Pack Your Bags: Burano, Italy

While it may be a place

that can completely be "seen" in a day or two,

Venice is an absolute must 

for planning a trip to Italy.

Maybe you don't have to go your first trip...

but promise me, 

at some point in your life,

you'll make it here.

It's like nothing you've ever seen.

After visiting Venice a handful of times,

I was pretty confident that I had seen all there was to see.

Until my sister pointed me in the direction 

of the island of Burano

during a trip there in 2007.

Now Murano is the really famous island 

where all the gorgeous glass is made,

but Burano is the other island,

that's located a bit further out,

where the (somewhat less famous) Venetian lace has it's home.

While it was fairly unknown a handful of years ago,

it has grown increasingly popular

over the past five to ten years.

Each time we go,

the boat has more and more people on it

and the island's main canal 

has more people walking down 

taking in the gorgeous colors of the island.

Even with it becoming "discovered,"
it's still absolutely worth seeing for yourself.

So why spend your time in Venice 
heading out to Burano?

Well for starters,

it's gorgeous.

Each house is painted a different color

that creates an effect that is incredibly charming.

It's also tiny 

so it's a perfect way 

to fill an afternoon 

with walking, picture taking & eating.

{Which are the best parts of traveling, right?}

If it's sunny, you can find warm nooks by the water

and take a little snooze in the sunshine.

Cassie from Hi Sugarplum! asked if I had ever eaten 

at a restaurant that she had seen featured on Anthony Bourdain

located on the (tiny) main canal

with a green & white striped awning.

Umm, nope.

But I was determined not to miss it this time.

We only found one restaurant with a green & white awning.

We walked in to find a really basic restaurant

that was stuffed with Italians.

{This my friends, is a good sign in a tourist destination.}

It was lasagna day

and Tyler made the genius choice

to order the plate of the day.

I only got one tiny corner bite,

but it was incredible...

 Completely worth a Ryan Air flight back 

just for plate of my own.

{My soup was pretty tasty, too... but the lasagna won.}

I still have no idea what the name of the restaurant is

but you should be able to find it
if you're on the main drag...

UPDATE: Apparently, it wasn't the same place from the show...
that place is called "Da Romano."

So now you have two recommendations for dining in Burano.

One from me, one from Anthony Bourdain. 
You can pick his over mine, it won't hurt my feelings.

_________________

From there,

enjoy the quiet stroll around the island

and the opportunity to take pictures

and simply enjoy la dolce vita.

Here are few things to know

for your trip to Burano:

Take the Vaparetto #12

from Fondamente Nove...

located on the northern part of Venice,

about a 15 minute walk from the big touristy areas.

This is the quickest boat (about 45 minutes)

and will stop at both Murano & Burano.

If you aren't planning on traveling by boat

anywhere else that day,

you can buy single tickets (€7 each way)

and save some money from purchasing thh 24 hour pass.

The boats run approxiamately every 30 minutes

at 20 minutes & 50 minutes past the hour.

*all images original to Aspiring Kennedy

A Royal Baby Shower

While I may have anticipated pregnancy including

 blowing out of my clothes,

flares of emotional absurdity,

and a slew of other unwelcome aspects,

one thing beautiful about pregnancy I never anticipated

was the outpouring of LOVE that I would experience.

 I have been blown away

by the amount of love and support 

that has been gifted to us during this time.

Not only does it remind me 

of how lucky we are to have such great people in our life,

but it's also been a good reminder

of how important it is

to gift that sort of love and attention to others...

{Because being treated like a princess feels amazing.}

While in the States in December,

I was spoiled absolutely rotten 

with beautiful showers 

in Dallas & Oklahoma City....

So when my friends in London

hosted a THIRD shower for me this weekend,

it almost felt like too much.

Almost. :)

The afternoon was intimate,

attended by a handful of girls I adore,

and prettier than a Pinterest dream...

It was a "Royal Baby Shower"

completely decked out in gold & glitter

for our two princesses. 

{Kate Middleton only wishes 

her sister threw parties this adorable.}

Homemade Tahitian Vanilla & Coconut Cake? I ate an enormously huge wedge of this. Recipe here. 

Sparkly sugar cookies that tasted like a dream and flaky palmiers.

________________

Thank you Amber & Helena 

for hosting this gorgeous day for

me and my little girls...

I can't believe all the work and love 

you both put into making this day so special.

***

Thanks to all my blogging friends

who sent in your secret videos for the day.

Oh my goodness...

it was fantastic to see all of your sweet faces

make a surprise appearance at the shower.

***

And a special shout out to Liz  for flying in from Amsterdam

for the weekend to celebrate & take maternity pics for us...

what an amazing gift!

*images original to A Diary of Lovely.

The {Baby}moon's Over.

We came.

We saw.

We conquered.

Our babymoon in Venice

was a trip that I have no doubt

the two of us will remember for many years to come.

It truly was a babymoon for the record books.

I took extra care to seek out some good spots

while on this trip

that I can't wait to share with you later this week...

But do you know what else I did?

 I  really enjoyed the weekend for what it was....

completely baby free. :)

________________

This trip marks the end of an era for the two of us....

we have gone so many places, 

seen countless amazing things,

eaten our fair share of delicious things...

and taken entirely too many kissing pictures.

But times, they are a changing.

{Quickly, too, from the rate my stomach is expanding.}

I can't wait to see what new traditions & quirks

these two additions bring to our lives & travels...

.... but I'll always be thankful 

to have shared this time 

with such a sweet {&, methinks, attractive} man.

{And I'm so thankful for each of YOU for sharing in our travels & life changes.}

Grazie mille.

*all images original to Aspiring Kennedy

Their Daddy's Mouth

Alright.

I'm doing it.

I'm blogging about being pregnant.

Well actually,

I'm going to talk about 

Tyler and my pregnancy.

While each child and pregnancy is special,

there has to be something extra lovely

about a man & woman

going through this process together 

for the first time...

...because as much as I want to remember the feeling of my babies kicking,

the way I felt when I first found out I was pregnant

or the way they bounce around on the sonogram screen,

there is no way in heck I want to forget these gems

that have come out of my husband's mouth.

What I saw when I walked out to the car after we found out we were having twins.

When I showed him my pregnancy test,

I said "Look! Two lines!"

To which he replied...

"Woah. What does that mean??"

To which I laughed:

"Just that I'm pregnant... 

not that there are two babies."

{That joke was on me.}

_________________

While waiting at the Doctor's office:

Lauren: Hey babe, look.

Remind me to tell our midwife that we want a home birth.

{Sarcastically points to flyer on wall about elective home births.}

Tyler: What? We can't do a home birth...

Lauren: Well, duh. I know...

but why do you say that?

Tyler: Because our bath tub isn't big enough 

for both of us and the nurse to fit in it at the same time.

Lauren: What?
 Oh babe, no.

No, that's not what happens.

It's not always in the bath tub.

Tyler: Huh? Where is it?

Lauren: It's like, on the bed, babe.

Tyler: You do what?

{Gags.}

Do they make trashbags that big?

_______________

You know babe, 

now that your stomach is so big

it makes your butt look smaller.

________________

While looking through racks of baby clothes,

I held up two outfits 

and suggested them for their coming home outfits.

Tyler looked at me like I was an alien

and asked why we needed to buy outfits 

to bring them home from the hospital.

I replied that we would have to bring them home in something.

To which he just rolled his eyes and said: 

Why can't we just wrap them up in blankets over their diapers?

______________

So there we have it.

Straight from the mouth of man 

who has given me two offspring...

and I can only hope they are just like him.

Venice of the Past

One thing that makes Venice

so incredibly endearing

is the old world charm

that sleepily drifts between 

each of it's lonely canals.

While it's hard to wander through this city,

see flooded homes that are now quietly locked up

and wonder about the people and days

that used to occupy this now quiet city.

I can't speak for the ornate years

of Venetian splendor,

but I do know that two years ago

we sure did have an awesome time there

while celebrating our anniversary.

While we are back in Venice today
 drifting around from canal to canal today,

here's a look back to our 4th anniversary...

when I made my first video for a trip

and still didn't really understand 

how to erase the background noise.

{We've all got to start somewhere, right?}

Have a great weekend!

*video original to Aspiring Kennedy

Ciao Venezia!

Buon giorno!

Today, we are off to Venice

for one last adventure

for just the two of us.

While we both hope 

that babies won't mean 

an end to our adventures,

we definitely won't be

sleeping in late

and staying out at long dinners

for a while...

but that's okay, 

because that will be an adventure, too...

Erm... right?

There's snow on the forecast today

here in London,

so keep your fingers crossed

that the runways are clear

and planes are moving

so that this mamma mia

can get to Italy!

We'll be with our good friends,

Tyler & Amber

wandering around Burano,

exploring lonely canals,

and eating an obscene amount of carbs & dairy.

{YOLO.}

We've been to Venice a handful of times

and I hav to say...

there's not a single restaurant

that I can remember being amazing there.

Okay, other than Harry's Bar 

and while we are living it up this weekend...

we aren't living it up to that extent!

Anyone have a place that you particularly 

love to eat in Venice?

And don't forget,

you're welcome to join our trip 

{via Instagram...}

username: aspiringkennedy

____________

PS. I just realized this will be the girls

third time to Italy already

after my trips to Rome & Tuscany this summer...

and they aren't even born!

If they keep up moves like this,

they are going to make me look bad. ;)

*image via

In The Moment.

I had one of those moments tonight

where the gravity of how good things are

falls on your heart

and life just seems so precious.

I was sitting in a bubble bath

{pretty much my favorite time of day}

and suddenly got worked up.

Maybe it's the increase in hormones

or the big changes closing in on us...

but having this man beside me,

these crazy babies inside me

and family & friends that lavish us with support

makes me feel like a really lucky lady.

photo by Victoria Wall Harris

I know, I know

we aren't guaranteed what tomorrow will look like,

it could really suck.

But I don't like to live  

preparing for the worst-case scenario...

because it robs today of all it's goodness.

For this small window of time

...in this tiny flat 

that is gets increasingly crowded

with baby stuff, Tyler & I both working from home

and my ever-expanding stomach,

life is sweet.

Getting loved on by my friends at my Dallas baby shower.

Ok, now it's your turn to get all Pollyanna 

and look at this phase of your life 

through some rose colored glasses.

How will you look back 

on what is great 

about this stage of your life?

Go.

_________________________


PS. Congratulations, Heather Moore! 
Number #65 was the lucky winner for the giveaway
from Sunglasses Shop... and that was you!

Working Overseas: 5 Things to Know

Some of you have asked in the past

what one would need to do 

to move overseas.

I'm by no means an expert...

but as someone who has managed to move here,

I guess I have a bit of an advantage.

I've offered the little I know

 a couple of times to you in the past

-probably best on my vlog-

but with new readers

and new tides of college graduates

wanting to move somewhere exciting

comes an influx of these questions.

If you've written to me

and I haven't replied 

over the past few weeks,

I was stock-piling over the holidays

in efforts to address you in an official post.

Please forgive my tardiness

and let these five things

help kick-start your brain 

into crafting what you need to do to move

 somewhere fabulous and exotic.

___________________

1. If you want to move to a new country,

you must immigrate there legally... with a visa!

If I were to guess, I'd say about 90% of people don't realize this fact.

Maybe it's because most of us are Americans 

who can move freely from state to state

without any problem.

If we want to pack up and move to New York City,

by gosh- we can.

So it doesn't occur to us that moving to London or Paris would be any different.

I don't think I fully realized this until I had to do it myself,

so I can't blame you.

Some how in movies and books,

they skip all the red tape, biometrics & applications.

But you'll need to officially immigrate

so that you do the big stuff like be hired for a job,

open a bank account, rent an apartment and have health care.

2. They don't make it easy for you to move here.

Completing the paperwork for a visa

is the modern man's form 

of survival of the fittest.

The forms are terribly long

and you can expect as much feedback

as talking to a brick wall.

Take all the paperwork you fill out seriously.

Filling in the wrong answer

could black ball your application 

from getting processed then...

and perhaps upon future submissions.

Oh, and it's expensive...

we have to get visas for our little ladies

that will last for approximately 11 months.

It's going to cost us £1200

and then we will have to re-apply for our third visa

the following spring.

3. Consider higher education.

For any 20-something that writes me,

my best advice for moving overseas

is to come over on a student visa.

They are the most obtainable,

the easiest to process,

& the most common way

I know that other expats have moved into a country.

Many countries will offer some sort of 

"post study visa" 

that will allow you to reside in the country

for a couple of years to follow.

It's a great way to immigrate in to the country,

make a network of friends through your program,

and get your foot in the door...

Oh, and you get a degree out of it, too.

Score.

{Megan answered some great/common questions about studying in the UK here.}

4. "But can't I just apply for a job in Europe and get a visa that way?"

When I was finishing my last semester of college, 

I remember scrolling through the French L'Oreal website

looking for potential jobs.

What my optimistic 21 year-old self didn't realize

was that I wasn't eligible to work any of these jobs...

because I didn't have a work permit.

In the UK, a job has to posted for a minimum of 90 days

before it can be submitted for a non-citizen to apply for it.

Assuming that it gets to that point,

they would then have to make a case

supporting why YOU are the only person that can fill this job

and why NO OTHER CITIZEN could also do it.

You have to be pretty specialized to work this angle.

I'm not sure how it exactly works in other EU countries,

but I know it's similar to this...

and it makes sense, I suppose.

Why give your local jobs out to other people

and let your own unemployment rates go up?

Especially since so many of these countries

are offering healthcare to their citizens.

They need them to be paying back in with income taxes 

to keep everything supported...

which is why they aren't making it easy for us adorable Americans

to fill out an application that could take away their jobs.

See what I mean? 

It kind of has to be this way.

One caveat to this is being transferred in from a large company

that has offices in both countries.

Large accounting firms, law firms & other businesses

can transfer existing employees to offices in other countries.

These are typically companies that are large enough

to support the moving costs & visas that come with immigrating.

Most of these companies offer 2-3 year moves.

It's an awesome deal 

and I'm always jealous of our friends that move this way...

they get taken care very well.

5. It's not impossible.

All of this gloom and doom talk is discouraging, I know,

but hey, look-

I'm an American and I live in London!

Obviously, there are plenty of us here, 

so it's not like the door is completely closed

to getting to move to a different country.

It's just important to know what you are up against

before you start making grand plans to move overseas...

because unless you plan accordingly,

you're only allowed to stay for 90 days on a tourist visa.

And while any 90 day vacation would be pretty sweet,

you're looking for a life overseas,

so it's important you start down the right path.

_____________

Every person's immigration story is different,

so there isn't a set formula for how to get over here.

The best I can offer is murky, muddled advice that I've gathered

over our time in England 

from our experiences

and the experiences of our friends.

While I may not be able to offer much more advice than that,

I can offer you my encouragement:

it's completely worth the struggle!

*This is written for Americans. All of you Commonwealth countries are much luckier 

when moving about amongst yourself... and for that, we remain extremely jealous.

*images borrowed from here.

Pack Your Bags: Irish Day Trips

First, I need to apologize

for making some people

very sad when I posted about Dublin.

I said I didn't really love the city

and that I had hard time connecting to it.

So, I'm sorry.

{I actually am, as I get really sad when people don't connect with a place I love.}

Though it was awesome having you pour out in the comments

what things & places made the city great to you

and I can't wait to try out some of your suggestions the next time I'm there.

So while Dublin still isn't my favorite place in the world,

I can't say one bad word about Ireland as a whole.

Getting out of the city

and into the quieter places of the country

is something I hope everyone gets to do at some point in their life.

{And I'm itching to get to Northern Ireland... luckily I have a hot wedding to go to there this June.}

If you are wanting to get out Dodge

{or Dublin, whatever},

I would recommend these two day trips.

*****

Glendalough

& Wicklow National Park

If you can get out of Dublin,

it's worth the hour-ish drive out to to Glendalough 

home of good old St. Kevin

and his (once) famous monastic community.

The ruins of this long-lasting community

are in impressive shape,

considering how long they have been around.

There is a small museum at the Welcome Center

that will brief you on the history of the site

and then you can head out to see the ruins in person.

{I always like getting some context before heading out to a site. Who doesn't though?}

After you've looked at all the old rocks, ruins & graves your heart can handle,

head out to the lakes for the real treat.

There are two lakes...

the first is about 5-10 minutes away

and it's really pretty.

But keep going on the path

until you reach the second lake

{about 20-30 minutes from the ruin site}

so you can see this.

You won't be sad you did.

If you're in need of a great place to eat,

right up the road from Glendalough

is the charming Wicklow Heather.

Not only is the food delicious,

but the restaurant is a literary-nerd's heaven

showcasing first-edition works by famous authors

such as James Joyce & Yeats in their Writer's Room.

{Editor's Note: Remember in PS I Love You when Hilary Swank mets Gerard Butler

on the road in the Wicklow National Park... 

yes, these are those Wicklow Mountains.}

***

The Cliffs of Moher

I've been to Ireland

several times before making it out to this famous coastline.

I'd call it a "Rookie Mistake,"

but obviously, seeing as how many times I've gone 

 that wouldn't really apply.

The Cliffs of Moher 

{or "The Cliffs of Insanity"as you Princess Bride fans may know them}

are on the Western Coast of Ireland.

It takes several hours to get out there

and making it out there will take up a day of time.

But is it worth it?

Oh yeah, baby.

Because after you get there, 

you can have this view.

{24 week pregnant lady not included.}

There is a small cafe & a restaurant at the newly refinished visitor's center

that you can find warmth in 

once those coastal breezes get the better of you.

Rangers can lead informational walks, 

but from my personal experience,

 it's not anything to cry over

if you miss out on making the tour.

Apparently, there's not much to say about these cliffs 

other than that they are really old 

and that puffins come to nest there in the summer.

To reach the famous cliffs,

you have two options:

you can take a tour with a group like McCoole Day Tours

or you can drive yourself.

If you drive yourself, will you promise to stop in the town of Ennis for lunch?

It's a tiny little Irish village

complete with an adorable town square

and it will make your day trip all the better.

You have the Aspiring Kennedy's word on it.

For what it's worth,

I've also heard Galway is more than worth visiting

when you're out that way.

__________


PS. There's an awesome giveaway happening right now
for a sweet pair of shades from The Sunglasses Shop. 
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