Oh Hey, Friday! Travel Edition- Budapest

Forever ago N & I went to Europe.  I've never blogged about it. Heck! I didn't even blog about when we went to Turkey like 5 years ago! (Ok I did get ONE post done) But I do have some great photos- that are an excellent way to fill up a Five on Friday Post.

So today...I'll look back at Budapest

1)  Chain Bridge

2) New York Cafe

3) Flea Market Finds

4) The Szechenyi Baths

5) Fisherman's Bastion

Budapest was surprising. In a very very very good way. I absolutely loved it. The city was unbelievably gorgeous, the food was amazing and the people were incredibly kind and helpful. I would go back in a heartbeat. 

I have so many wonderful photos and memories from this stop on our trip, but there are so so so many more. 

The Chain Bridge is stunning. Stunning during the day; stunning during the night. I took more photos of this site than I can count, but it was iconic, and beautiful. We went on a long stroll one night and walked partway across; watching the boats underneath and the lights on both side of the river was a great evening view.

The New York Cafe was a Rick Steves highlight that I put high on my list. It was gorgeous; gilded in gold, and flecked with such history is was breathtaking to sit, enjoy a cappuccino and take it all in. 

N found flea market- and it may have been one of my favorite experiences from our trip. I curated some antique keys for my collected; N got an awesome lego person and we have tons of photos of the amazing assortments from vendor's tables.

The baths! Oh my! I would go back again just for this. I only did one; and it was relaxing; less stressful than I thought (minus figuring out electronic lockers in a different language) and really a glimpse into true Budapest culture. 

We only spent one day on the Buda side. The views from Fisherman's Bastion were worth the trek and it was like being transported to a different country just across the river. We have a lot of pictures of ornate doors- which were particularly amazing on the Buda side of the city.   

This is such a sliver of our trip- but it is really fun to go back through the photos and remember those awesome 10 days!

Juniper & Ivy

When we were in San Diego we naturally had to make sure that we checked out Juniper & Ivy since I pretty much love Richard Blais (and his hair). Our meal at The Spence  in Atlanta has been so amazing that just the thought of eating some more of Blais' food was mouthwatering-inducing.

Upon arriving the first impression was all about the building and space. It was amazing. Totally my style and felt exactly how I like my upscale, divine eating experiences to feel. Once seated, our first order of business was the wine- which ended up being an excellent selection. We are all about the rosès these days, as they are versatile which is critical when you are eating a meal where you will be doing a lot of sampling.

We usually follow the plan of ordering a lot and sharing it all so we can taste and experience as much of the menu as possible. The menu constantly changes at Juniper & Ivy so I don't have the official names of all of our dishes, but here is what we enjoyed:

 Deviled Eggs- these were so fun! A meringue cup was the "egg" and the filling was beyond delish!

These Oysters. Oh. My. I could live on them. Similar to the ones we had at The Spence, the kimchi cocktail pearls on these were to die for. 

The peaches were a special the night we were there, with a slice of cheese and pesto, they were fresh, clean and full of amazing flavor.

Bone marrow ragu which was good- but we honestly misread the menu a bit and were a tad disappointed based on what we interpreted this as, and what it actually was. Not bad, but we ended up ordering another pasta dish to satisfy our cravings.

The pasta with clams. Show. Stopper. It was so so so good, we almost considered licking the bowl in public.

Pork, onions, and pea puree. This was heaven. I also have to make mention of the plates. Rustic, perfect compliment to the food.

I think this was halibut- whatever it was- it was one amazing piece of fish!

Annnnd dessert. Oh my gawd. Dessert. It was unreal. The Yodel was heavenly (that is that chocolate looking log thing) and that second dessert, oh man oh man. I wish I remembered  exactly what it was, but it was beyond decadent and delightful. 

I am already looking forward to eating there again, and anything that Blais opens, I am sure will be amazing since his food has been nothing short of amazing!

Breaking a Rule

I broke one of my cardinal rules.

One that I have learned not to break because the rule is there for my self protection more than anything else.

But I went ahead and broke it, and now I've got to deal with the consequences.

What rule did I break?

Life Rule No. 8: (Not sure what 1-7 are, but I am sure I have them)

Thou shall not, evereth thinkith of home before sheith is on the chariot carrying her homeward.

Such a major major major no no, and yet, I didn't pay attention.

Now I am anxious with a side of spontaneous tears that crop up at really inconvenient times. Sigh.

I know better than to think about the comforts of home. The wonderful dinners with family. The beautiful views of Boise. The lack of pee smell when you walk around downtown. The nice people, who don't act like they are better, more important or smarter than you. The families who aren't in a rush, but are just ambling to enjoy the day. The ease of getting around, and comfort of knowing where everything is. The feeling that everything is ok and as it should be.

I can't wait to drink a cup of coffee looking out at the bluest of skies on a sunny morning. Or to eat a slice of pizza from one of my favorite places. Or to just eat dinner with my parents.

But there is reality. Which means I better get a grip or I am going to be leaking tears embarrassingly for far too many days before I get on that plane.

Homesickness. It is the worst.

image via

Luckily, I am not far off from being west bound and being back where I belong for a few days. 

p.s. funny how I never have been "homesick" for DC. Should have listened to myself a long time ago to realize this place would never be more than just a "place" to me. 

Me. Oh. My.

Well me. oh. my. I could have sworn it was July. 

But here we are in September. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't have a calendar staring me in the face at this very moment. Somehow, without any explanation a full 2 months has just evaporated. 

I've missed writing here. I think about it just about every darn day, but every day I find myself going to bed wishing I had carved out the time to come here and document life. 

Eight weeks isn't even that much time, but a lot of has happened. I was just on the other side of the globe a week ago, and before that I was checking things off my bucket list, and even before that, I was in the best place on earth. I've been on 11 flights, in 7 countries, with family, with friends, and with my myself. 

I managed to essentially skip summer in DC, and there are days where I forget where I am right now. (Perhaps that is just the jet lag speaking) 

Where to start? How to wrap my head around everything that has been going on, as this summer has easily been in the top 5 summers of my life. 

I went home. I posted once about the start of my trip there and then quickly settled so deeply into my new "routine" in Idaho, I didn't bother to write again while I was there. Regardless, is was the best 5 weeks I have had since sometime in 2008 I am pretty sure. I was home. I was with my family. I was truly happy. 

I sat on our deck and read and sipped red wine. I cuddled with the dog. I saw friends. I went to my high school reunion. I went to a family reunion. I hiked. I got to love on my niece and nephew. I got to laugh with my sister. I got sort through childhood memories. I got to go to farmers markets and shopping with my mom. It was cathartic.

Bless the individual who invited the "work from home" model. Amen.

I checked off a bucket list item. I saw Niagara Falls. We even took one of those boats out to where you get soaking wet and can hear the roar of the water crashing down the falls. We wore ponchos and ate a hot dog while we strolled along and took photos of the jaw dropping sight. 

It always stuck with me when I was little to hear that one set of my grandparents had honeymooned in Niagara, and it was special to go here. Albeit, I am sure the tacky hotels and Vegas-esque vibe wasn't around when they experienced Niagara. There was also a jaunt up to Toronto, where we ate at the Momofoku Noodle Bar, and stayed up watching the light show on the CN Tower .

Then it was a frantic week, full of long nights of working and preparing to be gone on a ten day trip to Europe. We ate goulash, drank beer in a ruin pub, walked across the Chain Bridge, and soaked in natural baths in Budapest. We rode bikes, drank beer on a canal, salivated in design stores, and took a car on a ferry to Sweden in Copenhagen. We toured Buckingham Palace, and saw how giddy I can get seeing the Royal landmarks, ate pizza with a bunch of hipsters and saw friends in London. 

It's been a whirlwind. I am exhausted (and sick. boo.) but feeling incredibly energized in thinking back on what an incredible few months it has been. 

Hopefully some detailed summaries are to follow- but I don't dare say this until I actually see it happen. Meanwhile I will be sleeping odd hours, dreaming of cooler places, and really good food.  

LACMA

For yet another one of our weddings on the #weddingtour2014 we found ourselves in LA and made a long weekend/ mini-vacay out of the trip. (since we all know I will use any excuse to be on the Best Coast as much as possible). We had the entire day after the wedding to hang out before heading to another epic dinner at Ink., our favorite restaurant. After a "rejuvenation breakfast" with some other friends who had been at the wedding, we decided to head to The Getty, but upon arriving, the line to park was barely moving and we didn't want to waste our day sitting in the car. A quick brainstorm and google search later...we decided to head over to LACMA. Parking was a breeze and in probably half the time it would have taken to finally get into the Getty, we were parked, had tickets and had planned our route through the multiple buildings to try to see the exhibits that interested us most. The architecture alone was amazing, and the weather was nothing short of stunning.

One of our finally areas that we were exploring lead us to a room with a HUGE installation that looked a lot like an adult erector set. It was a cityscape with a complex track for thousands of little cars to zip along. We quickly realized that it was actually motorized and we had come in just in time to have them turn the motors on so we could see all the moving parts.

The piece is Metropolis II by Chris Burden and it was entirely worth the trip to LACMA all on its own!

And to see it in action...some video footage

A Santa Fe Wedding

We have been on the wedding circuit this year. From April to the end of May I felt like we had a wedding to attend just about every other weekend! 

The BF's cousin got married in Santa Fe and it was one heck of a wedding! Unfortunately, I barely took any photos to really show off how amazing of a wedding it was, but the backdrop of Santa Fe was stunning!

The ceremony was held in the historic Loretto Chapel , which is about the most amazing church I have ever set foot in. The miraculous staircase is jaw dropping, and such an amazing centerpiece of the chapel.

Now Santa Fe and the chapel really set this wedding apart, but what really set the wedding apart....were the beautiful brides. #twobridesarebetterthanone

These ladies are the definition of a modern day "power couple", an accomplished doctor and nurse, both stunning and some of the most kind and vibrant people I have ever met. Their vows... man went right for the heart strings.

After the beautiful ceremony the guests were ushered outside to listen to a live mariachi band while the brides had a quick photo shoot inside. I was included in a group that got to decorate the pedicab that was going to take the brides to the reception location, just a short walk away. 

One of my favorite parts was  walking to the reception venue. The brides existed, found their decorated pedicab and then we were lead in a giant process by the mariachis through the streets of Santa Fe and through the plaza. We were a huge group drawing a lot of attention, stopping traffic, people cheering and the mariachis keeping the music going.

The outside of the Loretto Chapel

Onlookers across the street, we felt like a big deal

Decorated Pedicab with the brides headed to the reception

The procession, quite the scene! 

The reception was at La Posada, which could not have been any more beautiful! My photo taking motivation quickly dropped off at this point, but the venue had an outdoor tent and indoor dance area which was perfect for the evening reception. The food was some of the best wedding food I had ever had- and the cocktails and available agua fresca was fantastic. 

Another part of this wedding that I thought was so well done- were the main of honor speeches. Perfect length with some of the most touching words. The night was a wonderful celebration (complete with s'mores)! 

Atlanta: The Spence, Trey McIntyre, and Baseball

Trey is doing a farewell tour since he has called it quits with his full-time dance company. I've cried just about every day since it was announced. 

The BF knew how much this has hurt and suggested we take a trip to see a final show so I could mourn the loss of one of my favorite pieces of dance the world. We settled on Atlanta and selfishly did so for the addition of some good food and a baseball game to make it a complete weekend. 

We left DC bright at early (maybe not bright- but certainly early) on Saturday morning and were in Atlanta before brunch time had passed. After a brief stop to grab some metro cards (way to go Atlanta for a way better ticket system than DC!) we headed to our hotel and checked-in. A brief nap and a little research we set off to track down some pancakes at Ria's Bluebird. Now I am not much of a pancake lover. I typically opt for bacon, eggs, hashbrowns-those types of things. However, these pancakes were supposed to be epic, and throw in the words "caramelized bananas" and I was sold.

They. Did. Not. Disappoint. Be still my heart-- they were phenomenal. By far the best pancakes I have ever  had. Epic. The bananas created this amazing syrup that I would have drank from a cup if given the opportunity. 

On our way back to the hotel we wandered through a beautiful historic cemetery and also wandered a bit farther than anticipated to see Coca Cola world (can we say diabetes? It was a zoo, but with 9 million bottles of soda and overly caffeinated children). After our minimal sleep the night before, we opted for pulling the black out shades and napping until we had to get ready to go to dinner.

It is no secret that Richard Blais is at the top of my list for favorite celebrity chefs (ok...I'll be honest...he IS my favorite...I mean...can you blame me?!). 

SIDENOTE: I am practically bff's with Richard's sister, so it is just a matter of time until we get to meet.

Anyways, back to the trip. We had been long awaiting an opportunity to eat at The Spence.  It was phenomenal. Even just going to Atlanta for that meeting was entirely worth the trip. Not only is the food fantastic, the space was beautiful, the staff was friendly, and the cocktails were delish.

Did I mention that my love of keys was indulged as well!

Oysters & Pearls

Fried Olives

Bone Marrow

Beet pasta

Short Rib

Sweet Potato "brulee"

And of course we had to have the table-side liquid nitrogen ice cream dessert (how could we not after watching Blais on Top Chef!?!)

The Spence dining room is sunny and beautiful!

Couldn't get enough of the key!

We ubered back to the Rialto Theater, just in time to grab our tickets and make it to our seats for Trey. I can't even begin to tell you about the performance. It haunts my thoughts. 

We saw The Vinegar Works, a work commission on part by the Rialto, which was eerily beautiful and satirical. When Trey nails it--he nails it.

We also were lucky to see Mercury Half-Life, which took my right back to the first time I ever saw work by Trey in a cramp studio theater in Boise Idaho. I remember getting chills. It was the first piece of dance I had seen that made me realize that dance was so much deeper than movement with meaning. His choreography is human, relateable, and emotionally pungent. I can't shake some of the movement that I swear will be seared into my memory forever. It was almost as good as that first time I saw him. Forever I will think of The Reassuring Effects of Form & Poetry, but Mercury half-life was in its own realm of wonderful.

It was a good goodbye. I cried. No joke. Its a close to a period of my life that has such fantastic memories tied to it. I do hope there will be more of TMP in the world, and hopefully some more dance too.

 After a night of emotional recovery- we woke up and headed for a Braves baseball game. All I can say is....Tomahawk chop.

We avoided getting drenched in a horrible rain storm, made it back to the hotel, grabbed a snack and then headed back to the airport to get back to DC so we could pack up and both leave on work trips the next day!

Taliesin West

I have yet to write about Christmas and my longbutalltooshort trip back West. Not only was I home with my family, I also got to go the BFs cousin's wedding in Scottsdale. While we were in Scottsdale we had a little bit of free time before catching our flight back up to Idaho. The BF had planned for us and his mom to get to go see and take the tour of Taliesin West, the winter home of Frank Lloyd Wright, and the home of FLW school of architecture. Seeing Falling Water in Pennsylvania was so fantastic, that I couldn't wait to get to see Talisesin West.

It was stunning. There isn't much use in me trying to use words to explain or describe much of this, so I will let the photos walk you through the property.