The Cocktail Quest Continues…

On October 4, 2015 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, Cocktails, Food, Seattle, Travel, vacation, VancouverLeave a comment

Ask a bartender for their appletini recipe and you will quickly find out that everyone has their very own special way to make it. What the hell??? You’d think a simple cocktail like that would be pretty standard from place to place. After intensive research (someone has to do it!) I got quite the list of varied ingredients and suggestions on how to make the perfect appletini. Please let me share.

On our first stop, the Templeton diner that was recommended on Yelp as having “character” certainly did as it was in the rough section of Vancouver next to a TripleXXX peep show establishment. Most tourists would run the opposite way if they found themselves in this type of neighborhood in a foreign country. Not us-we embraced it and took photos! Now, a diner known for burgers and milkshakes might not be the best place to try out appletini’s but, you betcha, we did just that. Nothing goes better with a plate of poutine than an appletini!

Our lovely waitress shared her unique recipe—vodka, peach schnapps and apple juice. Crazy tasty! Paired with plates of poutine and salads/burgers plus milkshakes for the boys, we had quite the feast and laughed ourselves silly over our choice of fine dining experiences the first night in Vancouver. We know how to have a good time-pick a shabby diner next to a peep show with a jukebox and liquor.

After our walking tour of Gastown the next day, we were starving and conveniently close by my favorite restaurant in Vancouver-the Water Street Café. Quite the opposite atmosphere from the prior night’s diner, this café had the white table cloth vibe going on and was in a historic gorgeous building. I had been there multiple times when in town on business and always get the same thing-salmon risotto. So delicious but how would their appletini’s taste???

Water Street Café-Sour Puss is the key to an appletini!

Another lovely waitress shared her bartender’s ingredients—vodka, apple sour puss liquor, simple syrup and a drop of lime juice. Now, I’ve never made simple syrup but she suggested a 1/3 raw sugar to 2/3 hot water formula. Even with the syrup, the appletini’s we were tasting were still not as sweet as the ones in Shanghai. The quest for the perfect appletini continued later that day at our hotel because having an appletini at lunch just wasn’t enough.

Patti enjoying the appletini at Water St. Café in Gastown

The bartender at the Marriott Pinnacle was most accommodating to talk us through his appletini creation that included vodka, pineapple juice and fresh lime topped with a slice of apple. Now, he very quietly told us that he prefers apple juice to pineapple juice but the Marriott chain forces him to use pineapple-how dare they stifle his cocktail creativity! He also suggested we could use agave to sweeten it up if we preferred. When I asked him why the appletinis in Shanghai were so very green instead of the light green we were seeing at his bar, he suggested that perhaps they used a tamarin syrup with agave muddled together to “green it up” a little. I appreciated his honesty and sharing of tips.

Now, all appletinis are good (just as there is no bad wine or pie) but the quest must now continue in Seattle. I hear that Canon on Capitol Hill was named the 6^th best bar in the world. Who knew??? I MUST check it out. Also dying to run to the liquor store in the U.S. to see if they have Sour Puss in stock or if that is just a Canadian odd liquor….l’ll be looking for that black mean ass kitty on the bottle and then I’ll know I have the right stuff!

Finally made it to Granville Island, Vancouver, BC!

On October 3, 2015 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, Cocktails, Food, Seattle, Shopping, Travel, VancouverLeave a comment

As many times as I’ve been to Vancouver, I’ve just never made time to visit Granville Island, one of the top tourist attractions here. Yesterday, I finally made it! After researching the water taxi situation, we made our way to Yaletown and caught the water taxi, a cute little boat that holds about 10 people comfortably. After a quick 10 minute ride across the water, we hopped off ($7.50 each round trip) and immediately immersed ourselves into the market. WOW-what amazing fruit including a long dark purple grape thing I had never seen before.

Granville Market had lovely fruit including kinds I had never seen

We meandered around looking at exotic spices, breads, meats, pasta, etc. If I lived in Vancouver, I would shop here all the time! While there are a lot of touristy shops, we were able to get away from the main drag and enjoyed looking through the handmade broom store. Whether you’re riding one (no, not ME, Thom!) or sweeping away the cobwebs, they make a broom for every need and they were just beautiful.

Next stop was the glassblowing shop where we enjoyed seeing the young gent blowing a colorful glass cup that unfortunately slipped off. To say he uttered a few bad words under his breath is an understatement but he was resolute and announced to those watching, “It happens.” DAMN that glass is expensive in the shop but when you see how long it takes to make it, you do understand the pricing.

After that, we were tired and needed a drink but the distillery was packed so we decided to find the diner I had seen on Yelp with it’s magnificent milkshakes and burgers. Unfortunately, we found out that the diner was on Granville STREET not Granville Island so we took the ferry, walked awhile and finally found it in the gritty part of downtown Vancouver–right next to the TripleXXX Peep show. We only take our friends Patti and Larry to the best places! Actually, the Templeton diner had good food and we were able to introduce Larry to poutine. YUM! Of course, when Larry thought we said another word similar to poutine, we almost spit out our drinks. Correcting him and cautioning him to NOT use that word again in public, we proceeded to enjoy those fries covered in white cheese and thick rich gravy along with our eclectic mix of salads, hamburgers, coconut chicken strips with chili sauce, and Portobello mushroom sandwich plus, of course, candy appletinis for Patti and I and milkshakes for the boys.

Interestingly, they make their appletinis with vodka, peach schnapps and apple juice and they were delicious, served to us in wine glasses because all their martini glasses were broken. Enjoying the jukebox and good company, we had an excellent first day in Vancouver! Today we are taking a walking tour of Gastown and tomorrow we will explore Chinatown. Looking forward to a relaxing foot massage if we can find a place!

Eating in Amsterdam

On September 27, 2015 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, Amsterdam, Europe, expat, Food, Travel, Uncategorized, vacation, walking3 Comments

I am probably not the best authority to write about the cuisine in Amsterdam but I will give it a shot. Thom and I have very simple tastes and are very happy eating a picnic on the train and don’t frequent fine dining establishments. Foodies we are not! As I think back on the best food I ate on our trip, the cheese with basil and dried tomato stands out as does the hot, buttery sugary poffertjes and waffles from the markets. Yum! I do like my dairy and sweets.

Poffertjes-little pancakes with butter and sugar!

That being said, if you have finer taste buds (and most do) there is a wide variety of restaurants for everyone’s taste in all the places we visited. As always, ask your concierge at the hotel for recommendations on their favorites. Here are some other observations:

Coffee–Screaming Bean (in several locations) delivers the best cappuccino in Amsterdam and maybe the world. Thick and creamy foam tops a rich smooth coffee underneath. Super friendly folks serving in a quaint coffee shop make it a must try when you are here. Many thanks to my friend, Kurt, for recommending to us.

Screaming Bean cappuccino... so rich and delicious! — Screaming Bean cappuccino… so rich and delicious!

Grocery–There aren’t many groceries and practically no competition in the city but Albert Haijn does have whatever you need for a first-rate picnic for the park or train or hotel room. Also a good place to buy chocolate for the perfect souvenir to take home. We got some awesome salads to go one night for a quick, cheap diner (under $10 euros for 2 people). I also saw some Aldi Food markets but didn’t go in to check them out. I also found a smaller Mqkt chain that had a cheese to die for–basil and dried tomato–that pared well with salami and pears and raisin bread. Perfect picnic!

We didn’t eat out many times but did stop at one German restaurant that promised authentic cuisine. Thom proceeded to have weinerschneitzel and fries. Initially, he said he didn’t want ketchup or mayo but decided he needed some mayo. Now, based on the waiter’s prior attitude and the steep stairs he had to climb to get to the kitchen on the floor above, I knew this would not go over well and it didn’t. “You said you didn’t want any!” the waiter growled at Thom. “Yes, but I changed my mind. Okay?” Grudgingly, ten minutes later Thom finally got his mayo and felt compelled to eat it fearing retribution from the waiter if he did not. Were we in Paris???

Pancakes with brandy-soaked raisins paired with red wine!

I got the brandy-soaked raisin pancake that filled a plate and paired nicely with a Merlot. Yep-when in the Netherlands, drink with your breakfast-type food. Every bite was enjoyed. No butter or syrup was offered and I was afraid to ask the testy waiter. They are tight with the butter here. At our great breakfast at the Andaz, when you ask for toast, you get barely warm bread, no butter. Today, I asked specifically for “crispy” bacon and got the limpest fatty slice of meat you would ever want to see. Really???? Crispy means fry that sucker! Same with eggs, unfortunately. I remember also having this issue in China and having to keep asking for “hard scramble” several times to get barely done eggs. Oh well-first world, five star hotel issues I guess.

We don’t go for fancy restaurants but we walked by many in Amsterdam including one, MoMo in the area near the museums. Swanky! There are many white-table cloth type places as well as many beer halls with outside seating and lounge seats and heaters for the cool nights-even blankets at some places. You can find all types of ethnic food easily too. Lots of Argentine steak houses along side the pancake houses. We even found a place today, Bagels & Beans, that is a chain around town and has great bagels served with the largest pile of cream cheese that you could ever eat.

So, whatever you like to eat, you can probably find it in Amsterdam. Happy eating!

Bruges-Medieval Mall

On September 24, 2015 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, expat, Food, Travel, vacationLeave a comment

Bruges was always on our “must” destination list if we visited Europe. So, at 6 a.m. yesterday after one hour of sleep (due to insomnia not partying), off we went on a four hour train ride from The Hague to Bruges. Expecting to see a small medieval city with the iconic Bell Tower featured in the movie, In Bruges, we were shocked to turn the corner of the winding brick road into the city and find a commercial boulevard with a Zara, McDonald’s, Claire’s and all the modern stores found in the local mall. REALLY?

Bruges-cobblestone streets, canals, churches, waffles & beer

Now, I’m all for retail stores, which have been my livelihood for years but there is a time and place and Bruges is not where you want to shop for $19.99 fashion at H & M. I guess you can’t blame the locals who want to profit from all the tourism so they can make a living and there can only be so many chocolate, lace, waffle and beer shops to feed our appetites and tacky souvenir needs but still…WTF! I don’t think the best use of a 1767 historic building is to house another Zara.

That being said, parts of Bruges were well preserved and, if you get off the main street, you can find quaint history houses from the 9th century as well as 17 churches (16 Catholic/1 Protestant) to wonder through and lovely bridges over canals for picture-taking. The train station is conveniently located within walking distance of this town which used to be on the sea until it retreated. Global warming may one day make it seaside again-you never know.

The highlight for Thom was walking up the 336 steep steps to the Bell Tower featured in the movie, In Bruges. I guess someone is pushed off the top and lands SPLAT in the square below in the film. Not my kind of movie but whatever-it was an interesting climb up teeny, tiny stairs with only a rope in certain places to cling to. Just like the Great Wall, this is not ADA friendly and if you fall and get hurt, good luck getting back down those stairs ’cause no one is helping you down and there isn’t an elevator. Still, the view was stunning from the top!

336 steps and you are at the top! — 336 steps and you are at the top-grab the rope and pull yourself onward and upward!

I talked Thom into a horse-drawn carriage ride around town. While he has never consented to one of these in NYC, he relented and ended up enjoying the guide’s history lesson as we galloped through the narrow streets. You definitely could imagine days past when horses were the only mode of transportation and, when the final bell of the evening sounded from the tower, the gates to the city were closed to protect against marauders.

We were lucky to arrive on market day in the town square. Munching a sugar-coated waffle as my local snack (YUM!), we rested on the town square steps and wished we could take home the lovely pots of lavender offered for sale. Gorgeous! On the train home, we noticed fields of lavender waiting to be picked. Though a long ride with a stop in Brussels to change trains, the 8 hours of train ride were just another part of the Bruges adventure. Arriving home tired and ready to get a good night’s sleep, we were glad we had finally been “In Bruges”.

Thom talking to the swans that roam the canals

The Hague-surprisingly awesome!

On September 22, 2015 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, Food, Travel, vacationLeave a comment

I gasped when I entered our room at the Hotel Des Indes. So, we’re staying in The Hague primarily due to my desire to utilize all those wonderful hotel points I’ve accrued from my travels. When you use points, sometimes you get an awesome room and sometimes you don’t. Luckily, this was one of those awesome times. With twenty foot ceilings and a canopied bed, the old world furnishings and world class service made us feel like royalty. SCORE!

Open since 1856, this hotel has been “the” place for politician and celebrities like U2, Prince and the Rolling Stones to stay when visiting this capital of the Netherlands which also hosts the Peace Palace, home of the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Classy and stylish, the Hotel Des Indes is the bomb!

In our usual style of just wandering, we first hopped on the tram to see the North Sea to enjoy some beach time but on the way back, we jumped off to see the Peace Palace.

WP_20150922_15_40_05_Pro — The Peace Tree filled with words of hope from international tourists.

I’m so glad we did because the story of how it was founded in the early 1900’s with seed money from Andrew Carnegie was fascinating. The Court was in session so we didn’t get to go in the building but we did take the audio tour on the grounds. We even got to join with international tourists and write out our hopes for peace onto the official Peace Tree outside. Very cool moment for our trip!

Looking forward to going to a tapas restaurant tonight after taking a wrong turn last night and missing it. Never fear, we ended up on a rainy night just finding another place that I had read about on TripAdvisor, Garoeda, that had tasty Indonesian cuisine. Feasting on tempura shrimp, chicken satay and rice, we’ll just go tapas tonight instead. After enjoying the sauna room (hot Damn!) and a refreshing dip in the tiny pool which had jets so you could simulate swimming against a strong current (how cool is that??), we are ready to relax and enjoy an evening on the town in The Hague at Oker’s. Tomorrow, we are off on the train for another adventure to…….

Amsterdam First Impression-Bikes & Beer

On September 20, 2015 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, expat, Food, hotels, Shopping, Travel, walking1 Comment

Hot Damn-I finally made it to Amsterdam! I have dreamed of this trip for years and I was right-it is gorgeous AND the perfect walking city for us to explore. My Fitbit is loving me with 12,000+ steps in on our first day. Touching down at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, we fumbled our way through buying a tram ticket at the machine, dealing with ALL our credit cards being rejected before I finally got an ATM to spit out some euros with the debit card. Then, we were jumping on the #5 tram with a little help from a local who scolded us that the tram lets people off first, moves down the lane and THEN you are allowed in. Okay-I had to appreciate the orderly fashion that they follow here in public transportation vs. my fond memories of the clusterf*&k of using China mass transit.

First impressions–bikes, German beer, brick streets and bridges over impossibly picturesque canals where the tour boats glide by slowly. The architecture reminds me of SoHo in NYC with no big new ugly buildings ruining the vibe of little boutiques. We noticed quickly that every building has a large hook hanging from the roof, probably we figured out to haul up furniture and such into the apartments. Quirky and charming, our neighborhood is the perfect blend of residential and commercial.

After receiving the best service EVER from Corrodo at the Andaz Amsterdam, we checked our bags and off we went. Learning very quickly that the sidewalks are narrow with random steep stairways to lower levels jutting into your way so you have to watch every step or fall, it seemed a relatively quiet Sunday with primarily (not a helmet in sight) bike riders and some sassy scooters filling the one way streets lining the canals, I can’t imagine the chaos that will ensue tomorrow when everyone jumps on their bikes to go to work. We’ll be dodging and weaving to cross the streets for sure. I figure if I lived through China though, I’ll probably survive here.

We ducked into the local grocery to check it out-to feel the culture is to see how the locals shop. Lots of prepared foods and smaller portions (didn’t see a lot of families living around here) bread, waffles, chocolates and calories galore. YUM! Got a small bottle of wine tucked into my bag for later.

We’re saving the famous red light district for another night. More to come on that experience! I hear it is quite interesting.

For those not familiar with the weed culture like we have in Seattle, there is probably interest to visit the head shops here. I’ve smelled more pot in the hallways of our building than I have here so no big deal for us.

Tomorrow we leave for the Hague and another train trip. Every day is an adventure!

New and different in NYC

On August 2, 2015August 2, 2015 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, Food, hotels, New York City, Parks, Shopping, Travel, vacation, walkingLeave a comment

It’s a bit of a challenge for us to do new things when we are in NYC because we have lots of favorite haunts and habits from our prior life here. But this trip, we actually managed to have some never-been-done-before adventures. HALLELEUJAH! From new events to new stores to new walkabouts, we had a fantastic time getting out of our comfort zone and taking that road less travelled. Well, there is no road in crowded NYC that is “less travelled” but you know what I mean.

Stumbling into a NYC outdoor experience, Summer Streets, we got to join the crowd biking/walking/skating down Park Avenue that was closed to all but pedestrian traffic from lower to upper Manhattan. Taxi’s were hating it but we loved it! Very well organized, there were free bikes and rollerblades along the way, water stations, singers to entertain us and all played out on a beautiful sunny day. Free fun for all!

Music along the way celebrating Summer Streets

Our destination on Saturday was my favorite store, Fishs Eddy, but along the way we found a new, first-in-the-US store that I just love. Flying Tiger from Copenhagen is filled with under $10 stuff that you probably don’t need but have to have. I got super cute hostess gifts with a mustache theme for my boss—something about that crazy black curly mustache just makes me smile so hopefully she will find it amusing too especially in the form of mustache scrubbies for the kitchen and potholders to match. Just what ever kitchen needs to make it a happier place!

After buying as much as I could carry and storing it all away in my new canvas “RECYCLE OR DIE” bag (how Seattle!), we were off on the subway to visit Thom’s niece who had a baby and moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn so they could buy a house. And what a beautiful house it was! After visiting with Thom’s sister and brother-in-law too who were in town for the baby’s 1^st birthday, we Ubered it out of there to go to Dumbo to meet up with Thom’s best friend since Kindergarten, Ronnie, and his wife, Andrea.

Our group caught up on our busy lives and walked along the East River and right into a Hindu Lamp Ceremony, called Aarti, complete with make-your-own ceremonial containers that you lite up to signify life and the burning of negative tendencies to purify our hearts and serve others with humility. What a great message to guide our existence! Thoroughly embracing the custom, we watched the containers drift out into the waters and listened to the chanting taking place to honor the ceremony. Cool.

Wood fired pizza joint-cash only and gin-infused lemonades!

Eschewing the long lines at the local popular Brooklyn eating joints, we pooled our cash for a pop-up pizza outlet, no wait, and happily munched on wood fired pizzas and gin-infused lemonade. HAPPINESS IN A GLASS! I was struck by the message of life that the pizza guy was putting out there on the back of his shirt, “Eat Pizza, Make Love”. HELLO! Another great message for all to heed!

Going back to the lovely Grand Hyatt, we enjoyed watching the Mets win (again!), drank wine and relaxed in the Presidential Suite that the hotel was nice enough to upgrade us to. SPOILED ROTTEN, WE ARE!

We appreciate every moment of our blessed lives and don’t expect to be able to visit NYC again, though we can always hope. My work here is done for the foreseeable future and budgets are tight at work. With friends and family here plus our love of this urban wonderland, the connection to NYC is so strong. If the stars align, we hope to live here again some day.

In the meantime, we will continue to expect nothing and appreciate everything! Life is so good.

2 Days, 20,000 steps and 1 Cougar

On May 19, 2015May 19, 2015 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, Canada, Fashion, Food, Travel, Vancouver, walkingLeave a comment

Holy. Crap. Yep, I just noticed I am totally and utterly alone in a forest in Canada with not a soul in sight and this sign comes into view, like someone quickly attached it to a post and ran away… Wildcat spotted in area. Love the pictures to show you the differences between cougars, bobcats and kitties–duh! If you are that stupid and need a pictorial of the differences between a cougar and a cat, you deserve to get f&*king chewed on like a kibble. Just saying….

See Cougar Sign..See Melinda Run...Fast — See Cougar Sign..See Melinda Run…Fast

Looking around and, again, seeing nothing but trees, trees and more underbrush where that damn cougar could be hiding, I channeled my inner Hunger Games heroine and picked up an insubstantial branch to defend myself with and took off as fast as possible. Deep in the forest by a lake in Burnaby, this was my “peaceful” stroll to get in my 10,000 needed steps to make my new Fitbit animate, aka it rattles on my wrist when I hit my goal. Happy times staying fit and alive. Eventually, I ran out of the forest into suburbia and found my way back to the hotel in one piece, feeling fit to live another day and vowing to stick to the urban jungle from now on instead of the actual jungle. The kicker was that my Fitbit wasn’t working right so it didn’t even record my steps including the long climb back up the hill to home. DAMN! My calves are aching and telling me I hit that 10,000 step goal so we’ll just go with that unofficial count and charge it up for tomorrow.

Lost in the forest and never finding the lake, running away from a possible cougar...that was my peaceful walk — Lost in the forest and never finding the lake, running away from a possible cougar…that was my peaceful walk

I got my Fitbit for Mother’s Day and am enjoying challenging myself to get out and get walking even more than usual. Especially when I’m on the road working, it will get me out of the hotel in the evening and onto the streets. Last night when I got into Vancouver, BC, I immediately took off on the skytrain from Burnaby where I’m staying to downtown Vancouver. Only taking 20 minutes, it beat driving in traffic. After a lengthy wait to get through customs due to Victoria Day traffic, I was done with driving. I wandered through Gastown and enjoyed people watching. Lots of buskers playing their songs and people eating outside enjoying the warm weather. I finally settled in at the Water St. café and enjoyed amazing salmon risotto. Seriously, I almost licked the plate–crazy American that I am.

Salmon risotto rand BC local wine...how Canadian of me — Salmon risotto and BC local wine…how Canadian of me

Washed down with local wine, I was happy, happy to walk back to the skytrain and join the crowds returning home. Arriving back at the hotel with the Fitbit working, it synced and told me I had about 100 steps left to goal. Did I run in place and rack up those last few steps??? Oh yeah-BAM! 2 days and 20,000 steps and feeling good… my Type A personality likes hitting goals and my body likes the workout. Win-Win!

New York, Here We Come!

On April 13, 2015April 13, 2015 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, Food, New York City, Parks, Shopping, Travel, UncategorizedLeave a comment

$1 Pizza… top of the “to do” list…. bagels from a street cart…a must… live music at City Winery…VIP seats at $28 each…. oh what fun we will have-carbs and wine, oh my! Thom and I are off to NYC on a business trip for a few days and we will revel in being back where we belong. When we moved out of our Chelsea apartment after my assignment ended there in 2/2012, we weren’t quite as sad as when we left Shanghai because we knew we would be able to go back. China, probably not. Since that move out of Manhattan, we have been lucky enough to enjoy our favorite urban setting a few times, always taking advantage of the local delicacies. Nothing fancy for us–one dollar will buy you a huge slice of cheesy heaven or a chewy bagel buttered thick and eaten on the street while you’re walking around the city. I’m salivating as I type…YUM! Good thing that we walk miles when we are there or I would be in serious trouble. Have you ever had a true NYC Black and White cookie??? The sugar content just coats your tongue and overwhelms the senses in an amazing sugar coma way. They are THE bomb!

Shopping is a must so after I finish working and while Thom hangs at a Mets game with his buddies from kindergarten (no kidding-they are still besties!), I will be walking downtown to FishsEddy, the most fantastic quirky store that I love so much at 19th and Broadway. What do they have that’s so unique? Well, I have gotten NYC theme salt & pepper, soap dish, towels, etc. that sound cheesy but they do them in a really cool way and the classic Hillary Clinton mug that Hannah loves, the naughty nude lady mug that I just had to give as a Christmas present to my sis’s hubster, and the list goes on and on. Note to self: MUST bring empty bag to carry back all the stuff I just have to buy. We were thrilled to see that West Elm now carries a little boutique of FishsEddy stuff in Seattle (see, I told you they were cool) but I still want to shop at the original in NYC. I think my favorite item is their ceramic hand collection. I have a small one that holds my most precious rings on my very cluttered jewelry display.

Give FishsEddy a Hand! Best store in NYC.

First night in town, we already have tickets to a concert at City WInery to see Griffin House, an indie bluesy singer out of Nashville, I had never heard of him but love the venue so I downloaded some of his songs and he’s really good. So, tickets purchased, I look forward to sipping some wine in a lively intimate environment down in SoHo. On our way down to the concert, we just have to stop by our favorite Barnes & Noble in Union Square and go to a book signing for the authors of the Dr. Who books. Thom is a Dr. Who freak who even got a Tardis tattoo on his arm, so he will geek out seeing these guys. My husband is so weird and wonderful. Just saying…

Yes, I will be adding to my Broadway Booze sippy cup collection

A Broadway play is a given for another night with TKTS providing a great bargain for people like us who wait till the last minute and take whatever is left on a week night. Musical, drama, I don’t care as long as it’s Broadway, baby, it’s good! I remember the last time we were there we took one of my China peers to see Kinky Boots. As he was drooling over the babes kicking up their heels on stage, I leaned over and told him they were all dudes. The look on his face was priceless and he proclaimed that he would never see such a thing in China. He is probably still telling stories in Beijing about his Broadway experience.

The Met is on the list as the Temple of Dendur is my happy place. When Thom and I lived in NYC, we were members of the Met and went there almost every week to gaze upon the Monets and enjoy so many wondrous works of art. Love it!!! Of course, we will see friends and Thom will get to see his beloved Mets play on Sunday before we go home. We will walk through Central Park after the Met and visit Madison Square Park where Izaak spent his days frolicking with the pups when we lived here. Ahhhhh….the smell of urine-soaked gravel does bring back the memories. NYC… Here we come!

Day 10-11 Fashion Challenge: Seahawks then Canada

On January 11, 2015 By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, Fashion, Food, Seattle, ShoppingLeave a comment

No rest for the weary this weekend! We kicked it off with the dogs getting a hearty walk around Seattle Center where the 12th Man Flag flew proudly over the Space Needle. It’s so cool that this icon and the Seattle Center is our backyard basically where we walk the dogs (“we” means Thom every day except on the weekends when I’m home to help!) and the dogs like it too. Well, to qualify that comment, Thor doesn’t really like to walk that far if it’s raining or cold or really anything adverse at all but on that rare dry day in Seattle, he’s totally up for a long walk with his brother.

So, after walking down to South Lake Union, we had a delicious brunch at Serious Pie & Biscuit where we joined my co-workers to celebrate a teammate’s birthday and everyone gorged on biscuits with every topping you could want: Banana/PB&Honey, Beef Brisket, Eggs, Brussels Sprouts, etc. All delicious! The waiter could not have been nicer recommending the High Noon cocktail for me and it went down well with my veggie egg bake. But enough about food and on to fashion!

I'm IN and supporting the Seahawks to another Super Bowl win! — I’m IN and supporting the Seahawks to another Super Bowl win!

Of course, I had to rock the Seattle Seahawks jersey to brunch and after to watch the Seahawks win convincingly. I just love their enthusiasm and teamwork. I hear from folks around Seattle that the players spend ALOT of time doing charity work and are not brats like other football stars. Go Seahawks!

After lounging in my jersey on Saturday, it was off to Canada on Sunday for a few days of work. Lucky me!

Travel Day--comfy jacket and big scarf to keep me warm in Canada — Travel Day–comfy jacket and big scarf to keep me warm in Canada

Only 3 degrees and with recent inches of snow, Calgary is a nice city but damn it’s cold. I’m staying downtown by their version of the Space Needle. Most of the stores were closing by the time I got to walk (slide!) around downtown. Silly me-I didn’t check the weather really and didn’t wear my trusty Uggs like I should have. I love my one of a kind, designed by me handmade boots from Shanghai so I wore them, thinking that because I am a TSA pre-check traveler I wouldn’t have to take them off and who knew that snow would be everywhere! Not me! So, not only did I not get to go TSA (Canada!) and had to take off my boots but I will now slide around Canada for a few days. That should be highly entertaining but I doubt that I’ll share photos when I end up on my ass in a icy parking lot. But, hey, I’ll be looking good!

The rest of the travel outfit included a comfy print jacket that is really like wearing a blankie along with a big soft scarf. I almost got bumped off for credit but unfortunately the flight wasn’t that full. I love those free credits!!! Hoping for a bump on the way home. You got to give it to Alaska Airlines for not only offering free wine on the flight but, to celebrate the Seahawk victory, they offered free vodka as well. What’s not to like about that perk??? Amazingly, I did not partake of the free booze and opted for water only. Doing work tonight at the hotel so have to keep my senses around me.

Can’t wait to return to Seattle and my boys. I’m hoping the puppies take it easy on Thom this week and they miss me as much as I will miss them. Here’s to a happy Monday and some thawing in the great white North!

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