Portland

The last major city on our summer road trip was Portland, Oregon.  It was beautiful walking down by the river and passing bridge after bridge.  We strolled around almost the whole city and I loved looking in all the shops (no tax in Oregon!), as well as eating some amazing food truck meals. Hello Grilled Cheese!!!! 

One of the best things we did was visit the Saturday Market.  It starts by the river and leads through to VooDoo Doughnut.  There's tons of vendors with arts and crafts, jewellery, baked goods, and so much food.  If/When I visit Portland again, my stomach will be happy.

L.A.

Visiting Los Angeles has always been on my travel list.  The whole idea of Hollywood, the beaches and palm trees, sounds just perfect.  And it was! We stayed just outside of Santa Monica and toured around for the couple of days we were there.  L.A. is definitely the kind of place where you need a car, it's so spread out and vast that you need to drive everywhere.  That meant that a lot of what we saw was from the car.  
One of the days we did a beach tour, Long Beach, Balboa, Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach.  The Bf really loved the idea of living in a beach town.  Meanwhile all I'm doing is having flashbacks of old episodes of The O.C.

I would have to admit though, as tourists there for the first time we could have used a tour guide.  It's a bit tricky to navigate around the city, as well as knowing where the best areas are to hang out.  It's obvious to find the Hollywood sign up on the hill and Rodeo Drive (which I shopped on!), but to have a bit more of an insider feel, next time I may have to do more research (and I definitely did some)....or bring a friend that's been before...anyone wanna plan a trip?!

These are a few of my fave photos from Los Angeles.

San Fran

I thought I'd share a few of my favourite photos from our summer road trip, starting with San Francisco.  

Seeing as that's where my photos start.  I had some memory card issues and lost everything leading up to our first big stop, San Fran, so unfortunately no photos from Washington or the Oregon coast :(

I was really impressed with this city.  I loved the shops and restaurants (the best spaghetti carbonara!) and especially walking along the waterfront.  And yes the Golden Gate bridge is just as you imagine, huge!!  We walked all over the place, including up some of the steepest streets (including some so steep, they had stairs!).  Even our hotel was lovely, the San Remo, in North Beach was quaint and the staff were so great with suggestions and just loved Kea.

The Bf trying to escape from Alcatraz

(We couldn't get a tour, it was booked a month in advance!)

i'm back!

i'm back!

the last 2 weeks were amazing! such a great vacation/roadtrip! i can't wait to tell you guys all about it, and share some photos too.  now the real fun begins....unemployment.  and i definitely don't mean that as a downer.  i'm really excited to get working on some upcoming projects!

hope you guys are enjoying your long weekend and Happy Canada Day!

p.s. Kea had an amazing trip too! this pooch loooves the beach!

farewell to something great

As the days go by this week, work is coming to an close and vacation is getting closer and closer, and so far, I'm feeling good.  I have to admit, I'm not too stressed or worried at what the future holds, and that's mainly because all I can seem to think about is vacation.  What I'm going to wear, eat, and see.  How much sleep and relaxing I'm going to get to do.  We all know how good I am at sleeping, so it's very important to any of my vacations.

This vacation feels like it's meaning a little more to me than any other.  Two weeks, on the road, exploring, as cheesey as it sounds, it feels like the a farewell from something great to an introduction to what lies ahead and gives me a great feeling of calm.  And I like that.

Things will definitely be quiet around here while I'm away, but follow along via twitter, and instagram to see what we're up to while on the road.

Have a great couple of weeks and see ya when we get back!!

camping pinspiration

Guess what?! We're going camping this weekend! I know it's only Monday, but I'm really excited for our little (read: cheap) vacation.  It'll be our first time camping in British Columbia so I'm trying to prepare myself (read: hello?! bears).  Our campsite is on the water and I think Kea is really going to enjoy it.  

In preparation we did some shopping for gear.  We already have a tent and a couple of other things, but we needed to replace some stuff, and of course get a badminton set.  I'm spending this week packing comfy, outdoorsy outfits, and preparing our camping menu.  I think hot dogs and s'mores may be in order.

Here's some of my pinspiration!

p.s.. I got a little crazy when camping shopping, "let's get this! we need this!", that's how we came home with a badminton set.  Yes!

sister visit part 2

It was so great to have my sister here for the first time. She is the first of my friends and family to come and visit. It means so much to me that I had the chance to show her our new, happy little life out here on the westcoast. I have a feeling she may relay back to my parents and friends, that now that she's it it for her own eyes, they can all breathe a little lighter because I'm doing just fine.

sister visit

Having family close by makes everything better. During my sister's visit to Vancouver we had such an amazing time! We played tourist in the city, and squeezed in so much to six days.

We took a day trip to Bowen Island, such a beautiful place. We went on a little hike and found a wonderful view, had lunch by the water, and walked around a little bit. By chance, we missed the earlier ferry both heading to and coming back from the island. Aside from bad timing of the ferry, and a bit of unexpected chilly weather, I think the next time I visit Bowen will be to try some outdoor activities, kayaking and camping perhaps?

sisters

August, 2008 at a Motley Crue Concert....don't ask, lol!

Wow, what a week. In the line of work that I do, I definitely don't work Monday to Friday, I have a different schedule every week and have different days off every week. I'm working 6 days straight at the moment but, the pay off is coming!!

Time flew by so quickly and it has finally come, my sister Julie is coming to visit!!!!

She arrives on Thursday (and I'm off the 6 whole days that she's here!!) and is the first of my family and friends to come out to Vancouver, just to visit little old me! She's never been out west so we'll be spending her time here touring around the city, my neighbourhood, and maybe a day trip or two. Soo excited!

Any suggestions for things to do, restaurants to try and sights to see? I know there still tons in this amazing city i haven't tried yet!!

Victoria

Victoria was such a cute place to visit. It's history is all around you, which is a little different than in Vancouver. I really loved being down by the main marina and walking through all the little markets. Also, the shopping! Such amazing little shops and boutiques. And you had to make sure you turned down a few little ally ways to ensure you didn't miss any hidden gems.