November 4, 2008!

Let's hope history is made!!

it's officially official!

the honeymoon is booked! although from this point on i'll just start calling it our winter vacation lol. i will be mia for thanksgiving this year. actually we will be flying back into chicago about 5PM on thanksgiving day. we will probably stay in a hotel there thursday night since thanksgiving weekend is awesome in chicago... the entire city clears out!!

Es Muy Frio!

Saturday night Mike and I went to dinner at La Flama. Our friend Carly recommended the joint for their salsa dancing and food! For those of you who are familiar with the Quad Cities, you know that a good Mexican restaurant is hard to come by. There was Chi Chi's for many years, Carlos O Kelley's and that place on Brady street that I went to once or twice. None of which really impressed me, and after living in Chicago for ten years I'm even more spoiled!

It took us a while to find La Flama, I thought it was going to be in west Moline but it turns out La Flama is right in the downtown area. Upon entering we were hopeful, the warm vibrant colors made the place alive, and there were quite a few people dining. I felt, for a minute, like I was home(Chicago). Not what I expected, but I was pleasently surprised. We started off with a couple of drinks, my margarita was awesome and just what I needed, the chips and salsa were very tasty too. One thing I've never understood are Mexican restuarants with gross salsa, if they can't get that right... La Flama's salsa passed my test with flying colors.

The service was super fast and the waitress friendly. I opted for a combo platter that included: a bean, soft corn tortilla taco, and guacomole tostada, and a veggie enchilada, all were great and really hit the spot! Mike had a streak burrito that enjoyed as well along with his Pina Colada haha!



I can't say La Flama was as good as Mi Tierra, my Chicago fav, but it was really close. I can say we found a REALLY GOOD Mexican restaurant in the QC!

Spicing things up a little

Mike and I decided that we need to venture out more to some of the local restaurants. We both enjoy having a nice dinner, some wine and ,of course, great conversation. We've been so busy since moving to Iowa that we really haven't gone out but a handful of times. Last night we prioritized our hit list and made two stops!

First, we visited a quaint Vietnamese restaurant in Moline called Pasteur. The place was highly recommended by Mike's coworkers and since we've really been missing our favorite Thai places in Chicago we thought this to be a great place to start. It took a while to find the place, it's on the odd number side of the street even though it has an even address, and set back a little bit. When we walked in there were a handful of tables filled with people dining, some soft playing music and I whispered to Mike, "the QC is sooo different from Chicago." By different I mean, less people, more old people, more quiet and as we learned more personalized service. We were immediately greeted and seated. We took at a look at the wine list while enjoying the Young and the Restless theme song playing in the background, hahah. We ordered our drinks while being warmly welcomed by the owner of the restaurant. He explained to us that Vietnamese don't cook like Chinese, they use fresh ingredients and no MSG. I hate Chinese food, so this was music to my ears. He asked us what brought us here, asked us why we moved from Chicago, told us about his daughter who is an eye doctor in Chicago and suggested some items from the menu. Vietnamese is very similar to Thai food, so Mike and I had no problem ordering. We decided to start with and appetizer, spring rolls. Very tasty and immediately devoured.



The we ordered two entrees and share. There were so many tasty choices, we finally decided on Chinois Noodles with Tofu



and Chicken Curry



Everything was delicious! We will definitely be returning again!

After dinner we stopped to get a Lonely Planet Book on Mexico and let our food settle before dessert! At Borders we browsed the books for a while and headed to Ducky City Bistro.



I used to go to Duck City when I was in high school with my girlfriends for the infamous Death By Chocolate dessert. It's been years since I've had it, and last night it lived up to the pedestal I put it on in my memory. Death By Chocolate is a rich chocolate cake next to chocolate ice cream, topped with whip cream, drizzled with chocolate and raspberry sauce, and sprinkled with chocolate. When the waitress placed the yummy concoction on our table I explained to Mike that we had to take our time eating this and savor every bite, I was really saying this to myself so I didn't immediately inhale the entire plate! Again, the people at Duck City were very friendly! The restaurant was really busy, and we felt slightly out of place since everyone dining was dressed up. I'm talking men in suit and ties! We plan on going back soon for dinner all of the chef's creations looked fantastic!

Next up on our list, Great Indian Restaurant in Moline, Exotic Thai in Davenport, Le Mekong, another Vietnamese place in Davenport, and La Flama a Mexican place in Moline!

because your dreams will come true!

That's one reason to stay at the Posado Freud, or so their website claims!

We've finally decided on our honeymoon! With a little research and some helpful opinions we've decided to split our trip up. We'll spend the first 3 days here:

http://valentinmaya-px.trvlclick.com/

This is an adult only resort where we hope to rest, relax and save up our energy for the week ahead in Playa Del Carmen at Posado Freud!

http://www.posadafreud.com/version_en/home.htm

We fell in love with Posado Freud, it's in the heart of the city and has a very cool, fun style!

Adios ;)

Mike and I are going back and forth on our honeymoon. We have the time narrowed down... 11/21-11/27. We know we want to go to Mexico, but we are torn between an all inclusive resort or a boutique hotel. Any tips, suggestions, recommendations?


This is the all inclusive we are thinking of:

http://www.valentinmaya.com/

And this boutique hotel if we chose the Isla Mujeres:

http://www.hotelsecreto.com/

The Aftermath

It's been about two months since the weddings and about two months since I started my new job. While wedding planning I learned that the wedding market is a money machine! One of my first projects at work was to market to brides. There are a lot of fun, creative things you can do with stamps while making your save the dates, invitations, cocktail napkins, gift and favor tags, envelopes, programs and much more! So how do I communicate that to people?

I started out by creating an advertisement to go into a local bridal magazine that has a one year shelf life. Then, I was able to get it placed in a bag of goodies given to brides at a bridal fair here in the area. Now I am working with the people at QCWeddings.com, a local message board and vendor directory visited by thousands of brides a month, to become a member!

My favorite part of the project was creating a wedding page on our site! Everyday I see beautiful custom designs ordered by brides to be but some brides need a little inspiration so I mocked up samples to do just that! The page is a work in progress right now, it will change as I see what works and what doesn't!

I've posted a few images on the blog, but visit the website to see the rest! If you happen to need items for your own wedding, enter QCWED at checkout and receive 10% off your order ;)

http://www.RubberStamps.Net/QCWED


and the link to my design ideas:

http://www.rubberstamps.net/design-ideas.aspx

notice our shout out in Martha Stewarts magazine!


Also check out our label site with some wedding suggestions:

http://www.superiorlabels.com/QCWED.asp


Next up! I am going to let my bridal efforts work their magic. Currently I'm working on email marketing materials for existing customers and a Quarterly
E-Letter. Exciting stuff! AND a fun side project..Christmas ideas!