Fouad's Birthday - Part One

Fouad's birthday is on Monday, but we decided to celebrate a little early this weekend. I planned a couple of surprises for him, and we've had a blast so far!

On Friday, Fouad, Michael, Dawn, and I went to Atlantic Station to see Bodies and Dialogue in the Dark. Both were really great experiences! We went through the Bodies expo first, and it was amazing to see and learn so much about how the human body looks and works. After going through the exhibit, you really want to take better care of yourself :-)

Next, we went to Dialogue in the Dark. This was everyone's favorite part. Dialogue takes you through everyday scenarios in a visually impaired person's life. You start in a room where they slowly dim the lights, and the rest of the experience is completely in the dark. You have a cane and a guide who is blind that leads you through each room. After feeling your way around, you realize where you are (grocery store, park, etc.) and begin to recognize things in those environments. Dawn was definitely our star student - guessing almost everything right away!

After going through each of the rooms, you also have a chance to ask your guide questions about their own journey. Our guide, Willard, has only been blind for about a year and a half. He told us all about his experience and how he has adjusted. It was very enlightening.

On Saturday, Dawn and Michael joined us again. This time it was to go tubing down the Chattahoochee! We started at Abbott's Bridge and floated all the way down to Medlock Bridge, which is about a four hour trip. It was an adventure...and we had so much fun. I think we'll definitely be doing this again!

Tomorrow is Fouad's actual birthday, and I'm taking him out to dinner and a movie. On Tuesday, we're getting together with the fam for dinner at a surprise location - somewhere Fouad's been dying to try for awhile!

Happy Birthday Foo! I hope you enjoy being spoiled this weekend!

Italy's Statue of David - MAJOR CHANGE!

So, I thought this was interesting...

Did you know they changed the FACE on the Statue of David??? Crazy!

:-)

We're going to ITALY!!!

So, for those of you who don't know, I am going to be in Europe with work at the end of September / beginning of October. My client has a conference in Vienna for a week, and I have the pleasure of tagging along and doing my usual job abroad for the entire week. So exciting!

Fouad and I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to schedule a vacation in Europe, especially since we have been dying to go back again since our study abroad in the summer of 2005. Then came the challenge of where to visit...

Should we go somewhere that we've already visited when we were there in 2005? Should we see Vienna and the rest of Austria because I will already be there? We decided on Italy because it was a short plane ride to Rome for me from Vienna AND it's the next place on our list of places we have to see. (and no...there's not an actual list, thank you very much.)

As you can tell from the photo above, I'm in full-on crazy planning mode. We are both over-the-top excited. I'm getting a little stressed because it's coming up soon and I feel like I'm being rushed. Good news is that our flights are booked, our hotels are booked, and now I get to plan all the fun stuff! We'll be in Rome for three days (four for me - I'll get in a day early), Florence for three days, and two days in Venice. There's LOTS to see in that little amount of time, but hopefully we'll see as much as we can, and I'll just have to convince Fouad to plan another trip in the future if we miss anything ;-)

I can't wait!!!

Beach Weekend!

Last weekend we went down to Panama City Beach for a little fun in the sun! It was really nice to get some relaxing beach time. Fouad and I were joined by Dawn and Michael and Matt and Mariana. We had so much fun with everyone - I wish we could have stayed longer :-)


After the early AM wake-up and 6 hour drive, we were all really anxious to get to the beach. We had to make a quick stop at Wally World to get some umbrellas and snacks, and of course some reading material. Thank goodness for that umbrella - finally a beach trip for me with no sunburn! As soon as we were done there, we checked in, packed up the cooler, and got down to the beach as fast as we could. The rest of the day was spent goofing around, swimming, sunning, and relaxing. After a long day on the beach, we all watched the sunset from the balcony and headed out to dinner. We couldn't have asked for a better day!

Saturday the storms were a brewin' and it gave us some brutal waves and overcast skies - but no rain (thank goodness!). So we decided to head over to Pier Park down the road from our hotel to check out the bars and get lunch. This place was really cute! After another beautiful sunset, we ended up going to a few of the places at Pier Park that night - it was a good time.

We headed home Sunday rested and relaxed - and wishing we were there a few more days!