DC through grown up eyes

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, one of my trips while I was home was to DC.  It was super fun.  The weather was perfect and we and took our bikes.  It was myself, my aunt and the kiddos.  The original plan was to see the cherry blossoms but there weren't really any left even at the beginning of April!  We found some on a bike ride along the Potomac River, though.

Other than that we caught a bunch of memorials and grubbed on some lunch in the Mall.

It was really interesting to go to DC again as an adult and look at things with my "grown up eyes."  I think DC is a place I always took for granted growing up outside of Philadelphia - we had countless field trips there and I have seen many of these land marks and museums multiple times.  But here's the thing.  I feel like I suddenly now as an adult have a bigger connection to the meaning of the monuments and retain more new (old) information because it is suddenly much more interesting.  Why is that? 

Maya was so cute, she goes "wow the US has been in a lot of wars".  Oh so true. Maybe I have just totally gone liberal socialist here in Europe but I cannot deny how living over here has shifted my point of view on things.  I have always been a make love not war type person, and I know some wars were a necessary evil, but others...hm I am not so sure.  Anyway, not to get tooooo political here...

At the same time, I felt a sense of pride being in my nation's capital.  Which is a bit ridiculous because lately I feel that the US very rarely gives me moments to feel proud these days.  atExcept for Obama's recent open support for gay marriage.  That made me proud, and very happy.

One of the new sites we caught was the MLK memorial.  I loved it. Social justice and accetance has increasingly become very front of mine for me.  MLK spoke well beyond his years on a lot of issues.   

Our trip ended by watching a broadcasted movie on the Hirshhorn Museum that started at dusk.  It was an artistic interpretation of the song "I Only Have Eyes for You" - definitely unique.  The kiddos were pretty beat by then and they fell asleep on the metro out of the city before we even got the bikes to the car!

Can't wait to go back soon, still tons to see again through my grown up eyes and undiscovered territory in such a place! 

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five u.s. cities in 13 days

Portland to Philadelphia with a day in Washington DC then up to Boston and finally to NYC.  What an amazing two weeks!

As some of you know, my not-so-new job has brought me to Portland, OR a couple times lately.  While the trip to the West Coast is a long haul from DK it's worth it for many reasons.  One because the team in Portland is awesome, two because Portland is a really cool city and three because it means I am on US soil.  Not hard to get a stop home on the way over or the way back when it decreases the ticket cost!  Amazing.

It was such a great trip and I managed to see so many of my favorite people in the whole world.  Here are some highlights.

Cocktails in Portland - a twist on Long Island Ice Teas in mason jars

Home to hanging by the firepit with the fam - me and maya

hanging in trees with jack

biking in DC - that's the washington monumunt right behind the tree

scrapbooking with maya

hanging with mr. cooper - i mean a caveman - i mean my dad - uncle jimmy to most

up to boston - thorntons reopened! mimosas with sarah root :)

spring was blooming in the boston public gardens

finally to NYC - after a great night of wine and chatting with the girls - detox tea and brunch was needed!

my sebbers in central park on a gorgeous day!

All in all, I guess you could definitely say the theme was Spring!  Everything was blooming and just gives so much energy and a reason to smile.  This picture makes me smile the most - our 'wedding tree' all in bloom...

Happy Spring Everyone!

new wheels

You all remember Maggie, my first bike here in DK:

Maybe you never met Stella and sadly I do not think I have any pictures of her - but she was my replacement bike when Maggie was stolen. Stella was not the prettiest girl on the block by any means, but she rode like a dream. Imagine my disappointment when for the 2nd time in a year, my bike was stolen again! RIP Stella.

So third time is a charm, right? Meet Lucy:

Lucy is a fast girl and considered more of a city bike (you're bent over the bike) then a lady bike (you sit straight up and ride). I feel like I am not entirely bent over the bike when I ride it and so it kind of rides like a cross between the two. I gave 900 kr for it, so nothing extreme seeing as my bikes last like stale bread around here.

Welcome Lucy!

peace

I had a bad day at work yesterday, well I've been having a bad week.  It just feels really stressful being the one who is running a whole new strategy for a company.  But one could argue quite easily that I love it, just the same.  

Christian said he wished I would stop letting my job upset me and stop taking things so personal.  I think I have vastly improved on this front in comparison to some of my earlier, more junior roles.  That said, I feel as though I'll never be able to be a person that can totally be unaffected by my job.  

I definitely need to improve on some things.  I think about work a lot, and well the worst of it is really when it invades my dreams and I feel like I've been at the office for the past 8 hours when I wake up.  That I need to figure out, for sure.  But I just feel like part of what makes me a good worker is the passion I put behind it - and yes that may mean stress and frustration from time to time.  Am I just crazy?

But to get some frustration out, what better than to pound the pavement?  Or I suppose in this case it would be trail.  Yesterday I got really nostalgic for my running routine when we lived out in boonies - which was around Fredensborg Castle Park - Fredensborg Slotsparken.  The terrain changes every 5 minutes from anywhere from paved paths to hard mud trail to soft mud to gravel trail to hard sand and can be bumpy with tree roots or rocks or whatever have you.  It also has hills here and there.  

I am slowly conquiering my running again - and with this trail it's so easy for me to vision where I want to reach before I start my cool down or where the prettiest place is stop and strech anything mid-run (yesterday's spot shown below).  Right now, when I head out the door in the city, I just have no real connection to my run.  I guess this is due to the lack of consistency in my running since we moved here.

Anyway, the run was great for several reasons.  I felt good, I felt I could go for longer, I loved the view and it just felt familiar.  Though, today I have pain on the outter sides of my legs - I think it was just a matter of compensating for the unstable terrain that I'm not used to these days.  It was a peaceful run (despite my euro-tech music in my ears haha), which is ironic because Fredensborg translates into "peace castle".  Fred in Danish means peace.

So once in awhile I think I should make the trip out for my peace run - especially when work is stressful.  The added bonus is that Farmor (grandma) lives just down the road and there is usually yummy food waiting if you're lucky and ask nicely. :)

ode to breakfast

This morning I woke up feeling really fresh after my first alarm. Which... never happens.  I am just not one of those cheery morning people. And much to my husband's disdain, I snooze my alarm on average 5-6x each morning.  I simply cannot understand how other people just pop out of bed.

Well today maybe I was one of those people.  Wide awake and full of energy, all I wanted to do was to wake up Christian and go to a diner and get some cheap eggs and toast - read the paper together and drink bottomless cups of coffee.  And then I remembered the country in which I live.

I sat thinking - where could one possibly get some breakfast on a Wednesday morning at 7am?? The answer is nowhere. No such thing.  Brunch is slowly integrating its way over for a $25-40 per person price tag and that is only on weekends. Ugh.

So I used my energy for good, anyway. Jumped out of bed - started the Tassimo (my newest kitchen addition), chopped some veggies, whisked some eggs, tossed bread in the toaster, and added a slice of serrano ham to boot. Voila - my own diner breakfast.

Shook the dead husband awake promising coffee and eggs and he got up semi-willingly. Talked his ear off and then asked him to drive me to work because I mean - what other wife gets up and makes eggs on a Wednesday morning??

The good news is that I am homebound soon. I can't wait to wake up with the kiddos and head down to Patty's or maybe even spring for a trip to the Classic Diner in Malvern. Less than three home.