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Hello Smart Car!

2008-10-11T17:07:00.002-04:00

Hello Smart Car!

Bye bye Jeep

2008-10-11T15:04:00.002-04:00

Bye bye Jeep!

popcorn seasonings

2008-10-10T06:30:00.000-04:00

The last time Aaron and I went to the movies, I was excited to discover you could buy a mini shaker of white cheddar seasoning for your popcorn. I love cheese popcorn so now I love getting popcorn at the movies even more.

cute jewelry

2008-10-09T22:29:00.000-04:00

Is it too early to start making a Christmas list? I love all these pieces from Figs and Ginger: Eco-friendly metal-smithing inspired by forests. The jewelry is unbelievably cute and made as an eco-friendly business.

These are my favorite items. The fawn on the ring is attached so it "flutters about". Adorable!

Domo Bat Wings for Halloween

2008-10-08T11:34:00.001-04:00

I love all the Domo stuff at Target. I wanted to buy all the little Domo's in Halloween costumes, but the thought of our very own Domo sitting at home gave me pause.

Instead of buying a bunch of new Domo's I made a pair of bat wings for our Domo.

All I needed was some black felt, needle and thread to make Domo his own pair of bat wings. Boo!

Here are a few pics from making the wings on my Project Gallery.

I also uploaded pics from making the Domo cake.

Pushing Daisies DVD

2008-10-07T06:00:00.002-04:00

I had a moment of panic when I realized I forgot the premiere of Pushing Daisies was last Wednesday... then I remembered I could watch it online.

Aaron got me the first season on DVD and he may regret it because I can watch the same episode over and over. Gotta love how the DVD's look like pies!

Owl stuff

2008-10-06T13:29:00.001-04:00

I shouldn't be allowed to go to Target unattended. I found a bunch of owl merchandise and couldn't stop myself. Two owl t-shirts.

An owl kitchen towel and an owl bathroom handtowel.

These are not from Target. Aaron got them for me in Toronto, but they match my current owl obsessed theme.

Halloween Decorations

2008-10-05T13:30:00.001-04:00

I put up my Halloween decorations today. One of the most fun holidays to decorate for I think.

Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

2008-10-04T13:28:00.000-04:00

Starbucks was giving away samples of their new signature hot chocolates, regular, hazelnut and salted caramel. I tried the salted caramel and almost passed out cold. The salty with the sweet... it is sooooo good.

As with all seasonal featured drinks, I am already panicking about the day they don't have it anymore.

Funny signs

2008-10-03T01:13:00.000-04:00

It's nice to have funny things to read on the way into work.

Who knew plumbers had such a sense of humor.

I didn't realize so many sleeping children got left behind in school buses.

Bikes

2008-10-02T20:59:00.003-04:00

I loved seeing all the bikes in Cologne.

These are bikes that you can rent... www.callabike.de

I even made a little video and posted it over on pluggedin.kodak.com

Now I am back on my city bike kick. I want one so that I can tool around town with flowers and a loaf of bread in the basket.

David and Piglet

2008-10-01T20:55:00.001-04:00

I got Aaron tickets to see David Sedaris for his birthday yesterday. I was hoping to get a picture of David and Piglet like I did of his sister...

... but David doesn't like having his picture taken so all we got was this.

Domo Birthday Cake

2008-09-30T22:19:00.002-04:00

Today was Aaron's birthday so I made him a Domo birthday cake. I had been planning this for awhile. When I saw JustJenn made Domo cupcakes I was happy to see that Domo does indeed translate well to baked goods.

I think the birthday boy liked the Domo cake.

Grape Festival

2008-09-29T23:40:00.001-04:00

Yesterday Aaron and I went to the Naples Grape Festival. The whole town smells like grapes. We got grape juice, grape pie and a big basket of grapes.

We also won a bottle of sparkling grape juice. I was pretty excited.

Cologne at night

2008-09-28T22:05:00.000-04:00

Cologne at night

Walk around Cologne

2008-09-27T22:04:00.000-04:00

A walk around Cologne

Food in Cologne

2008-09-26T22:02:00.000-04:00

Some of the food I have had in Cologne...

Pomme frites with mayonaise, ketchup and fried onions (like the kind you put on green bean casseroles)

Soft pretzel... a must.

A berliner and chococcino.

Someone told me on Facebook to try a doner kebap and I ran into one so I tried it! Yum!

How cute are these weckmann pastries?

Cologne Cathedral Climb

2008-09-25T21:57:00.000-04:00

I got a lot of great recommendations for Cologne and the one thing everyone mentioned was the Cologne Cathedral.

Domo and Piglet liked it.

I thought the outside was amazing. The inside was breathtaking.

You can climb to the top of the cathedral tower. 509 steps... I can handle that.

Ooo-wee.

At this point I felt a little woozy.

But I made it. So did Domo and Piglet.

I posted a video of my climb to 1000words.kodak.com

graffiti in Cologne

2008-09-24T21:56:00.000-04:00

One of the things that surprised me about Cologne is the amount of graffiti.

All the signs and posts were covered in stickers.

Even the stairway walls up the cathedral tower were covered with graffiti.

This was a door inside the cathedral tower stairway. I don't think I have ever seen this much graffiti, even in NYC.

Interesting things in Cologne

2008-09-23T21:55:00.001-04:00

Interesting things I have seen in Cologne.

Guards are posted around this courtyard at certain times of the day to keep people from walking on it because it could be heard in the music hall below.

Rock climbers practiced on the wall of the Hohenzollern Bridge by my hotel.

The light switches and the toilet flush button in my hotel are all huge.

I love the little cars in Cologne. Look how this Smart Car sqeezed into a tiny parking space.

Aaron should be getting his Smart Car soon. Maybe it will come with a clown on it. Hah-hah!

I couldn't figure out why there were locks attached to the fence along the bridge walkway. This one is going to bug me.

UPDATE: I have been informed that these are Love Padlocks! Love padlocks are a custom by which sweethearts affix padlocks to a fence or similar public fixture to symbolise their love.

Dinner in Cologne

2008-09-22T20:06:00.003-04:00

This evening I walked across the bridge with some fun coworkers to find dinner. I also had Domo and Piglet stashed in my purse. They couldn't miss Germany!

Domo was happy to get out.

Piglet enjoyed the walk.

All the buildings look so charming.

Here is where we settled on dinner.

Inside I ordered the world's largest frankfurter. Honestly... I had to chop it up so it fit on the plate. Oh and since I was in Cologne I felt obligated and I drank 1/3 of a Kölsch. Didn't get sick but it's still not my thing.

Despite how optimistic I look, I was only able to finish half of the frankfurter. I had to leave room for apple struesel of course. I also discovered I like red cabbage.

View of Cologne

2008-09-21T19:40:00.001-04:00

I have arrived in Cologne, Germany and this is the view from my hotel window. I can walk over the bridge to the cathedral, shops and pubs. So nice!

Photokina is huge and I am going to be busy this week!

Apple picking

2008-09-20T11:15:00.001-04:00

I managed to squeeze in an apple picking expedition for some precious Honey Crisps before I left for the airport. I ate two while picking.

Packing for Germany

2008-09-19T12:51:00.000-04:00

And so here I am packing for another trip. This time it is for Germany to go to Photokina, a huge photography and imaging tradeshow. Stewie thought he would try and stowaway in my luggage this time. Anyone have any suggestions for things to see, do, eat or shop in Cologne, Germany?

Bits of orange

2008-09-18T17:28:00.002-04:00

There are bits of orange in our backyard.

Little round carrots in the garden.

And this pumpkin. A pumpkin vine spouted from our compost bin this spring. Lots of pumpkin vines really. Here's a composting tip... don't throw all your jack-o-lantern guts in the composter unless you want a bunch of pumpkins growing out of it. For some reason this was the only vine that survived our rainy summer and it only had one pumpkin on it. The pumpkin was about 7 feet from the begining of the vine and grew on the garage alcove roof.

I am very proud of my one pumpkin. I made Aaron take this Martha-esque picture of me with it.