Turning 27

For those of you who have celebrated a birthday with me in the past, you know I'm all about having a big plan and it's all I talk about for months beforehand.  This year was different, my birthday definitely pulled a sneak attack on me!  Mike kept asking me what I wanted to do and what I wanted for a gift.  All I could tell him was I wanted to have a nice dinner and wear a dress and that I wanted nothing since he's given me the biggest gift of all this year, an engagement ring.  What more could a girl really need?!

We were suppose to go to sushi for my birthday, but Mike informed me that those were no longer the plans and that I'd have to wait to find out where we were going.  So we got a little dressed up!

Then we were on our way to Winslow!

 Love this drive!

Silliness in the car.

What's in Winslow you ask?  Not much!  But there is this beautiful hotel called La Pasada.  At one time it was a train stop/hotel and  the train still goes right by it on the backside.  This place is so rich with history and has the prettiest gardens!  At this hotel is a restaurant called The Turquoise Room.  One word: Yum!  All of the meat on the menu is free range, antibiotic free, and local.  And it's all delicious!  We showed up an hour early so we could have a cocktail hour. 

Our drinks were so delicious and our bartender was fantastic!  We walked around the grounds a bit since this was Mike's first time there.

Then we were off to dinner!  I've been breaking my vegetarian-ism lately for a couple of reasons: 1.  My body has definitely been craving the meat. 2. As long as the meat is local, free range, and antibiotic free I'm in!  So with that said, I had the Pork Carnitas.  Let me just say the meat literally melted in your mouth.  I've never had meat so tender in my life!  Mike had a local cut of some type of steak that he loved.  But the real kicker to any dinner here is the Signature Soup!  Half of the bowl is this slightly spicy black bean soup and the other half tastes like cream of corn.  It's like eating cornbread with chili.  Plus I love the presentation of it!

After dinner we were on our way back to Flagstaff and we couldn't have timed it perfectly, check out this sunset.

When we got back into town we went to Annex for a glass of wine for me and a scotch for Mike.

 When we got home we played a healthy game of Phase 10, truly a favorite game from my childhood.

The next day we slept in and had plans for a motorbike trip through Sunset Crater to Wupatki National Monument.  I'd never been to Wupatki and the ruins were breathtaking.  They are so breathtaking in person and it's truly impressive what these people were able to do in the 1100's!  Here's a few pictures from our day, enjoying the incredible landscape around Flagstaff.

Thank each and everyone of you for your birthday wishes and cards!  I loved every one of them!

San Diego Getaway

The last couple of weeks have been such a whirlwind, life almost feels like someone hit the fast-forward button.  So, I'm really happy Mike and I got to take a week and a half to get away and enjoy one another.  Our trip started with a road trip to San Diego.  Road trips are one of my absolute favorite things we do together.  I can't really explain what it is that I love, between the conversations, singing at the top of our lungs, scenery, it's just too hard to pick one favorite thing!  We stayed in downtown San Diego, next to Petco Park and one block away from the Gaslamp District.  We had such a great time visiting with friends, eating lots and lots of food, checking out the city and beaches, and of course there was always.....GLEE LIVE! :)

Within our first couple of hours in San Diego, we were greeted by these two lovely ladies.

I can't believe this was only my second time meeting Sarah, this girl has a way of instantly making you feel comfortable and I seriously feel like I've known her all along.  This was our first time meeting Jessica, her sister, and it was really like meeting a member of the family!  Thank you two for making time for us in your trip, we loved the conversation and laughs!
So, when we're saying our 'goodbyes' to Sarah and Jessica, Sarah asks if we had champagne waiting in the room.  Which we didn't, and I think nothing more of it while we take the elevator up to the room.

And this is what was waiting for us when we returned back to our room:

How cool!!  Joe and Sarah, you guys rock!

Mike and I spent the rest of the night drinking and eating in the Gaslamp District.

The next morning we took our time getting ready before heading out on our next adventure.  This was the first time either of us had worn robes and we were both a little excited about it. :)

That night we were off to Glee Live!, but first we made a stop in Old Town to walk and around and get some delicious mexican food.  I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but our choice to eat there was made simple by two women cooking homemade tortillas on the street of the restaurant. 

Naturally we had to order tortillas for our appetizer.

And our waitress' mistake with our margaritas meant we had one two many margaritas on our table, with absolutely no complaints!

Then we were off to Glee Live!

 This was Brittany dancing to a Britney Spears song.

 They had a second stage too!  

Let me just tell you Glee fans out there, if you love the show, you will LOVE this concert!  It was too much fun and I don't think we stopped singing once!

The next day we went to La Jolla and walked around the beach and some of the shops.

I loved how blissful these sea lions looked.

 I loved these!  They were everywhere and I couldn't get enough of them!

That night we went up to Little Italy for dinner and Mike wanted to take the train system up there.  We had to wait quite awhile, so we were pretty excited when we finally got on.

 See?! Excited!!

On our last day we went up to Balboa Park.  I loved the gardens!

 This building was out of this world beautiful!

 I'm a sucker for hydrangeas and these were so beautiful!!

 In the art area all of the tiles on the ground were painted.  It was such a fun area.

On the last night we spent time with a friend of Mike's, Tyler, and his girlfriend Sarabeth.

It was a great way to end our trip, the same way we started it, with the great company of friends.