kickin it, eastern WA style

My baby planned us a special surprise weekend get away...which so happened to be the sweetest thing someone has EVER done for me! :)

Shan and her new jacket :)

I'm ready! Still don't know where we're going but I was told to bring snow clothes!


A short trek from Seattle over I-90 and just past the summit we reach Suncadia!

WE MADE IT!!

our penthouse studio suit was seriously nicer than any house I've lived in combined.

state of the art kitchen and appliances, so cool!

bathroom from heaven, to the right of the tub is a giant shower surrounded by glass walls and two shower heads, one from the ceiling like a water fall!

...someone got a hold of my camera ;)

relaxing on our huge bed taking it all in

our view from our private balcony

playing in the elevator :)

one of the many "lounging rooms" in the lodge

view from the back side of the lodge

Hanging out in downtown Roslyn, don't blink!

Shan in front of one of her old favorite pizza joints

oh just some mural on the back side of a house...no joke

inside The Brick tavern

Coolest wood burning fireplace thing ever!

it's an oasis...

just in case you needed a visual to go along with the sign...

yup, still in downtown Roslyn

the out house

hey look! it's us!

check out those shutters on the Roslyn Gym

We like reflection windows...as I'm sure the people inside the office do too!

The ice rink at Suncadia, and in the background is the workout facilities including pool with two water slides.

how cute is she!

adore.

The Room. Fully equipped with our very own doorbell

our romantic afternoon snack :)

Roslyn Movie Theater...wood heat and 1 showing a day. Love it!

Ronald is a stone throw away from Roslyn...but here's their fire station!

Ronald Lake...or something like that

Inside the Cle Elum Pioneer Roasting Cafe/Winery. Cle Elum is the neighboring town to Roslyn, but a little larger. It has a high school for the 3-4 surrounding towns.

Winegar's - local creamery

There she be! The famour Roslyn Theater! Although we didn't make it to a show while on our weekend get away, it was fun to take pictures of. We plan on driving out someday to see a movie, the word on the street is you have to act fast as the movies rotate every 4 days.

1 down, hundreds to go..

I've decided to take part in the Crossfit 100 Day Burpee Challenge 2010. Call me crazy, but by the end of this adventure I hope to be much much stronger in my push ups. The challenge goes as follows: Jan 1 - 1 burpee, Jan 2 - 2 burpee's, Jan 3 - 3 burpee's...until the 100th day when I'll do 100 burpee's.

Definition of a burpee:
1) Begin in a squat position with your hands on the floor in front of you,
2) Kick your feet back into a plank while simultaneously lowing yourself into a push up,
3) Immediately return your feet to the squat position while simultaneously pushing up with your arms,
4) Leap up as high as you can from the squat position.

...and that's 1 burpee

A for absolute melt in your mouth goodness!

I did it! I successfully baked my Lemon Bars!

The crust, composed of all purpose flour, powdered sugar, a dash of salt and 1 stick of unsalted butter...all mashed together to only be mashed into the pan and chilled in the fridge for 30 min before baking.

Next, the filling, and I'm armed with one of my favorite and most used kitchen aids! The spatula!

The filling consisted of 2/3 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1/4 of lemon zest, 1 cup of sugar, 7 egg yolks, 2 full eggs and half a stick of butter. This mixed was warmed on med/high temp stove top until it thickened into a sauce that reached 170 degrees. Then the thickened mixture was sifted once through to leave behind the lemon zest before adding in 3 tbs of heavy cream to the mixture and then immediately poured into the warmed crust that was baking for 20 minutes.

Once all added, then baked for an additional 10-15 minutes...

removed from the oven and cooled for 45 minutes before adding the final touches...

More powdered sugar!!!

All in all these were fun to make and I was totally surprised how good they tasted in the end. Better than any other lemon bar I've tasted before (sorry ma). :)