Weekend Deals

So last weekend, when I was out of the country, I was in the Etsy Weekend Deals in the Storque (Etsy's online newspaper of sorts)! This was very exciting for me, and I made several sales because of it, which makes me HAPPY. They chose my black Ostrich Feather Drawing Headband.

Home sweet home

I am back from my short trip to Vienna. I got to see some amazing artwork and architecture, and experience life in a city I had never been to before. I went by myself and ended up getting homesick, which I was not expecting at all. My first trip to Europe was also alone, and I did not get homesick for a second, but I didn't have a little family back then (no husband or dog) so it was an entirely different experience. I felt sort of wussy for it, but it made coming home from vacation feel good, which is normally the other way around.

My favorite part about going to a new country is seeing art and eating. Not being a big meat eater, it was a bit of a challenge for me to enjoy the cuisine since it is basically all meat, but I was brave. I tried weiner schnitzle which I actually liked. (the pork not veal) Then again I would eat anything deep fried and find it tasty. Spatzle was my favorite dish. It's these tiny little dough bits, sort of like a mini dumpling, covered in cheese and ham. (It would been dreamy without the ham) I ended up resorting to my favorite food-Italian. I was shocked that there were some great Italian restaurants there, which was very exciting.
Here are a few photos:

There was a really cool tiny shop called Trzesniewski that sold only finger sandwiches and beer. It gets packed with business people at lunch. (At least when I was there) There are only three or four tiny tables in the place, and outside they have several high tops where you can quickly scarf the tiny sandwiches. I got these delicious sandwiches and a mini mug of beer that was so cute.


I had the cream of garlic soup several times at a few different restaurants. It was SO good.


This was my last meal in Vienna. I actually went to this restaurant twice because the four cheese pizza was so good. They didn't slice the pizza, and since I was not sharing it with anyone, I decided to eat it starting from the center, which is my favorite part. I ended up with a big crater in my pizza.


German Expressionism is one of my favorite art movements, and Vienna was FULL of Klimt, Egon Schiele, my favorites. I saw Klimt's "The Kiss" which I will never forget.

photo courtesy of samefacts.com

This is my favorite Klimt piece, called "Death and Life." I was even more excited to see this than the famous "The Kiss."


Egon Schiele...

Photo courtesy of leopoldmuseum.org

Photo courtesy of www.doc.ic.ac.uk/

I also went to Freud's house/office, which has been turned into a museum. This is the actual waiting room that his patients sat in, original furniture and all.


This is Cafe Central, and the view out my hotel window. Cafe Central was where intellectuals (Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky and many others) met in the late 19th and early 20th century.


This is Belvedere Palace, which was turned into an art museum and houses many of Klimt's pieces.

I also went to one of Beethoven's apartments (he moved 68 times!) as well as one of Mozart's.
It was a fabulous trip...but there's no place like home.

Austria!

Guten Tag!
I'm in Vienna right now finally getting to see some of my favorite artist's work in person! (Klimt, Schiele) Will be back in a few days to blog about it. Having so much fun!!

Paris in Chicago

Sometimes I wish I was living in Paris, hanging out in cafes all day with David and Woody, eating pain au chocolates and painting. Unfortunately, I live in Chicago, sigh. Last night we pretended we were in the city of lights and headed over to Cyrano's, a great French restaurant on Wells and Ohio. We sat on the patio and brought Woody Guthrie. It's one of the few restaurants in Chicago that is dog friendly and lets your pups dine alfresco. We were a bit nervous that he would be barking at runners and bikers the whole time, which he does frequently, but he was good for the most part. (Only one mild freak out)
We had a bottle of rose, I had steamed mussels and frites, and for a couple hours I was transplanted far away from the windy city.

Photo courtesy of farm1.static.flickr.com

Fried Brain

So I've been studying for the licensing exam (to become a Licensed Professional Counselor) I have to take to do my art therapy gig. All of this studying is preventing me from creating, and it's sucking the life out of me. Seriously. My brain is also aching, which is either from all the reading I've been doing on information that is not terribly interesting, or because it is starting to shrivel away because I haven't been creative at all. When I'm not making things, I get down.
Sadly, after this I will have two more licensing exams to take,(to become a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, and to be a Board Certified Art Therapist) but that won't be for several years thankfully. I don't know how I made it through 20 years of schooling. I just want to make things.
I need to stop complaining right NOW.

I think I should buy these brain hand towels by girlscantell.

Part II

Band of Horses really delivered at House of Blues Friday night. It was a bit late for me. They didn't come on until 11:30, but I managed to stay up for them, and was it ever worth it. The lead singer is a great performer, and his voice was amazing. My only qualm was they only played one of my top 3 favorite songs. (My top 3 are: I Go To The Barn Because I Like The, Part One, and Monsters) They played Monsters last (sans banjo), so I was almost having a heart attack during the encore when I thought they were not going to play any of my favorites!

Photo courtesy of www.rollogrady.org

Hearts

Another new charm necklace I made called Broken Heart.

Band of Horses

I have so many exciting things happening this month! This weekend is going to be amazing. I'll be at Lollapalooza Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and I get to see a bunch of awesome bands, including Band of Horses, Bon Iver, Decemberists, Animal Collective, TV on the Radio, Fleet Foxes, Andrew Bird, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs...I'm missing a few, but I would be happy just to see Band of Horses and the Decemberists alone. The icing on the cake is I get to see Band of Horses TWICE...on Friday night we got tickets to the after show at House of Blues. I can hardly stand it.

New Clutch!

Here is my newest puffy purse. It's only $65!

Zhou Fan

Take a look at these incredible paintings by Chinese artist Zhou Fan. I'm in love.