california dreaming

Between all the damage I have been inflicting upon my poor electronics (water spillage, mysterious start up files missing, you name it), I’m lucky to be online at all right now! And after looking back at all of my photos from a recent trip, I’m feeling even more lucky.

I was in LA visiting my little sister a few weekends ago. She’s doing an internship out there – she’s so glamorous! She and I had a fantastic time! And best of all, she is such a chill person, it really got me ready to deal with all of the stress of finishing the last semester of my senior year. Insanity, controlled. (Mostly.)

 

 

and because I have to…

how could I not?! It’s the view from my sister’s window…so cool!

<3

old news

I’ve gotten so behind in blogging and so wrapped up in school work that I just realized I never shared the cake I made for my sister’s birthday. It’s been a crazy few months and I’m still working on catching up…especially on food posts!

Merging the two blogs (food and design) has proven a little difficult organization-wise, but I’m working on it! I have lots more to share throughout this week, so keep checking back for more.

For my sister’s cake, Nina asked me for a lemon cake with chocolate frosting and coconut flakes. I’m not a huge fan of coconut but it made the cake look so pretty….like a winter wonderland cake! It was absolutely delicious.

Happy late birthday Nina!

happy 2010

Good riddance to 2009 – it was a decent year (I did study abroad after all!) but other than that, it was rough and crummy in my opinion.

Some highlights (the good) from 2009:

• Taking one of the best graphic design courses I’ve taken yet! (Graphic Design for Corporate Identity) and getting my first official design “job” (Opus Igor freelance work)
• Meeting new people – friends of friends, CEA Sevilla, road trip buddies, Portland hostel roommates. It was a good year for new faces.
• Reconnecting with old friends and with family. Studying abroad really made me appreciate how important family and friends are, and I was really lucky to be able to keep up old friendships and talk with family more than ever when I needed it most.
• TRAVEL. Visiting my sister, roommate, and 2 good friends while they all spent the summer in Boston. Then, seeing more of the US on a road trip than most people get to see in their lives. It was fantastic and beautiful, and I hope I get to do something like that many times more in my life. And the last bit of travel in 2009 – Spain. SPAIN. Not to mention all the traveling I did while in Spain, and how lucky I was that my mom and my boyfriend both visited me. It was the best experience I’ve had in my life, and I intend to never forget it!

ROAD TRIP Summer 2009

BOSTON Summer 2009

SPAIN Fall 2009

PORTUGAL September 2009

SWITZERLAND (Interlaken) October 2009

ITALY (Florence & Rome) October/November 2009

Here’s to a happier, healthier, more prosperous new year! :)

things that make me happy

 

flannel sheets on my bed!

new slippers because my old ones stunk (ew)

holiday drinks at Starbucks!

new perfume (don’t judge me on the name! it smelled good)

going out for drinks with friends :)

emails from my mom!

and, this last thing…which was the biggest surprise to me ever and I cannot wait!!!

…

   

Yep, that’s right!!! :)

feliz cumpleanos and other news!

It's been awhile, I know I know. Happy late birthday to MY MOM!!!!! :) Sorry I didn't post this yesterday!!!


HAPPY BIRTHDAYYYY!!!

Anyway, in other news! I feel like I've really become a part of this country and am loving living here. I went to a copy center the other day, close to the Starbucks I like to do homework in, because I wanted to print out a series of cards to send to my mom for her birthday (sorry Mom!). The lady gave me a hard time there - kind of standard problems with the paper types, files, whatever. It was almost funny because I've experienced the same problems at Kinko's at home!

I was pretty proud of myself - I carried out an argument completely in Spanish. And the best part is, it felt natural - I wasn't translating in my head, the words were just flowing out and moving fast. Those are the moments where afterwards, I feel the most legitimate studying in this country. I can carry on heated conversations in Spanish!

Also, I feel like I've been dressing the part of "Spaniard". They really care about how they look here and it's rubbing off on me in a good way. I like feeling pulled together and looking my best. No Spaniard here would be caught dead in their sweats or ill-fitting clothes. I love it.

The one thing I've held on to though, and refused to part with is my backpack. I cannot bring all the stuff I need for class in a cute small purse and hold onto the books - first of all, I can't leave home without about 232,246 notebooks "just in case". Not to mention, I have more classes in a row than most Spaniards (all of us do in the program). So, even though I know it makes me stand out pretty badly, that's the one thing I'm still hanging onto that's ridiculously "American". We'll see how it is at the end! :)

last night in italy :(

Not that it’s much of a  “night”….getting up at 4:30am with my mom to catch the bus at 5:20am, fly out of Bergamo, Italy at 6:25am..eek! As soon as we got to Bergamo we both wished we were staying another night here – it’s an adorable, amazing city. Very small, feels safe, and has SUCH a Christmasy hint of winter in the air! I love it! Reminds me of Lake Placid, a lot.

On the train from Florence to Milan with my mom (which was an AWESOME train, way nicer than one I’ve taken before – so cool!), we met a really friendly, CUTE Italian guy sitting next to me/across from my mom. He was born in Sicily, lives in Rome, has a best friend who lives in Sevilla! We also met a shopkeeper in Florence who adores Sevilla, and has many friends there as well. It’s so nice running into people like that “abroad” from Sevilla! Almost the same feeling as running into Americans in Spain…I love it.

 

 

My mom and I are both super sad to be leaving Italy.

Goodbye, all you lovely Italian pastries and caffe lattes :(.

We will be back.

italy take 2!

My mom’s been visiting me for the past few days in Spain! It’s been hotter than hot, definitely weather that calls for a siesta. I really don’t remember the last time it was so hot in Sevilla – I can’t figure out if it has been, and I just don’t notice because I’m usually in classes, or if the temperatures suddenly soared again.

Anyway, my mom’s visiting at a really great time for me because not only did I just happen to have a 5 day weekend, but my normal “weekends” are 3 days long, and 2 of my classes were cancelled this week. So we have maximum time together!

I wanted my mom to be able to experience more of Europe than just Sevilla. But, I didn’t realize how much she would like it there! For me, it’s the place I live and go to school every day now – it’s still super awesome, don’t get me wrong! But I love travelling and wanted to grab the chance to be able to travel more and most importantly, travel with my mom. I know she loves it too and I thought it’d be really cool for her to get to do that, since she was already in Europe!

So, right now we’re in Florence, Italy (again for me!! :D)! I found an amazing deal on an apartment here, $34/night each, bringing the total per night here cheaper than most hotels in the U.S., which is pretty great! We have a huge bedroom with 2 beds, a really cute bathroom, balcony with a wonderful view of the Duomo, a kitchen(!!!), a dining area, couch…it’s amazing! The couch may or may not be a futon – I’m currently sitting on it and a little afraid to find out…it keeps creaking and sliding around!

BUT ANYWAY. Yes, we are in Italy! We had an amazing dinner last night at Trattoria Za Za – definitely, definitely a place we are visiting again. My mom got spinach, ricotta, and truffle ravioli that actually almost had me shedding some tears it was so good. And I ordered a delicate, tasty fettuccine with pesto sauce. Yum! Sadly, no pictures, since I stupidly decided not to bring my camera.

All this build-up, just to get to the bad news…it is raining. Hard. And the weather report for the rest of the week is rain as well. I feel so ridiculously guilty – weather really hasn’t been an issue for me while studying abroad (Sevilla doesn’t really get weather! It’s just varying levels of HOT), so I don’t make a habit of checking. But even when I do check the weather, I don’t really care much about what it says – to me, rain is rain, either way I’m in Europe!! :)

But stupidly, I didn’t think about my mom. She came to Spain out of upstate-NY crappy pre-winter weather – rainy, cold, and gross. So of course, she loved the weather in Sevilla. I didn’t think about this until the plane tickets were booked (and we booked RyanAir, so pretty much our flight was set in stone), and basically I feel pretty guilty because all it has done so far is rain, rain, and forecast more rain. Oops :(.

Anyway, I feel a little better only because of these two things: 1. the amazing food; and 2. this apartment. It is such a great deal! So, I have high hopes for this trip, but I hope they don’t get smashed by this weather….more updates as I can find internet access!

-Nat

BIG NEWS!

So, ok, as probably every single person who reads this blog knows…my mom is coming to visit me this week for a LONG time!!!!! :D I AM PSYCHED.

I’m also grumpy as HECK trying to find a freaking flight to Italy and back for us!!! There’s been airline strikes in Italy, starting with the Air Traffic Controllers from what I understand, and now with Iberia as well – I’m not sure if they’re related, honestly, but it’s a freaking pain to plan around! Prices have jumped like crazy: tell me if this makes sense. I paid 70 E to Pisa, Italy, and 65 E from Rome to Sevilla. Right now, Iberia is running one-way flights to Pisa from SVQ for a WHOPPING 1,500 E and ROUND TRIP to Pisa 258 E. WHAT! Does this even make any sense to you?????

Ugh rage rage rage. I cannot WAIT to go to Italy again, I just wish the airlines made it a little easier for us ;). I resent the amount of work I have to go through for this!

(Side note: Mom, if you’re reading this and I know you are, YOU ARE WORTH IT. Ok? So don’t worry about it!! I’m just frustrated with the airlines and the nonsensical pricing!)

ANYWAY. I’ve been planning and plotting and Googling and can’t wait to play tour guide for my mom! This is just my type of “thing” – apparently I love steamrolling people into doing things (hehe!) and there is no better way to do that than play tour guide! I can’t deny it, I am a bit bossy, but it’ll be really fun to really show off “my” city. I think it’ll help me realize how many cool things are here too – there’s so much I haven’t done yet!!

ONLY TWO MORE DAYS!! :D

home

 

 

  

Christmas break ended last week...it was so early, I wasn't ready for it!  These are a few of the many pictures I took at home.  I love how cozy it is there, with the woodstove and things always being cooked and baked :).  Country living at its finest!

lake placid

 

 

 

 

 

 

i want to go back!