Iceland: Our Arrival and Whale Watching

Decision of our plane ride to Iceland: I love Fiance a lot. Fiance loves the window seat, loves, loves, loves it. We also like to sit next to each other. Which means I have to sit in the middle, you guys. On a five hour flight, next to an unconscious woman which is unhelpful because I have the bladder of a fly.

But I digress.

This is us before take off! I fell asleep five minutes before we took off (I have incredible napping ability) and woke up 20 minutes after thinking I had been asleep for four hours. I was sadly mistaken.

We arrived and obviously I had to use the restroom. Also obviously I had to take a picture of myself, so here you go. Little did I know this was my first of many experiences with the CLEANEST BATHROOMS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. But more on that later.

We took a shuttle bus (22$/person) from the airport to our hostel (The Reykjavik Downtown Hostel which we would absolutely recommend) and promptly fell asleep but only AFTER we decided that on Sunday morning we would be going whale watching.

Our hostel was right near the (beautiful) harbor, so all we had to do was take a five minute walk to buy our tickets at 8AM. Then we ran back to our hostel to eat breakfast (because nothing was open on Sunday) even though the woman who told us the water would be "rough". Should you preempt sea-sickness by not eating? Should you eat? Who knows but we ate breakfast.

Here are some pictures of us before things went terribly wrong (read: sea sick). Seriously LOOK HOW EXCITED I WAS!

We are SO HAPPY!

An hour into our two and a half hour tour and no whales later, we were done. And entire family next to us threw up (two grandparents, two parents and little girl) the entire time. The above (beautiful) picture is the last one I took. We went below deck to sit down and attempt to feel less nauseous, only to run up the steps five minutes later to escape the family vomit and the bobbing of the ship. Miserable.

SO miserable that on the way off the boat I didn't even want to get my picture taken with the wooden puffin cutout on the dock. If you know me THAT IS SERIOUS BUSINESS.

In conclusion we saw no whales, not even the fake dolphin "whales" the guide was talking about and we all looked green exiting the boat. So green that we had to lay down before the start of the rest of our day. Despite all of this, I would absolutely recommend it, but you should definitely do the two and a half hour version and not the four/six hour version (I would have just thrown myself over the side of the boat if we had done that one). Or you could be a more proactive planner than we were and take a Dramamine. Either way, do it! The scenery is beautiful and you can pretend to be a pirate. And if you see some whales, email me the pictures? I'll pretend like we saw them, too!

Home Sweet Home!

We are home, friends!

Give me a little bit to compile all of my photos to share with you. I'm apologizing in advance for the nine hundred Iceland posts that are about to happen.

Foreshadowing: Wonderful trip. Incredible scenery. No one goes to Iceland for the food.

An Icelandic Blogging Hiatus

Friends!

Things here on the blog will be pretty silent for the next seven days as we leave for Iceland TOMORROW! Wish us luck! I'm so excited to share our trip with you when I get back!

Xxo,
Kate

Five Years Later: A Puzzle Victory

Four months after Fiance and I started dating (February 2008) we went on a date to the Brooklyn Aquarium in Coney Island. Fiance swears he told me he wanted to take me there on our first date and that I said no. I don't remember that at all, but regardless in February he finally took me. Well, I took him because at that point in our relationship Fiance didn't drive.

Anyway, it was a great day! It had snowed and the beach was all snowy and pretty. And after it was over I made a whole album on Facebook called "John and Kate Plus Lots of Fish". Ugh geeze, I was so witty you guys!

Sometimes I forget that five years is kind of a long time. But then I look at pictures like this and think "holy goodness, we look like babies!"

At the end of our date we hit the aquarium gift store and bought a (I'm sure over priced) 200 piece puzzle. "This will be fun to do one night" we said. Obviously we were dorks even five years ago.

We never did that puzzle...maybe we were too busy drinking too much? Or worrying about graduate school? Or moving a million times? Or getting a three legged cat? These past five years sure have been busy...

But this Friday night we stayed in and don't ya know, we did that puzzle. And we learned that Fiance is a competitive puzzle put together-er. Which is surprising because I am the competitive one. We also learned that I am terrible at puzzles.

Five years later, we had a puzzle victory! Now its sitting on our kitchen table still put together. I'm thinking we should put it away and do it again in another five years. I WILL BE 30. Do 30 year olds have time to do puzzles?

Find other Embrace the Camera friends HERE!

Wednesday Wonderings: On Toothbrushing

Guys, let's talk about a strange thing I have noticed in my neighborhood during my morning routine. Let me set the stage for you...

Its 6:30AM and I am out for a run. Or it was the summer time and it was 8:30AM and I was leaving my house for work. Or its now and its 7:15 and I'm leaving my house for work (ugh students). The constant here is that its the morning in Brooklyn and I am on the sidewalk, OK? And there are other people on the sidewalk too!

Garbage men, kids on scooters, babies in strollers, parents chasing kids on scooters or babies in strollers (my block is down hill, parents of Brooklyn, do not let go of the stroller to sip your coffee!). Sometimes the Con Ed truck is there with men inside of it though they never seem to come into my house to read my meter even though my landlord says that is supposed to happen? It doesn't? Anyway there are a lot of people out but the STRANGEST people are:

People who brush their teeth on the sidewalk WHILE walking their dog.

I can't even find you a picture of this because I feel weird about taking pictures of people who are*:
1. Strangers
2. Don't know they're being photographed
Also, when you Google "brushing teeth while walking dog" nothing comes up that really illustrates what happens on my sidewalk.

Here are my questions for dog walking teeth brush-ers
1. I've never seen any of you spit and/or rinse on the street. ARE YOU SWALLOWING A MOTH FULL OF TOOTHPASTE?
2. This is very obviously morning routine for a lot of you as I see you on the regular and not a "holy crap I woke up so late and I have to multitask to arrive at the office with fresh breath and ensure that my dog doesn't pee/poop all over the house while I am gone" situation.
3. Can you please stop? I like this situation LESS than I like the amount of scooters in my neighborhood, (which is a lot).

To end: sinks are for teeth brushing and sidewalks are for dog walking, please and thank you. 

*I think this weirdness I feel is a good thing and indicates that my desire to include photos in my posts has NOT made me a creeper.

Iceland on Saturday

Friends, remember a few months ago I talked about going to Iceland?

We're seriously going. We leave on Saturday.

Me, Fiance and our good friend Becca are getting on a plane at 2:00PM and flying to Iceland. I am telling you now that I do not appreciate the side eyes you're giving me because I said I'm going on vacay with my Fiance and best friend...what's your point?

That's a confirmation I received from IcelandAir last Saturday. And I nearly fell out of bed when I saw it (don't you wake up and check your email before you even brush your teeth? I do and clearly its a healthy habit).

Apparently the below is something I'm going to be able to see in Iceland? That's what came up when I Googled Reykjavik (that's the capital of Iceland). Because even though we've been planning this trip for more than six months, in my head I still cannot see us there. 

Via

Do you ever get that? Its how I know something is a big deal. 

FOR INSTANCE I can picture myself teaching a class of 21 first year students this evening. I can picture myself packing my lunch for tomorrow. I can picture Fiance and I going to Albany for the weekend in two weeks and going to Target tomorrow night.

I CANNOT picture myself: walking down the aisle. Or wearing a wedding dress which will be happening in November because I made an appointment yesterday at Kleinfeld's (more on that later, I die). I cannot picture myself owning a puppy or being pregnant or being responsible for a baby for more than six hours i.e. what will happen when Fiance and I have a baby and it LIVES WITH US.

I CANNOT PICTURE US GOING TO THE AIRPORT ON SATURDAY, GETTING ON A PLANE AND ARRIVING IN ICELAND.

But, its happening. And I'm so excited I could nearly burst. Packing however may be problematic? More on that later...

One Year with Dilly

Dear Dilly,

Last week, in the midst of my beginning of the year blogging hiatus we celebrated your Adoption Day!

You're the first real pet I've had (by real I mean not a hermit crab or a fish that lived in my bathroom) and you have totally made me a cat lady. I'm not even upset about it.

You are so snuggly and you sleep on funny things! You let me and Fiance do funny things with you (like put a fleece neck warmer around your belly like a cat sweater) and sometimes you roll around like a worm!

You know when I am sad or stressed out and you snuggle me.

A year ago, I could only pick you up like a sack of flour...arms under belly, flip up body toward face, hold awkwardly. Now though, I pick you up no matter how you are laying or standing. I hold you like a baby (because you are my baby) and we dance around the living room while Fiance looks at us funny.

You are one special kitty cat. Everyone loves you, even our friends who don't like cats! I think you are even more special to us because you are the first living thing Fiance and I have ever taken care of together. He cleans your litter box (ew) and I feed you every morning. We lay on the couch and watch television, you try to steal my yarn when I crochet, you sit on Fiance's lap when he plays video games.

Dare I say it, Dilly Marie, I think you are the best thing that's ever happened to us. So much so that I will even try to forget the day we moved to Brooklyn and you pooped in your carrier and then laid in it. The poop, not your carrier.

We love you!

New Beginnings

I can't really write too much today friends, because today is the start of a new semester! The past two weeks at work have been totally nuts, in a beginning of the year kind of way. Not bad nuts, just busy.

One of the byproducts of this nuttiness is a messy desk, which makes me generally unhappy.

But on Friday before I left for a lovely labor day, everything was finished! My students were all set, my desk was clean, and I started a new page on my desk calendar. I love the start of the new semester and I love even more that I'm not actually starting classes. I do get to teach again this semester though, which I'm super excited about. And maybe next year I'll be starting classes again? Who knows but for now after my first class session tonight I am going home and watching television. Not doing homework or readings or papers.

Happy first day of the semester to me! And you and you and you!