I woke up bright and early this morning ready for my surprise trip with The Husband. He actually told me we were going to The Winchester Mystery House before we left since we couldn’t go on my birthday so I guess it wasn’t so much of a surprise anymore LOL. :)…..He knew I was bummed that we couldn’t go when it was raining, but, today was a beautiful 70 degrees of sunshine!
This morning as I caught up on blogging I snacked on some Banana Chips (1 pt).
Obviously my banana chips didn’t hold me over too long, so I snacked on some TJ’s Cashews on our drive (4 pts for the entire pack).
When we arrived at the Winchester Mystery House we decided to head across the street for lunch before our tour.
I had a 7 pt Turkey and Ham sandwich with Swiss cheese, AVOCADO and ALL the veggies on 9-grain Honey Oat. I LOVE Jalapeño slices on my sandwich!
They were all out of apples 🙁 so I opted for some 2 pt Baked Lays for some crunch with my sandwich.
After lunch, we walked across the street to The Husband’s Surprise Spot for us.
We checked out the gift shop and museum while we waited for our tours to start. Seriously ~ how cool is this gingerbread house?!
Then again, how weird is it that it is 19 years old and still 100% together…kinda freaky.
Fun gingerbread house facts.
We signed up to do both the Mansion Tour and the Behind The Scenes Tour. They don’t let you take pictures inside while you are on tour, but, you can check out some of the the pictures and such online in the photo gallery or video gallery.
Here we are being cheesy with our super cool hard hats! Friends shouldn’t let friends take corny pictures wearing hard hats at a tourist exhibit 🙂
The Mansion
I LOVE the “doors” and stairs to nowhere. Along with the random designs of the Mansion. Sarah Winchester was such an interesting woman and I LOVED hearing all the history. The House is definitely designed in interesting ways with projects started, not finished, closed off or rooms just added on right next to each other.
The crazy vine was grown after the 1906 Earthquake since Sarah didn’t want to restore any damage as a result of the earthquake.
The flowers and gardens were AMAZING…..
Cupid’s fountain
I think this archway is really cool, but, I don’t think I’d want one because there would be spiders in it 😀
We had fun touring the Winchester Mystery House….although I am a little bummed it wasn’t “scary” like. I think the mystery is more around “what was Sarah Winchester thinking” when she designed this or did that. We think she just had so much $$ to burn that she had all these projects as a way to spend it :D
On our way back, The Husband declared I should continue my trend of not cooking for the weekend since we’ve been gone all weekend. Not one to object to that, we headed over to Panda Express because I was CRAVING vegetables. I sometimes think I need a salt block or something too because I crave the saltiness in Chinese food LOL :) Here we go….even though you all have seen me order this a million times.
String Bean Chicken (3 pts)
Fire Cracker Chicken (4 pts)
Steamed veggies (1 pt)
Alright all, off to finish watching The Scandalous Bachelor ~ it’s almost rose ceremony time and I am so proud of Jake for how he handled the “Ali call”! You all will probably kill me for saying this, but, I sorta liked seeing the other side of Vienna that she showed tonight and now I am not so sure I am all too impressed with Gia. She seemed sorta ditsy tonight. I still like Tenley ~ how can you not – she is just so sweet.
Ok your turn…..tell me what you thought of The Scandalous Bachelor???
Recipe and catch up coming tomorrow ~ really!
Night all!
awww you and your husband are so cute! 🙂
Next time I am in CA I will have to go to this house. When we were there last year visiting my husbands family we drove past the house and I wanted to go but we we on our way some place else. Next time we will plan a trip and make sure we dont pass it up 🙂
Looks like a fun tour, what a great surprise!
And yes, a 19-year-old gingerbread house is a bit scary! lol
xo
K
I’m a new follower and I agree– Vienna wasn’t terrible tonight. They had a real connection
That place is so gorgeous!! I don’t know which I love more-the house or the flowers.I have been craving Chinese lately and just need to give in. I was going to get it yesterday but didn’t feel like waiting around (I love being lazy some days).
Oi, the Bachelor!! I dedicated a whole post to it since I had so many comments (some snarky) but I felt the same about Gia, like she was just there. I am really not feeling the other two but have a feeling that he will go for Tenley in the long run (although some spoilers say it’s Vienna!!)
Aww Im sooo glad you got to go to the Winchester House!!! That is sooo cool! What a great hubby for not making you cook too!! We have the Biltmore House in NC, it sorta reminds me of that, haha. Anyways…yes…Jake…dear Jake…he is all about livin in the moments. I am afraid he is going to pick Vienna and make the biggest mistake of his life. Tenley…freakin awesome choice there. He is blind if he cant see that. Yeah Im done with Ali. She is making herself look pathetic on National tv. Have a FAB tuesday!!!
Its been years since I went to the Winchester Mystery House! I also need to see where you live?? I didn’t remember you living in the Bay Area?? 🙂
oohh yeah, i went there when i was little with my parents. pretty creepy! or at least my dad made it seem that way!
Wow your pics are awesome! So crisp and clear! May I ask what type camera you use?? BTW that mansion is beautiful!!
Hi, Danica! Does Panda post nutrition information or do you just estimate the points for those meals?
awww what a fun Monday! Now that’s the way to spend Mondays eh?
I just finished watching the DVR this afternoon from last night’s bachelor. I think his last 2 choices are the best pics for him. Tenley is adorable and Vienna seems genuine yet immature. I’m honestly a little surprised he is attracted to her looks. Oops did I just say that?
Danica I just made your cheese broccoli quiche in the crockpot again. I had TJ’s organic broccoli so tried it again. It did turn out crispy this time (more soggy with the frozen florets). Mine cooked in 4 hours and the broccoli was overcooked even though I didn’t actually cook it with the onions. My little rival crockpot seems a bit hot even on the low setting. It’s very good but I had to put it in the fridge and stop cooking it at 2:00 instead of my planned 5:30 LOL. That’s the way it goes with a crockpot meal that could overcook 🙂 I like this dish. I actually like it as a side at dinner or a main course for lunch. I think my DD will like it as she likes eggs, broccoli and cheese 🙂 Thanks again for posting your recipes.
I love that place! I haven’t been there since I was a kid, but I remember a tour guide taking me and my mom off the tour to one of the secret stair cases. So cool! One of these days I want to do the Halloween flash light tour.
Those daffodils just put me in such a good mood!
love the winchester house!!! so much fun!!!
How interesting! I would have so much fun there. I would have to eat that exact same sandwich though, that looked excellent. Glad you had a good time.
Lindsay
Hi Connie,
Thanks! I LOVE my little camera. I actually switched from the fancier bigger cameras to one I could carry around and fit in my purse last year. You’d be surprised but several of the point and shoot cameras are AWESOME.
My camera is a Cannon PowerShot SD890IS Digital ELPH. I LOVE it. Here is a link:
http://astore.amazon.com/dansdai-20/detail/B0015DPJMK
Have a great day!
Danica
HI Jane,
They do post nutritional information for everything, except their new fire cracker chicken. I’ve guesstimated that one between their string bean and kung pao chicken at 4 pts. Here is the link to the nutritionals on their site.
http://www.pandaexpress.com/menu/nutrition.aspx
Pretty awesome, huh?
Danica