falaises d'etretat

i finally made it to etretat, france. it's such a cute little town on the west coast of france. while there, we hiked up the cliffs and ventured all around. before leaving, we ate crepes. the only french food i think i like.

yeah, i made it to the top. it's something to be proud of at eight months pregnant. bobby kept pulling me back from the edge of the cliffs. do it for the picture though. am i right?

we spent the night in bayeux, france. it was closer to normandy so we didn't have to wake up too early for our tour the next day. literally ten minutes before the tour, i broke my foot. i was just walking down steps and it cracked. hubby didn't believe it was broken. he told me to stop being dramatic and had me go on the tour anyway.

thanks, babe.

all my love,
E

the new york institute of photography

i've been working with the new york institute of photography off and on for about a year now. i highly recommend their courses to anyone interested in improving their camera usage skills or their editing skills. nyip has professionals that are available to you everyday to answer any questions. also, there are forums where you can talk with other students and discuss editing techniques and the like. when you sign up, you're assigned a mentor that is a professional photographer. mine is alina oswald and i love her to death. she's so sweet and helpful. and brutally honest, but you need that.

i have no regrets in enrolling into nyip and i encourage aspiring photographers to jump in on the opportunity to do so as well. i posted a before shot, which is obviously not a great photo (a quick snap at the beach), and i posted an after shot, which the course taught me to produce. i'm pretty sure anything that can turn that first photo into this second one is a good deal, yeah? yeah. think about it.

i'll post a link just in case! 

https://www.nyip.edu/

all my love, 

E

amsterdam

a few weeks ago, we were able to take half a day and explore amsterdam. if you ever go, take a weekend to explore it. one day wasn't enough.

my main goal in amsterdam was to visit the anne frank house. i had heard horror stories where the line to get in was nearly three hours long. my group ended up waiting for 45 minutes, which compared to that three hours, was a good deal. also, they have free wifi in the area that you wait in. the tour was done well. you walk from room to room while watching videos and reading passages on the walls. definitely a great experience especially if you've read anne frank's diary.

we also did a canal tour. for the most part, it was pretty great. i did fall asleep for about fifteen minutes though. i was going on two hours of sleep and the ride was really relaxing. around three o'clock, the canals get jammed with boats. it's kind of funny, actually. you have tourists in smaller boats trying to steer clear of the larger tour boats and locals. it's comical. if you go and have fifteen minutes to spare, just sit at the edge of a canal and watch.

and finally, we took a walk through the red light district because how could we not. not gonna lie, probably the best part of the trip. just something you need to experience for yourself.

all my love,
E

bratislava, slovakia

i'll be honest. i didn't really know slovakia existed until recently. like when-we-booked-this-trip recently. 

slovakia is a really small country but it's beautiful. the roads leading into bratislava from the autobahn were surrounded by fields and fields of sunflowers and wind turbines. there were no end to the fields on either side of the road. it was perfect, especially with the sun rising up over everything.

bratislava is a cute little city. emphasis on little. we walked the whole city in an hour and a half with a tour guide. actually, to be honest, we ditched the tour after an hour because we had seen everything and the talking was beginning to be a bit much. information overload. i ventured away from the group to snap pictures and my mom followed soon after. we decided to get something cold to drink and a bite to eat. the restaurant we went to had the BEST lemonade i have ever tasted in my life. i call it slovakian lemonade (good name, i know) and i've been trying to recreate it ever since. i'm failing. if you know of a recipe for this goodness, please be a doll and help a sister out. 

there it is ^. the slovakian lemonade. are you drooling? i am. i have a goal to figure this one out by the end of the summer. if i'm successful, i'll share : )

all my love, 

E

budapest, hungary

boo-da-pessh-t

that's how they say budapest in hungarian. interesting, yeah?  yeah.

after a 14 hour bus ride from germany to hungary, we could finally see our first glimpse of budapest. we rode over the chain bridge to our hotel and i couldn't get over how pretty it all was. budapest reminds me a lot of prague. a larger, busier, business-y version of prague.

budapest was preparing for an airshow/ air race while we were in town. they had shut down the chain bridge for a period of time as the planes were racing down the river. above, you can see the river all set up for the event. it was so cool watching the planes race over the bridge and up into loops and such. 

below is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. you can see the budapest eye (the giant ferris wheel) on the right. i heard it has amazing views from the top and it's worth a trip around at night. i wasn't able to go because i was traveling with someone who is deathly afraid of ferris wheels. hey, mom. i talked her onto the london eye when we went to london once. that was fun. if you've ever wondered if the panic buttons inside the capsules on that ferris wheel are ever used, you should travel with my mother. you're in for an experience.

budapest became one of our favorite cities instantly. there's so much to see and do. plus they have a hard rock cafe. i'm glad i was able to take a trip here. and it may be hard to believe but it was worth the 14 hours on the bus for sure.

all my love,
E

oostende, belgium

our beach weekend was amazing. it was a much needed break from the real world. i loved hanging out with our little group and just taking in all of the smells and sounds of the little beach town. the boardwalk was huge and never ending. i had the best italian food of my life and my first taste of real greek food. weird since this is belgium and along the coast, yeah? i had a mojito for the first time in my life and, i have to say, never again. gross. 

i have a slight obsession with reflections and the trapped water from high-tide made an excellent mirror for such pictures. and check out those sail boats. is this place not beautiful?

we chased down some guys trapping crabs. it was crazy how many people wanted to be apart of this. even the kids were down in the water helping bring out the traps. apparently, it's a pretty big deal here.

dear oostende,
thank you for being exactly what i needed. you were perfect.


all my love,
E

prague

prague is my absolute favorite european city. it's small enough to get around on foot but big enough to still be an adventure. and it has everything. amazing food, amazing views, amazing shops. seriously. prague doesn't disappoint.

i've been twice already. the first time was during the fall. it was pretty rainy but even with the rain we had a good time. and there's a starbucks on every corner so it's pretty easy to warm up with a hot chocolate whenever you feel like it.

the second time i went was during the summertime. it was just my mother and i. we had a blast. we stayed at a harley davidson themed hotel right in wenceslas square. need i say more? we're so cool.

our first day, we stayed close to our hotel and ate at the hard rock cafe, of course. our second day, we went out and saw the rest of the city. we found a bagel place called 'bohemian bagels' near the john lennon wall. they had the best bagel french toast. which i didn't even know existed. but i'm glad it does. we wrote a review for them on tripadvisor. that says a lot. this was also the day i fell in love with the st. charles bridge. there's just so much to see when walking over it. you have musicians, artists, vendors, everything. there were a group of people around my age playing covers of coldplay and matchbox twenty. i could have stayed and listened for hours. every time you crossed the bridge, there were new groups performing. so great. we also found a little farmer's market. i'm obsessed with fresh fruit and they had the best. i nearly ate my weight in peaches and cherries. an obvious highlight of the trip. we ate at TGIFs that night. that's what happens when you live overseas for so long. you eat at american restaurants in the czech republic. beware.

on our third day, we made the trek back to the bagel place for breakfast then went up to the castle. after checking out the guards (yeah, we did) we slowly walked back towards the town square. the views were amazing. prague is just gorgeous. so many people talk about how dirty and old it is but they're on crack. of course it's old. what european city isn't old? and as for dirty...it's not. i've never seen a city kept so clean. there are so many workers out there sweeping up trash and keeping the streets looking nice. prague deserves an award for its cleanliness.

during the night of our third day, i woke up to a man happily exclaiming to his friend outside, "i found it! i found my shoe!" i didn't take part in the nightlife here but i think it's safe to assume it's pretty fun.

the next morning we had to leave. but not before picking up some bagels to bring home, of course. we woke up crazy early to make sure that errand was completed. we're true new yorkers. bagels > sleep.

just go here. and bring me with you. i know where TGIFs is.

all my love,
E

venice

the wanderlust has been real lately. all i want to do is travel, take pictures, eat food, and sleep. unfortunately, my work schedule and bank account are working against me. until we're on the same page, i'm just going to have to relive all of my favorite travels through old pictures and try to curb the craving a tad.

i went through my pictures from venice today. i absolutely love venice. my mom and i took a visit during the summer of 2013. i'll be honest and say that i had no idea that venice was an island until we boarded a ferry to get there. and i had no idea that cars didn't exist there. but i did know that venice has a hard rock cafe. and, let's be real, that is one of the first things you're supposed to look up about the city you're visiting. twisted mac and cheese? the best.

we didn't just eat hard rock cafe food, of course. we had real italian pizza. ham pizza. it was stellar. yes, stellar. and we had gelato for dessert. guys. i ate gelato in venice. i ate pizza in venice. i'm still not over it and it's been almost two years.

my favorite memory from this trip is definitely the gondola ride. my mother is deathly afraid of boats. she was fine until we went out into the grand canal. the bigger boats passing by made our little gondola rock a little too much for her. i've never seen her grip anything as tight as she did the side of that poor gondola. seriously so funny. i was proud of her for going, though. you can't go to venice and not go for a gondola ride. right?

i'll be back. one day. promise.

all my love,
E

amanda & erik

my best friend and her tagalong husband came to visit over the holidays. we had such a great time while they were here. right before they left, i was able to take pictures of them. aren't they cute? i think so. btw, erik does this cute forehead kissing thing all on his own. amanda found a keeper.

i also made them pose separately for my class. amanda is such a natural. she needs no direction. erik, on the other hand, isn't a fan of the camera but i think the camera likes him. these two don't take bad pictures.

why must you guys live so far away? i miss, need, love my best friend. 

all my love,

E

knock, knock, you about to get shell shocked

i borrowed my best friend's little sister today. she's always up for being my model. i love it. she's gorgeous, funny, and, ahem, crazy. she's always doing something that makes you go, "oh, no. did you really?" like when she sends out selfies from your phone or when she calls your coworkers "accidentally." or when she tries to blast 'shell shocked' in the car on the way to the lake. she's lucky she's beautiful and is hopefully helping me pass this next assignment : )
check it out.

thanks, girly. you're the best.

all my love,
E

fall colors

i have a problem with sightseeing as i'm driving. this is especially true during the fall season. the changing leaves make for a perfect picture and i just die to jump out of the car and snap one. but i can't because i'm usually running late for work. or busy avoiding work and driving to a different base. or trying to get the back windshield wiper to stop going. i always manage to make it work when i don't need it but i can't figure out how to make it go when i do need it. true story. anyway, today, i decided it was time to give in to my craving and take pictures of the fall foliage. i went to the lake down the road and it was gorgeous. there was even a little sun. that's pretty impressive for a date this late in the year here.

^this one is my favorite. it breaks nearly every rule i was taught in my photography classes but i think it's absolutely perfect.

aren't these beautiful? baby, just say yes. (taylor swift reference. seven hours 'til the new album!)

all my love,

E