Pinky Blog

Talk about a crazy weekend with some small mishaps but a fantastic ending!

Jared, Jon and I headed out on a Friday (before July 4th) to Wildwood (one of the many Jersey Shores) to stay with Jared’s grandmother for the weekend. She lives 3 blocks away from the boardwalk and it beats staying at a motel (are there even hotels in the area?). When we got there we discovered that Jared’s key to the place didn’t work and she was sound asleep. To make a long story short, it took us about an hour of knocking and calling to get her to open the door and we didn’t get into bed until really late (we arrived past midnight….so we didn’t sleep until at least 1:30am!).

We got up the next morning (maybe afternoon-ish) and got ready to leave to walk along the boardwalk. For some reason, I thought this “walk” along the boardwalk would be short…..so I didn’t end up putting on sunblock – GOD that was a mistake. We spent more than 12 hours in the blazing sun! We ate Mack’s Pizza TWICE. My opinion on Mack’s: FANTASTIC birch beer – it was heavenly and the pizza? It was alright, always fresh and right outta the oven. Anyways, we did the water park/amusement park combo at Morey’s Piers. We did the water stuff earlier in the day and the dry stuff at night. The piers weren’t crowded at all and I never had to wait more than a minute or 2 for a ride. At the end of the night we had a huge thing of lemonade and tasty cheese fries to end the night. Read more »

So I need to provide another update.

Every few days I get this idea to update my blog, but I find that I either, do not have a picture to go with it or I just don’t have time to post.  I really need to get better at this.

Since my Prague trip:

• I was laid-off again [!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]. Trust me, I hate that company now.  They did it when I was sick after my trip back.  Luckily they gave me 2 weeks severance even though I had only been working there for a month.  I deserved it.
• My sister turned 16!!!!  I remember her being a baby like it was just yesterday….
• I found a job [that paid even more than the place that just laid me off, which is...$10k more than what I was making in February!!] before I needed to claim unemployment!  [A HUGE Thank You to my references!]
• I usually reward myself when I get a new job, but instead I used that non-existent money to have Truffles’ teeth deep-cleaned.  His breath was god-awful before, but now there’s no smell at all!  I plan on doing a blog post about the transformation.
• My parents MOVED.  Yes, MOVED.  They’ve been living at the condo  for what, 15+ years now?  They finally jumped on a great deal on a townhouse in Chantilly.  They’ve updated a few things, such as the kitchen [I love their granite], changed the carpet, changed a few fixtures and added recessed lighting.
• I finally went to the Jersey shore [specifically, Wildwood] and had the famous, Mack’s pizza.  I rode the rides and got sunburned….
• I watched Lady GaGa in concert in Atlantic City, NJ!  She was awesomeeeeeeeeeeeeee! ♥
• I may have found beloved Christian Louboutin Bianca in Nude!!!!  More details on that later…

I think that’s about it in terms of excitement.  I’ll try to get posts up on some of the more eventful things in the list later. :]

I’ve been back from Prague for 2 weeks now and I definitely miss it.  Walking around the city was great.  I don’t think I’ve done that much walking [literally walking across from one corner of our map to the other] since Japan. ♥

Here’s a blog post that Jon wrote about one of our experiences in Prague.

Traveling in Prague recently, visited a wonderful restaurant there, called V Zatisi.

The food and decor were both quite amazing.  The room we were seated in featured a wall constructed entirely of books (below left).  The lamps were placed on books that stuck out halfway from the pile.

One thing we particularly loved were the oil and vinegar cruets, one of which we ended up bringing home for a small  fee (above right).  The restaurant offers tasting courses which are very artfully presented.  The seared foie gras was particularly heavenly and we would definitely go back for more.  Among the things we tried at V Zatisi were small courses of duck, beef, veal, fish and a heck of a good tiramisu for dessert.

Dining in Prague, as we learned during our 10 day stay, is a very unusual experience.  Our walking tour guide explained “most of the time, you won’t get good service.”  This is apparently a remnant of communist thought where everyone gets the same pay no matter what kind of job they do.  Another unfortunate thing is that many restaurants put a “service” or a “couvert” charge on the bill, up to 10%, without so much as a warning or explanation.  The wait staff also hovered at the table when payment was due and asked if we were going to leave a tip.  This happens especially to tourists, we later learned.  Oh well.  (Not to say the food wasn’t good in Prague… indeed the food and the beer were fantastic almost everywhere we tried.)

V Zatisi did not suffer from any of this.  Service, food and everything was fantastic.  The establishment was clearly built for an international audience who expect good service.

After dinner, a walk around the surrounding area at night.  Prague is a bit of a photographer’s wonderland at night and there are so many little treasures…

Isn’t the oil and vinegar cruets the cutest thing ever?  I’ve seen typical ones in kitchen gadget shops, but nothing this adorable.  We might have paid a 100% markup but the glass shop that sold this was across the bridge [maybe a 20 mins walk from where we were], it was already 7pm on a Saturday [nothing is open except restaurants and tourist souvenir shops past 6pm on a Saturday] AND it was our last night and our flight was at 8am!  In the end, I’m extremely happy that I bought it.

Is still a go!

Thank goodness the whole ash thing is sorta on the clear and I can still fly to Prague. I have a layover in London and I’m flying BA. I’m so excited. YAY!!!! *insert dancing smiley here*

<rant>

I’m slightly peeved that BA charges passengers to PAY to reserve a seat.  I don’t want to pay to reserve my seats!  I just want to sit next to my husband!  You can only reserve your seat 24 hours prior to departure.  It’s lame really.

</rant>

This is my first time to Europe and I’m so lucky that it’ll be one of the prettiest places.  Everyone that’s been says it’s so beautiful there.  Jon is gonna go bonkers with his camera and shoot everything in sight!

Mom and Aunt at the Turtle Point Gazebo

The picture was taken by my dad yesterday at the same place where I got married two years ago today, Turtle Point [Fairmont Orchid Hotel on the Big Island in Hawai'i].  They’ve built a gazebo since Jon and I got married.

My parents are vacationing in Hawai’i with my aunt and uncle at their house on the Big Island while Jon and I are in VA taking care of my 15 year old sister.  I’m glad my parents got to go back to the place they love; they rarely ever go on vacations, let alone, by themselves!

It’s amazing how two years have gone by so quickly.

Jon and I just got back from Colorado Springs [work related for me] and as we were driving from the hotel, The Broadmoor, to the Denver airport [coworkers noted that it'd be better to just drive to Colorado Springs than fly...] we were reminiscing on everything we’ve done in the past 4 years [of being together] and even the past 2 years [of being married] such as traveling domestically and internationally [Japan + Eastern Caribbean] and not to mention buying 2 homes!

No marriage [or relationship] is perfect, there will always be ups and downs, but as long as you’re honest and communicate your feelings – everything will work out in the end.

Our plans for today?  Work, exchange cards, have a nice dinner, eat a slice of strawberry + creme cake.  The cake is a tradition for us; last year we got a bigger cake to share with family.  Today, I’m getting my cake from Whole Foods in Reston.  A friend of mine says it’s super tasty!  I can hardly wait!

Maybe in a few years, I’ll have a post titled “5 Years and a BABY!” [Ha...Ha...Ha]

I love you Jonathan Van Dalen – always and forever. <3

Until next time…

I’m back from Japan and I’ll be blogging once again! I’ve finally upgraded to the latest and greatest WordPress.