I'm embarrassed that I've let our blog get so outdated. I won't make a lot of excuses, but sometimes life happens and before you know it it's been 7 months before you've posted anything about your kick-ass little family. But now, we're back.
I'll be posting a lot of catch up items from the last few months because I'm OCD like that. Enjoy or ignore... either way, we'll be back up to speed soon!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Friday, September 2, 2011
Squish
I'm very excited to announce that I am releasing a new blog!
I want to say, first of all, that the Jake and Tobi blog isn't going anywhere. I started this blog to keep friends and family updated about what we were doing... it's our family's little journal. I was flattered when strangers started to read it. Every once in a while I would post DIY tutorials or interior design projects we were doing in our apartment and I got such a great response from it. Then friends would come to me and ask me about projects or tell me about plans they had for their homes. I wanted to do more of that here on the blog, but I just felt that it wasn't the place. Jake and Tobi is about our life and I want to keep it personal. Thank you to everyone who likes to read about our latest adventure. Thats the stuff I'm going to keep talking about here.
On the new blog though, I want to focus on small spaces. I realized that there aren't enough blogs out there for young people who live in apartments, condos, dorms or studios. The ones that are out there are touting $1,000 lucite chairs, which are beautiful, but completely unattainable. On the new blog, I'm going to feature DIY projects that you really can do and house tours of real twenty-somethings. I'm going to look at how you can turn mansion sized inspiration into apartment sized decoration and compile lust lists of items you can actually save your pennies for.
The blog is called Squish, because it's playful and it's how we feel sometimes in our small spaces. I've got some really great stuff lined up already and I can't wait to show you. Squish debuts on October 1st at SquishStyle.com, so I've got lots of work to do until then. I hope you'll come on over to Squish and follow along!
Until then:
1. Start your countdown!
2. Like Squish on Facebook (right here)
3. Follow Squish on Twitter (@SquishStyle)
It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Fall
There is nothing like coming home after a long trip. It feels so good to be in your own shower and sleep in your own bed and not to have to throw everything in a suitcase every night. But there is also jet lag and unpacking and laundry... it's worth it.
I'm starting to see the very very beginning of fall creeping up... everyone has gone back to school and the mornings are quite chilly. Yesterday I put on a sweater.
via Chad Galloway
I'm looking forward to October, my favorite month and jackets, my favorite item of clothing.
via Zara
Monday, August 29, 2011
Santorini
Yesterday was our last full day on the ship. In the afternoon, we anchored at Santorini. Like many of the Greek islands, Santorini was formed by volcanic activity. After it's formation, it was a single populated island until the volcano at its center erupted again and pushed the center of the island under the sea. Now the main island, Thira forms a crescent around the volcano and a huge lagoon rests in the middle. Many people believe that the story of the Lost City of Atlantis is about the collapse of Santorini.
Santorini is absolutely beautiful. From the ship, we could see the iconic white and blue houses and shops atop the high cliffs. Because of the steep approach, we rode donkeys up the switchbacks into the main town of Fira. We shopped around with friends for a while and then had drinks and appetizers with an amazing view of the bay and volcano. It was a great way to end our trip.
Today we are back in Athens for our last night. We are grabbing last minute souvenirs and repacking our bags in preparation for our flight home tomorrow. It has been an amazing and absolutely unforgettable trip. We have made great friends and seen amazing places. After everything, though, we are looking forward to going home. We can't wait to sleep in our own bed, eat In N Out and most of all to see our friends, family and our puppy!
- Posted using BlogPress via my iPad from Athens
Santorini is absolutely beautiful. From the ship, we could see the iconic white and blue houses and shops atop the high cliffs. Because of the steep approach, we rode donkeys up the switchbacks into the main town of Fira. We shopped around with friends for a while and then had drinks and appetizers with an amazing view of the bay and volcano. It was a great way to end our trip.
Today we are back in Athens for our last night. We are grabbing last minute souvenirs and repacking our bags in preparation for our flight home tomorrow. It has been an amazing and absolutely unforgettable trip. We have made great friends and seen amazing places. After everything, though, we are looking forward to going home. We can't wait to sleep in our own bed, eat In N Out and most of all to see our friends, family and our puppy!
- Posted using BlogPress via my iPad from Athens
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Patmos & Friends
Just returned to the ship from the tiny island of Patmos. Patmos is quiet and lovely and we mostly just laid on the beach, had a gyro and took a slow walk around the town.
We've been traveling with a group for the past couple weeks and haven't really mentioned them on the blog so far, so we wanted to give a quick shout out to our new friends from around the world.
Laura was our tour manager and turned out to be a great friend. She is from New Zealand, but she lives and works in Italy. She is known for her adorable accent; she says "heedseet" instead of headset, "peen" instead of pen and (most hilariously) "deek" instead of deck. We think Laura is the sweetest and we were pretty sad to leave her and most of the rest of the group when we left for the cruise.
Casey, Kelly and Kate are three Australian girls that we adore. They are traveling all over Europe. These three are all very different, but they are a blast to hang out with as a pack.
Britney is a Canadian girl who is always outrageous and fun. You can probably find her with a drink in her hand and enough attitude to pass around. She is joining us on the cruise.
Talia is a sweetheart, also from Canada. She always has something nice to say.
The Turner sisters are from Washington. They are down to earth and super easy to get along with. They can often be found hanging out with Amanda from Australia who is always fun to be around and can save your life in an emergency (she's an EMT). All three of these girls are on the cruise with us.
Damien and Emma are our closest buds on the tour and the cruise. These two are from Australia and they've been traveling around Europe for months. We like being around them because when we are together, we are usually laughing until it hurts. Damien has TONS of attitude and spunk and Emma's deadpan humor keeps him from going overboard. Just today, Damien and I went for gyros and I nearly died after laughing and choking on a piece of onion. We have a blast with them and are starting to pick up an Australian accent!
- Posted using BlogPress via my iPad from the Aegean Sea
We've been traveling with a group for the past couple weeks and haven't really mentioned them on the blog so far, so we wanted to give a quick shout out to our new friends from around the world.
Laura was our tour manager and turned out to be a great friend. She is from New Zealand, but she lives and works in Italy. She is known for her adorable accent; she says "heedseet" instead of headset, "peen" instead of pen and (most hilariously) "deek" instead of deck. We think Laura is the sweetest and we were pretty sad to leave her and most of the rest of the group when we left for the cruise.
Casey, Kelly and Kate are three Australian girls that we adore. They are traveling all over Europe. These three are all very different, but they are a blast to hang out with as a pack.
Britney is a Canadian girl who is always outrageous and fun. You can probably find her with a drink in her hand and enough attitude to pass around. She is joining us on the cruise.
Talia is a sweetheart, also from Canada. She always has something nice to say.
The Turner sisters are from Washington. They are down to earth and super easy to get along with. They can often be found hanging out with Amanda from Australia who is always fun to be around and can save your life in an emergency (she's an EMT). All three of these girls are on the cruise with us.
Damien and Emma are our closest buds on the tour and the cruise. These two are from Australia and they've been traveling around Europe for months. We like being around them because when we are together, we are usually laughing until it hurts. Damien has TONS of attitude and spunk and Emma's deadpan humor keeps him from going overboard. Just today, Damien and I went for gyros and I nearly died after laughing and choking on a piece of onion. We have a blast with them and are starting to pick up an Australian accent!
- Posted using BlogPress via my iPad from the Aegean Sea
Mykonos
On Friday we boarded our cruise of the Greek islands at Pireaus, a port in Athens. We are sailing on the Louis Majesty for three days. This ship is 40,876 tons with 10 decks and six restaurants. Even though it can be tight quarters for 1,100 people, our room is still much bigger than some of the hotels we stayed in on land! During the cruise we will dock in Mykonos, Kusadasi (Turkey), Patmos, Crete and Santorini.
Yesterday, we arrived in Mykonos in the afternoon. Mykonos is a small town and island which you can walk all the way around in under an hour. The buildings in Mykonos are iconically Greek, with white washed walls and blue shutters. They are built closely together and in a winding labyrinth pattern as a way of protecting the little city from strong winds, so you can easily get lost in the very narrow streets, but you can always point yourself towards the sea and find your way out. It is also well known for it's six remaining windmills, which sit atop a hill near an area right on the water called Little Venice.
Mykonos is bustling and alive, especially after the sun sets and the little cocktail bars and shops begin to glow. We wandered down the coast and around the island to the windmill side and had a drink and appetizers at a restaurant in Little Venice. Our table was RIGHT on the water... we got misted by every big set of waves. We had grilled feta and calamari. It was by far the freshest and best calamari we have ever eaten.
After sunset we turned in towards city center and got a little bit lost on purpose, then wandered the shops and headed back towards the beach just to sit for a little while.
- Posted using BlogPress via my iPad from the Aegean Sea
Yesterday, we arrived in Mykonos in the afternoon. Mykonos is a small town and island which you can walk all the way around in under an hour. The buildings in Mykonos are iconically Greek, with white washed walls and blue shutters. They are built closely together and in a winding labyrinth pattern as a way of protecting the little city from strong winds, so you can easily get lost in the very narrow streets, but you can always point yourself towards the sea and find your way out. It is also well known for it's six remaining windmills, which sit atop a hill near an area right on the water called Little Venice.
Mykonos is bustling and alive, especially after the sun sets and the little cocktail bars and shops begin to glow. We wandered down the coast and around the island to the windmill side and had a drink and appetizers at a restaurant in Little Venice. Our table was RIGHT on the water... we got misted by every big set of waves. We had grilled feta and calamari. It was by far the freshest and best calamari we have ever eaten.
After sunset we turned in towards city center and got a little bit lost on purpose, then wandered the shops and headed back towards the beach just to sit for a little while.
- Posted using BlogPress via my iPad from the Aegean Sea
Friday, August 26, 2011
Athens
After a couple of nights in Corfu, we had a travel day into Athens. Athens is a colorful city, full of open air markets and covered in graffiti. I'm sort of a graffiti enthusiast, and though I certainly don't condone destruction of private property, I really enjoyed all the public works of art.
On our first night, we had dinner at a lovely restaurant in the Plaka, a pedestrian market area. There was live Greek music, plenty of feta cheese and the most tender chicken we have ever eaten. After dinner we made our way up to the roof of our hotel for a panoramic view of the city and the Acropolis.
The next morning, we climbed up to the Acropolis and had a walking tour of the various monuments. The Parthanon was beautiful, but my favorite was the Temple of the Wingless Victory. It is fairly small and sits right atop the main gate. Legend has it that the temple once housed a statue of Nike, the goddess of victory, as a monument to a successful war for the Athenians. Nike was personified as a young woman with wings, so the Athenians cut the wings off her statue as a way to ensure that victory would always remain with Athens.
After the tour of the Acropolis, we took a bus tour of the city, which is surprisingly modern looking, despite its long history. Apparently, the whole of the ancient city is buried underneath the modern one so that every time excavation of any sort has to be done for a building or tunnel, thousands of artifacts are dug up.
We returned to the hotel and observed siesta, just like the Greeks do. Then we spent a couple hours shopping our way around the Plaka. We met some very vibrant characters, including a man who squeezed our faces and kissed us repeatedly, telling Jake he looked like a Greek god and repeating how much he loves America. Inside his shop he had hundreds of business cards of Greeks living in the U.S. It turned out he had lived in California himself for many years, just a few cities over from us in San Jose. He gave us lucky pennies and reminded us that it costs nothing to be nice. Another man, a jeweler, showed us pictures and post cards from his nephew who happens to work just across town from us at Steven's Creek Honda. It's such a small world and we really do love the Greek enthusiasm for life, family, friends and prosperity.
On the second evening, we had a delicious dinner followed by drinks and dancing. At the end of the night, we had to say goodbye to many of our new found friends who weren't going on to the optional cruise. It was a little sad, but lovely to know that we have friends across the world that we have an excuse to visit!
- Posted using BlogPress via my iPad from the Aegean Sea
On our first night, we had dinner at a lovely restaurant in the Plaka, a pedestrian market area. There was live Greek music, plenty of feta cheese and the most tender chicken we have ever eaten. After dinner we made our way up to the roof of our hotel for a panoramic view of the city and the Acropolis.
The next morning, we climbed up to the Acropolis and had a walking tour of the various monuments. The Parthanon was beautiful, but my favorite was the Temple of the Wingless Victory. It is fairly small and sits right atop the main gate. Legend has it that the temple once housed a statue of Nike, the goddess of victory, as a monument to a successful war for the Athenians. Nike was personified as a young woman with wings, so the Athenians cut the wings off her statue as a way to ensure that victory would always remain with Athens.
After the tour of the Acropolis, we took a bus tour of the city, which is surprisingly modern looking, despite its long history. Apparently, the whole of the ancient city is buried underneath the modern one so that every time excavation of any sort has to be done for a building or tunnel, thousands of artifacts are dug up.
We returned to the hotel and observed siesta, just like the Greeks do. Then we spent a couple hours shopping our way around the Plaka. We met some very vibrant characters, including a man who squeezed our faces and kissed us repeatedly, telling Jake he looked like a Greek god and repeating how much he loves America. Inside his shop he had hundreds of business cards of Greeks living in the U.S. It turned out he had lived in California himself for many years, just a few cities over from us in San Jose. He gave us lucky pennies and reminded us that it costs nothing to be nice. Another man, a jeweler, showed us pictures and post cards from his nephew who happens to work just across town from us at Steven's Creek Honda. It's such a small world and we really do love the Greek enthusiasm for life, family, friends and prosperity.
On the second evening, we had a delicious dinner followed by drinks and dancing. At the end of the night, we had to say goodbye to many of our new found friends who weren't going on to the optional cruise. It was a little sad, but lovely to know that we have friends across the world that we have an excuse to visit!
- Posted using BlogPress via my iPad from the Aegean Sea
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