Dear Anthony,

I thought we had something good going. We have, over the last two years, enjoyed a mutually respectful relationship founded on a passion for food, old rock bands, love of travel, and the joy of sneaking in sexual innuendo wherever warranted. I'll admit, my feelings were a little more than platonic. I know we said we'd keep things "just friends" but for some reason your blatant womanizing attitude attracted even me. For a while there I thought you felt the same way... until a recent San Francisco episode where I realized I was very VERY wrong.

Tony, I don't know what to say. I'm at a loss of words. I mean, I know you and I know you have a propensity toward all things butchered and bloody, and you love a good vegan joke...but this episode...I dunno. I thought you really meant it. Has our whole relationship been a lie? Have you just been using me to boost your viewer count?

How could I have been so blind? I knew deep down that we were too different. I'm 24, your 50. I'm 5'5" and you're like, 7'8". We're also both married, Tony. We should have known better.

Now that I know how you really feel, and finally see how you really feel about me, I'm going to call things off. Maybe it's time we go our separate ways. You to your slab of butchered armadillo, and me to my "granola crunching" as you might say. 

It's been one heck of a ride. And maybe we'll run into each other years down the road. I'll walk toward you and you'll roll toward me in your wheel-chair. Then, maybe the timing will be right. Maybe then we'll be in the right place to make this work.

I wish you all the best, Tony. Really I do.

All my love,

Hannah

I Wish That I Knew What I Know Now

Last night, on my drive home I was doing some big thinking. I started to recall all the moments in my childhood, teenage years, and young adulthood where things when horribly wrong. I wanted to see how these mishaps made me a better person. Surely I didn't go through them without learning something valuable! By the time I got home I had a list of ten things that I've learned so far in life, either through the Lord softening my heart over time, or through trial and error, and oh how I wish I could return and tell the younger me each one of them!

First some pictures of a younger me...

15 years old. Freshman in high school. Complete idiot.

17 years old. Starting to learn more about the world.

19 years old. Self-obsessed. Turning point in becoming the me I am now...

24 years old finally figuring out how to walk through each day without making a mess of it.

10 Things I Wish I Knew Then
 
1. Proving your point to someone isn't worth ruining a friendship. If your argument will build a wall instead of a bridge, shut up and rethink how you want to explain yourself.

2. You never know what people are going through behind closed doors, so don't judge them too harshly.

3. Don't judge at all.

4. Be the first to say sorry. It will save you a world of trouble and is the key ingredient to a happy marriage. Along with the next point...

5. Forgiveness is a choice. We rarely feel it, but we have to decide to extend it to others, sometimes over and over and over and over and over again every single day until it does feel right.

6. Life is too short to hold on to friends that suck the life out of you.

7. Sex has little to do with the physical and everything to do with the spiritual.

8. We spend too much time getting angry over the things that don't matter and too little time being filled with a righteous anger for the things that really do matter- all the injustice in the world.

9. Confession wins 100% of the time. If you have wronged someone and they don't know it, or if you lied to someone point blank and just can't let go of the guilt, a humble confession and honest pleading for forgiveness will get you 1,000,000 times further in life and with people than living the lie.

10. Falling in love with the risk of heartache is better than the heartache of not doing so.

And one more for good measure:

11. When all else fails, ask your parents, they are right about almost everything...

Question of the Day:

What life lessons have you learned as you've gotten older?

Totally Awesome Tunes Tuesday

Good day dear friends!

It has been many a moon since I shared some of my favorite music with you all. It is something I used to do quite frequently, but forgot all about until last night when I remembered some great tunes on my iPod and took a little trip down the memory lane of my favorite artists. It dawned on me that not everyone may be aware of their awesomeness, and it was my duty to share them with the world! Here's some of my all-time favorites through the years (click on the link under the picture to listen):

Revelate by The Frames

Everything is Free by Gillian Welch

Oslo in the Summertime by Of Montreal

One Fine Day by John Darnielle

Whiskey in the Jar by Thin Lizzy

The Greatest by Cat Power

Sari by Nellie McKay

PROJECT:

Send me a song (a picture of the band/artist and link to the song on YouTube) to culture_connoisseur(at)yahoo(dot)com and I'll pick my faves and post next week on Totally Awesome Tunes Tuesday! 

The theme for this week is sad songs. So pick your favorite tunes to cry over and send them my way!

We're Back From the Beach!

Good morning guys and gals! We've made it back from our lovely week-long vacation and boy was it amazing! A whole week of nowhere to be, no one demanding our time or attention, and more eating than is socially acceptable.

I want to specially thank all the wonderful ladies that filled in for me while I was away. You had some awesome posts and I'm so glad you got to share them with my readers. I hope that many of you went to check out their blogs...they really are wonderful!

Here's a little sneak peak of some pictures to come. Our cruise was re-routed last minute to the Eastern Caribbean to ensure calmer seas and better weather. Our ports changed from Grand Cayman and Cozumel to St. Maarten and Tortola. Both were lovely islands, and we really enjoyed exploring.

The shots pictured here were from Castaway Cay, that's Disney's private island. We loved it. Probably our favorite port since the food was free, the water was super clear, and we snuck in some good snorkel time there. 

I really missed you all and thought about you often (well, as often as one thinks about home while on a vacation away from reality...) But when I did think about it, you all were there! I hope you had a great week last week.

Question of the Day:

What were you up to last week? Fill me in on your life!

Anniversary Gift Round Up

Hello Culture Connoisseur, friends!!  I'm Tamra from the lifestyle blog, walks with Bella, and I'm so excited to be filling in for Hannah while she is off enjoying a romantic cruise with her mr celebrating their anniversary.  What an incredible way to celebrate their first year of marriage!!!

My hubs, mfs, and I celebrated our 1st year anniversary just a few weeks ago.  We enjoyed our 365 day old cake, had brunch on the rooftop our reception was held at, and started some new traditions.  You can read about our anniversary HERE.  In the days leading up to your anniversary, I scrolled through pinterest and my favorite blogs in search of inspiration for wedding anniversary traditions and gifts.  

Allow me to share a little round up of those innovative ideas and then come check out my blog and take a walk with Bella. :)

For the wine lovers. 

For the love birds.

For the coffee lovers.

For the couch snugglers.

For the bicycle lovers.

For the foodies.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

The Perfection of a Norwegian Sandwich

Hi everyone!  I am Megan from A Suitcase and Stilettos and I am super excited to be posting for Hannah while she is away.  Hannah often inspires me to cook.  Unfortunately, after many attempts, I have realized my cooking skills are not even up to par, with say...a 5 year old.  Therefore...I have learned I have to enjoy Hannah's recipes and adventures through her pictures and only hope she travels to Norway one day to cook for me (I'm serious Hannah!)

As a person who is culinary challenged and in a country that is ridiculously expensive, I have learned that I have no choice but to embrace sandwiches.  Luckily, I am in a country that is known for their special types of sandwiches...and unlike eating a sandwich back home in the US, I actually LIKE them here! 

Norway (and other Scandinavian countries) are home to open-faced sandwiches.  I grew up hating sandwiches.  In fact, I hated them so much that I used to hide them in my locker when my mom made them for me for lunch and I would beg people for money to buy french fries instead (apparently it was more convenient to let them mold in a locker than place them nicely in a trash can).  Anyways, these open-faced perfections have introduced me to a new version of a sandwich...and one I finally like (I think I hated too much bread on sandwiches or something in the past). 

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The best thing about an open-faced sandwich is that anything goes.  I have seen mussels, shrimp, sardines, salmon, beets, and many, many more toppings ('pålegg') on these types of sandwiches.  While I am open to try it all, I still have reservations about certain toppings.

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I believe my favorite aspect of these sandwiches is the fact that the sandwich is not only based around the bread, but also the topping(s)...something I feel gets a bit lost in an American sandwich.

What is your favorite sandwich topping?  Have you ever tried an open-faced sandwich?  Thanks so much Hannah for having me and I enjoyed writing about one of my favorite things in my new home of Norway!

Confessions of a (not quite) Wine Connoisseur

Hi, friends!

My name is Amy, and I blog over at Amy Around the Corner. First of all, I'd like to thank Hannah for the opportunity to write guest post for her while she is off sunning & funning in the Caribbean with her husband ;) When Hannah first put out the call for "guest posters", I knew that I wanted to help her out, but I wasn't entirely sure what to write about. I gave myself a little time to brainstorm, and finally came back to the #1 blogging statute that "Thou shalt write about what thou are passionate about."

 

... And for me (among other things, of course!) that is wine.

To know me is to know that I am a wine drinker. While I don't prefer sweet wines, for the most part I do not discriminate -- I love it all: full-bodied, hearty reds; crisp, fresh chardonnays; multi-tonal, rich dessert wines. Yum! I love quiet Friday nights filled with make-your-own pizzas and large globes of merlot... and I live for the dinner parties where the wine flows freely, and the conversation and laughter goes well into the night. ... We recently got our gas fireplace working in our house, and enjoying a glass of wine fireside adds a whole new dimension to my 'wine loving ways'.

This past September, my husband Jon and I spent a week in Northern California. We spent several days in San Francisco ... and the rest was spent in wine country. ...Honestly, if we ever get the chance to go back (and I hope with all my heart that we do!), we would spend a whole week in wine country. ... It was just much more our pace. We enjoyed strolling through quaint shops on Healdsburg Ave., stopping in to family owned vineyards to taste & discover new favorite wines, and sitting on park benches and simply breathing in the color and beauty and peace of wine country. 

 On our second day in wine country, we joined up with a wine tour (through Platypus -- a wonderful experience!) and visited 5 wineries in the Russian River Valley. We had a fantastic time, and by the time we returned to our hotel room that evening, exhausted (a bit buzzed) and deliriously happy (um, with ... *ahem*... almost a whole case of wine in tow ...) we had tasted at least 25 different wines, and learned a fair bit about wine (making & tasting!) in the process.

Today, I share some of this "wine wisdom" with you!

 
1. As with all of life, oxygen is a vital part of the wine experience. Oxygenating or aerating the wine allows the wine flavors to open up and deepen -- in fact, experts say that aerating the wine improves the entire flavor profile of the wine. ... This is why people swirl their wine glasses before tasting-- it oxygenates the wine and releases the wine vapors!

2. ...Speaking of scent: wine tasting is a multi-sensory experience! The scent, the mouth feel (i.e.: velvety, tannic, big, soft), and finally, of course, the taste all go into what makes a wine taste unique.

3. ...Never cook with wine you wouldn't want to drink. ...It doesn't have to be expensive wine, but it should still be palatable :)

 4. If you want a sweet treat, seek out a late harvest, or ice wine. Late harvest wines refer to when grapes are left on the vine longer than other grape varietals to increase the sugar content in the grape. By the time the grapes are harvested, they have dehydrated on the vine and look like raisins. These grapes produce some of the sweetest dessert wine that will ever pass your lips.

5. Cheese & wine may be the most brilliant combination ever ... ranking right up there with peanut butter and chocolate, chocolate & red wine, or cake & ice cream ;) There's just something about the creamy saltiness of the cheese and the crisp bite of the wine that is simply perfection.

6. No matter what else you may choose to serve as an accompaniment, wine is best enjoyed slowly & sweetly, in the company of good friends and loved ones. 

Cheers!

If I Were On a Cruise...

Hello Hannah's lovely readers! My name is Gentri and I blog over at Gentri Lee. I am so excited to be guest posting here today while Miss Hannah is off enjoying herself on a cruise. Want to know something? I've never been on a cruise... I've never even seen a cruise ship in person! Is that a crime?

Since I've never been on a cruise I thought I'd take this post to show you where and what I would experience if I ever had the opportunity to go...

Places I'd Like to Go:

1. Alaska
I've been to Alaska a few times and I absolutely love it! So amazing. I think a cruise there would be such a wonderful experience and such a refreshing trip.

                                                                          Source: une-deuxsenses.blogspot.com via Astrid on Pinterest

2. Northern Europe
Countries like Norway, Germany, and England have ALWAYS topped my travel list. It would be a dream come true to be able to experience them all on a cruise.

                                                                            Source: 26.media.tumblr.com via Gentri on Pinterest

3. Southern Europe
I've heard wonderful things about these cruises... Oh to actually go... Italy? Greece? Mmmmm.

                                                                                       Source: weheartit.com via Gentri on Pinterest

4. Caribbean
Warm and relaxing. What more could you ask for??

                                                                                            Source: carnival.com via Christin on Pinterest

5. World Cruise
OF COURSE this would top my list. How would it be to spend 6 months cruising around the entire world?! This is definitely a goal of mine...

                                                                     Source: ashlemieux.blogspot.com via Gentri on Pinterest

Now, I've heard about ALL the wonderful things people do while on their cruise. Here are the things I would be looking forward to the most...

1. Swimming with Dolphins
Of course swimming in general. But to swim with dolphins is something I've always wanted to do!

                                                                                Source: myworldhandbook.com via Kim on Pinterest

2. Attend a Formal Dinner
What fun to get all dressed up for a night and be treated like royalty! Yes please!

                                                                              Source: greigedesign.blogspot.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

3. Constant Entertainment
Shows every night?! I would be in Heaven. Pretty sure Disney would provide the best entertainment.

                                                                   Source: sn119w.snt119.mail.live.com via Julianna on Pinterest

4. All You Can Eat
Oh yes... I've heard allll about the food...

                                                                                   Source: google.com via Samantha on Pinterest

5. Shopping
Last but DEFINITELY not least. I would shop until I dropped (or ran out of money, which ever came first)! I am a sucker for souvenirs and love being able to take home a piece of my trip.

                                                                           Source: marthastewart.com via Charity on Pinterest

aaaaaw. Did we all enjoy our little cruise?? I sure did! I just hope one day to make any of this a reality. :)

Thank you ladies (and gents?) for reading today! I'd love for you all to hop on over and visit me at my normal spot- Gentri Lee. And THANK YOU Hannah for letting me guest post! I hope your cruise is wonderful and I can't wait to hear all about it! :)

Love,
Gentri