Category Archives: Travel

Union Station and the Bradbury Building

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Last week my father and I  spent the week in L.A  visiting a family friend. We stayed in South Pasadena and explored different sections of L.A over the week. We brunched, dined, drank iced coffee each day (sometimes twice!), visited museums, and saw the Hollywood sign.

On Tuesday we took the train to downtown Union Station, and walked to the Bradbury building. Completed in 1893, the Bradbury building was designed by Sumner P. Hunt and George H. Wyman. The interior has a lovely airy feeling, flooded with light due to the glass ceiling. Built in an era with an eye for details, every element of the building is polished and elegant.

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Union Station

the Bradbury Building


I’m now obsessed with the iced chai at Intelligentsia. It was creamy, sweet and perfect in the hot heat of L.A. What’s your favorite drink on a hot day?

Love,

-S

Summer in Tahoe

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I don’t know about you guys, but sometimes it’s hard for me to let myself take a break. I get too caught up in my to-do lists, going to the gym, seeing friends, and all sorts of other random things … Continue reading →

On My Radar

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Since I have summers off as a teacher, I have had tons more free time in the last few weeks. Most of it has been used wisely, such as going to the gym, seeing old friends and catching up on … Continue reading →

Summer Adventures

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In the last 3 weeks of summer I have:

  • Gone berry-picking with my brother

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  • Watched Frozen with my brother

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  • Made strawberry shortcake-yum!

Summer Adventures

  • Visited Natasha at Google, again!

Summer Adventures

  • Had a girls weekend in Pittsburgh with my mother, including these delicious waffles!

Summer Adventures

  • Watched a rain and thunderstorm in Pittsburgh, just outside of this building

Summer Adventures

  • Saw my very first drive-in movie (How to Train Your Dragon 2)

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  • Had a beach day with my girls, and used my newly finished t-shirt quilt!

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  • Followed up the beach-day with some fantastic horchata ice cream from Marianne’s

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Watched a gorgeous sunset with my dadSummer AdventuresSummer Adventures

  • Participated in our family portraits photo-shoot, taken by the talented Andria Hautamaki (more photos coming!)  Aren’t we a cute ‘lil family?!

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  • Knocked 2 things off my 101 list!

So far, its been a great 3 weeks of summer! How’s your summer going? How was your 4th of July? What did you do for it?

Love,

-S

GradNight at Disneyland

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Summer started about about two weeks ago. It began with a crazy, two day spree to Disneyland with my seniors for Grad-night. I have never laughed so hard, or been so tired. It was an epic amount of fun.

We piled onto a large Coach bus with a grand total of four chaperones for 40 odd seniors and tons of snacks and drinks. It took us 8 hours to get there, and had about 8 hours at Disneyland. It was a perfect way to start my summer.

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They had a Grad lounge in Ariel’s Grotto for the chaperones, where they had tasty snacks, and caffeine in multiple forms. It was necessary since we were in Disneyland until 2:30am. California Adventure closed at 10pm to the general public, but was still open for the grad-night students and chaperones, so the lines were short! We saw fireworks in Disneyland and they were beautiful.  They had many Grad-night decorations everywhere, including an awesome lights show at 2am.

We crawled onto the bus and everyone was sleeping like a baby on the way back. I know I will miss my seniors, but for now, it was a great way to end the school-year.

Love,

-S

Miami Beach and the Everglades

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The last day or two of our vacation was spent in Florida. We flew back to the US and took a tour of the Everglades, and then poked about my mother’s hometown. It was great to finally see the house that my mother grew up in, and see the city that she spent her youth in. I had grown up visiting my father’s parents and seeing his hometown almost every summer but this was my first time seeing my mother’s birthplace. The Everglades was beautiful, and bursting with wild-life.

We grabbed lunch at Joe’s Stone Crab and it was the perfect finish to a fantastic family vacation. It took all day on Sunday to get back to California (3 flights again!), but it was worth every minute of the travel to have a week in the Caribbean.

I hope everyone is getting a chance to relax this weekend! You’ve earned it.

Love,

-S

Cayman Islands Part 3

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Since coming back from the Cayman Islands, I have jumped back into my busy, stressful life. Grading (and yearbook) has been a big time sink lately and I look forward to the end of the quarter. I’m hoping for another week of amazing unplugged time during my next break, the first week of April.

It’s almost Friday!

Love,

-S

Cayman Islands Part 2

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The sun was warm, strong and made playing in the water that much sweeter. We snorkled most days and enjoyed hours of reading by the pool, in the hammock or on a beach towel. We checked out local places, and picked up some Tortuga Rum, Rum Cakes and other fun treats to bring back home. We munched on tasty coconut popsicles, watermelon soda and banana chips from the local grocery store in the afternoons by the beach.

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Mahler -4The smell of fresh ocean everyday, full bellies every night and copious amounts of sleep made for a week beyond unreal. It was a week I could do every year if I could. I came back feeling refreshed, and ready to tackle the rest of the school-year.

It makes me think every break I have should feel that good. I know I struggle with unplugging, but when you do, it’s better than you can every imagine.

Love,

-S

Cayman Islands Part 1

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Two weeks ago, my family and I flew to the Grand Cayman Islands in the Carribbeans for our first family vacation in years.I had been running pretty ragged between work, babysitting and fighting a nasty cold.

I had wanted warm water, sunshine,beautiful beaches and this trip was exactly what I needed!

Mahler -2 Mahler -3 Mahler -13There were iguanas everyone, our hotel was a dream, beautiful sunsets every night and warm sunshine-filled days. It was a perfect.More photos coming tomorrow.

Happy Monday! I know I swooned over some of the dresses at the Academy Awards, anybody watch them besides me?

Love,

-S

Do you want to build a snowman?

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On Friday, Annie, Adrian and I drove up to my parents cabin in Tahoe. It snowed the whole weekend, which was perfect for us to get some fresh powder. When we had gone up at Christmas, it had looked a little bare and brown.

The new snow transformed everything into a sleepy wonderland. We slept in, made tasty food, and watched the Winter Olympics while it snowed. Later on Saturday, we played in the snow, had snowball fights, sledded down the the hill in the backyard, and built some funny looking snow-women, in our case. Annie and I made Dwight, a two-headed dinosaur woman complete with a spiky tail. Adrian made a handsome Kirby. Huyson joined us later in the day after we rescued him from not one, but two sticky spots on hills.

On Sunday, we got in some time on slopes at North Star, and treated ourselves to a tasty lunch at the Chocolate Bar. Mhmmm.

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All in all, it was a perfect little weekend. Exactly what this girl needed!

Now I just have to make it through till Saturday, when my family and I leave for the Grand Cayman Islands. I am so looking forward to some sunshine, warm air, laying out on the beach with a good book, and those drinks with the little umbrella’s. I can’t wait to feel some sunshine on my face.

It’s almost Friday! How is your week going? Are you as ready as I am for this week to be over?

Love,

-S