Best. Hot Chocolate. Ever

Jason brought some Chocolate A La Taza home from Spain late last year. It is a giant bar of chocolate specifically for making hot chocolate. When I tell you it is the best hot chocolate in the world, it really doesn't do it justice. It is like drinking melted European chocolate from a cup -- amazing. If you even visit Spain or find some Chocolate A La Taza, buy it!


On a side note, this is blog post 101 -- we passed 100 -- cheers to us, and to you, our faithful readers!

xoxo

Desert Botanical Gardens

Last weekend we went to the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. Jason left for Miami on Sunday morning, so we went down on Saturday for some warm weather and fun.

Besides a visit to the Botanical Gardens, we bought Jason a new suit at H&M and watched the Packers win over the Atlanta Falcons. As I type, I am basking in the glory of this week's victory over Chicago -- Super Bowl here we come!!

Here are some pictures I snapped at the Botanical Gardens. We would recommend visiting during spring to see more of the wildflowers in bloom, but the cacti were pretty cool.

Oak Creek in Winter

You may remember an earlier post from last year when Jason and I hiked Oak Creek Canyon. It looked much different this time around, covered in snow and ice. It was a little chilly, but the views are so worth it.

Icicles the size of logs


The Oak Creek runs right through the canyon and to follow the trail you have to pass the creek in a number of spots. There was a moderate layer of ice and rock and you could hear the water bubbling along underneath - it was really peaceful. Here is Jason testing out a spot of ice


A really great day; absolutely one of our favorite local places.

Side note, this past Friday was our 2-year Flagstaff anniversary -- so hard to believe another year has flown by! xoxo

Good Friends

I missed this photo from my Christmas post. Whenever we are in Boston we try to meet up with two of Jason's fraternity brothers from WPI and their wives. What is better than a warm bar, frothy beer and non-stop laughs? No matter the time we always have fun with this group; this night was no exception.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Whether you found yourself at home or on the road, we hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! We recharged our batteries with a visit back East. Unfortunately, Jason came down with not 1, but 2 colds over the 8 day holiday. He buddied up to his bottle of NyQuil and slept a lot. On a positive, we had great luck with our flights; on time all the way, despite the 24 hour blizzard that ripped through Rhode Island and Massachusetts. We were literally one of only a few flights that left that day -- very lucky!

Our trip started in Boston -- as always it did not disappoint. The North End was decorated beautifully for Christmas




We ate lunch in our favorite restaurant, Neptune Oyster -- this cannot possibly be the first time I've mentioned it?! I waited all year for this heavenly lobster feast


obviously I hated it...


I love the style of this restaurant: subway tiles, marble bar, mirrors, vintage details -- it has a clean and modern, but warm feeling.


Or, maybe it was the bubbly warming us...


Not bad for red eye flight and 3 hours of sleep, right?


Rumor is that a scene in The Town was filmed in Neptune Oyster. Haven't confirmed this yet though, but it should be coming soon from Netflix.

We saw the Nutcracker (fantastic!!) in the afternoon and met friends for dinner. Jason and I outside Fig.


The temperature was chill-you-to-the-bone-cold, so we had to indulge in a few pints of Sam Adams Winter Lager and warming conversation at The Beantown Pub before finally getting some sleep.

We took the commuter rail to Providence, RI and spent a few days with Jason's parents, brothers, sister-in-law and our two nieces, Emelie and Juliette.



Rudolph the Red-Nosed Emelie:

From Drop Box

Spending time with my smiley little girl, Juliette. Must be the happiest baby ever...

From Drop Box

We exchanged presents, ate and ate, watched football and tried to stay safe indoors from the blizzard.

From Providence, RI we went to South Carolina to visit my mum, dad and 2 brothers. We opened more presents, continued to eat and just "vegged out" as my mum says. By this point Jason was on for cold #2 so he spent a lot of time in bed:( He did come downstairs for a few marathon t.v. sessions with Tim. I wish I had a picture of this because it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. A lot can be said for staying in your pajamas and cuddling up on the couch until mid-afternoon:) We did get out one night for a few drinks and dinner -- Jason snapped this picture of me with Richard and Tim.



As always, the trip was too short. We especially wish we could have had more time to visit with some more of our wonderful friends in South and North Carolina. Maybe next visit we will have less sickness and more time. Love to everyone back East.

Back here in Flagstaff our Christmas decorations are still up...I can't stand to take them down until at least next weekend:) I didn't have time to post before the holiday, so here are a few snapshots of our decorations.


We pick a new decoration each year. This year it was Big Ben for our 2010 London trip.






Sorry for the longest post ever, I hope you enjoy the pictures. Happy 2011!!

Jingle Bell Run

So if you remember from some earlier posts I set a goal to run a 5K by the end of the year. It took me four months of gradually increasing my running after work and building my confidence, but I finished the Jingle Bell 5K in Phoenix this past Saturday! (And I ran...ok jogged...the whole way!!) Everyone asks my time...let me just say it was slow enough to finish behind more than 1 Phoenix retiree. Jason ran the race also and was gracious enough to run with me, although he could have gone much faster. He won major husband points that day:)

We are packing and getting ready for our Holiday tour through Boston, Providence, and South Carolina. Can't wait to see family and friends, indulge in delicious holiday foods and relax. It's been another eventful year for both Jason and I; we are grateful to see it slow down, if only for 1 week. We'll be back to Flagstaff to ring in the New Year. We'll be sure to post lots of pictures when we return. Happy and safe Holidays to all!!

XOXO - Helen, Jason & Maddie

Beer in the Bathtub Part II

The final product was as delicious as it looks. Blue Ribbon!