America!

Last week, I had the good fortune to reap the benefits of Jet Blue's buddy pass system. Ross' cousin- the Kew Gardens host extraordinaire, Jillian- was able to get us the cheap seats. Only these ones weren't nosebleed.

We arrived in NYC hassle free after a red eye, and made our way through the fog filled pre-dawn streets of Queens desperately trying to locate the "Kew Arms", or as Jill affectionately calls it, the "3D Funhole." (Don't ask.)

Central Park view from the Natural History Museum

After catching up on some much needed shut-eye, Ross and I embraced the day. We walked. And walked. All around the downtown streets of Union Square, towards Central Park, and everywhere in between. Unfortunately for us, we had dressed in pea coats and jeans, when the temperatures outside called for shorts and breezy tanks.We met up with Sydney for an afternoon brew in the East Village, sauntered down the tree lined streets in her neighborhood, and ooh'd and ahh'd over the many brownstones and walkups. We enjoyed the tasty, Italian fare at Posto, where we shared a delectable thin crust, wood-fired pizza, and some hummus (random, I know). It was a fitting "welcome to New York" dinner. 

The beau and I

The following days were spent at the Natural History Museum (hello, taxidermy!), entering a raffle to see "The Book of Mormon" on Broadway (we didn't get tickets), and getting rowdy at a few Meatpacking District bars (675 Bar was a favorite- as was our amazingly friendly bartender there) . Ross, Syd, and I went to the place that "Coyote Ugly" was based on, and we didn't even know it! Kiss and Fly made us feel like celebs in training when the owner saw past our leggings, rain boots, jean jackets, and empty wallets and let us enjoy bottle service on him. 

Heart attack in a mason jar: chocolate dipped bacon at the underground 675 bar

Loving the artwork in the Meatpacking District

After our jaunt in the city that never sleeps, we hitched a ride on standby to Washington, D.C. where we met up with the entire Anthony clan. Ross' brother Collin is a Tomb Guard at Arlington National Cemetary so we decided it was time to watch him walk. We got the inside scoop on how being a tomb guard works, and got to see their secret rooms under the tomb. They let us into the press box, where we did our best not to make him laugh. (He can't even sneeze!) That was a pretty incredible experience. The trip ensued with the requisite tour of DC monuments, Obama's house, etc. One of the highlights for me was wandering the streets of Old Town, Alexandria. Brick buildings from the 1700's, views of the Potomac, and lots of cobblestone was enough to make me want to stay in VA a bit longer. 

Collin Anthony, 591st Tomb Guard

Old Town Alexandria, via Destination360

I won't even go into our lovely standby experience on the way home. Let's just say I'm thrilled all five of us got back to San Diego...eventually. 

Next up on NYC wish list? Trying a street vendor hot dog, actually seeing a Broadway show, and spending a day exploring Central Park. What are your favorite East Coast must-do's?

Happy Thursday!

xo,

L

Bands, Beignets, and Bourbon St.: New Orleans!

To sum up my trip last week to New Orleans with Steph in one blog post would be difficult. I'll share a few highlights:

Enjoying Cafe au Lait and an almond croissant at Envie

1. Live Music.
Everywhere. Frenchmen Street is four blocks loaded with bars and restaurants and there was not one door open that didn't have live music pouring out. From all female jazz groups (Maison) to funky blues players (dba) this was definitely a scene to be seen. The hardest part was learning how to dance like a local and not feel like a grandma.

2. French/Spanish history.
It's apparent in the French Quarter anywhere you walk, especially in Jackson Square with the wrought iron gates, old Spanish placard dating the lush square back to the 1700's and the historic statue of Andrew Jackson himself. You feel it on the streets of the Garden District, where Magazine Street antique shops dot the sidewalks and the looming mansions hide in the shade of overgrown willow trees.

View of the Cabildo from Jackson Square

3. Food.
A culinary lover's paradise. Fried everything. Fried chicken, fried grits, fried shrimp, fried crawfish balls. French donuts (beignets are my new favorite treat) and hot chocolate. The traditionally 'Nawlins cuisine: Rabbit and sausage jambalaya, chicken and rice gumbo, fried alligator (yes, I swear we ate these!). Poboys: Pulled pork, bacon, and cheddar. Mmmm...Anything you want, you got it.

Fried grits topped with cheese. Dangerous.

4. French Quarter Nightlife.
Bourbon Street. Like Vegas, but Southern. Dancing til the wee hours and not feeling tired? Check. Random bartenders giving us Mardi Gras beads? Check. Hurricanes (no, not Katrina)? Check and check. It helps that the two hour time difference was in our favor so when it was four, it really felt like two.

Enjoying the band at Maison on Frenchmen St.

5. People.
Groups of young people playing music in the street with dirty bodies, no shoes, dreads, puppies, and banjos. Men riding around on a unicycle 10 feet tall. Fairly odd couples. Hobos, aristocrats (you may even spot Brad, Angie, and the gang), your average Joe and Jane...you will see it all in NOLA.

One of the best and most haunting experiences we had was visiting the Katrina museum. Very moving, emotional, and gets you right in the heart. It was the strong and brave people of NOLA that helped (and are still helping) rebuild the city and you can tell just how proud they are of their city for overcoming such a horrendous disaster.

via life.com

Overall, I think New Orleans is one of my favorite cities. There's honestly no place like it that I've ever been, and I can't wait to return. What are your must sees of NOLA?

xo,
L

Colorado Belles

I have been very fortunate to travel so much in the past eight months...Since I knew I wouldn't be getting back to Thailand anytime in 2011, I made it one of my goals this year to travel as much as I could domestically. I told myself if I had the money and time available, why not? There are too many places in this world I want to see and discover, and you never know when another opportunity will arise.

A couple weeks ago, Emily & I were lucky enough to stay with our friend from our Theta days, Emily,  just outside of Denver, CO. The beautiful Castle Pines neighborhood, never ending views of the snow capped Rockies, and amiable residents were enough to make me want to stay longer than the quick three days we were there. The brick downtown area was charming- even the best bars played a little country music- and the kind of place you look forward to haunting every Friday night (even if it is freezing outside).

View of the LoDo area of Denver (courtesy of BonjourColorado.com)

Boulder was even more my scene- the college area was just gorgeous set among the mountains & Pearl Street was a promenade oozing charm. We delighted in some authentic Nepalise/Indian fare at Sherpa's, wandered into the many shops, and planned our next trip back.

Next up on the travel radar? Uber-cultural New Orleans with Stephanie tomorrow! The only thing I am able to conjure in my head when I think of this famous bayou city is the town at Disneyland (note: just Googled it, and apparently it's called New Orleans Square--who woulda thought?) where the Haunted Mansion & Pirates of the Caribbean are located. I can only hope the real thing has streets filled with 19th century architecture, mansions overgrown with foliage, quaint shops and restaurants, and Jack Sparrow to show us around. Can't wait to try some authentic Creole dishes, practice my voodoo, and take in the lush Southern mansions next week.

(photo: trekexchange.com)

Can you tell which is Disneyland and which is the real French Quarter? Follow (and Like!) me on Facebook and find out...

xo,
L

Things Olive Right Now

Mahattan & Hermosa Beach Inspired

1. Mediterrano, Hermosa Beach

This lovely restaurant on the Hermosa Beach pier serves unique tapas and other small bites alongside red and white sangria for a memorable dining experience. Seven girls, three pitchers, and ten plates later we left full and happy.

2. Roundhouse Aquarium, Manhattan Beach Pier

Why yes, holding a starfish, peering at mini sharks and creepy eels, and admiring gigantic tuna IS possible before noon on a Sunday. For free!

3. Mandarine, Manhattan Beach

For the style savvy gal who doesn't have a wad of cash to blow on her wardrobe. Picked up a few items after seeing the price tages were all in the $20-40 range. The comfiest tees, prettiest maxi dresses, and enough fedoras and accessories to keep you spruced from head to toe.

4. Simmzy's, Manhattan Beach

With only four select items served for breakfast, Meghan and I were skeptical. Could the bacon and cheese breakfast panini and veggie scramble really satisfy our Sunday morning cravings? Yes, indeed. The scramble was chock full of sun dried tomatoes, avocado, potato, mushrooms, onion, and cheddar with a dollop of sour cream. Heaven on a plate.

5. Hermosa Pier

A long stretch of boardwalk leading out to the ocean...Chock full of bars, restaurants, and shops for your weekend pleasure. Waterman's was the hit of the night, and the DJ took our requests happily.

P.S. Head to [olive ewe] on Facebook and 'Like' it if you haven't already, por favor! :)

Asia in A Frame

A couple weeks ago, Ross and I decided to put the many scraps, business cards, and bus tickets from our Southeast Asia trip to good use. We didn't put them in a traditional scrapbook (although what leftovers we do have will be pasted into our travel book); we decided to arrange, paste, and organize our little hearts out by placing them in a 22x28" framed collage.

We are by no means craft experts, so we arbitrarily placed all of the items on the poster board, along with five or six photos glued onto orange construction paper, and got to gluing. We saved everything from our Korean Air boarding passes to our funky green headbands in Vang Vieng to papers with games we played with friends in Pai. Here are a few snapshots of portions of the board:

Ross in a van in Indo, A Little Bird Guesthouse business card, bus & plane tickets

Me riding a bike in Vientiene, city recommendations, hotel business cards, and copy of Ross' passport

Headband from tubing, pass for Angkor Wat, Gringo's card (best Mexican food in Vietnam), and the worst hotel in Hanoi.

Overall, it took a couple hours, a few different layouts, one glue stick, and one black frame from Target, but in the end we were quite proud of ourselves. We can't wait to hang it in our new place!

The finished product

xo,
L

Palm Springs

Out in the desert, 2 hours northeast of San Diego, and past what appears to be a thousand giant windmills, lies the oasis of Palm Springs. I hadn't been there in for.ev.er and Ross took it upon himself to plan a little 2 day/1 night getaway for us to celebrate the loviest of holidays- V-day.

We didn't want to spend too much moolah on a room, considering we wanted to be by the pool most of the day and out most of the evening, so we settled on the kitschy Caliente Tropics Resort. (Resort is an interesting choice of words for the joint, but we loved it nonetheless!) The place is decked out in Polynesian themed decor- tiki torches by the pool, a bedspread adorned with palm fronds, and little bamboo accents in the bathroom. The pool area where we sipped adult beverages at noon was big gigantic- I think there may have been turf and a putting green out there somewhere- and the jacuzzi was ahhh-mazing. (Really though, it was the perfect temp- usually I have to get out after 3.4 seconds because it's too hot.) 2 thumbs up for our love nest du joir. 

We called for a cab to take us "downtown," which consists of 4 blocks of shops, bars, and restaurants and began our night. We started out at Village Pub, where happy hour was in full effect. I forgot it was a Monday night, so was stoked to get my Salty Dog for three bucks. We people watched there, then stopped for a dance at a Mexican restaurant as a live band played "Wonderful Tonight" before heading to our 8:15 dinner reservation at the dimly lit Matchbox. 

Matchbox is everything Palm Springs is not...filled with younger folk, heavily romantic, and not at all over-toured. We sat at a two-top on the balcony amongst other love birds, and decided on drinks. I, not realizing the drink menu proudly offered two sections for martinis- "Manly Martinis" and "Girlie Martinis"- ordered the Birdcage (flawless canary vodka, pomegranate, sweet & sour, sprite) off of the Manly section and then felt awkward. I still went with it, not to be duped by their marketing ploy. I was glad too because it was probably the best martini I've ever tasted. Being known for their wood-fired (as in, in the oven for 3 seconds) pizzas, we gobbled up the oven roasted tomato, burrata, and basil 14 incher. So good. Ross took off a little of the basil on his slices, but I devoured every bite of mine. I'm seriously considering getting a pizza stone to recreate the deliciousness. We also shared the warm goat cheese, tomato, bacon, and orange salad which was also extremely tasty. Matchbox=perfection. 

Pizza, you are my weakness.

After dinner, we went back to the aforementioned Mexican restaurant, which we figured out is called Las Casuelas. Not gonna lie, we spent the next hour and a half dancing with the other patrons (cough cough, the 60+ crowd) to the live band and had the best time ever. They played everything from happy Motown tunes to slow jams from the 70s, and everything in between. He even played some Van Morrison at my request. The lead singer had the voice of Neil Young- it was almost eerily similar. It was a perfect way to end Valentine's Day- with other folks in love and dancing the night away. 

Yep, that's the said band- Hot Rox.

2/21/10 UPDATE: Skimming through this month's Sunset Magazine, I was pleasantly surprised to find Caliente Tropics Resort made the mag's Top 100 in the West list. See the blurb here. (P.S. The article quotes the cost at $105/night but we got ours through Travelocity for $69. Steal!)

xo,

L

Seattle (& Bellevue) Shenanigans...

As some of you may know, I went to the far Northwest corner of the U.S. last weekend. Colette was my tour guide around the Seattle 'burbs (Bellevue, Kirkland, etc) , and we navigated our own way throughout the big city. We stayed in Bellevue at her gracious parent's home, which is about a 10 minute drive from Seattle proper. Colette told me that Bellevue has really taken off and is now much more of a "city" than it was back when she last lived there (high school). Either way, it made me long for a hometown that was actually cool to go out in. Sorry, Escondido/San Marcos- you don't make the cut quite yet!

Our agenda was something like this:

Friday- Got an early start and headed into Seattle to go to the infamous Pike's Place market- it smelled fishy (lots o' crab), yet also scrumptious (fresh donuts, anyone?). Ate a delicious breakfast of Egg's Benny on rosemary sourdough bread (so yummy) at Lowell's. Wandered aimlessly. Got a (tall, non-fat, white) mocha at the very first Starbucks. Got rained on.

Kendra & me on left, Colette & Elizabeth on right

Friday night- headed out with Colette's pals Kendra and Elizabeth (who I have 40 mutual friends with on Facebook- weird!). Went to 5 bars, all within walking distance- I felt like I was in college again!. The hits of the night were: Purple- a swanky wine bar conjoined with Lot 3- a hip new bar for the 24-40 year old crowd that makes delicious tequila+juice shots. Headed to Rock Bottom, where we watched interesting people do karaoke and earned our nicknames for the evening (Unknown, The Dot, Musician, and Beautiful)*. Followed by Earl's- I can't even describe the deliciousness of the martini I imbibed there (Wild Orchid) and lastly, Joey's.

 *Unknown- Kendra, The Dot- Elizabeth, Musician- me, and Beautiful- Colette.

Saturday- Did the things people do after a night of drinking Wild Orchids and wine. And beer. Not a whole lot.

Saturday night- After an amazing Mexican feast at Milagro Cantina in Kirkland, where we noshed on butternut squash and chorizo tacos (delectable), we ventured out to Seattle for the night. We had big hopes for you, Saturday night, we truly did. But such is life when you have high hopes- something inevitably goes awry. We: Couldn't find parking. Had to park "SouthEast" of certain parking signs (what the hell does that mean? Who carries a compass with them at all times?). Went to Peso's where I had a beer and made plans to meet up with friends at some cool dance club. Left for said club...turns out to be in a rather sketchy, industrial part of town. Friends decide not to go to club. We decide to call it a night. Followed by an annoying toothpaste incident (ask me about it).

A tree inside beautiful Milagro.

It was a Mexican kind of evening, I guess...

Sunday: Saw some charming neighborhoods of Seattle (Madison Park, I love you) and looky-loo'd around the UDub campus and surrounding area...So beautiful. Got our toes did. Awaited our 5:30 flights back to California...

Vintage pic I found of Madison Park (vintageseattle.org)

All in all, Seattle was awesome. The topography is unlike anything I've ever seen...the closest thing to it is Northern California, which doesn't hold a candle. It's like being in a city in the middle of the woods: tall pine trees as far as the eye can see, snow covered mountains surrounding you, and a big beautiful lake in the middle of it all. So picturesque. Granted, I could never move there due to the rather constant sprinkling but I absolutely can visit. A lot.

xo,
L

Next up: Seattle!

After a 4 month traveler's high, the words "back to reality" start to have a much deeper meaning. Luckily, I've had a lot of time to get acclimated at home in San Diego before the real job search starts (i.e. this week). Even though I'll be starting a new job in the upcoming months, I have made a deal with myself. The traveling is not finished for this year

One of my goals of 2011 is to spend more time traveling within my own country's borders. For someone who has traveled throughout Asia and Europe, it's a little disappointing to me that the only other state I've spent a decent chunk of time in is Las Vegas Nevada.

In addition, I:

• have only spent 24 hours in NYC
• have never been to the Grand Canyon
• haven't line danced in Nashville
• haven't hit up the big cities of Chicago, Boston
• am fiending for the culture of New Orleans and Charleston

Basically, I want to go everywhere! One place I finally get to cross off my travel bucket list is Seattle! This coming weekend, one of my favorite girls in the world [Colette] is taking me to her hometown and showing me around the Emerald City.

According to Travel + Leisure's "America's Favorite Cities 2010", Seattle ranks high in intelligent & athletic residents, is one of the most environmentally conscious cities around, and has a great beer and live music scene. Sounds like a city I should be spending some time in. And we all know Seattle is known for (a lot of) rain, so keep your fingers crossed we won't get showered on!

xo,
L