I re-started to read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert the first day of my vacation. I was in the Dallas-Fort Worth, TX airport waiting on my husband to fly in.

I happened to be enjoying lunch at T.G.I.Fridays, with a Southwest Chicken Salad and “Texas Tea” – unsweetened that I add Sweet ‘n Low to! This pretty pink empty package went on to my bookmark.

I’m a slow reader and enjoyed a few pages nearly every day of my vacation.

I finished off the book early this afternoon on my deck, while enjoying the long August weekend at home! Eat, Pray, Love was an AMAZING book – I’m so glad I went back and re-read it in a different head space.

I find it amusing that I started & finished the book eating a salad!

One of my summer favorites - spinach, strawberries (or mandarin orange segments), feta cheese with creamy poppy seed dressing.

I’m now even more excited about watching the movie that debuts in 2 weeks after reading the book. I realize that movies don’t do a perfect job of capturing all of the details that the book offers – however I’m excited to watch Julia Roberts play Liz, listen to the uplifting tunes (bound to be awesome based on the trailer synopsis’) and experience the gorgeous scenery the movie was filmed in.

Have you read the book Eat, Pray, Love? Are you eager to watch it on movie also?

Hope you’re having a fabulous August long weekend (Canadians) & weekend (American & International followers!).

Live Inspired,

Here is an update from my vacation:

Live Inspired,

Day 1

I met John at the Vancouver airport and flew to Seattle together. We took the Sound Transit right from the airport to downtown Seattle for $2.50. I’m sharing some goofy details, just in case any of you want to visit one day.

Then we walked a few blocks to the condo we were renting.

On route, I discovered a Starbucks in the block beside our place!! He he…it wasn’t the famous first one in Seattle – I’ll show you pics of it later. However, I still found it very amusing.

I inserted arrows and text into the picture below, however it is very small. If you click the image, you may be able to see it better!

Our condo building in the Belltown district – just north of downtown.

Our friends were waiting for us, as they came in by Ferry. The dock they arrived at, was also very close to our home away from home. After devouring the “welcome basket” of treats that the owners had waiting for us, we went and bought groceries!

Dan ensured we had our iTunes playing! 

We snacked!

John & Dan made salsa – which ended up being part of every meal we ate! From breakfast burritos to taco salad.

Our home away from home was perfect!

Stay tuned for more details of our adventure!!

Live Inspired,

Thursday morning we kick off  our May long weekend in Seattle with our wonderful friends Dan & Corene. During our last spontaneous road trip to Great Falls, MT (the weekend before my hair got chopped) with this fun couple; it was discovered that both Corene and John really wanted to visit this west coast city! Dan and me decided that we’d support the adventure, so the planning begun.

My hubby really wants to see the Space Needle…

Image source – blogs.usyd.edu.au

…so we’re going for dinner in the restaurant at the top.

Corene really wants to explore the Pike Place Market…

Image source – flickr.com/photos/wordridden 

…I trust we’ll take in the flying fish and explore the market thoroughly, including the first Starbucks! (Which we all know I love – from my Coffee Date tour & posts about Starbucks)

Honestly, I knew very little about Seattle before the planning began, other than my favorite TV show – Grey’s Anatomy takes place there and I’ve often seen the city skyline in episodes.

I checked to see if the Seattle Mariners’ were playing at home during our visit, as I know baseball is John’s favorite sport.

We lucked out and we’re going to take in a game…

 
Image source – kramer-s-nehl.com

(I trust John will) buy me some peanuts and cracker jack!

I’m going to be doing dances all week to attract lots of lots of sunshine during our trip!

Have you been to Seattle? Any suggestions on must-do things?

I look forward to sharing pictures when we return. Follow me on Twitter (@robynbeazley) for my vacation updates.

Happy Travels,

We took the Canada Line SkyTrain to our downtown hotel – it was super easy to navigate.

My lovely suitcase (the burgundy one) has 4 wheels, so John was really smart and cornered it so it wouldn’t roll all over!

The Fairmont Waterfront was our home for 2 nights – it was a fantastic hotel.

I packed a few pairs of shoes for our adventure – this picture amuses me.

On Friday afternoon, we explored Vancouver by walking the sea board.

With the Vancouver 2010 Olympic caldron and the Vancouver Convention Center (with the living roof).

We walked down and through Stanley Park – so gorgeous and peaceful!

My hubby and I had both been to Vancouver before separately – so we just walked parts of Granville Street & Robson Street.

We found an amazing Mexican Restaurant further down Robson Street called Don Guacamole. John actually said, “This is the best Mexican food I’ve had in Canada” – this is almost an oxymoron – as nothing is comparable north of the Red River (river that divides Texas & Oklahoma). It was a fabulous experience and satisfied our cravings for our favorite food.

On Saturday, we relaxed, read, and walked more!

P.S. For our US/International friends – Tim Horton’s is a rival coffee shop to Starbucks in Canada – these 2 were literally 10 steps apart in an open air building – I thought it was cute.

We got all dressed up for the fancy Charity Auction that were out for.

I was feeling sassy and decided to take a selfie while waiting for John to finish getting ready (just had to rub that in).

Recall me telling you there was a Shoe Raffle – well it was a Christian Louboutin ($$) Shoe Raffle!! The winner was awarded the pair of pumps on display with the option to exchange at Holt Renfrew for another pair up to $800! (Stacy – I trust that could have gone nicely towards the boots on your wish list!)

John did an amazing job conducting the Live Auction & Tele-a-therapy of the evening. I LOVE listening to him auctioneer ;)

Hope your weekend is “amazing”!

Happy Travels,
Robyn

P.S. REMEMBER to enter the Hide Your Straps contest NOW – the deadline is tonight (Friday) at 11:59pm MST!!