birthday cake

Last week I asked Daniel whether he wanted a chocolate or vanilla cake for his birthday. He said “rhubarb”.

So I scoured the internet for the best rhubarb cake recipe without any luck, mentally prepared myself to try the difficult recipe the secretary at my work gave me, and went to two markets in search of rhubarb. They didn’t have any.

Daniel got brownies for his birthday.

I don’t think he was too disappointed though because I only got one piece of this before it was gone.

However, I’m a bit disappointed because I was planning on crossing off No. 17 on my 24-before-24 list with D’s birthday cake. Brownies don’t count, even if they are disguised as a cake.

where are all the pretty couches?

In exactly three weeks we will be moving into our new place, where it seems we will be spending our evenings sitting indian-style on the living room floor because it has been impossible for us to find a couch we love. The two of us are very particular about things (picky, if you will), so I shouldn’t be surprised that deciding on a couch has been a challenging task.

Without a HomeGoods in the vicinity or access to those funky antique and vintage shops in the Short North, I just don’t even know where to turn. I did the Ikea thing. Then I did the Czech version of Ikea – Kika – thing. I googled ‘flea markets in prague’ and was returned images of army hats laying on tarps in a muddy field. We went to one local shop and all of the couches seemed to come from the Pickles’ residence from Rugrats.

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If anyone from the Prague area is reading this – help! Where do you keep your cute, stylish, non-cartoon family couches??

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I can’t even talk about how much I love that last couch. If Pinterest were a store, I’d be in heaven.

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starter garden

Each year growing up, my dad planted a big garden in the field in front of our house (and he still does). While some summer days I resented having to get up early and help pick green beans (I still do not see why it was necessary to do that at 8am), I always loved having fresh veggies whenever I wanted them and fresh fruit from our small orchard. And boy, do I realize now how good I had it made back then. Even though I have been far from home and my dad’s endless supply of canned green beans and tomatoes for nearly a year, it has just recently hit me that I’m going to have to fend for myself if I want home-grown, fresh veggies this summer.

That’s why “growing a garden” is at the top of my 24-before-24 list.

Last week I google-translated “garden supply shop” into czech, and then googled “zahradní potřeby” and found a little place near my work. I’m sure I wouldn’t know what to buy even if I was in a garden supply store in Ohio (and I thought to call my dad after I made my purchases), but I was totally at a loss with the added element of czech packaging. But I went to the store as prepared as possible after lots of googling and google-translating, and I left with the correct type of soil (i think) and little containers to start my seeds in. Oh yeah, and seeds too. Thankfully the seed packets had pictures, so there was no guess-work there!

On Sunday I finally got around to planting the little bitty seeds. I made the mistake of not testing to see if the containers actually fit in my windowsill before I did all the work of adding the soil and seeds, and of course they did not fit. But some clever thinking and books remedied that. I just have to be sure to switch places of the trays each evening so they get even amounts of sunlight.

{a fine example of why books are superior to a kindle. although daniel was very selective about which books could be “sacrificed” for this task. i apparently think higher of the millennium trilogy than he does}

And only two days later – the first little sprouts are popping up! It was sheer joy when I came home from work and saw that. I had been wringing my hands for two days thinking I surely over-watered them.

{the lettuce and radish sprouts are in the lead}

So, the goal is to get these little seeds to sprout up into little plants in time for our move to the new house and then I will plant them in the real garden of my dreams. If they survive in my care for the next few weeks, that is.

art class

I’m nearing the end of the semester of art classes that Daniel got me for my birthday. So far we have just done drawings – both still life and figure drawing. Now the painting part of the semester has started, so I thought I would share what I’ve done so far (minus the naked guy)

Last week I started my first painting in the class. I’m trying to do an oil painting of this photo D took in China three years ago of a mother and her baby sleeping on a train. I love this photo so much, and I just hope I can do it some justice.

wells and puppies, a balance

One Saturday in April D and I went to spend the day with a friend at his cabin. We took the train to about 20 minutes outside the city and walked the remaining 3 miles along the river to the cabin.

After a yummy meal prepared by our host (including homemade orange marmalade), I sat outside in the beautiful weather and wrote in my journal while Daniel and his friend developed some film and worked on the well. I, like all other human beings who watched The Ring, am terrified of wells so I stayed as far away from this activity as possible. Except for when I took this picture.

And just to make up for the creepy well picture, here is some extra cuteness in the form of adorable puppies who were hanging out at a fence on our walk to the cabin.

a quick visit home, plus texas

Ok, I realize that this is a way past due,  but I’m going with the better late than never motto.

I was really looking forward to my work-trip to Texas because I had never been there before and was even considering if it might count as the “new country” in my 24 before 24 list (okay, not really). In the end I really didn’t see much of Dallas at all. I didn’t even leave the hotel/convention center other than for a quick trip to the mall to get a pair of tennis shoes to take full advantage of the great fitness center and beautiful jogging trail. Because after several hours of talking about structural analysis software, I needed a good run each day.

The hotel was very nice and very “Texan” (according to the name), so I feel that I got at least a taste of what Texas is about. There was a star on just about everything and there was a steer named Hank in the main courtyard. So I guess those are now my ideas of Texas.

{view from my room into the enclosed courtyard}

{this is Hank, and I am not that brave. he isn’t actually alive}

{on the jogging trail}

My time in Columbus was auh-mazing. I have so much love for C-bus and the wonderful Buckeyes that live there. Two days wasn’t nearly enough time, but seeing my friends’ faces again even for a short time meant the world to me. And we deep-fried things. Enough said.

I ended my trip in Zanesville where I got to spend two days with the family and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of my childhood home. And hang out with this cutie-pie.

Until next time, America!

trebon, czech republic

Daniel’s sister and her husband were in town from Switzerland for the week. On Friday D and I met up with them and some of their friends in Třeboň, a town in the south of Czech Republic.

There was an animation film festival going on there, but I was just happy to be closer to crossing off another thing on my 24 before 24 (or rather, one third of #24). We went to one film on Friday night, Alois Nebel, which I was looking forward to seeing, but I fell asleep about 20 minutes in. A black and white animated movie with subtitles just is not going to keep me awake at 9:30 on a Friday night, sorry.

if you are interested, here is the trailer:

The forecast called for rain all Saturday, but thankfully it held out till the afternoon so we got some sightseeing in.

{I was loving this moment until they told me that there are bears on the property to “protect the castle”}

{channeling my inner tourist}

Does that place not look like a mini Disney princess castle?! I kept saying I felt like I was at Disney World. However, looks are deceiving. That is not Snow White’s abode. It’s actually just a fancy tomb.