Since today is hubby’s birthday, I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about one of his favorite places! MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN! Last year for his 30th, I asked him what he wanted to do and his pick was to go snowboarding in Mammoth. My hubby loves snowboarding and I am not the best at it (the last time I went was before I had knee surgery, so before 2015). We left early March 1 (Mammoth is about a 5 hour drive from where we are in Los Angeles) and drove straight, only stopping for gas/bathroom break.
Of course I had to take a pic of my outfit before we left the house! Outfit linked here
Once we got up the mountain, we stopped at a restaurant called The Stove. The food was good and I would definitely go back!
After eating, we stopped to pick up my rental board and then went to the hotel to check in. We stayed at the Westin Resorts – Mammoth Lakes. The hotel was in the perfect location because it was right across from the Village which is where the lifts are to go snowboarding/skiing.
Here are some pictures of our room! I wish we had been able to stay longer, the room was nice and had a fireplace! They also had a little kitchenette area.
After getting settled at the hotel, we decided to go walk around and check out the Village. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty cold and had started snowing at that point. This SoCal girl was not prepared for actual snow fall!
We had dinner at one of the restaurants there in the village. I honestly can’t remember the name, but the food was just ok and they were setting up for a live band (we aren’t huge fans of being right next to that). I would recommend looking for other places to eat, but this was convenient for us since we just walked across the street.
The Village lit up at night reminded me of Christmas time. It was so beautiful!
The following day, March 2 (hubby’s birthday) was snowboarding day! I took a lesson so that hubby could go and do all the hard runs he wanted to while I was in class and learning how to snowboard. I will say that the class was 110% worth it. By the time class was over, hubby was done with the big lifts and we did a couple “not so hard” runs so that I could keep practicing. Since we knew we had to drive home that same day, we didn’t want to stay too long and get tired. We snowboarded for a couple more hours and then called it a day. I wish we could have stayed one more day since I was doing really well.
This was my first time in Mammoth, but it’s one of my husband’s favorite places to snowboard. We can’t wait to come back (hopefully next winter) with our baby boy! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out! Please keep in mind that with Covid, I don’t know what the protocol is for dining or staying so that is something to keep in mind before going.
Good Morning!! For many Californians Vegas is a staple weekend trip. Planning a quick getaway? Go to Vegas. Turning a special age? Go to Vegas. Planning a Bachelor/Bachelorette trip? Go to Vegas. We were supposed to go to Las Vegas last March for hubby’s 30th Birthday but then COVID hit the US and we got a little nervous and ended up cancelling the trip. So I’ll fill you in on the details of our March 2019 trip when we took my brother to Vegas for his 21st Birthday.
Friday:
We took Southwest Airlines out of the Long Beach Airport (talk about an easy airport!) on a Friday morning. We grabbed some breakfast and a drink in the airport before getting on the plane.
We almost always stay at the MGM as hubby and I are both rewards members there. We like to stay in the Stay Well rooms (a little pricier but we feel that they are cleaner). We had to wait a while for my brother and his girlfriend to get in (they were flying in from Idaho) so hubby and I hit the pool for a while and grabbed lunch.
For dinner, we grabbed food from one of the hotel restaurants (TAP Sports Bar). They have classic American staples and it’s the perfect place to watch games on TV. According to the MGM website, it looks like they are currently only open Saturday & Sunday’s.
After eating, we went over to Top Golf where we had made a reservation for a bay. They have a lot of great options for booking and it’s fun for everyone! *They are currently open and taking reservations*
Saturday:
We rented a day bed (perfect for 4 people) on the edge of the lazy river pool. We spent the WHOLE day at the pool! (Cabanas/daybeds can be booked starting March 1, but be sure to read up on their Covid protocol when going to the pool)
We hit the Mexican restaurant (Hecho En Vegas Mexican Grill & Cantina) in the hotel for dinner and then decided that we were not going to join my brother and his girlfriend at the club. *Unfortunately, it looks like this restaurant is temporarily closed due to Covid regulations*
Hubby and I decided to go gamble a little bit and then enjoy the country bar, Losers Lounge (which is open!). Losers Lounge is a country themed bar (hubby and I love country music and have been to stagecoach multiple times).
My brother and his girlfriend went to Hakkasan Night Club located in the MGM and said they had a really fun time. *They are temporarily closed during Covid*
Sunday:
We all had an early flight out of Vegas on Sunday morning so we really didn’t do anything! We packed our bags and off to the airport we went.
Another fun thing to do if you’re up for it is the Wet Republic Ultra Pool Party. They are set to reopen for the 2021 season on March 5.
While there is sooo much to see and do in Vegas, I recommend only traveling if it is essential and done safely! Please be sure to check out the local Covid protocol to wherever you are traveling because it might be different than where you live. Stay safe and healthy everyone!
If you do plan on going to Vegas now or in the future make sure you save this post for your trip!
OMG, I can’t believe it either….it’s been a year since I was in London and I’m only just now writing up our itinerary and sharing everything we did! In all honesty, I had every intention of writing this a year ago and then wedding planning came at me hard #weddingproblems As the year progressed, I kept thinking about this post and the trip just kept getting farther away. So now here we are 1 year later and I think it’s very fitting to write about my trip now.
Let me start out with…we were there for Robert’s work. He had to attend a conference and I tagged along. We extended our stay and took a few days to go to Paris after Robert was done for the week (different post for a different day). The best part about going to London at this time of year is that it is decorated for Christmas already and it isn’t peak tourist season so it’s significantly less crowded! Also, brace yourself, this is a long post!
DAY 1:
HOTEL: We stayed at the H10 Waterloo Hotel. It was a super cute hotel; the rooms were a tad small, but the hotel had a rooftop bar and GREAT VIEWS!
Here is a little peak of what our room in London looked like!
EAT: Since we landed at such an awkward time (about 1pm), we only ate one meal the first day. We went to Wagamama, which is apparently a chain restaurant. The food was pretty good, I’d never had ramen before.
London Eye
There are little markets set up everywhere! This one was up for Christmas and had delicious hot toddy’s!
LONDON EYE: Before dinner, we went and got ticket for the London Eye. As a group, we choose to do the Champagne Experience (the price was only a little bit more than a regular ticket. This was so much fun and would probably be even better during the day! I would put this as a MUST DO!!
DAY 2:
BREAKFAST: Our hotel package included breakfast for everyday we stayed. Since Robert had to be in a conference for the first few days, I made friends with one of the wives (Nicole) who had also tagged along on the trip. We had breakfast together and then I tagged along with her for a couple of days. The breakfast selection at the hotel was large and had everything you could think of!
COVENT GARDEN: After breakfast we walked to Covent Garden. It’s like this super cute outdoor mall/open air market type of place. There are tons of high end brands (i.e. Gucci, Burberry, Louis Vuitton) as well as some London staple shops. I got this really cool thing from a street vendor; it was a my last name spelled with old stamps. Everything here was so beautiful and decorated for Christmas! The whole Covent Garden experience is really cool and is great for just walking around and window shopping! There are also plenty of places to eat in the area.
I can’t remember the name of this shop, but it was SO cool inside!
LIBERTY: Nicole really wanted to find this place called Liberty. Once we were done with Covent Garden, we went in search of Liberty, we got lost a few times, but stumbled upon a bunch of cool alleys (all the alleys are decorated for Christmas. We actually accidentally stumbled into Liberty without knowing! Liberty is like a higher end department store with 5 levels, they also have an area designated for fabrics and such that are specifically Liberty.
One of the alleys we walked through on our way to Liberty
LUNCH: Knowing that the men would be in their conference meetings until late, we went and got a late lunch at The Wolseley. The Wolseley is a well known cafe/restaurant in London. We had the chicken soup with dumplings and then shared a desert. I would recommend making a reservation and going for tea here. I wish that Robert and I had done a high tea one of the days we were in London.
ROOFTOP BAR: Before dinner we all went up to the rooftop bar for some pre-dinner drinks. Because of where the hotel is located, the views are amazing here!
Rooftop Bar views!
DINNER: We had dinner as a group with Robert’s company at La Barca (Italian restaurant). The food here was good and we all left pretty full! It was also within walking distance of our hotel which is a huge plus!
DAY 3:
BREAKFAST: We had breakfast at the hotel again and then set out for the day. Then we went shopping on Upper Street (Camden Passage). There are a lot of little back alley’s with shops everywhere! There are tons of cute places to get tea or coffee or just look around.
LA FAROLA: We stopped in at this little cafe for a mid afternoon coffee. The decor inside was very quaint and it was perfect for a quick bite to eat (we didn’t get any food, but they had a light food menu).
The inside of La Farola on Upper Street
SIGHTSEEING: While we sipped on some coffee, Nicole and I searched for something else to do for the rest of the day. We decided to go find the famous Graffiti Tunnel. It is a little hard to find, but once we found it, we were really glad we did! It is called the Leake Street Graffiti Tunnel (here’s an article about the tunnel). I would highly recommend going during the day, as I’m not 100% sure how safe it is at night.
DINNER: We met up with the guys for dinner later and went to Roka (it’s a sushi restaurant). I wasn’t sure how I would feel about sushi in London (I’m super picky when it comes to seafood and sushi), but it was suprisingly very delicious and if you sit at the bar, you can see them making everything right in front of you!
DRINKS: After dinner, we walked down the street and got drinks at The Charlotte Street Hotel. The hotel is beautiful, I don’t know about the rooms, but the bar is amazing as is the lobby!
DAY 4-5: We went to Paris. I will post about this at a later date, so stay tuned!
DAY 6:
We woke up in Paris and got ready to head back to London. Knowing we only had one more full day in London, we took the earliest train back. Once we arrived in London, we checked into our new hotel, Hilton London Tower Bridge which was on the other side of London. They allowed us to check in early and were very pleasant to work with.
SIGHTSEEING: We did a TON of walking around. Our hotel was right near the water, so we walked along and found the London Bridge. While there, we decided to do the tour which was so cool because you get to walk across the bridge and there is a portion that is glass to look down below.
Here we are standing on the glass on the bridge
After completing the tour, we decided to walk around a bit more and walked past the Tower of London, but did not go in or take the tour. We thought that we would be able to walk to Buckingham Palace from there, but it started raining on us and was A LOT farther than we anticipated (we took a cab the rest of the way there).
Buckingham Palace
The walls protecting the Palace
BUCKINGHAM PALACE: Ok, the palace is awesome from the outside, we stood and watched the guards for a while and then decided to walk towards Big Ben (unfortunately it was under construction, so we didn’t get a great picture) but it was right before the sun set for the day so the pictures we did get were AMAZING! and we even got a peek at Westminster Abbey.
Westminster Abbey
DINNER: For dinner, we met up with one of Robert’s coworkers and her boyfriend that were still in London for the conference. We went to The Anchor which was walking distance from our hotel. I got the fish and chips which were pretty good. It definitely had a pub feel to it and people were there to have a good time!
DAY 7:
We packed up our belongings and got a few souvenirs to bring back home and headed to the airport for our long flight home.
All in all, London was an AMAZING experience and somewhere I would highly recommend going. Robert and I know for sure that we will be back in the future. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!
Not Another LA Blonde 