Seattle

I need to update the blog. Been to many fun places, but last week I was in Seattle, the Emerald City. Beautiful city. If it ever got really hot in Seattle, say during the summer, I might actually want to live there. The weather while I was there was amazing, I don't think it rained even 5 minutes. I was there for work, so I didn't get to do all the things I would have wanted to do had I been there for vacation.

I did go to the Space Needle, the view is amazing. The price to go to the top is a little pricey for what it is, but it is part of Seattle that I am glad I did it. I did see the first Starbucks, I did not try to purchase a coffee because everyone had that idea. I did eat LOTS and LOTS of fresh fish. Best restaurant, Blueacre, best meal Moonfish. The Hawaiian Moonfish was melt in your mouth fresh! I love good fish. I did go to Pike Place Market and while there saw amazing flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables, and fresh fish. I did take several pounds of fresh fish home to my wonderful husband.

The verdict for Seattle, I will go back and I will take Michael. Downtown is the best to be and stay. I would recommend to anyone who lives in the US, to go to Seattle in your lifetime, it is a place with heart and soul and $5 flower arrangements.

I am truly in LOVE with these, if I lived in Seattle these would be in my house all the time.

Fresh, Fresh, Fresh!

Top of the Space Needle

Traveling

I got to be home for basically one day. There is not a lot I could do in one day, but do laundry, watch Arkansas beat Georgia, and pack my suitcase again. I guess I should be glad I am in a place this week I have never been before.

Traveling alone is really no fun. When Michael and I go places together we have a blast. From the airport to the flight to the vacation itself. Yesterday was my travel day and boy was it ever boring. It was 8 hours of slow traveling. Living in Arkansas almost always required connecting to travel anywhere in the US, which honestly doesn't bother me, I always sit next to interesting people. I am just a very impatient traveler. I get annoyed by the person in line at security who tries to bring through their entire bathroom without realizing the 3oz rule or the business traveler, who travels every week yet can't seem to remember to take his belt off before going through the metal detector. That's why I love airports that have an expert line and then the everyone else line. I really love the airports with the expert lines where they yell at the slow people who don't know to take out their laptops or take off their shoes. Trust me when I say this, I don't get this annoyed at people when Michael is traveling with me.

Hoping I get to see the city of Seattle today. Never been here before, first impressions are positive. Weather is awesome, lots of lush green and beautiful view of the water from my hotel.

Another week in Chicago

I feel like I have been in Chicago so much lately. I actually had someone ask me if I was living here again. Seriously that is a bad sign I have been in the Corporate Office too much. I really like coming to the city. The weather this week has been awesome. Tomorrow I am actually going to wear a sweater and need it. There are lots of positives to being in the office. I do like seeing people who work in my office. It is always entertaining and fun to hang out with my sales team. The sales team went to dinner last night and there was no shortage of laughs.

Last weekend was awesome! Razorbacks game and fun times with friends. I got to see my good friend Rob and his new house. It was nice to just sit around and talk. He started his residency in July so, that basically means I won't have a friend for another four years. We had a good time, laughed about some ridiculous stories they had. They being my friend and his girlfriend. It was the first time I got to meet her and I like her, not that it would matter what I thought, but I did like her. Michael actually knew her from college, which was funny and ironic since my friend has been with her awhile and we had not gotten to meet until this weekend. I think when you get older and find your best friend, aka husband, you want all your friends to be as happy.

Sunday, Michael and I went to the LPGA tournament at Pinnacle. We got to see Michelle Wie, the best female player, and I am still not a huge fan of golf. We got tons of free stuff while at the tournament so it was very worth going.

Weekend ahead!

So, as of yesterday Michael and I will be going to Little Rock this weekend. There are multiple reasons to go to the Rock; the main and most important reason is my friend Peggy is coming into town from NYC and the other reason is Arkansas is playing LA Monroe this weekend. It has been a long time since we have gone to a Little Rock game, so it should be FUN FUN FUN!!

We are going to be very busy this weekend. Not only are we going to Little Rock on Saturday, we are going out to Pinnacle on Sunday to watch the LPGA tournament. I am very excited about this, because as much as I don't really care about golf I do think it would be fun and really cool to watch the ladies play in person. Maybe it is like baseball...as much as I LOVE baseball, I cannot stand to watch baseball on TV. 9 innings are just so long when it is on TV. Hopefully I will gain a new respect for golf after Sunday.

On another note, tonight starts Gabby's first day of obedience training. I am looking forward to having a well behaved dog. I will say Gabby can already do lot of good tricks and listens to us for the most part (unless she is excited). I am hoping she will learn to walk with us and not walk us, and I am hoping she will become really good at NOT jumping on people. My poor baby thinks she weighs 15lbs and really she weighs 50lbs. I will blame this on the fact that her bestie is a 15lbs miniature schnauzer named Callie. Gabby tries to do everything Callie does, but as I mentioned prior the only difference is Gabby weighs 50lbs. Example below, Callie loves to lay on the back of the couch, when Gabby lays on the couch she hangs off or else she slides down the front.

Summer is ending...

It is obvious that summer is slowly coming to an end. I am very grateful for the rain we have been having lately. My poor trees really have needed the water. We had been watering our trees every single day and they were still loosing their leaves. Very sad. I am worried fall just won't be near as pretty as it has years past. Now that we live in Arkansas again I was really looking forward to fall.

The rain is wonderful, but my allergies or something are going crazy. I hate being sick, I am probably the worst person sick. I am just not nice. My throat has been killing me. Yesterday was so bad that I was having trouble drinking and breathing. I have had my throat swell up due to an allergic reaction, but this is just no fun. I am hoping if it is allergies that the rain will make it all go away.

Lots going on...

I feel like lately I have been so busy that I can't even stop for a breath of fresh air, and it is about to get worse. I can't complain it has been lots of fun, especially this past weekend. First Razorback football game of the season! Of course Michael and I went to the game, can't let those season tickets go to waste. My brother came into town and I got to see lots of family this weekend, as well. That's why I love the Razorbacks games.

Me and my Dad

Michael and I bought a new bedroom suite in July and it is arriving in the next few weeks. I can't wait to have a king bed. Since I will be traveling so much in the next two months we went out and got our mattress. Now it officially feels real that we are going to have a new suite. I have started to think about painting the walls. Don't know if I will ever have time to actually paint but you know what I will try.

Here is my travel schedule...

Week of September 13th -- Chicago

Week of September 20th -- Seattle

Week of September 27th & October 4th -- Honolulu

Week of October 11th -- Chicago

Week of October 18th -- Palm Springs

As much as I love traveling and getting to go to fun places, I really wish Michael was going to be coming with me.

Chicago with my brother

A few weeks ago I went to Chicago for work, and I planned to stay through the weekend to hang out with my brother, who now lives in Michigan. My brother came and met me at my office in Lisle on Friday. I was so excited, because every year my office takes off half a day and goes to the horse races. I have a soft spot for the races even though I suck at the gambling part, I love the horses. I am such a cheapo when it comes to gambling so I never bet more than $6 on each race. On a positive note I only lost $6 in 7 races. My brother and I were picking good horses at the beginning but we really should have stopped before the last 3 races. We always picked one horse with good odds, one that we liked the name, and one with horrible odds. After the races, we went to dinner with some people from my office.

My brother is never allowed to hang out with those people again. My quiet, sweet brother made someone projectile vomit on another lady, also from my office, due to something he said. Eric just happened to say the funniest thing in the world at the exact moment that a guy in my office took a bite of food and swig of beer. Needless to say we laughed for a good 30 minutes at this nice restaurant over the whole situation.

On Saturday, my brother and I decided to go to the Art Institute of Chicago. I was excited since in the three years Michael was in Chicago we never went to the Art Institute. It was very interesting. I learned several things. One my brother has a world of knowledge and he really should be a teacher. He taught me all about Greek history, who needs a tour guide to explain all the different art and history when I take my brother. Another item I learned is one could actually spend an entire day inside of the art institute and still not see everything. After we left and my head was spinning, I took my brother on a short tour of Michigan Ave and the parks. For dinner I wanted to go to the cheesecake factory. Actually I wanted to go to Tsunami, my favorite sushi restaurant, but it is now closed. Sad Face. After waiting a long time for a table and a long time for our delicious food, we learned that our meal was going to be free. YaY! Funniest part is the last time Michael and I went there we received a gift card due to a long wait time. Apparently I need to go there more often for free stuff.

Picture on the Left my cousin, Right painting from the Art Institute

Sunday, I was leaving and we just wanted to relax a little, so I took Eric to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Love that Zoo. If you have never been, go! It is free and fantastic. I love looking at the animals, but I what I love more is watching the kids at the zoo. Especially the ones under the age of five. They are so excited to see each and every animal and I could watch that all day. I told my brother, when I have a kid, in five years, I will take them to every zoo in the country just to watch the fun faces. Note: Favorite zoo; San Diego Zoo, fantastic and HUGE, wear tennis shoes!