Holiday - Amsterdam - Part II

My apologies to Shanda for the delay in sharing this post. I've been too busy playing the role of important marketing executive and all-around mover and shaker. I vow to be better.

Now...for the rest of the story. And, I'm making this more photo montage, less words...because frankly I don't remember a lot.

Leslie, Tayar and I bellied up to a little bar to thaw out and formulate a plan. There we met Terrence, the sweet, young bartender who gave us the clif's notes on public transportation and the fastest route to the red light district.
Our first stop in the red light district was, you guessed it, a coffee shop. Tayar and I tasted the local fare and the rest is history.

Stoner's Paradise
More local fare...
C-Team Sex Show...To protect the innocent I'll tell you the story in person.
Followed by the A-Team Sex Show across the canal...more stories I will not put in print (until I publish my book).

I don't have a picture of our cab driver that got arrested for hitting a bike cop with his car. It all happened so fast I didn't dare reach for my camera when they began pepper spraying him in the face and bitch slapping him out of the cab. I also failed to capture a hot pic of Leslie pushing the police chief in the chest asking him, "Does that hurt? 'Cuz that's how hard the car hit her." *sigh* I miss all the good stuff.

When No One Is Looking

I dance and jump around the kitchen singing to Sadie that "I can have wine if I want to...I'm a grown-up."

skype me? skype you!

I typed this while being entertained by two of my best friends last night. It doesn't matter how old they get, boys will be boys.

Willie: (looking at Carl) He's got good ass soccer ass legs. Look at these legs. Do the leg thing.

Carl: What? (flexing with the foot twist) That right there? I've got soccer legs for sure.

Willie: (looking at self) These legs are actually pretty good. I can't even tell you how many compliments I've had on these ankles. (running in place)

Carl: Is he double-dutching? What is that? Kolo can do it.

(Willie's dog Sydney begins humping Carl..Carl humps her back)

*sigh*

I'm sitting on the porch in my white ski jacket missing the wolf pack.

Holiday - Amsterdam - Part I

The morning started off a little rocky. I was ready to roll before Tayar and Leslie so I went out to buy us coffee before we took a car to the airport. I asked the little old woman at the counter if they had take away cups (nobody knows what to go cups are in London...or A'dam or Dublin for that matter). I mean honestly, how can you NOT understand that. I understand take away cup. Why can't you understand to go cup. Irritating as hell...but I digress. The sweet little lady said 'yes' so I ordered the lattes. When she handed me the three small styrofoam cups I noticed the lids didn't have that little perforated peel back area to drink through. The lattes were cheap. It was early. She was old. I didn't have the strength to complain. I brought them back to my travel companions only to get an earful of shit about the lids. Leslie spilled 75% of her latte on herself, Tayar and the car on the way to the airport. By the time we arrived at Heathrow she and Tayar smelled like a Starbucks and were as sticky as a couple of barefooted kids at the Wrath of God HEB.

They got cleaned up, we made it through security and found our gate. We were perplexed to find that not only did our gate have doors, but said doors were also locked. We hung outside the locked doors for 30 minutes and scarfed down convenient store sandwiches (perfect for a hangover, disgusting if you're sober). Airline personnel in funny top hats finally let us in and we took a seat in the waiting room (which had seating for approximately 200 people - so why in the hell were we locked out for so long with no place to sit??? It was really strange.). Tayar and I sat down beside each other, Leslie across from us. In my peripheral vision I noticed Jesus' doppleganger approaching. (Jesus' doppleganger was headed to A'dam? I guess it only makes sense that Jesus' doppleganger likes to party. I wondered if we'd see him in a coffee shop later that day smoking hash. We didn't. Two thumbs down.) I knew Leslie noticed him, too. We had a conversation about it without saying a word. Those are the best, aren't they?!?
After a short 50 minute flight (power nap) we arrived in A'dam. Contrary to popular belief, the first item on the agenda was a trip to the Anne Frank House.

Anne received a diary on her 13th birthday where she began writing her deepest of thoughts. The profound insight that little girl had about humanity is truly staggering. She gave the diary to her father every evening for safe keeping. He promised to never read it...and he didn't until after her death. During the tour there was a video clip of Otto, Anne's father, discussing his feelings after reading the diary. He spoke of the wonderful relationship he always had with Anne and the discussions they would have. He knew she was a smart child and believed he was close to her, but upon reading the entries of Anne's diary he came to the conclusion that parents never truly know their children. The idea, of course, saddened him. I walked out of the AFH with tears in my eyes. In the grand scheme of things, I guess nobody ever truly knows anybody else. Those deepest of feelings, fleeting thoughts and crazy ideas that we keep to ourselves are part of what defines us as people. Sharing those things would make us more vulnerable than we already are. Hell, I censor myself on my own blog that I'm not sure anybody reads. The idea that no one will ever truly know me...all of me...feels lonely.

If you've never read The Diary of Anne Frank, read it. If you read it when you were in high school, I encourage you to read it again. Her thoughts and ideas are light years ahead of her time and wise beyond her years. That's powerful stuff.

It took a 20 minute, freezing-cold walk to shake off the heaviness of that experience and jump back into my party pants. The rest of my time in A'dam is a bit of a blur. I'll try to get a grasp of what happened via pictures and get back with you soon.

Holiday - London

First stop on my and Leslie's adventure abroad was to spend the week in London with my friend Tayar. We arrived at Heathrow at 8am on a Saturday and hopped in a black cab and took off to Chiswick (pronounced Chiz ick) to drop our things at Tayar's flat. The three of us had breakfast and took off for city centre to do some site seeing. It's a good thing we did, most of the rest of our time in London was spent inside pubs. Of course, I like to view things from a local's perspective and you definitely don't find many of those loitering at Buckingham Palace. We perused the art at the National Gallery, walked through Trafalgar Square, took a photo opp on the Millennium Bridge and rode on the London Eye to capture amazing views of the city.

I took this pic for Leo.

After much walking around it was time to hit our first pub so we black cabbed it back to the W4 (Chiswick) and met up with Tayar's friend Coggs. He's one of four or five Aussie's Tayar runs around with. They are an amazing group and I'm happy to have made their acquaintance. So many times I get shushed and am asked to please use my "inside voice." Or, I'm told I've embarrassed someone by something I've said or done. The Aussies were refreshing...they're as gritty as I am. By the end of our first night, the Aussie's had joined our wolf pack. :)
We had dinner at amazing restaurants every night, but my favorite dining experience was at The Pilot. Tayar and his friends gather at this neighborhood pub each week for the traditional Sunday roast. All of them are transplants to London so they've become each others family. It's such a beautiful concept that I'd love to start with my friends in Austin. We had pork roast, purple cabbage, roasted parsnips, carrots, potatoes...Sunday goodness...Amen.

Me & Leslie

Tim & Tayar


Libby & Coggs

Libby and I were cut from the same cloth...I heart her!

When everyone went back to work on Monday, Leslie and I spent a few days exploring London on our own. I successfully navigated the tube (it's not that hard and way slower than the subway in NYC) and we spent one afternoon checking out Camden Market and another gawking at Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, etc.

We spent our last night in London hopping around a few pubs in the W4 with the wolf pack (sans Libby...she was sick...I'm still bummed we didn't get to say goodbye). Fun night. Unforgettable trip.

Countdown to Londontown...and A'dam.

I've been busting my butt all week preparing to leave town for a 2-week vacation and it's making me crazy. I've always been a "work smarter not harder" kind of gal. These 12-hour days have me consuming way too much wine every evening. And turning off my brain when I go to bed??...forgetaboutit. If I worked this hard EVERY week you'd have to put me in a padded cell.

My note from The Universe this morning was so on point I had to smile as I was checking my blackberry while hiding under the covers not ready to face the day. I hit snooze, snuggled down and gave myself 10 more minutes of some crazy ass dream because of it. Thank you Universe, you always know just what to say!

Of all the things that matter, Johanna, that really and truly matter, working more efficiently and getting more done is not among them.

Chill,
The Universe

And, quite accidentally, Johanna, such an appreciation leads to greater efficiency and more productivity. Not that that really matters.