A beautiful Saturday morning!

Gratitude 267 
I just love the Autumn time! :) The weather is getting brisk, yet still sunny and colorful. The trees are painting the landscape, and we can finally (hopefully this lasts!) open the windows to a lovely breeze. It's getting cool enough to drink hot tea everyday, again. :) My sweaters and fabulous pashmina collection are just waiting to be worn! :) 


Last night, I got an amazing impromptu call from my darling Katie in Chicago! :) We only talked for a mere 2 hours this time, though. hehe! ;) ...I think that's our highest record of phone call length thus far. Thank you, Katie...no better way to spend my lazy Friday evening!

This morning, for the first time in four years of living here, I actually made it to the Saturday farmer's market. A little flash of my much-missed European culture. ;)   (As much as I miss it, though, I am somehow oddly content where I am sitting right now...we'll go with it and see how long it lasts. haha!)

Happy Birthday to Me! :)

Yesterday was my birthday! 23! :) Unfortunately, I had to work for the first half of the day and was battling a terrible sinus headache all day. :(  Nonetheless, I had a nice little celebration. :) 

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Mom and Dad made the long drive just to take me out to dinner. We went to BRAVO!. It was DELICIOUS!! yum yum yum! We also got an impromptu 45-minute tour of practically the entire city. Oh, geez! haha! Then a few of my girlfriends came over, and we sat out on the balcony and enjoyed some lovely wine and brownies Alexa's dad had made. :)

Today, my allergies and sinuses have gotten no better sadly, and I feel awful. :(  Ew. (Sometimes, they hurt so badly I can barely see straight. This is no good. Stupid nose!) So...it's movies on the couch, some more tea, and hopefully some rest because I work the day shift, yet again, tomorrow. Blech. (Happy for the hours...not happy to drag myself out of bed when I don't feel so grand.)

A Catch-Up on Current Life Events

I apologize for the hiatus. The only explanation is that I have been lazy. So...I'll do a quick overview of highlights from the past couple weeks...

The last week of August, my older sister Jessi and my nephew/Godson Xander came for a visit. We did some exploration, chased Xander everywhere, and laughed lots. And who would have known that if you give a 2-year old a pickle, approximately 30 minutes of entertainment has been provided for a mere 40 cents...until he proceeds to chuck it at the dashboard because he's over it. haha! Oh, that little crazy man! 

Then, everyone was coming back to campus, so that was a little overwhelming that suddenly everyone was back. However, it was nice to see people, again.

Yesterday was my friend Sarah's wedding. (I've lost track of how many weddings there have been this year...so much food! haha!) It was BEAUTIFUL! It was my first time at a Russian Orthodox ceremony, but I really enjoyed it. It was like I'd been transported to an abbey or something. The entire ceremony was sung. And Sarah looked gorgeous. :) I'm so happy for her and Cole. They are like a Cory and Topanga couple. hehe! ;) Poor Sarah was sick, but she was such a champ.

Other than that, I've just been working and cleaning and all that fun everyday grown-up stuff. (Boo!) Eating ice cream everyday. (Oh, no!) We have to test all the new ice creams and sundaes and floats before they come out...the new Manhattan float is yummy...it's bourbon ice cream with bourbon-soaked cherries and black cherry soda...so needless to say I was quite giggly for the next couple hours of my shift after that. Oh, geez!

Started German lessons with a tutor...they are great, but I need to get my butt in gear, again, with that self-motivation studying thing. Went to a Bible study with a couple of my friends. Slowly singing, again...and stressing myself out just looking at the websites for grad schools. AAAHHH! Life! My birthday is on Wednesday...23! (I have to work, though...ugh!) And my roommate's is tomorrow. So much celebration going on. ;)

Gratitude 265
I got to see my dearest Katie and Bryan yesterday at Sarah and Cole's wedding!!! I was so excited that I was talking about the fact that I got to see them for the past two weeks! ;) Miss you guys! 

Gratitude 264

A 1 hour and 37 minute phone call with my dear, sweet Katie, with whom I haven't gotten to talk to since her wedding. :) We had a lot of catching up to do. ;) I'm so excited that she is in Chicago with her new hubby (aka my brother Bry Bry...hehe!), but I miss her living down the street from me! :(

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Making homemade pizzas! Yum! (Okay...it was Chef Boyardee in a box...but my friend Betsy and I still made it....we had to mix the dough and stretch it out and put the toppings on it. haha!). She is moving to Boston for graduate school at the end of the week, so we spent the evening eating pizza, sipping wine, chatting, and enjoying the cool breeze on the balcony with the pretty rope lights aglow. :) It was a lovely evening. (And I'm loving the addition of the rope lights! They are "aesthetically pleasing." And pretty! hehe!)

Simpler Graces

"Italians will tolerate hideously incompetent generals, presidents, tyrants, professors, bureaucrats, journalists, and captains of industry, but will never tolerate incompetent 'opera singers, conductors, ballerinas, courtesans, actors, film directors, cooks, tailors...' In a word of disorder and disaster and fraud, sometimes only beauty can be trusted. Only artistic excellence is incorruptible. Pleasure cannot be bargained down. And sometimes the meal is the only currency that is real. To devote yourself to the creation and enjoyment of beauty, then, can be a serious business - not always necessarily a means of escaping reality, but sometimes a means of holding on to the real when everything else is flaking away into...rhetoric and plot."  ~Elizabeth Gilbert, from her book Eat Pray Love

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Skirts/dresses with pockets. :) Although I only own the one skirt that I splurged on in Kecskemét, it has proven to be a perfect and worthwhile choice. 

Welcome to my life.

20-Somethings...

Cleaning Day

It was long overdue (and too long avoided! haha!). So...I turned on some Billy Joel to rock out and got to some scrubbing. And I also found that my kitchen sink was leaking underneath...you don't want to know the disgustingness I found. Ew.

Gratitude 261
Mr. Clean Magic Erasers! Pretty much the greatest cleaning product ever invented.


Also, I want to be on this flight! Such fun! ;)

Gratitude 260

This probably sounds like the weirdest thing for me to be saying, but I am thankful for the privilege of not knowing what to do and the ability to live life in any random way until I do...even if some of the randomness isn't exactly what I would particularly prefer, I am still a pretty darn lucky gal.


Sunday night, I had a sleepover at my roommate's house with her and her mommy. Watched movies, made corn relish salsa and cookies (NOT together! haha!), and just relaxed. I finally got my hands on a copy of Eat Pray Love, too! :)

AND...this afternoon, I had lunch with the one and only Chad! YAY! We had a lot of catching up to do...but somehow I didn't get much gossip from him... Oh, well...next time! ;)

A Reflection

Gratitude 259
This morning, I was thinking about and reflecting upon my time in Europe this summer, and I realized just how thankful I am for the beautiful weather I was blessed with during my stay overseas. Yes, scorching hot, but gorgeous and sunny everyday minus two or three days. I am especially thankful for this, taking into consideration the reports of rain and flooding currently going on abroad. A simple thing, but aren't those the graces for which we are most indebted?

I was also thinking about this special place while I was in church today...

The chapel at Nonnberg Abbey

Ever have that feeling that you remember something/someplace/someone/etc. so vividly that it is as if you are still right there experiencing it? I feel like it's some sort of déjà vu or something.