Thursday, October 27, 2011

And what I've done...

In my little mini-hiatus...I was busy crossing something off of my bucket list. I was offered the chance to go to Alaska for work...and without a moment's hesitation, I took it. This was a chance to see a place that I had only seen on television or read about in National Geographic. Three weeks later, I was on a plane to Anchorage with my team. We worked our tails off...but never in a more breath-taking place!

We stayed in Anchorage the first night. We ate at the Glacier Brewhouse for dinner... which was my first taste of Alaskan food...and incredibly good food at that...considering that it was my second dinner with the 3 hour time zone change.

The view of downtown Anchorage from my hotel room.

The brewhouse had amazingly good beer.

 And the halibut was not to be missed!! YUM!!

The next morning, we got up and had breakfast at Gwennie's, which was recommended to me by a dear friend. He was right. When I ordered a hot chocolate, this is what showed up!

 Single-handedly the best mug of hot cocoa I have ever encountered...it was breakfast by itself!

And then the breakfast I ordered came out....Reindeer sausage, eggs, and homefried potatoes.

Can we say "Giant Plate"?

After breakfast, we went over and spent the morning at a client kick-off meeting for our project. We grabbed lunch at the Moose's Tooth Brewhouse, which had the best pizza I have ever tasted!

Yum!

Then, stuffed on pizza and salad, my partner and I caught a plane over to the Kenai Peninsula, where we would be working.


And we were greeted by the locals!


Stay tuned for Part 2!








Monday, October 17, 2011

Where I have been!

As happens once in a while, I get so busy with life that I sit down and forget to write about it! And crazy busy it has been! I'll be detailing everything that has been going on over the next couple of posts. Horses, the house and work have all conspired to keep me off the computer and hopping all over the place. As many of the regular readers know, I travel A LOT. I actually have a running list of every Holiday Inn Express that I have stayed at (mostly for my own morbid curiosity). I love Holiday Inns. The rooms always feel warm, inviting, and comfortable. No, I'm not plugging them...nor is this a commercial... I'm getting to the point...hang on...

So I spend anywhere from 1-4 nights in this nice, warm, cozy environment... and come home to this (minus the books all over the furniture..you'll see why in a sec)



Cold, blank, and sterile. White walls, white carpet...YUCK.

After my last trip out, I got home, looked at the walls, and decided that the time for the long overdue painting was at hand. I gathered up some semi-willing friends and lured them in with the promise of good company, pizza, and alcohol. I went to Lowe's and bought paint in a color called "Pony Tail" by Olympia (irony, anyone??) and all the painting supplies I could carry. Including a little straight edge painter, which was a godsend for getting nice even lines near the trim and ceiling.

Four hours and two coats of paint later.... my boring sterile living room looked like this:


Cozy, comfortable, and warm. Two weeks later, I'm still loving it. And I'm counting the days until I can have a crack at Anthony's room!