Thursday, October 23, 2008

Relaximoon: Part 1

I deemed our honeymoon a "relaximoon" and it turns out I really could not have dreamed up a better phrase to describe the week after the wedding. Some might even call it a mini-moon since we were staying in the same state that I grew up in, and in the hotel we had our reception at, but there was nothing mini about our trip. It was wonderful and grand and had both of us lamenting Saturday's dreaded approach since it meant the end of the 'mooning.

How could we not love the hotel after they left us strawberries and sparkling cider? Mormons don't drink out of fancy stemmed glasses very often and so I felt very elegant sitting in bed together drinking out of white wine glasses.


One of our guests had cheese and crackers sent up to our room as a wedding present. Brilliant idea! I think I scarfed these down somewhere around 3 am after hardly touching my reception meal. That Husband didn't even get a chance to eat any!


I think I mentioned previously the tub that fills from the ceiling? Mr. Husband had a really hard time with the fact that I wanted to always bathe with the privacy shade up (to admire the view of course) despite our close proximity to an office building. Who has time to care about peeping toms when you are indulging in bath bomb filled soaks?


The first thing we did on Sunday morning was go to church. We went to an LDS church filled with only single people in their 20's and it was REALLY fun to look around and think "No one knows we are married!"


Monday we decided to get out of the hotel room and explore downtown Seattle a little bit. My parents have lived in the same town in Washington since they were married and so I have been able to visit downtown Seattle several times over the years, but I still love it like new every time. If you are thinking of a simpler honeymoon like ours, do it! Everything will feel different and exciting even if the surroundings are the same simply because your marriage is new!


We went to Elliots specifically because I wanted oysters. I can only eat them if I hold them on my tongue to soak up all of the flavor and swallow them whole. I love eating multiple kinds together because I think they all taste so different and it fascinates me that different bays can have such an effect on the taste.


Yumm! Slurp slurp!


I even convinced That Husband to try slurping his first ever oyster. He bit down on his, which kind of grosses me out a little bit, but the waiter brought him a button to celebrate his achievement!


I had heard that the Seattle Aquarium was recently renovated so we headed over to check things out. What a wonderful chance to just be kids again. We spent a long time reaching in to touch the anemomes in the tide pool. The way they close in around your hand is actually quite freaky!


I made several children wait their turn while I had my picture taken in every single one of these cheesy cutout frame things. I think That Husband would make a really hot jellyfish, don't you?


We stood in front of this one tank for like 20 minutes just trying to get a picture of the fish we nicknamed the "fashion disaster". Leopard spots and polka dots? Maybe it's the new hot trend in the ocean but I think Heidi would "auf" that look pretty quickly.


Aquariums stink like mold and kiddes but they can have such a tranquilizing effect when you are staring at eerie scences like this one.


This seahorse was fascinating to me. Can you imagine this being your life? Just floating around in circles all day?



That Husband thought this was another fashion disaster, but I considered it to be a fashion afficionado. Who could have thought that stripes and polka dots could be pulled off so fabulously?


And now I leave you with our favorite video ever. We watch this at least once a day together. If you watch closely you can see this little eel catch a floatie, accidentally spit it out, and then attempt to catch it again. We want one of our own now.



Do you plan on taking a "relaximoon" of your own? One that will focus less on seeing the sites and more on simply escaping from real life?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

We traveled an ocean to get to our relaximoon, but that's exactly what it was--we holed up in the Piemonte region of Italy at a cozy B&B, and lived like the Italians did--we did manage a small excursion to Torino, but mostly we took it easy, walked to the local town (filled with natural hot springs!) and cooked a lot with some amazing ingredients, like white truffle ravioli.

The access to all of that amazing seafood, though, is quite lovely. :-) The cheese and cracker gift is a sweet, thoughtful one as well--I remember a Martha episode where she makes a newlywed care box filled with chocolates, champagne, caviar and other fancy things, but honestly--having something delicious and comforting is all that matters that late into the night!

Shanna said...

Woo-hoo! You are a married girl! I am slow at mailing, but soon...real soon. Anyways, Darci took a relaxi-moon here in SLC and she LOVED it. They stayed at the nicest hotel here and just did fun little things around here. I think it is a great idea. She says if she did it again, she would do it the same!

Whitney R said...

good for you! Your honeymoon sounds awesome. Something I would like to do even now. Jaren LOVES Seattle - so maybe we will :)

Oh.. Jenna.. Oysters?! Bleck. It's like slurping a loogie. I just can't!

Jess and Carl said...

I am so glad you guys were able to just relax and soak up the simple things in life, those are always my favorite trips! You truly finish the trip relaxed and rested, not exhausted and more tired than before hand! I know after these babies come out we are going to be in need of a "relaximoon" for ourselves! Good thing our families are so eager to fly down and help out so we will get some wife and hubby pampering time... I guess our last real "relaximoon" type trip would have been to Baltimore, over Labor Day... got a spendy downtown hotel and just walked the pier and went to the National Aquarium and enjoyed good food and pretty sites... can't wait for another one!

Love you and Congrats again on being a married woman!

Kaitlyn said...

Oh I am glad you had a relaxing honeymoon :) You've prompted me to suggest somewhere "north and west" for our mini-moon but Ryan's only feeling tropical!

Can't wait for part 2 :)

Cate Subrosa said...

Aw... that ell should be gross but it's really cute! I'm so pleased for you that you had such a lovely time :)

Cate Subrosa said...

P.S. I love oysters and I'm a chewer too - yum!

Blue-Eyed Bride said...

hey, favorite newlywed!!!

you have 2 awards on my blog!

Anonymous said...

The eel is really cute, especially since it almost seems unsure of itself.

I'm glad that you had fun! :)

Lindsey said...

Aww that looks like a great time!! Love the pictures!

Rachel said...

Sounds like you two had a wonderful time!
I've always wanted to go up to Seattle - have never been up to the Pacific Northwest!!

Shaylene Andersen said...

The seahorse is funny! I think Heidi should have the designers use fish as their inspiration in creating a new piece!!