Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Savannah


I have been trying to find a long weekend to squeeze in a visit to see Maddy probably since the weekend we moved from Texas. Of course there are the killer workouts, the shopping, and the chatting but probably one of the biggest reasons was to finally meet this little darling.



I can't believe how big she is! It seemed like just yesterday Maddy was 9 months pregnant, time goes by so fast. Long story short this munchkin got some baby fever going in the Schano house. Alan and I got up super early and drove down to Georgia to meet the Glassers at Tybee Island for the 4th of July. We haven't been on the beach in forever so we had a blast, except for when Alan got stung by a jellyfish and then got smacked in the face by a surfboard that I may or may not have been in charge of...opps! After getting good and sandy we headed out to downtown Savannah for the fireworks. We grabbed an ice cream cone and parked ourselves in a prime location on the riverwalk for the show.


Both Alan and Chris have been deployed to Afghanistan so as fellow army wives the 4th of July is always a proud moment for Maddy and I. The Glassers very graciously hosted us for our first two days in Georgia afterwhich we stayed at the Azelea Inn in Savannah's historical distoric.





This was our first time staying several days in a bed and breakfast and we loved it. We felt like there was a much higher level of service then you would find in a comparable hotel, not to mention the breakfast was incredible. We especially loved the luxury of having drinks poolside. Our first day we walked around the historical district, the architecture was to die for, it is really what I find myself attracted to these days. Check out this beauty.


We had dinner at The Olde Pink House which is Savannah's pride and joy. It is one of Savannah's oldest buildings and survived the revolutionary war because it was occupied by the British.


Besides being a historical landmark the food is incredible! Alan had a BLT salad which has fried green tomatoes and was featured on Food Networks's Best Thing I Ever Ate. After dinner we took advantage of Savannah's open container priviledges and strolled around downtown, we also became kozie lover's for life.


One of the things I really wanted to do in Savannah was a carriage ghost tour. Savannah was named one of the most haunted city in the United States by Ghosthunters, second only to New Orleans. The say the reason for this is that the city is literally built over their dead. Savannah had had an epidemic of yellow fever which they believed to be airbourne and when building the city didn't want to relocate cemetaries for fever of the deceased letting out "bad air". Another interesting fact was the haitians who were a superstitious people believed that painting doors blue would keep out the evil spirits of the yellow fever. This came from the thought that blue symbolized water and spirits were thought not to be able to cross water. Interestingly enough it seemed to work, it was later that discovered the yellow fever was in face transmitted by mosquitos and that lavender which was used to give the paint it's blue color is a natural mosquito repellant. The blue door has now become a Savannah tradition. The tour also went past one of the few cemetaries that was perserved, pretty spooky!



I got sick our last day in Savannah which kinda makes it a blur but overall we had a blast and as long as the Glasser's are stationed at Ft Stewart I'm sure we'll be back!












Friday, May 25, 2012

Graduation Weekend

It has been forever since Alan and I have been out to LA, and what better time than not one but two graduations! Alan sister graduated from La Salle High School and will be heading to University of California at Santa Barbara.


Marina graduated the same weekend from Cal State Long Beach and had us all over to her house for a fabulous party!



After lauren's graduation we all went to dinner to celebrate the two graduates.





Friday, May 11, 2012

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Quidam

For the past few years for Mom's birthday I have tried to get her more things to do rather than material gifts.  A few years ago I took her to see Michelle Kwan in Stars on Ice, this year we saw Cirque du Soleil, Quidam.  The show was amazing, there were funny moments with the clowns pulling audience members up to participate, thrilling moments of acrobatics and aerials, and their trademark weird moments.


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The entire show is imagined by a bored young girl named Zoe who is alienated and ignored by her parents.  She dreams up the whimsical world of Quidam as a means of escaping the monotony of her life.  



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The show's title refers to the feature character, a man without a head, carrying an umbrella and a bowler hat.


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One of the biggest surprises was the music of the show.  Not only is it beautiful and dynamic but is is performed live behind all the action.  Everything even down to the sound effects are done this way.  We had a blast and I can't wait to see another show!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Zoey's Play Date!

I took Zoey over to Ashley's for a play date with her dogs.  Romeo was visiting her sister but Reagan and Zoey were in for a treat.  We made them homemade dog treats which were even good by human standards.   Ashley took spoiling to a whole other level and insisted we serve them on plates with little goblets of milk. I think Zoey was in heaven.


Zoey had never had milk before but she loved it so much I let her have it.  Thought everything was fine until she puked in my cup holder on the way home...oh well.  Thanks for the play date Ashley and Reagan!


Monday, February 20, 2012

New York City

We hadn't seen Alan's parents in a long time since California is so far away. They were taking his sister Lauren on a college visit to NYC and so we met them up there for the weekend. Alan insisted on driving which I wasn't on board with until I realized we wouldn't be saving that much time by flying but we would be saving alot of money. We arrived Friday night and went to meet his parents in Times Square.
 
 
 

Times Square by night
 
Times Square by day
 
There were so many lights you couldn't even tell it was the middle of the night, I have never seen so many billboards in my life! Alans parents got everyone bus tour tickets which was a fantastic idea. We could use them for the whole weekend, so not only did we not have to take a cab to popular tourist spots but they pointed out areas we never would have found otherwise. We saw where the first Macy's was, where Audrey Hepburn lived, where Elizabeth Taylor got married, and from the real housewives of NYC Jill Zarins fabric store.
 
First up was the empire state building, I had been once before when I was younger but Alan had never been. With the fall of the twin towers it is now the tallest building in NYC.
 
 

 

 
We took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty but didn't get off, due to construction no one is allowed to go up. We also made a stop at Ellis Island.
 
 
We were treated to a fantastic view of the NYC skyline on the way back to the city. To the left you can see the "Freedom Tower" which will be the new World Trade 1. It will be 1776 feet tall in honor of our Independence day, in this picture it is only halfway done.
 
 
I hadn't been to NYC since 9/11 and I really wanted to see the memorial. There are two huge fountains where the north and south towers once stood, they are meant to signify emptiness and loss.
 
 
The new world trade center is just blocks away.
 
 
You can't go to NYC and not see a show, they are literally everywhere. We went to see Rent which I had never seen before. I absolutely loved it, the singing was unbelievable and it was the perfect musical to see considering it is set in NYC.
 
The last thing on my to do list was a little shopping in Soho and lunch at Little Italy. I had my all time favorite, shrimp alfredo. It was to die for! We also shared some antipasta and topped it off with the perfect cappucino!
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Valentines Day

To celebrate Valentines day Alan took me out to dinner at Backstreets where we had our first date!