Birthday to Remember.

It was a normal enough day. My brother turned twenty-two (cue Taylor Swift) and to celebrate, we all decided to take a road trip up to Girdwood and celebrate with a fine dinner beneath the mountainside.

Or at the top of the mountainside.

My dad surprised us by taking us to the divine Seven Glaciers restaurant sitting atop Mt. Alyeska. I've only been craving this place since I last visited ten years ago!

So in the midst of skiers and boarders, in our fine dinner attire, we waited for our ride- the tram. Well, we conveniently hit the time in which high winds were present. Finally, after multiple delays, we all crowded inside and up we went.

Ditching the skiers for their travel down, we made our way to the restaurant, windows facing the tram hardware, and steep mountainside below. We walked past the wine cellar and wall full of Dom Perignon and Perrier Jouet bottles and were seated for our meal.

Cheers to this young man's birthday!

You can always tell a restaurant by its bread selection and consistency of butter. Seven Glaciers scored in that department!

Appetizer to start was a cheese platter. They were all delicious, but the one that stuck out most was the espresso lavender honey cheese. Holy.

After the cheese, I was given a lovely scallop bisque with smoked salmon, smoked salmon mousse, and chive oils and croutons. And on top, the most delicious caviar I've ever had!

Birthday boy's dinner was lamb chops..

And I went for the Alaskan seafood paella!

Baked Alyeska for the Smiling Alyeska..

Even their after dinner chocolates were beautiful!

Classic Krull kids.

The calm before the storm..

So we finish our outstanding meal, and we're constantly being delayed for the tram ride down due to high winds.  A look outside at the swirling blizzard was proof enough that we were in the midst of a storm!

Finally, we're told that its ready and so we all pile into the tram.

We go down at a fairly quick speed when all of a sudden, the tram stops about halfway down due to an emergency stop. There's no way to override the brake and so we end up spending nearly forty-five minutes suspended a hundred plus feet above the mountainside in a wintry blizzard. The winds averaged 60-80 mph, but it was the gusts that frightened me most of all. It would come out of nowhere and the tram would eerily swing back and forth.

Mother Nature has such the uncanny ability of making you feel terribly insignificant and small! We were just suspended up there at the mercy of the wind.

It was an adventure and finally, it let up and we were able to slowly land to safety.

Easy to say that it was a memorable birthday! An unforgettable birthday for an unforgettable brother.

I'm Home for Christmas.

It came. Christmas it came! Through all the finals and working shifts, I have finally returned to the land of my people in the far north.

Feels as if I were here yesterday, which is always so nice. No matter how long I've gone, or what I've done, I can always count on coming home and things staying the same. The family is reunited and I am in absolute heaven being able to sleep in my big bed with Fudge at my feet.

And I apologize for slacking off this holiday season, but I know my time here is short and I want to enjoy every minute I have spending it with family and friends, and not always in front of a screen (unless it's partaking in the Star Wars movie marathon, which I've been participating in).

Let's not waste any time then, shall we?

Coming home never felt so good.. Especially on Christmas Eve! And boy how I have missed the Alaskan atmosphere..

After a long day of cooking, we finally got ready for the festive annual wanton feast at the Krulls..

I found Alyeska by the mixer (before the thing went haywire and spit up flour and sugar everywhere)..

My beautiful brother..

Dad sporting his Christmas best..

Wanton women at the ready!

Drink #1 of the evening was your classic rum and coke made by Bartender Shebs.

Cheers! *chink*

 

As always, the food never disappoints..

So we might have gotten a new coffee machine, a lever pull. And it might make the most divine creamy coffees ever.

... Which go along very nicely with Shelby's cake pops..

Let's have another toast because.. well, why not?

Taking a normal family photo proved to be very difficult for the Krull family..

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night...

Christmas morning!

Below falls the joy of Christmas morning..

Fudge and I make the purrrrfect team.

And let's not forget about work! I was kindly able to work over the holidays at my favorite Kaladi Brothers Coffee, where I've simply fallen back into the routine of making the world's best drinks..

But I want to know how your holidays went? Tell me everything!