A coworker lent me a magazine - and it sent me into an online rabbit trail of researching the great curator Hans Ulrich Obrist. It wasn't until several websites and interviews later that I realized - I can put that on my list.  I can actually go visit the Serpentine museum this fall.

I  "almost" went to Europe twice in the years directly before John. I begged to go another two times during college (thanks Dad, grr). We day dreamed about getting married in Ireland.  Then we planned to go for our Honeymoon - then decided spring would be best - then pushed it back to fall due to work schedules. And here we are, committed and convinced we are going this fall on our much awaited European - Over - the - (honey)Moon Trip.  We still haven't bought airfare, and I know that's the only thing holding any of my excitement in check, but until we finalize our itinerary, at least our arrival and departure points, we can't! But I've already made my packing list - after much research on how to pack for 5 weeks in a carry on and still look newly-married chic. ;) I've also been collecting all the spots I know I want to go - trying to remember each of the cathedrals, museums or quiet streets that made me long for each of those cities over the past 10 years. We decided to save Italy & Greece for a future trip, so we've narrowed it down to the following: Ireland, Scotland, England (briefly), France and Spain. But when it comes to which cities and which neighborhoods.... good Lord that's a lot of decisions.  And how exactly to tackle them, seeing as my parents will be joining us in Ireland and can't head over until about 3 weeks after we'd ideally be leaving ourselves.

So decisions, decisions, and dreaming and dreaming!!  Our large map will arrive tomorrow or Wednesday and my Pinterest Board is overflowing. :)

I have several dozens of beautiful Cathedrals, Abbeys, Chapels, Baptistries, Mosques and Reliquaries from across Europe listed out on individual index cards. Tonight, they are helping me study facts about how each building shaped and transformed architecture. I'm going to keep them in a box. Someday, I'd love to play a game with them: pull one out at random, and travel to it. :)

(Though I think I'd always be hoping it was Ste. Chapelle... perhaps I'll stack the deck for the first round.)



It adds a new idea for all my traveling. I think I'll fill out an index card for each of the places my dreams visit. Not just it's name, but why it's important- how it changed and transformed the world, architecture, language, literature, art, history, me. Perhaps key facts. This class has certainly changed the way I experience the world around me... I always look for beauty, but now I look for beauty in the structure, innovation and significance of the physical world around me. Beyond my own experience with whatever beauty I am looking at, I want to become knowledgeable about it. I may be about to graduate, but I've never felt more called to become a student then I do this year. I am a seeker, and I've barely touched the secrets I know are in store for me....

The struggle is simply studying what's before me, today, tonight. "Discipline is doing what you ought to do, when you ought to do it." Tonight, the index cards are equally important to one another. One day they will be destinations I'll fly to. Tomorrow they will be dreams I can ponder. Tonight, they are facts I must memorize...