I’m currently traveling to one of my favorite places in the world – San Francisco. I’m going to hang out with one of my best friends, Sasha’s sister, and to meet our wedding coordinator at The Carneros Inn, our florist, our lighting designer and our cupcake creator! I cannot wait. I’m sitting in Orange County, daydreaming about being Lauren Conrad… pictures of the trip to be posted soon!
Photo <via>.
I often think to myself, if money was not part of the life equation, what would I be doing for my job? Instead of management consulting, I would perhaps be a travel consultant. I would love more than anything to help people plan their great adventures – picking out hotels, restaurants, excursions, shows, etc. in foreign lands. I love to travel. It’s my passion. I get great excitement from experiencing new cultures, trying unknown foods, and meeting new people. I want to share that joy with people and alleviate the potential stress of trip planning.
Before Sasha and I went to Europe, I made a guide book for us. It’s very detailed, and we almost followed it to a T. I got rid of the scanned passport pictures, and uploaded where you can view my insanity here. If you are going to Greece, Turkey or France soon – I’d love to help you! I have many good ‘lessons learned’ from the vacation.
Our next trip will definitely revolve around water and relaxation (it will be a honeymoon after all!), and so I had to feature these pictures from my best-friend’s gorgeous tumblr <fourth lake>.
It’s true – this really has been my favorite year of my life. Every year, I make a Shutterfly book to document the travels and memorable occasions of the year, and after finishing this year’s album, I truly cannot stop grinning. I spent the last 365 days living with my best friend, traveling around the world, going to four weddings, seeing the birth of two close friends’ babies, finding a new church home, getting a promotion at work, being given a new home to decorate, and having two proposals in my family (mine and my older sister’s). I’m blessed with amazing friends and family, all of who make every day happy.
Click here to view my 2012 in pictures.
It includes travel to Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Arizona, Illinois, Colorado, Oregon, California, DC, Florida, Antigua, New York, Turkey, Greece and France. Lots of amazing memories. Happy New Year to you!
Our last stop on the trip was Paris – one of my favorite places in the world. I had an internship in The City of Lights two summers ago and I fell in love. We only had 25 hours in Paris, so it was a non-stop sightseeing tour of my favorite places. I absolutely adored showing Sasha my favorite vegetarian restaurant (L’As du Fallafel), smoothie place (Le Paradis du Fruit), coffee (Les Deux Magots), neighborhood (Le Marais), museum (Georges Centre Pompidou), and, of course, building – La Tour Eiffel. It’s magnificient.
In front of Notre-Dame
Getting Ladurée gifts for friends
The Louvre
Les Jardins des Tuileries
Hot wine on Les Champs Elysees
L’Arc de Triomphe
My two favorites (my ring stayed in Texas!)
Today is our last day in Greek, and we were picked up early by Manos for a private tour of Corinth, which is about an hour and a half away from Athens. The drive west was absolutely breathtaking, as we followed the coast nearly the entire way. We stopped to take a picture at the Corinth Canal, then made our way to the Greek Orthodox Church of Corinth, where we went inside and witnessed a real Corinthian service. We’re going through the book of 1 Corinthians at Bayou City Fellowship right now, so I was nerding out the whole time. We drove through the city looking at ruins, then rode up to the top of the highest mountain where we walked through the fortress that protected the Corinthians for thousands of years. Next was the wine tastings – my favorite. Our favorite place was Palivou Estate, where the wine tasted like magic. We bought the biggest bottle (against my best traveling/luggage-weight-limit judgement) of their award winning Ammos Reserve. After the tastings, we went to the ruins of the Mycenaens. The cave we entered was built in the 12th CE B.C., which is ancient. We headed for a late lunch after seeing the tomb of Agamemnon (in the movie Troy), then trekked back to Athens, winding along the water. Exhausted after lots of walking, we’re packing and getting ready for Paris, as our flight leaves at 6:45 AM. The City of Lights on Christmas Eve – my dream come true!
Sasha’s meal is cooking on the fire behind him…
I love this country
Mycenaen ruins – built over 3,000 years ago
Because we were tired of regular, boring poses
Merry Christmas – we bought the barrel
We had to stop the car because of sheep crossing…
Our favorite wine at Palivou Estate
Looking down on Agememnon’s cave at the bottom
Atop the Corinthian Fortress
The Corinthian Church – loved experiencing this!
The Corinth Canal