March 5, 2017

Elisa's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 39 DAYS

Sunday is not a Fun Day

Hi There!!

Well, sorry for being MIA yesterday - actually, I wrote a full blog post and then for some crazy reason - it got lost!!!

I cannot tell you how many times that has happened to me and Tanya with our blog.

It is so angering and because I had running around to do yesterday, I never quite back to re-writing all I had written.

So, let me sum up my day yesterday...

Not very exciting! lol

​I was running errands and catching up on straightening the house.  

Thank goodness I had a super fun night!!

I went out with my sissy for a girls' night of dinner and a movie.

So, we tried this new-ish place in Rockville Centre - it was a Spanish Tapas Restaurant.  Now, needless to say, there was a great deal of meat and fish on the menu - neither of which, am I the biggest fan.

BUT, we did manage to get a few really good dishes.  I snapped a few pictures for your enjoyment, but of course, as is par for the course, lately, I forgot to get a picture of the humans - me and Danielle, in this instance.

What is going on with me???  I'm definitely in another world with my photos lately.  Tanya would never let this happen!  She is the ultimate documenter and I'm failing miserably these days.

So, here are the few measly pictures I did capture:

Zucchini & Carmelized onion flatbread (c) travelincousins.com

Salmon & Asparagus (c) Travelincousins.com

The rest of our little feast included a cheese board with six different cheeses, roasted Brussel Sprouts with parmesan, and a dee-lish salad of poached pears and mixed greens.  

So sorry for the lack of pics folks.

Moving along in the evening - we made our way across the street from the restaurant to the movies to see The Shack.

I'm not sure if you read this book, when it was quite popular a few years ago, but it was probably one of the best books I have ever read.

It was not a terribly long book by any means, but it was extremely impactful.  It took me about two days to complete but the message was powerful.

Essentially, it is about an emotionally in pain's man journey and encounter with God, in the form of the Holy Trinity.  

I think for non-Christians, it might be a bit confusing, but as a Catholic Christian, it not only made sense to me but touched me on an emotional and spiritual level.

So, about the movie -- well, I thought the writing, the execution and the production were extremely WELL DONE!!

The ending differed from the book, in that there was one more important event that occurs , which was not included in the movie.  Did it hurt the movie - not if you didn't read the book.  

Danielle and I managed to strike up a conversation with a lovely trio sitting behind us after the movie and we all recounted the events of the book with specific detail and passion, critiquing the movie, in a most positive way.  But, we agreed that the book's ending might have shed more light into the full extent of the protagonist's experience.

In the end, however, we all agreed that the movie captured the book VERY well and was a must see!

I have loved Sam Worthington since his performance in the 2010 film The Debt, opposite Jessica Chastain, as the Israeli Mossad agent on a mission to capture Nazi war criminal, infamously known as "The Surgeon of Birkenau" for his medical experiments on Jews during World War II in an effort to bring him to Israel to face justice.

As a result I was very happy to see him in the role of Mackenzie in The Shack, alongside a talented cast that managed to capture the essence of their book-based characters.

Of course, the tears were running from the beginning, knowing the course of events that were to unfold and "Mac's" emotionally painful journey; and from the sounds of sniffles throughout the theatre, I was not the only one that was deeply touched. 

It was great to see The Shack with my sister since she actually gave me the book to read after she thoroughly enjoyed it.  


As far as today goes, all I can say is that I'm living the dream with the fun I've enjoyed thus far today - joke.

Hit Old Navy to pick up a few clothing items for the girls for our upcoming trip to London and Paris next month.  Considering that the temps are supposed to range between low 40's to mid 50's, I thought it best to pick up a few sweater tops for them.  

The best part is that I hit a tremendous sale!  Couple that with an extra 40% off by using my Old Navy Visa Card and since I'm a member of Ebates, I was able to link my account to get "In-store" credit for my entire purchase and thus, collect cash back.

I'd say it was a win-win!  The best part is that everything fit the girls and they liked it all! Yay!!

From clothes shopping, I headed to Stop & Shop for some food shopping for the week.  Thank goodness Gianna gave me a list of meals she wants this week, since I am plum out of ideas.

Looks like we'll be having chicken tacos, Gnocchi with tomato sauce, Chicken Parmesan and chicken burgers with roasted veggies.  Yes, I realize it is weighed quite heavily with chicken - so I'm sure we'll all be clucking by weeks' end. 

My girlies got up early to get their Science Projetcts completed for the Science Fair this coming Wednesday.
​

Kelsey working on her "Candy Experiment" project for the Science Fair this week (c) travelincousins.com

Gianna diligently working on her science project (c) travelincousins.com

My dining room floor and table has been turned into a work area. 

And that folks is a wrap for me today.   The temps are freezing out (low 20's), but, since the sun is shining, I just might venture out for a walk!

See ya back here tomorrow!

-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 15 DAYS

Don't hesitate..

Hey guys! HAPPY SUNDAY!

So I'm gonna jump right in and tell ya that I came super (and I mean) super close to really screwing things up on an upcoming trip. Totally scared myself and freaked myself out.

Yesterday Dave and I were chatting about up and coming trips while we were driving up to visit his mom.

I had mentioned something that I still needed to do - thinking that I was ahead of the curve and that making this purchase was completely unnecessary and just going to save us from ticket lines.        

WRONG. Boy was I WRONG!

When we got home I was already so wrapped up in thinking about some of these future trips that I was bouncing all around the internet doing all sorts of research when I figured that it was as good a time as any to purchase these mentioned tickets, only to find out that advance purchase of tickets was in fact necessary and that they were completely SOLD OUT!

Oh this was BAD.
​I was in disbelief and shock. I couldn't believe that I screwed up so terribly and now wrecked the perfect plans that I had for the trip. 

But I refused to take no for an answer and after much more searching (and of course spending more than twice as much) I was able to secure the tickets that I had wanted and should've purchased even earlier.

This was too close for comfort folks!! I really almost goofed. And I'm the one who books things so far in advance that I'm usually looking for calendars that do not yet exist - which is mega frustrating.

How could this happen to me of all people?!

I thought that I had already learned my lesson about buying things when you find what it is that you like - don't wait to "think" about it. You can always wait to "think" about returning it - if that is what you decide to do. But don't wait on doing or getting the things that you want, because before you know it they will be gone and the opportunity will have passed.

And here I am preaching, when I already know all of this and yet it still almost happened to me. I'm just so glad that it didn't and that I didn't take no (or SOLD OUT) for an answer.

​NEXT TIME even less hesitation!!

Well luckily it all worked out. Sure I spent more than I expected to or wanted to, but it's all good. I would have rather spend the extra then miss out. Do ya know what I mean?

​
So anyhow yesterday was pretty nice. We had a lovely brunch that I told you all about in yesterday's Daily Scoop and we had a good birthday visit with Dave's mom.  

Dave and his mom (c)travelincousins.com

It takes at least a couple of hours to get there and then at least a couple of hours to get back (and that is if the traffic is moving along), so on the way back we've started a little routine of stopping in Santa Monica for a nice hot Maca drink and dessert first. 

Strawberry Almond Cake (c)travelincousins.com

Chocolate Mousse Cake (c)travelincousins.com

Then after dessert we grabbed a small bite to eat before continuing all the way home.

We've been hooked on these little Omusubi rice balls. They are just so simple and yet so freakin' good! 

Tastes better than it looks (c)travelincousins.com

Yummy rice ball (c)travelincousins.com

As I shared with you back in January according to the Sunny Blue website:

Omusubi (also called Onigiri) are Japanese rice balls with different fillings inside, wrapped with or without nori. Sunny Blue is proud to be the first and only omusubi store in Southern California, where we make omusubi fresh daily or made to order.

In Japan, people of all ages eat omusubi everyday like we eat sandwiches here in the United States. It is a grab and go for our customers to savor them any time and anywhere.
Omusubi is derived from a Japanese word “musubu” which means to hold together or connect. 

If you have the chance to try this yummy Japanese fast food you should just go for it! 

Personally I wish they had a closer location - but for now we have to trek up to LA to get our fix.

The remainder of the night was really just working on future trips and hanging with the fam bam.

As for today I am about to head on out and take Cosette to visit Dream and at some point hit up Steinmart and maybe the mall - I've got to find a birthday outfit and start shopping for our Easter attire!

Hope you enjoy what's left of your weekend.

Catch ya back here tomorrow,
​-T