theinbetweenismine

just a girl living the expat life

Archives for October 2015

Friday Facts

filed under: Friday Facts

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I am a bit bummed this week. I was supposed to go to a workshop next week in Denver, CO (I’ve never been!) and was pulled from the workshop last minute. At first I thought “no big deal”, but I’ve been planning to go on this trip for weeks months and now I am quite disappointed that I won’t be going. I don’t travel much for work at all and was looking forward to getting out of the office for a bit.

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On a happier note, my dear long-time, childhood friend just informed me that she’s coming to California at the end of November. She’ll be in SF for 4 (!) weeks and will most likely want to come and hang out with me on the weekends. She would – besides family – be the first person to ever visit me here since I moved to the States.. oh, just 14 years ago. Thrilled does not even remotely describe my excitement! Especially, given the fact that J and I will most definitely not be able to go to Germany for Christmas, and it will be nice to see a familiar face before the holidays.

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Tomorrow is Halloween! J’s favorite holiday! Mine? Not so much. I usually don’t do scary things. I could be convinced to eat candy and watch “Hocus Pocus” though. That’s my idea of Halloween fun! What are your plans?

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Hooray! The new IKEA catalogue came in the mail. Who’s excited? 

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I seriously feel like the end of the year has crept up on me. Maybe it’s because the transition from summer to fall has hardly happened here in CA and it feels very weird to be thinking about the holidays coming up in no time. I am not ready! I repeat, I am not ready!

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Finally, in case, you’re not aware… I give you a little heads up on what’s coming in November. As every year, I’ll be participating in NaBloPoMo. Hooray. You’d better be excited. If you don’t know what NaBloPoMo is, read about it here or come back on Sunday for an ‘introduction’.

Summer Tales II – Las Vegas

filed under: family, summer tales, travel, USA

I am recapping the wonderful times that I had with my family here in the States this summer. See all related posts under the category:  summer tales.

We had a full day in Vegas (7/9) and started off with a big breakfast at the Le Village Buffet. I am not a huge fan of the buffets in Vegas (because they’re usually expensive and I just can’t eat enough to make the cost worthwhile. I’d much rather order a nice meal somewhere else), but of course you have to eat at a buffet at least once while you’re there. The Le Village buffet is one of my favorites, because they always serve authentic French style crepes!

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THESE munchkins!

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Around 11 a.m., we headed out to the famous Las Vegas sign. Of course, we had to take pictures at this tourist attraction. If you’re wondering where the proof is: I can’t locate the picture. I’ve been going through thousands of pictures, organizing them by date, but it appears that some of them have been lost in the abyss. Bummer.
My Dad and I dropped everybody off at the Las Vegas Outlets and we took the rental car back to the airport (because you really don’t need a car in Vegas).
Conveniently, the Outlets were right next to the airport’s rental car place and so we could walk back and meet everybody back at the stores.

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At 5p.m. we took the bus back to our hotel and then had time to jump in the pool for a bit.

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I had made last minute reservation at the “Trevi” restaurant inside of Caesar’s Palace. As it turned out, a good choice! We dined next to the “Trevi” fountain and the pizza, carpaccio, chicken and salad were delicious!

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We watched the “eruption of the volcano” at Mirage Hotel and then took a walk through the ‘Venetian’, but unfortunately, it was too late and the gondoliers had already gone home. It was still a fun day in Vegas!

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You can find the last post here. 

Currenty | October

filed under: currently

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eating apple-cinnamon steel cut oats. So, so good. The taste of fall.

watching This is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN. (Am I a broken record?)

enjoying the finally cooler temperatures. Thank you, fall.

happy-dancing about some really good news from my bff’s recent cancer screening.

wearing close-toed shoes again for the first time this fall. It’s still in the 80’s during the day, but the mornings and evenings are significantly cooler now.

missing out on a high school reunion back home. Debating if this is a good thing after all ;)

looking forward to another work trip at the beginning of November.

loving my first cup of coffee in the morning. No seriously, I think this is what makes me get out of bed in the morning. If I didn’t have that to look forward to, I don’t know what would happen… (and then on Monday, I get to the office and my co-worker is already there (he usually comes in after me) and he’s brewed an awfully thin pot of coffee and I just can’t even..).

appreciating little things like not having to pay for my teeth cleaning last week. Since my healthcare premiums have gone up significantly under my new work contract (*sad-trombone*), I try to at least recognize some little perks that come with that (let’s see how many more I can detect! I hope many more!).

planning on launching some Christmas cards for this year in our Etsy shop soon. I’ll keep you posted!

keeping in mind that nothing is ever as it seems.

Seeing an old friend + a birthday

filed under: birthday, weekend

J and I had a nice mellow weekend. We like it that way. However, this was not an ordinary weekend for two reasons…

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On Friday, I had the pleasure to finally – after 10 years! – meet up with one of my earliest blog friends again. Sanna was coming through town with her husband and a few friends on their way to a weekend in Napa Valley and I got the chance to grab a cup of coffee with them before they headed out! I am so glad we had the opportunity to see each other again and catch up, even if it was just for a couple of hours!

I also crossed a dentist appointment, a scheduled training run and laundry off my list that day.

Saturday was busy with errands at the post office, grocery store, and the bank.

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Yesterday was J’s birthday and we celebrated with coffee and chocolate croissants, as one does! We had a low-key day, were out and about a little bit in the afternoon because it was a beautiful mild autumn day, and then we went home so I could cook a delicious birthday dinner (recipe to come!).

Other good things this weekend:
a thunderstorm ♥ crafting ♥ phone calls with my family ♥  candles ♥ reading ♥ movie night ♥ planning ♥ meal planning ♥ sleeping in ♥ real simple in the mail ♥

How was your weekend?

October Link Love

filed under: link love

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It’s time to round up my favorite reads and links from this last month. Enjoy!

The case against equality of opportunity. First I was like “WTH?” when I read this title, then I wholeheartedly agreed with the bottom line: “The goal is a good life for all”. MUST READ.

There was this really interesting article in the New Yorker about What old age is really like.

And them my friend Marie wrote about How old is old? in response to the article. Definitely something to contemplate. I could really relate to what Marie wrote “Be it 5, 17, 28, 35, 46, 61, or 89, we remain the same, just shaped a little more by our life experiences and the knowledge we gather along the way.” Isn’t that the truth?

17 Halloween movies for the easily scared people. Hahaha, that would be me!

Why people never smiled in old photographs. Who knew!?

I think there is some good advice here: Here’s how to start running, stick to it, and not totally hate it. Also: just getting outside and moving is important, IMHO.

Pretty much sums it up: 11 things that only girls with fine hair will understand.

Healthy Greek yogurt lemon poppyseed pound cake. All my favorite things!

More deliciousness! This looks so good! Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup.

Fellow crocheters! Those circle-in-the-square pillows are so pretty!!