2013 Highlights and What's Next

 

2013 was an awesome year. Even though I didn't get to travel internationally, I was able to cross off some things from my bucket list. Such as taking my mom on vacation to celebrate her 70th birthday (and I paid for it) or going to a Prince concert. I'm always humble to still have a career after all I've been through in the last few years. I still have fears that I might get sick again but I try to distract those thoughts by living life to the fullest. Here are my highlights of 2013:

• Celebrating my mom's 70th birthday in Oahu, Hawaii
• Going to the following concerts: Rihanna, Prince and Bruno Mars
• Celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary at the French Laundry in Napa
• Girls trip to Maui, Hawaii
• Business trips to Washington DC (2), Chicago (2) and New Orleans
• Surviving a 20-course tasting at Jaleo in Washington, DC
• Finishing two half century (50 mile) rides in San Diego within a week
• Dining at the hottest restaurant of the year, Grace in Chicago
• Scoring tickets at Next in Chicago

So what's next? 2014 will be an ambitious year. We're heading to Europe for two weeks to discover the culinary destinations of London, Paris and Brussels. A week will be spent in Las Vegas to celebrate our anniversary and business trips to Chicago, Columbus and possibly New York. While at home, I'm training for the Spartan Race and another half century bike event. Last year, I learned that nutrition played a big part in training for my bike rides so I'll continue to highlight the stuff I'm taking to stay hydrated and how to recover from the stress of an event (e.g. milk chocolate and protein).

 

Cheers for a new year!



2012, a New Year

Before I finish up with the few remaining travel entries, I want to recap on 2011 which was a very good year. It started off pretty rocky with 6.5 weeks of radiation therapy followed by a staph infection that put me up in the hospital for five days. Luckily it wasn't MRSA so after three weeks of antibiotics via IV, I was healthy again and I stayed away from the hospital until December. Right before the end of the year, I had reconstructive surgery to repair the damage from the staph infection and had another tissue expander inserted before getting a permanent saline implant.


In July I went back to work full-time and it took about two months to get back to the working grind. By October, I was ready to go on vacation having worked in the office for only three months. Hubs and I took our first international trip together to Europe.

Once we got back to San Diego, we had two weeks to recover from jet lag before Hub's work trip to Singapore. I spent the week exploring the city and what the fine dining scene had to offer. It was at Waku Ghin where I literally broke the bank on the most I've ever spent on a tasting.


When I thought our travel was coming to an end, I had to hop on another plane to Chicago after coming back from Singapore. While I was in Chicago, I had another satisfying meal at Alinea. Hubs ended up going to Ohio once I returned from Chicago. 2011 was epic food-wise as I was able to do more than I had ever done since I started this blog two years ago. Here's a recap:

* Broke the top 3 of the World's Best Restaurants list by dining at El Celler de Can Roca #2.
* Dined at an Adria establishment, Tickets in Barcelona.
* Dined at Alinea for the third time.
* Dined at two Robuchon restaurants in Monaco and Singapore.
* Had authentic Italian cuisine in Italy.
* Had authentic Spanish tapas and paella in Spain.
* Completed Jose Andres trifecta of hidden restaurants within a restaurant, e by Jose Andres in Las Vegas.
* Dined at my first pop-up in San Diego, Relate Restaurant.
* Spent the most on a dinner tasting at Waku Ghin in Singapore, $450 per person w/o wine pairing.
* Cities visited: Honolulu, Hawaii; Las Vegas, Nevada; Pismo Beach, CA; Chicago, IL, Napa, CA; Barcelona, Spain; Girona, Spain; Monte Carlo, Monaco; Florence, Italy; Pisa, Italy; Rome, Italy; Naples, Italy; Amalfi Coast, Italy; Messina, Sicily; Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Marseille, France; Singapore, Singapore.

PLANS for 2012: Use all 31 days of vacation
* A week in Las Vegas
* A trip to the east coast, possibly New York; Philadelphia, PA; Atlantic City, NJ
* One international trip to Asia toward the end of the year: Tokyo, Japan
* Dinner at The French Laundry or Per Se.
* Dinner at Eleven Madison Park in New York.
* A long weekend trip to an island: Hawaii, Tahiti or Maldives
* A weekend cruise to Mexico.

Cheers to a new year and new adventures!