Grab Bags

This is another trip-prep post, and this time it's about travel bags.

Due to the high-risk of pickpockets in Italy, I knew my normal one shoulder purses would not be ideal for our vacation and that I would need to search for a crossover bag. I also brought up the idea to Dave that he might also want to invest in a bag or satchel of sorts as well, to which he just scoffed at first. However, after enough of Dave's coworkers and clients told him tales of pocket slicing and wallet stealing from their European travels, specifically in Rome, he was finally convinced that a "man bag", a "murse" or whatever you call it, might also be a good investment for him. As long as it wasn't called a "fanny pack" I think I could convince him to wear it (which by the way, we found out they still sell under the more modern name "lumbar packs"...lol)

I plan to use my camera bag as my purse for day-to-day tourist activities, and I think it will work nicely. It is a Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home Photo Bag, in a limited edition olive green/orange color combo. It closes both with very strong velcro & a clasp, fits my DSLR camera body, regular lens, zoom lens and still has a secure pocket or two for personal items, cash, etc.

It looks like this:

But I really wanted to bring one more slimmer bag to wear to dinner, for when we are casually strolling sans the big ol' DSLR and may be just carrying a point-and-shoot, if that.

So this weekend we both went shopping and I found a cute, yet practical bag at Macy's on sale for 25% off that I had previously scoped out on Zappos, but believe it or not with the sale it was cheaper at Macy's than at Zappos, even with our sky-high sales tax. I got the Franco Sarto Big Top Crossbody bag in "Golden", which is a mustard color, and it comes complete with a mini coin purse and tiny travel umbrella. All for $48 total on sale after tax.

I really like the look and the size:

It actually looks a little larger on this mannequin then it does on me in real-life, but maybe that's because of the size two "model":

And the cute polka dot pattern inside:

That matches the polka dot pattern of the cute umbrella:

I like that it zips and crosses my body and I think I'll also get use out of it back in the states when going to summer festivals, concerts, etc. Also, I probably could have gone more practical and picked the black or beige color they had at the store, but then again I always enjoy adding a pop of color with my accessories. In fact, I just realized that I don't think I even own a black purse, which seems crazy and that it should be a staple for most women. Oh well :-)

Dave on the other hand, wanted his man bag to be as dull, masculine and understated as you could imagine, so BLACK it is! Men's bags were very hard to come by when we were out and about. Macy's was a bust, and here in Chicago That's Our Bag had the best selection for guys. He tried on a few there, mostly Timbuk2 small messenger styles, but he didn't fall in love with any. So back home and back to Zappos it was for him!

We ordered two online for him to try, and will just return the one he doesn't choose. He went for the Patagonia Single Shot '09:

And this security-feature-rich Pacsafe Metrosafe 200 bag:

We'll see which he likes best.

And best of all... we are only 2 weeks away from our trip!

La, La, La, La, La La, La, Life is Wonderful.

I have been a long-time fan/admirer of Jason Mraz. This is the third time I have seen him over the last 5 years or so and his concert tonight did not disappoint! And really, I'm not really that into "new music" so this really says something that I continue to buy tickets to his shows. Seriously, my music interests mostly stop short in the 90's.

BUT Jason's lyrics and voice are so beautiful. Simply taking in the words of his songs bring a shiver, tear and smile to me all at once. I can't think of another artist that does the same.

Beyond the 3 or 4 "hits" of his that people know from the radio, he really has such an extensive catalog of incredible music. And even if you don't know a song yet, you will be singing along by the end of it. He has this vocal range that is just astounding, too... he even sang opera tonight! Plus, he always freestyles, so you'll never here him sing any song same way twice. I'm so in awe that so much talent that come out of such a slight little guy; I just got home but I already cannot wait to see him again!

Ok, it's about time I stop idolizing a silly recording artist, it's just that I think he is so much more! I know he comes to St. Louis this Fall, so if you are able to go, GO! In fact, if he ever comes anywhere close to you wherever you live, GO! You will not regret it.

Now I must go to "Sleep all, sleep all day!" Goodnight.

Shoes for Italy

I have been on the prowl for comfortable yet cool (both temperature-wise and style-wise if possible) shoes to wear on our trip to Italy. After many recommendations from folks who have travelled to Europe before I made a few online orders and have settled on two out of the 3-4 pairs that I plan to bring.

1) Fit Flops

These are the most comfortable sandals I have ever slipped on and I already broke them in both wearing them around the house and outdoors this weekend taking my parents around downtown Chicago. But really, I don't think there is much of a break-in period for these because they fit very well and have given me no cause for concern. I got them in bronze/pink so that they would look less orthopedic and they are pretty cute. Feel like I'm walking on a cloud, yet supportive and I think they will remain supportive even on uneven surfaces.

2) Keen Amsterdam

I had been told the keen was a nice comfort/sport brand and I liked the look of these shoes online so I gave them a try. I got them in the Rust color and they fit great, feel very comfortable and I also think they'll give a nice pop or color to my casual site-seeing gear. I plan to start wearing these on my walk to work in the mornings to start breaking them in, too.

I've also had a few failures.

I really loved these Converse All Star Slip-ons, but they ran too big and the next size down was too small, so it seems I am between sizes. :

I also tried Clark's Privo Mesa shoes, but they slipped off of my foot too easily:

I hope to find one or two more pairs, one converse like shoe and maybe one a little dressier sandal or mary jane that I could wear with a skirt or dress to dinner without having a skinny heel that I'll be dying to take off. Anyone have any other ideas for a tennis shoe/sneaker brand that isn't the normal, white cross trainer type AND a dressier comfort sandal or shoe for nicer dinners?

10 Year High School Reunion

Here it is. One of my first official "where has the time gone?" adult moments.

This Saturday is my 10 Year High School Reunion in St. Louis.

Lately, I have been thinking about how much different a 10 year reunion would have been 10 years ago. Not just because I was still IN High School with no reason yet to re-unite, but because back then there was no myspace, facebook, twitter, linkedin, blogger, flickr... you get the idea.

Back in 1999, when you went to your first HS reunion you probably knew the whereabouts and whatnots of your slightly extended circle of friends but would be truly surprised about the rest of the characters that you were about to run into again.

But let's fast forward to 2009, where I am connected to probably 20% of my class of 500+ in one way or another online. Probably the same % that would show up to a reunion because they're type that likes to "stay connected". This means that we may not have spoken to or seen each other face-to-face in years, but I already know what they currently look like, their relationship status and where they work or what they do for a living.

Sheesh! So much for the small-talk to break the ice! I see many conversations on Saturday starting awkwardly with, "Yeah, I saw your daughter's first b-day party photos on facebook, she's a doll!" or "I see from LinkedIn that you just got a new job." While I think that social media is SUCH an interesting phenomenon, I also think that knowing so much about someone that you never really see or talk to will make for an odd encounter when you finally DO see each other again. Does anyone else think this maybe strange?

One cool thing about this online frenzy though is that in honor of our reunion, many classmates have began scanning in old HS photos and adding them to our reunion facebook page. So just for kicks, here's a picture that a friend found of my husband Dave and I at our high school: Homecoming 1997!

Either way, I am really excited to go home this weekend! I know a lot of people say that they would never go back to high school, but I seriously loved my high school years and wouldn't change them for the world. I made many great friends that I still have today and believe it or not there are still friends that I have lost touch with (and have been unable to find online), that I'm sure I will be very happy and surprised to see.

Here's to wondering where the time has gone!

Artery Clogging Coconut Cake

This weekend I tried my hand at baking my first ever, completely from scratch, cake. I took the new KitchenAid mixer out of the box for the first time since receiving it at a wedding shower last year and got to work.

After reading some reviews online, I slightly adapted the Barefoot Contessa's Coconut Cake Recipe as my guide. The link shows her recipe but I changed out a few things that I'll list here. (Warning: With as much butter that is in this recipe, you'd think Ina Gardner took a page from Paula Dean's cookbook!)

Substitutions: I used coconut milk instead of regular milk, more vanilla/less almond extract, cake flour instead of regular flour, adjusted baking time, and toasted the coconut topping instead of using it as is.

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pans
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 3 cups cake flour, plus more for dusting the pans
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 4 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

For the frosting: (this made way too much frosting for my cake, but I guess I could have used some more between the layers.)

• 1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon imitation coconut extract
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted (I used a bit more to thicken it)
• 6 ounces sweetened shredded coconut (PLEASE NOTE: I preferred the color and texture of toasted coconut for this part, so I baked it on a baking sheet at 325 degrees for about 12 minutes. Mine was already sweetened, but here are instructions for sweetening and toasting your coconut.)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans, then line them parchment paper. Grease them again and dust lightly with flour.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light yellow and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a small bowl. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl once during mixing. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well. The mixture might look curdled; don't be concerned.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the batter in 3 parts, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fold in the 4 ounces of coconut with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter evenly into the 2 pans and smooth the top with a knife. Bake in the center of the oven for 35-45 minutes (she suggests 45-55 and that is too long!), until the tops are browned and a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto a baking rack to finish cooling.

For the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, almond and coconut extract on low speed. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until just smooth (don't whip!).

To assemble, place 1 layer on a flat serving plate, top side down, and spread with frosting. Place the second layer on top, top side up, and frost the top and sides.

To decorate the cake, sprinkle the top with toasted coconut and lightly press more coconut onto the sides.

Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy! But with over a pound of butter and a pound of cream cheese, don't enjoy TOO often ;-)

Happy end of your Birthday Week, Dave!

A Day at the Races

On Saturday Dave & I packed a picnic and ventured to Arlington Park for a day of betting on some horse races and soaking in the sun. This was our second celebration of Dave's birthday since we rushed to the Elton John/Billy Joel concert (which was AWESOME!) on the night of his actual day, but we never shared a meal or cake or anything so we just made it a birth-week instead!

The night before, I went to the brand new Whole Foods in Lincoln Park, which is my favorite Whole Foods, or grocery store in general, on earth! There I spent way too much on way too scrumptious picnic food, including really good roast beef, gouda and pretzel rolls for sandwiches, edamame & carrot salad, pasta salad, cheese & crackers, fresh pineapple chunks, deviled eggs, etc., etc.,

Then on Saturday we got to pull out all of those lovely summery wedding gifts that we have yet to use, like out picnic basket, picnic blankets and more, packed up the Volvo and drove to the burbs!

The weather was perfectly gorgeous and my favorite summer beer Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy was on draft, what more could we ask for?

Here are a few photos from the day. Our spread:

Our mini bottle of wine we "snuck in":

And the stars of the day:

This park is GORGEOUS and we WILL be back again. It's only $7 general admission and they allow coolers for food and non-alcoholic drinks. Now that's affordable fun!

Shaken and Stirred

Shaken and stirred, but unfortunately, this post is not about a martini. 

It is about the unfortunate news we were made aware of at work today that has truly shook me. Since it also has a St. Louis connection, and I know many of my readers are in that area, I thought I should share my very small connection to the victims of this tragic event. 

On Sunday, there was a brutal in-home attack in Seattle that left one woman dead and one woman wounded. 

The wounded victim, who was thankfully released from the hospital, is the manager of my company's Seattle office. 

The murder victim is our colleague's partner, and she also happens to be a St. Louis native and a graduate of DuBourg and UMSL. They were planning their wedding/commitment ceremony for September.

News like this can really stir me to the core. It makes me realize how precious life is and how crime, whether hate-related or random, is all so senseless yet can leave you feeling so helpless.  

As our manager reminded us today, 'go home and hug the ones you love and realize what is truly important in life'. I know thoughts and prayers can go a long way, so please keep the victims and their families' in yours.