Emerald City Adventures

When I think of Seattle a few things come to mind.

1// Sleepless in Seattle. I adore this movie. I love the sweetness of Meg Ryan's character and how Tom Hanks' character loved his wife sooo much and how they find love with each other. I am a sucker for a good romantic comedy.

2// Boats. I visited Seattle as a child (I was either seven or eight) and we traveled from Seattle to Victoria, Canada with my aunt and uncle on their boat. It was an incredible trip. We explored the port towns and I vividly remember seeing a deer for the first time in my life. There aren't many deer in San Diego.

3// Rain. Of course, an obvious come to mind. Seattle is known for it's rain. But the byproduct of rain is an abundance of green. Everywhere. No wonder it is known as the Emerald City.

Olive Oil or Vino? {w/ travel}

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Olive oil or wine? How does a food blogger choose?

Some of you would say wine without hesitation. The subtle complexities that make their way from the bottle of merlot to your tongue are just too much to deny.

But oh, have you ever tried a good olive oil?

This is just one of the dilemmas I face as I prepare for next week.

Because you see, next week - Friday to be exact - I will attend my first-ever food blogging conference. Eeek!

Adventure is Out There {w/ travel}

Are you a planner when it comes to your vacations? Or do you take spontaneous get-aways? I've always been a planner. As in, tickets are booked 6 months in advance. But sometimes its fun to just get up and go.

***

Steven and I recently celebrated our fifth anniversary (June 21). Five years went by incredible fast, and this particular anniversary came up even faster than the others, at least it felt that way. We started talking a few months ago about how to celebrate, but didn't make any plans.

I wasn't sure if I could get away from work since I'm still fairly "new" to my new position and a coworker had already requested time off. We thought about having a "staycation" in downtown San Diego or flying up to Napa for the weekend, but we knew those would be great options because we had already done them. And five years felt like it deserved something original. Something we would remember on our 50th anniversary. A true adventure.

a hidden oasis... {w/ travel}

I know this isn’t a very new trend, but man, succulents are really popular right now.

If you told me this ten years ago I would have chuckled, 

and silently wondered how boring cactus plants could ever be interesting enough to be trendy.

You see, I’ve grown up in Southern California, where cacti and succulents abound.

I never thought of them as beautiful or unique, 

but only as dry, dull and pokey. 

Interesting how opinions can change.

Now I absolutely love them and have half a dozen little pots around my house and backyard. 

I wonder if my opinion of them has truly changed (I am 10 years older now) 

or if I’m just jumping on the bandwagon. 

My thought is probably a little of both. 

But somewhere along the lines of life and trends and style and what is “popular”, 

someone decided that succulents were cool. And that someone was pretty smart.

New York Eats {w/ travel}

According to USA Today, there are more than 3500 restaurants in Manhattan. Allow me to share some of the amazing ones I visited, in what I am calling, A Very Incomplete Guide to NYC Eateries.  

Part I

Keste
Like many restaurants in Manhattan, Keste is a physically small restaurant with big flavors. This Neopolitan pizzeria also has incredible service - the host brought out a hot "pie" for us to sample while we waited for a table.

ate: the Margherita and Kesté pizzas, wine.

Alice's Tea Cup
In case you don't know, I have a thing for tea. My blog's name? It's the way I take my tea, with milk and a little sugar. I love everything about tea, especially tea parties. Alice's Tea Cup, a quaint tea shop and restaurant, did not disappoint.

ate: Alice's tea, Vanilla Almond tea, chocolate walnut scones, mixed berry scones, ham and cheese scones, Croque Monsieur sandwich, smoked chicken breast sandwich with granny smith apples and herbed goat cheese {<-- I will be replicating this someday soon}.

The Loeb Central Park Boathouse
A New York tradition, the Boathouse sits on the water's edge in Central Park. When we arrived the bar and restaurant were closing early for a private event, but we quickly ordered at the to-go station and sat outside, sipping Chardonnay while watching the boats on the lake.

drank: a California wine (oh, the irony!)

New York, NY {w/ travels}

Just a week ago I was sitting on an airplane, somewhere over Ohio, on my way home from an incredible trip. Incredible is truly the best word to describe it. Four and a half days of exploring and enjoying the remarkable city of New York.

Day one started early. I mean, very early. The three of us California girls took a redeye flight Wednesday and arrived at Newark before 6:00am. Off the plane and onto a train, Manhattan bound. We had a traditional breakfast: bagel and schmear.

After breakfast our dear New York friend had work and school, so the California girls headed to Times Square.

Snapshots from the Napa Valley... {w/ travel}

hi friends.

Sorry for giving you the silent treatment this last week. We got away for a few days to celebrate our anniversary. Up the beautiful California coast, making stops at Disneyland, Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Francisco, and Napa.

I took plenty of real photos (i.e. on a camera, not my iPhone), but have been so slammed this week I haven't uploaded them to my computer. So for now, here are a few from Instagram.

A highlight of our trip was spending a day in the beautiful Napa Valley. One of the wineries we visited, Chateau Montelena, was inside a gorgeous 1860s stone castle. In 1976 it won a prestigious French wine award that blew the socks off the hoity French judges and officially put California on the map in the wine world.   

I got this half barrel at one of the wineries. I've seen them at Lowe's for $30. This one was actually used for wine (Merlot) and is awesomely stained on the inside. We picked it up for $15. Score. I will be great on our deck. Time to plant more...

More to come in the next few weeks, including descriptions of some of the amazing meals we had.

Let's just say, Club 33 at Disneyland is incredible.