Adventures in Europe

Posted in Travel by Jennifer | Stick Girl JAM

‘Allo, friends! I’ve just realized that I never got to sharing the lovely trip abroad that Mumbles and I took earlier this year. So, in the spirit of back to school and getting back in the routine of blogging, I thought I’d do the ol’ “What I did on my summer vacation” bit. It’ll be a lot easier in English than having to do it in Spanish, as I recall. Although, BFOTB can attest that a time or two after a few too many sangrias (or in desperate transportation emergency situations), I have been known to spout out near-perfect Spanish almost in a Will-Ferrell-esque Old School moment (feeling like you’ve blacked out after giving very impressive remarks).

What I Did On My Summer Vacation:
I should start by saying that I’m not quite sure I’m sane because I did leave dear Mumbles in Amsterdam for few extra days of gallivanting and boy-like shenanigans with fraternity brothers following our week and a half long trip. (!) I dare say as he kissed me goodbye at the airport that I was praying he’d make it home in one piece and without any embarrassing face tattoos! We had such an extraordinary trip and I reveled in spending such quality time alone with him exploring and discovering new cities, cultures and cuisine.

After a long flight from LA to New Jersey and an even longer flight from the US to Germany, we arrived in Stuttgart having missed our connection into Dusseldorf, just an hour plane ride away. Blast! The next flight they could get us on was that evening so we happily decided to spend the day exploring Stuttgart. Plus, it’s fun to say. Schtoot gahrt. See? Fun. As luck would have it, Stuttgart happens to be home to the Mercedes Benz Museum…so you can guess where we spent our afternoon. It was really a beautiful museum, very modern and interesting. I had no idea Mercedes Benz has such a storied history.

getting caught up in the crowds and cheers of european soccer.

Once in Dusseldorf (also a fun one to say), we walked most of the city on foot while it rained on and off. And, trust me, I’m not usually fond of rain (curly hair and all) but this definitely was the more picturesque movie-quality rain where you hop underneath a storefront canopy after getting poured on, shake out a bit, giggle together, kiss, hold your jacket above your head, and run back out to face the day together. At least, that’s how I’ve romanticized it in my head now that it’s months later and I’m warm and dry as I type. We found two microbreweries to try the Altbier, a traditional beer made in Dusseldorf. The promenade between the Rhein and Altstadt is apparently known as Europe’s longest bar, as cafes and bars line the whole way, very similar to those of Barcelona, except much less club-like. W were fortunate to happen upon a restaurant bar one evening that was not too busy so we could stay in to watch the Spain v. Portugal soccer game during Euro Cup… it was a very boring match up until the shoot outs but still so fun to be in such lively company while watching.

potato pancakes just like my Papa makes!

One afternoon while exploring the city by bus we got off in the Alstadt for lunch where we had ventured around on foot the day before. We couldn’t read the menu at the cafe but when we saw the woman next to us receive a plate of what looked like my Papa’s (grandfather) delicious potato pancakes we knew exactly what to order! They were superb! We ate outdoors and hopped back on the bus with a refreshing homemade sparkling lemonade with ginger and basil – my new favorite!

Across the Rhein they were setting up for what looked to be a very large festival in the coming weeks – all I could think was how unfortunate that we wouldn’t be there to enjoy it. Funny how timing can seem so off and then surprise you in the most delightful ways. Our last night in Dusseldorf we watched the Germany v. Italy game at a microbrewery in the Altstadt. It was the oldest brewery in town called Zum Schnissel – we really enjoyed the beer here in Dusseldorf! Plus, I can’t tell you how spectacular it is to be in a country that idolizes a sport while their team is playing. I also can’t describe in perfect words the sadness and heartfelt disappointment these dedicated citizens feel when their beloved team loses. It’s truly an aching sadness to see — painted faces being wiped clean, a wave of depression that comes over a crowd, beers left unattended on tables instead of raised high in cheers amidst the crowd. Still, what an exhiliarating evening! We did see some spiriting Italians closing down some streets with impromptu celebrations, flags waiving, releving in the safety in numbers game.

Unfortunately, we forgot to buy a Christmas ornament for our tree while in Dusseldorf. That’s our tradition everywhere we go so that come Christmastime, our tree is lit up with the memories of the places and important events in our lives. So that was a bummer. I mentioned that we found a small place to watch the Spain v. Portugal game one night and it was there that we asked our waitress if she could recommend any towns we should stop in on our way to Amsterdam and she said “Ah, Venlo.” She didn’t seem to think about it too hard so we asked why she’d recommend it and all she could really say was that there was nature there and she thought we’d like it. Good enough for us! We found an awesome hotel and booked a nice suite without much clue of what else to do but noticed in the online hotel reviews that most people staying there mentioned “Floriade.” After a bit of research we discoverd the Floriade is a huge horticultural expo held every 10 years and it just so happened to be in Venlo this year. Going on now. What luck! We bought two day tickets and spent the last two days covering an enormous theme park-like area with five different worlds to discover. If you get a chance, look it up – Floriade 2012. And, heck, if you can fit in a trip to the Netherlands in the next few weeks, you have until October 7 to see it in person. I’ve never seen or heard of anything like it.

our terrace overlooking the resort’s lake in Venlo.
seriously dreamy.

Also, our hotel was amazing. Tucked into a wooded area, it was more like a resort with a gourmet restaurant (best dinner ever!) and our suite had a huge outdoor balcony terrace overlooking a little lake. Gorgeous! The name of our hotel was Bilderberg Hotel De Bovenste Molen in Venlo if you want to Google it. Just lovely.

The town was really cute too but I have to wonder what will happen to the area once Floriade is over and they break down the exhibits and structures. I imagine it will be a lot like the Olympic cities after the games. Still, I’d love to go back someday – it was absolutely a perfect getaway.

Riding in the open-air tuk tuk (like a bike/cart/ATV) from our resort in Venlo to the Floriade.

After Venlo, we took the train into Amsterdam where we stayed for a few days before I left Mumbles with the men for their debauchery. I was hoping for some good cheese tasting while we were there and we did stumble upon a newly opened cheese shop but the “tasting” was grabbing a piece out of a communal bowl in front of all the different types and that just didn’t seem my style. Or sanitary. I should mention that at the Floriade, however, we saw our favorite cheese that we get at Trader Joe’s called Old Amsterdam! (this was big for us – it was like the one time in Italy that Mumbles saw the brand of pasta that he always buys at Costco…it legitimizes the purchase because it’s authentic!)

our happy “we just had the best meal ever!” faces enjoying dessert on the terrace one evening.

those Heineken folks are clever!
This logo sign is made out of ice! Fancy!

While in Amsterdam, we did the Heineken Tour, did some thrift store shopping (which I love anyway but seems so much more chic in another country) at a really interesting place called Out of the Closet. They have locations in the states – in fact I think the only one abroad is in Amsterdam; the stores benefit the AIDS Healthcare Foundation while also providing HIV testing and some pharmacy services. Everyone there was very friendly and welcoming, even the guys in drag. It was fun. Our hotel was right across from the Stopera, city hall and the opera house.

my new thrifted flats. i adore them!

a chic houseboat in one of the channels in Amsterdam. At least I thought they were chic until I found out that most of them aren’t connected to sewers…eww.

All in all, we couldn’t have asked for a better vacation. We hadn’t been back to Europe since right after we were engaged in 2009 and we do so love to travel so I definitely hope we can make a habit of it. Barcelona is still my favorite city, probably so because BFoTB and I spent a summer studying abroad there. I’d like to go back and also visit Greece. I’m not quite sure where else. Any suggestions?

Collecting Christmas ornaments during our travels is my favorite tradition that we started. Do you collect anything when you travel?

I will say, Amsterdam is a majestic city. The architecture and practically everyone has a view of the water!

i couldn’t bring myself to take a photo in front of the sign, but seriously, what a brilliant tourism marketing tactic. can you even imagine how many people have shared this photo?

21Sep2012

Don Quixote, on bravery

Posted in Inspiration by Jennifer | Stick Girl JAM

“it’s up to brave hearts, sir, to be patient when things are going badly, as well as being happy when things are going well…For I’ve heard that what they call fortune is a flighty woman who drinks too much, and whats more, she’s blind so she can’t see what she’s doing, and she doesn’t know who she’s knocking over or who she’s raising up.”

19Sep2012

The Return of TV

Posted in Television & Movies by Jennifer | Stick Girl JAM

With the return of fall TV almost upon us (yay!), this week is turning out to be a true test in tv patience. I’ve even declared I’ll be cleaning a few nights this week because there’s no excuse to be glued to the couch in front of the television. All I’ve got is The Voice, but that will all change starting next week.

photo by Robert Voets/CBS via TV Guide

Here’s where we were left hanging last season on Grey’s Anatomy and new favorite Scandal. I also can’t wait to dive back into HIMYM, Person of Interest, Castle, Once Upon A Time and pretty much all of the others mentioned in this post from last year. I’m proud to say, however, that I’ve dropped a few shows off my DVR schedule including Keeping Up With the Kardashians (I mean, I’ll watch it if there’s nothing else on, but it’s not a go-to so don’t judge me, okay?), Two and a Half Men (sorry, Charlie), One Tree Hill (waaah! because it’s over – again, no judging, please), and Hawaii 5-0 (just didn’t keep me intrigued, Dan-O).

I’m not sure when my other favorite, Smash, will be returning but you can watch the full episodes online here.

Love TV like I do? See my dear friend/cousin Page’s Top 5 to watch this fall.

What shows are you most looking forward to returning this fall? Any new ones I should give a try?

18Sep2012

Date a girl who reads

Posted in Inspiration by Jennifer | Stick Girl JAM

I saw this quote on Pinterest the other day and I couldn’t believe the person it was attributed to actually said it. So I looked it up. And I was right. He didn’t. But that’s not the point. Because, really, the point is that it’s written beautifully and made me feel happy in my sometimes doubting skin and allowed me to realize that it’s okay that I stay up too late at night reading books in bed, building a fort around Mumbles’s (ps. I just looked up ‘s or s’s – it’s one of those ones that always haunts me while I write…apparently it’s a heated debate in the world of grammar and usage so I’ll just roll with what feels right) head so the light isn’t in his eyes when he tries to fall asleep, and that I want and need a good, cozy, comfy reading nook in the middle of a library room in my house one day kinda like this one maybe, and that I don’t want to give my books back to a secondhand shop because I want my bookcases, shelves and cupboards (sorry, lady, I can’t give up my closet) and other nooks and crannies in my house packed to the brim with books I’ve read and want to loan to friends or give to my kids one day or read again and again. I hope a lot of people were like me and read the quote on Pinterest and thought “smart bloke…I’d like to read more of that” and looked it up and found the whole thing. Because, like I said: it’s beautiful. If you aren’t one of those people, allow me to make it easy:

“You should date a girl who reads.
Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes, who has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she has found the book she wants. You see that weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a secondhand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow and worn.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or if she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas, for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry and in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who read understand that all things must come to end, but that you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.”
― Rosemarie Urquico

My insides were smiling after reading it again so I kept searching for more information about this woman who is eloquent and relatable in her writing. I learned (perhaps not completely correctly, but it made sense) that she may have written the essay in response to this one, which I took to mean much about the same, although it gets you to that point in a completely different way. That way is about doing it all wrong and missing then regretting the whole point of love and adventure and romance and playing and passion and pursuits. About life. I found both refreshing and entertaining and hope you did too. And, I hope you’re a girl who reads. Or writes. Or both. Or, if you’re a boy, that you’re searching for the ones that do.