Day 1

I slept about 1 hour on the plane.
Leaving was not easy.
2 1/2 months is a long time to be away...
even though I'm excited.

I was exhausted.

We landed a bit early, so after passport control and baggage claim, I sat outside, in the early morning mist, waiting for my mom to come pick me up. When she finally arrived (about an hour late, which is the norm) the first thing she said was, "Is that you? I like it, but it's going to take me a little time to adjust..."

We then drove in circles in Copenhagen, trying to find a vintage store she wanted to go to.
had really cool stuff and the owner was really nice, but after spending several hours there I was ready to move on.

Finally, we drove to a different part of the city, parked the car, and waited for the rest of the family to arrive on the train.
It was my uncle, Mathias' birthday and all he wanted was to get to spend some time alone with his wife and the new baby. So both of my grandparents, my mom's older brother, his 3 daughters, my mom, Mathias' 2 kids, and I we're going to Tivoli.
I love Tivoli. But this was not one of my best days. I had to changed and washed my face in a public bathroom. Charming.
When the family arrived, the reaction was pretty much the same, "Wow, you look so different!", "I don't think I would've recognized you...", "it's so short... and so blonde!"

We bought wristbands for all us young folks and then we ran off to explore.
I went on almost all of the rides with my cousins... it was so much fun!

After one of those spinning, flipping, make-you-puke machines, my cousin, Linnea and I banged our heads on the safety-harness-thing, at the exact same time, as we were getting up. It really didn't help. I was already feeling pretty dizzy.
After that, things started going down hill. We had been there for several hours and my battery was starting to run out.

I felt like a little kid. My mom bought me a big cone of ice cream, so I wouldn't break down... I was sleepwalking.

I slept the whole way home.
When we got to my grandfather's house, I got to meet the baby!!!!

Finally, SLEEP.

Oh yes, I did!

I did it! I chopped it aallll off.

Don't worry, I didn't pull a Natalie Portman or anything., but it is very different.

ouch.

I can't move my arm =(

Well, that's not entirely true, but my left shoulder/arm feels like a log of wood.

I got a Tetanus shot yesterday, and I guess I must have tensed up a lot more than I realized. It didn't hurt at all when he gave me the shot, but later, it started aching a lot. Last night, I kept waking up because every time I would move, it would hurt. A lot.

Now I'm feeling achy all over and I have a headache. I'm sure it's all normal... right?

Ugh. Tomorrow is my Bon Voyage party... I hope I'm not still crippled by then.

Listening to the Rain

wow. This is definitely the most glorious thunderstorm I've experienced in a long time.

I love thunderstorms. Especially when you're somewhere safe and dry and you can just listen to the steady sound of the big, heavy raindrops and wait with anticipation for the flash of light, counting till you hear and feel that deep, trembling rumble. I really love when the storm is right above you. It's like you become a part of it. The light and the grumbling voice seem to be so deeply connected to the depths of your soul.

Okay, it's early and I'm getting a little carried away with my romantic ideas of the weather. But I'm just enjoying listening to the rain.

Silly Me

I guess this is when the OCD side of me comes out. I leave in about a week (9 days) and I spent the majority of my day yesterday "pre-packing". I have picked out the clothes and shoes I want to bring with me to Europe. It's not easy packing for such a long trip! And I don't want to walk around Paris and Rome looking like a complete tourist. I can't leave all my fashion sense behind. But I also need to be smart about what I will realistically want to wear. Sweden in June will be much cooler than Italy in August, so I must be able to navigate the different climates without packing a ton of extra stuff.

I wrote a packing list for myself when I thought I was going to be backpacking the whole time. It was extreme; I was only allowing my self one dress, 3 tank-tops, 1 long-sleeved shirt, etc. But now that I'm not going to be moving around as much and will be flying a lot of the time, I've deviated from that list completely. I guess I'll just have to write a new one!

Sleepless in Billyburg

So here I am, lying in bed at 4am with my baby, Simba, purring beside me. I've been tossing and turning for the last hour or so, and I'm really over it. I'm not usually the kind of person who has difficulty sleeping. Quite the opposite. As a baby, my dad used to vacuum around me while I was sleeping so that I wouldn't be disturbed by loud noises (he's a musician). Apparently, it worked. I've slept through earthquakes, countless jam sessions, and even the night we had a whole gang of police officers in the apartment (in my room) because my mom had seen a creepy man on the fire escape outside our window.

In fact, pretty much the only thing that can keep me from peacefully drifting off to Novaland, is when I'm dealing with some sort of internal turmoil. Or if I'm overly excited about something. I think this time it's a little bit of both.

I leave in exactly 10 days for Europe. That's really my number one reason for starting this blog. (btw, thanks Theresa for the suggestion!) I want to be able to post pictures and anecdotes about my adventures this Summer for my beloveds back home.

But back to the turmoil: I finally made some big decisions about my itinerary, bought some of my tickets, everything was going well, until it all crashed and burned and I got all emotionally involved and now it's just a big mess. Well, maybe I'm being a tiny bit over-dramatic. But still. How hard can it be to buy a plane ticket online?! Baaasically, I didn't complete the transaction, so I think my card was charged, but now I have to confirmation number, hence, no ticket that I know of. Grr.

So, instead of getting the much needed sleep I had planned on, I'm here. Awake.

Wasn't today a marvelous day? After all those rainy days, I thought the sun had given up on us. I really enjoyed it, if you ignore the fact that I had a pounding headache all afternoon/evening and that I was so hungry in the movie theater, I felt seasick. But I still enjoyed the movie! We saw the documentary about Valentino... What was it called? Valentino; the Last Emperor. Something like that. I loved it. What a wonderful character. And the clothes... aahhh *swoon*.

I spent several minutes trying to figure out how their fit model could possibly stand up. She was probably the skinniest, tallest person I've ever seen. It just doesn't make any sense!

One of my highlights of the day was getting to eat those little mini pancake things you can buy on the street for $1.00 in Chinatown. I ate 2 little baggies. They are SOooooO good.

God, it's late. The sun will probably start rising soon and then i'll never get to sleep. If I had known I was going to be awake all these hours, I would've put them to better use and gone out for a dance or two!

Oh, well. There will be plenty of time for early morning dancing...

A little update about my trip, I've settled on...

Sweden with the fam June 18th-30th.

Taking the night express to Berlin on July 1st.

Berlin till the 10th of July, when I fly to Paris.

On the 22nd, I leave Paris for Barcelona.

7 days in Barcelona, flying to Venice on July 29th.

Traveling around Italy with Z until the 10th of August; she goes back to NYC and I fly to Stockholm. Spend a few days in Stockholm, then make my way down to Skåne (southern Sweden) again, hang with the family for the last 2 weeks or so...

Back to New York, New York on August 31st.

That's the plan... and this is where you will hear all about it.

Until then...