Ready!?

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I think I am.
Not just for turkey on Thursday.

I may freak out a little as always and rethink, and second guess and all...

...but I am ready.
Just like the girl in this picture!

Happy Tuesday.
Happy Thanksgiving week.

xoxo,
♥ Selma ♥

Foggy Day

Taken at 8.45 am today. I was walking around this unknown town, and found myself gazing at this cloud of fog...in reality it looked even more stunning!!!

Cute mansion or is it somesort of castle?! Who knows. Just liked it, even in that haze.

Absolutely loved these leaves.

My early trip today was successful. My friend took her exams, probably passed them too (she'll know some time in November - how awful!!!), and I was walking around this town. Honestly though, I was a bit disappointed. Expected more of it and well, although it has beautiful houses, old alleys etc...something was missing. Not sure exactly what was missing but I just assumed it would be more vibrant?! Oh well, over all it was a great day...lots of sun, temperatures stayed in the higher 30s (yes, that cold!!!), and in the afternoon a weird trip in search of some Prosecco...you would have thought it was easy to find a cafe/bar that served some bubbly...not so much. The cafe/bar was difficult to find...so we ended up going to the grocery store and got us some bubbly there and drank that on the train. ;) Yes, we are allowed to drink on the train. And so we celebrated my friend's exam day. Very simple, and so not appropriate...so we're gonna do the nice version of bubbly drinking when she gets her results!!! :)

Happy Thursday everyone!!!

I'm so exhausted, and my feet are sore...so going to be early!!!

xoxo,

♥ Selma ♥

It's way too early right now...but...

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Good morning!
It's freakin' early.

I'll have a busy and weird day ahead of me.
Starting with a train ride very early in the morning. So early Starbuck's not even open yet.
My camera, book, and iPod in tow...money too, and my friend S. next to me.
It's going to be her special day with two major exams ahead of her.
Those tests won't take long but they're illogically scheduled.
In order to enjoy the day in a new city (with hopefully NO fog), I decided to join her and explore a new area.

Eeeeeekkkk....help!
It's going to be in the same country but will make us believe we're somewhere in France.
Yes, we're heading to the French part, and yes, it's going to be oh-so-chic. Or not.
Am I ready?! Who cares.
Is she ready?! I sure hope so, because I want her to pass.

Happy Thursday everyone.

Keep your fingers crossed so S. will ace those very important tests!!

So gonna miss my Starbucks coffee.
And no, the city we're heading to does not have such a coffee house...yup.
Who cares, right?! I sure don't care at all.
It's all about the adventure.

Yawwwwwwnnnnnn.

xoxo,

♥ Selma ♥

Holidays

I finally managed to hit the "book" button. 

Some of you already know that!!!!

I'm going to be back in southern California over the holidays...and I cannot wait. Ok, granted I have mixed feelings mainly due to the fact that I still need to book one flight out to Louisiana. I hope I manage that one, too. Otherwise, I'll be stuck somewhere between Santa Barbara and Orange County. Not too bad either. Wonder why I'm also trying to fly to LA, the state? Me, too. However, my friend invited me along to visit friends and family down there and I have to say it's been 10 (!!!) years that I was down there last so it may be just the right time to visit again. We'll see.

But for right now I'm looking forward to seeing the following again:  

 

Somehow I cannot wait, but at the same time this whole traveling thing is just weird...what do I bring? What do I leave here? What gifts am I going to give? What's the weather going to be like, because frankly I forgot all about it. Do I really fly also to LA, or am I going to stay mainly in CA and enjoy it as much as I can?  Will I survive without a car *as you know I gave up driving!* Will I survive without a computer? I'm not bringing it with me mainly because it's too heavy and my mom's has died so she needs to use mine from time to time. Should I buy an iPad instead and bring it with me? Nope. Yes. Nope. Ridiculous questions on my mind...very ridiculous questions and thoughts. Welcome to my world. 

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend.

I'm going to have a funny week...dentist, eye doctor, and work meetings (yes, work meetings...I need to hand in my keys and sign something! Whoops...I forgot to do that earlier...no biggie though), a trip to the French part of this tiny country (to support my friend on her oral exam day!!), and well, just lots of me-time!!! :)

Ok, I admit it...I'm excited!!! :)

Happy Monday!

♥ Selma ♥

Missing It

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Today while walking along the lake and making sure a fountain-picture-collection is being worked at, a sudden heartache occurred. Nothing serious of course, but out of nowhere I was daydreaming or something similar to that...and seeing myself landing at LAX again, and being in that area again. It's been now a year and a half and it feels like sooooo long ago. Been checking flights and prices, slowly trying to let people know I may be visiting...but so far I haven't booked a thing. This is the most sucky moment...as much as I love traveling just hitting the button and booking a flight is something so definite. It cannot be undone. Of course it can but I won't allow that to happen. Just hitting that button may change my life forever, or make it worse. Ha! So, I totally suck at this. And this is something I'm sure I can't change ever in my life.

Besides, I'm trying to figure out what to do around New Year's.
Do all of you already know what you are gonna do?!
If so, fill me in, or give me hints on what I should be looking for in order to have some fun that night. I won't allow myself to go through the same ordeal I went through last year. Nope. Not going to happen.

With all that being said.
I hope you're having a fabulous Thursday...wherever you are!!! ;)

xoxo,
♥ Selma ♥

Please Don't

Do you remember my "please don't" post a while back?

I mainly listed things people should not do while traveling abroad...things that may bother more than just one soul on this planet dealing with tourists and such. Since I could write books about such very annoying and entertaining (yes I admit it's also quite entertaining) behavior I thought I'd share some more. Again, please be aware of the fact that not everyone's like that, and that things like the ones I mention may or may not happen every day. Everything I'm writing down has happened and will happen again. Everything I'm writing down is not intended to hurt or offend anyone. It's intended for my own pleasure (so I can finally vent and get it all out), or basically for entertainment/information. Isn't it nice to know a thing or two about how people see you and what you should try to avoid once you enter a different continent or country, or state for that matter?!

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• Please don't assume anyone crossing your way (in a hotel, on the street, in the lobby of a building, or at the tourist information center, etc) is your technician. If your laptop/computer/iPhone/iPad/etc doesn't work we can't fix it for you. As much as we like you to keep in touch with family and friends back home, we are no technicians. Heck, I can't even fix my own at home, so why should I try to fix yours?! Please go to some store that may actually help you with that. Thank you.
• Don't be upset when you want to pay in another currency and people don't accept it. When you travel to a different country, that specific new country may or may not have the same currency as you are used to. Deal with it. Inform yourself beforehand, change it too, or have some with you when you enter that country. Don't be upset when people tell you you can't pay in your currency, or if so, the exchange rate is incredibly ridiculous and you would loose lots of money. Hotels and restaurants aren't banks. Shops aren't banks either. So if you want a good deal on your "foreign" money go to a bank, compare the rates and then change to the local currency. It's that simple.
• Inform yourself whether or not hotels charge extra for calls made from the rooms...local calls aren't free in most places, so make sure. And don't yell at the person telling you you spent $1.20 on a local call. It's not worth it. You called, you pay. Plus, come on!!! $1.20 is not $147!!!
• Smile! Even if you're tired from your trip, or mad at your spouse for not finding something or having booked something wrong don't blame it on the first person you see. Don't blame it on me. I'm sorry for all the trouble but you need to work this out with your friend, spouse, father, mother, etc. Not with me. Thank you. So please don't yell at me because I'm not your enemy. And please smile!!! Life may suck right at this second...but there's no need to yell and call names. It's not going to be better that way. Just smile!
• Speaking of language...don't swear in front of me. Don't swear at all. I don't care if you do it, because heck I know I do it, too...but there are certain places you just should watch what you're saying because it's just very inappropriate. So yeah, watch your language. 
• Smile!! Yes, again. Even if your day is crappy - smile. In college, first class in my field of expertise, I was told that when you work with people you gotta smile and stay positive towards others even though your day is one of the worst possible ones. It doesn't matter if you just broke up with someone, went to a funeral or so or just have a bad day. No one's supposed to see this - just you. Your attitude towards others determines what echoes back to you. 
• A/C's aren't used in every place and even though you may have it on full time all summer long back home get used to the fact that your travel destination may not even have air-conditioning. Inform yourself beforehand, and then stop complaining. You had plenty of time to read if air-conditioning is available or not. If you failed to do so, your problem. Not mine.
• Don't ask the first person you come across with what you could do in a specific city/town/area. You are holding a guide in your hand, so open that one and read. You bought that guide, and brought it with you so why not open it up and read (preferably before you start your trip!). There's nothing worse than asking anyone what you could do/see/experience in a city when you first get in. It just puts a stamp on your forehead staying "I'm a dumb tourist!!".
• It's okay to ask for a good restaurant though, like where locals do love to go eat or have a drink. This is absolutely fine. Sometimes you get directed to the best places ever, those not mentioned in a travel book. Wish we had NFT's over here!!!
• Get used that certain countries and cities don't have the same standard you're used to. If you have a gigantic bedroom in one city, you may not get the same sized room in another hotel. Same goes for temperatures...if you had brilliant weather in New York, traveled to Berlin and were lucky enough to get lots of sunshine and warm temps...don't get mad at the first person on your next stop because the weather's not the same. And don't start sentences with "this place sucks, because it's wet!".
• Use the bathroom in your room. Don't pee on the street. Enough said.
• Don't release gas in front of strangers either...especially when it can be heard and well, smelled.
  You are welcome for the last two visuals!!!

Ready to travel and annoy people?
I sure am.

Not so sure where to go though...and when and all but somehow I feel this very strong urge to get down to the basement, get my suitcase and pack some essentials and go...will I do it?! Maybe. Just not now...maybe in October or November!!!! Or December before Christmas?!

I can feel the travel bug got to me...again.

♥ Selma ♥

No title this time...oh wait...yes, there's one

We all know what date today is.
I won't go into details. Let's leave it at this. Don't forget to remember though.

The following pictures are long overdo...didn't forget just didn't feel like posting until I realized I should because my blog's about my daily/weekly adventures, or misadventures, happy and sad moments...just like a little diary I love to go back to and read again. And trust me, I do read my posts from last year sometimes...quite depressing at times. But again, it's life and life's not always sunny and bright.

Nonetheless...here are the pictures...

my favorite "thing" in the city. ;)
I always go by and say hi. ;)

weird new creature in town

I may look pregnant, but I'm not.
I had like three layers on that day...yes, the sun was out but it was freezing cold.
Even for August!!!

Cute piggies along the way...not sure why they're out there but they're cute.

My three days in Freiburg, Germany were lovely.
The weather was not so lovely at times, but fall was seen and felt.

Have a fantastic weekend!!!!
Any fun things planned?!

♥ Selma ♥

Please Don't...

This post may be different from all the other posts. Maybe similar. Who knows.

It's a bit of a to-do or mainly of a NOT to-do list while traveling.

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I've been working in the travel industry and it has come to my attention that I could have written about five entire books with stories about weird questions, behavior, moves, words, people (!!!!), and all that...however, it's funnier when you experience them. Then again, it's absolutely no fun at all when you experience them over and over again. It makes people look stupid. They're not. No one is. However, you automatically see how certain people work on or handle certain things and then you just have to turn around and go someplace in order to laugh. Or not. I usually cry because I just think it's sad and just so very embarrassing. :(

Nonetheless, this post will be different, and if I sound slightly annoyed, pissed, irritated, angry, moody and a lot more, I don't mean to sound like that at all. It may come close to it but I don't want to judge or point at people and say "hey, you messed up! Stupid, you!"... all I want to do today is vent. A little. In peace. And I absolutely don't want to harm anyone or cause people to think I'm a weirdo because I write all this down but it needs to be said. In writing. I can't bring myself ever to say this to people. I would love to at times, I do admit this. I'm not the only one. However, my job doesn't allow me this. Here, I at least take the liberty in writing down what I think and feel. It's my blog anyway...so here it is:

While traveling there are things we all should do (or at least consider and think about) and there are things we absolutely should never ever think of doing. Ever. The Do's and the Dont's if you want. In either case, this varies from person to person, and country and city...and even season! Though during my young life (with a huge emphasis on YOUNG) I've learned a few things in life (would be bad if I didn't) and a few things about travelers. Don't get me wrong now, I'm not going to teach you anything. I won't be judging either. All I'm going to say or in this case write is a few tips on how NOT to annoy people when you first meet them. And yes, I need to vent.... :(  So, here it is:

• When you are abroad, you are abroad. You are not back home. Nothing is the same as back home (that's why you traveled abroad), therefore don't complain about it and don't point out all the time that "back home it is...". It's not, get over it.
• If you enter a hotel and check-in, don't ask if they speak English. It's a hotel. At least the lady up at the front desk should know English. Again, it's a hotel. English has become internationally recognized (for most parts, definitely up to 90%). If not perfect, someone has to speak it. Don't start with "do you speak English" or worse "Do you understand me?!"
• Don't assume though people understand you. Even though they may speak your language, they may know just the basic phrases and are not used to hearing everyday conversations. So, speak clear, and easy-to-understand.
• Use your brain. Please. A phonebook is a phonebook, no matter where you are on this planet. At least in the more civilized areas. Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Russia, and even China have phonebooks...don't start with "At home, we have a book that lists names and phone numbers. We call it phonebook..." No!!!
• Again, use your brain daily. Not just for one minute. I'm not judging or trying to make people look bad or a slight bit ridiculous...but some things just can't be explained. Or tolerated.
  What do you do when you want to open a door?!
  I'm asking this, because it seems it's not as clear to everyone as it should be. You hold the handle and either push or pull. Right? What if you pull and nothing works? What do you do?!
  Right, you push. And what if you push first and nothing works? Correct...you pull. If both attempts fail the door's locked or if it's a bathroom stall someone might be using it. Some "stalls", for example, have green or red colors indicating whether or not it is occupied, some have "occupied" written on them. Clear?!
• Brain work is important...traveling can be exhausting. I know that. If you've been traveling, even just for a few hours (not necessarily around the globe, heck I haven't traveled that much) then you know. Traveling is great but also very much exhausting. So, it is just natural that you can't know everything at once. But, please, try to focus. And try not to blame everything on others. If you booked something wrong, you booked it wrong. Not the computer, not the Internet, and not someone else. You didn't read the whole page, or you clicked on something else, or you skipped something assuming it wasn't important. You booked it wrong. No one else. Trust me, I've booked stuff myself and I had to read it four times to make sure I got it all right. Read, everything. And then when you agree, press confirm. Booked is booked, especially when it's a non-refundable price!!!! And left is always left, right always right...no matter where you are. Even when you're exhausted this should be clear to you.
• Have an email address that you can open and read abroad as well. Sounds so easy, doesn't it?!
  Please don't try to send an email by clicking the tab bar on top and typing in 123455@abcde.com. You have to access your account first. The Internet you're about to use is not the one at home. It's the WorldWideWeb so you can access it but no password is remembered on this computer or any other thing is yours...you share this, and you also share it with the world. You need an account and a passport to that account of yours...yahoo, gmail, hotmail, you can even access comcast, and all other accounts...just know the password and all. Otherwise it doesn't work.
  And trust me on this, this has happened way too many times...it's one major thing that drives me insane!!!
• Know where you are. If you travel to Europe, know where you are. Know what people may speak. You don't have to speak it though but at least know that you no longer are in Italy, or Spain, or France or Greece. Know where you are. I've had people greet me in some very unknown language. They thought they were in some other city or country. Hmmm...who booked the trip again?!
• Be prepared. Don't assume, summer's going to be hot and sunny all the time or winter cold and gray. Anything is possible these days...anywhere, anytime.
• Please shower! Enough said. 
• Last on this list for today (I can assure you there's a lot more to mention but I won't go there ever)...use your brain. Oh wait?! I said that already...

You think I'm harsh by saying all the above?
I wish I was.
All this has happened to me or others and it's been just very irritating. Worse things happened too and I felt bad for the person. Really. I wonder how they survive back home. Really. I really feel bad and just ask myself if I act that way too when I travel. Obviously I don't make those mistakes. I'm prepared. I want to know about everything and anything about the city or country I'm about to visit, and that before I even hop on the train or plane or whatever. Right after the trip is booked I'm holding a guide book in my hand. Yes, I'm one of those people. This doesn't mean though that I don't make mistakes. I'm human, not a superhero. Even those make mistakes. However, I'm prepared and try not to annoy the @$%^ out of locals.

Most importantly though I travel light. Sort of. At least I have room left for shopping adventures. If you know me, you know that no matter where I'm going I'm going to end up buying new clothes/shoes/bags etc. Yes, I'm that kinda girl. ;)  So, my suitcase is usually halfway filled and that's it. ;) Just thinking about it now makes me want to go traveling again....

Ok, that's about it for today.
I needed to get this off my chest. Big time.
I feel relieved. Trust me.
This post wasn't meant to upset anyone, or annoy you guys.
It wasn't meant to irritate you or others.
My daily nerve wracking face-to-face experiences with weird people has come to a point where I couldn't and wouldn't hold back. I had to mention at least a few things very bothersome to most people working in my field. As much as I love working with all kinds of people, it has come to this point and even though I'm not proud of it I have to share this. Otherwise it's going to bug me forever and we don't want that. Plus, I am trying to stay positive and am trying to shove all negativity away. I'm trying real hard. Writing always helps, and since I'm having a difficult time at work and in life, I believe that part of my negativity comes from my job. Not good I know, but writing all this down is one giant help!!!

The good news?!! I had the cutest couple in today. I can literally say I loved them. Not in that "love" way but they were amazing. Casual, easy-going, super friendly, and just very normal. Loved how they arrived, and how they lived their lives. They definitely used their brain. :) They're off to great European cities now. Wish I could do this now too...ha, see?! The travel bug has found me....

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♥ Selma ♥

Gone With The Wind

Not the movie! But yes, it's blowing hard...real hard. Ok, let's not get into this too much...it's wind, extremely gusty ones and it seems they won't stop any time soon. The lake looks gorgeous with its masculine looking waves but still...not a place I wanna be swimming in right now. I'm glad I'm inside right now...all warm and cozy and not about to be blown away.

I'm planning an upcoming trip (not sure if it's going to happen though), and since I'm really not so much in the mood for any writing or so...I thought I'd share some pics with you. And no, it's not of place I wanna go to (but then again who wouldn't wanna go there, really!!!). Well, it got me thinking...and a couple of days ago I received a postcard from that lovely city and that's where today's inspiration comes from. Thank you my dear friend R for your awesomeness...your postcard meant the world to me! :)

 Yes, I have a Parisian thing today...not sure why. Love the city of love!!!!

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I could go on like this but it would just cause an overload of a crap ton of pictures...so nope! :)

Happy Thursday everyone!

♥ Selma ♥

Sunday Love

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend.
Mine was...ya know...the usual...filled with work.

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You would think it being mid-March and all that spring would slowly decide to appear or at least send its tiny brothers and sisters "blue-ish sky, cute blossoms, and baby birds" so we'd finally start to enjoy the season. But no...it's extremely cold and extremely gray outside. The only thing that cheered me up today was my regular Vanilla Latte...and the fact that I wasn't the only one complaining about the weather. :)

What bothers me now *and yes, it's not work related...woohoo* is that I have to pack my suitcase. Well, let me rephrase that...I already did pack my suitcase but I'm not happy with what I've got in there so I'm tempted to take everything out again and start from scratch. BUT, I don't have time for this and I don't want to do it and well, traveling sucks. ;) I used to be good at this. I suck today. This task is very difficult. For years I just put in a few shirts, toiletries, one pair of flip flops, underwear, some PJs and souvenirs. Nothing more. This year?! I'm flying to a completely different city, with a very different climate (although checking weather.com it is definitely nicer in Philly than it is over here and we normally have the same weather). I don't want to pack too much because I want to have lots of space for my future purchases. And you all should know by now that I love shopping and I won't be stopped doing so when I'm in the US. ;) I already wrote down all the stores and boutiques I need to visit, and friends handed me notes with detailed items they want me to get them. Bath and Body Works' hand lotion is apparently a very very very loved item. ;) Won't disagree with that. ;) But, packing in general is just horrible. I think I'm okay with what I've got so far in my lovely "red" *and yes, it's my suitcase's name* Red is not fully packed and won't be, because I need space for whatever I'm gonna be buying. I won't overdo myself in PA but given there's not sales tax on clothes in Philly...ya never know. And if you haven't known this tiny fact now you do. ;) It's not a secret, it's also written in all those guide books. Plus, I emailed my friend and asked if they by any chance changed that fact and apparently they haven't so I'm gonna be in shopping heaven. And I bet ya, now I'm so looking forward to all that crazy window and store shopping...the second I enter those stores and boutiques I won't find a thing and end up wearing the same clothes day in and day out. Grrrrr....

So yes...packing's my thing this weekend. And I'm almost done. I want to be prepared ahead of time. Way ahead.  I'm already nervous. Good nervous. Sad nervous, but excited nervous. Makes sense?! Sure does to me.

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And oh, if any of you have suggestions on what to see/do/shop/eat in either NYC or Philly let me know. I'm always open to new things and great suggestions. I've been to Philly and my friends live there so it's likely that I know the place or read about it or whatever...but NYC? It's been ten years and the city's changed...so the more suggestions the betters. ;) We'll be going one weekend I think, so there might be a chance for us to discover some fun places. Let me know. Email or comment, either way is fine.


:D

And well, in other news....I'm literally catching up with LOST.
I love this show. It's one of those that makes me think 24/7, and which lets me dream and have visions and ideas. It's a crazy show but its fantasy filled plot makes it almost impossible not to watch. BUT, if you fail to watch one episode you may lose your mind when you watch the following one...and this is what had happened to me, so I stopped watching entirely. I was fed up with all those new faces and couldn't understand a bit. So now, something hit me and I just decided to watch it all again from Season One and Episode One...up until pretty much now. ;) I watch up to four episodes a day. Insane I know but apparently I need some insanity right now. I'm way too serious and need to be distracted a bit. This insane show keeps me sane! :D
So looking forward to the moment it is over and I can resume my normal non-TV life. ;)

Happy Sunday everyone.

xoxo

Where In The World...

...am I?! Oh yeah...London!!!!!

As every Wednesday I am heading over to Classy in Philadelphia and I'm looking for her great pictures...from all over. Sometimes I participate, sometimes I don't. Sorry girl, no offense. I lack pictures...at least on this computer so it's not easy but I enjoy seeing where everyone has been and how much fun it was etc etc.
As for today, I'm sharing with you my quick London trip back in 2007. My oldest friend wanted to go some place far. She wanted to fly. She's one of those people who loves being on a plane. I am not. Unfortunately, time and money issues prevented us from going to NYC, so we ended up in London instead! :) Not bad. Not that it was cheaper. We ended up buying quite some stuff over there and calculating now what we spent we could have flown to NYC too. ;) Darn those kids' clothes!
Either way we had a blast. Here are a very few pics of that trip. I deleted most on this computer but kept these. Oh and don't worry those pics are all saved up somewhere else. ;) So here we go. Quick and easy...London, November 2007!!! :)

If you want to play along go or just read where others have been...hop on over to Jess' blog!

Happy Wednesday.
Time for me to watch my guys and then head to bed. Woohoo.

xoxo