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Paris - Texas

2010-10-15T19:01:00.000+02:00

I know, I know... It has been a LONG time since I've updated. So I have been home in Houston for a month now! and I never got the chance (was too lazy) to post my Paris trip. It was amazing! Whitney and I rented an apartment for three nights and went everywhere. When I say everywhere I mean we went EVERYWHERE. The first night we got there we just walked around the neighborhood our apartment was in. Turns out we were right off a street with a bunch of bars so we got our fair share of "Bonsoir!" with drunken eyebrow raises and I got many "Etes-vous chinois?" which I replied "Non." and confused them.

The next morning we decided to start with the Notre Dame. So we walked. And walked. By the time we decided we were seriously lost and tired it was lunch time and we were at the Bastille. So we had a cute little lunch and headed towards Notre Dame. We were closer than we thought. On the way there, there's the nicest street with all these gift shops, gelato stores, and cookie places. Everything I saw I thought "Oooooh this would be a great gift!" Except for the gelato shaped like a flower which I happily ate. We finally made it to the Notre Dame and there was a pretty long line to get in. Even with our 2-day museum pass, this was one line we couldn't jump ahead of. When we finally got in, we climbed what seemed like a never-ending spiral stair case. But once we got to the top, the view was worth it!

Our next stop was the Louvre which was not too bad of a walk from the Notre Dame. Some people said we could skip the Louvre because it was too crowded and far too large to see in one day but how could I work at a museum and NOT see the Louvre?? Whitney agreed so luckily our museum pass did let us skip the lines and we were able to walk right in without any waiting. We decided to hit up all the well-known pieces first and if we had time to go around to all the others. I think we spent about 2-3 hours in there and by the end our feet were so tired. But the night was young and there was so much more to see!

We took the Metro to the Eiffel Tower and made it just in time to see it in daylight and at night. It was so beautiful, especially at night with all the lights twinkling and with all the music and people around. We walked around people watching while souvenirs were thrown in our faces and roses were shoved in our hands. It was so fun to be around! but our bodies were breaking down so we grabbed a couple of crepes before giving in to the coziness of our apartment.

The next day was my birthday! We started it out by going to a bakery across the street from the apartment and getting the best croissants I have ever had. We learned our that our feet couldn't handle the walking we did the day before so we took the Metro to Musee d'Orsay. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any pictures but it was one of my favorite places we visited in Paris. To be able to see all the paintings you've learned about all your life from text books was amazing. Colors were so much more vivid. The details that you could never see and the brush strokes that could never be captured by pictures. Oh my goodness. And then to see one of my favorite artists Toulouse Lautrec...my mouth was literally open the whole time we walked through there. When our minds were about to explode we decided to head towards Champs Elysee. We walked down Rue de Honore to go to a store made for designers, Colette. I wanted to buy every single item in there. For myself. If anyone wants to get me something for any occasion just go there and send me something back. Thanks.

I can't believe I still remember all this but everything we did in Paris was so great I guess all the details stuck with me. Whitney and I then walked down Champs Elysee after a short (or maybe not-so-short) break at a cafe. We stopped into a store so Whitney could get her brother a soccer jersey. Then we watched a group of break dancers perform in front of the Arc de Triomphe before they were broken up by a couple of police officers on horses. The Arc was lovely just like everything else in this city but I think by this time we were so worn out we were just taking pictures so that we can enjoy it later. That night we had a very nice dinner for my birthday. Strolled around our neighborhood and crashed in bed. Were we supposed to go to a club or something? Our feet couldn't remember.

On our last day we took our time packing our stuff, heading to the bakery (of course!), and then going to the flea market. I got a stack of these old French postcards, some with full letters on the backs. I'll have to remember to scan these in. They're so beautiful! I also bought a bag for myself which I adore!

The best part of this day was lunch. We stopped in this little tiny place we thought might have something vegetarian for Whitney and ordered. It's hard to describe how adorable they were trying to make sure Whitney was happy with her food; constantly checking to see if she was ok and happy with everything. "Do you eat this? How about this? Is it ok?" Perfect ending to our trip. Although the trip back didn't go as smoothly but we'll just leave that part out for now.

A hike in Austria

2010-09-06T16:41:00.002+02:00

This weekend Whitney and I went to Austria with my bosses Jon and Lori. They took us to this really great restaurant where we had käsespätzle, this potato based noodle with cheese and fried onions on top. So good. So filling. It came with a side salad and potato salad. Yum!

Afterwards, we went for a little hike to try to burn off our heavy, delicious lunches. The view was amazing. It looked over Lake Konstanz and you could see Lindau and even the border between Austria and Switzerland. The hike was filled with beautiful sights like that.

Whitney was very excited about the cows.

And the giant leaves.

We also saw a hunting post. Deer season is coming up.

By this time Napoleon was forced to rest. He was going a little crazy. So cute.

And on our way back we stopped for some cider and a visit with the donkeys.

And by the end of our day we were all still stuffed from our lunches. So we drove home to sleep it off. =)

Purple, yellow, red, and white.

2010-09-02T14:07:00.005+02:00

Eggplant, cherry tomatoes, corn, and feta. So good.
Why do I cook so much better when I'm in Switzerland?

All gone.

Zurich Street Parade

2010-08-15T08:19:00.002+02:00

The Zurich Street Parade is pretty much a huge techno dance party. With over 30 floats and 100 dj's with several stages set up, the party never stops. Whitney, Karen, and I all slept in Saturday morning, had lunch, before heading to Zurich which is only an hour and a half train ride away. The music was definitely not what most Americans listen to but the people looked great and loved having their photo taken! Here's a little taste of who I saw yesterday.

-Note- Please excuse the accidental posting of an explicit photo. The issue has been corrected. Thank you and sorry for any mental damage it may have caused.

"Damn it! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN??"

2010-08-08T16:35:00.000+02:00

Geneva

2010-08-02T14:35:00.001+02:00

This week, we got a new intern at Icon Worldwide named Whitney. She's from Michigan, is a designer, and is super cute. We decided to go to Geneva together this weekend during Swiss National Day. There's a festival going on every night through next weekend with promises of food, drinks, interesting people, and fireworks. We got there around 1pm Saturday afternoon, and walked around the lake where the festival was being set up. Unfortunately, we were dressed for colder weather since Gais has been cold and rainy for the past week and Geneva was bright, sunny, and warm. As you can imagine, in jeans and boots, we got hot pretty quickly and decided the only way to remedy that was to go to the beach! We went to the hostel to change and made our way over to this little strip that jutted into the lake with pebbled sides that led you into the water. It was packed. It was hard not to step on anyone as we stumbled our way to a small opening in the shade. We sat and people watched for a bit before crawling towards an opening with a little more sun to warm ourselves. A little game of toss the football (yes, an American football) started in the water in front of us between what I made out to be a French guy or Swiss French and 3 Americans, none of which could throw a football to save their lives. Come on American tourists! You can't speak the language! You can at least be good at playing your own country's game... -sigh-. The beach started to thin out and we decided it was a good time to go find some dinner. We grabbed a couple of kebabs at a stand near the lake before going back to the hostel to change for some night life.

That night we walked along the lake and found a bar on the water's edge with a perfect view for the fireworks. I ordered a vodka tonic and Whitney couldn't decide on a drink order so the bartender assured her he would mix up something she would love. She agreed and he asked if she liked milk, she hesitantly said yes. In a tall glass, he filled it with ice, milk, and some red stuff, slid it over the bar and told her to have a taste. I could see that she was a bit apprehensive but with one sip her eyes lit up and the bartender started laughing. She said it was the most delicious drink she had ever had and it tasted like strawberry milk. Anyone know what she was drinking? He said it was a special drink he only made for special customers. Ohhhhh, Whitney!! We sat at the bar for awhile and watched some very interestingly dressed guys walk by. For example, one guy was wearing a white t-shirt with some shiny gold graphics on it, white shorts, and a gold belt. We also saw a lot of guys wearing small Burberry purses. It was so weird. I am definitely not into man purses or murses. Any of you guys into that? Please let me know and take a picture of yourselves in these outfits. Afterward, we wanted to go to a club but the one we were going to go to was not available that night and Whitney's feet were starting to hurt so we settled for a bar with some live music and awful dancing. I took a few videos and I promise I will edit it together soon. We also spotted some very fashion forward people here as well, including these guys who thought it would be cute to dress as triplets.

It's kind of hard to see but two of them are standing up and one is sitting down. All the same shirt, the same hat, and white sunglasses. Why they thought this was a great ensemble to repeat three times is beyond me. By 1am, Whitney and I endured enough bad music and dancing for the night so we went back to the hostel and crashed.

The next day we had to check out by 10 am, got a quick breakfast at the bakery across the street and walked around the city for awhile. I think we got lost about a dozen times and went in circles about 4 times. We met up Jack for lunch at this pizzeria and did some more walking. I thought Jack would be a better tour guide but he got turned around a few times himself. We pretty much just zigzagged around Geneva for a few hours before it was time for us to head back to Gais.

Thanks for being my travel buddy for the past month Jack. The office and I will miss having you around. Good luck in England!

Stars and Stripes

2010-07-26T12:35:00.002+02:00

I decided not to go anywhere this weekend and give myself a break from traveling. So on Friday night, Jon, Jack and Nic (known to some as Jick), Karen and I went out for dinner and drinks to celebrate the boys' last day at Icon Worldwide. After work we drove into St. Gallen and ate at a place called Stars and Stripes which is supposed to be American food but seemed to aim more towards Texas. I wish I had charged my camera for this night but unfortunately I didn't think twice about documenting dinner and drinks so I have Jon to thank for the above picture (that's me with Jick). That one was taken at a lounge we went to after dinner. The music I believe consisted of the following: Rick James, Prince, The Black Eyed Peas, I believe some Rod Stewart, and maybe some Akon. Possibly some 80's Madonna. It was... interesting. Afterward we went to a club. They didn't have as diverse music as the lounge but still entertaining. The boys were letting loose, singing and dancing, possibly trying to hit on girls. Well, Jack was the only single person there so I guess he was the only one looking. The night came to an end when Jon's eyelids were starting to droop and we all piled into a cab and slept it off.

Saturday was a good day. Woke up at 8:30 and chatted online and fell asleep around 9:45 again. I wanted to say bye to Jack and Nic before he left but he left at 10:00 and I didn't wake back up until 12:00. I had made plans that night with a friend I had made a few weeks back who lives locally. So from 1:00 to 6:30 pm I cut my hair, watched a movie, painted my nails, read a bit, and chatted online. It was a very productive afternoon.

I was surprised around 5:00 when I got a text Jack asking if he could join in the fun that night. I thought he had left already! I think I'm learning that he will never... actually... leave. So Jack and I met Franziska at the train station and headed to St. Gallen to join her friends for dinner and drinks. After dinner we decided to go to a club called Coccon. This was the best club EVER! When we got there we were the only ones there. We all sat in this tiny room with flashing lights lining the walls, the seating, and the ceiling, each with a pity drink, staring at the empty dance floor. But just as we thought it couldn't get any better, these two older women came in and started tearin' up the floor! I've never seen anyone stare harder at themselves in the mirror while dancing as I did that night. But wait, in comes this 60 year old man shaking his hips, getting closer to these women and lower to the floor! I wish I had my camera because I know you guys don't believe any of this. I kind of don't believe it myself now. Damn. I wish I had it all on camera. That pretty much closed the night. We ran out and across the street for one last beer and all headed home.

Sunday was the laziest day. I slept, read, watched a movie, read, and watched a movie.

I know this post is picture deprived so I wanted to share with you guys what I'm looking at for inspiration at the moment. Karen actually showed me these and I LOOOOOOVE them.

These are by Experimental Jetset and I am absolutely in love with their designs. The concept is so simple, but the outcome totally blows my mind. Why are people so awesome?

Bern

2010-07-20T13:35:00.007+02:00

This weekend I went to Bern with my coworkers. We got there Friday night and stayed at Nic's house. He was gracious enough to barbecue for us but of course all he bought were ribs, sausages, chicken wings, sausages, corn, sausages, some bread, chips, and sausages. I had to throw in a bag of salad into the mix to make sure we weren't completely off balance. You may notice in the picture below that Nic is half wet because he courageously stood in the rain to barbecue for us! Go Nic! I should have taken a picture of the bucket-o-meat but the guys attacked it before I realized that I should probably document this event. We did nibble in the green house while the rain died down as Nic was so kind to re-enact for you guys.

The rest of the night consisted of: trying to get the neighbor girl to join us, a few drinks, a lot of internetting, comparison of iTunes collections, a long conversation in fake German between the boys, some Marcia bashing, and convincing Jack that he did not need any more Tequila shots.

On Saturday we woke up bright and early around noon. Everyone apparently had woken up at 9 but thought everyone else was still sleeping so went back to sleep. Sure. After we woke up, we waited for Nic to mow the lawn before heading into the city. We walked around the beautiful old town, saw the bears of Bern, the Zytglogge tower, the Gothic cathedral Münster of Bern, then we ate at a Mexican restaurant. I know most of you are like what? You went to Switzerland and ate at a Mexican restaurant? Just so you know, I also eat burgers here so... We were going to go to a bar but decided against it because everyone was tired. From what? Who knows. We went back to Nic's place had some champagne to celebrate our tiredness and fell asleep to Clash of the Titans.

Sunday we actually woke up at 10 am yet somehow managed not to leave the house until 2. We're a lazy slow moving bunch. (Nic made us a protein filled brunch and forced us to eat the leftovers before we could leave. I think I'm done with barbecue meats for awhile.) This time our destination was Thun. When we got there we decided to go see the Castle Thun except we couldn't really figure out how to get to it. It was in the middle of all these buildings, so we took a chance on a pathway between two buildings/apartments and luckily found our way to the castle. It was pretty interesting walking around in a building that was 900 years old. Of course it had a bit of touristy stuff so we had to take advantage of it. We continued walking around Thun for awhile before we decided it was time to go "home".

Lugano

2010-07-12T09:54:00.008+02:00

This past weekend I decided to go to Lugano. I heard from so many people that it was their favorite place in Switzerland so I had to go! This trip started out a lot smoother than the Zermatt trip thankfully. I got to Lugano around noon and grabbed a pizza and a little vendor before heading to the lakeside. It was pretty hot and humid because a storm was moving in that weekend. It was a bit misty over the lake but it was still gorgeous! After a bit of walking around and a delicious stop for gelato, I took a boat tour around the lake. It was great and I originally planned to get off at a few stops but it was so hot out that I decided to go for a swim in the lake instead. Problem was I didn't bring swim wear so I got off the boat and found one at H&M and headed to the lake again. Then I realized I didn't have a towel or a place to change. So I went to a restaurant and ordered a drink and changed in their restroom. I figured I could just walk around until I dried off for the towel issue.

The dip in the lake was much needed. It was really cool and refreshing but I could only stay for a little bit since I had to check in at the hostel at 7. It was a fairly nice hostel with a swimming pool and all. The rooms were coed with 16 people to a room and coed bathrooms. That was kinda odd but it is what it is. So I got all checked in and headed out for dinner at Grotto Al Bosco. It was more of a local place with reasonably priced delicious food. I had a little appetizer thing and ravioli with ricotta, spinach and sage. Something kind of strange was that they served their local wine in these little cups that almost looked like tiny bowls. I was hesitant to pour my wine in there at first but I took a look around and it seemed that it was what I was supposed to do. Hmm... I guess I should have taken pictures of that.

So after dinner I decided to check out a few bars maybe find one that was kind of low key with good music. There was a festival going on but it was like a Reggae festival, which I'm not really into. I stumbled upon this place with really bad music and mojitos that weren't much better so I drank down my mojito and moved to the next place. I then went to a bar that was part of a hotel overlooking the lake but they only served martini's and it seemed kind of empty. So I hung out there for a bit and watched this guy almost get hit with these temporary canvas walls they had up outside. It was odd... he looked kind of familiar but I just didn't know from where. So I left and walked up and down Lugano in a quest to find the perfect bar. For some reason, a voice kept telling me that the places I was passing was just not it. By the time I gave up on my quest it was 2 am. I headed back to the hostel but it was still so hot and humid outside. I remembered that the hostel had a pool so I quietly took a swim there before heading to bed.

The next day Jon and Lori invited me to where they were staying for the weekend...about an hour away from Lugano. I took 2 trains and a bus to get there and it was so worth it! I mean just look at these pictures! The river was fed by the melting snow atop the mountains so the water was ice cold, the most beautiful blue green, and clear. It was a little too cold to swim around too much in for me but it was great to just wade in. I crossed this waterfall and had to take a picture.

But look! There's some guy in it! That's the guy I saw almost get knocked out at that bar! and actually if you look back at a few other of my pictures... he's always in the corner somewhere! How strange is that? Anyway, my bosses were nice enough to give me a lift home. I was pretty tired by this time but the ride was gorgeous. I saw the dam that was in the James Bond movie Golden Eye, one of the longest tunnels in the world, toured Liechtenstein and saw a living castle. Whew! When I finally got back to my hotel...I passed out. Great weekend!

Don't forget to click on the pictures to see them larger.

Zermatt

2010-07-04T18:15:00.000+02:00

This weekend was amazing! Lindsay (another design intern here) and I went to Zermatt early Saturday morning. It started off really rough though. Let me start back from Friday when I bought our tickets online to try to save some money. We were super excited because I found some really good deals. Then I purchased and printed them when I found out that I had bought 2 pairs of tickets going from Zermatt back home and none of the tickets were actually to Zermatt. So I told my boss Lori who said not to worry she would go down with us to straighten it out at the train station. When we got there with Lori and her husband Jon (the other boss), they said they could not do anything and Jon went off on them for poor customer service and the level of rudeness we were getting. I felt so bad that they were doing all this for me. At the end, we ended up buying another pair of tickets to get to Zermatt... meaning the super saver deal I tried to take advantage of online had been nullified. Great.

That night I set my alarm for 5:00 am to have plenty of time to get ready for our big trip. I was excited! Problem was, also that night, my phone died. So I didn't wake up until 6:10 and we were supposed to leave the hotel at 6:15! I scrambled together some stuff as Lindsay knocked on the door all dressed to hand me a plate of eggs. =\ i took a bite and continued to get ready for the next 2 minutes and ran out the door. We ran down to the bus station and got on just for me to realize I had left my half-fare card at the hotel. This card is vital to me being able to afford the trip so we missed that bus so that I could run back to my room and get it. I ran back to the train station since we now had to take the train instead of the bus and 5 minutes later got on the train from Gais to St. Gallen. We then got on a train from St. Gallen to Zurich which we caught just in time and then a train from Zurich to Visp which we also caught 7 minutes before it left. Then 3 hours later we took a train from Visp to Zermatt which we caught literally a minute before it left.

The train ride into Zermatt was amazing! Snow capped mountains, waterfalls, rushing streams, caves, beautiful small houses...just indescribable really. When we got there we had about 5 hours before we had to check into the hostel. We grabbed some lunch and took a train up to Gornergrat. The train wrapped around the mountain going up giving us a breath taking view. When we finally reached the top we couldn't even speak. We were just surrounded by this gorgeousness that was so overwhelming. I just sat there for awhile to take it all in.

Unfortunately I wasn't dressed appropriately and it started getting chilly and drizzled a bit. So we took a train half way down the mountain and hopped off to hike down the rest of the way. We came across the cutest sheep and they let us get so close to them. Then the trail down was pretty scary at first since it was pretty rocky and slippery and the whole left side of the trail was just a drop down. Of course my fear of heights didn't help but I did it! You can see from the picture below how far up we were. This is after about 30-45 minutes of hiking down already. The town we were hiking towards is at the bottom but not the one with the little roads connecting in the center... the town is behind that, very small and more populated. As you see we had a looong way ahead of us.

We decided to take a break and take in the scenery next to a small stream. We sat down on the side of the mountain on the softest and lushest greenery, surrounded by all these colorful wildflowers. We filled our water bottles with the water from the stream and it was ice cold and delicious! How could you beat water straight from the alps?

We headed down for another 3 hours or maybe even 4 I can't remember. It started raining and our legs, feet, and toes were seriously getting sore but we were determined to make it, especially since we had to check into the hostel by 6:30 pm. We finally got into town around 5:45 and we were cold and wet and Lindsay was a little sunburned too. We got a little lost looking for the hostel but we got there at about 6:20. We were doing this all day. Catching things at the last minute but we were doing well. We changed our clothes and went down for our free dinner. It was pretty good for a hostel, plus we really needed the recharge. We wanted to go see the glacier after dinner but unfortunately the lifts were closed so we headed into town. We had seen a bar named GramPi's when we first arrived and were determined to go there. That is where we found THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD!!

I mean how great is he? That's Lindsay pretending to pose for a picture so we could get him behind her. It's hard to see here but his mustache is curled up on both ends! So we people watched for awhile there before we went to the bar across to see what was going on. Fifa. We pretended to be interested and scoped out if they had any hot guys. I proved my demographic to Lindsay when the only looks I got were from some old Indian man and a middle aged white man from across the bar. In my defense I was wearing sweats, a tank top, my hair pulled back, and no make up. But still that is my usual crowd. Not very proud of it. I was kind of cold so I ordered Tee Rum (rum+tea; please try it, its energizing and good). We weren't getting any free drinks looking like disgusting hikers so we went back to the hostel and crashed. The next day we caught 4 trains back to Gais and vowed not to use our legs for the rest of the day. We could barely get up and down the stairs for the trains.

Wandergebiet Trails

2010-06-26T17:47:00.000+02:00

Today I was supposed to go to Zurich but I woke up and was still dead tired. So I decided to sleep a little longer and then it was 1:00 pm! So it takes about an hour and a half to get to Zurich. I didn't think that was enough time for me to spend there. Instead I decided to go for a little hike along these trails they have all over the hills here. I packed up a bottle of water, a pear, and my camera. So I started off and passed a street of houses before I saw any signs of the trails. Then I saw what I was in for. A good long walk. Nice.

If you look closely you can see a small white line that goes up the hill and that is what I followed. It didn't look too bad. I told myself I would just take my time, no speed walking here. Just enjoy it. So I did. I kept a steady pace but it wasn't too fast or too slow. It was warmer than the past few days and the sun was really beaming. I should've worn sunblock but I didn't even think to pack any. Next time I'll know. Anyways, I was doing fine until I passed this little brown house and it started to get steeper. Wow, I knew I was out of shape but this was ridiculous! I wasn't even walking fast but I was getting out of breath and it had only been 30 minutes into my walk! I blame the air. I'm not used to such high elevation. That's exactly what it was. I'm sticking to it. So I walk up as high as I could before I found some shade and decided to take a little break and take some pictures.

It was really pretty. But you guys probably think it looks the same as my other pictures. And do you see the biker in the top picture? He could barely ride up the hill. It took forever for him to pass where I was sitting and he kept looking and smiling at me. 1. Probably because he thought I kept taking pictures of him. 2. I am the only Asian kind of anything within a 20 mile radius (I hear there's a Thai restaurant in Zurich).

So I decide to try to keep going as far as I could but about 5 minutes on the path again I saw that I was starting to catch up with the biker and he seemed to be really struggling while I was already panting. So I gave up and started downhill. Hey! I walked for an hour before giving up and going back. I'm pretty proud. So it only took me 30 minutes to get back to my hotel and I plan to do that a few times a week to see how much further I can go. So on the way back I saw these guys and thought they were pretty cute. Let's see how many of my posts involve pictures of animals.

Gais

2010-06-23T17:46:00.002+02:00

Today was my first full day here in Switzerland. I got the day off to adjust. Last night, I couldn't really sleep all the way through. I kept waking up every hour or two since it would only be 5 pm in Houston. Plus there's a church near here with a bell that rings every 30 minutes or so. Also, at like 7 am construction started and there was drilling right outside my window. But I was able to sleep off and on until 1 pm and then I showered and walked around the town. I found a really cute cafe and had a croissant and some tea. Walked around some more and took pictures. It is very hilly here so it was all down hill and then all up hill when I walked to the hotel. Makes for some good exercise.

This is from the plane window almost landing in Zurich. The clouds were so puffy and gorgeous and it's hard to see in the photo but you can see the Alps peeking through. It was pretty amazing.

I saw this as I was walking around town. Megan had just asked me if I saw cows and if they wore bells. Indeed they do. Cute but they bring the flies so there are alot of flies here. Very annoying but its not too bad. They're not in my room and weren't swarming around me on my walk so its not horrible.

Here's a view from my room. As you can see the town is very cute. And on the left side behind the buildings you can see the alps. It's much better in real life. Then on the right side there are all these green lush hills with cows and goats and big houses.

I think one/all of you should come here and stay with me for a week or a few days even. That would be so fun! I'm serious too. If you're able please do!

Sexy Pasta

2010-06-17T05:56:00.000+02:00

Today was my last day to work at the museum before my trip to Switzerland. I did manage to capture my coworker's cubicle for you guys to see. Yeah. Those are all Star Wars toys. That's all I have to say about that. So my coworkers took me out for a lunch at Amazon Grille and it was fantastic. Then at the end of the day everyone gave me hugs goodbye and it was sweet and sad but I couldn't help smiling as I left the office. It felt great! I mean I'm coming back so I'm not that sad.After work I met up with Joanna and Erin at 59 Diner for dinner and to shoot a podcast. We decided to go to H-E-B and just record ourselves making observations about the food packaging. It was pretty fun and I'm sure we sounded like huge design nerds. Luckily, I brought along my brand new digital camera Muy bought me. It is amazing! So here's a few shots of our day at the grocery store.

This is Muy. She is the bestest friend in the world. Not only does she spoil me for no good reason, but she's the cutest!

Eleven more days...

2010-06-08T22:05:00.000+02:00

When the giant squid bursts through the wall to play with the monkey, robot, and penguin, its hard to concentrate on work. Who would've thought that the giant squid only wanted the I heart Jim mug, but who could blame him.

Yes this is what my desk at work looks like. You may think, "How childish and immature to have all those little toys displayed on your desk." Well... you haven't seen the guy's next to me. Maybe I'll be brave and shoot a photo of it another day.

So there's only eleven more days until I leave for Switzerland. I'll be there for about eleven weeks and I guess its almost time for me to start packing. Here's what I'm thinking: Pack most of my closet, 4 different pairs of shoes, running shoes, and a pair of flats I'll be wearing to the airport. A camera (complete with batteries and charger). A laptop(complete with batteries and charger). Make up bag. Hair care products. Blowdryer and curling iron. A tote bag. A purse. Is that all? Do I need a wall plug adapter? Should I exchange some money before I go over there? Seems like something is missing. I can't think of what it is... can you?