Italy Update

Trevi Fountain wishes. One of my wishes was return to Rome and I am getting my wish! 

I have mentioned a couple of times that my parents are taking us (my siblings and I) to Europe this summer for two weeks. I have been put in charge of planning, which is pretty much my dream job. This trip will fall almost half way through deployment, and will be the perfect distraction. 

We have found a villa to rent in Italy, and now I have started looking at apartments to rent in Paris. When you have six people, renting one apartment can be cheaper than two or three hotel rooms. 

I have started think about what I want to wear during the trip. My plan right now is to just bring a back pack. I will have access to laundry at least twice during the two week stay My packing list thus far looks like this. 

1. Jeans- Wear on the plane to save space 

2. Two button down shirts 

3. Two Brightly colored sundresses for days in the city 

4. Skirt 

5.. Leggings for overnight trains and just hanging out

6. Two T-shirts to go with jeans or leggings 

7. Bathing Suit 

8. Two light scarves 

9. Sweater- Wear on the plane to save space 

10. Two Tank tops 

I will probably stick to neutral colors for everything but the dresses. I like these suggestions for Joanna at A Cup of Jo.  Mara at M Loves M also has some great suggestions. 

Ciao Bella

I have been planning on taking a long road trip during summer 2013 to visit friends and see family. Well, while talking about this with my mom she mentioned that I should hold off. She and my dad are thinking about taking a family trip to Italy during the same time as my theoretical road trip. As much as I love my friends and extended family, I would much prefer going to Italy. Mom knows how much I love to plan trips, and has given me the go ahead to start planning my family's Italian adventure. I can't wait to show my family so many places with which I have already fallen in love. 

Me in Rome in 2009. 

The trip would probably fall in late June which is perfect timing in my eyes. It would hit at the halfway mark for the deployment. I really hope this works out. I love planning trips and think this would help make the deployment fly by. By the time we got home and I returned to Fort Drum, it would be almost time to start thinking about homecoming and redeployment.

I am so excited! I have been planning up a storm and bouncing off the walls since yesterday. Obviously, the reason that Lane can't also go is sad. However, I think this will be a good chance for my nuclear family ( sans Lane) to have a chance to reconnect. We haven't all been together in years.

Back Up North

Lane and I returned to New York Sunday night. The drive back was pretty easy, and Asha was very well behaved. In all honesty, it was exhausting to have her at my in-laws' house. We have a fenced in yard and can leave the door open all day. Their neighbors in Virginia have horses, sheep, not to mention their own alpacas. Asha got stepped on by an alpaca and almost ran into  pasture of horses. She also did her business on their carpet at least three times. I know she is just a baby, but man it was stressful. She can also open screen doors, which does not lend itself to keeping her un-squashed. 

I've realized that 99% of my pictures are of Asha. So for your daily quotient of adorable husky, here she is: 

Lane and Asha like to cuddle. It is pretty much the cutest thing ever.  Her pose is not the most lady-like in the last picture, I apologize. 

Asha is generally great in the car. She just curls up and sleeps most of the time. She has also gotten better at staying in her crate. 

The air conditioning stopped working at Lane's parents' house on Saturday night. Asha discovered that sitting in front of the fan was the best place to be. 

Our night in D.C was broiling hot. Barnes and Noble allows dogs to come into the store as long as you don't go into the cafe area. Asha discovered the cool tile and was in heaven. She passed out and didn't move for our entire stay in the store. 

Man I love the Virginia countryside. We took Asha for walks down the gravel road several times. 

I am excited to get back to work and start lesson planning for my classes. I start teaching in a month and a half which is terrifying. 

Heading Home

It has been a wonderful week. We are heading back to New York today, and I am sad to be leaving Virginia. It was lovely to visit so many friends and family. We made it down to Lexington as well as Blacksburg. Asha does not like the heat and we spent a significant amount of time trying to find places which would allow a dog inside. Here are a few pictures from our trip. 

Lane and Asha on the VMI parade deck. 

I have been trying to make an effort to wear my wedding shoes more often. They were way too expensive to only wear once. They are very comfortable and look great with a variety of different outfits. If any readers are looking for great wedding flats, I highly recommend the Kate Spade Florina. 

Asha was stepped on by one of Lane's mom's alpacas. She was very unhappy and her whines break my heart. The air conditioning stopped working on Saturday, and it was sweltering. Despite being born and raised in Georgia, these few months in New York have removed all my tolerance for humidity. 

I have missed the blogging world these last few days. I promise I will be better about responding to comments and actually commenting myself. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. 

High Five Friday

Happy Friday! I haven't done Lauren's link-up in a while, and thought this would be a good week.

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1. The job fair went really well yesterday. There weren't a huge number of employers there, but I made a few good connections. The most likely job right now is teaching political science at the local community college. I am waiting on one more letter of reference but feel good about my chances. It isn't full time, but would be a great start.

2. We have a move in date for our house. I officially set a date to close out our storage unit. I will be at home for a wedding on the actual date we can move in, so Lane will be alone for a few days in an empty house. I can't wait to unload our lives and finally get settled.

3. In two weeks I am heading to D.C for a few days to hang out with some of my favorite people. I was looking at flights to Atlanta for a wedding, and realized how much cheaper it was to fly from D.C than Syracuse. I get to see this girl for five days:

4. I am officially done being sick. The first half of this week was miserable. I am so grateful to finally feel better.

5. We discovered plantain chips this week. Plantain chips smothered in salsa verde are delicious and dangerously addicting.

NYC

Oh my goodness I am exhausted after this weekend. New York City was amazing, and I foresee lots of trips in our future.

Our NYC weekend consisted of the following: 

1. One night of drunken dancing at the Brooklyn Bowl  

2. Countless coffee shop stops

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3. Two frozen yogurt runs ( This was on my "Can't do at Ft. Drum" list) 

4. A few mile walk along the High Line. I felt like I was living in a post from A Cup of Jo

5. A trip to Les Halles restaurant. They used to have a location in D.C where we went all the time. They have the most delicious steak. 

6. So much catching up with great friends. I met up with a study abroad buddy, a childhood friend, and met lots of cool new people as well. 

Things I Loved About This Weekend

I am about to dive into a day of job applications, but I wanted to record my favorite parts of this weekend.

1. Finding new great restaurants.The weather was spectacular on Sunday. We drove out to Sackets Harbor  and ate at the Brew Pub. They have BLT soup, which is as good as one would imagine. Creamy tomato soup with bacon and a sprinkling of lettuce on top.

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2. We found a gorgeous leather couch. We are going to hold off on purchasing until we are actually in the house, but it is nice to know we found one we love.

3. We went to see John Carter on Friday, and I really liked it. Because we are bad people, we smuggled in our own paleo friendly snacks.

4. I really feel like we are starting to settle into our life here. This seems impossible since we are living in a hotel, but nonetheless I feel like progress has been made.

5. I got to spend the weekend with Lane, which even if we did nothing would be the best. In the almost nine ( oh wow it is crazy to write that number) years we have been together I don't know if we have ever spent this much time together. Although we have a few friends up here, it is really just the two of us. I am really appreciative of this time together. 

I Love You Much Photography 

Le Weekend

This weekend was all about getting to know our new little area. Lane got released early on Friday and we set off to explore Watertown. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the town square. There was a great art gallery with beautiful paintings and wood work. We had lunch at The Crystal, which has been around since the early 1900's. Good food at insanely low prices. The hamburger is $2.75.

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 Friday night was very relaxing, as we ate dinner on post and watched the Eric Bana movie Hanna.

Saturday we jumped in the car and drove to Syracuse. I had looked up interesting places to walk around, and Armory Square was one of the results. We should have looked up the basketball schedule, because Syracuse was playing a home game on Saturday. We walked  through hordes of orange clad Syracuse fans and found some great shops. We got coffee at a shop called Freedom of Espresso. I loved the name, and the very tasty latte.

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I was thrilled to find knobs for my pie safe, for half the price of the Anthro knobs I had been dreaming about.  The wonderful sales lady said that she wanted to show us how strong they were. She took one from the display and chucked it at the ( tile) floor as hard as she could. After I recovered from my slight heart attack, I was shocked that the knob didn't even have a scratch.

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During our walk we passed the Wesleyan Methodist Church. It was part of the underground railroad and helped hundreds of former slaves escape to Canada. Susan B Anthony also spoke here. It has been converted into a restaurant, and we definitely plan on going back for a meal.

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We ate at the Empire Brewing Company for lunch. It was delicious and had such a cool interior. I had some of the best chili I have ever eaten. It is below ground right in Armory Square. We didn't try any of their beers, but I am sure we will be back. They also use entirely renewable energy, which is amazing.

It feels good to gain familiarity with this area. I want to like it here, and making these kind of trips helps.

Adventures

Lane got released pretty early yesterday, so we took the chance to explore some of the surrounding area. We ventured out to Cape Vincent and Sackets Harbor. Both were pretty much deserted because it is the off season, but I can imagine that they would be gorgeous in the summer. Cape Vincent looks over the water to Canada.

Ice

Crazy Ice Formations at Cape Vincent 

Chilly/Handsome Husband and oh look, Canada!

We drove out to Sackets Harbor for dinner with a friend from high school who is also stationed up here. Almost nothing was open, but luckily a great restaurant called Good Fellos stays open during the off season. It was delicious, and I am so glad to find a great restaurant in this area. So far we haven't found many non-chain restaurants. I am excited to get to know this area better.

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