Day 9: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Yesterday was by far the busiest day of my trip yet. Ashley, Jenny Beth (Ashley's cousin) and I toured the city from sunup to sundown (an beyond). Our first stop was a park for breakfast and the spilling of the coffee. We then got on the fiets (bikes) and rode (and rode and rode). Highlights included a river cruise, the Heineken brewery, the Van Gogh museum and the Anne Frank house. There were also croissants, middle eastern food, and sweet and savory Dutch pancakes (which need to catch on in the states now).
Today, we set off for Greece (we won't arrive until tomorrow because of our roundabout route).




Me on the fiets




e




Heineken










Until later,

e

Day 8: JFK to DUB, DUB to AMS

Who would have thought that the Creative Circus would help me battle jet lag? You see, all of those nights that I stayed up doing projects for Syl has slowly weaned me off of sleep; thus making my transition to a place 6 timezones away basically flawless.

Unfortunately, in my sleep-deprived state, I forgot to take many pictures. However, I will assure you that it was a comedy-of-errors type of day. From going through wrong doors in Dublin and then not being allowed to reenter the terminal for an hour, to the "hilarious" fiasco with my ticket home (Aer Lingus basically telling me I was SOL on changing it after they had told me 3 times that I could), to getting on the wrong train in Amsterdam - it was a long day. Fortunately, all's well that ends well. Yesterday ended with beers and champagne on the patio. Not too shabby!

Today, we bike. Ashley, Jenny Beth and I are doing a large tour of the city, including the heineken brewery, a canal cruise and lots of delicious food.


(our street - the noorderstraat)



(ash and jb on the patio)



(my fiets)



(for some reason I was shaking the corona. I blame Ashley.)

Until later,

e

Days 5-7: Brooklyn, NY

This was going to be my "visit home" post; it was going to be full of the delcious foods I ate, people I saw, and fun things I did. However, that just wasn't meant to be. You see, all weekend (and truthfully, for a few months beforehand) one of my wisdom teeth had been giving me trouble (just not so much trouble that it couldn't be easily ignored ... whoops). So on the recommendation of my friend, Ally, I trooped over to the NYU School of Dentistry early Monday morning to get it checked. I left 3 hours later with 1 less tooth, $100 poorer and orders not to eat anything that wasn't bland and mushy. So much for the pizza (and Chinese ... and crepe-truck ... and waffle-truck) that I had been planning on consuming. Instead, for the past 36 hours, I have been napping, watching hulu and drinking ensure (the excitement is overwhelming).

I did make a fieldtrip today to the UWS to see The A-Team at my favorite theater, the AMC Lincoln Square. I won't lie, it was a fantasic movie, even if I do hate Jessica Biel.

Tomorrow, I pack my bags once again and head for Europe. First up is visiting Ashley in her new hometown of Amsterdam. Since I haven't seen Ash in almost a year, this will be pretty awesome. Plus, it will mark my third first of this trip: first solo flight to Europe.

(The second first was sudden and unintended, as this was the first time I'd had a tooth pulled)

Since I have to post a photo with every entry, I leave you with this (squeamish people turn away):






Until later,


e

Day 3: Surf City, NJ

There are very few people in the world that I will wear fairy wings for. Maria Lisa DeFazio is one of them.




So, today I donned my wings and, after poking the flower girl in the eye, watched as she married her Brad. It was truly a beautiful day, and with the exception of my the bridal party sunburns ... it went off without a hitch.

Maria and Brad, congratulations on getting married. It was a truly momentous occasion. And, while it may be cliche (but entirely true), the best really is yet to come for you two.




Until later,


e

Day 1: ATL to EWR

And so it begins.




This morning marks the beginning of 21 days of travel for me. It's a huge and exciting trip that will not only contain a few firsts, but will also help me check a few things off the old 101 Things list.

First leg: Atlanta to New Jersey for my college roommate's wedding. I'm pretty excited to not only spend a little time at the beach, but also stand up for Maria at her wedding. That's right, someone is trusting me with the responsibility of "bridesmaid-dom" ... What was she thinking?! (This is technically the first first. I have yet to be a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding.)

After the momentous occasion, I will spend the next two-plus weeks bouncing around this plant of ours. As of now, the itinerary is as follows: NJ - NY - CT - Amsterdam - Greece - London - NY - ATL. Oh, and all I packed were two carry-on bags.



Until later,

e

He may not have built it, but Ruth would definitely approve.

This post is being brought to you from 32,000 feet, as I am currently occupying seat 5A on a flight back to Atlanta after a whirlwind trip to New York.

This past weekend I was able to (happily) indulge in a favorite passtime of mine - Yankees baseball. Having grown up in a house with 3 older brothers (and a mom who was born on Yankees opening day 1952), there was rarely a summer afternoon when we weren't listening to a game on News Radio 880. There was also a time in my childhood when we were at games so often, my mom called the stadium our second home. Our seats were rarely great but that wasn't the point. Getting to watch the likes of Paul O'Neill and Don Mattingly play our nations passtime are some of my favorite memories. Plus, cracker jacks are the closest I got to my mom giving me candy.
Two years ago, my brother Sam and his wife Krista started a tradition of purchasing season tickets. Again, the seats weren't great, but who cared? That summer I got to see more baseball than I had in years.
Then I migrated south. Unfortunately, the Braves aren't the Yankees and I only saw 1 game last year. (The result of some serious bar trivia night mastery thankyouverymuch)
Fast forward to a week ago when I got an email from Krista asking me if I wanted to see a game when I was in town for a friends wedding. A game? In the new stadium? My answer was a resouding "hell yes".
On Friday night, I met Krista in midtown near her office and we took the subway to the stadium. Unfortunately for Krista, I was unable to play it New York cool. I was too excited. I had not seen the new stadium since it was completed and I hadn't seen my beloved Yanks in years. To my delight, neither one disappointed me that night. The stadium is a grand, soaring space that makes use of scale and light in an amazing way. It is clean and well laid out and the perfect home for 27 time world champions (The fact that my favorite cheesesteak place had an outpost underneath our section was an obvious bonus). Much to my delight I got to see my team win for the first time in a long time (they always seem to lose when I'm in the building - I don't take it personally). There were definitely a few moments when I didn't think they'd pull it out, but they proved me wrong with a final score of 6-4. Drunk on more than my fair share of miller light and riding high off of the win, I couldn't help but smile the whole way home.













e

SNOWPOCALYPSE

While last year was one of the wettest ever on record in Georgia, this year is shaping up to be the coldest. Since I came back in January, the temperature difference between home and Atlanta hasn't been that great. In fact, we have had TWO snow storms in 2010. This past Friday, we had a storm dubbed by Atlantans to be SNOWPOCALYPSE (all 3 inches of it).



This was the parking lot of my school the morning after. The only problem with getting snow in a city that doesn't own a single plow (or sand/salt truck)? Overnight, it turns to ice. Lots of it. Never have I been so grateful for the Tiptronic feature in my car.


e