vacation outfits

Old Faithful Geyser Calistoga

 in Travel  tagged family / napa valley / outfits / staycation / travel style / vacation outfits by

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wearing: blue and silver earrings / lipstick / adidas sweatshirt / backpack / long sleeve tee / jeans / hiking boots / nail polish /

One of the must-see’s when visiting Napa Valley is Old Faithful Geyser. While admission is a little high, you cannot go through life living in the bay area without seeing this geyser at least once. It’s one our local natural wonders!

We visited Old Faithful Geyser in Calistoga right after Christmas, so there had been plenty of rain during the holiday season to fuel the geyser, and temperatures were quite chilly. The conditions allowed for the geyser to erupt every 5-10 minutes. Under normal weather conditions, it erupts roughly every 45 minutes. According to information provided by the geyser museum, the geyser slows eruption to every two hours about 72 hours before an earthquake within 150 miles. That is incredible information for local geologists!

Since it was really chilly outside, with temperatures in the high 40’s and low 50’s, the weather wasn’t conducive to an outdoor picnic. In my opinion, the best time to visit Old Faithful Geyser in Calistoga would be the fall or spring seasons. Temperatures will be mild, and it will be comfortable for spending half a day, or an entire day, on the geyser grounds. They have plenty of picnic areas, bocce ball, and other activities to keep you busy while you enjoy a picnic; perhaps even some local wine you bring in! This is a bring-your-own-picnic type of place. They do have a little convenience store within their gift shop, but I would recommend bringing in your own picnic.

In addition to an Instagram-worthy picnic area, the Old Faithful Geyser grounds offer farm animals and a relaxing fountain to enjoy gazing at. This would make a really relaxing, slow day in the spring or fall months. We definitely need to go back when temperatures warm up! You can learn more about visiting here.

Shop my hiking outfit here:

Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned for more from Napa Valley!

XOXO

Cathy

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Escaping the heat in Ventura

 in General Fashion / Travel  tagged casual style / chloe / fall 2019 / levis / outfits / summer 2019 / travel style / vacation outfits / ventura by

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wearing: pearl earrings (similar here) / sunglasses / summer lipstick / fall long sleeve tee / nail polish / Chloe bag / fall jeans / espadrille mules (on major sale!)

Is it crazy hot where you live? It’s in the high 90’s, low 100’s here in the San Francisco Bay Area right now! It’s so warm, we are all melting! In order to escape the heat, and also take one last quick trip before school starts, we decided to take a mini road trip down to Ventura.

If you are not familiar with the California coast, Ventura is a small beach town south of Santa Barbara. It’s not super crowded, and it has a large harbor, good restaurants, and plenty of cool fog! Love fog right now!

Our first day in Ventura felt so good. It was roughly thirty degrees cooler than at home, and we actually felt a little bit cold. This was such a good thing! We left home in the morning and drove for five hours down the coast. We arrived in Ventura around 2:30pm and checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Four Points Sheraton near the Village, which is a small shopping area next to the boat harbor. It has shops, restaurants, and a carousel which was closed-boo for us! It was a nice place to stay since we could walk to the restaurants, and enjoy harbor views.

We ate dinner at Water’s Edge, which is not in the Village, but a short walk on the other side of the harbor. The food was out of this world! I enjoyed the “Trophy Pasta” which was crazy good-and my family really enjoyed their meals too. If you are ever in the Ventura area, this is a restaurant you will want to visit! The views of the harbor are beautiful, you can watch the sunset, and the food is really yummy. Love that!

Shop my casual denim look:

We packed more into this weekend getaway! Stay tuned for more from Ventura!

Thanks for stopping by,

XOXO

Cathy

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Aloha Kona

 in General Fashion / Travel  tagged hawaii / hawaii big island / outfits / summer 2019 / travel style / travel tips / vacation outfits by

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wearing: sunglasses / pearl earrings (similar here) / summer lipstick / black v-neck tee (old, prefer this one) / woven handbag / blue floral scarf / blue bracelet / summer nail polish / black pants / black espadrille mules / gold ankle bracelet /

There is always something bittersweet about the last day of vacation. While vacations are fun, there is always a slight urge to go home by the end of the trip. Of course, you always want to make the most out of your trip.

On our last day in Kona, my son was tired, and just wanted to relax on our last day in Kona. While he was tired, my husband and daughters were ready to take on the world. So, Rob took the girls kayaking and snorkeling, while I took my son on a little walk, and some quiet time.

giant connect four game kona

We started the day by playing games by the pool. We played foosball, and he beat me three out of four times. Then we played a giant connect-four game, where he beat me on every game. Perhaps he took mercy on me when he suggested we stop playing games, and start sight-seeing.

We walked over to see Mokuaikaua Church, which was the first Christian Church on the Big Island. It was under renovation, so we weren’t able to tour the whole building, just peek through the door. It looked nice, too bad we couldn’t see more!

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Then, we grabbed some ice cream before lunch. Shhh-don’t tell my hubby I gave our son sugar before lunch! Hahaha, is that a hashtag mom fail??

After our walk, we went back to the hotel to meet the girls and my husband for lunch poolside. We enjoyed fruity smoothies, and yummy food by the pool. Ah-relaxation time.

billfish poolside bar and grill kona

My son was tired, so the girls and my husband went back to the beach for more, and my son and I returned to the hotel room for a nap.

We all met back up again for dinner, this time at the historic Kona Inn. It’s an incredible building with a rich history. Although it no longer serves as an Inn, it still holds it’s historical significance as the first hotel on the Big Island; and as a place where celebrities flocked. How fabulous are these old school fans? It was quite an elaborate pulley system!

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The view from the restaurant was incredible. If it hadn’t been storming outside, we would have had a beautiful view of the sunset, but we were OK with missing another sunset, after all,  we had already seen an incredible one earlier in the trip.

Shop my Hawaiian sight-seeing outfit:

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel in a tropical rain storm. Thunder and all! I truly believe the sky was crying because it was our last day in Hawaii. Aloha Kona. Maholo for the memories and the kindness; we will return someday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Aloha,

Cathy

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