Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic
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Au Revoir, Paris!

I’m not sure if you’ve heard the phrase “When we make plans, God laughs,” but I’d like to adapt it slightly for our trip: “When we make plans, Isla _____.” This morning, our grand plans to get out and about early were thwarted by Isla sleeping until 11am after going to bed later than normal last night. Normally, I would be anxious to get the day started, but I was admittedly very tired, so we lay in bed until 10:30 and then got ready so that we could scoot our as soon as Isla woke up. We ate breakfast at the apartment, then went to Le Fregate for coffee before deciding to nix Le Musee D’Orsay and go to Le Marais. We stopped for an obligatory photo on the Lock Bridge, then wandered by Hotel De Ville on our way to lunch. We intended to eat at L’As Du Fallafel, which is very famous and delicious, but it was closed for the French holiday, so we ate at my favorite – Chez Marianne. I ate there all of the time when I was living in Paris, as it was affordable and you got a lot of food (bonus!).

After lunch, we looked at the time and realized that the walking tour we wanted to go on (with Paris Walks) started in 30 minutes, and we were a 40 minute walk from the starting point. Cue us speed-walking through the streets, anxious to get the Vavin metro on time. Arriving just a few minutes late, Isla woke up promptly as the tour began and was ready to roam around and not be held or confined to her stroller. So alas, we dropped out of the Hemingway tour (sob, sob, sob), got gelato and yogurt again at Amorino, bought Isla some new French shoes at Catimini, then went to roam Luxembourg Gardens.

After almost an hour of Isla making new friends all around us (photo evidence below), we walked back towards the apartment, stopping for a few necessities at the Monoprix, then having dinner at Cafe de Paris, where I ate with my dad when he visited me in 2009. Dinner was so tasty (Sasha’s favorite meal in Paris), but we were both ready to rest our feet (mine very blistered at this point). We came home, packed, then did Isla’s bed routine and put her to sleep in her BABYBJORN travel crib (which we adore).

We’re getting picked up by a car at 3am tomorrow to take us to the airport, so prayers for Isla’s mood for the rest of the day are appreciated. We didn’t book that early of a flight months and months ago, but flight schedules change and we can’t control them!

I hope everyone in the US had a wonderful Memorial Day! xo

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International

Our Next Adventure: Australia and New Zealand

On Saturday, Sasha and I pulled the trigger on flights to Melbourne for January 2016. As I’ve mentioned before, we’re going to Paris next month to watch the French Open, and so I’ve lured Sasha into traveling ‘down under’ in order to go to the Australian Open (we both win, right?). I visited Melbourne in May of 2010 as the tail end of a vacation in Sydney, where I was visiting friends (and of course, I kept a travel blog!). My parent’s best friends (and practically my second parents growing up) moved to Australia when I was in high school, and I got to stay with them for a few days before flying back to Texas.

I absolutely loved both Sydney and Melbourne. I genuinely think Australians are the coolest people on planet earth, so I was a little fan girl-ish the whole time I was there.

For our 2016 trip, we’ll spend a handful of days in Melbourne, catching up with the Pattens, seeing the sites of the city, and watching tennis, and we will also take a flight to either Auckland or Christchurch (the capitol of New Zealand) for more adventures. Traveling around Milford Sound is on my Bucket List! I could spend hours on Google images clicking through pictures. I’m slightly nervous about traveling 20+ hours with a 1.5 year old, but that’s what iPads are for, right? Ha.

I cannot wait to start planning the trip; however, I’ve got to finish my Paris and St. Petersburg itineraries first! In the meantime, I’d love to start collecting helpful resources. Do you follow any Australian blogs? I’ve listed a few of my favorites below. Have you been to Melbourne or New Zealand? If so, I’d love to hear your recommendations!

Favorite Australian Blogs

Australia14 Australia18Sydney Opera HouseAustralia16

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Personal

10 Things You May Not Know About Me

Last year, Jenny Cupido and I connected via the blogosphere, and I’m so glad we did, as I love her blog. She asked me and a handful of other blogger friends to participate in a blog hop (started here) where we share 10 facts that our readers may not know already. You’ll find all of the participants linked at the bottom of the post. I’m honored to participate in this fun series. Some of my readers have been friends for years and years and may know all ten facts, but others  may be surprised about some of these tidbits. I’d love to know if you learn anything new!

1. I have traveled to 6 out of the 7 continents – I still need to visit Antarctica, and while I’m excited to go, I don’t think it’ll happen for a number of years. If you like tracking your travels, you should get an account on Wolpy (unfortunately, the Wolpy map doesn’t show the mapped cities in mobile view). I’ve traveled to a number of cities, but only lived in Scotland, Texas and Paris (for a summer). I speak conversational French, but definitely need to brush up before our trip in May! The world is enormous and when you see it all mapped, it makes you realize there is so many places you still have to go to. Thank goodness for Bucket Lists.

2. I’ve never shared this on Snapshots & My Thoughts before, but my husband, Sasha, was on Season 5 of the Bachelorette with Jillian Harris. We still give him a hard time for it now – I’m so glad that she stopped giving him roses! It’s funny because we watched a lot of Love It or List It Too (for which she’s a host) while in Durango, and now I absolutely love Jillian. I like to think I’m his unicorn! Sasha and I met while working for the same global consulting firm. We were both on a project in Oklahoma City – I love how our paths aligned. We also went to the same high school… only we were 7 years apart!bach

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Wanderlust

How to Plan The Most Amazing Vacation Ever

If you’ve been following along for awhile now or if you know me personally, you already understand that I’m pretty Type A. When we plan a vacation, this personality type becomes extremely apparent. Thankfully, this works for Sasha, and some people like to wander lackadaisically around new cities with no itinerary – I honestly cannot wrap my head around that, as I land with a printed agenda and have plans down to the minute as to what we’ll do and see. The most important thing for me (and others like me) to remember is that if something goes awry, just let it be. If we have ten things planned, but end up spending lots of time at one museum, it’s okay to let the other things not happen. But I do need plans just in case!

When we went to Turkey, Athens and Paris, I printed a book out that had our flight confirmations, passport info, and day-by-day itinerary. I’ve wiped out personal information, but you can get a good idea of the plans we had by reading it here. I created a very similar document/folder when we went to Bali last year for our honeymoon (see the custom map here). I think it’s very important to be well-prepared before you travel to a new city in order to absorb as much culture, sightseeing and delicious food as possible.

groupbaliPraying in the Tirta Empul Temple in Bali

We’re currently planning our trip to Paris and St. Petersburg in May. I spent almost four months living in Paris in 2009 and have been back twice since then, so planning that portion requires much less research. St. Petersburg is an exciting challenge, as we’ve both never been, don’t speak any Russian, and don’t have any friends who have visited before. Fortunately, my best friend’s boss is from St. Petersburg, so I’m going to ask her for advice once I’ve done more research, as well as use Tripply (more on that below).

1pickdestinationPicking your destination(s) is the most important step early on in the travel discussion. Perhaps you’ve got a bucket list of places that you’re dying to see (like me!), or maybe you’re open to any country. If you fall into the latter group, then it’s best to do some researching. Are you looking for a cultural experience? Or a relaxing beach getaway? Once you know what kind of vacation you’re interested in and have decided on a budget, I recommend scouring the following sites for city inspiration.

  • Entouriste: This travel photography site features jaw-dropping pictures from cities all around the world (all of the photos on this post are from Entouriste except the header and second photo!).
  • Atlas Obscura: This travel blog has an inspiring section called Places, which highlights cities and sites from all around the world and includes a bit of background and some photographs.
  • Conde Nast Traveller: I am obsessed with this site. You can browse destinations or get inspired by ‘Types of Trips’ – whatever you’re looking for, you’ll find on this site (to be referenced later on in the process too). Their travel guides are phenomenal too.
  • Trip Advisor: I am a huge Trip Advisor nerd. Like huge. I swear that you can plan the most incredible vacation by reading other people’s reviews. When you’re trying to pick a city or cities, I highly recommend looking at their Top Destinations in the World listings.
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Personal

Week in Review

I really enjoyed the past week, as it was filled with fun friend get-togethers, last minute Christmas shopping, a hair appointment to take me back to being a brunette, and lots of sweet Isla moments (think big, poufy pink tutu play time!). I feel so fortunate to have been able to take a leave of absence from work for the past six months, and I am soaking up as much time as possible with Isla before returning to work at the end of February. My childcare search is ramping up heavily this week! I’ve been procrastinating because it makes me want to cry. Sasha is an amazing dad and wakes up at 5am to workout so he can get to the office around 6:30-7am and gets home around 4:00-4:15pm, which is perfect for two hours of family time before Isla’s bedtime routine starts at 6pm. We do a 1.5 mile walk every evening with Belle, our dog, and I look forward to this outing all day long.

Some of the major highlights of the last week include:

  • Getting my hair colored by Eric at Estilo Salon – I decided to go ombre 9 weeks ago, and I’ve been dying (no pun intended) to go back to my original hair color ever since… finally did it! (see awkward makeup-less selfie below)
  • Isla finally got the swing of eating food vs. just licking and spitting… which led to two days of constipation, which wasn’t all that fun
  • Planning our trip to Paris and St. Petersburg – down to the hour, metro stops, restaurants, coffee stops, etc. (and reading Comment le Grinch a Volé Noël and This is Paris)
  • Getting so many Christmas/holiday cards in the mail – I am obsessed! I seriously chase the mailman down every day when he comes to our cul-de-sac
  • Eating a delicious brunch hosted by Christie of KiKiMac – lots of pretty pictures below!
  • Catching up with old co-workers-turned-friends at The Tasting Room
  • Hosting a Christmas dinner with three of my friends from childhood – seriously was crying laughing at numerous occasions… love those ladies! We drank these delicious peppermint cocktails, which I’ll share tomorrow!
  • Prepping for Isla’s Christening on December 27 – she’s going to wear the same Christening gown that my grandpa, dad, and I all wore (think long gown à la Prince George)
  • Buying lots and lots of peonies for the house – not sure what this winter season is all about, but I am loving it!
  • Finally putting lights on the trees outside (thank you, sweet husband!)

I hope you had the best week as well! I’d love to hear some of your highlights too in the comments below. xo

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