St. Christopher, holy patron of travelers, protect me and lead me safely to my destination.

As this is my first post from Italy, I figured I would start off with a prayer I have said over and over and over since take-off Wednesday evening.

St. Christopher, for all my non-Catholic friends reading, is the patron Saint of Travelers. And BOY will I be keeping this guy busy over the extent of my journey.

While I did not grow up Catholic, having a mother who did, provided me with just the right Saint to speak to, given a particular situation.

I have a St. Christopher visor clip that has been in every car I have owned since I was 16 and has traveled on many a flight through my journeys for work.

For this trip, however, he is accompanying us via necklace :)

And he has done an EXCELLENT job.

With the flight from Memphis to Amsterdam (9.5 hours), mom and Rebecca were a little nervous. Neither had been on a plane for that amount of time before and there was a lot of worry about whether we'd be able to sleep, move around, etc.

For me, however, this is never a problem. If you have traveled with me at all, you know that I could pretty much sleep anywhere, perhaps even standing up. My philosophy on long flights is always the same - drink a lot of wine, pop a pill, and wake up in your destination. Done and done.

Well, that wasn't exactly the case. We (and by we, I mean my very friendly mother) met a young woman traveling by herself with a 2 year-old and a 3 month old. Ugh, I know. I got to our row first, and upon seeing these kiddos I immediately began cursing in my head.

But the kids were good as gold, and I was able to fall asleep. I could hear my mom (seated behind me and R) speaking to the mother, but the little girls couldn't have been any better or quieter. We found out that Heather (the mom) was in the Air Force and had been stationed in Italy for 11 years. She was taking her daughters to visit her "Italian Mother" and had decided to do it by herself after she found out her husband wouldn't be able to take time off from work for several months.

At one point about 5.5 hours into the flight, I awoke to find a big eyed 3 month old staring me down, as my mom held her to let poor Heather go use the restroom.

As we landed, Emily, 2, jumped in our laps near the window and said hello and goodbye to all the planes. Such a cutie, this had been her 17th flight and she was a PRO.

Needless to say, these 2 champion kiddos had a hero of a mom totally changed my mind about babies on planes. (However, I still plan to never do something like that by myself and also plan on using LOTS of baby Benadryl to 'get the job done').

Our layover in Amsterdam was super smooth and the flight into Rome very pleasant. Our connection was with KLM and we had fantastic Dutch flight attendants. My mom walked to the back, made friends and snatched us extra caramel cookies.

*Note: I'm such a super nerd and LOVE all the different packaging, so you'll be seeing lots of snack shots over the next few weeks. You have been forewarned :)

Once we landed in Rome, it was a quick trip down to baggage claim, where I got to pick up this 50lb beauty and we were off to the B&B.

 (As hard as I tried, somehow I still over packed. And two days into the journey, I realize that I will be sending SEVERAL things home with the fam as they depart Italy. Get excited for the same outfits gracing my photos OVER AND OVER!)

We arrived at Arches B&B, and after some confusion from the taxi driver - confirmed we WERE in the right spot. And y'all, we didn't get out of that taxi a moment too soon. Italians drive just as crazy as they say. Or possibly crazier. Thankfully the driver only went down a one-way street WRONG, once. And he was very cute, so all was forgiven.

We checked in, turned on the AC and took a well deserved nap.

All in all, a crazy 23 hours of travel, but St. Christopher was with us every step of the way. He always is.

Ciao! Adios! Au revoir!

Well, I'm officially in countdown mode. In 5 days I will be "leaving on a jet plane" to begin my European Adventure 5 years in the making.

I've had a whirlwind few weeks with getting into grad school, packing up all my belongings into a PODS, couch surfing for the last little bit of my time in Atlanta, quitting my job, coming home to TN, traveling to Chicago and then packing for the adventure.

But let's back up a bit......

In 2006 I had just started my job in the "real world". As I began getting a steady pay check, I realized that I should set up some financial goals to work towards. I set short and long term goals for myself. Some I accomplished: pay off car early, some however I did not: never have a running balance on my credit cards. Oops! But the longest term goal I set for myself was to set a little money aside every month for my "European Adventure".

At the time I had no idea when the trip would be, where I'd go, or how long I'd be able to stay, I just knew that (like any good 20-something) my self-imposed timeline to travel was BEFORE my 30th birthday.

So, every month (before I missed it could spend it), a small amount of money ($25-50) was transferred over into the fund.

And ya know what? It actually grew! Through the help of a smart financial advisor, the small monthly contribution is now going to take me on my GRAND ADVENTURE.

So, now that I had the funds, when would I have the time to take this big ole trip??? 10 little vacation days just don't stretch through the year like one might hope. Added to the fact that my mom and sis are teachers with entire summers off, those 10 days seemed even smaller.

Enter my desire to pursue my MBA full-time. As I was looking at opportunities for the Fall, I realized if I knew early enough that I was accepted into a program and would be headed back to school, I would also be able to make a summer break for myself.

Thankfully, that is EXACTLY how it worked out. As soon as I had my offer letter from UT in hand, I was able to share the news with my boss that I was giving my 4.5 weeks notice, and trip planning went into overload.

So, here I am, 6 weeks later and 5 days out and the adventure has shaped up to look like this:

June 21st - July 2nd: ITALY

I'm so excited to head back to Italy for the 2nd time and see much more of this amazing country.

I'm even MORE excited that my mom and sister will be joining for this leg of the journey.

We'll be visiting Rome, Sorrento, Pompeii, Siena, Cinque Terre, Florence & Venice on our whirlwind two week tour.

As my mom and sister head back to Rome to fly home, I will be by myself for a small portion (5.5 days of the journey). I'm nervous and excited for the opportunity to travel a bit by myself and get lost immersed in a (few) new cultures. The next leg of my journey looks like this:

July 2nd - 4th: MUNICH

I can't wait to see the city, meet the locals and make a friend or two over a hometown brew :)

July 5th - 7th: VIENNA

At this point in the story, I have to be completely honest with you....I don't REALLY know very much about Vienna. I just know that: A. It's on my way to Prague B. It's beautiful C. And according to Billy Joel, It "waits for me".

This is also the point in the trip where I will be staying at my first hostel!!! Gotta say, again, I'm super excited and nervous about this. I found an adorable 10 person "apartment" style Hostel, where the hostess Lilly makes breakfast every morning for the group, will play tour guide, stocks the kitchen AND does your laundry while you are out enjoying your day. WOO HOO hot breakfast AND clean socks??? Yes, please.

As I leave Vienna, I head to meet two girlfriends that just happen to be in Europe at the same time, so I then tag along with them for 8 days.

Meet my next travel companions: Brooke and Lauren (You'll be seeing them a LOT on the blog in the coming weeks).

July 7th - 11th: PRAGUE

At this point in the trip, I know I will be glad to have travel buddies again, and I can't wait to have fun with the two above.

July 12th - 16th: PARIS

Ahhhh, the city of love...

Well, that may not be the case when you are there with a group of girlfriends, but I know we will enjoy ourselves nonetheless :)

At this point in the trip, I'm so excited because my friend Misty will be coming to complete my journey with me!!!! She and I traveled to Italy summer before last with a group and had a marvelous time. We'll just call this part of the trip "Rock the Box Part Duex"

July 16th - 24th: SPAIN

Barcelona, Madrid, Coastal cities, I can't wait to soak up the sun and culture. I also can't wait to have authentic paella, tapas and some great Spanish wines. And there is also the opportunity to test my RUSTY Spanish skills. So what if I haven't used Spanish in 7 years, I'm sure after a few "Como estas" I'll be right back up on that proverbial bike :)

July 24th - 26th: AMSTERDAM

And like any great journey, this one will also come to an end...in Amsterdam. I personally think it is a perfect way to wrap an unforgettable trip.

Now you know the plan, and the itinerary. I have vowed to fully document this trip and share the pictures, funny stories and memories along the way, so I hope you'll join me in the adventure. So, Ciao! (For now....)

Welcome to Atlanta

Where the players play


Four years ago this weekend I moved to Atlanta. I had graduated from UT in May, and had been fortunate to have one more summer break before joining the "real world".


I moved into an apartment with my best friend Crystal and started my journey into true adulthood with a job in advertising at JWT on the Marine Corps.

I had no idea how green I was. Here I am a small town girl from West, TN living in the big city, fighting more people in traffic everyday than lived in my entire COUNTY back home.

It's interesting to look back now and see how much I have grown in the past four years. Here is a brief look of the past four years with the people that have made them amazing:

First Atlanta Weekend o'Fun w/Scott

Jodi, Misty and I at Fado

Halloween @ Stout w/ Crystal & Caryn

Team Djibouti w/Pantlik at Twisted Taco

"Re-release Party" with the girls

Sweetwater Brewery with the Cuz

This pretty much sums it up :)

Can't wait to see where this year takes me.

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense..."

"Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?" - Alice


As a long time fan of Alice, (going back 22 years) I would often dream how wonderful it would be to play in her Wonderland. Interesting characters around each corner and acquaintances that spoke only in riddles. Only recently did I realize, that I'm there. I'm in my own Wonderland :) And it is marvelous. There are DEFINITELY interesting characters and new adventures at every turn. 


It's taken me a while to jump on the blog bandwagon, because it always seems so difficult when you are trying to start. I have several failed attempts under my belt, but have decided that this time, I really will post entries :) 


I hope you enjoy, the thoughts may be random, but the stories will be good. Hope you have fun in my wonderland.