Getting that familiar itch

It’s starting, I can feel it. That itch to go somewhere, to see people that haven’t been seen in weeks, months, or longer. To have the conversations and belly laughs apart from our phone chats.

I started packing away a few photographs and cards in a box reserved for just that. Memories. Visual memories and took a few minutes to look through the many pictures that have been taken on various journeys, weekend getaways and life changing treks that I am most thankful for.



Between each photograph comes a smile, a fond memory of what took place. A reminder of why anyone would ever cart around a cellophane wrapped biscuit to see if it could survive a backpacking trip(truth, we did and "he" survived). The different levels of one particular building while climbing the heights of the London Eye. Front and back seat shots while being toted around by a friendly cabby named Ron. Random before and after food pictures, as if we didn’t know where it would end up!

The cards are something else entirely. Birthdays, holidays, cards just to say hello we miss you. It is in the words inside of the paper that bring warmth to my insides and brings a gratefulness that is immeasurable.

I am getting that itch. That tickling feeling that nips and tugs at you when you least expect it. It makes you begin daydreaming about places you have wanted to go to, places you ache to touch with the pads of your fingertips. Places new and old. Uh oh.



This feeling happens a couple of times per year and is increasingly getting stronger as the winter chill and frigid temperatures are making it gradually more difficult to escape anywhere other than a coffee shop on a daily basis.

So in the interim of scouring enough to make the jaunt across the pond, I'll pretend my little snowy abode is a mini Aspen and a wintery village. While I’m following up with emails, sipping coffee waiting for this season to pass I’ll dream about warm beaches and sexy accents while using a tanning bed thinking it's the sandy beaches on the South of France. All while sipping sparkling sangria!

Sparkling Sangria
Ingredios
1 cup brandy
1/2 cup orange liqueur
1/4 cup sugar, super fine
1 orange, thinly sliced
1 pint raspberries
1 lime, thinly sliced
1 lemon, thinly sliced
2 bottles sparkling wine or cava, chilled

Directions
In a large pitcher, combine the brandy, and orange liqueur. Pour in the sugar, stir or shake the pitcher thoroughly to mix until the sugar dissolves. Add all the fruit at once. Add the cava and serve as is or on ice

On a side note, there has been a new addition to the sidebar from the very lovely busy bees at blip.fm. After several emails and serious consideration I have decided to get back onto the grid within certain social networks. Which means that one will automatically feed into a twitter account. Something I vowed not to do but don’t want to lose track of those who have stuck with me during this “hiatus” so to speak and have asked for a revival.

Welcome to getting back on the grid. You can find me at blip and twitter under:
@blondiemoments.

Winter Wonderland....minus the wonder!

So a little about me before all of this gets started. I am 29 years old and finally on the verge of getting comfortable and finding some permanency in this crazy thing I call my life. I tend to be a magnet for strange happenings that really aren't a big deal but to a certain friend they are, so at her request I'm writing about them since I'm in a new place I can't share these things with just anyone.

I went to college out of state to study Cinema and fell in love with the city I was in, but after I graduated I got hit with a major dose of reality and decided to stay near my family rather than move to the host state as originally planned. California is a mighty expensive place to live, and San Francisco as much as I love you, I cannot afford thee. Five years later, I was still living near my family, working like the rest of corporate america and feeling like I was going to go bald or go home from the stress. I was in need of a change. Badly.

Two jobs later, stress levels off the charts and money saved in the bank I was able to save up enough money to rent a truck and make the move back to San Francisco. No job, a seedy apartment...and no job. Not the wisest of decisions but that pull to leave the city I was in, and the horrible sounds of firetrucks running along the streets every fifteen minutes gets old pretty fast.

San Francisco or bust, we'll lean towards bust but that's okay. I love that city, I love the people and the land. What I don't love and what is so sad, the Bay Area has been hit with an epidemic. Please beware if you are considering moving. Ouch, it will take you awhile to get something for work. So here comes the soul searching time. The real itch to move yet again. Can I do it? Where do I go? Am I ready to settle down someplace and make this a permanent place to live? I mean this is not rocket science, it's not like I am married and have children but it feels like a serious relationship...

My boyfriend...the moving process.

Ten months into foggy San Francisco I decided I was unhappy, needed friends and mostly needed stability. I researched like crazy this time on good places to live, lifestyles, community and settled on Illinois. Never visited the state before, knowing absolutely nobody as all of my family live thousands of miles away. Why here? Why not, the city is amazing, the people are friendly and three months in I feel like I am getting comfy and cozy somewhat. Minus the job...but we're getting close to something so I'm keeping my fingers crossed with a prospect.

Anyways, that's me. My life is just like anyone else's, spending days drinking copious amounts of coffee reading the paper or clearing my blackberry, a glorious death kill for an alarm clock and spending way too much time in my kitchen with the sounds of hockey filling the front room. Which I forgot started an hour early because of the time difference so it's time for another distraction.

PS....I am still getting emails from jobs I applied for in SF from a year ago. Smart move!