Your monthly dose of business... and more!

Just wanted to share some of my most recent articles for all of you business lovers out there! Check out the issue below:

Minnesota Business (May 2013)

(My articles are on pages 12 and 18)

I also have a piece in White Bear Lake Magazine this month, too. Happy reading!

Hello Victoria!

As many of you might already know, Luke got a new job! After 9 years with Nordstrom, Luke moved on to a completely new role at a new company. He will be working at a company called National Purchasing Partners, which is owned by Virginia Mason Hospital. It's a group purchasing company that helps small businesses get discounts on a variety of products from large national vendors. Luke is really excited for a new challenge, and we are BOTH excited that we will have the same work schedules for the first time since we've known each other. It's such a blessing! And I will get way more work done at home since he won't be here to distract me in the mornings :)

So, in honor of his new job, we took a little 3-day trip to Victoria, B.C. We took the Victoria Clipper boat there, which takes about 3 hours. The weather was damp and overcast for our ride up to Victoria, but it didn't stop the mountains from making a debut!

A tugboat!

Pulling into downtown Victoria.

That day we got some breakfast at a delicious little bakery that was recommended to us, explored the town, took a nap in the park while we were waiting for our hotel room to be ready, and went out for dinner. I love vacation!

On Sunday morning, we woke up and grabbed some coffee at down the street from our hotel at Murchie's. We had seen it the day before with a line of people coming out of the door, so we assumed it must be good and gave it a try. We were NOT disappointed! Luke said he had the best Americano of his life! 

Here's me with our tray of goodies! 

After caffeinating, we headed off in search of Craigdaroch Castle. We loved walking through the neighborhoods to find this beautiful, well, castle!

King of the castle!

Here's a little bit of info if you're wondering about its history.

I have to say, we've gotten pretty good at the one-armed-self-portrait.

After that, we headed to Chinatown. Victoria has a very old and vibrant Chinatown - so many shops and restaurants! We had lunch at a sidewalk table at one of the restaurants - it was delicious!

We also saw a lot of other awesome buildings and landmarks, like the Fairmont Empress Hotel. It's a very old, fancy hotel. It's really well known for serving high tea in the afternoon each day. We didn't go to tea this time, but we hope to next time we visit.

And here's the parliament building.

Sightseeing! (That's a water taxi in the background.)

Later on Saturday we shopped around, went to a movie because it started raining, and had a fabulous dinner at a local restaurant. Luke said he had the BEST oysters of his life there :)

On Sunday, we woke up and went back to the bakery we had visited on the first day - it was that good.

Then we packed up our stuff at the hotel and headed for the National History Museum. It was really interesting, and we learned a lot about Victoria. After our visit to the museum, we headed out to the fisherman's terminal to find some fish and chips. Luke, however, took us on a meandering route that ended up being MUCH longer than anticipated. This resulted in a very crabby, wet and cold wife whining most of the way. Did I mention it was pouring out? Well, after what seemed like forever, we reached our destination, had some delicious fish and chips, and caught a water taxi back downtown. I was much happier then :)

Then we only had a couple of hours to kill before getting back on the Clipper for our trip home. There was an incredible sunset on our trip back and Luke captured these amazing photos!

 We ended up having a great trip and were so glad we got to celebrate Luke's new job. Now that we have weekends off together, I'm sure will be posting about lots more adventures!

Bon voyage, Clipper!

Tulips for Days!

Spring has sprung in the Pacific Northwest! The days are getting longer, the rain is subsiding (sometimes), the sun is shining more, and the tulips are growing!

Last week Luke's mom was able to come and visit for a few days. She brought the good weather with her too, so we decided to make a trip to the Tulip Festival in Mt. Vernon. It was a beautiful afternoon with sunny skies and 70-degree weather. The fields are really amazing. It's the most beautiful display of colors and they seem to go on forever. Here are some photos from our little excursion!

Not sure what I'm doing here, but I believe it was just a display of excitement :) 

Welcome to the tulips!

My favorite part about this photo is the strip of yellow tulips in the back. So amazing!

Trying to take some pictures of the tulips from above...

Then I illegally walked between the rows of tulips and we tried to take some jumping shots. We weren't too successful -- as you can see, my jumping skills leave much to be desired.

Can you even believe how beautiful this is? The yellow ones are my favorite!

After the tulips we drove a few minutes to Deception Pass, a bridge that connects the mainland with Whidbey Island. It's a beautiful view and you can see out across the sound all the way to the San Juan Islands.

It was a fabulous day -- and of course, we finished it off with a delicious seafood dinner :)

Happy Easter!

Last weekend we were able to make it to Salem, Oregon for Easter. We always love seeing our niece, Claire. She is an energetic, smart two-year-old who always has something funny to say. In the past few visits, she has become increasingly fond of Luke. They spent a lot of time together this trip and I think they both had lots of fun :)

Claire and Uncle Luke!

Playing with chalk. If you can see all those blue lines, according to Claire, those are drawings of my face. An artist in the making?

Claire with one of her Easter baskets! This girl was on one crazy sugar high all day long....

Luke was in charge of carving the ham. Though, I think he only wanted the job so he could taste test it first.

We also had some gorgeous weather in the Pacific Northwest last weekend. Seventy degrees and sunny? I'll take it!

Spring has sprung!

Happy Easter from us to you!

Best Friend Weekend

A few weeks ago I got a chance to go visit my best friend, Miyong, in Los Angeles. We had a fabulous time shopping, hiking, and even making a trip to the beach. It may have been cloudy, but it's still nice to see the water. Here's a couple photos from our day trip to the beach!

Can't wait for her wedding this fall!!

Viva Mexico!

Well, after a week in Mexico, it's back to reality. We were lucky enough to go back to Nuevo Vallarta this year, and this time we got to bring our friends, Sean and Kim! It was our first time ever vacationing with friends, and we had a fabulous time. We met Sean and Kim in Chicago through a mutual friend. If you don't remember, Luke lived with them for about a month when he had to move out early for work and we didn't have an apartment yet. Lucky for us, they turned out to be some of our very best friends ever! Since they live in Chicago and we are in Seattle, it was so fun to be able to spend a whole week with them.

To kick things off, here's the view from our balcony!

Of course, there was lots of time spent at the pool - especially in the lazy river. Lucky for me, since Sean was along, Luke had a brand new friend to play with and I got way more relaxation time laying by the pool. If you know my husband, you know that his amount of energy is seemingly endless. And somehow, on vacation it seems to double. But, I have to say, it's part of his charm :)

Sean and Kim also taught us a new card game, which we became slightly obsessed with. So, we spent a few evenings playing cards on the beach before dinner. Now THAT is the life....

The crew!

Luke is sporting my hat here, but I think it works on him too! Such a stylish man...

Sean and Kim!

We also found a ton of delicious local restaurants. One of our favorite things to do on vacation is find good local restaurants outside of the resort. At this restaurant, I believe Luke got a full fish of some sort, to which he proceeded to eat the eyeball of the fish and spit it out. Apparently it wasn't as edible as he thought it would be...

So, you may remember the view below from last year. We have a favorite breakfast restaurant right on the Nuevo Vallarta Marina called the Estudio Cafe. It's only about a 10 minute walk from the resort and is pretty cool because it's also an art gallery. It has great food and an amazing view. What more could you ask for?

How relaxing does this look, right?

Me and my french toast - my favorite!!

We spent one of our days visiting a small beach town called Sayulita about a half hour north of Nuevo Vallarta. It's a super small town, but I think it was one of our favorite activities. It's known for really great surfing, so we spent a bunch of time jumping in the waves and hanging out on the beach. We ended the day with dinner on the beach and a walk through town where we bought fresh churros for dessert. (The guy selling them made them right in front of us!) And then we took the Mexican bus home, which is always an experience.

Chillin' on the beach!

Me and Luke in Sayulita

On our last day of vacation, we decided to go on a boat excursion. We went with the company we went with last year (Vallarta Adventures) since we had such a good time. This year we did the Marietas tour, which took us to the Marietas islands. They are actually protected, so the islands are just really peaceful and serene. Here we are on the boat!

One of the great things about this tour is that they have a few photographers running around the whole time taking pictures. And at the end of the tour, you can purchase all the photos. So we opted in on the deal since there were four of us, and I'm so glad we did. They got some great shots!

It took about an hour or so on the catamaran to get out to the islands. And I have to say, I had a bad case of motion sickness. So, I was more than ready to jump off the boat and go snorkeling once we got there. I'm usually not a big fan of snorkeling (for some reason, I can't quite figure out how to use the snorkel without getting waterlogged, and I'm slightly afraid of fish). However, I didn't care this time. I just needed to get off that boat!

Snorkeling!

While we were snorkeling, we got to swim to a hidden beach. You can see the arc of the rocks in the photo below. When the tide is low enough, you can swim under and get to this beautiful hidden beach. 

 Team Mexico!

After we were done snorkeling, they loaded us up on some smaller fishing boats and drove us over to the most beautiful, untouched island. We spent an hour or so exploring and hanging out on the beach.

I bet you can't guess who this is spending all his time jumping waves :)

That's me, sneaking around in the sea caves!

My favorite travel buddy!

So, the photo below cracks me up. The photographer had this idea for the photo. He was actually laying in a tunnel between the rocks on the beach. To me, it resembles an akward Christmas card photo. But, you gotta love it, right?

Another great part of the trip was that we got to see humpback whales!! It was so awesome!

And of course, we can't forget to give a shout out to my parents, who let us use their time share yet again - and even bring our friends. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!