travel style

Tempe Arizona recap

 in Travel  tagged arizona / lifestyle / outfits / tempe / travel style / vacation outfits / winter 2022 by
casual spring outfit ideas

Wearing and squinting into the sun: statement earrings / yellow and white stripe tee / cross body bag / G buckle belt / spring nail polish / boyfriend jeans / golden ring / platform sneakers /

During ski week, we took a quick trip to Tempe, Arizona. Much like our Boulder trip, it was quick, so we didn’t do a lot of site-seeing. What we did do, was enjoy the weather and eat at a lot of really good restaurants! Another thing we loved; Tempe didn’t have a mask mandate when we were there. It felt weird at first, but we loved shedding our masks!

Sushi and ramen from Shady Park in Tempe, Arizona

The city of Tempe is integrated into ASU, so there are plenty of affordable and delicious restaurants within walking distance of a hotel. We stayed at the Westin Tempe, which was right in the middle of town and had a rooftop bar where you could watch the dessert sunset. Love!

Our favorite restaurants included Zipps Sports Grill, and Shady Park. Zipps offered American casual fare and I enjoyed a veggie burger with onion rings. Shady Park was a Japanese restaurant which had really good sushi and ramen. If we ever return to Tempe, we will eat at these two places again! I highly recommend!

We took a walking tour around town and found many architecturally significant buildings, which was really fun. I loved the Frank Llyod Wright theater on the ASU campus, and the Tempe City Hall. If you love architecture, this is a great place to check out!

Wearing: statement earrings / black tee (sold out, also love this top) / cross body bag / spring nail polish / G buckle belt / wide leg jeans (old, also love this pair) / platform sneakers /

I wish we had more time in Tempe, we were only there for a day and half. I would love to return someday and check out their hiking trails and historical spots. It’s an easy place to travel to from the Bay Area, and the weather this time of year is perfect!

Have you ever been? What did you enjoy?

What was in my Tempe Arizona suitcase:

Thanks for stopping by! Stay tuned! Spring capsule launches on the blog next week!

XOXO
Cathy

Boulder Colorado recap

 in Travel  tagged colorado / lifestyle / travel style / vacation outfits / winter 2022 by
cu boulder historic building
how to dress for the snow

wearing: earrings / lined leather gloves / spring nail polish / foldable jacket (has hood, which I took off for the picture) / long sleeve black top / cross body bag / wide leg jeans (sold out, also love this pair) / G Buckle belt / faux fur boots (on sale, avl in other colors) / (I’m wearing my mask outside because it kept my face warm in the negative 1-degree weather! haha)

Snow! My kids had ski week last week so we decided to take a couple of quick trips to states they had not visited before. Plus, I have only been to the Denver airport, I have never set foot on Colorado soil before! So, we decided to head to Boulder for a couple of days.

This was my first time on an airplane since the pandemic hit. I was a little nervous, but everything went smooth. I wore a KN95 on the plane and brought a package of masks with me since the mask mandate differs from city to city. Here in Santa Clara County, we still have to wear masks everywhere, so I had no idea what to expect in other areas. Boulder seemed like it was half-masking. Restaurants had masks until people took them off to eat, and business seemed as if they were optional. They were optional in our hotel.

Well, you know you are from California when you leave 70-degree weather and land in negative one degree weather. No joke, the temperatures toggled between 3 degrees and negative one. To say it was a wee bit cold, is an understatement. Brrrr!!

My daughter wore two pairs of sweatpants, and I layered up! We felt the cold but were able to manage it. I even drove in snow. haha, yay me!

Since we were visiting Boulder, Colorado, we had to check out Aloy Thai Cuisine. This Thai restaurant was featured on Guy Fieiri’s “Drive-in’s, Diners, and Dives.” It sounded really good, so it was the first place we ate at when we arrived on the first day. We had fun walking from our hotel in the snow. Yes, we were those tourists making footprints in the snow and laughing the whole time. I think a few people thought we were nuts. haha

aloy thai boulder colorado

Aloy Thai Cuisine had a large menu, and thankfully our hotel room had a refrigerator because we definitely overordered and had to bring food back to our room. We enjoyed the pot stickers, chicken satay, BBQ chicken, Pad Thai, Fried Rice, and a noodle soup with chicken in it, (I forgot the official name). The food was delicious! Guy Fieri was right! Our favorite dish was the chicken satay, which had the best peanut sauce I have ever tasted. Yum! If you visit the Boulder area, be sure to stop in, this restaurant is amazing! The other places we ate at didn’t really wow me. Maybe Aloy Thai Cuisine spoiled me. It was so good!

Normally we do a lot of sight-seeing when we go on vacation, but this time around we used our ski week for a couple of quick trips to just get out of town. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of activity ideas to share, just snow, and yummy Thai food!

I will give a shout-out to this jacket. It is a packable jacket which was ideal on the plane since it rolls up really small and fits nicely in my backpack. If you plan to fly somewhere that is cold, I highly recommend this jacket!

What was in my Boulder Colorado suitcase:

Stay tuned, I have one more trip to share!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy

the buff breakfast lunch boulder colorado

Pismo Beach day 2

 in General Fashion / Travel  tagged hiking / outfits / Pismo Beach / summer 2021 / travel style / vacation outfits by
  • Pismo Beach sign near the pier

wearing: sunglasses / lipstick / earrings / puff sleeve tee (under $50) / cross body bag / bracelets / fall nail polish / linen joggers / espadrille mules /

On our second day in Pismo Beach, we decided to check out Cal Poly and their famous hiking trail known as the Architecture Graveyard. We woke up early, grabbed breakfast, and then by 8:30am, we were in our car heading up to Cal Poly; which my oldest daughter was excited about since it is one of twenty schools she is interested in attending next year. I am pretty sure we cannot visit them all, but I digress. . .

Poly Canyon Trail aka Architecture Graveyard Cal Poly

  • Entrance to Cal Poly Canyon
  • Description of work on trail
  • Architectural artwork
  • Example of bathroom
  • Information placard
  • Building on trail
  • Me on the Cal Poly campus ready to hike

wearing: sunglasses / workout tee / fall nail polish / cardigan / cross body bag / wide leg leggings (old, also love this pair) / hiking boots (old, also love these) /

The Architecture Graveyard is located on the Poly Canyon Trail. This trail begins as a service road, and roughly one mile in, you will find the entrance to the College of Architecture and Environmental Design’s trail.

This trail features work by Architecture and Engineering students which dates back to the 1960s. It’s interesting to see how architecture has changed from mid-century modern to now. One thing we found disappointing was the amount of graffiti and vandalism on many of the projects. It’s sad that people would come in and harm projects students created. Despite the vandalism, we could still picture the original intent of the projects, many of which would translate extremely well into real life. Of course, some are merely artistic.

Hiking on this trail was fantastic with the kids. They were having fun checking out the works, and didn’t notice how much hiking they actually did! Our round trip hike was well over two miles; much more then I get my kids to hike on a regular hiking trail. Love that! I highly recommend checking out this trail if you visit the area.

Downtown San Luis Obispo

  • Asian Chicken Salad at Firestone Grill
  • Inside the mission

After our hike, we were hungry! We headed over to Downtown San Luis Obispo and to Firestone Grill for lunch. This restaurant was recommended by the valet at our hotel, Vespera Resort on Pismo Beach. He steered us in the right direction! They had delicious lunch options which were all generous in size. The side of fries alone could feed a family of five! We were very full after lunch. I highly recommend checking this place out when you are in SLO. It’s delicious and reasonably priced. Love!

With our bellies full, we took a short walk around downtown, and then did a self-guided tour around the mission; which is beautiful. I recommend checking out this important part of California history if you visit SLO.

When we were done touring downtown, we headed back to Pismo Beach, and rested for a short bit in our hotel. Then, we headed downstairs for dinner at the Somerset Grill in our hotel, which was delicious! I enjoyed a salmon dinner with lentils and mushrooms. Yum!

  • Salmon dinner at Somerset Grill, Vespera Resort on Pismo Beach

After dinner, we walked around the beach and pier. We discovered there was a height ruler on the edge of the “P” of the Pismo Beach sign by the pier. We had fun seeing our heights with shoes on. I love how shoes add a couple inches. We all felt so tall! haha

Shop my Pismo Beach day 2 outfit and hiking look online:

Day 2 in Pismo Beach was a great day! We got some exercise, checked out a college, and relaxed by the beach. Love!

Stay tuned for more coverage from Pismo!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO
Cathy

  • Ruler on the edge of the Pismo Sign by the pier. I’m taller with shoes on! Love that!