Gooooooood morning Vietnam! And by “Vietnam,” I mean “blogosphere!” Although I’ve heard Vietnam is quite nice this time of year, for what it’s worth.

This photo has nothing to do with Vietnam. It was taken in Aix-en-Provence, and it makes me hungry just looking at it. Charcuterie, brie + baguettes for the win!

I’m back from gallivanting in Europe, and it’s my first day in my office in two and a half weeks! It was such a joy to open those French doors this morning and see the sunlight streaming in. You’d think that after a working holiday, the last thing I want to do is go back to work. But I LOVE my job and I couldn’t wait to get back to it this morning! Plus there’s the fact that Spring is in full-swing here in Virginia. This is our first Spring in the new house, and so it was a total surprise to me that the scraggly bushes in front of our house are actually azaleas, and by the time I got home from my trip, they were in full bloom. So there are hundreds of white blossoms right outside my office, plenty of warm sunshine streaming in, and our two puppies barking like maniacs any time a neighbor decides to walk their own dog outside. Life is good, my friends. (But seriously… any thoughts on bark collars?)

As always, lessons learned/events that transpired over the past week!

• Coffee doesn’t taste the same here in the US. I don’t know why; maybe it’s the beans, maybe it’s the water, maybe it’s our overall lack of ability to speak Italian. But as much as I was looking forward to my morning ritual of a cup of coffee while reading the Bible, I was disappointed.
• Disappointed by the coffee, that is- not the Bible. Duh.
• Ok, question for anyone who’s traveled to Edinburgh: is it just me, or do the Scots seem irritated by Americans? My Scotland experience was completely opposite of my experience in Ireland last Spring, and I’m wondering if I just happened to get people at a bad time?
• That being said, I’m still totally bringing Matt back to Edinburgh. That city is SO beautiful!
• I freaking love AirBnB. Never again will I travel to a foreign country and opt for a standard hotel- AirBnB is so much more fun! I ended up in a flat in Edinburgh with a Dane who spoke with an Australian accent and a Cameroonian who spoke with a Swedish accent. We all went for a pint on my last night and it hit me just how many different cultures we had colliding at that small table- you don’t get that with a standard hotel, and it was something I’ll always remember!
• I packaged up all my film this morning to send off to Indie… 25 rolls, and that’s not all of it. I have 13-14 more rolls from Italy that are still in transit to the lab. YIKES. I seriously need to slow it down!
• But then again, why do you try visiting Europe and tell me that you don’t want to photograph everything you lay eyes on.

Ok! This gorgeous couple is coming to the blog later this week, and I’ll be very surprised indeed if you don’t remember them :).