What I learned over the weekend – Vancouver, BC edition

~I love being surprised with last minute weekend getaways.
~I really love the guy who so frequently surprises me with these little trips.
~Hotels.com idea of four stars differs a little from ours.
~At a glance, hotel conditioner and lotion can easily be confused with one another.
~Once applied to the hair, the difference between lotion and conditioner is extremely apparent.
~My camera phone takes crap pictures...as you can see.
~Rob has a playlist on his iPod hilariously titled Party Jams.
~Not a single jam on this playlist is party-like, in any way.
~Vince Vaughn and Kevin James are both funny men, but together a not-so-funny movie they make.
~Canadian Mountain Dew contains NO caffeine.

Labor Day the Canadian Way

Rob surprised me with a long weekend in Vancouver, BC over the Labor Day weekend. We stayed at a great place on Robson {where all the shops/restaurants/clubs are} so we didn't have to go far for anything!

We did do our fair share of walking though...there was a lot going on that weekend! We watched some street performers. Our favorite was a guy who juggled fire, then was chained up in a straight jacket and escaped. As if that wasn't good enough...he was quite the comedian as well. There was some sidewalk art too...this MJ one was probably the best.

We went to TaiwanFest, which had the absolute scariest food I have ever seen! People were lining up to get fried octopus and grilled squid on a stick and pickled pork belly, fish ball {?!?} soup, blood pudding on a stick and of course, bubble tea. Needless to say, we passed on every single bit of it!

We spent one day at the Vancouver Aquarium, which was mostly like any other aquarium we've been to, except they had beluga whales, dolphins and a 4-D movie.

It was SO crowded there. We got there fairly early and the line was snaking all away around the building. It was raining so they were passing out umbrellas to people who didn't have them {ahem, Rob}. Here he is with his cute froggie umbrella. I kinda wanted to keep it. ☺

I took a million pictures, but none of them showed up well because I just haven't learned how to master the flash/glass combo on my camera. Oh well!

We also did a bit of shopping, got in some good eats and saw a terrible movie {The American, don't waste your money}. It all went by way too fast. Good times.

Vamp lover

Over the weekend we went at saw Robin Hood (just eh). Nothing compared to the previous one, but that's not the point. The point is, one of the previews was the newest Eclipse trailer. It was the best part of the theater experience. It looks so good and I cannot wait to see it.

Yes, I am a Vamp groupie, and just know that all the rest of you Vamp lovers are dying to see the trailer as well. So, without further ado...

For your viewing pleasure

I gotta admit that I was a bit puzzled by the first SATC trailer that was released (what's the deal with them in the desert??) but this one MORE than makes up for it. This looks so good and I can't wait until it comes out!!

Oh, and I am excited to see Aidan again. In my book he beats out Mr. Big any day!

Enjoy.

Day of Love

Our Valentine's Day started out with a heart themed breakfast, courtesy of yours truly. It got rave reviews. Naturally.

Jackson even got in on it a little...dogs can eat turkey bacon and heart shaped eggs, right?

Following breakfast we lounged around and watched episode after episode of Millionaire Matchmaker...does anything say 'true love' more?!? We then felt way too casual to follow through with our initial romantic date plans, so we threw on jeans and sweatshirts then headed to trusty ol' Burgermaster for a delightful Valentine's meal, shakes included.

Next up we visited a favorite area pet store to snag some goodies for the furry little loves in our lives. We wrapped the glorious day up with a viewing of Valentine's Day at our local theater. It was better than expected..full of laughs.

So there ya have it...V-Day 2010. Until next year...

Quick Trip up North

We headed up to Vancouver, BC for the weekend to pick up our tickets for the Olympics while there was a short wait, rather than spending hours in line the day of.

Throughout the weekend we:

• grabbed a tasty dinner where they brought finger bowls with the buffalo wings instead of handi wipes - 1 for Canada, 0 for US
• saw From Paris with Love (funny!!) at $15 bucks a ticket...eek!!! - that's 1 for Canada, 1 for US
• had brunch in a quaint, heated, outdoor, covered cafe - 2 for Canada, 1 for US
• got caught up in the Olympic countdown hype - 3 for Canada, 1 for US
• enjoyed some lovely Vancouver sites...and their wannabe Space Needle a.k.a. Harbour Centre - 3 for Canada, 2 for US.
• loved seeing how excited Jackson was to see us come home - 3 for Canada, 3 for us

Looks like a tie!

Spoiler, sort of

Sorry for those of you who haven't seen Avatar yet. Maybe stop reading now...

For all of you who have seen Avatar, or just don't care about spoilers, you HAVE to click on and read the image below...it's hilarious!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas filled with laughter and love!

We're lazy-ing around for the morning, heading out for a delish of a holiday brunch, then of course...on to the movies. Maybe a little Sherlock Holmes, eh?

Non-stop weekend

We spent this last weekend in our home away from home, Portland. We took Rob's younger sister and cousin down there to celebrate her 18th birthday.

We did lots o' shopping. And I mean lots. Sure, I can shop with the best of them, but those two teenage girls sure WORE. US. OUT.

Rob says he got a taste of what it would be like for us to have girls, 'following them around the mall, opening his wallet every time he turned around' and he 'hopes for boys who like to stay home on the weekend and watch sports'. Ha!

There was a big figure skating competition going on in the mall's skating rink so Rob and I spent a good chunk of time resting/watching it while the girls ravaged the mall. The younger skaters was so cute! There was a little guy that did a pirate routine that I thought was adorable.

Nordie's had a New Moon party going on, so of course we had to stop by and blow a kiss or two to Edward and Jacob! Oh, and on that note...I can't wait to see New Moon this Friday!!!

In keeping with Portland tradition, we caught a late movie. I was bummed that there weren't a lot of kid friendly movies in the theaters, but luckily 2012 was age appropriate for them and, we all thought it turned out to be pretty good.

A short drive later and we were back home, just the two of us, loaded down with lots of new goods, full of tasty grub and ready for a three day long nap! We had such a great time with the girls, even though they made us we aren't that young anymore. ☺

A night of Science(fiction??)

Earlier this week Rob and I went to check out Bodies...The Exhibition. I was super excited to go, and Rob was a little icked out by the idea of it, but agreed to go anyways.

Since it's right up my field of study, I found the exhibit to be extremely interesting. Rob on the other hand, couldn't wait to get out of there! Since it was still fairly early in the evening, we thought we'd see a movie and grab a quick bite.

I figured since Rob had been such a good sport to tag along with me to see Bodies, I would give in and go see whatever movie he chose...which of course meant that it would be something I probably wouldn't choose on my own. ☺

He didn't let me down. He wanted to see The Fourth Kind. Going into it, I had no idea what it was supposed to be about, so I was completely on edge. It ended up not being as scary as I thought it would be, but it definitely isn't something I'll be seeing again! I am not completely sold on the idea that the story is true, but who am I to say?

Portland and back

On a whim, Friday afternoon my Robster and I packed our bags...and Jackson's 'diaper bag' (Rob's words, not mine), dropped our pup off at the sitter's house and made our way down to Portland for the weekend.

It was a couple days full of doing what we do best...going to the movies, staying up late, eating out, shopping and sleeping in. Oh, and our version of car karaoke.

It was such a great time! Rob went and saw The September Issue without so much as a groan. He also followed me around shopping all Saturday (and half of Sunday!), even carrying my bags. Have I got a winner or what!?!

Our movie night was actually a double. After the first show we decided to stick with the documentary theme and stay around (and out of the cold) to see Capitalism: A Love Story. Great movie, but definitely a different feel from the world of Vogue we'd just visited.

There was a Halloween convention-like thing going on in the hotel during our stay. This big scary guy (I thought was a statue!) caught me off guard and I nearly lost it when he lunged for me. Halloween is weird. ☺

After a great Chinese lunch in the Pearl District and then a few hours and few hundred dollars later at Powell's City of Books we were on our way back to good ol' Washington State. We ♥ us some Portland!

Just a taste for now

I had tons of fun in Utah, just don't have time to post lots about it yet. Time away from home and work has resulted in piles and piles of stuff for me to catch up on. A few little highlights for now...pictures to come soon...maybe.

• Game night!!!
• Work outs with Jordan
• Seeing UP at the Kaysville Theater with Mom and Alane
• Steak house family dinner
• Watching House on DVD with Ryan & Chase
• Girls' afternoon with Mom and Mel
• Final Destination in 3D - SO not good!!
• Red Robin and Build a Bear with just me, Erika and Bailey
• Finally going to Tai Pan
• The magic, healing hands of Dr. Dad
• Family breakfast at Doug & Emmy's
• Afternoon chat and laughs with Grandma & Grandpa
• Bowling at Sparetime...I broke 100!

Rob was missed. Really, really missed when

a.) He wasn't there to hold my luggage at the airport so I had to take it in to the bathroom with me...eewww!

b.) I had to third wheel it on Jordan & Anne's team during Cranium, then got ditched when they left half way through.

and

c.) Pretty much the entire rest of the time.

09.09.09

In honor of today's date, 09.09.09, I thought it would be fun for us to go and see the movie 9, but Rob said 'Nein'. Bummer.

Instead I downloaded from iTunes and started watching Season 3 of Ugly Betty while Rob entertained the dog...or vice versa. Yep, we're super cool.

Happy 09.09.09!

P.S. Did anyone actually see the movie? Was it any good?

21 on the pier

Saturday night we headed over to Carillon Point in Kirkland to watch the weekly outdoor movie.

There are several places in the area that host outdoor movies during the summer so there is always something good playing at one of them.

After the super hot days we have been having lately, the weather cooperated wonderfully and it was a perfect evening to spend down by the water.

The movie was 21. Neither of us had seen it before, but had heard OK things about it. It really got us in the mood to head to Vegas.

Not like we could count cards or anything, but it made us wish we could. :)

We brought our comfy little camping chairs, but we got there early enough to score this great bench for our seats.

BluWater Bistro was in the same pavilion, so we grabbed some of their crab legs and pizza for dinner then used our camping chairs as tables/TV trays.

It was quite the great set up!

The movie ended up being only so-so and incredibly predictable, but we had a fun time.

They are showing Twilight in a couple weeks and I am working on getting Rob to go. Good luck, I know.

Oh, the games we play

This afternoon we discovered our favorite new thing to do...play racquetball. After our normal workout we thought we'd borrow some racquets from the gym and give it a try.

Turns out it is lots of fun and we happen to be semi good at it...even if we don't know the actual rules. We kind of made up our own rules and they seem to work good enough. :)

Yeah we'll have to learn the real rules eventually, but I think our way will tide us over for the next little while.

We are now off to see Orphan. Definitely not my first choice of a movie, but since Rob took me to see The Ugly Truth last night without me even asking, I guess I can see this one for him.

A little of this and a little of that...

Chopped a bunch of my hair off. Still not sure if it's a like or hate thing yet...more time needed to decide.

Sunglasses in (blurry camera phone) picture = I still haven't put my makeup on yet. That's right, I put my make up on at work.

It's here at last! Harry Potter is today, and yes...I am still going by myself because I am a loser awesome. Don't hate.

We're hopping a flight down to Utah tonight for a family camping extravaganza. It should be exciting. Stay tuned...

Because I am just THAT cool

I just bought myself a ticket to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on opening day. This also happens to be the same day we fly down to Utah. Did this deter me? No. I'm going to the early show and then flying out later that evening.

The part that makes me feel super pathetic cool is...I am going all by myself. I could not find a single friend who wanted to skip out of work early that day and go with me. Not even Rob. How's that for loyalty. And I really don't want to do the logical, grown up thing and wait a week until we're back from Utah to see it.

So, yes I am a super cool twenty-something who is leaving work early to go and see the new Harry Potter movie on opening day with a bunch of screaming tweens and I am proud of it. At least I'm not wearing a cloak and carrying a wand. I do have standards.

Over the Fourth

Day one of our adventure was pretty adventure-less. We browsed the Lloyd Center Mall, got our pictures taken in the photo booth a la Jr. High style and saw Transformers 2. Total waste of two hours if you ask me. The first one was pretty good, but the second one was just plain stupid. It was just a bunch of running around, blowing up and machines zooming all over the place. Not good.



A yummy Standford's dinner after made up for the lack of cinema excitement and then back to the hotel for some shut eye. I am not a big sleeper, but Rob had to drag me out of bed the next morning because this hotel has the most comfortable beds I have EVER slept in. Seriously. That is why we always stay here in Portland. Not for the amazing location, great nightlife or the charming shops. It's the beds.

Next up was the St. Paul Fair and Rodeo. It wasn't much of a fair, but it sure was a good rodeo! As we parked at the city cemetery and walked into 'town', we passed this chalk art and it made me laugh. Had to take a picture!

Rob thought it would be $10 well spent for me to get a palm reading. I went for it and the whole time she was doing her thing I was thinking 'what a bunch of garbage', but she was SO serious, it was almost funny. Apparently I will be on the receiving end of a promotion within the next 3-4 months, I have a long life line (isn't this the lamest line in the palm reading book!?!), will be married within a year, will have three children (two boys and a girl) and will be financially successful for the rest of my days. OK, so I liked that last part.

At the rodeo the bucking bronco was right up there near the top of the list, followed closely by the bull riding, but my favorite part was when the rodeo clown reenacted every dance step of Beyonce's entire Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) video. It was SO funny!!

We skipped out before the fireworks to avoid the crowd when leaving. Little did we know, this sneaky maneuver led us to hit downtown Portland just as their fireworks were getting out, so we didn't get back to our hotel until 12:30. Genius, we know. We still caught some fireworks along the way.

The next day we grabbed lunch and did some shopping downtown.

Rob fell in serious like with an extendable scrubber at Sur La Table and insisted on carrying it around all day. Next stop, Puma. They had the funniest signs! Here's the Hot Stuff sign with my Hot Stuff underneath it posing with his new friend. This last sign was my favorite...it was in the mirror in the dressing room area.

Good trip. We had lots more planned, but ran out of time. It'll all have to go on our list of things to do on our next trip down.