel on our hostels street so we all traveled together. We were rather harshly stopped by a guy who flashed us a "badge" and wanted to see our passports and train tickets. It was a good thing we were with the couple because we'd forgotten our tickets on the train. He waved us by but we are still not sure what was going on because it seemed real sketchy how he did it and there was no one else doing that at any other platforms.

It was a bright sunny day despite bad weather forecasts we and we already loved the city after 5 minutes. We could tell it was a busy and big city but had a mellow and intimate feel.

We walked for about 10 seconds, turned right and we were on hostel road it seemed. We said goodbye to our train buddies and checked into wombats Munich. This was one of the most popular hostels in Munich by tripsdvisor and it really is something. We couldn't check in to our room till 2 (it was8) so we dropped our bags in their free storage room and walked around the place. It was very clean, bright, looked fun, and seemed very well organized. They had a laundry room, lobby, computer area, bar, and glass covered courtyard in the middle of it all with free wifi couched hanmocks and chairs.

Since we were already up early we took a train and bus to Dachau (the first concentration camp in Germany and the basis for all made after).

It was very interesting and informative. Somber. It was very hard to realize that we were standing in a place of such horrible circumstances. I was particularly affected when we were in the "bath" room where much torture was performed. It was crazy to see the pictures hanging of the room we were standing in. I could not go into the incineration rooms.

We came back to the city and checked in to our hostel. We opted for a private room instead of a dorm room. We were really surprised to find a very spacious room with floor to ceiling windows that opened up to our own balcony. It was also nice to have a normal sized bathroom with the ability to have a longer than 3 minute hot shower.

We immeduately went right back out and walked the 10 mins to marienplatz and stared up at the glockenspiel and walked around a bit.

We were trying to find the hofbrauhaus but stumbled upon this instead-the Viktualienmakt. It was an area with tons of stands and shops and even a beergarten in the middle. We grabbed a wurst (our first German frank) from a popular stand, B got his first beer, and then we wandered around, sampling food, and window/cart shopping.

We came back to our hostel, hung out in the lounge for wifi, got a Doner from the train station (awesome sandwich with pork and BBQ). A friend of Bs from highschool lives in Munich so that night we met him and his friend at Augustinerhalle.

Had a great time visiting and watching a resident mouse scurry around for his dinner. Munich pretty much shuts down at midnight so promptly at 12 we were scooted out the door and headed home.

Day 33-35: Salzburg

2010-05-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

5/14 f
5/15 s
5/16 sun

It was a very cold and misty morning on Friday. We rode into town and started making good use of our Salzburg cards (3 day pkg that included free transportation and site admission within the city center). Our first stop was
Mozarts residence and Mozart sound and film collection on the new side of the Salzach river. I didn't know much about Mozart aside from the fact I've played some of his compositions. It was really interesting to walk through the rooms, listen to the audioguide, and watch the documentary.
We walked across one of the bridges and saw our next stop, the
Hohensalzburg Fortress high on the hill.

But first, a couple hours had passed since our breakfast feast at our b&b so of course we were starving. I'd heard about the Alter market on Getreidegasse and found it right away when we crossed onto the old side. Hard to miss-it's the most popular street.

Found the market and grabbed some food and a giant chocolate pretzel.

We made our way up to
Hohensalzburg fortress. Huge place. Great views.

Inside the fortress was the
Fortress museum

And the World of marionettes. Creepy.

Afterwards, we went back down the cable car and detoured to St peters church.

There were catacombs that we couldve climbed up to in the mountain but we were freezing and just too lazy I guess.

Instead, we took a bus (nice and warm!) to the Stiegl Brauwelt.

The place was huge and had lots of displays about the area, the Stiegl family and of course how they make their beer.

After going to their restaurant for our complimentary beer tasting (or drink tasting as you had 3 coupons for .02L of any beverage you wanted) and snagging our free gifts we headed home. I don't know how that place can afford to give away all those free drinks and gifts but whatever, fun times.

We caught the bus back home and Since it wasn't dark yet, explored in the forest.

Then for dinner, We had decided that since we loved the restaurant last night so much we weren't going to mess with a good thing so off we went. We were "those" who documented our dinner. Atleast we didn't take the photos with our food.
Potato soap (creamy and fantastic)

I had Schnitzel

B had Mixed grill

Cream cheese Strudel for dessert.

We lugged our fat selves home. I found a tick on me that night. I blame the forest.

The next day we headed out early to The Hellbrunn Palace and Trick fountains. B was a little skeptical about the "trick" fountains since I couldn't explain to him exactly what we were doing. I honestly didn't know what to expect. A really small bellagio sorta thing?

The grounds were acres and acres but first you had to go with a guide to see the fountains because it was a manually run thing.
The deal was that an archbishop built this palace (1700s maybe) and he was kind of a jokester. He built all these little fountains into the floors, walls, and ceilings to surprise his guests. There was a table in the garden that squirted water up through the bench. One room had a fountain that propelled this crown into the air. Doorways leaked. Floors shot water up It was crazy. We didn't take any pictures because we didn't know when we were going to be surprised. After the tour, we were free to room the other part of the grounds.

When we came back into town we went window shopping and had to step into this shop that losts its marbles over Christmas and Easter decorations.

While we were wandering I spotted it. The "Wurst stand am alter market" that I'd read about. It had just drove in so we killed some time at a hot chocolate shop before finally getting a Bosna (wursts with onions and mustard and curry powder). It was really good minus the onions. We also got a Kase Krainer - cheese sauce baked in it? Also yum!

Right around the corner was the Residenz State Rooms (official apartments of the Salzburg prince archbishops) which was free with audio guides. The rooms were so elegantly decorated. Couldn't imagine living in such a large and ornate place.

Headed back to the b&b and then to dinner. At this point we were loyal customers. I got the best freaking plate ever. Putan sandwich with krauterbutter and salad. I literally exclaimed outloud when I tasted it how good it was and might have teared up. Again, I admit nothing.

The next morning, a city wide marathon was going on and public transportation into the city was nonexistent. We had to drop our bags in storage since we had to check out at 11 but our train wasn't until 1 am. So we took a taxi. Blah, since there was traffic, double the time double the fair. Oh well.
We dropped our bags at the station and walked to. Mirabellgartens. We had fun walking through it and getting lost in all the hedges that kind of formed a maze. Drizzling so no pics.

We checked out the Museum of Nature History and Technology (aquarium, reptile zoo, science center and more) next to get out of the cold. Overrun with kids having a great time. It was crazy but fun. The science center had hands on machines that was cool to tinker with.
Next we took the Monchsberglift to a panaromic terrace overlooking the city. Not too shabby.

We had booked a concert at the Residenz that afternoon so we killed some time at
Mcdonald (had voucher since we used the loo the last couple of days-almost everywhere in Europe charges to use the toilets but this McDs gives you vouchers which was nice) and snacked on a Apfelbrezen (apple pretzel) from a street vendor.

Off to Concert at the residenz. We didn't read the program right and the concert was actually all harpsichord. We wish it had been piano but it was still very neat and probably more accurate to the sound of it's time. Also It was in a really small room but it held the sound well.

Jumped on the Salzach cruise after. Just went down a little ways and back up. I fell asleep for a little bit because it was so slow. At the end they did a little stunt with spinning the boat around.

Of course we made sure to have dinner at our place even though we were in the city. We had 6 more hours to kill.
When we got down there we could see Untersberg mountain which we hadn't been able to since it was so rainy. We wish we could have gone up there (not really because it would have been worse than freezing with just our sweaters). See the summit and cable car ride? Next time.

Had my Putan Sandwich and tea and apple rings. B had traditional wurst and sauerkraut and a banana split. Ah it was perfect. Bye Reiterhof - we will miss you

Had to rush a bit at the end to catch a bus back to the train station so that we could do laundry before they closed. Did laundry and then waited on the platform for a little over an hour for our night train....again.

Day 32: off to Salzburg

2010-05-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

5/13
In the morning, we checked out of our hostel, stored our luggage and headed to the train station. Bs friend had invited us to his place for a traditional German brunch. We thought we knew where we were going but actually took a lovely detour to Horzkirchen then back to the city center then finally to his place 2 hours later. Despite our lateness, we had a great visit and the brunch was wonderful. Meats, cheeses, breads, tomato and mozzarella, eggs, chocolate, yum again.

Afterwards we picked up our bags and booked it to the train platform because we saw there was a train leaving earlier than we planned. The ride was gorgeous.

2.5 hours later we were in Salzburg. It was sprinkling and freezing. Our while trip thus far has been cold. Good thing we packed heavy sweaters and raincoats.
Our first impression of Salzburg was like walking back through time. The city is so well preserved and just wonderfully located between lush mountains with the alps as a nice backdrop.

Our b&b was a good 29 mins from the city center by bus but it was worth. The nicest b&b we've ever stayed at with the friendliests hosts (great family and they live on the property).

It was too late to go into town so we went to a restaurant that our host recommend up the street with good Austrian cuisine. The food was outstanding. We mmm'd and ahhhh'd through our while meal. I had smoked Ham with white asparagus and hollandaise sauce. B had wurst with potatos and their special pickled salad. Apple wheels for dessert! The restaurant is family run with the son running it and the mama and fam cooking.

Cosy atmosphere.

Walked home in the rain then crashed.

Day31: Munich

2010-05-13T01:32:00.000-07:00

5/12
We started off the morning by getting over to marienplatz to watch the glockenspiel do it's thing. Tons of people were waiting for it. Not so promptly at 11ish (a dude has to start it) it began. It was slow but pretty cute. The best part was the joust.

After, we tried to find the hofbrauhaus because B wanted to look at it. Passed some cute little streets along the way.

Then we headed the long way to Englischer Gardens. The city was closing off streets and setting up booths for Ascention Day so it was a busy walk. Traffic and detours everywhere. We finally made it and found some surfers. The water was ice. Crazy to find in the middle of the city. Later on a little kid was doing it and he was good.

Strolled into the Englischer Gardens.

Had some lunch at the beergarten near the Chinese tower.

Right before we had lunch, we ran into the couple that we met from the night train. Small world. They told us they had hiked this tower earlier for a euro each and that it had great views. So, after lunch, we headed for it. The climb up was ridiculous. Too many steps and you could see down through them so i had weak knees. The view was incredible even though I was glued to the inner wall.

Marienplatz

We climbed back down and saw that all the prepping for the festival was complete and booths were open. Grabbed a steaksemmel - yum YUM!

We walked up the streets and down and found lots of realllllllly good bands/musicians playing for the huge crowds. This reggae band was incredible.

The festival realy kicked off when the night set in. The streets were packed.

When we were chowing down on some fresh fried desserts we got from a booth, we ran into the couple from the train again. In the mess of thousands of people, it really was a small world. We chatted about our days and all the good food we've all tried, candles were being passed around. All of a sudden, it was quiet, lighted candles held up, everyone faced a main stage a block away and they all just started singing in perfect unison. Everyone. It was something magical.

Then it was over like that. The crowds dissipated and just crowds around performers remained who were great as usual. This band really went all out in their performance - having the crowd like sparklers.

Then back to the hostel where we did laundry until 2 am. Small sacrifice for clean clothes.

Day 26/27: Paris da Vinci code style

2010-05-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

5/7 fri
5/8 sat

We had had our first French pastry yesterday. They call them drops - crispy layers of croissant around chocolate chips and a tangy custard cream. So today we had that again for breakfast then biked to Trocodero to view the Eiffel Tower. We had seen it in the background all yesterday but it really is quite something up close. We walked down, under it and through the gardens.

We made our way to a street I had read about that was suppose to be great windowshopping with stands of goods and what not - rue cler. We found it but maybe because of the hour (3) it wasn't much of anything. We grabbed some bikes and headed to notre Dame. B had a run in with the french police. We were riding on the wrong side and they were not pleased. Passed a cute gardeny marketplace I made a mental note of to check again. Notre was not busy so we checked out inside.

The inside is enormous breathtaking and awe inspiring. A service began as we were leaving to head to the louvre. The louvre was busy for it's extended hours but we got tickets and were inside within 10.

In 3 hours, we covered some good ground. Sadly we had to walk quickly through some rooms. Although I don't think it's possible to give the louvre any justice in even a full day- it's 3 wings with 4 floors each.
We saw the Mona Lisa which was roped off, enclosed, and guarded by 3+ attendants - kinda crazy. B found a new favorite painting but we forgot the name so he's been researching it and I was very very excited (after asking an attendant about it and he having no idea what we were talking about) to turn a corner and find one of my absolute fave paintings by pannini - modern Rome.
As we left the louvre - we saw this. The inverted pyramid featured in Da Vinci code where magdalene is supposedly buried under. I looked but no plaque on the roof indicating the rose line.

Left and saw the Eiffel doing it's night time glitter dance. I think we took the metro this time to champs élysées for dinner (listened to a trumpet player) and then home via bike.

Saturday morning, we didn't really have a plan. I realized that we hadn't had a crepe yet so at our first stop, luxembourg garden we saw a cute little stand making crepes. Mmmmm yum. We sat and watched everyone enjoying the gardens. It seemed to be the place to be for locals - teenagers hanging out on steps and lawn, sailboat races in the pond, parents and their kids playing sports, and even little toddler pony rides. It was a great way to spend the morning.

Afterrwards, we biked around the Latin quarter and up to notre dame again. There was a lot more people this time so we sat and read some info on the church and stared at the gargoyles. We also stepped on the "center of France".
Our next stop was st chapelle where we waited in our first line to anywhere on our trip. It was worth it tho to see the largest stained glass in Europe. A small room but beautiful. It was also next door to the supreme court of France which was cool to see up close. We went next door to the conciergerie - an old Parisian prison, where Marie antoniette was held.
A recreation of the area infront of her cell.

We walked around a bit more and I saw that market I'd seen the day before. It was just two rows of stands on each side and you couldn't tell where one stand stopped and the next started. It smelled like lavendar and gardenias.

Then we just biked. We tried to get to the marais area but it started to rain so we hopped on te metro to champs élysées.

Hotel de ville?

Since it was raining and early - only 7, we decided to see iron man 2. We think the theater was a theatrical theater not just a cinema. It was huge and had the nicest chairs we've ever experienced at the movies - plush with cushy arm and head rests.

The movie was great (better than frirst) and conveniently right next door to a restaurant that looked good and had beouf bourgignone as the plat du jour so we decided this would be our dinner out. Sadly, maybe cuz it was slightly touristy, it wasn't that gReat. It was very loud and the waiter was annoyed we didn't want to order 12euro drinks or 7euro water. And, again sadly, our food was cold, good, but probably wouldve been great warm. Oh well, we bipped literally next door after and had beignets and ice cream from what seems to be their big fast food chain (they do have mcd, kfc, and bking though). All for under 3 euros - nice!

Rain stopped so of course, we biked it home.

Day 28/29: paris: laundry and waffles

2010-05-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

5/9 sun
5/10 mon

The previous night we found wifi at quick (while enjoying beignets) and hurriedly looked for a laundrymat near our place. Our essentials had been washed over a week ago on the cruise but some not for 3 weeks. So, we actually got up early, walked the 5 blks and -angels descending from heaven commence singing please- we did laundry. We were very very excited. B and I had never worn a single pair of pants 8 days in a row. Yes, I know, gross.

We had passed a small deli around the corner so with our clothes lathering it up, we went to check it out. I was thrilled to find a creperie station and we each got one. One came with coconut and made that crepe the best I think I've ever had.

Then. Yay fresh clean clothes.

On our way out, we also got a panini from that deli which was excellent. Paris knows how to do their pastries desserts and sandwiches.
For the afternoon, we planned to go to giverny to see monets gardens but by the time we got to the station it was too late. It was also pretty expensive for a couple hour trip.
We were in the montmartre area and found that moulin rouge was near so we walked. Looks a bit different that I imagined.

Classic metro signs. Creepy.

Headed back to the tuillerie gardens because the louvres carrousel (big shopping center with a huge apple store) had wifi. Before heading to the apple store, we got some gauffes (big Belgian waffles with toppings). They almost, or sorta did, put crepes to shame. Ah nutella and chantilly. Paris gets the award for best use of nutella.

Headed to the louvre carrousel but was distracted but this crowd/parade congregated around the Joan of arc statue.

Waiting for something? The longest line of cops, and police trucks cars and vans we've ever seen.

After enjoying some wifi, we walked the straight line from the louvre through place de la Concorde down champs élysées. It took about 2.5 hours but it was really nice. Got to enjoy our fave parts one more time.

Monday was a free for all day. We had chocolate pastries for breakfast and then on to the pere lachaise cemetary (where Morrison is buried).

Walked down to the marais neighborhood after.
Awesome music shop we saw along the way. Incredibly old instruments - very well preserved.

Hung out at place de Vosges. Experienced my first automatic streetside portapotty. It was complicated what with the 4-5 stages it goes through.

#6- victor hugos place. Think he wrote Les miserables by that window?

Very spontaneously, we took the metro to Concorde again. Guess what we had? Gauffes!!! We would have regretted not having another one for the rest of our lives, I just know it. All we had had that day was chocolate pretty much so we got a jambon fromage crepe quickly followed by a nutella chantilly gauffe and a strawberry chantilly gauffe. We were completely nauseous after this but it was worth it. And our view wasn't bad either.

Metro'd home. This time a guitar player? Grabbed our stuff and headed to the train station. We got there an hour early and it was a good thing because the ticket machine would not give us our tickets due to our American credit cards. Took 30 mins to get through actual ticket booth. We quickly grabbed a sandwich and shared with some train birds or rather they just flew in and stole crumbs.

Next is Munich via overnight train. Should be interesting.

So, so long Paris. Here's what we know:
1. Entertainment on the metro is frequent by performers and/or beggars. They are actually really good. We saw a singer, a trumpet player, and a guitar player.
2. Some Parisians are not big into throwing things in the trash - like soda cans.
3. They make pastry and desserts very very very well.
4. They have the cutest dogs.
5. The cutest dogs are allowed to poop anywhere they want and that poop stays there - forever! If I had a euro for every pile of dog poop I saw, I'd be 1743 euros richer.
6. Bread and sandwichs are fantastic.
7. English is widely spoken surprisingly. Not everywhere or everyone but quite a bit.
8. Very fun yet dangerous to bike around.
9. Most police visible than any other city I've been too. Ever.
10. Exceptional museums.
11. Wifi not widely public. Look for Quick and Apple stores.
12. Lots of smokers.
13. Great window shopping.
14. Kinda expensive.

Barcelona to Paris by B

2010-05-11T10:29:00.001-07:00

Barcelona to Paris

Barcelona is an amazing city, but I am a little confused as to what language they speak. The other cities in Spain I was okay with (Malaga & Cartagena). My Spanish isn't great but I try to speak the laguage of the country, but in Barcelona they apparently speak catalunyan which is different then spanish by quite a bit ie please in Spanish por fa vor please in catalunyan siv il plais. I love the looks we get from waiters and locals when we attempt to speak their language, but hey at least we try, right? Our first day in Barcelona we saw Montserrat which is this amazing monestary way up in the mountains outside of b-town. The weather was nice- partly cloudy and about 70. The next day however was a different story we woke up to rain and when we got outside it was chilly Perkins. We were determined though and we braved the cold and rain to see park de Guell, la rambla, and the boqueira which is a really cool little marketplace. By the end of the day we were soaked (it never stopped raining). The next day we got up hopped on a train and went to the airport to catch a plane to London. When we arrived in London I was shocked to see sunlight peering through the clouds, as last time I was in England I don't think I saw the sun a single time. We caught the underground in London to our hotel then went straight out and had a very nice picnic right in front of buckingham palace, and yes the queen was in. Our next day in London was quite a whirlwind we went all over the place we did whole walk up the Thames river big Ben st pauls cathedral Tate modern art musuem and finally and the one I was most excited for the British library! I know a library sounds quite nerdy of me but what can i say I'm a die hard nerd at heart. They hold at this library codex alexandrius and siniaticus two major sources of where we get our modern versions of the bible today, it was fascinating looking at these and learning about them- what treasures!!!
Our next stop was Paris.

Day 25: Paris

2010-05-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

5/6 Thur: Paris

We slept in really late and didn't leave our apt until about 1. Our place was in the 16e and near Bois de boulogne (a very beautiful ginormous park) so we walked over there. We saw these in front and having read about the velib bikes and stations we signed up. Well 20 mins after trying to decipher it, then finding an English option, and after several issues with our credit cards, we signed up. While these bikes were superbly helpful, the downfall was that you only had 30 mins at a time to use the bikes. We spent a great deal of time over the next 5 days scouring for velib stations before time ran out. Despite that, they were especially helpful as our feet were boycotting us at this point and so Worth it because we got to see more of the city than we normally would have.
So we road down to the lake and straight back and exchanged for new bikes then set out for the Arc de Triomphe, which was 10 mins away.

Ditched the bikes and walked down this famous street. Lots of street performers and beggars and tourists but great window shopping!

We walked down to the grand palais and along the Seine until we came to the Place de la Concorde and the beginning of the Tuillerie gardens.

It was Thursday and the Musee d'Orsay was open late at a discounted price so we headed across the bridge. This museum use to be a train station.

D'orsay was amazing and they had a great selection of van gogh work. The highlight for me was Monet's water lillies.
We walked back over the bridge, past Hotel des Invalides, past some special event going on at the Grand Palais and then back to Champs Elysees where we snagged bikes to go back home.

Day 22: the rain in Spain

2010-05-09T08:49:00.001-07:00

5/3: Barcelona

We only had one full day in Barcelona so despite pretty consistent rain, we hit the streets.
We went to las ramblas and got an umbrella from h&m. Shouldve gotten two ohwell. Headed straight for the boquiera market.

I had read that a great tapas bar called pinoxto was there.

It was three people deep but we got some seats. We got this warm chickpea and balsamic vinegar salad and croquets. Muy bien!
The market was unlike anything I've seem. Stands for every good imaginable. Full slabs of meat, full pigs, full octopus, lamb heads, rows and rows of fruit veggies and chocolate. The colors and smells were overwhelming (except the seafood area that was overwhelmingly stanky). We grabbed some pure fruit juices for a euro on the way out (a maze ing) and headed to park guell.

Got lost. The park was very cool especially in the rain but we were getting numb so we headed to our neighborhood. When we got home we found that the building had lost electricity. Interesting.
Our host had rec a restaurant a few blocks over called tossa. I had a language issue with our waitress and hamburgesitas and hamburguesa but whatever, incredible food. We had empanadas, bombas, hamburguesas, patatas fritas, and more. B also tried their local beer speciality and said it was one of the best beers he's ever had. Started to head home Still Raining No electricity still. :(

Day 23/24: London's calling

2010-05-09T04:03:00.000-07:00

5/4: en route to London
5/5: London to Paris.

Our just over 24 hours in London was amazing.

Tuesday was a travel day.
The electricity had come back on at 6 am and like we predicted, all the lights. Good morning! We slept in anyways then got our stuff together and checked out of the padilla guesthouse in Barcelona. We decided to head back to the boqueria market on las ramblas even though it was raining. We had well I had read about these pastries called xixos at pinoxto but they were all gone by the time we got there. We found something similar at another stand, grabbed some more fruit juices (so awesome) and headed to the airport.

After an hour train, then walking to what seemed to be the farthest away terminal possible, we boarded.

Very bumpy 2 hrs later, hi London! Easyjet really was simple.

Then on to a bus for 1.5hrs! However it was a great way to see some country. Look like drive backwards!

Screeched into Victoria station, got comletely lost, then finally found our street. Quaint.

It was about 7pm after we checked in to easyhotel Victoria ( we did it all - plane bus and hotel by the easy co. Really good value and true, easy). We decided to just walk around. Headed to buckingham palace and green park. Ecstatic to find these!

Then headed to Harrods. London shuts down early, they were closed by 8 but it was still cool to peek inside.

Only thing open that wasn't arm and a leg :(

Back to our hotel. Had to take pics in phone booth on our street.

The next morning we got up really really early, hauled on our backpacks and headed to the train station kings cross st pancras. Morning commute on the tube is CRAZY. It was worse than a sardine can and having backpacks didn't help.
Kings cross is massive and very extinsive but we quickly dropped our bkpks in storage and hit up the tube again.
We started at Westminster. We walked out onto the Thames and saw this.

Turned around and saw this towering above us. We were even in time to hear the bells.

Made our way up the thames and in to trafalger square. The national gallery is free so we popped in. I snagged a very inconspicuous shot of one of my faves.

Walked some more of to st pauls cathedral and grabbed some lunch. My fish and chips were all I thought it'd be. Yum!

We headed down the millenium bridge (just like in Harry potter) to the Tate modern. Again, free!!! Awesome collection. Especially loved the Warhol room.

We wanted to see the borough market but we got a little lost. Stumbled on this which was very neat. We had just past the touristy globe when we left Tate.

Our train to Paris was in a couple of hours so we decided we didn't have enough time to continue on to see the tower because we wanted enough time to do the British library. We got back on the tube and headed to kings cross again, walked across the street and we were there. This is my favorite museum/library hands down. Their main room is the treasures of the British library room and that had the best collection of books, documents, plays, and music. Stuff from the beattles, Lewis Carrol, shakespeare, the 3 codex, magma carta, etc. Everything was in its own case, temp regulated, sensored, and the room was even guarded. We spent about an hour in just this room which was probably the size of 2 living rooms. You had to be a card holder to get into the actual library with the rare books and absolutely no one was allowed into the kings stash which was a vault in the mid of it all with floors and floors of books.
Sneaked a shot of the codex.

We spent too much time at the library so we raced around the corner, got out bkpks, checked in, thru customs, then finally on the train. It would be hard to not guess where we were headed. Everyone was speaking French.
The train was heaven after a full day of walking. I reviewed some French podcasts as I watched England disappear and France begin. If it wasn't for the few minute Chunnel of darkness, I wouldn't have even known it happened.

Thanks eurostar, hi Paris.

I'm gonna be honest, I instantly missed London. Everyone spoke English and the city was colorful, clean, exciting, friendly, big but quaint, busy but slow paced. I enjoyed the parks everywhere and the fact that elephants statues were everywhere made it seem too coincidental. The food was great too.
My first impression of Paris. Dirty and scary. Perhaps because of the hour - 10 pm, I don't know. We hadn't experienced any sketchiness so far in our travels (even in Barcelona where I read it was the worst). On our metro home, we saw so much graffiti, beggars (on the metro), and rowdiness. Id like to say our metro experience has improved in paris but id like to add the smell of pee. But i learned you cant judge a city by its metro. Once off the metro, we got lost again and a few people (especially one man and his son ) helped us find our way. The area is very nice in the 16th arrondisemont and our neighbor is the former president of France so our street is 24/7 guarded by police. We dropped off our stuff in a very cute studio (complete w bathroom tv and kitchenette) all to our self, grabbed some groceries, and then passed out.

Day 21: Hitting the ground running

2010-05-04T17:06:00.001-07:00

We are in Paris now and thinking about our first day (5 days ago) in Barcelona seems forever ago.
5/2: Barcelona Spain

We were anxious to get our "travels" started but sad to leave the comfort of the ship. It was nice to come back to it, sit in the jacuzzi, go to the dining rooms, see people we knew, etc.
Sunday morning, we got off the ship, went through customs (first stamp in passport !) and joined a bunch of people confused on how to get to the city. After a lot of waiting and chit chat w fellow cruisers, we got on a portbus and headed to Las Ramblas. We experienced our first encounter with the metro. Interesting. We got off at the sagrada familia and the view knocked our socks off. (no pic on phone). We got completely lostbut eventually found the Padilla Guesthouse. It is a b&b in a pretty good spot just 5 mins from the s. Familia. Our host was pretty much the only person we encountered with good English.

After shrugging off our backpacks (endured them for 2.5 grueling hours) we immediately took the metro to Placa de Catalunya to get tickets for Montserrat. After we had to go to another station to take the train. When we got to the station, I misread the sign and we missed the Once-hourly!!! Train by 1 minute. I was so exhausted and frustrated i might have cried. I admit nothing. Since we had an hour to kill, we went loooking for food. We saw a bunch of people in a hole in the wall so we went in. No English speakers but A lady ahead of us tried to helped us out and we were able to get some food (pointing is very helpful). Had lunch on the train. Best croquetas we've ever had. We were surprised to find the ride (1hr) to be very scenic.

Exhausted.

Had to take a cable car to the top.

Surprisingly I did not get vertigo.

Gorgeous breathtaking cathedral.

Black virgin.

After we walked around Montserrat a bit more, we headed back to Barcelona and tried to meet up with a friend from the cruise. We went to a cool street with lots of bars and restaurants filled with locals.
Cool church in mid of it all.

We couldn't find him so we set out for some dinner. Found sandwich&friends, didn't seem local but packed with locals. Had to try another hamburguesa. Best hamburger of my life with this smokey mustard and cheese sauce.
We got back to our b&b around 12 just when it started to rain...

Day 20: May Day in Cartagena

2010-05-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

5/1, cartagena Spain

We docked here around 7am and only had a few hours in port. Since it was may day, kinda like our labor day, we went out around 9 and just wandered. We saw a friend from our cruise walking back to the ship and he told us that he had been late to the ship the night before and it left without him. So crazy, he had to take buses and trains through the night to Cartagena.

In our wandering, we found another roman theater and quiet placas. One building was open so we peeked inside. I think it's their town hall.

We also tried some crazy good chocolate y churros. Bs got the photos.

After, we walked up their beachfront promenade and then it was back on board.

This was our last night on the ship so we went to dinner, said goodbye to friends we made, went to all the farewell shows and parades, played bingo (we did not win the $6000 jackpot!), and played in the casino ( B tried blackjack for the first time!). Barcelona tomorrow!

Day 19: Spain!

2010-05-04T16:47:00.000-07:00

4/30, Malaga Spain

This was officially the start of our trek around Europe even though we were still on the ship. As a result, I was too frickin excited and did not sleep one wink. I'm not exaggerating. I saw the minutes tick by. At around 5:39 am, I decided I'd just wait to watch the sun come up. I figured itd be nice for Spain to introduce itself to me that way. At 7, I got up and tried to sneak past B without waking him but I had a fit with the noise and made a ton of noise. We went out but there was a huge (beautiful) hill blocking the sunrise :( oh well, still nice.

Good morning Spain!

We walked the 3/4 mile to town. Saw some interesting things along the way. Boats we wanted to steal. Cats basking on cars. Huge dumptrucks and trains (construction on port).

Dad, what kind of fish are these?

We wandered around the streets again. The city was very busy and There was a ton of very eurochic people walking around. We toured the Picasso museum (Malaga is his birthplace) which was very nice and refreshing to see his earlier work (before it got Picasso-y). It is a very pretty city. Lots of trees and great looking streets.

We saw that one hill had a very commanding fortress so we checked it out. Great views of the city and they were excavating a roman theater - cool.

For lunch, we checked out an extremely busy tapas bar. Again, gastronomically fantastic. We got paella, a patatas omelet with queso, and a hamburgesita. These hamburgesitas arent american burgers. They are just bun and meat and if you want cheese. Someone tell me how they do it. The meat, how they cook it of spice it, so delicious. Washed it down with some fantastic sangria. I'm not usually a fan but it was muy muy bien.

Then went back to the ship. The walk back was brutal and I was really crashing from no sleep so I passed out. Buffeted it for dinner (surprisingly great Greek food that night) and then walked around the ship.

More sea days for funner

2010-05-02T11:36:00.003-07:00

After Portugal, it was back on the sea for two days. I wish it had been longer because we had sooo much fun. We were in very calm waters so we took part in as much as we could. We miniature golfed it, did some art, B was part of a vollyball tournament (and won), went to some shows, ate all 3 meals and went to the dining room (yum)!, and "played" in the casino.

Travelocity had given us a nice credit for booking w/ Amex so we splurged and had fun and used their ridiculously expensive laundry service. One night, I had a bit of luck and won a variety of gifts at 007 trivia (shirt, casino cards, free bar drink, and match play vouchers). I won at roulette with my last voucher. Woo !

On Thursday night/Friday morning, a ton of people and us included hung out on the ships helicopter pad while we cruised by Africa. It was past midnight, very cold, very windy, but very cool. It had been foggy all day so it was likely we wouldn't see any land but there was almost a full moon that lit up the landscape just enough to see Morocco on our right and Spain on our left. We really couldn't make anything out but we saw lighted hills and most of the boats in their waters. Most tried to wait for Gibraltars rock but we just couldn't see clearly enough and so we went and hung put in the royal promenade cafe. About an hour later we overheard someone say we were passing it so we went outside and we were passing the gibraltar lighthouse. It was pretty cool.
Poor camera just couldn't do night shots.

It was 2 in the am at this point and we are going to be in Malaga Spain at 7. Let the games begin!

Pelican poo anyone?

Day 16: Azores, Portugal

2010-05-02T11:36:00.001-07:00

4/27, tues, ponte delgada, Azores, Portugal (San Miguel)
Happy bday dad!

Seeing land after that 5 sea day stretch was amazing. There was a chance that we were not going to be able to port because of the swells in port but right on schedule, at noon, the captain steered us into port safe and sound.

We watched as we neared the port and dropped anchor. Everyone was taking pictures, even onlookers who had walked to the dock. See them on the bottom left?

We didn't book any excursions through the sea or independently (unlike almost everyone inboard so we heard) and just set out to explore the city.

We walked to a fortress that was guarded by a Portuguese man-of-war ;) and the city center, well we think it was.

Relaxed in some beautiful parks hidden around crowded streets.

For some reason we thought the day was a Sunday which we should have known better as our ships elevators remind us everyday (I didn't really get this until a few days into our cruise -I thought the elevators were named the days of the week - honest mistake right?)

We thought it was Sunday even after we saw school being let out. We even wondered if they had school on Sundays in Portugal. Worst part we didn't realize we were there on a Tuesday until thursday. Anyways We really just walked and walked and walked. We found some great cobbled streets to meander, and shops to browse when it rained randomly ( very confusing weather that day - sunny cloudy rainy stormy all within a few hours). I noticed there were lots of men just standing in the doorway of their shops smoking. Almost everyone in this city was smoking actually. Explains why every shop had a very elaborate cigarette vending machine.

Happened upon a pet store complete with fish gerbils and a chipmunk!

Poor Portuguese chipmunk :(

for lunch, after running back to the ship for our debit card to get euros (the crew lied, stores weren't taking credit cards) we stopped into a busy restaurant and pretty much just asked for whatever was good. O-m-g! I was given Mista de Carnes and B got Peotinhos de Fra. It was soo good. The seasoning on my meat ( which I'm not sure what types of meat it was it might have been goat which is very popular there ) was incredible - spicy, smoky, just delicious. Still thinking about it.

After, we found some wifi then walked around a really interesting indoor center before heading back.

J

Chris' voyage by B

2010-04-27T07:31:00.001-07:00

Being on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic ocean is an experience I will never forget! As I sat by on deck 12 of our massive cruise ship the voyager of the seas, I could have sworn I could hear the spanish songs that Chris Columbus and his crew sung as they made their way across this crazy stretch of sea for the first time. We are tracing his voyage only in reverse and in a slightly different boat. Life on board our ship can get a little dull but I'm sure it's a lot more lively than Chris's ship. There are shows and dinners rock climbing and ice skating gambling drinking and eating lots and lots of eating. If I even see another coconut cookie I may projectile vomit. The time changes every day at noon and jumps forward one hour as a result Jess and I woke up today at 3. And we went completely nuts last night complete with running around our room and screaming about how much we wanted some potato chips or good Mexican food this was also due to the time change as we couldn't sleep and the boat was rocking like crazy. But we are having a great time and deff looking forward to solid ground!

- B

Lost at sea: Day who cares

2010-04-27T06:16:00.000-07:00

So someone somewhere neglected to tell us that five days at sea really means five rough days at sea. As soon as we left Nassau, we left nice calm Caribbean waters and entered yucky stormy Atlantic twenty foot swells. Proof?

That was the first day of the five day at sea stretch. here's day four

Our captain puts it as "there's a little motion in the ocean". Yea, a little motion in the ocean my ass! Everyone on board has adopted the Jack Sparrow walk. Well the rum consumed could be helping with that. It's so bad I can only describe it as like sitting on a teeter totter 24/7.

Also Everyday included a lovely time change (1 hr forward) to mess with our minds just a bit more. So The days pretty much blended into one long day. One day, heeaven knows which day, we slept until 3 in the afternoon. This could have been because we lost our minds the night before, I don't know. We couldn't fall asleep and it was 4 in the morning. I remember doing jumping jacks, wanting chips desperately, (not Indian chips which are readily available on board but junk food chips - pringles, doritos, cheetos, CHEETOS) threatening to play ding dong ditch, and watching Julie & Julia for the 5th time on board.

Eventually we fell into a routine on one of the days - up by 11, breakfast, nap or if we didn't feel like puking some activities, watercolor class, cards, snack, work out, swim, dinner, sleep. And if you're wondering, I believe massive upchuck found me on the 6th night - the beginning of 20 ft swell waters. Even B felt nauseous. All these old people really have their sea legs. Ah yes, old people.

I believe we are in the 20% that is under 50, except for the crew they seem to all be our age. And there's only a handful of 50-65. It's a sea of gray! We made one friend, this little bird is a world away from home and found solice in this tree. He was on board for days. See him?

Anyways, We have met our old people quota. Most are friendly, few want us the heck outta their way, and some ignore us. They are entertaining though, especially when they are "partying". This is the ship where the old feel young again I'm sure. The crew has done an excellent job of keeping us all busy. All of the amentities are a blast.

Can you spot B?

Even the ice show was really good despite some performers falling because of the motion. Very impressive considering the conditions.

One of our favorite daily treats have been our towel friends customized by our stateroom attendant. Usually we get cute bunnies, dogs or elephants.

But one night we walked into this

B had his arms full and was so startled he almost dropped it all. We were both hysterical. Fine not that funny but you had to be there. A bat towel, it's just not normal!

Our actual favorite thing is eating. The food, which is plentiful in unnatural quantities, is great. Dinner dining is quite the experience and we will miss it dearly.

The captain just warned us that we may not make the Azores port of call because swells are very high in the port. If we don't see land we are going to lose our minds!!! Seriously. Not kidding. We are prepared to jump.

J

Day 11: Nassau, Bahamas

2010-04-21T12:36:00.001-07:00

So posts are going to be out of order but if you really want to know, Days 7-10 were sea days. Therefore, we slept, ate, siesta'ed, swam, napped, ate, napped, repeated as needed.

Right now we are in Nassau Bahamas. We didn't get a chance to take any pics as we had our underwater camera. So this is our view while lunching. Pics will have to be posted later.

This morning we snorkled. We saw so many fish-more than anywhere we've gone before. At the last stop we snorkled with sharks. Yes! I went in but I stayed by the ladder. B was the first in, last out of course.

We only had a few hours to shop and I was in desperate need of shorts so we hightailed it back to our ship (1 of 4 in port and the biggest, pic to come). We bypassed all the free food on board and opted for a local lunch. Conch fritters were wildly offered but us budgeters did the fixed menu at a tourist filled place. What do u get in the Bahamas for lunch? BBQ ribs of course w/ spiced seasoned fries. I gotta tell you, best BBQ sauce I've had in a while.

Best $10 we've spent in a week (only $10 we've spent in a week.

Back to sea for FIVE whole days. @),?!$?)$

Day 6-7: Cruise launch

2010-04-18T15:53:00.001-07:00

After we got into Texas city on Saturday evening, we took a drive down to Galveston and drove around. It was nice to see the beach again and we saw some incredible buildings - some you could see were heavily damaged by hurricane Ike.

We strolled around the Strand - like a main street. Some people were lazy.

After eating ourselves into a food coma via olive garden we hit the hay. However, due to not realizing that we had retractable shades on our hotel window, sleep was eh, sporadic, atleast for me.
We arrived at the Galveston port terminal about 11:30 am. There was another ship in port, Carnival Conquest.

I was unable to snap a shot of our ship but believe it or not, ours seemed double in size.
Embarkment was super easy and fast. Security, check in, and that's it.
We couldn't get into our rooms until later so we checked out our floating hotel.
Up first, the main attraction, the Royal Promenade. Our room is actually one of the bad boys in the shot. I think it's better than an oceanview room - more centrally located, includes a bay window, and you can people watch.

Welcome buffet!

Ship-cuzzi 5790753/fitness center. The fitness center is crazy by the way- humongous!

B is very disappointed that Johnny rockets is onboard. He doesn't want to go there at all.

Mini golf course, inline skating track, and rock climbing wall

Main pool area

Formal dining room. Shhh I had major titanic vibes.

Crazy big movie and entertainment theater

Some time in our running around we got to get into our rooms. It is actually pretty roomy (more room pics on Bs facebook) and has a cute little couch area with bay window and desk. Psst-look at the mini couch! It's Gavin size.

We are minutes away from departing. Goodbye Galveston, onward to the Bahamas.

Darn spaces

2010-04-17T23:30:00.001-07:00

I see that this iPhone app for blogging is creating some huge gaps between pictures and paragraphs when I post. I tried to fix it and possibly created more spaces on my last post so ya... I'm just going to apologize for that now, for the next 7 weeks. It'll give you a workout. Enjoy gettin' your scroll on!

Day 1-6: Cali to Texas

2010-04-17T23:19:00.000-07:00

So this week just flew by! I am so glad that for the next 7 weeks - no more riding in cars. Granted we will be spending ridiculous amounts of time in planes, trains, and automobiles (buses only). Atleast neither of us will have to drive.

Our week started off with an uneventful 2 day drive from Cali to Dallas.

We enjoyed some California landscapes until we hit Arizona.

Can you guess what we saw between Arizona and Texas? A while lotta nothing - oh, and new Mexico. So much nothing in fact I didn't take one pic. That couldve been because I was asleep for most of it.

We arrived real late in El Paso, grabbed some Taco C (with a side of the craps for later), and hit the hay.

Hung out with our good friend J in the AM and then hit the road again. Oh, waved to Juarez Mexico on the way out. Again, saw nothing.

Except, we passed through this k-gnarly storm cloud. Had some serious Twister paranoia.

After 12 long hours, a Sonic run complete with Dueling Cats - the show, we finally made it to B's moms house.

Day 3 through 5 were spent hanging out with fam, shopping for last minute stuff for our trip, chasing/looking for dogs, laughing, and very importantly, a trip to mcallisters for my favourite sweet tea.

Day 6 - in a car...again.

This time on route to Galveston. This drive was very pretty with lots of pastures, blue bonnet and Indian paintbrush flowers, and ominous solo trees.

We had a great pitstop lunch with family friends of B and his mom in the city of.....I don't know, where Texas A & M is.

Passed through Houston

And then made it to Galveston.

Tomorrow begins cruising time. It's going to be just grueling.

Itty bitty space

2010-04-11T03:38:00.000-07:00

So we are about 36 hours away from hitting the road for our trip to Europe!

While we have been diligently prepping, we still actually have to pack. Since we're only taking one backpack each, you'd think it'd be easy because there's not alot to pack. Wrong! Not a lot to pack but Everything gets scrutinized. We don't put anything in that we are not sure we'll wear or use atleast 5 times.

See what we have to work with?only the essentials (expertly rolled and stuffed) is going in these bad boys. This concept reminds me of a genie and his lamp. What do we know about packing for a 7 week trip that includes a cruise w/ formal nights? Pack for a week. Easier said then done.

Amazingly, Ellie fits just right. She's essential right?

I think she thinks she's essential too.

Easter fun

2010-04-06T12:28:00.001-07:00

A happy late Easter to all! We had a great day with lots of food, candy, laughter, and fun! Also, my parents celebrated their 25th anniversay. I hope that my husband and I Are lucky enough to celebrate a 25th down the road.

Psst! 5 days until Europalozza!!!

Moving is a ....

2010-03-14T15:35:00.001-07:00

Bitch! That's all I have to say about that.

T-Minus 10, 38, and 102 days

2010-03-05T22:41:00.000-08:00

I'm not good with changes. I like planning. I like lists. I'm good with organization. I like my routines. My dog likes my routines. It all works. You can imagine my internal struggle with not one, not two, but three changes coming up. But I do like some adventure. Some spontantaneity. A bit of stress. A really really small pinch of chaos. However, I think I'm getting more than I bargained.

T-Minus 10 days - We are moving! Well, we are actually moving twice but this is move numero uno.

To save some moolah for Europalooza, we decided to move out of our place and into my parents until our bon voyage. While I am extremely excited for the trip, I am sad to say goodbye to my husband and I's first home. Nothing will ever replace our "first home." Our time here has flown by and even though it is just a little one bedroom apartment, it was our home. I love the area - it is so beautiful right now, like the hills of Ireland because of recent rain. It is a great location. It's just the right amount of space for two people, a dog, three lizards, a snake, a hamster, and a very resilient-carnival-won goldfish. It just worked for us. But now our cute little place is starting to empty out (yay for craigslist) and boxes are filling up every corner. I am so glad though of all the great memories because as of two Mondays from now, "Hey Hun, remember our first place?" will always trigger a smile.

T-Minus 38 days - As previous stated, bring on Europalooza!!!!

I just finished watching The Bucket List. A huge fear of mine is reaching a point down the road where I make a huge Bucket List. A few things, sure, a handful of things, fine, but I don't want to fill the paper. I'd like to think that during the course of my life, I don't pass up on doing, being, and seeing too many things.

About seven years ago, I wrote a list. It wasn't exactly a Bucket List but whatever, let's call it that. It had short term and long term goals and wishes for myself. I thought I had thrown it away but my husband, then boyfriend, found it and framed it for me - wrinkled wad of paper that it was. Anyways, I was looking at it the other day and I was glad to see that without even knowing it, I had done a couple of the short terms, nearly all of the long terms, and most of the wishes had become reality. Crazy how life just happens, right?

So what's this got to do with Europalooza? Visiting Europe is on the list and I am more than excited to cross it off. I'm so excited I could pee! Not only am I visiting Europe, but I can not believe I am going to visit every single one of the cities I have been dreaming about seeing since I was little. I know that a whirlwind, 2-4 days per city, rollercoaster of Europe might not be everyone's cup of tea but damnit, it's mine. Don't forget, I'm planning to share it here while I'm on the ride - got the app downloaded and everything.

Almost everything that needs to be pre-booked, is. Every single accommodation is reserved or booked, all major flights, all major trains, and even a couple of activities. Next, I'm planning on making some notes on things we'd like to see in each city and then just kind of pick things each day to do from that. I recently got an IPhone so no guidebooks are needed, every single travel document, reservation, and notes are safely stored in one 4 inch gadget. Technology spoils.

T-Minus 102 days - Move numero dos. We're moving to Dallas.

When we get back from Europe and after we've slept for a week, we are heading out to Texas. DH's family lives out there and it's cheaper than sunny Southern California so we thought we'd save a little money, have a little adventure, do something different, and spend time with his family for a bit. Our plan is to come back here in a few years because we really love SoCal. Come on, perfect weather all year round? No brainer but hard on the wallets of two recently married, 20 somethings.

So, three changes or two big changes and a huge seven week trip, you choose. It's hard to keep track of what is important to take care of and in what order - something for the first move, something for the trip, something for the second move? AH! Yeah, I'm not going to admit to having a nervous breakdown, or two, okay three in the last month. I wish I could just enjoy planning Europe but the moves are happening and while it is stressful now, I think the worst is over.

Jewelry related: Went to a show last weekend. Snagged some fun new stones. Hopefully, chaos will inspire me so look out for some new pieces!

Weekend Update

2010-02-10T01:02:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was a nice whirlwind with many accomplishments. Some of my husband's family were in town and it was nice to visit with them. Saw Dear John (pretty good, cute) and did some awesome shopping on a rainy day - Old Navy's Item of the Week is such a good deal. Check out Old Navy Weekly, they post it every week.

Also! I had a jewelry order courtesy of Etsy on Sunday (so excited!).

Oh, and in other news, plans are officially underway for Operation Europe. I mean, we had decided but no $$$ was involved it. Boy is it now! As of this weekend, cruise out there, 1/2 of accommodations, and one overnight train are booked. There is still a lot more left though but I am loving researching it. Tripadvisor and Google Maps Street View are my favorite sites. I am practically drooling over all of the sites I looked up via Street View. I took a pretour of Paris - what! I couldn't resist.

Current itinerary you ask? 7 weeks of...
CA > Texas > Cruise to Barcelona > London > Paris > Munich, Germany > Salzburg, Austria > Venice > Florence > Cinque Terre, Italy > Rome > Athens > Nafplio > Rome > JFK > LAX> Sleep for a week

Anyone been to any of these lovely places? Pointers? Advice? Recs? I'm all ears.

Testing

2010-02-07T12:00:00.001-08:00

I'm trying to figure out how to blog from my husbAnds iPhone. Bare with me :)

It's official!

2010-02-05T14:37:00.000-08:00

...we are jumping the pond. Just booked the first thing for our trip overseas - a 14 day transatlantic cruise from TX to Barcelona. Now lodging and flights there and back need to be booked. Let the madness begin!

Also also also

2010-02-04T22:28:00.000-08:00

This last week has been so crazy - actually, this whole year so far!

I was absolutely flabbergasted that I had 5 jewelry orders this past week! That is my busiest week yet and I am soooo appreciative of all my customers. Thank you!

I got a little busy and made some new bracelets and rings the last couple days. After a small photo shoot - I posted these lovelies tonight. Give them a visit if you like!

Sunshine Citrine Ring

Mother of Pearl Stretch Bracelet

Red Peace Ring

Green Adventurine Double Stretch Bracelet

ALSO! I am finally diving into my next project - making prints of my paintings. Step one - read my camera's manual so I can take good quality photos of my paintings. This is what my little point and shoot gave me.

Yea, I really need to figure it out. I mean it looks okay but no great quality prints will come from it. I don't know about you but camera manuals, or manuals in general, give me migraines. I have a feeling Step one is going to take awhile.

ALSO ALSO! Hubby and I are seriously (and I mean seriously) thinking of jumping the pond. That's right - tripping out to Europe. This has been my dream since...forever. Yup, "Paris" might have been my first word, I don't know, I'll ask my mom.I just can't make myself push that button to start booking it. I'll keep you posted.

Food for thought

2010-01-28T23:34:00.000-08:00

I watched Julie & Julia the other day. Meryl Streep was fantastic and while it didn't have the ending I quite anticipated - I loved it and was truly inspired....to eat.

Well, to eat, to cook, to create a project for myself that I have to stick to.

However, to cook 500 and some odd recipes in 365 days is not my idea of a project. I would inevitably burn the kitchen down and/or develop an ulcer. Although, I would definitely consider eating 500 and some odd recipes in 365 days. Don't get me wrong - I luuuuv to cook - but not that much.

It does seem to be the season for starting projects. What should I start? I'm going to have to give this some more thought. What are your projects?

Behind the times

2010-01-22T16:07:00.000-08:00

Feels like a million years since we came back from our Christmas vacation in Texas.

We had such a great time seeing everyone and having lots of fun! I know its been a month since Christmas but I thought I'd relive my favorite part - seeing it snow for the first time.

It was pretty amazing and the result ? ----- a white Christmas morning! It snowed again the following week and this is my favorite new picture. Picturesque right?

Winter Wonderland

2009-12-29T16:03:00.001-08:00

Currently in Texas with family for the holidays.

It's been a great white holiday season.

Actually snowing right now and its a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!!

Pictures to come.

Internet connection likely to fail.

Happy New Year!

Kreativ Blogger Award

2009-12-11T00:56:00.000-08:00

December is kicking my behind!

Last weekend, I stumbled upon the Tradeaholics Trade & Stay event on the Etsy forum.

I had such a blast following the thread all weekend, making new Etsian friends, and trading with great Etsy sellers. I've also had the pleasure to visit the post office quite a few times this week because of all the trading fun. I've even started to receive some awesome wares in the mail (will blog about all that in the next post :) It's like Christmas alllllll month for me.

So yesterday morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I been passed the Kreativ Blogger award from a very talented Etsian, Ume Origami. Thanks so much for thinking of me. I am so honored!

The award came with some requirements in order to receive it:

Copy the Kreativ Blogger picture and post it on your page
Thank the person who gave it to you and link back to their blog
Write seven things about you that we don’t know
Choose seven other bloggers that you would like to give the award to
Link to the bloggers that you choose
Let the winners know that they have the lovely award.

So seven things about me that you may (or may not) know:
1. I'm a craft & art junkie. I love it all - scrapbooking, jewelry, painting, drawing, photography, ceramics, etc. I want to learn how to crochet next !!!
2. I've been married for 1.5 years to my best friend of 7 years (who was also my first and only boyfriend)
3. My pet family is large: 1 dog, 1 hamster, 1 super goldfish from the OC Fair (still going strong after 5 months!), 3 geckos, and a hognose snake. My husband and I joke we should charge admission when people visit.
4. I was homeschooled for all of middle school and skipped 9th grade.
5. I want to go to Europe so bad it hurts.
6. When I was younger, I raised and breed Bearded Dragons. Super cute little guys - check them out. They make great pets for kids.
7. I love food. Love it. Love it. Do you follow any awesome cooking or recipe blogs - send it this way please!

Seven blogs that I am recommending for this award are
1. Bathgasm
2. Burningmoon Products
3. Indie Fixx
4. The Long Thread
5. Kim Le Photography
6. Akane Designs
7. Gramkin Paper Studio

Very talented bloggers. I love all their postings and I hope you do too. Check them out now!

Show me some Treasure Tesoro!

2009-12-03T00:15:00.000-08:00

I am a Craftopolis Addict! The first thing I look at is always the Treasury Clock. I check that thing maybe 3 times a day.

I have been lucky enough to snag a couple of Treasuries over at Treasury West but today, I snagged a Treasury at the actual Treasury Main. I was sooooo excited! I was working at the time that I was waiting for it to open so when it did open, I was so hurried I didn't really think about titling. I picked the first thing that came to mind - Whimsical.

I'm so glad that I "didn't think at the time" to get Whimsical because I had so much fun putting it together. I started an Etsy forum thread asking for whimsical items. After browsing many shops (so fun!), here is the finished product:

Don't you love it? I just loooove the collection of items I found. Go check it out for yourself here.

Have you recently created a Treasury or in one? I wanna see. Post it below.

We have a Winner!

2009-11-30T22:53:00.000-08:00

Last week's giveaway - for any item valued up to $20.00 - from Tesorojewelry.etsy.com ended last night with a total of 76 comment entries!

After plugging in the numbers, here's what the random integer generator over at Random.org gave me:

Sooooo congrats to commenter Spamgirl for being the 22nd poster. Perfect for the week that just passed, her post was all about what she was thankful for!

Thanks so much to everyone who commented! For participating, I'd like to offer you 10% off an entire order in my store.

Enter the code GIVEAWAY in the "message to seller" when you check out with your Paypal account. I will refund you the 10% back via Paypal.

Thanks again & have a great week everyone. Oh, can you believe tomorrow is December? Are you ready for it? The start of the new month means a brand new special at Tesorojewelry.etsy.com.

Wait for it....wait for it....

For December, every purchase at Tesorojewelry.etsy.com is 25% OFF! (I will refund your Paypal account within 24 hours of purchase)

Psst...for those that entered the giveaway, you could get 35% OFF an entire order at Tesorojewelry.etsy.com. Just for ya!

Black Friday Sale - FOR THE WEEKEND!

2009-11-26T23:44:00.000-08:00

Tesorojewelry.etsy.com is having a 50% off sale for the next 24 hours weekend.

Now that our bellies are full - its time for shopping before Round 2 tomorrow, right?!?!!

I actually did some Black Friday shopping today - on Thanksgiving - at Old Navy. They had some great deals and the crowds were minimal. I might brave Target and Best Buy tomorrow. I don't know - it could be dangerous.

Anyways, back to the savings at hand!

From now until 11:59 midnight PST Sunday, November 29th, every item in my shop tesorojewelry.etsy.com will be 50% off - just indicate BLACK FRIDAY in the "message to seller." (Please note: The current monthly special, BOGO, will not be in affect during this time). Refund will be via Paypal.

Who do you have on your shopping list? Do you have mom, sister, daughter, girlfriend, fiance, wife, best friend checked off?

Also, Thanksgiving Giveaway is still going on until Sunday, November 29th at 11:59pm PST. Check out the details at http://tesorojewelry.blogspot.com/2009/11/its-time-for-giveaway.html for a chance to win any item in tesorojewelry.etsy.com valued up to $20.00 for FREE!

It's time for a GIVEAWAY!!!

2009-11-22T22:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Sunday! I am sooooo excited for a very special meal coming up on Thursday - are you?

I LOVE Thanksgiving Dinner. I have lit-ra-lee been salivating about Thanksgiving dinner since before Halloween so no one bring up gravy, mashed potatos, cranberries, or stuffing okay? it's just cruel.

So I figured it's a special week, let's make it even more special with a giveaway!

For this one, one lucky winner will win ANY item from Tesoro Jewelry valued up to $20.00.

What's $20.00 and under you ask? Here's a couple visuals for ya.

Howlite Ring

Ruby Quartz Row Ring

Two Hearts Bracelet

Etched Wood Pendant

You can check out make items for $20.00 or less at tesorojewelry.etsy.com.

This giveaway will end Sunday, November 29th at 11:59pm PST.

How to enter - please include your email address in every comment you make:

Mandatory

1. Follow my blog and let me know in 1 comment.

2. Go to my Etsy store, tesorojewelry.etsy.com, take a look around and tell me in a comment here what your fave item is.

Optional for extra entries!

3. Heart tesorojewelry.etsy.com - 1 Entry

4. Buy an item from tesorojewelry.etsy.com - 10 Entries (psst...November is BOGO month at tesorojewelry.etsy.com so if you buy one item, you can choose another item from my shop for equal or lesser value for FREE)

5. Twitter about this giveaway (@Tesoro_Jewelry) - 1 Entry per day

6. Blog about this giveaway (include link to post on blog) - 1 Entry

7. Post a comment about this giveaway on your facebook - 1 Entry

8. Become a fan of TesoroJewelry on facebook - facebook.com/tesorojewelry - 1 Entry

9. Comment on what you're most thankful for! - 1 Entry

That's up to 18 entries!

The winner will be picked by random # generator on Monday, November 30th. Check back then to see if you have won!

This giveaway is open to US & INTERNATIONAL participants.

GOOD LUCK!

Ellie's Escapades:

Ellie's been settling in reallllly well. It feels like we have had her for years, not just 1 week.

Last night, Ellie discovered Jersey the Hamster. She stayed like this for quite some time. I wonder what she was thinking right?

Ellie's Story

2009-11-16T00:23:00.000-08:00

* Name change alert. I felt Nyla didn't fit her so she has been officially renamed Ellie *

These past few weeks, the Hubby and I have been itching for a dog. We thought it would be easy to find the perfect canine addition to our family but we had a few road blocks. It was really hard to decide on size and breed. Since we live in an apartment with only a patio, we decided on a small to medium dog. When we have a bigger place and a yard (oh the luxury of having a yard) we would like to get a collie, blue heeler, or shetland sheepdog. We adored a Schipperke and Shiba Inu (first time seeing and actually playing with the breeds) at a pet store but since we were fairly certain they were from a mill and the cost being the equivalent of a car's down payment, we decided to adopt. Also, I am mildly allergic to some dogs so only certain breeds were in the running. Our work was cut out for us!

We had visited a few shelters but was excited for the Petsmart's Holiday Adoption Event that was this past weekend.

FRIDAY
I was sooo psyched that I was up bright and early to get there when the stores opened.

We arrived at one Petsmart and found...nothing :( No puppies, no dogs, no cats, no rabbits...nothing. I found out that they weren't setting up until 11 AM - the event was supposed to start at 9 AM! We didn't want to hang around for so long so we went to the next Petsmart and they only had one agency up with ONE dog - a huge St. Bernard. He wouldn't be able to turn around in our place.

Hubby had to go to work soon so we decided to head back home for some lunch. We live right next to an animal shelter so we thought we'd swing in and see if they had any new pups (we go at least once a week). We spotted a cutie (named Jenna) and she was so affectionate when I pet her through the bars that we asked to visit with her. I really liked her and she was a poodle mix so I didn't think I'd be allergic but I wanted to wait until my dad, a dog trainer, could come check her out.

We went home and when my dad told me he couldn't make it out I was bummed. I was even more bummed ( I think I cried) when I called the shelter to see if I could put her on hold and they told me someone had already done so. Mind you, only about an hour had gone by. I was holding on to the thought that they might not adopt her but the shelter has a good turnaround with adopting dogs out :(

SATURDAY
We repeated the previous morning but called the Petsmarts ahead of time to make sure that they were participating in the adoption weekend and that there were dogs there right now. They all said yup and yup.

1st Petsmart - Got there at 11 AM but they weren't even set up. UGH!

2nd Petsmart - There were no tents outside and the place didn't look very busy. We went inside anyways and found one agency in a corner with ONE adult dog. One, again?! She was super cute but we wanted variety. The agency lady (who was not very friendly and answered our questions with a not so slight 'tude) said that the dog had 8 week old puppies and that her partner was at a Petco a few miles away with them. Excited about seeing some young-ins, we thanked her, gave a last pat to momma doggie, and hopped in the car to venture over there. Guess what we found? NOTHING! A Petco cashier said that the agency was supposed to be there but never showed up, didn't even call. At this point we were seriously annoyed. Hubs kept saying he just wanted to see some darn puppies. We were cracking jokes the whole time and were having fun but we were very disappointed. We assumed that there would be a more apparent effort by all of these OC pet adoption agencies to get the pets adopted out.

We killed some time and grabbed some delicious Krispy Kreme donuts (mmm!) before heading back to the first Petsmart we went to.

Back to 1st Petsmart - It looked like all 4 agencies were set up but only 2 had animals out to visit with. We visited with some pups but none of them caught our eye.

3rd Petsmart - Only 1 agency with some Chi pups and a really cute Cairn Terrier but the agency lady was talking with her coworker and didn't acknowledge our presence. We asked her a couple of questions but then she went right back to talking.

We called it a day after that but not before stopping by the animal shelter again to see if Jenna was still there. AND SHE WAS! It was still early in the day but they said to check back at the end of the day to see if she had been adopted. I called right at closing and they said she had not been adopted and she would be available first thing in the morning.

SUNDAY

My dad came over first thing and we were at the animal shelter 10 mins before they opened. I saw a family with young girls and secretly hoped they didn't want to see the cute poodle mix Jenna. We immediately requested to see her and after a thorough inspection by dad the dog trainer - we adopted her! As we were leaving, we overhead someone else asking to see Jenna. I bet that if we hadn't gotten there first thing, Jenna would've been adopted out today. Of course she would, she's super cute right?

So... meet ~~Nyla ("Neigh-la," had to rename because Jenna is also the name of my sister in law).P.S. She loves loves loves Nylabones.~~ Ellie (she has been officially renamed Ellie).

She's doesn't have a lick of obedience in her but she's very smart and can almost sit every 3rd time I ask her. She's a huge cuddler. She's also pretty protective and quite a barker if anyone comes within 10 feet of me or DH (we'll be working on that). Haven't had any allergies around her so that's awesome. DH says that she's a good combo of me and him - low key & mellow like me but also energetic at times and silly like him.

I think she's perfect.

Meet Nyla!

2009-11-15T18:06:00.000-08:00

We just rescued a cutie from our neighborhood shelter. Meet Nyla! (pronounced Neigh-la). They said she's a 1 yr old Poodle/Terrier mix.

She's asleep right now after her exhausting and exciting day!

We had a crazy canine-filled weekend. Will tell the story in a bit but right now, I think DH and I are gonna take a cue from Nyla and nap!

A Treasury, a Blog Review, and a Blog Featurette - Oh My!

2009-11-10T11:16:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, I was super stoked to find that Tesoro Jewelry had 2 items featured in 3 places. Woohoo!

Etsian BurningMoon reviewed my cute Turquoise and Gold Nested Ring in her Holiday Guide on her fabulous blog Burning Moon's Inside Advice.

Fellow Etsian Little Prettlings has a wonderful blog where she posts Weekly Featured Products. My Two Hearts Bracelet was lucky to be apart of it this week.

And last but not least - I love me an Etsy Treasury! Etsian Vivilian was feeling the love this weekend and created a treasury about just that where she included my Two Hearts Bracelet! Check it out here!

I love Etsy! It is such a great community of artists. Thanks to Burningmoon, Little Prettlings, and Vivilian for giving some of my products some face time!

Coming up for air

2009-11-05T12:01:00.000-08:00

I think I'm back.

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. The Halloween Haunted House my teens group was putting together went off swimmingly and everyone had a great time (ie. had their pants scarred off!). Then, because I'm an idiot, I read the Twilight Saga series - again - and have pretty much been in that world for the last week. I'm ready for the movie.

Love it. Hate it. Cried. Laughed. What is it with that series that makes so many have PTD, "Post Twilight Depression"?

Anyways, I just read Hunger Games to fill the gap. Great story, definitely recommend!

Ya know, PTDalso makes you want to write a novel. I can't imagine sitting down and writing a story but I would love to create another world. I feel inspired!

Next year, I want to try NANO's National Novel Writing Month, which is always held in November. I think its a great motivator for closet novelists. Wanna do it with me?

I think I need an idea first.