this year’s travel

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Kel

My friend Sebastian linked to some awesome travel-themed videos on his blog. They’re so great I wanted to share them here too. But for some reason I can’t embed the videos. GRRR. So I’ll have to settle for the links.

My absolute favorite is MOVE. But EAT is a very close second. It also makes me supremely HUNGRY. They’re only a minute each so… no excuses. Watch them!

I LOVE to travel so these videos give me a serious case of wanderlust. Unfortunately, I don’t have the funds or the time to travel often. FAIL. My ultimate dream is to go on a Round the World trip. Someday…

For now, though, Rob and I have 2 trips planned before the end of the year. First off, we’re heading to Vancouver at the end of the month for a belated third year anniversary trip. We loved it so much last year (see my trip report here and here) that we really wanted to spend more time there. And this time we’re going to spend a day in Whistler! Then after Thanksgiving, we’re taking a longer trip to Florida where we’ll spend 10 days at Disney World (with a side trip to Universal Studios for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter) and 3 days in Miami.

So much to look forward to… CAN’T. WAIT.

minneapolis trip report

Posted on November 16, 2010 by Kel

I feel like I start all my blog entries like this but seriously… HOW IS IT ALMOST THANKSGIVING?! I don’t even know where the time goes (oh wait I do… it’s spent working… BLAH).

Last week I took a few extra days off so I could tag-along with Rob on his business trip to Minneapolis. I only had 2 full days there but I made the most of my time away…

We landed late on Saturday night (only had time to brave the cold and eat dinner) so we woke up early on Sunday to explore downtown. It was a beautiful day (and unusually warm for this time of year) so we walked down to the river to see…

… the Stone Arch Bridge. It’s gorgeous.

The bridge has pedestrian and cycling lanes so we walked a bit to check out the view of the Mill District…

… the Mississippi River…

… and the view of the downtown skyline.

For brunch we went to Hell’s Kitchen (so good!) where they have the most amazing homemade peanut butter (and marmalade). I bought a small jar of peanut butter to take home with me and LIKE AN IDIOT, I put it in my carry-on luggage. I did not know TSA considers it a liquid so they took it away from me at security. Waahhhh. Luckily, Rob was staying an extra day and bought me another one. Phew. So remember kids, peanut butter is a liquid (even though it’s totally not).

After stuffing ourselves, we walked down to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

It was nice to be outside in the cool, crisp air. Especially since Orange County was experiencing heat in the upper 80s.

Of course we had to see the famous Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture. Iconic.

For dinner we went to 112 Eatery where I had tres leches cake for the first time. OMG. It was incredibly rich and decadent. So good.

The following day was Monday and Rob had to work (hahahaha) so I was on my own. In Minneapolis there’s no tax on clothing or shoes so I decided to do a little retail therapy.

I started downtown and since the weather was cooler than the previous day, I took advantage of the Skyway system. This California girl loved the Skyways. They’re basically an above-ground, enclosed pedestrian walking path that connects various office towers, hotels, and shops. I didn’t have to go outside once! Ok, except to take this picture.

I even found this awesome bakery Cocoa & Fig. Their chocolate chip cookies were TODIEFOR. They even had macarons!

After lunch I took a trip out to the Mall of America. It was such an inexpensive (only $2!) and easy trip on the light rail from downtown.

I wasn’t originally planning to go to MoA but I figured that at least now I could say I’ve been there. It’s your normal suburban mall but amplified by about… a million. Not to mention that there’s a freaking amusement park in the middle of it all.

Craziness, right?

My 2 days went by in a flash. If I had more time, I would have loved to walk around the Uptown area, see the Lakes or even visit St. Paul. I guess there’s always next time.

easter weekend

Posted on April 7, 2007 by Kel

Aaahhh, I’m having a nice and relaxing Easter weekend so far. Hope all of you are as well.

I had Friday off from work, which was so great. I got the chance to meet up with friends for lunch and we checked out the new H&M that opened up near my apartment. Then to top off my day, I got a much-needed pedicure. If only life could be as simple as this…

I’ve recently become seriously addicted to The Travel Channel. I’ve been recording the daily reruns of Passport to Europe. Samantha Brown, the host, can sometimes border on annoying and cheesy (a la Rachael Ray) but whatever, it’s EUROPE. *sigh* I wish there was a way to make travelling my day job. Or just to have the time and money to leave everything and travel through Europe for a month. I even checked out the 5 Takes website to see if they were casting. LOL. (It’s a reality show where 5 travelers are chosen to be immersed in a country and the online community on the Travel Channel site decides their daily activities, their next destination, etc). Unfortunately, you have to be 30-39 to apply. WHAT IS WRONG WITH BEING 27?

The one regret I have about my college experience is that I didn’t take time over the summers to travel. I spent all my summer vacations fitting in summer school so I could graduate with a double major. If I could, I’d go back and change that in a heartbeat. I’d have taken an extra year to graduate or even applied to a study abroad program. Everything’s 20/20 in hindsight, right?

I’m also loving the Travel Channel’s 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. This show chronicles the adventures of a really lucky couple who gets to travel around the world for a few months. (The show’s based on the book of the same name). I found out about this show in Paris from our Segway tour guide. He had just finished filming a segment for the show a few nights before, which featured the Segway tour. I can’t wait to see the episode when they get to Paris. So far, they’ve been to Alaska and Italy and every time the episode is over, I am SO JEALOUS. Can you imagine? 13 weeks. All expenses paid. LUCKY.

In honor of Easter, I thought I’d share this link to the 2007 US State Easter Eggs. It’s an annual tradition that each state (plus DC) submits a decorated egg to the White House. I think it’s kinda fun. My favorites are Georgia, Maine and Washington.

Ok, enough randomness for today… I’m off to watch the first episode of The Tudors. Jonathan Rhys Meyers! WOOT.

pipe dream

Posted on March 31, 2003 by Kel

Ok, so going to Wilmington in April is definitely a pipe dream. I spent all weekend going back and forth about whether or not I can actually afford it. And as much as it pains me to say it, I finally decided that I can’t spare the money right now. Waahhh.

But I did get the boyfriend to agree to take me in August. Woohoo! The cast of Dawson’s Creek will probably be long gone but at least I’ll get the chance to see the place where my favorite show was filmed. And I’ll probably be able to stay a lot longer than I would have had I gone through with going in a few weeks. Thanks to everyone who volunteered to go with me though! What an adventure that would have been!

Anyway, don’t forget that the DC reruns start tomorrow on TBS. I still can’t believe that they start at 5AM(!) for us on the West Coast. I mean, honestly, who watches TV at that time? Weird.

And yay for Michelle Kwan! I’m so happy that she won the World Championships yesterday. Her performance was nothing short of amazing. I felt a surge of happy emotion during her entire long program. As soon as she took the ice, I just knew she was going to be perfect — she rocked her triple jumps and I loved her straight line footwork. *sigh* I wish that Sasha Cohen and Sarah Hughes had pulled it together, though — it would have been awesome to see a US sweep. I really do think that we had the most depth and technique on our team compared to the rest of the countries in attendance. Must watch it again, hee.

wilmington

Posted on March 28, 2003 by Kel

Call me a desperate fan!girl or whatever, but I really want to go to Wilmington to catch filming before Dawson’s Creek ends.

I even spent hours tonight trying to find inexpensive plane tickets! hee. I just don’t know if it’s something I can actually pull off. First of all, I’d have to make arrangements immediately if I want to go before April 25, which is rumored to be the last day of filming. I’d also have to get a few days off from work — and not having been at the company too long, I can’t gauge how my boss will react to this just yet. And then there’s the matter of trying to convince someone to go with me! (Anyone up for a Wilmy adventure? ) Cause my boyfriend didn’t seem too thrilled when I told him what I wanted to do.