Random Thoughts

HELLO EVERYONE!

I cut my finger pretty bad last night. I was chopping green peppers for stir fry and SLICE. It hurt more than normal and bled a lot more than normal. I put the chunk of fingernail back on and the husband bought me some band aids--he was out when it happened. He brought home about 12 different bandages. He's such a sweetheart. My kids kept their distance as they get woozy pretty quick. They usually place a band aid and neosporin on a cut for me but this was too ugly for them lol. They are too funny to me. So I am typing with my middle finger instead my index finger lol. I type with two hands so it's no big deal.

Didn't take a pic, but here's a pic of my cute little man :)


I am addicted to soundcloud. I found so much great indie music there and mainstream music i never heard. I discovered Kendrick Lamar there. I've read several status updates with people talking about him, but I never heard his music before. I am happy to have discovered him. Looking forward to buying his album now. I also discovered The Stuyvesants, Akira Shelton and a few others. Actually the last two I discovered watching natural hair videos on youtube with their music played in the background. So I did my own research which lead me to soundcloud and now I am addicted to the site. And I am definitely supporting these artists on iTunes. Check them out. Here's a great song from Akira Shelton feat Jasmine Jones:


I love love lovvvve make up lol. I don't wear it all at once but in the last few months i've learned a lot and gotten better. Thanks to youtube. I follow so many beauty gurus there it's crazy. Look out for make-up posts here soon. Not tutorials, but stuff I am loving. Was thinking about having make-up mondays.

I am homesick for Europe. Not just Germany but Europe. But I LOVE it here in Japan so far.

If you don't follow me on youtube,  instagram or facebook I froed out my hair last week. Just for a day and I loved it. I gotta find a heatless way to do it. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_L-mfPV_hYyZ6j1-wHMNaQ

I GOT MY IPAD BACK. I haven't really used it since I got it back, but I am looking forward to using it for editing vlogs etc.

Moving and Trip to England

GW move in a couple of weeks!!!! Omg so stressful. Taking care of the last of everything is so stressful. My stomach is knots, my phone is constantly ringing and my home is steadily emptying. However the emptier my home becomes the messier it seems to get. I don't  get it. Ooh nevermind, I have kids.

We are so ready to see our family stateside. Last weekend we went to England. To visit my sin and nephew before we go. So happy to do that. I miss my brother so much.  And it was wonderful to spend time with my nephew. Next up is planning our trip to America along with all the other things we have to get done here! Hotels in America are so expensive! We are a family of five and I don't want to put anyone out especially during the week so the hotel plan is the best. We will hopefully figure something out. Anyone have any hotel recs? 

England was a wonderful trip. The sun shone the entire time, the weather was amazing. A welcome break from the dreary weather we had here in Germany. Parts if our city became so flooded due to the rain. It was ridiculous. Made me happier to be so far away! In England, I cooked for my brother and wasn't so concerned about being a tourist but making England a home away from home. It felt so amazing. I loved it. We shopped, ate, talked and relaxed. We did go to Cambridge and it's a gorgeous town. I feel so honored and blessed to have seen so many different places and now I am addicted. The kids loved England so much. We want to go to be more city before we leave in a couple weeks, but we are not sure where yet. Somewhere CHEAP preferably and close. 

From trip to sainsburys

Taken by the nephew

Well wish us luck with the move! Will reveal location with an Instagram pic when we get there. 

Milan, Italy with the Family

Canals of Milan not like Venice or even Amsterdam. But like, Amsterdam, the canals are close to some eccentric areas of the city.

I've wanted to go to Milan forever. It just seems so glamorous, though I am not that fashion forward. After having children, it just didn't seem like the typical family-friendly destination.

I love this "fail" family photo

I was wrong. There are gelatarias, patisscerias, playgrounds all over. Almost every block has a playground. The funny part is that there were more adults relaxing and soaking up the sun than there were children! Also a free aquarium, that's small but a nice break. It's located next to the huge park Piazza Sempione! If you're there long term, there are also indoor swimming pools all over the place. 

My children loved Milan. I think they loved it mostly for the incredible weather! It was in the lower 60s (Fahrenheit) while were there. A big contrast to the 30s and 40s in the town we live in Germany. The people were extremely friendly and curious. My children can be a bit eccentric (like their parents) and they got a lot of odd looks from the locals. My husband and I were cracking up lol. 

One annoying aspect of Milan that I experienced in Paris back in 2010 not in 2013 is all the peddlers. It was ridiculous. I had my big azz camera so I basically had "I am a tourist" boldly written on my forehead.

We checked out the Duomo church, Piazza della Scala, Sforza Castle and other landmarks. Like most places we've been, we have little children, there were no partaking in the famous operas or museums. But my husband and I said we will definitely be back....some time in the lifetime! 

Atop the Duomo Cathedral

Beautiful Streets of Central Milan

The Sforza Castle

In front of the Sforza Fountain 

Of course we ate quite well. The restaurants' prices were a bit on the high end, but we didn't have one bad meal. The prices stung initially, but later we had no regrets! Right, honey?

We didn't eat here, but thought it was cool! There are a lot of top designers with cafes here! Even Gucci!

Plus the helpings were huge

Beautiful fresh market!

At least it's Spring somewhere!

Collecting rocks by the cathedral. A tradition we have

Piazza della Duomo

This was terrifying but I've always wanted to do it!

Duomo Cathedral

Ossobucco With Risotto Milanese. HUGE helping! But Good!

Ravioli with Wild Boar Ragu also mine LOL.....I had a food baby here, too.

Loads of food "on the house" also some shots of Limoncello at the end and lots of candy for the kids!

Crostini also on the house

Helping me document it all!

Ciao Bellas!! 

I have over 100 pictures in my flickr album if you want to see more. The link is on the left sidebar.

Amsterdam with the Family

Amsterdam was full of surprises for me. Surprises that I kind of expected but was surprised anyway



to surprises that I totally did not expect! Like so much dang good food! As I said on my Facebook page, as it's the munchies capital of the world, it's not that surprising ;-)






Amsterdam was not on my list of places to go when I first hit European soil. It just looked like a big place of trouble as a young airman. Little did I know that it probably was the perfect place for me. This town is where everyone was true to themselves, really chill, friendly, and just fun. It's a great place to rid yourself the prudes, to eat well, to be in awe in all the lovely architecture, to explore the canals, to engage in culture and  history. It's not just a sexed up/drugged out town I am happy my children got to experience this lovely town and I wish we visited more than once. But I hope anyone in Europe or looking to go to Europe read this and give it a chance. It has everything, culture, fun, family friendly restaurants with GREAT food and service, and something to do all the time. Besides Amsterdam, Holland itself has so much to offer with its magnificent beauty and charm.




We stayed a Meininger Hotel which is located outside the city but about a minute from the train station for about 8 euro you can easily venture to the center of the city. The public transport is easy to use as well. You can also board their hop on hop off buses or boats. We chose to take a  tour and our captain was awesome!!!Click Here for a list of Amsterdam City Boat Tours



We have small children so their interest in the Anne Frank's House and the Van Gogh Museum is pretty close to nil, though we would have loved to go. Instead we went to the Nemo Science Center filled with sooooooo much for children. It's all interactive with shows, and food. We had a great time. There were some racy areas for small children, which is mostly targeted for older kids learning about their bodies.








MOVE UPDATE:
All in all, I learned Amsterdam has everything a family with young or older children will love. Again, if I could I would visit many many many more times. 3 days was not enough! We would have stayed four, but our son's grandparents needed us back Sunday night. However he was supposed to come with us, but they gave us the puppy dog grandparent eyes so we gave in. They're going to Morocco for two weeks and wanted some QT with their grandson which is understandable as we're leaving Germany soon. In fact, we've put in our two months' notice too our landlord!!!!! OMG. Are we acting like we're moving? Kinda. We've sold a car and aren't buying anything for the house. Right now we're focusing on travel plans and house repairs. Still trying to see as much of Europe as we can. Look out on my Instagram or Facebook Fan page for the upcoming trip. It's TOTALLY Griswold in nature and I am a nervous wreck about it yet also very excited!