Have you ever heard of Whirly Ball? This game is crazy! You have two teams of 5 or less riding in bumper cars while scooping a wiffle ball to throw against a basketball backboard for a goal. Yes, you read that right. It is a mix of lacrosse, basketball and dodgems (as my mother likes to call them). So, yesterday we took some time with our friends and went to Whirly Ball. It was awesome. For more information on Whirly Ball, go here.
Hey, hey, hey! We are really doing up the Christmas thing over here in The Cleve. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. Here are this weeks pics:
Albert – Boulder, Colorado
Hanging out on The Hill at Salvaggios.
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Julie – Denver, Colorado
I found this ad in my Food & Wine magazine while flying home.
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Farrell – Cleveland, Ohio
Om, baby.
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Juani – Dominican Republic
lipstick tree pods used for Taíno face painting
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the cocoa butter in the beans makes the paste glisten
Yesterday I heard someone say something that made a deep impression on me. It was, “Healing is an art that we can all practice.” I’m into it.
(image via here)
Last weekend I had the strange pleasure of attending a live screening of the Metropolitan Opera‘s matinee performance of Aida in Columbus, Ohio. The whole experience was actually pretty cool. The Metropolitan Opera does live screenings of its performances In movie theaters throughout the country. It was kind of funny to be watching the opera from a movie theatre, but the experience was truly lovely and unique. If you are interested in the Met Opera’s live screenings across the country, check it out here.
(Image found via Pinterest)
Celeste Aida
If only I were that warrior!
If only my dream might come true!
An army of brave men with me as their leader
And victory and the applause of all Memphis!
And to you, my sweet Aida,
To return crowned with laurels,
To tell you: for you I have fought,
For you I have conquered!
Heavenly Aida, divine form,
Mystical garland of light and flowers,
You are queen of my thoughts,
You are the splendour of my life.
I want to give you back your beautiful sky,
The sweet breezes of your native land,
To place a royal garland on your hair,
To raise you a throne next to the sun.
Watch Luciano Pavarotti’s performance of this song here.
(image via here)
I have spent some time lately staying in other peoples homes and as always, I am drawn to their bookshelves. On top of that, my passion for books and reading has skyrocketed since our travels. I love to see the way people arrange their books. Do they do it by color? Topic? Author? Do they embrace their bookshelves, or do piles of books just end up a bookshelf?
As someone who doesn’t currently have a home of her own, I dream of my next bookshelf. I dream about the books I will acquire throughout the years and the ones that will change my life, entertain me or change my perspective about the world.
I recently came across the book My Ideal Bookself, by artist Jane Mount. She asked 100 creative thinkers what their ideal bookshelf would be and why. I think it is a great idea. What would your ideal bookshelf be?
Remember Lauren’s post about her bookshelf? Check it out here.
Happy Monday! We hope everyone had a fun weekend. Having just gotten back to Cleveland, I am still trying to wrap my head around being home and moving on to new and exciting things. Here are some pictures from friends and family around the country. Enjoy your week!
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Karen – Islamorada, FL
Beasts of the southern wild.
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Erin – Islamorada, FL
No pants sailing time! Emerald water!
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Our boat.
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Teddy – San Diego, CA
Merchandise list at the show in San Diego.
The final destination of our travels was the one and only, Venice, Italy. Our time was mostly spent eating pizza and pasta and drinking wine and cappuccinos on the cheap. Venice is such a unique and amazing place and is on the top of our list of places we went. Because Venice was built on a clay island, it is slowly sinking. Given the tides, some parts of the city are flooded while others are perfectly fine. It is amazing how in tact this place was after hundreds of years of foot traffic and I look so forward to going back there some time in my life.
We also spent the day in Burano, which is a small and colorful island just off Venice. It was one of the most lovely places I have ever been. What a treat! Here are some photos from our last stop:
Since we’ve been back in the United States, I feel like a walking zombie. I saw this video and can’t stop thinking about how much cooler it would be if I looked like this throughout the day.
~ Don’t book flights for 6 a.m.
~ Try your best to stay in the moment.
~ You can travel around the world for a lot less money than you think.
~ Always take the boat ride around the city.
~ Know yourself well enough to know when you need to rest, eat and sleep.
~ Value the support of the people who love you.
~ You probably shouldn’t travel to cold cities when it’s freezing. (Maybe it would have been different if we had warmer clothes).
~ Pizza is cheaper than pasta.
~ Don’t order a spritz with Campari unless you want some hair on your chest.
After our time in Turkey, we had two weeks to pass on the cheap, before our final destination on this trip – Italy. So we thought, “Let’s go to Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary.” It actually seemed like a crazy plan, but we did it anyways. We took an overland route from Istanbul to Budapest, spending only a couple of days in Bulgaria and Serbia; then ending up in Budapest for 10 long days.
Belgrade, Serbia was awesome (a few pics here). It is a charming city with great food and many sights to be seen. We rented bikes, saw a fortress, ate at some nice places and relaxed. I would definitely recommend visiting Belgrade, but make sure to go in the spring or summer when you can sail and enjoy the views.
Budapest is an amazing city and with a lot to offer. I must admit though, we were on a really tight budget, feeling tired of being tourists, and ready to go home. We did however do some pretty cool things. Budapest is known for its public baths and I made sure we hit one up. The one we went to had 18 pools of different temperatures, saunas, steam rooms and medicinal areas (think aromatherapy). It was the best thing to do on a freezing cold day.
The buildings around Budapest are truly stunning and it was easy to get caught up in the scenery. The Hungarian Parliament is one of my favorite buildings we have seen on our whole trip.
Another of Budapest’s draws is its ruin pubs. We went to one if the coolest bars I’ve ever been to, Szimpla Kert. It is hard to describe, but is kind of like an abandoned building that has been casually transformed into several rooms with some of the coolest hang out spaces ever. You have to experience it yourself.
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