10 Memorable Vacation Moments

From Ten on Tuesday and in no particular order:

1. Mark proposing to me as the sun set on the beach in Maui.

2. My sister, Caroline, getting stuck in a totem pole at a park in Vancouver. She got herself unstuck just as the park ranger we got came over.

3. Having the worst morning sickness in London but still going out solo sightseeing (Mark was working). As I walked through the Tube, a guitarist was singing David Gray’s Babylon and I immediately started feeling better.

4. Kobe beef and lobster in Tokyo, Kyoto and Kobe. Mmmmmmmmm.

5. Mark getting pulled onstage by the fire eaters at the Night Safari in Singapore. He ended up having to dance around shirtless for the crowd and got to blow out a torch with the fire guys. Later that night, me, Caroline and Mark made a bicycle rickshaw guy bike the three of us the few blocks back to our hotel. The poor guy almost collapsed under our weight.

6. Cristina showing off her fancy chopstick moves at Nobu in Las Vegas — resulting in her dropping her rock into her glass and Fuzzy Navel and broken bits of glass flying everywhere. Hilarious. And she will probably never live that down. Ever.

7. Surviving the seven mile hike that connects the five towns in the Cinque Terre.  And then getting to take the ferry back to our starting point.

8. Weekend getaways to Mendocino with Mark during their crab and wine days in February. Menus built around crab dishes, wine tasting, artisanal chocolate and getting my first taste of basil and tomato bisque.

9. Seeing our villa in Phuket. We arrived to our room via jetty and had a three story place with a rooftop deck. Gorgeous.

10. Getting snowed in at Tahoe for New Year’s. We tried going to Squaw Valley to snowboard that year during a massive snow dump. The normally 20 minute drive took three hours. We stopped at Squaw long enough to use the bathroom, catch a quick lunch and snap some pictures before heading back to “beat the traffic”. The ride back took another 3 hours. We ended up playing Texas Hold ‘Em at my parents’ house in Reno the rest of the time there.