Life in the fast lane.

Guess what, guys.

While I took my sweet time writing these Spain recaps, life kept on truckin' and a lot more things happened. I mean, a lot. Wheat and I just got home from a dreamy weekend trip to Denver, but before I launch into that, here is a quick recap of the last couple months.

Jenn took me to Columbus to see My Favorite Murder live. For those who don't know, MFM is a podcast where two comedians (Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark) tell true crime/murder stories to each other. Somehow, Jenn lucked into tickets in the second row(!) and we had an absolute blast listening to them discuss the "Angel of Death" Donald Harvey and the Circleville Letter Writer at the Palace Theater. We also used the trip as an opportunity to see TJ and Tasha, get Jeni's ice cream, and meet Todd for delicious pizza at Paulie Gee's. Dream scenario.

Wheat and I celebrated Valentine's Day at White Castle. When every day feels like Valentine's Day, it's not a big deal how you celebrate. So this year, we made reservations at White Castle and it might just become an annual tradition. Every booth in the dimly lit dining room had a tablecloth, fake candle, and flowers. Waiters actually took your order at the table from menus with specialty items like chocolate-covered strawberry shakes. Our food was served with silverware and the bill came out in a Valentine's Day card signed by the staff. Perfectly cheesy.

Plays and events galore. In the last couple months, Wheat and I have seen Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at Clowes Memorial Hall, Les Miserables at the Murat, and a moderated conversation with my queen Michelle Obama at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. All were incredible - need I say more?

We spent a couple wonderful weekends in Ohio during which I had an amazing girls' night in Over-the-Rhine with Jamie, Jenn, Elizabeth, and Kelly. We had alcoholic ice cream at Buzzed Bull Creamery, played some video games at 16 Bit, ate amazing gourmet hot dogs at Senate (the one below is the Lindsay Lohan), and played Yahtzee at Rook. My heart feels so full when I spend time with those girls. We also babysat Scarlett and got lunch at Little River Cafe with my mom and brother.

We took a quick trip to Nashville to see Wheat's parents...and by quick, I mean 24 hours. We stayed with some family friends, attended some other family friends' party, checked out the 12South neighborhood, and ate some barbecue, of course.

...and other things, too. The Eagles won the Super Bowl and March Madness broke our hearts and brackets. Jenn and Kenzie stayed the night with us on their way to St. Louis and we got pedicures and played the Sims. The weather pretended to warm up, then snowed, then warmed up, then snowed. Music competition reality shows nearly drove me into the ground with the return of The Voice and American Idol. Wheat and I met Jason Douglas (Tobin from The Walking Dead) at an Indy Fuel hockey game and he gave us a restaurant suggestion for our trip to Atlanta this summer.

It's been a lot, but it's also been really, really good. I hope this life never slows down.

¡Adios, España!

Is the last day of vacation a total bummer for everyone? For me, it's like the Sunday blues on steroids, especially when I'm staring down the barrel of long travel home and work right around the corner. On our last full day in Spain, we woke up to gray skies and drizzling rain, which also didn't improve our moods. However, we sucked it up and tried to make the most of...

Day 9

 Barcelona -- Madrid, Spain

Highlights: Olympic Museum

Barcelona hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics (the original Dream Team, anyone?), so we made plans to explore the sports facilities in our last few hours in town. Most of the Olympic stadiums, arenas, fields, etc. were built atop Montjuïc, so we took the metro to the base of the hill and rode the funicular to the top. From the station, it was a short walk to the Barcelona Olympic Museum.

For Olympics buffs, this place was an absolute hidden treasure. In addition to memorabilia from the 1992 Games (including the bow and arrow used to light the Olympic cauldron in the Opening Ceremony), the museum also had individual exhibits on the history and evolution of each sport, Olympic and otherwise. There was an impressive display of Olympic torches and an interactive video center where you could watch select clips from every televised Olympics up to 2008. Heaven.

Near the end of the museum, there was an activity center where you could test your reaction time, climb a rock wall, and compete in other physical activities. As you can imagine, Wheat had fun with that. Once we'd had our fill of the museum, we wandered over to the Olympic Stadium to see the Olympic cauldron itself.

Despite the rain, we decided to walk down from Montjuïc and admire the views along the way. At the bottom of the hill, we encountered Las Arenas, a massive former bullfighting ring turned shopping center in 2000. Fun fact: Catalonia (including Barcelona) banned bullfights in 2012, so many of these structures have been converted into concert venues, malls, etc. We killed a couple hours by wandering around the mall, eating lunch, and admiring the expansive 360º views from the rooftop, which is now filled with restaurants and bars. Oh, and we also had our last European gelato of the trip.

By this time, we had to get to the train station, so we headed back to our hotel to pick up our bags. We lugged them through the rain to the metro, then through the metro to the train station. A few hours later, we arrived in Madrid, where we took a cab to our hotel near the airport (Hotel Tach) and found the most delicious gyros and feta fries for dinner. The next morning, we rode the convenient hotel bus to the airport and just like that, our glorious Spanish adventure was over.

If you missed out on any of the fun, here are some links:

Madrid: 1, 2, 3

Toledo: 1

Barcelona: 1, 2, 3, 4

OR...since YouTube is much easier than reading, check out this awesome recap video that Wheat made of our trip. I married up, folks.

Churches, museums, and fountains - oh my!

With the headache of the previous day behind us and a couple bucket list items on the docket, we slept in a bit and woke up with renewed excitement for...

Day 8

Barcelona, Spain

Highlights: La Sagrada Familia, Picasso Museum, Magic Fountain of Montjuïc

Though I'm far from an architecture buff, one of the things I most wanted to do/see while in Spain was La Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudí's massive, unfinished church and staple of Barcelona postcards. With tickets (for the right day) in hand, we made our way back to Sagrada Familia and collected our audio guide headsets. After spending some time admiring the Nativity facade (which is unsurprisingly dedicated to the birth of Jesus and looks to me like melting candle wax), we hopped in line to go to the top of one of the towers.

There is an extra fee to visit the top of the church, but it is absolutely worth it. Due to space limitations in the towers, there is timed entry, but that allowed us some privacy while admiring the incredible views of the city. Despite a little acrophobia on Wheat's part, we walked across a small bridge from one tower to the next and were able to view the church's famous spires from a different, up-close vantage point.

You cannot ride the elevator back down, so we took our time winding down the tight spiral staircase to the ground floor. While there, we continued with our audio guide which explained the intricate details of the inside of the church. From the colors in the stained glass to the tall, tree-like vaults that support the roof, we were blown away by the effort and planning that has gone into (and still goes into) building this remarkable worship space. Construction on the church began in 1882 and is supposed to be finished in 2026 to mark the 100-year anniversary of Gaudí's death. We'll see if that happens. Regardless, it was fun to imagine what the church will look like once it's complete.

The gorgeous fusion of faith and nature was apparent in every detail and we spent at least an hour inside, gawking at the ceiling and admiring the enormous pipe organ. The final part of our audio tour took us back outside to admire the opposite exterior, the Passion Facade (which depicts the crucifixion of Christ). Although Gaudí's plans were considered, this much darker, angular side was designed by Josep Maria Subirachs after Gaudí's death and you can clearly see the sharp contrast in style. The third and final side, the Glory Facade, is under construction now, but will depict the resurrection of Christ.

After a quick stop in the basement of the church (which serves as a museum for the construction and the final resting place of Gaudí himself), we had lunch at an overpriced place nearby that seemingly gave us free appetizers (tomato bread), but then charged us for them at the end. These tourist traps are the bane of my existence. We had some time to kill after lunch, so we decided to do another walking tour courtesy of Rick Steves. This time, we explored El Born, a stylish neighborhood with lots of boutiques, restaurants, and night clubs. We stopped in yet another market, saw more Roman ruins, and avoided rain by ducking into little shops along the way.

The Picasso Museum, which is actually housed in a gorgeous medieval palace in La Ribera, offers free admission on Thursday evenings, so we booked tickets a few days in advance. Photography isn't allowed inside, but we spent a couple hours following along with our audio guide and learning about the artist's formative years. None of Picasso's super famous works are displayed in the museum, but we left with a much deeper understanding of his childhood and his early works, including a series of paintings he did recreating and re-imagining Velázquez's Las Meninas.

From the museum, we booked it over to Montjuïc to see the famous Magic Fountains. This 15-minute water and light show set to music is basically Barcelona's version of the Bellagio Fountains, so yeah - you can say I enjoyed it. By this point, we had worked up quite an appetite, so we took the metro to Barceloneta for one last romantic paella dinner near the beach.

It's a rough life, isn't it?