Paris!

We went to paris!

It was beautiful

There just wasn't enough time to see everything

If I lived in Paris, I would get a pass so I could go to the Louvre everyday

We went to the top of the Arch De Triumph

The view was worth the hike

Champs Elysees

We even visited Euro Disney! 

At the store the juices had little knit hats. I call that a WIN

One week was not enough time to see everything! I loved it there and can't wait to go back! (someday)

San Francisco

A few weeks ago the hubs and I met up LA and decided to drive up the coast to San Francisco to take in the California coast and meet up with my brother in San Francisco.


The sky was blue, the waves were crashing and the palm trees were swaying. I love Southern California!

We had dinner in Santa Barbara on the pier. I even walked in the sand! 

We had a blast in San Francisco and saw as much of the city as we could...

…like the Golden Gate Bridge - that is one impressive bridge but boy was it crowded!

And I'm here to tell you it's true! those streets are very hilly. Wouldn't need to use a stair-master if you lived around there, that's for sure

The city was so much fun to see and wander around and the food! oooh the food!! It's as yummy and diverse as here in Chicago. Yum.

I just love how beautiful the west coast is

I'm Back!

I have been embarrassingly bad at posting lately…. I don't have much excuse except that I have been traveling loads and have had lots of exciting and fun weekends. I'm hoping to fill you in on all of my adventures over the next week or so now that it looks like I'll finally have some down time.


But for now I will show you something about my knitting that I found interesting. It's not normal for me to work on multiple projects at a time. I usually like to dedicate my self to one project at a time and either make progress or put it down/finish it. But lately for one reason or another I have found my self with LOADS of WIPs - But I'll get to all those stories


But the other day my main WIPs were sitting on the couch together and I noticed a theme. I'll admit that I get into ruts or themes or just seem to favor one style or color but it has never been so apparent as it was in this photo.

Do you see what I see?

That's right; it's all shades of yellow to orange. I'm really diggin' the warmer colors right now and the dark penny copper color is something special for me that will really brighten up the dear winter days! I almost can't wait for winter! wait! no. I did not just say that. Winter is far far away. It will not snow for a long long time. No winter. No snow. Nope. 

Anyhoo, two of these are finished now and the third is well on it's way to completion. Can't wait to show them too you!

Kentucky Derby Day!

I thought it was a bit funny that after living in Dubai for so long that it wasn't until I moved back to the US that I went to my first horse race.

As you may or may not know Dubai host the world's most expensive race (surprise surprise) which happens to be the Dubai World Cup for Horse Racing. They have some impressive camel races too but I digress.

My husband called me from work one day and said something along the lines of "Hey we're going to the Kentucky Derby in a couple weeks!"

My reply was something like "Ok cool!"

I'm use to these phone calls out of the blue from my husband. He is a bit spontaneous and I am always willing to go along for the ride.

so of course I got a hat

and I had to check out the paddocks...

...and the steeples!

There were a lot of statues of famous horses...

We could see the finish line! (at least until there were taller people than me in front)

The horses seemed to enjoy parading around and showing off almost as much as racing. But they should because they sure are beautiful

The horses are fast and really exciting to watch. Who knew there were so many races in the day!?!

The whole event is steeped in tradition from the dressed up ladies in their hats to the Mint Juleps being offered every few feet. The horses also have a whole set of events to do. They don't just run around a track but first they show off at the paddock then they parade in front of the spectators, they then race, then parade again and I think they go back to the paddocks.

Overall it was a fantastic way to spend the day and I would love to go again next year.

Good luck Animal kingdom on your next two races... Here's hoping you get the triple crown!!!

photo from here

What happens in Vegas...

.... get's posted right here on my blog!

My husband surprised me last weekend with a trip to Vegas! I was so surprised and beyond excited to get away from cold, dreary Chicago for a couple days. (I gotta say Chicago is not at it's prettiest as it tries to thaw out for spring)

So I landed in Vegas at night and my husband (who was patiently waiting for me) quickly got me settled in our room and then back out to go eat at Nove Italiano, an italian restaurant at Palms Casino Resort.

(Waiting for our table)

I nearly melted on to the floor when I took a bite of my steak - al forno style. OMGSH I don't know why I have never thought to put parmesan and steaks together before! But they are a match made for each other.

(The view from our table - each window had its own fireplace)

And their pizza was so paper thin and just the right level of crispy vs. chewy that it was almost like eating that rice paper that melts in your mouth. And you could clear out a whole pizza with out feeling even the beginning pangs of fullness.

After we waddled back to our hotel and passed out from jet lag and fullness we got up the next day to tour the strip and go to one of my all time favorite burger chains EVER. In N Out Burger!

After filling up on delicious burgers and fries we were on our way to the new Cosmopolitan hotel when we found this boat sculpture in front of the Vdara hotel!

We were surprised to find that Vdara is a non-gamebeling establishment... but it sure is beautiful inside as well as connected to all the MGM properties

When we finally made it to the Cosmopolitan I was overwhelmed with their stunning 3 story chandelier! This hotel must have stock in Swarovski!

That night we got to go to my very first Cirque Du Soleil show - KA! So much fun! The stage did things I have never seen a stage do before... And I'm pretty sure a vampire from Twilight was in there too but I regress.

The next day we went out to dinner with a good friend of my hubbs and then I got surprised with another show. Jabbawockeez!!!! They have a perm show at the Monte Carlo

Seriously if you haven't heard of their amazing skills you need to check them out. In fact check them out right here

Amazing right? and their show is incredible. It's funny, thought provoking and just pure entertainment.

Jabbawakeez was a great way to end a great weekend!

We headed back to Chicago the very next morning (Monday) after a nice sleep in...

...and on Tuesday ... it snowed.

chi-chi- Chicago

So husband and I took a trip out to Chicago for a couple of days to check out a city neither one of us had been to before but had both heard so much about.

Let me tell you it's one of the best cities I have EVER visited. I loved it. It's a beautiful place and the food is AMAZING!

As soon as we landed we saw an old friend.... A friend we have spent many hours with... Hello Etihad Airways! We miss your comfy seats with individual touch screen tv's and edible food! Oh and your not over booking flights...

Hello Etihad Airways! We miss your comfy seats with individual touch screen tv's and edible food! Oh and your not over booking flights...

When we got there, there were two things I knew I HAD to do (surprisingly neither involved yarn)

1 I HAD to try the classic Chicago style deep dish pizza

This thing was AMAZING. We got the small which feeds 1-2 people and we still had two slices left over! We went for the straight cheeze (as you can probably tell from the pic) and it was just oozing out the sides (which you can also probably tell from the pic). The crust was light and flaky and the sauce had so much flavor. I mean look at that pizza.... I really don't need to tell you how good it was.

2 I HAD to try an Al's Italian Beef Sandwich - the one that has been all over food the travel channel. After watching show after show on the place I knew that there had to be something to the hype.... and there was....

I nearly fainted with this beefy goodness. Seriously I am not a sandwich person. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I prefer anything BUT a sandwich but this kind of sandwich I can get use to. They fill a soft baguette with this amazingly seasoned & thinly sliced beef then they put their special peppers on top (which to be honest I was hesitant about but TOTALLY make the sandwich) and then they dip the sandwich in the beef gravy. I mean seriously this was the best sandwich ever and I loved it and I wanted to move into the shop and eat it every day. Add to that an orange soda and fresh cut fries and what more could you ask for?

We also got too see the sights and wander around the city a bit. The city is loads of fun and the people we so nice.... I am already planning where we'll visit (and what we'll eat) on our next trip.

On our way back to Portland we got an amazing view of Mt. Hood which I just had to share.

Now if only we had an Al's Italian Beef......

At the airport….

…. Again.
This seems to be a running theme in our lives right now. I calculated and I think we have each flown over 15,000 miles (for a combined total of 30,000) in a month’s time. We are seriously tired of flying. Especially because we have to lug around all of our luggage with us as well. But that is the beauty of moving… remind me why I thought that was such a good idea?
The good part is we’re going home (well my home at least) and I am so looking forward to being in Portland again. Even if it will be for a short period of time before we board another flight on to a new adventure (more later – gotta save something to write about for another day).
The other upside is that we are getting way better at this flying stuff. We’re organized and prepared. Ready for whatever the airline can throw at us. Want more money for extra baggage? You got it. Where’s our ID’s? Right here buddy. Extra security check? Bring it on! We know who is in charge of what bags. The best restaurants in the airport and that we habitually plan for three hours in the airport even though it has never taken us more than a half hour to get from the curb to the gate. We are SET. Unless it snows can’t cope with the snow. NO MORE SNOW!
Another fun thing about the airport is the people watching. I tell you it’s about as entertaining as the Thursday Night Line Up back when Friends and Will & Grace were still on. People are so interesting! I saw one lady wearing all pink and with a pink suitcase and I thought to my self “Wow coordinating for the flight. Ummm ok?” But then I saw her in the rest room and she was re-packing her bag and I tell you EVERYTHING in her bag was pink too!!!!! Her husband was even wearing a pink shirt! Their whole lives are coordinated!
Another girl was walking around in her tank top with her scarf on even though it is FREEZING out side. Have I mentioned the snow?
Oh and we even saw a guy from Heat (the movie) I don’t know which one to be honest cause it was my husband that made the ID. But still!
I keep hoping to see a fellow knitter working on her ravelympic project waiting for a flight but I seem to be the only one. Sigh. It’s ok though I am not shy about KIP (kitting in public) or PDK (Public displays of knitting) as I prefer.


Yup. That’s a new secret project. Tell you about it when it’s done.

Airline Rant

Well I forgot to tell you all about my experience with, rhymes with, Pamerican Pairlines. We used this airlines for all our flights domestically while we were in the US and they weren't too bad.... except for in Dallas.

They didn't have the terminal on the itinerary so because there are like 5 terminals at DFW I called ahead to see where we should check in. After pressing all the numbers and dealing with the automated system I found out our plane was taking off from "Terminal A - as in Alpha"

We checked in to terminal A said our goodbyes to Husband's family and went through security. After we got through security I looked down at our freshly printed tickets which said Gate 34 in terminal C.

What?! Terminal C? I had only called a half hour ago and was told to go to terminal A! And did any of the ladies too busy chatting behind the counter feel the need to tell us we were in the wrong terminal? No!

sigh

So we head for the little tram and take it over to terminal C. We walk for a while and get to gate 34. Still an hour to go before the fight so we're fine even with the terminal change. Wait. What time does the bored say? The flight is delayed by an hour??? Yup the flight was delayed yet another change the lovely ladies behind the counter couldn't clue us into.

So then we had plenty of time so I headed down to the bookstore to browse around. After a bit of time wasting I head back to our seats only to see they are all empty. Empty! I look to the left to see my husband beckoning me over. Oh the gate has been changed. Changed again! So we lug all of our bags to the new gate. Gate 25

Fortunately this gate has seats with TV screens near them and they are playing the news. Only the before had Michael Jackson's death been announced so we were eager to watch the news. We sat there watching the news for a while and also watched as passengers ran past us from one side of the airport to the other trying to catch their flights. I finally got up to go check on the status of our flight and make sure it wasn't delayed again. What happens when I stand up? The seats are all empty!! EMPTY! AGAIN! I had this flash of panic where I thought we had completely missed the flight so engrossed in the news coverage of Michael Jackson. I run up to the gate desk to see what? Yup the gate has been changed! Gate 30 my friends. SIGH! BIG FRUSTRATED SIGH! We trudge to the next and final gate because our flight is suppose to start boarding in 10 minutes. My husband and I grabbed our stuff and ran to the next gate.

Huffing and puffing we reach the gate just as they are calling Group 1 to board. Fortunately we were Group 3 so we had a bit of time to catch our breath and make friends with the people standing next to us who were elderly hand had an awful time trying to keep up with all the gate changes the airport had put them through considering they were just laying over in DFW on their way to Portland from another town. While we were chatting we got to experience the man working at the gate yell at the waiting, paying, passengers like they are four year olds. He seriously told everyone that he was "not going to try to speak over everyone" and he would just "wait for everyone to quiet down" he would board any more passengers. Seriously.

Finally we got on the plane and took off for Portland, the next leg of our journey. But I must say I was sorely disappointed in the service they provided. I mean all the airlines are talking about how they are barely making ends meet and they are charging passengers more and more the least they could do is offer some decent customer service. Seriously I think they under estimate how much people would be willing to put up with if someone would just treat them with respect and take ownership when things are not functioning as expected. Treat people with respect and then they will be way more satisfied customers... even when the flights don't go according to plan.

A little courtesy would be nice too... I'm just sayin'

New York, New York

So the couple days before and after New Jersey were spent in the Big Apple. I, personally, am a huge fan of New York City. Whenever I am roaming around the city with my coffee and bagel I think to my self "huh, I could do this.... I could totally do this!". Fortunately my husband is almost as fond of New York as I am.

The forever flight wasn't too bad, I slept for an hour, watched four movies and knit an entire hat (to be shown later). Fortunately this time around passport control was a breeze with my husband making friends all along the process in his usual way.

Right when we got out of the airport we headed to my sister's house in Brooklyn. I'm not sure if she realizes just how much I look forward to seeing her as I enter and exit the country. It's like immediate home. I don't have to take another flight or go any further to get that sense of home right away by spending time with my big sis. Not to mention my Niece is BEYOND adorable. I just love hanging out with her and her family.

So we made it to her house in the evening and ate and crashed... but a 14 hr fight will do that to you. But look at what my sister got for me on her last trip to Ireland!!!! SO EXCITING! Irish wool! I'm going to have to make something with cables.

The next day we bummed around the city going to the east village and to Purl Soho because I just could not wait any longer! I got some gorgeous yarns (I'm not going to show you everything just my fave but you are welcome to check out my Ravelry stash page to see them all)I loved the pewter color of this Tilli & Tomas beaded lace

So I guess my husband hot a little board with all the time I was spending in Purl Soho (although really I don't see how) so he was sitting out side and I was hovering over some sock yarn when I hear "Why thank you. It's nice to meet you too" and I turn and look outside and my husband is chatting with Ainsley Harriott (the guy with like 5 different cooking shows on BBC Food)! I briefly thought of putting down the yarn to rush out side and say hello as well but 6 months people(!) and a year and a half since I had been in a real, live, LYS so I stayed put, petting all the yarns.

After New Jersey we had another couple of days in the city where we went to Rockefeller Center


The Empire State Building


and Central Park

As you can tell we completely exhausted our selves in the first couple days of our trip.... but it was totally worth it.

After New York we headed for Arlington Texas to spend some much needed time with Husband's family. It was so much fun but I didn't get any pictures as we mostly just hung around and chatted. After all Texas is almost as hot as Abu Dhabi and who wants to go running around in that kind of heat?

200 POSTS!!!

This is so exciting for me! I can't believe I have hit the 200 post mark and my blog is just months shy of being 2 whole years old!

I can't believe I have been able to stick with it this long and I can't believe I actually have that much to talk about.

But I do have something to talk about today! I am just days away from vacation. A much needed vacation home for 3 weeks! I feel like a seven year old waiting for her put-put golf birthday party. I am so excited to go to a land of normal heat where people can complain about it being 85 degrees out and my husband and I can scoff at their inability to handle real heat (lets not talk about when we went there in the winter and nearly froze to death in 50 degree weather). We will see green grass and green trees and real flowers that don't stay alive through artificial watering systems that stretch for miles and miles on end. We can see our families and spend quality time with those we love. We can go to "the lake" or go sailing on "the river". We can eat yummy food like Spaghetti Factory, PF Changs, In-n-Out Burger, NY Pizza (Hey! Don't laugh just cause I plan out what restaurants I'm going to visit and diet for 2 months before hand so I can stuff my face and not feel guilty. You know you do it too).

Anyhoo I'm sure you have gotten the idea that I am quite excited for my trip. But I don't want to leave you with out anything to read for 3 weeks so I came up with a plan. As the time unfolds I will reveal all my secret knitting projects because they will all have been giving to their new owners with in the first couple days of my trip. I'm excited to share them because it has been so hard not to post each and every FO I have completed in the past few weeks.

So stay tuned!