Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Eve...

Merry Christmas!


I celebrated Christmas Eve with my dad at Barnacle Bill's...say it with me..."On North Monroe!!" haha...
It was really nice to eat some raw oysters with my daddy :)
When I was little we always went to my Grandbobbie and Papa's house for a huge Christmas dinner...
I miss those days, but I am so glad to have the people in my life now that I hold dear to my heart.
I hope every one has a great holiday and hopefully a few days off work!!

Here's one of the Christmas cards I made for my family this year...this is Mamma's



Xxx,
Cola

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Poker!!

I'm about to play some poker with all my babes!!!
Buy in is $10, how long do you think I'll last? haha
On a sad note...taking Steve to the airport at 6am to fly off to Japan for a week...hello all nighter!!!
Coffee here I come :)

Xxx,
Cola

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Cup of Tea?



I've mentioned before that I studied abroad in London during the summer of 2009, it was lovely :) I've picked some of my favorite pictures from my trip...


St. Paul's Cathedral...too perfect of a picture. I new of this "St. Paul's" before I went to London, but being there and seeing this beautiful domed cathedral  stick out among the many high rise buildings really spoke to my soul. I don;t know that it was about St. Paul's that drew me in so much, but it was always a comfort to be in this far away and strange city and to be able to look up and see this hugh piece of architecture with it's beautiful lines standing out from all of the 90 degree angles of the modern buildings. I took a British Humanities course while I was there and I remember the professor trying to make us understand what a landmark St. Paul's Cathedral is for the people of London, and it can't really be expressed accurately unless you just happen to look up from your walk to the grocery store and see this monument...it's indescribable. 


Buckingham Palace...as seen from St. James' Park.


Fabulous uniform...


Hands down...BEST CANDY BAR (aka biscuit...if you're abroad) EVER


Seriously the best...


tiny piece of beauty in the middle of downtown...


This church, we saw on a coach (aka bus) tour one of our first days over. It was bombed heavily during WWII and instead of rebuilding it they cleared away most of the rubble and planted rose bushes where the pews used to be. One of the most interesting aspects of being in London was being able to see the damage that World War II caused in the city. To imagine walking down the road and being afraid of having a bomb dropped near by is pretty much unimaginable to me. It really makes a mark on your heart thinking about all of those people living in fear for so many years while just trying to live their lives.


a sushi place...


wonderful chairs...


Street Performers!!
One of my favorite things about visiting large cities...(not so favorite thing about London but still awesome...in the more popular sections of the city, they have urinals that pop up out of the ground at night and the guys can pay to go pee in the middle of the sidewalk...outrageous!)


More touristy than most of the places I really liked in London, but despite this market being a hugh tourist attraction, it has managed to retain it's tiny town ambiance...


Wheatgrass shots!


Lovely Blake :)


Beautiful Lauren...


St. Paul's from the Millennium Bridge...


Dancing our asses off at Tiger Tiger...it was also the night before my 22nd birthday :)


My friend Max took me to the Henley Royal Regatta for my birthday! I met Max in Tallahassee a couple years ago while I was sitting on the deck of Po Boys Downtown, drinking green beer because it was St. Patty's day, when I realized that the guys at the table behind me had accents that were quite foreign. It turned out that this group of English gents were on holiday to visit our Panama City Spring Break. I have seen Max in two places since then...New York City and London (where he is from). He's awesome :)


The special enclosure pass...I wasn't special enough (couldn't walk either but that's another story) to get to go inside...but the Queen wasn't there so I guess it's ok I didn't get to go :)


Me taking a break from reading Steig Larsson's book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in St. James' Park.


It's really true that if the weather is nice in London you will see people in parks and squares everywhere taking off their shirts and shoes to enjoy the beautiful weather. I think it's really neat that they embrace sunny weather in a way that I feel Americans lack proper appreciation for...especially us Floridians :)


oh public transportation...how I miss you


skate park on the South Bank


I took Latin for several years...I stood with a confused look on my face for several minutes before spurting out "IT WILL SEPARATE NO ONE!!!" then a silent "booyah!" to myself...of course...


Post-translation thumbs up...yes, I real am that cool.

To follow...pictures from the week I spent in Ireland :)
Cheers!
I miss Europe terribly...
Xxx,
Cola

I'm sorry... I thought you said "Chicken Dog"

Reply: "Yeah, a 'chicken dog'. You know, something really ugly."

Dark...

I read a book a year or so ago called Let the Right One In by John Ajvide. It was beautiful! It's about a vampire, but like no other vampire book you have ever read. It's in a genre that is fairly new to me which is Swedish Horror. Very dark, very beautiful, very...Stieg Larsson (who wrote The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), but fairy tale-ish. Anyways, I absolutely loved the book and one of my coworkers the other day recommended the movie. It was outstanding! I am not usually one to like movies made from books that I have already read, but this was such an accurate/wonderful representation of the original work that I can't help but love it. I made the mistake of watching the dubbed English version first, which was crap, but later I figured out how to watch the Swedish language with English subtitles version and it was much better!
I rented the movie from Video 21 over near Magnolia and Lafayette. If you haven't visited this video store, you need to go. They are one of the last video rental places left in town, and the coolest thing is that they have survived after all the chains in town have closed. They have a great selection including cult and foreign films.
Xxx,
Cola

Monday, December 6, 2010

Can't put it down...

I can't put this graphic novel down! Y the Last Man is a series (maybe "storyarch?" is what Steve would call it, but I'm not sure :) about the last man, and his monkey, left alive on Earth after something kills all the males of every species. The artwork is beautiful, done by Pia Guerra and reminds me of the artist who did the Preacher graphic novel, Steve Dillon, who is also incredible. Preacher was the first graphic novel series I read. My wonderfully talented boyfriend Steve has been reading comics all his life and recommended them to me. I never thought I would pick up a graphic novel, but as it turns out I can't put them down once I start reading. I have always read books, mostly just regular literature, but I think graphic novels are an amazing blend of great writing and vivid artwork. The way the artists and writers work together to compliment both mediums is awesome. If you haven't ever at least picked one up and thumbed through it, I would take the time to do so. They are a great way to indulge in a quick read, or I find myself locking my door and burying my nose in them for days. To each his own, I guess :)
Sweet dreams...
Xxx,
Cola
P.s... I have my first acupuncture session tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

A little of this...

After a great shift at Kool Beanz Cafe today I met my mom at Sahara Cafe which I absolutely love. I first went there years ago with one of my best friends, but lately I have been frequenting it more and more. It's located behind New Leaf Market on Lafayette, near Magnolia. I cannot tell you how much I adore this place. It's a little hole in the wall (are you starting to see how I love these little dives?? :) anywhoo... We each got the Vegetarian Sampler...you get to choose 4 of the vegetarian appetizers, which is usually too much for me... It's about $19 but I always have leftovers. We had a feast of falafel, spinach pies, Mujadarra (which is lentils, rice and onions, they spell it differently on their menu but this is what the all-knowing wikipedia told me :) and Foul Mudammes (a fava bean dip...yum :) They also have hummus and baba ganoush along with a whole regular menu including pita wraps, plates and tons of other things. If you live in the area definitely go check them out! The staff has also been super friendly every time I have dined in or gotten take out. The dessert case housing the baklava and other tasty treats is adorable as well, an old antique glass and mirrors piece, too cute!
Happy eating!!!!
Xxx,
Cola
P.s. I'm writing this from mommy's iPad!! More work but very fun!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Sharing...

I inspired my best friend in the world to start a blog and hers is coming along beautifully! Cookie recently posted some fabulous pictures but I want to share with you one of her posts about her arts and crafts. This is similar to the kinds of things I will be sharing but haven't quite gotten around to it. I hope you enjoy!!

Love you Cookie!!
Xxx,
Cola

So Proud...just like a mama :)

The Seminoles finally beat the Gators 31 to 7!!! It has been way too long since I have seen my boys whoop University of Florida and my oh my does it feel good :) I spent a wonderful day with my girl Kat tailgating in Indian Village and watching the game (not in the stands unfortunately) but it's still wonderful to walk away from yesterday with a long overdue victory! Too bad it couldn't happen while I actually attended FSU, but hey, I'm not picky!!

notice the dead gator...

Also! After the game I made a couple awesome Christmas cards. I will take pictures of them and post them in a couple days...let the holiday arts and crafts commence!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Happy Black Friday!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I was lucky enough to spend the day with my boyfriend Steve cooking dinner for my dad :)
I promised that I would post more about the wine bar that I was at the other night and the great wine that I had while I was there. Lee's Wine Bar has a great atmosphere, owners/bartenders Lee and Gabe, wine selection AND they let you bring your smallish puppy dogs there! I don't now of any other place in Tallahassee that you can bring your dog out with you! I think it's a great idea. They have two dachshunds who they bring to work with them and they are the sweetest things. I linked the review of the bar that I found on Yelp because I couldn't find their specific website, but if I do eventually find it i will put it up on here.
The second thing about the bar was this wine. Drink it...it's delicious :)

yum


Listening to: Bonkerz
By: Dizzee Rascal


"Kraeft-y Nicole"

I never really had many nicknames until I was older, but during my childhood this is what every person I met called me...at least once... "Kraefty Nicole." I've always loved getting my hands dirty...in art supplies that is.
I want to dedicate a large part of this blog to my artwork for several reasons. I think it is a great way to share my work and also to come up with new ideas, but I also hope it will motivate me to create more art. As with many things in my life, I will get super focused on one aspect or another but then I will let it fall to the wayside. I want to find a way to indulge in my many interests and to keep working on them simultaneously. I have never studied art seriously, aside from a few art classes and a photography class when I studied abroad in London, but it has always been something that has come very naturally to me. I think it is also very fitting that the artsy side of me does in fact come from the "Kraeft" side. Both my father and grandfather have dabbled in photography and I think they have a great eye for it. Below are a few of my favorite photographs that I have taken over the years. Hopefully soon I will go through some of my drawings and paintings and maybe some jewelry if you're lucky and post them up here :) 
Enjoy!

Downtown Tallahassee, Florida

Skipper
Tallahassee, Florida


Carrabelle Beach, Florida

Tallahassee, Florida

My Front Yard
Tallahassee, Florida

Seaside, Florida

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

London, England
Pint
London, England

View Down the Thames
London, England

Borough Market
London, England


Listening to: Cosmic Love
By: Florence and the Machine

Not my idea of a celebration...

So feeling very motivated last night after finishing my First Ever Blog Post, I went home and washed dishes. Epic I know. It is somewhat of an accomplishment though because...and here I was going to list all the really "good" reasons I have for not doing the dishes... but seriously I'm just lazy.


It was one of my favorite vintage glass pieces. I found it at this amazing little thrift store in town called Good Finds off of South Adams. I think it was originally meant for serving candy, but I always kept my dangly earrings on it. Good Finds has some awesome treasures, you have to dig as with any great hole in the wall, but it is defiantly worth it!

Aside from this little casualty, notice how awesome my counter tops are :) This picture doesn't even do them justice because in real life they are BRIGHT turquoise! Oh 1950s...I bet you were awesome.

Listening to: The Other Side

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Drink up!

I will post a photo of this bottle of wine, but at the moment I am at Lee's Bar in the Lake Ella shopping center drinking House Wine... It's amazing! I don't know where to get it in town but I will find out!! Delicious!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Chocolate...

I've been thinking and thinking about what my first ever blog post should be about, but each idea that I have conjured up has failed to satisfy me. So, as I do when I encounter other areas in my life that are difficult, I am now going to turn to chocolate. Since I was born, chocolate has soothed hurt feelings, brightened rainy days and made good birthday cakes into a absolutely incredible ones. So now, hopefully chocolate will come to my rescue again and make for a semi-interesting first topic.


I am a chocolate snob -I'm totally ok with that- and some of my favorite chocolate is foreign chocolate bars. These are just like the cheap ones you would find in a gas station here, but that's about as far as their similarities go. One of my favorites is the Galaxy Ripple Bar, which I happily stumbled upon in the Publix right down the road from my house, but I have also found them at Fresh Market. I've been to Europe a handful of times and one of the most memorable things about my trips is how good their chocolate is over there. It tastes completely different, there is no way to describe it...you just have to go out and try some. I like the Ripple Bar because it is tiny ribbons of chocolate folded over and over again and then dunked in chocolate one more time for good measure, it's seriously amazing. 

Yum!
I also love the packaging on these exotic little babies...even the "Nutritional Information" looks a lot nicer than ours does over here.


 If you see them in a store, I highly recommend treating yourself...you'll definitely become a convert like me :)

Ok, so there's the very first one, hopefully that wasn't too painful!
Xxx,
Cola