bridgette and christian

i took a quickie trip to utah last week to see my gorgeous cousin bridgette marry christian wensel. bridgette and i grew up wearing matching clothes, playing with our american girl dolls, flying back and forth to visit each other, and making up our own dance routines. she is such a fun-loving, sweet girl and i was so happy to be at her wedding.

my aunt debbie is a talented interior designer and completely transformed their house into wedding central with a black and white french theme.

crepe bar

thanksgiving

ahhh first can i say two months in asia is way too long? it is SO nice to have nate home again. we have been living in sweats, doing absolutely nothing but relaxing this week.

one of our friend's parents live up in the suburbs about 40 minutes away. we are so lucky to go up there every once awhile. they make us feel like part of their family and are incredibly generous. we celebrated thanksgiving with some of our great friends at their house this year.

the turkey bowl wasn't too freezing and there were no hospital trips...success! and guess who played on nate's team? harvey unga.

i didn't get any pictures of the spread, but this is what hannah's sweet potatoes were topped with...mmmm.

hannah channeling her inner ina garten

after tasting bobby's goat cheese stuffing, i think it will now be a thanksgiving staple in our house.

i am grateful for so many things and love this season of the year.
back to real life!

holiday cheer

christmas music is on the radio. i have never been so happy to hear my worst favorite "simply haaaaving a wonderful christmas time"

i did not lose any children on our field trip to the aquarium. if you know my past history, this is a feat...

the christmas lights are quickly appearing on the streets. i love love love the holidays in chicago. the awful cold is masked by lights and bows. i think it's time to break out my decorations...

nate comes home next week! it's about time. our bed is seriously cold. i need to take the genius advice of my friends and just buy a body pillow. i guess a husband will do.

singapore finale

the last thing that we took pictures of was our night ride on the singapore flyer. it's a huge ferris wheel with enclosed capsules like the london eye. these things always start out great, but once you've been locked up in that bubble for almost half an hour, you are dying to get off. and to plug your ears because three different asian languages being spoken loudly at once in a small space is kind of overkill.

we saw some great views of singapore at night

not the greatest pictures at night, through glass, but you get the idea


through the blue lit spokes of the ferris wheel

and that was my trip! most of all, i just really needed to see the husband. on monday morning, we rode to the airport together. i got on my plane to chicago, and he got on a plane to shanghai to work at a different office for a few weeks.
he'll be home to chicago for thanksgiving! we've almost made it.

sentosa

on our last weekend together, we decided to go check out sentosa. singapore has mediocre beaches in comparison to other places in SE asia, but sentosa is their flashy beach resort with universal studios, an aquarium, and many other cool attractions. it's kind of like disneyland - super clean, absolutely beautiful landscaping, gorgeous hotels, and way too many places to spend money.

we took a sky gondola over to the island. very cool views of the bay and the city.

yeah, we'll take this one as our beach house

so many boats in the harbor! singapore is a huge port for shipping

nate tried out the barrel waver. here he is with his topless admirer (right).

by the end of the hour, he got the hang of it. i practiced my paparazzi and smoothie-drinking skills. the whole time i watched him i was thinking that my brothers have to come here. they would love it.

snake charmer

a shot of the industrial part of singapore

little india and arab street

lucky for me, one of our chicago friends has a sister living in singapore. she was so kind to show me around a different part of the city/country/it all blurs together. she is a singapore encyclopedia and taught me so much about the different cultures and history.

first, she took me to little india. we totally lucked out because it was diwali that weekend! my sole knowledge of diwali comes from where all my greatest knowledge has been gleaned: the office. in kelly's words, "diwali is awesome... and there's food..." turns out it's like thanksgiving and christmas combined, a.k.a a huge deal and a national holiday. everyone buys new outfits and decks their house out in new furnishings.

every street was decked out for diwali

indoor market

everyone looks their best for the holiday - salons had lines outside, and there was lots of henna action going on

festival of lights

buddha is always so happy

the temple was closed for worship, but they let me slip off my shoes and tip toe inside.

at my ninth grade physical to play fall sports, my doctor once told me i was "as flexible as a brick." the world would be a better place if everyone were this flexible.

the roof of the temple

after little india, we walked over to arab street. the busy, noisy, holiday vibe completely changed. arab street is much plainer, much more subtle. we stopped and had this amazing hot bread that i forgot the name of, and browsed the bead stands.

the mosque

this group of women was sitting in the middle of the square, laughing and chatting. i was trying to casually take a picture of them, but they saw me and waved me over. then they took pictures of me for awhile. i loved their colorful scarves, but they have got to be sweltering! singapore is almost on the equator...hot and humid every.single.day.

a taste of downtown singapore

i spent a lot of time wandering around the city while nate worked. i was surprised at how new and modern everything was...not a scrap of old architecture downtown. the streets are so clean that you could lick the ground and feel okay about yourself. singapore has extremely strict laws about littering, and they even make you smoke in designated smoking areas. can we do this in chicago? i'm really over people blowing smoke in my face.

this is where nate works.
his coworkers are awesome - so generous and kind. i loved meeting the people he is working with.

the new marina bay sands hotel and casino. this little feat cost over five billion to create and it is singapore's crown jewel of the moment. on the top is the sky garden, where all your dreams come true apparently: there is a pool that stretches across the entire deck lengthwise, clubs, garderns, restaurants, and many other wonders. i didn't go up - i just heard the locals talking about it.

i don't know what this is, but i want to see it

top pastimes in singapore:
1. eating
2. shopping
this is one of about 30 "malls" along orchard road. think michigan avenue + champs elysees. i got so overwhelmed at one point being lost in a mall that looked like an office building on the outside, but went six floors underground and seven floors above, that i started tearing up. i know, ridiculous. it was too much, and i usually like shopping.

the double helix bridge across the bay

on the bridge

what singapore is famous for - no littering!

i was pleased to find out that they sell my two favorite foods together. i didn't try it though...the gelato stand next to this was calling my name