Seattle to Alaska to Canada to Arizona....oh my!

I'm back! What a wonderful world it is! Seattle is a fantastic city, and Alaska is simply beautiful.

We arrived back in Arizona late Monday night from our Alaskan cruise. I'm still getting settled back in, so I'll share some amazing photos later this week. 

Here's a sneak peak!

Dashing in Seattle at Pike's Place market. See the fish-ies!!!

Headed to Alaska

Thank you to Julie from Little Pink Rain Boots (Summer Essentials) and Shannon from More to Hollywood (Stay-cations) for their great summer guest posts last week while I was away. If you missed them, check them out!

Sincerely,
Sara Cate

Bon Voyage

Yesterday slipped through my fingers, and I haven't told you where I'm jetting off to.

DISNEY'S ALASKAN CRUISE!

Tomorrow morning, Dashing and I will fly from Arizona to Seattle, Washington where we'll meet up with Dashing's parents, sister, brother-in-law, and their 1 year old daughter Vivi. We'll gallivant around the city and board the ship on Monday. We'll be on the seas and in ports through Alaska and Canada for a whole week! 

My bags are packed and I'm ready to go (50 lbs on the dot).

Two lovely guest bloggers will be posting here next week on Tuesday and Thursday while I'm away. 

I hope you'll come check them out!

Happy Summer Vacation!

Sincerely, Sara Cate

Words of Wisdom Wednesday

Vacations are seen as an antidote to work. They are medicine, a remedy for counteracting the effects of labor.... Vacations allow us to be away from the job, to change the patterns of our day, to alter our routine, to reconfigure our actions and habits, to rediscover ourselves.

Where am I going? Find out tomorrow!

Source: herblog.com via Sara on Pinterest

It's the small things in life

After posting about our trip, I got to thinking...what was my most favorite part of the vacation?

I can tell you it definitely was not the emotional breakdown I had over Dashing's lack of free time during his Emergency Medicine residency and his stand off reaction (we're not perfect. we just continue to communicate to work it out - and that's just what we did). That was an important piece to share to segue to my favorite part. After a long, positive, encouraging, and heartfelt conversation that night on the beach and a good night's sleep, we went on a walk the next morning, hand in hand, laughing about past memories and what we were excited about for our future. We then got silly and started walking around Coronado with funny gallops, skips, and strides without a care in the world - like children frolicking in the backyard as the parents secretly giggle at the shenanigans happening in front of them. We didn't care if we looked funny - we were enjoying each others company and laughter. So even the fun moments of whooshing down a roller-coaster slope or eating the most delicious of Disneyland treats (Yum Dole Pineapple Whip!), the best moment was simply gallivanting hand in hand, laughing and smiling, with my Dashing.

To Infinity and Beyond....and then back to reality

A vacation was a much needed and welcomed event this past week. This was Dashing's first time since the beginning of June having more than 36 continuous hours off from his Emergency Medicine residency schedule - he had two whole weeks actually! It was great to get to see him relax - let alone see him at all!

During the first part of our trip, I read blogs during downtime with the sounds of the Coronado, California ocean waves crashing in the background and rays of a cool sun blanketing my SPF covered skin. I took brisk walks with the family on the beloved Coronado island (technically a peninsula). We ate at some of my favorite restaurants - if you're ever there, try Bali Hai in San Diego, the Village Pizzaria on Coronado, and The Fisherman's Restaurant in San Clemente. We played cards in the evenings while sipping on smooth Coco Loco pina coladas and relaxed the days away.

The second part of the trip was high energy as we all (that's 6 adults and my 5 month old niece) ventured north to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. This is part of our yearly trip, and we embrace it every year. Disneyland is definitely not just for kids as this was the first time (out of the 6 years I've been going with Dashing's family) that we have even had a child with us adults!

The jolly  music, the smells of cinnamon and sugar, the lights of fantasy, and the feel of being transported into a whole new world (Aladdin pun intended) draws a smile to your face without you even realizing it.

Dashing and my self-photo shoot in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. It was very overcast. There was a lot of squinting involved. You do not want to see what my photos sans sunglasses looked like...ok they were funny.

My niece (and as of last Saturday, goddaughter!) was enthralled with all of the action and hardly slept a wink! I guess the lack of sleep could have also been from us continuously sticking Minnie Mouse ears on her - it was cute though! Dashing and I were also wide-eyed indulging in our favorite old and new rides.

Favorite new ride:At the new Star Tours 3d Ride.

One of our favorite old rides: Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. YUP that 228,300 is my score - beating Dashing by almost 100,000. I rock at zapping aliens.

Our favorite Disney's California Adventure ride California Screamin' roller coaster. From top left to bottom right, Sara Cate, Dashing, MIL, SIL Miss E.

Miss E (SIL), Dashing, Miss E's Hubs, Sara Cate

I hope you all had a wonderful week. After buzzing off to infinity and beyond, I am now back to reality.

Sincerely,
Sara Cate

February = Hearts

Whether you choose to celebrate Valentine's Day or not (Dashing considers it is a Hallmark ploy), it seems to be a month of red and pink hearts galore. I think it is a great reminder to celebrate the ones you love. Yes, I said that plural. I mean whatever relationships you love - including pet babies - celebrate and relish them. So, as the month goes on, I plan to discuss a few "heart" topics.

My first topic, the traditional escape of the newly married couple...the honeymoon that is. Regardless of its potential historic beginnings, I  We want one, and we haven't had one.

Photo from e-how

Dashing and I lived together (at his place) before we were married on July 10, 2010 . We had been together for 4 1/2 years at that point. Our finances were muddled together. We shared ownership of a car. We weren't moving into a place of OURS. So the vision of a honeymoon was one that whisked me off my feet - not that the wedding didn't, but I guess I always put the two together. It was like a round 2 of the wedding in my mind. Dashing doesn't quite see it the same way, but appreciates the opportunity to spend time together doing out-of-the-norm vacation-y things. However, due to Dashing's medical school schedule, he went back to the wards the Tuesday after we were married. This is just one of the small kinds of sacrifices medical families make.

Now, we are looking for that special spot to travel to to celebrate our marriage (1 year out). This will be our first full blown vacation together as we have always taken family vacations. So what's the problem? We are on a budget and have no idea where to go! We love tropical places (I'm not talking about the jungle, more like resort style tropics with an day adventure option). We live in Phoenix, can travel in late March or late May/early June, and are open to suggestions. Hawaii, the Islands, the unknown......

Dear readers......please share with us where you have been or suggestions for a fabulous vacation on a budget!

The beautiful Coronado: A weekend getaway!

1 day off work (Friday)

1 plane trip

1 in flight beverage

1 taxi ride

= weekend of fun!

As a final hoorah before beginning the semester, a girlfriend and I decided on a quick trip to Coronado Island. Dashing, Dashing's family, and I frequent the island a lot for family getaways. This time it was time for a girls trip with my good friend Reenie Rose(this is her future blog name)! [See Dashing and I on previous outing here]

The beautiful island has film spot for Marilyn Monroe and vacation spot for Babe Ruth (just to name a few). The Hotel Del Coronado, a national landmark, is a highlight of the island in addition to it's military history. The island (actually a peninsula) creates a natural bay - perfect to protect our military ships and men. Therefore, you can imagine you get a fantastic patriotic feeling while you're there. The beautiful ocean, grand panoramic view of downtown San Diego, and picturesque homes add quite an extraordinary touch to the place. Here are a few pictures from our trip!

(Hotel Del picture from wikimedia commons - I couldn't get one this good :)

On the ferry boat

Great patriotic photo with the flag and Coronado Bridge

Our favorite island restaurant, Village Pizzaria

Fantastic statue of the famous Navy kiss next to an aircraft carrier