Just a Couple Obsessions

I have a couple of obsessions outside of my family and the St. Louis Cardinals.  I wish that I could find a way to combine all of them into a part-time job but, for now, I haven't figured it out.

I love food.  Love, Love, Love food.  I don't just love eating food, I love the colors of food.  I love smells of food.  I love watching cooking shows.  I love the presentation of food.  I just love food.  Food is so personal and so intimate.  It is what sustains and gives us life.  When I cook for my family, I know that I am, in essence, giving them life over and over again. 

I have found a way to take my passion for food and channel it with my food blog, Meals For Real.  It definitely is not a site for gourmet food, just normal family-style recipes and step-by-step instructions on how to make them.  I have no grandiose ideas when it comes to the blog.  I have set some ads up on it and I do get paid when people click on them but I'm not expecting my little hobby to pay the mortgage.  It has just become a good outlet for me and a way for me to experiment. 

I am also obsessed with Las Vegas.  My first trip to Vegas was in December 2006 and I have been hooked ever since.  The only word that I can use to describe Vegas is energy.  No matter what time of day, no matter what day of the week there is always something is going on. 

When I was growing up I would hear Vegas referred to as "Sin City" and I guess that could be true.  For me, though, it is a place where Scott and I can go and just have fun.  No worries of home.  No screaming kids.  We can sleep all day and get up and go eat at a 5 Star Restaurant at 11:00pm without having to look for a babysitter.  We can go sit on the street and people watch or we can go lay by the pool.  We can see our favorite band or a Broadway musical.  We can shop at designer shops or we can buy stuff from a street vendor. 

The light, the sounds, the hustle and bustle.  I love it all.  I think I love it because it is so different from my day-to-day life that I feel like a different person when I'm there.  I guess this is why that I spend a lot of time searching for cheap airline flights to get me back there.  There is just something about Vegas that I can't get enough of.

One of my favorite things to do in Vegas is to check out new restaurants.  I love going to famous chefs' places or unique hot spots or hole in the wall local hangouts.  I actually started another blog after eating at some great places in Vegas.  Where April Eats is a place where I talk about the different restaurants in different cities that I have eaten at and some of my favorite foods. 

You would think that Vegas and Disney World have absolutely nothing in common but that is not so.  In my mind, Vegas is the adult Disney World-LOL.  A coupe of years ago we took our first real family vacation and it was to Disney World and I have been hooked ever since.  No lie, the night we got back from that trip in 2008, I was on the internet planning out our next trip.  It has taken a couple of years, and an extra kid, but we are going back in September and I can't wait!

When we are at home I can honestly say that I am the "hard" one when it comes to bed times, too many sweets and treats, etc. but when we were at Disney, it was like all of the uptightness just melted away.   I let the kids eat dessert first.  I let them get candy and ice cream during the day.  I let them stay up as late as they want.  I let them pretty much do anything they want because we were at Disney World, "Where Dreams Come True."

The best thing about Disney was literally seeing the "magic" in the kids' eyes.  One of my favorite memories of our first trip was at Hollywood Studios and we saw the Power Rangers.  Kanin was so into the Power Rangers at the time, especially Red Ranger Jack, and when we saw them he was ecstatic.  I was literally crying and jumping up and down in excitement for him.  It sounds so silly but it was so sweet.  I can't wait until this time when Gracie has a princess make-over and we get to have lunch with the princesses.  I'm sure I will be crying again.

Disney World also let me try tons of new restaurants, which I loved!  My favorite by far is the German Biergarten at Epcot but they were all fantastic.  Epcot is such an awesome place.  All of the different countries with so many cool, authentic places to eat.  It is so authentic that within each country at every shop and restaurant, the people who work there are actually from that country.  So cool.  I'm sure that after this next trip, I will have plenty of entries to add to my Where April Eats blog.

So I wish there were some way for me to combine these passions.  Scott told me to get my travel agent's license but I think the market for travel agents has come and gone.  I have helped quite a few people plan both of their Disney and Vegas vacations with places to go, places to eat suggestions and I love doing that so who knows what will become of it.  For now, though, I will be content to plan my next destination and next place to eat.