Historically Driving Home ~ SA Vacay Day 3

If you have not been to Guenther House on your trips to SA, you are sorely missing out.  Guenther House is the home of the founding family of Pioneer Flour.  It was built in 1860 and after a 2 year restoration, the restaurant opened in 1988.  I have been several times for brunch and it never disappoints.  I'll admit the wait sucks, especially with 2 toddlers, but really what good restaurant do you not have to wait for?  The best thing to have during a lengthy wait?  Drinks?  Ok, so maybe the 2nd best thing?  That would be a super cute gift shop that sells the best baking supplies (need a tortilla flattener?) and super cute items (princess tea party book anyone?) that you just have to have!  The store is super small and I could easily kill an hour there...all I have to say is, "what wait?"

After 2 hours in the car and 2 showings for Toy Story 2, we stopped in Salado for lunch.  We stumbled along a great little spot, Adelea's on Main.  Adelea's opened in 2008 by 2 sisters who launched their culinary careers based on recipes their mother had passed on to them from their late grandmother.   They still feature some of these recipes in the restaurant.  Adelea's and their bar, Hemingway's (named after their dog) is located in a home that was built in 1925.    I can't think of a more fitting location!

The rest of the trip was completely non-eventful...unless you count seeing Toy Story 2 for the 3rd time today as eventful...sigh.

Toddler Dream Day ~ SA Vacay Day 2

Toddler Dream Day includes the following:
- Brunch with all the Sesame Street characters
- Playing games with the Sesame Street characters
- Waving Abby Cadabby's magic wand
- Getting picture taken with every character from Sesame Street
- Seeing Shamu show, not once, but twice
- Feeding the dolphins
- Spending a good portion of the day in the Sesame Street Bay of Play water park for kids
- Visiting the sea lions and manatees

Toddler Dream Day does NOT include:
- Much eating; too hard to eat when Sesame Street characters are at breakfast
- Napping; too much to see and do!

So where do you eat with 4 tired adults and cranky, hungry toddlers?  Lulu's bakery of course!  Unfortunately, none of us made it to a cinnamon roll.  Did you really think Adam would go to SA and not eat at a restaurant that was featured on Man vs. Food?


If you are wondering where are all our fab pictures that capture Maison having her dream day, they are on the camera that we brought but left the battery at home.  We're hoping that that we can bribe Jon so we can have copies of his pics!

I'm going to Canyonlands ~ 1 month to go!

I know the saying is "I'm going to Disneyland" but I've never been to Disneyland, nor do I plan to go to Disneyland because I'm going to Canyonlands...and I'm going one month from today. What is Canyonlands? Only one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Gorgeous red rocks, topped with brilliant white snow. No other way to describe it than A-MAZ-ING.

Adam and I went to Moab in 2007 for his birthday in March. While we were there we saw the Canyonlands half marathon. I don't know why, but when I saw the runners leave our resort the morning of the race, I knew that I would some day do it. Me, run a half marathon? Now that's funny. I'm NOT a runner, never have been a runner, nor have I ever really planned to be a runner. When I was younger (much younger...hhheeem) I thought of myself as a sprinter. Trying to turn a sprinter into a runner is quite the ordeal. But if I am ever to become a runner...now is the time. This race will be worth every painful training mile run...

I was going to post some breathtaking pictures from our last Moab trip but we have seemed to misplaced all our pictures from 2007-Aug 2008. So weird. Anyway, instead I will show you my "golden ticket" my entry confirmation for Canyonlands. Now if I could just muster up the energy to wave it over my head and sing "I've got a golden ticket. I've got a ray of light." ala Charlie from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory you would get the idea how excited I am to be doing this race.

Sequential Wedding

So we were supposed to be in Atlanta driving to North Carolina for Adam's brother, Jason's wedding. But...we were NOT in Atlanta getting ready to make the drive up because Maison has relapsed with c-diff for the 4th time and my Nannie has the flu and cannot travel. We decided at the last minute that we would fly to NC for the wedding instead of driving and thus had to take whatever flights we could get.

Adam left Thursday morning so that he could make the rehearsal dinner Thurs night and I left Friday morning to ensure I would be there in time for the wedding Saturday afternoon. We both were on SWA and we both had a bazillion stops. I left my house at 8:30 am to drive to Parker and drop Maison off with my mom and then go to the airport. My flight was at 11:00 am and I didn't land in Raleigh until 6:30 pm. Yes, I could have flown to Europe in the amount of time I flew from Dallas to Raleigh but I arrived safely and that is what's important.

Saturday afternoon was the wedding....it was a beautiful ceremony and lovely reception. Jason and Lindsey were married on 12/11/10 which is exactly sequential order from Adam and my wedding date of 9/8/07. Congrats Jason and Lindsey!

Adam and I flew home on the 8 am flight so that we could get back to our sick baby as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, we had stops in Nashville and KC where is was snowing. We had doubts that we weren't going to make it home as planes were getting cancelled all over the place. I know you are not supposed to say "never" but we will NEVER, EVER fly on SWA with 3+ stops each way during the winter when it is snowing. I'd rather fly to Europe and back in the same day in coach than deal with that!

Braves, Cubs, and Friends...oh, my!

This weekend Adam and I went to Chicago to see friends and go to the Braves/Cubs games. We arrived late Thurs night but in plenty of time to have a midnight dinner in Greek town with Vinnie.

Friday we had Cubs tickets in the bleachers with several of Adam's friends. We took the subway to the game from our hotel on Michigan Ave. It was SO UNBELIEVABLY crowded. The second the doors closed after we got on the train I started having a panic attack. We were in a super crowded train, UNDERGROUND, with no sunlight in site. I wanted to die, miss the cubs/braves game die, start going bat-ass crazy want to die. The nice man by the door let me trade spots with him so that when we eventually reached an above ground part I was able to see out. I was feeling much better but still rather uneasy. We did make it to the game in one piece, staked our claim in the bleachers, all in time to watch the Braves take batting practice. I still wasn't feeling too hot after we sat down so I decided to go to the bathroom to put some water on my face. When I got up to leave a Brave hit a ball out of the park and it broke the window of the brownstone behind Wrigley. I literally sounded like some one had been shot...in the 100s of baseball games I've been to in my life that was a first for me...but apparently happens at Wrigley all the time. The game was great; the Braves won and the weather was a fab mid-80s...a cold front from the ~105 degrees in Dallas. After the game we went to the Gingerman for drinks, dinner at Tango Sur, and then post-dinner drinks a Blue Bayou. It was such a fun day!

View of the bleachers:

Saturday we had lunch with Monica at the Purple Pig on Michigan Ave and then took a cab to the game...no subway to Wrigley after yesterday! Adam's father's day present was the trip to Chicago and dugout tickets to Saturday's game. When Wrigley was remodeled they lowered the seats and added rows A, B, C at field level. We had seats on row B...these seats were so amazing that had there not been a net there to protect you from miss batted balls you could literally reach out and touch the players. The Braves didn't win this one but with seats this close that happened to be in the shade...who could complain? After the game, we had a drink at Gingerman (it's a tradition when you are with the Durbins!), dessert at Sensational Bites, dinner at Due, Uno's sister restaurant, and then drinks on the roof top of Rock Bottom Brewery. Another wonderful day with so many wonderful friends.

Brave, Derek Lee, who was a Cub 3 days ago:

Lou returning to the dugout after a chat with an ump:

Sunday we had an early flight back to Dallas since we were anxious to get back to Maison. See you next time, Chicago, we missed you!

Feeling the energy with my besties

So this last past weekend, I went to Enchantment Resort in Sedona for a spa weekend with my besties: Shari, Kelly, Jan, Kari, and Adrienne. We were on a girlfriends package so our weekend was pretty much planned before we arrived on Friday morning. Friday afternoon we had a private yoga class. So we all decked out in our athletic gear thinking a Sedona yoga instructor would really bring the power yoga...ha..ha, ha, uh not so much. This was pretty much an hour of breathing and a little organ massaging. Yes, that's right, our instructor actually came around the room and 'massaged our organs'. I almost burst out laughing and in all honesty could not believe that Jan was able to control herself since she has the wonderful trait of finding the humor in anything! Friday evening we had free so we went into downtown Sedona to shop at Tlaquepaque Village and had dinner at Elote Cafe.

View from our resort:

Returning from our night in downtown Sedona:

Saturday it rained all day so we all spent the day at the spa. We had dinner at Yavapai restaurant at the resort. Sunday morning we were able to get in a red rock hike before we had to head back to Phoenix to fly home.

Managing our 'energy balls':

Scenery along the red rock hike:

End of the trail, the canyon:

Can you feel the energy?

Chicago, Cubs, and Chris

The first weekend in May Adam and I went to Chicago for Chris Durbin's 40th b-day party.  Yes, ADAM (not me!) is old enough to have friends that are turning 40.  Seeing has how I am only 25 it would be a little odd for me to have friends that old.  Anyway, we left Dallas in the height of the swine flu and on the day that Joe Biden said he would advise his family not to fly unless absolutely necessary.  DFW seemed to be business as usual...our 6:15pm flight to O'Hare was delayed until 7:15pm by the time we got to the airport.  As we waited, our departure time somehow surpassed our original arrival time.  We boarded our flight around 9pm.  There were literally 10 people on the entire flight.  We see now why the flight was delayed.  I assume so they could get on as many standby passengers as possible.  I have never been on an AA flight to/from DFW/ORD that was not at least close to full...maybe the swine flu scared off some travelers???

 

We FINALLY arrived and got to our hotel around MIDNIGHT!  Vinnie picked us up at the airport and drove us to our hotel on Michigan Ave.  I was completely beat and pretty much unpacked and went to bed.  Adam and Vinnie went out for drinks at a pub that was near by.  

Friday Tom and his daughters, Jessica and Elaina, came into the city to go with us to see the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry.  It was completely awesome!  At the start of the tour they select children from the group to sit under the sorting hat and find out which house they belong to.  Jessica was a Griffindor!  You go into a room where they show short clips from all the movies including the yet to be released, Half Blood Prince.  When the clips are over, the room goes dark just for a second and then a curtain opens to reveal the Hogwarts Express complete with steam and blowing whistle.  What a way to start an exhibit?

There were so many great things to see but the highlights were:  pulling mandrakes from their pots and hearing them scream, throwing quaffles through the quidditch rings, sitting in Hadgrid's chair, and viewing countless costumes and props from all 6 movies (including Half Blood Prince).  The tour ends in the dining hall complete with floating candles and Hogwarts food...pumpkin juice, chocolate frogs, and many more.   I couldn't resist getting a "Harry Potter Exhibit" hoodie, to document the moment.   Adam and I were interviewed for a local newspaper as we exited the exhibit.  I'm sure I told the columnist way more than she wanted to know.  After the museum, Adam and I had lunch at Heaven on Seven, a cajun restaurant off of Michigan Ave.  It was so completely bad for you but so good.  We had such an amazing day, but super exhausting.  I had to go back to the hotel and take a nap before going out for dinner.

Friday night we had dinner at Due (like Uno's) with Karen, Monica, Freddy, Lori, David, Reneau, Saneata, and Amir.   It took forever with that many people, but it was really good.  Afterwards, we tried to find a bar that wasn't super crowded and ended up at ESPN Zone...hehehee...total tourist trap.  After 1 round, we had to call it a night.  We had a big day in front of us.

Saturday was Chris's 40th b-day party which was to start at 10am at Murphy's for bloody mary's prior to the noon Cubs game.  Adam and I rode to the Wrigley area with Amir and then walked to the game.  We had to stop at Nuts on Clark to get some chocolate covered peanut brittle for the game which they were sold out of so we 'settled' for chocolate covered english toffee and chocolate covered cashews...YUM CITY! and Amir had to stop to get peanuts.  Needless to say, we did not make it to Murphy's by 10am....more like 11:30.  I was with Adam and Amir, I don't think anyone thought we would be anywhere close to on time.  We met Chris at Murphy's and then went to meet the others in the bleachers.

The Cubs game was packed...no swine flu worriers there!  It was so much fun despite the cold...yes, cold.  It was the first weekend in May and I had to wear a sweatshirt to a baseball game.  I don't even think they make Texas Rangers sweatshirts because I doubt they would ever sell any.  After the game, we headed to the Gingerman to continue the festivities until we were to head to dinner at Tango Sur.  Here is a pic of the b-day boy at the Gingerman....

We stayed at the Gingerman until about 7:00 and then headed to Tango Sur.  There was about 14 of us and Tango Sur does not accept reservations except for parties larger than 6.  Selena, Chris's wife, called to make reservations and they would not accept anymore large parties and thus we would just have to wait.  To kill time we went to the Blue Bayou across the street to watch the Bulls playoff game.  About 9:30pm, Tango Sur called to say our table was ready.  I was completely exhausted and decided to go back to the hotel, lay on a comfy bed and order room service.  Adam was in for the long haul...he made it to dinner and to the bar afterwards.  I think he got in around 4:00am.  I really don't know how he made it that long and I certainly have no idea how Chris could do it...maybe I need to hang with 40 year olds more often ;oP

Sunday morning we met Vinnie, Monica, and Freddy for brunch at Reza's.  It was great as usual.  Afterwards, we went for a walk on Michigan Ave and walked down to see 'the bean'.  Michigan Ave was completely lined with fabulous tulips.  They had ever color you could imagine.  Here are the pics from Michigan Ave....

               

We had such a fun trip to Chicago and it was so great to see everyone!

Hot 'lanta, not so hot

Last weekend, Adam and I were scheduled to fly to Atlanta late Friday night.  We packed up all our stuff and I was going to try one last time to get us seats together while Adam made us a quick dinner before we left.  I logged on to AA and there was no available seating chart to view or change seats...uh, why?  So I went to check our flight status which said delayed until 10:40pm and then in big read letters:  FLIGHT CANCELLED....nice.

Adam called AA and apparently our full flight was cancelled due to weather in Dallas and Atlanta and our only option was to take the 7:30am Sat morning.  Considering we were flying home early Monday morning we didn't have much of a choice.  The flight was one of the worst I have ever been on - it was a bumpy puke ride the whole way....

The weather in Atlanta was awful...rainy and very cold.  After a quick lunch at the Varsity we went to visit my g-ma, Annie Boo.  Afterwards, we went to visit my cousin, Michael, at the sports bar he partly owns and to watch the NCAA tournament.  

Sunday we went up to Dahlonega to eat lunch at Smith House.  Dahlonega is the gateway to the Appalachian mountains and was the site of the first US gold rush.   At Smith House you sit at long tables with the guests that came in before or after you.  Once the table is full they serve food family style.  There is no menu, they just serve whatever has been made that day.  On the day we went it was fried chicken, honey baked ham, roast beef, dozen of vegetables, and rolls and white cornbread (no yellow yankee cornbread down there).  It was delicious!

At lunch we sat at the table with a woman that was from Dahlonega.  She said she was 'in law enforcement' and later admitted she had been a bounty hunter and only recently quit so she could spend more time with her two sons who were also at lunch.  After lunch, she told us all about Dahlonega and the gold mine history including all the hauntings.  She was very interesting.  We wanted to go through the shops on the square and see the scottish festival that was in progress but it was way too cold.  

Sunday afternoon we went back to visit Annie Boo.  She seemed much more lucid but still did not want her picture taken.  Despite her protests, we were able to get a few shots.  You can tell from the picture with my mom, that her severe alzheimer's has not stopped her from trying to tell my mom what to do ;oP