Untitled, because I can.

"Untitled" is the default to every blog post title. And honestly, I am leaving it because I don't have the energy to think of something more engaging or witty.

Which brings me to my post:

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So I needed a little escapism this week (note: it's currently Tuesday as I type this), so I dug into the depths of my Facebook photos hoping to uncover an image that would snap me back to a simpler time.

While images of a thinner* me living it up in college would usually be my go-to... it now takes me more than 1000 clicks to go that far back in my digital past (because I'm OLD), so I perused through post-college pictures of happiness, instead. AKA travel photos.

One photo during this therapy session really hit home:

I can paint you the picture in words because you asked so nicely.

It was 2015. I was a 26 year old professional on the trip of a lifetime with some of my very very best friends (but you know this already because you're a religious Fresh Air, No Cares follower. Or you're my mom. Hi MOM! ...Or you were on the trip with me.

So it was our second day getting lost on the incredible island of Venezia without a care in the freakin' world. At this point, we had only begun our beautiful Italian journey, but the feeling of magic and gratefulness that we were all together in a foreign land had definitely set in.

The weather was a balmy 86, even as we entered twilight. It was the kind of weather where your clothes stick to you and you feel like you've hit the lottery if someone sneezes on you because then at least there's a chance for a breeze, no matter how miniscule.

Our one friend had suggested we get a little cicheti (small bites) for dinner, so we found a decent place that looked to have local patrons.

In a group of 2, then 3, we went in and ordered our petite meal to tide us over until the next round of gelato that occurred like clockwork every hour, on the hour .... JK!

.... maybe...

(not pictured: at least 30+ gelato cups / cones where we enjoyed without the burden of snapping a photo)

credit: my friends

Anyways, we gathered our utensils, food, drink, and napkins looking for someplace to sit.

Since we were fairly new to the whole cicheti scene, we did not realize that we were hitting the place at prime time and should have come earlier if we actually wanted to sit whilst devouring small, savory pastries.

Without much of a choice, we wandered around a nearby corner in search of a table, nay, stone to lay our bounty. No surprise: There wasn't anything available... and the more we walked around with our arms full of food and sloshing around our beverages, the more attention we drew to the fact that we weren't from around those there parts.

So we took a left, then a right, perhaps another left, then right toward a Venetian dead end (aka until we hit a canal). Maybe the immediate calm in my heart was from the fact that I was about to put food in my mouth and that is my favorite thing... or maybe because I knew that I was about to make a lasting memory in my mind, heart, and soul.

We hung our purses on a concrete peg where I imagine some local ties off his/her boat in the evenings at the end of a long workday, and we began to eat, drink, and be merry. I can't remember a damn thing we discussed or what I ate, but I do remember being extremely happy and content. I remember laughing. I remember feeling like this was meant to be a moment to remember.

And remember I have.

I am grateful to have that simple picture to bring me back to that time.

If only to get a faint taste of cichete in my mouth and a warmth in my heart.

It has done its job. I can get through this week.

Traveling is amazing

& so are friends <3

Skål xx

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* marginally