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Carlsbad Family Vacation

This year, for a combined Mother’s Day/Father’s Day celebration the Ortegas went to Carlsbad for a relaxing weekend getaway!

When we all get together it’s always a great time. Lots of laughing, memories, and quality time spent. This year, we kept it low key and stayed at an Airbnb in the hills of Carlsbad just a few miles from the beach and Carlsbad Village.

Whenever we go on family vacations like this I love using Airbnb for our stay. It’s really great to house your family in 1 place, you usually have a kitchen so you can cook to save some cash, and it feels like a home away from home.

Before we made the trip down to Carlsbad on Friday night, we got word that our car came in! Charlie and I test drove the Subaru Forester a couple weeks back and special ordered the car so we can get the color and model we wanted. Low and behold, it came just in time to drive it for our family vacation!

Once traffic died down we made our way down to Carlsbad, had a bite to eat at  Mission Avenue Bar and Grill (great burgers!), and started our vacay. On day 2 we stopped by the outlets, ate lunch at Dini’s (great spot by the beach), and cooked a yummy dinner at home.

Where are some of your favorite places to take a family vacation? Would love to explore new places with our family soon!

xoxo,

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Oceanside Vacation Recap – Stuff we Like

And here we are, it’s been a few days since we’ve been back to reality. That was quick lol!

If you didn’t know, Charlie decided to take me on a quick getaway for our 5 year wedding anniversary this year. Man, we both needed it. This year has been really rough for the both of us and I don’t know about him but I was spent. Extremely burnt out. To the point where despite all the good things that were going on I just couldn’t get past the bad. So when he said that he was willing to take me somewhere I made sure all the businesses were as prepared as possible so I can make sure we can go lol!

Charlie got us an Airbnb in “South O” (South Oceanside) 4 blocks from the beach. It was awesome. If you follow me on Snapchat (@cartel_co) I posted a video of the place we stayed at and the cute kitty that greeted us at the door. Charlie and I love the vibe and community feeling of a small beach town and South O was just that. There were tons of great places to visit and eat. We checked in on Saturday and decided to explore our surroundings on Sunday. We walked over to Carlsbad State Beach and explored Carlsbad Village during the day and then ended at Cassidy Beach for the sunset.

selfie
Ignore the our beach hair 😛
steps-to-beach
Steps to Carlsbad Beach

 

 

We checked out on Monday morning and headed straight to Heritage Park in Dana Point where we had our wedding ceremony 5 years ago. It was a gorgeous day. Nice a clear with a few clouds, a slight cool breeze, and the sun was out.

Pathway leading up to the ceremony area
Pathway leading up to the ceremony area
View from the parking lot
View from the parking lot

It was still as breathtaking as I remembered it to be. Our ceremony was on the edge of a hillside that overlooked the marina and ocean in Dana Point. I actually never knew about this place until we were looking for ceremony locations and I’m so glad I found it. It was everything I was looking for.

ceremony-view
Our ceremony location
ceremony-location
The view from the overlook

We stayed there for a bit, played our wedding song, and prayed. This was definitely the highlight of our trip for me!

After that we were able to spend time with Charlie’s family before heading home. We went to Captain Kidd’s in Redondo Beach with his mom and dad. We laughed and talked over fresh steamed crab and seafood. Then we had dinner at our favorite poke spot in Socal, Jus Poke in Redondo with his brother and brother’s girlfriend. Perfect way to cap off our trip!

xoxo,

Kissa

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We’re Going on Vacation – Stuff we Like

I can’t believe it. This Saturday Charlie and I will be married for 5 years. US?! 5 YEARS?! It felt like the blink of an eye. It’s been a magical and beautiful marriage and one rollercoaster of a ride. We’ve also gone through some pretty heavy stuff in the 5 years we’ve been married but I’m so blessed and lucky to have him by my side through all the good and the bad.
We’re going to Oceanside/Carlsbad for a short little getaway and I’m really excited to just unplug for a couple days. So if you find yourself going to Oceanside or Carlsbad here’s what’s on my list and my travel tips for anywhere you go.
  1. Get an Airbnb or vacation rental instead of a hotel. I’m sure many of you know about Airbnb and if you have yet to book one — DO IT! I love living like the locals do whenever I travel. We’re staying at a unit a few blocks from the beach and I’m so excited so be able to use the bikes they have for us, cook a nice breakfast, and relax.
  2. Go to the beach! Oceanside and Carlsbad have some beautiful beaches. I plan on visiting Tamarack State Beach and Buccaneer Beach while we’re there.
  3. Eat at local spots. My 3 spots that are a must go for me are Urge Gastropub and Whiskey Bank in Oceanside, Campfire in Carlsbad, and Flying Pig Pub and Kitchen in Oceanside. You locals must send me your recommendations as well!
  4. Don’t drive everywhere. Walk or ride a bike to places nearby. What better way to get to know your surroundings than to explore a little bit yourself instead of looking online. Our Airbnb rental comes with 2 beach cruisers and we’ll definitely be using those to get around.
  5. Take some time to relax! I know this sounds silly because you’re going on vacation. But I know I need to remind myself of this some times. You get so caught up in sightseeing or fitting in all of the things on your list that you forget to do one of the most important reasons of a vacation — relax. So take some time for yourself and enjoy it!
xoxo,
Kissa
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