the traveling cupcake

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Last week we were on vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming with a bunch of friends. I have one suggestion if you live far away from your friends - go on vacation with them. Pretty much guaranteed to have the best time ever. We love going home to visit with friends and family, but most of the time we are rushing around from place to place, trying to see as many people as possible. This vacation was a great way to see and catch up with good friends, and have a chance to make new memories! Not to mention Kaitlin had a blast watching all the other kids run around and play. She's a little slow to warm up to a lot of new people so she hung back a little bit at first. But by the end of the week she was right in there playing with everyone.

Since there were so many of us (six adults and four kids under the age of five) we decided to rent a house in Kelly, just outside of Jackson. A house way definitely the way to go - we had TONS of room and lots of space for everyone to spread out. Kaitlin even got her own room! We were a little far from town but it was really quiet and we didn't have to worry about disturbing anyone. I can't recommend this house enough, so if you are heading to Jackson with a big group of people I highly suggest you check it out.

our view from the back deck

The day after we all arrived we decided to check out the neighborhood. As I mentioned before the house is in Kelly and it borders the National Elk Refuge. The road creates a loop around the area so we decided to take the whole gang for a walk. We had primo views of the Teton Mountains, the Gros Ventre River and even some wildlife! The walk proved to be a little longer than we planned, but it was beautiful and enjoyable none the less. And a great way to catch up with friends that you haven't seen in over six months!

view from the front yard

"Hiiii everybody!!"

I loved the contrast of plains and mountains

I'll be sharing our adventures in Jackson Hole (and beyond!) over the next couple of weeks. Check back soon for the next update!

Friday, March 01, 2013

Houston Rodeo - World's Championship Bar-B-Que

Over the weekend we celebrated our one year anniversary of moving to Houston. One year - can you believe it?? To celebrate (ok not really, it was just good timing) we went to the World's Championship Bar-B-Que at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. BBQ cook-off in Houston? SOLD!

Every year the barbecue cook-off kicks off the Houston Rodeo. For three days over 300 teams cook and compete to take home the honor of winning first place. These teams work their butts off smoking, cooking and BBQing for 72 hours. And the result is delicious. You have to have a ticket to eat at the tents, but general admission gets you a plate of BBQ at the food tent. We had tickets to the Dodge City Cookers tent, a team that usually does pretty well every year. This year they came in eighth place in the brisket competition and twenty-third place over all. Out of 300+ teams?! That's pretty dang good!

Brian and I were super excited to take part in an event that is basically the epitome of Texas culture. We put our western shirts and cowboy boots on and we fit right in. (Next year we are totally getting cowboy hats) If you hold a ticket to one of the tents it buys you as much food and drinks as you can handle. Our tent had a live band which gets the crowd into high gear and kept us entertained all night.

And the food? I bet you want to know how the food was? In a word - amazing. I went for the brisket, sausage, meatballs and ribs. No need to muddy the plate with beans or potato salad. Somehow I missed the BBQ sauce which might have made it out of the world, but none the less the food was delicious. And those meatballs? Best thing I ate all night. Want to know what they were made out of?

ARMADILLO!

WTF?!?!

I kind of gagged when I heard that but they were so stinkin' good that I just had to finish them. Definitely one of the most adventurous things I've ever eaten.

The masters at work

Watching the judging

I almost forgot to take a picture! L-R: armadillo meatball, ribs, brisket and sausage.

The Dodge City Cookers

Do you think he meant him - or the BBQ?

Gotta love blurry, dark iPhone photos...

Our tent had the NICEST ladies port-a-potties EVER! I was a very happy lady

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Houston Arboretum

I have lived in a big city for the past eight and a half years of my life. I don't mind the tall buildings, the concrete jungle or the hustle and bustle of every day life. However, my roots are in the country. I grew up in the middle of corn fields and every once in a while - especially now that I am not so young - I long for the quiet peacefulness of rural countryside. What we managed to find was not quite as peaceful as the countryside but offered us a few peaceful moments together as a family, enjoying nature.

A while back we decided to visit the Houston Arboretum. We liked it so much that we decided to go back with Brians parents over Thanksgiving. It's only a few miles from our house but it feels like you way outside of the city (apart from the traffic noise that you can hear from some of the trails. Eh - you win some and you lose some). There are over five miles of free walking trails covering forests, ponds and wetlands. There is a discover center as well for grown ups and little ones alike to learn more about the habitats and wildlife at the Arboretum.

Last year (2011) Houston went through a major drought. We could see a lot of the trees that had died from the drought and notice how the ones that survived were struggling to stay alive. And even though we went at a time of year that is not particularly pretty (I imagine spring, summer and fall are all more aesthetically pleasing times of the year to visit) we still enjoyed walking along the paths and enjoying a little quiet time.

We have been having some chilly weather lately but as soon as it warms up I fully plan on taking Kaitlin here for walks. It is easy enough to put her in the jogging stroller or Ergo carrier and get lost exploring the trains for an hour or so. And soon she will be able to walk the trails with us!

Houston Arboretum and Nature Center

Grounds and Trails are open 7 days/week from 7am-dusk

Monday, August 06, 2012

Lake Waccabuc

We spent the last couple of weeks driving all over the state of New York on vacation. We visited both of our families in Central NY and Long Island, but first we took a few days to ourselves and had a little vacation just the three of us. We knew we wanted to have a few quiet days to ourselves before the madness of visiting family. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE our families and LOVED introducing Kaitlin to everyone. But we knew it was going to be crazy town. We wanted somewhere quiet for us to go, but that wasn't too far out of the way (we had limited time and a newborn in the car with us after all). Our good friends knew of a place we could rent, in a location that we discovered last year at their wedding - Lake Waccabuc. You heard all about their amazing wedding at Winvian, but what I only briefly talked about their rehearsal dinner at the grooms parents lake house on Lake Waccabuc.

It was perfect - exactly what we were looking for. We had a small two bedroom cottage on the lake (which happened to be right next door to our friends place!) which had a big deck and access to the water. It was small but perfect for our family of three. Lake Waccabuc is small (less than 150 acres) and only small boats are allowed on it, making it a peaceful retreat. It is located in Westchester county in New York but is very close to Ridgefield, CT which is a super cute town with lots of shops and dining, perfect for an afternoon stroll.

What did we do while we were there?

A whole lot of nothing.

Well, I guess that's not entirely true.

Our friends have a couple paddle boards which made Brian a happy boy. They also have a small boat which we would take out to go swimming. (there are lots of rocks to jump off of and rope swings to jump from)

We grilled almost every night, and had a few friends stop by to meet Kaitlin. We even got a chance to sleep in once or twice now that Kaitlin sleeps almost through the whole night.

We set off fireworks and took walks around the lake. We watched a lot of sunsets and ate a lot of smores.

And by the time our stay had come to an end we were relaxed and recharged, ready to ~~finish~~ start our vacation with all of our friends and family.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Celebrating an Anniversary

Today we are lucky enough to celebrate two milestones. The first milestone is our second wedding anniversary. The second is Kaitlin's one month birthday (see a separate post on the mini traveling cupcake for that one!)

Even though I have been blogging for almost four years, it occurred to me the other day that I never blogged about our wedding day. During that time blogging had taken a back seat to a very busy job and, of course, wedding planning. Planning our wedding was the most fun I have ever had. I loved every minute of it. It was difficult, seeing how we were living in London and getting married in New York City, but thanks to the internet and a lot of convenient work trips back to NYC we managed to get everything done.

And it was the perfect day.

We got married at the same place where we got engaged - Carl Schurz Park on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. We had a short but sweet ceremony (that I wrote myself) and Brians best friend was our officiant. We had a cocktail reception afterwards that combined (in my opinion) the two best parts of a reception - cocktail hour and dancing! Afterwards a bunch of us (including my parents!) went out to a bar and danced until the early hours of the morning. I woke up the next day with no voice - a sure sign of a good party.

And the best part about that day is that I got to marry my best friend and all of our very best friends and family were there to witness and share our love. I have never felt more loved than I did on that day, and I will treasure that always.

Enough sentimental blabbing from me - I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story! All photos were taken by the amazing Kiersten of Prema Photographic. She is the sweetest, nicest girl and we had a blast hanging out with her all day.

(Warning - this is a photo heavy post. Even though its been two years I still have trouble narrowing down my favorites!)