Freestyle Friday: The Sunday Edition

Welcome to this special Sunday edition of Freestyle Friday. I’m ready to ramble. Let’s do this.

“Baby went to Amsterdam / She put a little money into traveling…”

We got back yesterday evening from our whirlwind trip to Amsterdam. The trip was short but fun. When we arrived Wednesday, it was cool and blustery. We ventured out anyway to find food and keep ourselves awake. Things were very festive because people were getting ready to watch the World Cup. (Yes, that’s me below, looking as tired as I felt!)

We went back to the hotel and I did some work and we went to sleep about 8:00 PM Amsterdam time. We both woke up around 11:30 and immediately checked our phones to see if the Netherlands had won their match against Argentina, but they were still playing so we stayed up for a while to follow the game and watch them win…which they did not do. Oh, well. On Thursday morning we woke up to this:

Not too shabby, eh? We walked around a bit and then Bob went off to a business meeting while I settled in to work at the hotel, which had blazing fast free WiFi. After Bob got back from the hotel later that afternoon we headed out to stroll around and grab some dinner. Beautiful!

The next day we walked through the Vondelpark and around the Museum District and then back to the other side of the Canal District and then back over to our hotel which was near the Dutch National Opera and Ballet. I only managed to take pictures in the park:

On our flight home yesterday, I just happened to open the window blind then we were flying over Greenland:

It was breathtaking and blindingly bright.

Welcome back to ‘Murrica. You want fried potato sticks with that?

This morning we went out for breakfast. We typically go to one of three places, one of which is a national chain called Mimi’s, which is based on a New Orleans theme. A little cheesy, but this is Atlanta and chains dominate and the breakfasts at Mimi’s are pretty good. I typically get something called the Marseilles Omelette (an egg white omelette with vegetables), and Bob gets a dish called the Pommes Lyonnaise (basically Eggs Benedict on potato cakes instead of an English muffin). When I gave the server my order, she said, “Wait, let me see what that’s called now…we changed the menu.”

We both grabbed the menus, thinking maybe we would see some new options, but she quickly dispelled that notion. “People were confused by all the French names,” she explained. “They were too hard to say and people were getting angry so they changed them back to English.”

And so I had the Veg & Egg White Omelet and Bob had the Potato Pancake Benedict. I am sure it will make you feel better to know they did not dumb it down so much as to change quiche to “egg pie.” I know it makes me feel better.

Atlanta actually might be the new Hollywood…

Last weekend my mother-in-law was visiting, so we took her to see the Dream Car Exhibit at the High Museum (more on that in a minute). Afterwards we walked down to Mi Cocina (founded in Dallas, and one of the only decent places in Atlanta to eat Mexican food). The weather was beautiful so we decided to sit outside. At one point the waitress came out and said that one of us had to go inside because there was a “very famous, older blonde” actress inside and no one could remember her name. Of course I had to get up and go to the bathroom. I mean, I really did have to go. Seriously.

The “very famous, older blonde” actress? Naomi Watts. The staff had to Google her until they figured it out, but I knew the second I saw her. (No, I did not try to talk to her.)

And then the waitress told us that the week before, Jack Black had been in the restaurant and was so very nice to everybody. I may need to eat more Mexican food.

We’ll have fun, fun, fun ’til my daddy takes the concept car away

The Dream Car Exhibit at the High Museum was amazing. All of the cars were concept cars, not models that were put into actual production. Probably the thing about this exhibit that most struck me was how very forward-thinking and unique the vehicles from the 1930s through the 1970s were especially. They had a couple of recent concept cars from BMW and Porsche, and while they are pushing the boundaries in terms of materials, from a design standpoint both cars looked like cars you would see driving on the road today.

When I look at these designs, I wonder if we’ve lost something. I wonder if people are too busy designing apps and hoping they are the next Yo. I realize these are concept cars, but it made me wonder, when did everyone start to want cars that looked the same? I remember a few years ago being so excited by the Mini and then the Fiat because they looked like nothing else on the road. If this exhibit comes to museum near you, I highly encourage you to go.

And with that, I am off to watch the final match of the World Cup. Have a great Sunday, everyone!