France trip: Paris day 1

fresh off the plane!

I finally got around to getting all my (way too many) pictures off my camera! Let the recap begin...

We landed in Paris around noon, found our way to our hotel which was on the border of the 5th and 6th arrondissement (district) and only about a 5 minute walk from the Notre Dame. Wonderful location!

Since we were pretty jet lagged, we spend the day just walking around mainly by the river Seine and getting acquainted with our neighborhood and the beautiful city.

We also stopped in two Churches, St. Germaine des Pres (the oldest Church in Paris) and St. Sulpice (part in the DaVinci Code where Silas smashed the floor of the Church).

And of course, yummy dinner, wine and nutella crepe!

River Seine

lovely Paris balconies

Christian Lacroix store for all you fashionistas

St. Sulpice

St. Sulpice

St. Suplice

St. Germaine des Pres

St. Germaine des Pres

Thanksgiving weekend

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful weekend and it seemed extra long (in a good way!) We spent Thursday with my family and then Friday-Sunday with Nick's.

I didn't really take any pictures because I was so busy eating, but I did snap one of Nick in his birthday crown at his parents house! His birthday was last week, but we celebrated this weekend again since we were at his parents.

And the whole drive back we listened to Christmas music (I had control of the radio)! I am so excited its finally here! Bring it all on!


And...happy birthday to my dad! Sadly we couldn't celebrate today since he and my mom had to fly out of town for my mom's aunt's funeral, but we'll celebrate soon dad! Thanks for being such a wonderful dad and for all you've done for me!

(dad at Everest base camp, 17,598 feet)

And, our Huskies beat the WSU Cougars in a 30-0 shutout for the Apple Cup title (our big rivalry game)! Go Huskies!!! Perfect way to top off a great weekend!

(image: Seattle Times)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Nick and I will be relaxing with both sets of family (so convenient everyone is close by) and I'm also planning on organizing France pictures - finally!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful, relaxing weekend with loved ones and of course, lots of great food!

image: Martha Stewart

Fun and food birthday weekend

Okay, I am finally back at it and after the weekend we are organized again and back on a Seattle time zone.

This weekend was an especially fun one because it was Nick's birthday on Saturday! And we celebrated with what else, lots of food!

For lunch on Saturday, I took Nick to Paseo's. Their sandwiches are so good and they have even been listed on Esquire's list of sandwiches to have before you die. And yes, they are that good.

Then that night, we went to a food and wine event called 20Something - The New Vintage. Its an event where you pay for a ticket, and then get to taste food and wine all night. Some of the top restaurants in Seattle were there and tons of wine and we had an absolute blast. We are already looking forward to next year. I didn't take a lot of pictures because I always had a glass of wine and yummy food!

one of Seattle's top chefs, Tom Douglas

Then on Sunday, I cooked him homemade chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, and for dinner, tomatillo enchiladas and yellow cake with chocolate butter cream frosting, all from scratch.

Guess I'll need lots of gym time before even more eating for Thanksgiving!

Back from France!

Bonjour mes amis! Nick and I are back from the most wonderful 10 days in France! We had amazing food and wine, saw wonderful sites, beautiful countryside and had great weather! I didn't want to leave, but it always feels great coming home.

I can't wait to catch up on blogs, comments and post my pictures - once I get over my jet lag!

Eiffel Tower

Biking along the Rhone River in Provence

Sisterhood of the traveling Coach diaper bag

I know this seems like a weird post, but there is a fun story behind this bag. This diaper bag has some serious passport stamps, here is the story:

Our junior year of college (we were at separate colleges) one of my best friends, Meghan, went to study abroad in Florence, Italy for the year and her mom bought her this Coach diaper bag as a good overall travel bag. Since its a diaper bag, it has a lot of great little pockets to store lots of things. In her year there, it went all over Europe and to Thailand.

Then, our senior year, I studied abroad in Rome, and Meghan let me borrow the diaper bag for my travels where the bag wen around Europe and Italy again.

The next year, Meghan took it to Italy to visit her sister to China and Hong Kong for work, and now, she is returning to France with me!!

This diaper has some serious mileage and thank you to Meghan for letting me take her on my travels - again!!

Vatican City

posing in typical tourist fashion

hanging out at some Roman ruins

Fall weekend in the park

On Sunday we had a lovely fall day in Seattle so Nick and I took advantage of it and took a walk in the Washington Park Arboretum. I love all these beautiful colors of the season!

Husky stadium!

Halloween weekend recap

Ok, first of all, where did November come from?! Secondly, hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween weekend. My was busy and fun!

The majority of the weekend was spend running around doing errands, but we carved a little time out to hang out for Halloween at our friend Eric and Nicole's house in Ballard.

Mardi Gras Queen, devil, flapper, baby, pro golfer

300 The Movie

pro golfer Carol

White Wizard Nick

Nicole's little bumble bee Callie

On Sunday, my parents took Nick and I out to a "Bon Voyage" brunch before we head out for France! So we had a great morning eating and hanging out with them, thanks mom and dad!!

And then that evening, we had an ADPi corporation board dinner at Daniel's, a wonderful steak restaurant. I've really enjoyed being on corp board for the past year, and am looking forward to more years of volunteering on the board in the future!

Dinner was so so yummy and Nick was the lucky recipient of my leftovers!

Hope everyone had a great weekend and I'm excited to see everyone's Halloween costume!