Florida!!

Well after talking about this trip for months and dragging our feet on booking, we've finally booked everything!

We're starting off our trip at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort for three nights. We booked a one bedroom ocean view suite and are hoping since we are Gold Members with Hilton that we will get an upgrade to an even better room (although I'm so stoked about this room and view already!!)

Other than meeting up with a friend to hang out at her beach club Largo Mar, I have no idea anything else we will be doing while in Ft. Lauderdale...stay tuned!

The next two days of our trip will be spent in Key Largo at the Hilton Key Largo. We went back and forth on whether to spend two more nights in Ft. Lauderdale or head to the Keys. I really wanted to check out the Keys (although I will admit I'm irrationally terrified of running into a python down there, ever since seeing stories of pythons on the loose a few years ago) and we decided to book. Finding a hotel in the Keys that was nice, but not ridiculously expensive proved to be very difficult, so when we found the Hilton Key Largo for $205 we jumped on it. The previous week we found the Hampton Inn on Islamorada for $300!! A two and a half star hotel for $300!! How crazy is that!?!

Our final stop in Florida will be at the Epic Hotel in Miami. We have a free night with Kimpton Hotels and have basically planned this whole trip around our free night. We were even more excited to find out that this hotel is rated number one on Trip Advisor for Miami hotels. Although, Andrew pointed out that he needs to gain 150 pounds, wear Ed Hardy shirts, and I need to get breast implants in order to hang out at the Epic pool. I can't wait to see this crowd!!

The countdown is now on to Florida!!

2011

It's time to plan our 2011 trip. We've decided to use some free tickets on Southwest and head to South Florida for a week at the end of April and are deciding on our "big" Fall trip. I let the hubby decide the trip and he immediately said Tahiti/Bora Bora/Morrea. That sounded great, until our little one, baby N came along in December. We questioned whether it was worth it to spend all that money to head to Tahiti with a baby, knowing we couldn't fully enjoy it.

We've decided to keep the option on the table, while also looking at the cheaper option of Fiji, or to just take a nice long cruise around the Caribbean with grandma in tow to watch the baby. I'll keep you posted!

In the meantime, we've booked our tickets for Florida. We will be flying to Ft. Lauderdale and staying at the Hilton Ft. Lauderdale on the beach. We plan to spend three nights there and head to the Keys. We are trying to decide between Key Largo, Islamorada, or Key West. Right now we are leaning toward Islamorada. We plan to spend two nights there and head to Miami for two nights. We will spend our last two nights at the Kimpton Miami Epic Hotel.

Stay tuned for more details!!

Barcelona and Paris

I always said I wanted to see Barcelona before we started a family. After delaying the trip in 2009, we were finally able to go in 2010. We went back and forth about whether to go to Barcelona and Madrid, Barcelona and Rome, or Barcelona and Paris. Ultimately, we decided on Barcelona and Paris and headed on our grand vacation in March 2010.

We took a direct flight to Paris from SFO and hopped on a connecting flight to Barcelona to begin our trip. We arrived in the evening to Barcelona and walked around the neighborhood by our hotel before turning in for the night. We ended up staying at the Hotel Universal near La Rambla. The neighborhood wasn't that great, but the hotel was brand new and modern and our room was huge by European standards. It was also a four star hotel for the price of a three star hotel in order neighborhoods. Also a plus, we were literally steps from the metro station.

On our first full day in Barcelona we headed to the Placa Catalunya neighborhood and bought tickets for a hop on hop off bus tour. I love these types of tours, since you can go at your own pace and are able to learn a lot about the city you are in. We spent the day touring Barcelona and enjoyed Parc Guell, La Sagrida Familia, Olympic Park, and other amazing sites in the city. The highlight of the day and the image that will stay with me forever was the bus turning the corner and seeing La Sagrida Familia. It took my breath away and I will always remember that moment. The church is just amazing and breath taking.

On our second day and to celebrate the hubby's 29th birthday, we headed out on a small group tour of the village town of Montserrat and went Cava (sparkling wine) tasting at Cordiniu. The trip to Montserrat was so cool. It was about a two hour ride outside of Barcelona in the mountains. The Piranes Mountain range could be seen in the distance. The village is home to a montessori and an all boys school. The village is also known for the all boys choir, which plays in the church once a day. There is a tram that takes you from the base of the village further up the mountain where you can hike and enjoy even better views.

After spending the morning touring the village, we headed back down the mountain to the Cordiniu winery. The hubby and I have toured lots of wineries in California, but were blown away by the wine caves at Cordiniu. They caves were several football fields in length, underground and went down several stories. We had to take a trolly just to get around one portion of the caves. The cava was also yummy, but we were disappointed to find out that they didn't shop it back to the U.S. (We did find out that they carry the Cava at Bev Mo back in the states).

After we got back from our day trip, we headed out to dinner and saw a Flamenco show. The venue we saw the show was nearly empty, but the show was great and we enjoyed the dancing.

On our third day in Barcelona, we took the metro to the Bari Gotic neighborhood and checked out a few gothic churches, toured Roman ruins, and had a great Tapas lunch at a sidewalk cafe. We also encountered a group of people giving out free hugs. Who doesn't love a free hug!?! After lunch, we walked down to the beach and back up to the Picasso Museum. We headed back to La Rambla and checked out La Boqueria, a market where you can find lots and lots of seafood and incredible food selections, including jamon.

On our last morning in the city, we awoke to find the Barcelona Marathon right outside our window. We headed to the roof of our hotel and watched the marathon until it was time to leave for the airport.

Barcelona was everything I hoped it would be and so much more. I can't wait to go back to Barcelona and am already dreaming of our next trip to the city. Perhaps a cruise leaving out of Barcelona??

We arrived in Paris in the late afternoon and found it was freezing! Barcelona had been so glorious with March weather in the 60's. Paris was in the 20's. We arrived at our hotel, the Mercure Opera and were greeted by friendly staff. Our room was really really small though. Once we put our luggage in the room, we had to walk sideways to get around and two of us couldn't be in the bathroom at the same time either. The room was clean though and very close to a metro station. We stayed in the Opera neighborhood of Paris. We headed out to dinner at a cafe and then took the Metro down to the Champs Elysee. The boulevard was nearly empty, since it was Sunday night, but we had a great time looking at the lights of the city.

The next morning we woke up and headed to the Louve as soon as they opened. Neither of us are big art fans, but we did enjoy seeing the famous pieces of art. The big downside were the crowds and as a result, we didn't spend much time in the Louve. We did find that Napoleon's apartment in the Louve was nearly empty and it was interesting to see where he lived and his furnishings. After the Louve, we headed to a bus stop and caught the hop on hop off tour.

We checked out Notre Dame, the Eiffle Tower, the Champs Elysee, the Seine River, the Opera neighborhood, and other facinating sites.

Since I'm a huge shopper, we had to hit Chanel, where I bought a cute pair of sunglasses. We also hit the flagship Louis Vuiton store, where I also picked up a cute handbag that I've had my eye on.

The following day, we did the hop on hop off tour again and spent time at the Eiffle Tower and went to the Museo D'Orsay, which we really loved. It seemed that this museum was just as popular as the Louve, and there was a huge line just to get in it (which wasn't very fun in the freezing cold). We also spent more time at the Notre Dame and took a daytime cruise of the Seine River.

We ate a lot of meals at little cafe's in Paris and I had to have a chocolate crepe with every meal. Even though we were in France, we discovered an Italian restaurant called Pizza Pina that we fell in love with and liked so much we went back a second time for dinner. I really liked the food in Paris, much more than Barcelona.

On our last full day in Paris, we caught the train to Versailles. Even though the famous gardens were not in bloom, we enjoyed the audio tour of the grounds and found everything to be just beautiful.

After arriving back in Paris, we decided to take a dinner cruise of the Seine. We were hestitant at first due to the high cost, but ended up really liking the cruise. The food was okay, but the views of Paris at night were worth the high cost of the trip.

We were very surprised to find that we loved Paris. We didn't have high expectations, since we had heard mixed reviews of the city. We really liked Paris and would love to take a trip back and include the wine regions and Southern France.

Las Vegas

The hubby is a BIG country music fan and when we heard Garth Brooks would be playing at the Wynn in Las Vegas, he just had to go. He logged on to the Wynn website the minute tickets went on sale and sat online for hours. He finally grabbed a pair of tickets for Valentine's day and was happy as a clam.

We booked a room at the Mirage and decided we were going to go all out on this trip. In addition to the Garth tickets, we also bought tickets to see Cirque Du Soleil's Love. Since we also have a slight obsession with Bobby Flay, we made reservations at Mesa Grill. Our room at the Mirage was very nice for the price, although we didn't spend much time in our room, since we were out and about so much.

Before the concert, we went to Mesa Grill. On the advice of my friend Krystal, we were encouraged to order the New Mexico Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin. Oh my goodness it was amazing! I ended up buying hubby the Mesa Grill cookbook and he was able to recreate the incredible meal for me. My mouth waters just thinking about that pork. We also ordered the Goat Cheese Queso Fundido and hubby had the Coffee Rubbed Filet Mignon. We agreed this was the best meal we had ever had and talk about going back to Las Vegas just for another meal at Mesa Grill.

After the meal, we ventured over to the Wynn to see the concert. Although I'm not a fan of country music, I was in awe of Garth Brooks. He played the show accoustically, all by himself and it was amazing. It was by far one the best concert I've ever seen.

The following night we ate at the Samba Brazilian Steakhouse in the Mirage. The hubby liked it, but I thought it was so-so. After the meal, we went to see Love and had a blast. It was my first Cirque show, but my hubby had been to several others. I loved the show and want to go back again!

Overall, we had an incredible weekend stuffing ourselves with great food, shopping, and seeing some cool shows. We love visiting Las Vegas and this certainly won't be our last trip to Sin City!

Washington, DC

My BFF Pri decided to get married on January 2, 2010, which meant we got to spend New Years Eve in Washington, DC. Our excitement was diminished though when we realized there were no fireworks shows or anything special going on in our nation's capitol for the holiday. Nevertheless, we had a fun filled week in Washington, DC and tried to cram in as many activities as possible.

We had been hearing good things about the Kimpton Brand of hotels and found a great deal on the Hotel Madera near Dupont Circle and decided to give the hotel a try. We were impressed with the hotel as soon as we walked in. The hotel was dog friendly and the staff was beyond nice. Each evening the hotel hosts a wine and appetizer happy hour, which is extremeley popular with guests. The location was also great, a few blocks away from the metro train. We had also rented a car and had little difficulty finding street parking around our hotel.

While in DC we took in the Holocaust Museum (AMAZING), the Smithsonean American History Museum (fantastic) and a very cool museum, called the Newseum, which is the museum of journalism. It also happens to be the museum Pri works at, so we received the VIP treatment with a behind the scenes tour from her. We also toured the famous monuments: Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, WWII Memorial, and others. Also on our agenda was a trip to Ford's Theatre, which I loved, since I'm facinated by the story of Abraham Lincoln. Washington, DC was a fantastic place for a history buff like me. We were able to see the White House, but couldn't get on the list for a tour, despite calling our Congressman way ahead of time. We were however given a tour of Congress, which was facinating and full of history.

Also on our agenda was eating really good meals while we were in the city. We enjoyed appetizers at Firefly, the restaraunt in the lobby of our hotel. We also made a trip to Centrale by Michel Richard for New Years Eve and I had the most incredible fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. I still dream about that meal. Mmmm.... The hubby also reserved us a table at the Beacon Bar and Grill, which was billed as the best brunch in DC. It certainly didn't disappoint, although it was a little pricey. We also enjoyed a meal at POV at the W Hotel, a restaurant on the top of the W hotel, which had amazing views of the city.

The trip was capped off with a beautiful wedding followed by a trip with the bride and groom to Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington. Even though it was beyond freezing in DC, the trip was a blast and I look forward to going back someday soon.

Boston and Maine

The week after we visited Banff, Canada, we took off for another wedding in Boston and took the opportunity to travel up to Maine. Going to Boston and Maine was almost the complete opposite weather of Canada. Canada was cool and had even snowed the week before we arrived! Boston and Maine were in the middle of a heat wave and HOT. Nevertheless, we had a great trip!
We took the red eye to Boston and landed mid-morning. We picked up our rental car and headed up to Maine. Along the way, we stopped in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for lunch. After lunch we headed to our final destination of Ogunquit, Maine. We checked into a quant bed and breakfast called the Ogunquit Inn. Our room was on the top floor of the Inn and was cute and quiet. We enjoyed a glass of wine each night on the porch outside our room and even took a dip in the hot tub another evening.

While we were in Maine, we made sure to hit LL Bean. We love the catalog and were looking forward to visiting the Flagship store.

After spending way too much money at LL Bean, we hit Portland for lunch. Andrew enjoyed a lobster roll and loved it!

Some other highlights of Maine included taking a lighthouse boat tour, cruising Kennebunkport and checking out George H.W. Bush's ginormous compound, and enjoying fireworks at the beach.

After three glorious days in Maine, we headed back to Boston. On our way back to Boston, the hubby decided we needed to tour the Red Hook Brewery. We enjoyed lunch and had a great tour of the facitilies.

Once we arrived in Boston, we turned our car into since parking fees were outrageous around our hotel. We stayed at the Cambridge Marriot and had an amazing view. The hotel was located near the campus of MIT and near the "T" train, which made it easy to get around the city.

While in Boston, we did the Freedom Trail Walk, which normally would have been amazing, if it was not in the high 90's. We saw a lot of great sites in Boston and the hubby even talked me into walking all the way to the top of the momument at Bunker Hill. Not an easy walk in the middle of summer, but the view from the top was just amazing! At the end of the walk we stopped at Cheers for lunch and some refreshments. A great way to cap off the day.

Banff, Canada

2009 was supposed to be the year we traveled to Europe, but instead our travels took us around North America attending weddings. We were initially disappointed in having to put Europe off for another year, but these trips ended up being AMAZING!! Our wedding tour took us to Banff, Canada, Boston and Maine, and Washington State.

When our friends first told us they planned to get married in Banff, my initial reaction was "where?" Then I looked up the hotel the wedding would be at and was instantly in love. Holly and Brad had their wedding at the Fairmont Banff Springs and the entire trip was just incredible. We flew from SFO to Calgary with three other couples, rented our cars and headed up to Banff. We booked a room at Brewsters Lodge. We had a great loft room, with a living area downstairs and a bedroom upstairs. I highly recommend this hotel.

Our first night in Banff kicked off with a fondue dinner. The food was amazing and the more adventurous friends in our group decided to try snake and allegator meat. Ick.

The following day we headed White Water Rafting and had a great day on the rapids. The hubby and I first tried White Water Rafting when we went to Montana and just love it. We were eager to go again in Canada. After our rafting trip, we headed out with friends to cruise the main drag of town.

We quickly discovered that Banff has quite the night life. We hit a local bar where we found an 80's cover band playing. We danced the night away and ended up sleeping in very late the next morning (we weren't hung over or anything).

The following day, the hubs and I headed to Lake Louise and went on a gondola ride where we were able to spot some bears! We lunched at the Fairmont Lake Louise (great view, expensive hamburger) and headed back to Banff in the later afternoon for a BBQ with the soon-to-be betrothed couple and more time at the town's local bars.

The morning of the wedding, the hubby and I headed up to the Banff Gondola for some impressive views before heading back to our hotel to get ready for the wedding.

What can I say about the wedding. This was the location. Look at that view! The reception was even better! We partied the night away celebrating our friends and had a memorable evening.

Sadly, our trip had to come to an end. On our way back to Calgary, we stopped at the Olympic Park and got to see up close the bobsledding course and other awesome winter olympic sites.