so i love pigs.

...and this might be my favorite picture of my germany trip. these were all over the sofitel in munich, snooping where they shouldn't be...i loved them!!! couldn't wait to get through all the pictures from day 4 before sharing. my favorite artsy shots came from the amazing decor in this hotel. this is just a sneak peek!

choco-latte. the color of my new dustbuster.

Please god tell me when cleaning appliances became elements of design? Not hiding this one!

Meet my new Kurv.

Which makes me want Brum.

But only if it's in choco-latte. Dreamy!

Who knew cleaning could be so beautiful!!!

Pillow Design Tool

How cool is this?!? Can't say I am a big fan of the current Pottery Barn designs but this is so neat! What a marketing tool...for Benjamin Moore & PB. Check it out!

I totally told an NBA starter that I thought basketball was boring.

Shining moment in my life.

Let me explain...

So I had my first hair appointment here in San Antonio. This is probably the most anxiety ridden part of a move-that and finding my gynecologist. I was limited to three salons because of the hair color I use & love and decided on the only salon in town that met my list of requirements. I met my new stylist, Nowlin (his stage name, yes, he is forty, fabulous and flaaaaming). So Nowlin sits me down and we begin down the road of the most fun salon experience I have had to date!

Mid conversation about red and shades of red and how his conditioning treatment intensifies the color (yes, I bought it and got it today...fabulous) and he casually introduces me to this guy who I get to know over a 20 minute period. This guy is warm and friendly and has the most perfectly buffed and beautiful hands I have ever seen on a man, not to mention they are the softest hands I have ever shaken...so we chat and find some common history. CSU Fullerton, coming from California and he explains his business plan to me emphasizing his love for unbeatable customer service. He tells me never to bring my own coffee again, that he would proudly brew me a fabulous cup in the salon. After we chat and laugh and have some genuinely entertaining conversation, he moved on to the next client in the salon and introduced himself, serving a choice of five different beverages on his tray. He was hand passing drinks to the clients. I had learned that he was the owner of the salon and it was named after his wife. He had two kids and moved to San Antonio about 10 years ago. His little boy spent 2 hours on the potty trying very hard to pee during a party this weekend. You know, I learned the good stuff.

It got better when he walked away.

Turns out he is the starting center on the Spurs. Bruce was Bruce Bowen. Millionaire. Pro Athlete. Celebrity. Hmm...Did I really just tell this guy I didn't like basketball because I thought it was boring?

I totally did. I don't think that I told them all the men in my family hate the spurs because they think its boring to watch...but I could have. I don't know. Just a girl, in a salon, chatting her head off to whomever will chat back. Ughhhhhh!!

Did I mention he was humble, and unassuming and really cared about his job at the salon? He was wonderful. And I will go back. For Nowlin too. :)

Nowlin told me that Eva comes in for her spa treatments every time she's in town for Tony's games. Guessed I picked the best salon in San Antonio! Score!

And just when she thought the world was coming to an end...

...THERE WAS TARGET.

No really. Target saved me from my 48 hour obsession...aaaaand breakdown over how shitty of a "designer" I am. (correction: thought I was)

You see, it all started with a stupid TV show ...which led to a bedroom color that I thought would be a good idea (charcoal-ish)...which led to a duvet that I thought would be perfect...fast forward two months...

Looks like SHIT. No really. Hate my furniture. Hate my taste. Hate my bedroom (which let me tell you, is NOT the room in the house you want to hate). On the verge of hating the house because apparently my design expertise doesn't exist outside ekru, olive, chocolate and russet. (those are colors, promise)

So...ordered duvet #2 which allegedly would make color #1 work. Negative. Made me hate it more.

Now I am $60 in the whole on shipping because someone thought San Antonio didn't need a crate & barrel. Ready to paint the room a new color and ahhhhh[higher note]ahhhhhh[lowest note]ahhhh...I visited target. Found the piece that will tie it all together. hallelujah. I can now sleep soundly.

Now color goes with duvet #3 [well, we'll see when it comes in the mail, ordered in clay] which is tied together by this lovely throw.

crisis averted...

[bedroom now...]

[pintucked duvet...bottom of the pile...backordered till september and yes, the colors are off on the screen...]

I think I need a job.

Germany Adventure, Day 3: Berlin & Fancy Dinner

June 21, 2008

I am writing this a day late, as I fly on Lufthansa from Berlin to Munich. We were out late last night and enjoying every last second in Berlin so I am catching up during some downtime. Our flight is one hour long, so just a quick hop.

Yesterday we had an unscheduled day in the city of Berlin. Other than a dinner hosted by an important executive in the evening, we were on our own to explore. The night before we decided to sleep with the blinds open a bit in hopes that when the sun came up, we would wake up naturally instead of to a beeping alarm…well…the plan worked great for me except that I forgot that the sun came up at 330am which left me WIDE awake by six in the morning, after sleeping only about five hours. I am of the belief that I can tolerate lack of sleep for six days; I would much rather get up and see as much as I can even if I am a tired!

So our day began with breakfast at the hotel, the same amazing spread that we found out costs about 28 Euros, or over $45 US dollars per person. The spread was again, amazing. I think I could live on the cream cheese (brie looking) and the fresh bread.

I typically start my day with eggs at home and here I have noticed the eggs have yolks that are very orange in color vs. the yellow we see at home. They are much tastier which makes me wonder what our chickens have been bred to produce. Each of these had a different hot cuisine, mostly egg dishes & sausage (gross!!).I just have to comment on the espresso availability here. Every corner has a little café where customers can sit outside, enjoy their espresso and pastry and watch the world pass them by. The chairs all face the road and the coffee drinks are the most amazing looking little pieces of heaven. Non-fat milk is very hard to find here so you can assume that all lattes are make with whole milk. The waiters that I have requested skim milk to, do not understand what I mean so I decided to just suck it up and drink whole milk and boy, will I be disappointed when I get home and continue to make my lattes with skim milk! I now have a different view of my Starbucks. Once thought to be my gold standard, having true European espresso taught me that starbucks coffee is CRAP! I mean it! This girl, who drinks starbucks everyday (though I make it myself), is declaring they probably have the worst coffee in the world! Pumped full of sugar because the coffee can’t flavor the milk enough, we Americans don’t know what we are missing. Forget dessert, forget sugary syrups, give me a straight German made latte and I am a happy girl.

[pretty much what I spent the day doing! Thank you for your patience Tori!!!]

After breakfast we just started wandering around town. We went to Checkpoint Charlie which was rather disappointing. Merely a series of posters and pictures I was expecting something more tangible. We walked and walked and saw large pieces of the Berlin wall, graffitied and colorful.

[the line where the wall used to be was marked with a two brick line throughout the entire city]

We saw a holocaust memorial where I may have shot my prize picture of the trip:

My favorite favorite favorite place we passed was a wrought iron gated building what was white and grey, with mirrored windows that reflected the blue sky. Growing in front of the building was the most gorgeous display of hydrangeas I have ever seen. I took the opportunity to take a ton of pictures even though I had to shoot through the gates. If there was ever a picture that was a collection of all the styles that epitomize “me” it would be this place. I loved it!!! If I ever had enough time & money I would have a garden like this!

We did a little bit of shopping along the way, mostly window shopping. It is very expensive over here and the dollar:euro exchange rate is not good. I did splurge in the Berlin Couture shop which sold “couture” Berlin logo clothing. I got Tommy a red track jacket and was amused when I asked the sales guy who was about the same size to try it on. I thought the jacket fit just right and he claimed it was way too big. He grabbed the smaller size, shoved himself into it and zipped on his second skin. “Now it fits,” he said. Picturing my husband in a jacket that was skin tight made me giggle and I ended up buying the larger size. I ended up with a bling black sweatshirt, encrusted in Swarovski crystals in the shape of the Berlin bear. It cost way too much, but I didn’t buy much else. I collect Swarovski crystal figures whenever I go anywhere, and had to get one for this trip. I found a Swarovski “maus” that I just had to have since this place reminds me of my grandmother (and her love of mice) and I figured I had to have the maus to remember Berlin. That was the extent of my shopping. Oh, one more—Tommy said not to get him anything while I was here, unless, of course, I found Heidi Klum and she wanted to come home with me. So, I just had to grab a German magazine with Heidi on the cover, so I hope he’s happy!

Some other random shots from the day:

[cutest smart car ever!!]

[beautiful office building]

[lunch at potsdamer platz]

[and what can I say, two girls, one hotel room ...]

For dinner, we went to Luttner-Wegner, one of the top 10 restaurants in Berlin, and offering an authentic German cuisine. The ambiance was amazing, the company was fantastic and the wine was plentiful. The potato soup was excellent (I have ordered it every day!) and the main entrée was great too. I had vegetarian ravioli and Tori had the famous, award winning Sauerbraten, beef soaked in vinegar and slow roasted. I swear, this tasted just like my mother & grandmothers cooking. I feel like I am at home! The wine was a German wine and I am kicking myself that I didn’t take the name of it. It was a champagne grape that provided just a hint of carbonation when it hit the tongue. It was by a long shot, the best wine I have ever tasted.

[on the platz near the restaurant]

[our lovely host's wife, a photographer from NYC, grabbed my camera and shot on the fly, declaring that photographers never have good pictures of themselves!]

[umm, that wine was the best I've ever had in my life. And I drank all I could!]

[beautiful dessert!]

The night was over. Off to Munich. I love this place.

My poor, poor husband.

So my photoshop is acting up and crashing all the time. Editing photos is taking far longer than expected, and day 3 was a very photo-licious day in Berlin. So patience please! I will have them posted soon!

Meanwhile, I am trying to understand why surgeons are tortured during residency. No one else we know seems to have it quite this bad. If my husband is not at the hospital, he is sleeping or working out which leaves exactly zero time for him to relax. He is so perpetually exhausted that he fell asleep on the floor when he laid down and was waiting for me to stretch his back out. For an hour he slept on the floor. (!!!) My my my. What am I going to do with him. More like what am I going to do FOR him. Try very hard to be patient and understanding and not demanding. (example #1, I did exactly what I said I would NEVER EVER DO...I mowed the LAWN! Never in my life...that's what love is...this was a first) 80 hour work weeks seem like a dream at this point...

Anyhoo--visited him for lunch today and I now get it. This is what he deals with. Every night...

[he said it's the worst when they all go off at the same time]

Germany Adventure: DAY 2, Berlin by River

June 20, 2008, Germany Day 2

The second day in Germany began about 8am local time. We woke up in the most comfortable hotel bed I have ever slept in, got ready and headed to breakfast where we were greeted with a healthy, fresh spread. My favorite part of the whole thing was the ridiculously large bread selection separated into a bunch of little baskets behind a cutting board. You selected your bread, cut it fresh and topped it with one of the adjacent cheese selections. My favorite: “cream cheese” which was very similar to what we know as brie. That on top of a whole grain roll was heavenly! My colleague Ivy (from North Dakota) and I continued our Starbucks love affair and walked to get our familiar coffee from the Americanized Starbucks that was attached to our hotel. Somehow, it didn’t feel right to be drinking American coffee in Europe, and after my second coffee of the trip which was a true German “kaffee” I won’t make the same mistake again! We noticed last night that it was light for so long and inquired about the hours of daylight. What I learned was that Germany is situated further north than the US, comparable to northern Canada. Daylight during the summer is from 330am to 1030pm. In the winter, it is just the opposite, offering only 5 hours of daylight from 1030am to 330pm. Makes for a great summer, long winter. The climate is quite similar to the bay area, upper 70s during the day dropping into the 50s at night. It is such a lovely break from the 100 degree heat of Texas!

We boarded the bus and drove to our “Berlin by River” tour which was a two hour boat ride up and down the main waterway through Berlin.

I quickly became known as the boat photographer and was asked the rest of the day (by others on the boat) if I knew what I was doing or had a special passion for it since I was “taking some of the most interesting shots” according to one colleague. I just smiled and said I had a different eye since I have taken up photography. I so thoroughly enjoyed the trip, the scenery and the endless photographic opportunities. I took well over 300 pictures and was most intrigued by two things. First fascination: the bullet holes that lined the old walls of the river. The river runs through the city and is lined by buildings and had a polka dotted pattern than went on for miles, preserved so visitors would try to imagine what the hostile times were like during the “World War Second” as the locals call it. It made me close my eyes for a second and think of how hostile things must have been. The volume of bullet holes in the concrete is enough to make any one shiver.

The second fascination is the combination and strong contrast of old, intricate architecture and brand new, extremely modern buildings. One minute you are studying the carved stone, gilded turrets and historical masterpiece of a cathedral and the next building is a square box that is orange and covered in deliberately minimalist windows and lines, sometimes they were even attached together!

Since the city was leveled, there is still major building going on and while there is a lot of preservation of anything that still remained standing, there is also a lot of recreation of the old style of buildings. Sometimes only the facades remained and the building was added from the back so the front stayed about the same. Some building were left with just the original front door and built up with modern architecture around the original door; it is quite strange. We were on a boat that was over a hundred years old and had a large steam pipe sticking out the top. Since the bridges in Berlin are so low, every time we came to one (and there were about 15 on our short tour) we had to go into a “lock” where they blocked us into a holding cell, lowered the water a couple feet and then the boat staff lowered the pipe so we had enough clearance to go under the bridge, often just a couple inches! It was crazy! It changed my perspective for a couple of pictures that I wouldn’t have been able to get otherwise! Also worth noting, is the large city telecommunications tower than has a huge silver ball with many panels of reflective glass, not unlike a disco ball, but large enough in size to be compared to the Seattle Space needle. There is and was a lot of controversy regarding the ball, since as a complete coincidence, there is a reflection of the sun that is the exact shape of a cross from every angle the tower is viewed. After the war, the government here wanted to create an Atheist nation and was so upset about the strong presence of the inadvertent religious symbol that they tried everything to get rid of the reflection. Obviously nothing worked and I actually think it is kind of neat. Makes for a good story!

Few more shots from the boat( I would have done a slideshow, but picasa hates me today):

By this time I have completely fallen in love with this city. Tommy and I have always entertained the idea of a European tour with the Military since the largest Military hospital in Europe is in Germany and it may be a reality someday. The current medical flight path for the most critically injured is from Iraq to Ramstein Air Base in Germany and then to Lackland AFB, transferred to Tommy’s hospital, Brooke Army Medical Center. I would live here in a heartbeat. There is such social conscience that is long forgotten in the US. Only certain vehicles with certified emissions efficiencies are allowed into city center. What is seen is streets lined with smart cars and miniature Mercedes that are not offered in the US. Even the Honda civics is different, smaller. One tour guide remarked that people who bought the very expensive vehicles are out of luck as they sit with their hundred thousand Mercedes and can no longer drive them to work because they are not clean or small enough for the color sticker needed to head downtown. Bikes are ridden everywhere here, even by people in full business suits. Most remarkably, I have yet to see an obese person that is not American. There is no rushing on the street, there are warm smiles everywhere and what can only be described as a genuine love of life. I love it here. I could live here and not miss much of anything in the US.

The afternoon took those of us employed by Bayer to Bayer-Schering headquarters, where we toured the production facility and the only building that was left after the War, which now houses the Schering Museum. The production facility is where all of the drugs we sell are made and is lines and lines of sterile, sophisticated supply chains. The US YAZ was not in production today, but the European version of the product (same ingredients, different name), “Yasminelle” was. The packaging was completely different.

We saw where the US YAZ was produced and learned that just after the launch, there were additional personnel hired and production occurred 24 hours a day, 7 days a week just to meet the new demand. We almost faced backordering since the uptake of the product was so quick and successful. We also saw how Magnevist was packaged (a contrast medium for digital imaging-MRIs) and one of the Oncology drugs. Unfortunately, Mirena is made in Finland, so we were unable to see any of that in production. Much of Mirena production is still by hand, which would have been neat to see! We found out the night before that we had to have our legs covered in order to enter the plant and since many of us brought skirt suits, the trip director bought a massive amount of pantyhose and we all had to wear them. (gross!!!) Mine were tap/jazz costume style and were thick and shimmery and very tan. Lovely. Once we had those on, the white foot booties, the lab coat and hair cap, we were all sweating in our monkey suits. I was expecting the tour to be fascinating. I was a bit disappointed. The museum was interesting and preserved a lot of the history of our company. Who knew that Schering used to have a photography company?!? We were not in there long due to the lack of air conditioning, but it was nice to see where the home base of my company resides. Best fun fact: Berlex (what my company was called before Bayer bought out Schering AG and the US subsidiary, Berlex) stands for “BERlin EXport” since all the medication was and still is made in Berlin. Yep, those little YAZ & Yasmin pills still come from Germany, check your box!!

Once we got back, we decided to go have dinner at a rather disappointing restaurant, but dessert in a very hip, bustling place. There is a large Sony Center around the corner and a huge dome that is lit in changing colors that casts the most interesting ambiance over a huge courtyard full of restaurants and colored fountains. This area is called the Potsdamer Platz. I saw a picture of it on my yahoo homepage this morning as one of the most emailed photos regarding Berlin's upcoming fashion week!

[from outside the center]

[one of the main anchor buildings, I thought it was cool that all of the lights were on at night]

[in front of the fountains that constantly change colors]

[how cool is the roof? Also changed colors...]

We parked it at Josty’s for a latte (best I have ever had) for me and a sundae for Tori and enjoyed the light show. I ordered a carmel latte and it came with a side packet of carmel, which I definitely never used because the espresso was soooo good! Check out that froth! That's what you DON'T get with skim milk! I think tomorrow we are going to try another restaurant we saw for dessert, which had all white couches and white roses and candles. They even provided blankets if you were cold! It was a great way to end the day.

[inside the platz looking out towards the street]

Tomorrow is the last day in Berlin before we fly to the other side of the country, to Munich which we hear is the polar opposite of the cosmopolitan place!