Road Trip Day 3: The Northern California Coast

When we left San Francisco around 2pm on Monday, we were headed North to Humboldt County. Even though we were going up the coast, we estimated it would only take us 5-6 hours to get to our hotel near the Redwoods. Boy were we wrong...

Before I go on, I want to say if you've never been up the California coast, you're definitely missing out. It's absolutely beautiful and I think everyone should experience it once in their lifetime. With that being said, I will never do it again! Now, I already have terrible, crippling anxiety in my day-to-day life, so imagine me stuck in a car with my 1 year old driving on a 1-way road on the side of the tallest cliff you could ever imagine. We just kept climbing higher and higher and pretty soon we couldn't even see the bottom of the cliff anymore, just ocean as far as the eye can see. We were literally driving inside the clouds. Not only that, but with the windy roads we were only able to go 15-20 miles an hour at all times. I thought I was going to die. I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and I would have traded my first born son for a Xanax. Okay, maybe not but I was that close. It literally took us 5 hours to go 100 miles. 100 MILES. THEN we got lost in the creepiest deserted town in the middle of NOWHERE and couldn't we find the highway for almost 30 minutes. (Keep in mind we had zero reception out here so we couldn't use our phones) We finally arrived in Fort Bragg, which is about halfway to Humboldt, at 8pm to stop and eat and stretch our legs. During dinner we decided we were going to forgo our original plan to take the coast all the way to Oregon (I shudder to imagine driving those cliffs in the pitch dark) and instead we'd just jump over to the 5 until we reach Humboldt. Let me tell you, I am SO glad we did. We finally arrived at our hotel around 2am that night. 12 hours later.

After all that, I'm still glad we got to see almost the entire California coast. Like I said, I think it's something everyone should experience at least once. As scary as the cliffs were, the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. The beaches up north are so different then I'm used to... They are very rocky and choppy. It's crazy being at the top of a cliff and seeing huge rock formations in the middle of the ocean. The powerful waves just crash into them and you can see the ocean spray even from that far away. We stopped several times to take pictures, it was that beautiful.

The next day we were up early to explore the Redwoods. The forest was my absolute favorite part of our trip, you'll see why tomorrow! XOXO

Road Trip Day 2: San Francisco

After Big Sur, it took us a few hours to drive to San Francisco. We got there at about 8pm Sunday night and checked into our hotel on Lombard Street. Since we would only be there for the day, we woke up early the next morning and headed to Fisherman's Warf so we could see as much as the city as possible. My favorite part was the street vendors selling fresh seafood off of their carts! I bought a sourdough bread bowl filled with the best clam chowder I've ever had. It was amazing. We were planning to take the boat to tour Alcatraz, but all of the tours were already sold out so we had to settle and see it from the pier. 

After we spent some time there we decided to head to China Town. I couldn't believe how incredible packed and crowded it was there on a Monday afternoon! We ran into a local Chinese woman who told us to avoid this particular street where the tourists go, and to go to Jackson street if we want authentic Chinese food. We followed her advice and ended up at this amazing restaurant whose name I couldn't even pronounce. We then preceded to stuff our face! The food was out of this world spectacular. I had just eaten clam chowder and I still ate everything in sight! After lunch we wandered around the markets, which was probably the best part of San Francisco for me. I have an obsessed with weird odds and ends like that!

           Cayden in our hotel room looking out on San Francisco                                       Our view from the hotel 

              The cable car leading to Fisherman's Warf                                                      Our first view of the Warf 

         Street vendors selling fresh, hot crab. It smelled amazing!                       The best clam chowder I've ever had! 

                                                                                   More street vendors by the pier

                       We were bummed we didn't get to tour Alcatraz, but we still got to take pictures in front of it! 

                                                                             Chinese market 

                                                                                    Inside the Chinese market 

                                                                                                      China Town 

                               I loved the interesting architecture of the buildings and all the bunting and Chinese lanterns! 

                                                One of my favorite pictures from San Francisco

After China Town it was time to get back on the road and continue our trip! Tomorrow I'll be posting pictures of the California coast. You wouldn't believe how long it took us to drive less than 100 miles! XOXO

Road Trip Day 1: Big Sur

 First off, thank you so much to my guest posters from last week, Jessica and Alana. I loved both of your posts and you guys were such a huge help while we moved and got settled! I only have 2 boxes left to unpack, YAY! Now I can finally get back to my regular blogging schedule...

Now, I'm not gonna lie, I hate uploading and editing pictures. Taking pictures, I love. But uploading, sorting, cropping, editing just bores me to tears. Which is exactly why I'm just now getting around to uploading the pictures from the Oregon trip we took a month ago. But at least I am sharing them right? Do I get points for that? I decided I'm going to dedicate this whole week to our Portland road trip. Every day I'll share pictures from the different places we went along the way. The trip was so much fun, and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. It's one of those things you have to see in person to really comprehend the beauty, but I'm going to show you pictures anyway! ;)

On the first day of the trip we left early in the morning. Cayden was asleep in the back, I had Starbucks and magazines, my mom was the navigator, and Mando was driving. We were ready to go!

Our first stop was Big Sur. We drove about 6 or 7 hours up the winding roads of the California coast passing through countless little beach towns and saw gorgeous views of the Pacific Ocean. At one point I swear I saw a whale jumping in the ocean! It was amazing. We finally arrived in Big Sur around 2 and stopped for lunch at Nepenthe.

In case you aren't familiar, Nepenthe is a little restaurant located on a cliff in the heart of Big Sur. You can eat outside on the patio and you have the most stunning views of the cliffs and the ocean. I'm not gonna lie, I was NOT impressed with their food, but I think the view made it almost worth it.

We ate lunch on the patio and then spent some time letting Cayden stretch his legs while I snapped some pictures. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. The ocean literally goes as far as your eye can see. It was such a sunny, beautiful day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky as you can see!

This picture pretty much says it all. Just look at that view! You have huge cliffs, beautiful trees, and of course the bright blue ocean stretching out in front of you. It was so gorgeous, I'm running out of adjectives!

When we were done, we loaded back into the car and we were back on the road again! I had to take a picture of the succulents that were growing everywhere. They were huge! How cute is my big boy by the way? I think it's time I finally stopped dressing him in onesies, LOL.

Next stop, San Francisco! I'll be back tomorrow with more pictures and stories to tell! XOXO

Friday Favorites: Best iPad Apps for toddlers!

Thank you Alana from Life on the Mom List for guest posting for me while we get unpacked! XOXO

In keeping with Johnna’s Friday Favorites, I thought I would write a post about my toddler’s Favorite iPad Apps! Everyone these days has an iPhone or iPad so I thought this might be a beneficial post to some who are looking for some new apps for their kids.

It’s no secret I have a love affair with my iPad. OBSESSION!! It’s an amazing little piece of technology that I take with me everywhere. It’s my calendar, my address book, and my computer all in one. But it’s also my kid’s choice of toy whenever he sees it out! I have to spell out I-P-A-D to my husband when we are out or this kid goes ballistic! He is obsessed but for good reason.

A few months ago when I got my I-P-A-D…. ummm….iPad, we were going on a trip, just my little guy and me. On a plane to Texas for FIVE HOURS! Imagine a 16 month old (at the time) on a plane for that long. It is torturous! I witnessed it first hand when D was younger and we were flying and I thought the mother of the fit throwing toddler was going to jump out of the plane! Seeing as how I value my life and would like to stick around awhile, I decided I needed to curb this tantrum throwing flight that I might encounter and what better way to do it then with the Ipad!

We’re weird in this house about movies and TV, as in D doesn’t watch much at all. That is our parenting philosophy and works for us. I am not judging! I swear! Everyone does things differently. I don’t have an iPhone so I am not in the know about all these amazing apps, so I did a little research, searching, etc and found a ton! Immediately, the paypal was put to use and we downloaded a ton! We were set for the flight!

Instantly I fell in love with Peekaboo Barn. It’s a super cute, interactive game that helps kids learn their animals and sounds. D loves this game so much and gets really upset when the animals go to sleep at the end! We’re talking MAD! You would think he would get it after playing it a million times over!

The next game he loves is Zoo Train. He, like most toddler boys, is obsessed with trains so this game is perfect. It has various games to play within the app but most are a bit too over his head so we stick with the “build your own train” game. It is cute, has fun music, and is full of animals, and makes the train sound, which is always a hit! Plus he can grow with this app. The harder games he will be able to play, as he gets older.

Also an obsession in this house is Fire Trucks and all things fire related. KidsFireman is a fun app that teaches kids to dial 911, become a firefighter, drive a truck, and put out a fire. Super fun and super entertaining! Huge hit in this house!

    

Last on the must have app list for us is Interactive Alphabet. This is by far my favorite app! Lots of fun sounds, colors and pronunciation of the letter, this app makes learning the alphabet fun. The F for fan is fun because you can switch the fan on and off. Therefore you learn the letter, a word that starts with the letter, as well as on and off. See, I told you it was fun!

So there you have it, my favorite iPad apps for toddlers. There are so many out there. Honestly, you can spend a ton of time searching for stuff. And a lot of them are free and compatible with the iPhone, as well!

Neither Apple nor Steve Jobs paid me for this review. This is only for Johnna’s blog! I spent my husband’s hard earned money for these apps and the saving of my sanity on a plane!

Wedding Planning Wednesday - 5 Wedding Essentials I'm Not Having In My Wedding (guest post)

Hi everyone! I'm Jessica from Mommy's Monster and I'm going to be serving up your helping of Wedding Wednesday today!

I should say first that I already "did" the big wedding. The first time I got married, I had all the bells and whistles. It was stressful and I was on a budget and DIYing most of it. The wedding (and the marriage) didn't really turn out like I'd imagined, but it, like life, was a learning experience and I came out the better for it.

My fiancé is Adam and our back-story is mushy and romantic, but for all the fairy-tale vibes we are a fairly practical couple. I think Adam had imagined that he'd live out life as a bachelor and he didn't really see himself getting married or having kids. He adjusted admirably to being the "dada" of my Monster and he's done a complete 180 from a lot of the other notions he'd had.

For example - when we started thinking seriously about becoming a couple, we broached the topic of marriage. Adam declared that he wouldn't get married unless he could do it in jeans. I myself could get behind that idea, because I'd gotten heartily sick of weddings and all the crap that comes with them. When Adam proposed to me, I was totally ready to just head to the courthouse and sign some papers. However, Adam soon decided that he wanted to do something "a little" more elaborate than just a quickie courthouse wedding, and then a "little" more, and pretty soon I had almost a full-blown wedding on my hands!

On top of the "normal" couple challenges, Adam and I had to cut through the red tape of immigration. He's from England and my son and I are in America. We had to go through the long process of obtaining a fiancé visa for him. I'm happy to say that he finally got approved yesterday and he'll be living here by the end of the month! Our wedding date is November 18.

I think the immigration department is anti-wedding. First, you just never know when (or if!) you'll get approved so it's impossible to book anything in advance unless you want to risk losing a deposit. Second, we have only 90 days to get married from the time Adam enters the country with his fiancé visa, so forget anything elaborate that has to be planned ahead of time. Most people book a venue and a photographer a year or more in advance. We booked ours last month.

In the interest of saving my sanity, I took a long look at the "normal" things that go into a wedding and cut most of it out. I examined everything and asked myself if it was something I really wanted to do, or if it was just something that I thought I "ought" to do. I wanted to keep things simple and as stress-free as possible.

And now, a list of "5 Wedding Essentials I'm Not Having In My Wedding."

- A Wedding Party. No bridesmaids or groomsmen for us. We're still sticking with a ceremony at the courthouse with only immediate family and one friend each, so it didn't make sense to have a wedding party. We're going to ask Adam's best friend and my sister to witness the marriage license. My son will stand with us (or more likely, he'll insist that I hold him), but no awful bridesmaids dresses or ring-bearers dropping the ring.

- Flowers. I'm not a big fan. They're expensive, they die quickly, and there are too many types for me to choose from. It gives me a headache. I considered having a simple bouquet just to hold in pictures, but I realized that it fell into the category of something I thought I "ought" to have instead of something I really cared about, so I tossed that idea out the window.

- Dancing/DJ. I don't dance. I mean, I REALLY don't dance. I look like an epileptic kangaroo when I try. Our "reception" is just a nice dinner at a restaurant, so there was no room in my plans for a dance floor or loud music. None of my guests are really the dancing type anyway, so I decided to save myself a fortune and just let it go.

- Fancy decorations. The restaurant we chose is pretty and they let me pick the napkin colors. Done deal.

- Favors. Don't get me wrong, there are some absolutely adorable favors out there, but I decided that even with my tiny guest list, it's an expense and a worry that I didn't want. I'd probably accidentally leave them at home the morning of! Besides, I don't think people need a trinket to remember my wedding by.

In the end, we stuck with the things that were the most important to us - an amazing photographer, an intimate ceremony with our nearest and dearest, and some good food afterward with more of our family and friends. I bought a dress; I didn't "find my dream gown." We chose a cake; we didn't hire a confectionary artist. I tried to keep things in perspective and remember that when it comes right down to it, this is just the party and we have more important things to concentrate on - like our marriage.

Friday Favorites: Fall has arrived!

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I don't know about you, but to me September 1st means one thing... Fall has arrived! Which means it's time to whip out the pumpkin puree and get to baking. My favorite favorite time to bake is in the fall. I love pumpkin, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and all of the other delicious fall spices. Since I've been waiting ALL year to make this stuff, I am dedicating Friday Favorites to our favorite orange flavor... PUMPKIN!

I love making pies, but they can be a lot of work. These mini pumpkin pie bites from Bakerella are easy to make and even easier to eat. Perfect!

I think you guys pretty much understand by now that almost every post of mine will contain a cupcake somewhere. These cupcakes with a graham cracker crust and pumpkin pie frosting (!!!) are making my mouth water!

I'm not normally a huge fan of cream cheese frosting, but I have to admit, cream cheese and pumpkin are a match made in heaven. These pumpkin bars look soft and moist and the cream cheese frosting is the cherry on top!

I love whoopie pies. I love them in the summer, in the winter, in the spring, and most definitely in the fall. Especially if that means I get to make these pumpkin whoopie pies with... wait for it... MAPLE cream cheese frosting. Uh yeah, enough said.



I don't know why I never thought of making pumpkin snicker doodles, but I'm sure happy Recipe Girl shared them with me. These are the perfect fall cookies to share with friends!

Last year I made chocolate chip pumpkin bread (which is still my favorite pumpkin recipe to date) so this year I really want to try these chocolate chip pumpkin bars from Bake at 350. There's just something about the combination of melted chocolate chips that's unexpected yet delicious.

I don't know about you, but I'm off to the grocery store to stock up on pumpkin! Have a great weekend everyone! XOXO

Wedding Planning Wednesday - Recap

I've been doing Wedding Planning Wednesdays for a few months now and have shared a ton of ideas. This week I wanted to do a bit of a recap for those who are new readers or for those who have missed a post here and there!

Our wedding will take place on Saturday, May 12th, 2012. We actually decided to take pink out of our colors and stick with lace, cream, and burlap colors.

I plan to use a big bunch of baby's breath for the bridesmaids bouquets and for a lot of the floral decor. And I'll be making the bouquets myself!

We chose a venue, the Oak Canyon Nature Center in Anaheim Hills. It's a beautiful nature center filled with 200 year old oak trees, creeks, and beautiful bridges. The ceremony site is on the left and the reception site is on the right.

We're giving antique skeleton keys as wedding favors. I also plan to incorporate them into Mando's boutonniere and my bouquet.

For lighting, we want string (or cafe) lights covering the reception area. We may also incorporate lights on trees or hanging from trees.

I asked for your ideas and suggestions for the big exit, but in the end we decided not to do anything. We got some amazing suggestions such as releasing butterflies and ribbon wands, but we realized it'll be late at night and no one will see any of that anyway ;)

We are really into having a food truck cater our wedding since there is no kitchen at the venue and open flames aren't allowed. (We did go tasting last night. The food was amazing, but we still haven't found the perfect truck!)

And that's where we left off! Now that so many of the basic ideas and concepts are done, we're finally ready to book some more vendors! September is shaping up to be a busy month! XOXO