Wedding recap.

Aftermath.

Aftermath of Bernd's 25th birthday party - one tired cat lying on top of beer-soaked Apples to Apples cards.

Halloween.

Last night, I wandered around my neighborhood eating German chocolate out of my jacket pocket. The fact that the packaging advertised the chocolate as "square" (and "practical") amused me; like billing a great poet as "tall," it seems irrelevant.

I am half in love with everything these days - the crispness of the air, the silvery pink skies that arch over my head as I walk to work every morning, the refreshing unpredictability of my job from one day to the next, the company of my coworkers, snuggling with Bernd as he tries to hypnotize me ("Sarahhhh, look me in the face..." a direct translation from German, I think, but it sounds completely silly in English), friends, fresh local apples and pears from the Co-Op, streets filling up with leaves as the trees empty out.

And half the time, I am pacing, trying to figure this world out. It's an interesting mixture of sweet contentment and squirming, restless discontent.





Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon is one of the most engrossing books I've ever encountered.

Milwaukee weekend.

Cutest drunk person EVER. He giggles hysterically when drunk. And his dad is a major alcohol pusher. I have no idea how much beer those two drank Friday night at the Rock Bottom… I had one martini against my will (“This ‘Chocolate Covered Banana’ sounds really great when you say it out loud, but I can’t order this… they forgot a hyphen in the menu!”).

New digs.

We just moved in yesterday (as in, moved the furniture yesterday - thanks, Adam - and spent our first night here) and it already looks and feels even more like home than the last place... it's really wonderful.




Living room – still under construction… we’re going to IKEA this weekend or next for a bookshelf, sofa and coffee table.


Bernd’s new pride and joy, a 42” LCD TV. You can also see my desk in the next room and our bicycles in the hallway.


We each bought a Philip Singer print at the Art Fair on the Square. This is the one I purchased :-)


Kitschy $1 Eiffel Tower vase from St. Vinny’s down the street, and drum from East Africa.


Walk through the living room to the dining room…




My desk! I love my whale mug from Goodwill. The fan was a favor from a friend’s wedding last spring.


Turn sideways into Bernd’s office/man cave.






Go back through the dining room into the walk-through pantry.








I guess I only took two shots in the kitchen…






Cross the hallway into the bathroom.








And then there’s the bedroom, where we’ve really only assembled the bed!


I do love my Ugly doll, though. He looks so terrorized tucked into bed.

On the plus side, the next week-and-a-half means
- Madison World Music Festival (!!!!)
- Willy Street Fair (!!!)
- Obama on the UW-Madison campus (!!!!)
- Wicked (!!!!)

and

- moving into our apartment tomorrow, finally!

and

- my old boss is willing to send me out to work for the State of Wisconsin as soon as a position opens up!




On the downside, Bernd and I are both super sick, and our apartment still looks more like a battlefield than a habitable space...

Warn me that you'll steal my heart next time.

We survived! We got back super late last night (1:30 or so) and only stayed awake by blasting really terrible pop music that we would find odious and intolerable in any other state.

I only have one picture, which Bernd uploaded to the Internet on the fourth day of our trip. Here I am at Black Canyon of the Gunnison!



Awesome! That was, admittedly, not on a trail, but the caged viewing area was so boring and I only stepped on rocks - not plant life or soil - to reach my preferred vantage point. And there were no small children watching who could be influenced by my bad behavior, although Bernd plunged eagerly after me as soon as he lowered his camera...

Southwestern jaunt.

We're plotting an escape out west to White River National Forest, Grand Junction, the Arches, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Mesa Verde, the San Juan National Forest and Black Canyon of the (on the? I can't remember) Gunnison. We leave Saturday.



I've been hungry for mountains all summer.

Milwaukee.

Running possible wedding dates past his dad.










RENTED ice cream? Gee… I don’t know about this…