Weekly Wonderings: June 20th, 2012

Yesterday, I went to a zoo. Lowry Park Zoo to be exact. I am not the biggest fan of zoos, because I hate animals in cages. So the idea of a huge park with lots of species in cages is not my cup of tea. Surprisingly, Lowry Park Zoo did not upset me too much. The animals seemed well taken care of and had room to play (the alligators were even fat!). Animal maltreatment irks me to no end.  I am famous in my house for once threatening to let the lobsters free in our salt water pool because I did not want to be an accessory to murder! Anyways, I thought I would share some fun photos from our trip! At the zoo, I got to ride a camel!!!! Did you know they can carry up to their body weight, which is about 1,800 lbs? I also fed that adorable giraffe, they have HUGE tongues! The tongue looped around my hand and grabbed the lettuce. 

Just this once....

I hate doing things like this but I am so happy about the article! I just graduated as some people may know and my local paper wrote an article about me! If you care to read a bit more about me, here's the link http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120612/ARTICLE/120619875

Travel Diary: New Orleans

So I am in New Orleans. Actually I'm at the airport on my way home! I spent four lovely days here, learned a lot of new things, eat some of the best food, took a cooking class, and saw Paula Dean and John Cusack! I took a ghost tour ( which I highly recommend ) and saw alligators on a swamp tour. They feed them marshmallows! On sticks! The New Orleans Cooking School taught me how to make corn and crab bisque, shrimp creole, pralines, and bananas foster and gave me samples ( enough for a full lunch). Our ghost your guide told us "anything worth doing doing in New Orleans is worth doing with a cocktail" and he was right! I saw two plantation homes, walked all over French Quarter and had bananas foster from where it was created (Brennans). This was quiet the culinary tour! I highly recommend you try New Orleans for your next vacation, there is quiet something for everyone ( just not the faint of heart)!

Weekly Wonderings: June 6th, 2012

    This weekend is the Belmont Stakes, and while I am not the biggest horse race fan, this race should be interesting. After a quick wikipedia lesson on the Triple Crown Competition, I feel like I understand these races a bit better. A little background knowledge makes anything more enjoyable. For instance, did you know that only 11 horses have ever won the Triple Crown and the last one was in 1978? With I’ll Have Another going for the title, it should be an interesting 1.5 miles. Horses can only compete in their third year, so this is the only chance for it. Seriously, read the wikipedia page, and then go watch the race. Here’s some inspiration for a lovely derby party, you really want food that can be easily held in the excitement of those couple of minutes. All of these ideas are easy to carry in the excitement!

What are you doing for the derby? Anything special? Or just relaxing a home in a big hat like me?

What’s in my carry on….

So I am back! Yay! After a three week whirlwind tour of Europe, seeing 5 countries, and 6 cities. It was a blast and I will post some photos soon. I planned expertly for my trip, if I do say so myself. I packed one check-in bag and one big purse. When planning for my trip, I googled the heck out of phrases like “what to pack for three weeks in Europe” and “what to pack for Europe” and “good travel outfits” but there were very little actual advice. Things like “pack comfortable shoes” and “an umbrella” kept popping up but I wanted real advice. hard core stuff, like 3 knee length dresses and 1 stripped shirt. But apparently the internet doesn’t have that hard core of advice. So I thought I would share my own hard core advice, starting with packing my carry on.

I packed it in my black longchamp, the reason why is simple: longchamps are waterproof and zip all the way. I have to admit, my uncle gave this bag awhile ago and at first I thought it was the ugliest thing. Black and brown? No design? Gross! But then it rained one faithful day and my stuff stayed dry. Completely dry. Notebooks didn’t get ruined, papers did not drip, it was magical. After that, I was sold, I love it. Look, people who tell you they are beautiful bags are lying to you. But they fold flat completely (great for storage) and the one zipper is great when worried about pick pockets!

So enough about my rant on longchamps, let’s get to what’s inside my bag: (Clockwise from left)

• Sleeping mask (in case, I think for once there might be a slight chance I can fall asleep on the plane (spoiler alert- I didn’t manage to, again))
• Candy  (because well… duh)
• Gum (for ear popping at take off and landing but gum isn’t popular in Europe so beware)
• Kleenex (always useful, worse case they are back up napkins)
• Peppermint mouth drops (from Aveda,  AMAZING, a few drops and my breath smells fantastic)
• Netbook (laptop is way tooo bulky when I just need it to store photos)
• Folder (had copies of passport, credit card, and confirmations for everywhere plus itinerary (more on that in another post)
• Bag of makeup (I was on planes for 10 plus hours, it needed to be re-touched)
• Wallet
• Guidebook for Paris
• Purse hook (so my bag doesn’t touch the ground and get dirty, plus protects from pickpockets)
• Pen and notepad (to keep track of expenses, more on that later)
• Notebook (for notes about trips and such)
• Economist (I love the Economist, I look smart while reading it and all the articles are short enough to keep my attention span, seriously pick up a copy for a long trip, you will be glad you did)
• Iphone
• Sunglasses (I did not wear them inside, don’t worry, but I do have a tendency to wear them too late into the evening, any bit of sun is sunglasses weather for me)
• Lip stain (I love that is gives me color and doesn’t smear off, perfect for planes and every other occasion!)
• Passport
• Ipad (had a tv show (okay, Downton Abbey Season 2) downloaded and 3 books, perfect amount!)
• Lighted magnifying mirror (bathrooms even in hotels aren’t always that nice, and I like to make sure I am able to see everything)
• And last but certainly not least FLEECE LINED Leggings (Theses are the best thing I have ever found, seriously. They keep me warm, even in cold Calgary weather last year. Airplanes are perfect for them. Slip them on under a dress and you don’t even need that crappy blanket they give you. It’s like a blanket for your legs, that covers every bit of them. I find mine at TJ Maxx. Last year, for Christmas, I gave all of my girl friends a pair, they all love them! One even wore them on a plane to Australia and said they were the best decision ever)
• Not pictured: Camera in a camera bag (it was charging, sorry!)

So that’s what was in my carry-on. I hope I helped your future travel adventures. Any tips? Anything I missed?  I used everything in this bag and the bag was heavy but manageable for the trip! I emptied it for every day use while over there.

Weekly Wonders: May 23rd, 2012

         I don’t know why, but recently I have been in the mood for watermelon things. Maybe its because summer is almost here and watermelon is the quintessential summer fruit. It’s like mainly water and in the hot Floridian summer sun, it’s a necessity. The only problem is all these things are for parties. Guess I should think about having a summer party soon!

Weekly Wonders: May 16th, 2012

It will be Memorial Day soon, and even though I am not in the country to celebrate, I still spend way too much time on Pinterest looking for inspiration. Inspiration for what, I cannot tell you. Sometimes, I feel like I can pin the whole world. Everything gets its own little board and its own little pin. I swear Pinterest was made for perfectionists. I get lost sometimes looking at different pins. I’ve never been into full out Patriotism, red is my least favorite color. Yet all these pretty dishes make me want to burst into “God Bless America”!

 

Are you salivating red, white, and blue yet?