Portland, Oregon: Review of The Nines Hotel

The Nines hotel is part of the Luxury Collection of hotels, which are part of the Starwood hotel chain. It is one of the highest rated hotels in Portland and by far the fanciest I have seen in town! As I have stayed here for a near weekly basis over a long stretch of time, I have much to say about how great this hotel is and how much of a second home it has turned into for me.

Portland, Oregon: Gluten Free Guide to Portland

For those who are on a gluten free diet, Portland can be an easygoing place to visit while adhering to eating restrictions. There are many places to eat that have gluten free options or have dishes altered to be gluten free.

Want to know how to stay gluten free (and not sick!) while in Portland?

Portland, Oregon: Review of the Westin Portland

After over a year of weekly travel to Portland, I’ve had a good share of staying in hotels night after night. It’s definitely a nice perk to business travel when you overlook the long hours of work. That being said, it’s about time for a review of one hotel on my favorites list in Portland. The Westin!

Cannon Beach, Oregon: Oregon’s Wonderful Beaches

I’ve been told that Oregon has some wonderful beaches. As a proud Californian, I set the bar on beaches to be quite high. The warmer weather and sunny year-round conditions sometimes make it hard to compare. Of course it’s always worth checking out a beach no matter which state it’s in.

Astoria, Oregon: Exploring Downtown Astoria

Astoria, Oregon is a small port down that I had stopped by on my mini-road trip in Oregon. The town is on the smaller side but does have a down town area along with some sights along the port.

Cute Neighborhoods to Explore in the Silicon Valley

Living in the Silicon Valley can be quite different from San Francisco. The south bay population is more spread out and is home to some of the larger tech companies such as Google, Apple, and Facebook. As it is more spread it out and more family-oriented, the abundance of clubs, bars, and nightlife is far from what exists in San Francisco. However don’t let the quietness of the south bay stop you from exploring it!

Guide to Portland, Oregon

After having stayed in Portland for nearly a year, I guess it’s about time I write up a Portland travel series! I’ve had an interesting relationship with Portland as it is a place where I’ve lived the past year and beyond but also a place where I feel sometimes distant from the local life as work hours have extended long into the night. However in between my free time I have dabbled with checking out some awesome places and highly recommend visiting the town. There’s honestly a lot to offer here in its own special, Portland way.

Carlton, Oregon: Wine Tasting in Soter Vineyards

Despite living in Portland, Oregon for a year, my knowledge of the area is still unfortunately limited. The extent of my knowledge stops at the locations of the bars in downtown. I work late hours most days so it's hard to find time to visit a museum or see things that close at a regular time. However, Ben and I stayed for a weekend in Portland and went out to explore the vineyards.

Anaheim, California: Anaheim Packing District

Recently I went back to Los Angeles with my brother and decided to explore newer areas. I wanted to see something different, something beyond the itinerary of a typical tourist and found myself enjoying a day out in Anaheim. As a young child, the only time I ever visited Anaheim was to go to Disneyland and walk along downtown Disney. This time I went to check out the Anaheim Packing District, a small neighborhood of bars and restaurants.

Gilroy, California: Gilroy Garlic Festival

Over the weekend Ben mentioned that there was a garlic festival in Gilroy, California so we decided to drive down to check it out. Surprisingly there were a lot of people attending and the festival was huge! There was garlic everywhere and we definitely got our fair share of garlic.

Livermore, California: Peach Picking

On my girls weekend with Charlotte we visited the Smith Family Farm for peach picking. That's right! We wandered into a giant peach forest and brought back about 14 pounds of peaches. We spent about an hour or so picking sun crest and white peaches off the trees and eating a handful of them.

Livermore, California: Wine Tasting at Steven Kent Winery

Last weekend Charlotte and I decided to embark on a fun-filled day with wine tasting at Livermore as part of our girls weekend. By far this was the best wine tasting experience I've had. We decided to try the Steven Kent winery in Livermore, California since it was highly rated in the area.

Lake Lopez: 4th of July Celebrations

I spent the 4th of July this year void of technology. Ben and I went camping with friends for the weekend and indulged ourselves in the simpler times of enjoying nature, sleeping in tents, relaxing on pontoon boats, building camp fires, and riding bikes. It was one of the most relaxing times I've had in awhile with being unplugged from electronics.

Denver, Colorado: Cotopaxi 2015

I spent a weekend in Denver, Colorado to compete in the Cotopaxi Questival. It is essentially a 24 hour, city-wide scavenger hunt where teams ranging from 2 to 6 compete and complete tasks to get as many points as possible. The winners of each competition continue on to compete in the Questival World Championship in Belize (that's one way to win a free trip) while second and third place get money for Cotopaxi gear. The winner of the second round in Belize wins a free trip around the world.

Boulder, Colorado: Exploring Boulder

In front of the Dushanbe Tea House

I trekked out to Colorado for the first time and stayed with some friends over the weekend. As it was my first time in the state, my friends gave me a tour of downtown Boulder with a bar and restaurant crawl. We toured the following bars for drinks and appetizers on a sunny Sunday afternoon and it was just perfect for finishing off the weekend.

Santa Cruz, California: Wine Tasting in the Santa Cruz Mountains

As spring is rolling in and the weather became warmer, I finally had the chance to go wine tasting with some friends over the weekend in the south bay. We headed to several wineries in the Santa Cruz mountains- Loma Prieta, MJA vineyards, and Byington.

Scottsdale, Arizona: Fun Times at the Westin Kierland Resort

Last weekend was another fun-filled travel week as I headed off to Scottsdale, Arizona for a surprise birthday weekend! We ended up staying at the Westin Kierland villas and had a great time there that I thought I'd write another hotel review.

Maui, Hawaii: Review of the Westin Resort & Spa in Ka'anapali

Staying at the Westin in Ka'anapali was definitely a great choice for my stay in Maui. I loved it so much that I wanted to write a review on it to share with you guys and for those who are interested in staying here in the future.

Maui, Hawaii: The Road to Hana

While in Maui, Ben and I decided to trek the Road to Hana in our rental car. We rented a Ford Mustang convertible so we could enjoy the fresh air while zipping through the highways of the island. Little did we know the Road to Hana would be one crazy ride!

Maui, Hawaii: The Lavender Farm

After pulling in longer hours at work on a weekly basis (part of the reason why I haven't updated this blog, sorry!), Ben and I decided that we needed to just get away from work. And of course, what could be more relaxing than a weekend trip to Maui! While there, one of the first places we stopped by was the Ali'i Kula Lavender Farm.