Deep in the mountain of Washington, there is a cute village that brings you to your very own Bavaria. Right when you see the "Welcome to Leavenworth" sign, you leave the US and enter into a mini-Bavaria. A little bit of Germany right here in the states.
This past weekend my parents visited Josh and I. Instead of going around Seattle, we took them to WA's little Germany, Leavenworth. And we didn't even have to go on a nine hour flight! We enjoyed pretzels, brats, beer, spaetzle, you know, German fare. ;)
The buildings are adorable and so pretty with the flower baskets hanging. But the heat, oh my, the heat. Of all the weekends my parents were here, we have the hottest weekend of the year. But, I guess it's not as hot as other areas of the country (we're not really used to the heat here in WA).
We stayed the night at the Enzian Inn which carried on the Bavarian theme. In the morning, we also had our very own Alphorn play as we enjoyed breakfast.
All in all, it was a great mini trip. Next up, Solvang!
This birthday was a big one for me, a turn of another decade of my life. But I celebrated in style, thanks to my wonderful husband. He put a lot of effort into making my 30th great. Gotta love him!
The celebration began on Friday night after work. I got to open my presents. I got some great gifts including some new photography tools. My parents got me a new lens, a 42mm. Josh got me filters - UV ray and polarized filters. You'll get to see the results of these soon. Not to forget, a cute necklace from my sis, and ticket to Cirque de Soleil for when we visit Las Vegas from the Browns.
Saturday morning, Josh and I drove off to have a special birthday getaway. We went to Cave B Inn out near Quincy, WA. The drive there is about 2.5 hours and goes through Snoqualmie Pass and then past windmills, then ends up at a beautiful river gorge.
On our drive there, we made a lunch stop in a cute little town called Roslyn. You might know it from the TV show, Northern Exposure since this is where it was filmed. We walked around and re-fueled at a delicious sandwich place called Mountain Mermaid.
Beauty (and Resorts)
When we reached Cave B, we were awed by it's beauty. The resort sat right next to the gorge with grape vines growing all around. The resort itself we awesome too.
Wine (and Food)
The resort not only was a beautiful hotel, but also a winery. We got there in the late afternoon and ended up spending the remainder of our afternooon having a glass of wine and looking out at the gorge. Did I mention the weather was sunny and warm with a nice cooling wind?
That night we enjoyed my birthday meal at the Cave B's restaurant, Tendrils. We sat at the window and did some more looking out at the gorge, and at our tasty food. Yumm halibut, my favorite. Ohhh, bread pudding, I do adore thee.
Wind (and Yurts)
Cave B also has these cool Yurts, which are like a cross between a hotel room, a tent, and a hut. They have a bed, electricity, shower, and all those regular hotel amenities, but it's a tent. Fun, right? Well, not so fun when you start getting 40+ mph winds hitting you. At one point, a big gust hit around 2am, and Josh sat up and declared, "That's It!" Apparently he was dreaming of the yurt blowing down, and was preparing for us to exacute. But we survived the night, maybe with a bit less sleep than we would have liked. Next time, it's a cliffhouse (probably work the extra bucks).
The next morning the winds were still blowing, so we nix the swimming idea. So we enjoyed our brunch and headed home.
A beautiful weekend celebrating my special day. Thanks Josh! ♥
P.S. Do you see the results of my new lens and filters in my pictures. Please say yes, please say yes.
How do you make a 3-day weekend awesome? Go on a getaway. I love weekend getaways. You feel like you took a vacation, yet you didn't have to deal with all the stress of planning a long trip. And 3-day weekends are the perfect opportunities for getaways. So, since it was a 3-day holiday weekend, that what we did last weekend...we got away.
And who do you think were the lucky people to join us? The in-laws! They flew in Thursday evening from Indio to join the party. And the party got started Friday after work. And it started with our feet - a luxurious pedicure treatment at Be Polished. Is there a better way to start off a weekend than with clean, relaxed, stress-free feet? (Yes, I have stressed feet, deal with it).
We squeezed in a nice dinner at Ray's Cafe with the Brown family friends, Vince and Jonita. But the at dawn of the next day (aka Saturday morning, early), we were on the train headed to Vancouver, BC.
Vancouver, BC
We arrived in Vancouver around 11:30am. After a stop at the hotel to drop our bags, we were off exploring. Vancouver is such a beautiful city. And it's especially beautiful when the weather is beautiful. Clear skies, and 70 degrees...heaven. I mean, look at this:
We toured around Canada Place, Coal Harbor, and then down retail row on Robson Street. Whew, lots of walking. Then we walked some more on the Forbidden Vancouver Tour with Will, our tour guide. He took us all around town - Chinatown, Yaletown, Gastown - giving us the history of the city during Prohibition and all those other "dark" times. The tour was very fun and Will took the theme to heart. And Nada won the quiz at the end.
[The tour Guide & Josh raising, not just the roof, but the house]
We also enjoyed a delicious dinner at hit (and hip) restaurant, The Flying Pig. I also tried poutine for the first time and this version had pulled pork. I can see why a hot plate of poutine would be good on a cold, gray day.
Sunday was another wonderful day, and we started it with a yummy waffle breakfast at Medina. I found this place on Cooking Light's site, and it was a great find. The waffles were their specialty, so we all got two (they were small). And with them you got your choice in toppings. We each got a different one - milk chocolate lavender, fig orange marmalade, white chocolate pistachio rosewater, raspberry caramel. And on our way out of the restaurant, we saw the guy from Property Brothers. You know, the HGTV show? Still no. Well, watch HGTV Wednesday night, then you'll get it.
Tummies full of waffles, we aquabused (aka water taxi) over to Granville Island to roam the public market. There was fruit, fish, veggies, meat, sweets, tea, coffee - well you get the picture, there was a lot of stuff.
Then we aquabused it back, got a few things to picnic on the train for dinner, and headed home. And the train ride home wrapped the awesome weekend nicely with scenic site and a beautiful sunset.
Random Parting thought: Vancouver should be called the city of glass. All the buildings, condos, skyscrapers are beautiful glass.
Last weekend Josh and I were in Chicago for two reasons: (1) to have fun, and (2) to see family. As luck would have it, we got both!
Let's talk about fun:
Architecture Boat Tour
Saturday was our fun day - not that family isn't fun, but what I mean is city fun, a totally different type of fun (you know what I mean). Unfortunately the weather wasn't the greatest. Chicago was living up to it's name as the windy city. Plus it was gray and cold (and some rain). But this didn't stop us, we had plan for fun, and who's to let weather get in the way.
Ever since I heard about the Architecture boat tour, I wanted to go. We asked the concierge if she thought it would be a bad day to go considering the weather. She said, "oh no, there is an inside that's heated and you can have drinks." That sounded good. Josh and I were picturing a glass covered, dome thing over the boat. Perfect.
When we arrived, we found this magical boat we imagined was not this boat. This boat had a inside, sure, but you couldn't SEE anything upwards. And might I add, this was a boat tour to look at buildings, and in skyscrapers, how the heck do they expect us to sit inside and see things (crazy concierge). So we decided to brave the cold because we actually wanted to see what the guide was going to point out and talk about.
Huddling on the top of the boat, with a Swiss Mix hot cocoa in hand, we endured the windy, cold weather. Luckily, it didn't rain. And as we cruised along, and turned off the main river, the wind calmed and it was more bearable.
All that said, we enjoyed the tour very much. We learned a lot about Chicago and it's architecture. We got a great view of the buildings, and saw a lot of the city. We were glad that we went on the tour, but also glad to be done and in a tea shop warming up...
Ferris Wheel
After tea and some shopping on the loop, I had this strange desire to go on the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier. So we trekked up to the pier (mind you, still windy and cold). We got in line, bought our tickets, and then hopped into the little compartment. Up we started.
I have to say, a little bubble of panic rose inside of me, and I looked at Josh and said, "oh my God, why did I ever say I wanted to go on this thing. Holy cow!!" (flattening my hands on the seat). Josh asked if he could come sit next to me, and I said, "no, you can NOT move, we need to keep the balance." At which, Josh started to laugh. Then I relaxed a bit and some-what enjoyed the rest of the ride (although, still nervous).
Excited Josh. Panicked Heather.
(side note: even though I'm smiling in the above picture, deep down I was still panicked. I'm a master of disguise)
Now, let's talk about Family:
If you didn't know, about 3/4 of my family is in Chicago. My parents were born and raised there, but moved to Cali before I was born. When I was younger, we'd go to Chicago almost every summer, so it's almost like a home away from home. Now, the past few years, we've been going at the end of April. My Grandma Ruth's birthday is at the end of April, so it's nice to go for her birthday (and my Uncle Mike & cousin Scott's b-days too).
We had a big birthday celebration on Sunday at my Aunt Ann & Uncle Mike's house in Crystal Lake. All the kiddies, aunties, and family showed up to party. My grandma had a big 91 years to celebrate. Doesn't she look good?
We had some BBQ. Played with the little ones. And just had a good time catching up. Not to mention, cake was involved. All in all, good family times.
Josh and I were in Chicago this past weekend. It was part of our annual trip to see all my family and to celebrate all the April birthdays including my Grandma Ruth's 91st birthday. More to come in another post about all the fun we had, but first to more important things: food.
Usually when we go to Chicago, we eat at the same places. My parents grew up in Chicago, so we generally go to all their old favorites. This is what I call nostalgia food. These places include: Gale Street Inn (ribs), Hackney's (burgers), Lou Malnati's (pizza), Portillo's (Italian beef).
However, this means we don't get to taste all the other awesome restaurants I know Chicago has to offer. Seriously, Chicago is right next to New York in places to eat. And if you watch Top Chef like me, you see that a lot of the chefs are from Chicago. For instance, Steph, she's in Chicago. Anyway, there's good stuff.
This time, Josh and I broke away from the pack (aka the family), and tried something new. Friday night we headed to Blackbird. This is hard core good food, like 9 James Beardnominations hard core (including this year). Josh heard about it on the Food Network, and then we saw Anthony Bourdain visit there or something. Either way, this is the place we chose.
Here's what we had:
[Heather] Blood Orange Martini [Josh] Gin and Tonic
[Shared] confit of suckling pig with smoked date, stewed hazelnits, pickled shallot and dandilion
[Heather] roasted alaskan halibut with turnips, almond, pickled turmeric and smoked butter
[Josh] chickory glazed lamb belly with escarole, crunchy turnip, pine nut hollandaise and preserved meyer lemon
[Shared] frozen pear parfait with vanilla pudding, red wine and chocolate + housemade citrus-cello
Verdict: Happiness. It was delicious, every bite. Our favorite was actually dessert, the pear parfait...soooo goood.
Here's us, happy diners:
Drooling yet?
Well, there is more. Saturday, for lunch, we decided to head over to Rick Bayless's restaurant, Xoco. (side note: how the heck do you pronounce that?). The best part about this, besides the sparkle in Josh's eye while eating his torta, was that we saw Rick at the restaurant. How freakin' cool is that? I didn't think celebrity chef actually worked, so that was cool. See, there's Rick:
And we really enjoyed our lunch. I enjoyed it down to the delicious iced tea.
[Heather] Wood-Roasted Chicken Pozole
[Josh] Goat Barbacoa (yes, goat)
Oh, friends, the culinary adventures don't stop there. We ate out at Wildfire with the family, which was also very tasty. And Argo Tea (remember me talking about that from my work visit?).
Sheesh, stop jumping to conclusions. I didn't go to the Family Fun Center or play miniature golf. Actually, it was fun times with family. And not just my immediate family, but all the relatives. This past weekend I was able to fly out to Chicago (elongate the "a" in Chicago as you say it). Not only was it to visit family, but to celebrate some momentous events. Momentous you say? Yes. Grandma Ruth turned 89 years old and Cousin Erin is having her first baby. Let me tell you about the weekend in bullet points - it's the easiest way and not to mention my favorite.
Traveling: My flight to Chicago started at the wee hours of the morning on Friday. Eh-hem, yes I know I get up early for work and should be used to it. Let me tell you something...you don't get used to it. period. But it was worth it. The itinerary was having me start in Eugene with stops in Denver at then Madison. Denver was being Denver (crazy weather, etc) and my originally on-time flight was late due to our pilot having to slow the speed approaching Denver and then circling until we got clearance. I get off the plane and run to my connecting flight, but it was closed. Luckily I got transferred to a flight straight from Denver to Chicago. Sadly that got delayed with mechanical issues (mention of starting with just one engine as we taxi to the take-off queue - hmm), then it snowed and possible de-ice, and last we had to wait for our turn. Although all this happened, I (A) still got to Chicago by 3:30 when I was original scheduled for 2:30pm - not bad, and (B) I got some awesome views from the plane at Eugene take-off. Please Note: I tried talking to the Eugene representatives about getting on a different flight because of my tight layovers...they said I'd be just fine...yea right! The return flight was only through Denver and both were early arrivals. Not to mention great views again.
Erin's Baby Shower: The first day was preparing for the shower. We picked up some delicious cupcakes from Sensational Bites (we also snuck in some apple-ras crumble to snack on that night - yum!). And I did some wrapping extravaganza. Saturday we had a luncheon-style baby shower. It went really well. We had some great salads and cupcakes of course. There were also some fabulous games: (1) Name that Baby - everyone brought their own baby picture, we posted them on the wall with numbers, and people had to guess who was who. (2) Sock Laundry Timing - Erin got a buck of baby socks, mixed up, and had to match & fold them while being timed. Beforehand, everyone guessed how long it would take her. (3) Future Baby Story - a sheet with places to guess the baby's life. For instance, favorite subject or activities as a teenager. On the game topic, I did get in 2nd on the Baby Sock game - just 7 seconds off. Then just chit-chating and whatnot. On an ending note, Erin is a beautiful mother-to-be! Oh, and it's a boy!
Grandma's Party: Immediately after the baby shower was Grandma's birthday party. It was a party day! We headed to Hackneys (more to come of food) where we had a private room for all the relatives to gather. Practically all the family showed up - the Peru Aunts, Bossharts, Lesses, and O'Neills. We enjoyed some catch-up time with all. The cousins formed a table, and we got to have cuz time. I met Scott's girlfriend, Katie, who was super nice. Man, us cousins are growing up. Grandma got some cake and presents. Just a good ole birthday celebration.
Billy Elliot: Sunday was a day out to downtown Chicago. We headed over to the Theatre District to see Billy Elliot, the Musical. It was playing at the Oriental Theatre which was very cool inside - ornate and classical (ok, I don't know art decor terms, sue me; I think you get it though). The play was great. I enjoyed the ballet and tap dancing. It was a nice balance of singing, dancing, and story-line. All Elton John music too. In a nutshell, very fun and very worth it. I've had the movie from Netflix to watch beforehand since it'd been a while since I saw it. I didn't get to it before, so now I plan to watch it in the next few days. [Side Note: Across the street we made a quick pit-shop in the old Marshall Fields, now Macys - you'll see pictures on Flickr. I also found an interesting article on Frango Mints.]
Merkner-Time: More family fun! Monday mom, dad, grandma, and I headed out to McHenry-Wauconda area to visit my Uncle Chuck and Aunt Sue. I also got to meet their little doggies, PJ and Lulu - very cute. Even more exciting was Uncle Chucks Extensive Train system. It was a whole room dedicated to trains. Literally a whole room. The entire space was filled staring with a table and four different train systems. A little town, noises, controls. Crazy. Then we enjoyed lunch together at a near-by waterfront restaurant, Lindy's Landing.
Baby Time: My Uncle Terry and Kellie have the two most adorable kids. Riley (20 months) and Emily (8 months). I got some quality time with Riley on Monday afternoon. In my life I haven't had many babies around, so it was a special time to get to know my newest cousins. It was so fun to bond with Riley (and she apparently looks like me when I was a baby). We played at the playground - when down a slide, roamed around, we played with all sorts of toys at home, read some books, and I watched her eat some dinner and take a bath. So Cute. I didn't see too much of Emily because the poor thing was not feeling well and Kellie took her to the doctor to get checked out - she's okay though.
Food: According to my parents, there are some must-go restaurants to "hit-up" when we're in town. I don't know if this requirement comes from some childhood memories, that "these are the best" places to go according to many, or just plain habit. Whatever it may be, we must go every visit. Plus, each restaurant has a very specific item that you should order (emphasis should, I rebel and usually get something different based on my eating habits). Like most trips, we managed to squeeze them all in. Here's the list: (1) Gale Street Inn for ribs, (2) Hackney's for ribs, (3) Portillo's for Italian Beef, and (4) Lou Malnati's for deep dish pizza.
Humor: My uncles have quite a sense of humor. I carried some of this humor back with me. I told the muffin joke and ocean joke to co-workers. They laughed and then said I was goofy. I also showed them the new fist bump, or alternatives to the bump me. Bump it and blow-up and the park-the-bumb.
P.S. Photos on Flickr for viewing. Or check out the video of grandma.
P.P.S. My forefinger feels better from the time off. It gets tired at work holding the milk pitcher and punching at the register. Poor finger.
Runners Up (on Blog titles): I had a hard time deciding, so I thought I'd mention these too...Neighborhood Watching, Sleepless in Seattle, Scoping Seattle, and a few others which I've forgotten now so they must not have been that great anyway. Oh and one with following the 5 to the Emerald City, a Wizard of Oz reference. P.S. I didn't watch Northern Exposure so I hope there are no crazy deeper meanings.
The Distance: The distance between Eugene and Seattle is closer than many would first think. It's actually driveable and takes roughly 4-5 hours. We opted to drive so we had my car and navigation system (we started calling the system Wifey on this trip). Josh did the driving on the way up Friday morning - we got there in 4 hrs 15 mins. I took over the wheel for the majority of the city navigating with some awesome parallel parking. In general, it could probably be called Mrs. O'Neill's wild ride.
Sunday we headed back in the afternoon just in time for the rain to return (so that's an indirect way of saying we had good weather all weekend). And it returned in torrents. The windshield wipers were seemed to be on crack and the rain came down in sheet. Luckily, I got us safely down to Portland. Due to the stressful conditions, Josh took over and drove us safely home. The return drive took roughly 5 hours (longer if you include the stops for gas, dinner, rain, traffic, etc).
Exploration: Take a look at this chart. Now, you can imagine why I was slightly panicked at the amount of exploration and investigation necessary on our ~2 days in Seattle. I calmed down after sitting down and reading though some other articles. And calmed down even more so after talking with our Seattle friend, Andrea. Andrea gave us the low down on all the neighborhoods. In a nutshell, keep north. Our favorite areas included: Ballard, Fremont, Green Lake, Queen Anne (lower), Bellevue, etc. Another fun fact about downtown street names is that they go in twos - two P's, two U's, two M's, and two S's (PUSM sounds funny tho). We now have a much better idea in mind on how the city is setup and where to begin if/when the time comes. Oh, and a Farmer's Market on Sunday = yay!
Non-Exploration: I haven't mentioned yet that Josh's parents were able to join us for our weekend adventure. They were our fearless passengers as we bopped around the city. It was great seeing them and enjoying some time together. Also, we meet up with our friend Andrea for lunch on Saturday (recall: mentioned above she gave some good Seattle tips). We had a nice little lunch catch-up time. We even squeezed in a quick hi and hug with Vince and Jonita, Brown family friends. I guess we not only saw Seattle, but friends/family too!
Food: Nom Nom Nom <-- That's the written version of me munching on tasty food. I imagine you now know that we ate some good food. A few sweet highlights include: banana bread at Columbia City Bakery, orange currant oatmeal cookie and raspberry oat bran muffin from Fresh Flours. As for food, a few savory delights included: crepe at Miro Tea, lunch at Purple Cafe, and dinner at Long Provincial Vietnamese. Seattle definitely has a happenin' foodie scene and the blogs that have been screaming Seattle as the current food trend were not lying.
Frozen Yogurt: I (practically) didn't have this all weekend. Yes, opposed to popular belief I can go without it for a few days without a meltdown. Don't get me wrong, it's tough, but possible. But it turns out Seattle was sadly lacking in this department. I did have the radar turned on though. You probably noticed I put "practically" in parenthesis in the first sentence. This is because I did taste some at a shop in Bellevue called Shnoo. However, I didn't not get a yogurt. For one, it was in the morning and I don't allow myself to eat it before noon (note: a few exceptions). Also, after a taster (or two. ok three), I decided that it wasn't that great. It's the trendy tart stuff and I deemed it just mediocre. Fear not, I have some bookmarked for future ventures north.
Pictures: I'm working on pictures. I forgot my camera, but luckily Don brought his along. I already have a few on Flickr that I took with my iPhone, but more should be coming soon. Keep checking out Flickr.
This past weekend I was in sunny San Diego. And yes it was sunny - WooHoo! It was a really nice weekend visiting my family in Encinitas and going to my childhood friend's wedding. Rather than have run-on sentences (ok, that'll happen anyway) and unorganized babble, I thought I'd set this up in my favorite style: bullets.
Travel
I was able to snag a couple days off work and head down Thursday after work and return Sunday. The flight down to SD was like a trip to Europe - it took forever with all the layovers. I had stops in Portland and in San Fran. To give you an idea, I departed Eugene Airport at 5:45pm and got home at midnight. To top it, the last leg of the flight was uber-turbulencey and the flight attendants didn't even come out nor did we get our beverage service. The return flight was one layover in San Fran, but still long and late. And to throw in the pity card...I returned at midnight and guess who got to open the next morning...2-3 hrs sleep, oh boy. Needless to say, the travel portions weren't glamorous - but worth it!
Friday
Froyo Alert - Yes, my radar went off yet again this week. I spied this place as I was enjoying Chicks, a lunch favorite, with my mom (more specifically, the chicken bowl dish). The new shop was in the TJ Max center across the street and I saw the glorious words...frozen yogurt. We popped on over for further investigation after our lunch. To my delight, the flavors included my all-time favorite, Cookies 'n Cream. That raised the place up in my book. The name is Swirls, and apparently there are a couple of them here in North County SD. It passed the taste test and ambiance with flying colors. The texture was smooth and rich and tasted oh so yummy. The store had the trendy, almost IKEA style going - very white, clean, and sleek. The logo was also nicely done. This is officially now my new place to go when I come home (not to mention, it's closer to our home than Golden Spoon - I still love GS though mind you). Please stay Swirls! Maybe I should seek out the owner and ask them to test the Pacific Northwest market.
Blast from the Past - Being retired, my mom has been helping out at the school she taught 4th grade, La Costa Meadows (LCM). It also happens to be the elementary school I attended oh-so-many years ago. We had to make a pit stop there Friday to drop of some art project. Although there were many changes, it was like a blast from the past. I remembered the old classrooms and playground. It was weird to be back.
Intense Relaxation - The afternoon was intense, or should I say intensely relaxation. It began with my hair. I headed to my usual girls at Entourage. These girls are great. Josh and his parents went to this salon when they lived in Carlsbad and were friends with the girls that own the place. Since I met Josh I've been going and kept it up since they do a good job. After hair, I hurried back, picked up mom, and we headed to the spa for our pedicures. It was a very nice place and we left with beautiful feet. Except...the crazy Russian lady that did my mom's nails. She just kept talking and we couldn't understand half of her conversation (but it did make for a funny conversation afterwards). The evening was finished with a nice meal at Sbicca and movie time with my parents at home.
Saturday
Around Town - The morning my dad played tennis and went to a softball game, so my mom and I hung out. Of course, we ate breakfast at my favorite Honey's Bakery and Bistro. Yum oat bran muffin - the best ever! Then we roamed The Forum and shopped around. Then we met up my dad for lunch at yet another favorite, The Counter. Then we headed to the closest mall, UTC, since my mom needed eye liner. We ended up getting our make-up quickly done at Chanel for the wedding. Oh and a real mall = heaven.
The Wedding - My childhood best friend, Jessica Trogler, got married! Yup, I came on this particular weekend because it was her wedding day on Saturday. She married Chris Anderson at Rancho Valencia, a gorgeous resort in Rancho Santa Fe. The ceremony was outdoors with a trellis at sunset (beautiful but a bit blinding with the sun - you'll see in the picture). It was a smaller wedding, but very lovely. The reception was at the resort. I enjoyed how they did the first dance upon entering the reception. Also, there were some cool things like the 1,000 cranes and guest book with polaroids. In a nutshell, a beautiful wedding and good fun.
Sunday
Taxes - Blah! That's about all I can say. Blah taxes! But they're over. Yippee! I spent the morning working on my taxes with my dad around to help with all that tax mumbo jumbo.
Pizza Port - This place was discovered over Christmas at home. Josh saw it in a micro-brew beer magazine...I guess it had good beer, but it has good pizza. Although my dad declared it a bit noisy inside.
Randomness - After some stuff at home, the four of us (mom, dad, sister Lindsay) roamed around North County doing a bit of shopping. We found some invitations, my mom got instructions on how to use the make-up she got Saturday, food for my flight, etc.
As usual, I'll end with some photos. To jazz things up a bit, I've made my pictures into a slideshow below for your view pleasure (some random photos in there, I know).
Two notes before you begin this blog: (1) It's not in chronological order, (2) you might enjoy listening to this Cake song as you read - at least the beginning of the song seems fitting at parts because of the hipsterness of the area...Now onto the post:
Here I am sitting in a tiny, cute-as-a-button coffee house in Portland while Josh is hard at work (cool logo/branding too - makes me think of Scrubs ostriches). He's taking an ethics exam that's necessary for lawyers in a some states. Washington doesn't need it, but neighboring Oregon and also California do require it...really it's just in case dash who knows where we'll end up safety. So, while he is busy taking the exam, I'm out exploring.
Exploring is a favorite pastime of mine (aka roaming). I love walking around new areas and finding awesome places such as this coffee house on Alberta Street called Random Order. I ended up on Alberta Street, after roaming around the University of Portland (where Josh has the exam). I took a few shots of cherry blossom trees as well as some nice river views. It's a pretty school. At least, as cool and neat as schools go, but only 20 minutes of exploration is really necessary. Now we transition to...Alberta.
To be perfectly honest, I've been in this area previously. In other words, I'm not exploring a entirely new area. However, I didn't roam much last time and recalled thinking it was deserving of more exploration. For some background the last exploration, we basically were here just to eat and network. It was at a place called the Tin Shed and Josh and I met up with a gal I met through an Acxiom co-worker when I was pursing the Portland job market more vigorously (pre-Eugene living).
I'm excited by my return to Alberta Street. There is definitely one end of the street that the newer and more trendy, hippy. The other end was in more need of growth and stores. Since it was an absolutely beautiful day, I walked the length of the street . To my dismay, most stores don't open until 11am. Ehh, back to the nicer area and find a place to chill (or plop down, to say it in a fun way) for the remaining time. That brings us here, to this moment of me writing this blog in a free wi-fi coffee shop.
<<RING RING>> Josh just called and the exam is over! Blog to be continued...
Okay, now I'm back home in the evening to finish this off. Before I go on to the rest of the day with Josh, I'll mention Friday (note: today is Saturday). Friday after work and an appointment, Josh and I packed up and headed to Portland. We got into town and checked in to our hotel, Hotel Fifty. We got a great deal on Priceline and it was conveniently located downtown. The trip started off really great with a street parking spot right in front of the hotel - that means no paying for pricey hotel parking. Woot! We threw our stuff in the room (ok, we didn't literally throw, but you get the idea), and headed out for a stroll to uptown Pearl District for dinner. I was very hungry, so we opted on a tried and true favorite, Silk. We were not disappointed. It was a awesome meal of fish and curry. We even splurged on dessert of banana bread pudding with tapioca pudding....melted in our mouths. Tummies full, we strolled back to the hotel via Powells Book store. Josh did some final studying and I did random computer stuff.
Back to Saturday before the exam. We had to get up early - ugh, early on a non-work day (boo). Aren't I a dedicated fiancee? We got breakfast at North Star, which turned out to be quite good coffee. That was just a side note since I wanted to mention the breakfast place. Now, back on track. I picked up Josh after he called and we headed back to the awesome coffee shop for lunch. We enjoyed pot pie (Josh) and sandwich-salad combo (Heather). We strolled around the part of the area I didn't quite get to thoroughly. We also got tasty tea at Townshend - btw, we've tried it in Bend before and liked it immensely. So we strolled with our drinks on a sunny day. And if I like anything more than exploring, it's exploring with Josh with me! Heavenly day.
Oh, and that's not it. We drove back across the bridge to downtown and hit up the real mall experience and Pioneer Place. How I missed you mall! I got a free mini-facial (with product sales, of course) at Origins. Josh got a Mac Store "fix" and all we well in the world.
And I'm still going. We ended the fine day at YoCream. You CAN'T, I repeat CAN'T, go to Portland without a stop for decent, real froyo. I was a bit disappointed in flavors, but I still loved it.
After all this, we drove home and here I am. One complaint: I have to open the store tomorrow (aka wake up insanely, inhumanly early). But I I'm going to go watch some How I Met Your Mother and be happy.
Pictures to come soon, Here's some as a preview. Perhaps a video (thinking about it & whether my "old" computer can handle it). Perhaps Perhap. Oh, and in case it didn't make send, the song reference on top is because Alberta, and Portland in general, is hippy and it's a hipster type song.
Yes, super mini. I say super mini because we left Friday afternoon and returned Saturday evening from a little getaway up north. Josh received some Bed and Breakfast gift certificates (a combo birthday and xmas gift from my folks), so we decided to put them to good use and head out of town. The timing was perfect because I had two days off work in a row and it was the weekend before Josh's last semester begins.
After some debate early in the week - beach, mountains, vs. city and then exactly which B&B - we ended at the Camas Hotel which is a cute little Parisian-style boutique hotel located in Camas, WA. Camas is just over the Oregon border (that would mean Washington) and along the Columbia River Gorge about 20-30 minutes outside of Portland. We thought we'd get more bang for our buck out there and it'd be peaceful, quite, and quaint.
Josh took a week long, one unit Corporate Finance drafting course before the semester began that ended Friday. After his class, we high-tailed it out of Eugene up the 5. The rain was coming down in torrents so the driving was a bit tough (thanks Josh for taking over the wheel.
Finally, we arrived in Camas just in time for a nice little pizza dinner at Twilight (not related to the movie mind you). We wrapped up the night up with a martini and apple crisp at the recently opened restaurant next to our hotel, Harwood's restaurant.
Saturday morning we opted to get a bigger breakfast instead of the continental option at the B&B (which was sparse by 9am when I scoped it out in the dining area). We took a few steps down the road to a diner called Natalia's Cafe. The order? A Josh-like meal of hash browns and a Heather-like meal of egg whites and veggies scrambled. Not too shabby, and it was an adorable little diner to boot. Then we walked around for a bit since it wasn't pouring at the moment. The town did turn out to be quaint and cute, but pretty small. You can tell it's really trying hard to build up, but it's not quite there yet. There is a paper mill at the edge of town that has kept the area running over the years - a mill-town in other words.
Next up: Vancouver. That would be the closer Vancouver, the one in Washington as opposed to Canada. We walked the waterfront area, but it was pretty small. Nice condos and apartments though. After a quick walk on the water, we hopped in the car and found downtown. It was uber quiet - oddly quiet in fact - in the little downtown square we found. Our overall opinion of Vancouver: its a nice, quite place to live.
We then headed back over the bridge to the sales tax-free Oregon (always nice when eating out). We went to our favorite area, the Pearl District and walked around like we lived there. For example, we were giving people directions. Also, we hit up a few of our favorite shops, which of course means a stopat Oblations, "the scene of the proposal."
Eventually our tummies rumbled for some lunch so we jotted over to another favorite, Silk. I got a delicious curry with yams, eggplant, and chicken while Josh got a Vietnamese beef sandwich. We tacked on some tea to share since it was chilly. A perfect cold weather lunch. To top it off, Josh got a spicy mocha at Masterpiece.
Before heading back home, we did a Heather-must-feed-the-addiction stop at YoCream. I think I about died and went to heaven when I saw cookies 'n cream (my all-time favorite), Irish mint, and chocolate macadamia nut. Yummy in my tummy. Even though I wasn't incredibly hungry I ate a very large yogurt (dang that self-serve spout), but it was worth the pain...glorious.
A super great mini trip ended on the YoCream high and then back to Eugene. Need ed to get out out town..check. Good food...check. Spirit of Adventure...check. Relaxation...check. Recharge batteries...check. Well, you get the point, we checked off all our needs. This translates to...an excellent weekend!
As always, photos for your viewing pleasure on Flickr. The sneak peek picture below is along the Vancouver Waterfront.
This year I'm going digital with my christmas note. I thought this would be the best, and most efficient way to reach everyone. Not to mention, it's getting late in the year at this point and I can post to my blog immediately - no having to wait for the snail mail system.
Blog
Speaking of my blog, this is actually a nice segue into a first topic of my mini 2009 review. I started my blog late summer and have been keeping it up ever since. I've been writing about all my adventures and random thoughts. You might see me say things like joy or joy.us - this is reference to my blog (recall my middle name is Joy). The .us is the domain (to be technically accurate it's a top-level domain, TLD). All this joy stuff is like branding myself - yup, that's my marketing major popping out. Anyway, this is a great way to see what's going on in the life of Heather, so check it out.
Skiing in Tahoe
January I headed out to the slopes with a group of college friends. Melissa, Jimmy, and I skied most of the day together after a quick, reminder class. Then we hit up the easy slopes and enjoyed a sunny day in the snow.
Long Distance Life
Before making the big move up to Oregon, Josh and I continued our back-and-forth visiting in the beginning of the year. He came down a few times and we hit up Sausalito, the Ferry Building, and other SF city favorites. I also made my way up for a few visits to Eugene where we toured the nearby vineyards.
Time with the Family
My parents and my exchange "brother," Kilian, visited me up in the bay area a couple of times this year. During these visits, we made it to many of our usual spots like Muir Woods, a trip to SCU campus, and around SF.
Also, I headed down to Encinitas for my "home fix." Easter was celebrated with our big baskets full of goodies. More recently, I headed down the week before Thanksgiving where I got to experience the Olivenhain Town Hall Christmas Fair yet again (this time without selling hair scrunchies or pies).
The Windy City
In April, I went out to Chicago to celebrate my grandma's big 88th birthday. The whole O'Neill family ventured over to a German restaurant for the festivities. We also got to tour around the windy city a bit with Kilian and meet my baby cousin, Riley.
Summer
Before my big move (see next bullet), I had a whirl wind of events all within just a couple of weeks. Josh and I headed down to San Diego for his cousin's graduation. The post-graduation party was a baseball game San Diego's own Petco Stadium. Then there was a wedding to attend for another one of Josh's cousins in the bay area. Lastly, towards mid-summer, I was wrapped up things at work and started packing.
The Big Move
At the end of June, I made the big move up to Oregon to be near Josh. After two years of long distance, we decided we'd had enough. No more once of month visits, ugh! Josh is in his last year of law school, so I moved up to help support him through the rest of the year. It was all very bitter sweet for me as I've grown to love the bay area over the past 8 something years, not to mention the friends and coworkers. My employer, Acxiom, was very understanding and even let me work remotely for the first 2-1/2 months. Unfortunately, the company has a policy against remote workers, so I was only able to stay on until the end of August.
The Busiest Month of my Life
Josh and I literarily had something going on every weekend of August. We started with a big visit my German friends Caroline and Gerald. We meet up for a long weekend in Seattle and Vancouver. We had a blast (and got the hottest weather on Seattle's record). Gerald and Caroline traveled during the week while Josh and I worked slash went to school, but then we met up again at the end of their trip in Portland. Caroline and I had some bonding time with our nails.
Not only did I have German visitors, but a Dutch one as well. My friend Irene from Holland also got to visit Portland. We ventured out of the city together to see Multnomah Falls and the Columbia Gorge area. It was beautiful. That's all I can say.
Oh, and the month wasn't nearly over. We also had visits from both sets of parents and a trip down to Sacramento for a college friend's wedding. Awesome August!
Barista Life Begins
Since my 4+ years with Acxiom came to a finish at the end of August, I started my next job search. With Josh finishing up law school, and the economy, I decided my best option was to find something that might carry around to other cities, provide benefits, do something I've always wanted to do, and be temporary (not really planning on staying in Eugene post law school). Starbucks was the answer.
Starting the beginning of October, I was Valley River Center Starbucks newest barista. Little did I know how much there is to learn and remember on all the Starbucks drinks! It's been a fun change of pace from the usual desk job and I enjoy meeting all the new people (and regulars).
Hobbies
With some more time on my hands, I've been able to spend some more timing doing things I enjoy. For those of you following my blog, I've been cooking and baking up a storm. I also am trying to learn to knit. However, I'm finding I only can do one switch (even when I think I'm doing a different stitch, sigh). There is obvious blogging hobby now too.
Oregon Life
I'm enjoying living in a new state. You know, I've lived in CA my entire live. Oregon is a gorgeous and friendly state (expect you've got to change those CA plates quick like). One of my favorite state introductions was a day trip out to the McKenzie River. Josh and I took a nice hike, saw covered bridges, and enjoyed the nature. The coast is also nearby and we made a nice weekend out for Josh's birthday.
Mom's 60th in Napa
Early December my mom had a big rendezvous of friends in Napa to join in the celebration of her 60th birthday. Three groups of family friends and our immediate family enjoyed a pleasant, yet rainy extended weekend visit to Napa. I think we probably visited all the wineries in the area by the amount of wine that was tasted (ok, exaggeration there). All in all, good times were had by all.
That was my "quick" recap of my 2009. It's been a year full of change for me, but its all been good change. I'm happy to be near Josh again and we are both excited for the last semester of law school to come to a close and find what lies ahead. As I generally do around the holidays, I've been thinking about all my family and friends. Many of whom helped and supported me through all this year's changes. I'm truly lucky and blessed to have such great family and friends - thank you all!
In the words of Tiny Tim, "God Bless us, everyone!" Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! ~Heather
Check out my year in photos with the below video (and remember to read my blog in 2010):
I knew this weekend's trip to Napa to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday was not going to be a simple wine tasting affair the minute I received an email from my father. This email was a minute-to-minute itinerary of our trip with maps, reviews, and reservations - a 33 page document (and I'm not kidding). Usually this sort of itinerary is for our mega Europe trips and the itinerary is neatly organized into a white binder which we've all come to know as the bible. This was not in a white binder, but it was awful close especially considering we were gone for only 3 days.
It all began after my morning shift on Thursday. I dashed home, de-coffeed (I have to do this now b/c after work I smell like fresh brewed cup of coffee), and rushed to the Eugene Airport. I flew to Oakland with a stop-over in Portland. Actually, as I was waiting to take off on the Eugene to Portland segment, the flight attendant came up to me and asked if I worked at the Starbucks near the mall. Why yes I said. Well, they enjoyed a wonderful cup this morning from us. Too funny! I got good service on that portion of the trip. The rest of the trip went well, and I arrived to Oakland where I was picked up by Don & Sue Hartley and Pat Richardson. We all drove together to met up with the rest of the entourage already in Napa (or I should say, St Helena's). With us all there (albeit late in the evening), the celebrations began!
This celebration involved the gathering of family and friends (friends that are so close their family now really)--The Harleys, The Richardsons, The Troglers, and our little immediate O'Neill fam (we missed you Chicago fam!). The majority of us stayed together in a house that the Ink House B&B rents out for big parties like us, a place called the Carriage House. It's a very cute little B&B up in the St. Helena area.
But really the weekend was about two things: Mom/Jan and Wine. My mom was in high spirits the entire weekend (in fact, those of us in the B&B know from the singing from the shower) and the wine was plentiful. Now, I'm not a wine fanatic like some in the group, but we did taste some very fine wines. And how could we not? We visited practically all the wineries in the area, so we were bound to get some good ones. Here's the run down on the vineyards:
We toured almost at each winery, so now we are all highly educated in the Napa wines and vines. We all thought it funny, and very accurate, when I called my dad Teacher's Pet. He was in his element--walking ahead with the winery's tour guide, asking questions (edging on interrogation), and giving his input. A classic pose is displayed on my Flickr site (fyi-I created an album for this trip). My mom was just happy drinking the wine and enjoying the company.
To go with the wine, we had some very tasty food. The big birthday dinner was at Auberge Du Soleil, a fancy restaurant. shmancy were you get courses and such. The other delicious meal was at a Don Giovannis, a nice Italian restaurant. A other fun spots were Taylor's Refresher, Dean and Deluccas, and the Model Bakery. Yum!
I think this was the first time I've spent in Napa were I tasted the wine and found some were my usual "hum" (as in, it's ok) was like more of a ohh, hmm (as in, actually not bad & might drink 1/2 a glass). My favorite was Quixote with it's neat architecture. It reminded me of Sintra, Portugal and a castle there with lots of color and interesting shapes. Others said it reminded them of Barcelona and Gaudi.
The end of our trip was a half day in SF before our flights. We did a quick stop at the Ferry Building. Then we did a mini walk at the Land's End & Cliff House area, which was beautiful as ever. And as we headed back to Oakland, I made a pit stop at Yumi. Heather Returns! It was heaven again (I haven't hyped it up in my mind, it's still just that good).
Today we thought we'd venture out and explore the area east of Eugene. Josh has a fun Central Oregon trail book and we thought we'd give a hike a try. Although Friday's weather was stormy, the weather today turned out chilly but otherwise sunny and nice (side note: I'm finding out that the weather changes day-to-day and hour-to-hour here in Oregon so layers is key).
After a quick breakfast we headed on the road taking the 126 east toward McKenzie River. The drive was absolutely gorgeous with all the fall colors. We kept saying "pretty" and "look pretty" - yes, that's as far as our vocabulary went, but what can I say, it really was pretty!
As we got closer, we started to lookout for a sign for our decided McKenzie River Trail #61. We stopped at the Ranger Station, but it was closed (you'd think they'd stay open for the weekend, silly). Oh well, onward ho with the tiny book map. Using the book map, we passed all the book's landmarks and then suddenly we were too far. We shrugged and decided trail #62, Sahalie and Koosah Falls, would work just fine.
The trail was took us along a roaring river and waterfalls. And it was not just water, we also went "through forests of 6-foot think Douglas fir and droopy-limbed red cedar." I have quite a few pictures posted on my Flickr site. The waterfalls were my favorite though, mostly because the pounding water created some beautiful rainbows!
On the road home, we made some random stops. Here's the stops:
The first was the Christmas Treasures store. It did not disappoint with the number of Santas and reindeer ornaments. I saw some of my mom's favorite Salvation Army caroler figurines too. But one can only take so much of that store, so we make it a <5 minute stop.
Our next stop was the Goodpasture Bridge, which is a beautiful covered bridge. We drove across it (scary, but cool), took some pictures, and then continued on again.
Lunch was entirely necessary as it was late in the day already. Our lunch stop was at a cute BBQ place along the road. I thought their sign was funny, which said they were open 8 days a week (wowzers!). Josh got to have his Fritos pie - beans, BBQ meat, Frito chips, cheese, jalepanos, and probably some more I don't recall. I just smoked turkey sandwich.
Our last stop was a fruit stand that was extended into a pumpkin patch. There was lots of produce, animals (pigs, ducks, donkeys), and other random things. It was like a miniature Bates Nut Farm for all you So Cali's.
And that completed our fun day outing! And Trail #61 some other day. Check out the "on the road" video:
Whenever I say mini trip, I think of Bridget Jones Diary. I'm a dork, but yes that is one of my favorite movies. Bridget says she's going "on a full-blown mini-break holiday weekend." It's cute (or at least I think so). Anyway, I bring this up because Josh and I took our own mini trip to the Oregon coast for his birthday - my gift to him.
We started out Thursday afternoon (he doesn't have school on Fridays and I didn't have work either). We hopped into the car (not a convertible like Bridget, but my reliable Honda) and headed out towards Florence. Florence is the closest beach city to Eugene. We went there in early September with my parents actually (check out that post). I made reservations at a little restaurant called the Waterfront Depot in Florence. We sat at a window seat which looked out onto the inlet. The restaurant was very quaint and was an old train station I believe. I was a bit upset when we first arrived and the hostess said we didn't have reservations and thought we were supposed to come the night before - whatever, I KNOW I made the reservations correctly and when she frantically flipped through the pages, I didn't see my name anywhere. Errr. But, we only had to wait 10 minutes or so and they squeezed us in at the originally requested window-side table. Whew! The food was good seafood fare and we enjoyed the dinner. I had crab encrusted halibut and Josh a seafood linguini.
With full bellies, we continued up the coast to our final destination for the evening, The Shamrock Lodgettes. These were little lodges that are right on the coast. Josh saw them featured in Sunset Magazine's Top 10 Romantic Cottages a while ago while looking up the Waimea Cottages in Kauai (I couldn't afford to take us there unfortunately). We got the Bay View lodge room which was pleasant and had a little wood stove fireplace inside which was cozy (and indeed has a bay view).
The next day we grabbed a muffin and latte at a tiny coffee shop (no Starbucks there) called the Village Bean. We then drove up the coast making random stops when we felt like it - Beachside State Park, Waldport Bridge viewpoint, Seal Rock. We ended the coastal cruising once we hit Newport. There, we popped over to the Rogue Brewery to check out the local Oregon brews. Josh bought an interesting one called Chipotle Ale (I say, "ehh" to beer, but than again he doesn't complain about some of my froyo creations). Also, we grabbed lunch at the same spot we did just about 2 years ago on the day after our engagement! It's a small seafood restaurant called Local Ocean Seafood.
Lastly, we cut inland from Newport over on the 20 (yes, I will and will always say "the" in front of highways) towards Corvallis. The drive inland was also gorgeous with all the fall colors. It also went alongside an old railway route. We pulled over for a stroll in Corvallis and to check out enemy grounds (that's Oregon State which rivals University of Oregon). The town was nice - reminded me a classic college town (that doesn't sound too descriptive, but not sure how else to describe it).
The 5 took us home to Eugene which thus ended our mini trip. We had a great time, and I've posted some pictures on Flickr (and just a few on FaceBook as well).
This past weekend was the Labor day weekend and my parents were in town visiting. And not just any visit, but the first visit to Oregon with me as an Oregonian in my new Shasta home with Josh. To help acquaint my parents, we planned some fun adventures around Oregon and hit up the local Eugene favorite spots.
Thursday: My parents arrived in the afternoon. First order of business was lunch. And what better place than the Beir Stein, a fun German pub-type restaurant. After our tummies were full, Mom and I abandoned dad at the hotel (btw, Josh at classes all day) and got our pedi's at the Pearl Day Spa...Ahh relaxing! To wrap up the day, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Belly.
Friday: Josh had to get some school work done, so I took my parents out to the Eugene Wineries. My dad was able to quiz the local wine makers on their knowledge of French wines and bottles (yup, the favorite one was asked: why the different bottle shapes). We started at Silveran Ridge then headed over to Sweet Cheeks (my favorite since it has a very sweet wine option). We rounded out the winery tour at King Estate for lunch. I think my wine-loving dad would say "not so bad" about Eugene wines...that translates to: success! To finish the day, we headed over to Red Agave, which Josh has wanted to try ever since coming to Eugene.
Saturday: A day of...rain! Well, the first part at least. I drove through the downpour to get us safely to Ashland where luckily the rain ended. Before arriving we made a pit-stop at Rogue Creamery to taste some blue cheeses. Not my favorite cheese (go goats), but for blue cheese not bad! Upon arriving to Ashland, my froyo radar went off. I found the ever-so-popular self-serve type froyo spot (dangerous stuff man, I tell ya). The Yogurt Hut is decent, but it ain't no Yumi Yogurt. But I'll take it! After some Heather indulgence, we roamed the cute town. The big event of the day though, was the play (Ashland is the Shakespeare "capital"). We opted for one of Shakespeare's lighter plays, Much Ado About Nothing. If you haven't seen the movie version, you should! Great play, no rain (outdoor theatre in true Old Globe style), and great company.
Sunday: We headed out of our Medford's lodging, and picked up breakfast and some shopping/walking in the cute historic downtown of Jacksonville. We saw art and llamas at the Sunday (no sarcastic talking llamas sadly - that would be a Emperors New Groove reference). Next we ventured into Applegate. Don and Nada's old home was looking great and peaceful as ever. We also tasted the local Southern wines at Woolridge and Schmidt. Then a leisure (late) lunch along the Rogue River. A quick stop for a shaved ice (ahhh Kauai days) at the Ice Shack in Grant's Pass and then the rest of the day was driving home (better weather of course with Josh behind the wheel).
Historic Jacksonville
Monday: Let's go to the beach! Monday was a fun day in Florence, our closest beach town from Eugene. We walked along the water, grabbed lunch at the local fish restaurant, and then roamed the cute old town. The highlight for me, was the Heceta Lighthouse, just up the coast a few miles. We hiked the 1/2 mile up to the lighthouse for some spectacular views.
View from Heceta Light House
Tuesday my parents were supposed to have a little morning time in Eugene, but unfortunately there was some flight issues (their later flight was delayed so they needed to grab an earlier flight to ensure their SF connection). So good-byes were quickly said, but the great weekend was remembered!
Okay, so I really need to stop the Corporate lingo talk. Really, a post-mortem in the blog title Heather? I've always thought it sounds so morbid. I do think I'll keep the bullet point stuff though - that's a real keeper.
Anyway, this is really just a quick look back at August. I didn't have the blog rolling in August, so I'm going to do one big update for the month. From this point on, I'm going to attempt to keep the blog updated with frequent updates, so avoid the massive entires/emails. You can already see some posts now in fact.
August was a busy month, I was traveling around or visiting with friends and family each weekend. Here we go (this is a long one folks, hang in there)...
Caroline and Gerald Visit - Part 1 The first weekend of August, Josh and I hopped into a plane and flew up to Seattle, WA. We arrived Thursday night in time for a nice dinner at a little fish restaurant in downtown's Belltown called the Flying Fish. Our arrival also was timely in that it was the end of the record-breaking heat wave in Seattle (actually, we got to experience that in our own home in Eugene).
Friday we roamed all over the city exploring the many districts and sites. Our favorite spot being Pike's Marketplace with the hustle and bustle of the different stands and fish throwing. We also got to visit Josh's family friends, Vince and Jonita. They live in the heart of the city and have a spectacular view of the city and Space Needle. But at last, in the evening, the main point of the trip arrived...Caroline and Gerald (fyi-Caroline is my best friend from Germany). After a fun dinner near Pike's Market, we headed up to the Space Needle for a sunset view of the city. Did I use the word spectacular already? Dangit! Well, it was, in fact, a spectacular view. We took this Monorail out to the needle which was a blast as well (which also made me feel like I was at Disneyland).
Seattle's Pikes Market
Saturday we spent some more time at Pike's Market in the morning, but then headed out to Vancouver. Caroline and Gerald drove, so we got to see the beautiful countryside on the way up (song of the trip: Fireflies). We even made a stop at the Seattle Premium Outlets, where we hit up some great deals. We arrived Vancouver in the evening and grabbed some grub in Yaletown and consumed some of my favorite cuisine, Thai food.
Sunday we had a introduction to Vancouver (at least, that's what the guide book said) at Canada Place. It was really just a cruise terminal, but it was neat to see the big ships in the harbor as well as watch the sea planes taking off and landing nearby. Then we hopped back in the car and headed into nature. We opted for Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge over Capilano (which is the more popular tourist spot and costs money, Lynn is free). The bridge was a rickety wood and wire bridge that goes over a deep gorge and river. Luckily no need to drop to hands and knees and crawl though. Then to beat the heat, we headed to the Museum of Anthropology and saw all the Native American totem poles and artwork. To round up the day, we went to the Granville Island where there was yet another marketplace (what's up with the Pacific NW and marketplaces? at least I like them!).
Monday Caroline and Gerald headed out to Victoria while Josh and I stayed in Vancouver (we met up the following weekend, but Josh and I had to go head home for work/school). I'm surprised I still have feet after all the walking we did Monday. We practically walked the entire city! For instance, we walked from our hotel to Stanley Park where we then took a walk - a walk to go take a walk, go figure.
Caroline and Gerald Visit - Part 2 After a great weekend in Seattle & Vancouver, we headed home for a few days of work/school. Then more fun the following weekend. We meet up with Caroline and Gerald on the tail end of their trip in Portland. The highlight was the pedicure with Caroline along the Portland riverwalk area. Girl talk time! And also some froyo at the Portland frozen yogurt find, Active Culture.
Girl Pedi Time in Portland
Irene in Portland The next weekend, which was the middle of August, my good friend Irene from Holland come out to Portland. We varied up the Portland activities by trying out some new spots. We got a great view of the city and some history mixed in too at the Pittock Mansion. We also headed outside of town to the Columbia Gorge where the Hood River runs. Along the gorge, you hit waterfall after waterfall. The most famous waterfall being Multonomah Falls. This, as well as a cute Inn we stopped at, was made even more popular by the Twilight movie (it's perfect Vampire scenery if you ask me. I fit well since I don't tan and always have cold feet and hands...hmm). If you keep driving, you hit a totally different type of area, The Dalles. It's basically high mountain desert area and incredibly windy. This day was probably the highlight (besides seeing Irene of course!). We also tried out the Aerial Tram for some awesome views of Portland, and of course a stop at YoCream near PDX (whoops, drool on the computer there). By the way, there are 2 froyo spots in PDX in case you're wondering (froyo radar still going strong!).
Multnomah Falls with Irene
Sacramento Wedding Getting tired yet? Well, Josh and I were certainly tired of all the traveling, but onward to more fun! And we wouldn't have missed this for the world; our good, college friend, Andrew Deller was getting married. Josh was a groomsman in the wedding and it was a very lovely ceremony and reception. Good times!
Browns in Town After the wedding, Josh's parents happened to be heading through town on their way home to Palm Desert from Seattle. We spent a wonderful day with his parents around Eugene. We hit up some great shopping at Costco, Borders, and HomeGoods. And we introduced Don and Nada to our favorite, funky pizza joint called Pizza Research Institute (PRI) - if only it had meat, then it'd be perfect.
Well, that closes up the big month of August. My parents were the next and last visitors for us. There is a separate entry for that visit. If you want some more pictures, go to Flickr or FaceBook.
Hello friends and family! I'm long over due for an email as its been well over half a year since my last update. I hope the year has been treating you well. I've had some big changes recently! Now that I got your curiosity going, I'll start with the big, exciting news first and then go from there.
