I'm fo' sure going to Europe!

Today, I bought plane tickets! I am going to LONDON on Sept 17th! I get to London on Sept 18th at 7:40am. I fly back from Athens, Greece on Nov 23rd. I also got a Mediterranian Phrase Book and a Polish one. The only language I won't be very good at is German. There were no inexpensive German books it seemed.

I still need to get a plane ticket from Poland to Istanbul and hostels for Istanbul and Athens. But I'm for sure going!!

Travel Quarter

My trip (so far)

Sept 10-15, Santa Cruz, California

Sept 16-18, London

Sept 18-Oct 11, Contiki Tours: European Vista
Countries Visiting:
London, France, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria,
Germany, Netherlands
http://us.contiki.com/tours/124-european-vista

Oct 11-13, Amsterdam

Oct 13-20, Berlin

Oct 21-26, Prague

Oct 26-27, Gdansk, Poland

Oct 28-Nov 2 , Warsaw, Poland

Nov 3-8, Krakow, Poland

Nov 8-10, Zywiec, Poland


Ok, so I still need to plan the rest... but here's what I'm thinking:

Nov 11-18, Istanbul

Nov 18-24, Athens, Greece

Postcrossing

So Recently, I discovered postcrossing.com. I'm so excited to send postcards all over the world! I'm sending 5 (the max you can do at a time) to: Finland, Morocco, China, Turkey, and Lithuania. Some people on the sign collect specific types of postcards, maps, scenes, etc. All I really want is a good story. I've always liked postcards that say something. A little glimpse into someone's life. When I was younger, old postcards gave me that glimpse that I collected then. I have some new ideas to make postcards, but first I should get some homework done!

Traveling

So since I don't have a co-op this coming fall quarter, I'm thinking of taking a travel quarter. I want to take a tour then travel alone for the remaining time. My first choice for a tour is the European Contrasts with Contiki tours. I would get to see London, France, Italy, Greece, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. There are also a whole bunch more tours that do pretty much the same thing if I can't get into that one. I bought an Eastern Europe book (that hopefully, I'll get today). So that I can plan the rest of my trip. Berlin, Poland, Hungary. It would be sweet to get to Sweden and Finland and such, but they seem kind of far... but I'm real excited, I'm just hopeing that I have enough money. I might have to dipp into my savings for this.

Phototime

My real cute living room. Sam loves the rug. He runs real fast and slides on it. Sometimes, when I'm gone all day, I come back finding the rug all bunched up in a corner.


The view of the living room and dining room. It's a real big open space.


The dining room looks so sad since I don't have chairs or a rug. The one chair I do have is on loan from James.


This lamp is super sweet. When you pull it, it gets lower


My kitchen


These things my mom bought and insisted I had to have. I'm not really sure what they are


Fantastical salt and pepper shakers from chinatown.


So I like orange bedrooms. It may be my favorite room in the apartment. And is always way cooler than the rest since I don't have a/c.




watermellon-esque bathroom. In the afternoon mad amounts of light comes through the window making it seem super bright.

So there ya go.... Apartment Photos!

Iced tea time

My Jenna sent me tea from Germany. But it's too hot for hot tea. So I learned how to make it iced! (The glass seemed appropriate.) It seems to have a little too much sugar in it though, even for me, so it must be a lot! So next time, I'll put in less sugar.

heaping tbsp. orange pekoe or black whole-leaf tea
8 c. high-quality water
1 c. sugar
lemon slices or mint sprigs for garnish (optional)

Place the sugar and half the water in a 2-quart serving jug and stir to dissolve the sugar, then chill.
Bring the remaining water to boil in a nonreactive pot.
Remove the water from the heat as soon as it boils and add the tea.
Cover and steep for 5 to 8 minutes.
Strain the hot tea into the sugared water.
Add lemon slices or mint sprigs if desired, or place them in serving glasses as a garnish.
Fill serving glasses with ice and pour the tea in them to serve.


Nikki and I are famous by the way.

We made it onto photobooth.net. In that photobooth craziness in nyc, we went to Bushwick Country Club and have a posting.

Now that we are back in the Nati, we will become famous for adding to the Ohio ones. The comet and movie theater here we come!

Moved in!

So I'm finished moving in. I still really really need dining room chairs though. last weekend, I had to draw on the floor, which made my tummy hurt after a while. (not to mention that my drawing wasn't as fab as I had hoped) Sam seems to love it. So much space to run around and he's a cute little window kitty. My little buddy.