back from Peru, documentation snafu

i'm back! with a loose toenail, a cough (a side effect of inhaling approximately ten bafillion gazillion kajillion (ok, slight exaggeration) particles of donkey poop dust), and approximately a thousand (not an exaggeration) pictures of my trip.

peru was, in a word, stunning. i'm still in a daze from the flurry of activity that happened over the course of the past ten days. while i can still vividly remember the colors, smell the surroundings, and taste the flavors that engulfed my experience in peru, i know all of these memories will slip quickly from my donkey poop-addled mind. so in an effort to preserve them, i will be making a series of blog posts entitled "the peru diaries". each entry will cover a leg of the trip and the first one will cross-my-fingers-and-toes be up by this evening.

On the road again + really recent pictures

I am back in the world of hotels, upgrades, travel-sized deodorants, and finding crafty ways to maximize my Marriott points balance. Briefly.

This time I find myself in the suburb of Blue Ash, about twenty miles outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. The stint for me here is only three weeks long and I am starting week two tomorrow - time sure flies by when you're livin' la vida loca up here in Blue Ash!

Ahem. Didn't mean for that to come out so sarcastically. I actually quite enjoy being in the suburbs/in a low-key place as opposed to a bustling and busy city like NYC or San Francisco. Don't get me wrong - I'd travel to either of those cities before you could say "flim flam!" - but I've also learned to really appreciate quiet weeknights filled with such adventures of granny Rose as grocery shopping, going to the gym, Skyping with the boy, and maybe even purchasing a small thing of ice cream from the hotel lobby if I'm feeling particularly reckless. You know. Yolo and all that.

Chicago from afar. I've been playing a lot of Katamari Damancy lately and this looks like it'd be a fun city to roll through.

Thundercat hanging out in one of her favorite spots on the couch

She's fuzzy and she knows it.

The 7 PM ORD to CVG flight is short and sweet and optimal for gazing out of the plane window.

Not a bad sunset. A++ would watch again.

The glamorous life of a consultant. Ta-da.

One quick last note - thank you for reading my blog. I'm always pleased and surprised (pleasantly surprised, one might say) when somebody tells me in person that they liked a certain post or that I should update more often. Which I should. Which I always, always should. Anyhow, I appreciate the encouragement and it really does make me want to write more. Thank you.

my camera's first steps-er-I-mean-shots

above: my T3i's first picture

first thoughts: I know I'm very much still in the honeymoon phase, but boy does this camera take some stunning photos, even in its simplest mode. it makes photographing things 100x more enjoyable when you end up with some great footage as opposed to just pretty good footage.

I am smitten.