Winter Olympics

One of the many perks of living in Seattle...only two hours away from Canada. So of course we had to head up to Vancouver for the Winter Olympics!!

We got up there a bit later than we'd hoped. We lost some time by having to turn back around and go home to get the hockey tickets that someone (I am not mentioning any names) left on the kitchen table.

We got through the border in no time...shocker, I know!

The weather has been strangely warm this Winter, so that made it a weird environment for the Winter Olympics. We even got hot after a bit and had to take off our sweatshirts.

Finding a place to eat there was a complete joke! Like wait times of two hours, crazy! We figured that if we didn't want to wait, we'd have to pony up some extra dough so we dined at Griffins at The Fairmont Hotel. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone. SO not good.

We were cutting it close to game time, so we high tailed it on over to Canada Hockey Place for the Germany vs. Belarus game. Since we were both still hungry, I kept myself entertained by the Zamboni protected our seats while Rob waited in line for some rink food.

Turns out he must have gotten in the German line or something...everything he ordered came with this weird onion-y sauerkraut-y stuff on it. We each took a bite of our stuff and gave it the big toss...right into the bin. Not good either!

Our seats, however, were awesome!! Right up on the ice. Two rows back, to be exact.

Next to us was a huge group of empty seats, which we thought was weird. Turns out, these German guys a few rows back bought out that section in front of them so that they could put a German flag out in front of them. They ended up tying down the ends and waving it madly all throughout the game. It was really funny!!

We also had an older guy sitting behind us dressed up in a Pokeman-esque onsie type thing. I snapped a few shots, but thought it fair to include the one without his face...although the face part was the funniest...there was a mask that pulls down off the hood. I figure since he went out like that, he was looking for some kind of attention, right?

Final score Germany 3, Belarus 5. Good game, good game. The German players were bigger and more aggressive while the Belarus players were smaller but more agile. Made for a great game. There wasn't a lot of fighting, but I guess they save that hype for the NHL.

This would be where our pictures stop because someone...probably the same someone who forgot our tickets...forgot to charge the camera battery, so the rest will just have to be committed to memory.

We saw many more sights, met some great people, fit in some good shopping and much much more, but due to our lack of photographic evidence, you'll just have to take our word for it. ☺

Canada for Christmas

We are trotting up North for a few days to do Christmas Canadian style.

This will be our second take at celebrating a holiday together in Canada. Our first 4th of July together we thought we'd take advantage of the day off and head up to Vancouver, BC for some shopping and then evening fireworks.

It wasn't until we were waiting to get through the border that in donned on us...Canada probably doesn't celebrate the United State's Independence Day. Oh well, you can't call us stupid, we were still in the lovey-dovey-clouded-from-reality phase.

But this time we've got our heads on straight and are certain that they celebrate Christmas in Canada.

Olympics, two tickets please

With the 2010 Winter Olympics being so close to us (Vancouver, BC), we thought we just HAD to go! Only problem...we got this idea a few years after the rest of the world. Way to go, I know!

By the time I got around to buying tickets, all the exciting events were sold out. I really wanted to see the figure skating, and Rob wanted to see anything that he didn't have to stand outside in the cold to see.

Skating (figure and speed) sold out long ago, but we were lucky enough to get some hockey tickets. I was a bit put off by the price of the tickets, but Rob reminded me that it's not going to be just any old hockey game, it's the Olympics and that is one more thing we can check off our list of 'cool things to do before we die'. True.

After hours of time online and on the phone with their customer support I finally got our tickets purchase and am really looking forward to going!

Go USA!!

Oh, wait...we're seeing Germany and Belarus...not sure who we'll be cheering for yet.

Away we go

Tonight we are going to endure the drive down to Portland, yet again.

Well, Rob will endure the drive...I will be the amusing passenger and instigator of The Name Game.

We plan to have three days full of sleeping in, golfing, a baseball game, fireworks, a blues festival, shopping and perhaps a rodeo or two.

We are quite looking forward to the time away because after all, Portland is the Paris of North America. Fun, I know, but don't be jealous. We'll take some pictures and share it all upon our return. Have a fun and save 4th!!

NYC, DC and Philly

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I have finally gotten around to posting some vacation pictures! We started the trip out by staying Friday, Saturday and Sunday in NYC. We had a great hotel in Rockefeller Center! The location was really amazing. On Sunday morning I walked outside and heard bagpipes playing at St. Patrick's Cathedral. I was SO ready to move there!


We had so many things that we wanted to do, but kept getting sidetracked by other places we saw along the way. We hit the normal touristy places: Museum of Natural History, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Top of the Rock, NBC Studios, Empire State Building, Times Square, Ground Zero and Central Park.


Monday morning we grabbed a car and headed down to Washington DC. Our trip was a little delayed in mid-Jersey when we had to detour a few hours to find a dentist. Overnight I developed a crazy infection which resulted in a golf ball sized abscess in my cheek. Gross, I know!! A few hours and a few pharmacies later, we were back on our way to DC. We ended up staying in Arlington which is about 5 minutes out of the heart of DC.


Once again, we hit the traditional spots: Arlington Cemetery (so cool!), the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Capitol Building, WWII Memorial and the Aquarium (lame!). We didn't get a chance to make it to any of the Smithsonian museums, which we were pretty bummed about. Somebody (I'm not naming any names...*cough* Rob *cough*) couldn't get their self out of bed early enough. :) The cemetery was so much more than expected...there was tons to see! We were lucky enough to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was a really neat thing to watch. The White House was such a let down!! That place is SO small...it isn't anything near the size you expect it to be when you see it on TV. I was really surprised.

Next we were on our way back up to Philadelphia. Thanks to all of the rain, we didn't get to see as much in Philly as we would have liked. Most of it was seen from the car, hence the lack of pictures. We did take a 90 minute walking tour where I managed to snap a few shots. Forgive the lack of info on them though...I was literally soaked through my clothes from the rain. We got some raincoats back in NYC just to be prepared for all the rain that had been forecasted, only Rob's turned out to be water proof while my was only water resistant. Big difference! After changing out of my sopping clothes in the parking garage, we headed back up to NYC.


For NYC part duex we stayed in Chelsea. It was a bit further from things, but the neighborhood was fun. I found a great little salon around the corner that did eyebrow threading and had to try it out. It was so painful though! I would rather have bushy brows than go back...I am such a baby! It seems like all we did was shop, walk and eat. We are not big foodie people so we didn't fully take advantage of all the cuisines NYC had to offer, but we did hit some simple yummies: The Shake Shack, Tasti D-Lite, Magnolia Cupcakes and Rob's new favorite, The Cracker Barrel - yuck if you ask me, but the man loves his breakfast foods! We didn't hit nearly all the sites we wanted to, but this just means we need to go back!



In our hopes of hailing down the Cash Cab (and to avoid anything that skitters around with a long tail) we skipped the subway and stuck to the Yellows, but sadly none of their ceilings lit up. Oh, we could hope though, right!? All in all, it was a great trip, that I cannot wait to do again...if I can ever talk Rob into it!

Election sweets

These cookies made me laugh. Little Rae's Bakery is patriotic and yummy!