Joined Sep 2007
Love It, VS!
Forum Thread
The Official Good Girls Thread
November 5, 2011 at
11:50 PM
New name, same girls!
Let me reintroduce, the VS Social Thread!
Since the Social Threads seem to have been done away with, this is the new home of the VS Social Thread. We talk about everything from VS to Express to Beauty to Coupons to Hot Deals...and of course, our personal lives.
Roll call! Let's get back to what we do!
Let me reintroduce, the VS Social Thread!
Since the Social Threads seem to have been done away with, this is the new home of the VS Social Thread. We talk about everything from VS to Express to Beauty to Coupons to Hot Deals...and of course, our personal lives.
Roll call! Let's get back to what we do!
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Helsinki, Finland was okay. I saw a church in rock. The city was small and sterile. Not at the top of any list of mine. Perhaps I didn't see the right stuff, but I hit all of the major touristy attractions.
I thought I was going to be wowed by St. Petersburg, a dream destination of mine. There is a "cruise line" (St. Peter line) that will take you from Helsinki-St.Petersburg (and back) for about $250 (double occupancy). Russia has a policy where you are allowed 72 hours visa free (tourist exception) if you come on an "approved cruise" and take a "tour" (bus to city center organized by cruise). My boat left at 6:00 PM, arrived 9:00 am the next morning and left that same day at 6:00 PM. I had one day. If something sounds too goo to be true, it usually is, but this was a truly good experience I would recommend to anyone who doesn't want to go through the visa process (which is VERY lengthy and about $200). The cruise line was nicer than I expected, didn't gouge you on prices, and had a nice duty free (that even sold beer). I wound up watching the wold cup drinking in the halls with some people I met. It was great. St. Petersburg was beautiful, but I didn't see enough. I was not blown away, though. Again, perhaps things would have been different if I knew a local.
Helsinki, Finland was okay. I saw a church in rock. The city was small and sterile. Not at the top of any list of mine. Perhaps I didn't see the right stuff, but I hit all of the major touristy attractions.
I thought I was going to be wowed by St. Petersburg, a dream destination of mine. There is a "cruise line" (St. Peter line) that will take you from Helsinki-St.Petersburg (and back) for about $250 (double occupancy). Russia has a policy where you are allowed 72 hours visa free (tourist exception) if you come on an "approved cruise" and take a "tour" (bus to city center organized by cruise). My boat left at 6:00 PM, arrived 9:00 am the next morning and left that same day at 6:00 PM. I had one day. If something sounds too goo to be true, it usually is, but this was a truly good experience I would recommend to anyone who doesn't want to go through the visa process (which is VERY lengthy and about $200). The cruise line was nicer than I expected, didn't gouge you on prices, and had a nice duty free (that even sold beer). I wound up watching the wold cup drinking in the halls with some people I met. It was great. St. Petersburg was beautiful, but I didn't see enough. I was not blown away, though. Again, perhaps things would have been different if I knew a local.
Ps any pics of the ridiculously good looking people?
Ps any pics of the ridiculously good looking people?
Haha! I wish. Seriously, everyone was ridiculously good looking. Fit old ladies on bikes with silver hair, tall old men with good posture, modelesque tall blonde women all over, and tall men with chiseled jaws everywhere. Even all of the children were adorable. I'm surprised there aren't more famous Danish models.
By dumb luck, I wound up in Estonia during the Estonian Song Festival, which is the largest festival in Estonia, occurring only once every 5 years! People practice singing for years in order to get here. This festival is a HUGE deal here, and practically everyone from Estonia takes part. 30,000 singers and 100,000 people in attendance (at least) to the concert I went to. There was a 6 hour procession to the grounds, and people watched the whole thing. The part of the concert I went to was 4 hours, and no one left early. I enjoyed every minute of it, despite not understanding a word. It was really moving. Estonia wasn't a free country until 1991. I was asking an Estonian girl my age about her childhood memories, and she has memories of not being allowed to play outside because her mother said the (Russian) tanks were coming. This festival is so important to the Estonian people, and it really gave me a lot of perspective regarding how much I take my freedom for granted. The rest of Estonia was great (beautiful Old Town, lots of history, pretty churches, old wall, LOTS of towers), but the whole trip was overshadowed by song fest. If anyone finds themselves in Scandinavia, visit Tallinn, Estonia, even without the song festival. It is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen (even prettier than Stockholm, which has a reputation for being pretty), and its culture will blow your mind.
After enjoying Estonia and Latvia so much, I'm starting to think more critically about where to visit. These countries probably don't have nearly as big of a tourism budget as Stockholm but are practically just as easy to reach. I think a well run tourist bureau is incredibly important for a country.
By dumb luck, I wound up in Estonia during the Estonian Song Festival, which is the largest festival in Estonia, occurring only once every 5 years! People practice singing for years in order to get here. This festival is a HUGE deal here, and practically everyone from Estonia takes part. 30,000 singers and 100,000 people in attendance (at least) to the concert I went to. There was a 6 hour procession to the grounds, and people watched the whole thing. The part of the concert I went to was 4 hours, and no one left early. I enjoyed every minute of it, despite not understanding a word. It was really moving. Estonia wasn't a free country until 1991. I was asking an Estonian girl my age about her childhood memories, and she has memories of not being allowed to play outside because her mother said the (Russian) tanks were coming. This festival is so important to the Estonian people, and it really gave me a lot of perspective regarding how much I take my freedom for granted. The rest of Estonia was great (beautiful Old Town, lots of history, pretty churches, old wall, LOTS of towers), but the whole trip was overshadowed by song fest. If anyone finds themselves in Scandinavia, visit Tallinn, Estonia, even without the song festival. It is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen (even prettier than Stockholm, which has a reputation for being pretty), and its culture will blow your mind.
After enjoying Estonia and Latvia so much, I'm starting to think more critically about where to visit. These countries probably don't have nearly as big of a tourism budget as Stockholm but are practically just as easy to reach. I think a well run tourist bureau is incredibly important for a country.
Also, one other cool story. I went to the KGB headquarters in Latvia, which has turned into a museum of sorts. When I approached the building, I heard a really loud scream and had assumed it was a tape playing to scare people because it was a really eerie place and a lot of people were tortured in there. People used to jump from the windows to the courtyard and such. I was talking with my friends about how creepy the tape was. None of them heard the scream I did. So creepy.
Also, apparently, the Nazis kept the headquarters just as it was in Lenin's time. They didn't change a thing. They used it as propaganda and basically said, "At least we're not as bad as this." Many (of course, not all) Latvians jumped on board with the Nazis because they weren't as cruel as Lenin. I learned this from the tour guide. This was the only time I had ever heard anyone paint the Nazis in a somewhat positive light. Really moving place. Crazy how well preserved it is.
It may close after October, though, due to budget reasons. They only charged 2 euro to get in ($2.66). Perhaps that was part of the problem.
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I found a vs with houndstooth wallpaper the other day! Got me excited!
Miss you!
I make really good brownies! Sometimes I go all out and add extra chocolate chips to the mix.
I miss you pepper. I liked reading about how things were going. Can you still not drive or has that been resolved?
You're not being biased. She's a cutie. I love baby cuddles.
Interesting facts:
People in Denmark are ridiculously good looking. The Danish are the happiest people in the world (according to a famous World Bank study), and it must be because they exercise all the time (more bikes than I could imagine) and people are RIDICULOUSLY good looking. Also, the Tivoli Gardens are so beautiful I felt like I was walking on a movie set.
Oslo was okay...and incredibly expensive. I saw some cool Viking Ships from 800 AD and a folk museum that took over 150 super old farm houses from around Norway and put them in one place. I went to a similar museum in Stockholm that was also amazing (Skansen).
Stockholm (the Venice of the North) was beautiful (and also extremely expensive). The city was SO beautiful and had some of the best museums I've ever been to. I did a bunch of Nobel stuff. The Norse museum (Swedish traditions) was captivating, and the photography museum was the best I had ever been to. Lots of culture and traditions. Picture below of Stockholm.
Helsinki, Finland was okay. I saw a church in rock. The city was small and sterile. Not at the top of any list of mine. Perhaps I didn't see the right stuff, but I hit all of the major touristy attractions.
I thought I was going to be wowed by St. Petersburg, a dream destination of mine. There is a "cruise line" (St. Peter line) that will take you from Helsinki-St.Petersburg (and back) for about $250 (double occupancy). Russia has a policy where you are allowed 72 hours visa free (tourist exception) if you come on an "approved cruise" and take a "tour" (bus to city center organized by cruise). My boat left at 6:00 PM, arrived 9:00 am the next morning and left that same day at 6:00 PM. I had one day. If something sounds too goo to be true, it usually is, but this was a truly good experience I would recommend to anyone who doesn't want to go through the visa process (which is VERY lengthy and about $200). The cruise line was nicer than I expected, didn't gouge you on prices, and had a nice duty free (that even sold beer). I wound up watching the wold cup drinking in the halls with some people I met. It was great. St. Petersburg was beautiful, but I didn't see enough. I was not blown away, though. Again, perhaps things would have been different if I knew a local.
i usually get betty crocker or duncan hines (do they have one? if they do i like it... but it's been awhile since i've baked!) and hate the hersheys one. i hate hersheys chocolate in general, so it's not a surprise i don't like their brownie mix.
i once did a brownie recipe showdown where i tried out a few different types of cocoa powder. the end result was - none of them tasted as good as the box mixes. seriously. i think i needed to buy baking chocolate bars to get them to taste more rich. i was pretty bummed by that, but it validated my love for the brownie mixes.
OMG - speaking of brownie mix, the Ghiradelli dark chocolate mix makes the BEST brownies ever. Seriously. It has dark chocolate chips in it - they sell it at Target!
i've actually been trying a cc air cushion that's all the rage in korea at the moment (or for the last year). i have to say - i'm impressed. i never thought i'd like something so luminous but it's so easy to apply and seems to look very natural. i've been using the amore pacific one since i had sephora store credit, but there are cheaper ones on the market (especially if you buy one from korea, which you'll need since the US ones may be too dark for fair skinned ladies).
Thanks - how is DS doing? Anymore awesome revelations about life like he had with the dinosaurs?
OMG - speaking of brownie mix, the Ghiradelli dark chocolate mix makes the BEST brownies ever. Seriously. It has dark chocolate chips in it - they sell it at Target!
He told me the other day he remembers being born. He's full of randomness.
I'll have to try that mix. I've used Ghiradelli before, but I know they have several, and I'm not sure which version I purchased. My fav is the kind they sell at Sam's.
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7 on one account so far. all processed but none shipped yet! this is looking to be better than last year at least!
I've placed 6 on my account without being cut off