California, Travel, USA

[48 Hours in Carmel-by-the-Sea – Carmel, CA]

July 25, 2022

I cannot believe how behind I have been in posting updates and photos! What a whirlwind year it has been. We’re slowly venturing back into the world and now with a toddler in tow, things can get a bit crazy. Nevertheless we had a great 48 hour weekend in Carmel a few months ago and were able to feel like things were a bit normal again.

We’ve always been the kind of travelers that plan a trip around hikes and meals but now we’ve added playgrounds and possible wildlife sightings to that list so if those final two categories resonate with you, stay tuned after the jump because our are of coverage has indeed expanded.

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California, Travel, USA

[Winter Weekend Getaway – Bodega Bay, CA]

February 24, 2022

I’m so late to share this post but now that we’re slowly creeping up on Spring I hope that one last glance back at a cozy winter weekend inspires you to hit snooze for a few days. Having not grown up on the West Coast I have this daydream of fisherman in tattered cable knit sweaters hauling fresh crabs in a neon threaded net. It’s early in the morning and they sip their hot cups of clam chowder, sprinkling in oyster crackers along the way so they are just the right mixture of soggy and crunchy. Of course, this has to happen both slow and fast because it is in a lacquered cardboard cup. All this to say I feel like Bodega Bay matches this daydream exactly. If you want to experience this whole scenario, become the fisherman, and maybe consider a thick puffer jacket – Bodega Bay is the place for you.

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California, Napa Valley, Travel, USA

[Day Trip to Wine Country – Saint Helena, CA]

June 27, 2021

We love a good trip to wine country, especially when that means we have lots of outdoor room and a COVID safe place to stay. We’ve been struggling with finding a trip where we can bounce around locally because we have a baby that can’t be vaccinated. We accidentally teed-up our return to the outside world with California’s re-opening but we were still pretty happy with our experiences and planning ahead made a huge difference in having a great experience. Here was a mini recap of our day. An editorial note: my parents were there to babysit so we had our first adult, outdoor meal for two in many months.

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Food

[2 Easy Truffle Recipes – At Home, CA]

January 21, 2021

Truffles for breakfast, truffles for lunch…truffles are probably okay for dessert too. Not only are truffles delicious, they are as easy to make as they are to eat.Truffles for breakfast, truffles for lunch…truffles are probably okay for dessert too. Not only are truffles delicious, they are as easy to make as they are to eat.

For the purposes of this post, I thought I’d focus on a no-frills set of truffle recipes, my go-to tried and true truffles for holiday parties that require very little heat and never fail to come together.

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Brunch Spotlight, California, Food, USA

[Oakland Eats: COVID-19 East Bay Takeout Edition – Oakland, CA]

September 24, 2020

Hello! It’s me, I’m alive. I’ve been very MIA for a little bit but here’s what’s been going on: a new job, a new baby and of course, endless shelter in place. As I write to you from what has been a series of fires in California and us finally getting our bearings as new parents, one thing has become a staple in our lives – Friday night date night and Tuesday working lunch.

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California, Sacramento, USA

[A Socially Distanced Wine Tasting – Sacramento, CA]

July 8, 2020

It’s been a tough few months of mostly being inside our home with the exception of neighborhood walks. Over the months of having yet to step into a grocery store, we expanded our “pod” to my parents who live north of us (but not quite Sacramento). They also have not been grocery shopping or venturing outside so in a few no stop trips, we see each other either at our home or theirs.

After a few months living in California and having never seen anything, my dad finally requested an experience of any kind that wasn’t waiting on a delivery from Amazon. We opted for a (very heavily researched) trip to a safe winery in Sacramento. We ended up going with Scribner Bend Vineyards in Sacramento as we had our dog with us and we didn’t want to eat indoors.

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Hawaii, Travel, USA

[24 Hours in Oahu – Oahu, Hawaii]

May 14, 2020

It’s been a tough time sheltering in place for so long, I didn’t think when I started working on the posts from our short stint in Hawaii that we would be in this situation over 55 days later.

I’ll be sharing a few more “in place” sort of posts coming up next but since I have a reserve of some of our absolute favorite places. Here is my list of what I would do if I had one day and happened to go to Oahu often, in many ways these are a bit of comfort stops.

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Hawaii, Travel, USA

[A Catamaran Sail In Hawaii – Oahu, Hawaii]

April 16, 2020

Ben and I wanted to do something a bit low key and relaxing. Usually, on our vacations, we try and really go to the max, hiking every day, reserving fun meals and maybe taking a class or two. This time we did the exact opposite and found the most stress free activity we could. After ally he craziness of travel and covid-19 spreading,this ended up being the perfect respite from the madness.

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Brunch Spotlight, Food, Hawaii, Travel, USA

[4 Food Stops in Oahu – Honolulu, Oahu]

April 8, 2020

Ah, food stops. It’s hard to pick where and when you should stop for your next meal because of the evergrowing list of factors: what activity will I be doing then, should I plan my activity by my meal or vice versa? Will I want that food then? And the ever lingering question – why is everything open between 10 AM and 1 PM on odd days of the week?

We’ve sorted that out for you, somewhat. We like to pick a bunch of different spots all over the map when we travel and hone in on whatever is closest to our activity that day. Below are our four picks for some must-stops on your trip to Oahu.

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Hawaii, Travel, USA

[Rainy Day Guide To Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden – Oahu, Hawaii]

April 2, 2020

Hawaii is one of the only places we can go where rain feels great versus terrible. It is a perfectly non-day-ruining addition to our trip. The day we went to the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden in Oahu was the same day we found out at breakfast that we’d have to fly back early for a shelter in place in San Francisco. Our dog’s daycare was closing and we knew we had to book an earlier flight. We sat in the parking lot of the park and booked ourselves the next flight we could which left us with a day where we could hang out in Oahu. We had no choice but to enjoy the park in the beautiful rain for an hour.

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