NYC pt 1

A few weeks ago I went to New York City for the first time ever and it was the most fun thing. If you haven't been, you have to go! It seems like I've been back for a million years and I can't believe I'm just now writing about my magical trip, but here we go. This is part one (the part where I was there alone) and there will probably be like 10 more parts because I did SO MANY THINGS in my short amount of time there, and also I never want to forget any of it.

I flew non-stop from Seattle to Newark on a Thursday morning and arrived in NYC around 4pm. I took the New Jersey Transit (on a tip from Alli, thanks Alli) to Penn Station in NYC and walked (through a crazy loud/bright thunder and lightening storm) the few blocks from Penn Station to The Ace Hotel where we were staying. I checked in and then immediately grabbed a mini bottle of pink champagne from the mini-bar to celebrate my arrival!

 ^^Classy, fresh off the plane, drinking room service champs selfie, because NYC!^^

 ^^Cute AF room at the Ace Hotel^^

^^The view from our room wasn't particularly exciting but it definitely wasn't NOT exciting to this small town girl. I spent a lot of time looking out this window because the AC was right next to the window and it was hot as balls there, but I'll complain a lot about that later^^

Moments after I booked my flight to NYC I also booked a haircut with Raegan who I've been internet friends with for a million years but had never met in real life. It was my first internet friend meeting (you're next, Emma) and it was so, so magical. Also, Raegan is like, really good at doing hair. My hair has never looked so good. For real. I can't say enough good things about her. But! Back to the story, after my minibar champagne, a quick shower and change (because it was SO hot and humid out and I was disgusting after flying and then commuting into the city), I headed downstairs to the Ace Hotel Lobby Bar to kill a few minutes before I had to head to the West Village. I grabbed a drink and took some solo-photo-booth-pics, as one does when you're at an Ace and when you're in NYC (duh!)!

^^Omg I'm in NYC! And I'm a huge dork!^^

The bellhop at the hotel gave me directions on how to take the subway to the West Village and then walk the rest of the way to my hair appointment. So I took the subway for the first time and the platform was like a fucking sauna but the train was so ACd out ANDDD there were SO MANY HANDSOME MEN on the subway. I couldn't deal, or stop staring. You can't take me anywhere! Yikes haha.

Raegan works at Whittemore House Salon which is the cutest, and also everyone who works there is so, super nice. I profusely apologized to the cute girl who had to wash my dirty, sweaty hair and then she ended up giving me a ton of great recommendations for places to eat in the city, so I think she wasn't too disgusted by me. Ha! Also the men who checked me in and took our photo were so sweet. I want to be friends with all of them, like a creep!

But seriously, Reagan did the most amazing job with my hair. Did I mention it's never looked so good? I'm not joking, at all. And then my blowout was basically ruined within hours because of the intense humidity but there are pictures to prove that once upon a time I had magical princess hair so I'll cling to those forever!

^^Reagan and I! Also, please note her beautiful nails!!^^ 

 ^^Zero selfie shame, because c'mon!^^

^^Okay last one!^^

After my haircut I walked a few blocks to Fish (thanks for the recommendation, Matt!) to meet my friend Mark who was in town from Hood River. He does a house swap with a family who lives in Chelsea every year and was in NYC for two weeks, which was excellent news for me!! We got the Red, White + Blue at Fish which is 6 raw oysters and either a PBR (for me) or a white wine (for Mark) for $9.99! We also split an order of fries while we soaked up their ice cold air conditioning!

^^Mark and I^^

After dinner Mark and I walked around the Meatpacking District and eventually settled on a bar with a patio (despite the fact that it was still a million degrees at 10:30pm) for a martini. While we were sitting out there we saw a mouse running around on the patio! WHAT!? When we finished our drink we went for one more at this fancy resataurant/bar and when we walked outside to catch an uber home afterward, it was POURING down rain. Mark stole us two umbrellas that were left in the umbrella basket by the door, rationalizing it because we were the last two people to leave the bar (also apparently this is a v normal thing to do in NYC) and we split an uber back to our respective spots. When I got back to the hotel I was STARVING because I hadn't eaten anything in hours except 6 oysters and some fries, so I went down to the lobby bar where there was a DJ spinning music and tried to order a grilled cheese sandwich. While I was sitting at the bar, drunkenly minding my own business while waiting for my sandwich, this man next to me, who is way drunker than me, starts telling me (unprompted) that I look good, and I'm bringing it, but only 50% at best. WHAT? I ignore him and start texting about him and he turns to his friend and says "she should be trying harder, I wouldn't bang her" AND HIS FRIEND IS AGREEING! LOL. I was literally laughing out loud. It was the weirdest, rudest thing ever. Little did they know, my hair has literally never looked that good and I was looking better than usual that night? Lolollll. They would hate to see me on a normal day ;)

The next day I woke up, grabbed an iced Americano from the Stumptown Coffee located inside the hotel (insert praise hand emoji here) and took myself to The Butcher's Daughter for breakfast. I got an order of their avocado toast (which was huge), a fresh juice called The Hangover Killer (coconut, yuzu, pineapple, chili and cilantro) and a mimosa with some bee polen and other fancy, delicious things in it #vacation #breakfastdrank.

^^The Butcher's Daughter, isn't it cute?^^

^^Yeah I took a pic of my avocado toast, so sue me!^^

After breakfast I walked through Chinatown and Little Italy and tried not to melt, which was hard, I melted a little. I eventually made my way to the Subway and made a quick stop in the West Village for Big Gay Ice Cream to cool me down on my way back to the hotel. I got a salty pimp which was a sugar cone filled with vanilla soft serve and spotted with a bunch of dulce de leche, and also sea salt. It was then dipped in a hard chocolate shell. Holy yum sauce!

 ^^Little Italy and the Empire State Building^^

^^My Salty Pimp at Big Gay Ice Cream^^

I took my ice cream to go and headed back to the hotel because Faith was getting off work (at Calvin Klein because she is fancy as fuck)!! and was going to meet me, and Gaby had finally landed and was on her way to the hotel too! Shit was about to get crazy... :)

Las Vegas & Red Rock Canyon 2016

When Gaby asked me a few weeks back if I wanted to go to Las Vegas for the weekend to escape real life and hike red rock canyon and have a generally non-Vegas-y Vegas trip I impulsively said yes and booked the trip. I flew out Friday after work and when I landed in Las Vegas it was still hot as balls. I searched the airport for Gaby, we eventually realized that we were in different terminals, and then when I tried to take the shuttle someone left their purse onboard so police had to be called, everyone had to "step back from the shuttle!!!" and eventually we just decided to catch our own Ubers and meet at the hotel. After checking in and finally finding our room (the MGM is hugeeee) we headed out for a bite to eat. We went to Shake Shack (my first time). By the time we got our food I was so hungry and tired that I only ended up finishing half my beer which might be one of the most shameful things I've ever done. It was my first night in Vegas and it was before midnight. Epic Rebeka Fail. After dinner and after stocking up on SPF80 sun screen for my ginger skin, we called it an early night because we had to get up early for a magical day on Saturday!

^^Vegas night one with my giant beer that I didn't finish/first time at Shake Shack! Also, v obvious screen shot of Gaby's snap b/c I am a narcissist^^

On Saturday morning we woke up early, got a rental car with Oregon plates (!!!) from inside the hotel (so convenient!) and drove out to Red Rock canyon, with a quick stop for iced coffees and breakfast sandwiches along the way.

^^First stop: visitor center^^

Red Rock Canyon is seriously magical. The landscape is so stunning and it's really fun to explore there. You pay $7 to get into the park and there is a 13 mile loop you can drive around and stop at various points to hike the rocks. We stopped three times and ended up hiking around, exploring and climbing up rocks.

^^Here comes a bunch of red rock canyon shots. Are you ready?^^ 

^^Can you spot Gaby and I down there on the rock? Thanks stranger for taking our picture candidly then texting me later!^^ 

Unlike hikes in the PNW, these weren't necessarily long hikes, but instead we would go short distances and explore around and climb up on huge rocks and it was really fun and gorgeous!

 ^^A Gaby sized hole^^

^^Gaby and I^^ 

^^Dancer's pose in the desert^^ 

^^obsessed with the cacti^^ 

^^Stopped at one last viewpoint after all of our hiking^^ 

^^On a giant rock^^ 

^^We did it!^^

On stop two of our hiking tour, we found a hole. It was so magical. It was cool in the hole and the hole had a great lookout and we decided if the world ended we'd like to hide in the hole. It was one of our favorite parts of the trip, being in the hole, rehydrating, hiding from the heat and laughing. I can't explain its magic, but it was real.

 ^^The hole^^

^^Gaby in the hole^^

When we left Red Rock Canyon Gaby told me she had a surprise for me! It was very exciting! She remembered that ice cream sandwiches are one of my favorite things and she took me to this shop where you can choose your cookie flavor(s) and your ice cream flavor and your topping flavor and make your own ice cream sandwich. It was super clever and I loved it - it was sooo delicious. I want to go there always. Thank you Gaby for the awesome surprise! You're the best!!!

^^Can't contain my excitement^^

^^Two double chocolate cookies with peanut butter ice cream and rainbow sprinkles for the win^^

After eating our ice cream and popping into Lululemon we drove a little further to grab some sushi off the strip. The sushi place we wanted to go to was closed for a private event, so we went to another place nearby with good Yelp! reviews called Sushi Fever. It was super tasty and when we sat down and I realized that we'd been in Vegas for a million hours and I'd only had 1/2 a beer, I ordered some Sake with lunch, which is a huge DUH. It was a great decision, I was feeling pretty good after hiking, ice cream, sushi and then some Sake!! Fat kid status!

After sushi we headed back to the hotel to return the rental car, hit the pool for a little bit and then took a nap. Eventually we made our way across the street to Diablo's Cantina (where Gaby knew the bartenders) to eat some Mexican food, share a 48oz margarita, make up fake life stories for the restaurant staff and then call it an early night, part two. This quickly became a theme for us. We were totally good with early bedtimes and plenty of sleep (minus being woken up by drunk girls screaming at their friend Marsha who apparently wouldn't let them into their room. I hate those girls. Where are you, Marsha?!).

 ^^Can't go wrong with margarita and guacamole^^

A majority of the day on Sunday was spent at the pool. It was so nice and relaxing. We paid for fancy, cushioned chairs in the adult only pool (not the party pool, the Revive pool) and ordered drinks and laid in the sun and then under an umbrella and aggressively reapplied sunscreen and got in the water and it was so great. After the pool we went to In-N-Out Burger where we both had burgers and I got animal fries and it was OMGSOGOOD. Gotta keep on top of those bikini bods with a strict diet of delicious fried shit!

 ^^Beer by the pool = living the dream^^

^^Gaby killing it at poolside chillin'^^

We then headed over to another part of the strip, stopped to see the Flamingos at the Flamingo, drank dranks, discussed whether or not this old guy named Gary was gay or just a complete psycho, then took a shuttle to the Flamingo for some Roulette where we won a hundred and some odd dollars. Yes!

After gambling we headed back to the hotel to change into dresses before heading out to dinner at this great place off the strip called Carson Kitchen which was intimate, had lots of gorgeous wood, a magical server named Dakota and there was a deck upstairs that looked like it would be low key fun to grab a drink on during a warm, Las Vegas evening.

^^Gin martini and gin cocktail for me and Gaby, respectively^^

After dinner we took a quick walk up Freemont street before deciding we were exhausted and just wanted to go to bed, so we got in an Uber with a man who told us about how he used to sleep on the sidewalk. He has a bed now. We called it another early night because why end the loser streak on our last night, am I right? The next morning I had an earlier flight than Gaby so I woke up and headed to the airport where I grabbed Coffee Bean (fav) and then flew home (less fav). Gaby had another pool day before catching her delayed (boo) flight that evening.

Best not-too-Vegasy Vegas trip ever! I can't wait until my next vacay with Gaby!!  Cheers!

San Diego Trip 2016

This past week I took Fri-yay! off work and hopped on a plane to San Diego for the weekend. I've been desperately needing some sunshine and Gaby was down there for a work conference and wanted to stay a few extra days, so win-win! I was even able to get on an earlier flight (thanks Alaska! and was able to enjoy 5 extra hours of sunshine on Friday!). Upon arriving I dropped my bags in our room and then headed straight down to the pool to drink a margarita in a lounge chair (while waiting for Gaby to be done with work). It was the most magical.

^^Just off the plane, SO EXCITED IT'S SUNNY OUT (and borderline too warm for the flannel I'm sporting)!^^

^^First stop: margarita by the pool (still in flannel, no time to change, must get into sunshine)^^

^^Drink with Gaby before dinner^^

When Gaby was done with the trade show we headed out for a drink with a few of her coworkers, and then followed that up with some Mexican food at Don Chido (at my insistence -- you can't go to Southern California and not eat Mexican food, am I right?). We ended dinner with a round of Patron shots (you're welcome 50something year old male coworkers!) and then most of her coworkers headed to the airport. Three of us who were left met another coworker at Bang Bang for a bowl of alcohol and two trips to the Ryan Gosling themed bathroom for Gaby and I (which was very silly and ridiculous but also maybe one of my favorite parts of the trip)!!!

^^THE bathroom, in all of its glory^^

^^We took ALL the pictures^^

 

^^No shame^^ 

^^IDK why my face is so serious, but this made me LOL^^

After Bang Bang we bar hopped around the Gaslamp Quarter. We went to the Altitude Bar (on a misunderstood tip from a friend, but the view was awesome anyway) and at one point asked an Uber Driver to take us to his favorite bar in the area. We slept until like 10:30am the next day. Killing it.

Saturday, after transferring hotels and grabbing some iced coffee, we headed to the beach! It was so warm and sunny and generally magical outside. We grabbed a beer (for me) and a Bloody Mary (for Gaby) and shared some nachos for lunch. We purchased ridiculous Spring Break tank tops which were on sale, Gaby stepped on and got stung by a bee on the beach, and we found her some new flip flops since hers were killing her (not a good day for her feet, but a good day overall because it was SO NICE OUT, IN FEBRUARY!). We walked along the boardwalk for a long time and ultimately grabbed one more beer at a beachfront bar before heading back to the hotel to switch to a clean room (switch = get upgraded to a suite complete with a complementary bottle of delicious wine b/c of some pube looking hairs and general dirt (ew), score! Seriously though, the service at and the location of the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter Hotel was amazing, we would totally stay there again.

^^Mission Beach boardwalk area^^

 ^^The beach, SO GOOD^^

^^Gaby on the beach, pre bee sting^^

^^Beach bar beer. When in Rome!^^

After relaxing in our room for a few minutes and discovering there was no hot tub at our hotel (only a pool) we started to get hungry and so we ventured across the street to Fleming's for some Sweet Chili Calamari, which as Gaby explained beforehand, was amazing. We then made our way to a nearby Sushi place for a light dinner. Later that night we went to the Whiskey House and then got some hummus at a Greek place, then we somehow were persuaded via text message to go to this V TERRIBLE club by Gaby's coworker. Guys, it was the worst. We walk up and there is this crazy long line, we go to the VIP guy and tell him our friend has a table and he's like I can't find his name, who is he with? And we're like, we don't know. He lives here, we don't, also it's really NBD b/c this place sounds REALLY loud and terrible and we're wearing jeans and flip flops so like, we'll definitely go elsewhere b/c not our scene and we don't want to try and persuade you to let us in, like, at all. And the bouncer was like, ummm well you can just go in through this VIP door, it's whatever. So we walk into this packed, terrible, dark, crowded night club playing house music and the DJ kept shouting "I'M A GRAMMY AWARD WINNING ARTIST" #no. We found Gaby's coworker, had part of one drink, and got the fuck out of that disaster in favor of bed.

^^Gaby blissing out in our suite's bedroom^^

^^READY TO GOOOOO^^

Sunday we rented a car and drove to LA to eat Thai Food at Gaby's most favorite Thai place in Hollywood and fly out of LAX. First though, we ate In-N-Out Burger for late breakfast in San Diego (Cheeseburger, Animal Fries & Iced Tea for me!) and we got Coffee Bean (I loveeee Coffee Beannnnn) along the way. We also listened to a lot of Tove Lo on our very sunny drive, so I was pretty content, albeit tired on Sunday. We also stopped by The Grove after Thai Food, which was so fancy, before returning our rental car and barely making it out of town that evening.

 ^^The only burger I'll eat. Period. It was OMGSOGOODICANTEVEN^^

^^Thai Food FTW^^

^^All up in LA^^

I'm convinced after Disneyland last February and San Diego this February, I need to go to SoCal every February in order to survive rainy Seattle winters. I'm already plotting my trip back to San Diego next year! I feel like I have so much left to explore still!

Alsooooooo here are some things about San Diego I did/liked/still want to do/want to tell you about/whatever: (1) all the people there are SO beautiful; (2) they're also all the nicest ever (what do you have to be mad about when it's sunny and beautiful all the time, right? Right. They get it.); (3) I still need to eat Carne Asada Fries(!!); (4) the manager of the Hilton gave us his card and told us if we ever want to come back he'll hook it up; (5) Ryan Gosling Bathroom!!!; (6) palm trees; (7) WARM SUNSHINE IN FEBRUARY?!?! You guys, c'mon. The best!; (8) if you have nasty back hair take care of it or you'll never have a shot w/ Gaby and we'll definitely make fun of you ALL WEEKEND AND FOREVER; and (9) I loveeeee Girls' Trips with Gaby so much. #takemeback

Beth's Birthday Gurlcation

Last Friday, after the longest week in the history of weeks, I drove to Portland after work to meet Beth and Marissa for Beth's 25th Birthday celebration. After lots of planning we decided the celebration should take place at The Nines. So, we booked a beautiful room, with one king bed (yes, just one, please & thanks), ate the best meal of our lives complete with surprise champagne at the  hotel's rooftop restaurant, and took some time to enjoy the view of downtown slash take some a ton photos all over the place.

After that was all said and done it was only about 10:30pm so we decided to walk around to find another drink. And another drink we did find. We found one at this club. Like, people grinding, rap music playing kind of club. Then, after a few minutes when we decided maybe that wasn't the place for us, so we wandered until we found the most magical bar of our lives. PURE MAGIC! It was full of super nice hipster-types (and here I thought I didn't like the hipsters) singing and dancing to the top 40 songs we all jammed out to in high school and college. Score. It was the most non-threatening, fun, dance-on-the-tables (truth), drink a tallboy of PBR, kind of dance party. The three of us left sweaty at 2am. And then got Voodoo Doughnuts. And then walked back to our hotel holding hands.

Gurlcations with B+M are my favorite thing. I could not have asked for a better night (well, maybe minus rude, end of the, guy-friend texts, rawr #guysruineverything).

So, obviously, here are (just) a few (crappy quality, iPhone) pictures of the fun:

Selfie in the Hotel before Dinner #obvz

 

Waiting for the elevator:

Beth and Marissa with their champagne:

 Beth and I at dinner:

Our second favorite place in the hotel (our most amazing comfortable bed was our first):

 

 

Beth and Marissa on the roof (aren't they pretty?!)

The three of us on the roof, after dinner, before everything else, phot cred to some random man who wanted to be our friend: