January Randomness

I have the best friends and family in the world. Over the past year, I have gotten 50+ cards or postcards, filling up a wall quite nicely. I will soon have to start another if friends keep sending cards, a problem I would love to have. I have a postcard exchange going on. If someone sends me one, I will send one back.

This past weekend I also went into the city center and went to this deli I have been eying for a while, but haven't been able to go to called Fried Flamingo. http://www.fried-flamingo.de/Patisserie. This deli/ Patisserie/ catering company was advertising a daily special with a few vegetarian options to my delight. I ended up get a vegetarian shepherd's pie, which had carrots and lentils in a savory sauce and topped with sweet potato. The sweet potato wasn't the American variety, it was not as sweet. On top was a cheese glaze. I also got a petit four dessert, which was a white chocolate wrapped confection, with a raspberry juice filling, so good. So good in fact, I cruelly ate in while Skyping with the family. Aren't I nice? Truly I wanted them to see the beauty of it and I couldn't wait another minute (after waiting 2 hours) to enjoy it.

Seriously, who could resist this?

Also up this week- my return to climbing. Somehow I think that my first time back will leave me extra sore, and I'm probably going to be a wimp. That's what happens when you don't do something for a while.

Finally, your German words of the week:

Einfach- simple
Strassenkarte- road map
Anfangen- which means 'to start'
Urlaub- vacation
Reisen- to travel
Grippe- the flu
Draussen- outside
Zusammen- together
Abfahren- to depart
Ankunft- arrival

Another year/ Chihuly in the garden

Another year has flown by, and with this new one, some new adventures. I had an amazing New Year's Eve hosted by friends Drew and Amy, surrounded by old friends and new. But I wasn't going to spend the first day of the new year in bed sleeping, especially when I could catch up with some other friends and enjoy a new adventure on the first day of the year. So, I arranged a get together to see Chihuly (glass blower extraordinaire- you'll see in the photos) at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix with friends Jessica, Nora, and Patrick. Chihuly's glass has been displayed in the garden before, several years back, and it was an amazing experience. This time was still cool, but I think the previous one blew this one out of the water. The specialty feature throughout the garden were these glass spears with different color hues in them, another was two separate blue pieces that were pretty majestic. The day was warm (think ~80F), and it was nice to feel the sun shining and spend it with amazing friends. With that, I will let you enjoy the pictures below.