Seattle Girls

My friends and I were finally able to go on our girls' trip that we had been trying to plan for a couple years now.  My long-time girlfriends and I went to Seattle on a July weekend and had such a great time.  It had been years since we'd gone anywhere just the three of us, and I honestly can't remember ever going on a trip despite the length of our friendships.

Shannon, Sarah and I had a great weekend full of shopping, sight-seeing, catching-up and laughing.

My favorite part of the trip was the Duck tour we did.  It was such a fun and silly way to see some of the great parts of the city.

Gas Works Park on Lake Union

The city skyline from Lake Union

A Mariner's game

Pike's Place Market

The famous fish throwing at the market

Delicious cup of crab

Manchester United soccer player

Time to go home

Until next time girls...

Summertime Traveler

This summer is flying by, as usual.  At the beginning of every summer I always have this great big list of things I want to get done and projects to do that I've been putting off for months.  Honestly, most of the time most of them never get done.  That is the rate I'm going at this summer as well.  I've been busy!  Chris and I have been making up for lost time and have been going on lots of little vacations.  

We started off the summer the first weekend school got out by going to a San Francisco Giants game.  

After the game the hubbies went home and Diane and I stayed in Walnut Creek for a couple days to do some shopping.  Walnut Creek is by far my favorite place to shop.  They have all the stores I like (or at least close by) and it's so incredibly beautiful, safe and relaxing.  If you haven't been you've got to check it out.  We stayed at the Lafayette Park Hotel and Spa in Lafayette.  Neither one of us had stayed there before but I can tell you we'll be staying there again!

The location was perfect...5 minutes from Walnut Creek but on Highway 24 so it's a quick trip into Berkeley or even the city.  It's super close to BART stations but feels like you're a million miles away tucked up into the green hills on the east bay.  They had a gorgeous pool complete with poolside service...ahhhhh. :)

A couple of weeks later Chris and I drove to Las Vegas.  We hadn't been there in about six years, which is a lifetime in Vegas time.  A lot had changed since we'd been there.

We had never seen Encore, Wynn or City Center.  I LOVED Encore.  I loved everything about it.

 We did a lot of walking around and hit most of the casinos on the strip.  We did a tiny bit of shopping but mostly just window shopping :)

One night we went to see Ka at the MGM and went to Thomas Keller's Bouchon at the Venetian.  Thomas Keller is the chef at the French Laundry in Napa and Chris has always wanted to try his food. It didn't disappoint.

A couple weeks after Vegas we went to Yosemite.  Honestly, I was not too thrilled to be going.  I'd never been camping and had never been to a national park.  Chris really wanted to go because of the big snow pack we had this year, he thought the waterfalls would be fantastic.  We got lucky and Curry Village had one cancellation on July 7th so we packed our bug spray and left.  

After hiking up to Yosemite Falls.  This hike was a piece of cake, they'll all be like this, right?!?! Not so much...

Our awesome view of Half Dome from Glacier Point.

Our tent cabin in Curry Village.  It was more fun than I thought it would be.  Minus the communal showers.  Next time I will be prepared if we stay more than one night.

This is Vernal Falls.  The hike up to this was not my idea of good time.  Last night on the news I saw that three people died here a couple days ago.  They climbed over the fence and stood in the middle of the rapids to get a good picture and then got rushed over the edge of the waterfall.  I gotta say that after the hike I understand wanting that perfect picture moment, you gotta make it worth it!

In the end it was a fun trip.  An annual occurrence?  Not for me.  I went, I saw, I conquered.  I can check it off my list.  Until the next time Chris talks me into going...

I also just got back from Seattle with my two best friends.  I have lots of pictures and will do a separate post on Seattle.  I'm warning you that I got a little carried away taking pictures of food at Pike's Place Market. I couldn't help it...the colors were so pretty!  :)

{Sigh} of Relief

I was just browsing the older posts on the blog and noticed the Master's degree countdown.  I am so excited to say that I AM DONE!  As of this week actually I received the official email that I have met all the requirements, have completed my program, and that my degree should arrive in 2-4 weeks.  I ordered my official transcripts in order to turn them into the school district for my moola.  I am so excited to be finished.  I count explain how much more I have enjoyed these last two weekends.  I feel as though my mind is free and I feel able to accomplish so much more now...a big weight is gone.  

When first began teaching I never really thought I'd ever go back to school and get a master's degree.  I can't believe I did it and with an average of a 3.8 at that!  Now onto my next goal... :)


P.S.  MAN it felt good to delete that counter!

Snowy Days

We got hit with quite a big snow storm this week.  It resulted in our first two delayed-start school days of the year AND a snow day this Friday.  I love when it snows this much (as long as I don't HAVE to go somewhere).  I love how cozy the house feels when the flakes fall for days on end and accumulate outside. I love how bright it is outside at night time.  And I love all the things that I get caught up on when I feel "trapped" inside.  {Although I haven't actually done any of those things yet, oops!}

The animals tend to kind of freak out when it snows this much.  Jack cries endlessly because he wants to go outside but won't step in the snow.  Charlotte finds any nook and cranny of sunshine and squeezes as much of her body into that nook as she possibly can.  I found her this morning with her nose smooshed against the wall...

The snow has stopped for now, the sun is shining and it is beautiful outside.  Now to just hope that the pass stays clear so we can go out of town tomorrow.

Obsessed with Pinterest

Have you heard of Pinterest?  I am absolutely obsessed with it and am convinced that anyone who tries it will love it as much as me. Basically it's a website that allows you to "pin" images from the internet and organize them however you'd like.  The visual thumbnails of pictures help you remember why you "pinned" it and then when you click on your pinned image it will take you to the original source from the Internet.  I am always finding cute things online and thinking "ooh, I have to remember that", yeah right!  This lets you remember.  

Some of the boards that I created pins for are stuff for school, scrapbooking, recipes, blog templates, gift ideas, and things I love.  I have found that seeing the "pins" is an inspiration and a reminder of things I'd like to do or get.  Here are some things I have tried thanks to pinterest....

This is the first project that I tried thanks to pinterest.  I had seen this project on Whipperberry before and had "oh, I need to remember that".  When I started using Pinterest this was one of the first things I pinned and it was like a reminder for me to do it.  I put our chalkboard menu on the inside of our pantry door.  Love it.

I made these peanut butter cookies with dulce de leche filling.  They were okay, not sure I'd make them again.

These cookies, however, made up for the mediocracy of the peanut butter cookies.  These salted caramel macaroons were quite possibly the best cookies I've ever had.  The caramel was just the right consistency and flavor and paired perfectly with the light fluffy texture of the cookies.  The cookie part was made with almond flour and egg white which makes them really airy.  De. Lish.  Us.

I tried this recipe of an egg inside some sourdough bread with avocado on top.  It pleasantly surprised me.  Definitely a keeper!

I saw someone else pin these babies and was so excited to get them.  I love using mechanical colored pencils that can be erased to make my lesson plan book look fun.  They are so, so hard to find though.  I love these ones from Barnes & Noble and the way they look like classic pencils.

This recipe of Chess Squares looked too delicious and way too EASY to pass up.  They're in the oven right now.

If you go to Pinterest you can see all the things I've pinned!

Here's to pinning!  And finding lots of great ideas that you inspire you to cook, try something new or get creative!