Twenty-Five Fifty @twentyfivefity-blog - Tumblr Blog

Unflattering Photo Wednesday

Haven't done one of these in awhile. Dear me oh my. This room could give a healthy person a seizure!

Source

Milford Sound, NZ

Milford Sound is actually a fjord. It's such a beautiful place that reminds me so much of Desolation Sound. I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves since we totally lucked out with the weather that day. The day before and the one after we were there it poured and was about 40 degrees. A couple days after we were there they had a 7.1 earthquake (which is not uncommon in the area). While the drive there is horrendous and I would highly suggest taking the flying option if you were to do it, it's well worth the time.

#new zealand #travel

DQ comes out with mini Blizzard!

DQ (oh how I love you) has come out with a mini sized Blizzard! The mini, for a mint Oreo, comes in at 350 calories compared to 550 for a small! Now, we don't have to feel so bad going a little more often this summer...I mean, there is one right down the street from work. How could I resist? Seriously.

The only crappy thing? There isn't a DQ to be found in Seattle. Weird.

So what's your favorite Blizzard flavor?

#food

Queenstown, New Zealand

Random pictures from around Queenstown.

#new zealand #travel

Happy Birthday Mom!

xoxo, Gwen, Teagy and the kids!

Eastside! Bellevue Uwajimaya finally gets a new home!

Seriously. One of my all time favorite stores to shop in. I can honestly say that if some weirdo fairy came to my house tomorrow and told me that I could only grocery shop at one store for the rest of my life I wouldn't hesitate to blurt out Uwajimaya!

From when I was little, and used to poke the geoducks at their old location on South King, to tagging along with Dad trying to find the right coconut milk at the really old and tired Bellevue location (and getting bubblegum ice cream at the place next door) this place is something special to me. That's why I'm so sappy and telling you that the Bellevue location FINALLY got upgraded.

Seriously, S and I could probably spend hours at this place (and eat waaaay too much). Great produce. Really wonderful cuts of meat (shabu shabu anyone??) and a seafood counter to lust after. I'm making myself hungry! I'll hit this one up when I'm over at the dentist in a few weeks just to make sure it's up to snuff. Hehe.

#musing

Sydney - Blue Mountains

On one of our last days in Sydney, we got up early, and by early I mean I rolled J into the shower and promised him something totally artery clogging if he got up and to the train station BEFORE we were running for it. As I do recall he did get a donut with pink frosting.

View Larger Map About 2 hours outside of Sydney the Blue Mountains start and are actually part of a Heritage Site that in total has 7 National Parks and something else that I missed...obviously.

Honestly, these pictures don't do it justice. The day was humid and overcast and while I have decent Photoshop skills I don't have the time, or desire, right now to liven them up. There are better times of the year, and day, to capture them in excellent light.

The above picture looks like total crap but I swear it wasn't me! The Blue Mountains are filled with Eucalyptus trees (you know, the same plants that Koalas eat and that supposedly make them drunk...yeah, them) and the trees emit an oil that produces a blue haze. Kinda neato, eh?

Bird brain over here decided that J and I should go for a "hike". The lady at the visitors center lied. Big time. While she did tell us that I probably shouldn't do the "highway to hell" which has over 4000' of vertical climb (uh, no skanks) we would be safe doing the mild 45 minute "walk" through the mountains from the town of Katoomba to Leura. What she failed to mention is that while the walk is about 45 minutes to an hour, the HIKE out of the park when you get to Leura is straight up a hillside and takes a good 30 minutes. Note to self. Pack snacks.

Leura is a quaint (and for those who know me, you understand my use of the word quaint) town. Once you get there. What it doesn't offer in burgers with beets and pineapple (yes, together) it has in cute shops. None of which cater to my age group. Average age of the people strolling? Uh, about 70. We got caught in the rain waiting for the train, the first of which we missed by 5 minutes so we had to wait an hour for the next one.

All in all totally worth it but I understand why people go out there and stay in B&B's overnight. It's a trek.

#travel #australia

Renegade Pregnant Woman rolling list

Fact number 1: I need to stay away from reading Mommy boards Fact number 2: There are a lot of really crazy Mommy types out there that, I swear, think even air is bad Fact number 3: I have no guilt that these Mommy types try to put on me for eating and doing the following: Holy crap, call CPS (can they take away a preborn?)! I ate Froyo. Multiple times. I'm totally going to die from some weird bacteria, right? Well...not so far... Lock me up! Jimmy John's is my friend. Not every day. Not even every week (partly because in Seattle I either have to go downtown or over to UW to get it. Call me lazy but I'm not paying to park to eat a sandwich) but I eat lunch meat without heating it up every time. Do you know how crappy a toasted sandwich is after awhile? Dye my hair? Check. This one doesn't really count unless you're a die hard freak-outer. The chemicals that were in hair dye decades ago aren't there anymore and if you have a normal hairdresser they shouldn't be all freaking out to you about hormones and hair dye and what the combo of them can do. Sip(s) of wine here and there? That's got to be a felony in someone's book. Coffee, iced tea, Coke. Damn. Count that one also. Obviously not in succession. Cuff me. I cleaned the shower (while in it mind you, so we've got a lot of water, a fan and did I mention a lot of water?) with COMET. And the last time I looked, Comet is not anywhere on the "all natural" list of cleaning supplies. BTW, who the heck buys cleaning supplies at Whole Foods anyways? Did I mention that a few weeks back I had eggs Benedict? Maybe I shouldn't. Moving on... Medium rare steak? Does it come any other way? You should note though (and be impressed) that I didn't ask for it to be mooing. So that in itself is a step up. Why eat beef if you're going to cook it to a charred death? No skanks. Blue cheese dressing. Not blue cheese by itself (well, except for that one time) but totally pasteurized restaurant dressing. That in France wouldn't even pass as dressing. Yep. Ate it. You'd be happy to know that I did stalk the dressing aisle at Safeway and found a Caesar that is made with powdered eggs. Bingo! Now I can have shrimp salads! (edited to add: that Caesar dressing sucked...back to the normal stuff)

#preggo

A Peroni, Mate!

The Opera Bar is quite possibly one of the best locations that I have seen a bar in a long time. The night we went there was a showing of Carmen, so disregard the crazy woman in the really ugly green dress that photobombed the first picture.

#thirsty thursday #australia

The caption for this picture is:

"Royal blue views from the rooftop bar"

And pray tell, in who's Crayola box is that water considered "royal blue"? Ad agencies are sometimes blind I tell you. Blind. On another note, this is the Hilton Stucky in Venice. We've stayed here. It's fine. The rooftop pool is delightful.

#musing #travel #venice

Sydney Day 2 - Better know as the day we walked my thighs to death

Laugh now. We literally walked a bruise into my thigh. Let me tell you something. Everyone over the age of 12 has a body part that they wish they could change. Mine are my thighs...and I almost did get to change them...ouch. No pictures though. That would be weird.

Day two saw us going to the zoo. The most beautiful zoo I've ever seen. The picture here above is from the theater where they do the bird show. Um...multi-million dollar view anyone?

The whole zoo is built on a hill overlooking the harbo(u)r. So when I say we walked...we walked.

"Zoo"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

#travel #australia

I never thought I'd like citrus fruit...

So, I'm not a fan of citrus fruit. It makes my tummy hurt. On top of that I hate the taste of orange juice (even freshly I've-just-picked-it-off-the-tree squeezed stuff), don't really like lemons and those things called grapefruits? You can keep them. So today, I can honestly say, is the first time that I like a citrus fruit. A naval orange to boot. Blogging world, meet our little orange:

#baby

Uh, I'd like to get some insurance...

Insurance Agent (IA): Thank you for calling AAA Insurance. My name is Jill. How may I help you today?

Idiot who bought Robosaurus (Idiot): Um, yes. I'd like to get some insurance for my new vehicle.

IA: Ok, what year is it?

Idiot: 1996

IA: Make?

Idiot: Robosaurus.

IA: Excuse me? I don't seem to have that one listed...

And that's when you lose the agent into a fit of laughter...

#musing

Thirsty Thursday

Food & Wine has a very nice article in their April 2011 magazine on alcoholic infused tea cocktails. This Tea Thyme one is a great looking spring drink.

#thirsty thursday

Sydney Day 1

Day one and the sun rises. Well, actually the sun REALLY rises here since there is a hole in the ozone above the south-east portion of Australia. Burn time? 10 minutes? And we have proof. These pictures were all taken on a ferry on our way out to Manly Beach (highly rec). The harbor bridge wasn't nearly as interesting as I thought it was going to be but the Opera House is really fantastic. We spent the day wandering around getting our bearings and then the afternoon was spent over on the beach. Quite a nice little start to the vacation if I may say so myself.

#travel #australia

This one is for you Shane...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Source

Last year we were in Chicago. On one of the coldest, windiest days that I can remember. It actually snowed the previous day...so I have no idea if it really is sunny ever in Chicago in March, but it sure looks pretty!

Stay safe everyone!

#holiday

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Twenty-Five Fifty