austria

The kids love to cook and bake, especially Emerson. Taker a gander at her first blueberry pie…delish!!!

Allie is one of my best friends. Our story goes back to 1995 in Washington D.C. Jesse and I were living with Lee Topar, Jesse’s best bud from college. Lee was an intern at the National Gallery of Art – as was Allie. He brought her to our place to hang out one night and the rest is history. It was like I found a long lost sister- she had me at hello. hee. Our sense of humor, the delight we find in the absurd, our inability to suppress laughter, a little sprinkling of insanity and our love of Halloween are all things we share.
After D.C., Jesse and I moved to Chicago and Allie and I temporarily lost touch. Then one night, after one of Jesse’s games with the Fire, my mom told me there was a girl behind me trying to get my attention. I turned around and saw my buddy!!! We quickly picked up where we left off and had nothing but fun together in Chi-town! She was a reader at our wedding and stold the show- as usual!
We often planned Halloween outfits together. My favorite was when we dressed up as the Sweeney Sisters (it was a Saturday Night Live skit from the mid-80’s that I loved!)

I can not find a picture of us from that night, but we kind of looked like the photo attached. “Clang, clang, clang goes the hammer! Ring, ring, ring goes the bell!!!”
Allie is one of those friends that I hope my kids find at least one of in their lifetimes. Our relationship has been nothing but fun and love. She makes me feel like I’m in the middle of a “sparkle party” whenever we’re together.
The baby in the Austria photos is Allie’s newborn, Walter. What great timing that our trip took us to Salzburg soon after he was born. We all got to meet our new friend. He is perfection. Stefan, her husband, is pretty amazing, too.
Wir lieben Sie!!!

“A Stolperstein (from German, “stumbling block”) is a monument created by Gunter Demnig which commemorates a victim of the Holocaust. Stolpersteine are small, cobblestone-sized memorials for an individual victim of Nazism. They commemorate individuals – both those who died and survivors – who were consigned by the Nazis to prisons, euthanasia facilities, sterilization clinics, concentration camps, and extermination camps, as well as those who responded to persecution by emigrating or killing themselves.”
These are placed around Salzburg. Sad.

I would love a dog like this. These dogs are called hairless Chinese Crested. So cute with the little hairdos! Their skin feels so soft and weird. Loved them!!!! Someday….

Allie and Jesse both love the movie so they wanted everyone to watch it, then explore Salzburg the next day to see all the places where real life events took place. The movie is three hours long so I was out from the start (no attention span.) The kids liked the songs. We are constantly singing the song “Do, a deer, a female deer….” Once it’s in your head, it is hard to get out!

Any Sound of Music fans out there?! See if you recognize anything from the movie in these photos!!!

Young people called Sternsingers (German for star singers) travel from door to door dressed as the Three Wise Men on January 6th (my birthday and also the Epiphany!) The star singers are often offered treats at the homes they visit, but they also collect money to donate to charity. To thank the people for the money and/or treats, the singers perform the traditional house blessing, by marking the year over the doorway with chalk.