how it became what has become.

ONE WEEK until the big australian adventure begins. it has been quite the whirlwind of planning.... or lack there of? let's back up to how this trip all came to be...or i guess now....blog began?

so if you're reading this, you may or may not understand the friendship kate and i have. time warp back to five years ago when we became friends while living in chicago and working at michael anthony salon. kate (or shall i say emma- her salon name- i'll go into detail of what this means some point in the blogging experience) was the first person who taught me the ways of being an assistant. the high points in that year were countless meeting times at the dryers to fold laundry, sweeping up massive amounts of cut up mounds of hair, and of course making laps around the salon in hopes of the clock hitting the hour that we were scheduled until, so that we could head to the cheapest watering hole in chicago- "duffy's" and rock out to the 80's cover wannabe band, drink $1.00 waterdown tap beers, all while being underage. at the time we wanted one thing, and one thing only... to make a decent salary so 12 hour shifts, color stained clothes disguised with black sharpies and two buck chucks weren't our only hopes to a new day.

fast forward 4 years later, and we are sitting outside being porch monkeys after a long wednesday shift of 9-9. however, this time it's different we aren't living paycheck to paycheck, our hands aren't completely stained with color and we have established a  passionate job and clientle of coloring hair (for me), and cutting (for emma/kate).

just like in any other job, some days are better than others, and on this particular one i do believe having a much needed bottle of three buck chuck was in stor- (yes, the recession has even affected trader joe's and they have up'ed their wine)... it's sometime around midnight, the idea to book a flight to dublin arrises. within the hour, we have our confirmation codes via email, and the land of true green, and sexy Irish accents will be ours in just a matter of months.... 

you'd think planning for a trip out of the country you'd spend some time trying to get details and an itineray situated. however that's not how kate and i work. to be honest we made efforts to make plans for the trip, however the wine/wii time was much more exciting than logging hours on the internet figuring out what tour looked 'fun'.... in all honesty our clients were more worried about planning our trip than us. as the weeks went on they would bring in print outs of things for us to do, suggestions in tour books highlighted with their favorite pubs, and one client in particular who was from there had offered us her home to stay in. the laid back sides of us both fit perfectly for the theme of the trip- whatever happens, happens.

 knowing a lot can take place in a little amount of time, we said our final goodbyes, turned off all means of electronic devices, and started our trip on oct 31st, 2008. needless to say, the trip was a hysterical blur of 6 nights in a foregin country... and no set plans, expect to have fun and meet the locals.  just a fewwwwww, and i mean few of the gazllion moments are below:

  

kate stayed in a hostel for her first time ever. she did mention by the last night she felt as if she were more of a 'hotel kind of a gal', but that it was nice to experience different ways of life.... apparently brightly painted walls that diguised the years of old graffit, and bunk beds that squeaked no matter which way you turned didn't suit either of us during an afternoon nap, however by 4am it seemed like we were crawling into 8000 thread count sheets and a feather bed at the four seasons....

let's also not forget renting a car in ireland. i remember the pounding on the door of our hostel making us well aware of our past late check out time, while scurring around in the shoe box, we somehow managed to re-pack everything into our carry ons. (yes, we brought one carry on suitcase for the trip, to only learn when we got to the aiport we had both over packed the weight limit and it had to be checked anyways...) still semi buzzed from the night priors' event of halloween celebration in downtown dublin, and adjusting to the 8 hour time difference...  we find the car rental place. i still remember the hertz guys reaction to our 'unplanned' route to the wicklow mts and beyond-i like to tell myself he was impressed, but to an outsider they may call it utter shock? So, me being the driver and kate sitting shot-gun/navigating the GPS with no destination what-so-ever on a highway going the complete wrong way, it was like a dream...until i nearly had a panic attack while driving through the clouds when a sheep stopped us in the middle of the road with no civilization in site and the GPS failed due to the fact we were so high up in the mountains... yes, now it started becoming a comedic movie. at the time i seriously thought my last meal was going to be the bag of 'hoola hoops'- which were a bad version of bugles gone stale that i tried to wash down with a warm 'cola-cola'. 

needless to say, 3 days with our new car friend was more than enough bonding time, but when it came to making the deadline of the 5'oclock hour or being charged an extra day, you better belive we were ready to get that thing back to it's home. however, traffic in dublin at five oclock on a one way street going out of the city is worse than 90/94W  during a blizzard with a pile-up accident, and one lane closed due to construction. - yes traffic was worse in dublin. so our clock says it is 4:55, and we are less than a mile away, when i miss the turn and have to whip an illegal U'y, all while there is a cop watching me drive in the bus lane. let me mind you, we have no cell phone to call and let them know we will be there in minutes, so the only option at this point is for kate to flee the car mid traffic jam and sprint to the hertz man to make them aware we are almost there ... i think it was safe to say when i shimmied my way into the parking spot that would be too small for any typical american vehicle, i yanked the keys out of the engine for the last time and had already said my goodbyes back in the mountains.

the trip was unforgettable, and i do regret now looking back not blogging each day on the experiences. however, due to my photography complusion i took over a 1400 pictures and 10+ videos, and am pretty sure most of the moments that need to be remembered always will be-

what started out as a joke saying, turned into our favorite saying of 'god is shining down on us', will always continue with our travels...

which leads me to our next adventure.... 

AUSTRALIA. 

...here- we- come!!

7 days aways...

xoxo,
Simon.