Category: life

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bikes cafe Europe France graffiti life London love Paris street art traveling

paris je t’aime!

Bonjour from gay Paris! (How smug do I sound?!), 







today was our first of three days in Paris and we’ve certainly made the most of our day. No joking, I think we probably walked 10 miles which is good because I can’t pass a crepe shop or bakery without eating something. and there are ALOT of creperies, (creperes?) and bakeries in Paris.  





I also had to stop every few minutes to take photos of some stunning and unique street art. 


So far, I think the Latin Quarter is my favorite part of Paris. It’s always buzzing with young people and there are art galleries, book shops and cafes everywhere. 



Although, the only other time I’ve been in Paris was during Christmastime and Paris in August, is a strange place. Over half of the shops are closed because we learned that August is apparently when Parisians go on vacation. But there is still LOTS going on and TONS of tourists. 

Tomorrow, we are going to try renting bikes (1 euro per hour!) and see the city. http://blog.hostelbookers.com/travel/paris-by-bike/ has some good routes I think. We will see if I survive. 



Categories
adventure art Europe graffiti Hope life London love Paris photography Spain street art traveling

Street Art From Around the World.

Greetings from Central London!

Spending a few days on my own recharging my batteries in a lovely little boutique hotel in Central London (Montague at the Gardens) while my husband and his two best “mates”are on a bachelor party trip to Northern England. We spent the past few days visiting my husband’s family and even though I love them dearly, I am EXHAUSTING. 


After sleeping 14 hours, I grabbed a map of Central London from the concierge and spent the entire day walking around the the city, getting lost in the process, taking pictures, and looking like a typical American tourist. Even though the riots are happening all around London, I haven’t come in contact with any of the mayhem, except for hearing the odd police siren. 


Walking around London today reminded me of the amazing street art that can be found on the buildings, street signs, doors and where ever there is a blank spot on a wall. I have sort of been collecting pictures of street art I have found during my travels to places I’ve visited: Paris, Prague, London, New York City, the Phillipines, Chicago, and so on. And so I thought I would post pics of some of my favorites. So here they are….

                                                Venice Beach, California (April 2009) 
                                              also Venice Beach, CA (April 2009)
                                                           Venice Beach! same visit
I found this one in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands when I was on a cruise with my husband and parents (December 2010) 


This is one I stumbled on during my journey today in London (August 2011)
 this was during my 3 month stay in the Philippines (December 2006) 
 New York City (March 2007) 
   New York City…same trip! 
 Okay, so this one isn’t amazing or anything but it is the only one I spotted on our visit to Paris (December 2008)
 To date, the street art in Prague is the most beautiful and abundant of any of the metropolitan cities I have visited, except for maybe NYC (December 2007)
 I love this little guy! Prague (December 2008) 
 Prague again…there is something about this one that I especially love (December 2008)
 San Juan, Puerto Rico (January 2011)
 San Diego, ,CA (March 2010) 
This is one of the first ones I ever noticed…and probably one of the reasons I love street art so much. I saw this one in Spain when I was going through a dark period in life and so I framed a print of it, hung it in my bedroom to remind me to not give up. (February 2005). 


Unfortunately, I have no idea who the artists are for any of these to give credit too. But if anyone has seen these or knows who did them let me know! 


Which leads me to ask if anyone reading has any pictures of street art they have found or ones you love. If so, email them to me (forourcity@gmail.com) and tell me the story behind them and I will add them in a new post! 
Categories
art esty happy illustration inspiration life print prozac quotes

Prozac in Art Form Part One.



I’ve been looking for some inspirational artwork on etsy.com to hang in my apartment to remind me to be happy and to remember how lucky I am. What I found were a multitude of beautiful, unique and truly inspirational art pieces. Here are some of the ones that made me smile the most. You can also view this list here:


“Life is A Beautiful Ride” Print by Parada Creations. Click here to see more: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ParadaCreations?ref=seller_info
“Believe It” Print by Dazeychic. Click here to visit her shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/dazeychic?ref=seller_info








“Dream Big” Print by magalarie. http://www.etsy.com/shop/magalerie?ref=seller_info




“seafoam magic plus feather, fern and bougainvillea” by SuspectShoppe. Click here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/SuspectShoppe?ref=pr_shop


“Trust Thyself-Emerson Illustrated Instinct Quote” Print by 3LambsGraphics





“Set of Three Screen Prints” by jessgonacha. shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/jessgonacha?ref=seller_info


More to come soon! I hope this made you happy!























































































Categories
chicago education evanston kids life phillipines teaching

gum on my shoe.

wow. Has it really been four years since my life changing journey to the Phillipines?
it is truly shocking how quickly time goes by but how some moments in life stick with you like gum on the bottom of your shoes; always there, always a part of you, always waiting for you to take a fork and to pick at the memories left behind….

the philippines wasn’t gum on my shoe, it was more than that and will always be one of the purest and clear times of my life…in a way, its sad that the phillipines didn’t play a bigger role in my life than i thought it would at one point, i saw myself there, cooking beef patties and sweating through typhoons, but life moves and we move with it.

i close my eyes and when i open them, four years have past, and i have to ask myself where i have landed.

and i’m here. in chicago. a quick summary of the important parts of those four years include: meeting and marrying the man of my dreams, mark, enrolling in grad school in chicago for a masters in elementary education, getting Henri (my wacky miniature dachsund), and now student teaching in a 5th grade class in evanston.

and im back. I wanted a place to reflect on my teaching, a place maybe where i can learn and hear from other educators, past educators, (or hopefully soon to be teachers like me), learn from them, or just to write this all down for myself, even if nobody else cares. and post my shiyza out into cyberspace to clang about and make noise with millions of others who occasionally have the urge to blog it up. like me..

…i am a life long learner. so the title stays and i like it, b.c. its true, and im here again. searching for truth, meaning, knowledge, understanding. and how to deal with seventeen 10 and 11 year olds who only care about Twilight, or miley whats-a-doodle, and their cell phones(!!?!) and facebook.