On a recent trip to Florida (from Seattle) I had a chance to peruse the inflight magazine on my Delta flight and while not generally on my list of favorite reading materials I did find some interesting tidbits I can share with all of you (and now you can feel guilt-free reading People or In Touch instead on your next trip).
Someone stole my idea! For many years I have been putting together weekly menus and shopping lists for all of our family meals. I hate shopping, including grocery shopping, so this saved me time and money because I only got what was on my list (90% of the time, anyway). So many of my friends said I should market the idea somehow. I didn't. But someone else did! For busy people who need to fix dinners for family or others when at home, there’s a new web site that will let you choose menus and make the grocery list for you. For $7.00 per month www.relishrelish.com will plan healthy meals and make those dreaded grocery lists. Those who don’t do, pay.
Seattle’s ultrachic BOKA Kitchen + Bar is highlighted as original and hip, noted for its “creative martinis and décor of bamboo glass sculptures, color-changing wall panels and an extra shot of eclectic swank. “ For info http://www.bokaseattle.com/
I was a bit busy while in Florida, and I did miss stopping in Galler. If I’d had a chance, I definitely would have prioritized going to “The Belgian Chocolate” store- the only location in the USA. Praline sticks to dip into saffron, cardamom, yuzu and ginger sounds unique and worth a courageous try.
My husband would LOVE this one … Tune Studio for iPod is the first 4-channel audio mixer that lets you create high-quality digital recordings directly onto your iPod. This mixer allows the input of up to four different instruments or audio sources, and records the audio onto your iPod for instant playback. It’s small enough to carry on a flight and mix music in your hotel room. How cool is that?!?
Just a fact, Maam … 1,700,000,000 is the estimated number of legal online music downloads in 2007. 3 – that’s how many I was able to download in 2007. I was just a little busy last year to be figuring out how to download music!
And finally … You can now track how many invitations are being sent out and how many users responded to social networking sites like FaceBook and MySpace, making it easier to quantify the previously unquantifiable – word-of-mouth endorsements! A recent study found that Internet social networking was 20 times more effective than more traditional marketing efforts such as print and television advertising. This makes online “friendships” even more lucrative than ever imagined. So go ahead, forward this blog address to all your friends, and let’s see how much word of mouth we can both get!
Rebecca
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
New Zealand is the greatest place on Earth!
Okay, well I can’t really say that because I haven’t been to nearly enough places to warrant such a bold statement. It is however a fantastic place to visit, unlike any other. This is a place where you can push the limits and tempt fate by participating in one of the many adrenaline pumping activities the country has to offer. Some favorites are bungee jumping, luging, zorbing (much like a hamster wheel), sky diving, paragliding or jet-boating. For those of you who view vacation as a relaxing peaceful time New Zealand can offer you that as well. There are a number of wineries to tour, Polynesian and Maori culture to experience, lush gardens, art galleries, museums and beaches.
New Zealand is located at the bottom of the Southern Hemisphere boasting a population of four million people. As you may know the country is full of sheep, something around 44 million to be exact therefore New Zealanders are definitely outnumbered. What is more amazing though is the breathtaking expanse of water and mountains that surround you while visiting the country.
Here’s a taste of what my family and I did on our trip: During our fifteen day visit to New Zealand we had a chance to travel to both the North and South Islands. We began our adventure in Auckland located on the North Island and drove to Rotorua, a rural town full of Maori culture. After that we made our way out to the Waitomo Caves for an incredible cave-tubing adventure which included wet-suits, abseiling into a cave, zip-lining down further into the cave and finally jumping off a 10 meter high rock into freezing cold water with an inner tube! It was by far the coolest thing I have ever done.
Next on the trip was a flight down to the South Island landing in Queenstown. This was my favorite town to visit while on the trip. It is similar to Boulder, Colorado in that the small city center is bustling with people of all ages talking, laughing, shopping, eating and just generally enjoying the active life of the outdoors. Queenstown is surrounded by mountains and bodies of water and the weather is perfect even in the winter because it only snows at the top of the mountains. Queenstown is also very famous for its appearances in American films. Vertical Limit, the Lord of the Rings series and Wolverine are just a few that were filmed there. After that we made our way to Franz Josef to hike on the Franz Josef Glacier. This had to be the second most amazing adventure I have ever experienced. We took a helicopter up to the top of the glacier, geared up with cramps (spikes for our shoes) and began our journey. We had to carve our own path through the glacier because it moves so fast each day that the path from the previous day had already been shifted by nature. From there we drove up and over to Christchurch stopping along the way to take in the scenery. Christchurch is as you would imagine any big city to be, which is why it was my least favorite stop on our journey. Once again we flew back to Auckland and rounded out the trip on the tiny island of Waiheke. This is a quaint beach town with very little to do or see but it was excellent to relax for a few days after all of that adventure and those long road trips.
I would definitely recommend visiting this beautiful adventurous country. If you do plan a trip I would suggest a long one, at least two weeks. The islands are small but there is a lot of ground to cover. Make sure you try anything and everything you can while you’re there in terms of food and activities. Better yet if you can swing it get a four month work VISA and live over there for awhile. You only live once and imagine all of the interesting people you could meet!
--Kristen Hatchman, Event Coordinator
New Zealand is located at the bottom of the Southern Hemisphere boasting a population of four million people. As you may know the country is full of sheep, something around 44 million to be exact therefore New Zealanders are definitely outnumbered. What is more amazing though is the breathtaking expanse of water and mountains that surround you while visiting the country.
Here’s a taste of what my family and I did on our trip: During our fifteen day visit to New Zealand we had a chance to travel to both the North and South Islands. We began our adventure in Auckland located on the North Island and drove to Rotorua, a rural town full of Maori culture. After that we made our way out to the Waitomo Caves for an incredible cave-tubing adventure which included wet-suits, abseiling into a cave, zip-lining down further into the cave and finally jumping off a 10 meter high rock into freezing cold water with an inner tube! It was by far the coolest thing I have ever done.
Next on the trip was a flight down to the South Island landing in Queenstown. This was my favorite town to visit while on the trip. It is similar to Boulder, Colorado in that the small city center is bustling with people of all ages talking, laughing, shopping, eating and just generally enjoying the active life of the outdoors. Queenstown is surrounded by mountains and bodies of water and the weather is perfect even in the winter because it only snows at the top of the mountains. Queenstown is also very famous for its appearances in American films. Vertical Limit, the Lord of the Rings series and Wolverine are just a few that were filmed there. After that we made our way to Franz Josef to hike on the Franz Josef Glacier. This had to be the second most amazing adventure I have ever experienced. We took a helicopter up to the top of the glacier, geared up with cramps (spikes for our shoes) and began our journey. We had to carve our own path through the glacier because it moves so fast each day that the path from the previous day had already been shifted by nature. From there we drove up and over to Christchurch stopping along the way to take in the scenery. Christchurch is as you would imagine any big city to be, which is why it was my least favorite stop on our journey. Once again we flew back to Auckland and rounded out the trip on the tiny island of Waiheke. This is a quaint beach town with very little to do or see but it was excellent to relax for a few days after all of that adventure and those long road trips.
I would definitely recommend visiting this beautiful adventurous country. If you do plan a trip I would suggest a long one, at least two weeks. The islands are small but there is a lot of ground to cover. Make sure you try anything and everything you can while you’re there in terms of food and activities. Better yet if you can swing it get a four month work VISA and live over there for awhile. You only live once and imagine all of the interesting people you could meet!
--Kristen Hatchman, Event Coordinator
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