birdfriend

Rockin in Rothenburg

I just got back from the trip of a lifetime! It sounds cheesy, I know, but Germany was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. I had never been out of the country! Being surrounded by the foreign language and unfamiliar culture was like being in a dream. Sure, Europe isn't extradorinarily different from the US, but no matter where I was-- from the smallest village to the biggest city-- there were little things that were different. The toilets were WEIRD. And that was only the beginning.

I've decided to spread out my Germany posts so that I don't overwhelm anyone with pictures. And I'm not doing the stops in order because I do what I want, Thor!!

Thus I am starting with Rothenburg.

It was arguably the most touristy of all the places we visited-- but it wasn't at all tacky. It's just so beautiful and historical that it draws people from all over the world. The city is entirely enclosed within a wall and all the buildings inside could be from the Middle Ages. No McDonald's to be found here! And few cars are allowed to drive within the walls, so it really is like stepping back in time.

We had dinner at the Gasthof Goldener Greifen, which was perfectly German. I had some delicious dumplings in a creamy mushroom sauce!

In the evening we went on the Night Watchman Tour which I highly, HIGHLY recommend! It was only an hour long and took us through the main sights of Rothenburg and a bit of the history. The city (including the castle and fortress) was built in the 11th century and was undefeated until 1631 during the Thirty Years War. As the legend goes, however, Rothenburg was only conquered because one of their own soldiers accidentally blew up the tower storing the explosives! Bad luck for that guy. At this point the people were so poor that they couldn't modernize their city as time went on, which is why Rothenburg looks like it's trapped in the Middle Ages. Which is lucky for the Night Watchman, as he told us, because that's what brings all the tourists! 

the Night Watchman

This guy was great and added a lot of humor to the tour. As we walked by a particular bar, he said, "The name of this place means 'Hell' in German. So if someone tells you 'GO TO HELL,' you should listen to them! It's a good recommendation!"

Because most tourists come to Rothenburg for the day and then leave, the evenings are very quiet and pleasant. The shops were closed but just enjoying the beautiful architecture was enough.

the Rathaus, lit up at night

We stayed overnight at Pension Flemming, which was conveniently located within the walls of the city but was still affordable. And our room was adorable. I fell asleep with the window open, listening to the sounds of an outdoor opera from a nearby street!

the outside of our hotel

In the morning we did more walking around, enjoying all the flowers that decorate the gorgeous buildings.

the outside of the wall

a delightful young fellow named Moritz

watch out for foxes!!

We walked along the wall surrounding the city, where we got some awesome views of the rooftops!

Darby pretending not to be afraid of heights

We went into a souvenir shop that was ADORABLE inside:

saw a whole soccer team disappear into an alley...

and did a lot of posing!

And then something amazing happened... We ran into Molly from the Poor Sophisticate! She was so sweet and bubbly and was dressed adorably! It was so exciting talking to her, oh my goodness. She lives in Germany with her cute dog and cute husband!

Oddly enough, they appear in a couple pictures I took before we met!!

That's all for Rothenburg! I am planning to upload a bunch more of the pictures onto Flickr if you are interested in seeing EVEN MORE.... Next Germany post is coming up soon!

Guten Tag!

I'm halfway through my Germany trip and thought I'd upload a few pictures while I have internet! So enjoy this little preview of upcoming posts....

Beach + Giveaway Winner!

Over the past week, I've gone from Beach Vacation to Sunburn Hell to Strep Throat: Extreme Edition. So I haven't been updating to my usual standards, unfortunately. But! I am recovering and I am ready to take on the world again!

As promised, the winner of my bracelet was chosen on Wednesday night... and the winner is Hannah from tumblr! I will be contacting you asap to see which bracelets you want!

And now for a couple of beach pics because I just love the beach with all of my little tiny heart.

We went to New Buffalo, MI. Lake Michigan is so huge, it really does look like the ocean... but much closer to my midwestern home!

Elsa was SO EXCITED.

We had crepes at our favorite restaurant, Pierre Anne Creperie. Nutella & strawberries with tons of whipped cream, chocolate, and fruit!!

 

Darby found a lion in an old school desk.

We went to a little grocery store but we couldn't leave Elsa outside... so we put her inside my tote bag. She is a bit too big to be one of those little purse dogs, but she was mostly okay with it... She stuck her fuzzy little paws outside and was perfectly quiet. For once in her life.

 

We took a bunch of crazy dancing beach pictures too.

It was definitely and awesome vacation!

La La Land!

(This is a guest post by the lovely Kelsey "Sota" Winter, whose real middle name is June and who was actually born in July. Her nickname comes from her homeland, the mighty, mighty Minnesota. You can reach her on Twitter at @kjwinter13.)

Recently I went on a trip with my mom to the wonderful city of Los Angeles to visit my brother—who works and lives there—on mother’s day! I was hoping for a wonderfully star-studded vacation, and that’s just what I got! (Well, kind of…)

In that I mean that I had three “celebrity encounters.” The first was when the red-haired lady from CSI (aka Marg Helgenberger, as a quick IMDB search points out) was on our plane! I decided it would be too weird to snap a picture, so here’s one I found on the internet so you know who I’m talking about:

I didn’t actually talk to her or anything, but it was still kind of a sweet way to start off our LA trip. Exciting stuff! Haha.

Next (and this one *barely* counts) since my brother lives and works freakishly close to Beverly Hills, we stayed at the Beverly Hilton. This is where they host the Golden Globes—swanky! As it turns out, President Obama was going to a fundraiser hosted by George Clooney in his Beverly Hills mansion on the first night we arrived, and was staying in OUR HOTEL! How cool! Unfortunately, we didn’t actually get to see the commander in chief, but we did have our car searched by Secret Service and police dogs and get to see all of the security and metal detectors and such in the hotel! It was pretty awesome..

Naturally, our first stop after visiting my brother in his fancy office with a super cool view of the Beverly Hilton and Beverly Hills… 

… was Hollywood! It was unsurprisingly very touristy and actually kind of scary, but we still got to see some cool things like the Hollywood Walk of Fame! 

We decided to forgo the expensive celebrity-spotting tour buses and drive around on our own, and ended up with a pretty sweet view of the Hollywood sign in the distance.

The next day we went to the Getty Museum—which my mom was really excited to see. I’m not going to lie, I thought it would be extremely boring, but it actually ended up being SO COOL! The architecture was super interesting, and the whole museum is perched on a hill overlooking Los Angeles. This meant there were gorgeous views of the city in every direction! 

… and (I kid you not) a woman pushing three tiny, yippie dogs in a stroller. I swear I had the Weezer song stuck in my head the WHOLE time!

Finally, on our last day in California (Mother’s Day!) we headed to Venice Beach! Our first stop was the Venice Ale House for lunch, where I had my third and final celebrity encounter. We were eating outside, and sitting right across the porch from us was Pink, her husband, and their adorable baby out for Mother’s Day brunch! Again, I didn’t want to creep and take a picture, but here they are looking SO cute:

We then spent a little time walking along the boardwalk before going to what my mom really wanted to see—the canals! 

Compared to the boardwalk—which was slightly terrifying with all of the druggies—the canals were completely unexpected and totally quaint! 

They’re lined with multi-million dollar houses, and while they’re not exactly like the canals in the neighborhood’s Italian namesake, they definitely make you feel like you’re not in the middle of Los Angeles! 

We even saw a cute little cat—meow! 

It was the perfect way to cap off our “star-studded” LaLaLand adventure!

Jellybellies

A few weeks ago I visited the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. I desperately loved the jellyfish and managed to take some pretty cool pictures of them...

Short and sweet. I hope you enjoyed!

In The Ripple

I think the weather knows I'm on spring break right now, because it has been just GORGEOUS!! I spent the other day with my mom in Broad Ripple, which is a little community just north of downtown Indy. 

It's filled with cute old houses, colorful boutiques, and ecclectic restaurants. 

 

We ate at Three Sisters Cafe: I had heard good things but had never been before! It serves both breakfast and lunch. I got a filet of salmon and my mom had a Mediteranean omelet! 

 

 

Everything was delicious!

We also did a bit of shopping and went into a cool yarn shop, which was so colorful and inspirational!

 

 

We also met the cutest dog in one of the shops. Her name is Wallace and she is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

 

 

Finally, we stopped at Brics (Broad Ripple Ice Cream Station) for some cute scoops. Cotton Candy with rainbow sprinkles and Rainbow Sherbert!

 

 

We walked around a lot and saw the sights, including some cool art.

 

 

 

I just love Broad Ripple, hopefully I'll be able to spend more time here this summer!

 

tea time!

One of my favorite traditions when I visit family is to go to Miss Minerva's Tea Room in Culpepr, Virginia. It is quite delightful, with vintage dishes and hundreds of types of tea to choose from.

It is all very whimsical and old-fashioned, two of my favorite things.

Of course my favorite part is the little back room where each guest can pick a hat to wear!

We each ordered our own pot of tea, which were all delightfully mismatched. I drank a nice chai...

...and ate a scone with cream and strawberry jam...

...and some butternut squash soup...

...and a lovely assortment of tiny sandwiches, quiche, stuffed mushrooms, and lemon cake. Although it was all finger food, we were definitely stuffed by the end!!

Here Darby models a bright red hat!

Naturally before we left, we had to take a photo with Miss Minerva herself!

holiday at the cemetery

A few days after Christmas, my family and I traveled to Virginia to visit all of the family we have there. One of our first stops was Arlington National Cemetery in DC. 

We visited my Oma, who died a few years ago, and her husband, who I never knew.

The weather was gorgeous-- so warm! There were birds everywhere and the sky was so blue. We also got to see the graves that were decorated with wreaths for the holiday. It was beautiful seeing hundreds of those red bows, as far as the eye could see.

We also visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. My dad explained that the guard is constantly counting in his head, to perfectly time each movement. I can't even imagine the dedication this would take.

We also walked through this beautiful marble amphitheater. It was quiet and echoey and I loved all the perfectly-spaced columns.

I'm so glad I can see this beautiful place every year!

RSO takes Chicago: Day 2

Continuation from this post!

Our second day started with an early morning and some rushed coffee from Einstein Bros. Our first appointment: Anthroplogie, possibly my favorite store EVER but impossible for me to afford. It was cold and windy and we got to there before it opened, after accidentally going to the wrong location first!

We met with the visual manager for all the Anthropolgies in the entire midwest! Her job is to travel around, going to new locations for the store and setting up all the displays and decorations before the store has its grand opening. Unlike other chain stores, the manager of each Anthropolgie  has free reign over all of the design aspects of their own location. Every week they receive a semi-truck full of antiques from London and Paris to use in their displays! 

Working at Anthropologie, especially as the visual manager, would be the perfect job for anyone creative. As of right now, it is my dream job!! Here's a group picture of all the ladies (and gentleman!) of Retail Studies Organization:

Our next and final stop was Coach, we learned a bit about the history of the company. One hundred years ago they made leather gloves; now they are an ever-revolving  company that has managed to thrive even in the recession!

We did a bit more shopping and then had a very quick pizza lunch at Giovanni's before it was goodbye to Chicago!

RSO takes Chicago: Day 1

We started the day very, very early: we met the charter bus at a walmart at 6:15, and by 7 am we were on our way to Chicago, on the most important trip of the semester! A select few members of the Retail Studies Organization of Indiana University were ready to meet with managers, designers, and buyers of the retail world. There were around 50 of us; all ladies but for one guy. After a five-hour bus ride of watching Bridesmaids and sleeping, we stopped at a Starbucks for some caffeine and then made our way into the big city. First stop: Apparel Mart!

 This is an absolutely huge building which houses Chicago's wholesale businesses, particularly in the areas of fashion and interior design. According to wikipedia, it once had its own ZIP code because of its size.

We spoke to two IU grads who work in the wholesale area of retailing. One of them dealt with convincing stores to come to the trade show in Chicago, so that larger department stores could buy their products. We toured one of the empty showrooms where trade shows are held... I couldn't believe how huge it was inside!!

Here are several of us across the street, at the Merchandise Mart Hall of Fame. It was cold and rainy but we still had a great time!

Next we visited Zamrie, a brand started by deisgner Ashley Zygmunt. She was a Purdue grad who studied fashion in Florence and Tokyo, before interning for Zac Posen and then being selected for the Chicago Fashion Incubator. Although she is only a few years out of college, she is already a succesful designers with several fashion seasons under her belt! She is currently working on her Lookbook for Spring 2012. Her story is so inspirational for those looking to break into the fashion industry!

Chicago: gloomy and rainy but still beautiful.

Next we went to Niketown and learn about its history from some of its manager. Did you know that Nike was almost named PBR after the, um, beverages that the founders were drinking while brainstorming names? Also, the interior of the Chicago Niketown was designed by the same man who designed the set of Back to the Future!

The tubes that you see have an intersesting story: at the top of the building is a warehouse that holds all the shoes. Whenever an employee needs to get a shoe for a customer, he simply presses a few buttons and the warehouse workers find the correct shoe and send it down the tube. So efficient!

After Niketown we were free for the night to do whatever we wanted: shopping, shopping, shopping!! We walked around and went into such stores as Forever 21, H&M, Nordstrom Rack, Marshall's, American Apparel, and the new Top Shop. I spent waaayyy too much money, let me tell you. Here's an awesome window display I spotted: it's for fashion retail AllSaints, and is made up of hundreds of old sewing machines.

My group of friends had a very late dinner at the fabulous Grand Lux Cafe. It is huge and so ornately decorated that it is overwhelming!

I had the most delicious garlic & blue cheese burger, which I could barely eat half of! I also had a tropical smoothie with soda, which was unexpectedly yummy. The desserts also looked amazing, and were baked fresh to order, but unfortunately I was too full to eat anything more.

After a very, very long day, we were all happy to return to our hotel and get some sleep for the next big day!

Look out for my Day 2 post soon :)