Moving On

Hello to any of you who still have this sad little blog (because it’s in your Google reader). I apologize for the lengthy radio silence, but ever since I got my new job back in August I just haven’t been into blogging. It was becoming more of a chore for me to do posts and I just wasn’t feeling inspired to share anything anymore. I was racking my brain for things to write, and nothing was coming to me. So, that’s why I just let my little space be for the time being, thinking that I’ll eventually come back to it.

Well, fast forward almost four months later, and I don’t think I’m going to be coming back here. I have really loved documenting our adventures and sharing my interests here. It’s always fun to look back on and I’ll always cherish this little blog.

I’m not quitting altogether, just moving from one location to another. I’ve started a Tumblr and am going to post there instead. I really like its format better for me. You can still do a regular old blog post, which I still plan on doing, but you can also post a song, a video link, a picture, and link to your instagram account. I was really doing that here mostly anyways, but tumblr seems to be a better format for that and I can do more posting on the go.

I have missed blogging and am sad now that I won’t have the last four months to look back on, but I can’t dwell on that too much now and only hope to post more frequently moving forward. Thanks for letting me share here in this space for the past few years and, if you feel so inclined, you can follow my ramblings on my new tumblr page.

Happy New Year and Happy Friday!

Kristin

Our Last Day in Versailles

Ryan and I were really torn on how to spend our last day in Paris. There were still so many great neighborhoods we hadn’t explored but Versailles was a place I really wanted to visit. We almost didn’t go, but I’m so glad we did.

The morning started out a little rocky – we got on the wrong train to Versailles. There are two options – Versailles Rive Gauche and Versailles Chantiers. We hopped on the Chantiers train and got a very scenic route of France. It took us about an hour and a half to get there and we were both kind of grumpy. But when we got there, we walked by the tourism office and saw you could purchase tickets there. At first I thought it might be a scam, but it wasn’t and it saved us so much time. I highly recommend doing this. You will pay a few euro more, but the line is much shorter compared to the long, long line at Versailles. We would’ve been waiting for hours.

Here is the French countryside we saw from the train.

After we got our tickets we picked up lunch from a sandwich shop and had a picnic out front.

Ryan ordered horribly wrong, so we ended up splitting my simple ham and cheese sandwich.

Then, we made our way inside the Chateau. It is so hard to describe the palace other than it is massive and decorated from floor to ceiling. It is so extravagant and gorgeous.

After weaving our way through the palace, we were both hungry again so we got another sandwich and parked it outside and got a great view of the gardens.

We had the most fun outside. One strong recommendation I have – rent bikes! We didn’t know you could do this until we happened to walk right by a bike rental stand. We saw so much more of the grounds that way. Since everything is so spread out and expansive, we would’ve missed a lot more had we not done this. And, it was just a fun way to explore and hang out together.

We were both on the hunt to find “Marie Antoinette’s Estate” as it was penned on our handy map of Versailles. Turns out, she lived in the Petite Trianon which we walked briskly through to get to her estate.

Turns out, her “estate” on the map included the Petite Trianon and the Queen’s Hamlet, where all of her maidens lived. It was so pretty, so I’m glad we spent a lot of time walking around there. We just didn’t realize that we had already seen her house as we were searching high and low for it for hours.

After we realized that we are idiots and had found her house two hours before (literally), we hopped back on the bikes and made our way around the Grand Canal for a little scenic bike ride.

I’m so glad we ended up going to Versailles. After a somewhat hectic morning it was the right choice for us and we were so happy to spend our last day there.

And that concludes our European adventure. Thanks for letting me share our trip in several posts.

Have a great weekend!

Paris–The Day We Ate Steak Frites & Crème Brulee

I wanted to pick back up with sharing our Paris adventures after taking a few days off. In case you missed it, here’s day one and day two.

Day three was sort of known as the museum fail day. We made our way to the 7th arrondissement and our first stop was the Musee Rodin. I had heard that the gardens were gorgeous (and free) so we wanted to fill our morning with a little culture. Well, it was closed on Monday. We had a similar experience at Musee D’Orsay which was also closed on Monday. The sad part is I even wrote down that it was closed on Monday. Anyways…we ended up at Les Invalides.

We think this is an old mote that surrounded the estate.

We made our way to Rue Cler, which was on Ryan’s hot list. We both ended up not being too impressed, but since it was a Monday maybe that’s why the market wasn’t as hopping as we had read on the internet.

And from there, we ended up at our final destination – the Eiffel Tower.

Since it was so overcast, it wasn’t crowded at all. So we bought tickets to climb the stairs to see a view of the city.

Of course, we had to stop at another pastry shop, Laduree, for a macaroon.

Then we leisurely made our happy hour rounds. Café Bonaparte was close to our hotel and in the heart of the 6th. We just couldn’t get enough of the million sidewalk cafes all over the city.

Then, we made our way to dinner for the evening at Le Relais de l’Entrecote for steak frites. We heard the line would be long, but would move quickly. So we stood in line and let me tell you, the dinner was worth the wait.

The waiters only ask you one thing – how do you like your steak cooked? Then they write it on your table and bring you a salad to start. Next, you get a hearty helping of steak frites with this delicious mustardy sauce on top. Just when you think you are full, they bring round two. I’m not even embarrassed to say I cleaned my plate. It was that good.

We closed out the night with crème brulee at Les Deux Magots.

To say we overate would be an understatement, but those calories were definitely worth it.

New Lamps

I found these lamps online at Target for a great price – $16 a piece. Ever since I redecorated last fall I have been on the hunt for inexpensive lamps, and finally lucked out. It has inspired me to start making some other small updates around the house.


One of my next priorities – finding artwork to hang above our TV. I’m thinking I may try a DIY painting project, collecting pieces to make a gallery wall or blowing up and frame some pictures from past trips. Where do you find affordable artwork?

Also on my wish list – a bedroom makeover.

Richmond Weekend Shots

Caroline, Amanda, Lindsay and I headed off to Richmond to hang with the Brookses for the weekend. Beth was a wonderful host and it was so nice to stay in their new home in the Fan district.

We went for a walk on Belle Isle.

And had a fabulous brunch at Millie’s Diner.

Lindsay and Carrie enjoying brunch cocktails on Millie’s patio.

Beth took us to Cary Town where we did a little shopping, then we went to The Boathouse for a nice view of the James River and some cocktails.

Lindsay and I at Rowland Fine Dining. We had amazing service and for some reason Tony, our waiter, was under the impression it was my birthday.

It was a great weekend with girlfriends. I’m glad we were able to get together for some QT and I can’t wait for my next trip to Richmond. Thanks, Beth, for hosting!