oceanside – CO Blog

October 14, 2016October 14, 2016

Oceanside Vacation Recap – Stuff We Eat

Oceanside is a great place for this Valley Girl to take a quick getaway to. I love the small beach town feel of that place. I don’t know what it is about the ocean, but I love to be by it. I love the sound of the waves, the cool winds, and the view of the horizon. But the thing I noticed most about being by the ocean, there are a bunch of places near the ocean with good food!
If you remember my post on tips for traveling I had a short list of places I wanted to visit while we were in Oceanside. Once we arrived in South O we walked over to Urge Gastropub and Whiskey Bank. It was awesome because it was just around the corner from our Airbnb. We had a couple drinks (Charlie had the Barrel Aged Sazerac and I had the Magic Surfer), a short rib bonanza (Charlie and I split the Short Rib Poutine and the Short Rib Burger), and the Hard Root Beer Float for dessert.

For dinner we decided to do a little grocery shopping and cook our own food. We stopped by Red and White Market across the street and bought a tri-tip roast, some red potatoes, and white mushrooms. Just seasoned with with some olive oil, sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper, and garlic powder. Awesome! We ended up having it for breakfast on Sunday and Monday too. Saved us a ton of money since we didn’t have to eat out.
On Sunday afternoon we decided to explore Carlsbad which was only about a mile away. We stopped at Carlsbad Beach to catch a few rays and enjoy the view. Then we explored Carlsbad Village to find a couple places to eat. We got a couple really good smoothies from Beach City Smoothies. You might be thinking, “A smoothie is a smoothie, how good could it be?” Boo, trust me. Take it from a girl that makes a lot of smoothies on a daily basis. These are good smoothies 🙂 From there we went to Campfire, which was on my list of places to visit. We shared their interpretation of ceviche (which was more like a tare tare), their pork belly bahn mi, and a couple cocktails.

After we watched the sunset at Cassidy Beach (which was breathtaking btw), we had a couple drinks and the fried cheese curds at Urge and then had one of our favorite dishes at home: Mandarin Orange Chicken and brown rice from Trader Joe’s. Yes yes, y’all. One of our favorite dishes. No shame lol!

Xoxo,

Kissa

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October 13, 2016

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.

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.

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-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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October 4, 2016October 4, 2016

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.

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.
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.
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!
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.
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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