Wien

For our last stop, we went to Vienna. We splurged here and had first class train tickets for this ride. Personally, I didn't think it was worth the upgrade cost but Ross did. Coin toss I guess.

We got into town, took a reasonably priced taxi and checked in to our hotel, the Mercure Wien Zentrum. This was the only chain hotel we stayed in and I'd say it was a good call for our last city. The front desk staff all spoke great English, the amenities were plentiful and all the room features were comfortable and modern. Exactly what I wanted.

Austrian crown jewels

We had a very tasty lunch around the corner. I honestly don't remember what I had except that I liked it but Ross had the most yummy looking chicken baked potato smothered in cheese and sour cream. What's not to like about that? Since the weather was nice and we had an outside table, we made it a long lunch by adding an extra adult beverage for dessert.

Then we went to the Hofburg Palace to explore the Imperial Treasury. This was so cool! We saw crown jewels, fancy schmancy king's clothes, the cradle built for Napoleon's son, swords and tons of other stuff.

Afterward we did some general wandering and learning the city before a light dinner and then to bed.

The next day was gray and rainy. But we had tickets to an indoor event first so no worries. We went back to the Hofburg Palace area to see the Lipizzaner stallions...ie the dancing ponies. It was the morning exercises in the Spanish Riding School and we got to see them literally frolic and dance a jig. I have a feeling they could do much fancier steps but as this was just rehearsal, it was fairly tame.

Since the weather was gross, we planned to go to the Natural History Museum which was nearby but it turned out to be the one day per week it was closed. (Boo.) We did some more wandering, partly to figure out what was in the area, and a lot of running to dry areas. Honestly, it wasn't our most exciting morning.

In the crypt

But after lunch and the consulting of some tourism lit, we headed to the Imperial Crypt. I know it sounds creepy but it was really cool. There was a school group, probably college age, on a tour right in front of us and since their teacher was speaking splendid English and giving really interesting narrative, we stuck close by and enjoyed the best free tour of our trip.

We learned all about the royal family in there (including Napoleon's wife...his son was there too but during WWII Hitler decided the son should be moved to France with his old man and so he was) but also the history behind the art and design of the caskets. Like I said, sounds creepy, but really was not.

Opera House

Fortunately the rain cleared up after that so we ventured over toward the Opera House which was lovely on the outside. Then we walked the Ringstrasse which was the first real planned part of Vienna. It is a wide boulevard that encircles part of downtown goes through really central areas like the Museum Quarter, past two public gardens and Parliament.

While detouring through the first public garden we were caught in the rain which led to a pretty romantic standing under the trees and smooching in the rain moment.

Then we stopped for a hot dog from a street vendor which I know sounds mundane but these were so good they were listed as a thing to do from the Vienna tourism department. And besides, Austin is a good truck town; we felt right at home.

Hotdog eating in front of Parliament

When we came up on Parliament I figured we could take a picture on the front steps but decided I would keep walking closer until somebody asked me to stop. That in fact never happened. We went inside and explored their excellent visitors center which is right in the front lobby. It even has a downstairs section full of nifty educational technology (nerd alert). We were highly entertained by the different gadgets that helped teach us all about the history of Parliament both as a governing body and the building itself.

By then it was dinner time and we ate at a place Ross was eying across the street from our hotel. It was tasty! I had broccoli and cheese pasta (what can I say, Austrian food isn't really my thing so I tended toward the American stuff) and Ross had something or another that he raved about for the next two days. He also had two of the best beers of the whole trip. He left dinner a very very happy man.

He loves the hungry, hungry hippos.

Hallelujah the next day was beautiful weather! Sunny, comfortably warm and clear skies! Good thing too because my hubby had his heart set on the oldest zoo in the world. Besides all the really cool animals, this zoo had a great layout and cool architecture. In the center was this oversized gazebo thing and then the sidewalk circled that and then broke off into spokes to other parts of the zoo. Needless to say I really liked it.

No baby giraffes (which I fell in love with in San Diego) but omigod are baby goats cute! And per the usual, Ross loved the hippos.

Oh yeah, and I climbed inside the big turtle shell picture taking thing-a-ma-jigger.
Because really, how could I not?

Right next to the zoo was Schonbrunn Palace. First off, this palace has a hedge maze. A HEDGE MAZE! How cool is that? Also, just in general, it has one of the prettiest, most well manicured gardens. Right up there with the Boboli Gardens in Florence (but different style).

Schonbrunn Palace

So we're walking through this absolutely pristine garden, gawking and then as we come out from between some perfectly trimmed hedges - bam! A PALACE.

This was our third palace of the trip but I have to say it was the one that looked most like a palace. It was large, ornate and on a pretty impressive spot of land.

You had the palace, then a long garden, then a fountain, then a hill with a reflecting pool on top of it and then, because that wasn't all enough, this crazy little building that was only about a room wide and clearly built just to round out the look of the whole estate. I must say, building a building just to balance out the look of your estate is nothing shy of impressive.

Fountain

It was all spectacular. The Austrian royal family really knew how to do it up. The fountain was especially nice, my second favorite of the trip (behind Trevi).

We walked all of the grounds and then took the audio tour of the palace. One thing that was interesting is the crypt, palace in Innsbruck and this palace all centered around the same family, that of Maria Theresa. We really learned a lot about her from several different perspectives. She was the first ruling queen of Austria and had 16 children (which is very well reflected in her homes and their art). Needless to say, she was celebrated woman.

Finally, after Schonbrunn Palace, we crashed. Some packing and then to sleep early because the next day held for us 23 hours of travel.

As a little summary - it was a great trip. We did a lot of really different things which I think helped us appreciate each one even more. In addition to all the amazing sites we saw (and climbed), I also really loved having two full weeks with Ross. We don't get that too often and it made the trip incredibly special and memorable.

Innsbruck Part 2

I can't believe I forgot to mention this in my post on Innsbruck!

Our second night there, after hiking, we woke up at around 4a to the glass doors of our bathroom shaking and rattling. Then I realized the bed was moving!

I laid in bed convinced we'd been through an earthquake but given my earlier freak out, tried to stay calm in case I was just still on edge. However when we woke up around 6:30a or so, I hopped on Google and discovered I was right.

A 6.0 earthquake struck northern Italy and tremors were felt all the way up into Austria (duh). So there you have it, our first earthquake experience.

Innsbruck

After our two days in Venice, we took the train into Innsbruck, Austria, a little town in a valley in the middle of the Alps. The train ride through northern Italy and into Austria was GORGEOUS. It started with mountains in the distance, and then entering into the mountain range and then right in the middle of the mountains, snow capped peaks and all.

Our first day in Innsbruck was fairly tame. We arrived at 2:30p, checked into the hotel, Weiss Kreuz (lovely and including a separate legit shower), ate lunch and did some much needed laundry. While Ross relaxed in the hotel after that, I explored the Swarovski Innsbruck store which was literally 3 doors down from the hotel.

Downtown Innsbruck

Then we wandered through the town, stopping for a few happy hour drinks along the way during which Ross was in his element with the plethora different locally brewed beer options. We ate a tasty traditional Austrian dinner: sausage for him, a veggie omelet for me. And it was off to bed early to be well rested for our big day of hiking.

Day two we woke up fairly early (being so far north, the sun rose extremely early, like complete daylight by 5:45a and set pretty late, around 9:30p or so), dressed in our "hiking gear" (ie gym clothes) and headed toward the mountains. We had directions to take a bus to the trailheads but that didn't work out so well. We could not find the damned J bus to save our lives. A little more walking than planned and a short cable car ride later and we were finally at the base of the mountain and ready to start our three hour hike into the Alps.

Start of our hike

This hike was challenging. We've hiked in the Davis Mountains (OK hills) and in the Rockies but this was by far the most challenging. I swear there was a 60-70 degree grade at times. It felt nearly vertical!

After 30 or 40 minutes, I begged Ross to switch to the gravel cyclist road for a bit, which we did but it was not nearly as direct so it wasn't long before we were back on the trail and going up, up, up.

Starting to get a little snowy...

We stopped for lunch and the view was just awesome. Really the view was great at every juncture. So a quick rest and lunch of beef jerky and European Pringles and we were back at it. After about 90 minutes of hiking/lunching/whatever, we started to encounter some pretty decently sized patches of snow.

At around two hours into the hike, the trail began, in my opinion, to become very poorly marked. And the ground was slippery from the melting snow. And I couldn't really see any other people. And we were really high. Let's just say I started to freak the hell out.

You've heard of fight or flight, well I went into "fight by flight" mode and started to sprint up the mountain. Since I was convinced I was going to fall, Ross let me in front so he could catch me when if I fell. He also asked me a time or two to slow down because I was going on pure fear and adrenaline.

When we got to a spot that was even less clear in terms of the trail, Ross went ahead about 20 yards (much to my dismay) to look for clearer marking. He saw it and came back to help me up a big step and across some snow. And then he slipped on the snow and slid 15 feet down the side of the mountain.

Holy heck. After he got back on his two feet and got me over the step and snow, I sat down and became HYSTERICAL. I started sobbing and sputtering about sliding down mountains, and having to gnaw off arms that would certainly get stuck between rocks and dying in the Alps where nobody would ever find us. I told you, freaked the hell out.

Fortunately, my smart and emergency savvy husband (thank you firefighter training) was able to calm his mildly irrational wife down and get her safely back on her feet. About 20 minutes later we came to a clearing and God bless, a road. At the end of the zig-zaggy road, was the observation deck/cable car pick-up we were aiming for.

About 45 minutes of walking up the zig-zaggy road, and through some serious snow we were at the very top of the mountain. Alive and victorious. (There was a restaurant at the top and plenty of people eating and drinking and enjoying the view. I definitely looked at them and thought "wimp, you cheated for this view. I CLIMBED this bad boy." I felt much cooler than them and was certainly more exhausted/in need of food and drink.)

Tons o' snow on the last part of our hike

I did it!

I can honestly say the hike, especially that hour of freaking out, was the scariest thing I've ever experienced. But being at the top of the mountain, after being convinced I'd never make it, was the most rewarding, victorious moment probably of my whole life.

As is no surprise, the remainder of that day was well-deserved resting, eating and sleeping.

On our third and last day in Innsbruck, we went to the Swarovski Crystal Worlds, a museum and shopping extravaganza two towns over.

The museum part was OK. We definitely established that we are not modern art people at all. Some of the displays, like the crystal palace, were really cool. Others were downright creepy. There were even sound effects that included a screaming person!

Now the shopping, that was another story. It was the largest Swarovski shop in the world and they simply had tons. After much deliberation, we came home with a red crystal Santa's hat Christmas ornament, lovely dangley sparkley earrings for me and a couple gifts for our favorite mamas (which they have not seen yet so I will not disclose details).

Post-Swarovski, we went to the Alpine Museum, Hofburg Imperial Palace and the top of the City Tower. All very different but pretty cool.

EuroBlooper #2

Having packed light, 8 days of clothes for a 13 day trip, we had to do laundry as soon as we got into Innsbruck, Austria.

At the laundromat ("Bubble Point" was the name), we had the load in the dryer and decided to go for a walk, maybe get a drink while it dried. I asked Ross what we should do with the suitcase we rolled the laundry over in and he said he'd put it up on the high shelf above the dryer. So he lifts it up, over his head, onto the shelf and lets go.

And it falls.

Ross' reaction: a wide-eyed "Holy shit! That just happened!"

It fell behind double stacked industrial dryers because in fact, that was not a shelf, just a faux-wall thingy that looked like it was possibly a shelf. We quickly realized that the dryers were immobile, connected to the duct work on the ceiling.

Off hubby ran, into town to replace our suitcase.

Fortunately there was nothing of real value in the suitcase (just the camera charger) and he was able to find us something new before the buzzer on the dryer even went off.

Venezia

Poor Venice, it didn't stand a chance.

Not so impressed with the room

We just started out in this city on the wrong foot. First, it was cold, rainy and damp. Yuck. For that reason, and because we didn't have a map, we opted for a water taxi from the train station to the hotel. SIXTY EURO! Do you know that's $80?? And it was not a long ride. Sigh.

Then walk to the rain, find hotel, check in and be shown to our second floor room with one tiny corner window, red-and-gold padded tapestry walls and a "shower" that was merely a shower head and drain in between the toilet and sink. Sigh.

I will say though it mostly went up from there. We hunted down a reasonably priced lunch spot where I had excellent fish...a whole fish. I was scraping off scales and picking through bones but I can promise you it was fresh and tasty.

Outside wall of Doge's Palace

Then we explored Doge's Palace which was on the very top of Ross' list of things to do in Italy. It was really cool. The statues and building decor was so ornate, so much detail. And of course, much to Ross' pleasure, there was a dungeon to explore, military history to learn and ancient weapons to gawk at.

And of course when we weren't in the palace we saw lots of water ways, churches, plazas, gondolas and the like. Oh yes, and ate more gelato because when in Rome Venice...

The second day in Venice the weather cleared it and it was lovely. We took a water bus to Murano, an island just outside the main part of Venice where they specialize in fancy-schmancy hand-blown glass.

We watched a demonstration and then perused many a glass shop. I really liked the various pieces of glass art they had around the city, a neat contrast of modern art with the very old, ornate architecture.

This is also where I had my "sit at an outdoor cafe, drink wine and people watch in Italy" moment. The fact that it was waterside was even better.

In Murano

I liked this part of Venice better than the main section of town because with slightly wider waterways and sidewalks, more sunlight got in and it was easier to see the pretty buildings, boats, etc.

Back in the main section of Venice, we walked around, seeing everything in a more sunny light, shopping the Rialto Market and doing a few mundane things like finding an ATM.

Other random things about Venice:

• Expensive: We should have thought about that beforehand, given how tough the logistics of bringing anything into the city must be but we were surprised nonetheless.
• Gondolas: Pre-trip I was determined to ride in a gondola in Venice because that's what you do in Venice. However when we got there, it just didn't look all that fun and was frankly very expensive. (Granted if it had looked fun, cost could have been ignored.) So ultimately we did not ride in a gondola. We just couldn't see spending all that money for something because you're supposed to even if it didn't look all that enjoyable.
• Smell: I heard Venice was stinky but I have to say, for the most part it was not. The street our hotel was on was a little stinky but otherwise, it smelled just like anywhere else.
• Water taxis: Pretty nifty. We took one to the train station when it was time go head off on our next adventure.
• St. Mark's Square: The best thing about the crummy weather our first day was being able to explore St. Mark's Square with few pigeons and few humans. Gray skies or not, it was very impressive.

St. Mark's Square

Firenze

After EuroBlooper #1, we hopped a train at Termini in Rome and headed north to Florence. It was a short train ride (90 minutes-ish) and was made even more pleasant as we sat with a nice couple from St. Louis (who was on their first trip without kids in 12 years, dear God I'm glad we did this before having kids).

Gelato eating view

In Florence we checked into the Rosary Garden Hotel which was on the outskirts of towns and in some ways, wildly different from our last, very modern and sleek hotel. This was quaint, smelled of warm spices and old fashioned. We had a lovely large room with a view of the tiny square in front of the hotel.

After getting settled we headed into town for lunch, gelato (chocolate, best I had the whole trip) and our end destination of a Chianti wine tour in the Tuscan countryside.

Along with 50 or 60 other travelers, we took a bus about 45 minutes outside of Florence, during which we passed an American veteran's cemetery (mostly WWII). Ross was very impressed by it and commented a few times on the trip how pleased he was to see it well kept and in such a pretty location.

First tasting

At the vineyard, we learned about Italy's standards for wine, how to make it, how to store it, and lots about olive oil. We saw barrels for both wine and olive oil and toured the cellar (which used to be a dungeon interestingly enough).

And then we got down to the fun stuff: tasting.

On the way back we stopped in a little Tuscan village for an hour to explore.

Moretti

Ross and I plopped ourselves at a local pub (after all I was enjoying the heck out of my wine while he was longingly searching for beer). He ordered a Peroni, which he'd had here in the States, and the bartender told him "I have that but no. Have Moretti. Better beer." So Moretti it was.

Day two in Florence we woke up and realized it was already 11a which meant for "breakfast" we cut to the chase with pizza (omigod good pizza; pepperoni and artichoke), wine and beer.

Then it was off for the sightseeing extravaganza. We started with Santa Croce, which we had every intention of going into but were not dressed up to code (no legs showing and we were in shorts and a dress respectively).

View from Duomo

We went to the Duomo where we climbed the stairs inside the dome to the observation deck for the beautiful views of Florence and the Tuscan countryside. It was gorgeous! After that, it was through the related museum where again, you could just reach out and touch the art. My favorite there was the choir loft by Donatello.

At that point we were all ready to go see Michelangelo's David so queued up at the Academia (its gallery). We quickly learned that the wait was an hour and decided in five years, we wouldn't really care if we saw the David so it wasn't worth an hour wait. At Ross' suggestion, we went shopping instead; I traded the David for an Italian leather handbag.

Boboli Gardens amphitheater

Then crossed through the jewelry shopping district ("do not pass Go" style), and on to Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens. We explored the Gardens and they were beautiful. Pristine upkeep, views of the Duomo, an amphitheater lined with marble statues. It was one of the most stunning gardens I've ever seen.

After a little rest and relaxation back at the hotel, we headed back toward the Boboli Gardens for dinner where I had the BEST wine of the whole trip, maybe of ever. It was a delicious sauvignon blanc and after taking a small sip of mine, Ross even declared he liked it and poured himself a glass. It was the most wine I think I've seen him drink since our third date. My pasta was really tasty too, farfalle with ricotta cheese and mushrooms.

At the suggestion of my very romantic hubby, after dinner we climbed the steps of the Michelangelo Piazza to watch the sunset over Florence. It was quite the romantic, lovey-dovey way to end our time in Florence.

EuroBlooper #1

As to not taint the lovely city posts, I'll do separate posts for our two bloopers. The first comes on Monday morning as we prep to leave Rome and head to Florence.

Per the usual, I'm in front of the mirror, straightening my hair. I complain to Ross that the flat iron isn't getting as hot as I would like and it is taking forever. He tells me to change the setting on the converter.  I say no, it's on the lower setting which the converter says is right for curling irons (and honestly, a flat iron is the same thing, different shape).

Not five minutes later the converter box makes a popping noise and begins to emit black smoke.

Dead as a doornail.

I spent considerable time in Florence trying to get a new one but failing. Thankfully we were able to borrow from our hotels a couple times and keep necessary electronics (ie iPad and camera) charged though straight hair quickly became a thing of my EuroTrip past.

Roma

Transit at Rome airport

We landed in Rome at 10a on May 12 and navigated the airport transit system down to customs.

To back up a bit, when we went to the Bahamas for our honeymoon, we found customs to be hilarious. A man with an excellent Caribbean accent looked at our passports, then asked if we had luggage, we said yes and started to unzip it as he said "have a nice trip!" and ushered us into the country. We could have smuggled babies, drugs and anything else in. All he wanted to know was if it was in suitcases.

We figured Italian customs would be a little more involved that Bahamian customs so we took a deep breath and headed for the cattle call that is customs. The line moved slow as molasses inspiring Ross to say "someone just needs to open the gates and let us all in." Not two minutes later it was moving. We get up to the customs agent, ready for the third degree, and he barely lifts his (seemingly hungover) head, we assume he glances at our passports (we're standing about 6 feet away from his booth, but it looks like he's looking at them) and waves us into Italy. And that was Italian customs.

One crazy no-road-rules shuttle ride later and we got all checked in to the Roma Boutique Hotel. It was lovely! Very modern, very clean and in a building that otherwise only housed offices so was quiet for the weekend. With help from the very helpful front desk manager, we made our way out to Vatican City for our 2p pre-purchased entrance.

1 of many halls of statues at the Vatican

There's so much to say about the Vatican. First, I've never seen so many statues in one place. One thing we noticed immediately as we toured the museums was the lack of roping. You could literally touch almost everything. There was no rope to separate you from the art, no electric barrier, not even signs saying don't touch. Granted we didn't see many people touching them (nor did we...much) but it was crazy that here was art hundreds of years old and hardly protected by a thing.

Long hallway with ceiling and wall art, Vatican

Our favorite room in the Vatican was actually a very long hallway. The entire arched ceiling was covered in different paintings and the center ones were framed with reliefs, again each one different from the others. It was incredible. The walls were one large painting after another including Ross' fav, several large painted maps. He was really impressed by the accuracy of the maps given the limited tools the cartographers and artists would have had for creating maps way back then.

Our Vatican tour ended with the Sistine Chapel (bigger than I expected). Then we had our first of many gelatos while in St. Peter's Square overlooking the basilica.

For dinner that night we went around the corner, per the recommendation of our great front desk manager, and ate delicious traditional Italian food. I ordered a glass of wine and was quite surprised when we received the whole bottle (I made a point to very clearly indicate 1 glass in all future restaurants). Ross ate what we can confidently say is the best pasta either of us has ever had.

Yeah...and that was all just day 1.

Day 2 we hit the streets like gangbusters. We were up and out of the hotel, map in hand, before 9a on Sunday. We saw everything: Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Vittorio Emanuele monument, ancient ruins, the Spanish Steps and a whole lot more fountains and churches I can't even name.

Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain was the first site was came to and in fact, quite on accident. We were pretty sure were we lost down the wrong alley (not concerned, just lost). Up ahead the alley seemed to widen so we figured there'd be a street sign and we could sort ourselves out.

Um...better. There was the Trevi Fountain. We literally walked out of the alley and were face to face with what I think is the most amazing fountain I have ever in all my days seen.

On our way to the Colosseum, we encountered a very vocal parade/protest that occupied the entire street we needed to take. On our detour, again fairly lost but not too worried, we turned a corner and BAM the most enormous monument I have ever seen.

most enormous monument I've ever seen, the Vittorio Emanuele

I didn't even know what this thing was but it was nothing shy of magnificent. We just stood on the street corner, mouths open, gaping. Once we recalled how to use our legs, we sat down on some neighboring steps and consulted our handy-dandy guide book. Turns out to be the Vittorio Emanuele monument honoring Victor Emanuel for uniting all of Italy (and is less than 100 years old, just a baby in Roman terms).

Beginning of our Colosseum tour

Finally the Colosseum where we enjoyed a guided tour in English and really learned all about it. We learned for example that the very poor were given free admission once per year because the king knew entertainment was important to a happy society (the fact that people were fighting to their death inside was apparently irrelevant).

Then a delicious lunch (roasted chicken, so so good) and back to the hotel for a little relaxing. And before our night ended we went out to see the Spanish Steps where, because it was Mother's Day, there was a live band playing.

Needless to say, after all that, we slept very well.

Getting to EuroTrip

Time for some EuroTrip posts, starting at the beginning.

The night before we left (that is May 10) I finished up the packing as some wicked weather came through Austin. Since Austin never sees rain, Austinites freak out about it and stop everything they are doing to focus on it. Trying my best to fit into my adopted hometown, I started worrying about our flight's ability to leave the next day and decided to check the American Airlines site to figure out where flight delays were posted.

When I typed in our flight number, it pulled up as leaving at 11a...not 12:50p like my confirmation email read. Odd no? I called AA and low and behold, yup, the flight was leaving two hours earlier than originally planned. I ran into the bedroom and told my drugged-up-on-sleeping-meds husband of the change and he gave me a bleary eyed mumbling "huh?".

Cut to the next morning and we're driving in rush hour to Jack and Nancy's house to drop off Lexi and to have Jack take us to the airport. Even for rush hour in Westlake, traffic seems bad. We discover that the light two before theirs is on the blink. But no worries, we get to the house on time and leave right on time. Driving to the airport we see the traffic at that blinking light that we had just been sitting is is now extended all the way down 360, across MoPac and back to Highway 79. Literally miles of stopped cars. Guess we got through that just in time.

We get to Chicago just fine and board our plane no problemo. Once we are on board the captain comes on and tells us the fuel is unbalanced we're going to have a short delay while the crew siphons some off. About 10 minutes later the captain comes back on saying instead of siphoning the fuel, we're just going to burn it. So there we sat, on the runway at O'Hare, revving the engines and burning off a thousand pounds of fuel. My inner liberal was screaming.

New flight times, traffic jams and burning fuel later, we were in the air and on our way to Rome.

Guten Tag!

Quick hello from Vienna where we are briefly resting in the room, me with wine and Ross with sparkling water (per the usual), before heading to dinner.

When we're back I'll give you a full recap with pics but for now, here's the short list of adventures:

Mountain hiking
Wine tour
Bathroom as shower
Vatican
Parliament
Pantheon
Earthquake


Oh yes! You read that last one right; I said earthquake. Details to follow.

Vacay Prep

To prepare for our big vacation, Ross bought Lexi a pink puppy harness.



And I drank wine.

 

Singing Sensations

I told you there was video.


Ryan and Stacy really are something.

While there's a lot of awesome going on here, the most awesome is Stacy. Last time we had a room at Common Interest Stacy was a total mic hog. And we tease him incessantly for this. Friday we get into the room and he says he will not be a mic hog, in fact he's hardly going to sing at all. It took no more than four songs before Stacy began his all-night serenade.

May: A Busy Month

Six days into the month and not a single post! That's not like me.

Well suffice it to say, May is a busy month. I think this blog post by my CMO gives you the best insight into why it's busy from a professional stance. So, there's that.

And I've had the great fortune of spending time with Mama Brit and Baby K. In fact, I'm heading over to their house in just a couple hours for more baby holding and kissing.

Also, our BFF Ryan is relocating to DFW. Friday we threw him what I can confidently say was the best going away party ever. We reserved a private karaoke room at Common Interest and sang (pretty terribly) all night long. It was fantastic. Videos to come!

Of course, I can't forget the really big thing this month: EuroTrip! We can now count down the days using just one hand! I can stop looking at monthly averages for the weather and start looking at the actual forecast (highs of 79 and 76 respectively for our 2 days in Rome).

I started packing yesterday (ie there's 3 dresses and 3 tops laid out) and we're working on knocking out some last minute things like getting Euros and making sure Lexi has tags with my in-laws' contact information on them.

On that note, I need to fold laundry and other vacation prep things. But I'll leave you with this: a Tuscan vineyard, hopefully much like the one I'll be spending an afternoon at NEXT WEEK.