USA - Lili on the Loose

20 04, 2015

Museum Monday: Cartier Stomacher Brooch

By Lili|April 20th, 2015|Categories: Museums, Travel|Tags: Brilliant: Cartier in the 20th Century, cartier, Colorado, DAM, Denver, Denver Art Museum, diamonds, museum, North America, platinum, sapphires, USA|0 Comments

The Denver Art Museum had an exhibit called Brilliant: Cartier in the 20th Century which I was lucky enough to see in its last few days. I found that I loved the early styles of the 1900's. One unique piece was a Stomacher Broach made in 1907. Stomachers were worn below the breast on the stomach. It is in the Garland style and is made with platinum, diamonds, and 51 carats of sapphires. Cartier Paris 1907 Museum Monday is an every other week series about museum news, objects, and reviews.

18 04, 2015

Souvenir Saturday: Chocolate Frogs

By Lili|April 18th, 2015|Categories: Geek, Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2012, 2016, Book, Cards, chocolate, Chocolate Frog, Disney, Florida, Harry Potter, Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, Honeydukes, Islands of Adventure, Keychain, Movie, North America, Orlando, Orlando Adventure 2012, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Universal Studios, USA, Walt Disney World, Witches, Wizarding World, Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Wizards|0 Comments

Which Card Will You Get? Chocolate Frogs are an iconic snack from the Harry Potter books. They also are a great souvenir from the Wizard World of Harry Potter in Orlando, FL. I was a little worried as I had two issues when purchasing these. Firstly, it was August, and hot, and I worried that the chocolate would melt. The other issue is that you don't know what card you are going to get. At the time there were just 4 cards, one for each founder. The first few boxes I got were for Salazar Slytherin. I

13 04, 2015

Travel Missteps: The Legend of the Hubcap Nachos

By Lili|April 13th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 1997, 2012, Florida, Hawaii, Margaritaville, Nachos, North America, Oahu, Orlando, Orlando Adventure 2012, Sunburn, Sunburnt 1997, USA|1 Comment

When I was in middle school we took a family vacation to Hawaii. I...didn’t enjoy it that much. The first day I got the worst sunburn I’ve ever had in my life and was miserable the entire trip. Our cheap hotel was going under major renovations...and smelled like cat pee. (I also think it was a sweatshop, as the 2nd floor was a warehouse room where many women were making cheap jewelry from beads and shells.) I didn’t know you were suppose to barter at the nearby marketplace and spent all of my spending money on a Japanese money cat

6 04, 2015

Museum Monday: Journey to the Silk Road

By Lili|April 6th, 2015|Categories: Museums, Travel|Tags: Colorado, Denver, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, DMNS, exhibit, museum, North America, silk road, USA|0 Comments

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science's Silk Road exhibit is around for just one more month! Be sure to check it out! Note that you need an additional ticket to see this one but it is well worth it. You aren't allowed to take photos, but this link has a lot of good ones. I really enjoyed the live Silk Worms and can now understand why silk is so expensive! I also loved how as you travel through the various cities on the silk road, that they have detailed sections of what they brought with them to trade, and

26 03, 2015

Egypt Trip Itinerary

By Lili|March 26th, 2015|Categories: Itinerary, Travel, Upcoming Travel|Tags: 2015, Abu Simbel, Abu Sir, activities, Africa, Alexandria, Aswan, Cairo, Cruise, Dahshur, Dashur, Denver, Dream of Egypt, Edfu, Egypt, Egypt Explorer, Europe, Frankfurt, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Germany, Giza, itinerary, Kom Ombo, Luxor, Memphis, Middle East, Munich, museum, Nile, North America, Pyramids, Saqqara, Sharm, Sharm el Sheikh, Temple, tour, USA, Wadi Natrum|0 Comments

Within the next few months I will be embarking on my dream trip of a lifetime - EGYPT! I've been wanting to do this trip forever and actually had the money saved up to go in 2011, but the revolution put a kink in my plans. I was skittish, not wanting to go during that trouble period. But I realize now, things will never be stable...at least not for another decade or so. And so I must take a leap of faith, stop waiting, and just go! So for the last few months I've been planning this trip. Below is

23 03, 2015

Review: Mythic Creatures at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science

By Lili|March 23rd, 2015|Categories: Museums, Travel, Travel Review|Tags: ancient coins, coins, Colorado, Denver, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, DMNS, dragon, exhibit, Fantasy, Kraken, Mayan, Mermaid, museum, Mythical Creatures, Myths, North America, Pegasus, Quetzalcoatl, Review, Unicorn, USA|0 Comments

A Unicorn at Mythic Creatures at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. I had the opportunity to see the new Mythic Creatures exhibit at Denver Museum of Nature & Science last week at a preview night. As a child my grandmother gave me a book on fairy tales that captured my imagination. And as I grew up my interest in fantasy books and movies only grew. So I had high hopes for this exhibit! A modern take of a Pegasus as if it was a Carousel Horse. The exhibit is laid out into 3 sections:

8 03, 2015

The Sounds that Travel with Us

By Lili|March 8th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories|Tags: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, All in the family Italy 2005/2006, Asia, at the heart of it Ireland 2009, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, Belize, BuzzFeed, California, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, Christmas in Germany, christmas music, Costa Rica, drinking song, England, Europe, Germany, Good Food in San Francisco, Guatemala, House of Cards, Ireland, Italy, Japan, ke$ha, kesha, Las Vegas, Linkin Park, Mattafix, Mayan Encounter 2013, memories, Mexico, Nevada, North America, paradise, Robert Post, Sailor Moon, San Diego, San Francisco, Scotland, Sister Cities Japan 2004, song, songs, sound, sounds, St. John, St. John 2010, Toronto, USA, USVI, wild rover, Yea! Sports|0 Comments

BuzzFeed recently had an article about the sounds from Italy that will fill you with Wanderlust. And it reminded me of all the sounds I associate with certain trips. Here are some of my top highlights that will instantly take me back in time: Toronto: Theme from House of Cards Google Play and Amazon had the first episode of House of Cars for free. I figured, sure why not, lets see what the hype is all about. I watched the first episode on my flights out...and got hooked. At night I'd watch House of Card before falling asleep. San Diego:

21 02, 2015

Souvenir Saturday: Bismuth

By Lili|February 21st, 2015|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2013, Bismuth, collection, DC, fossil, mineral, Museum Madness, North America, rock, USA, Washington DC|0 Comments

When I was little I had a rock and fossil collection. I was obsessed with dinosaurs that my mother would hide rocks, small fossils, and minerals in the dirt and then allow me to dig and find them. At some point I lost the collection in a move. So when I went to the National Museum of Natural History I decided to add to that lost collection. It took me ages to decide what type of rock or fossil was I going to get in the gift shop. I had seen photos of Bismuth on reddit and found its geometric

16 02, 2015

Travel Missteps: The Little White Lie

By Lili|February 16th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: bunny, cocker spaniel, Disney World, Florida, holy, lie, Michigan, North America, Orlando, pet, rabbit, retro, snow, Toontown, USA, Where Dreams Come True|0 Comments

Random Cute Bunny When I was 4 I remember going to a county fair. It seemed huge and circus like. And I remember having the knowledge that it was not my first county fair. So I made a beeline to the tent that would have the rabbits for sale. I fell in love with a white rabbit with red eyes and a little black around the ears. I don’t remember how much whining and bargaining I did but somehow we came home with a rabbit, cage, and food. I was so excited for my first real pet! (I

2 02, 2015

Travel Missteps: 1 Thing Not To Do In Washington DC

By Lili|February 2nd, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2013, DC, feet, metro, museum, Museum Madness, North America, pain, USA, walking, Washington DC|0 Comments

When I travel I do a lot of research. I particularly enjoy articles like “10 Things Not To Do In...” as they can provide a nice overview of common traveler mistakes. But on my short trip to Washington DC, I ignored one of common pieces of advice: Don’t Over Do It! But I only had 4 days in DC, and I wanted to see all the free museums! Protesters in front of the Jefferson Memorial at night. So I pushed myself hard. On the first day I went on a guided tour of to the National Archives, then