Home is...? Home is...?

(Used photos from my iPhone)

Home is? Home is what exactly? What makes a place a home? Is it the actual structure of a building? Is it the feeling you get when you walk into a place you can call your own? Is it a city? Is it the people you love? This has been itching at me lately, what home is; what home is to me. 

My husband and I chatted and I've realized I've been feeling unsettled and down because this home doesn't feel like home. This doesn't feel like a place I can call home when I know I'll be leaving. I went to IKEA, finally bought a kitchen table and I felt amazing, felt a little more cozy, but it still didn't feel like home and I soon realized because home to me isn't a place, but a feeling + the people I'm there with. 

I will be headed to IKEA more to make this place seem more like home to US, but home is whenever these two are. Home is being able to see their faces everyday and enjoy a space, even if temporary to live and create precious memories. That, is what home is to me. 

What is home to you? How do you make a place feel like home?

Rome - Part 2

Now, that we've went over the Roma Pass, you all should know how we made it to the Vatican + Coliseum and everywhere else. Train. It is super easy to ride the metro. Now, the Roma pass does not cover your ticket for the Vatican as it's pretty much considered it's own 'State' I'd guess, so you'll need to go online and get advance tickets or you could go with a tour for 50 euro. I don't recommend this and I'll tell you why in a moment. Here is a fun fact: things are super expensive in Rome because they pay 75% tax to the Vatican. Can you say, W O W?! (So the tour guide said anyway)

We viewed many churches while we wandered around Rome, but none took my breath away as much as going through The Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica! Now, we did not reserve tickets ahead of time as I had set up a tour through the host of our beautiful studio. I will not recommend the tour. It was about 50 euro, and it was packed with over 30+ other people, not terrible, but the tour guide talked too fast, didn't stop much to explain what was what, didn't give us enough time to look for ourselves and read things and on top of carrying a 20lb baby, that was a huge no! So, me being the rebel I am, I pretty much just ditched her and spent the time I needed reading things, and taking them truly in. It was absolutely beautiful and worth it, I regret nothing haha. The Sistine Chapel is a definite must see, though it's so crowded, I think it took away from the experience for me a bit. The paintings literally looked as if they were going to pop off the wall. Here comes an unpopular opinion: I don't think it's all it's cracked up to be, I honestly thought St. Peter's took the win and dashed away. St. Peter's almost brought tears to my eyes. It was beautiful, the way the light hit everything, seriously could have brought me to my knees...I even got to touch Holy Water! (No, Mom, I didn't burn ha, ha --inside joke--) I highly recommend not passing these up! 

We also hit the Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, and many more (I have those photos, it wasn't awe inspiring to me, though the history is very interesting and still worth seeing! I did a romantic photoshoot for my friends there instead of take any actual pictures. Sorry!)

For all the foodies out there, I found so many shops that had truffle oil, delicious olive oil, cheese spreads and sets, chocolate spreads, teas, honey, limecello, pasta noodles ranging from flavored to different flours and the works. Lets say, we almost went over our weight limit for Ryanair because of all the goodies I decided to try to bring back. All in all, I'd do Rome again. Even after 6 wonderful days, there was still a lot I wanted to see! If you do visit, please just go explore! Get lost with a map, find their shopping district (which was awesome and had a MAC store, H&M along with much, much more awesome shopping) and just roam! You'll find many hidden gems, I promise, you won't regret it even with hurt ankles later.  I'm done rambling, now enjoy these photos!

Review: Lootcrate

(all thoughts on this product belong to me, and I seriously do love Lootcrate!)

I've added a section to the blog that was very much so me. Everyone that knows me knows that I've been all about my comics, anime and video games for quite a long time. Here is a section for all things geeky that I love and would like to share for those of you with the same interests. I'm very excited to get this going and moving!

Lootcrate. What is Lootcrate? Lootcrate is a company that delivers goodies to your doorstep in a little but mighty box, filled with merchandise from any set game, tv show, anime etc depending on that month's theme. They find items from big brands to fill the crates and the items amount up to about $25+. They are a subscription for geeks and gamers and you can get monthly plans for about $13 a month (plus $6 shipping). Lootcrate doesn't fail to deliver, and as my husband says, "It's like it's my birthday, every month!" He's very excited to see the crate when he picks up mail from our APO.

March's theme of the month was: Titan.

This sent me up a wall. I'm huge on the anime Attack on Titan, it is up there in being one of my favorites behind Highschool of the Dead, Ga Rei Zero, Sailor Moon, Outlaw Star and a few others. With that being said, I wrote them on their twitter hoping this meant some merch from the anime series and sure enough it did. I also did not know, it also meant merch for TitanFall! (We preordered the game for xbox one and received Titanfall coins with our purchase at pick up. Did not complain.)

We opened this together and I squealed at the contents of the crate: Exclusive Titanfall shirt, that can not be found anywhere else. It features the Titanfall logo and pilot within a Titan. There was also a collectible Titanfall pin, Titanfall C101 Lanyard, Attack on Titan (a merge of the two) magnet, Titanfall premium strategy eguide, Attack on Titan - Scouting regiment wristband and drumroll....my favorite part, Attack on Titan Manga 1! I'm excited to start reading the manga as there are content within not found in the anime. Here is my excuse to buy more manga.

This is not my first crate and will not be my last. Know someone you love or a friend who'd enjoy this? Spread the word and the love. Looters make up a huge community and there is also an iPhone app! Becoming a looter may be one of the funnest things you decide to do. 

Ciao! Roma, Italy - Part 1

Before flying to Rome, I had butterflies. I'm not a plane person. The person who is talking about how the plane is going to crash and we're all going to die, and oh, that turbulence wasn't turbulence at all, it was the wind telling us we can't fly and down we go. All jokes aside, I don't like it and it makes my stomach flip. Drum roll....I now have a baby and that made matters worse! Everything I could possibly think was flying through my mind, especially her crying. Well, Sicily did amazing, we made it with our friends to Italy with car arrangements made for us by the wonderful woman that let me rent out one of her places through Airbnb.com. This place was in the center of everything, and a corners turn from the Trevi.

We were all in heaven. I highly recommend staying there. Here is a link and if you're interested, I've included the listing for the place: Fontana Di Trevi . Go ahead, see for yourself that I wasn't lying, it's absolutely beautiful. And this was the view from my bedroom window.

Lets move on to the food that will make your tastebuds explode and some attractions. We spent 6 wonderful days in Rome, and I although I'm a little disappointed I didn't get to venture and see everything I wanted, I figure, it's another excuse to come back. (Which I will.) We pretty much dropped our stuff in our rooms and we were gone in a heartbeat. Exploring is the best thing to do and I highly recommend it. Don't take a bunch of buses or taxis, if you must take anything, ride the metro. We rode it everywhere, and walked everywhere. The treasures we found were worth every sore ankle by the end of the night. 

The best value for your money you could invest in: Roma Pass. - If you don't get this, you're spending so much unneeded money it's not even funny. With this beauty, you can ride any public transportation (bus, or metro etc) for 3 days, as many times as you please. You can also enter 2 museums free and you can skip the ticket lines because well, the pass IS your ticket. The tickets by the way, are around 30+ euro each per museum. With the pass being only 34 euro, it's definitely paying for itself and it's well worth it. It includes a map as well, so don't bother buying one! Downfall, it can't be used to get into the Vatican, so you will have to buy the tickets online or you'll wait in a 2 hour line. Ew.

For food, we hit a place called II Pozzo Dei Desideri - the bonus, it was literally right next door to where we were staying. The food was out of this world, and is not a big tourist spot. You'll understand what I mean if you are ever just so hungry and you just pick a place that looks good, until you taste it and it reminds you of Olive Garden. My taste buds exploded and I truly understood what real Italian was after this trip. The olive oil was....I don't even have words, but trust me, if I could describe it, I would. Lets just say 'imported' olive oil from the US is crap compared to what I had.

Ciampini - This was a suggestion from our host. She told us all the best spots that locals went to and I'm so grateful. Here we had a stuffed bread pizza. I'm a truffle mushroom lover, and this pizza was so good, I almost cried. It was filled with potatoes, ham, the freshest mozzarella, pieces of black truffles and just a splash of truffle oil. If there is a meal I could die eating, this would probably have been it.

In the Galleria Mall, we found the biggest pastry place we had laid eyes on and it wasn't just looks either. It was called roma Dagnino palermo. Stop there and at Vanilla Organic for out of this world desserts.

Jolly Pop was a candy store we found that had creme saver gummies and I, being the sweets lover I am, was as jolly as can be. Ha. Ha.

La Grande Bellezza was really on top of our list. If you find yourself willing to wonder and walk a bit from the Metro, please make your way here.

The winner and king on my list is Baccano. I'm all about Moscato, but the wine the waiter brought out was out of this world, and if it wasn't almost 45 euro for the bottle, it would have made it into my suitcase. This place is a little more on the finer end but it is affordable and delicious! Meals were rather nicely sized, bursting with flavor, but dessert made me believe, there must be a food goddess! It was our last sit down meal for our trip so I highly, highly, recommend this place. 

Gelateria Pasticceria had the best gelato, crepes and pastries. It is right near the Trevi and the women are the sweetest and adored my daughter to pieces. I loved the cookies and cream (not like what you'd typically think), rum, vanilla and chocolate chips, mint, tiramisu, and chocolate. We went to this place everyday, 3x a day while we were in Rome. If that doesn't tell you something, I don't know what will.

There were plenty more food places, but while I may have loved the food at those other places as well, these are the ones I want to rave about and make sure others have the chance to enjoy them as well. These photos are just a few from the places mentioned above. 

I highly recommend going to the Trevi when it's dark, and a little after 11:30pm at night. Bring drinks, take photos and just enjoy it. It's almost empty, romantic and you'll get to throw your coin in and make a wish without any interruption! We did the Trevi everyday, only because we could. It truly is a must see, day or night. The Colosseum was another highlight that I found out gave me goosebumps. I am an architecture nut, and I'm a sucker for great building structure. (Hey! I'm from Charleston, SC. Historic downtown and our building has made me this way, okay?!) but the Colosseum blew anything I knew out of the water. You can tell how much care was put into it, how much blood, sweat and tears were dropped there. I highly recommend getting a private tour which is only 18 euro if you also have the Roma Pass! Listening to history all over again and walking through with visual pictures of how they think it looked really helped me bring it all together in my mind. 

I don't want to make this too terribly long, so with Roma Part 2, I'll give you all the details on the Vatican, Roman Forum, Palestine Hill, shops to get the best spices, olive oils, truffle sauces and the definite do's and don'ts. 

Confessions

This is one of those posts that I hate to write because it makes me feel vulnerable and out of my element, but your readers don't really get to know you until you put yourself out there right? Here I go, and please promise not to laugh:

1. I've been terribly behind on everything and I'm not okay with that. I've been having an emotional battle with myself these days on things that are completely out of my control and I'm letting them drive me mad. Examples: Sicily's clubfeet and when she will be getting her braces or even when we are starting physical therapy, how much all this is costing, so on, and so forth.

2. I've been running away from my blog. It's not that I'm not happy writing because I am, I love sharing recipes and I love sharing trips but I haven't been able to fully put my heart into it lately because of confession 1. I look at bloggers and I'm not, "That is how I want to blog, she has so many readers." and I need to stop trying to compare my blog to others. I AM NOT them and they are not me. I have my own type of readers and they have theirs. I have been blogging to please the taste of others and not myself, and I'm not doing it anymore. I'm blogging for my tastes, what I want to blog about and if I have people who enjoy reading about my crazy adventures and recipes from my blog with me, then that is fantastic.

3. I've been down in the dumps because of there being barely any sun here in Germany. May not be a big deal to some but this southern girl from South Carolina, who doesn't actually know what a real winter feels like or what weeks of no sun is like, is not for me. So I got back into heavily reading, taking photos of Sicily and other hobbies I've neglected...just to have the sun and nice weather return. I'll try again this upcoming winter haha.

4. I'm a nerdy, activist, who is a jack of all trades but a master of none and sometimes, I'm not okay with that and other times..it comes in handy and it's just fine. I fear the backs that are turned to me over social justice/feminist activism but at the same time, I figure if that bothers you and you can't open your eyes to serious issues, I don't need those kinds of readers anyway. (Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's just pure honesty)

5. The new direction of the blog will have many bumps and head desk moments along the way but please take this roller coaster with me. I'm adding a new section where I'm not just going to be blogging recipes just to share, I'm going to be blogging foods based on or inspired by the places that we travel. It seems much less of a bore if you ask me, and I'll pop in some random goodies here and there, but the blog will mostly be focused on our travel and battle with clubfeet. I know there might be some other parent out there with a child who faces difficulties and they may find comfort to know they aren't alone.

6. I just want to share me. The nerdy me (so I've included a section where we will talk about all things comics, anime and video games) and a few other things. I want to be the rawest version of me that many people unless around me constantly don't get to see.

So, with that, I will have a new design soon, a new follow and show you the rawest form of We ate. We loved. We traveled and aspire to inspire along this journey. <3 p="">

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

designed by Kaelah - click here -

*I highly recommend her work. I got one for my kitchen and now this one for my travel themed living room. Go support her and add some awesome pieces to your home or as a gift!

I've been on a blogging hiatus, and it was definitely a much needed one. Living overseas in a new place, with no real support system except my husband and when I Skype my family it's overwhelming dealing with all the punches we've gotten since we got here, but..I've made it through it, with mostly a smile on my face and I'm damn proud to say that I'm still not letting these things get me down, staying positive and I'm moving forward. Between meeting some of the most toxic wives (which, I'm convinced, this base is the worst and I've met some of the worst people but I've also made THE best of friends), Sicily's surgeries and appointments for her clubfeet, which I must add is completely exhausting and quite frankly, I've been tired of people making it seem as if this is so easy, it's not. I may make it seem like sunshine and rainbows because who wants to be a downer all the time? Between me finding out I have RA and trying to change my lifestyle around it and just all around being away from family, my own family was what I needed to focus on most, so blogging took the backseat for a little while. I'm happy to say I'm back and in full swing. 

Now, stay hungry, stay foolish. You may be sitting here wondering what that means and why would you want to stay hungry or even foolish? Well, I mean, obviously you don't but in this way you would want to. Stay hungry, means to stay hungry to learn new things, to explore, to continue to grow as a person and never stop. Stay hungry for the good times and bad times in life, try everything; to find out what life is. Stay foolish means to never close your mind to things in life, keep an open mind, thirst for knowledge in life - about different cultures, current events, just be completely open to things you may not have been comfortable with before. That is what stay hungry, stay foolish means to me and you know what? That will be my motto while I'm here.

There may be people here who ignore the opportunities they have by being given this chance to be overseas but not me. I'm going to explore, I'm going to make friends and not be afraid anymore because of bad experiences with toxic people, I'm going to roll with the good and the bad, I'm going to make mistakes and laugh about them later, I'm going to help Sicily rise above her clubfeet everyday, I'm going to be the wife my husband fell in love with, always and not let my RA take control of my life even when I'm having a flare up. I'm going to eat my way across Europe, I'm going to cry and be annoying happy...you know why? Because I've realized how short time is, how fleeting friends and people are, and how important a positive attitude and how much I am living a dream many people would kill for with the best husband and my child. It's time to continue to grow, be a foodie and an adventurer!

There are so many things to learn while here in Germany, and heck, throughout Europe. I'm ready to come to you with awesome recipes, whether they fail or out of this world delicious - I'm bringing back the travel blogging, and things I've come to love and dislike in Germany; you are all in for a treat. I'm going on a mommy and baby trip with some awesome ladies who I'm so thankful to have say I get to go on this adventure with to Florence, Italy. I'll be posting how we booked, what sites, what we saw and what we ate. Be here or be square!

I'm back and back for good!

Where do we go from here?

Let me state that I'm not entirely leaving, I'm just taking a much needed break.
Blogging has begun to feel like a job to me, one that I can't put my full focus on because well, quite frankly, there are more important matters to deal with - getting ahead of my rheumatoid arthritis, finally getting my little one into braces and physical therapy for her clubfeet so she can learn to walk and crawl. Both of those things alone require a lot of attention, and make simply task around the house or outside of the house a little harder. I've got to focus on things I need. When things calm down, I'll be back. I'm focasting late Feb or early March, but there are no promises.

I'm not feeling as good as I want to with my food photography. It got where I wanted it with my lemon poppy seed pancakes, but the lighting hasn't been good since then, I need a kitchen table and the use of my corner is getting tiring (on top of the bad lighting) and I want to focus on getting better with that, and getting back to just baking and experimenting for fun a bit.

I love food photography, and I want to grow in it, along with film.

I hope you all will stick around, but I don't blame you, if you don't check in for updates every now and then. See you all, I'll more than likely still be blogging my travels though!

Xoxo, Cree