i love this lady...

...and my wish of all wishes is that she would come and sing 'You and I' at my wedding...gosh, that would be amazing.

Her new album is out and it is so rockstar. Utterly-uber-cool. I've already listened to this song/watched the video about 47 times and I just bought the record two days ago.

"maybe...in the future...you're going to come back, you're going to come back,around, maybe in the future, you're going to come back, you're going to come back. oh, the only way to really know is to really let it go...". The thing I love about Ingrid is she sings about very real situations, and this is one I know so many girls/women can identify with...even in my circle of friends I know the words ring true to many and hit home hard. It's about love lost...feeling a void...dreaming...uncertainty...we all know what it's like (to a certain extent). Been there, done that.

I'm so glad I found love and am marrying such a cool dude, and I don't have to worry about ever letting go, because he's all mine! Dang, that's neat.

And, well, the creative delivery of the vid is just a-freaking-mazing, funky, cool...WOW. LOVE to love it, Ingrid. You rock, girl.



Enjoy as much as I am...over, and over and over...

Love,

me

RA D IOHEA_D 23_8_09_PRAHA_CZ

Yep, that's right...the day has come. Radiohead is in Prague and I scored tickets. Can you believe tickets were still available a couple of weeks ago? Unheard of. Anyway, I am so freaking excited I can hardly stand it! Mr. Tom arrives next Monday, the 30 of August and I am just ecstatic. It's a skoda ("pity" in czech...just like the car make!;)) that Tom won't be able to see Radiohead with me today, but I've resolved to record as much of it as I can.

Although I knew of Radiohead's music prior to the Tom chapter in my life, I didn't really get into it until Tom properly introduced me. Since that magical day (the first date, when he was blaring it in his saab trying to impress me with the acoustics in his car...ha!). We adore all of their stuff, but a couple of songs, in particular, are close to my heart for a big reason.

"All I need", one of their newer songs, is beautiful and the video - which I just came across today - is thought-provoking as well. That's the reason I love their stuff so much. Not only is the sound utterly unique, but the words of their songs are thought-provoking. I was introduced to this song the night Tom proposed to me in the quaint and charming town of Cesky Krumlov, so of course this one will always be dear to my heart. Go ahead, take a peek...

My absolute fav Radiohead song has a piano instrumental I could listen to, nonstop, for days. It was, in fact, the RH song Tom and I listened to together on that historic, chilly January night after a game of H.O.R.S.E. (I won, of course;))and tator tots at The Bulldog in NE. The way that Thom Yorke's fingers move across the keyboard is graceful and almost overshadow the angst-ridden lyrics of the song. This is why I have, in fact, chosen this song to be an integral part of my wedding. Those of you who will be there will witness this first-hand, as I hope I will move down the aisle just as gracefully to T(h)om(as) Suszynski's fingers simultaneously moving across the keyboard. Of course, we'll nix the words and only feature the instrumental, as the words wouldn't make for the most joyous start to a marriage, would they?! ;).

Anyway, I can't believe I am letting you all in on this wedding ceremony secret. Maybe it's because now you can all help me hold my Tom accountable for refreshing his piano skills and showing them off for you all;)!

So, without further ado...

I'll drink a pivo to you all today as I listen to the sweet, sweet sounds of RH!

Me

221 day anniversary...(what i've soaked up)

...yes, you heard correctly...I have been here for exactly 221 days (just over 7 months to the layman;)).

*Megan's blog tangent: I actually meant to write a 6-month anniversary post, but time has not been on my side as of late, but awesome visits from some very special people...including Beata and Duane - Tom's cousin and her new husband - and two of my very best friends, Andrew and Jeremy. I also started this on 3 August, didn't publish it until the 17th August, and then tried to update it on the 19th and didn't autosave, so all of my changes were lost:(. Here is the shorter, less thoughtful version...*

In honour of this very special anniversary, I feel compelled to give you all a visual tour documenting the lessons I've soaked up in the last 221 days. Enjoy, and feel free to giggle a little bit...it's good for the soul.

Lessons Learned at 221 days

In Germany, the Hoff is a legend. No joke.

Henry loves to travel with me. Polish weddings are crazy/fun (picture to come).

Sometimes people greet with one kiss. Sometimes 2. Sometimes even 3.

And sometimes it gets very awkward.

(and I don't have a picture for this one...that def. would have been awkward!)

CZE-Poland train travel is best experienced with a phone,

directions, and english/polish dictionary.

The "swine flu" can be fun.

Crystal shops make me cringe.

(don't have a picture for this one because the lighting made me want to throw up)

I loathe rat tails.

Riding the mass transit system black (no ticket) is exhilerating. Fearfully exhilerating.

Czechs like dogs (eurodogs and real dogs). Even ugly ones.
(eurodogs - there is nothing quite like 'em)
Ice cream makes a good breakfast on weekends.

Wedding planning from afar is at times as much fun as attaching

a bunch of dead mice to myself and jumping into a snake pit

(but trying on dresses is so fun!).

Berlin has sweet graffitti and even sweeter vibes.

Proper hipsters make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I am in love with Krumlov(e) House

(and Krumlov in general)!

*pictures courtesy of the lovely Steph Dalager*

Detox in the Czech Republic is a near-impossible feat. Czechs make me happy (the person and the people in general;)).
Knitting can be fun. Traveling is best done with jesus as your travel buddy
and a timbuktu over your shoulder.Poznan is a city in Poland.

View Larger MapI genuinely love Twilight...no, I mean like REALLY love it. (Okay, okay, it's more of an obsession, really.)
The style here is...well...um...just different.

World Cup races in Europe are fun...

but probably even better when not cancelled.

But really, I've learned...

The grass IS greener on the other side...it's just a different shade of green
(and there may be some dog poop in it;)).

You have to be yourself. ALWAYS. No matter what.

Self reflection is uber-important.

No matter how much I think I've already explored,

there is so much more exploring to do.

Leading is a neverending challenge.

Sacrifice is (sometimes) a bitch...

but in the end it is oh-so-worth-it.

Wandering is good...because eventually you find where you belong.

Relationship-building takes time...

...but when you establish the strongest and most meaningful of relationships,
they'll never leave you.
(and they're best celebrated over a shot of slivovice and tall glass of pivo)Sometimes you stumble upon wisdom (in word form) in the unlikeliest of places. The hostel industry is absolutely amazing -
and brings together the most special, eclectic mix of travelers.

Communication is so, so, so, so important.

(Even more important in a foreign country.)

Sometimes you have to do things you don't like before you can do the things you really love.

I have so much more learning to do...I never want to quit (learning). Life is so much more interesting this way. Thank you to those of you back home who have been so supportive of my goals and dreams - not many people understand them (or me, for that matter), it's those of you who really take time to look past what is just 'normal' to really accept and understand me. So, thank you for this.

And thank you to all of my new friends here who have been so amazing and welcoming - I really am blessed to have the strong community I have in this new place. You guys (and gals) are wonderful.

I love to love all of you.

Thank you for teaching me something...each and every one of you (I'm blessed to have so many teachers!).

Love,

Me

gnome sweet gnome...

...what I really meant was "home sweet home" of course, but "gnome sweet gnome" sounded silly and made me giggle, so I went with it. :)

As most of you know, I went on my first big holiday to...(wait for it)...the States (hee), back in June. It was a wonderful(ly busy) trip, as I landed on U.S. soil in Chi-town, traveled up to the motherland (Wisconsin) for two days before heading over to Minneapolis for one day, only to leave early the following morning for Colorado for Beata (Tom's cousin) and Duane's wedding for 4 days...then back to Minneapolis for a few days and back to Wisconsin for a few more days, before leaving from Milwaukee to come back to Prague, only to jump on a train a day later to head to Berlin for the Kings of Leon concert. Phew. To say the trip(s) was a 'whirlwind' is an understatement. It was freaking tiring, but oh-so-wonderful at the same time.

So, allow me to give you a little run-down of the trip. It all started with me arriving at the airport in O'Hare, excited to see Tom, Mom and my sis waiting for me with Hannah Montana balloons (I mean, I did it for my bro...so is it wrong of me to expect it for myself?! ;)) and a big 'welcome gnome...oops, I mean 'home')' sign...but there was nada in sight. You know that feeling of excitement you get just after you leave Customs, but before you walk through those big doors that separate you from hundreds of crying, happy, balloon-toting family and friends...I love that feeling. And then, no one was waiting for me. So, I waited for about 20 minutes, and then decided to call the fam to see if they had remembered I was coming into town (hee;)). It turns out they were right behind me, so we all hugged and we were on our happy, merry way. Oh happy day it was!
From there, I spent a couple of days hanging with the fam and enjoying the pool. Then, we roadtripped it up to Minni for a day before we went on to Boulder/Estes Park for the wedding weekend. With immediate stops to The Tea Garden for the regular (strawberry/guava/passion fruit)smoothie with tapioca pearls (mmm, I am salivating right now) and then to Kowalski's, of course, for some aussie licorice, organic fruit leathers and other treats. mmm. Finally, it was on to CO for the wedding. The wedding was rockstar (food was amazing, everything was beautiful), and it was wonderful to hang with Tom's fam for an entire weekend.

We were staying in a beautiful (more like absolutely gorgeous) cabin in Estes Park and Tom and I were able to go on morning walks, enjoying the crisp mountain air. I was reminded just how much I adore Colorado and how much I'd enjoy living there in the future. Boulder is one of the most active cities on the face of this earth...kayaking, biking, running, the list goes on. We even stumbled upon a kayak competition one day and marveled at the athletes. So cool.

The uber-cool door to our home-away-from-home

Thanks again, Elizabeth and Wieslaw for such an awesome time!

Mom and dad - you would have just loved this place!

Random kayak competition somwhere between Estes Park and Boulder...

Never fails...has to be a blue steel in there somewhere

Dr. Tom looks confused...

The next few chronicle our adventures through Rocky Mtn. Nat'l Park...

YES! SNOW!

Classic girlfriend/boyfriend hands-in-the-back-pocket shot. 'nough said.

We could defo live here - we totally have 'Boulderite' potential!

The whole fam+

After the wedding weekend it was back to Minneapolis for 5 days of reconnecting with friends and former colleagues, gym time, wedding dress shopping, wedding venue shopping, dinner parties, have I said gym time?! ;). It was just perfect. I was reminded, yet again, just how blessed I am to have such amazing friends. Kate and Hennessy dealt with me while dress shopping a couple of days and Brian and Greta also joined us. It was just magical. I tried on the most beautiful dresses, but also was invited in on the little wedding industry secret...everything is crazy-expensive. And, I started to realize just how difficult planning from afar would be, when the whole wedding date discussion was initiated. Yikes! But, Tom and I had a great time mindstorming about all things wedding-related over french toast at The Bad Waitress...we are such an amazing duo and I am totally confident we are going to make the perfect team in the future.

After a fabulous week "home", we began the journey back to Wisconsin to hang with the fam for a few more days. We had such a fun time with Mikaela, as always, and we also were able to spend some good, quality time with my awesome friend Brittany (whom I've referenced before and is now living in Fiji!). My mom, sister, Brittany and I even had the chance to hit up a dress shop in Milwaukee (of all places!;)) and found some gorgeous dresses. And, of course we had some more great pool time...Tom and Mikaela get along so well and it just brings the biggest smile to my face to see it.

WARNING...the picture below is G+ rated! ;)

I had the most perfect time with Tom and my family and it couldn't have come at a better time...it was just the right time for so many reasons and I am so thankful for it.

Thank you mom, dad, Mikaela, Tom (and family) and all of my lovely friends for such a special vacay!

Love,

me