Day 6 of our trip

On day 6 of our trip we were gently woken up by the crowing of the neighborhood rooster. Someone did not teach this rooster how to crow properly and instead of sounding like a rooster he sounded like a sick cat. He also continued to crow the entire day...guess he wasn't told that he was suppose to only crow in the morning. In addition, he did not like being photographed, so I pursued him all week to finally get this picture of him.



We decided to head for a walk around Esperanza and get the lay of the land. Granted it doesn't take long to walk around the town, but in blazing heat (we decided to do it mid-day) it seems like walking from San Francisco to New York. However, it was well worth it because we got to see this charming little town.

This is a famous rock that is on one of the streets leading down to the ocean.


A local store where you can buy great Puerto Rician rum.


Off of the Malecon you will see the most gorgeous ocean waters.



There are tons of snorkle, scuba diving, and bio-bay tour places around the island.


Along with some very colorful homes and business.



Unfortunately there are lots of buildings for sale and that have been abandoned. But on the bright side, if you want a tropical get away, you should buy now.



There are these trees that are amazingly beautiful around the island. They can be found in red, yellow, and purple varieties.


And if you want some handmade birdhouses, this street vendor on the Malecon will be more than happy to help you out.


And lastly, my lovely husband bought me a stunning bracelet made of beach glass from Kim's Cabin. Say hi to Peter if you stop by. He makes the most unique pieces of jewelry and you can also pick up some great beach clothes for your island stay.

Day 5 of Trip

As we woke up at the crack of dawn to drive to the Cincinnati airport, we were tired but excited about our trip to Puerto Rico. This trip was to photograph the wedding week of Pam and Ibo who were getting married on an island off of Puerto Rico called Vieques.

The island was beautiful and lush, but before I get ahead of myself let me tell you about our flight from Puerto Rico to Vieques. Below is a picture of the plane that we had to take from the main island of Puerto Rico to Vieques. The plane holds 8 passengers and is not pressurized and is very loud. I love to fly, but this really tested my love of flying.



However small the plane was, we made it to the island and were in a tropical paradise. We stayed at Villa Corals Guesthouse and our hosts were fabulous! It felt like a home away from home. Here are a few pictures of the Guesthouse and the surrounding area.

This is the porch of the Guesthouse where we spent many mornings relaxing and enjoying the breeze.


The Guesthouse also had an upstairs area where you could sit back, relax, and enjoy the views.


This is a view from the upstairs of the Guesthouse looking onto the lush greens of the island and a huge house that sat on top of this hill next to us.


You could also see the ocean from our Guesthouse and take in even more sights.


The clouds made wonderful pictures throughout the week and this is a view from the upstairs of the Guesthouse down the street and across the street.




We also had some guest that liked to sit with us on the porch of the Guesthouse enjoying the sun and breeze as well. This guest's name was Mr. Lizard.


Check back tomorrow for Day 6 of our trip and exploring the town of Esperanza.

Day 4 of Trip

On our last day in Ohio, we had breakfast at Bob Evan's with my sorority sister Beth and her husband Steven. My favorite dish at Bob Evan’s is Mush. I know it sounds horrible, but it’s delicious! It’s fried cornmeal that is crunch on the outside and a little soft in the middle. Everyone thought I was crazy for ordering it, but in the end they all loved it too.

We headed up to my hometown to visit with Trisha, my best friend, and her four boys. The boys challenged Robert to Wii video games and in the end prevailed over him. They even asked about playing him online during the weekend, and as soon as Robert is rested up he may consider it. ;-)

I got to visit with Trisha and catch up with her which made me wish that she lived closer! I totally miss hanging out with her and cooking with her. We were pretty full from breakfast so we had a light lunch mostly made from Trisha’s parents’ garden. Delicious!

For dinner we headed back down to Cincinnati with my parents to dine at Grand Finale. My favorite at Grand Finale is their desert of puff pastry with fresh berries! So yummy! It was great to visit with my friends and family and miss seeing them on a regular basis. But as we packed up for the next leg of our trip, I not only missed San Francisco very much but missed our four-legged kids too!

Tune in tomorrow for our flight to Vieques and our first full day there!

Day 3 of Trip

On day 3 of our trip to Ohio, we slept in and took an early lunch at Allyn's Cafe. Allyn's Cafe is a great little Cajun place in Cincinnati that I wish were closer so I could have lunch there every Saturday. Not only is the food amazing...I had the Mardi Gras Pasta and Robert has the Blacken Chicken Quesadilla...but they have a great, friendly staff.

We then headed off to Jungle Jim's, a place that is as big as Costco but is an actual grocery store. This store has everything you could possibly want...beer from places you can only imagine, a hot sauce section that is 4 isles and listed in alphabetical order, and a snack section that you could spend days in. Robert got beef jerky in wild flavors like Alligator, Kangaroo, and Venison. He also stocked up on hot sauces that made him sweat for hours and burnt off some of his taste buds. ;-) I grabbed the most amazing, large, blackberries that I couldn't get enough of them!

From there we drove up to my hometown to go bowling with my parent, my best friend Trisha, and her four boys that range in age from 2 to 10 years old. Bowling was fun, especially when playing pass the "baby" with Trisha's youngest. And teaching the boys how to bowl and watching them get better with each game.

After bowling we went to Marion's Pizza and got to catch up a little more with Trisha and the boys. The boys were so excited to here that the next day Robert would be coming with me to visit. They love playing video games and with Robert coming over they couldn't wait to challenge him on the Wii.

Tune in tomorrow to to find out who won the video game challenge and what happened on our last day in Ohio.

Photo of the Week - Frank

Frank is another mid-western transplant that not only is a joy to chat with but also speaks fluent Italian. Which trying to learn the language myself, I have great admiration for him! He works with one of the locale Italian schools, go to www.Italianclasses.com to find out more about the school. In addition he has a brother that live in Italy full time and a wonderful wife, Katie, who organized his birthday party with his kids, grand kids, and brother.

Check out the photo of Katie and Frank here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhondagiedt/3807819999/

What's been going on...

Well it has been a crazy few weeks with a vacation, a destination wedding, and a local wedding back in the Bay Area. So I thought I would recap everything over the next several days. The trip started on July 23rd and we headed to Ohio to visit my friends and family.

Day 1 and 2 of the trip
Flying to Ohio takes all day. You get up before the crack of dawn, feed the dog, say bye to the cats, and beg a friend to drive you to the airport at 5am. (Thanks Susan!) You then sit on a plane forever and a day to arrive in Ohio. We had a layover...and when I say layover I mean we barely made the connection for our flight...in Dallas. This layover was just an excuse for our bags to not make the connection and start off our trip with a bang. Luckily though, my hubby was smart and we packed extra clothes just in case this happened.

Once we got to Ohio, we headed to the hotel and then off on what has become a tradition with Robert and I. Robert was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area so he has not experienced a lot of the chain restaurants that Ohio has. Therefore, on our yearly trips back, we try new restaurants that he hasn't been to. For our first meal in the mid-west, we headed to Bufflo Rings & Wings. Anyone that knows my husband knows that he loves hot and spicy food...especially hot sauces. And Buffalo Rings & Wings didn't disappoint. With their atomic sauce he was sweating and sucking down "pop" (or soda as we call it out here) like no tomorrow.

With a nice meal we headed back to the hotel to rest up for the next day. On day 2 of our trip, Robert played a round of golf at Beavercreek Golf Club and enjoyed every minute of it. I got to take a trip down memory lane by going through old photos with my Mom and packing them up to ship back home. But of course, I couldn't stop in Ohio without going to Skyline Chili. I love this chili so much that I have it shipped out to me in California, but nothing beats the real thing in the resturant.

After picking up Robert from golf, we headed back to Cincinnati to go to my favorite resturant, The Precinct. This is absolutely the best steak in the world...don't believe me, grab a flight and go try it. It's worth the flight! There is no steak that can touch what they do at The Precinct and the staff is so wonderful that you never ever want to leave. And to top it off, we hadthe nicest note from the manager, Chris, when we arrived back home. Thank you Chris and everyone at The Precinct for such a wonderful time.

Check back tomorrow as I continue to recap our time away with stories and photos from the trip!

Kiauna & DeDan Engagment Photos

I received a call from Kiauna telling me that her fiance had found the perfect spot for engagement photos at a place called Marcom Rose Amphitheater in Oakland. I was so excited that the groom was getting involved in the pictures! And wow what a place he picked! I fell in love with this location as soon as I saw it. Here is a little sneak peak at some of their engagement photos.