Eurotrip!

It’s summer vacation time! Do you have any travel plans coming up? Cause I do! And I’m going to Europe!

On Friday I’m flying to Austin to attend my baby sister’s graduation. Guess she’s not a baby anymore… I’m so proud that she has gotten into her dream Master’s program at the University of Texas in Houston. \m/

To celebrate, WE’RE GOING TO EUROPE! I’m leaving on Friday to attend her graduation and then we’re going to Rome for our first stop. During our three weeks on vacation, we’re going to Rome, Florence, Venice, Barcelona, Dublin, Paris, and London. Whew… you can catch your breath now!

With summer vacations coming up, I put together a packing list. I’m usually the girl that packs half her closet for a 2 week trip. My thoughts – you want choices and decisions and multiple outfits! 6 pairs of shoes for a 2 week vacation sounds right to me but perhaps crazy to some.

Chubs

If I could, I would bring this guy ^^^

BUT traveling to so many different countries in Europe means I’ll need to pack light in order to fit one carry on in those small cross-country planes. I’ve put much thought into what I should bring, and I want to share what I’m going to bring. Hopefully this will be super helpful for you if you’re going somewhere this summer too!

RULES:

1. Stick with the same color scheme!

There’s a reason why neutrals don’t go out of style. If you want a pop of color, bring a scarf. Keep your colors simple and you won’t regret your style decisions 10 years down the line.

2. Bring pieces that will match all items!

One shirt that matches all three bottoms gives you three outfits. One bottom that matches all your tops gives you 5 outfits. Possibilities are endless which means you can pack light.

3. Accessorize to change up from day to night.

Wear a fedora for day time with a dress, and switch the fedora with a chunky necklace for night time with the same dress. It’s as simple as that! Black shorts with a blouse for the day and switch to a clutch and wedges for a night look.

Take a looksee to find what I’ve put together. Links to purchase these items are found below, and they are extremely affordable! My splurges are on shoes, Gema & CO jewelry, and purses. I believe that those are items that should last.

Travel Light

Light anorak from GAP // Chambray cover-up from JCrew Factory // Black blouse from H&M // Lace shell from Piperlime // Short sleeve t-shirt from Target // Vintage V-neck t-shirt from Target // White tank from Target // Jacquard Mini from Zara // Black shorts from H&M // Skinnies from H&M // Striped dress from Nordstrom // Khaki dress from H&M // Swimsuit from Target // Floral scarf from Target // Hat from H&M // Aviators from Zappos // Necklace from Madewell // Statement necklace from JCrew // Braided belt from JCPenney // Clutch from Asos // Crossbody from Madewell // Converse from Nordstrom // Cole Haan wedges from Zappos // Salt Water sandals from ModCloth

Bringing less also means shopping more! What do you think of my collection? Do you have any advice on how to travel light?

While I’m on vacation, I’ll be taking a hiatus from this blog for a bit. I’ll post pictures of my trip when I come back!

Becoming practical cause I’m old,
Jay

Hollywood Studios 2014

Catching up on sleep and exercise since I’ve been back from my vacation!

Last week I ran my longest yet – a total of 3 miles without stopping. Ever since our trip to Orlando to support my sister and her boyfriend’s half marathon, MG and I have been thinking about doing the Disneyland half this August. We’re starting to train now. Proud of running 3 miles since one month ago I couldn’t run a block. My goal is to run further at a steady pace. Since I’ve been running, I’m also in need of some good shoes. Any recommendations?

My adventures from Disney continue! Today it’s all about Hollywood Studios. Personally, this was my least favorite park. Not because it was a bad park, but the other ones outshine this one. This is more for shows and doesn’t really have too many rides. The top rides here were Tower of Terror, Rock’n Roller Coaster (Kay’s favorite ride), and Toy Story Mania!.

Tower of Terror
MG, whatcha lookin at?

Rock n Roller Coaster
Yay! Baldwin went on this ride – Monumental!

CandylandThe Toy Story line is so cute! Lots of childhood games all across the walls and floors.

Funny story – I took bread, peanut butter, and jam from our hotel breakfast so that we could save some money and eat sandwiches instead of theme park food. While we were in line for the Toy Story ride, I got really hungry at the beginning of the line and it was going to be a 60 minute wait… So I busted out with bread, a knife, and started to spread the PB&J. Genius right? Too bad I was totally roasted for this, by MG, Kay, and Balds. They were so embarrassed of me, but yet everyone ate a sandwich. HMPH. I think I actually saved y’all from starvation… Just sayin.

But around lunch time we ended up going to 50s Prime Time Cafe  and spent $120 on lunch! Everyone said I deprived them of real food so they overcompensated! Not my fault!

Though I have to admit, lunch was the best part about this park!!! It was all homestyle, comfort, diner food – PB&J shakes, fried chicken, meatloaf, pot roast, chicken pot pie, mashed potatoes. The waitress will tell you “Welcome home, set the table with silverware, and elbows off the table.” Food was SO good, Aunty M was a fantastic waitress, and the design of this restaurant is flippin’ amazing! Everything has a 50s feel. The waiting room is set like a living room with black and white TVs. Even the dessert menu can be seen through a View-Master toy!

50s Prime Time

50s Prime Time - Lams

Yes, food coma after. The boys didn’t want to share entrees. We ordered four dishes, 2 appetizers, and 3 drinks. Too full to move after… Thankfully while we ate such an extravagant meal indoors, we were able to get out of the rainstorm.

The highlight of Hollywood Studios – 50s Prime Time Cafe. Hands down! I think this is MG’s all time favorite restaurant! He loves this era and diner food.

Hollywood Studios Night

Have you been to this park? What’s you favorite ride here?

Love,
Jay

Epcot & Downtown Disney

Every day MG talks about going back to Disney! It truly is the happiest place on earth, unless you’re super hungry. There were definitely times we were frustrated and took our anger out on Katie. Why Katie? No idea, maybe cause she’s easiest to pick on!

The first Disney theme park we went to was Epcot. I always remembered this park as the “boring” one so didn’t have high expectations for it. BUT now that I’m older, this park is amazing! The techie stuff is much more interesting now since I can appreciate electronics. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to explore the Innoventions portions, but I’m sure it’s a great hands on experience.

Epcot - Daytime

One of my favorite rides at Epcot is Mission: Space. Basically it’s a shuttle stimulator that allows you to feel 0 gravity as if you were in space. In the past I could feel the ride spinning, so I knew how the ride worked. But I think they must have upgraded their rides this time around!

There are two levels of intensity. Baldwin and Kay rode the easy one. MG and I decided to go to the intense training because I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to anymore since we’re getting old! As you wait in line, speakers remind you that if you feel motion sickness, do not ride. This was repeated 10 times throughout our 15 minute wait. Kinda freaky already right? Then as we’re getting strapped into the tight compartment, there are throw up bags easily accessible. Nervous at this point… As the ride is about to launch, there is cold air blowing onto my forehead. MG said it’s a good thing because you want to feel fresh air if you get dizzy (in the end, I’m glad that was there!). When the shuttle landed on Mars, MG and I hoped that we wouldn’t have to go back to earth and that the ride was over (we said this out loud and two kids laughed at us). Thankfully the ride was over! Mission Space is so well done. Except after the ride, MG told me he almost blacked out. And I couldn’t stop burping cause I felt nauseous. That’s when you know you’re old! Fortunately, we kept our lunch in! Even though the after effects weren’t fun, I can’t stop thinking about how real this ride felt (or at least to how I would think being an astronaut felt like).

What makes this park even more awesome? Epcot is  a foodies dream come true! The second portion of Epcot tours countries of the world. To name a few, Mexico, India, China, Japan, Germany, Norway, Italy, France, and a few others. Most of these places showcase tourist attractions and more importantly, food! We were so food-happy that we barely took any pictures at this park.

In the past, it was about saving money at theme parks. Eat simple, grab a burger and fries, and then go to the next ride. But we have money from working now, so we splurged on all kinds of foods! First we grabbed egg rolls, baked pork buns, and a chicken curry pastry from China (don’t laugh, we missed Chinese food). You know it’s good Chinese food when you see four Asians on the bench eating at the Chinese food stand! Then we got Udon in Japan, lamb gyro from Morocco, French pastries and lobster bisque. Then we got Werther’s caramel popcorn and apple in Germany, and lastly, had fish and chips, lamb casserole, and corned beef in the UK. So many different foods in ONE place! Tell me that’s not your dream come true! I wanted to get the dry-aged bone-in rib eye too, but maybe that’s overboard… just maybe.

By the way, I have a pro-tip for you if you ever go to Epcot. The firework and laser show starts at 9pm. Instead of standing up during the whole show (remember, you’ve been walking all day already), go eat at Rose & Crown Pub in the UK. If you sit outdoors, you can enjoy dinner while watching the show. It’s one of the few restaurants next to the lake, and the waiters will roll up the vinyl curtains just for your viewing pleasure. Totally worth it!

Germany
Caramels in Germany ^^^

Epcot DinnerPRO-TIP:  Eating in the UK while watching the firework show. Looks like Katie’s head is on fire!

Epcot - Night
Night view of Epcot

Then we went to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom for the next two days. These will be featured in my next two posts.

On the last day, Kay and Baldwin ran the half marathon (posted here), and we took it easy that day by taking a nap and going to Downtown Disney.

Funny story is that we were in the massive Disney store, and MG decided he wanted a cookie. He picked up a Mikey cookie, and we went to go find Katie and Baldwin. 2 minutes later, I turn around and he’s gone missing. I eventually find him at the cookies again, and he’s looking for the heaviest/largest cookie he could find. He didn’t chose a cookie based on design, like a normal human being, he decided to look for the biggest cookie, like a true fatty. He ended up getting Ariel because her hair is big so there’s some extra cookie there!

Ariel cookie
My true fatty <3

The LEGO store is always a fun one to go to. Next time I’m in Orlando, I want to go to LEGOLAND.

Lego - Hulk

Lego - Toy Story
Baldwin’s favorite movie ^^^

Found these awesome treats, or should I say poisonous…

Poison Apples
So stinkin’ cute ^^^

It’s rare to eat well when at theme parks, but it’s very possible as you can tell from our trip to Epcot! Have you been to this theme park? What are your favorite things to do here? What country is your favorite to visit/eat?

I miss Disney,
Jay

Universal Studios 2014

Reminiscing about vacation… Having withdrawals…

I’ve been waking up at 6am every morning since we haven’t adapted from East Coast time. MG will make a joke and even say “it’s time for Disney!” Then we’ll both be sad.

I have a ridiculous amount of pictures, all from various iPhones. Nothing top notch, high quality since carrying a camera around a theme park is too much responsibility, not to mention dangerous to the camera. I’m going to break up the vacation into two parts – Universal Studios (short post) and Disney parks (photo dump!).

This post will be dedicated to Universal Studios, without The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which was most epic (posted here). We spent the first two days of our vacation at Universal Studios. All four of us didn’t take many pictures cause we were so excited about the rides and shows. Typically people buy a one day pass to go to both Universal parks, but we took it slow and did one park a day. No regrets here! We were so tired by the first day, we ended up going to be at 9pm.

Universal Studios

First day we went to the main theme park. The new Minion ride and Transformers ride is AWESOME. I also really enjoyed the Rockit roller coaster, where you immediately start upwards at what feels like a 90 degree angle. Funny thing is one of our favorite part of the day was the Horror Makeup Show, a comedy where two women explain how scary movie make up is done, improv style. You’re old when you enjoy the show more than the rides! “One, Two, Three, QUESO!”

Kay-Jay MinionHis face ^^^

Minion MeMinion Jay

MG Donut
Lard Lad Donuts from Simpsons!!! We devoured it in about 10 minutes between four of us!

Universal - SF
Looks like we’re home, but it was just a set at the park

Optimus Prime
Just hanging out with Optimus ^^^

Day two we went to Islands of Adventures, but it was in the 30s. SO COLD. We bundled up and wore 3 jackets each! Glad we were prepared or the day would have been miserable. Again, the highlight of this park was Harry Potter World. We basically didn’t get pictures of anything else… Nothing could beat the fabulous HP World.

Bundled Up

In the morning, all the roller coasters were shut off since it was too cold. Employees said that they needed to test out the rides to ensure it was safe since metal can contract in cold weather. Thankfully the sun came out in the afternoon, and it hit 40’s so the roller coasters opened up. Hulk is one of my favorite rides, same for my sister. MG loves the 3D Spiderman ride here. Baldwin likes the Dr. Seuss rides (clearly he’s not much of a roller coaster person).

Have you been to Universal Studios in Orlando? What are some of your favorite rides?

All in great fun!
Jay

Canada, eh?

I’m back! After a weeklong vacation in Vancouver, I’m home. Ming-Gih and I decided to visit my grandma, my aunts, and my cousins in Vancouver. My Aunt Kathy from Ireland and my parents from Texas all flew up the same week, so it was a mini family reunion.

DSC02638-2Look how cute my Grammy is!!!

DSC02913The reunion – thanks everyone for making us feel so welcomed! 

I captured a bunch of things we did while vacationing. Maybe you can take note if you are planning a trip up to Vancouver too. Loads and loads of pictures, so here we go!

We flew on Allegiant Air to Bellingham, Washington for about $140 round-trip, per person (this airlines has some great deals!). We rented a car and drove across the border into Vancouver. But before we went into Canada, MG and I looked for something to do in Bellingham, and lo and behold! We found a waterfall near the airport so decided to check it out. Really pretty scenery, and you know it’s good when there are three brides all taking wedding pictures in the area!

Whatcom Waterfall   Mg and Jay

Waterfall Edge of GloryWe are on the edge of glory here^^^! It was pretty terrifying looking down.

Shroom
This shroom looks SO cool, doesn’t it?

The first night we got into Vancouver, we went to the Night Market. Thankfully, it was still open. During the winter time the market is closed. We got some delicious foods, and I bought some cute socks!

Night MarketWe needed a buddy system – the place was packed!

Night Market with Duckie
Here’s my buddy in front of the night market icon

Now for the food!

Bubble WafflesBubble waffles!!!

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The cutest pork buns you will ever see!

RamenRamen ends the night perfectly, hot soup and noodles on a cold night

Vancouver is a seaport, so we were surrounded by lots of water. We went to their version of Fisherman’s Wharf.

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DSC02596How gorgeous is this?

Fishermans-Wharf
You can buy lots of fresh seafood on the wharf. This man sells shrimp. This puppy sells fish!

We also went to Horseshoe Bay to look at all the Fall colors. I’m in adoration of all the Fall colors that are in Vancouver. Being from the Bay Area, it’s rare to come across yellowing and red leaves. It’s breathtaking.

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DSC02667Watching the kids play in the leaves made me really want to jump in too! Look at the little one sitting in the pile – cute!

DSC02670Another shot of the scenic Bay

DSC02678
My handsome man on the pier ^^^

MG and I ventured to Whistler for a romantic getaway (as romantic as you can possibly get since I was stricken with food poisoning). Imagine taking bathroom stops every 20 minutes on a 2-hour drive… But the views of Whistler definitely made up for the unfortunate sickness. We went during off-season, so we got some extra attention from staff members. Dining at nearby restaurants was also affordable since it was off-season. A 5-course meal at Aura was only $30, and a 4-course at Rimrock Cafe was only $45 (our favorite dinner thus far).

Nita Lake LodgeWe stayed at Nita Lake Lodge, and I highly, highly recommend this hotel. The hotel is clean, the staff is friendly, and the complimentary accommodations include bike, canoe, and kayak rentals. Our bathroom floor was heated stone, so every morning my toes were toasty. We also had a fireplace in the room and a kitchenette. If you’re ever in town, stay here!

DSC02748Back view of the hotel

We took full advantage of the free canoe! Because it was off-season, MG and I were the only ones on the lake. It’s better than something from The Notebook!

whistler-canoe

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DSC02730That view ^^^ That reflection ^^^

DSC02732I find this picture to be so amazing – it’s the reflection of the nearby trees along the lake.

On our drive back from Whistler to Vancouver, we made stops along the way to look at the views. That’s part of the fun during a roadtrip right?

Our first stop – Shannon Falls.

Shannon-Waterfall

DSC02804Can you find me?

The next stop we made was the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. At ~$32 per adult, it was a pretty hefty price, but the views were worth it!

DSC02898This was during a weekday, near closing time so it wasn’t packed with tourists. I was able to get a picture of me on the bridge by myself! The bridge is 450ft across and 230ft above the river.

suspension-bridgeThese totem poles look so cool! Can you find MG?

DSC02847This walkway was called Treetop Adventures, and the bridge allows you to walk around the canopy of the forest. 

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The best part of the park was the Cliffwalk. You basically walk around the edge of, well, a cliff. MG has a height phobia, so this was the most intense part of the trip. He’s such a thrill seeker, that one!

suspension-bridge-mg

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For you foodies out there, here are some of the crazy things that we ate during the trip. It’s all Asian foods! When in Vancouver…

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MG’s favorite – the buttered pineapple bun. Is that a stick of butter in the bread? Why, yes it is.

asian-food1Hot pot at home and squab

asian-food2HK toast and a big bowl of rice noodles!

JapadogJapanese style hot dogs – Nori, Japanese mayo, and teriyaki sauce

DSC02907
Duh…

It was such a fun vacation, but I’m glad to be back! If you’ve ever been to Vancouver, did you do any of the above? What other things are recommended for my next trip?

What did you do this weekend?
Jay