Lake Chelan Mini-Holiday

June 19, 2013July 30, 20135 Comments

I love how the brits calls it a “holiday”. So Bridget Jones.

With CFA 2 behind us, Bry and I were in dire need of a holiday. Last year, we celebrated by going to Vegas and this year, we decided to stay a little more sober by joining the Nash’s for a weekend of fun in Lake Chelan.

Bry picked me up from work around 3:00 pm and we loaded the Jeep.

Overnight Bag – 1
Pillows – 2
Bottles of sunblock – 3
Bags of Gushers – 20

Oh! And I finally purchased some white Chuck Taylor’s, i.e the ULTIMATE summer shoe. Maybe it stems from my lifelong crush on Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez from The Sandlot.

We picking up KC (Bry’s older brother) and dispensed necessary + nutritious road-trip eats.

Magically delicious!

A couple hours later, our tummies grumbled for more healthy snacks. So we wisely stopped at Rusty Burger to re-fuel. Bry and I split a burger even though I was craving a corn dog hard. Am I the only person who loves corn dogs? Ohmygod Zips!

Gotta Love the Point

We later discovered that KC mistakenly ordered the double-meat-double-cheese burger. #happyaccidents

We arrived at our condo in Wapato Point and were warmly welcomed my Mom and Pop Nash.

The View

Vacations with Nash family, I’ve come to realize, are basically as close to perfect as you can get and are vastly different from a typical Danielson vaca.

Nash Family: Activities are planned, not with crazy itineraries, but a general idea for a sequence of events is considered.

Danielson Family: A very loose idea of a few things are thrown out there the morning of. Fighting ensues.

Nash Family: Meals are planned and tables reserved or shopped for in advance. Mom and Pop do the cooking and often times, the cleaning up.

Danielson Family: Vacation too hard and too long. Give no thought to meals. Reservations never made and last minute decisions lead to discovering the place is closed. Fighting ensues.

You see the pattern here?

Don’t get me wrong, I love my weird little family and our lackadaisical attitude…at times. However, when traveling with the Nash’s I know I won’t, a.) Go hungry b.) Be bored or c.) Go hungry.

So when we arrived at the condo in Wapato Point, what did we do? We ate. A lovely spread of bruschetta was thoughtfully arranged for us on the patio and an array of beverages including G&Ts and Coronas. I obliged. We decided to have a friendly game of putt-putt to kick off the weekend festivities and help KC digest his Rusty’s burger in time for dinner.

Lemmejustsay, boys get competitive no matter what. We could be playing barrel-o-monkeys and there would be bloodshed. KC eked out a win over Bryan, but it was a battle.

KC Linin it Up!

Sinking the Put For a Birdie. Idon’tknow.

For dinner, we enjoyed salmon and steak with a yummy salad and corn with a bottle of red wine. We had strawberry-rhubarb crumble ala mode for dessert and then promptly passed out.

The next morning, Bry and I went to the Starbucks in Lake Chelan and waited in the longest line of all time. Then we took our venti misto and cinnamon chip scone down to the water and strolled along the path, gulping in delicious coffee, the beautiful surroundings and each other’s wonderful company :).

And we’re pointing…

Arriving back at the condo, we were fed the Nash signature pancakes and bacon which I die for. Then we discovered the best part about the trip – the Mary Poppins bag. Bryan’s mom had thoughtfully packed a large tote full of everything you never remember to bring on vacation, yet always wish you had. Items like frisbees, horseshoes, floaties, various balls and maybe even a lawn dart or two! Seriously Mary Poppins.

The condo also came equipped with one of my most favorite lake pastimes – puzzles. Bry and I selected a “junior” puzzle, obviously and 20 minutes later had killed it:

We decided to blow up 2 floaties and were going to head down to the rec center to inflate them, when I discovered a random hidden talent of my fiance. It seems Bryan may have missed his true calling as a tuba player, as he can inflate a floatie in mere minutes. Here I was, turining purple in the face and Bryan is already surrounded by a fully inflated rainbow floatie. So much for 1o years of band.

Then, we loaded up the cooler with necessities like beer, sunblock and Gushers. Have you ever applied sunblock when it is slightly chilled? OH law, it feels nice. The same goes for Gushers. When eaten while cold, they turn into little nuggets of sweet fruity magic. In yer mouth.

So much for sober

And can I just say, what is better than laying on a floatie? Ours had a headrest and cup holder, I mean COME ON. We all took turns on it, drank Bud Light Limes and dutifully applied sunblock to our pale, Seattle-tinted bodies. I was sad to reach the final pages of a book I cannot recommend enough, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. So. Good.

KC, Basking

After a delicious lunch of paninis with COUGAR GOLD we took a walk to the point and I practiced my cart wheels, pulled my hammy, then headed back to the condo and got ready for a little wine tasting!

Since we were technically in E-WA, I knew it was time to poof up the hair a little.

First stop: Vin du Lac

I was excited to try out this winery since I have enjoyed many glasses of this wine at Maison de Nash. We were able to sneak in a few tastes of delicious whites before a truck-load of twenty-something gals in maxi dresses and big sunglasses swarmed the place like the shoe department on the first day of the Nordstrom half-yearly. Needless to say, we drained our glasses and jumped in the car for Benson Cellars.

Benson is situated up high on a hill (was a lonely goatherd) and the view is quite remarkable. Sweeping views of the valley, the sparkling lake and of course the vineyards are perfectly complimented by the beautiful tasting room and yummy wine. As it happened, there was a wedding taking place! We gawked at the party guests, gave our opinions on the color scheme (brownish-red for a summer wedding?) and as we pulled out of the parking lot, made our final assumptions as the bridal party arrived in a stretch Hummer. Oh, E-Wa!

Last on the list was Tildio, which also boasts amazing views and really tasty wines. We sampled the whites, snapped a few pictures and decided to head on back to the condo for appetizers + drinks and maybe another riveting game of putt-putt.

Bryan, KC and myself ended up toting our red solo cups with a 1/3 of a bottle of wine each down to the mini golf course. I improved by a couple a strokes but my skills were becoming decidedly worse with each game.

Dinner that night was an Ina recipe, called Greek Panzanella salad. MUST re-create at home. Basically you chop up a bunch of veggies, dress em up with a vinaigrette and throw in some homemade croutons (which I’m already obsessed with making) and little feta. Opa!

Our final day in Chelan was a sad one. We all wanted to trade in our Mondays for more BLL’s, sunshine and guacamole. We concluded the weekend with more beach time and of course, a third round of mini-golf. And yes, I continued to get worse if that is even possible.

Shenanigans

We waved goodbye to Lake Chelan as I tried to convince the boys to “pool our money” and buy a house on the lake. Instead, Bry promised me we would go back for a longer trip that involved s’mores. Because what kind of summer is complete without s’mores?

Wapato Point on Dwellable

Vegas, Europe and Beyond: Part Trois

July 16, 2012July 22, 20121 Comment

Enchanté!

Click here if you’ve missed parts une and deux of this epic adventure or the big news!

Let’s pick up at the start of our amazing trip to Pareeeh! Shall we?

As I mentioned before, our hotel was located in the Marais district of Paris. The Marais district is pretty awesome, boasting tons of great restaurants, art galleries and most importantly – shopping! Since I had done a little shopping in Barcelona, I was already on damage control in Paris. Luckily the prices were so astronomical everywhere we went, I wasn’t too tempted to whip out the euros.

On our first day, we set out in search of Notre Dame which wasn’t too hard since it was just blocks from our hotel!

For those of you who have been to Paris, you’ve obviously been to Notre Dame so you get it. Totally gorg. Most of the time we were in Paris the weather was drizzly so we had to wear coats 😦 and it totes wrecked Meg and I’s outfit forecasting. We had been saving all the “really good outfits” for Paris but I was too happy just to be there to really mind.

While walking around Notre Dame, I obviously decided it would be a great idea to act like the hunchback. Camera flashes weren’t allowed and Megan was only able to manage one measly, blurry picture before my Dad said someone was going to arrest me. See the slideshow below for the pic.

Next we visited another gorgeous cathedral and the name is escaping me right now. Breathtaking as well. I bought a ceramic unicorn for 7 euro because I got caught up in the moment.

Next up The Louvre! I had just finished the DaVinci Code and was all about the Mona Lisa. I totally wanted to lay on the floor and act like the museum curator from the beginning of the book but I resisted temptation. As many of you know, the Mona Lisa is way smaller than you expect and you can’t really get very close to it. I still enjoyed seeing her as well as many of the other paintings in that wing.

We also saw the Venus De Milo and The Winged Victory of Samothrace.

Then I had a panic attack in The Louvre. I was hot, claustrophobic, there were a million people and I had cotton-mouth. Plus, there’s really no easy way outta that place. At the same time, my Mom had a similar reaction and we both bolted out of there like Brittney from K-Fed. After we had some really expensive coffee and danish from the cafe inside, we were much better.

We left the Louvre and walked along the streets of Paris. We walked over the Love Bridge and it made me really miss Bryan. I wanted to have a lock engraved with our names, fasten it to the bridge, lock it up and throw the key in the Seine. Sooo romantic!

After that we walked along the Champs de Elysee and oogled at the great window displays and high-end shops. We eventually passed a beautiful, huge gold gate with a large line outside. We ventured toward it, thinking it was the entrance to some mansion, museum or gallery. But we were wrong.

It was the entrance to Abercrombie and Fitch.

Apparently A&F is a hot commodity in Paris. We saw women and men sporting the moose everywhere! Men with those horrid tee shirts that have idiotic sayings on them, “Jacuzzi Lifeguard”, “Abercrombie Drinkers Invitational”. Women with the microscopic hoodies and graphic tees that probably set them back $150. I feel like the United States is SO over Abercrombie, but overseas they love the crap out of it.

We reached the end of the Champs de Elysee to see the iconic Arc de Triomphe. We didn’t go inside but opted to snap some pictures in the middle of traffic. Smart.

As we walked back to our hotel, Megan kept seeing these adorable green shopping bags that people were carrying. We notice these kinds of things, us Danielsons. We discovered that they belonged to Ladurée , a gourmet macaroon and bake shop. We passed the shop and I thought I was going to pass out, it was SO adorable. I felt like I was a princess living inside a jewelry box as soon as we stepped inside. We waited in line for a good 20 minutes before purchasing a box of 6 different kinds of macaroons, which was close to $20 US. Expensive little buggers!

We went home that night happy and sugared up.

The next morning I awoke happier than a sprinkle in a cupcake factory. We were going to Versailles! I’ve always been a little crazy for Marie Antionette. I mean, hello the woman had excellent taste, owned a cute little dog and said, “let them eat cake!”. I also loved the movie with Kirsten Dunst. In fact, I think I pretend that movie is my life if it were mixed with the cast of Legally Blonde the Musical.

After a quick brekkie (it was complimentary with our hotel) downstairs we were ready to go!

We took a train to Versailles which is (according Mr.Steves) the way to go. The train ride was short and sweet and before we knew it, we were striding along the long cobble stone road to the castle. The palace is immense, almost sickeningly huge. To think that the royals actually lived here while the citizens of Paris were poor and starving is beyond me. We had studied the stories of all the Louis’, namely the XIII through XVI and felt adequately versed with the vast history of Versailles.

We began with the tour of the palace, using our trusty all-museum tickets. The tour was too amazing for words. I. Was. Floored.

After the house tour, we quickly realized that our passes didn’t apply to the gardens on this particular day. I later found out that the “Water Spectacular Show”, was going on that day which means that the fountains are turned on. Since tickets were an additional 20 euro to get in, I decided to ask if there was another way into the gardens. After one lady turned me away, assuring me I had to pay to enter through the main gate, another woman said there was indeed another way.

She gave us directions to exit the palace, walk 15 minutes down the street and enter through the “queens gate”. I was gaining momentum, all the blood was rushing to my head and I was ready to sprint through the queens gate like a lion on attack! Unfortunately my Mom and Megan were hot, tired and allergies were catching up to us all. Despite my constant nose tickle and watery eyes I wasn’t ready to give up.

You see, what I was most excited about was not the actual palace but all the smaller buildings that Marie Antionette ordered built in the late 1700’s. In order to escape palace life, she ordered a number of estates and structures built so she could live out “the simple life”. The Queen’s Hamlet as it’s known, was what I was most excited about seeing.

I happily set out to see this part of Versailles alone. I ran through the meadows and snapped picture after picture, not wanting to miss a thing.

It was the most magical experience ever. In fact, probably one of the best experiences I’ve have ever had.

The rest of our trip to Paris was so amazing. We saw everything such as theEiffel Tower, Rue Cler, L’Orangie Museum, D’Orsay Museum and did alot of shopping too! Here is a slideshow of some of our picture. I did have them all nicely laid out in the post and then WordPress booted me out and I lost all my progress.

So here are the pics!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Vegas, Eurpope and Beyond: Part Deux

July 14, 2012July 16, 20122 Comments

Bonjour chères!

Where did I leave off again? Oh yes, FRANCE! Hee hee, haw haw.

We boarded a smallish plane in the early morning and after one hour, arrived in Marseilles. I was truly pumped about our 2-day stay in Marseilles as we were able to stay with family and get the true “French” experience. We met Madee and Terry at the airport and after many kisses (one per cheek), we all climbed into a 9 passenger van that they had rented for our stay. Madee and Terry live just outside of Marseilles in the country side and their house and surroundings were so pretty. Their home was built in the 1700’s and still had that old-world feel to it. I felt like I was Meg Ryan in “French Kiss”. Except I didn’t pull my jeans up past my belly button. I thought about it, but didn’t.

Lavender in the Garden!

Headlock

Main Living Area

After we had worked out which room everyone was staying in, we were treated to lunch. But first…apéritifs! Drinks were dispensed before every meal and came highly encouraged. Mostly it was Pastis, which is an anise flavored liqueur. I love me some licorice so Pastis definitely suited me. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Pastis!

I downed two glasses of Pastis which Terry mixed with a little water and served on the rocks (which in France means you get 2 teensy little ice cubes). For lunch we were served a cold salad consisting of peas, tuna, tomatoes, cheese and obviously delicious french bread. We sipped chilled rose and talked about the flowers and herbs Terry grows in his garden. Thyme, rosemary, lavender but also exotic herbs like verbena. Megan and I were literally pinching ourselves. “Is this happening? Are we really in this 17th century home just eating bread?” Oui.

After lunch, in typical French fashion we were served an array of cheeses. I decided to try all three of the cheeses, even the one that smelled like someone’s armpit after a marathon mixed with hot, sour garbage. At the time, the cheese tasted good and I was proud of myself for being so French. However, 30 minutes later we all quickly discovered how much of a brick it sat in our tummies. I couldn’t stop tasting it and I won’t lie, it didn’t taste like Skittles.

After lunch we headed to a neighboring town to do a little walking and sightseeing. Nan, Megan and I were dying to go in the cute little shops, but when you’re with a little French-man who is claiming he will “send you to Chateau d’If” if you go in one more shop, you cease and desist.

We visited a cathedral which contained the very first indoor baptismal pool.

And I made up with Terry.

We couldn’t spent too much time out sightseeing because Terry and Madee had a special French dinner waiting to be prepared back at their house. We started with Pastis, no surprise there. This is when I became known as the lush of the group, as I accepted refills from Terry. He told me that, “I was his new daughter,” and it made me happy although my Dad was giving me the evil-don’t-be-a-crazy-american-girl-eye.

You Lookin at Me Mon Amie?

For dinner, we had duck breast, pearl onions sauteed with curry, and sauteed mushrooms. Also duh, bread. The duck breasts were huge (they were like mutant monster ducks I swear) and were prepared very rare. While Nan and I enjoy a good pink steak, Meg and Gare both prefer their meats well…burnt. Having the duck was an eye opening experience for all of us.

This was the most well done piece of all.

After dinner Madee asked us if we’d like to take a “little walk” around the neighborhood. I jumped at the opportunity, having drunk a good amount of wine and everyone else decided to partake as well. It was an interesting stroll. First of all, it was almost 11 pm at night and what Madee considered to be a little walk, turned into a never-ending hike for people like Nan.We also saw a dead snake in the road. So. Gross.

After our 40 minute walk, we arrived home and Terry had decided it was time to break out his private reserve of self-infused liqueurs. The bottles reminded me of those beakers you see in high-school biology classes, with tarantulas, tape worms and frogs floating lifelessly in formaldehyde. I was told the various bottles contained, a pepper from his garden, a vanilla bean and various herbs. Terry poured me a sizable amount from the pepper bottle and upon one sniff, I knew this stuff was liquid fire. I ended up trying a small sip of the one from the vanilla bean bottle and just as I thought, liquid fire. Don’t know about you, but the LAST thing I want to do before bed is take shots of pepper infused alcohol. While I tried my best to be his “new found daughter” I found myself longing for the good ol’ American tradition of ice cream, hot chocolate or in my case – a bowl of Lucky Charms before bed.

The next day we woke up and had a conservative breakfast of jam and bread and coffee. Then it was off to sight-see! Having only consumed about a half-cup of coffee I was jonesing for some caffeine. The slight hangover from the night before didn’t help either :).

Disheveled

We visited a different cathedral, absolutely beautiful.

View!

Yiddle Megan

One of Marseilles bucket-list items was to go see the Chateau d’If, the prison in the Count of Monte Cristo. But according to our hosts, the ferry was expensive and the tour, lame. I made sure to get tons of pictures of it from the top of the cathedral instead.

The Little Island by the Cruise Ship is Chateau d’If

Then we were driven up to this look-out point which literally, took my breath away.

Mom, Megan, Terry and Madee

We drove to an old hospital/cathedral.

We take it very seriously.

Let Us Out!

Me and My Mom

View of the Mountain

At about 11 o’clock, my tummy was grumbling so I busted out the Clif Bar I had stashed in my purse and decided this was perfect to tide me over until we had lunch. Hours went by, we saw and walked and pointed and gushed. But no food. I kept thinking that they had a little cafe they were planning on bringing us to but I was wrong. At about 6:30 we drove home in silence, the Americans all delirious with hunger but not wanting to be rude and ask that we quickly pull through McDonalds. We were told that our dinner reservation was at about 8 o’clock and Meg, Becca and I sat up in our room scraping together whatever remnants of food we had in our bags to piece together a small meal.

You know that book, “French Women Don’t Get Fat”? The book outlines easy to implement every-day changes Americans can make to lose and weight and achieve that svelte French frame. I now realize the real secret, French women don’t eat all day and that’s why they don’t get fat. Bam! Maybe I should write a book, eh?

Everyone was obviously, psyched for dinner. The three of us were secretly hoping it wasn’t some restaurant that only served bleeding duck. We ended up at an amazing restaurant that had everything our American hearts desired, pizza, burgers, pasta etc. We also noticed as we came in that the portions were humungous. Another point for the Americans!

We also got to meet one of Terry and Madee’s daughters, Claire and her brand-new hubbie Benoit. Neither of them spoke a lick of English but we got by. I ordered pizza and a Coke Light and was literally in heaven.

American

Ate the Whole ‘Za

Megan’s Gnocchi

The next day we had to leave Marseilles in the early morning to catch our train to PARIS! My Dad ended up booking us four, first class seats on a speed train that goes from Marseilles to Paris in about 3 hours. Boarding the train, I truly felt like Hermione Granger. It was just wonderful inside and our seats sat two and two across from one another, with a table in between. The seats were plush and the leg-room was plentiful. The train was quiet and as we settled in, I was literally squealing with delight. It was just so cool.

Blurry but I Had to Show You!

Train Station

We arrived in Paris in what seemed like minutes and immediately made our way to the T.I station (tourist information) to purchase all-museum passes again. Megan had smartly purchased the Rick Steves Paris book so we knew to do this right away. That Rick Steves knows his stuff.

We immediately jumped into a cab and gave him the directions to the apartment we had rented. The drive was quick, only about 10 minutes. We had printed off the instructions the owner gave us as well as a bunch of pictures of the place. When we arrived, we were instructed to punch in a 4 digit code to gain access to the foyer. We entered the number and the door opened easily. The next step was to look inside her mailbox (that would be open, not locked) for the key to the apartment. We opened up the mailbox and reached inside to find…nothing, save for a pile of junk mail. Megan started to panic a little as she had done the large portion of communicating with the owner. We determined we must call her in order to figure out where the key was. We shuffled through the pages we had printed with all the information for the apartment, like amenities, garbage etc. But no phone number.

Panic set in further when we realized our phones weren’t working and neither is the internet. My new iPhone (purchased right after the trip to Vegas) had been turned off the whole trip so far and I decided it was time to whip out the big guns. I powered up my phone and dialed Bryan back in Jackson. No county code, just plain ol’ 1 + area code. He answered on the second ring.

After Bryan had successfully logged into my Mom’s email account, he quickly found the owner’s number and read it off. We hung up and immediately dialed the owner. The number was a New Hampshire area code. “Great!” I thought. She doesn’t even live in Paris.

Ring, ring. No answer.

I left a message clearly stating our situation and asked her to please call back ASAP. Meanwhile, we were sitting in the apartment vestibule with all our luggage, completely trapped. Gary was silent, obviously frustrated with the situation. Megan was on the verge of tears. Nan was trying to stay positive. I was praying that this chick would return my call and that this was all just some mix-up with the key.

After about an hour of waiting, I decided to call again. This time a younger girl answered. When I asked for the owner Sylvie, she informed me that she was out. I politely informed her that this was an emergency and asked if Sylvie had a cell. The girl understood and gave me her cell.

I called the cell phone and a woman answered in a thick french accent. I tell Sylive what happened and she insisted the key must be there. She was on the highway and said she would call me back. Fine. Minutes later I received a text from her, telling me that the key is in an unmarked envelope that would look like mail. We hurry back to the apartment and look through the stack of junk mail to find…nothing. I let her know that there was no such envelope and she then told us to open everything. We ripped through each piece of mail, discovering bills and coupon booklets but no key.

After 15 more minutes of back and forth texting, Sylive called again to explain yet again how strange this is. I understood that this was a strange circumstance but I also understood that I wanted to get my bags upstairs so we could actually start to see Paris!

At this point, about 2 hours had passed. She called back again to inform us that her friend was going to come let us in to the apartment but she wouldn’t be there for an hour. Ok. We were still in the cold, marble floored vestibule and then it has started to rain.

My Dad decided he’d hold down the fort and Megan, my mom and I go get groceries for the apartment, since it had a kitchen. We strolled around, purchasing milk, coffee, yogurt, cereal and of course, a baguette. After the hour passed, we made our way back to the apartment to find Sylvie’s friend had arrived.

Wheeeeee! We’re in!

We shlepped all 4 suitcases, backpacks, camera bags and groceries to the 4th floor and waited while Sylive’s friend struggled with the key. After another moment of panic thinking she had brought the wrong key, the door clicked open.

We barreled inside only to discover…there were already people staying in the apartment!! Suitcases, clothes and laptop computers littered the floor of the quaint apartment. My Dad collapsed on the couch in shear exhaustion, anger and frustration. Megan ran back down the stairs with tears in her eyes. Nan just stood there trying to decide what to do. I immediately began getting our stuff back down the 4 flights, because obviously this apartment was booked for the night.

The friend immediately called Sylvie and spoke in rapid French. After a few minutes of confusion, the friend informed us that Sylvie would call the apartment phone to sort out the mess. Another 20 minutes passed and the call came through on my cell phone (because it wasn’t costing me $15 a minute, oh wait, yes it was) and I immediately handed the phone to my Dad. He could deal with this, but not me.

A twenty minute conversation transpired, all the while Meg had lost it and I was hoisting 50 lb. bags down tiny steps with a baguette tucked under my arm. All in a days work. As my Dad made his way back down the stair case, he let us know that the apartment had been double booked. Apparently Sylvie’s son had mistakenly thought the apartment was available for the 5-day stint we had reserved it for and had rented it to friends of his. Awesome.

As we drug our suitcases around the beautiful streets of the Marais district, I had also lost hope. My dreams of the quaint, cozy Parisian apartment had been crushed under a stupid scheduling conflict. We tried our luck at a couple of two and three star hotels, but seeing as how it was past 7 pm (even though we had arrived at 3) many were booked.

We stumbled upon Hotel Turenne, not far from where the apartment was and luckily they had 2 rooms available. Each room was a bit expensive at 215 euro per night, per room but we didn’t care. We wanted a roof over our heads, wifi and alcohol. That was it.

We checked into our respective rooms and luckily I had stowed a nearly full bottle of Stoli in my suitcase from Spain. We drank warm vodka + lemonades (even Nan) and nibbled stale baguette. We had bought my Dad a gyro from a Greek restaurant hours previous and by this time it was a cold hunk of meat with limp fries on the side. Delish!

Sylvie called back later that evening to inform us that she was paying for our night at the hotel and giving us a full refund of our deposit. She offered sincere apologies telling us “she couldn’t image what hell the day had been for us” and offered 2 free nights at her apartment should any of us return to Paris.

After all was said and done, she was very apologetic, generous and had made right in our books. We were sad to have lost half a day in Paris, but glad to have found a place to stay on such short notice.

The next day was the beginning of our Paris adventure!!

I’ll save that for next time but I thought I’d let you in on the big news.

Bryan and I are moving to Seattle!! We are planning on September but it could be earlier or later.

Why leave beautiful Jackson Hole you ask?

As much as we love it here (especially Bryan), it is simply no longer the right place for many reasons:

Bryan is going for a job in investments and Jackson doesn’t exactly have millions of openings in that field. Too bad he wasn’t a wrangler!
I will be looking for a new job in marketing, social media and many other sectors as well.
We want to be closer to family.
The winters are too long, cold and long for my taste. Plus I’m not nor will I ever be a die-hard skier.
Housing is mucho dinero here.
The town is a too small for my tastes.
If homegirl Holly makes her way back to the NW, I’ll have all my besties nearby again!
Bryan’s pals are there as well and we miss them too!
We want to be closer to family…did I mention that already?

We are beyond excited to take this step. I’m a little scared about things like finding a job, a place to live and adjusting to big-city life but hey, it’s just another adventure right?

Vegas, Europe and Beyond: Part Une

July 12, 2012July 12, 20125 Comments

I’m back and bettatheneva!

I’ve been back in Jackson for a couple of weeks now and while I’ve caught up on things like Kim and Kanye, I have severely neglected this little blog of mine. The horror!

Lately my thoughts have been devoted to a new change that’s taking place in a couple months but more on that later ;). Let’s get to the good stuff, no?

The adventure began in Salt Lake City, where Bryan took his CFA exam…gulp. I happily tagged along and spent my time studying the racks of stores which do not exist in Jackson, Wyoming. New trends instantly jumped out at me. You see, living in The Hole may mean awesome hiking, fishing, skiing etc. but it also means a drab wardrobe consisting solely of Patagonia and Chacos. While I try to keep up on my fashion blogs outlined here, a girl can get pretty confused with all the neon and chevron prints.

I instantly picked up on trends such as:

Skirts and dresses that are shorter in the front and longer in the back.
Shorts! They are everywhere. I thought these were only for high-school girls who shopped at American Eagle.
Colored jeans and shorts. Obv.
Polka dots. LOVE!
Peter pan collars. I find these to be feminine and chic.

After doing a small amount of damage at Nordstrom Rack and Forever 21, Bryan was done with his exam and it was time for Vegas. Sick.

Our previous visit to Vegas we stayed at the Mirage and this time, we opted to stay in the slightly less expensive Luxor Hotel. The location isn’t bad as you’re neighbors with New York, New York, Mandalay Bay, Excalibur and MGM Grand. However, the hotel itself was a little, shall I say, in need of repair. Upon arriving we could definitely see why this hotel was leaps and bounds less than The Bellagio. Hello shaky, slow elevator from Saw. Nice to meet ya.

Nonetheless, we were happy. Our flight/hotel package also included two tickets to see Cirque de Soliel’s Ka at the MGM Grand so that made this trip a heck of a deal.

Bryan immediately made me aware of the fact that I kept dozing off during sections of the show. I didn’t believe him until I woke up, violently snapped my head forward and looked around nervously to see if anyone noticed.

We frequented our usual haunts, such as the pool, the Forum Shops and the video blackjack bar inside the Venetian. Class.

CFA Celebration Dinner

Gnocchi

We also had the best breakfast of our lives at Max Brenner in the Forum Shops. Our meal came with a “diamond dusted buttermilk sugar biscuit”. Ummm hello! I died. Subsequently, I purchased the Hug Mug, their signature mug which we sipped our mochas from. How could I not with a name like that?!

You hug it!

The only drama we encountered on the trip was when we were playing video blackjack (yet again) at the MGM Grand. After I had gambled away my $5 bank roll, I turned my head and chatted with Bryan in the seat next to me for a few minutes. I had stupidly left my iPhone on the bar and while my head was turned, it was swiped. Some horrible robber now has my white iPhone 4 in mint condish. We looked everywhere, asked everyone at the bar and reported it to hotel security and turned up nothing. It was gone. After some tears and a new found hatred towards casinos, Bryan lovingly bought me a martini and some candy. That’s better :).

This was taken just before the robbery. So sayd.

Other than the iPhone snafu, the trip to Vegas was awesome as always.

Upon returning to Jackson, I was tasked with the lovely journey of driving (in my ’97 Corolla with no cruise control) to Kennewick, WA. A grand total of 11 wonderful hours. Armed with The Davinci Code on CD, 3 Redbulls, a box of Gushers and Pirate’s Booty, I was off! The drive went surprisingly quick due to nice weather, copious amounts of energy drink pulsing through my veins and of course the Priory of Zion.

I returned home in under 11 hours and was treated to a warm welcome from my favorite Danielson family member, Chloe McDoogal.

The next day we left for Seattle around noon (more driving) and arrived in Seattle with plenty of time to board our 6pm plane to Amsterdam. The flight was long but luckily was timed pretty well compared to where our bodies were adjusted to. My mom, sister and I all managed to get a good amount of sleep and were feeling good when we deplaned in Amsterdam. We shopped around the airport, took pictures of tulips and clogs (obv) and then boarded our plane to Barcelona.

Tulips!

The flight to Barcelona was quick and we were all very anxious to get there. My Dad greeted us at the airport and we all took a taxi to Barceloneta (the street we stayed on) to meet up with my aunt, uncle and cousin who were staying in the same apartments as us.

Our apartment was one the right

The apartment was pretty tiny but very nice and even had a kitchenette. We were all starving so we decided to find a little tapas bar to sit and share some food. We immediately located one and I felt bad as our table of 7 took up almost the entire place. Since my cousin Becca is studying abroad in Spain, she was able to help us order from the large variety of tapas on the menu.

Chicken Wings in Spain? Who knew!?

Blanco Vino…or something like that.

The next day we woke up and instantly hit the Picasso Museum. We had purchased the all-museum pass at the airport, which gains you access to about 7 different locations. The Picasso museum was no.1 on my list and I was so excited to see the exhibit.

Just me and the Pabs, Chillin

Picasso never ceases to amaze me. This particular museum held a wide array of Picasso’s work, ranging from the very traditional paintings he did early in life, to the grotesquely abstract later in life. We also witnessed all he did in between, like pieces from The Blue Period, sculpture, cartoon drawings as well as some rather graphic pencil drawings of women from going on holiday with a friend in Spain.

After that we walked the streets and took pictures of the crazy “living art” performers.

Benny Franklin

Scary Goblin Sultan Guy

Then we reached the Barcelona Cathedral, which was absolutely breathtaking. This particular cathedral had a beautiful courtyard area with amazing flowers, statues and fountains.

This was actually taken from another day, but you get it.

After that we took a taxi to the top of Montjuic, a mountain in Barcelona that houses hundreds of graves and has a fortress at the top. I desperately wanted to walk up to the top of the mountain but when you’re with people in their 60’s, you just oblige.

Megan and Becca Outside the Fortress

Gardens!

The next day started off with a bang, as we had coffees and headed to the Mercat de la Boquería. It is basically a huge market where you can literally buy anything. Megan bought some exotic spices like saffron while I stuck to fresh fruit and of course…candy!

Mmmmm

1 Euro for a cup…steal!

Is There Anything More Beautiful?

Dyyyyying

Yep. Ham Hocks.

We continued to walk along the streets of Barcelona, stopping to take pictures, go in shops and stare at ridiculously good-looking people. Seriously, the men and women in Barcelona are all supermodels. I’ve never felt more like a white, gigantic girl with bunions and grow-out. Sigh…

My Mom, sister and I decided to visit Barcelona’s Museum of Modern Art. Before I continue I’d like to point out that I consider myself to be a lover of all kinds of art. Basically, I can appreciate any kind of art, be it music, painting, sculpture, poetry – anything, if it’s done with passion. I quickly discovered that while the pieces of art in the museum of modern art were done with passion, I certainly could not appreciate it.

Maybe it was the piece where a projector displayed images of overweight women trying to use a bidet, unsuccessfully from behind. Or maybe a large piece of stark white canvas, completely blank that was appropriately named “Elephant Wall”. While there were a few exhibits I found amusing, like the work of Gordon Matta-Clark who, according to Wikipedia “is famous for his ‘building cuts,’ a series of works in abandoned buildings in which he variously removed sections of floors, ceilings, and walls” mostly it was just ODD.

Our next venture was to visit our first of the Gaudi sites, Casa Milà or La Pedrera. This was one of the apartment buildings that Gaudi designed and was finished in 1912. The tour included the underground catacombs, an apartment and of course the famous rooftop, which is known for it’s iconic ventilation towers.

Building Exterior

Rooftop

Ventilation Towers

Our last day in Barcelona we visited Gaudi’s most famous architectural masterpiece, which oddly enough still isn’t finished. Construction on Sagrada Família began in 1883 and was still being worked on the day we visited. This structure is simply to big for words. Actually it’s too ornate, over-the-top and strikingly beautiful for words. My suggestion is that you fly to Barcelona someday and set your sights on this cathedral.

The rest of the day was spent shopping. Barcelona has seriously amazing shopping. H&M and Zara were sprinkled over every corner and interesting boutiquey shops lined all the little side streets. Megan and I were most impressed by the large amount of shoe stores and how cheap the shoes were. I scored these little pups no problem.

The next day we packed up nice and early in order to catch a plane to Marseilles, France! However, now that carpal tunnel is setting in I must leave you. Check back for my re-cap of France and the big news!

Carnival Cruise Mexico Re-Cap

March 21, 2012March 21, 20126 Comments

Have you heard this song?

I see us on a beach down in Mexico

You can put your feet up

Be my senorita

We ain’t gotta rush

Just take it slow

It’s named after Bryan and I.

Now for the meat…the CRUISE!

Our cruise disembarked out of San Diego on Friday, March 2nd. Since our flight was out of Salt Lake City at 8 am, that meant a 1 am wake-up time for Bryan and I. Crazy? Perhaps. After we made it to SLC and parked our car at a nearby Fairfield Inn, we hopped on the shuttle and easily made our flight to San Diego. Arriving in San Diego was great. We decided to take a bus to the marina because the airport is right next door to the airport. I was on cloud nine because the weather was sunny and there wasn’t a flake of snow in sight. I was actually giggling with excitement.

Guess Bryan was Excited Too

Boarding a cruise ship is really painless. These peeps have it down to a science. According to the website, each passenger is allowed to carry-on a six pack of soda and a bottle of wine. For any cruise virgins out there, soda pop is NOT free on most cruises. The reason? To cut costs? Or maybe because they are the devil, I’m not sure.

As we checked our bags and made our way to the ticketing counter to pick up our nifty “sail and sign” cards, Bryan panicked because he realized we had foolishly left our two bottles of champagne in my suitcase, which was sure to be searched and thus confiscated. We asked the woman behind the ticketing counter if there was a way to save the champagne we so desperately wanted and she assured us it wouldn’t be a problem. We both found her non-nonchalant attitude to be odd, as the website as well as numerous blogs and forums strictly advise against smuggling on any kind of alcohol in a suitcase. But after safely boarding the cruise and checking into our stateroom, we found our bag to be untouched and our champagne safely inside.

Liquid

Our cruise schedule looked like this:

Leave from San Diego
2 days at sea
Manzanillo
Puerto Vallarta
Cabo San Lucas (2 days)
1 day at sea
Ensanada

After saying “Bon Voyage!” to San Diego and toasting with a glass of champagne, we headed down to our room to get ready. Our room was located on the 6th deck, or the “Empress” deck. It was so nice that Carnival named the whole floor after me!

And this is when I began to feel it.

……sway……sway……

Yes, contrary to popular belief cruise liners DO sway. Even the big ones like the Carnival Spirit. Even now, more than week after being on land I still sometimes feel like I’m still at sea. Especially when I’m on the treadmill, go figure.

We opted for the late dinner at 8:15 and were ushered to our table in the Empire dining room which was a 6 top. We were so happy to discover that our table mates were four of the most awesome people you could ask for. Each night in the dining room was such a pleasure getting to know Justin, Katie, Jeremy and Amy. If you’re reading – hi guys!! The dinners were always tasty and the kitchen was flexible about making little changes.

Each day we received our Cruisers itinerary which was chalked full of the days happenings. These tri-fold letters reminded me of the little newsletter at my grandmother’s old-folks home. But instead of titles like, “Gertrude Wins at Bingo!” or, “Bus to the Grocery Store Leaves at 10!”. It was “Bean Bag Toss Tournament on the Lido Deck!” and “Musicals Trivia at the Fountain Cafe!”.

And just in case you’re wondering, of course I went to musicals trivia. The woman played a small portion of 20 different Broadway songs and we had to guess which musical it was from. I came in second place next to two woman in their 50’s who obviously were both fellow lovers of musical theater. I actually was a little ticked when I found out the winners received a little trophy. I want a trophy goddammit.

The first days at sea were a little cold with the wind chill but by the afternoon it would warm up enough to lay out on the outer decks. Bryan and I took full advantage of the lounge chairs and I read while he studied to our hearts delight. I brought along this number which I thoroughly enjoyed.

And now I kinda want to be Amish. For real.

It’s no secret that cruise passengers are well-fed. However well-fed is an gross understatement. It’s true, room service is free and available 24 hours per day. And yes, aromas of pizza, ice cream and other deep-fried delights are wafting through the air any time of the day. I’d say about 3/4 of our fellow Spiriters gladly partook in these indulgences and often. Let’s just put it this way, if you are ever feeling bad about your body just go on a cruise…enough said.

That being said, which needed to be said by the way – there is also a plethora of other delicious (and nutritious) eats available as well. I frequented the salad bar nearly every day we weren’t out in port and also had fro-yo. The rotation was only chocolate, vanilla and strawberry but coupled with my kiped boxes of cereal from the breakfast bar and it was better than a trip to Pinkberry!

Our 3rd night at sea, Bry and I went to the “fancy” steakhouse at the top of the ship and had an unforgettable meal. But fancy dinners always require a little pre-funking in the room.

Ay! Champagne!

Bryan wisely decided to wear black and yellow because it was a romantic evening and well, it also commemorates our song.

Black and Yellow Black and Yellow

Stunna Shades on the Balcony

Bryan ordered the ahi for his starter, tenderloin for his entree and chocolate sampler for dessert.

I had the crab cake, surf and turf and the apple galette.

This dinner was incredibly delicious and priced reasonably at $30 per person. Our only complaint (and one that Bryan almost could not get over) was the bellowing voice of the lounge singer from the atrium below, whose songs carried like a bird up to the steakhouse diners. I burst out laughing as soon as we thought his set was over and then he started belting out, “Cause I’m freeeeee! Free Fallin!”. Damn you Tom Petty!

The next day was our first stop in Manzanillo.

Since Bryan and I didn’t book a “shore excursion” through Carnival, we were left to our own vices. So I went out looking for what any normal American gal would want.

Happiness

As we strolled the streets of Manzanillo, Bryan decided it was time for lunch. We decided against any place that was laden with tourists, or was blasting that boom-chick boom-chick polka-style music. True to form, B decided on a complete hole in the wall. Too many Anthony Bourdain episodes I guess. As our server spouted off what I assumed to be the lunch options in Spanish, I was curious to know what Bryan would say. After muttering “pollo” and nodding a few times, it was clear that he had ordered food. When the food came, I stuck to drinking my Coke Light as Bryan sampled the various sauces that were sitting in small plastic bowls on the table. He has the Superman of stomachs.

After lunch, we continued perusing.

Pretty sure the guy in the truck is giving us a half thumbs up. WTF.

Since the hour was easily past noon, we decided it was time for some much needed alcohol. You see, 12:00 is that magical time when drinking becomes classy and appropriate as opposed to trashy. You get it.

Once again, we avoided all the bars that were packed with fellow Carnival Spiriters. We were in Mexico dammit, and we wanted to drink our margaritas without feeling like it was a Friday night at Applebees. That was when we stumbled upon Bar Social. It was quiet, clean and had this kind of old-school charm about it. Bar Social kept the drinks simple and easy – 4 kinds of beer and small handful of tequilas and liquors. We immediately settled into two seats at the bar and ordered “dos cervezas por favor”.

As you can see, the bartender brought over a number of different bites for us to nibble on as well. We had chips and salsa, guac, mahi mahi ceviche, a potato salad and some kind of root vegetable (maybe yucca?).

We continued to sample the different beers.

I liked Corona the best, I think it’s the font.

After taking tequila shots and chatting with a few American couples who lived in Manzanillo we were off to the ship. Goodbye Manzanillo!

After a nice long siesta in the comfort of our stateroom, we made it down to dinner, scored some fro-yo, watched TV then went to bed. Easy peasy.

We woke up in Puerto Vallarta!

Once we had gotten off the ship and safely avoided getting another lame picture taken of us, we decided to walk around the city. Btw, do any other cruise vets despise the whole getting your picture taken a thousand times thing? Each time I just made my poses more and more gangsta and never ONCE did I smile. Jokes on you Carnival.

Obviously, we made an obligatory American visit to Starbucks.

The Classic Gary D. Point

The American in us was also tempted to visit the Chili’s next door for a sizzlin’ entree. But we resisted.

Then we shopped.

Duh.

Sadly the only way I figured to get this home was to wear it, which of course I don’t have a problem with. However Bryan assured me I would be traveling alone.

After we walked around for a million miles it was time for a brew. Grabbing cheap drinks is a snap when you’re on a cruise. Vendors and little bars set up literally right off the boat so it’s easy to get yer drink on and then ~~sloppily~~ slowly make your way back to your room.

Now which place should we choose?

SOLD.

Silliness ensued.

Gangsta

Haggard

Bryan isn't amused

I believe we called it an early night.

The next day we arrived in beautiful Cabo San Lucas!

This will be the one AND only bathing suit shot you'll ever see on this blog so consider yourself lucky.

We made our way down to beach and settled into lounge chairs at the Mango Deck. Since it was spring break for the youngins, Bry and I got to experience all the wonder that well, happens to college kids on spring break. Including but not exclusive to:

A booty shaking contest. Naturally, I raised my hand to be a judge but then I figured out you had to pay. Psh! They should be paying me!

The Winner turned out to be a skinny white girl. REPRESENT.

There was also a beer chugging contest, customers versus employees. The prize was free tequila shots. Guess who won?

When in Rome?

Don’t judge ok? I thought they would hand them out in little shot glasses, but when I got up there it was just me and a bottle.

Feelin It

After while we got hungry and decided to head next door to the Office for lunch. We had steak nachos and our favorite Diablo Blanco cerveza. I thought it was just meh compared to our last time in Mexico.

We crashed early again when we got back on the boat. Maybe there’s a theme going on here?

Our second day in Cabo included a trip to lovers beach. The first water taxi vendor quoted us $15 per person. Then we overheard another group tell a different vendor that he had promised them a rate of $3 per person, each way. Bryan and I made our way over to that guy and literally jumped on his boat. Sucka!

Lovers beach was gorgeous per usual.

When we got back to the marina, Bry decided to grab some lunch while I hit the nearby flea market. Overwhelmed (kinda like when you haven’t been to Forever 21 in a while), I ended up leaving with only a little yellow sundress and was able to meet Bryan at the restaurant.

You can't really see it here, but trust me, I'm wearing it

As we got back on the boat, Bryan said that his throat was a little sore and he had a cough. We ended up taking it easy that night but ended up getting some amazing pictures of the famous Cabo arch as we pulled out of port.

The next day was another full day at sea. This ended up working to our advantage, as Bryan was feeling even worse. Even after taking Day Quil, he still felt sick. Also note that the Day Quil he bought at the Cruise gift shop was $18. So. Effing. Expensive.

We had a little movie/nap/reading fest in our room almost all day. I surfaced for dinner and procured his and hers turkey sandwiches and a few cookies. Then it was lights out in hopes of a healthier next day.

Our next and final stop was Ensenada! Bryan felt a little better and the sun was shining so we decided to go for a walk and buy a nice bottle of sipping tequila for back home. Ensenada isn’t much to look at but it was a beautiful day.

Weird statue

After we purchased said bottle of tequila Bry turned to me and said, “What they hey, how about one more margarita?”. I obliged. We found a nice outdoor table at a Carnival-approved restaurant called Mango Mango and ordered a beer for me and a marg for Bryan.

Bryan with our new bottle of tequila

After our $10 tab came (a little steep for Mexico) we ventured else where. We noticed a sign down the street for a 2 for 1 margarita deal, done and done. Again, Bry ordered the marg and I a beer (didn’t want to chance it with the ice). After a few minutes, a couple of fellow Spiriters sat down across the aisle from us and they ordered a bucket of beers. In Ensenada, a bucket included 10 beers. Their eyes widened in shock and then they happily offered us two of their beers. We ended up joining tables and had great conversation about the trip. A few beers deep and we noticed another couple from the cruise. We invited them over and they also ordered a bucket-o-beers. Well, beers turned into shots and conversation turned into shouted slurs. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Started Out Innocently Enough

The Double Fist Rears its Ugly Head

Bryan is Keeping it Cool

We Have Chiclets!!

New Friends!

And the Money Shot

We ended up spending the better part of the day at this bar and when the clock read 3:30 we had to scoot. A quick shuttle ride later and Bryan and I were safely back in our stateroom. We ended up ~~passing out~~ taking a nap until almost 9 o’clock. Thank God for the late night pizza buffet.

The next day we were back in sunny San Diego and one looooong travel day later, back in Jackson. The cruise was awesome and I can’t wait to take another someday (maybe Caribbean?).

When I arrived back at work, I was greeted with this.

Justin Bieber Singing Doll

Viva Mexico!

I Love it When We’re Crusin’ Together

February 20, 20122 Comments

Runner up post titles: I’m on a Boat! Sail Away With Me. And of course, The Love Boat.

I guess you can figure out the theme here…

Bry and I are going on a cruise in less than 2 weeks!!

We embark on March. 2 and will cruise around the Mexican Riviera via the Carnival Spirit for 9 glorious days.

Maybe it’s the fact that every sentence I’ve started in the past 2 months has begun with, “This is the coldest I’ve ever been…”. Or the fact that I fall on the sidewalks, have ridiculously chapped hands (they bleed and yes, I’ve tried everything) and must don a beanie to take out the trash. Or maybe, it’s because I have an amazing guy that books cruises out of nowhere and calls me at work to say, “We’re leaving for a cruise of the Mexican Riviera in two weeks. I love you.”

Well HOTDOG I’m excited! I’ll be losing my cruise-virginity so to speak as this will be my first time at sea. As a first timer, I’m desperate for advice and tips so if you’re a crusin pro, please inform away!

When Bryan told me we were going on a cruise my first thought of course, was what I was going to wear. I then began to tally up other small details that will just not do aboard the Carnival Spirit.

Exhibit A: My white trash halo, or grow-out for all you blonde term illiterates out there.

NOT cute.

Exhibit B: The extra “wobbly bits” (as Bridget Jones would say) I’ve happily accumulated this cold, Jackson winter.

Enter new nourishment:

To commemorate the passing of our dear Ms. Houston, I’ve decided it’s time to bring back the 80’s. I have high hopes that the Slim Fast Diet will help shape me into the woman who won’t have to declare, “I wanna dance with somebody!”

So far the Slim Fast Plan is a little tougher than I thought. The shakes are supposed to “keep you satisfied for up to 4 hours”. I want to know who on earth lasts 4 hours on 8 ounces of chocolate milk?!

Maybe if you add in a loaf of french bread :-).

I’ve also made a few purchases of the online kind to re-vamp my tired winter wardrobe. Thanks to Victoria’s Secret and Forever 21, I now have a few cruising essentials.

Oh, and I checked with VS and they assured me I’d look exactly like the models when my swimsuits arrive. Yay!

Formal Night Cruise Wear

Literal and Awesome

To say that I’m excited would be an understatement. I’m so ready to escape the snow, cold and especially the sh*t skiers say. Bring on the sun, bring on the buffet. I’m ready to be on a boat!

Still funny.

A Very Kennewick Christmas

December 17, 20112 Comments

Happy Holidays little darlings!

Tomorrow I embark on my journey home to Kennewick, Washington. It will be an epic, 2 week journey filled with laughter, tears and of course, candy cane shakes from Burger Ranch. Am I excited to go home? Well, yes I am.

When I tell most people from Jackson, Wyoming that I am excited to spend almost 2 weeks in the Tri Cities, Washington the normal reaction is “oh, the dry sh*tties?” or, “oh gosh…I’m sorry.” Why must people say this? For some reason, the Tri Cities is some sort of anomaly. You can be from Washtucna, Touchet, Sprague or dare I say it…Benton City (nothing of which, is wrong with these places) and most people say “oh, that’s cool”. But the Tri-Cities? You may as well throw yourself into a ditch for all the negative attention it draws.

WHY is this? Are any other Tri-Citians sick of this ridicule? Yes, Hanford is technically a toxic dump and we may not have the best culinary scene but we do have some gems. Including, but not exclusive to:

The home of the original Zips (by the cable Bridge). Boo yes.
The highest grossing 7-11 in the country. On Clearwater, what what?!
Desserts by Kelly. Perfectly ghetto. Cake nazi owner. What could be better?
The boat races. White trash? Yes. But also a great excuse to wear dirty white Old Navy flip-flops with zero shame.
Casa Chapala, Chicos and other various taco trucks that beat the snot outta any Mexican food within a 150-mile radius.

Other faves, circa 1997 would have included:

Skate West (the site of many school skate nights where I was the awkward tall girl who looked like an alien and didn’t know how to “shoot the duck”.)
Sunburst Video. 5 videos for $1 back in the dizzle. Be kind, rewind.
The Minute Mart. Ohhhh, the Minute Mart :-).

On a more serious note, the Tri-Cities happens to be booming. The weather is warm. The wine flows like Columbia River and hello, we have a Coach store.

But enough of that. Here’s what been going on in Bry and I’s neck-o-the-woods.

I’ve been baking and cooking some new delights!

Southwest Eggrolls

Mock Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies

Coconut Almond Spice Granola

Bry and I attended an open house for a new store in Jackson called Lucky You. They had hot cider and tons of adorable cookies.

I’ve been busy at work…

Cupcake Apron

Christmas Apron

The folks at Elevated Grounds were so awesome too. Look at the birthday cupcakes I recieved as well as the awesome gifts!

Christmas Basket and Cupcake Jar!

Jackson is so awesome during the Christmas season. But I can’t wait to spend time with my family. Playing shanghai rummy and Balderdash with everyone. Eating mounds of caesar salad. Making bombs-away drinks with Megan and Rachel. Watching Wee Sing Christmas with Amy. Watching my Dad squish his gifts before opening to ensure it isn’t a “soft” present (meaning socks or another clothing item). Having 2 glasses of wine with my Mom and watching her laugh her head off at every You Tube video I play for her. And lastly, Chloe ferociously biting my hand for trying to pick up my shoe.

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone enjoys this time of year as much as I enjoy wearing blush ;-).