Sorry for being a delinquent blogger...

So, I've really dropped the ball in January, whether it has been with blogging or with journaling, and definitely with being in touch with friends.  When I got back from "vacation," work got hectically busy immediately, and my nights and weekends have gotten rather busy, too.  Because of that, I really can't tell you where January has gone, and I feel like I haven't really been balancing the people and things in my life very well.

This weekend is Welcome Weekend for our admitted students, so that, combined with the revving up of interview season again, has meant that I have been working myself into the ground for the past two weeks.  I'm not complaining, because, if I hadn't been logging those extra hours, we would not be in very good shape at all, but, due to a family emergency in the office, I have had to take more ownership of Welcome Weekend responsibilities, which has been both empowering and exhausting.  We have made it through the first half-day, though, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything continues to go smoothly.

Back in December, when I discovered that I did not need to be here for the second day of Welcome Weekend, I was practically jumping for joy, because THAT meant that Dan and I could go back to Pittsburgh this weekend, first of all, for the Georgetown game (obviously we have our priorities straight haha), and also to spend some time with his family and friends.  There was a slight blip earlier on in the week when, because of that family emergency of a coworker, I thought that I might not be able to go, but luckily, despite my volunteering to cancel my travel plans (even though I would have been distraught had I not been able to go), my boss told me that she didn't want me to have to do so (bless her heart).  This trip was really my light at the end of the tunnel after these uberstressful last few weeks, so I was so relieved that I didn't have to cancel my plans.  I couldn't be more excited to see the town where he grew up, especially because he talks about it so much, and his family was so wonderful the first time I met them (they were so warm and welcoming that I instantly felt at-ease in their presence) that I'm thrilled that I'll get to spend some more time with them this weekend.  I even teased him last night and asked if there are lots of Little Dan pictures lying around the house, because I will definitely be on the prowl for them ;)  I am particularly excited to see Pittsburgh because I feel like, unlike with some other cities, Pittsburghians have such a fierce loyalty to their city, and it really defines who they are.  I was saying to him last night that it actually makes me slightly sad that, even though he has met my parents on multiple occasions and has also gone over to their house a few times, their house is not the house I grew up in, and their town is not the town I grew up in.  But, on the flip side of that, my parents now live a mere Metro ride away, so I'm not complaining...even if I AM slightly jealous of those two little girls who now live in the house I grew up in.

Another thing I have to look forward to?  A visit to TX with Kristin to go and see Kate for a few days, which, given that I have never been to Texas (and also have not seen my friends in a while), is definitely giving me something exciting to look forward to.  You had better bet that I'll be bringing my cowboy boots along with me :) C'mon, a girl has got to bust them out every once in a while, right?!  February should hopefully be much calmer at work, meaning that I hopefully won't feel as though I'm clawing my way to the finish line, like I have felt with our trip this weekend.

Movie Review: Gone Baby Gone

Yes, I know that the movie came out a few years ago, but last night, Dan and I watched Gone Baby Gone, one of many Boston crime dramas that, strangely, leave me unable to turn away.  I am not the crime drama type of person (chick flicks are more my style), but whenever it involves the state I grew up in, I just can't resist it.  The Departed, Boondock Saints, The Town, and now Gone Baby Gone...the Bostonians in those films have such a rawness and toughness to them, as well as a fierce sense of family.  I remarked at one point during Gone Baby Gone, "Wow, Bostonians are TOUGH!".  Anyway, the gist of the story is that Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan play private detectives brought on to a missing child case.  The child's mother (fabulously portrayed by Amy Ryan- why she did not win an Oscar for that performance, I have no idea) is the epitome of a negligent mother, lost in an underworld of drugs, sex and intimidation and entirely detatched from her four year-old daughter, Amanda. 

**SPOILER ALERT*** While it appears that Amanda has died in a set-up, Patrick (Casey Affleck) is so haunted by the case that he stops at nothing to find out what really happened.  It turns out that Amanda is alive, and has been living safely all along with a retired police captain (Morgan Freeman) whose own daughter was kidnapped and brutally murdered when she was twelve years old. Patrick, after agonizing over what he should do once discovering Amanda's whereabouts, decides to turn her over to the police and return her to her mother.  This film raised a lot of questions for both Dan and I, the first being, what would you do in a situation like that?  Would you turn a blind eye and condone kidnapping if it meant that the child would ultimately lead a happier life, or would you return her to her mother, where she is more than likely to be lost in the same heartbreaking cycle that her mother is in?  We both said that we would probably ultimately have returned Amanda to her mother, because, as guilty as we would feel for inevitably subjecting her to a terrible life, we cannot justify kidnapping a child.  However, this case is absolutely not black and white, so I could absolutely see arguing for the other side.  Does anyone have any thoughts?

Above all, we both remarked at how lucky we are to have been raised by the parents that we were raised by, who provided us with a stable home environment and no shortage of love and support.  There are so many children who do not have that advantage, and that is truly saddening.  Watching movies like that really make me count my blessings.  This was a real tearjerker, but I would highly recommend it.

2011 Wrap-Up and Thoughts on the New Year

Yes, I know we are now 12 days into the new year, but hopefully you'll cut me some slack since I was away when I normally would have written this post.  2011 was one wonderful year, that's for sure, and I will be amazed and grateful if 2012 is half the year that 2011 was!  Instead of doing a massively long post, I think I'll just bullet point all of the things I had to be grateful about last year:

• My parents moved back to DC, and I realized how truly fortunate I am to have them just a Metro ride away
• I moved into a wonderful new apartment!
• I gained lots of experience and had many more opportunities at work
• I got to spend time with old friends and get to know new ones
• I was fortunate enough to be reunited with my best friends 3 TIMES!
• My family and friends were in reasonably good health
• I got to explore new cities (namely, Chicago) and have gotten to know DC so much better as well.  Considering that I never left Georgetown as an undergrad, my overall understanding of the layout of DC has improved by leaps and bounds!
• 
  I met the guy who would turn into the most wonderful boyfriend a girl could ever ask for.  I can't believe we're coming up on our first anniversary so soon (March 3rd), and he makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world!

I am not big on making New Year's resolutions (I am that angry everyday gym-goer who is visibly annoyed each year as my gym becomes infinitely more crowded for the month of January), but I actually kept mine last year (running my half-marathon!), so it made me want to try it again.  One of them comes with a caveat: if I am healthy enough (and if I can manage to avoid injury for longer than a week, which I have thus far been entirely unsuccessful at), I want to run the Marine Corps Marathon this year.  It is at the end of October/early November, so I'm hopeful that I can make it happen.  My other goal is to be more honest, however that manifests itself.  I am just about the most non-confrontational person you will ever meet, so speaking my mind can be difficult at times.  But I am committed to working on that this year, and have already had some good success with it! 

I can't wait to see all of the adventures and memories that 2012 holds! Wishing you all the happiness and good health in the world in this not-so-New Year!

Europe Photos

 For those of you who know me, you are well aware that I took far more photos than this!!!  But here are some highlights:

Edinburgh Castle (we actually got to go to a castle!!)

 View of beautiful Edinburgh from the castle...before the rains

 Fits right in haha

 Marche de Noel in Place Kleber, Strasbourg

Cathedrale de Notre Dame, Strasbourg

 

 My La Duree dessert...my mouth is watering just looking at the picture...le sigh

 Big Ben as seen from our bus tour

 Obligatory Tour Eiffel photo.  There really is nothing like it!!!

 Le mur de je t'aime, probably my favorite spot in Paris :)

 At Buckingham Palace (you can see the balcony where Will and Kate's post-wedding kisses were!!!)

 Sibs at the Guinness Storehouse

 Mom and Dad at a pub in Edinburgh

Outside the Guinness Storehouse...wearing his newly purchased Guinness hat

Edinburgh and Dublin

I am going to condense these posts a bit, since we didn't spend a ton of time in either place (plus, we got back almost a week ago, and I'm eager to get back to normal blogging!  Don't worry pictures to follow in my next post!).

Edinburgh was a truly stunning city.  It is very hilly, which I wasn't expecting (okay, that's a lie, based on having seen the movie One Day, which is set there, I had a feeling it would be hilly).  Geographically speaking, it's really interesting.  The Firth of Forth sits to the north (in other words, a bay), and there are volcanoes (inactive) not far from the center of the city.  The result is some seriously wacky weather!  Rain, bitterly cold wind, brief periods of sunshine...we really did get it all!

We got in late on Wednesday, so didn't do much other than head to a cute little restaurant for dinner (or so I thought...until I found out that there were pine nuts in my risotto.  Thanks, Europeans, for not putting allergens on menus, because none of you have allergies!)  That was actually the second time that this had happened on the trip, but I hadn't taken a bite in the first restaurant in Paris, where I was served something that looked suspiciously like pesto. Anyway, we got up bright and early (well before the sun came up!  My dad and I often ran in partial darkness in London, Edinburgh and Dublin because, since all three are on the western part of their time zone, it gets dark significantly later) and headed up to Edinburgh Castle...where we got stuck in a torrential downpour and gusty winds.  Womp womp.  Luckily, there was enough to see inside the castle that we could run in between buildings and not spend as much time exposed to the elements. 

We then took a cab tour (my dad's idea, he was all about the see-everything-from-the-bus-or-cab tours!) with a crazy (and crazy-haired) Scot named Gerry.  Fiercely patriotic and very anti-England (and J.K. Rowling, which I was not okay with), he drove us around the city and its outskirts and gave us the historical tour of Edinburgh.  For example, we saw (through binoculars) the only statue of Abe Lincoln located outside the U.S., we drove by J.K.'s house, the world's first golf course (a 3-par course), and the graveyard where Ebeneezer Scrooge's grave sits.  I really had no idea how many incredibly influential were from/once visited/knew someone in Edinburgh haha, and good ole Gerry spared no detail.

Afterward, my mom and I did some shopping (she got Scottish souvenirs for her family, as they are part-Scottish), and I got a sleeve of St. Andrews golf balls for Dan (even though we didn't make it to St. Andrews).  We then met up with my friend Cat, who I met studying abroad in Strasbourg and who now lives in Edinburgh, for a delicious dinner.

Cut to Dublin.  I have very mixed feelings about Dublin.  The first time I went there (this was my third time), I was expecting to see beautiful streets with lush trees and eternally cheerful redheads everywhere.  Maybe I'm just unrealistic.  Ireland has definitely fallen on some hard economic times (to put it mildly), and the city, in reality, seems very down-and-out.  In fact, when we were in a pub on NYE (just getting dinner; we had a 6am flight the next morning...nice planning, Mom haha), a middle-aged Irish couple, when they found out we were Americans, urged us to tell all of our friends to go there.  They really, REALLY need the tourists' money there.  Even from the first time that I went, I felt like there was not a whole heck of a lot going on, an opinion which was echoed on both my second and this visit.  We did go to the Gourmet Burger Kitchen, which is where I had arguably the best vegetarian burger of my entire life (a goat cheese patty with eggplants, some sort of tomato relish, and lots of other veggies), and the Guinness Factory (where Tim was completely in his element, and I, even my second time there, was enjoying myself), but other than that, we didn't do a whole lot.  I think my dad put it best when he said that, with another day, it would have been nice to go out into the countryside or to the coast, that that's where you see the "real Ireland".  Having been to the countryside, I can confirm that that is true.

When we woke up bright and early on New Year's Day (2am--YIKES!!!!) and walked past drunken revelers on our way to the airport shuttle.  And just like that, our European Christmas vacation was over.  It was magical at times (and rainy and cold at others), and I don't regret a single second of it.  Yes, it was difficult not to be in our own home over Christmas, and even more difficult to be away from Dan for that long, especially around the New Year.  But I had an incredible time gallivanting around Europe with my family, and will definitely look back on it fondly as one of our best (perhaps THE best) family trip we have been on.

Stay tuned for photos!

Phase 3: London!!

From Paris we moved on to London via train.  I think my family was relieved to be continuing the next leg of our trip in an English-speaking country.  I have been in countries where I do not speak the language, and I know that it truly is difficult if you are not able to communicate with anyone very effectively, be it hotel employees, waiters, cab drivers, etc, so I can certainly understand why they felt that way.  I was excited for London because, rather than stay in a hotel over Christmas, we were staying in my roommate's wonderful cousin's house, who lives in London with her husband and baby but was in the States for Christmas.  I have only met her a few times, and was blown away by her generosity when she offered up her home to us.  It really made a huge difference to come back to an actual home every day, rather than to a hotel room, and the location was great for all of the sightseeing that we wanted to do.

When we got in, we went to this restaurant/bar called the Prince Alfred, in Beth and Josh's neighborhood, for dinner.  I was definitely feeling down-in-the-dumps that day, for a variety of reasons: I was missing Dan terribly, I was sad to be leaving France, and I was depressed to not be in our own home for Christmas.  Also, even if we had been at my parents' house for Christmas, being that we are transplants, we would not have been in the house that we grew up in, which made me sad. That being said, I am SO glad, and feel so fortunate, that my family is in DC now!  After this dinner, though, I felt so much better, because the food was delicious, my family was in a really happy, chatty mood, and the staff was really friendly.

I was really proud of us, because, other than taking a cab twice and the Tube once, we walked EVERYWHERE!!!! There were days when, in addition to my dad's and my runs, we would walk 8 or 9 miles, so go us for not whining and for getting some serious exercise!!! It was actually really helpful that we did all of that walking, too, because I realized, when we got there, that I felt slightly disoriented as to where everything was relative to each other.  Walking definitely helped me get my bearings!  On Christmas Day, nothing was open and we had a bit of a slow start, given that I think Tim and my dad were still adjusting to the time change.  We walked downtown, stopping along the way at Buckingham Palace (where I was replaying the royal wedding broadcast in my head, the part with the kisses on the palace balcony.  Please don't judge me.) before heading to Christmas Mass at Westminster Cathedral, which, with its moorish-looking design, looked more like it belonged in southern Spain than in the middle of London.  After Mass, we went home and made an improvised dinner, courtesy of Marks & Spencer.  It certainly wasn't a gourmet feast, which definitely wasn't ideal, but we were all together, so that was all that mattered.

Much to our disappointment, nothing was really open on the day after Christmas, either, being that it was Boxing Day (in my opinion, a completely useless holiday, but who am I to judge?  According to Wikipedia, it was traditionally the day when nobility would give boxed gifts to their hired help.  Why they had to make a holiday out of it, I have no idea).  We opted to go on the hop on- hop off bus tour, which gave us a really comprehensive view of all of the major sights in the city, thus enabling us to get off the bus when we wanted to explore a particular area more.  We ended up getting off near Big Ben on our loop back from across the Thames, and walked up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, where the Olympic countdown was in effect.  We got back on the bus later in the day and got to see the more western part of the city, the more museum-y district (needless to say, we didn't do any museums because Tim is very anti-museum haha).

On Tuesday, we walked over to Notting Hill and, after exploring the Portobello Road area a bit (which was not exactly bustling like it had been when I was there last), grabbed a quick bit of breakfast.  One of Tim's roommates lives in London and another of their roommates, who, oddly enough, studied in Salamanca this past semester and was staying with the other roommate's family for Christmas, had just gotten back to the city, so they did their own thing for the rest of the day.  My parents and I walked about 9 miles that day, from the house all the way through Hyde Park and then up to Harrods, so that I could get my La Durée visit in.  Being that it was the first day that Harrod's was open after the holiday, it was a MOB SCENE.  I'm usually okay with crowds (my parents HATE them), but even I was getting a bit disgruntled; since it was so crowded, my dad and I got our desserts to go.  I was somehow able to restrain myself from eating it until later that night, and it certainly did not disappoint.  That La Durée, they certainly know their desserts.  We got back on the hop on-hop off bus for another two hours, which gave us a slightly different perspective, because we got to see everything lit up at night as opposed to in the daylight.

The next day, we departed via train for Edinburgh.  In theory, I love trains in Europe, because they are relatively efficient and comfortable.  But we were really crammed in there like sardines, what with all of our long legs, so both train rides, the one from Paris to London and the one from London to Edinburgh, were pretty painful.  I really did love our time in London, and I guess the one thing that I would change if I had it to do over again is that I would go a few days after Christmas, because of the closures for Christmas and Boxing Day.

Phase 2: Paris!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is something truly indescribable about Paris.  There must be something in the air there, because each time I have been there, it has felt as though I'm walking on a cloud.  Paris has long been the inspiration for so many artistic, literary and cinematic figures, and, after mere minutes of wandering down little side streets, it's not hard to imagine why.  On the airplane ride home, one of the movies I watched was Woody Allen's latest, Midnight in Paris.  While it was typical Allen in that it was just a bit kooky (and, besides, I didn't fully agree with casting Owen Wilson for the lead male role, but I digress), the message really resonated for me and, I realized, sort of helped me verbalize what makes Paris "it" for francophiles.  Like Owen Wilson's character, lovers of Paris have a certain sense of nostalgia for the city.  A walk down its tree-lined boulevards makes one imagine the city's halcyon days, leaving one constantly imagining, with every turn and at every corner, the legends who stood there in the past and the historical, or simply mundane, acts that occurred there.  My dad pointed out that he felt like the buildings were all too uniform and cold in their construction, but I would counter that by saying that, even in their relative uniformity, there are subtle distinctions.  And, rather than be put off by the "coldness," I look at the balconies, the terrace gardens and wonder who lives there.  While the observer is, to an extent, shut out, there is a certain invitation to curiosity about the lives of the people who live in those buildings.  Paris, simply put, has a certain je ne sais quoi that is nearly impossible to articulate unless you have been there.  All I know is that, the second I stepped off that train at Gare de l'Est, I was glowing, and the feeling certainly didn't fade.

I had forgotten how easy the Parisian metro system is to navigate, so I had us at our hotel in no time at all. Before the light faded, I proposed that my mom and I head up to Montmartre, in my opinion, one of the two best views of the city, the other being the view from atop the Arc de Triomphe.  Our first stop was the Mur de je t'aime, one of my favorite spots in the city.  On this wall is written "I love you" in every language imaginable.  It is quite the romantic spot, understandably, despite the nagging feeling that the wall suggests more multicultural openness and acceptance than is a reality in France.  From the foot of the hill, at Abbesses, we walked up to Sacre Cœur.  I am someone who likes to marvel at things, and I think that's another reason why I love Paris.  Everywhere you turn, there is something to marvel at, and I could look out on that view of the city all day long.  Surrounding the church was a Christmas market, which, along with other markets near the Trocadéro and the Champs Elysées, made me chuckle.  Even in this bastion of secularism, Parisians can't help but embrace Christmas...or maybe it's just that they appreciate it in its more shallow, gift-giving sense.  After walking through the church, we wandered around Montmartre some more, the squares where artists displayed their wares and painted pictures of some of the other tourists, and finally found a little café where we had dinner.

We ended the night by heading down to the Trocadéro and took in the Tour.  The Eiffel Tower, while the pinnacle of touristy attractions in the city, is somehow not degraded in beauty by its overly touristy existence.  Especially when it's lit up at night, as well as when it twinkles brightly every hour on the hour :)  It is truly a sight to behold, and, even though I felt no need to go to the top, as I did that on my first trip to Paris, I could just stand there and look at it forever.

My dad and Tim arrived first thing on Friday morning, and we quickly left the hotel so they would have no chance to fall asleep.  We metroed over to the Notre Dame area and, before visiting the storied cathedral, enjoyed a full French breakfast (I think I successfully got my family hooked on pain au chocolat, although I was informed that, without my knowledge, my mother used to buy them at Dunkin' Donuts.  Psh, secret sugar consumption...I'm of the be loud, be proud sugar consumption school!).  After Notre Dame, we wandered the Left Bank a bit before stopping off at the Louvre (just for pictures, since Tim is really not a museum guy, especially on no sleep).  From there, we walked through the Tuileries, through Place de la Concorde and down the entirety of the Christmas market-lined Champs Elysées.  My heart was broken when I discovered that the La Durée location had sustained major damage during a fire, and thus was not open for dining, so my pastry had to wait until London :(  We were able to walk up the Arc de Triomphe, though, which, as I said, is my other favorite view of the city.  After a nice pizza lunch, we walked over to the Tour Eiffel so that my dad and Tim could see it, and then went back to the hotel to crash for a bit.  We ended up wandering through the 8ème, where our hotel was located, only to find that there were no suitable dinner options there, so we ended up just sitting in a little bistro just down the street from our hotel for our last dinner in Paris.  I had been relishing in using my French again (and was shocked at how quickly and naturally it came back to me), but, as I may have mentioned in my Strasbourg post, there are simply food items (particularly of the meat variety) whose French equivalents I don't know, so I felt bad that, when asked to translate menus for my family, I kind of had to shrug my shoulders.

On Saturday morning, Christmas Eve, we schlepped over to Gare du Nord, where our train to London was leaving from.  It was there that I got my ever-elusive French passport stamp.  In all of the times that I have been in France, I have never gotten a passport stamp (which, if you ask me, has to be some sort of security breach), so I was delighted when I got an exit stamp there.  While I was weary from being tour guide and translator, I knew I would miss Paris.  Actually, when I watched Midnight and Paris on the plane, whose opening scenes are a collage of shots of Paris, it brought tears to my eyes.  I think that the way people love Paris is similar to how they would love a person, which would explain the very strong attachment that I have to the city.

I will eventually get the London, Edinburgh and Dublin posts up, as well as pictures!!! Bear with me, folks...