Later that afternoon we continued on our journey towards Los Alamos, CA, where we stayed in the most unique bed and breakfast. Click here to check out the website. Click on the “suites” link on the left to check out the different bedrooms. After some deliberation we decided to stay in the "Egyptian Room". It was the coolest room ever!! The ceiling was draped with material in order to resemble a sheik’s tent and the bathroom door was a King Tut statue. You had to pull on his beard to open the door. It had a fireplace, hot tub and remote controlled lights (allowed you to choose the combinations of color that you wanted). It even had Egyptian music playing and its own “Egyptian scent”. Ours was also the only room to have its own personal patio that overlooked the tree lined streets below. As we were leaving I asked the hostess what the old ship in the backyard was for. She informed us that the owner is currently renovating it to be the 7th guestroom. The theme will be Cast Away. Awesome!! Once that one is finished he wants to build a Tree House Room. Like an actual room in a tree! How cool would that be!? We definitely want to go back and stay in a couple of others.

This next post is for you babe. As we have just celebrated our one year anniversary it is only natural for me to look back on our previous year together and reminisce on all the wonderful moments we have spent together. Our moments range from fishing and camping to vacations and Broadway shows. Amidst all of these I realize the only reason they mean anything is because of you. You make every day a little bit brighter. You make every sunrise and sunset a little bit grander. You make every joke a little bit funnier. You make every song a little bit sweeter. You make my life a whole lot better. As is stated in a well-versed song, “You are the reason I believe in love. My dreams came true because of you.” You truly are my everything. And since I have so many things to be grateful for, I had to narrow my list to include those closest to my heart:

Thank you for loving me and teaching me how to trust. Thank you for needing me. Thank you for holding me when I need it most. Thank you for lifting me up when I am down. Thank you for holding my hand everywhere we go. Thank you for putting your arm around me and holding me close. Thank you for opening the door for me each and every time. Thank you for taking care of me when I am sick. Thank you for all the sweet notes you write and leave for me to find. Thank you for watching “cheesy romantic movies” from time to time because you know I want to. Thank you for calling me in the middle of the day just to say hi. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication in taking care of our family. Thank you for all the fun trips and unforgettable memories. Thank you for being a spiritual giant. You teach me something important nearly every day through your example. Thank you for being such a great listener, even when I’m sharing my newest “nutrition fact.” Thank you for being open-minded and willing to try new things (i.e. musicals, vegetarian-style dishes). Thank you for always making me laugh: intentionally or not. Thank you for singing me songs. Thank you for asking me to dance, even when it’s just in our kitchen. Thank you for rubbing my feet and painting my nails. Thank you for being the best food chopper in the whole world. You make dinner so much easier. Thank you for all the picnic dinners and breakfasts in bed. Thank you for all the kisses and all the hugs. Thank you for loving me ALWAYS and in ALL ways. And ultimately, thank you for teaching me what true love really means. And because of this last thing, you will always be mi heroé and my best friend. I love you babe!

inside the Lodge

Darren sent these flowers to me at work wishing me a happy anniversary. He is the king of surprises. I never know what he's going to do. Funny story...the night after receiving the flowers, Darren and I had a conversation similar to the following:


Me: Babe...thank you so much for the flowers. It was so sweet of you. I love them. And especially the color. I've always loved orange roses.

Darren's response: Orange?

Me: Um...ya. Orange.

Darren: They were supposed to be red.

Me: Really? Well...they are orange.

So apparently Darren had ordered red roses in an orange vase in order to match our wedding colors. Cute idea but not exactly executed according to plans. But once I convinced him how much I loved the color and how perfect it turned out, he decided this was one mistake worth making. Thanks again babe! They were absolutely perfect! :)

In June, Darren and I went on vacation to San Francisco. Darren had been there once when he was a child to visit family but I had never been. It just so happens that we went the weekend of my birthday, so it was an amazing gift!

Our first day there we walked to Chinatown and ate lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant called the House of Nan King. It was the best Chinese food ever! Darren ordered sweet-honey glazed beef with sweet bread (basically a tortilla) and what tasted like cooked limes. It was sooooo good! After lunch, we walked around Chinatown and looked through all the shops. Since our bedroom is done in oriental decor, we looked for an authentic-looking oriental tapestry that we could hang on the wall but had no luck. I did find a cute purse and scripture bag though.

After Chinatown, we walked through a portion of Little Italy on our way to Coit Tower/Telegraph Hill. We then headed down the sloped streets to Pier 39 where we saw sea lions on the dock, break dance street performers, a painting enthusiast and a shoe shiner. All this definitely adds to the San Franciscan personality.

After a long day of walking (about 7 hours up to this point), we ate dinner at a really good restaurant called the Pompeii Grotto. We sat outside and enjoyed the cool, ocean air while eating pasta and shrimp. I was sooooo hungry (as you can see from the bread picture above) but couldn't even finish half of my plate there was so much food. After this meal Darren and I decided to start sharing entrées since the portion sizes were way to big to finish in one sitting.

After dinner we went to Ghirardelli Square and sampled some fabulous chocolate but were too stuffed to buy anything more. We then walked down to the San Francisco bay to sit and watch the colors of the sunset sky on the calm, bay waters. We got a picture of a ship in the harbor. It looked so regal sitting there in the still waters. It felt as though we had stepped back in time for a small moment. It was a beautiful night to be in San Francisco with the man I love :)

After it got dark, we rode the trolley from the bay to our hotel in Union Square. We decided it was the best $10 we spent the entire trip. There is no way we could have made it 12 blocks up hill. And not just any hills… San Francisco hills! It would have take us 2 hours to get back to the hotel. Once we got back to the hotel we laid down on the bed and fell asleep. We woke up at about 2AM and decided we should get ready for bed. I guess that’s what happens when you walk for 9 hours in one day. Fun times though!

The next morning we picked up a rental car across the street and headed down the coast to Monterey. We checked into our bed and breakfast, The Martine Inn and then went and walked around part of Cannery Row. We ate clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl at The Fish Hopper (best clam chowder ever) and then went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I had never been to an aquarium and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We saw lots of cool stuff: huge tuna fish (I had no idea they were that big), sharks, sting rays, etc. The coolest part was probably the seahorse exhibit. Take a look at some of the pictures below.

After the aquarium we went back to the inn and relaxed for a bit and then walked down the bay to watch the sunset.

The next morning we ate breakfast at the Martine Inn. They had this seating area with wall-to-wall windows that overlooked the ocean. It was an amazing view. Just as breakfast was being served, the hostess came to our table holding a small white cake with a red rose and candles on top. She began singing "Happy Birthday" and set the cake on the table in front of me. I looked at Darren with shocked disbelief to see a look of mischief and amusement in his eyes. He had set it up weeks before so that everything would be perfect for my birthday. It was the sweetest thing ever!! A perfect way to spend my 27th birthday.

After breakfast, we went to church in Seaside and afterwards drove a 17 mile stretch of highway along the coast from Monterey to Carmel, dubbed "The 17-mile drive." Clever! We were able to see some really pretty beaches. After "this drive", we drove through part of Carmel Valley and saw some of the working vineyards. We then decided to stop at Pt. Lobos State Park for a short walk down to the beach. We then drove back to Monterey and ate lunch at the Old Fisherman’s Grotto on Fisherman’s Wharf. We had Pesto Salmon with saffron rice. Once again…yummy!! After dinner, we reluctantly left Monterey to drive back to San Fran. (lots of driving but saw some amazing scenery) :)

Our final day in San Francisco was spent at Golden Gate State Park. We wanted to see the Botanical Garden and the Japanese Tea Garden. Once we actually found these gardens it was great but the process was exhausting. First, we didn’t have a detailed map, second, there was not one single sign in the whole park that pointed in the right direction. It was ridiculous! At one point we even ended up walking on the side of the freeway. Yeah…you read right. We were actually walking on the side of the freeway.Once again, ridiculous! Once we finally found it, it was nowhere in the same vicinity as where the map showed. Gotta love life's little adventures :)

In the Botanical Garden we saw some guy holding an acorn near his pant leg, about mid thigh, trying to get a squirrel to climb up his leg to get it. I couldn't believe it when the squirrel actually ran up his leg and grabbed the acorn from his hand. Poor thing though. While trying to steal the loot and make a get-a-away, his back legs got stuck in the man's pant leg and ended up hanging upside down with the acorn still clutched in its hands. It was hilarious! He was finally able to detach and run away with his dinner.

We flew out of San Francisco later that afternoon. With so many fun things to see and do, I would say it was another amazing trip by "The Browns Travelers"!

I first saw a special on Andre Rieu and the Johann Strauss orchestra back in 2004 on PBS. I heard the music from another room and came into the living room to see what it was. I sat down and watched the hour long special “Live in Dublin” and instantly fell in love with the music. I decided then and there that someday I would go to one of his shows. It is basically a classical music concert that includes waltzes, polkas and operatic solos. But rather than just sitting and clapping at the end of each song, these concerts encourage audiences to dance the waltz in the aisles, to stand and sway with the music, to jump up and down and so forth. The orchestra and singers are all very ornately dressed and there’s even a little bit of actors’ theatre involved. It also amazes me how many different languages he can speak. Whatever country he is in he speaks the native language. Crazy!!

So twice a year or so I would see one of the PBS specials, “Live in Tuscany”, “Live in Vienna”, “Live in Dresden” and wish that I could be in one of these beautiful, magical places to watch this amazing production. Well in June I was finally able to go!! And who better to go with than my handsome husband. Although it wasn’t Ireland or Austria, it was still so much fun!! For a person whose music collection consists mostly of classical music and musical soundtracks, this was the perfect concert. Thanks babe for being the one to go with me :)

Here are some of the pictures we took from the concert as well as a video clip from online. It will give you a good idea of what we experienced (although ours wasn’t outside in front of a castle).







This is one of my favorites...