on top of the world.

last week, my family and i had a lunch date in potentially the coolest spot in the world.

we were on our way to st. maritz and just happened to find this little mini chalet in the swiss countryside.

so we ate our authentic bratwursts while enjoying each other's company and the most stunning view of the alps.

and i ask... what is better than that?!

spring rings.

sometimes, as a photographer, i get really lucky.

when looking through some of the shots from my most recent wedding,

i realized that i was not only fortunate to be working with an extremely good-looking couple,

i was able to get a little bit creative with their beautiful rings.

their wedding was very bright and springy, so it was easy to take advantage of the colors and decor to highlight their rings!

since i'm heading home from europe in a few days, i'll be updating you all with the rest of my work from the spring.

and i have a lot of fun projects to look forward to this summer!

get excited.

all photos ® anna gleave photography 2011

hot hot heat.

looks like these next two days in madrid could be a bit of a doozy:

this colorado girl is about to get a bit of a shock...

yikes.

some things never change...

one time, i went to barcelona and ate (awesome) barca-branded chips for lunch.

this other time, i went to paris and ate popcorn and peanut m&ms for dinner.

looking forward to (thursday) when i can eat kebabs again...

and (saturday) when i can make myself allll of the mexican food i want.

i'm excited to re-introduce my body to the other 5 sections of the food pyramid.

until then, i'll keep loving my european adventures (even if my stomach isn't so pumped 100% of the time).

post script: isn't it awesome how the football team has it's own brand of chips? they make real madrid ones, too... and i may or may not have purchased some for my dad for fathers' day. ohh spain.

thanks to mpc for the (not-so candid) photo.

from paris, with love.

every time i mentioned to anyone that i was heading to paris, they told me the same things:

it's hot. the people aren't the nicest. it's expensive. there is trash everywhere. it's smelly. you'll love it.

and, they were absolutely correct.

will and i arrived in paris this afternoon, and i've already got a love/hate relationship with this city.

it is phenomenally beautiful--architecture and styling unlike any other and entirely french.

though it's an enormous city, it manages to feel fairly quaint.

i understand why it's the city of love.

that being said, we had our day's worth of mishaps... and found out paris is indeed hot, smelly, and expensive.

we've already spent more than we spent in two weeks' time in spain.

let me explain: transportation is dang expensive here, and the french waiters trick you into buying 8.50 euro cokes...

we went to a fairly decently-priced restaurant for dinner, thinking the water/soda would be the usually-over-priced amount of 3 euro. we were mortified when we received our check, and immediately found a grocery store to buy our own beverages.

at least my french omelet was good.

also, it was excruciatingly hot today.

everyone in the metro was bathing in sweat (imagine the stench), and the heat did a number on my yellow (real) leather purse. the dye melted right on to my dress!

let's hope that tomorrow brings nothing but love?

trying to continue to get myself in the french mood, i've been humming my favorite french-inspired songs to myself, alll day long.

i'd say they're worth a listen...

have you ever been to paris?

do you have any good recommendations/stories? i'd love to get another perspective or two!

postcards from italy.

italy has been so wonderful.

even though we didn't hit up the most tourist-y spots, i was able to really get a feel for the italian culture.

there were times when i forgot that i wasn't in spain any more, but then there were other times when it was obvious i was in a completely new place.

it's like italy took spain, added a bit more charm and tomato sauce, and shook up the language a little bit.

but really, italians are beautiful, as is their country.

and that accent you hear in all of the movies... oh, it's real.

we've had the best time here in lake como as a family,

exploring the waters by boat, walking around in the little towns and villas, visiting famous star wars' sites and pretending to be dueling with light sabers, sampling italian food and gelato, & eating watermelon halves after swimming.

i'm so grateful for the chance i've had to spend some time here with my family,

and i can't wait to experience southern italy some day.

i will be back.

post title from this amazing song. watch the video. just do it.

while you're at it, you might as well watch this... ben and i had a bit too much fun with youtube tonight.

gluten-y woes.

contrary to popular belief,

gluten-free food is NOT so easy to find in italy.

i've had a few good pasta dishes,

but i am reallly ready for a big plate of tacos

and to worry less about whether or not my next meal will consist solely of gelato.

ciao.

UPDATE:

i just re-read this post and realized i was being a bit of a drama queen... especially after coming across this while going through my roll of images:

though the gluten-free vita isn't easy, i've ended up with some pretty delicious meals. even if i had to ask around at 12 restaurants in order to find those gluten-free meals...

food=good. el fin.

famiglia.

these people make me so happy.

all of the time.

life was all right on the rhine.

we spent one of our days in germany in a little town nearby to frankfurt--

oppenheim.

the town was quaint... it contained a lovely little (big) church overlooking the german countryside, an underground city of sorts, and many of our favorite german bakeries!

i thoroughly enjoyed wandering the town with the steiner family and learning a bit about oppenheim's history, thanks to julia, the master translator (seriously, this girl can speak english so well).

the boys tested out some german pastries and strudel,

we drank hot cocoa in the sprinkling rain,

and we found mark zuckerberg's house... what is a better combination than that?!

we stopped back to the house in the evening for a rest and some german hazelnut cake (now do you understand why i'm loving these german traditions?!), then headed to a traditional german restaurant for dinner.

we all ordered schnitzel, which ironically enough, isn't a hot dog.

isn't anything like a hot dog, in fact.

there goes america ruining cool culture again...

i digress. it was the pleasantest of days.

i was reminded nearly every minute why i love germany so.

post title comes from this excellent song.

lake como.

life is good here in italy.

life is good.

varenna, italy.

and... our first real-life, italian meal in bellagio.

three cheers for gluten-free pasta!

welcome summer.

IN THE DEPTH OF WINTER, I FINALLY LEARNED THAT WITHIN ME THERE LAY AN INVINCIBLE SUMMER.

-ALBERT CAMUS

though i firmly believe in the potential for an endless summer, i also have realized that i am unfortunately not that sunny of a person all of the time... winter still gives me zee blues.

but this year, southern spain brought summer to me.

the sunshine, the palm trees, the heat...

all made me endlessly happy.

i am a summer girl at heart.

thus, today is a wonderful day day! the first day of summer!

i'm celebrating by hanging out in italia at lake como.

how are you celebrating?

all good things must come to an end.

to say that my last few days in madrid were eventful would be quite the understatement.

the adventures began with our final night of kebabs as a group... and when i say as a group, i mean that there were 4o-something of us dominating the kebab house...

and a viewing of los miserables (in spanish, obvs) downtown.

the show was beautiful, but we seemed to purchase tickets on 12-year-olds' night out, as the theater was jam-packed with pre-pubescent spaniards.

enter: seat kicking, sing alongs, and popcorn flying everywhere.

the overall experience was excellent, but the aftermath of train-missing and getting home at 2:30 am the night before finals... wasn't so excellent.

us being miserable (and oh, so clever) in front of the theater:

the next day included a dreadful final, a birthday ice cream in the park, and frantically attempting to finish the slideshow video for the group.

we graduated from our odd little school program,

and then we strolled around alcalá and ate our last dinner as a group at some fancy italian restaurant.

i ordered lime sorbet as dessert... turns out the little kick in the sorbet wasn't lime juice, after all (mojito... oops!)

needless to say, my dessert order was promptly switched, and i enjoyed my fresa ice cream.

thursday consisted of our final excursion into madrid.

this marked the last time i'd stop at the chino store for a snack and use the train station in alcalá with my amigos:

(the statue is a monument for the people who were killed in the eta train bombing of 2004)

we finally conquered the lake in el parque retiro, then we grabbed a magnum bar or two and went to the world's largest h&m.

okay, maybe it's not actually the world's largest... but it is four stories tall; that has to count for something!

finally feeling utterly european, i tried on a full-length romper. aaaand, i didn't hate it. comfier than footy pajamas!

please take note of will's cheesy "i'm on a boat" pose. too much coke for him...

we finished the evening off with another trip to kebab land and a goodbye gathering in the plaza at midnight.

i'm gonna miss those kiddos.

my real-life final day in madrid consisted of packing, printing plane tickets, buying last-minute gifts, sweating profusely, and saying goodbye to alcalá. oh, and a 3-hour delayed, turbulance-ridden flight to germany.

though i am loving this time with my family,

i can't believe that my time in spain ended so quickly.

i'm already missing it...

mi padre.

feliz día de los padres to the greatest man i know.

i can't even begin to express the gratitude i have for mi padre in my life.

also, happy day to all of my uncles, grandfathers, and family friends who have had such a wonderful influence in my life.

dads rule.

northern irish coast, 2007.

check out those bushy eyebrows...oh yeah.

staying with the steiners.

frankfurt has been so wonderful thus far.

will and i flew in late last night (and when i say late, i mean ryanair delayed our already late-scheduled 11 pm flight), and we met up with the rest of the familia today.

we're staying with the handsomest of german families, who are spoiling us terribly.

after walking through the fields behind their house,

we headed into frankfurt yesterday afternoon to explore the city--

the german coke lights, red bull ice cream, pretzels, and cathedrals.

the evening was spent eating a delicious german meal (huzzah for no more spanish comida!),

playing cards, and eating looads of german chocolate.

i wasn't lying when i told you we are being spoiled.

i now remember why i loved germany so much last time... so great.