"Pops of red". This is a new phrase I just learned (proof it really is time to visit Ami-Land) and decided to run with it for this post. I have two boys and even though I love red, I really l-o-v-e-d it when I was pregnant. I knew that I was pregnant with both boys before I even took a test because I was suddenly drawn to red like none other. With my youngest, I went so far as to paint my dining room a fire engine red, only to re-paint it a creamy color after N. ventured out into the bright big world. When I was pregnant with my oldest, I bought up everysinglesolitary bit of red I could get my hands on, shocking myself the entire time 'cause it was never really in my color pallete; only when I took a pregnancy test a day later did I realize that my craving for reds was due to the little person growing inside. Like I said, I love red, but only in post-pregnancy-pops. Here's a sampling of what I'm talkin' about...

Love my baby sis' red shirt.

The plastic red cups were just the thing for yummy margaritas.

Wish I could grow geraniums like these.

Flower arrangements courtesy of my six-year-old.

Want some water with your pizza?

Recognize this lady? What about the glass?

My dad and his sweet pop of red.

Here's the pizza that went with that water. Love that red!

In celebration of splashes of color. What colors do you like to be splashed about?

So, I can see that I'm gonna have to get warmed up to blogging again; I have sat in front of my computer for two days now and you see the results, don't you? Nada tostada! To get the blog party started, I'll start with a few pictures. Remember my post on August 16th where I swooned over turquiose? Well, it must have been a premonition because that delightful color was all over the place in Italy. . .

In celebration of shades of blue on a rainy day turning sunny as I write this...

So, I neverever thought I'd miss technology while on vacation, but I just snuck a few minutes on my Dad's computer and am all a-flutter. My pictures and such are on my Mac, which for some odd reason doesn't work here in bella Italia (only my Pop's PC was able to get connected to cyberspace), so I won't officially be able to get the blog groove on until returning home. It's all good, though, I have been spending would-be blog time soaking up some del-i-cious sun, eating yummy food, laughing with my folks, drinking cocktails that were supercalifragilisticexpialedocious, swimming, laughing, reading, and eating. Strangely enough there were three, yes three, Macs brought in by various family members, but only my dad's PC worked (he had online courses that he had to attend to). I guess someone out there was trying to tell us freetime computer lovers a little somethin'! Oh well..the world didn't come crashing down and I have loved wallowing in simply.being.together.

In celebration of lazy summer days without watches, internet access, or the tele...

Living so far away from the States has taught me patience and flexibility. I can't always be in all the places I want to be on a given day because I have two small boys and a husband in Germany. The last two years have been the hardest, though; I couldn't toast my brother after he proposed to my soon-to-be-sister-in-law nor could I go to my grandma's funeral, my sister Amy's wedding, or my other sister Kate's graduation from grad school. But, as with most everything in life, these days of missing out have been compensated for by some truly amazing ah-ha moments. Just yesterday I met my brother-in-law of six months for the first time. I couldn't stop smiling; I had been waiting -patiently waiting- to meet him for a half a year and there he was with us yesterday, sitting next to my sister as if the six of us had been meeting up every Thursday for lunch since we were ten. There they were in flesh and blood and it was as though not a day had gone by. Tomorrow, we're meeting up with the rest of the clan to celebrate my other sister's graduation, my grandma's cooking, and my brother's proposal. I do believe that the post-celebration may just very well be the icing on the cake...did I uh mention that my brother-in-law is a bartender and we're going to Italy?? The waiting and being the odd one out on occassion has been and is well worth it; these butterflies just wouldn't feel so good if they came everyday now would they??! Here are some shots from our day out on the town.

 

If a color could describe my mood right now at this very moment, this is what it'd be. It'd be this light, airy, dreamy, floating-a-few-inches-above-the-ground kinda blue; the shade of blue that makes you happy just looking at it. The waiting is almost over and everyone is aglow. It's the anxious anticipation of f-a-m-i-l-y, warm nights, good food, days by the pool, dark espresso, and chitter-chatter while waiting for the bathroom (10 people, 2 WCs) that has put the spring in our step. Three cheers for my folks, those who are here and those who are packing up and moving in our direction. Three cheers for the airlines that connect us. Three cheers for vacation and this sweet shade of blue.

+pictures courtesy of me, Eckhaus in Würzburg, and House of Turquise

Bikes are so much a part of life in Europe. People ride them to work, to school, on a date, to get in shape, to go out. They bike with sports clothes, fancy clothes, school clothes, and play clothes. Some have on special bike shoes, others wear flip-flops or sandals. I love bike fashion and so does the lady behind this blog. I got a new bike for Mother's Day and adore it. I never realized how much I missed biking until I started doing it again. When I first came to Germany, I biked all over the place, but then we moved into the country, had little babies, my old hand-me-down Peugot got rusty, and I got "lazy". Two years ago we moved back into the city, but on a hill (that people ride up to train for biking in the ALPS); needless to say, this intimidated me. In May, we bought my oldest son a new bike and I couldn't resist the temptation to get one myself. My husband, an avid mountain and road biker, didn't waste a minute and insisted that I get a bike, a bike I love ("if you don't love it, you won't ride it", he said). He was right and rode my "fahrrad" like it was going out of style from May to July. Since August, though, I haven't been able to bike that much because of the rain. I miss my faithful friend terribly and hope the summer won't leave without inviting the sun over to tea one last time so I can b-i-k-e before the cold sets in.

In celebration of getting from here to there without a car...

pictures courtesy of the delightful Lonnymag

This time next week, I'll be sitting with my family under the Tuscan sun, catching up and sipping on little slices of heaven. This is the first time since I came to Germany in the late nineties that it worked out for everyone to meet in Europe for a week away and I can hardly wait!

In celebration of waiting and looking forward to...

Right now the weather over here is throwing me for a loop. I know that there are far more important things out there to obsess about, but I must say, I'm going a bit bonkers. Luckily, I'm not alone; my sons, hubby, and cat seem to be going a bit ga-ga, too. So, after walking around in circles the entire day yesterday wondering what to do with our crazy 'ol selves (it's summer vacation, mate), we decided to head out. The boys love a good fire, so we decided to whip up some Miracoli outdoors over H.'s treasured Coleman stove. I left the house grumpy and, honestly, not really in the mood to do anything at all, much less an adventure in the r-a-i-n. But an adventure and some fresh, albeit wet, air was better than ending up in a straight jacket. I love surprises, especially when they involve me sitting in the passenger seat, not knowing where I'm going. Hoping that my mood would improve with this little game, I sat back, closed my eyes, and triedtriedtried to turn my frown upside down. Fifteen minutes later, we got to where we were going. . .the chapel in Randersacker. I know, I know, a chapel sounds like an odd place to go with two boys who hadn't been out in days and were bursting with energy, but this is no ordinary place. This chapel is nestled in the vineyards above Randersacker, has a covered patio, benches, and a view that can turn any sourpuss into a purring kitty. So, we kicked the Coleman up a notch, set up our little table, opened our "apfelsaftschorle" (apple juice and fizzy water) and began wishing that we had remembered to bring a bottle of wine (sitting in a vineyard without wine is like being in a soccer stadium without beer). Now seems like a good time to mention that we had our coffee and cake on this very patio with our weddings guests in '97 because the next thing that happened truly was the icing on the cake. Would you believe that at that very moment a jolly group of wine-tasting-wanderers (hikers) began ascending the stairs in the pouring rain and out of nowhere, making their way up to the patio that we were miracoliing on; and would you believe, dear readers, that they asked us if we wanted to join in the festivities??! Heck yeah and halleluja! Two thumbs up and glass-clinking for divine intervention. In celebration of life's sweet surprises...

picture courtesy of Kraft

Time has been my obsession lately. It's the incredible realization that we are part of an immense timeline that stretches over days, months, years, decades, and centuries that has been keeping my mind busy. Walking through Bamberg the other morning, I discovered hotels (like the one above whose parking garage dates back to 1855), mills, cafes, and public buildings with dates that stopped me in my tracks.

Usually, we take moments out of time; we memorize dates and use them to chronicle life's events. These "misplaced" dates always put a bad taste in my mouth; they exude a halting sense of finality. I never really saw time's line in its entirity; I never really thought about the fact that someone, like you or me, stood in front of this pharmacy, bakery, brewery, or house in 1437, 1396, 1678, or 1911, wondering what life would be like a hundred years later, wondering what the world would be like and who would be living in it. Now, here I am, one hundred, five hundred, six hundred plus years later, standing in front of these places, wondering the same thing, wondering who lived here or stood there, wondering what these places will be like in 2110, 2510, 3010. This awareness has eased my mind, eased this sense of finality that has been taunting me. It's made me feel connected and continuinous. It made me happy...

I went to Bamberg to visit my folks on Sunday morning and my three men joined me Monday afternoon. It turns out that the boys packed their own suitcase and when I caught a glimpse of what my youngest son deemed important (he was the head packer), I couldn't resist a snapshot. Sun glasses, a sassy green belt (what every fashion-conscious man needs), two books, a few stuffed animals (never leave home without 'em), a doctor's mask (??!) and, low and behold, not one, not two, but t-h-r-e-e pairs of freshly-washed underwear (this deemed important by the child who thinks recycling starts at home with your undies)!! Gotta love life's little surprises...

Happy Tuesday.

Today I jetted off to a little slice of homegrown Americana...the army base in Bamberg. We lovingly refer to it as "little America" and lil' America it is! Shortly after I'm signed in by my folks, my mind starts to go ga-ga and all of a sudden I start craving things uncontrollably and without any feeling of satiation. For example, we went to the "D-Fac" (translation for non-i.d. holders: dining facility) and I had (please don't tell a soul) breakfast AND lunch within an hour. Now, you gotta understand, it's a cafeteria with a pretty mean selection of goodies. Granted, it is army food and most likely heavily processed, but for an American living in Deutschland, it's heaven-on-earth. I adore German food, but there is some crazy thing that clicks when I leave Germany behind and enter the coveted grounds of little America. It's like my body opens the floodgates, embracing everything from the language to the free refills to the open buffet to the burgers and fried chicken, and that little "switch" that should be telling me I'm full or shouldn't be eating an omelett with a side of philly cheese steak on fluffy white bread gets weighted down by the water. It's so bad, in a weirded out good way, that midway through my second portion of meat, I remembered I was a vegetarian. And, that's just the D-Fac! I haven't even gotten to what happens at the comissary (grocery store)...

pictures courtesy of bazaar of serendipity

I am so embracing prints right now! Everywhere I look, I see amazing patterns and colors. I couldn't take it anymore and simply had to spruce up my pad a bit. The trouble with this delicious idea of mine was that my budget was, umm, non-existent. Remember that year off I told you about? Well, I decided to throw (a bit of) caution to the wind and see what I could whip up mixing a few new items in with the old, i.e. sofa, artwork, rugs. We've been living in this apartment for more than a year now and, in all honesty, I haven't really been inspired to make any changes...at least not until I ran across young house love, the designer's attic, bazaar of serendipity, and making it lovely. Each of these bloggers profiled vibrant colors, delightful patterns, and fresh designs with an energy that gave my creativity a kick. This is my little design cocktail I mixed up using old artwork, a pair of Linum pillowcases, a freebe chair from an old cinema in Würzburg (still needs a makeover), some flea market finds, a sprinkle of Ikea, and a lotta love. Wanna see the before??





Thanks to the eye candy featured in the blogs mentioned above, this is my after: