Road Trip: part 2

I'm back with the continuation of our road trip. Now let's get back into the swing of things...



Friday:

Salt Lake is a gold mine for antique malls and thrift shops, so Jon and I took full advantage all day Friday. We browsed around a dozen places, new and old!









Grabbed some dinner with miss lovely brandee at Evergreen (Previously blogged here).



Saturday:

The imperative brunch at Sages Cafe (previously blogged about here and here).


[the mountain = home style hash browns topped with scrambled tofu,
sautéed vegetables, veg sausage patty and vegan cheeze sauce]

Jon and I relaxed and visited a bit more with my opa and g-ma before heading to my moms house for the evening.



We stopped at Fazoli's for a quick fast food dinner, best breadsticks ever!



When we got to my moms we watched Buried (with Ryan Reynolds) and both agreed that it was one of the worst movies we've ever seen. The entire movie literally takes place inside a coffin. I have no idea how we managed to sit through its entirety. Yikes!

Sunday:

This little guys birthday party.



The view from my moms street.



Took my opa and g-ma out to dinner for all of their hospitality. Big Apple Pizza!


[artichoke hearts and sun dried tomatoes]

Monday:

We said our goodbyes and headed out.




[umm...?]


[that's more like it]



Approaching Las Vegas, we pulled aside to see Frank Gehry's new work, this is the Cleveland Brain Research Center.







We made it to Vegas!



Checked into our hotel at Gold Coast which was actually really nice, super cheap, only a block from the strip, easiest hotel to get around and casino/lobby barely smelled of cigarettes! Win.



Since we couldn't get good seats to Penn & Teller, we ended up seeing Peepshow. I didn't expect it so I was excited, the seats were really close and the show was good!



Tuesday:

As we were leaving, Jon put $50 on black (roulette) and doubled his money, great way to end our trip and head home.

Fog, my favorite. I love it when it's dark and gloomy.



We picked up our kitty and it's home sweet home. There has been a lot of this going on.



*all photos were taken either by Jon or myself

Great trip, great times, great food, great people, great memories!

Road Trip: part 1

Salt Lake came and went. I got my car fixed (preventive maintenance) and re-registered, saw my family and close friends, stayed in my favorite room at favorite hotel, finally got my hair cut, ate mass amounts of delicious food, celebrated my brothers 7th birthday, spent Valentines Day in Las Vegas, all while being sick and tired, but it was worth it!


Tuesday:

We dropped the kitty off and headed to Las Vegas. Oddly enough, we stopped off the highway somewhere in between at Viva Las Bagels to grab some breakfast.


[salt bagel with jalapeno cream cheese]


[martinelli's apple juice]


[interesting blood splattered looking window sign]

The hotel I got for Jon and I had mirrored ceilings and a bathtub the size of my kitchen!



The plan was to see Penn & Teller, but I was suddenly coming down with something and not feeling well, so we grabbed a bite to eat at Peppers (thanks for the suggestion Vanessa and Rorie)


[vegetarian nachos]


[fish tacos, chipotle sauce=best]

Stopped for the obligatory Bellagio visit.



We climbed into bed early so our sick bodies could rest in preparation for the 6 hour drive to Salt Lake on Wednesday. Not much rest, but we were headed out by 8am.

Wednesday:

Stopped for some Dunkin Donuts then drive drive drive.


[favorite part, favorite photo! cedar pocket]







After getting my cars emissions + inspections, we got sushi with my best friend and her boy. Tsunami is my favorite place in Salt Lake to get sushi, highly recommend.



Thursday:

After getting no sleep I was in a sort of dreaming state, but had plans to get lunch with my mom at Meditrina (previously blogged about here).





Then it was time for a 3 month overdue haircut. This is the downside to living 800 miles away from your hair stylist. Luckily she is my best friend and visits me down here in San Diego, but 4 month waits between haircuts are killing me!



Jen's parents live on a farm and have some really cute animals, especially pigs!



For Valentines Day, Jon got us my favorite room at my favorite hotel, The Anniversary Inn (previously blogged about here). We picked up some Cafe Rio take out and watched the Celtics game.

Sultans Palace


[this was our bathtub, no big deal]


[the bed, on top of life size elephants]

Unfortunately at 5am the room next to ours was blaring loud/cheering music (American Idol?), after nearly two hours and having the front desk call/knock on their door, they switched our room. Overall the stay was worth it, but sad that we had to change rooms and go ANOTHER night without sleep.

Treasure Island







*all photos were taken either by Jon or myself

Stay posted for part 2, tomorrow!

happy birthday little brother

Happy 7th Birthday Kyle Riley!



The last seven years have gone by in the blink of an eye. How quickly time has passed watching this baby boy grow into a handsome young man. I was there for the birth of this incredible little guy and even though I'm no longer watching him grow day by day, I'm in awe with every telephone call and visit home.





Here's to many more years my little monster!