Happy 9th Anniversary

I was going through my phone and deleting unnecessary pics and videos (yes, I'm that girl that has a 64GB phone and is running out of space), and I came across some photos I took during my 9th anniversary celebration. It dawned on me that I never blogged about it, so this seemed like as good a time as any to do that. The kicker is that our anniversary was back in June. Haha, I know, we're closer to the next anniversary than we are to the one I'm about to discuss. Oh well!  It was a fun night and I like to document our "travel" so here goes.

We arranged for my sister to watch our boys overnight so we could have a quick "vacation" within our own city. We booked a room at the Omni Dallas under a Retreat to Romance package. It included a bottle of Chandon, a box of chocolates, a rose, a happy anniversary card, and $100 credit at one of their restaurants. That was perfect because we were planning to eat on-site at Bob's Steak & Chop House anyway.

Omni offers you the option of checking in online ahead of time, so when we arrived, our keys and welcome letter were already waiting for us next to the reception area. After quickly grabbing those, we headed straight to the elevators without having to wait in line or speak to a receptionist. When we got to our room, all our amenities were on display and ready for consumption.

While sparkling wine and chocolates are certainly enough to warrant one's attention, I had a hard time pulling myself away from the view. The floor to ceiling windows allowed us to take in a breathtaking perspective of the city we call home.

Another cool feature of the room was the caliber of the bathroom. I mean, how can you not feel fancy when you're watching TV inside your mirror?

After relaxing for a few minutes and enjoying our sparkling wine, we headed down to Bob's for dinner.  You wouldn't think a vegetarian would enjoy a steakhouse, but there were a decent amount of appetizers, salads, and sides available for my consumption. Our waitress was nice enough to bring us both a free glass of champagne after we told her it was our anniversary.  It was a great dinner, but there was still one more stop on the agenda! I love seeing our city at night, especially from up high, so we stopped by Five Sixty for dessert. I actually don't recommend going there just for dessert, based on this experience, but the views helped make up for it. (They were out of our first choices, and what we ended up with seemed mass-produced and not fresh). The elevator ride up to the top is always fun, not to mention the rotating view you get while dining.

   

At the time, this get-away was much needed, even if it was only for a day. We are so lucky to have family nearby to help watch our kids so we can still enjoy each other's company. I had a wonderful 9th anniversary and I'm pretty excited to think about what our 10th has in store. Before I can even start planning that trip though, I'll be headed to NYC in March and Washington, DC in April. Girls, hit your hallelujahs, because we are back on the travel train!

San Diego Trip New Years 2015

My nephew is in the Navy, stationed in Virginia, but he has spent some time over the past couple of years in San Diego for training. When it came time to pick a location for his wedding celebration, he and his wife chose San Diego because of its awesome year-round weather and breathtaking views. My nephew doesn't get a lot of time off, so they planned their celebration around the New Years holiday. Since for most guests it was a destination wedding (her family is on the east coast and his family is in the South), the timing was helpful.

When Meezy and I heard the plan, we were definitely excited to go. Then we started thinking about the ramifications of taking a 3 year old and 1 year old on a 3-hour flight, to stay in an unusual place for 3 nights, over the New Years Eve holiday, to attend a wedding where the reception would probably stretch into the late night. That sounded pretty awful, actually, and meant one or both of us would have to miss many of the activities planned during the trip to deal with cranky kids. We were conflicted on what to do until my parents swooped in and saved the day! They graciously offered to watch the boys for us so Meezy and I could take the trip by ourselves. What a relief!

Our trip started off well because we were eligible for first class upgrades, but were in position 7 and 8 on the upgrade list. Luckily there were 8 seats available, so we just squeaked in! What a difference it makes on a long flight to have so much extra room, a private bathroom, meal service, and consistent drink service. We arrived in San Diego on New Years Eve, so we checked into our hotel (Hilton San Diego Bayfront) and then met up with my sister and her husband for a late lunch. The hotel was super close to the Gas Lamp district, so it was convenient for walking to everything. Later that day we met up with the wedding group at El Camino for drinks and late-night snacks. The plan was to celebrate the new year there, but this tired, jet-lagged mama couldn't hang! My teenage nephews planned to stay there until 10:30pm and then take an Uber back to their hotel, but the restaurant security wanted to kick them out a little after 10 due to their age. That seemed like the perfect opportunity for me and Meezy to escort them back to their hotel to make sure they made it safely, and then continue on to ours and call it a night. I have no embarrassment for falling asleep before midnight! That sort of thing just doesn't matter much anymore once you're old and have kids!  At least I got a couple of good photo ops from that night:

The next morning Meezy and I woke up and went for a run along the bay. The views were beautiful and the temperature was perfect for running comfortably. After we got ourselves cleaned up, we met my sister and her husband for lunch at the Pier Cafe. From there we took the ferry to Coronado Island. My brother-in-law had the fabulous idea to rent a 4-person surrey and pedal it around the island. For some reason we all agreed and departed on our journey with high expectations of fun. At a minimum, we would at least get some more fantastic views.

Even though there were two steering wheels up front, Meezy's was really a dummy wheel, so my brother-in-law was the navigator and ultimately in charge of where we went! My sister and I in the back seat were able to have a slight influence on the plans if we just stopped pedaling! Lol. That came in handy when we found ourselves needing to cross two very busy streets clearly marked on the map as ones we weren't supposed to be on! When the guys would urge us to start pedaling, but we saw cars fast approaching, we would dig in and refuse to go because we could see impending doom. Luckily we were able to find small breaks in the traffic, where we all agreed to go for it, and successfully made it! It was stressful in the moment, but pretty hilarious when looking back. We also encountered a hill at one point that was just too steep for us! Walking the surrey up made much more sense. Needless to say we returned it to the rental shop about 35 minutes into our hour-long rental. We'd had enough fun!

We left Coronado and got freshened up to meet a couple of friends for dinner. They live in Dallas near us, but just happened to be vacationing in San Diego at the same time we were. We went to Roy's San Diego Waterfront and had a great time catching up. We called it a night after that and I was pleasantly surprised to check my Apple Watch and find that I had taken nearly 18,000 steps and covered about 9 miles over the course of the day. Not too shabby while on "vacation."

The next day was wedding day - yay! The ceremony took place in Centennial Park on Coronado Island at 3:30pm. The backdrop was A.MAZE.ING.

Everything about the ceremony was fantastic and they definitely stayed true to who they are as a couple. I'm so happy for them and loved being there to celebrate. The reception was held back in San Diego at the El Cortez Don Room. What a beautiful venue!  They threw a great party and I'm pretty sure everyone in attendance had an awesome time. I especially thought the table settings were super cute - little champagne bottles with your name on them and a picture to denote your meal selection:

Yes, they actually had champagne in them!

My pictures don't do the experience justice, so feel free to check out this album of pictures their photographer uploaded. It's just an abridged version of all the ones taken that day, but it gives you a good overview!

Lastly - since we didn't rent a car in San Diego, we relied on car services. My friend sent me a link to try Lyft (similar to Uber) and it really worked out well for us. I think we used it probably 8 times over 4 days. It was very affordable and we always got a car and got to our destination in a reasonable amount of time. If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend it. Use this link to get up to $50 in free ride credit.

Costume Closet for Playroom

Most kids love playing dress-up, and my son is no exception. We have a couple of pairs of jammies that look like superhero costumes, and Dutch loves wearing them. We got him a Spiderman costume and mask for Halloween, and it certainly got a lot of use outside the holiday! After Halloween, we went to one of the seasonal stores to see if we could get some decorations on the cheap. While we were there, we realized that their costumes were deeply discounted. We figured this would be a good time to build up a costume wardrobe for Dutch, since he certainly doesn't need a special occasion to wear one. I was also grocery shopping at Kroger right after Halloween and saw a Minions costume on clearance for $7. Score!

Once we had purchased a decent amount of costumes and accessories, I started thinking about the best place to store them. I didn't want them strewn about the playroom, or thrown into a bin. My first thought was buying a cheap bookcase, removing the shelves, and placing a shower rod inside for the costumes to be hung on. I went to Ikea and found a bookcase that I thought would work perfectly. Unfortunately, it was out of stock. I thought about going to another store, but decided to walk by the more substantial storage solutions first. I'm so glad I did. I saw this wardrobe and fell in love!

All the costumes can be hung up neatly and the related hats, masks, and accessories fit nicely underneath the shelf. I love that it can be closed off so the items are out of sight when not in use. Makes for a much cleaner playroom!  I also know it can be put to good use when the boys grow out of the costume stage, because it's an attractive design and offers good storage.

Europe Vacation 2015

Most trips overseas require a lot of planning and preparation. Meezy and I were lucky enough to be able to travel to Europe last month on only about 2 weeks' notice!  His company told him they needed him in London, so of course I wanted to tag along! The downside was that we didn't know for sure which dates they would need him there. We had a general idea, so I immediately asked my mom if she could watch our boys around that time frame. She generously agreed to, so I anxiously waited for his company to finalize the trip details. When they determined they would need him in London from a Tuesday to Thursday, I quickly made arrangements for us to fly out of DFW the previous Friday night. That way we could spend a couple days together before he needed to start working. Then, I would leave London on Wednesday to get back to my boys, and Meezy would stay the rest of the week.  The flights were booked 11 days in advance - pretty crazy!

We took the direct overnight flight from DFW, which had us arriving in London around 1pm on Saturday. There was no way I could travel to Europe without seeing my favorite Germans, so we arranged for Kim and Fabian to meet us halfway. After landing at Heathrow, we immediately got on a train to Brussels. I've used Europe's rail service before, and this was just another reminder of how awesome this travel option is. Boarding is so simple, the fares are affordable, the accommodations are nice, and the food is excellent.

We arrived in Brussels that evening and checked in to Hotel Pullman Brussels Centre Midi. It's a beautiful, modern hotel in a good location right by the train station. We relaxed for a little bit and then decided we wanted to watch some college football. We googled and found a bar that looked to be a great place to watch American sports. We got a cab to take us to Fatboys Sports Bar. When we arrived, there were a couple European soccer matches and American football games being shown. We kinda ducked into a corner and starting looking around to see where we would want to sit. As we surveyed the bar, we heard the guy next to us ask the bar manager if he could turn on the Texas Tech game. WHAT?  Are you kidding me? I tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to repeat what he said and then pointed to the Tech shirt that Meezy was wearing. It was hilarious to be standing next to a fellow alum, in a bar in Brussels, Belgium. We talked for a bit and were pleasantly surprised to see that the manager was able to find the game on a streaming telecast. He put it on the TV closest to us and we happily enjoyed some food and beverages while cheering on our Red Raiders!

The next morning, Sunday, we were so excited to meet up with Kim and Fabian. They drove in from Germany to spend the day with us. The first place we visited was the Atomium.  All I can say is WOW. It's a breathtaking site and I know that my pictures don't do it justice.

Before heading to our next destination, I had to stop for a Belgian waffle. It's a given!

We proceeded to nearby Mini-Europe, which is a really cool theme park filled with miniature models of historic buildings and recreations of other significant items.

After finishing up our tours of those attractions, we drove back into central Brussels. We did a lot of sightseeing and stopped to take pictures in front of the Royal Palace.

A trip to Brussels isn't complete without a stop to check out Manneken Pis. He's not much to look at, but since I've heard about him my whole life (from my Dutch father and grandparents), I knew I needed to at least say I'd seen him!

Most of the rest of our time was spent around the Grand Place. The buildings are beautiful and there are lots of shops and restaurants.  We couldn't resist a couple bars of Belgian chocolate before leaving.

We truly had a magnificent day in Brussels and were thrilled we got to spend it with Kim and Fabian. That evening we took a train back to London and checked into The Rubens at the Palace. This hotel was in stark contrast to the one we had just left in Brussels. It was fancy, but definitely in a more old-fashioned sort of way. We cracked up when we got in the elevator because there was barely enough room for both of us to stand with our large checked bag. It reminded us of the elevator we took at our hotel in Paris a few years ago. I guess it's a European thing!

On Monday, Meezy and I got to spend the day together as tourists. Last time we were in London, we definitely saw a lot of sights, but one whole day of that trip was spent at Wimbledon. So, we knew there were things we still needed to see. On the way to our first destination, we happened to pass by the Palace during changing of the guard.

That was fun to see, but we were eager to get to the British Museum. It's the top rated attraction in London on TripAdvisor, so I had high expectations. We were not disappointed!

The museum itself is gorgeous to look at, inside and out, but the items inside are really what made our jaws drop. We walked into a room and realized we were standing in front of the Rosetta Stone. We both did a double take. I know it sounds silly, but we really were flabbergasted that we were in the presence of the real Rosetta Stone. It's something we've only ever read about in history books and never imagined we'd see in person.

Pardon the bad picture; it's kept safe behind thick glass!

The museum was huge and we enjoyed seeing countless artifacts from ancient civilizations. I highly recommend a visit there if you're in London. After we left the museum, we did a lot of walking and passed by many sights we had seen on our previous trip. They're still enjoyable to see in person, so we didn't mind the redundancy.

Not sure why Londoners are afraid to wear color.

That evening we took a car service to Watford, where Meezy needed to be for work on Tuesday. We were exhausted, so we ordered room service for dinner and went to sleep. The next day was going to be a big one for me - renting a car!  Lol. Normally that doesn't sound like a big deal, but it meant I'd be driving a right-side car on the left side of the road. Watford is 40 minutes outside of London, and there's not much to do there, so I wanted the rental car so that I could drive back into London and do some shopping. I took a taxi to the rental car site and picked up my transportation for the day!

First off, you have to get used to being on the right side of the car. Second, most vehicles in Europe are standard. I specifically reserved an automatic (which costs more), because I did not want to deal with that variable! Third, you drive on the left side of the road! I was slightly nervous about embarking on this adventure, but honestly pretty excited about being able to check it off my bucket list. I rented a GPS, which was truly a lifesaver. It took a few minutes of getting used to where I needed to be looking for traffic when making turns, and I definitely wasn't in the correct position to exit round-abouts on numerous occasions. Lol. But, the good thing about round-abouts is that they are big circles!  So, when I missed my exit, I just made a lap and nailed it the second time around. Also, people are surprisingly nice about letting you change lanes. Everyone's cars are so tiny and zippy, so you just go where you need to and everyone is cool with it. I like the way they handle traffic lights there, too. They have green, yellow, red, and mean the same as us, but they also flash the yellow right before the light turns from red to green. That gets you prepared and you move your foot to the gas, so that you are already driving as it turns green. It really keeps things moving.

On the way into London, I stopped at the London Designer Outlet at Wembley Park. It's not huge, but it gave me a chance to shop a little, grab lunch, and borrow some Wifi. I sent Meezy a message to assure him I was safe and hadn't gotten into a wreck!  Haha. From there, I continued into London to check out Harrod's. (Parking is uber expensive around London, btw). Harrod's is a massive upscale department store that is very famous in Europe. I couldn't afford anything there, but I had a good time checking out level after level of their pricey goods. 

After that, I walked to Regent Street. This is another famous shopping locale, but with much more affordable stores. The NFL is doing a big push to try and make American football popular in London, so there were lots of banners flying overhead, advertising the NFL and an upcoming parade.

That concluded another exhausting day for me, so I drove back to Watford for the evening, to see Meezy. The next morning, I drove my rental car to Heathrow for my flight back to DFW. When I checked in for my flight, there was a business class upgrade available, so you bet I took it! Spending the 10 hour flight home in business class was the best decision I've made in a while. The perks are beyond amazing and the food was pretty spectacular too.  I have a feeling I won't get that opportunity again in a while, so I will relish it while I can!