A new day

I must have caught up on some sleep.  I woke up when my alarm went off and didn't have to drag myself out of bed.  I allowed myself a nice big morning stretch and now I'm at my kitchen table, watching the cats eat, checking email, catching up on blogs, and feeling good.  Awake.  Happy.

I am excited about the weekend.  Yes, I do know it is only Thursday, but Friday looms large, in the best possible way.  A dear friend gets married on Friday.  Not only am I very happy for her and her husband-to-be and the fact that I will see another good friend from Boston who I haven't seen in a year, I am also shimmering with anticipation about the party itself.   My soon-to-be-married friend is a designer of flowers and spaces and weddings with impeccable taste and an eye for detail.  And she's planned a very San Francisco wedding.

Ceremony at San Francisco City Hall 

(where I got married earlier this year - yay!) 

Followed by cocktails and dancing at the Green Room of the San Francisco 

War Memorial Veterans Building.  

          

How grand, how cosmopolitan, how.....San Francisco.

And the celebration doesn't stop there.  We'll be back in the city on Saturday for dinner and drinks in North Beach, the city's Italian Section.  I lived in North Beach upon my arrival in California in the mid-90s; it was my introduction to the city and it always feels special to me for that reason. 

Drinks at Tosca Cafe

A San Francisco institution since 1917 with a classy, old-school atmosphere that promises to transport us back to the days of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack 

        











I've lived here for 15 years and never been.  An Evening at Tosca Cafe has been at the top of my To Do Before I Move To Vienna List since we decided to move, so I am very excited.  And grateful to my friend.  What a wonderful way to celebrate her, her future, and enjoy this incredible city where we met and became friends.


By the way - if I had decided to plan a full-on wedding, reception, weekend, this is very likely EXACTLY what I would have wanted.  Now, I just have to find the perfect outfit.

Photo credit: Anemone Jones

#1 City, #1 Thought

Vienna Tops World's Best Cities Survey

It would almost be silly of me to NOT post this story with an accompanying..."see, THIS is why we want to move to Vienna!!!"  wouldn't it.  But, really, what I love about it something a little different.   What I love is that a friend posted this link on my Facebook page before I even saw it this morning.  A friend that I don't even see or speak with that often.  Which means that there are people out there, people outside my family and that first circle of friends, that see "Vienna" and think "Caroline."  And THAT makes me smile. 

Meet up in Vienna - details

Well, today is the big day!  Some final cleaning, packing, saying goodbye to the kitties and we're off across the pond!  England is the first stop and then, Hello Wien!

And for any and all of you who would like to meet and greet ~ the day/time/location has been set (and thank you to those who helped).

Sunday ~ May 9, 2:00 - 4:00 at the MuseumsQuartier Main Entrance
(or 14:00 - 16:00, whichever is the right way to write it).  In front of the gift shop ~ vis a vis the Natural Historic and Art Historic museums.  We'll meet at 2:00 (14:00) and find a good place to grab a table and sit and chat.

Once we get to Wien, I'll have an international phone number and I'll post it to this site.  If you can't make it right at 2:00, you can call to find out where we are.

Come one, come all!  Can't wait to meet you.

Calling all American Girl blog readers in Vienna

I'm not sure exactly how to make it work, but I love the idea of a little meet & greet with folks in Vienna when we're there in a couple weeks.  Perhaps I could pick a place, a day and time and anyone who is interested and available could join me for a coffee, a white wine spritzer, a chat.  It's coming up quickly ~ we arrive on the afternoon of Saturday, May 8 and leave Thursday morning, May 13 ~ maybe something on Sunday, May 9 or one of the weekday evenings?

I have so thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated your thoughts, comments, suggestions on An American Girl these past few months and I'd love to say hello and thank you in person when I have the chance.

A new world of friends

In my last post, I was lamenting the fact that I have a difficult time making new friends and the implications this would have on my life in Vienna.  Yesterday, as I was reviewing some recent comments I've received on blog posts, it hit me......I already have made connections!

Through An American Girl, I've already "met" quite a few new people and I completely overlooked that the other day.  I have a few regular commenters from Vienna and elsewhere that are friendly, funny, thoughtful, helpful. In many cases, these commenters have blogs of their own that I follow.  And I continue to get comments from new people, which never ceases to surprise and delight me.

This seems, in a way, to be a new kind of friendship, these blogosphere connections.  Whether they ever translate into "let's go get a cup of coffee and chat" friendships is kind of beside the point.

I've been thinking a lot about blogs and friends and the connections we're making online these days and what it all means on a social, emotional, personal relationship level.  It's a little too early in the morning to delve into that (and I've used up all my pre-work-writing time), but for now, trying not to sound overly (or falsely) sentimental, I would like to recognize that these connections do have meaning.  

So, thank you, to my American Girl friends and supporters......and Happy Friday!

P.S.  I just looked at the calendar......exactly one month until the Honeymoon in England and Vienna!  I'm so excited I can hardly breathe!

Friends - Making & Keeping, Old & New

 Photo Credit: Gwennypics

Today is the birthday of my oldest and dearest friend, a friend I've had since I was in first grade and one I only see once every year or two (or three) these days.  With a couple exceptions, it seems that my dearest friends are all at a great geographical distance from me.  This isn't surprising, nor is it even that unusual.  I came across a great blog this weekend, MWF Seeking BFF, the online chronicle of a girl in Chicago seeking BFFs because, like me (like many of us, apparently), her oldest and closest are also scattered far way.

Thinking about Friendship in regard to my own future in Vienna, my mind goes in two different directions....

Making New Friends
I had a similar longing to search for a few local BFFs myself a few months ago.  When Kiefer and I moved to our new suburban neighborhood, I thought I'd maybe connect with a few of that gals I have worked with in the area - built in friends!  Alas, I didn't actually do anything to make that happen.  I'm not the most outgoing, social, put-myself-out-there kinda gal and I'm a little nervous about what that means about being in an entirely new country with no connections and not even an acquaintance.   I'm not a joiner, a meet-and-greeter, but in my dreams, I overcome my natural reserve upon arriving in Vienna and make myself find ways to meet people and make those connections. 

Keeping Old Friends
If/How/Will I keep in touch with my current friends when on the other side of the pond to keep those friendships alive and well?  Actually, I imagine it'll be fairly similar to the current state of communication, which is, I must shamefully admit, not the best (regular phone calls are not my forte either).  Gosh, I'm not making a very good case for myself as a friend!  Email, Facebook....I'm good at those.


I was just about to launch into the Go Me phase of the post, which is to say the I can do it!  I can connect and re-connect with  friends NOW, while I'm here, enjoy my time left with the people here! spiel.  I'd like to believe that pep talk would send me running to the phone to set up a few friend dates for this coming weekend.  I have always wanted to be That Girl, you know, the girl that makes friends quickly and easily wherever she goes.  And then, once I become That Girl, it'll be easy to move to a new city in a new country and make friends lickity-split.

But then I remember who I am.  I have a new personal commandment that I adopted from The Happiness Project, which is to Be Caroline.  Accept my true likes and dislikes and not waste time kicking myself for not being something that I really would like to be but just really am not.

I think I was hoping to have the answer all wrapped up in a nice bow at the end of this post, that just writing about it would inspire a brilliant idea or I'd find a quick link to "How to Make Friends Easily & Quickly - in 30 days or your money back," but I'll just have to accept that it's something I'm going to have to think about longer and harder.

And I'll end the post on a positive note by devoting this closing moment to my oldest and dearest friend today.  Happy Birthday, I love you!