"I sought to see the amazing as normal, and the daily as unique, and in that swirling paradox 

I found the joy of travel." -Mary Poxon

via

Small Town Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of the year. And since I spent it in the Czech Republic last year, I was even more excited than usual to go home and eat a traditional Thanksgiving meal, lovingly prepared by my grandma. Though our holiday celebration is pretty low-key and basically consists of eating lunch, falling into a food-induced coma and watching the A&M/UT football game, I can still remember the the bygone traditions that use to excite me as a kid such as a game of baseball in the backyard, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, fighting for the wishbone of the turkey, and helping my mom redecorate the house for Christmas. Going home always conjures up memories of my childhood and reminds me that sometimes the simplest things in life are the most important. I am truly blessed & have so much to be thankful for.

When we all left for college, my friends and I started a tradition of getting together every year for a Thanksgiving Leftovers Party. It was great to catch up with some of my classmates that I had not seen in months, even years. I love hearing about everyone's goals for the future--we've grown up a lot in just four years. Here's some snapshots and an appropriate soundtrack from my trip to my hometown for Thanksgiving.

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"For each new morning with its light, 

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Fort

Although I love to travel, and I am disappointed that I have no big trips planned in the near future, I am also very happy where I am right now. Fort Worth is a great city, and I feel lucky to have called it home for the past four years. As the 16th largest city in the United States, Fort Worth is very up-and-coming, and I have seen it grow and change dramatically in the short amount of time that I lived here. It's an exciting time to be here--new restaurants and shops are going up every week, and I believe Fort Worth is experiencing the same kind of growth that Austin did ten years ago.

So welcome to Part I of what I hope will be a series, showcasing my favorite things about one of my favorite cities--Fort Worth, Texas. Here's a short film called "The Fort" by Erik Clapp, which was recently selected for the Lone Star International Film Festival.

24 Hours

I recently stumbled upon the creative work of Fernando Volken Togni. Though he lives in Brazil, his illustrations capture the highlights of interesting cities all over the world. Check out these colorful, graphic prints from his 24 Hours collection:

Zurich, Switzerland

Melbourne, Australia

Madrid, Spain

Ngorongoro, Tanzania

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Cairo, Egypt

Paris, France

New York City, USA

Casablanca, Morocco

London, United Kingdom

Barcelona, Spain

Which illustration is your favorite? My top three are Barcelona, Casablanca, and Melbourne. To learn more about Fernando and see the rest of his work visit his website.

SF Bay Area

After a brief hiatus that I like to call job application week, I'm back. Here's a look at my fall break trip to California.

Palo Alto

 Stanford has one of the most gorgeous campuses I've ever seen.

 Green Library

the Quad 

 Stanford Memorial Church

 Bell's Books: an adorable book shop in downtown Palo Alto

The Creamery: a great old-fashioned diner in downtown

At the Stanford game vs Colorado University. Stanford won!

The Stanford Band is a hoot. They wear pretty much whatever they want & paint their instruments (which for some people is a lawn chair or whatever random object they can find to beat on). My friend said they don't even have to know how to play an instrument when they join. And who can forget about their mascot--a tree.

 a beautiful dining hall

 the entrance to Brittany's dorm

Santa Cruz

Before the Stanford football game on Saturday, Brittany, Bonnie, and I drove to Santa Cruz. We enjoyed the sunny weather relaxing on the beach, collecting sand dollars, and chowing down on tacos from Las Palmas. The highlight of my morning was when I saw a sea lion splashing around in the ocean, only a few yards away from the shore. It was the first time I had ever seen one in the wild.

 

 a really interesting book that I'm reading for my Customer Insights class

 

 

 

San Francisco

Brittany needed a day to study and do homework, so Bonnie and I ventured into San Francisco on our own. The Sunday we chose to go also happened to be the day of an aerial show to celebrate Fleet Week and a 49ers football game, so the city was extra crowded with visitors. We were a little overambitious in trying to see the entire city in only a single day, but I think we at least got to see some of the highlights. 

 We rode the Cal-train into San Francisco 

We went shopping around Haight St and the Mission

and found this great decorating store

the Community Thrift Store on Valencia serves over 200 local charities

Shakespeare Garden

Mission Street

 a great hole-in-the-wall Thai place that was recommended to us

 Pineapple fried rice: fried rice with curry powder, pineapple,
cashews, raisins, onions, tomatoes, and green onion

 down on the pier

 Alcatraz

I was glad that I got to go thrift shopping in the Mission, eat some great Thai food, visit the Golden Gate Park, ride on a trolley, and walk along Fisherman's wharf. And even though I didn't get to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, I at least go to see it. Attempting to see a city in a day is impossible, especially when you are roaming around without a map, guide, or clue where you are going. Trying to figure out the puzzling public transportation system made me realize that I am just not a city girl. Public transportation is something that I did not grow up with, and it takes me weeks before I can learn all the ins and outs of a metro and bus plan.

Live music by the porta-potties. This guy even

has a cd called "I Love to Sing Love Songs." 

San Francisco is a colorful city where the friendly outcasts and creative people of the world gather to live in harmony. Certain neighborhoods, outside of the tourist areas, make the city seem like a completely different country to me. There's probably no other place in the world where people are so free to express themselves, even if that means deciding not to wear clothes one day or living in a tree.  My trip to the Bay Area was a great one. I barely scratched the surface of all three cities that I visited, and I hope to go back one day and explore some more.

"San Francisco is a city where people are never more abroad than when they are at home" -Benjamin F.Taylor

Bay Area Bound

I'm all packed and ready to go...

SF here I come!

This little snow globe has been sitting on my bookshelf for years. It was a souvenir that one of my friends brought back from a family vacation. I am anxious to finally see these cheesy two-dimensional shapes and colors unfold in real life as I visit the city for the first time.

I better wear some flowers in my hair...

 

because I'm going to San Francisco!

This weekend is my Fall Break at TCU, and I'm so excited to spend it in California visiting my friend Brittany.  I have been wanting to visit her ever since she started attending Stanford, and I figured I better go now before we both graduate in the spring. It's my first trip to the Bay Area and I can't wait to sample the shops & eats of the City. Have any of you ever been to SF or Palo Alto? I'd love to hear your recommendations on places to go!

Images: Feeling A Bit Artsy, Journey Inside My Head, SanFrancisco.travel, Unknown

                                                                                                                       Image: theyallhateus 

"Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe." -Anatole France

Labor Day Weekend

I spent my labor day weekend in Austin, catching up with some of my study abroad friends that I had not seen in a year. It was refreshing to see familiar faces and recount memorable stories of our summer in the Mediterranean. We spent the afternoon shopping and dining along South Congress and went out in the evenings to experience the Austin nightlife.

the weekend kicked off with a heartbreaking football game
under the friday night lights of Waco, TX.

well worth the long wait on a Saturday afternoon

this restaurant has a good Mexican breakfast menu that won't break the bank

unusual drinks: raspberry mint tea martini & avocado margarita

Ayesha, Bonnie, Me & Landry

After our mini SAS reunion, Bonnie & I headed to Lake Travis to soak up the sun with my roommate at her lake house. As we were driving toward Spicewood, I said, "I'm surprised there haven't been more wildfires out in the Hill Country like in East Texas. It's so dry here. It would be horrible on a day like this, with all the wind." It couldn't have been more than ten minutes later that we reached the top of a hill and spotted a steady chain of grey smoke building up in the cloudless blue sky.

We enjoyed a few blissful hours at the lake house, laying out in the sun by the pool. And then our weekend took an unexpected turn when the power went out and we were forced to evacuate. As we all took the long route out of town in a caravan of vehicles, we passed the wildfire which had made its way right up to the main road, only a couple of miles from the house. We ended up spending our last night in Austin and going out on Sixth Street, which is not too bad for having just fled the scene of a wildfire. 

Austin skyline at night

Bonnie, Rebecca, Me, Brittany, & Lauren

our first glimpse of the wildfire as we were driving in

new water restrictions in Austin go into effect today

It's been nothing but hot & sunny since my return to TX
(in Fahrenheit and Celsius)

 news coverage on the fires 

It makes me sad to see Texas, the land that I love, burning from border to border. Driving back to Fort Worth, I noticed that the sky seemed a little less clear than normal, tainted by the smoke of thousands of acres burning--so much smoke that it is visible to the astronauts in space. Where there was once green pastures and crops is now as brown and dry as a Triscuit cracker. Lakes have been reduced to the size of rivers. Cattle have nothing to graze on. A home is being destroyed every four minutes. It seems ironic that I spent an entire three months in Germany resenting the constant rain from preventing me from enjoying a new country, and now it is the one thing that can save Texas from this natural disaster. Although the temperatures have dropped significantly, it does not look like there is precipitation in the forecast for the next week. I can only pray that God might send some of that Saarland rain down here. We certainly could use it.