Giant's Causeway: Part 3 | Northern Ireland

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As I've stated in previous posts, the hike through Giant's Causeway is quite stunning. The end of the hike led to a suspension bridge, but due to the strong winds it was closed. We didn't learn of this till we go to the end, but there was a silver lining. As we approached the bridge area, the clouds parted just a bit and a rainbow slipped through. I kid you not, I couldn't write this stuff. It was such a great moment at the end of a long trek, and one that I won't soon forget.

Giant's Causeway: Part 2 | Northern Ireland

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The walk to Giant's Causeway was absolutely breathtaking despite the weather not cooperating. The weather wasn't the best and it was one of the coldest days during our trip. Some people would describe it as miserable, cold and rainy, but it added to the grandeur of the scenery. Surprisingly, you can trek all over the basalt columns. There were some guards looking about, but people could climb as high as they wanted. Since we weren't really wearing hiking shoes, we decided to stay in the safer and less slippery areas. Didn't want to trip and fall into the tumultuous ocean. 

Despite the weather being terrible and the holiday season, there were still a lot of tourists. I didn't love the amount of people, but Game of Thrones is filmed in the Belfast, so there were a lot of tours geared towards lovers of the series. I love the show as well, but we went for a tour specifically focusing on the Causeway, which I think is the smart way to go. So if you ever make it there, skip the Game of Thrones tours and focus on the good stuff! 

Joyeux Noël 2017 | Château de Boucéel, France

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It's Christmas time again my dear friends! It's crazy how fast the years keep going. I feel like I just sent out last year's card. Everyone loved last year's photo and have to admit, I felt the pressure for this year. On a whim, I asked Markus to bring the tripod just in case we came across an amazing setting. We took a two week road trip through various French cities and only ended up using the tripod once when we stayed at Château de Boucéel. Of all the fantastic places we stayed, this château was my favorite. It's been in the same family for centuries and is still run by the count and his family. I'll be writing a more in depth post about our experience, but I wanted to share this year's Christmas card photo. Joyeux Noël dear readers and have a happy new year! 

Giant's Causeway: Part 1 | Northern Ireland

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Let’s go back to 2006. Markus and I have been married for about a year and we’re about to have our second wedding. With this set of nuptials, we had an opportunity to travel abroad for a second honeymoon. Both Markus and I knew that we wanted to go to Europe, specifically the U.K. The first place that jumped to both our minds was the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. Back then, we were poor twenty-somethings with really low paying jobs and barely any vacation days. With these restrictions, we both decided to go to London for six days. Hoping that one day we would make a month long trip to Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Giant’s Causeway.

So that brings us to Christmas 2016 or we lovingly called it Happy Britmas 2016. Markus and I decided to spend Christmas and New Year’s with our friends, James and Ari in the U.K. Since Markus and I spent time in the U.K. two times before, we wanted to do something a little different and head somewhere none of us had been and that ended up being Belfast. Thankfully, Ari was able to find a day tour that took us north to a few other touristy spots. The real draw for Markus and I was Giant’s Causeway, since we didn’t get a chance to go in 2006. It only took us ten years, but we finally made it! I took so many photos, so this is just part one. As always, there will be much more!

A Very Cruz Halloween | Chicago, Illinois

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Here in the House of Cruz, we love Fall and most of all, All Hallow's Eve - so much so that these decorations have been up since September 8th. You can probably guess after five years of Creepy Cinema, we love all things spooky. Over the years, we've started to amass quite the collection of vintage Halloween decorations. Markus's favorite go to decoration is blow molds, as you will see in the photos. This year, we scoured the antique markets and were able to find heaps of pumpkin and ghost blow molds and even a cute little skeleton. One of the best finds was a Don Featherstone black cat that we got for way under market price. It was a grave robbery!  My favorite part of the house are the Ben Cooper masks that looked perfect with our portrait collection. I like them so much I might leave them up till Thanksgiving! Happy Halloween everyone!