i'm missing europe

canals in venice, italy

an old watering station in barcelona, spain

streets of amsterdam, the netherlands

eiffel tower from montemarte, paris, france

a church from the 1500's in dublin, ireland

the acropolis, athens, greece

dubrovnik, croatia

the duomo, milan, italy

all pictures taken by me in my travels, ireland for st. patricks day? i'm thinking its a must.

Phoenix - 1901 - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

and if i had been at le tour eiffel when this was going down.... if only, if only

2011.

This New Year's Day feels different. I woke up this afternoon feeling like I'd finished the lastest book in a series, ending with to be continued...

2010 was a great year. I did a lot of things, traveled to 3 continents, maintained great friendships, started to figure out what it may look like to someday "have my dream job". Every books gotta end somewhere. Every TV series has to be divided into episodes, and so if you have to divide your life.. it makes sense to do it by year.

Here's what I expect/demand from 2011:

1. Start my internship with the Fish & Wildlife Service and enjoy it.
2. Travel to 2 new continents (preferably South America and Asia, I don't really have a desire to go to Antarctica anytime soon)
3. See my sister graduate high school and start enjoying college.
4. Convince my family to get a dog. The empty nester thing just doesn't seem their style...
5. Move into my new house on 8/1 with Julie, Kristi & Margaret.
6. Turn 20, probably the most useless age to this point. It's a tease.
7. Continue to meet people that are intriguing and lovely.

Resolution: Because New Years Eve was so great, I've decided I should incorporate the fundamentals into my everyday life. Tactics:

1. Wear sparkly things. It always makes you feel better.
2. Drink champagne. It's bubbly, it tastes good, it's fun to pop.
3. Hang out with great people. People take a lot of time to make sure the company they're with at midnight is a company that is worthwhile of the occasion. This shouldn't be a 1 night thing. Don't spend time with people that suck... on any occasion all 365 days a year. Period. No excuses.
4. Be excited to live another day. Instead of just saying, 'wow, can't believe I made it to 2011!' think 'hey, april 28th! you're awesome. glad i have another day to enjoy my life'.
5. Make it memorable. Take pictures, write, reflect.

“As you grow older, you’ll find that the only things you regret are the things you didn’t do.” - Zachary Scott

things that are making me happy today

1. living at this house, with this cool group of girls.
let's be real, every day isn't paradise, but there are a lot more good days than bad days. we have fun, we eat good food, we vent to each other, we laugh, we cry, we wonder if it's all worth it, then we realize... it is.

2. my sister
This was a picture of us from this weekend, right before the football game. my parents went home, leaving Natalie & I in Athens alone. We sat in some friends club level seats with a blanket and some boiled peanuts, then drank enough to forget how COLD it was in the shade. She's spectacular.

3. Conan's back!



I'm watching it right now. I like him. I like his jokes. I like his attitude.

4. Getting postcards from my mom when she travels. She's sent me cards from Paris, Rome and Brussels. Even though I don't get them until about a week after she's home, it's nice.

5. My new water bottle that has a filter built in, because I don't trust the water from the UGA water fountains. You can call it excess, I call it necessary.

6. Gaining an extra hour to sleep over the weekend.

"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind."

- c.s. lewis.