the daily X

Weekend in New Mexico

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico with my brother and his girlfriend. They were visiting the southwest so we thought it would be fun to meet up with them at the end of their trip. It was a semi-last minute decision and I'm so glad we decided to go!

We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino which was really nice. Perfect for hanging out at night and watching MTV in the casino bar. 

The best part was this adobe structure which was home to a huge hot tub. Very cool and relaxing.

We visited Nob Hill for breakfast and shopping Saturday morning.

Then took the Turquoise Trail out to Madrid for drinks and shopping in the afternoon.

Madrid is a such a funky little town. I love it.

For dinner we enjoyed the most delicious New Mexican food at Cervantes.

This photo was taken by my brother Saturday evening. Result of the Gila National Forest wildfire.

Sunday morning we headed to Old Town where we saw Native American dancers perform.

We also shopped for some artwork around the square.

And took photos of the beautiful San Felipe church.

Then off to the Rio Grande Zoo. I'm a sucker for a good zoo and this one was pretty good.

To finish the trip we ate at Kelly's Brew Pub in Nob Hill. I can never pass up an opportunity to eat at a place named Kelly's.

Chicago + Instagram

We spent the weekend in Chicago with our friends and their little one and had the best time ever. I've never been to the city with my new friend Instagram and I think I'm falling in love.

We Picked the Pickers

Headed west this weekend to visit some friends and stopped in Le Claire, Iowa to check out Mike Wolfe's Antique Archaeology store from American Pickers. Definitely something to see if you are in the area. We ended up buying a few metal letterpress numbers and a letter X for the collection of course. The following day we actually saw Frank Fritz selling stuff at a street festival in Davenport. Our friend got him to sign this magnet for us...

We visited the store on July 29 so it seemed like a good idea to buy the numbers 7 2 9.

And photos from the store...

Thank You Pacific Northwest

Another great trip! The place never disappoints. Even though it was not as warm as last year and it rained a little, it was still fantastic.

We started the trip off in Seattle since my mom has never been. Friday morning we enjoyed coffee and breakfast at Glo's and then headed out to see the city. 

We went up in the Space Needle which was actually a first for me and my brother. Mr. X and I have been to it, just never went up. 

The restaurant just below the observation deck rotates during lunch and dinner. 5 feet every minute. Not sure I would be able to sit through an entire meal while moving, but it was fun to see.

We drove by a cool sculpture park on the way to the market that I will definitely check out next time.

Walked around one of my favorite places... Pike Place Market. Love that they give out samples of peaches and cherries.

Stopped at Kinokuniya bookstore on the way out of town to buy some washi tape. Interesting store that I would for sure go back to.

Once we got to Portland we enjoyed some great food and beer at Produce Row Cafe. Another favorite place of mine.

Enjoyed a cool breakfast at Tasty n Sons Saturday morning.

My brother and I dreamed of owning iPads.

Ate an AMAZING brunch at Salty's Sunday morning. Oyster eggs Benedict, $5 bottomless mimosas, and a 4 foot chocolate fountain.

And our number one reason for our visit...TREK IN THE PARK season 3!

Another phenomenal job! If you are in the Portland area I highly recommend checking it out. They will run the next 2 weekends in Woodlawn Park.

Oh, did I mention we flew first class? Yeah. So sweet. So not looking forward to flying coach next time. This was my lunch on the way out.  Glass of wine, Cesar salad and feta, olive pizza. 

MKE + Summerfest

This weekend Mr. X and I headed up to Milwaukee for a little anniversary celebration. Our first stop was the Harley-Davidson Museum in downtown Milwaukee. It was phenomenal. Definitely up in my top 5 favorite museums. 

This was one of Mr. X's favorite spots....the archives. More than 450 motorcycles in the collection that started in 1915. It was really cool.

This was my favorite spot....a wall full of vintage photographs of people with their Harley's. Love the look of it. Not something you would expect in a motorcycle museum.

Christopher "Evel Knievel" Xenos.

After the museum we went for dinner and enjoyed drinks at a bar on the Milwaukee River. It was a beautiful night. And even though the color is so far off on this photo, it is one of my favoriets from the weekend. Maybe I'll convert it to black and white.

Saturday morning our friends came up to go to Summerfest with us. 

Our favorite band of the day, the one we wanted to see the most, Stephen Marley played on the Harley-Davidson stage. We were able to shimmy our way up to about the 12th row. It was pretty great.

And to finish off the weekend, a 4th of July parade. We saw this driving through town to get to the parade. Happy 4th! 

On The Road Album - Complete

I finally finished my On The Road album yesterday. This entire project was fantastic and I highly recommend signing up for this workshop over at Ali Edwards' blog. I'm already planning out my next album for my Seattle / Portland trip in July. Here's a look at most of the album... 

I changed the inside cover when I got home because I found this awesome vintage sticker at an antique store while in Key West. I love the look of it.

I printed some smaller photos and pasted them on top of the larger photos throughout the album. We took so many pictures that they wouldn't all fit in this album if they were all full size.

Inside the envelopes are mini instax photos I did not use in the album.

And up on the shelf she goes.

Key West in Black, White & Green

It's amazing what you can learn while sitting around a pool a for hours and hours soaking up the sun. Like how to change the settings on your camera to only pick up certain colors. Who knew? I guess you would know if you read the manual.....or if you have a friend named Myles to show you how. These were taken with my Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS Digital Elph. I did NO Photoshop on these after I downloaded them. I just used the Color Accent setting in manual mode. So cool! Especially since green is my favorite color.

Spring Break

Last week Mr. X and I went to Key West with some friends and it was absolutely fabulous. I'm counting the days until we go back.

This is the plane we took from Fort Myers to Key West. It was SMALL.

That's how close I was to the pilot. And the person next to him is another passenger. Yes, one pilot.

Us at the Hemingway house.

The house has about 60 cats and some even have SIX TOES! I want one.

Mr. X having fun at Captain Tony's Saloon.

Enjoying dinner and music at Sloppy Joe's.

KELLY'S BAR!!!  

Every morning and afternoon was spent here in our backyard. And some evenings too.

Wednesday we took this boat out to the Dry Tortugas.

We had some great food in Key West. My favorite was the crab cake eggs benedict from Camille's and this mac and cheese from Sweet Tea's.

There was quite a bit of lizard watching while in the pool.

And on our final day we cruised the island on a scooter. Very Key West.

I Heart Oregon

Back from Portland!  I am so in love with Portland and it was really special to go there with my mom and spend time with my brother. We did so much in such a short time....rode the Portland Aerial Tram, went to the Oregon Polish Fest (yeah, GREAT food), saw the swifts at Chapman School, and ate lots and lots of chocolate (this always seems to happen when I go there...?).  The best part of the trip had to be sitting second row at the Pearl Jam concert Saturday night.  Yep, second row!!!!  What's even cooler is we talked mom into going with us and she loved it.  Who would have thought.

Thanks for the memories!  I love you guys!

Santa Fe

Chris and I returned from our trip to Santa Fe yesterday and all I can say is...I am in love.  New Mexico is called the Land of Enchantment and it truly is a magical place.  The people, the food, the architecture, the history, the art.  I loved everything about it.  Definitely one of the best places I've visited.

We arrived in Albuquerque Thursday afternoon and took the Turquoise Trail up to Santa Fe.  We stopped in the little towns of Madrid and Cerrillos along the way. Cerrillos is over 1500 years old.  

    

There was so much to see and do in Santa Fe.  The Plaza downtown is filled with museums, galleries and restaurants.  Of course we ate really hot food and shopped for silver and turquoise things.  I can say I had my most painful meal ever in Santa Fe - blue corn enchiladas with red and green chile at The Shed.  Luckily the margaritas were very good everywhere we went.  One day we drove north east to Taos and another day we drove north west to Abiquiu. 

Canyon Road our first night in Santa Fe.

Scenery on the way to the Plaza.

We visited three churches in Santa Fe.  One being the oldest in the US.

    

  

 

The oldest house in the US.  Circa 1646.

Rio Grande Gorge in Taos.

Driving through Taos. 

Santa Fe National Cemetery.

My favorite place.

Ghost Ranch where Georgia O'Keeffe visited before moving to Abiquiu and the inspiration for many of her paintings.

The Pedernal Mountain.

I had the best meal ever at Los Mayas.  Black bean enchilada with black mole sauce.  Heaven.

New Mexico Museum of Art.

Adios Santa Fe and thank you. 

 

And on a final note..... Happy Birthday to the lovely April.  I miss you!