Travel Updates!

Hi all! It’s been a while! As those of you that follow me on Facebook and Twitter know, I have been traveling the past few weeks (hence my absence on this blog). Before we jump back into the swing of things with some fun, tasty recipes, I thought I’d share a few photos and info about where I’ve been!

A couple weeks ago, my entire family flew out to Seattle, and I spent a couple days showing them some of the best food and beverages the city has to offer:

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Pike’s Place Market
The Redhook Brewery
Chateau Ste. Michelle
La Isla Cuisine

Then, we left on a week-long cruise to Alaska and back! It was insanely beautiful, almost uncomfortably hot (85 degrees, Alaska? Really?!) , and way too much fun. We went salmon fishing in Ketchikan (we caught 25 salmon!), whale-watching in Juneau, zip-lining through the tree tops in Skagway, cruising through the awe-inspiring Tracy’s Arm Fjord, and walked the sparkling city of Victoria. (We also ate our weight at the unlimited buffet.)

It was an experience I will cherish all my life, and it was very nice to spend it with my family—all of us together.

When we arrived back in Seattle, we were able to hit up the Ballard Farmer’s Market, The Bite of Seattle ,and Cactus for dinner before they had to get on their red-eye back home. I even got a photo of me with local, celebrity chef Tom Douglas (Um, I normally wouldn’t share such a horrid photo, but it’s Tom Douglas! This is what it looks like when you get off the cruise ship at 6am with no sleep and then immediately go out on the town, yikes.)! I actually did a review of last year’s Bite of Seattle, which you can find here!

A week later, my family headed out to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for my cousin’s wedding. I rarely get to see my family out there, so it was awesome to get to spend quality time with all of them! We went boating (and saw the house that The Amityville Horror was filmed at!), ate the best veggie burgers in existence (apparently walnuts are the secret ingredient), got our nails all done, and spent a few too many nights celebrating. We stopped by Chicago for the last couple days and got to stay in the famously haunted Drake Hotel, and go to a Cubs game!

I had the best time, but I’m more than happy to be back home with Mikey and this kooky puppers:

By the way, through DNA testing, we finally found out what kind of dog Rook is! He is half pure Pharaoh Hound and half mixed breeds (including Chow Chow, Dalmatian, and Standard Schnauzer)!