Frankfurt, Germany

Walking the streets... All alone

Imagine walking through a city cleared out just for you as your plane lands. No other people – just peace and quiet as you walk the streets. All you see are beautiful, ancient buildings towering over you with fresh flowers in the windows, and all you hear are stone water fountains flowing as you pass them with the pitter-patter of your feet behind them. That much quietness in a big city seems nearly impossible at any given time of the day, especially in the largest financial Centre in Europe. But the morning we landed in Frankfurt, Germany, the people of the fifth largest populated city in the country were all in slumber. Of course I was just kidding when I said it was cleared out just for us, but as for the town being asleep as we went on our first exploration, that was no joke.
Bull of Frankfurt Yum Yum... German Festival Food

Our flight landed in Frankfurt right as the sun rose. Me, Tres, and my brother, ready to take on the country of Germany. However, my parents’, who’s flight was supposed to land before ours, were stuck in Atlanta. As soon as we landed, Tres received a text saying they were eight hours behind us. The initial plan was to meet them, hop in the car, and head south to the mountains of Garmisch, but we learned as soon as our plane touched down, that wasn’t going to happen.

Drinks on a fun patio just as people started to wake up in this city... haha

So the plan changed. And before we knew it we were walking off of a subway into the gigantic city of Frankfurt, dragging our luggage behind us. Sure, we could have set up camp at the airport until 5pm when my parents finally landed, but instead, we decided we had a fun city to explore. So bags and all, off we went, into the city. The quiet city, that is. The Friday night party must have lasted until 4am with the entire city of Frankfurt invited because on Saturday morning, there wasn’t a person on the streets.
First view of a German country-side from the drive

For the first several hours we walked, admiring the unique, longstanding architecture of the city. Finally, a few shops started to open up, and though the party was assumed to have lasted all night the eve before, it wasn’t long before the beer was flowing again. As we walked, we stumbled upon none other than a German festival – right in the center of Frankfurt. Carnival food and beer on the streets are two of my favorite pastimes, and when the smell of sausages, sauerkraut, pretzels, and German beer started seeping through streets that were completely uninhibited just hours before, I was in my happy place. We had clearly arrived… we were officially in Germany!
Eating pizza and drinking beer after a long day and drive... sleepy

The day was spent eating German festival food, drinking champagne and beers at every cool restaurant patio we saw, and walking the finally busy streets of Frankfurt, luggage still being hauled behind us. Exhaustion set in later than afternoon, and we took the subway back to the airport to wait on my parents. I took an hour nap in the most comfortable position a person could possibly be in laying on a lobby seat in an airport. Finally around 6pm, my parents were landed and we were in our “family truckster,” a Volvo station wagon, driving across the country of Germany. We arrived in Garmich, ate a quick dinner composed of pizza and more beer, and went to bed.

Spending the entire day in Frankfurt was a treat, and there’s plenty more Frankfurt stories where that one came from because we weren’t quite done with it just yet!

July 14 post below… sad! Two months later… I’m back!

One of many things we have been doing: Dinner on our balcony... has become more common with good weather

Today was a dreary, rainy day in Memphis. I like nothing better on an ugly day than to go to the gym for a workout (because there’s nothing better to do), take a hot shower, and relax on the couch with Tres. Well, today I decided to do something a little different. So, as I sit here in my comfy, cloud of a housecoat with my feet propped up, I am blogging. Different? Yes. Why? Because I haven’t done it in months. Not because I haven’t wanted to, or because I am lazy, or because I have nothing to write. No… simply because I lack time. Seriously.


Time is so precious to me. So, when I’m working all day with a workout to follow, then I go to school two nights a week, then I have homework that includes more writing than I’m sure anyone does on their blogs, then I cook, then for heaven’s sake, when it’s finally 9pm, I just may want to have a little fun down the street at a local restaurant or bar or sit on my couch and watch mindless television, so with all that… I choose not to blog. Did I mention I write and write and WRITE in graduate school? I am a journalism major, so it’s no surprise, but geez, when you write that much in school, you just may decide to not do it in your spare time.

So, that is my confession. My excuse. Whatever you want to call it.

Most recent pic of us... in North Carolina at a wedding

But the conclusion to this post is not a “farewell, I’m too busy to blog anymore post. It’s a “Hey, friends, I’m back to blog consistently.... can I get a whoop whoop” post!!! At least that’s the goal… to get this Southern Kind of Love back to being documented!

TN - Cinci game last weekend... our most recent excursion


Next month, Tres and I will be celebrating our One Year Anniversary, and today I got to thinking about how much fun we’ve had our first year of marriage. We have done a lot, experienced a lot, and traveled a whole lot, yet, I haven’t written much of anything. This made me sad, yet it inspired me!

So what’s long overdue? I’m just going to include the highlights:

• My new job and the change of no longer working with my husband in the same office
• Trip to Europe: Germany, Austria, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, Italy
• Trip to Vegas… this will be a good one
• Weekends in Memphis… oh the fun Tres and I have living downtown in this awesome city
• Redecorating: The new Enemy (the old one… wedding planning)
• Anniversary trip plans to New England: Portland, Boston, Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod

Our decor inspirarion... we both agree on this. That could change as often as my blogging habits though... haha

Looks like I’m going to have my work cut out for me! Luckily, Tres and I are in Memphis this weekend. Hopefully football, fun, redecorating, and dare I say, homework wont distract me. We shall see!!! Wish me luck, bloggettes!

Vegas

Well I have managed once again to not write a blog post about one trip before going on the next one. I SUCK AT BLOGGING!!! Honestly, I just don't have time anymore. I sure wish I did but work, school, travel, and all the fun on the side is killing me :)

I promise to post about our trip to Europe soon enough, but until then, we will be in Vegas. I am thrilled about this trip!!! We are meeting friends, staying at the Mandalay Bay in a fantastic suite, we have a Cabanna booked for the pool, and of course have great restaurants already listed out!!!

I look forward to sharing it... Sure ya do, Andrea!!! Sure ya do!!!! I'm sure that's what you are thinking. But at some point, the Vegas and the post-poned European excursion will be posted!!! I need more time in each day :) I have plenty to write when I return!!!

Travel To Do List

After recovering from my European Vacation with Tres and the fam, I didn't have the time to post about this last week, but I wanted everyone to know I finally wrote something I have been wanting to write for a long time... A Top Travel List. Let's just call it:

Andrea's Travel To-Do List

I was lucky enough to have a friend of mine, Nicole, invite me to guest blog on her fabulous online diary while she was off to New York City, so what better to write about than travel?!

Take a read here, and stay tuned to my blog for exciting posts on my trip to Germany and beyond!

Exciting Changes... Positive Outcomes

It's been awhile since I've blogged, and thanks to a friend (Living.Learning.Loving) who recently asked me to guest blog for her, I feel guilty for writing for other blogs and not continuing my own (haha), so I thought I would recap the last couple of months and why I have been so distracted.

First big day at training

The big change: I have a new job! To be honest, the opportunity literally came out of nowhere, I applied, got interviewed, and got it. While it was not a part of the plan I initially had for my life after leaving my other job (I had actually planned on going to school full-time with a potential Graduate Assistantship), it was a blessing in disguse from God and it was the first time in a long time that I actually felt spoken to on a decision I had to make. It was like the series of events leading up to it all happened so the opportunity could position itself just perfectly for me to take it on. IT WAS MEANT TO BE, and because I knew that, I have taken it and ran with it.

Congrats flowers from hub when passed my big work exam
With all that said, the past couple of months, I have been completely consumed with my new career. I am now a pharmaceutical sales rep for Arbor Pharmaceticals. While the new job has been the most exciting thing to happen in my life since Tres and I got married, it has also been the most time-consuming and hard working I have been since then. I went through nearly a month of traning - at home for a week and two weeks in Atlanta, and as of two weeks ago, they set me free to shower doctors with the positives of our awesome products. No home office, no bosses, no new colleage friends - just me all alone running my own little business in North Memphis. The first week was the most nerve racked I have been since college cheerleading tryouts circa 2002. And to add it it, I was lost and confused half of the week... where am I driving? Who am I looking for? Am I saying all the right things? Am I doing what they trained me ovr 3 weeks to do? SCARY and LOST does not even describe it, but when week 2 came around, I felt like I had done the job all along. Learning something new is always going to be difficult, but you have to believe you can do it. And remember, time makes everything better. This coming week will be week 3 for me, and I am starting to feel like I'm completely in my element!

And no celebration complete without champagne!

Ok, so what else has been going on? TRAVEL and FUN. Whether it's going on or in the works, me and Tres are always taking the time to visit new places and do new things. Since I last blogged here's what our weekends have been like:

Destin

Work had to be done here in Destin, but we always find time for a little bit of fun and FOOD of course. Check out our fun pictures from the weekend:

Memphis and Atlanta

Tres jumped on a plane to Atlanta for a wedding to hang out with his best guy friends. I had planned to go, but when my girls called and said they could all make it to Memphis the same weekend (this never happens... we are all always too busy), I stayed in Memphis to show them a good time. We had a great brunch on Saturday at mine and Tres favorite spot Local, hip hopped around the city and Beale Street all day, and went to dinner at Itta Bena. And the best part of the weekend was Sara surprising us, telling us the exciting news she had been hoping for: She's preganant!!!!!





Louisville - Kentucky Derby

This was honest to goodness one of the best weekends I've had in a long time, and there's a story behind it. Ok, so after I got this job my luck felt out of control. It was just the little things that kept happening that Tres and I were like, why is all this fantastic stuff happening to me?!?!?! Ok, so when we went to the Derby, Tres was like it'd be funny if your horse wins!
So, to add to the story, I tell Tres often and bug him about my dream vacation to South Africa. Since I can remember I have wanted to go there, and I always tell Tres we never have to go on another vacation ever again if we can just go to South Africa (he knows that's not true, which is probably why we haven't gone... haha). Ok, so the night before the Derby we are hanging out with our friend, Dan, and he tells me that his sister just got back from a trip to South Africa. I start freaking out, and Tres told him, "you should have never told her that." I make it worse by asking him to pull pics up on Facebook of her trip, and torture myself by dreaming even more of a vacation there. Tres had just been in Orlando for work the week before, and while looking at the pictures, Tres says, "I was just at Animal Kingdom in Disney World and those pictures look like they came from the safari ride." He was being funny, giving me a hard time, of course. :)

To wrap this story up (I promise there's a point), we get to the Derby and there's a horse named Animal Kingdom!!!! I say, OMG Tres, I am betting on that horse, and if he wins you HAVE to take me to South Africa very soon. The horse was low on rankings and it winning was a shot in the dark. Well, if you watched the Derby, you know how this story ends: THE HORSE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Animal Kingdom, MY HORSE, won!!!! So I guess in next year or two... or maybe more (haha), you all will be reading a post from me in South Africa. Hehe :)


New Orleans

Tres grandmother turned 90 YEARS OLD last month, and we traveled to NOLA for her HUGE, black tie birthday celebration. I was in Atlanta for training and had not seen my sweet husband in a week and could not wait to get on a flight to New Orleans for the event. The only catch was, I had to fly back to Atlanta for more training after the party, so I literally touched down in New Orleans for under 24 hours and had to fly back to Atlanta right after. Most exhausting two days of my life, but being at such an important family event and seeing my husband for just a few hours was so worth it!





Austin

My sweet, beautiful cousin graduated high school in Austin and I would not have missed it for the world. She is like the sis I never had. I can remember holding her in my arms as a skwormy 9 year old when she was born, and seeing her as a grown woman graduating high school was such a special time in life. I am so proud of her, and I cannot even begin to express the fun I had with "my gals" (the ladies of my family) in Austin! My mom, grandma, aunt, and cousin had the best time together... read more about them here. This was also a quick trip, as I was only there a day and a half and had to head back home to prepare for the first week of my job, but another family event I wouldn't have missed for the world!!!




Germany
Italy
Austria
Switzerland

TO BE CONTINUED... We leave in 4 days!!!!!

To say the least, we are very busy, but as it has been, especially since the day I met my sweet husband, life is also very grand!!! More posts to come! Thanks for the little push to start blogging again, Nicole!

Southern Weddings Blog Chose Us!!!!

Time has been a-flyin', and we have been busy bees. Nothing out of the ordinary... as far as travel, full weekends, work responsibilities, graduate school (for me), and fun with friends and family. But there have been a few VERY NEW AND EXCITING changes in our life totally worth logging and sharing in this on-going love diary.

As of yesterday, I promised I would write a blog post to catch everyone up, as I have once again been a slacker. I seriously sat down to write it, but then got distracted with work and changed my mind. But the reason for this post is a BIG ONE!!! So I had no choice but to write it today... haha :)

It amazes me how so many of you guys whip posts out like crazy. You guys rock!!!! So thank you all who give me and others something to read daily and/or weekly. I wish I wasn't so ADD and could sit down to do so more than once a month :)
Ok, so this post comes to you quickly because I have started a new job (one of the many new things in our life that have changed and been exciting that I will blog about later), and am swamped!!! I have taken on a position as a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep, and for the last 2 weeks, I have been studying my little behind off to master the BIG test I have coming up on Friday. I swear, I get done with graduate school for the semester (4.0... whoop whoop, and more studying happens... just can't get away from HARD WORK :). Anyway am terrified of this test and hope the outcome is good or I'm in big trouble :)

Secondly, and what this post is really about (I do that so often... mean to write about one thing and then get started on a whole new subject.... prob wouldn't happen if I would blog more often... :) Anyway, here goes:

WE WERE CHOSEN TO BE IN SOUTHERN
WEDDINGS BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In case you can't tell, I am beyond thrilled. And if that isn't exciting enough, we were ALSO chosen to be in the upcoming issue of Southern Bride magazine!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!

I am telling you... the hard work definitely paid off for that wedding. And while I am STILL so glad it's over (never would want to be a bride again.... ever), I am so glad we went full-force and did everything we wanted for it!!! A VERY VERY VERY special thanks to THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHERS IN THE WORLD... Armosa Studios. You guys ARE the only reason we got chosen!!! Thank yall so much for not only being as talented and wonderful to work with but also becoming new friends! Also a big thanks to Southern Oaks Plantation. Without their beautiful venue and extra special staff, and pure PERFECTION of a venue, the wedding day would not have been as glamorous. Every bride out there should go to New Orleans just for YOUR VENUE!!!

Without further ado... here is our featured wedding in Southern Weddings:

Part I :
http://iloveswmag.com/2011/05/11/real-wedding-andrea-tres-part-i/

Part II:
http://iloveswmag.com/2011/05/11/real-wedding-andrea-tres-part-ii/

Bermuda... The Honeymoon I Forgot to Mention

In the cab... We made it!!!

Holy goodness gracious!!! All these posts, and I just realized I ever even blogged about our honeymoon in Bermuda. Wowzers… not sure how that one slipped by me! Ok, nearly 6 months later, but here were some of the highlights of the trip: • We had a great dinner every night we were there. I mean, leave it to me to get us well-fed, but we did not miss out on a good meal while there! If you ever go to Bermuda, I suggest Baracuda in Hamilton (best meal we had the entire trip) and King Henry VIII (great atmosphere… very old school, dinner and dancing).

What we woke up to

Other side of patio

• Our first day we walked, and walked, and WALKED! Did I mention we walked?! Ha! The cool thing about Bermuda is, it’s not your typical “tropical Caribbean island.” It’s very British (accents, driving on the wrong side of the road, the whole shebang) and there’s more to do adventure-wise than just laying and having drinks by the pool all day. We found several beaches, including the famous Horseshoe Bay. We stopped and had a few patio drinks along the way. After one drink stop, we found this random, salient forest with vines to swing from. I don’t know if anyone else knows that place is there, but we had lots of fun playing in it. Finally, when I started getting fussy, we finally caught a cab. I bet money we walked 10 miles on this day. So much fun though!

Pink sand... beautiful

Swizzle Time!!!

• That first night we had dinner at the hotel and went back to our room with a bottle of wine, sat on our balcony and listened to tunes, laughing and talking for hours. This is why I married my husband. Just me and him, all by ourselves, have the best time together!

Dinner

Drinks on the Patio after din

• Day 2 was St. George’s… may have been the best little town on the entire island! I felt like we were in London walking the streets, and there was plenty to see, do, and explore. We got off the beaten path and discovered an unfinished church. It was so beautiful and like nothing I have ever seen. After more walking we cracked open a bottle of Santa Margarita from our backpack and did more exploring. I’m pretty sure it’s not legal to walk the streets of Bermuda drinking wine, but we certainly did it… haha!

• Before I go more into day 2, I need to talk about how nice the people are in Bermuda. Look, you will hear people say that about almost every place they visit, but I swear, if they call anywhere aside from Bermuda “the nicest people on the planet,” they have never been to Bermuda!!! This may sound extra-creepy, and it’s nothing we have ever in our lives done before, but we hitch-hiked nearly 5 times on this trip… And no, we never stuck our thumb out. There were plenty of cabs, we were not desperate. People would see us walking, drive up, and offer us rides. It was really weird at first, but everyone was so nice, and by the end of the trip, we had taken so many rides with strangers, we didn’t think twice about it!

Unfinished Church and St. George's

• One more thing on Day 2…. It POURED!!! I mean completely drenched me to where I was “drowned rat” style. We didn’t have an umbrella, so we ran into an ice cream shop, had a bite to eat, and asked the lady working if we could have a garbage bag or something to cover up with. She comes out with an umbrella. SHE GAVE IT TO US!!! Seriously, these are the people of Bermuda. I have been a lot of places – a lot of places with extra-nice people – and I have never experienced anything like this!!! After this experience, we headed to The Caves... a great sightseeer in Bermuda!

CAVES!

• Day 3 was golf!!! We played at The Southampton Princess, and I have never seen a course so beautiful. Of all 18 holes, there was a view of the ocean. The best part was, we got there extra-early, and with it being low-season, we pretty much had the entire course to ourselves. It was a golf game to remember and our second favorite day the entire week!

POOL TIME!

• Day 4 we hung out at the Dockyard, another area of Bermuda. We started the day off with a tennis game, had lunch, did some exploring, layed on the beach, then ended the day with another bottle of Santa Margarita and King Henry VIII.

LOSER

WINNER

• Day 5… BEST DAY OF THE ENTIRE VACATION!!!!! It was our last day, so we rented a boat and took it out on the open ocean. It was so relaxing just having me and Tres together on our sweet little boat. We stopped at a tiny island for a picnic – one of the most fun things we have ever done together. After lunch, we went shipwreck sightseeing. Bermuda is known for their shipwrecks because of all of coral close to land. It was really cool to see, as one we saw sank in the 1800’s!

• It was sad to say goodbye, as I’m sure every honeymoon is. We enjoyed every aspect of Bermuda. The food was great, the people were amazing, and the activities were entertaining! Also, nothing beat our awesome hotel, Cambridge Beaches. It was secluded, quiet, and our suite had the most amazing view! I highly recommend it!

Beautiful room!

• Last things to point out about Bermuda… THE PINK SAND!!! It’s beautiful and you will never see anything so exceptional! And…. THE SWIZZLE!!! It’s the island’s signature drink, and we had a bundle of them while there. It’s a must-try!