A lot of Work to Do

So Blake wants me to start a travel blog for all of our adventures. I guess the first step will be to just remember where we've gone in the short 6 years we've been married and then later create posts for the highlights of each.



                                               Here goes nothing! In the past 6 years, we've....

-Explored beautiful Maui and Oahu

-Played with monkeys, surfed, swam with sharks, and hiked the rainforests of Costa Rica

-Shared a bottle of wine on the Champ de Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

-Had high tea in London

-Been in awe of the beauty of Lauterbrunnen Valley Switzerland

-Visited majestic castles in Germany

 -Climbed mountains and whitewater rafted in Banff, Canada

-Hiked Mt. Rainier in Seattle

- Stayed at The Plaza Hotel and shopped 5th Avenue, saw Broadway plays, and ate a lot in New York City

-Walked the runway for a hair commercial, posed for a magazine, hung out with Maria Menounos and shopped Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles

-Drank too much alcohol, danced on stage with the locals, and visited the swamps of New Orleans

-Explored Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia

-Swam with stingrays in Cayman Islands

-Swam with barracuda in Cozumel, Mexico

-Saw a bear and went on a 6 hour hike in Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee

-Snorkeled and chilled in Jamaica


-Gambled in Vegas, met Brad Garrett, and cried at Phantom Of The Opera play

-Visited all over San Francisco a million times

-Skiied in Ruidoso

-Drank too much in South Carolina

......And we have Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, exploring Italy as our next upcoming adventures!

Ok  that is going to be a lot of work to blog. Pretty sure I've done enough for now. But holy moly, looking over this list I am feeling so thankful for all these amazing trips we've been fortunate enough to go on. Feels like I'm living in a dream!

Quick and Easy Skinny Iced Vanilla Latte

Hello Food world!

So let's be honest...I am obsessed with coffee. I probably get it from my Papaw, the coffee aficionado. I am also loving our Keurig coffee machine that we recently purchased. The only downside to this is when it's so hot outside, it feels weird for me to be drinking burning hot coffee. Doesn't do much to refresh and cool you down. So this weekend, I took a trip to my local Walmart and picked up some coffee creamers to experiment with my "French Vanilla Iced Coffee K-Cups." It turned out to be a huge success!

All you do is put the K-cup into the brewer like normal, but then you add ice to the cup, all the way to the top. Then turn on the brewer, when it's done take it out, then add whatever flavor creamer you want, and some Splenda to taste. The one I am trying out right now is Vanilla Caramel Breve Creme, and it's wonderful! They have so many different creamer flavors to try that I know will keep me busy for a while!

And the best part? It's skinny! The K-cup coffee itself has 0 calories, and of course Splenda has 0. The only place you get your calories from is the creamer. On this particular kind, it is 35 calories per tablespoon, and that is what I used.

So Voila! A 35 calorie iced coffee drink. MOVE OVER STARBUCKS! I have the taste, convenience, and price point to put you out of business!! Looks like I just found out what I'll be drinking every morning from now on! :)

If only these ladies had Keurigs back then!!

And in case you need further instructions: Keurig Brew Over Ice. 

Don't have a Keurig coffee machine yet? Get with the 21st century! It's great! And they have them now for as little as $100.

So go Gustare un caffè!!!

Platia Greek Kouzina Review

Hello hungry readers!

I wanted to make my first review a really easy and simple one!! So tonight I am reviewing Platia, a local gem located in Frisco. This has been my and Blake's favorite Greek restaurant for a while now. We have been going there since they first opened when they didn't really have a formal menu. Back then every time we would go there would be hardly anyone there. But now it sure has grown in popularity...I guess the word on their great food is out! Of course, they are popular for their Gyros, but there is so much more to this restaurant!

View Exhibit 1-

Avgolemono and Yigandes(Lemon chicken Soup and Giant Beans)

This lemon-soup is the best I have ever had and is my favorite item on the menu! It is by no means your ordinary chicken soup. It has chicken broth, lemon juice,orzo, as well as other unknown ingredients that combine to make it extremely creamy and delicious . And I love that there are no *chunks* of chicken in it like you usually find in chicken soups. And if you squeeze the lemon on top of it that comes with it then you just died and gone to heaven!

The Yigandes are a great find too! They are big lima beans that have a wonderful tomato, onion, and garlic flavor. I definitely reccommend trying these! And they give you a whole lot considering it is just a side!

Now for Exhibit B- Blake's meal for the night:

Yia-Yia's Kota

Blake thought this was really good. We both wondered why we had never ordered it before!The chicken was served with Greek Potatoes and Yigandes. He let me have a bite of the chicken, and I was very impressed! Extremely moist with spices all the way through! I will definitely be getting this when we come back.


Another cool things about Platia is the Saganaki which they serve on fire, while of course shouting Opa!

But one thing that really needs to be addressed with Platia, as well as most Greek restaurants, is this....
They really need to work on their pita bread/dip ratio.

 For example, here we have some delicious Tzatziki made with Greek yogurt, cucumber, and garlic...but after a few dips from each of us, the dip starts to get extremely low while the pita bread is still going strong...So it then becomes a fight to the finish to see who can eat the fastest. You don't want to get burned with a piece of pita bread in your hand with nothing left to dip it in...who in the world would eat pita bread by itself?!? It's kind of barbaric....So it's either that scenario, or we get to the end of the pita bread with a ton of dip left. And who is going to eat dip with their fingers!! Me? Ok, but it only happened once!!
So my suggestion to all Greek Restaurants is to work on your pita bread to dip ratio. That is my only complaint!

So now it's time for my official review! Please note all reviews will be on a scale of 1-10 with 10 obviously being the best and 1 being "never try this place."

Platia Greek Kouzina:

Classiness of restaurant: 4

Service: 9

Wait-Time: 9

Food Taste: 8.5

Food Presentation: 6

Cleanliness: 8

One cool thing that happened is when our waitor saw me taking pictures of  the food, he went from treating us well, like they always do, to extremely well!! You could tell he really wanted to impress! Maybe we will start getting extra-special treatment since I am now a "pro" food blogger hah!

Until next time!! :)

Our Canadian Vacation

I have had a lot of relatives and friends ask us all about the *details* of our Canadian vacation as our pictures have talked them into wanting to visit there! So even though it's been about 2 months, I thought this would be a great first "Vacation" post. This way I will get used to how I want to format my vacation posts, as well as be able to disseminate information about our trip!

First, what part of Canada were we in? 

We were in the Banff National Park area which is located in Alberta. The flight time was less than 4 hours, so a breeze in that aspect!! 

Where did we stay?

We stayed in one of the most beautiful hotels I've had the pleasure of staying in. It was called The Fairmont Banff Springs. Here is their website: Our Hotel

What did we do there?

We whitewater rafted down the Kananaskis river with a GREAT tour group called Chinook Rafting.

What else did we do there?

We took a great 4 hour guided hike through the mountains close by Lake Louise. We can thank Discover Banff for this great opportunity. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and made us feel safe the whole time!

What other adventures did you go on?

We really enjoyed a Gondola Ride thanks to Banff Gondola!

Did you see any pretty flowers?

Yes, we enjoyed a lot of beautiful sights at The Cascade Gardens.

See any wildlife?

Banff was TEEMING with wildlife! We had many up-close experiences with elk, bighorn sheep, deer, a hoary marmot, and even a bear! And the wildlife got so close to us. It was truly incredible!!!

Any other must-see's?

Yes! Johnston Canyon is a MUST-VISIT! It is a series of catwalks built into the side of the canyons! Many waterfalls and beautiful sights to see!

How was the food?

We loved the food in Canada! Most notable was The Waldhaus Restaurant located close to our hotel. The Fondue was amazing. Fondue was a recurring theme we saw around Banff!

Anything other food I should check out?

Make sure you stop by Bow Valley Grill located inside The Fairmont. So delish!

What is a dish representative of Canada?

That would be Poutine. It was delicious! It consists of French Fries, Cheese Curds, and brown gravy! Definitely not the healthiest of foods, but a good experience!

Anything else cool about Banff?

One thing Blake and I were so interested by was that it stayed light outside every night until 11:00 PM. Pretty awesome!!!

So overall, how do you rank your trip to Banff?

I would say this was honestly a perfect trip. The awe-inspiring beauty of the Canadian wildereness, combined with the up-close wildlife we saw, added to the splendor and luxury of our hotel, plus the whitewater rafting and other excursions we did.....equals...near-heaven! We definitely want to come back here! I would HIGHLY recommend visiting Banff if you are willing and able to go!

My Travel Log

I plan for this post to be where I keep track of places I have already been, places I will be going soon, and places I want to eventually travel to!! All three sections are a "Work In Progess" as I remember more  "places I've already been",  add "places we are going soon", and narrow down and add "places we want to go."


Places I have already been:
Maui- twice
Oahu- twice
Kauai-once
New York City
Boston, Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Vermont
Colorado-Estes Park & other areas
Alabama
Georgia
Louisiana 
South Carolina
Mississippi
Florida-Key West, Miami, Orlando
Georgetown, Cayman Islands
California-San Francisco, San Diego- 5 times
New Mexico
Connecticut
Falmouth, Jamaica
Cancun, Mexico
Canada, twice- First time Quebec & Montreal, second trip Banff in Alberta.
Oklahoma
Texas-pretty much everywhere


Places we are going soon:
Las Vegas, Nevada
Costa Rica- Playa Tamarindo area


Places we want to go:
Alaska-Denali
Australia-Great Barrier Reef
New Zealand
Back to Hawaii
Chicago to visit Terry :)
Grand Canyon
Africa- Victoria Falls, Ngora Ngora Crater, Wildlife Safari
Galapagos Islands
Italy
China-Great Wall
Rio De Janeiro
Papua New Guinea
Bora Bora-French Polynesia
England-London
Ireland
Germany-Bavaria
France- Paris
Iceland
Norway
Iguaza Falls- Argentina & Brazil
Russia- St. Petersburg


Are there any great vacations you have been on and would like to recommend?? Comment on here or tell me on Facebook, and maybe I'll add it to my list!

Hello Blog World!

Hello out there!After much resistance, I finally gave into the blog world. It was a long time coming, but I am actually very excited about this idea!!


This blog is going to be two-fold, with one part focusing on Blake and my adventures while traveling. I plan to give hotel recommendations(and non-recommendations if necessary), excursion ideas, pictures from our vacations, new food we experience, and travel tips along the way!


The other part of this blog will focus on something else we truly love: food! I will post reviews of restaurants, pictures of the food, and any great deals we come across. I will try to include the wait time, ambiance, service, and snobbishness factor of the restaurant. Our focus will be on fine dining, as well as multicultural and unique restaurants we find. Some restaurants will be our "tried and true favorites" such as Grimaldi's Pizza, Jorgs Cafe Vienna, etc. But some will be new places we find on our quest for delicious meals! Also, some restaurants will be local to Plano, and others will branch out to other cities in Texas. And others may be out of state and even international ones that we find on our vacations! I plan to post food reviews either every weekend, or every other weekend. 


I eventually want this blog to have an Anthony Bourdain type feel. No Reservations!!!


P.S. As our culinary adventures expand, we are going to incorporate more exercise into our lives so our waistlines don't expand too!! :)