Family and a Cruise Ship



Leaving port @ San Pedro, CA

Cruising is the life for me.  A gorgeous ship, only unpacking your suitcase once, being rocked to sleep and waking up at a new port, all you can eat/drink at any time of the day/night, heading back to your room to get ready after a fun day of site seeing only to step back out and have a fun 'night out on the ship.' 

Our journey to the ship was quite the memorable one.  The ship was leaving San Pedro at 5pm on Sunday Dec 5th and we had a car picking us up at 1:30pm at my parents house, which would then head over to Newport Beach to pick up my grandparents.  Since we each had a ton of luggage, we knew we wouldn't fit in a limo so my Dad talked to the car place and they ASSURED him that a Suburban would fit everyone, and their luggage ... HAH!  With just the 4 of us (Caleb, myself and my parents) we had the back seat folded down in order to fit just our luggage ... and we really didn't have that much ... we just had BIG bags ... and maybe a carry-on each.  Well, our driver could not figure out how to pack the car and we had not even picked up my grandparents yet.  Long story short, Dad and I drove his Aspen up to San Pedro and took some of the big bags with us as the other car headed to Newport to pick up my grandparents.  I sent Caleb with them and I went with my Dad and we were texting back n forth keeping each other updated on what was going on.  With how 'smoothly' things were going I wanted to make sure they made it to the ship.  Well, we all made it to the ship and in plenty of time (though I do think we were the last ones to board the ship.)

Following unpacking and the usual lifeboat drill we had a fun evening of eating and entertainment.  The song/dance team on board far exceeded any ship I have been on before.  It was truly a great show and my grandfather had a grin on his face from ear to ear. 

The next morning was our first full day on board and it was our first full day at sea.  After eating a delicious breakfast (Caleb said the pastry chef was awesome!) we made our way pool side and I fell in love with the awesome lounge furniture.  They had your standard lawn chairs/loungers but then they had all of this other super comfy, really cute furniture so I found an empty lounger and didn't leave for the rest of the day! 

Formal night is one night on board ship that I always remember from my childhood cruises.  Meeting the Captain of the ship (ours wouldn't shake hands and spoke with a Norwegian accent but he grew up in the Bronx - hah!) and seeing all the ladies in pretty dresses and gentlemen in the tuxes while Champagne and other cocktails flowed around you.  Our family looked so nice all dressed up and we even took a few good group pictures with the photographer on board - and bought the pictures!  Anyone who has been on a cruise knows how EXPENSIVE those darn pictures are.  Really cruise ship?  It is not like you are spending any time editing them!! 

Here are some pictures from our first 2 days ...

Our room - and yes, that is all our luggage :)

Lifeboat drill

Looking @ the Port @ San Pedro

Leaving Port ... I'm pretty sure the ship is Royal Caribbean (pictured above)

Enjoyin the 'Drink of the Day'

MmMm ... Cappuccino ... the Best I have ever had!

Poolside with 'the Drink of the Day' - first day at Sea

After dinner & the show Caleb and I found what became our favorite room on the ship - Connoisseurs Club -
and enjoyed some Cigars

A Very Merry Whistler Christmas

Whistler 2010

And very Merry white Whistler Christmas it was!  I met Caleb at the fire station Christmas morning and we packed up his truck (completely full!) and hit our local Starbucks so I could get my 'usual' aka Chai Tea Latte for the drive up to Whistler.  We were on the road heading North on I-5 by 9:15am and boy was it wet! Pouring rain and heavy winds pretty much the entire drive BUT one advantage of driving somewhere over a major holiday?  There was zero wait at the border!!  Our trip up was totally uneventful (yay!) and we made it to Whistler by about 1:15pm and grabbed a bite to eat at La Bocca while we waited for my parents to arrive in Whistler. 

After checking into our hotel, we decided to stay in and celebrate Christmas.  With some soup on the stove, a Christmas movie on the TV, a fire in the fireplace we opened some gifts and enjoyed the evening in our cozy room while it snowed outside.  Now that is my idea of a nice Christmas.

The 'kids' stockings

Grand-Paw's gift from Miley and Koda

The next morning we made it onto the mountain ... well, at the crack of noon ... but we made it none-the-less!  Caleb decided to try snowboarding for the first time so we got him into a lesson for the afternoon so he could learn the basics.  Dad and I headed up the Gondola to the top of the mountain to hit our first run only to step off into less than a quarter mile visibility - but we still had a BLAST.  After a few times down the mountain we took a lunch break and either it was the best chili we have ever had or we were that hungry and things just taste that much better after a day of skiing. 

After lunch the visibility was so bad and it was getting so dark that we had to head down the mountain.  One thing about being that far North is the sun sets a lot earlier so basically the mountain starts to shut down around 3 - 3:30pm.  After we got to the base I met up with Caleb to hear about his day and have a well deserved beer.  Again ... sooo goood!  We tried a new one called Stanley Park and liked it so much that we bought a 6-pack to bring home with us (enjoying one now actually!) and it goes perfectly with my chili - YUM!

Havin a beer at an Irish Pub after a fun day on the mountain

Our 2nd day on the mountain, Caleb and I went up together.  He did a great job seeing as it was a big day of first - first time on the mountain, first time on a chairlift, and first time navigating Whistlers LONG runs.  Luckily, it was only lightly snowing when we got up to the top which made things a little easier to see and WOW, without all that snow I noticed all the beautiful scenery that we didnt get get to see the day before.  The draw back of the day?  22,000 people ... no that is not a typo ... 22,000 people were on the mountain with us!  Oh, and did I mention that 50% of the mountain was closed because over the last 3 days they had gotten over 3 meters of snow, so the backside was 'not safe' and therefore closed.  Well, we had a great time anyway and even met up with my Mom (who was not skiing this trip) at Steeps, a restaurant up on the mountain only accessible by the Gondola.  On our last run of the day the weather took a turn and we could barely see ANYTHING which made for an interesting final run down the mountain, but we made it to the Mid Mountain Gondola pick-up and decided to take that it rest of the way down the mountain. 

Long lines - 22,000 people on the mountain by 11am

Gondola ride back down the mountain at end of day

Our last night in Whistler my parents took us out to dinner at Caramba which was an awesome Italian restaurant. I would def recommend it to anyone who is visiting.  Caleb and I walked around the villages after dinner and everything was hopping.  I love the vibe in Whistler and had such a fun time (already cannot wait for our next trip!) 

The following day my parents were up and out early.  Dad had a few meetings set up both in Whistler and Vancouver so they were back in the swing of things before they had even landed back in OC.  Since we had nothing on the agenda at home, Caleb and I decided to take a few hours to walk around the village and actually go into a few of the shops.  We had an awesome lunch at Blacks Pub and got a little trinket/momento for us and a few little things for our friends.  All-in-all a GREAT trip with lots of fun memories.

I loved the Mounty Moose!!  I wanted to buy one!!

On our drive home as we headed down 99 the sun was setting so Caleb pulled over (twice!!) to let me take pictures. What an awesome hubby I have!  But really, who would NOT pull over to take pictures of this ...

Sunset

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!!

Passports, Fresh Powder & Holiday Cheer

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  Caleb, the pups and I are headed up to Whistler for some Christmas R&R with my parents who arrived in Seattle this afternoon and are taking the train up to Whistler in the AM (lucky!)  We are driving up but that is OK because I have already confirmed which Starbucks are open Christmas morning - SO ALL IS RIGHT IN THE WORLD! hah!  Looking forward to clocking some hours on the ski slopes!!  I hope everyone has a very lovely, blessed holiday!!  Remember the true reason behind Christmas!!

Red Hot

I was so excited when I was asked by Lauri to come take pictures of Stanwood HS Basketball Team.  They wanted some creative shots of the boys Varsity team to use for a poster, standard team shots for Varsity, JV and Frosh along with 'mugshots' of the Varsity boys to use in the Fall programs.  Tim (Lauri's husband) is a firefighter for Kirkland so he managed to get his hands on 12 sets of bunker gear and arrange for Stanwoods Truck to meet us at the High School before practice for the shoot.  One thing we didn't factor in was how dark it was getting, especially with rainy skys.  Luckily, having tagged along with Caleb on a few drills, I knew that the Truck has lights on generators that can make it look like daylight - score!! Well, that was no help as they quickly apologized for having just left them at their last call - fail!  So then I remember seeing a ton of lights on the Engine and asked the guys to drive the Engine up on the lawn and point/shine their lights on the truck - success!!  Made for some pretty cool lighting affects and made their "Red Hot" them really drive home.  The boys were good sports and really followed direction well, I was actually really surprised at how well they listened.  It was pretty cold out but they didn't complain and we got the shot and headed back inside to warm up. 

Caleb and I went to watch Drew play yesterday and Lauri gave us a copy of the final poster they handed out to everyone and I am really happy with how it turned out.  Not only was this a cool opportunity to grow my portfolio but they let me run an ad in exchange for the shoot so hopefully that will drum up some business!  Here is a look at the final product ... but it does look way cooler in person :o)

Thanks again Tim & Lauri for thinking of me!! 
PS - Do you see my logo?  That very cute lil girl is my goddaughter Andi!

Crafty Christmas Decor

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE all things crafty. I've been brainstorming for a while now on a fun, unique way to do an advent calendar. Growing up, my Mom had a really cute calendar that was felt. It had a big Christmas Tree on the top 2/3rds and pockets below that had numbers 1 - 24 on them. In each pocket was a felt ornament and each day before I would get ready for school I would put up the new ornament for the day. I was totally inspired today while wandering around my favorite store - Ben Franklin - and couldn't wait to get home to start working on my newest addition to our holiday decor! It is still a work in progress, but here is a little sneak peek!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!