a few from labor day weekend

I hope everyone had a great three day weekend! As you know, I had my first camping experience this weekend to celebrate the holiday and it really was a lot of fun. It was different than what I was expecting but for the most part we were completely prepared and weren't going "ohhh, I wish I had brought that" which is very good.

On Saturday, our first day, we spent almost the entire day just out on the lake. We had a little bit of trouble as the plastic oars from my parents old little raft had all cracked and failed on us while out in the water. There was a general store with a restaurant on site so luckily they had one oar to purchase. We used that and it was a bit better but still it was a little difficult to get around on the small raft. Brett gave it his all fishing off the boat and caught three fish! They weren't that big but we still brought them back to BBQ and eat with our dinner.

Sunday we drove out to Columbia where they have kept the town and have shops and business's open as if it were 1850. These towns were developed when the rush for gold started and everyone came out west to strike it rich! I had been there once on a school trip and I have wanted to go back and see it again for awhile. There is a stagecoach tour that you can take, visit any of the old general stores, ice cream parlor, blacksmith, bar's and saloons and of course panning for gold. It is definitely worth a visit if you are ever in California and interested.

X x

going camping

This Labor Day weekend I am going camping. For the first time, well almost ever. I had a couple of school camping trips in 6th / 7th grade.. but I don't know, I was young, we had teachers and parents there and we usually had the area for our class. Oh, unless you count the times I set up the tent in my backyard and slept in the summer? No, okay then I haven't really been camping before.

It kind of started not that long ago, I mentioned to Brett that I would maybe one day want to go camping. Then we realized we had a three day weekend coming up and before you knew it Brett had bought a huge tent on ebay. So with a tent on its way, everything else just kind of fell into place. There are tons of lakes and coastal camping spots here in California so we are really lucky. We were planning on a two night camping trip, arrive on Saturday and head back on Monday. However, with the holiday weekend a lot of the places had a three night minimum. So, here I am, my first ever trip camping and we are going for three nights. {what was I thinking!} Once the tent arrived and we did a practice run setting it all up and making sure everything worked, I am extremely excited to get out there and become one with nature, or something like that. This tent is huge, it is about 7 or 8 feet tall, says it sleeps 6 and attaches to the back of your SUV so you can easily go from tent to car.

While I am a little bit of a rookie to the camping aspect, I have done my fair share of traveling abroad and taking quick spur of the moment trips and even my latest outdoor activity which you may remember, hiking in Yosemite, I had a few series of blog posts about the experiences and a few pictures of things I packed. {1,2,3} I thought I would share a list with you of some of my "camping essentials." I'm not talking about the basics here, I think we all know you need a tent, sleeping bag, padding, pillows etc. This list is more a girl friendly version of things you may need to keep you sane without our usual daily rituals; running hot water, a proper shower, sink with mirror.

1. Paul Mitchell, awapuhi moisture mist - This stuff is amazing! Use it for your skin & hair to freshen up. I literally spray it everywhere and rub it in a little and it dries in seconds.

2. Fresh Wipes - Seriously any kind of baby wipe or clean wipe. Use it if you've been hiking and get sweaty; it cools you down, soothes your skin, and makes you feel fresh again.

3. First Aid Kit - Always important! I actually usually buy a couple and then combine them and make my own. Always have band aids, insect sting relief, ibuprofen, hand sanitizer, gauze pads, sticky tape, and of course tide-to-go!

4. Platypus Hydration Pack - I personally like these better than the Camel Pack's, they are cheaper for one and I like that it's clear and you can put it in any backpack. But obviously bringing enough water is key.

5. Deodorant - Everyone knows to bring this but I actually prefer the men's kind. Something about the ARCTIC scent somehow does it better than 'cucumber' or 'baby powder.'

6. A Book - I think bringing an actual book instead of reading on your kindle / ipad seems more camping like and it is something relaxing to do by your tent or lake.

7. Bug Spray - Another probably obvious one, but I seriously do not like bugs, spiders, snakes, none of it so I bought the most intense looking bug spray I could find, it's almost 100% deet {I think that's good?} anyway it smells terrible but I do not want to be covered in bumps.

8. Vaseline - I actually love this stuff for my lips as chapstick, but if you also get a small cut or burn or dry skin it comes in handy as it has a lot of uses.

9. Makeup Essentials - Lets be serious we don't need a lot here, so I always have my foundation with spf, a little mascara, a black pencil eyeliner, a compact and some blotting sheets to take away any oil and dirt from the day.

10. Dry shampoo - This is a must for every time I travel, the actual one I use is from the UK and I have to stock up when I go over there but I've heard this brand is also a good one too. Just give it a quick spray in your roots & crown of your head, use your fingers and run through it, then brush it out. Don't you look beautiful!

11. TP to go - You never know what those "bathrooms" or Port-a-Potty's will look like, honestly maybe just hiding behind a bush for a quick tinkle with some TP is a cleaner option.

12. Flashlight - And lots of them! Sometimes it's hard to remember just how dark it is with no house or city lights around. Go for an LED one too, they are brighter & will last longer.

13 / 14. A good hat / headscarf - I have one of each and as you probably saw I wore them all the time on my recent trip to the Greek Islands. Sometimes you can't control the humidity or wind or whatever, so put your hair in a quick braid, throw the hat on and ta-da!

I really hope all of these will be helpful for any of your upcoming trips / travels. It took me awhile to get this routine down but I would love to hear your comments and suggestions on things you can't leave home without in the comment section below!

X x

have you ever been through Indiana?

Wow, what a whirlwind of a trip! I don't even know where to start. I am still trying to get back into the swing of things, but having last Wednesday off for the 4th has thrown me all off again. It feels good to work on these blogs and get all my pictures onto my laptop and settle back at home.

Our trip to Indiana & Chicago was so much fun! Unfortunately we had a horrible experience trying to get to Chicago. Our flight was supposed to leave on Thursday night, which would put us into Chicago around 1 in the morning on Friday. To cut the long story short because I don't want to bore you, the runway lights went out in Midway so they cancelled our flight.  We quickly booked the next flight we could find which was Friday morning. This flight was going into O'Hare this time. Right as we board the flight, the captain tells us there are thunderstorms in Chicago and our flight was delayed a few hours. So almost 48 hours later from our start time, we made it to Indiana! Which cut our time in Indiana down by a lot and we basically had just a few hours on Saturday before the wedding. Luckily Brett's uncle let us borrow his truck and we were able to do our own thing and get ourselves around as we needed.

We got up as early as we could on Saturday morning and went to find my favorite spot... Dunkin Donuts! I can't believe they have them everywhere but California. After that Brett took me out to Michigan Lake and the sand dunes to see their version of a "beach." It much nicer than I imagined; but it was so strange to not see big waves and not feel an ocean breeze. The weather was really hot - 90's with lots of humidity! After putting our toes in the water we had to hustle back to our hotel room and get ready for the wedding.

It was a really beautiful church wedding with the reception followed in a banquet hall. The bride {Brett's cousin} looked absolutely stunning as well as all the bridal party. It was such a different experience but I was so lucky to be able to celebrate and meet more of Brett's huge family. We danced away into the night until our feet could barley keep us up and then we made it back to our hotel.
The next morning we had to get up early to return his Uncle's truck and catch the 9.30am train into Chicago but more on that to come :]

X x

my bags are packed..... well almost

Later this evening I am flying out with Brett to Indiana for his cousin's wedding this weekend. His mom's side of the family is very big & most of them still live in the state so it is going to be a great weekend! I have already met a few of Brett's aunts and uncles because they have come out to California to visit. I am really looking forward to seeing them again as well as meeting the bride and groom!

Unfortunately with the time difference and everything we won't get into Indiana until about 3am.. so today is going to be a very, very, very long day. Friday we have some time to explore the area, check into our hotel and then we are going to the rehearsal dinner, then Saturday afternoon is the actual wedding. On Sunday we are going to drive to Chicago and spend one night there and explore the city since I have never been there before catching our flight back home on Monday.

Here are a couple pictures of what these past couple days have looked like... starting with lots of scribble in my planner and more to-do lists than I knew what to do with..

It is pretty much going to be a go-go-go type of weekend but I am really excited to skip town and for a couple days & be away from work. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend & I will see you when I return!

X x

going off the grid

Tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn {okay, 6.30am} Brett and I are heading off to Yosemite for Memorial Day Weekend! We have been looking forward and preparing for this all week. I haven only been to Yosemite once in my life and I was very little with my family so I don't remember much. But today is crunch time so I am grocery shopping, finishing up laundry, packing up, charging; cameras, cell phone's, ipad's you name it.

We have a big all day hike planned for Sunday so this week I have been trying to load up on protein, also I haven't had any soda {ok, I cheated once at lunch} lots and lots of water and keeping the exercise pretty light this week as I don't want to be sore before I even get there. We also have a 2 hour horseback ride booked on Monday that I am really looking forward to because it is something I always loved and used to do when I was younger. Unfortunately, the weather report says rain on Saturday when we arrive so we are just going to play it by ear for what we want to do. Also, we cleaned out Brett's explorer with shock vac and all because if there is one crumb of food in there a bear will smell it and rip the car apart to get to it. {no seriously} There have been so many stories about this happening, I even heard a bear ripped open a car because there was gum on the floor - yikes! At least we took care of that earlier in the week. All that is left today is the finishing touches.

Here are some of my pictures as I am still finishing up packing. I hope you all have a wonderful 3-day weekend with your family and friends. This weekend... we are going off the grid and I will see you when I am back to civilization!

X x

little house on the prairie

a view of my aunt and uncle's house

After being in town for a few days, we headed south towards the border between England and Scotland to stay with my Aunt and Uncle. We stayed with them  for a couple nights and took in the beautiful sights, smells, and sounds {baaaaaaah} of the country. One day for lunch we drove into this little town called Moffat. It is a popular destination for locals and tourists. One of my favorite little cafe's is called The Rumblin' Tum, which you can see is the first picture. Then later on in the evening before it got dark we went for a couple walks with my camera and took some truly amazing pictures. It was really nice to get away from the hectic city life but after a couple days we were ready to get back to civilization!

X x