World Traveling Wishes

Do you dream of traveling around the world? I sure do! This week, Ryan and I will be booking our first foreign vacation: a cruise to The Bahamas! Making our plans got me thinking of all the countries I hope to visit one day. Do you have a wish list? If so, where do you want to go and why do you want to go there?

Here's my top 50 wish list! The countries/territories are listed in order of population.

China

Indonesia

Russia

Japan

Egypt

Turkey

Thailand

France

UK

Italy

South Africa

Spain

Argentina

Kenya

Poland

Morocco

Peru

Venezuela

Ghana

Australia

Chile

Netherlands

Greece

Cuba

Belgium

Portugal

Czech Republic

Sweden

Austria

Switzerland

Israel

Costa Rica

Ireland

Croatia

New Zealand

Jamaica

Fiji

Bahamas

Belize

Iceland

Maldives

Samoa

Saint Lucia

US Virgin Islands

Aruba

Antigua and Barbuda

Bermuda

St. Maarten

British Virgin Islands

Vatican City

Cake Love!

I'm admitting it. I have an addiction. I am addicted to the feeling of being loved for my food. Growing up, my mom always had baked yummies in the house. Cookies, cream cheese brownies, cupcakes, cheese bread- you name it, we had it, and our friends loved it! So, now, I'm the girl who brings yummy things to work and I send yummy things to work with Ryan when his stores earn rewards. Every month, my department celebrates birthdays and I try to bring something about every other month. I consider it practice for future kid's birthdays.

Today, my friend Caitlin came over so we could make a cake together for the birthday party at work tomorrow. She makes desserts almost as often as I do and always shares. It was great to have a buddy for this one because we were working with fondant for the first time! Even though we were both a bit intimidated, we cracked open a bottle of wine and got to work.

Caitlin and me.


Our yummy cake. (Please excuse the powdered sugar on the hearts, I'll be dusting it off tomorrow... and the lumps, we kind of knocked half the cake off the stand and had to piece it back together. Thank goodness for the wine!)


Here's a cake I made in December at the end of the Save the Whales campaign. It's the only time you're allowed to eat whales!

Snowman cake for December birthdays. The snowmen are made from rice krispie treats and they're having a marshmallow snowball fight.

I have a lot to learn/teach myself about making cakes and things, but I feel confident my future little ones are going to have some great birthday desserts!

Street Sledding

Last year, during snowmageddon, all Ryan and I could think about was how we wished we had a sled so we could play in the snow. We built a snowman on the balcony then, but couldn't really do much more because we didn't have a sled. This winter, I remembered how we felt and thought ahead. I gave Ryan a sled for Christmas! It's just a dinky disc, but enough to get the job done. We were finally prepared but have had a snowless winter! Seriously! This winter has sucked! It's been colder than normal and we can barely call the ice chunks falling from the sky snow.

Two weeks ago, we had a lucky break. It finally snowed and it finally stuck! In a few short hours, we had about five inches of snow and the plows couldn't keep up. We were so thankful to have our sled and took advantage of the most awesome hill that happened to be located right on our street. There were still some cars sliding on the roads trying to make it home after work, so we took turns on car duty as the other trudged up the hill. Here are some pictures and videos from our street corner sledding adventure!

And, just so you know... I won! I got the most distance!

More Charleston!

We started our weekend at one of Hailey and Teddy's favorite breweries: Closed for Business. Awesome atmosphere! Definitely a good time.


South Carolina is well known for its seagrass baskets. This man, Joseph Forman, is well-known for his beautiful baskets. His family has been in National Geographic and their baskets are in the Smithsonian.


Pecan fried chicken, fried okra, and mac'n'cheese from Jestine's. 'Nuff said.


Lunch at Poe's with Hailey.


Fort Sumter.


Fort Moultrie.

South Carolina

Ryan and I haven't even been married for six months and we've already taken our first separate vacations! Ryan loves spending Super Bowl weekend in Vegas and I'm tired of taking the same vacation over and over, so he went off for a boy's weekend that ended up being a combo of his birthday, a bachelor party, and the big game. I decided to go somewhere new and made plans to spend the weekend with our friend's Hailey and Teddy in Charleston, South Carolina. Hailey and I met while working together on The Hill a few years ago. We ended up having a girl's weekend because Teddy, her husband, is in med school and was glued to his books for about 90% of the weekend. Poor guy! I know he's going to be an amazing doctor though, so it was worth it.

The weekend was wonderful! Charleston is beautiful and so full of history. You all know how much I love history; I was in heaven!

We started our day with a good southern breakfast at Hominy Grill: cinnamon french toast with pecan butter and apple butter syrup and biscuits with jam. Yum! The day started a little drizzly, but that was ok. After breakfast, we spent a few hours on the most fabulous tour: Alphonso Brown's Gullah Tour. The Gullahs are a segment of the African diaspora. During the slave trade, the islands off the coast of South Carolina, Sullivan Island in particular, were like the equivalent of Ellis Island in New York. Many ships stopped at the islands first so the Africans could be examined for diseases before they were sold. On these islands, and in some areas on the continent, Africans were able to maintain much of their culture and language. In fact, the Gullah language, which is a combination of African languages, Creole, and English, is an official language. Our tour guide taught us quite a few phrases while driving us through the streets of Charleston highlighting the African, African American, and general history of Charleston. He truly is an expert. This was Hailey's first time on the tour and loved it as much as I did, even though she has lived in South Carolina for about ten years.

One of the highlights of the tour was learning about Philip Simmons, the world famous blacksmith, who is responsible for hundreds of the beautiful gates on the beautiful homes in Charleston. His talent and his humble nature are simply astounding.

Here are a few more highlight photos from the trip including the pineapple fountain, rainbow row, Fort Moultrie, and Fort Sumter in the background. Did I mention Hailey's a photographer? That would be why these pictures are awesome!

We had so much yummy food throughout the weekend, went to a bunch of galleries featuring local art, when on a sunny run right along the water, and walked all over Charleston taking in all the sites and history. It was such a wonderful weekend!