my sibs in seattle!

they're coming!!!

they're here!!!

my little brother, sister, and her bf are visiting for a week. i'm keeping my fingers crossed for sunshine.


on a completely different note, jon and i are thinking about adopting a dog. my vote is for a cavalier king charles spaniel.



hurray for wednesday!

Perfectionist

In my past attempts to be a "good" blogger, I spent countless hours uploading the right photos and tweaking the layout of each post. I know what you're thinking--you didn't even notice anything that special. Well, I completely agree. So I've decided I'm just going to post pictures, w/ or w/o comments. It's the only way I'll be able to blog about my trips and other recent happenings before I forget.

Once night falls, the Eiffel Tower lights up. And at the top of each hour, the tower twinkles for about 15 minutes. It's the most beautiful thing. I caught the end of it on video but it is a million times better in person.

Sights of Paris

View 1:

View 2 with the very prominent EU stars showing France's 2008 presidency:

View from the great lawn:

View from below:

View from the top of Notre Dame:

Gargoyles at the top of the cathedral:

The Seine River flowing through the city of Paris:

And on our walk to the Eiffel Tower, we found the real Central Perk!

This morning

Jon: Hey, do you think we can actually spend all day in bed?
Julie: Yup (totally lying). Do YOU think we can?
Jon: Nope. You'd get bored and I'd get hungry.

There's a reason why this marriage works.

I'm always watching the Food Network

And during yesterday's episode of Barefoot Contessa, I found Ina Garten wearing this (it mattered enough that I ran off looking for my camera so I could take a picture of the TV):

I should really bite my tongue but I don't think I can. Seriously, what is up with the popped collar?!?! It's not even one of those shirts that people traditionally "pop." I try to be understanding when I see tweens and teens doing the same because, well, they're experimenting. But Ina's fashion statement is screaming I live in the Hamptons and that's how WE rock our shirts here. After a couple years at JGSM, I've seen enough popping!!!! Grrr.

Verdict? Ina's got culinary prowess so I think she wins.

Eiffel

We wanted to have some fun taking pics in front of the Eiffel Tower instead of posing awkwardly as I usually do in all my other pictures. I jumped off a step and tried to look cool doing it. Of course it turns out looking like I'm learning to jump for the first time in my life. It was so bad I heard roaring laughter from a family standing nearby.

Why am I so awkward?!?!

Roman vacation

We packed in as much as we could during our 2 full days in Rome. Did a lot of food and art assessment and will conclude that despite the hustle and bustle of the big city, what it has to offer far outweighs its lack of a quaint town feel. This very short post is a precursor of what's to come later when I get back stateside and will have plenty of time to dedicate to entertaining the handful of you who actually check my blog (thanks!!!).

Pizza with pretty much everything on it.

I ordered a vegetarian pizza but spur of the moment asked for prosciutto on top. The big Italian man who took my order raised his eyebrow and gave me a weird look. While we waited for our pizza, I saw him cut up vegetables and then took a wash cloth to scrub his shoes. During this entire time he didn't wash his hands. This, to me, is the real Italian kitchen.

We're leaving the island of Capri and spending the night in the ghettos of Naples before flying back to Paris for another day. Apparently, crime is to Naples as the Mafia is to Sicily. I guess we should've planned a little better.

Happy 4th!