Visiting California's Central Coast with children? Make sure to check out these great family-friendly wineries in Paso Robles! After my nomad family and I made our way south down the east coast and lived in several cities heading west to San Diego, we moved about five hours north to the lovely wine country area of Paso Robles. I had been to Paso Robles several times before, and it's one of my favorite California road trip spots for a variety of reasons: The wine is amazing, and I find that the atmosphere tends to be more laidback than other California wine country regions. It features beautiful California country scenery and small town vibes, while also having a lot of restaurants, shopping, a cute downtown, hot springs, hiking trails... and more! However, this was my ... [Read More]
California travel
Highlights from Our First Vacation As a Family of 3 {San Diego, CA}
Anyone that knows me knows that traveling is a passion of mine. Exploring new places - whether a getaway that's a 2 hour drive away or a big trip that's a 15 hour plane ride away - always has a way of reinvigorating me and making me feel more alive. In becoming a mother, I've felt this strong sense to keep doing the things that I enjoy - many of the things that make me, me. With baby in tow, we started off going on weekend road trips to visit family soon after she was born. In fact, we took Camryn on her first little road trip to my parents' beach house when she was just a few weeks old. Our little lady has become a decent road tripper, so we felt it was time to go bigger... Cam's first plane ride! A few weeks ago, we went on our first family of 3 vacation to San Diego. My ... [Read More]
5 Awesome Wineries to Visit in Paso Robles, California
“Paso Robles is the wild west of California wine.” A couple of weekends ago, my hubby and I went on a long weekend getaway up to Paso Robles to relax, drink some wine, eat some good food, hike a bit, and enjoy central California wine country. I find that it's hard for people who haven't spent a lot of time around California to understand how massive it is. I remember when I moved up to the San Jose area from San Diego (and later, vice versa), family members of mine thought it would be a short drive away and were shocked when I told them it was almost a 10-hour drive! But that's one of the many things that I think is so cool about California. We've gone on countless road trips while never even leaving the state. For a Jersey girl, that was a pretty wild phenomena that took ... [Read More]
5 Fun Ways to Experience Los Angeles
Hi friends! How's your week going? I've been having fun hanging out with my cousin Noelle and her boyfriend, who are in town from the San Francisco area. It's kind of funny how Noelle and I grew up in Jersey together, and now we are both Californians! I've been having fun playing host taking them to do some fun activities around San Diego, including a hike up Iron Mountain yesterday. And speaking of doing fun touristy things, today I want to talk about a very touristy area of California: Los Angeles. Admittedly, LA has, at times, underwhelmed me. It's a city that is hyped up so much, I imagine that there are a lot of people out there that have felt this way. Another cousin of mine, Michelle, was living there when I first moved to California, and in visiting her, I've spent ... [Read More]
Weekend Getaway to Idyllwild: Where to Stay, Play & Explore
Last weekend, my husband and I decided to seize the holiday weekend and take a quick road trip together. We both have been super busy and have travel coming up, so we welcomed the thought of getting to spend time together in a relaxing setting. Having done so many road trips around California, I started looking for a place we'd never been to before. I wound up finding a place we had never even heard of called Idyllwild. Located a few hours from busy San Diego life, Idyllwild is a little town nestled in the mountains with a population of under 4,000 people. It sounded like the perfect getaway spot! Where to Stay. After doing some research, I booked us a suite at The Grand Idyllwild Lodge. Described as the boutique luxury lodge, the hotel has a modern but woodsy kind of feel to ... [Read More]
How to Spend a Weekend in Santa Barbara
"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." - Jawaharial Nehru One of my favorite things about California is how there are endless road trip options within the state itself. Two weekends ago, my husband and I went on our first road trip of 2017. For this little getaway, we traveled up to the charming central California coast city of Santa Barbara. Situated next to the Pacific Ocean and Santa Ynez mountains + wine country, Santa Barbara is a popular tourist destination - and for good reason! Even though we've been to Santa Barbara before in passing through on bigger road trips, this was our first time where Santa Barbara was our end destination. I love planning ... [Read More]