Monthly Archives: June 2013

Summer Fiesta.

imageOne thing I was very excited to come back to was making my own meals (weird, I know).  I loved trying all the different foods when I was gone but every once and a while I would crave one of my own weird creations.  This one is a new zesty mix I came up with but find it so refreshing I wanted to share.  It’s easy and healthy!

What you need:
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This may be the easiest thing to make but who cares, it’s delicious!

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1. Cook the burger patty
2. Take one tortilla and spread the avocado evenly across it
3. Then add a few scoops of the Pico de Gallo on top of that
4.  Place the burger on top of the Pico de Gallo
5.  Add a few mushrooms on top of the patty before completing the sandwich with another tortilla

You can really add or subtract whatever ingredients you’d like here.  It’s very simple and I must say I’m addicted.  I feel like a kid again with a lunchable only this is much tastier and I’m actually ingesting some veggies in the meantime.

Enjoy!

European Travel Awards.

After traveling through 7 countries, the question my friends and family have asked the most is “What was your favorite place?!”  To this question, there is no real answer because I had a positive experience in every place.  However, there were certain things that I liked more about one place if I were to compare it to another.  Alas, I give a few of my European travel awards that I deemed from my own discoveries.

imageThe best coffee (although there were some strong contenders) came from Italy.  Cappuccinos were strong but small so you’d get to enjoy a caffeine kick without being overloaded with too much milk.  NOTE:  If you are looking for iced anything, good luck.  Some may note that on a menu but it’s not the same.  Stick with the hot drinks even if on the beach.  You will enjoy it no matter what.  Va Benne!

image By far, the most picturesque was Switzerland!  Every turn has something beautiful in sight and it’s a photographers dream land.  I can’t say enough about how beautiful Switzerland is.  It’s a place on my list to go back to for winter and summer.  NOTE:  You may not always get sunny and perfect weather so my saving grace was a pair of thin thermals to layer under my clothes in the case the weather turned.

imageThis definitely belongs to Berlin.  There’s so much history and art, it’s a city wrapped up for old and new school.  I wandered for hours on end finding fascinating things.  My favorite to see in Berlin was the East Side Gallery which is a beautifully painted in graffiti section of the Berlin Wall.  I can’t wait to dedicate an entire post to it 🙂

imageNow if you know me, you know I died and went to heaven in Denmark.  Bike riding is the main means of transportation with their very own lanes and horses are not few and far between.  I hope I get to go back and visit Copenhagen many more times.  I’ve heard it is very dark during the winter with very short daylight hours but in the summer it stays light past 10pm and you can enjoy the outdoors even longer.

imageThis is no shock considering Mallorca was the only place I visited that is known for beaches.  However, that didn’t change how incredible STUNNING the beaches are on this Spanish island.  You can check out more pictures from one of the beaches here.

I’ll be posting much more in detail about each of these places I visited, including good places to grab some food, coffee, and how accessible the transportation was.  Travel is such a beautiful thing and a great way to open your mind to new people and places.  Pictures can only show you so much but my suggestion is to buy a plane ticket and get out there to experience it for yourself.  You will be pleasantly surprised by the gems you find 🙂

My my me, Cala Pi.

Cala PiWhat can I say?  We found beaches in a hopeless place.  Well OK, Mallorca is FAR from a hopeless place but as Shannon and I were winding down these beautiful and effortless roads on top of these canyons, we had no idea what would unravel beneath us.  We’d see a small sign every 30 km or so indicating we were still on the right path and then eventually a sign would show us that we needed to head towards the water for our final destination.  We rented one scooter to get around on and the local man at the shop told us all the amazing beaches that we could reach with this scooter.  Cala Pi was the furthest away but we still decided we needed to see it.  While traveling, I relied heavily on old school maps and my somewhat keen sense of direction.

imageThis was our goal to get to Cala Pi.  We weren’t actually staying in Palma (a bit further) but we knew our way around Palma which is the city center so we used that as our “north star” for guidance.  The hardest part is finding all of the back roads to take so we don’t have to take the autobahn which we accidentally got on once and it was terrifying yet humorous.  The back roads are incredible though for the views because they wind you all along the coast.  It was picture perfect.

IMG_3068(Driving up is quite picturesque, blue seas for miles)

Cala Pi Shannon(Our first glance at the entrance to the port, here’s Shannon)

Heaven Cala Pi(This exists…)

Cala Pi from above

Cala Pi Beach(The beach conveniently with umbrellas for shade)

Our Scooter(They just hand these things off to you, no instruction which was fine for us but beware if you have never driven a scooter.)

Perfect Cala Pi(Heaven)

Shannon Cala Pi(Shannon enjoying the water)

Cala Pi Mallorca

Brit at Cala Pi
Cala Pi Coast(The coast!)

Cala Pi Coast 2(Interesting houses)

This day was absolutely beautiful and worth hiring a car or scooter to get to in the highly likely chance you will choose to stay in the city center, Palma.  It’s cheap and easy to rent a vehicle of some kind and enjoy the hidden gems.  This is a definitely must see beach cove on the island of Mallorca.  I rate this beach #2 of all that I have seen so far.  Soon to come is #1 on this same island….

Traveling Sunsets.

photo 3While traveling, I saw some of the most beautiful skies.  One common question I get asked about traveling is “don’t you get tired of being on a plane or on a train?!” and my answer to this is always no.  It may not be for everyone but I love sitting by a window and just watching the scenery pass me by.  I was very lucky with weather while traveling (for the most part) so I saw some pretty great sunsets from all over Europe.  Here are a few.

photo 2(On a train in Holland)

photo 1(Touchdown in London)

IMG_3149(Palma, Mallorca)

photo 1(1)(Switzerland mountains)

photo 4(Spanish Islands)

photo 3(1)(Berlin rooftops)

photo 2(1)(Swiss snow caps)

I love bright and colorful skies so I was quick to snap photos and then enjoy the rest of the rays as they slowly slid behind the horizon.  Somehow I always seemed to be in transit while the sun was going down but I can’t complain 🙂

Spain Update.

IMG_3066OK, the most beautiful place I’ve ever encountered has hit my radar…  The Mediterranean rendered me speechless.  Spending the past week there was the absolute BEST way to end an almost 2 months in Europe.  The water, the weather, and the time spent their with my friend, Shannon, was priceless.  I thought I’d leave you with these photos while I work on organizing the rest of my photos from all over Europe.  I have so many places to share with you about great food, fun things to do, and of course fashion 🙂 

IMG_3027(Cala Pi, Mallorca)

Lucca- Italia.

There is no question that Italy is grand and beautiful, but I fell in love with a tiny town called Lucca. We rented bikes and rode circles around the wall bordering the city.

Lucca, Italy(The wall of he city is topped in grass)

Grass(Even the weeds were pretty!)

Lucca, Italy(I loved the colors of the buildings)

Lucca, Italy(This was one of my favorite statues that I had ever seen)

Lucca, Italy(We parked our bikes and walked around a bit)

Lucca, Italy(Every city had a watchtower)

Lucca, Italy(Brittany and I snapped photos, I loved the wall)

Lucca, Italy(Miles and miles of wall)

I love cruising around any city that I am in, it’s a fun way to see it all. SF is not the safest place to ride around so it was nice and refreshing to be somewhere less rushed and more laid back.

Friday’s fun quote it brought to you by Sara:

“You have the Ora of a tall person”

A Color for All Moods.

As I added a new color to my ever growing nail polish collection, I realized that I always choose my color based on how I am feeling. I paint my nails at least twice a week, it’s become a sickness. I love switching it up and finding colors that look good on my skin. Here’s a look at the colors I use regularly (36 to be exact).

Classic Red Nail Polish(You can’t go wrong with a red or pink, so if I am feeling classic these are my go-tos)

Black and Blue Nail Polish(Usually in winter, my go to color is super dark. I used to only wear dark polish in school, it looks best on my pale skin)

Mint colored nail polish(Lately I have been trying mint and green colors, I love the way it looks with my clothing)

Sparkly nail polish(Sparkly nail polish is hard to pull off so I try to use it as an accent with a basic color)

Dark nail polish(These colors look good all year round. I absolutely love the vampy color)

romantic nail colors(When I just can’t choose, you can’t go wrong with subtle nudes or coral. They look great on all skin colors)

As you can see, I am not partial to any one brand of nail polish. If the color is nice, I buy it. You can actually get some pretty decent nail lacquers for $2.80 at Forever 21. You don’t need to break the bank on this accessory which is probably why I switch my colors out so often. I just love them all!

A Venetian Flood.

San Marco SquareIt rained heavily in Venice when we were there. Before heading out for dinner, we were greeted by 2 inches of water outside of our hotel’s front door.

San Marco Square(We didn’t have rainboots so we took off our shoes and walked to dinner)

Venice Flood(A little flooding wasn’t going to ruin our night)

San Marco Square(A view from our hotel window)

Venice Flood(Off we go)

San Marco Square(After dinner we walked to San Marco Square and saw that the flooding was much deeper there)

San Marco Square(So we scored some rainboots and did what anyone would do, splashed!)

Venice Flood(The water probably 5 inches deep!)

San Marco Square(But frolicking in the flood works up an appetite for gelato eventually)

Venice is really beautiful, but it is actually pretty cool when you are sludging through flooded areas. Most of the Venetians were saying this kind of weather was irregular for May, but we made the best of it!

Italian Culture.

Italians do everything differently and it takes some getting used to. They take long breaks in the afternoon, close their doors on Monday, and love to ask for kisses as payment.

Venice(Well, wouldn’t that be nice?)

Venetian bridge(An homage to Parisian lock bridges, this tiny tribute was found in Venice)

Kiko(Ahh, nail polish! Not everything is different in Italy)

Gelato(Gelato on every corner. Can Italians really eat that much gelato? Maybe!)

Italian Market(Salted foods are sold in all of the farmers markets. This woman is buying a large piece of fish)

Carnivale(There were Carnivale stores on every corner. A few had the most impressive handmade masks)

Flower(Roses were in full bloom, so beautiful)

Italians were funny too, a lot of the people I met had me in stitches. But that’s something I can’t photograph.