My Life is a Map of the World

This past weekend I found myself with a lot of solo time on my hands. Times like these are vital to my mental health and balance in life. And more times then none, they lead me to deep thoughts and discovered inner joy.

During a moment of reflection where I was bundled up in a cozy sweater, perfect for fall, and watching the leaves fall from the tree in our backyard, it dawned on me. It dawned on me that I am a small reflection of the world and that so much of what I do is inspired by the world. Let me dig a little deeper.

My birth certificate and current zip code prove my U. S. Citizenship but my ancestors give me the history of England, Scotland, Poland, Lithuania and Native America.

The man I love most is someone who descends from Africa and Europe.

My religion originated in the Middle East.

I own a dog whose breed was made popular by Germany

I like to carry out my skincare routine like the Koreans.

I like to drink coffee like the Italians.

I’m inspired by the natural aesthetic and use of make-up and hair care like the French.

I like to eat like the Japanese.

I dress myself and fill my home with furnishings that you’d find easily in Scandinavia.

These are all just a few of the things I value, love, am drawn to and want to know more about. And it’s in all of those curiosities that I find, that we find, how truly connected we are to the past, the present and the future. It’s in those things where we find connection to others no matter how near or far.

Who or what are you connected to?

-Kriss

Traveling Berlin, Honeymoon Style

Here’s to the start of our Honeymoon story! A moment in our relationship that we have been planning for and have been swimming in excitement for during our 11 month engagement. And I can give you a spoiler right now, it was everything and more.

We left for Germany on a Tuesday afternoon. This leaving looked an awful lot like: millions of kisses on our dogs head, a 2.5 hour drive north to a friend’s house whom was taking us to O’Hare Airport, riding in her car for over an hour, sitting in the airport for 3 hours, 6.5 hour flight to Iceland and then a 3.5 hour flight to Berlin- all with a time zone change of 6 hours. *** and breathe***

But we got in Berlin around 6 p.m. on Wednesday. After finding our Airbnb we stretched, changed, hugged and set out to our new neighborhood streets of…

Wanting to keep our first night simple so we got dinner, grabbed a bottle of wine to celebrate and some mini German chocolates because why not!

The next morning we were ready to go! We laced up our shoes, threw on some jackets and grabbed our umbrellas before heading out on our only rainy day of the trip. This day was spent adjusting to the life lived in the city. And since you can’t live in the now without knowing the past, we joined a walking tour of Berlin. I have been on this tour twice before our trip but every time I go, I never regret it.

The tour itself begins at the Brandenburg Gate then heads out towards a Holocaust Memorial as you wander down the busy streets and end up in a massive courtyard of majestic cathedrals.

In the evening we walked around the gray streets of Berlin and through the lush woods of the Tiergarten, holding hands and talking about life. We tried food here and there as our stomachs saw fit but really just used the day to take in our surroundings and taking in our first trip as a married couple.

On Friday we made a huge decision. At the start of our honeymoon planning process we were going to do day trips to three other locations. Those locations being: Munich, Cologne and Amsterdam. We decided to scrap all of our previous plans and stay put in the beautiful city of Berlin. But with still wanting the castle and royalty feels that we had hoped to find in Munich we headed in the direction of Charlottenburg Palace.

There rest of the evening we viewed the East Side Gallery and kept our fingers crossed for other street art in the city. With not finding much on Friday night, my hunt continued into Saturday. We visited the Mall of Berlin where we stumbled across a huge fashion show with a live concert, Humboldt University where Einstein taught and finally victory finding a huge, beautiful wall mural.

Sunday was a day of highs and lows! None of it being negative but literal high points in the city and the low, watery moments offered in the city. We took a river cruise on the River Spree and then climbed to the highest point in the Berliner Dom.

One of the days that I was looking forward to the most was Monday. Before our honeymoon we decided that there would be one night that would be a dressy night for us. We’d wear something that made us feel good, find a good place to eat and celebrate our last night there. I chose a red velvet dress with strappy tan heels while Jacob chose straight tan pants, a polka dot dress shirt and the same suit jacket that we wore on our wedding day.

Thank you for joining with me today and hearing a snapshot of our trip. I cannot wait for next week and sharing more with you! Look forward to two of our favorite parts of the trip: Food and Drinks!

XOKriss