"Cookie" Pancakes

Oh, hey. As you can tell, school is keeping me busy - too busy to update the blog. It's time-consuming and tough but I'm loving it. Anyway, I had this post in draft-form for ages and because one of my new friends from school asked for the recipe, I figured I might as well post 'er up!

Oatmeal chocolate chip banana pancakes. We make these nearly every Saturday and Sunday morning because we love them so much. They're delicious and moist and the melty chocolate chips in them make them taste like cookies. They also fill you up for a good long time! We got the recipe here. We use coconut oil instead of canola and sunflower seed butter (or any other nut butter) instead of almond butter but otherwise we make them exactly as written. They take a while to cook because they're so dense. I really can't explain how heavenly they are. It's saying something about how good they are that Jason eats them even with chocolate chips (he usually doesn't like chocolate chips in anything)! You really ought to try them - I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed!

Italy, Part 1

Our European vacation started in late July! I'm still in Belgium with our friends for another week. Jason headed home the other day but we covered a lot of ground while he was still here. We'll have lots of photos to share of our whole trip once I'm back home (along with better explanations and descriptions of everything), but for now you can check out our friend Maitha's photography blog to see some photos from our trip to Italy (bonus: they'll be better than any of our photos anyway)! We hit Venice, Rome, Pisa, and Florence in a whirlwind trip of four days where we walked all day every day to see as much as possible!

Stay tuned... once I'm home I'll post more of Italy... as well as Belgium and Amsterdam!

The Vegas

We did my 27th in Vegas (my first time). What does a non-gambling gal do in Vegas? Eat. Lots and lots of food. Enough to make a 5-pound food baby, to be exact. She ain't pretty, let me tell you, but Vegas food is not to be missed. Yum.

As a surprise, Erin flew in from LA for the day to hang with us! After a chocolatey breakfast at Max Brenner, we drove to Hoover Dam in our fancy convertible. We skipped the tour and walked over the dam instead. Whew, it's HIGH. I couldn't get all of it in the picture, but the scale is told by the tiny people up in the right-hand corner.

Also? It's windy. You like that hair?

Lots of walking, lots of eating, and a couple of shows later we were ready to come home. Until next time, Vegas!

Jackson Hole

In September, Grandma and Grandpa decided they wanted to take one more "last hurrah" trip and picked Jackson Hole as the place. First of all, of course I want to see my family, and second, the Grand Tetons are one of the most incredible sights, making it one of my favorite places in the world to visit.



Dad and I flew in to meet them and two of his siblings - Carolyn and Steve - where we stayed at the Jackson Lake Lodge in cottages for three nights. First we saw the most stunning sunset from the plane. Then, driving to the lodge, the most magnificent display of stars. Dad and I were mesmorized while Steve and Carolyn laughed at us "big city folk." I can't get enough of the sky when I finally get out of the city. But in a place as remote and small as Jackson I am not sure I've ever seen such an incredible display in my life. I made sure I stood outside to take it all in each night. Seeing the Milky Way blows my big city-girl mind.

As soon as we got there it was clear Grandma was not okay. The next morning, after having breakfast with us, she went to the doctor who sent her to the hospital and that's where she stayed for the rest of the trip. My heart hurt for her. How unfair to spend your "last hurrah" trip, in one of the most beautiful places, in the hospital. And she was quite sick. Such a bummer.

We did one small hike. Here's a good view from nearly the top of one of them.

From Dad's camera: Me and Dad

Carolyn, Grandpa, Me (Steve's shot)

Wildlife? Oh yes. Bear, moose, beaver, loons, eagle, elk, deer (a doe and fawn). The encounter with the bear was a little too close for my comfort. He was across the street from the crowd but then decided he wanted to cross it... right in front of me. Between me and the bear was a park ranger with mace. That's it. Check it out (along with my "oh my gods"):

I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Until next time, Jackson...

P.S. My uncle Steve is the pro photographer in the family... see his awesome photos here and here.

Concerts. Twice is Nice!

Remember a little note I wrote back in July at the bottom of a post? It went like this: "I swear I haven't been listening to [Katy Perry's] music non-stop since then or trying to convince Jason to get pit tickets to see her live again while we're on vacation so we can be THIS CLOSE to her..."

Well, I'll admit that I've listened to nothing other than Katy Perry in the car since the show in June. And that includes the entire drive from Seattle to Los Angeles. And no, Jason's not sick of her yet either.

 I have to fess up to something else as well:

I convinced him. 

It wasn't hard to do. 

Clearly he likes her music if he's not sick of it yet.

Not to mention he thinks she's a knockout.

(Who doesn't?)

We got tickets to see her while we were in Seattle. We were in the pit, right in front, and it was totally worth it. It was so much fun being right there up in the action rather than watching her when she's as big as an ant like last time. She's my first true pop love and I'm having fun with it. It kind of makes me feel like I'm in middle school again.

We saw Guster live again too when we got back home. We saw them with Jack's Mannequin who were okay (once upon a time we liked Something Corporate and it's the same singer), but we won't see them again because we didn't think they were that great and I wasn't digging the music anymore. I guess I've outgrown it. Guster, on the other hand, is one of those bands that is even better live than they are on albums. In fact, I really only listen to their one live album. I'd love it if they would release another!

And the venue? Wolf Trap. I love seeing shows there because it's so beautiful and it just so happens that the first time I saw Guster in 2004 it was there (along with Ben Folds and Rufus Wainwright - now THAT was an incredible show).

Seattle, Part 1: The Touristy Bits

First thing's first: Seattle was COLD. It was our first time in Seattle and while we expected rain and gray skies we didn't expect it to be so cold in mid-July! Secretly, we loved it (we can't wait for fall/winter). And we can't complain because it was hot as heck in DC while we were gone.

Our trip started with an overbooked motel nightmare, but luckily it was all uphill from there. The next morning we started fresh (possibly with bags under our eyes) and picked up our swanky Chevy Aveo (we missed our Subaru so. freaking. much. on this trip) before making our way to my dad's suggestion of Top Pot Doughnuts. Since I got my sweet tooth and my belly fat genes from my father, we of course made a stop there and got four doughnuts to share. Let me tell you: four doughnuts at Dunkin' does not equal four doughnuts at Top Pop. We didn't even get close to finishing them, but they were hands down the best doughnuts either of us had ever eaten.

Then we were off to the ferry to get over to Bainbridge Island to see the bride and groom, Maitha and Andreas! The ferry gave us great views of the Seattle skyline.

From then on, there was never a dull moment. We were always on the move. On the ferry to Seattle for errands, food, bars, fun. Riding the monorail, seeing the Space Needle, meeting up with old high school friends, hitting the Pike Place Market, walking around the city. And finally, back on Bainbridge for wedding festivities. Here are the semi-touristy stops we made along the way...

Pretty sunset along the harbor

Riding the monorail to get to a food festival (that's the bride looking crazy in the back)

Pike Place Market

Mr. Needle

The original Starbucks and a delicious sandwich joint called Salumi

The locks

Back to the market to get some crab and goodies for the road on our way out of town

And that's all she wrote for touristy bits of Seattle we saw.

Two more posts to come from Seattle:

hanging out with friends and the lovely wedding.
...but of course that's still only the beginning of our trip!

A Giant Trip!

There has been reason for our radio silence and it was because we took a 2.5 week vacation! And the other two weeks we've been missing? Well, we were home but I was intimidated by the amount of photos I want to share!

Two of my very best friends got married two weeks apart - the first in Seattle and the second in LA. Jason and I decided it would be more fun to spend the time in between on vacation on the west coast rather than fly out there and back twice. Boy are we glad we made that choice. By the time we finished our trip we had driven nearly the entire west coast, almost all of which we took the Pacific Coast Highway. And going from North to South? That was an accidental convenience because it meant that we drove on the correct side of the road - the one closest to the water - so that it was easier to pull over and see things while driving.

In the next few days (or weeks, more likely) I'll chronicle our trip which included visits to Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Portland, Redwood National Parks, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, LA, and lots of little towns in between. We even had our very first camping experience (it was fun!).

Coming soon.... Seattle and Maitha's Wedding!

Boston

Another post by Jason!

Last weekend, Kaitlyn and I headed to Boston - her for a work weekend, and a scenic trip for me (plus time away with the lady!). Before she had to work on Saturday we walked around a good bit. We were heading to an art museum but after dealing with the crazy T, Boston's metro system maze where some trains are actually buses, we gave up and walked until we found the Faneuil Hall Marketplace (aka Quincy Market). As you can see, they got plenty of snow.

While walking from the art museum area to the marketplace we came across this sign (I'll admit I'm nerdy and got a kick out of it).

Kaitlyn had to go to work so I walked around Boston for the next few hours. The Freedom Trail was blocked in several places by the massive amounts of snow so I didn't get to see a lot of the historic areas but there was plenty to see just walking around every which way. Plus I had lunch at Cheers! (Not just nerdy, but old and nerdy now.)

Above and below are some random pictures I took, along with a Holocaust memorial I came across that was rather interesting, and with the steam coming up in every glass structures, slightly disturbing. Every inch of the glass was etched with numbers, 6,000,000 to be exact.

Now from Kaitlyn: Boston was a blast. Even though I had to work, it was a fun weekend away with my hubby even if I didn't get to see him all that much. However, we did have a wonderful Indian dinner with my coworker (and dear friend) after a very long day of work. By the time we walked a mile to the restaurant, all of our feet were wet (some more than others) because each time we had to cross a street we had to go over huge puddles! Boston certainly got dumped on with snow.

Right before we left on Sunday, we met up with two of my Australia girlies! I was so excited to see them. I hadn't seen Cailin since we were in Australia in 2007 and I hadn't seen Meredith since my wedding in 2009. It was soooo good to catch up with them. It was like no time passed at all even though it's been years since we've all hung out together. That's the true definition of good friends, isn't it?

It was truly a wonderful weekend. The event I was working on was a track event that was actually quite fun to be a part of, so even my working hours were enjoyable. I'm all about vacations, however short they may be. It can be so cathartic to step away from the day-to-day routine of life and explore a different place. I felt refreshed when we came back home on Sunday night. It makes me very excited for the warmer days that are soon to come so we can spend more weekends at the lake!

Hersheypark in the Dark Celebration

We got on the road on Friday and drove through Thurmont (where we got married!) and Gettysburg on our way to our anniversary weekend destination...

...Hersheypark in the Dark!

I have been dying to go to an amusement park for over a year and our anniversary seemed like the perfect time to go. It wasn't gross and hot like the summer (it bordered on cold and I thought about buying this hat) and it was much less busy.

We spent Friday and Saturday nights at the park so we didn't feel rushed and had enough time to ride (and eat) everything we wanted. Part of the appeal of an amusement park for me is the terrible-for-you-but-oh-so-delicious food like funnel cake!

There was a sad discovery: roller coasters now make me feel sick, even when I'm on motion-sickness medicine, which I usually take before long drives, and thus was on. So, so, so sad. That didn't really stop us though - we went on at least four coasters and took little breaks in between each one while my head got back to normal. That said... this might be my last trip to an amusement park for a while.

We also made sure we got a corn dog. We were so excited we forgot to take a picture before we ate it! Yum. 

This picture of us riding the Fahrenheit (the coaster is shown above) is pretty fantastic - check out Jason's face. Straight up and straight down! We were both laughing the whole time. We couldn't see straight when the ride was over because it tossed us around so much!

They had a s'mores stand! They roasted the marshmallows for you and gave you a fresh s'more. Perfection for our anniversary. Such a sweet surprise.

The Blue Man Group was also in town so we decided to go all out and see them at the Hershey Theater as well. I have seen them twice before on their "Complex Rock" tour while promoting that album. It was a little less musical this time, but there were also new things I hadn't seen before. It was a great show!

It was a truly fantastic weekend.

Stay tuned - we have two more anniversary-related posts coming up later this week from our actual anniversary yesterday.