vacation – Page 2

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 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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June 11, 2013

Seattle Recap

A few months ago, I randomly text Charlie and my brothers-in-law and asked if they wanted to go on a mini vacay. On a whim, we all decided to go to Seattle for a weekend trip. I was excited to go. I haven’t been to Seattle in about 20 years! And to go with my family that’s never been made this trip even more special.

Charlie and I had to get up really early on Friday. Ok, not really early. But early enough. I’m not much of a morning person even though I try to be. The earliest I’ll get up and be pleasant is 8:00 lol. We arrived around lunch time and my cousin, Jon, picked us up.

group-landed

First stop was what else but food. He took us to a place called Lunchbox Laboratory. Charlie and I split their lamb burger and tater tots. OMG – Yum!

We checked into our hotel and hung out for a bit before heading out to see the Space Needle. We took a short monorail ride there and got to walk around and explore for a bit. The weather was absolutely gorgeous the entire weekend! I heard we brought the sunny weather from LA. 🙂

Next up – the Space Needle. I didn’t think I’d be as nervous as I was. But the moment the elevator started going up and seeing that view. My stomach fell to the floor! The views were absolutely gorgeous though!

Every time these guys would hang their phones over the edge gave me butterflies in my stomach! I had to walk away some times just so the butterflies would go away haha!

group_space_needle_pics

This picture was one of my favorites. I had to zoom in a little so excuse the picture quality. But that “floating mountain” as we called it was such a magical thing to see from atop of the Space Needle. Mt. Rainier was such a sight to see.

group_space_needle2

The next day we did more sight seeing. Pike Market, the gum wall (eww), the original Starbucks…if you love cheese go visit Beecher’s! Delicious!

We went to go visit UW and got to see the gorgeous campus and this architectural gem.

We also headed to Gasworks Park. What a gorgeous view of the city. It was a beautiful day and there were tons of people picnic’ing, throwing frisbees, and hanging out.

Everyone was recommending that we visit Dick’s Hamburgers while we were there, and it did NOT disappoint!

We got to have dinner with my aunt and uncle that live a few minutes away from the city. I hadn’t been to their house since I was 8 years old. They made us a home cooked meal – it was delicious! We got to do a little shopping, visited Kerry Park to see the city lights at night, and played some games at Gameworks across the street from our hotel. The next day we had brunch at Ivar’s. OMG, if you go to Seattle I definitely recommend their brunch!!!

What an awesome trip. It was good to just hang out, have no agenda, and explore a new city. Can’t wait to visit again! 🙂

xoxo,

Kissa

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