Castle Rock State Park hiking trails: Castle Rock Falls

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my daughter’s outfit: blue sweatshirt / black track pants / black/white sneakers /

Castle Rock State Park is a really popular outdoor destination here in the South Bay. The park features several hiking trails, rare rock formations, camping, beach access (if you are willing to hike for it), and beautiful yet petite waterfalls. It is a favorite day trip for locals here in the San Francisco Bay Area!

There are several hiking trails in Castle Rock State Rock. The one I believe is the most beautiful, is the Castle Rock Falls trail. This roughly one mile trail, offers fun for the whole family. It’s an easy-to-medium hike, which features fun rock formations; kids enjoy climbing the rocks along the trail. Near the end of the trail, there is an overlook where you can see a beautiful waterfall. It isn’t a huge waterfall like Niagara Falls, but it is petite, fast-moving, and really pretty. The kids love it!

The end of the trail also offers beautiful views of the Santa Cruz Mountains and valley. We took my daughter’s girl scout troop on a family hike to Castle Rock Falls a week ago, and it was so much fun! The girls enjoyed the hike and loved climbing on all the rocks. Since they are middle-school age, the top of the rocks turned into fun photo opportunities. (Of course we always keep photos opps safe! You won’t find these girls on the news for trying to get an Insta photo at the expense of safety. These are trained girl scouts who know safety comes first!) But, I digress. . .

If you are looking for a beautiful trail the entire family can enjoy, Castle Rock State Park is a great place to go! There are several trails to choose from, but I highly recommend hiking the Castle Rock Falls trails to see the beautiful waterfall, and enjoy the fun rock formations along the way. Your kids will love it! I mean, kids love climbing on rocks, so of course they will have fun!

When you visit, there is a parking lot which is $10. At the end of the parking lot, there are bathrooms. There are also pamphlets available with maps and information about Castle Rock State Park. The pamphlets will give you information about all the trails in the park.

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If you are looking for free parking, you can park nose first along highway 35 right after the parking lot entry-way. If you arrive after 9am, and the close parking is already taken, you can  drive a mile down highway 35 and there is a free overflow parking lot. I highly recommend, no matter the time of year, to arrive around 8am in order to park where you want to park, and enjoy the trails without the crazy crowds.

Visit Castle Rock State Park like a local!

In addition to arriving at 8am, go in the off-season. The weekends during the summer are way over-crowded. I recommend going during the week if you want to visit during the summer months. Otherwise, the best time to go is during the fall, winter, or spring seasons.

Castle Rock State Park is located at 15000 Skyline Blvd, Los Gatos, CA 95033; which is highway CA 35.

Have you been to Castle Rock State Park? Which trail is your favorite?

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy

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Spring 2019 fragrances

spring 2019 fragrances

From top left: Vetiver 46 / Roja / Agua Allegoria / Estee Lauder Belle Beautiful (one of my fav’s-I wear it often) / Twilly D’Hermes / Murdock Vetiver / Tiffany / Replica /

Spring 2019 is here! This means it is time to move away from our warm, heavy winter fragrances, and into something more fresh and spring-like. . .or is it?

For the spring 2019 season, we are seeing a resurgence of the heavier fragrances from the late 1980s and early 1990s. This was the era where you left a trail of scent in your wake. As fashion tends towards this era, so does fragrance! Get ready to pair your bold hues, biker shorts, and puffy sleeves with vetiver; and be sure to leave a trail.

My signature fragrance in the early to mid-1990s was Gio de Giorgio Armani. It was a heavy vetiver scent which always left a trail. When fragrance softened up in the late 1990s, vetiver was left for men’s cologne only; even then, it was watered down. This season, perfumer’s are featuring the heavy fragrance note, and designing entire perfumes around vetiver! I think I am in love!!!

So, for the spring 2019 season, look for medium to heavy fragrances. Look for something warm, leathery, and woody. Mix those florals with something slightly masculine, and always leave a trail!

I went smelling, and found a few fabulous scents which embody different facets of the fragrance trends this spring season. There is something for everyone in my collage above! Find your ideal floral, citrus, or vetiver! I hope you love these as much as I do!

Shop spring fragrances:

What is your favorite spring scent? Are you ready to leave a trail? Or will you continue to wear skin scents?

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO
Cathy

Boho flow

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wearing: bold golden dangle earrings / lipstick / blue boho tunic / brown train case (see review here) / spring nail polish / jeans / black high heel sandals /

Hello spring! While spring doesn’t officially start until this weekend, these beautiful days with high’s in 70’s, have put some spring in my step!

My kids had a teacher-in-service day on Monday, so I brought them up to Stanford Shopping Center for a yummy lunch at the Neiman Marcus Cafe. In addition to lunch, we made a pit stop at the American Girl store. My youngest daughter loves American Girl. She has a couple of dolls, and every book the company has written. She also enjoys their movies!

In the middle of last year, my daughter set her sights on a new doll from the American Girl store. Since she already had two dolls, I felt like she did not need another one. So, she decided to save up her allowance so she could buy the doll herself. I have to appreciate the financial planning and resourcefulness! She cleaned out a jam jar, and began collecting her cash inside the jar. She kept a sticky note with a tally of how much cash she needed for both the doll and the sales tax. Once she had the cash, I promised her we would visit the store so she could buy the doll.

I had no idea how many coins and pennies she had saved! I would have brought her to the bank to exchange the coins for bills, had I known how many she had. There was roughly $30 in coins in that jar! Oooops! She dumped the jar into her purse before we left the house, and when we arrived at the counter to purchase the doll, she dumped out the purse. I was a little embarrassed at the amount of coins. The sales assistant who helped my daughter was unfazed, and spent time counting out the coins for my daughter. My daughter was so proud of herself for saving up the money! She ended up being $0.21 short, so I threw in a quarter so she could buy the doll. I was so happy she saved up! I was also thankful the American Girl sales assistant was patient with my daughter and her coins!

Although she now has three American Girl dolls, which seems excessive to me, I am happy she learned a lesson about saving money for something she really wanted. Hopefully this lesson will continue throughout her life, so she understands saving money is more important than spending it for instant gratification. Always keep your eyes on the financial prize.

For our shopping excursion, I wore this fun and flowy boho top with my favorite pair of jeans, which my daughter photographed for me. It was perfect with the 75-ish degree weather, and glowing sunshine. What a beautiful day! I love spring!

Shop my boho flow outfit for spring:

Have you ever scrimped and saved for what you really want? What types of financial lessons have you taught your kids?

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy

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