I found this Airbnb in Canada that has Highland cows on the property.
Nori’s been to Scotland, but she didn’t get to see any Highland cows (they’re from the Scottish Highlands) while she was there. I found some places in North America you can see these cute hairy cows, and then I went down the google rabbit hole wondering if they slaughter them here.
I love BBQ (smoked beef ribs are my favorite), and now I feel like I have to ask what kind of cow I’m eating at restaurants like in Portlandia 😅
As a rule, I don’t eat baby animals (lamb, veal or suckling anything)—just adult animals who have lived a full life LOL. And now I have to add Highland cows (at any age) to that list 😆
Our fabulous tour manager (Nelson from Gate 1) surprised us with sparkling wine on our way to our last city. I forgot my Beats on the tour bus on the last day, and he had the bus bring it back the next day (classic Mayan—I’ve left them on a plane before and paid $40 for the airline to ship it back to me 6 miles to my apartment in LA, because I wasn’t gonna endure the hell that is LAX to pick them up for free). He’s from Barcelona, and has spent his entire life in Spain, except for one year he decided to try out London. He came back the next year because, ‘People are just so ugly in the UK. Do they not have dentists???’ I mean, where’s the lie? LOL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’ve never been to Europe or done a land tour before, I usually like to be on my own time when I’m on vacation—visit the places I wanna go, eat where I wanna eat when I wanna eat—but I liked it more than I thought I would! Our tour guides in each city were funny and super charming (Pedro in Portugal, Elena in Seville, Andrés in Ronda/Málaga, Rocio in Granada, and José in Madrid), I got to see places I never would’ve gone to myself, we had transportation to each city, plus we got free time everyday to do/eat where we wanted to. The only downside was being stuck with these obnoxious people on the tours. It’s like being held hostage in a group text you can’t get out of 😅 IYKYK.
These bus tours tested relationships. You’re stuck with the same group of people for 10 days. This old ass couple was fighting in Italian the entire time. I only understood when the wife told her husband, ‘Worry about yourself. I’m not a baby!’ and ‘Leave me alone!’ because she said it in English LOL. Another couple, the wife was asking the husband ‘Why are you smiling like that, I’ve never seen that smile before’ and this other couple, a gypsy was talking to the husband trying to sell him rosemary branches and read his palm, and when he came back, the wife was like, ‘Do you still have your wallet? Did she put a curse on you?’ LOL same couple when we were in Gibraltar, the husband was like, ‘It’s technically England, but all the waitresses are Spanish and they cross the border to work every day.’ His wife was like, ‘How do you know that? Were you flirting with the waitress while I was in the bathroom?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, we’re friends on TikTok now.’ 😂 I’m over here like 😴 Whenever people are arguing in front of me, I get super uncomfortable and pretend I’m sleeping LOL 😆
This old lady on our tour got her hair braided at the beach in Costa del Sol.
Her husband even went ziplining while we were in Toledo! Retired life is wild 😅
Nobody was my age (they were either in their 20s with their parents or in their 60s or older). This lady asked me what my husband’s name was, and I was like, ‘He’s my dad, not my sugar daddy’ LOL. She was like, ‘Oh okay, I didn’t want to assume.’ 😆 Another lady asked me if I was in school, because she thought I was a teenager! I was like, “I’m 42, ma’am.” She was shocked! She had her daughters with her, and they were in their 20s. I was closer to her age than to her kids 😆 My dad thought her daughters were teenagers, too. I was like, ‘They’re drinking sangria. They’re at least in her 20s’ and he was like, ‘But you were drinking vodka in high school’ and I was like, ‘Not in public!’ 😆
This group of six obnoxious people (three couples) were on the entire trip with us. They were super loud (lots of eye rolls and other people on the tour shushing them), always had something to say/complain about, in their 80s, Italian and from NYC. They had me questioning if I’m ageist, racist, or just don’t like people from New York LOL.
I met three ladies who are married with children, but traveling alone because either their husbands hate traveling or their husbands have bad hips LOL. I would never travel alone. I do a lot of things by myself—go grocery shopping, eat dinner in my apartment, go to John Mayer concerts LOL—but I know I wouldn’t like traveling alone. It’s like watching a movie in a theater alone. I’ve only watched Fever Pitch and Made of Honor by myself in a movie theater, because no one wanted to watch these romcoms with me LOL. I want to be able to look over at another person and be like, “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?!” Like in that movie, Shall We Dance?, Susan Sarandon says, We need a witness to our lives…You’re saying ‘Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness.’
Can I get a witness?
Our trip started in Lisboa, Portugal, and it was gorgeous. The weather was much like San Diego, so it was really nice. Felt like home.
My favorite food of the whole trip was actually in Portugal. We had arroz de marisco (it was a lot like seafood paella, but soupier) and grilled octopus (@ Luzmar, Cascais, Portugal)
I also ate a Portuguese egg tart every day. I’ve never eaten one back home, and now I never can, because they taste so damn good over here. My mom said they’re way better than the ones they have at Paris Baguette 😅
Did you know Portugal is the largest producer of cork in the world? I didn’t. I just picked up this bag in Cascais because I thought it was cute. The “I ❤️ España” keychain was a gift from our tour manager, Nelson 😆
My dad: Slow down, we get more drinks at the flamenco show after dinner. Me: *washes down my meds with a 4th glass of sangria*
If sangria was on the menu (and it always was), I ordered it.
Spain is on Central European Time instead of its natural time zone, so the sun didn’t set until close to 10pm! The flamenco show started at 9:30pm and I was already so tired and five glasses of sangrias deep 😅 (@ Tablao Flamenco El Patio Sevillano, Sevilla, Spain)
This photo was taken from our hotel at 9:45pm! The days are so long here ☀️
Me: What do you feel like eating for dinner? My mom: Chinese food. Me: We’re in Spain.
I found a Chinese restaurant that was near to our hotel and actually pretty good considering China’s on the other side of the world! Plus, I’m easygoing and they had sangria (@ Ming 明, Sevilla, Spain)
My dad: Another sangria? Aren’t you hungover from last night? Me: *sipping my sangria* Nah, I’ve been training for this my whole life.
Churros con chocolate for breakfast? Sí, por favor (@ Meliã Lebreros, Sevilla, Spain)
Driving from Seville to Costa del Sol, we passed by this beautiful countryside full of sunflowers. They farm the sunflowers for its oil and energy. BRB gonna quit my job and move to the south of Spain to work on a sunflower farm ✌🏼 Or at Google in Málaga (we saw a corporate office there). Plus, Spain has 17 bank holidays a year!
My sister’s old company has a location in Madrid, so I told her she could work there while I work on a sunflower farm 😏 (@ Ernst & Young, Madrid, Spain)
It’s gorgeous here. Our tour guide in Ronda and Málaga, Andrés, said that the south of Spain is so easygoing. People die of heart attacks and diabetes from all the good food, but they don’t die of stress. And he said if we see someone running (exercising), they aren’t from Spain LOL. Sounds like my kind of country!
As I was toasting my second piece of bread during breakfast, I looked out the window and saw this tourist doing zumba outside. As a rule, I don’t exercise while I’m on vacation. I hardly exercise when I’m not on vacation 😅 I damn sure am not gonna exercise when I’m in Spain!
We stopped by this little town in the south of Spain with no traffic lights called Ronda. We visited one of the most famous bullfighting arenas in Spain. I thought bullfighting was bulls fighting other bulls, but it’s a man fighting a bull! And one of them dies at the end (usually the bull). They still do bullfighting once a year in this arena, but it’s banned in other parts of Spain (like Barcelona). I would never 😅
Nelson (who’s from Barcelona) isn’t into bullfighting either, and wanted us to leave that place with a happy memory, so he surprised us by taking us to this nearby horse farm, where the horses are loved and taken care of their whole lives (@ Reservatauro Ronda)
Pablo Picasso was born in Málaga, and his family built a museum there (@ Museo Picasso, Málaga, Spain)
I had to buy some souvenirs from the gift shop. The left is of his famous painting of prostitutes in Barcelona, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. It’s part of the permanent collection at MOMA in NYC, so I didn’t get to see it in person. The original painting of the one on the right is featured in this museum, though, and it’s of Françoise Gilot. Picasso married twice and she was one his many mistresses. She was the only woman to ever leave him ✌🏼 She said, ‘Pablo was the greatest love of my life, but you had to take steps to protect yourself. I did, I left before I was destroyed.’ She was an artist in her own right, and also my hero. She just died last year at the age of 101.
As I was exiting the museum, this guy mistook me for a local and asked me for directions. I’m wondering if he understood my broken Spanish or if he’s still wandering the streets of Málaga 😅
Fun history fact: Gibraltar was taken from Spain by the British in the early 1700s, so it’s technically in England. We needed our passports to get in and out. From the coast, you can see Spain and Africa, but it was cloudy today, so we couldn’t see Morocco.
We toured this palace, and it was so beautiful and smelled so good because of all the rose gardens and jasmine (@ Alhambra, Granada, Spain)
There were these ceramic bowls placed all around the palace, and I thought it was to feed water to the dogs (it was hot as balls this day), but the tour guide told us they were just beautiful trash cans 😆
Real Madrid played Dortmund in the final while we were in Madrid. The actual game was at Wembley in London, but 90,000 people gathered at this stadium to watch it on the big screen. Real Madrid won the championship, so it was crazy in the city. The team had a big party at the stadium the next day, but it didn’t start till 10 o’clock. At night! On a Sunday! 👵🏻
No pictures were allowed inside the museum, but we got to see incredible works from Goya, Velázquez, Greco, Picasso, Rembrandt and more (@ Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain)
I went to this other museum specifically to see works from Salvador Dalí, but was delighted to see some Picasso and Gris (@ Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain)
My mom: I’m not really into art. My dad: Who’s Salvador Dalí?
I can’t with these philistines 😅
It was impossible to get a photo of Picasso’s Guernica without a gaggle of tourists in front of it, but I picked up this postcard in the gift shop. I wanted one of Dalí’s most famous painting, The Persistence of Memory, but they didn’t have it because the original painting is also at MOMA in NYC. I will have to go to that museum the next time I’m in New York, so I can see more works from Dalí and Picasso.
I’ve only ever seen jamón ibérico on Food Network, and I finally got to try it at a Starbucks in Spain 😅
These prize pigs are fed acorns and live on free-range grass pastures in the Iberian peninsula. I guess it’s similar to Wagyu cattle in Japan, except jamón ibérico is harder to find in the US (it’s against the law to import jamón ibérico – the hind leg of an Iberian pig, hoof attached, swaddled in fat – because Spain does not have a single slaughterhouse that conforms to the regulations of the US Department of Agriculture).
I still regret not buying a jamón ibérico pillow from the souvenir shop across the street from our last hotel 😆
I kept seeing this Museo del Jamón everywhere. I thought it was a museum of ham, but it was just a bar/resto that specializes in ham 😆
There was also a La Casa de las Carcasas across from our hotel. I was disappointed that it didn’t mean ‘house of carcasses’ like I thought it did and didn’t see any dead bodies. I google translated ‘carcasas’ and it meant ‘casings’ in Spanish. I thought, ‘Oh maybe it’s sausages!’ so I was double disappointed when I saw it was just cell phone cases. I really gotta brush up on my Español. How embarazado. JK. ‘Embarazado’ means ‘pregnant’ in Spanish. I’ll never make that mistake again 😅
A guy I used to date when I was sixteen responded to my Museo del Jamón story on instagram, and this was our convo 😂 I’ve either gotten more morbid in the last 25 years, or I was better at hiding my freak flag when I was a teenager 🏴
It’s so hard to find iced coffee in Spain. One of our tour guides said people here like to buy a tiny cup of espresso and sit in front of it for hours. We were walking by a cafe, and he was like, ‘Remember these faces. They’ll still be sitting here when we walk back this way in a few hours.’ 😂 He said Starbucks hasn’t been super successful here because people don’t take their coffee to go. Luckily, they have these chilled coffees to go at the rest stops for all the tourists, complete with a straw you can pierce the lid with Capri Sun-style 😅
I ate a lot of seafood paella (or arroz de marisco). It takes like half an hour to prepare, because it’s made to order, but it’s so worth the wait.
Same Mayan, different country (@ Mcdonald’s, Granada, Spain)
Sometimes you don’t want anymore paella and just need to UberEats a McDouble to your hotel 😅
Spot the tourists (it’s my parents).
My dad was so worried we’d get pickpocketed, yet he was the one walking around with a big ass selfie stick, carrying multiple bags, and misplaced everything (our luggage locks, his glasses, his whole ass luggage—he left his luggage on the curb in front of the airport and didn’t realize it until we were checking our bags!). Like, should you be the one holding all our passports, my guy? 😅 I’m the one over here getting mistaken for a local LOL.
We spent an afternoon in Toledo before going to Madrid. It’s one of the oldest cities in Spain, but I can’t remember much else of what the tour guide told us. It was a lot of information. One of the ladies on our tour, Denise, was like, ‘Is there gonna be a test at the end???’ 😅
Actual footage of me trying to eat my tapsilog while another customer was singing horribly off-key. Why do tone-deaf people always want to do karaoke???
These orange trees grow all over Andalucía, or the southern coast of Spain. The fruit is bitter, though, and is mostly exported to make marmalade, so no one eats them off the tree.
I had to take video of this as proof that the parrots followed me to Spain 😅
Nori and I would always be sitting outside Starbucks on our lunch break at the beach, and the parrots would be in the palm trees yapping away!
On top of seeing a Skechers store in every major city, I saw so many tourists wearing them (including my parents). I can’t get away from this fucking place 😅
We stayed a few extra days in Madrid, so my dad booked a hotel for those days. It ended up being a hostel in the fucking ghetto. This is just like when he booked us at this shady ass hotel in Queens with a reggaeton night club at the bottom of it. My sister ended up booking us at the Hilton New York Times Square after that first night. We ended up moving to the Hotel Madrid Plaza España. It’s a Meliã hotel, and most of the hotels we stayed at on this tour were Meliã hotels, so I already knew it was nice. My dad is the kind of person who never checks reviews, and only booked this place because of its walkability to the city center.
I woke up with the worst headache that day. I hadn’t had a single headache since the strokes, and I used to get migraines all the time. I thought it was because I drank too much sangria the night before, or because I was on week 2 of vacationing with my parents 😅 but now I know it’s because I had covid. Needless to say, I was already so irritated this day. It was hard to get an uber because a lot of the city streets were blocked off since Real Madrid won the championship the night before and the city was celebrating. So we had already uber’d to the hostel, uber’d to another nice hotel that was booked and had no vacancies, and schlepped our luggage another few blocks to this Meliã hotel.
My sister (and KD, my favorite 8-year-old LOL) would have loved the in-flight movie selection.
All things considered, I will def be back here again! I loved everything—the people, the art, the culture. I took the rest of the week off because I need some ‘me’ time to wind down before I go back to work, so I’m just gonna rest and get rid of this virus. Or move to the south of Spain to work on a sunflower farm. I haven’t decided yet ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Welp, I finally got covid. Half our tour bus got sick towards the end of our trip. I took a test as soon as I got home last night, went to bed, and woke up 20 hours later 😅
Spain recap soon. Perhaps when this virus has left my body ✌🏼
Update: Supplemental paid sick leave for covid ended in California in 2022, so I guess I’ll be reporting those sick days in kronos 😅
I haven’t seen this iconic carpet since Deane, Sarah and I vacationed in Portland in 2017!
My parents like breaks while traveling, so we flew from Madrid to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Portland, and are now waiting for our flight from Portland to SD. We’ve been traveling since 6 in the morning (which is really 9pm PST time the night before), and we don’t arrive till 9pm (PST) tonight. We have to go through customs every time we land, go through TSA again, had to pick up our luggage at baggage claim in Portland and re-check our bags. We flew business class, so we have access to the business lounge during our layovers, but I don’t care about free food and drinks in the lounge, or even the free meals on the plane. I’d rather sleep on a direct flight and not deal with any of that shit. Especially since I keep getting flagged for random security checks 😅
This old man in a wheel chair was wheeled to our waiting area in Madrid. He was yelling and cussing at the staff because there was no airport bar in our terminal where he was departing, and there was one in the terminal he arrived in. But since he has wheelchair assistance, they wheeled him over to our terminal. He kept screaming for them to take him back to the old terminal so he could go to the airport bar. I’m like, ‘Sir, it’s 4 in the fucking morning and too damn early to be yelling this loud and def too damn early to be drinking.’
I got stopped by TSA in Madrid also. They swabbed my bag but found nothing. I also got ‘randomly selected’ for a security check when I was boarding the plane in Frankfurt. I had to go to a private area where they searched my bag again and swabbed my clothes. Like, do I give off terrorist vibes? Or did they not like my Michael Myers shirt? 😅
I’m going, going, back, back to Cali, Cali
I follow Chino Moreno’s wife on IG (partly because Chino’s IG is private, but mostly because I’m a creep) and I saw he was in Hamburg, Germany. I had a layover in Frankfurt, but I google mapped it and Hamburg is 5 hours away 😅 I also have a layover in Portland and he lives in Oregon, but he’s touring in Germany. One day, the stars will align and I’ll meet him 😆
Also, I’m tired as fuck, because the first leg of my flight home from Madrid to Frankfurt was at 6am, so I had to get up at 2am 😴 which is really 7pm the night before pacific time. I just know I’m gonna be all kinds of fucked up when I get home. I was messed up for days after I flew home from Nashville and they’re only 2 hours ahead 😅
I just want to eat some Portuguese egg tarts, watch some flamenco, eat paella, see some Picasso paintings in Málaga, eat some churros, see some Salvador Dalí art in Madrid, eat Ibérico ham, and somehow get into the Deftones’ sold-out show in Madrid.
Update 6/4/2024: I was able to do everything I wanted except see the Deftones. Their intimate show in Madrid was sold out, and they also performed at the Primavera Sound music festival in Barcelona, but I was nine hours away in Granada that day. Luckily, lots of people posted videos on instagram, plus Amazon streamed the music festival.
I watched the movie, Chef, on a train on my laptop with an audio splitter and a boy I don’t talk to anymore. All of my memories of this movie are tied to him, and now I have new memories.
They have a Chef food truck (inspired by Chef Roy Choi and Jon Favreau’s movie) inside Park MGM. We picked up breakfast here before heading to the airport to go home. It was *chef’s kiss*.
We sat in the last row on the floor, so when he moved to the stage in the back, it was like we had front row seats 😍
When Lance Bass shows up at your concert 😏
Growing up, he was tied for my least favorite *NSYNC member (with Chris). Now, he’s one of my favorites! His instagram makes me LOL. My then boyfriend got me the *NSYNC dolls for Christmas one year, except he accidentally got a duplicate of one of the members, and no Lance. My set has been incomplete since we broke up in 2005 😅
JT sang all of the hits. If you’re like me, and like to google the setlist before the show, here you go.
He didn’t sing this song, but the DJ who opened for him played this one and all the *NSYNC jams. I felt like I was 18 again. My sore stems the next day from standing for his nearly 3-hour set reminded me that I’m not, in fact, 18 anymore 😅 I forgot all about this gem. The Legends of Summer show with JT/Jay-Z at the Rose Bowl was one for the books.
I can’t wait to see him again next weekend in LA 🤪
We ate at Roy Choi’s resto, Best Friend, inside Park MGM. It was sooo good. I’ve had Roy Choi’s short rib tacos before (he has a brick and mortar and food trucks in LA, plus he had a Kogi Taqueria inside the Whole Foods in El Segundo near my apartment).
If frosé’s on the menu, I’m ordering it.
The food was amazing, and Roy Choi himself even came out. He dapped my sister’s husband and said wassup to us because we obviously recognized him and I don’t think any of the other patrons did.
I had to get a Best Friends shirt, so I could rep him back in LA.
There’s an Eataly in LA, but this was my first time at this Vegas location. It was also inside the Park MGM. It’s like an Italian food hall. We had Tagliatelle alla Bolognese, Hot Honey Soppressata pizza and gelato. Everything was so good and fresh. Andiamo!
We got our steps in and walked to The Cosmopolitan Hotel to eat at Eggslut. There are a few Eggsluts in LA, but I haven’t been to this location in Vegas since I stayed at the Cosmo for a work trip. Sabrina and I ate at Eggslut at two in the morning on a Tuesday, because we were over partying at the Marquee Nightclub (where our coworkers were) and just wanted some breakfast sandos 😅
I hate when I fly out of this gate, because I was looking forward to having fries from The Counter for dinner. Instead, I had to get this stupid sandwich from Jetbox Market 😅
We got some merch at Justin Timberlake’s resto in Nashville to wear to his upcoming shows. We also got Christine (JT’S #1 fan!) a 12/30 Club bomber jacket that I might have to keep for myself, because this shirt’s kinda snug 😜
I’m usually weary of places I travel to where I don’t see any other Asians, and even though I literally didn’t see a single Asian there (except the Koreans who worked at the Bowl & Roll at the Farmers’ Market LOL), everyone was so nice to us. I love that everyone said, “y’all,” and called me, “baby.”
Our airbnb was in East Nashville (or “East Nasty” as the locals call it LOL), and it was Dolly Parton-themed.
The SEC College Basketball Tournament was going on this weekend, so Broadway was packed. I didn’t know they called Nashville “Nash Vegas.” It was that lively, but much cleaner. Also, they have an open container policy like Vegas does (I saw a bunch of signs at the airport that guns weren’t allowed past the TSA checkpoint, so they must be open carry here, too). Someone spreading the word of the lord on a megaphone handed me a pamphlet on the street, but I was in a hurry on my way to Justin Timberlake’s restaurant LOL. Plus, I’m beyond being saved 😅
I heard you taste like cotton candy, baby, I’m just tryna see I heard you wanna leave with me, if so, I do agree You heard that I could get your body where it needs to be Uh, look, you have no idea But if you’re really curious
I promise that the real thing It’s better than your imagination
JT’s new album came out this weekend, so it was only fitting we hit up his restaurant (@ The Twelve Thirty Club)
The food was amazing. The rooftop bar had bubble machines. The girl singing in the live band sounded like she could be a recording artist.
The drink I ordered was called the Basic AF Mule LOL.
If I were to ever move to Nashville, I’d live in the 12South neighborhood. It reminded me so much of North Park, where every craft house had a porch, and everyone had a dog.
We spent Saturday morning here. We had coffee and biscuits with chorizo sausage gravy at Frothy Monkey, donuts at Five Daughters Bakery, cookies at Christie Cookie Co (they supply the DoubleTree Hotel with all their chocolate chip cookies), and did our own walking tour of all the murals.
We did the Chef’s Choice menu and loved everything (@ Butcher & Bee)
My favorite dish of the weekend was the Avocado Crispy Rice, but everything they brought out was sooo good. This restaurant was also across the street from our airbnb, so we were able to walk there and roll ourselves home.
IDK if it’s because Asian don’t raisin, but I got carded everywhere I ordered a drink. This drunk girl at the table next to us was talking to us at dinner because she said she and her sister were the only ones drinking in their group and she thinks her friends were tired of them LOL. She was in her 20s and refused to believe we were in our 40s, so Donna showed her a picture of her 26-year-old son, who Donna had when we were in high school. That girl thought Donna’s son was cute (his dad is half white and half filipino and looks mexican, so his buddies call him, “Chino” 😆) and coincidentally lives in the same town her son lives in. She was like, “Tell him to go to Hawkers and I’ll take care of him!” Ha. Thanks for making me feel so young, Nashville 👧🏻
Self-care Saturday.
After dinner, our 42 and 43-year old asses were tired after being out all day (we woke up at 6am!), so we went back to the airbnb and did some Korean face masks and under eye patches.
A great way to show me you know nothing about me is to invite me to watch the sunrise at the butt crack of dawn 😆 There were two other couples at this lookout point watching the sunrise, and I was like, “Never once have I gotten up this early to watch the sunrise with a boy, let alone two married women.” LOL. They’re both super type A, and I’m really disorganized and not a morning person. My old coworker and dear friend is also type A, and we got along swimmingly. She never minded that I was so messy. She once told me, “You make concessions for the people you love.” 🥹 So I will get up at the butt crack of dawn for the people I love LOL. But I will not use packing cubes or fold my panties. That’s where I draw the line 😆
Donna loves Husk in South Carolina, so she said we had to try the one in Nashville, and it didn’t disappoint (@ Husk)
She also made all of our reservations, and everywhere we went, she told them we were celebrating my birthday 🥳
I’m just here for the kettle corn. And the baby goats. And the grumpy dwarf rabbit named Tito (@ Lucky Ladd Farms Tulip Festival)
I don’t usually like Indian food, but I couldn’t go to Nashville without trying one of Maneet Chauhan’s restos (@ Chauhan Ale and Masala House)
Maneet is a staple on Food Network, and she even won season 2 of Tournament of Champions (her TOC belt was at the resto!). I ordered the Tandoori Chicken Poutine which was life changing. Pammie’s favorite dish of the whole trip was here—Lamb Korma. As a rule, I don’t eat baby animals (just adult animals who have lived a full life LOL), so I didn’t try it, but it’s their most popular dish.
We spent our last night in a Dolly Parton-themed bar on top of the Graduate hotel (@ White Limozeen)
It probably wasn’t a good idea to do champagne jell-o shots when I had a 6am flight the next morning, but when in Nashville, darlin’ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Till next time, Nashville ✌🏼
Even though I ate everything I wanted to, I didn’t get a single high glucose alert on my phone. It’s because we did so much walking. My calves burn with the fire of a thousand suns, and I’ve been rubbing massage oil into my legs since we got back. My sister and mom get notifications when my blood sugar is too high, so having sore stems was worth not getting hassled about what I’m eating.
My sister’s husband picked us up from the airport, and he was like, “You look fatter. Not your body, just your face.” I’m like, “Uhh, thanks?” #1 How dare you? #2 I’m the skinniest person in this car #3 I will punch you where I stand and #4 I would never tell someone they looked fatter, even if they did. If anything, I would lie and say they looked skinnier, even if they didn’t! Excuse me while I go starve myself and cry into my green juice and drink my tears.
Nashville’s only two hours ahead, but I’m still jetlagged as fuck for some reason 😅
Me: (looking for my Original Berf shirt that fell out of my overstuffed suitcase) Donna: Do you use packing cubes?
Do I look like I use packing cubes? Why are you asking questions you already know the answer to 😆 I am who I am, guys (and that’s disorganized as fuck).
Donna sent me this video, and I told her my nostrils will be flaring five seconds into this 30-day plank challenge she’s convinced us to do while on vacation. I was able to last a full minute last night, partly because I was resting on my elbows, but mostly because I didn’t want to look like a little bitch! Ha.
Also, I’ve been up since 6am this morning, because my sister and Donna both work today, and Donna’s work day starts at 7:30am North Carolina time, which is 6:30am Nashville time, which is 4:30am pacific time (3:30am if we’re counting daylight savings!). She was like, “Just go back to sleep,” but I can’t sleep once everyone’s up. Plus, I’m one of those people who only need a few hours of sleep and I’m fine. Pammie was out till after midnight with her coworkers last night, and she is hurting this morning getting ready to meet these same people who are all probably still hungover.
I’m just over here bright eyed and bushy tailed about to take a shower and doordash some Biscuit Love. It’s nearby, so I was gonna walk my ass over there, but it’s raining today and the sun hasn’t even woken up yet 😅
I doordashed some hot chicken, because Pammie’s at a work event and Donna’s flight doesn’t come in till later tonight. Hot meat in a hotel room? I’ll take it…
My sister’s been here for work all week, and Donna is meeting us from North Carolina, so I flew solo. My family was really worried about me traveling by myself, since it’s my first time since the stroke. It’s like when I moved to LA, and my grandma wanted to come with me so she could teach me how to cook LOL. Maybe I should’ve taken her up on her offer, because she’s no longer with us and I still can only cook like five things 😅
I had a whole plan to enjoy a farmhouse breakfast sandwich from Einstein’s, but I had a different gate and had to get a stupid bagel and schmear from Peet’s instead. At least their ice machines were working this time, so I was able to get an iced latte.
I checked my bags since I checked in so late (on my last flights, they ran out of bin space by the time the C group boarded) and because I didn’t have anyone to help me lift my carry-on into the bin LOL.
I’m always C-group status when I’m traveling by myself 😅 Oh, well. Now I don’t have to worry about my luggage and boarding early. I’ll just make friends at the airport bar while I wait.
Donna is a planner, while I’m more of a “let’s keep the day open so whatever happens happens” kinda girl. She has planned our itinerary down to the minute so we can do everything we wanna do and maximize our time there. Including 7am plank challenges 😅 I tried to tell her that that’s 5am pacific time (4am with daylight savings!), but she’s really gonna make us work for that Nashville hot chicken…
A few people sent me this reel of this new BBQ spot in OC. It looks so good, but I haven’t had BBQ since it made me sick in NYC my birthday weekend 😅 I wanted to check Peg Leg Porker off my BBQ Bucket List in Nashville next weekend, but I don’t want to ruin the trip by getting sick again…
A few people also sent me this reel of this Corgi Cafe in the Philippines. Do my friends know me or what??? Also, I need that corgi butt bread.
Deftones are playing a music festival in Spain when I’ll be there, but I’ll be 8 hours away from Barcelona that day. I don’t think I’ll be able to swing it, but I love going to concerts when I’m traveling 🖤
It’s two in the morning I don’t need nobody else But you’re my tragedy
Young the Giant is always a good idea.
Rolling in hella deep, headed to the mezzanine Dressed in all pink ‘cept my gator shoes, those are green Draped in a leopard mink, girl standing next to me Probably shoulda washed this, smells like R. Kelly’s sheets (piss) But shit, it was 99 cents
Macklemore was surprisingly entertaining and brought attention to what’s happening in Gaza.
I will not ask you where you came from I will not ask, and neither should you
Honey, just put your sweet lips on my lips We should just kiss like real people do
And it’s worth it, it’s divine
I have this some of the time
I forgot that I put this place on my list because the pastry chef at this restaurant was recently nominated for a James Beard Award, and I ended up ordering a mimosa and steak and eggs 😅 (@ Valentine)
I dropped this oatmeal whoopie pie and I had to keep explaining that the stains all over my leggings were whoopie pie cream and not some other white stuff 😅 (@ A Flour Shop)
I’ve had Polish sausage before (I’ve also had kielbasa LOL), but I’ve never had any other Polish food. It was sooo good! I highly recommend the cheddar and jalapeño pierogi. I thought it was gonna be “white people spicy,” but it actually had some heat! 😅
This Ike’s was within walking distance to our hotel. There’s an Ike’s up the street from my apartment in LA, and one in SD, but their “Going Home for Thanksgiving” sandwich on dutch crunch bread will change your life (@ Ike’s Love & Sandwiches)
The ice machines were down at the airport this morning, so they couldn’t serve iced coffee anywhere. I had to pick up some overpriced bottled bullshit from Hudson News. Then I got the window seat in an aisle with no window on our flight LOL. Hopefully the rest of my weekend goes smoother 😅
I made some spaghetti squash casserole and roasted vegetables to try to eat healthy this week in preparation for all the bad decisions I’m gonna be making in Phoenix this weekend. And Nashville next month. And Spain soon after that 😏
My parents are going to Portugal and Spain this Summer, and Spain is on my fuck it bucket list, so I invited myself 😏 I jokingly said I’d only go if we fly first class, so my dad has been looking into it. The difference between my dad and me is that he’ll do anything to save a buck (like book his flight through a cheap travel agency that makes it impossible to deal directly with the airline when you need to make changes, whereas I will always pay extra to not have to deal with any of that). He’s been sending me flight itineraries to see if they’re legit, and one google search revealed they were a big ol’ scam. Needless to say, I’ll be booking our flights for this trip 😅
Welp, it’s officially EOD in NYC, and I didn’t win tickets to Justin Timberlake’s free show. I guess I’ll be an adult and go to my doctor’s appointment and work tomorrow 😅 I think because we had to put our zip in when we entered, they didn’t think a girl from the west coast would go to a show in NYC at a moment’s notice, but they doubt my commitment to Sparkle Motion Justin Timberlake.
When we stayed at The Plaza in NYC, I kept commenting on how good it smelled. I found out they sell their signature scent online, and I had to get it. Now it smells like The Plaza up in this bitch.
I also just entered the lottery to win tickets for Justin Timberlake’s free show in NYC next week, even though I have a doctor’s appointment in LA that day, so I’m not adulting too hard 😅
It’s my first time going to Nashville, so of course I made a pinterest board of all the places I want to go there. Anything I missed???
Kevin Garrett moved to Nashville a few months ago, so I’m hoping he’s playing somewhere in town that weekend. I love going to live shows in other cities.
I’ve been on a juice cleanse for the past few days in preparation for my bloodwork this morning, so I celebrated eating solid foods again with this $50 cereal we picked up in Brooklyn last weekend.
I usually like to let my birthday pass without much fanfare (one year, Shi was like, “Am I just supposed to sit across from you at dinner and not acknowledge it’s your birthday?!”). I spent my last birthday in the hospital, so I decided to celebrate this trip around the sun.
I have TSA pre-check because of my global entry enrollment, but my boots set off the metal detectors, so I had to take off my shoes and run them through the x-ray. I was wearing my Let’s Watch Horror Movies shirt, and I was like, “Are you sure it wasn’t the chainsaw on my shirt that set it off?” but no one was amused by my joke 😅
We took the red eye to NYC and got there at five in the morning. We flew JetBlue Mint so we could comfortably get some shut-eye on our overnight flight.
Actual footage of us in first class:
Sidenote: IDK why it bothers me so much that Timotheé Chalamet is dating Kylie Jenner. That’s a straight up lie, I know exactly why it bothers me. I’ve loved everything I’ve ever seen Timotheé Chalamet in, and I can’t stand the Kardashians/Jenners. Plus, I was so annoyed at the Golden Globes, Kieran Culkin (who won best actor in a drama series for Succession) didn’t even have seats with his wife, while Kylie was sitting front and center at Timotheé’s table. Like who even are you? I’m such a hater 😅
While I was laying flat, I heard something fall and didn’t think anything of it till we were deboarding the plane, when I was looking for my phone and couldn’t find it. I had already put the seat back up and my phone was stuck between the seat and the mechanism that makes the seat fold into a bed. Needless to say, my screen was shattered when I was able to get it out 😅 That’s what I get for talking shit about Kylie Jenner LOL.
We ordered some night caps before snoozing on the plane. I got their signature cocktail (Mint Condition), while Pammie got a chamomile tea and a virgin bloody mary LOL. I’ve never had a bloody mary with no vodka before!
Partly because we got 40,000 Southwest points for booking this hotel, but mostly because Macauley Culkin stayed here in Home Alone 2.
Me: How much for the Kevin McCallister suite? Internet: Nearly five grand a night. Me: I’ll just book the cheapest room they have available, thank yew.
This is like the first time I went to NYC twenty years ago and went to Supreme to get something for Julz, and was like, “How much for this Nike necklace?” (it was just a dunk on a silver ball chain) and the guy was like, “two fifty,” and I was like, “$2.50? I’ll take two!” and the guy was like, “two hundred fifty,” and I was like, “Oh, I’ll take none then.” 😅
I brought my Grimace Crocs I got for Christmas in case this hotel was too fancy 😅
We went here last time we were in NYC, and the bagels were sooo good. I also grabbed a bagel and iced coffee at Skyline Deli and Grill in Brooklyn, and it was just as good! New York really knows their shit when it comes to bagels.
“You brought your tarot cards, but you didn’t bring any winter clothes???”
I run hot, so I packed pretty light. I just brought 4 pairs of warm leggings, socks, a nice tank top blouse for Moulin Rouge, 3 days of t-shirts, a pair of boots, my winter coat with the faux-fur lined hood, a beanie and some gloves. It’s a good thing I packed light, because Pammie had to put some of her Harry Potter haul in my luggage going home.
This s’mores hot chocolate was everything the internet promised it would be (@ Glace)
We got there before all the kids got out of school, so there wasn’t much of a line yet. While we were waiting for a taxi, this kid walking by asks her dad, “Daddy, what are all these people waiting for?” and he was like, “They’re just a bunch of TikTokers waiting for hot chocolate.” 😂
We invited our cousin from LA because she mentioned wanting to go to NY the last time she visited. This was the one place she wanted to go to, and they had a location right by our hotel. They had a pop-up at Mozza2Go in LA last year, but sold out before she could get any. I’ve eaten at one of Nancy Silverton’s other restaurants, Pizzeria Mozza, and anything good enough for her is good enough for me! This italian sandwich shop def didn’t disappoint.
The last couple times I’ve been in New York was during the summer and this rink closes in April. I’ve always wanted to go ice skating here! I was so scared to go ice skating because my balance has been off since the strokes. Apparently, your iPhone measures your walking steadiness now, and I recently got this notification that I’m a fall risk 😅 I held on to the wall the entire time, but I’m glad I went!
We hit up Grand Central Terminal, because there’s a food hall inside of it. I had a lobster roll and a mule from Luke’s Lobster. The lobster tastes so much more fresh when they don’t have to fly it to the west coast!
I wasn’t planning on going to Magnolia since I’ve been to the one in LA, but they had a location inside the food hall, so I had to get some banana pudding.
Moulin Rouge is one of my favorite movies, and the Broadway musical was amazing! It easily tops Waitress as my favorite musical ever. When we were getting snacks before the show, we asked the guy at concessions if they had any real food because we hadn’t eaten yet, and he was like, “Sorry, we don’t. The hibachi’s getting installed tomorrow.” LOL.
If you need me, I’ll be at the Butterbeer Bar (@ Harry Potter NY)
Pammie was in heaven and spent hours at the Harry Potter store, while my cousin (who’s never seen a Harry Potter movie) and I drank butterbeer and ate butterbeer soft serve.
My favorite place to fake an orgasm (@ Katz’s Deli)
We had to go here after recently watching When Harry Met Sally in the theater. The pastrami sandwich was def orgasm-inducing, and so was the guy who helped us (S/O to Julian!) 😜
My sister fell in love with espresso martinis at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery we went to in Chicago (even though she doesn’t usually like coffee or vodka!), so when we found out there was a roastery in NYC, we had to go here (@ Starbucks Reserve Roastery)
We couldn’t go to NY without getting a quintessential black and white cookie and cheesecake from Junior’s.
When my sister’s husband found out we were going to NYC, he showed me this video where they try the world’s most expensive cereal from this bakery in Brooklyn.
They only make a limited amount of boxes and they sell out every morning, so we went there at an unholy hour and were the first people in line. I once stood in line in LA for 2 hours for Howlin’ Rays Hot Chicken the morning after I got absolutely trashed at a music festival, so this was nothing compared to that 😅 We got a box each, so it was worth it. I also got a raspberry almond croissant here that was *chef’s kiss*.
Coney Island closes the boardwalk and rides during the winter, but Nathan’s is still open! I had the best hot dog ever (although I was bummed I took that packet of relish out of my purse from the last time I ate a Costco hot dog LOL). I’ll def have to come back here during the summer to watch the hot dog eating contest live (I watch it on TV with bated breath every 4th of July).
When planning my trip, I looked up BBQ in NYC and went to add this place in Brooklyn to my BBQ Bucket List and saw it was already on there!
It started snowing while we were there. BBQ and snow??? It doesn’t get more magical than that.
When I got off the plane when we arrived, I felt hot and nauseous so I sat down. I ended up having to run to the bathroom and blowing chunks all over the first stall. I’m sorry to the pissed cleaner that had to clean it all up 😅 Last night when I was in bed around midnight, I felt hot and nauseous again. The heat was cranked up in our hotel room because it was so cold outside, so I was sleeping in my underwear. I ran to the bathroom with no pants on and threw up all the BBQ I ate earlier. The only common denominator when I threw up Friday morning and Sunday night was that I had BBQ both days. Can I not eat BBQ anymore??? I was gonna smoke my first brisket next weekend for when the girls come over for my birthday, but now I’m scared to eat BBQ. Usually, if I get sick after eating something, I never eat it again (this is why I don’t eat strawberry ice cream or chicken fried steak LOL), but it’s BBQ! I can’t give that up…
We couldn’t go to NYC without getting updated photos of our auras taken in Chinatown.
I once went to a festival in LA where they were charging triple the price to photograph your aura. Another vendor at the same festival gave me a paper boba straw when I ordered a drink! Fucking LA 😅 I used to keep a box of plastic straws in the trunk of my car for when Nori and I would go to Starbucks on our lunch break because plastic is banned in Manhattan Beach. I can’t with the paper straws! (Calm down, I recycle. Get off me).
I would eat pizza every day if I could, and my favorite style is New York (I love a thin crust, none of that Chicago deep-dish bullshit). I love that there’s pizzerias on every corner and they all taste good!
The last time we flew home from NYC, Pammie watched Harry Potter, while I watched Homicide for the Holidays. This time, she watched another Harry Potter movie while I watched true crime on the ID channel. We haven’t changed.
I saw so many Christmas trees dumped on the side of the street. The holidays and my birthday are officially over, and they were spectacular ❤️
Phantogram, Hozier, and Young the Giant??? Yes, please.
Wasted You tell the truth when you could’ve lied And troubles are on the rise ’cause you’re in disguise, oh And if it isn’t me Then pack your bags and leave
I couldn’t utter my love when it counted
Ah, but I’m singing like a bird ’bout it now
Oh girl, I’ve got that silvertongue
Got, got that silver, silvertongue
Drives you into delirium
Got, got, that silver, got that silvertongue like
Deane, Sarah and I haven’t vacationed together since we went to Portland nearly seven years ago! Sarah has since moved to Seattle, so Deane and I are planning to visit her and further explore the pacific northwest. I asked Sarah if she lives by the waving bear farm, and she said we could totally go there! I think the bears might be hibernating for the winter, so we might have to visit in the spring LOL. I just google mapped the farm and it’s actually a couple hours away from Seattle. Is this like when my mom asks me to get her potato balls from Porto’s because she thinks any place in LA is close to me???
On our flight home from Hawaii once, I accidentally tucked the back of my dress into my chonies after using the airplane bathroom, and when I walked back to my seat, Shi untucked my dress and was like, “We can see your underwear!” and I was like, “It’s a bathing suit bottom!” Fifteen years later, they won’t let me forget it.
Also, I never know where we parked the car or where anything is since I never put things back in their place. My sister’s husband is always like, “How were you two raised in the same household???” 😅
Pammie is home from Hawaii, and she brought me back an exclusive tumblr from Starbucks (that I had before but accidentally cracked one day) and a tiny replica cup because she knows I like miniature things 😆
I’m back at my sister’s house, so now I can referee fights between her and her husband instead of my parents 😅 JK, anytime anyone is fighting, I just pretend I’m sleeping LOL 😴
I went to Vegas partly because I needed a change of scenery, but mostly because I had to try August’s cronut flavor of the month (@ Dominique Ansel Las Vegas)
Parking at Caesars was $25, so this donut cost over $30, but it was worth it 😋
Our club level tickets gave us access to the Twitch lounge. I paid more to see Beyoncé at Dodger Stadium, and these tickets came with so much more. We had private food vendors, a private bar and private bathrooms! Our seats were even padded. Love the Allegiant. Can’t believe the fucking Raiders have such a nice ass stadium.
Queen B was so good! I might have to go to her birthday show in LA next week. Except I felt severely underdressed at this show in Vegas. I’ll be prepared and dress up next time. I’ll wear thigh high silver boots more than once, right? 😜 My work has a suite at SoFi, too, but I doubt they’d let me use it! My coworkers used the suite for a Rams game once, but parking was $100 🤯
This is my third Beyoncé concert, and def not my last! Should I start planning my Doja Cat show outfit now??? 😸
My parents are in France right now, and instead of sending us pics of delicious food they’re eating and beautiful sights they’re seeing, my mom is sending us pics of the dogs she’s meeting. This is my future LOL (JK, I’m already like this).
Hawaii is one of my favorite places to vacation, and I’m so saddened by the wildfires happening in Maui right now. Chel shared this google doc with links to directly help families that have been affected. Please donate if you can!
I once went to Dominique Ansel Bakery in NYC, walked right in and some guy was like, “Ma’am, there’s a line” and I looked and there was a whole ass line outside the bakery 🤣 I guess I wasn’t the only one who wanted a cronut 20 years ago! When I saw there was a Dominique Ansel inside Caesars Palace, I had to brave the 105° weather and go.
Their July cronut is blueberry jam with graham cracker ganache and it was sooo good! The best cronut I’ve had before this was at Kettle Glazed in Hollywood, but this one knocked it out of the park. I mean, Dominique Ansel invented the cronut…
me: Are the fries at The Counter skinny or big? Dennis: They’re skinny like you. me: Skinny fries are my favorite! Okay I’m not gonna go to dinner with you guys when we get to Vegas. It’ll be after 9pm and I’ll be sleeping LOL. I’m just gonna grab something at the airport. Dennis: I lied before. The Counter’s fries are big. Now you have to eat dinner with us! me: Joke’s on you. I like ALL fries!
I didn’t know that liking your husband would hurt this much.
We watched a Korean movie (@ AMC La Jolla), and I got us some Korean snacks to eat while we cried. They even referenced one of my favorite movies, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. If you’ve never seen it, these two people erase each other from their memories after a painful breakup, and they still end up finding each other again. You can’t fight fate…
Cheers to a much needed mini vacay with Pammie and Donna! The last time we vacationed together was three years ago in Kauai, so this trip was long overdue!
On Friday night, we missed our Nobu rooftop res because it took us 45 minutes to be driven 2 miles. Downtown Chicago traffic is no joke, especially during Lollapalooza weekend.
We ended up at Booze Box, a secret bar in the basement of a sushi restaurant. Right when we walked in, this japanese lady pulled open a side gate and led us down some sketchy ass stairwell into the coolest little dive bar ever. The music, drinks and late night maki def hit the spot.
I couldn’t go to Chicago without going on a river boat tour à la My Best Friend’s Wedding (that scene gets me every. damn. time.). While there was no slow dancing or tearful realizations, I honestly was so impressed by the beautiful architecture. The only other time I visited Chicago was over a decade ago for a weekend in the dead of winter. All I remember was that it was St. Paddy’s Day and they dyed the river green. It was too cold to really do anything back then. Even though it rained the day before I arrived this time, the weather was absolute perfection.
Donna: Why is my heart racing??? Me: Maybe it was that flight of espresso martinis you downed? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’m that friend who only orders california rolls at sushi restaurants.
While Pammie and Donna enjoyed the (mostly raw) tasting menu at Nobu, I feasted on this glorious 28-day dry-aged prime ribeye.
If my A5 wagyu isn’t prepared this dramatically, I don’t want it.
The best thing I ate at Nobu (and possibly my entire life) was this whisky cappuccino dessert. Holy shit, you guys. Once that whisky foam hit my lips, I left my body, floated up to heaven, saw my grandparents, came back down, and finished off the remaining layers of espresso gelato, toasted cinnamon crunch and cardamom cream. Their recipe is posted online, but why go through all that trouble when you could just take me to the Nobu in Malibu??? 😏
Since we all binge-watched The Bear, we wanted to try an authentic italian beef sandwich. One of our uber drivers, Kendrick, told us that the best one was at Clark Street Dog. We could kill two birds with one stone and get a chicago dog there, too. He warned us not to ask for ketchup, as if he knew about that one time I asked for it at a steakhouse and was shamed by my entire table. As he drove us around, he also pointed out where people had been recently shot and what areas to avoid walking at night unless we wanted to get popped! So full of useful information, this guy…
We ordered our food and headed over to the attached bar for picklebacks, mules, and quite possibly the worst thing I’ve ever put in my mouth – Jeppson’s Malört. According to our bartender, Evan, it’s a Chicago tradition for out-of-towners to take a shot of what can be accurately described as “rotten grapefruit with the lingering after taste of a tire fire” (among other things). He also suggested we hit up the nearby L&L Tavern where Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy used to troll for victims. Who doesn’t love a good murder bar??? I’ll have to come back when I’m not stuffed with italian beef.
We woke up at the butt crack of dawn to stand in line for an hour before this restaurant opened (sorry for anything I said before I got some cold brew in me 😅). Kasama is the only michelin-starred filipino restaurant in the world, and respect had to be paid.
This trip couldn’t have come at a better time. I got to celebrate an unexpected promotion at work and have a little fun before conference season starts up this week and I’m blacked out for the next couple of months. Excuse me while I cry into my empty Garrett Popcorn tin…
I’ve had malasadas in LA before, but they don’t even compare to the pillowy deliciousness that is Leonard’s. This was my most favorite thing I ate during the entire trip… even better than the garlic butter shrimp we waited two hours for at Romy’s! The mango gummy bears from Lin’s Hawaiian Snacks were a very close second.
The scenic drive up the coast to North Shore was such a welcome contrast to the hustle and bustle of Waikiki. It felt like we were in Kauai again!
I tasted the Obama rainbow and it was presidential AF (@ Waiola Shave Ice)
It’s a well known fact that drinks taste better when served inside a pineapple (@ Diamond Head State Monument)
Pops went parasailing for the first time at 67-years-young (@ Xtreme Parasail). Pammie rode tandem, while I just came along for the boat ride and the shirtless captain.
Hawaii is three hours behind LA, yet I still never woke up early enough to see the sunrise! Ha. I did catch this sweet sunset every night, though (@ Prince Waikiki)
Did you even go to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet if you didn’t leave with a karate kid drum???
Display this in a bigger font for the people in the back (@ Hawaii Theatre)
Cheers to a great (and safe) trip! Till next time, Hawaii!
I’d rather hitch a ride and pay with my life than pay uber $100 for a 10-minute ride home from LAX! (I grabbed a $25 cab instead and lived to blog about it.)
Outside Lands 2011 with Pammie, Chris and Jessie was def my most favorite festival ever. So much has changed since then, and at the same time, not much has changed at all…
I was supposed to be in Nashville this weekend, and I’ve died a little bit inside every time a show has been canceled this year. Is it 2021 yet???
Because I didn’t get enough coronavirus exposure during my recent visit to Seattle, I’ve spent the last few weeks traveling through the Philippines.
I’m back home now where I’ll be self-quarantining and working remotely for the next 14 days! If anyone needs me, I’ll just be in my apartment tending to my sunburn and wishing I was back on a yacht off the coast of El Nido instead of here in LA where it’s raining outside.
On my flight to Seattle, the flight attendant was walking down the aisle greeting everyone happy valentine’s day when he stopped in front of me and asked, “Are you traveling alone?” I said that I was, and he was like, “Can you switch seats so that this couple can sit together?” I meannn.
This museum was across the street from our hotel and so worth the visit! I’ve always admired Chihuli’s sculptures in Vegas, but his featured work here is incredible. The way he transforms glass is pure poetry.
We stood in a long ass line that wrapped around the building for this chowder… or shall I say Pammie stood in a long ass line while I was off buying crab claw pens at a souvenir shop (@ Pike Place Chowder)
I actually forgot that I had eaten here during my first trip to Seattle… We only tried the New England style chowder, and I didn’t think it was anything to write home about. If you’ve had the chowder from Boudin’s or Blue Bayou or even the cafe downstairs at my work on Fridays, you aren’t missing much.
Between the mac and cheese, grilled cheese, poutin and cheese samples, I was in heaven! Although no one should ever consume all that dairy in one sitting. Don’t ask me how I know.
I got to try the elusive Popeyes chicken sandwich, and I didn’t even have to wait in line or get stabbed to death! It only cost me 15,000 Southwest points (@ McCarran Airport)
Aloha! It’s been a busy month since I got back from Hawaii, but my paradise playlist is still in heavy rotation, and I’ve been dreaming about that island life ever since…
It was hard waking up to this view every morning, but I managed somehow (@ Timbers Kauai Ocean Club)
Congrats to my dear friends, Donna and David! I had originally planned to go to Chicago for Lollapalooza that week, but I went to Kauai for their vow renewal instead and had the greatest time!
I was still in high school when they first got married twenty years ago. If my sister and I were running late to class, we’d skip first period and hang out at their apartment instead. Donna was a bad influence on us then, and she still is today! Ha. She dared me to jump off a cliff into the kids’ pool at the resort we were staying at. She jumped first, but she’s also a foot shorter than me! I’m pretty sure my tailbone is still at the bottom of the keiki pool, you guys.
Touring the Na Pali Coast by boat was my most favorite part of this trip!
We got up close and personal with dolphins, snorkeled with sea turtles, and explored these amazing sea caves. Shoutout to Captain Kalen of Blue Ocean Adventure Tours for the dope playlist and all the laughs! Def book a tour with them if you’re ever in Kauai.
This raft tour was pretty wild. You basically sit on the side of an inflatable zodiac boat with nothing but a rope over your foot and the hand of God keeping you in as you zip up the coast at crazy speeds!
I was surprised Pammie agreed to join me because she is notorious for getting sea sick (Caborette Booze Cruise 2015, anyone?). She thought she fully prepared herself this time around, but no amount of ginger pills, essential oils, sea-bands or prayers could keep her from getting sick. All things considered, she and her husband still had fun!
This magical bamboo forest led us to the lazy river where we went mountain tubing.
If you’ve never gone tubing down an old sugar plantation irrigation system, then I really don’t know what you’re doing with your life.
We hit up this hole in the wall, Hamura Saimin, after Jessie told us it was her husband’s favorite restaurant in Kauai. While we were waiting for a table, I noticed Jason Momoa’s kids in line next to us (because I’m a creep and I know what his kids look like). They were accompanied by a local who was super friendly with everyone in the restaurant. We were seated at a communal table next to them when Jason Momoa strolled in and sat down behind me! I started sweating, partly because I was eating hot noodle soup in the humidest place on earth, but mostly because I was sitting back to back with Khal fuckin’ Drogo, and I could feel his goddamn body heat!
My friends stayed in Kauai longer than us and saw him two more times! I knew I should’ve extended my vacation…
Love this intimate desert gem! Anthony Bourdain featured it in an episode of No Reservations, and Paul McCartney has played here. It’s def worth the visit, especially if you’re nearby in Palm Springs or in Joshua Tree where I had the best napsound bath of my life.
My parents ziplined through the jungles of Puerto Vallarta while I put in 12 hours at the office today! Seriously tempted to use those five weeks of vacation time I’ve been hoarding…
We escaped the LA rain and road-tripped it to Arizona! The first of hopefully many Innings Fests did not disappoint. Good weather, great bands, amazing food…
Turn right after Waffle House??? These are my kind of directions!
I got lost going to work once (ok twice) because the house that I turn left at took down their white picket fence, so I drove right past it. I still can’t tell you what the name of the street is, but they put their fence back up, so we’re good! Ha.
I thought most of the people flying on Valentine’s Day would be on their way to see loved ones, but the majority of the passengers on my flight were headed to see Bruno Mars. Or at least that’s what their hooligans jerseys led me to believe…
I managed to snap this without getting elbowed in the face by all the asians with selfie sticks. My mom was one of them. Just kidding (she forgot hers at home).
(@ The LINQ Promenade)
I’ll have to make my way back here, if only for Virgil’s Real BBQ. And maybe that cute guy covering Stone Temple Pilots inside.
There are five Shake Shacks in LA, but we still ate here three times during our trip! We even schlepped across town with our luggage on our last day to get one last Shackburger and their limited edition Hot Chick’n when we found out we were flying out of the JFK terminal that doesn’t have a Shake Shack. We’re kind of obsessed.
This was our favorite meal of the trip (don’t let the fact that we ate at Shake Shack three times fool you). Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, the waitress came back midway through our meal to give us a second scrape!
Tame Impala (@ Panorama NYC, Randall’s Island Park)
This was def one of the smaller music festivals I’ve been to, but Tame Impala brought the big show with their lasers. Our lyft driver thought we were at EDC!
Pammie and I got our auras photographed inside a tiny Chinese jewelry shop, and that pink ass cloud = my mind being blown.
The Westfield mall I used to work at wasn’t quite as nice as this one, but they both have Wetzel’s Pretzels (@ Westfield World Trade Center, Oculus, Financial District)
Pammie wanted to ride bikes through Central Park, and it was one of the highlights of our trip! We rode from the Guggenheim to Strawberry Fields and stopped along the way to enjoy the scenery.
Before we knew it, it was time to fly home. Anyone who knows me and my sister knows that we’re complete opposites. She’s a Potterhead, while I’m more Homicide for the Holidays! But we always have fun when we’re together. I can’t wait for our next trip!
After a couple years of entering an online lottery, Shi won a permit to hike The Wave in Arizona! We flew to Vegas and road-tripped it the rest of the way to Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend and The Wave.
Here’s a little video I put together of our trip. I kept it under a minute to fit the whole thing on insta, so I cut out the part where I fell down and also the part where Shi got pulled over, among other footage! Ha.
“The cure for anything is salt water—sweat, tears or the sea.” (@ McWay Falls)
It’s impossible to capture the beauty that is McWay Falls in a photograph (we came back three times to try!). It would have been perfect during magic hour, but we opted to test our friendship instead at Pfeiffer Beach. More on that below! Ha.
Across from McWay Falls, we stepped into this magical forest where we were happy to have the sun on our face and wood between our legs.
Beer tastes better when you drink it in a river! Just ask this babe (@ Big Sur River Inn)
You can find this Spirit Garden, a breakfast pizza that tastes like heaven, donuts topped with more donuts, and most importantly, the only cell phone signal you’ll get for miles and miles here (@ Big Sur Bakery & Restaurant)
They say that “nepenthe” is a potion used by the ancients to induce forgetfulness of pain or sorrow… I should’ve had more of these! (@ Nepenthe)
“It’s only 2.3 miles,” they said. “It’ll be fun,” they said (@ Pfeiffer Beach)
We wanted to catch the sunset at the beach, but the parking lot was full. We parked on the main road with 40 minutes till sunset and started our 2.3-mile trek. It was all downhill from there (figuratively and literally). I was wearing boots that were def not made for walking! I tried to run in them, and my hip flexor failed me LOL. I arrived just after the sun disappeared below the horizon. Luckily, Shi’s hip flexors worked perfectly fine, so she made it there in time and was able to snap this photo. After the sun set, we had to hike those 2.3 miles back uphill to the car. It was pitch black. Every tree looked like a bear. We were legit scared. And cold. And my phone was dead. We had brought scarves and beanies and portable battery chargers in preparation, but they were all in the car! We are the worst road trip duo ever, and it’s a miracle we made it back home alive! Ha.
My Austin City Limits trip was cut short due to my grandma’s passing, and Anthony had the time of his life those first few days without me. He hit up the Dirty Sixth with Austin locals he made friends with and ended up giving one of them my Friday wristband. They saw all the bands I wanted to see. I’m bummed I missed Tame Impala and Leon Bridges among others, but luckily I didn’t have to wake up at an ungodly hour on Saturday and wait with him in that 4-hour line for Franklin. Day-old brisket reheated in a hotel microwave and eaten in my chonies still tasted better than any BBQ I’ve ever had in California!
I flew in Saturday night and met up with Anthony at an Irish pub downtown. Fado is the official US soccer bar in Austin, and it’s surrounded by gay bars on 4th Street. My uber driver was convinced he was taking me to see my gay friend once I told him where I was headed LOL. I mean, it would explain so much… After US lost to Mexico, we hit up Firehouse (a cool little speakeasy inside a hostel) and Rainey Street. I loved, loved, loved it there. Rainey Street is a block of old houses converted into themed bars. We stayed till last call, and all I remember from that night is a lot of Ludacris and stanky legs. You don’t realize how drunk you are until you’re walking the hotel halls in nothing but your dress slip looking for a beverage machine so you could wash down some tylenol at three in the morning.
We didn’t wake up early enough to stand in line for BBQ before the festival on Sunday, but we stopped by Torchy’s Tacos before we made our trek to Zilker Park. There was a lot of walking. Like. A LOT. Before, during and after the festival. In nearly 100 degree heat. And in sandals that had 0% arch support (but were 100% cute, obvs). This was definitely not Portland where we had a local friend with a car, ample public transportation, and weather that was 50 degrees cooler. The highlight of my day happened just before BØRNS’ set when the sun disappeared behind the only cloud in the sky for half a minute and everyone cheered. BØRNS, Sylvan Esso and Hozier’s sets were very close seconds. So were those two snow cones we each had.
Before I knew it, it was Monday and time to check out. Anthony hit up the gym in the morning while I stayed my ass in bed. We ate lunch at Valentina’s Tex Mex where Anthony had brisket tacos and I had a beast of a beef rib with the most beautiful smoke ring. We strolled down South Congress afterwards and drank micheladas for three hours at a bar inside Hotel San Jose. We got to the airport early to watch the Chargers lose, and I asked the TSA guy if the Starbucks was before or after the security gate. He ruined my mom’s life and told me that there’s no Starbucks at all, because Austin is all about supporting local businesses. I get a Starbucks mug for my mom whenever I travel, and she’s just gonna have to be happy with the mug I got her during my layover in Phoenix!
All things considered, I’m glad I was able to take a break from life and escape for a couple of days. I’ll def be back to explore this little town again.
I’m doing it partly in preparation for all the BBQ and bad decisions I’ll be making in Austin next week, but mostly because I bet Anthony that I could lose twenty pounds by the time we went to ACL or I’d pay for his BBQ at Franklin. These last five pounds can’t be zumba’d off in a week, so I made a game-time decision to bring my juicer out of retirement yesterday.
I can’t wait to go on vacation! And also eat solid food again.
Six of us were supposed to vacation in Portland, but new jobs, broken water heaters, half marathons and trips to Japan got in the way. Anthony and I obviously have nothing else going on in our lives, so the two of us spent our birthday weekend traveling the pacific northwest without those clowns!
One thing I love about Portland (and pretty much any other city besides LA) is the public transit system. You can get anywhere by light rail, street car, train or bus! The light rail took us straight from the airport to our hotel downtown for $2.50 (I’ve paid nearly $40 for a cab ride to LAX, and I only live 5 miles away!). What I also love about Portland is the food. OMG, the food. They are known for their food trucks, and our hotel was a couple blocks away from a group of like 20 or so of them at Alder Food Carts. I’ve been wanting to eat at Nong’s ever since I saw her on Chopped, and it was the first of many good meals we had that weekend.
Friday was Anthony’s birthday, and he wanted to go to McMenamins Kennedy School for drinks. It used to be an elementary school, but they converted it into a hotel/brewery. We had drinks in the boiler room, and I got sloppy hoping Jordan Catalano would show up to no avail.
Our friend Mark lives in Portland, and we met up with him for some late night eats at Biwa. He took us to some hipster bar called Bar Bar afterwards where we met some of his designer friends. Apparently, there’s a lot of job opportunities up there! Something to consider while I’m sitting in LA traffic…
Saturday was for snoozing. We slept in and hit up the farmer’s market around noon. When we couldn’t find the Pine State Biscuits booth, we decided to have lunch at Lardo, but not before having some pre-meal crepes at C’est Si Bon. The crepes were a mistake. And so were the donuts that followed at Blue Star. We somehow rolled ourselves back to the hotel and were in a food coma for the rest of the rainy afternoon. Everyone in Portland was watching the Seahawks playoff game, and we slept through half of it.
When we woke up, Anthony left to work out at the hotel gym, and I ventured out on my own to see the Portland Stag Sign without telling him. It’s no secret that I get lost easily, so he decided early on that he would navigate and I was to stay at his 8 o’clock at all times. I tried to take the bus by myself, got off at the wrong stop and found myself in BUMSVILLE. I eventually found my way back to the hotel, but not before Anthony returned from the gym. He was just coming to terms with the idea that I had been abducted when I walked through the door with a bag of hot cheetos and this photo. He was not amused.
I passed by Voodoo Doughnut on my way back. This bum in front threw his half eaten donut on the ground and started following me! I barely escaped with my life.
We had drinks at Whiskey Soda Lounge while we waited for our table at Pok Pok that night. FYI if you’re only going to Pok Pok for their famous wings, you can skip the wait and get them at Whiskey Soda Lounge instead. Or if Portland is too far, you can come visit me when they open a Pok Pok LA this spring 😉 It definitely was everything the internet promised it would be.
Sunday was probably my favorite day, and we didn’t even spend it in Portland! We took an impromptu trip to Seattle and did every touristy thing we could fit into five hours. We ate clam chowder at Pike Place Chowder (and pre-meal empanadas at El Mercado Latino), dodged fish at Pike Place Fish Market, visited the first Starbucks, tested our gag reflex at the Gum Wall in Post Alley, went to the top of the Space Needle, and rode the Great Wheel. And this is where I found out this foolio is afraid of heights. The proof is in the video.
After spending six hours on the train that day, I showered back at the hotel before we met up with Mark and his friends for drinks at Dig a Pony. If I knew we were going to end up at a strip club later that night, I would have waited to shower afterwards! Ha. Apparently, Portland is the strip club capital of America, and no trip is complete without visiting one. Anyway, here are some dollars that Anthony let some girl pick up with her tits while we ate tater tots. No bigs!
Monday was my birthday and our last day in Portland. We had a bloody mary brunch at Tasty ‘n’ Sons, beers at Hopworks Bike Bar, doughnuts at Voodoo Doughnut, and coffee at Stumptown. I was really sick that day (Was it all the public transportation or was it the strip club? Who really is to blame???). I’m still sick two weeks later, so it’s taken me a while to get my life together and update this thing.
When we got back to Anthony’s house that night, Pammie and Christine came over with birthday burritos from Lolita’s! It was a great end to what Anthony refers to as “the time of my life.” He wishes!
When we were at Chike’s place in SF, I noticed a calendar in his kitchen with corgis on it. Please tell me every month of this calendar is corgis, I said… AND IT WAS.
Because of his love for weird socks and his shared obsession with corgis, we sent him these awesome socks as a thank you for being such a good host:
And today, he sent me this video:
Cuteness overload. I’m officially dead. Please invite this corgi to my funeral!
I took a shotgun trip to Vegas this past weekend with my sister and her fiance to finalize plans for their wedding this November. I’m going to be the best maid of honor ever! Or at least the sexiest one… I’ll work that angle 😉 Ha.
It was my last NYE in my 20s, so I thought I would go out with a bang. Today, I woke up in Las Vegas sore as hell and $300 richer! Sadly, it wasn’t nearly as exciting as it sounds.
My only requirement for my next home will be that it has a life-size wind chime swing in the front yard like this one Christine is swinging on at Outside Lands.
The first person to find me this home gets a crisp $5 bill.
I’m going to Vegas this weekend, and one of the outfits I packed was my gym clothes. What has my life come to? I’m crazy competitive, and I won’t let one weekend in Vegas ruin my #1 status in this @MindzAlike#BLC.
I will eat your babies, bitch! And I’ll lose weight doing it, too 😉
