Explore & Chill In Carmel
A few months ago my husband mentioned that his photography teacher would be hosting a workshop in the Monterey/Carmel area and that he and our mutual friend were planning to attend. Since it made most sense to split a room three ways I decided to tag along to enjoy that beautiful area while they were snapping photos.
We woke early the next day to quickly workout then my husband set off for his photography adventure. I took my time getting ready then decided to head into to Monterey for breakfast. During my yelp search I found a place that boasted fresh banana bread and acai bowls so I had to try it! The Aloha Coffee and Cafe was started by Richard and Mai Dunnunk after they had a brief stay in Hawaii. While in Hawaii they fell in love with Kona coffee as well as acai and specialty waffles. I ordered a acai bowl and one of their homemade banana bread slices to cozy up by the window with my kindle. I loved both, the bread was warmed and reminded me of the Royal Hawaiian banana bread. The cafe had a cute modern feel that boasted a free wi-fi. Not a place to be in a hurry as most items are made to order but I would highly recommend for a nice breakfast.
I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around downtown Carmel. The town is famous for unique art galleries and upscale boutique shopping. I checked out several art galleries, boutiques, and my personal favorite the Cottage Of Sweets.
Once my husband was done with his photography adventure we had dinner reservations at il Grillo (which means cricket in Italian). The restaurant is owned by Emanuele and Anna Bartolini and was opened in 2015. The menu focuses of rustic Italian food. The couple also owns La Balena which is another lovely Italian place in Carmel. il Grillo is lovely and completely cozy only a few small tables so not great for a large group. You also must make your reservations in advance and be willing to eat late (our reservation was for 8:30).
We started our meal with burrata toast. The picture do not do the toast justice, it was lovely. For my entree I had the ricotta gnocchi with kale. The gnocchi had amazing texture and taste! So yummy. But let’s be real I was kinda saving myself for dessert. We settled on a plate of their delicious Italian cookies. My favorite was the raspberry thumbprint cookies. With full bellies we went back to our hotel to crash and take off early back to the Bay Area the next morning.
A Walk in Walt’s Shoes
Disneyland is a place rich in history but often visits are so time crunched you can barely enjoy it. There is a great way to learn about the beginnings of the park AND enjoy a few rides.
Disneyland offers a tour everyday in the park at 9:30 am and 10:30 am for $109.00. If you are a annual pass holder you can save 15% and Disney Visa card holders also can get a discount. Allow yourself 4 hours to enjoy the tour, as the first time my mom and I attempted we had to leave early to catch a flight so we missed the best part of the tour which is the Dream suite.
Disney asks guest to check in early at the tour meet-up area, where you can choose your lunch items. I choose a turkey sandwich, water, and my now favorite dessert the item in the parks the Matterthorn macaroon.
Our tour started with the history of the opening of the parks in 1955. We learned that Walt’s apartment was actually above the firestation and if Walt was in the parks the light in the window would be on. To this day the light remains on in tribute of Walt. As we meandered past the firehouse we learned that Main Street is actually based on Marceline, Kansas Walt’s hometown. We spent a moment in front of the flagpole and heard the famous speech Walt delivered when the parks opened. I also thought it was hilarious to learn that there were so many weeds present when the park opened that with time running out to pull them Walt came up with a idea to add signs with the Latin names of the weeds to make it seems as they were supposed to be there. On opening day there were 28 thousand guests and in the first week the park had over a million.
As we continued on our tour that day here are some fun facts we collected:
- Disneyland is designed like a wheel where the center of the park near the castle on Main Street is the center and the spokes are leading out to all the lands.
- Fantasyland is known as the”heart of Disney” and the first land built.
- The carousel in Fantasyland is the oldest attraction with all white horses so no one would fight over who could ride the white horse.
- Walt Disney was a very patriotic man: he wanted to enlist in the military, but at the time he was only 16, but lied on his birth certificate so he could join the Red Cross Corp.
- In 1966 the real mayor of New Orleans came to Disneyland’s New Orleans Square to dedicate the land
- Walt Disney and his wife Lillian loved to take their family on long road trips. On one road trip Walt bought a Petrified tree. (Picture below)
A great highlight of the tour was lunch. Sometime lunch is during the middle of the tour or the end depending on when the Dream Suite is available for viewing. I highly recommend the Matterthorn Macaroon!
Now here is where I think the Disney Magic really shines! We meandered around Indiana Jones ride to a secret area near Pirates Of the Caribbean. We split our group in two to ride a fancy elevator to Walt’s Dream suite. The suite is 2,220 square foot living space right above Pirates Of the Caribbean that opened in January 2008. In the 1960’s Walt decided he needed a larger area to entertain VIPs so he enlisted the help of Dorthea Redmond (whose is famous for some of the set designs in the movie “Gone With The Wind”) to design the layout. Walt’s wife Lillian and Walt Disney studio decorator Emile Kuri were tasked with furnishing and decorating. Unfortunately Walt never saw the Dream suite completed as he died in 1966. The only way to see the Dream Suite now is on this tour. Depending on your tour guide you may be able to take picture inside or not. You get one guaranteed picture in the sitting area but on the tour I was on we couldn’t take any additional pictures so the ones you see here are a secret.
The Disneyland Dream Suite includes a living room, open-air patio, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. When you enter the front door leading to the parlor room you will notice that it is designed French Provincial-meets-Fantasy-land style. There are original paintings in this room of a French Castle that inspired Sleeping Beauty’s castle. There is also a gorgeous fireplace designed like something you would see in New Orleans that when it’s turned on the “flames” look like fireworks. Each room of the suite has some sort of “Disney Magic.” In the living room it is this clock that on the hour plays Disney tunes you might know like “When you wish upon a star.” One of the bedroom is decorated like the trains Walt Disney loved and had a train that circles the entire room! The best “Disney Moment” which our tour guide called the “Goodnight Kiss” was in the Adventure Land master suite. When you pressed the button the lights dimmed and a oil painting came to life with mermaids from Peter Pan. The ceiling even had stars that twinkled! Peter Pan’s ship sails as a projection on the headboard just before the lights go back to normal. Though my favorite room was the bath with the giant soaking tub and replica Tiffany glass above it. The goodnight kiss there is music from Symphony No. 6 from “Fantasia” playing. I could picture myself enjoying a nice bath with the plush robes that hung nearby. (I wonder who does the laundry here).
Overall doing the tour at least once if you have never done it. Another benefit is that your guide will “walk” you on two rides which in our case included Alice In wonderland and Peter Pan. It’s nice not to have to wait in lines! There is a lot to learn touring parks even if you are a huge Disney fan. Through the headsets you hear audio from the opening of the park and music from the wonderful world of Disney specials. All in all a special time in the happiest place on earth!
Blog Party at Kit and Ace
During Black Friday last year I discovered Kit And Ace in walnut creek. Even my husband and dad happily pursued their selection of clothing mostly because of the free gourmet treats, while my mom and I enjoyed free champagne. I bought a pair of pants called the York Pant. They were grey, cuffed and stretchy but looked dressy but felt wonderful. Since then I have been on the hunt for the pair in black. Unfortunately I have yet to find them but enjoyed a lovely night at the Burlingame location for a event called the Blog Party.
Blog party was founded by Jamie from j for Jamie for bloggers and brands to get to together, meet, and collaborate. This was my first event and I was so excited it was at one of my favorite stores.
Highlights were tasting delicious wines from Hall Wines and bringing home a bottle of my new favorite pineapple coconut water from Zico. I met in real life Suki from her Super Duper Fantastic Blog and many other bloggers like Nisha from her Simplistique blog. Added bonus I came home with a lovely swag bag with treats from Flash Tattoos, Yusu Soap (a lovely lavender flavor that I used right up!), Oh! Shiny Paper Co, Bare Minerals Lip Gloss, and Punk Post Company.
I had a great time mingling with the folks from blog party, Kit and Ace, as well as other bloggers! Looking forward to the next event!
For more pictures from the event check out this link.
Finding Aloha In San Francisco
I’ll be the first to admit I have a huge blogger/girl crush on Goldfish Kiss. Her posts make me want to run on the beach and book a flight to Hawaii, like right now. I saw recently that she and her family are moving to my hood, the Bay Area. This inspired me to share some of my favorite Hawaii themed places to eat and visit in the SF Bay Area.
Acai is an amazing healthy treat. This cute shop also has a location on the Big Island. In SF it’s very conveniently located in the Embarcadero center with easy parking and access to public transportation. Acai is a treat you don’t have to feel too guilty in indulging in unlike most of the favorites in this post. Acai is loaded with antioxidants that can positively effect your health. The shop offers several different bowls but I much prefer the basic blue Hawaiian with banana, granola, berries, and a bit of honey. This bowl clocks in at 300 calories, not too shabby. For those fish fans Blue Hawaii also offers fresh poke bowls during the week.
Tucked away in SF near Balboa Park BART is Pineapples. The cafe was started by a couple who is from Guam. Their menu offers everything from shave ice, Acai bowls, Kona coffee waffles, tropical teas (love the mint lemonade and likiloi passion tea), sandwiches to dole whips. I am a huge fan of everything I have tried here but the dole whip is the icing on the cake. I love that it’s much cheaper than the Disneyland version at $3 AND I can add toppings like Li-hing and mochi. You can even make it into a float if you heart (or stomach) desires or make it fancy with ice cream.
Every year around the first week of August, the San Mateo event center becomes a little taste of Hawaii with their annual aloha festival. The event itself it free but if you drive it’s $10 per car. My husband like to get there early and make a beeline to the food booths in the back that have (you guessed it!) malasadas, shave ice, and much more. Then we usually spend a hour or so browsing the booths inside the event center. They have a mini Hawaii grocery that had my favorite teas, Li-hing, candies, and mochi mixes. A word of caution here is that one year I bought some Hawaiian tea only to find it expired so check the dates! Many of the booths have beautiful arts, crafts, and clothing too. Outside there is traditional hula and live music so it’s a fun filled day.
Nestled in one of the cutest downtown areas in the Bay Area is Noelani’s. The restaurant started by two best friends and locals from Oahu and the Big Island. I recently celebrated New Year’s Eve here. Everything was so delicious from the Tsunami fries (that were tossed with Li-hing) to dessert of hula pie (homemade mud pie with Oreo cookie crust, fudge, vanilla bean/coffee ice cream and toasted coconut) and malasadas. They had live entertainment for New Years which made the meal even more special!
My best meal hands down in 2015 was from this locally owned pop up in Bernal Heights. Everything was fresh and locally sourced with a modern Hawaii flair. Now ‘aina has their full time restaurant in the Dogpatch. Reservations are hard to come by but they do set aside tables for walk in. ‘Aina is locally owned and operated by Jordan Keo who is a chef from Hilo on the Big Island. He has worked at Michelin-starred French restaurant La Folie and temped palettes at Google cafes and Airb&b. At one one of their most recent pop-ups (and extremely rainy) at the El Rio my husband and I met Jordan’s wife, Cheryl Liew who was absolutely delightful. She is the CFO and co-owner of the restaurant. She made me love the message of the restaurant (living off of the land) even more! Looks like their menu at the Dogpatch location has boozy tropical drinks (along with their trademark guava malasadas) so I can not wait to check out in person.