February 2012
2 posts
December 2011
2 posts
Who are we to deny the tiny town French nightlife...
/jj: im looking at a map of our trip. i feel like i wanna throw some france in there, while we're basqueing.
/mm: yeah theres a town in france like 30 minutes from san sebastian. we could go do lunch in france.
/jj: I feel like we should for sure. Bayonne, France. I'm intrigued by the concept of French Basques. quite intrigued actually. "Basque sailors travelled the world, bringing back products such as cinnamon and riches from piracy and the whaling and cod trades."
/jj: I'm sorry. Read that sentence a few times.
/jj: BASQUE SAILORS. BRINGING BACK RICHES. BASQUE SAILOR PIRATES.
/jj: Bayonne is known for its fine chocolates, did you have time for basque french chocolates? I might be able to make an afternoon for that
/mm: i think we could make that happen
/jj: yeah we're making time for bayonne. also i move to ratify a dinner and evening out in france instead of just a lunch. who are we to deny the tiny town french nightlife a go for one evening?
October 2011
5 posts
WatchI was admittedly terrible at blogging our adventures this time around, but just as good if not a teensy bit better at iMovie’ing them down into a summarizing film for general consumption by my friends and family.
This is #vennconmigoDOS: MADRID.
Besos,
/jj.
September 2011
4 posts
June 2011
2 posts
WatchSo since Jess made such an awesome video of our trip i felt inspired to create one of my own.
ENJOY!
/mm
WatchLet’s be honest, looking at other people’s vacation photo albums is totally boring. Now looking at other people’s vacation photos set to music with entertaining captions and occasion splices of cultural observation videos? SO TOTALLY EXCITING. So here’s just that: #vennconmigo, imovie’d.
-/jj
May 2011
11 posts
WatchThe inside of the Sagrada Famila.
/mm
this is a post about me making the most delicious...
Yesterday I pre-made some sangria (for the first time in my life) so i could have it today while Jess and I watched the Real Madrid game. I found a few recipes online and they we’re all pretty different, so went out and bought the key ingredients and decided to just sort of wing it.
You’ll need:
- 1 bottle of Rioja (basically any spanish red wine)
- about a half a cup of brandy
-...
so finding legit spanish style chorizo in chicago...
i figured if /mm could stumble into a simple market in park city and find and entire spanish meats SECTION, then i should have no trouble getting my meat on here in chicago, you know, the third largest city in the united states and one that’s super ethnically diverse.
i went to two of the best meat markets on the north side and both of them gave me side eyes when i asked for spanish...
a message from the box to the left: "It’s like...
Thanks, but I’m all good on Spanish medals, gracias. Or maybe you prefer “merci.”
-/jj
Paris was beautiful, don’t get me wrong. And no, i didn’t spend enough time there to really experience everything it has to offer but to me, Madrid felt more relatable. It was much more vibrant and lively than i found Paris to be. (I spent 2 days in Paris and i spent 2 days in Madrid, btw) I don’t think that makes me (or anyone) a bad person for liking one place more than...
chuck it up #DEUCES
Maggie: i know. spain has just been killing it so hard lately
me: also my boss is like "umm you def need to drive through spain."
me: we just talked about how sagrada familia is the best and notre dame and paris can suck it, for like half an hour
Maggie: AMEN i can't wait to see my friend lauren this weekend who like, jizzs over france on a regular basis and tell her how lame i thought it was
me: for real. paris: LAME
Maggie: yep. it wasn't nearly as ~magical as i thought it would be
me: things that were magical about paris: LEAVING IT TO GO TO SPAIN
Maggie: exactly. even our flight to madrid was the best. we were on that huge ass plane full of chileans
me: OMG and my beautiful man, that was to madrid right?
Maggie: YES
me: girl, ok really, MUST GO BACK.
April 2011
63 posts
so this one time in denmark...
my danes told me to meet them at a bar in the meatpacking district near where this giant diplo party was going on. so i threw on a dress and took a to go beer on the 20 minute walk from my apartment over and found myself in a giant parking lot overflowing with drunk danes, bicycles, and broken beer bottles.
in the corner of the parking lot, i hear classic diplo beats pumping out of speakers and...
so it turns out that we didn't go to sweden for...
so instead i took /mm to my fave sandwich shop near my old university and we took everything over to the most beautiful garden behind the black diamond and enjoyed them in the sun.
in the library, i checked my internetz and got a message from danish jailbait saying that my pretend favorite danish rappers Nik & Jay were performing for free in enghave park tonight for some tv show.
enghave...
last full day of holiday and here's what's in the...
1. crossing the oresund bridge to go have lunch in sweden for no particular reason other than we can.
2. stopping by the black diamond and going to show /mm some royal shit
3. visiting ny carlsberg gallery or the danish design center and grabbing some afternoon dessert
4. tracking down my favorite cookies in the world at a netto or aldi if it kills me
5. carlsbergs
6. meeting up with my danes...
WatchIn Green Park, listening to Juanes, basqueing.
just touched down in london towne
i personally didn’t do too much of the tourist thing in london, as it was my flyover city when i lived abroad and everytime i passed through, i took myself to a different “classically” london place. so instead, i spent a lot of time wandering, shopping, and relaxing.
let me start with: london is overrun by super giant Union Jacks flags and really horrible william & kate...
oh and just when the bookshelves weren't enough to...
the freestanding lockers in the dining room? they’re full of camera equipment.
jeg elsker søren.
the books in our artist apartment include the...
- the beatles
- edgar allen poe
- history
- design
- shakespeare
- don quixote
- bill clinton’s “my life”, in danish
- photography
- the lord of the rings
- woody allen
it’s safe to say that if i didn’t see a pair of women’s shoes on the rack, that /mm and i would try and just squat in søren’s apartment and rotate husbandship.
try and be more...
well i didn't get arrested at the border for that...
denmark is hala’ing all over again. i’m so overwhelmed with big dumb smiles in my heart.
filed under: things that are not shocking to me in the least.
-/jj
just a few casual updates about how i spent the...
-reserved a table at a bar in copenhagen to watch the champions league semifinals tomorrow night thanks to a suggestion from an RM CPH nerd
-made a grilled salmon and eggs breakfast at the flat and picked up a turkish caramel machiatto at nearby tube station
-found our way to the emirates and hung out with some canons and disheartened arsenal fanboys in the shop
-bought a day ticket to...
this one time i called home from london after...
me: i can't wait for you to be here with me
mom: i know, i know. my coworker sitting across from me wants to come too. her husband says she can only come if he can put it in her butt.
me: umm...europe is totally worth anal, mom.
filed under: conversations that actually happened and i'd never take back.
filed under: dad, if you ever bring this up, i'll just blame paul mccartney, so shut up in advance.
-/jj
note: when the townie bartender asks you how many...
thanks sangria, merlot/cabernet mezclas, dogs, and marmelade. thanks. ps tomorrow we attempt skins. we will end up inbetweenering but we will appear skinsly.
double PS if you go to abbey road and you’re lucky, a sweet french boy will offer to take your photo on a polaroid camera for five pounds. it’ll totally be worth it. totally.
triple PS leonardo dicaprio could walk across the...
WatchYou’ll Never Walk Alone
WatchLFC taking the pitch and our view of the singing KOP
Watch/mm modeling her LFC kit for paul also known as awkward but precious mouments.
things that have been on tv today on our "day off"...
1. complete football highlights of the EPL matches this weekend
2. an actually interesting manchester united documentary starring cook from skins
3. elizabeth (get it, joseph finnes)
4. pseudo british house hunters
5. the sex education show, starring full frontals of incredibly unfortunate british men
this country is trying so hard to get us not to miss spain.
#iamnoman’selizabeth
live.er.pool. LIVE.ER.POOL.
as previously mentioned, we got into london quite late on friday night and despite seeing lots of tween skins characters roaming the tube, we ourselves did not go out on a friday night? why?
because we had an alarm set for 545am the next morning to make our 8am train out of london euston station bound for liverpool. why?
BECAUSE I GOT US TENTH ROW CORNER TICKETS TO A HOME MATCH AT ANFIELD...
barçelona barrio (¡and BEYOND!)
so our very early flight over was a bit unideal. dear spanair, we’re not even that tall and this is how our legs fit on the plane:
but an hour after we got on the plane, we flew over this and the whole extreme uncomfortability thing sorta became passé:
we lugged our shit up and down subway stairs and eventually found our way to our airbnb host, marcos, who turned out to be just as...
PS /mm and i have a new plan
in said plan, we get sponsored by xabi, arbeloa, and pepe to open up an authentic tapas bar in liverpool. we tour spain and get cooking lessons from the locals and live happily ever after.
i’m thinking this might actually be possible. then again everything seems possible right now.
magic.
-/jj
mouments to not forget
strolling down picturesque streets towards downtown on easter sunday with the intention of going grocery shopping, but stumbling upon a delicious and authentic catalan tapas restaurant for lunch. ordering a pitcher of sangria and food en español and basqueing in brilliance until a table of spaniards sat next to us and discussed the copa del ray.
then we went to tesco, the only grocery store open...