I turned on our computer tonight for the the first time in since Denali chewed through the power cord. After months without a functioning laptop we finally got another power cord.
I saw these on the desk top and thought I should post them…..pictures from the Muse concert with mom & dad vanderkwaak, back in October. It was such an amazing show!!
Last month Nick turned the BIG 3.0.!! I love birthdays and wouldn’t let this milestone pass without a decent celebration.
Nick’s last hurrah in his 20′s was a neighborhood bar crawl. It’s theme “Party While You’re Young” started at Mezcal tequila bar and restaurant then progressed to a few surrounding bars.
Nick, Andrew, Kelly, Mark, and Diana hanging out at Goosetown Pub
It's not a fiesta without tacos and margaritas from Mezcal. The same restaurant we had our first date!
The boys...keeping the juke box under control
I “surprised” Nick with a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico for the weekend. My loose lips gave the surprise away but the trip was still lots of fun. We loved walking around the historic downtown (it is such a different type of city than other places we have visited), exploring the many galleries on Canyon Rd, enjoying the classic adobe architecture with blues doors, and visiting some great museums including the Georgia O’Keefe Museum. Here are some pics from google…
Santa Fe is an artist's town. We spent hours walking Canyon Rd, a mile long strip lined with galleries filled with sculptures and paintings. Some of the pieces cost more than our house!
Santa Fe's down town plaza was the end of the Santa Fe Trail and hold a lot of history
I loved the Georgia O'Keefe museum. I remember learning about her in elementary school. She uses natural elements in an abstract manner. Her pictures are crisp and colorful.
We learned a lot about adobe buildings and the striking blue doors and windows
Finally Nick’s birthday DAY arrived. I planned to cook a nice meal for him but we ordered Thai food instead. I worked the night before and was so tired I bought the groceries but couldn’t manage to cook. He opened presents, we looked through his scrap books and he blew out candles on a yummy fruit tart.
The next night I made Nick a special birthday dinner from the Vegetarian Times Magazine. We enjoyed a yummy bottle of Malbec with Roasted Pear Salad and Wild Mushroom & Caramelized Onion Shepherds Pie with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Pear Salad with Chevre and Fig Vinaigrette
Nick's favorite food (mushrooms) made into a really good shepherds pie!
The birthday finale was a potluck dinner party with the theme “Cuz that’s what grown-ups do.” We converted our living room into an dinning room for 18 people, made LOTS of food, and enjoyed a great evening with friends celebrating Nick’s birthday!
A Thanksigiving-themed dinner including lots of good food made by all our friends
Our living room made a perfect place for 18 people to eat all together.
We even used our sectional couch for seating
props to Ali who was our photographer for the night!! THANKS!
It took Nick 3 tries to blow out all 30 of his birthday candles!! Not so much of a "young buck" anymore.
Another Nick-favorite...carrot cake! This one was citrus-ginger flavored and was more frosting than cake. It had 30 candles...which Nick didn't realize til days later.
Matt, Colin, Chris, John, Mike, and Nick enjoying a great night together!
As a b-day LOVER I think this was a pretty fabulous celebration! Happy Birthday Nick, I love you!! xoxoxo
Our danish memory card was missing for awhile….luckily we found it!! And now we can post some pictures of our 4 day stay with my host family on the island of Fyn and our 3 days couch surfing and sightseeing in Copenhagen! Denmark is my favorite country I’ve been to. The people, the culture, the food, the sights…it is really a wonderful place! I was so glad that Nick finally made it there and fell in love with it too! It was a very unexpected and last minute trip.
The pics are in the opposite order of our trip…and they seem to have downloaded oddly…unless I am squatier and a bit more round than I was before this trip!
We did couchsurfing in Copenhagen and stayed with Peka. He took us to some cool places -- here we're at a micro brew in his neigbhorhood.
Our Saviors Church with a golden spiral stair case. We were able to climb to the top and see spectacular views of Copenhagen and the coast of Sweden
More views of copenhagen's neighborhoods and apartment buildings
Originally built as a summer house for Christian IV in 1606 this renaissance style castle is in the heart of Copenhagen. It is surrounded by beautiful gardens. This was Nick's very first castle experience!!
Nyhaven- Copenhagen's famous canal used as a port in the 17th century. It is now a popular place to tourist and locals a like with an interesting restaurant and bar scene. We took a boat tour that started here and went around the city highlighting key sights and architecture.
This is not so much a picture of me but of all the bikes along Copenhagen's walking streets! Notice the bike lanes too.
We enjoyed plenty of buttery danishes with fruit, cream, marzipan, cinnamon!
Danish style bike taxi's in Copenhagen's city center
Our last night with my host family, enjoying wine and snacks on their deck!
My sweet English friend Joanna! We went to the same church when I lived in Denmark and have kept in touch throughout the years. Nick and I visited her and her lovely family while they were on summer holiday on the southern coast of Fyn (the island my host family lives on.)
Nick playing in the water with Joanna's husband Rolland and their 3 kids Naomi, Samuel, and Isabella
Walking in the forects along the beach. We enjoyed great conversation, english tea, and a fire on the beach. We wish we could live in Denmark and hang out with Joanna and Roland all the time!
The old part of Odense (the city I lived in 11 years ago!) Cobble stone streets, quaint story book houses, red tile roofs! This is where Hans Christian Anderson was born.
And no visit to Odense is complete without seeing the Hans Christian Anderson museum
He was obviously a brilliant man!
Nick and Susanne enjoying coffee and danishes in the afternoon on the back deck over looking their beautiful garden!
The Pryds had a few extra bikes and we rode all over town. Nick was FASCINATED by Denmark's bike culture. We have more pictures of bikes than of people or places. Denmark has special "bike lanes" that are seperated from the street and different from the pedestrian side walk. Everyone bikes everywhere and the infrastructure makes it easy and safer to bike.
crusin along!
This is an automatic bike counter that counts the number of bikes that ride past this point every day. The city also has stations with air for low tires.
Danish bikes lock to themselves, no need for bike racks to lock bikes too.
in love in denmark
A dansih ice cream cone: waffle cone, with meringue (egg whites and sugar), two scoops of ice cream, more meringue, strawberry jam, and on top, a flud bolle (chocolate covered waffer filled with whipped cream)! It is an intense sweet treat!
a speed bump...because we don't have those in America! This is Nick's appreciation of danish transportation design!
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