Grant's new outfit

Grant and I traveled down to Fort Myers last weekend to visit Grant's parents, our friends and for my friend Mandy's baby shower. I definitely am feeling older now that my friends are starting to have kids! The gifts you get at a baby shower don't seem nearly as exciting as wedding showers...or maybe I'm just not ready for kids!

Anyways, while we were in Fort Myers Grant found an old pair of pants in the closet at his parents' house. These pants are straight out of the 70s. Grant tried them on and the fit. He was pretty excited. He ended up taking them home with us. We had to make a special trip to Target to find just the right shirt to match his new pants so he could wear them this Friday. Here is a photo that he made me take so he could update his facebook profile pic.

September Update

Sorry I've been slacking a lot since I started my new job. It's been really busy especially since my partner went on maternity leave starting 9/10.

Grant, Penelope and I have been busy on the weekends looking at houses. We have discovered that while the market is driving prices down, they are still high - at least for the homes we're interested in! We might consider renting for another year in order to save up more for a down payment - plus this economy is scary and I don't want to put down too much of our savings...so we'll keep on looking and plan on getting something nice when we can afford it!

Last weekend Grant and I traveled up to Washington, D.C. to visit our good friend Danielle. It was really rainy, but we had a great time. The first day we went downtown to the Building Museum and to the Natural History Museum. We walked down the Mall and to the White House and had a great lunch at a Greek tapas restaurant. We also saw the motorcade for the President of Afganistan. That night we had dinner at a pizza place with Danielle, her roommate Lauren, our friend Jeremy and his new girlfriend Sarah. It was a lot of fun to meet up with Jeremy and Sarah. :) On Friday we went shopping at Pentagon City and got some great lunch at Ray's Hell Burger. We also went to Capitol Hill to watch the first Presidential debate at the Capitol Lounge. It was a great place to take in the debate! We left on Saturday. It was sad to leave Danielle, but it was great spending time with her. What is so great about good friends is that even when you live apart each time you are together it's like you haven't been apart. That's how it is with Dani. :)

This weekend Grant and I plan on relaxing...then next weekend it's off to Fort Myers for Mandy's baby shower!

BTW...some exciting news - Grant's friend Nate is getting married to Rachel in July!! How exciting!

4th of July

So I've been slacking. I'll blame it on trying to learn a new job in a new industry, being gone for 3+ weeks and wanting to spend my free time relaxing with my husband. :) Here is a post to get you more up to date on what's been going on for me and Grant.

The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. I think the Midwest knows how to do it right. In Chicago the 4th was never just one day. There were usually fireworks on the 3rd and the 4th and the whole city seemed to be in holiday mode for the entire week. I love it! I grew to love the holiday even more 3 years ago...

Three years ago I flew up to Chicago to celebrate the 4th of July with my family at my Uncle Jim and Aunt Sandy's beautiful home on Lake Springfield. It has become a family tradition to celebrate the 4th there. Grant had come the year before, but had to work in 2005. So I flew up and spent the time with my friends and family. I was sitting at my Uncle's playing dominoes by the pool and felt someone massaging my shoulders. I turned to see who it was and it was Grant! He was all dressed up...I knew something was up! He got down on one knee and proposed to me. It was amazing. I was totally shocked.

Fast forward three years and we're back at Lake Springfield to celebrate the 4th of July just 6 weeks after our 2-year wedding anniversary. :) We decided that in order to make it a true family occasion we had to bring Penelope. So we canceled our Southwest flights (since they don't let you bring dogs) and booked our flights in AirTran. We bought Penelope the cutest airline carrier and packed up everything to go to Chicago. We spent the first night at Jordan & Ryans. Jordan and Ryan fell in love with Penelope. She enjoyed their massive yard and now wants one of her own! The next day we drove down to Springfield to meet up with the family. Penelope quickly made herself at home at my Aunt and Uncle's house. This year we not only had almost all of my cousins, aunts and uncles on my Mom's side, but we also had numerous dogs at the family reunion. The dogs that were there included: Penelope, Izzy (Aunt Sandy and Uncle Jim's dog), Foo (Aunt Dorothy's dog), Pookie and Tootsie (Aunt Diane's dogs). The dogs almost out-numbered the people!

For our family the 4th of July is about family, food (lots of it), boat rides, jet skiing and relaxing. I was able to do most of that except for the relaxing part. I found myself lounging by the pool, reading my notecards, sitting in the living room, reading my notecards...studying as much as I could while still being part of the group. I had my home-study final exams the Monday after the 4th of July weekend...no fun! But we did have great food and fun on the lake. We even had the most amazing fireworks show on the lake. It was quite impressive.
The weekend went by way too fast. On Sunday Grant, Penelope and I left for Indianapolis, where Grant would drop me off for my Indianapolis-based training for my new job. I was in Indy from July 6 - 25. It was a long 3 weeks, but a lot of fun. I'll post about my experience later on.

For now, we'll leave on a high note. I love the 4th of July. I love my family. I am a lucky girl!

Uncle Jim at the grill

Aunt Dorothy, my and my siblings

Group photo in the boat.

My Uncle Dave and two of his three daughters, Meghan and Amy.

Penelope getting ready to jetski!

My Mom!

Amy and Uncle John on the boat.

Me, Dorothy and our girls!

Katie, Meghan and Tess playing Mario.

My cousin (newly engaged!) Jessica

My Aunt Linda and Uncle Mike

Penelope in motion!

Penelope on the boat.

Greetings from Indianapolis

Hello all! I am writing from the tourist capital of the Midwest - some may think that is Chicago, but, in fact, it is Indianapolis, Indiana! Just kidding!!

Grant and I had a great time at my Aunt and Uncle's for the 4th of July - photos to come when I return home in a little over a week.

After a wonderful weekend with family and packed with fun activities like boating, swimming, jet skiing and ... STUDYING ... Grant and I headed to Indianapolis on Sunday, July 6. It was SO sad to see Grant and Penelope leave me at my apartment on the Southside of town that evening. Leaving me to study on my own for my 4 comprehensive exams that I had on Monday, my first day of training at my new company. Much has happened since then...

I've taken and passed 5 exams and a quiz, I've passed my message simulation for my first product with flying colors, I've grown to appreciate training and love my classmates, I've found a local YMCA to work out at and I've missed my husband and puppy very much.

The days have been long - filled with lecture, exams and message practicing. The nights have been busy - filled with studying, working out, catching up with friends/family and sleeping (of which I am getting little of). However, the best part of being in the Midwest for 3 weeks is the fact that I can visit my friends and family in Illinois.

Last weekend I rented a car - for $10 a day on Priceline - and drove the 3 hours to Chicago. I stayed with Jordan & Ryan, ate at some of my favorite places, spent quality time with my family and with my friends. It was a nice getaway from a stressful week of training.

This weekend I am headed back to Springfield to see my Uncle Jim and Aunt Sandy. Jordan and Ryan are going to meet me down there. I think it will be quite fabulous to actually relax at Jim & Sandy's instead of carrying around a bunch of notecards with me the entire time like I did during the 4th of July weekend. Of course it won't be the same without Grant and Penelope this time!

One more exciting thing is happening this weekend - Tess is picking up her new puppy ( a cavapoo named Lucy ) from the airport tonight!! I'll post some pics as soon as I get them!

Until then, I'm signing off from Indy, counting the days until July 25! :)

Vegas and Beyond

We left San Franciso on Sunday morning for Las Vegas - our most favorite vacation destination. We stayed at Paris. It was very relaxing. When we first arrived we noticed a large crowd near the roulette tables. They were having a roulette tournament! So we stayed and watched. The winner got $15K. It looked like a lot of fun.

When we checked in I slipped the front desk staffer a $20 and asked if there were any upgrades available. She said she was able to move us to a higher floor with a strip view at no additional cost! I was pretty excited that the trick worked. :)

Our room was nice, but the pool at Paris was kind of small.

While in Vegas we visited the new Millenium shops and the new Palazzo hotel. We wanted to go see a show, so we walked to NY NY to get some tickets. While we were there some timeshare sales people offered us free tickets for the show we wanted to see if we sat in on their sales pitch the next morning. We decided to do it for the free tickets. They were pretty convincing, but when we decided not to purchase a timeshare they got pretty hostile. I was glad to leave with our show tickets in hand and no timeshare!

We spent much of our 4 days in Vegas relaxing after our busy 8 days in California. Little did I know that I really needed that time to relax!

We flew back to Florida Wednesday night and got in at 1AM! We were so tired and so excited to see Penelope!! Tess, my mom and Penelope picked us up at the airport. Penelope was so excited when she first saw us! We missed her SO much. We got home and slept. Then the next day I had to go back to the airport and fly out to Indianapolis for work at 1P. I was in Indy Thursday night and then came back home on Friday.

Since then I've been home studying. It's a bit overwhelming - there is a lot to learn! I am constantly studying even at night and on the weekends. Home study ends on 7/3. Then I am in Indianapolis from 7/7 - 7/25 for more training! It's a lot, but I think I'll be ready to hit the pavement and sell hard when I am done! I am looking forward to putting all that I've learned to use!

I'll try to post some from Indy. :)

San Francisco

After our day in Napa we returned to San Francisco for the weekend. We arrived at our hotel - the Renaissance Stanford Court. We got a great deal on Priceline...until we found out that it cost $45/night to park and saw that the room was in desperate need of a renovation. However, the location was great and when we arrived all we wanted to do was sleep.

On Saturday I got a map and found all of the spots we wanted to visit. We started off at the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Station. It was pretty neat. There were a ton of people, a lot of food and art vendors. From there we walked to Fisherman's Wharf. It was FREEZING cold and windy. We grabbed a bite to eat, saw a bunch of seals and Alcatraz Island and then caught a cab back to the hotel so I could change into something warmer!

From there we walked to Lombard Street. We knew we got there when we saw bunches of tourists in the middle of the road taking photos...so of course we stopped to do the same! Then, we walked to the house from Mrs. Doubtfire. On the way there we walked through a fair on Union Street. There were a ton of dogs there. It was really cool.

We found the Mrs. Doubtfire house. It was perfect - just as I had imagined it. We took some photos and then hiked up and down the hills of San Francisco to our next destination, the painted houses. They were really pretty and the park was beautiful.

Next on our agenda was the house from Full House. We found it easily and took more photos.From there we walked to Union Square for dinner. We ate at a little Thai restaurant and called it a night. I think we walked 7+ miles!

San Francisco was really beautiful, but there were some parts that were a bit shady. We liked our time there, but next time we might want to route our walks better to avoid certain areas!!

Napa Valley

Back to the trip!

On Thursday night we headed to Napa Valley after dinner at the Buckeye Roadhouse. The drive was short and we were glad it was! We arrived at our hotel, the Vino Bello in Napa, just after sunset. We were exhausted and had to get up at 4:45A to catch our hot air balloon ride in the morning. We walked around the grounds of the hotel that included a pool with views of vineyards. It was a very pretty hotel and our room was amazing. It had a mini-kitchen and a washer dryer. You could definitely make yourself at home if you weren't staying for just 8 hours like we did!

We got up super early, packed our stuff and checked out. We met the rest of our hot air balloon buddies at the Napa General Store at 5:30A. It was still dark out. We rode out to the balloon launch spot and were able to watch the crew inflate the balloons. It was pretty cool.

Each balloon basket fit 16 riders and one pilot. The flight was really amazing. Grant was a bit scared at the beginning, but he got more comfortable as the ride went on. We took a ton of photos. There were about 7 balloons all up in the air at the same time. It was neat to see!
After the hot air balloon ride we had a champagne brunch with the whole group back at the General Store. We got certificates of flight and had a mimosa or two! At 10:30A we were picked up by our fabulous wine tour driver, Sebastian. He was really amazing!! He drove me and Grant along with two other ladies to some of the most beautiful wineries in Napa Valley, Sonoma and Yountville.

The first stop was Artesa. It was our favorite spot for the wine. We bought two bottles of the Chardonnay. The winery was on top of a hill with amazing views of the valley. It was so pretty up there!!

After Artesa we headed to two more wineries and had lunch outside at one of them. It was SO beautiful. After lunch we headed to Chandon to walk around the grounds and then headed to James Cole and a couple other wineries. I think in total we went to 6 or 7 different wineries. It was pretty amazing. We even stopped at the Bouchon Bakery on the way back. We also drove by the French Laundry restaurant, the only 5 star restaurant in the valley. A dinner can cost $200+ per person!! Crazy!

We left Napa after our wine tour at about 5:30P. We were sad to leave because it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It was my most favorite part of the trip - other than seeing the Father of the Bride house! I definitely want to go back to Napa and I am sure we will! And when we go back we will call Sebastian. He was the best tour guide ever!!

Father's Day

I'll post a couple more trip posts after this one, but Penelope wanted to put up a post for her Dad.

Hey guys, this is Penelope! I was so excited to celebrate Father's Day with my Dad today. He's the best Dad there is. Mom and I went shopping for a good gift for him. I wanted to get him something he could use every day because my Dad is very practical. So I asked Mom to take me to the cell phone store. I guess I should tell you that my Dad's cell phone was one of my favorite chew toys. I really liked the antenna. =)

My Mom and I found a phone that had no antenna for me to chew allowing my Dad to have a phone that would last a long time. We got it activated and gave it to him. He really liked it!

In the morning today I wanted to have a nice family brunch. I asked my Mom if we could take Dad out to breakfast. There is a great cafe that we can walk to from home and eat at outside. Mom said that would be a great idea. The three of us walked over to the restaurant and got a great table outside. Everyone around us fell in love with me because I am so cute. The waiter brought me a bowl of water while Mom and Dad ate. It was a lot of fun to go out as a family.

After brunch Mom and Dad decided to take me to Grandma's house to go swimming. I didn't like that much, but enjoyed seeing Uncle Max. =)

Anyways, happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!!

~Penelope Alexis Zaccardi-Clem

Pebble Beach and Muir Woods

We left Monterey pretty early in the morning and made our way to 17-mile drive. It was a beautiful drive through forest, amazing homes and scenic golf courses. The drive culminated with a stop at Pebble Beach. We parked and walked around the grounds of one of the most storied golf courses on the West Coast.

Our first stop was the putting green just in front of the Lodge. After taking a quick photo we headed to the Pro Shop which was already filled with 2010 U.S. Open merchandise. Just in front of the Pro Shop is the first tee. We walked around in a few more shops and then made our way the 18th green. The hole is right along the coast line and absolutely stunning. This stop made me reflect on my life at the TOUR. I'm going to miss working in golf.

We left Pebble and headed North to San Francisco. The drive was easy and beautiful up the Pacific Coast Highway. We stopped a couple times to take more photos along the coast.

On our way to Muir Woods we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge! I was so excited to see it in person. It was a lot bigger than I pictured it being. We pulled over at a parking lot just after we crossed the bridge to take some photos. It was FREEZING cold and super windy. From the photo spot we could see the bridge and downtown San Francisco.
We made our way to Muir Woods to see the redwood trees. It was a really beautiful forest. We walked through some of the paths and found a 2.6 mile trail.We were sad when we found the sign saying no pets. Good thing we didn't bring Penelope. We missed her so much though! We started walking up hill. The up hill part of this hike seemed to last forever. The trail seemed to taper off a bit at the top of the hill. We looked around and saw a sign that said "lost trail." We took that back down the hill, through the forest.

While we were hiking we saw a little waterfall and took a photo of it for Grant's brother Ed who is a professional waterfall photographer. ;)

At the end of the hike we saw a bunch of people gathered round ahead. We approached the group and saw 2 deer right by the trail! They were SO close to us. We watched them graze with the rest of the group for about 10 minutes and then headed to the car, ready to get some dinner and make our way to Napa Valley.

On the way to Muir Woods we saw a restaurant called the Buckeye Roadhouse right by the Golden Gate Bridge. We decided to grab dinner there on our way to Napa. There was quite a crowd for a Thursday night, so I thought it must be good and it was! It was so good, in fact, that we decided to make dinner reservations for the next night when we'd be returning from Napa to San Francisco.