May '18 - Viking Cruise part 2: Germany to Sweden

Yesterday I posted part 1 - Norway to Denmark, click here for that post if you missed it. The rest of the cruise took us from Germany to Sweden:

Dave and I didn't go into Berlin (the 6 hour train ride stopped us) but went to Rostock, Germany instead - well technically we went to Rostock, in actuality we rode the train there but the tickets and the stops were all in German and we never figured out where to get off the train! We rode to the end of the line and back without getting out, duh! Walked around the little town of Warnemunde where the ship was docked,  had lunch sitting outside in the sunshine (again with the sunshine! still in a heat wave). 

In Warnemunde, after catching the train to nowhere, I mean to Rostock, Germany

I got to eat pierogi in Gdansk, Poland (I have to say I was a bit disappointed, I guess I'm used to the Michigan version of pierogi which I love); on a plus note we had the best ice cream there - it was thick and creamy, not overly sweet - sort of like frozen yogurt but better;

walked around Tallinn, Estonia and had a delicious sausage and potato lunch outside (yep, in the sunshine!) 

St. Petersburg was beautiful - we went to the Hermitage, cruised thru the canals, and toured the city;

 

Helsinki, Finland was a short stop but we were able to walk around and found an outdoor market - I'm not sure where they were grown but I could smell the strawberries before I saw them at one of the fruit stands, another vendor was stir-frying little fishes and potatoes (I still wish I would have tried the potatoes - not the fish!), they had a flower display on one street that was maybe a contest or something - it reminded me of a mini Rose Parade, the flowers were designed to look like animals, dresses, one was a shoe "tree" - what a fun thing to find! Oh, and we had lunch at a little cafe on the sidewalk - in the sunshine...

Last 2 days were in Stockholm - cruising into the port was the most beautiful landscape! The first day we went to the Vasa Museum where they have an almost perfect and complete Viking Ship that sunk in the harbor 20 minutes after it's maiden voyage, it was submerged for 300 years before someone discovered it. It's been restored using almost all original pieces and it was amazing to see.

amusement park set right on the water

authentic Viking ship at the Vasa Museum 

The second day I'm sorry to say that all I saw was my pillow, I got very very sick that morning and unfortunately stayed in bed the entire day. The rest of the gang got to explore tho and took some great photos, Sweden is beyond beautiful - I loved what I saw.

Our last night on the ship we were talking to Emrah (such a fun, talented, charming bartender - his wife also works on the ship and they were so cute!) and he told us a story about the scariest cruise he on - on their way to Iceland in the North Atlantic and the weather was so rough it blew out windows, people were crashing around hurting themselves, he said it was really bad but he "told the guests if they drank enough they wouldn't notice how rocky the boat was" (always the bartender haha) but then he worried about flying bottles and glass breaking -so he asked his manager if there were any helmets, naturally there's no helmets, so he improvised - here's his solution...yep, he has an ice bucket on his head :)

So there you have it - 14 days boiled down into a couple page of highlights. If you ever get the chance to visit any of these places you won't regret it - this was an amazing, breathtaking, fun trip! And doing it with friends made it even more special - I didn't even highlight the real fun which was all the dancing, card games, shuffleboard tournaments, a bit of drinking, lots of eating, and more laughter than we probably had a right to!! Love these people, loved the cruise. 

Thanks for reading!! 

May '18 - Viking Cruise part 1: Norway to Denmark

Cathy and I both posted quite a few photos on Facebook while we were on the cruise so I'm going to try not boring you and just show you a few more highlights from each day. Part 1 -  Bergen, Norway to Copenhagen, Denmark.

We did shore excursions every day to get an overlook of each stop - and there were a lot of stops...we rode the funicular up the side of a mountain in Bergen, Norway (side note: I always thought it was called a "vernicular" but apparently I've been saying it wrong - I'm also guilty of thinking the lyrics to the 4 Seasons song "big man's world" was actually "big bad squirrel" ...seriously, youtube that song right now and tell me it doesn't sound like they are saying "big bad squirrel" and get back to me).

                                      

                                      the funicular runs up the mountain in the middle of
this photo. Bergen, Norway

                                      

      riding the funicular

our port in Bergen - the cruise ship is in the background. There
was a carnival set up on the side of the road right by our ship, you can see
a ferris wheel behind the tall ship in the front. 

visited gorgeous waterfalls and breathtaking scenery - and ate our first of many thin crispy waffles with jam and cream - in Eidfjord, Norway. 

Dave and Mary sampling the waffles in Eidfjord-
I ate my fair share too but someone had to take the picture!

we were in Norway on their National Celebration day and were treated to a parade thru town.  

went on a small boat cruise to Pulpit Rock in Stavanger, Norway; 

Pulpit Rock, Stavanger, Norway - rumor has it that Tom Cruise
is going to jump off of it in an upcoming movie...

the only time all trip I wore a hat, and even then it wasn't cold enough to need it. 

we walked around the old town of Alborg, Denmark including a stop at a "Viking Village" where we sampled mead and weird interesting crackers with lard and roasted onions (for real, straight out lard!) 

can you see the birdhouses on the side of this building? They
were all over it, painted to blend in. 

Spent the day with a friend of a friend in Copenhagen - Carolyn (check her out @carolynsfabfood) showed us around the beautiful city including the Little Mermaid statue, changing of the guard at the palace, we stopped at Tivoli Gardens which (once again I should have done a little research first) is the 2nd oldest amusement park in the world, we tried authentic danish pastries, and then for dinner we walked up to an outdoor eatery that truly served the best burger I think I've ever eaten in my life. If you ever go to Copenhagen you really really really should go to "Gasoline Grill" and have a burger. Oh man, my mouth is watering. Thanks again to Carolyn for being such a great tour guide; 

Copenhagen - we sat outside and had "smørrebrød" which
are like open faced sandwiches. 

I've never seen so many blooming lilacs, they're everywhere!  So jealous...

me and all my friends visiting the Little Mermaid statue

I realize this is a photo of a half eaten burger but when
I started eating it I didn't realize it was going to be the
best burger ever and I would want a picture!! Yum! 

Come back tomorrow for part 2 - Germany to Sweden.

Aunt Volunteer

Taking a pause in the middle of my travel posts to talk about being a school volunteer and trying to be involved and make a difference (at least to my nieces haha!). When we moved back to Michigan in 2002 I wasn't working and needed a "purpose" - my sister suggested volunteering in my niece Paige's 2nd grade classroom. 

field trip with P. 2004

At the time I thought that might be perceived by her teacher as a little weird since I don't even have kids and they didn't know me, but they were SO happy for volunteers that they embraced me whole-heartedly and I've been a consistent "aunt volunteer" (sort of like a parent volunteer, right?) ever since. And I was a darn good volunteer if I say so myself LOL - I've made books, wrote out report cards, decorated classrooms (looking at you, Mrs. Green), set up filing systems, mastered the printer so well that actual school employees would ask me how to make copies (I joked that the printer room was my "office"). I have so many stories and memories that I love - one of my favorites is the year I was helping out Mr. Henning who wasn't sure how to use my volunteering skills so he asked Mrs. Green (who always knew how to put me to good use!) what he should have me do. I don't know what she told him but one day he handed me a big stack of files and asked me to "Jill-ify" them. Awwww, I have a word made up for me hahaha!

Halloween parade thru town with Brooke 2011

Fast forward (and really, it has gone FAST) 15 years and today is my last day following my niece Brooke thru her elementary and middle school journey - she starts high school in the fall (!) and I'm fairly certain that continuing on with her would be (a) really embarrassing for her, (b) downright strange - is there such thing as a "helicopter aunt"?, and (c) too intimidating for me - most middle schoolers are already taller than me, I'm not sure I could take having a whole school of high schoolers towering over me HAHA!! Anyway, I'm not going to move on (you're welcome Brooke) so I'm pretty sure today is my last day (unless I go crash second grade, my favorite).

Who knows what my next experience will be - I'll be looking for other ways to make a difference/make an impact/make someone's day a little easier/make myself get out of bed and dressed - but for now I'm "retired".

I feel like there should be cake involved.

May '18 - Ocean Cruise

We just got back from a two week Viking Homelands cruise from Norway to Sweden with lots of stops along the way - I'm not going to post each stop but would like to share a few highlights and tips in case you are interested and want to take this cruise...and also because I use these travel posts as a sort of travel journal to help me remember our trips and what happened where!

 
When I saw this cruise went to Norway I was super excited, it's been on my list of places I'd like to see for a long time - also, I'm a cool weather girl and when I think of Norway I think fjords, glaciers, and cold weather. Perfect. Well let's just say that it isn't always like that - naturally we chose to go during a heat wave. Everywhere we went someone said "it's NEVER like this!". It rained for maybe 10 minutes once, maybe twice, but I think once. By the time I got my umbrella out of my backpack and opened it the rain was over. Seriously. I shouldn't complain but c'mon - a heat wave? Sunny every day? In Norway? I packed mostly long sleeves, jackets and a couple coats, pants but no dresses or skirts, scarves, cargo boots, even a knit hat and gloves. I had to be creative to come up with appropriate outfits to wear and not roast to death! Good grief. I wore the hat once and that was mostly because my hair was dirty and I needed to cover it up.

Let's see...how many times have I written about the virtues of traveling light and not overpacking? Once again I blew it and brought too much. When will I learn? And this time I even went so far as to bring a second small wheelie suitcase! I figured since we weren't having to pack up and move hotels it wouldn't be a problem to just stick it all in - we had a nice stateroom with a small balcony, a large bed, couch and a desk but it only had 3 small drawers and a standard closet. Uh yeah, nowhere near enough storage for all the shizzle I managed to pack. Thankfully our suitcases fit under the bed and I used mine like a dresser. If I go on a cruise like this again here is what I'll bring - I promise this will still be more than enough (note: this list is if you end up going when it's sunny and mild temps, if it's really cold and rainy obviously I'd bring different clothing) because each floor of our ship had a self-serve laundromat with 3 washers and dryers, ironing boards and irons, and they provided the detergent too.

Note to Viking management - the dryers are stacked on top of the washers and some of us, ahem, not tall people couldn't reach the back of the dryer and looked like an idiot jumping up and down trying to grab the socks from the back, I'm thinking a stool might be helpful? Not everyone doing laundry was as sprightly and high of a jumper as me, ya know? ;) Anyway, I'm not going to bother telling you what I did bring because it was either wrong or unnecessary! Note: make sure everything goes with each other - and the scarves should match most of the outfits.

• black jeggings
• dark blue jeggings (note: I love Hue brand jeggings - they look like skinny jeans but are thin and super lightweight, more like leggings
• black slim stretchy (but not tight) ankle pants - I have Alfani brand from Macy's that are pull on, stop right at my ankle, don't wrinkle, travel great. 
• one other pant that can go day or night - I brought dark green camo ankle pants
• yoga/workout pants or tight thick black leggings (maybe not necessary but I wore these quite a bit for running to the laundromat and hanging out - not that there's a lot of hanging out time!)
• white or black button up shirt
• chambray blue button up shirt
• 1 black pullover light weight v-neck top
• 2 long sleeved t-shirts - 1 striped, 1 solid
• 1 or 2 short sleeved t-shirts - 1 striped, 1 gray with words
• 2 dressy camisole/flowy tanks - wear under the cardigans or on their own at night
• 2 cardigans - 1 black dressy, 1 black casual
• optional - tank or work-out t-shirt to go with the yoga pants/leggings. Also one long c.y.a. shirt if you want to wear the leggings as an outfit and are pretending that leggings are pants. 
• 2 lightweight scarves that match all of the tops. I brought a light blue/cream/brown/gray one in a map pattern, and a flowered one that has many colors (brown, black, navy, green, rose, cream, white) that I got at Target and is the perfect travel scarf for matching everything. 
• sneakers, combat boots or other comfortable walking shoes (I interchanged the sneakers and boots every day for walking around), silver flats, flat black sandals, ankle booties with a little heel for nighttime (I wore these more than I thought I would). This is probably one pair of shoes too many but the silver flats and flat sandals don't take up much room.
• I took a bathing suit and cover up but didn't wear them once. Your call. 
• hat with a brim for day trips. 
• jazz up all these plain simple clothes with fun earrings and other jewelry - doesn't take up much room and you'll add lots of variety! I found an obnoxiously big pair of earrings drew attention away from the same black pants and black camisole that I wore most nights. 
• optional: lightweight utility jacket or pullover sporty jacket
• packable water resistant hip length coat with a hood
• 1 black medium weight vest - I wore this more than anything. 

Some useful things to take with you: 

1. we didn't need plug adaptors on this Viking cruise - our room had plenty of standard American plugs and a couple USB outlets on each nightstand and at the desk. I still packed them tho for the nights we stayed in a hotel pre- and post- cruise.
2. we always pack an extension cord for when there aren't enough outlets. 
3. I packed one of those hanging plastic pocket/holder things and hung it up in the bathroom - I put my earrings and other things we used a lot in the pockets and it was easy to see and access... things like small sunscreen, lint roller, gum, etc. 
4. a lightweight backpack for day trips to hold an umbrella (even tho I didn't need it!), city maps, water, etc. If you are carrying your passport with you off the ship I wouldn't put it in a backpack tho (not very safe). Dave wears a belt that holds his passport and money under his shirt, I carried a small wristlet. 
5. we didn't take money for each country with us and found that we could use either our credit cards or Euros most places. 
6. they give you a stateroom card when you first get on board that has your name and info on it, you use this card for everything including getting on and off the ship so you have to carry it at all times. Many cruise savvy people hole-punched theirs and wore it on a cord around their neck but alas, I left my hole punch at home (along with my labeler haha). I strongly suggest carrying your card in the same exact place every time because nothing riles up the people waiting in line behind you like you searching for the darn thing cuz you can't remember where you put it. Just sayin'. 
7. spring in Norway and along the Baltic means almost 24 hours of daylight. The first time I woke up and saw sunshine I panicked thinking I overslept - only to check the time and see that it was 3:30 am. I kid you not. Pack a sleep mask. 
8. I wore an anti-motion sickness patch the whole time - a few of the waiters and bar staff made fun of me because it was actually a very smooth cruise but I wasn't taking any chances. Nothing worse than motion sickness! I also packed a bunch of ginger candy just in case. 
9. If you're traveling with friends, or are the chatty friend-making sort, pack a deck of cards. We played most nights before dinner and it was lots of fun. 
10. Lastly, and I realize this is possibly TMI, they take spreading germs and people getting sick on the ship very seriously for good reason - getting sick on a cruise is something that can definitely happen no matter how much hand sanitizer you use. Plan for the worst and bring pepto-bismal and/or immodium and/or the equivalent. And maybe don't eat the crab legs. Don't ask me how I know. 

June Challenge - no shopping!

Guys! I'm back! We had a great trip (2 week cruise from Norway to Sweden), but it feels like I've been gone SO long. I haven't had time to make anything or write about my trip...ok, ok, that's a fib - I've had time but jet lag is a b*#ch and all I've done is lay around since we got back...so today is just a quickie post to say hi and promise that I'll post something new tomorrow! Unless I fall asleep again mid-day which keeps happening.

Oh, here's a thing I can share - June's challenge is that I'm going to try to refrain from buying anything this month that isn't a necessity. Won't be easy - how many random little things do I buy thru the month that I don't need? Lots. So I'm challenging myself to cut the cord, stop online shopping, stop "it's on sale, and I totally "need" another white shirt"... I'm hoping to spend the month sorting out my closets (making room for the things I'm totally gonna buy in July LOL), wearing what I already have or at least figure out why I don't wear what's in my closet, either love and fit into what I own or get rid of it! Wish me luck.

Beach Scene

This was originally posted in July 2017 - it's what I turned yesterday's message box into!

Look how cute this little scene turned out - I made a popsicle stick adirondack chair, paper umbrella, paper hat, and a fishy background (note I used Stampin' Up paper for all the paper projects); filled the chalkboard box I made a while ago (click here for that post) with sand and some fake long grass, and set up the cute scene...

I looked online for how to make a popsicle adirondack chair - found a few things to give me an idea but ended up just winging it. I think you can see from the pictures how I did it  - I cut the sticks to length with my craft wire cutters (they get used for everything - not just wire cutting!) and used Elmer's glue to stick it all together. It isn't perfect but come on, it's a popsicle stick chair and doesn't really need to be ;).

Here's how I made everything except the paper umbrella, come back tomorrow and I'll show you  that!

-Cut 5 popsicle sticks to different lengths to make the back, glue to a small stick across the back to hold together.
-Cut 2 sticks in half to make the seat, then glue to the chair back.
-Cut 2 sticks to make the back leg supports, I used 2 little scrap pieces for the front legs and the pieces on the top of the seat. Glue all together.


The hat was very simple but adds a little beachy touch I think is cute - cut out 2 circles from card stock, a 2" for the brim and a 1" for the top. Then cut a strip from the same paper about 1/2" by about 4" or however long you need to go around the 1" circle to make the side of the hat. Curl the strip up to form a 1" circle and glue (I used a gluestick) to hold it's shape, then glue to the 1" circle that is the top  of the hat. Then glue that to the 2" circle to make the hat. I tied a piece of ribbon around it to make it even cuter.

my glue stick is an inch around so I used
that as a guide. see the strip around the top
of the glue stick, that's the side of the hat. 

I glued the strip around the glue stick and
then glued the top on and tied with ribbon
before removing it from the glue stick and
attaching to the 2" bottom circle. Just helped
hold everything in place doing it this way. 

For the background I cut out fish shapes from patterned Stampin' Up paper and mod podged large flat glass stones on top then glued them to a background paper cut to fit inside the box. I also cut some random flowy shapes to look like seaweed and put them along the bottom of the background.

Message Box

Here is a repeat from 2016 - I had it in my powder room for quite a while before I turned it into something else haha!  I'll repost tomorrow how I changed it.

with or without words it's so cute!

How cute is this easy little message box? It's pretty simple and not much skill involved.

You'll need a small unfinished wood box (with or without a clasp), stain or craft paint, chalkboard paint, and some kind of fake plant that fits in the base of the box.

Stain or paint the box whatever color you want. When it's dry paint 2 coats of chalkboard paint under the lid. Put the fake plant in the base, write a message in chalk on the lid or not - whatever you want. My inspiration idea for this came from a project idea I saw on Michaels.com, they used a bunch of little succulents in glass vases to fill the box but I saw this sheet of fake grass and liked it better. I put it in the bathroom with no chalk message but then saw the soap eggs I have on the counter and was inspired by them to write "nest" and place the eggs on the grass. Awwwww, I enjoy.

wearing gloves, I just wiped the stain on and off with paper towels

trim the plant to fit inside the base of the box

seeing the soap eggs made me think of a nest...

Designing a Flower Pot

I originally posted this in May 2016 - it's a good tip about how to design a flower pot (remember pillar, filler, spiller?) so I'll share it again. Have you started any pots yet? I need to get busy!



Candy and I took another Wine and Design class from our local nursery, the last one we did in November (click here to see that post) was so much fun but I failed at making my centerpiece look like the instructors haha...I'm happy to report I did much better this time. Candy's of course looked great, she makes it look easy!



For this class we designed a "spring combination pot"; after getting some instruction and advice from the girl leading the class we were sent out into the huge nursery to pick out 7 (4") plants of our choosing - that was hard for me! Normally when I'm going to the nursery I've done planning and research and have a list of exactly what I'm going to get - being sent out to design my pot with no prior planning was stressful. Do I want a pot for the shade? For the sun? Should it be pinks and purples? Red and orange? What was the big center plant going to be - large leaves? Shootie grasses? Oh man I was on the struggle bus - it took me the longest to pick my materials of anyone in class cuz I kept changing my mind. I looked over at Candy and she had a tray full of beautiful plants before I even decided if I was doing shade or sun!

I've taken gardening and flower arranging classes before but I've never heard this "tip" or formula for designing your pot, I even wrote it down so I wouldn't forget and could share it with you. There are 3 types of plants you want to structure your pot correctly - a "pillar" (or "thriller"), a "filler", and a "spiller". For this pot we needed to pick one pillar/thriller, that's the tall or showy plant that goes in the middle of the pot; 4 fillers, those go around the center plant to obviously fill in the pot; and 2 spillers, they are trailing plants to add some interest and dimension to the pot.

For my 14" sun pot I chose a bright green 'Colorblaze Lime Time' Coleus (big leaf plant, not flowering) for my pillar, it will get 18+" tall so will be a nice anchor for the center of the pot once it grows in; 2 bright orange Gerberas will get 10-12" tall, 2 trailing white petunias will get 10" tall and also spill over the sides; one variegated soft leafed plant and one dark green tiny leafed plant for spillers (trailers).

Candy did a shade pot with a very large leaf variegated Coleus as her pillar; begonia and fuchsia for filler; I'm not sure what she used for spiller, looks like an ivy and something else. Pretty!


When choosing plants for container gardening keep in mind you want to use different shapes and textures for leaves and flowers, and also use different colored greens to add interest. You probably don't want the whole pot to be similar leaf shapes and colors, and the same sized flowers - vary it up to add the most interest.

Pillar, Filler, Spiller - this formula is "killer" hahaha!!

Sweet Potato Hash

Made myself this delish, filling, healthy hash by dicing up 1/2 of a big sweet potato and some onion, sautéed in a fry pan until the potato is done (I added a little water and covered it for a few minutes, then remove the cover and cook until the potato is softened but not mushy), mixed in a handful of precooked turkey sausage crumbles, then made a hole in the middle of the hash and cracked an egg into the opening. Cover until the egg is cooked to the doneness you prefer (I like the whites completely set and the yolk runny) and serve with a bit of chopped avocado on top.