eurotrip 2009 - on hiatus

so....this is where i stopped chronicling our trip. i was so impressed with myself too, being diligent in writing a little bit everyday. one day soon i will post some pictures and a quick recap on the rest of our journey. just don't hold your breath...just sayin'. :)

eurotrip 2009 - italy

so, i apologize for the delay in finishing detailing our trip. blame it on a busy work schedule coupled with blogger being very slow in uploading photos...if anyone still cares, read on:

july 16
we arrived in rome at 9:45am and it was already scorching! we were pleasantly surprised upon arrival at the hotel; we had gotten an excellent rate on these rooms so we were unsure whether this would be one of those "you-get-what-you-pay-for" kind of life lessons. the tripadvisor website had photos of modern, elegant rooms mixed with dated rooms with wood panelling. the lobby/common area was definitely more of the latter, with plaid fabric covering the walls (which reminded me of the papier mache project i completed in grade 7 art class) and run-down furniture. the elevator was tiny, and could only fit 3 people with luggage...this made us even more nervous; if this is how small the elevators were, what were the rooms like? we were lucky enough to get the newer rooms, which were a bit small, but very clean. overall great value!

we got european cell phones from kris' cousin in poland, and in london, we set them to automatically update the time according to the network. we hadn't switched our own watches by then, so when we arrived in rome, we just relied on our trusty phones to tell us what time it was. turns out the phones were still in london time, so we were an hour behind the rest of italy (and the rest of europe, for that matter). we didn't realize this until we had been in rome for over a day, and wondered by it got dark so quickly and why everyone seemed to go to bed so early. this didn't result in any kind of missed appointments, as we were supposed to make reservations for several tourist attractions but just didn't and tried our luck. luck was on our side, as it appeared to be throughout most of this trip...more on that later...

our first meal in rome was at a lovely trattoria. we had our first bottle of genuine, straight-from-the-source italian red wine (first of many, i should note) with a 3-course meal including pasta, meat and dessert. then we went to get gelato...also, the first gelaterias of many. yum!

july 17
we got up early this day in preparation for our big day - at least, we got up what we thought was early (we still hadn't realized our time blunder and thought we were out of our hotel by 8am, but really it was 9am) and went to the vatican. we saw st. peter's basilica and climbed the duomo to enjoy the panoramic view of the city.

outside the vatican

inside the vatican

la pietà

pretty

atop the vatican

we ate lunch at a local shop. the owner was a hearty italian man who kept trying to upsell alcohol (large beer? espresso with grappa?) and kept chasing away a persistent homeless-esque man asking us for money. i had an interesting experience in a unisex water closet that didn't have a lock on the door - karlene was waiting outside the door, so i figured she would stand guard...we had told the restaurant that there was no toilet paper left, so someone came to restock it. karlene figured he knew someone was in there, and tried to tell him but he didn't understand english. you can tell where this is going. i saw the door open and yelped, the employee got flustered and apologized profusely in italian - the whole episode made us hysterical - it was a good thing i was already on the toilet or i very well may have peed my pants.

we toured the vatican museum and sistine chapel. for everything that we saw, it seemed that we just missed the line-ups, which demonstrated the kind of luck we had on this trip. then went to the piazza del popolo to see the sculpture featured in angels and demons, but the chigi chapel was closed. it was a long and tiring day, but filled with beauty and splendor. dinner that night was another trattoria, not as good as the first, but also enjoyable. we took the subway to a recommended gelato place in a sketchy back alley (but the was gelato oh-so-good!), saw the trevi fountain and the spanish steps. both places, we also saw lots of couples passionately kissing, and they all seemed to be videotaping themselves do so. only in italy!

trevi fountain at night

spanish steps

me with my boyfriend in the subway

july 18
the next day, we toured the coliseum, roman forum, palatine hills, the pantheon and later the piazza navono to see some fantastic fountains, street performers and of course, more make-out sessions. the weather was significantly cooler this day, but we all got sunburned to some degree, perhaps because it felt cooler, we weren't as liberal with the sunscreen.

outside the coliseum

inside the coliseum

arch of constantine

taking a break

on the bridge of angels

our first two dinners in rome were at restaurants that were recommended by our hotel - for our last night in rome, we chose the restaurant we did because it was spitting distance from our hotel and our feet were so sore from walking all day. it ended up being our favourite meal yet! it was cheap and the food was amazing. the owner of the restaurant was a small man with a large personality who reminded us of an older joe pesci. he brought out his guitar and started serenading us with english songs like "take me home" and "knockin' on heaven's door" - and at some point in all of the songs, he would substitute the words for "me no...speaka no...eeeeengleeeesh" - soooo cute!

joe pesci

we finished the evening with a night cap - no, not alcohol, but gelato again. i started getting more adventurous - i usually order just raspberry and lemon, but this time, i tried nutella and pineapple and was rewarded for my courage! delizioso! i also realized that the first flavour you request is the biggest portion, so it's important to ask for your favourite first.

july 19
this was our day to leave rome. i was a bit sad as the only shopping i was able to do (aside from drooling through a window) was to shop for a keychain for one of my co-workers who asked me to buy her one...it would have been nice to account for a shopping day, but there just isn't enough time...but is there ever?

we got a shuttle to the airport so we could pick up our rental car. even though we called earlier that morning to confirm our reservation for an automatic car, when we arrived at the rental place, they didn't have the car. the whole turn of events reminded us of that seinfeld episode where the same thing happened to jerry...kris was tempted to lecture the lady, the way jerry did, about the importance of not just TAKING a reservation, but actually HOLDING it too. he didn't, though. lady luck made an appearance and we got a mercedes SUV for the price of our sedan.

whee!

happily, we drove in the direction of our next stop, a small winery in tuscany. we stopped in perugia for lunch, thanks to a recommendation by hayley. this was a gorgeous hill-town and we wished we could spend more time here:

perugia

we also wanted to see assisi, so we reluctantly pushed on and saw a few churches there. i got my first dose of having to pay to use the toilet, but didn't have any money with me, so i had to tell the lady that i would come back to pay later since my husband was carrying the money. she didn't seem to believe me and rolled her eyes with gusto that you just don't see in north america! true to my word, i returned, to her visible surprise. she was much nicer to me once she realized i wasn't a bathroom bandit.

assisi

in assisi - this is the church we wanted to visit...

...but we accidentally came here, to the basilica of st. francis first.

afterwards, we drove to the winery we were staying at. we were a bit skeptical about this place - while it had a gorgeous website and seemingly even more gorgeous property, there was little documentation about it online. i found one review that said it was wonderful, and one other review that said she followed the advice of the first review and went there. otherwise, there was nothing on tripadvisor or any similar review sites. our gps couldn't pick up the address either. my contact hadn't emailed me in a while, so i tried calling from rome, but the phone number didn't seem to work (we had some difficulty dialing european numbers on the phone, not sure when to include the country code, or + sign, etc.). i then went to the website to verify i had the right number, and it wouldn't load! needless to say, i was a bit worried. luckily my contact had given me her cell number, so we called that, and she said all was good and that she didn't get my emails since she had another job in fashion purchasing - her boyfriend is the owner of the winery so she helps him with it. a wine-lover with a passion for fashion and getting paid for both. not to mention she is dating a kajillionaire man who owns a winery. i am jealous of her in so many ways!

upon arrival, our expectations were exceeded by far! the property was even more beautiful than we imagined, our apartment was gorgeous and the infinity pool did not disappoint:

mmm...infinity pool...

scenery


more scenery
twilight
lunch time!

skippy (pronounced "skeeepy")

the first night, we kicked off our stay with a bottle of complimentary 2004 classico chianti. it was lovely! then we tried to go to a restaurant that our gracious hosts recommended. if you have ever been to tuscany, you will understand what i am saying, but the roads twist and turn and the sideroads are definitely not marked. we didn't make it to this restaurant, so we went instead to another place. the food was excellent here, and cheaper than in rome. we turned in early with the intentions of waking up early for another busy day...

july 20
we originally planned to do day-trips from here, but it was so beautiful, we decided to focus on relaxing and enjoying the scenery. we were so close to canceling our reservation for our next accommodation but decided not to so we wouldn't be tempted just to lounge by the pool all day, admiring the rolling hills and orderly rows of grape vines. the next time we come to italy, we will stay here for at least a week. this is definitely a hidden gem that we will keep close to our hearts for a very long time.

we started off our day with a tour of the winery. we were given a quick synopsis of wine-making, what it involves, shown the wine-making and storage rooms, then did some tastings. this winery only produces 30,000 bottles of wine a season. in order for the LCBO to stock a certain winery, they need to produce something like 150,000 bottles. this means we will never be able to buy this wine in canada, which is a shame.

since it was monday, the closest near-by town was pretty much closed. we went a bit further into a slightly bigger town to buy groceries for lunch and dinner. we spent the afternoon here, came back to our place to have a siesta, then spent the rest of the daylight by the pool. for dinner, we stayed in and cooked some pork on the barbeque (which was just a firepit), along with pasta and caprese salad. so good! some rousing games of euchre and several bottles of wine later, we turned in for the evening.

the good and bad thing about being in the middle of tuscany is that we didn't have any access to the internet. going from being able to access my email and internet and anything i wanted from my phone to nothing at all felt nice.

july 21
nothing really to report this day - more time spent by the pool, just a couple quick trips into the nearby town to get money and some food. we lazed about, took some naps and unwinded after some hectic days. we bought a few bottles of the chianti from the winery, chatted with adriana, the housekeeper who was very friendly and showed us all of the other apartments for next time. she also showed us what was in the works for the future - the bed and breakfast part of the winery only opened in july 2007, and they were working on a special area for wine tasting and a kitchen/eating area for cooking classes and i suspect a restaurant too. we will hopefully come back in the future, and hope it will retain it's old world charm (and cheap prices!).

dinner was at the local pizza joint, where you don't always get what you order, your table may not get all the food all at once, but it is quite possibly the best pizza you have ever had. yummy.

that evening, we drank some more wine, planned out the next leg of our trip, then packed for an early departure the next morning...

july 22
the plan for this day was to leave early to go to florence, then head to verona in the afternoon. sadly, this meant we had to leave our beautiful accomodations by 7am. it was becoming a pattern that whenever we drove anywhere, karlene and i slept in the back seat while kris and brian tried to navigate through the confusing italian roads. brian brought a gps with him, which was very helpful, but seemed to like to take us through roads that resembled goat paths or down the wrong way on one-way streets. oh, biana/becky/betty/beatrice (her name changed depending on whether we were happy with her).

we stopped in florence and saw amazing churches. we had breakfast outside the santa maria del fiore and paid through the nose for the great view. while florence was beautiful, the city definitely caters to locals - for example, you can't park on the streets unless you are a resident of florence, and some churches only make tourists pay to go in.

we went to a fashion outlet just outside of florence. we visited these stores in record time and we all got something - kris got a zegna button-down shirt, i bought a fendi wallet and karlene and brian made some purchases at the burberry store, all for cheap cheap cheap! this is how italians can afford to dress so well...

when we arrived in verona, we first went to pick up our tickets to the opera we were seeing that evening before going to our accomodations, another winery. karlene and i walked to the box office to get the tickets while the boys waited with the car since there was no parking to be found. as we were waiting in line, karlene realized she left her wallet in the car - even though she had paid already, our online confirmation said she needed proof that the tickets were hers to pick them up - i had to run to the car and back again in the heels and dress is chose to wear that sweltering day...and they never did ask for her credit card or ID. hmph. when we returned to the car, the boys were parked in a different spot; it turns out the police came and asked them to move as they were in a no-parking zone. our husbands had to show proof that they didn't steal the beautiful car they had parked illegally and all was well.

we tried to drive to our winery - this turned out to be more difficult than originally thought. we asked for directions twice even though we had directions from the winery and then determined that italians are horrible at giving directions. our initial directions told us to look for a painted sundial, then turn left, but we never did find said sundial. we eventually found the winery, with only an hour to spare before the opera we were attending began...we got a quick tour of these place, which was gorgeous too but much different than the first one - it was much like a hotel with wireless internet, air conditioning, lavish rooms, safety deposit boxes, etc., but it lacked the same kind of charm that our first winery had. we had a packed schedule so we didn't get a chance to take advantage of the pool, canoes, bikes or the 40 hectares (i think) of land...

the opera was fantastic - we saw aida. there must have been 500 people in the cast! it was in an amphitheatre that resembled the coliseum, but a bit smaller while being more preserved. we chose to buy the tickets that had no assigned seating, but just stone steps. we were able to snag 4 "seats" in a row, and were happy that we decided to "borrow" some seat cushions from the winery. you were allowed to bring in whatever you wanted, so we got sandwiches, water, wine and beer to enjoy before and during the performance. the opera was amazing, but my personal-space-o-meter was definitely getting a work-out. it was also sweltering for most of the performance - this was a surprise because i thought it would cool down in the evening. because of the coliseum shape, no cool air did get into the building until the end. i even brought reinforcements with me in case i did get cold but didn't need them.




afterwards we got gelato at a great place in the square and did some people watching. home to have some limoncello and wind down for the evening.

july 23
the breakfast in our winery was amazing. fresh pastries, bread and fruit, any kind of condiment you can think of, including a gourmet nutella, wholesome cereals, freshly squeezed fruit juices...it was delicious! we still dream about it...

breakfast of the gods (yes, it was so good, it warrants 3 pictures in my blog with limited pictures)

we drove to cremona, which was about an hour away, to see the stradivarius museum, a renowned violin maker. we went to another art gallery while we were there, had some gelato then made our way back to verona. we used our italy guide book to decide on a restaurant - unfortunately, we left the book behind, so we relied on my memory and the gps. we tried to type in the restaurant's name, and i thought it was "del luca" - turns out it was "al duca" - close enough?? we managed to find it though, but there was no parking available. it took kris and brian almost an hour to find a spot that was about a 15 minute walk away from the restaurant. the food here was excellent. brian was courageous enough to try horse and donkey meat, which tasted mostly like beef. dessert was chocolate salami (which, to kris' disappointment, was not chocolate-covered deli meat, it just looked like salami). because we split dessert 4 ways, we had just enough room in our tummies for, what else? - some gelato!

chocolate salami

july 24
we got up early and enjoyed breakfast before hitting the road. next stop: venice. karlene and i slept as usual, while kris and brian got us there. we arrived, returned our rental car and hopped on a waterbus. we got to our stop and searched for our hotel...turns out we had walked past it because it was so close to the bus stop! again, we were thrilled with the hotel considering the amount we had paid. the elevator was small here too, but bigger than the one in rome (too bad we didn't take a picture there - picture of the venice elevator below). we rested before heading out to explore. we walked to st. mark's square, which was unfortunately being used for a free concert that evening, so we didn't get the true experience of being at the square. we went to st. mark's basilica and amazing, they were having polish mass there! we did some window shopping and wandered around. thanks to our guide book, we found a good restaurant, but it wasn't open until 7:30. we sat at a cafe in a square and played euchre while we waited. dinner was seafood pasta (except kris) and dessert was gelato. again. the italy portion of our trip was coming to a close, so we knew we should enjoy it while it lasted. we didn't know this would be the last time we had true italian gelato...sniff sniff.

gondolas

i see someone's bum bum!

in the elevator

july 25
we started the day by visiting the doge's palace. we got to see extravagant rooms (state rooms, senate rooms, private quarters), the impressive armoury and the biggest oil painting in the world. we had lunch at a cafeteria style place - minestrone soup, proscuitto covered in mozzarella cheese and deep fried, and gnocchi. then we did a lot of shopping - found lots of murano glass jewellery and souvenirs. we stumbled upon a store that just sells italian dress shirts - kris, brian and i all bought 2. brian and karlene bought new sunglasses and we realized the last store we had to go to was about to close and this was our last day in venice. karlene and i ran ahead while kris and brian dallied as they thought it closed at 7:30pm, not 7pm. we visited this store the day before and the woman was going to custom-making a necklace for karlene. long story short, we ran ahead of the boys, they got lost even though they had the map, but all was good because we got to the store just as it was closing. and we eventually found our husbands.

for our last night in italy, we had dinner at a random a random place that our guide book did not recommend - it was okay, but a little pricey. we walked around a bit, searched for harry's bar for some authentic bellini's, but it was closed. we had some at our hotel instead, which was nothing like the milestone's bellini, and made by a filipino bartender, but very very good. mmm...bellini...

bellini man with his bellinis

enjoying our bellinis

man love!

we said our good-byes as kris and i were off to poland the next morning, while karlene and brian were headed to switzerland. we would meet again in paris.

eurotrip 2009 - toronto to london

i fixed the pictures so they should work now...
here are some daily snippets from our trip...

july 14
this was departure day. very exciting, considering the months of planning and organization. because our adventure was 3 weeks long, i had a lot to do at work in advance - i managed to finish everything on my to-do list, and on time too. this is a nice feeling! our flight left at 8:40pm this day, so we left for the airport shortly after 5:15pm. our travelling companions and close friends, karlene and brian, had a contact who suggested he could upgrade us to first class. we were wishing this could happen as we were flying overnight and wouldn't see another bed until july 16. unfortunately, the upgrade didn't happen, but the individual tv screens helped. also, because it was an international flight, a meal and free alcohol was included. the red wine looked like cheap imitation soy sauce on first glance, but wasn't half bad. i was the only one out of everyone to manage to get some sleep, and i only got a few hours at that. we were in good spirits and very excited, so this was okay with us...



july 15
we arrived at london heathrow airport at around 8:30am. a bit bleary-eyed, we took on the city to do some sight-seeing. we didn't get very far as our exhaustion quickly took over, but not before we were able to do a few requisite england activities - we saw trafalgar square, rode the tube, got rained on, almost got ran over on several occasions because we forgot everything is backwards there (traffic, right-of-way, etc. etc.), ate fish and chips (with beer) and later steak and kidney pie (with beer). we made our way to stansted airport outside london to catch a flight to rome. the flight didn't leave until 6am on july 16, but we had to be there by 4am, and trains to this airport don't run all night long. thus, we made our way there, ate dinner, then hunkered down for the night. this involved arranging our bags in such a way that no one would be able to or want to steal them (we used a wire lock to connect them all together, so to steal one, you would need to lift 4 heavy backpacks full of 3 weeks' worth of clothing - no one tried to take them, which was slightly disappointing). we slept on the floor of this airport while the night-time cleaning staff mopped around us. i discovered they sell crispy m&m's in england, so i bought some and of course, had to take a picture of the five of us:



sleeping on the floor seemed to be common practice as there were hundreds of people doing the same, and at times, it looked like a violent crime scene:



here, i was also able to rhyme "france" with "underpants," much to my delight. i only wish i could remember the context and what exactly it was that i said...this is what happens when you're in a tired stupor, you say hilarious things, but can't remember the details of the hilarity afterwards...sigh.

the search is on...

this post has been sitting here, un-finished for months. here is the first part, pardon the wrong verb tenses as i wrote this before we went to europe...obviously...



kris and i are going to europe this summer. i have been searching for months for shoes that will:

a) provide comfort for my flat and pronated feet
b) provide at least a small amount of fashion so the italians won't judge me
c) along the same lines, still look nice with my dresses/skirts that i plan on wearing

this is turning out to be more difficult than i thought.

i thought birkenstocks were a good option...but the ones that i like provide very little support because it's just one small strap. this means there is nothing to contain my flat feet, so they look kind of like paddles or webbed feet.

i briefly considered crocs, only because amy told me to. there were two that i would have considered because they were wedges, and one was actually made of normal material and not rubber. but i decided that while these shoes are very light and comfortable, the three inch heels may result in me turning an ankle on the cobblestone (whee, real cobblestone!)

i have been to a number of stores and had the salespeople pretty much bring out every style/colour/size/width of birkenstocks, determined to find something.



i eventually settled upon small strap, patent white birkenstocks, but not after great ordeal and inconvenience.

as this happened a long time ago, i will give you the condensed version of what happened: bought black patent birkenstocks because the store forgot to order the white ones for me THREE times, but in the end, it turns out they did order the white ones because after i settled on the black ones and wore them for weeks, they called to tell me the white ones arrived, kris yelled at them, so they let me exchange my black ones for the white ones even though i had wore them and fully broke them in. kris' ability to get what he wants from retail stores is (one of the many reasons) why i married him.

stay tuned for my updates from europe!

people who look like people: "haha!"

i've been wanting to do this for years - evidenced by my first "attempt" sans pictures. as mentioned, back in february 2007, this friend doesn't usually look the same, but he seems to have stayed on this look...

it just so happened that he was in the wedding party, so he had the vest to make the comparison complete. here i present chad, childhood friend:




nelson muntz, neighbourhood billy from the simpsons:

you gotta believe!

this post is about two things.

one. the blue jays. they had their best start since 1992 (or something like that). their bats came alive, their virtually unknown pitching staff pulled off stellar performances, their reliable defense continued to impress...

cue reality check. cue 8 losses in a row. but they will turn this around! you gotta belieeeeeve! i believe so much that i changed my wallpaper on my cell phone from a picture of edward cullen (i tried to hide it when in public) to the old school blue jays logo. i believe.

two. jon & kate plus 8. cutest family ever, so wholesome and innocent, they stumbled onto some good fortune by getting a tv show that documented their life.

cue reality check. cue mrs. fake-ity fake fake and mr. mid-life crisis. cue the stripping of the innocence of eight beautiful children. this story makes me so very sad, and for many reasons, i don't even know where to start. but i believe that they can work things out. i hope they do. and not just for complimentary hair plugs and tummy tucks.

re: here's to future days and re: now or never

how excited was i to see paris geller from gilmore girls (as allison, izzie's cancer friend) and matt saracen from friday night lights (as charlie, the military guy who wanted his leg amputated) guest starring?!?! this is a rhetorical question, but in case you couldn't tell, i was very excited. please note that i didn't make mention of how excited i was to see lindsay gardner from the o.c./trishanne from prison break, mostly because i didn't like her that much in either show. i suppose she was okay in this episode of grey's, but i'm digressing...focus, miko, focus.

i think the writer's are on a crusade to warn viewers about skin cancer. two types of terminal melanoma doesn't seem to be a coincidence. and apparently i haven't been paying attention because i accidentally fell asleep on our patio today and ended up a bit pink...shonda would be so disappointed in me.

in retrospect, it is so obvious that george would join the army. his family doesn't get him or like him, just like charlie. and when you think about it, george is alone. cristina has owen, izzie has alex, lexie has sloan, callie has arizona, mer has der...while george is a proverbial island. and charlie, he would rather cut off his LEG then stay here, all so he can go back. i think this has unintentionally glorified war for george. even if his friends and loved ones think he's going to be the guy that gets killed cleaning his own gun. oh, georgie.

will cristina decide to go into oncology? there has to be a reason that, at the beginning of the season, the residents weren't allowed to specialize anymore...that means that someone has to change their mind, maybe cristina will be that person.

izzie's memory test reminded me of the bomb episode. meredith was wearing the same vest, except this time, she's whole and shiny and new. when derek paralyzed the right side of izzie's brain so she couldn't speak, i couldn't help but think of bella's "acting" in the twilight movie, where she was in the hospital and edward said he was going to leave her and she kept sputtering in protest when it was clear she had forgotten her lines. that made izzie's sputtering inappropriately funny.

when did izzie's hallucinations escalate from just denny to birds flying around other people's heads and eyes turning into sandy beaches??

i'm not sure how i felt about arizona's confrontation with the chief. while there are lots of people out there who cry when they're mad (present company included), it felt like a little much. and arizona really could have explained the story about her brother up front instead making a vague comment, and then letting callie get mad at her. talk about unnecessary drama, omg!

i think it's nice that izzie has brought everyone together because they realize life is short. the fact that meredith actually said "take the time to tell people you love them while they can still hear you" goes to show the impact of izzie's illness, but also how far our meredith has come. go mer!

why didn't george have ID on him? how come none of these accident victims have their wallet with them? i don't leave my house without my hand sanitizer, never mind my wallet and ID. i guess it could have gotten knocked off of him during impact, or maybe it got run over or maybe when he was dragged, it got squished into his body and disappeared, but still. was he hit when he was leaving the hospital? wouldn't he have his hospital ID tags on him? so many questions!

can i just say that meredith's reaction, when she realized john doe was our precious george, that still gives me chills. they've had a few john/jane doe cases in the series, and while we all thought it was devastating at the time, it is SO much more awful when it's someone you KNOW. (let's ignore george is a fictional character that i don't actually know, and let's ignore that i require psychiatric attention). what a terrible, terrible feeling.

and the worst part is, the doctors working on george have no idea that izzie is crashing, and those working on izzie have no idea who john doe really is. that makes the whole thing seem even sadder to me.

on a brighter NOTE (hyuk): wedding vows on a post-it! wedding vows on a post-it! i love it! there were tons of predictions forecasting how mer and der's wedding would be, and none of them were even close. the wedding vows on a post-it was just perfect. on cristina's post-it with cristina's pen. in the resident's lounge. although it should have been done in joe's bar, just like their non-honeymoon was a revisit to the living room floor. symmetry = good, good = symmetry. i thought meredith's coy look when she realized what derek was doing with the post-it was so adorable. and i love that they don't need to do the churchy church and pouffy dress thing in order to declare their love for each other and know it means an eternity of love and commitment. sigh.

okay, so the cliffhanger. the writers aren't even going to blog about the last episodes!!! they don't want to give anything away! argh! well, for what it's worth, i think george is gone. sloan is a good plastic surgeon, but there's no way he can reconstruct george's face to look the same. and izzie will live - she has to, otherwise what will they do with alex? he too, has come so far in this season, and having izzie die would just break him. anyway, final answer is that george will die and izzie will live - that's my prediction, folks. what do YOU think?

re: what a difference a day makes

i did NOT see this coming. did you? did you think mer and der's wedding would turn into izzie and alex's wedding? in hindsight, it makes sense; i even said how cute it was that alex chose the shrimp and how it sounded like they were planning for their own wedding...and how the dress did NOT fit meredith properly...but i still did not seeing this coming. i love you, writers.

the part when izzie stumbled down the aisle, and george jumped to her rescue, and walked her the rest of the way? it made me cry. like a baby. i just loved that scene, and it goes to show that even though they don't show it every episode, the bond that izzie and george once had is still there. and the new-found friendship between alex and george (which started two episodes ago, when the suicidal trauma patient jumped out the window) is further strengthened by alex thanking george with his eyes for supporting his beautiful bride. the fact that alex can even think beyond how much he hates (hated?) george to realize these feelings? amazing. and yes, alex ripped off part of the valedictorian's speech; but that he heard what she was saying? that just goes to show how much he has grown this season. and he unlike our valedictorian friend, he was able to say his speech before it was too late. in front of his friends, to his beloved. sigh. i love you, writers.

the denny debacle at the beginning of the season was totally redeemed in my eyes once he showed up today. everything came full circle, as usual. shonda said it would all make sense in the end, and we all doubted her. why we did, i don't know. i love you, writers.

how derek's wedding present was a colon? so fantastic, it will match the glowing-kidney-in-a-jar. and the most recent elevator proposal , which chronicling their medical history and otherwise. meredith got to fly solo, even though the chief AND sloan were looking over her shoulder and second-guessing her the whole way; but did you notice, derek wasn't there? maybe he was busy with other patients, but i think it's a symbol of his faith in meredith, that she can do this, and do it well. i love you, derek -- oops, i mean, writers. tee...hee?

i have to admit, i'm glad that mer and der didn't get married today. derek's hair is just too short. i don't think they should get married when derek's hair doesn't look perfect. it's just wrong. so i'm glad it didn't happen today. IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT. especially before his epic wedding. leave his hair alone. but...i still love you, writers.

i'm sure there is more, but i'll post this now to make up for the fact that i've been posting very late recently. if i think of more things, i'll add comments...

love. you. writers.

re: no good at saying sorry (one more chance)

i KNEW the wedding website would get a shout-out in this episode! i knew it!

i also knew that thatcher would make a comeback now that lexie and meredith are friends. i should become a psychic and charge $19.99 a minute. i didn't, however, think thatcher would try to make amends to both of them at the same time. so maybe i shouldn't quit my day job. of course meredith doesn't want to forgive her father, he wasn't even part of her life. i know that lexie was hurt by her father's drinking too, but i don't think you can compare the two kinds of hurt.

i don't think i like derek's haircut. i do like him in the morning coat though. hubba hubba!

how can callie not afford rent? i know she was cut out of daddy's trust fund, but she is a doctor, how can't she afford rent? i'd like to see some receipts to see what she spends her money on (can you tell we waited until the last minute and did our taxes last week? i think i'll be dreaming about receipts until the end of time).

sloan and lexie! i love the way sloan looked at her when she asked him to meet her dad - his own version of goopy eyes, but for lexie.

meredith was great. she continues to make strides and faces the monsters in her past. her sticking up for maddy and later standing up to the chief is evidence of that.

i loved the scene when meredith went on a rant just outside the hospital, making ridiculous accusations, and derek was trying to talk sense into her. but in the end, he goes with what she wants - no chief at the wedding. then he goes to reason reason with the chief. he was so good at bridging the two of them together. how he called the chief on giving the chiefdom to burke instead of him because he was dating meredith - amazing!

my absolute favourite was the reconciliation scene between meredith and the chief. finally, after years of feeling guilty, the chief can feel at peace with himself. he's apologized before, but it didn't have any impact because he wasn't apologizing for the right thing. he got it right this time, and now meredith can stop being so bitter at him. beautiful.

"take care now". love it! how cristina hit owen when he went to walk away? love it! and cristina's weepy man voice making a triumphant return! love it! "take care now" reminds me of the secret song in moulin rouge that satine and christian sang to each other, so they could say they loved each other in secret...except that cristina and owen are keeping their love a secret from each other, and not other people.

the end, when alex was describing the food to izzie, it was so cute how he said, "i'd definitely go for the shrimp if we had to choose" - almost as if they're planning their own wedding! he has come so far too.

quotes:

willow to callie after callie stuck up for her:
-how can trees not be your thing?

izzie trying to tell her mom what kind of cancer she had, and her mom not understanding:
-you don't have skin on your organs, hon, that didn't make a whole lot of sense!
that was FANTASTIC!!!!!!

cristina to owen on his new attitude on life:
-what are you, a choke-'em-and-leave-'em kinda guy?
yeowie!

www.theknot.com/mer-and-der

okay, i don't think that is the actual url for the website, but izzie created a website for meredith and derek's wedding! i don't want to say this makes me very happy because they are fictional characters...but i would be lying if i said it didn't make me smile...

it DEFINITELY didn't give me goosebumps as i read the "favourite moments" list...

seriously, though. i love it. and you will too - except you, c-dawg, you're a bit of a grey's-party-pooper. and i will make the nickname stick, you just wait.

to the rest of you: go there. now.