Operation Tubetop

THE LAST DAY OF AUGUST! OMG! SEPTEMBER IS TOMORROW!! Good bye self tanner, hello pashminas, good bye strapless dresses that make me look like a stuffed sausage, hello sleeves, good bye sweating all.the.time, hello heavier foundation in porcelain, good bye foot stigmata caused by cheap flip flops, hello wedged boots, good bye constant shaving of knees (I have like 3 hairs that grow on my legs. You can hate me and my freak body hair), hello tights and leggings, good bye highlights, hello darker more flattering hair colour, good bye coral nail polish, hello black nail polish, good bye stinky ubahn, hello walks in the forest. OH MY GOD! HELLO SEPTEMBER! So yeah, I love the fall. September 1st is like my New Year's Day. I get a kick of energy and I go into full throttle. Suddenly, when the heat starts to ebb, my creative mojo starts to flow. I feel like a fountain of internal Red Bull has been tapped and the sky is the limit! You think I was productive this summer? You ain't see...

Sup sup?! Hello Saturday. Hard to believe that just a week ago I was knee deep in tapas in Barcelona. I thought I would do a weekend wrap up because why not. Here are the highlights from the past week! Sunday: A lovely and awesome day spent at the beach in a village just outside of Barcelona. Idyllic! Followed by more wine and a pizza dinner back in town. Miss it so much! Monday: My flight back to Vienna was supposed to leave at 10. It was delayed by 30 minutes and you would have thought it had been delayed by 6 hours based on the constant apologies from the Austrian Airlines staff and pilot. We arrived 15 minutes later than expected and once again, Austrian Airlines for the win. From landing to bag picked up took less than 15 minutes. Don't ever change, Austria. You complete me. In the afternoon we had a meeting with a therapist to see if we could add on to his current therapy sessions. We will see how that pans out in the next week or so. Things in Vienna have got to change...

As I wrote yesterday, this morning was the time to head to the magistrat to lengthen my visa. Bureaucracy in Austria is fascinating... if fascinating is a word for torture-inducing controlled chaos. I have had quite a few experiences at the different "abteilung" in Vienna and they are always amusing... again, if amusing is a word for frustrating and de-moralizing. Now, I know that there isn't a country in the world where their citizens are like "Yaaay! Have to get my passport renewed! This is the best day EVER!" No, nobody enjoys bureaucracy but I do have to say that the Austrians definitely have taken bureaucracy and have made it an art. When I moved back just over 11 years ago, we had to do the whole "I've married a foreigner, let her stay" schtick. Back then all that one had to do was go to the local police station. The one we visited was in the 10th district, fondly known as da hood. We walked in and noted that we needed to take a number fr...

Last day of leisure before going back to work. Yesterday was a great and lazy day with the Kid. He is off daycare and our nanny was off so we decided to be over achieving parents and do very little. We took a walk to the shoe repair place on Margareten. I walked in and a grizzled man took my two shoes and then asked for my name. I said "Tova" and he wrote it down and then paused. I am used to this. Usually what follows is "Where are you from?" to which I respond "Canada." and then sometimes there will be the follow-up question "Is TOVA a Canadian name?" I sometimes say yes, I sometimes say it is Swedish and only if I am truly comfortable in the situation will I say it is Hebrew. Safety first, my friends... sadly. But this time the man behind the counter said "That's a Hebrew name." and I paused and then said "Yes. Yes, it is." and then he asked "Do you know what it means?" and I nodded and said "Yes, but...

What an awesome mini trip!! I am back! Well, I was back yesterday but I was busy eating mac and cheese, snuggling with the Kid, meeting with a new therapist for the Kid and catching up with my friend who is back in town (yay!). Barcelona was an amazing place to visit and I hope to go again next year...if they will have me. On Sunday we hit the town of Garaff which is about a 25 minute train ride outside of the city. It is a completely idyllic sand beach. It was busy but not over crowded. We arrived around noon and rented a couple of loungers and an umbrella. We stared out at the sea and I took in the waves and thought "nope". I did go up until my knees on my first attempt but the sea was angry that day, my friends, and I was convinced my ridiculously too small bikini top would have been a victim and nobody needs to witness that. Around one, we walked up to the beach restaurant and met up with a friend of my friend. We ordered a bottle of wine, some food, and I kept th...

Hola! Wow! What a town! Yesterday was my first and full day in the lovely town of Barcelona. Today is my second and last day here. Sad face. But we are heading to a small village that boasts a great beach and I am super excited to get into that sea! I also really can't believe how incredibly lucky I am to have the chance to see this amazing place and to have some quality time with one of my dearest friends (22 years of friendship and counting). Good friendships are important, y'all. Yesterday morning I awoke at 4 and putzed around in a half daze, getting ready. The taxi was supposed to arrive at 5:00 but at 4:45, I heard a small honk and that annoyed me. Listen, buddy, I will take my sweet ass time because I ordered a taxi for 5. And then I caved because I really needed a taxi to get to the airport. I said goodbye to the still sleeping Kid and good bye to the sleepy Husband and made my way downstairs. I spied a large white van and wondered if it would move so that my taxi l...

Wassup mes amies? Gangsta French! Allover that! Anyway, today's post is again a mish mash. I plan to save the long drawn out posts for when I hit Barcelona... or as I like to say Barthelona. Which Office Twin says makes me sound like Cartman. I cannot believe that in two sleeps I will be heading to Spain for a quick weekend to visit one of my oldest and dearest friends! I am plutzing. I am so over the top excited for this girl weekend! My flight is at 7 a.m. and I am taking Austrian Airlines because I refuse to "save" 100 euros and fly a budget airline. And yes, I am a snob. When we flew back from Rome, we took Vueling and I literally wanted to stick bamboo sticks up into my fingernails. Flying, which I wrote about a few weeks back, is not my favourite activity. Perhaps because I am an impatient Jewess who doesn't understand why she isn't upgraded immediately due to her charm and wit. Or is it the fact that without fail, I will be stuck in security behind the ...

A rainy day. Yay! I know all you summer lovers are grinding your teeth and thinking "BLASPHEMY!" but come on, this was an insane summer. It's been nice not having the incessant grumble of our one air conditioning unit. And it is damn cozy which is another natural state for me; fuzzy robe, tea, smug look of an L.L Bean model, etc. Today's post is just a bit of dis and dat because I haven't done anything in the last 24 hours to cause any international incidents. I'm obviously off my A game. The Kid : Well, he has been pretty good this summer. Save for some crappy nights and a couple of tantrums. Yesterday when I got home, the Nanny informed me that he had had an epic freak out and that broke my heart. But he was absolutely adorable the whole evening which made up for it. He did, however, have a nap earlier in the day so he did not fall asleep until 10. But at least he fell asleep in his bed. There were a couple of breaks for freedom but otherwise I feel like...