Almunecar, Spain / Sweet Little Towns

August 29, 2013

beach umbrellas One more vacation post, I promise. Which, of course, makes me a little sad. I’m usually ready for fall and the coziness, but I’m a little worried about how dark and wet and cold it will be. The days are already getting shorter and I’m just not ready for sweaters and boots again. So, we’ll look at pretty beach photos for one more day!

We stayed in a villa in a town just next to Almunecar called La Herradura. It’s smaller than Almunecar, but has a beach that stretches for a mile and a half along the town. The beach is made up of stones, not sand, and they were really, really hot. But I was fairly obsessed with the stripey beach umbrellas. Such an excellent range of colours and patterns and tan people and blue water!

hibiscus x2 And also, hibiscus flowers. They’re also my favorite. They’re just so much fun to photograph.

la herradura town fuschia bouganvillea Bougainvillea comes a close second to hibiscus flowers.

beach la herradura We were amazed how late everyone stayed on the beach. They were there until the last ray of sunlight fell over the hills.

almunecar old town x2 We spent a little time wandering around the old town part of Almunecar. It has winding little pedestrian streets with cute shops and great people watching. One of our favorite things about Almunecar is that it’s not overrun with tourists like a lot of spots on the Costa del Sol. You don’t hear much English spoken and you run into a lot of people who speak no English, which was a great opportunity to practice our Spanish! It’s more of a place where Spanish people vacation, which makes it feel a little more exotic and quaint.

almunecar blues figs almunecar Nothing like fig trees hanging over the sidewalk. They make such a fun patterned silhouette.

old square almunecar old town bunting and vespas There was a festival on the week we were there, including a spectacular fireworks show (which I missed because I was nervous about the crowds, won’t make that mistake again!) and cheerful bunting spread through the streets. I was very worried before we arrived that the temperature would just be too hot. The forecast was for close to 100 degrees, but it’s a dry heat, despite being near the ocean, and there was almost always a sea breeze to cool you down. And shade, there was a lot of seeking out shady spots in the afternoon!

What I wouldn’t give for weather that needs shade again!

Thanks for indulging me in sharing all these traveling photos all summer. Back to reality and regular schedule programming from next week!

 

 

Home Office / On the Road

August 27, 2013

home office on the road If you’re a regular reader, you’re probably well aware of how much time I’ve spent traveling this summer. If you’re not, there’s this, this, this, this and this to give you a little taste of exactly how much travel we’ve been up to. Nearly ten weeks of travel this summer, including Florida, the Midwest, Colorado, Maine, the south of France and the south of Spain. It was an epic summer of travel and honestly, I think I’m still recovering.

There were a few of those ten weeks that I specifically took off as real vacation. The first five months of the year barely involved a weekend off, so I needed a few weeks break. But the rest of the time, I was trying out the theory that because I work for myself, I can work from anywhere. Today I wanted to share how that worked and what I learned.

First, packing. Here’s what I brought with me for work on almost all of my travels:

Laptop, case and charger
DSLR camera
iPhone and charger
iPad and charger
External hard drive
Notebook

It sounds like a lot, but other than the iPad and hard drive, it’s what I like to travel with even before I started working for myself. When we went to France, I didn’t bring my laptop, but we ended up not having internet so I couldn’t really test what it was like to work with only the iPad. On the rest of our travels, I hardly used the iPad, so if I was traveling without Michael, I would choose between laptop and iPad and not lug both around. However, with both of us traveling, Michael liked having the iPad in case I was working for a few hours. He’s also a big fan of watching movies on it on airplanes, so it is useful if there’s someone else there to carry it!

Beyond the iPad, I used everything on that list repeatedly, and it all packed up neatly. I definitely got the packing part down after ten flights in three months!

Now, the work part. Other than my packing list, the only other thing I really need to work is internet access. All but one of the places we stayed had working wifi, so I found I could work best when I woke up in the morning and we didn’t  have plans with whomever we were staying with. I have regular deadlines for my writing with Snippet & Ink, and somewhat regular deadlines with One Fab Day, so I would work on those when I had a few hours. I scheduled conference calls based on working hours in different time zones, and responded to emails whenever I had a few minutes with my computer every day. Overall, I found keeping up with regular work fairly easy while we were away, as long as I could be flexible about when that work happened.

But the trickier part was the freelance pitching I wrote about in my last Home Office post. I simply found it hard to pitch stories from the road. It’s hard to pitch stories about Dublin when you’re not going to be in Dublin for nearly two months, and it’s hard to pitch stories at all when your brain doesn’t really have time to rest.

Overall, this summer was a good test of the working-from-wherever system, and I do feel like I learned what I can and can’t accomplish when I’m not at home. And that will be pretty valuable when I get ready to pack up again, although it might be awhile. Those last few Ryanair flights wore me out!

Anyone have experience working from anywhere? Any tips or tricks? And I’d love to know what’s on your packing list!

Almunecar, Spain / The Villa

August 26, 2013

blue door villa We’ve been back from Spain for a whole week, and I can’t say looking at these photos while wearing slippers and a sweatshirt didn’t sting a little. The weather was perfect, the view was incredible, and of course, the company was wonderful.

I’ve narrowed down the billions of photos of sunsets and flowers to two posts – one of the house and the beach, and one from Almunecar and La Herradura, the little town where we stayed. When we decided to go back to Almunecar, my mother-in-law sent a note to friends they had met while visiting Michael to see if they knew of anyone who would like to rent their house to seven Westbrooks’ and a stowaway (hi, Eimear!). Lo and behold, they wanted to do a house swap with my in-laws! It worked out perfectly. We’re hoping to make it an annual event!

Now, for the photos!

villa entrance The house was named Forever. Isn’t that lovely!? It was set on many levels up on a rocky cliff above the water.

villa from above This is the point from above – the house is in the elbow of the bottom point of land.

room at villa The doors were round and wooden, and the view from the balcony outside our room was very difficult to leave.

em and view

sea view The cove was really popular with boats and scuba divers. We’re not totally sure what the scuba divers were seeing, since all we could see snorkeling were sardines and some sunfish-looking things. Maybe they were just practicing their moves.

crew at water Remember that little blue door from the first photo? That leads to rocky steps down to the ocean. We took full advantage of it – and clearly brought all the pool paraphernalia with us!

villa patio And upstairs, there was a patio with sweet stripy cushions and bright red umbrellas.

patio villa And a hammock!

patio and mike We had dinners by candle light, both on the patio and on the deck overlooking the ocean. Clearly we were very spoiled!

sunsets The view from the deck was perfectly positioned to see the sunset every night. And the only hard thing about that was trying to decide which was the best sunset!

whole fam The deck was also the perfect spot for some photos with the family!

em and mike almunecar small And with this handsome guy!

mike pool night Michael took full advantage of the pool – can you see the sunset and the lights in the background?

villa at night Looking through all these photos again, I’m a little surprised we left the house at all! But we did, for a little exploring around the sweet little towns and beaches. Stay tuned for lots of stripy beach umbrellas and some great Vespas!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wedding Anniversary #5!

August 23, 2013

anniversary #5 Today is our wedding anniversary – five years! It’s hard to believe it’s been that long, and that we’ve been in Ireland nearly as long. Time flies. I’m beyond grateful to get to spend all the days of my life with this handsome man.

This is the first time I’ve looked at our wedding photos and thought, We look so young! And we were. I was only 24, and Michael just a year older. But we’re figuring it out together, one year at a time. This year it felt like we finally settled in. We finally (almost) figured out how to disagree and argue constructively, and we’ve been faced with challenges that have made us lean into each other like we never have before. We are learning to be married together, and it makes me feel peaceful and content.

We’re celebrating with a little stay-cation in a hotel in Dublin this weekend. We’ll do a little exploring on the other side of the city, sleep late, and soak up the last weekend before the school year starts and Michael gets a whole lot busier!

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

 

Almunecar, Spain / La Churreria

August 22, 2013


churros 3

 

I started to edit photos from our week in Spain tonight, and just couldn’t do it. Do you know how many photos I took of hibiscus flowers and sunsets? It’s embarrassing. And exhausting trying to take out all the crummy duplicates and distill our week in paradise down to a manageable number.

 

So, I give you one of the sweetest parts of our trip – both literally and figuratively. In the little town of La Herradura, there’s a churreria in the town square where you can buy churros by the kilo. Do you happen to know how many churros that is? Too many even for eight hungry Westbrooks’. But they were oh so delicious – crispy and sprinkled with crunchy sugar by the cutest little Spanish lady in spectacles and polka dots.

churros The churreria was busy with people strolling by from the beach. Can you imagine a more perfect post-beach snack?

churros 2

And now, I’m going back to editing bajillions of sunsets. Hopefully I’ll have narrowed it down by next week!

 

Starring Bougainvillea

August 21, 2013

flowers almunecar While we were in Spain, I created a few little arrangements with flowers from the grounds of the house where we were staying. Dahlias, roses, bougainvillea, some almost-succulent type things, and lots of lemon verbena-smelling dusty-colored herbs.

I’m adding these to the list of things I want in my some-day tropical house, along with those fruit trees.

Easy Breakfast / Banana Pancakes

August 20, 2013

banana pancakes I go through phases where I’ll only eat one thing for a meal for quite a while. Before I got married, I ate two eggs on English muffins with a shmear of cream cheese every single morning for about six months straight. When I find a good thing, I stick with it. I’ve been hooked on these banana pancakes for a few months now. They’re simple, fast, filling and healthy. And they taste just like regular pancakes but lighter on the carbs.

Here’s how: Put two eggs, one banana, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, and 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour (sometimes I substitute white flour or almond flour) in a bowl. Using an immersion blender, blend the ingredients into a batter. Pour onto a hot buttered skillet, cook until they bubble and then flip. This recipe will make about 10 small/medium pancakes, and I never share. I figure two eggs and a banana is a perfect amount for breakfast even though sometimes ten pancakes seems a little gluttonous!

A few tips: I don’t like to use over-ripe bananas because then they taste like banana bread. But if you like that, it works just fine with ripe or over ripe bananas. I also like to cook them a little longer than regular pancakes because they get a little crispy around the edges and again, that’s what I prefer. They’re great with a little blackberry jam, too!

They fit pretty well into my morning routine which always involves tidying shoes and clothes, and making the bed. I can let these cook and put a few things away between batches. So it feels like a productive morning before I even sit down to munch on these!

 

Carcassonne, France // Part 3

August 19, 2013

chateau pennautier

All of a sudden, our trip to Carcassonne feels like a million years ago. It must be that week in Spain that’s making it seem so distant. But I have to put one sunny European vacation to bed before I can show you another one, so here goes! One last post about our amazing time in Carcassonne! This time about the wedding that was the reason for our visit!  mike and church

The wedding was in the little town of Pennautier, just outside Carcassonne. The wedding was held in the little old church, with a priest who flew in from Ireland who performed one of the nicest Catholic weddings I’ve ever been to. He told a story about a Roman village that was under siege, and the people who were attacking it kept trying to make deals with the people they were attacking. First they said if you surrender, we’ll let the women and children live. And they said no, so the attackers said okay, if you surrender the women and children live and they can each keep their one cherished possession. So they surrendered and opened the doors and all the women came out carrying their husbands. I’m practically crying thinking about it, but he did a much better version.
chateau door

After the ceremony, we walked down the hill to an enormous chateau for the reception. I love this shot above where you can see straight through the chateau to the Gatsby-esque backyard.  em and floor I asked Michael to take a few photos of my hair. Hair and makeup are just not my best tricks, but I was so proud of the sunflower I picked from a flower bed in our town and managed to work into my hair!

mike and em wedding chateau front chateau stone grapes with rachael and anthony

Congratulations to our wonderful friends, Rachael and Anthony!  steps poppies mike and em chateau

Happy Friday!

August 16, 2013
poppies em and mike {The talented Kate and Sean, of Poppies and Me Photography, sent me this photo from the wedding we attended in France a few weeks ago. It’s one of my favorites of us together. This is how I feel my face looks when I look at my husband. Joy and amazement that he’s mine for eternity.}

Happy Friday, friends! I’m still in sunny Spain, sitting on the bed watching the boats sail by and listening to the water lap against the shore below the house. Funnily, the house we’re staying in is called Forever. I mean, come on. If you would let me, I would certainly stay forever. The house has so many fruit trees, and nooks for reading, and a pool overlooking the ocean. It also has a commercial kitchen, so many patios and decks, and easy access to cheap and delicious Spanish wine. Michael is going to have to drag me home.

It has been the perfect end to a really wonderful summer of travel. When we return to Dublin, we’ll get back to a regular schedule and a normal routine, which I am actually looking forward to. I have so many projects that are waiting for a little attention, and obviously so many DIYs to get to work on. But Michael and I are so grateful to have had this summer of travel together, with lots of sunshine and quality times sitting around the table with so many family and friends.

This week, even though I’ve been in Spain, I’ve been getting some work done. I write the monthly newsletter for The Hive conference, and you can sign up even if you haven’t been to The Hive for tips and tricks from bloggers on how to grow your audience or just generally improve your blog. I also recorded a little video for this new initiative called the What I See Project, aimed at empowering women and changing women’s perceptions of themselves. And I wrote another in my Snapshot of a Marriage series on our friends Bill and Sharon for Snippet & Ink. It was a productive week by the ocean!

I hope you all had wonderful weeks as well, and I hope you have fun weekends planned ahead of you! See you on Monday!

Make Over Inspiration / DIY Projects

August 14, 2013

makeover diy walls

The house painting really is almost done. Really. We have one bathroom to give a final coat of Atlantic Spray (not blue grey in the end, more like dark blue teal and I love it), and I have one stealthy paint job to do to the kitchen/hallway when Michael starts work. We painted it yellow earlier in the year and I hated it from the first brush stroke, but Michael did not want to stop. So now I’m on my own to paint it my wonderful ivory chalk. Possibly with a charcoal half wall thing going on as well.

Very, very nearly there. Once we’re back from Spain, just a few more days of horrible hard labor and we’re at the fun part! And it’s going to start with this awesome DIY magnet wall. In our kitchen, horizontal instead of vertical. And instead of alphabet letters, potentially these washi tape magnets?

I’m not totally sure I have a wall for scribbling all over, but there’s a slim possibility there might be one to spare in the bedroom. Although now that I know exactly how long it takes to paint a stupid wall, I’m a little nervous to screw it up and have to paint it again!

What about you, would you try either of these DIY tricks? And if you went with the written words on the wall, what would you choose to write?