Zillions and zillions of years ago, there was this girl. Said girl had a blog where she enjoyed saying a whole bunch of everything and nothing on a relatively regular basis.


However, something* happened to the girl and she fell off the blogging planet. I'm happy to report that the proverbial bitch is back, friends...


Like sands through the hourglass, plenty of life has been lived since my last post (I do hope you enjoyed a bit of Neil Diamond - c'mon, don't lie. You love Neil Diamond.). My boyfriend and I spent his birthday weekend in Amsterdam. We had a most excellent time. Where else can you land somewhere and be rather "relaxed" in the space of an hour and a bit? Hmmm...?!


For obvious reasons I'll not go into too much detail, but suffice it to say that we had a great time exploring the touristy side of the city - the world famous SexMuseum, canal tour and walk through the Red Light district.. all very interesting stuff. Oh wait! I made us eat a kroket from FEBO. We live life on the edge, n'est pas?


When I think of our weekend there, I think of snacks. Lots of Dutch inspired snacks. To be fair, we had far bigger snacking eyes than snacking stomachs and ended up bringing a lot back with us or leaving it in a bin. You heard it here first, we were defeated mightily by Amstersnacks.

A mere four days after, we headed to Chicago, Illinois for the start of a 28 hour road trip through the flat bits of Illinois and the hilly bits of Iowa. We had an amazing time and came face to face with Jesus at a gas station in Dubuque, Iowa. Sorry, what? Life highlight? I know, right?


Actually, thinking about it... Gas Station Jesus, staying in a roadside motel, camo clothes shopping at WalMart at 4am and learning how to play nickel poker at a casino. Definite highlights. Oh, and passing a place called Family Beer and Wine. I mean, because nothing says Family like booze!


After the first two legs of our road trip, we paused in Galena, Illinois for my mother's wedding. Watching your mom get remarried when you're 38 is weird. Seeing your 93 year-old grandmother enjoying quite a bit of wine isn't weird, it's funny.


We finished up our quick trip to the Heartland of America with a wallet smooshing trip to Sports Authority where I finally bought a North Face coat I'd been lusting after. Yes, I know.. I know.. I do look like a marshmellow in it.


But dude, I look like a hot marshmellow at the very least. And that, my friends, is what's ultimately important.


More rambly bloggity goodness later.. the weekend beckons!


[*life, domestic bliss, discovering Dog the Bounty Hunter, work]