Same Place/Food Different Name

Here it is folks! Something that has been weighing heavy on my mind. Ok that might be a little dramatic... but this topic keeps coming up so I thought I'd blog about it.

There are some businesses but more food brands that seem to have a different name out here on the west coast than they do on the east coast. Strange? Yes!

The first time this was brought to my attention was actually when we were driving across the U.S. Do you know another name for Panera Bread? Well in the areas surrounding St. Louis, it is known as the St. Louis Bread Company. Same exact place...different name. Reason?? Well I'm not really sure, but the Panera headquarters are in a suburb of St. Louis so maybe that is why.

Next up? Hellmann's. Do you know what Hellmann's is called on the west coast? I'll be really impressed if you guessed this one. Here on the west coast Hellmann's is known as Best Foods. Reason? Well according to Wikipedia, this guy from Germany...a Mr. Hellmann...created Hellmann's in NY and then a company called Best Foods created an equally liked Mayo. When Best Foods bought Hellmann's, they decided that since both Mayo recipes were liked so much they would keep them the same and sold in their specific halves of the country. Best Foods took on the blue ribbon marketing look of Hellmann's.

Let's talk ice cream. Edy's. Here on the west coast it's called Dreyer's. Essentially what happened here is that these two guys, Dreyer's and Edy's, started their ice cream business here on the west coast and then when they moved east they went with the name Edy's so they wouldn't be confused with Breyers. Guess what though...Breyers is also sold here on the west coast, so I'm not sure that's the actually story, but that's all I could find.



The last one I have for today is Hardee's. Here on the west coast Hardee's is known as Carl's Jr. So here I sit with that same old question of "WHY?" Wikipedia was again a little helpful in this area. The company that owns Carl's Jr. acquired Hardee's and pretty much revamped Hardee's by giving them the same logo and same foods as Carl's Jr.

This is so strange to me. I've seen more, but I can't remember names right now...I suppose I'll add to the list as I find them. I know this was more of an informational post, but did you know all of this already? I didn't have a clue. Do you know of any other brands?

Downtown Seattle

Ok so between not having Internet, and then getting all of our household goods the blog got put on hold.

During this holding pattern, Jonny and I went to downtown Seattle and hit up a Mariners game. I know that when everyone thinks of visiting downtown Seattle the North Face store and the Mariners aren't the first things that pop into your head. I'm sure some of you are asking..."ooo did you visit the the space needle" or "ooo how about pike place market?!" Well the answer is no. I'm kinda saving the tourist type stuff for when visitors come then we can all experience it together. I know that I'm going to see these places multiple times with different people coming at different times anyway, so I'm not too worried about those places right now.

So we went to the North Face store...which (for those of you like me who hadn't really heard of them) is a brand of winter clothing and camping/hiking gear. Jonny bought a new jacket for the rain and cold. That's right I said cold. I know everywhere else it is supposed to be summer but it can be quite chilly here, especially on the cloudy days (which are frequent). I shouldn't complain too much though. Our house does not have air conditioning, so I'd rather be cold and have to get more blankets than be hot and not be able to escape. Cold (for summer) to me is around 65 degrees...when it drops past 70 thoughts of winter coats dance in my head.

After the North Face store we walked to the stadium. Jonny was worried about paying for parking since we didn't have any cash so we parked in a garage that had a cashier. However, a mile later and almost to the stadium we realized we could have parked at least this much closer. :) Oh well...next time.

On the way to the stadium we found this great store. I saw these period (ie 50's and 60's) dresses in the window. I have always loved vintage clothing. In this store everything is new but just made to look vintage. I told Jonny how much I loved the dress in the window and so we went inside. It was a tiny little store, but it had some great items of clothing. They also carry vintage looking shoes and jewelry. I found a great dress that is actually a jersey knit, I think, and will have room for my baby bump should I choose to wear it while prego. I'll have to post a pic of it, but for now here's some pics of the store windows.



That's just a random couple by the way.

 So back to baseball...the game was great. Jonny and I are both sports fans...he actually knows about the teams and the players whereas I'm more about the atmosphere (especially when I pick a team to root for). :)  We sat in the super nose bleed section, but I think that it was perfect for our first time at the park because it had a great view of the city and the field. Check out the pics...

Check out the beard on Jonny because soon to come will be a before/after pic...he had to shave before going to work today.

Obviously this wasn't from our seat...this I took when we were walking around the stadium.

Tomorrow come back by...and read about the many business chains that insist on using different names on the west coast than they do on the east coast. Weird!

We found a House!

We found a house! It is a townhome. It has three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. It also has a bonus room. It doesn't have much of a back yard, but it will do...I'm just thankful for a back yard at all. Here's a photo tour:

When you come through the front door, this is where you are...the door to the left is a coat closet.

From the font door platform looking down stairs. The door on the left goes into the garage...bonus room on the right.

Bonus Room

From front door platform looking upstairs.

Main Floor. Dining Room and Living Room

From the living room.

Eat in Kitchen area.

Window looking out on to the yard from the eat in kitchen area. Yep that's it. :o)

Looking upstairs.

And the second flight to the third floor.

Baby room.

Guest Bedroom

Guest Bathroom

Laundry Closet. Comes with washer and dryer.

Walk-in closet and window in Master bedroom.

Two sinks in master bathroom

This bathtub will get lots of use from prego me.

Second closet in master bedroom and Jonny





Hall view. Guest bath, linen closet, guest room, can't see baby room door on the right.





 Well that's it folks. Jonny and I really got lucky with this place. It is really close to base (under 10 minutes) and it is brandnew. Our household goods should be here by no later than early next week. Let us know when you want to come visit. We'll make sure the guestroom is ready for you. :o)

Next up...Find a Job!



 

Everett, House Hunting, Cats

We are in Everett and staying at an Extended Stay. Last night our neighbors across the hall went out on the town and got back in around 3:00 am. Then they were a bit noisy from 3 till about 4:30 am. Duke of course felt the need to bark...of course he is too lazy to actually get up off of his bed...he just stayed laying down and would growl a little and then give a good bark and then do it again at the next sign of people. Today (Saturday) we spent the day looking for places to rent. We saw a couple of houses, only one of which we liked. It had a big back yard which is great for Duke and it had 3 bedrooms and 2 baths which is also something I've been hoping for. We're going to start looking at some apartments tomorrow. Housing here is definitely more expensive then in Florida and so is the gas.

Something unique about this area is that there are these little tiny coffee huts everywhere. People must really like coffee here.

 On our way to pick up the rest of our animal family I was able to get a pic of the Seattle space needle and Mt. Rainer. Little did I realize...it is an active volcano. How interesting.

Tomorrow and Monday will be more house hunting and Monday Jonny and I will head over to the base to transfer medical and pick up a few things at the uniform shop.

Driving Across the US Day 7

Day 7 brought us from Spokane to Everett, Washington. So we started our trip on Saturday and ended it on Friday. We were so glad to have made it. We ended up getting a room at the Extended Stay in Everett. It's not the nicest place but it has a king sized bed, a couch, a rocking chair, and kitchenette with a little table. Along the way to Everett we had to go through some more mountains.

We went into a basin that I can't remember the name of.

I saw another much larger windmill farm.

This was the first view of Mt. Rainer. (I'm pretty sure)

We also passed a really neat farm area. They had all these fields with different crops and signs on the fences to let you know what they were growing. They had two different kinds of corn and hay, they had wheat, and sunflowers, and other things.

It was a short but successful day. Once in Everett we spent some time driving around to get the lay of the land. I'd definitely say it's about the size of Orange Park...Portland...Leesburg...ish.  Now for some house hunting!