Champagne Tales

“You see those lights in the distance?” “Where?” the excitement was building in her voice. They had climbed halfway up a mountain after they realized the train didn’t make it to the top. “Wait for it – there!” She let out a small gasp, “I see it! What are those?” “Those are the fountain lights outside of the palace - they light up every single night.” “Beautiful” was all she could mutter from her mouth. “Indeed. They are even more beautiful from this view.” She let the silence stand between them as she looked at the fountain lights mesmerized by the ever-changing, glowing colors. It felt like a dream, something completely surreal. “Most people don’t know that you can see the lights from up here.” “Really?” “Yeah, they think you have to be right next to the foundations. Like every other tourist,” he spoke impressed with himself that he had led her and their few other friends up here to the top of this mountain and shared with her this secret view. She laughed at h...

I joined an email list for a 30 Days of Gratitude challenge. I'm absolutely in love with this quote. Ironic for this to follow after I post to write drunk, edit sober.

Ernest Hemingway spoke very wise words, "Write drunk; edit sober." I read this quote on a picture frame in my friends apartment this week and I immediately fell in love with this quote. Beyond just the reason that I love to drink, but because there is actually some immense truth behind this. When we are drunk, our standards are lowered. We say things we never would say if we were sober, and absolutely ridiculous things seem to make sense. How many times have you woken up the next day after a drunken evening and thought to yourself, "why did I think that was a good idea?" But look beyond just a drunken evening. Look at the idea here that with absolutely no inhibition, the thoughts would just continue to pour out of my mind and translate into words. Even more so than the words, great ideas might be born. Ridiculous thoughts that never would have crossed your mind if it weren't for the four glasses of wine. Revisit the story 24 hours later and make edits, whic...

I ventured home this weekend and visited my friends and family, which sparked a questions I have grappled with my whole life: where is home? When is the exact moment in time when you call one location your home? What if you know that your whole life you might float around between a variety of cities? What do you call home? I started struggling with this question when I was in college. I was driving back from visiting my family in Chicago and in those past two weeks I had been in almost half a dozen other states and locations. As I sat there in the car, I realized that I was fulfilled seeing my family at home, yet I was anxiously wanting to get back to the friends I called my family at school. It was during that car ride that I realized home can no longer be an exact location for me or else I might go crazy with sadness. This realization became ever more true as I graduated from undergraduate, and more and more of my friends began venturing around the entire countr...

Last weekend I ate an entire block of cheese myself. Combined, Brandon and I ate two entire blocks of cheese. And those weren't for meals, those were after dinner snacks. It was Sunday night and I had a glass of red wine in my hand and when I said that statement out loud, I realized my passion for cheese has gotten out of control. I'm obsessed. I could eat cheese and red wine for days. It's the ideal combination of food I dream of more so than anything else. Oh, and my favorite food in the entire world is Mac 'N Cheese. It's my comfort food and deserves to be capitalized when spoken of. I've recently learned how sensitive I am to dairy - doesn't sit well with me and not to mention it's not helping my naturally high cholesterol. They say that to get rid of a habit it takes 30 days. So I'm up to the challenge and have decided to cut cheese out of my diet for 30 days. It's been one week so far and let me tell you that there were some days that dr...

I was walking down a side stair case on a Friday afternoon at work with a huge grin on my face as I clutched my lap top on one side of me as I held nothing other than a Chick-fil-A sandwich in the other hand. As I walked down that stair case, I realized that the fact that this sandwich had literally made my day, showed how much of a foodie I am. But let me tell you that Chick-fil-A is not like any other fast food chain out there. For those of you that have not had the priviledge to eat at this fine establishment, which may be due to the fact of your location, Northerners – you are just getting your first glimpse of Chick-fil-A, so for now, I will cut you some slack. But the next chance you see one, immediately turn your car into that parking lot, walk into the store (don't mess around with the drive thru, you won't get the full experience), and order this: #1 Original Chicken Sandwich and add honey to it. Trust me. And don't skip on the waffle fries – they cook their foo...

This week I embarked on a game I had never heard of until I moved to Texas. It's a game that takes zero skill, requires multiple glasses of cheap wine, and lots of laughter. It's a game I instantly loved: Bunko. Although, I feel as if the word "Bunko" needs to have an explanation mark after it, which would make it Bunko! Whenever you get three dice of the same three numbers when it's that number's round, you shout Bunko! Exactly why the explanation mark is needed. I learned recently that some people spell it Bun c o and others call it Bun k o. The real spelling of this? Who will ever know and what different does it make since this game requires wine? What I do know is that I walked into a room of people and only knew the hostess and I walked out with a smile on my face and a belly full of wine after hours of good conversation. It wasn't my typical Wednesday night. I chipped in my $5 to play, and ended up being the worst player there after 3 rounds of 6 ...

I originally dedicated this blog to my traveling adventures, and sadly that chapter of my life has slowed, only for now ... only for now. I look back on the entry titles from this blog and realize that the last few years of my life have been absolutely wonderful, and mostly because of the places I have traveled to. For now, I have put that on hold as I venture into the adult world and work on my responsibilities of paying off student loans and paying my bills on time every month. Hopefully, my near future will bring traveling back into my life. It's the reason why I put a portion of every pay check into a small savings account labeled, "Traveling Dreams." The desire is there and will never fade away. So what do I write about when the stars of places I have traveled to on my world map have not increased since I ventured to India last year? What do I have to offer the world when my day largely revolves around my job, which I do love. I'm stuck inside freezing air c...