Our one-year wedding anniversary adventure… Adventure, there’s really no better word to describe this trip. From the moment we got on the road after we landed all the way to the Airbnb we were thrilled. The views, the spring feeling, the people and all our surroundings were pleasant. Our little “cabin looking” rental was so adorable and cozy. Spanish inspired bungalow with vaulted ceilings, loft, and a fireplace. Very well located, literally next door to the University of Washington, in the quintessential Seattle neighborhood of Montlake. We had two beds to chose from, a queen bed in the loft accessible by a ladder or a comfortable futon on the main floor – We chose the one in the loft on our first night, it had an awesome sky ceiling panel right above us! We also had a cute little kitchen and a bathroom with a tub (I finally got the bubble bath I’ve been asking hubby for!). The first day we arrived in Seattle we went to a soccer game. It was a pretty cool experience, I say it because it was the first time I got to see Americans rooting so passionately on a soccer game and we got to enjoy the match while eating some fat hot dogs. It was also the first time we really starting messing around with the new camera. The Seattle Sounders were facing the New England Revolution in their home stadium – CenturyLink Field. The game ended in a tie (3-3), but I won’t deny it was a tough one for the Sounders. They were very close to losing after being down two goals. It was nighttime already by the time the game was over, and we got rained on! We took the Link to watch the game at the stadium, and OMG our way back was a little intense – cold and wet, but yet exciting!! We had an awesome first night warming each other up! ❤ The next morning we got up and headed to the Space Needle to celebrate our one-year wedding anniversary the way we know best – brunching!! Oh Lord! How beautiful was the view from up top! Brought us great memories back from our actual wedding day at the Piertop 66, and other celebration occasions that we coincidently chose that had a sky view restaurant…
Anyways, back to the program… after an amazing brunch we headed to Avis to rent a car. We got ourselves a comfy black Sedan and Amorzinho (this is one of the many nicknames I gave my hubby) once again did a great job driving us around in a new city. We headed to the supermarket, so we could have food and snacks for our hike the next day. We also went to visit City Church, where we watched pastor Judah Smith preach and deliver a great sermon. We left the service uplifted and motivated as he reminded us that things happen at God’s timetable. I know the message impacted my husband in a certain way, but it truly impacted me as I have been going through a journey in my career as an entrepreneur, and things just doesn’t happen overnight. The next day we had to be up early for our scheduled hike to Lake 22. We were up early enough to cook ourselves a good breakfast and to pack up some freshly made sandwiches along with other snacks and our life saver - “Greens On the Go”. While hubby drove to our destination I had a fun time taking pictures of the amazing landscape that we were surrounded by. The problem when you have a camera is that you have to switch around between the camera and the cellphone. I could not stop messing with them until we arrived… well, it got worst! Lol The parking area was a little scary though; no one around, and a few warning signs about possible robbers – DON’T LEAVE ANY VALUABLE ITEM DISPLAYED IN YOUR CAR ALONE. I guess I’m being a little dramatic here. It was just a bit scary because we were alone in the middle of nowhere surrounded by rainy mountains. We took our first steps towards our long hike, moving as slow as a snail thinking we had all the time in the world. We started to take pictures and making videos from the very beginning. Hubby had brought some of his Funko Pops with him, and we had a blast using our views as a photo studio for our little Funko models. Did I tell you how awesome it is to be married to a Gemini?! The same time he is a serious and intellectual professional he can also be a goofy nerdy big kid! My hubby has this creative side and he’s not ashamed of anything, I just simply love it!! Along the way, we stopped several times. We laughed about the stories we shared, we ate, we used the bushes for emergency bathroom runs, we got romantic (calm down! Not to that extent), we slid in the mud and then up higher the snow, and we definitely made some amazing memories that we will never forget. Then after hiking for about four hours…wait for it… we made it to the top - “The Lake”! Argh, how gorgeous was that view!! We stood for a few minutes on the wooden bridge and we appreciated the view of the frozen lake with a huge mountain surrounding the lake behind it! Six miles of a challenging hike that included: a few showers; some slippery, muddy, snowy, and rocky paths; but it was definitely all worth it! Our way back to the car was at least ten times faster than our way up. Not only were we in a rush to return the car to the rental place, but we were also worried of getting caught in heavier rain. Once we made it to the car in about two hours (more or less), all we needed was to get warm. So, obviously being in Seattle we headed to one of the most distinctive coffee stores in all of Washington State. No not Starbucks, but Victrola Coffee Roasters. As expected the coffee was delicious and it hit the spot, but now with our bodies all warmed up we needed some food. One of the recommendations when it comes to food in Seattle is their teriyaki. We decided on heading to Nasai Teriyaki where we had the salmon and chicken teriyaki…YUM! Perfect choice to close a legendary day! On to the next day – Tuesday, May 2nd, we had to catch a ferry early in the morning to head to the other side of the border to Victoria, B.C. We got on the Victoria Clipper ferry right on-time and before we knew it we made it to our destination. We had a reservation at the Oswego hotel, which was conveniently located right by the port, so we could easily walk to it. Although we arrived much earlier than check in time we were able to get the keys to our badass room. Our room was so spacious, and everything about it was modern. We had a nice living room with sliding doors that had a balcony looking over the colorful town. We had a kitchen that we barely used, but was still cool to have, and our bedroom was pretty awesome. We could actually watch over the city and the beautifully illuminated Legislature from our King-sized bed, how great is that?! After we settled in, we headed to grab a bite to eat, explore the town, the mall – where hubby got a much needed foot massage, and we rented our scooter. We found a local spot, named BC Cycle to rent the scooter, and decided to stay in the area the first day to get some practice and to get to know our surroundings. Chinatown was just a few blocks away from the scooter rental shop so we definitely had to check it out! Parking was incredibly easy; made me want to have a scooter at home just for the fun and the convenience. Chinatown in Victoria has a few cute boutique stores. We stopped at some of them and almost bought souvenirs from there to take back home, but I guess we were just not in the mood to shop. All we wanted to do was to explore. Since life is not just rainbows and butterflies, something not too convenient had to happen – Mother Nature decided to pay me a visit (lucky gal!). While I stayed in with my “bestie” hubby ventured out by himself to pick up the food. Martin never ceases to amaze me; he made sure to find us some really good quality food. Hubby ventured to Nourish Kitchen and Café, located a few walking blocks from the hotel, and it has quite the hipster vibe located inside a two-story heritage house. Although all I remember from that night is that I just ate and fell back asleep I could definitely tell dinner was great. My husband is so darn thoughtful that he said he had to take me to Nourish for another meal the next morning and experience the beauty of the restaurant. He knew I barely got to enjoy our meal from the night before (I was in pain and needed sleep). Either way, I’m so glad we actually got to have a meal at Nourish; the restaurant was so unique, with a “house setting” and cozy atmosphere followed by warm and friendly service. Our next venture was to take the scooter and ride it along the coast as we headed to Butchard Gardens. Off we went on our crazy adventure on the scooter... No GPS, but a map, not a roof on top of our heads and the risk of getting rained on. Did I mention we had to return the scooter that same day? Yep! We had just a few hours to make it to the gardens and then head back to return the scooter on time. What a memorable ride!! We stopped several times along the way to take pictures, videos, and our location on the map, and even to enjoy a hot cup of soup at a tiny restaurant on the side of the road. We finally made it to the Butchart Gardens, but we had exactly an hour to enjoy that gorgeous place. We ran around like two little kids in the playground and we enjoyed ourselves seeing all the floral display. Think of all sorts of plants and flowers, I bet that your imaginations didn’t get even close to what they have in those gardens. The whole idea behind the gardens started in the early 1900’s, and let me tell you, they have done an unbelievable job, and maintenance is just spotless! Exactly an hour later, we headed back to the city to return the scooter, and we rode in that tiny little scooter like a real badass motorcycle. We had to cut through the city, in the middle of regular traffic in order to make it on time. It was quite an adrenaline rush!! Guess what?!?! We made it right on time! We pulled into the rental place exactly at 5:00 PM on the dot. Yaass!!! Think the rush was over? Wrong! We had to rush back to our hotel, pick up our belongings and catch the ferry back to Seattle at 6pm.
We were lucky to be able to return to the same Airbnb. Mostly everything we brought to this trip stayed behind when we left to Canada, and we found them safely secured when we got back to the Airbnb. Our trip was pretty much over, we just had enough time left to finish packing up and enjoy our last night in that cute little “cabin looking” place. Our anniversary trip was nothing but LEGENDARY! We are so fortunate to be able to do these things. We are also so thankful to God for providing all these opportunities and for blessing our marriage.
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March 17th, 2017 Our flight was scheduled to depart at 7:15am and my brother in law, Steven was already at our home at 5am sharp ready to drop us off early because he wanted us to be at the airport early due to the unexpected delays that have been occurring (NY had delays due to the snow storms). Well he dropped us off at Fort Lauderdale Airport, our nearby accustomed airport; however we couldn’t check-in…maybe because we forgot to check that we were departing from Miami and not Fort Lauderdale! Luckily Steven dropped us off early enough, that we managed to grab a Lyft and had him rush out from one airport to the other and make it on time to catch our flight (phew)! We made it to New York early enough to check in at the hotel and charge ourselves up. First off, let me tell you a little bit more about the hotel. We stayed at the Paper Factory Hotel and my-oh my…what an adorable hotel located in Astoria, Queens! This unique industrial boutique hotel had such beautiful décor and on top of that an amazing price compared to overpriced Manhattan hotels. It’s actually two stops from Midtown Manhattan (we highly recommend you check it out on your next visit). Our goal was to stay close to our friends and family, and to get a little bit more personal, my amazing husband wanted to show me his neighborhood from when he was a child. The weather was incredible; we arrived right at the end of winter. I believe the coldest while we were there was 29°F; however that’s not the standard compared to our sunshine state Florida. As a skin care enthusiast, the weather made me get a little concerned, but my favorite products did not let us down. Daily we faithfully moisturized our skin - early in the morning with Preventage and before bed at night with Repairage. Although hubby and I have different skin types, I love how both are cream gels that still work perfectly fine for both of us. Our first day in Astoria was quite laid back being that it was St. Patty’s day. Cristian, hubby’s cousin, came to visit us at the hotel right out of work. Cris is nothing but smiles and always knows how to brighten up a room. He was extremely pleased that we introduced him to some Brazilian coxinhas that were sold a few blocks from the hotel. There was a Brazilian market in Astoria, how cool is that?! After, Cris convinced us to go have a traditional St. Patrick’s Day dinner at his home in Valley Stream. It was quite a long ride to head there, but well worth it. Cris’ wife, Nicole cooked a delicious corned beef and cabbage meal. That certainly hit the spot for the ride back to Astoria and to meet up with our friend Kosta. Kosta is definitely one of hubby's closest friends, even in the middle of all the craziness of running his own business; he met up with us at night to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. We ended up going to a local Irish bar Kosta knew about, and after a few Irish Car Bombs and dark beers we managed to head back to our hotel. New York reminds me a lot of my hometown Sao Paulo... No need to drive your car everywhere you go, the fast pace, the mix of cultures and all the amazing food!! Even though New York offers all sorts of public transportation, we mainly relied on Uber, Lyft, or Gett to visit our friends. There are several other taxi services available that are sometimes cheaper and faster than taking the train when you’re not heading to the City (New Yorkers call Manhattan the City). The next day, we visited our friend Kosta who lives in the same building hubby used to live in when he was a kid; you can only imagine all the memories they had to share. Thankfully to Kosta, we got to experience what is trending in New York, and when it comes to food we went all out. We are foodies, so I guess I'll just mention a few places we tried. One of our best lunches was at Pies 'n' Thighs. It’s located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and the dish of the day was the Rob Evans on a biscuit entree... I can still remember savoring that melting warm sauce! Later in the day as we walked through the city we needed to warm ourselves up, so we stopped by a very interesting coffee/bike shop, called Sun and Air. This was super unique to me, it would be cool and efficient to have more hybrid stores implemented in Wynwood, near our hometown in Florida. When it comes to interesting things we saw, I must mention this cute little dog parker we spotted right outside another coffee shop. For you pet lovers, I'm sure you'd appreciate seeing something like this for your furry friend, especially if it’s snowing or raining. Speaking of furry friends, I must give a lot of credit to our friend Kosta on his new business venture - Pet Creds, his goal is to give us pet owners easy access to pet care professionals, how cool is that?! New Yorkers...always innovating things! This trip was super laid back, and although we did a lot of family and friends visits, we had our small portion of "touristic activity" too. The fun part of it all is that we got to do that with our friends from Miami, Andy and Valerie who happened to be in New York too. We planned to meet with Andy early in the morning, at the 9/11 Memorial located at the World Trade Center site, the former location of the Twin Towers. As we arrived at our meeting point, inevitably our hearts quickly filled with sorrow as we saw the names of the 3,000 victims that were killed in the 9/11 (September 11, 2001) tragedy. May God bless their souls. We headed up to the One World Observatory, everything so well put together and I can say they definitely did everything in their power to make its visitors experience as informative as possible. My poor hubby ended up upgrading me to their informative cool tablet, but I did not even end up using it. I was way too busy sipping on an amazing Uptown Manhattan cocktail and walking around enjoying the view from up top…oops! Later that day we met up with Valerie, Andy's wife. We were all starving and since both Valerie and I love sushi, we ended up having lunch at Sugarfish: Flatiron, a place that Valerie's client suggested, and boy-oh-boy how we enjoyed it. Fun fact of our meal experience was my silly self-pouring soy sauce into the sake cup, oh gee I am such a light drinker! Enough of the goofiness, let me share with you guys our experience seeing the New York suburban lifestyle…Our friends Cristian and Nicole are the cutest sweetheart couple I've ever met. They have a beautiful home in Valley Stream, Long Island, where they live with their two kids. We were fortunate to be able to see their little girl perform a ballet recital in Port Washington, a few minutes north from where they live. It was fun to see all the little kids dance moves as we watched loud moms cheering for their champions every time they set foot on stage.
This was such a short trip, but we felt so welcomed. We both feel like we have a second home in that city and perhaps I'll be writing more about our future visits. Hubby and I are just so grateful to be able to make these memories and on this trip in particular, aside from all the new things we saw it was great to see our friends prospering. We cannot wait to share more of our future experiences, and to the friends who read this, know you have a place in Florida that we will be more than happy to receive you! |