An Italian Holiday - Introduction

Waayyyyyyyyyyyy back in April of this year, Scott and I took a trip to Italy for 10 days. It was a celebratory and why the hell not sort of trip. It seems like ages ago. We left for Italy only a couple of days after Scott finished his fourth year rotations of medical school and since we got home, our life hasn't slowed down... until now.

We decided to go to Italy on March 1st and left on April 8th.  Let's just say I ate, drank, and slept trip planning. It was a whirlwind of preparation. Neither of us had traveled internationally (Canada and the Bahamas don't count) and therefore I had to do lots and lots of research. Research makes me feel better about life. What can I say, I'm a planner! Also, Rick Steves' books are awesome. I was basically in a relationship with him for the 5 weeks leading up to our trip.

Anyway, I'm going to break our trip up by day so that means a lot of posts but there will be pictures too!

Thankfully we had a travel journal with us and we wrote about the day's events before we went to bed each night. The details are still fresh four months later. I'll share our adventures over the next few weeks.

Here we go!

Italy here we come! 

The Other Charleston

The location of Scott's third month of rotations was in Charleston... West Virginia.  Like Detroit, this city gets a bad rap. Especially when compared to it's distant relation Charleston, South Carolina.

A typical conversation about possibly moving to Charleston, WV goes like this: 

Them: "So do you know where you are moving after graduation?" 

Me: "Not yet. It could be Charleston..."

Them: *eyes light up and envy washes over their face* 

Me: "...West Virginia."

Them: "Oh. That's too bad. How awesome would it be if it was South Carolina?!" 

Yes, it would be awesome if it was Charleston, SC. Scott would probably sweat to death but that's okay. However, there is something to be said about the mountains. They give off this peace and sense of solidarity. Charleston, WV is nestled among the mountains of West Virginia and sits on the Kanawha (pronounced Ken-aw) River. Here are a few things I loved about the "other Charleston".

1. There are delicious places to eat. I guess this is a universal truth in most cities because we are human and we like to eat. Charleston is no exception. The first weekend I went to visit Scott, we went to the cute place called Lola's. They serve gourmet pizzas and salads. I was digging their cajun shrimp pizza!

Another delicious place was Black Sheep. We had brunch there but they are known for their burritos. Hopefully we will get the chance to try them someday.

2. The City Market. It's a farmers market that is open year round. It also has a gourmet grocery store and a restaurant.

It's the perfect place to take a Saturday morning stroll for some fresh produce. We were there in the Fall so there were pumpkins galore.

3. An old fashioned bookstore. Nuff' said.

4. It's 2 1/2 hours from our families. I can't tell you how nice it would be to be able to hop in the car to visit our families for the weekend or even the day. No 10 hour drive or expensive plane ticket. Just a tank of gas and a few tolls.

To sum it all up, Charleston is the perfect size city for us. It's not too big but not too small. It's rural enough for my hillbilly hubby but enough shopping options to keep me happy. Like Detroit, this city has much more to offer than first meets the eye. You just have to give it a chance.

The Motor City

I thought I'd share my thoughts on the cities we might move to come May or June 2015. I've visited Scott in every city he has rotated through (more on that process here). He started out the summer in Detroit and spent two months there. He rotated through three programs in Detroit that we could potentially move to in 2015. 

So Detroit. Every conversation I've had with someone about possibly moving there goes like this: 

Them: "So do you know where you are moving after graduation?"

Me: "Not yet. It could be Detroit or...."

Them: **winces** "You do NOT want to move there!" 

I would say 50% of the time that person hasn't even been to Detroit. They are basing their opinions off of articles, the news, and rumors. I was one of those people which means I had LOW expectations going to visit Detroit. I'm kinda glad I did. No, it's not New York City or Washington DC (or insert your favorite city here), but it's still a city with lots of things to do. Yes, there are abandoned buildings but you can feel the city renewing itself. So here are few cool things about Detroit. 

1. There are cute and safe towns/suburbs right outside of the city. We stayed in a town called Northville while I was visiting. There were so many beautiful Victorian Era houses. I could have died from all the character oozing from that town. They had a yummy pizza place called Pizza Cutter that we ate at twice. 

We also found the town we would try to live in if we moved to Detroit. It's called Royal Oak which I think would be fitting (Get it? The Kings would live in Royal Oak). It's a suburb with lots of young people and young families, good restaurants, a farmers market on Saturday and an antique market on Sundays. It's only 20 minutes to Detroit.

2. Arts and Culture. This city has a rich history of blues, jazz, pop, and rap. Not to mention it's the birthplace of the automobile industry. We went to the Detroit Institute of Arts for a Jazz Concert one night. It was so much fun! 

The mural inside where the concert took place was pretty fabulous. The music was too. As Scott would say, they were jammin'. 

That's not all Detroit has to offer. There is the Ford Museum (we didn't make it there during our visit), there is a HUGE Farmer's Market (we did make it to that and we had some amazing custard pie from one of the vendors), and even Eminem was in town for a concert (sorry to disappoint but we didn't make it to that either). 

3. Food. Detroit is melting pot of cultures. We had southern BBQ (it was AAAAH-MAZING), authentic mexican food, and, though I didn't get to go, Scott had some yummy sushi at a place called Noble Fish. 

Also, they have this new trend around Detroit of turning old service garages into restaurants. We went to one in Berkley (another cute town). They have American cuisine but with a flare. Also, two words: adult milkshakes. 

4. You can visit Canada! We only went to Windsor, Canada (across the Detroit River from Detroit) and I'll be honest, it wasn't very exciting. Being questioned by border patrol (or whatever it's called) was intense! 

We also had to buy gas in Canada and we had no idea how much money we were spending or how much gas we were getting! haha! Also, the speed limit was in kilometers, I know that's not really surprising but somehow I was.

That's us in Canada with Detroit in the background. 

5. Sports. Detroit Tigers, Lions, and Red Wings (hockey if you were wondering). The Tigers were in town while we were there and we were even planning to go to a game on Scott's birthday (shout-out to the best brother-in-law ever for getting us tickets). Sadly, Scott didn't get off until 9:30pm on his birthday so we missed the game!  

To sum it all up, Detroit was a pleasant surprise! I spoke with someone from Detroit and they said it's a fun city to live in but not a fun city to be a tourist. I would agree with that and it's all about expectations. If you ever visit, try to look at the city with an open mind and I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised! 

the happiest place on earth

At age 26, I can say I've been to Disney World! It was an experience, let me tell you. It MIGHT have been because we went on New Year's Eve. It was insanely packed and I thought I was going to punch a few moms in the face who insisted on trying to bulldoze me over with their child's stroller. We had longer wait times for rides and trying to get back to our car after midnight? It took us 2 1/2 hours! I felt like a cow being herded to my death! Yet, it was still a magical place. Cinderella's castle? loved it! Fireworks? It was like it went from night to day in 0.5 seconds! We met several really nice Canadians (who actually said aye!). Most of all Scott and I made some pretty awesome memories. Take a look!    

Top left is my "I feel self conscious and awkward face" 

Bottom left was before take off on the Astro Orbiter in Tomorrowland. 1.) Scariest ride ever 2.) I don't know how we both fit in that spaceship! 

I'm kinda lame, I know, but I love carousels! 

No visit to Disney is complete without some Minnie Mouse ears. Sequins make them even more awesome!

Can I be Cinderella? 

We will definitely go back someday. Next time not on New Years Eve! At least not unless we stay on the resort. We only made it to the Magic Kingdom this time so there is still a lot left to explore!

What's your favorite memory of Disney World?

a new addition {part 2}

Here is Lucas Allen's debut! He is a beautiful boy and big to boot! The nurse doing all of his measurements kinda had this mime/charades thing going on. She would make gestures like her arms were tired from holding him or that he was going to be a big strong guy! It was pretty funny. It was such a joyous occasion and so cool that, not only were both Lucas' grandmothers there, but his great-grandmother was too. I think this makes 9 great-grands for my grandparents!

Congratulations to Becca and Brian!

a new addition {part 1}

My mom, sister, and I went down to Georgia this past weekend. We didn't go for any old reason though. We made the 8 hour trek to help celebrate a new life coming into the world! My sweet cousin, Becca, and her husband, Brian, had their second little boy on Friday, May 24th. As with anything in my family, waiting for Lucas Allen to make his debut was a family affair. Below are a few pics I took in the waiting room. 

I have to admit, I'm a little jealous of my cousin! Whenever the day comes for me to have a little one, I highly doubt I'll be close enough in location for my (extended) family to be sitting in the waiting room, or have all my aunts, cousins, & grandmother descend on my hospital room with hugs, kisses, and advice. I know Becca enjoyed every minute of it and will treasure those memories.

Next post, baby Lucas. Wait until you see him! My cousin and her husband make some beautiful babies!

we are not hikers

A couple of weeks ago, I decided Scott and I were boring. I felt like our date nights were comprised of: go out to eat, rent a movie, and be in bed by 11pm. I brought this up with Scott. He seemed satisfied with the arrangement. I obviously was not. He asked what else I had in mind. I said I don't know.... why don't we go hiking? His reply: "We are NOT hikers." Ok then. Moving on. haha! I left it at that.

Our next date night, Scott tells me we are going to hike the Cascades. Even though that wasn't necessarily his idea of fun, we were going because he knew I wanted to go. He is so thoughtful and selfless. Anyway, we hiked to the Cascades and it was beautiful. We kind of booked it because we got a late start and I was paranoid about being there after dark, so we didn't get to really enjoy the actual hike. Afterwards, we went to the Palisades in Eggleston, Va to eat. I also had been wanting to go there (Go Scott!). The food was amazing and if you are ever in this neck of the woods I would highly recommend it. We had homemade pomegranate ice cream for dessert, which was to die for! Sincewe ate the ice cream before the end of summer I got to check that off my summer fun list. I love to check things off lists!

yup.

Fast forward a couple of weeks. Scott and I hiked to McAfee's Knob in Catawba, Va. We had a great time but it kicked our out of shape butts! It was right under eight miles round trip but worth the view. As with our last hiking outing, we decided to follow our exertion with food. Duh. We planned on eating at the Homeplace in Catawba but it was packed and we didn't want to wait. Instead, we heading to Pine Tavern in Floyd, Va. It is similar to the Homeplace, it is a family style dining experience with southern food. Floyd and Catawba are not very close together though. I'm sure we would have gotten a seat sooner at the Homeplace but we were impatient. When we finally got to the Pine Tavern, we ate SO much food and it was amazing!

Two hikes just over two weeks. We are totally hikers.  

beachy-keen

A couple of months ago I posted about our summer fun list.  First thing on our list was go to the beach. We definitely made that happen! We headed down to Folly Beach, SC and spent a week with my family. We had not been on a family vacation since I was around ten years old! We had a great time and spent a lot of time on the beach. We went into Charleston a few days and celebrated Independence Day. Sadly, we could not see the fireworks because we chose a bad spot on the beach. Someone gigantic house blocked the view! Oh well. Some highlights were:
-We flew kites. That was my dad's favorite part of the week.
-My mom and dad ate at Poogan's Porch where they ate on their honeymoon almost 28 years ago.
-I went out in the ocean. Like really out there. Which is huge, because usually I go to my knees at the most and I'm done!
-We ate watermelon... another check on our list.
-Katie tried her hand at sangria. It was delicious.
-Not sure if this is a highlight but we slept a lot!

To sum it up,  we made lots of memories and had a wonderful time together.

As for the rest of our summer fun list.We kind of sucked at it. But hey summer isn't officially over until September 22, 2012. We've got a few days to squeeze some summer fun in!

spring has sprung

Well, I guess that might be a little bit of an exaggeration.

I recently got back from visiting my family in Georgia. My grandfather had open heart surgery this past Tuesday. (He is doing pretty well for what he has been through, but if you get a chance say a little prayer for him.) All in all I was gone for about five days. Even though Scott and I don't see each other very often when I am home, we definitely missed each other while I was gone. I guess that's what marriage does to you. When I got home Scott had a welcome home surprise waiting for me. Check it out.

 Aren't they lovely? These daisies got me in the mood for spring. I even did some "spring cleaning" today. I know, I know, we have had a mild winter here in Virginia so I guess I should be grateful, but I'm ready for warmer weather nonetheless.

But hey who's counting????