the moons that shimmer.

{via: the dolls of the 1960's.}

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.

-Khaled Hosseini

Why I Love Sunscreen lotion.

[Germany 2011.]

I love the beach. I love the sun. I love rounding up the kiddos & taking them all to the beach a mere block away. 

I also love sunscreen. It's a weird thing to "love" sunscreen. It's even weirder to the kids I watch. Can you blame them? I mean, it's kind of a weird thing to love.

But then again, it's an important thing to use, even if you don't "love" it.  I've always been paranoid of skin cancer. If  a layer of lotion can help prevent your skin from getting cancer -not to mention keep it from getting wrinkly- then maybe, even if you don't love it, you should just take a few seconds to layer yourself right up. 

Your skin will thank you, and so will your family. 

More information & tools, click here.

The ever enchanting Neuschwanstein Castle.

[7.12.2011.]

You start by climbing the long, windy path.  You're surrounded by large trees that look exactly like you used to draw trees as a kid: tall, skinny trunk, and the leaves start about 2/3 to the top.

As you walk you feel as if you are about to be swallowed up into the blanket of trees that surround you. It's amazing & daunting all at once.

While you climb you will come across a few little pretzel stands (with real, Bavarian pretzels) & your nose enjoys a few minutes of heaven as you journey on.

As horses cart by carrying tourists (who chose to opt out of the hike) you can imagine what life might have been like in old Bavaria.  Lots of hiking the alps. Lots. And if you needed sugar from your neighbor, you'd probably rethink your meal before trekking it over. ; )

You climb & you feel like your breathing in pieces of the clouds. You want to reach up & touch them & bottle their fluff up into mason jars to bring back for your loved ones.

When you reach the top you feel like you might have just run a marathon. (Maybe that's just me, since I'm extremely out of shape...) But you are in awe of its size & your anxious to learn every little detail about this immense masterpiece.

You look at the windows & you are sure Sleeping Beauty might peek out behind the curtains at any moment. (But then remember she probably doesn't even roll out of bed until one p.m... on a good day.)

The big clock in the middle of the castle makes you wonder if it is the same one that changed Cinderella's life forever.

And then you look up & this is the same castle you spent your childhood admiring on your 1995 Window's desktop & you smile to yourself, holding back giggles of disbelief.

It's as equally enchanting to both five year old Anna & 22 year old Anna.

And it's just as magical as you had hoped.

Walking into a storybook.

 [7.11.2011.]

Tucked away, in beautiful Bavaria is the city of Rothenburg.  While driving from Northern  Germany to Venice, we made a stop & took time to explore this amazing city.

From the Christmas shops, walking along the top of the entire city wall, to its fascinating history, Rothenburg is like walking into the pages of a storybook. (It was, afterall, the inspiration for the setting of Walt Disney's Pinocchio as well as in the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.)

It was  beyond dreamy. To say the least.

recognizing.

[Bavarian Alps. 7.13.2011.]

Anna, from last year at this time,

wouldn't even recognize herself today.

But she would be proud of the girl she did see.

falling madly in love...

[7.23.2011. Rome, Italy.]

with Italy.

the family i'm au pairing for took me with them on a Mediterranean cruise.

from Croatia to Italy, i've been immersed in beautiful history 

& sights for the past few weeks. please forgive me for being gone so long.

but now I am in Italy visiting my pops who happens to be here on business. 

that means the whole day he's at work i'm exploring Naples & writing.

it's a wonderful thing.

so much to share. photos, stories, ideas.

i've missed you heaps!

but i alas, i have returned! 

(though my love for you all never left.)

xoxoxo.

Pause.

Unfortunately my computer crashed last week. It's all gone & I'm a gazillion miles from home.

But that's ok because it's forced me to put a real pen to paper & write everything & anything. I'm receiving a new laptop in two weeks when I meet my dad in Venice. I'm going to be gone until then, but plan on polishing the posts I'll write in my journal in the meantime so I can have lots to post when I return.

Lots of love & until then you can check my other blog (everythinglovely.tumblr.com) tumblr is much easier to update via iPhone than blogger. :/

Xoxo

{Quote of the Week.}

iPhone edition because of my computer's crashing...

“You are lucky to be one of those people who wishes to build sand castles with words, who is willing to create a place where your imagination can wander. We build this place with the sand of memories; these castles are our memories and inventiveness made tangible. So part of us believes that when the tide starts coming in, we won’t really have lost anything, because actually only a symbol of it was there in the sand. Another part of us thinks we’ll figure out a way to divert the ocean. This is what separates artists from ordinary people: the belief, deep in our hearts, that if we build our castles well enough, somehow the ocean won’t wash them away. I think this is a wonderful kind of person to be.”
— Anne Lamott (Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life)