My family took a trip to visit my oldest cousin living out in LA. It was definitely exciting traveling west with all 11 of us and our trip did not disappoint.

Welcome home! We rented the cutest freaking Air BnB ever, I mean really. This home was on the Marina Del Rey beach front and kept us close to Venice and Santa Monica. The recent addition of the Bird scooters made it even more fun traveling between the three.

People don’t usually think of LA as a great family spot but we definitely found a lot to do. The restaurants, sight seeing, and beaches make filling up 7 days too easy.

Urth Caffe review: overrated. This restaurant gets so much hype on social media and when I went to check it out I couldn’t understand why. It’s super overcrowded, you order at a counter and basically fight people for a table. The food is expensive and pretty much stuff you can make at home. If you really need that insta moment just grab a matcha tea and walk out sis.

Venice beach on the other hand offered way better dining experiences. I ordered this coconut on the beach front deck of the Venice Whaler and was truly living my best life. Look for fun local spots over the In-n-Out’s every time. (Unless you’re getting animal fries)

This was another great spot on Venice beach. Light, airy, and open to the boardwalk. Look for dive spots to pop in for a relaxed meal, they often offer the best menu.

Disneyland!! My family are straight up freaks for Disney. Our main spot is World but we had to make a day to drive up to Anaheim and visit the mouse. It’s so cool being at Disneyland because it is the original park and theres a lot of cool original rides. My favorite is the Storybook boat ride, its so lame and amazing. (Space Mountain is better at Magic Kingdom FYI)

My look for our Disney day was a spaghetti strap cotton dress, jean jacket for the evening, and white vans. Gotta stay comfortable for a day of walking y’all. Plus my fav Minnie Mouse hat, as seen below.

Unfortunately we were at the park 3 days before Pixar Pier opened so I can’t report on that, but the best feature of California Adventure is definitely Cars Land at night. It puts you right into the movie and its so freaking cute with all the lights. (Photo featuring my little sisters/best friends)

Each trip to LA I fall more in love. People hate this city for the smog and the pretentious people, which aren’t the highlights I’ll agree, but there is definitely something in the air in Lala Land … someone might start looking into a move…?

The Indiana State Fair is always a family affair. My dad, sister, stepmom, aunt, cousins, and grandparents all traveled to the fairgrounds this year to celebrate cheese, fried food, and people watching.

A fun hidden gem at the fair is the Drug Store. This little shop has been preserved from it’s original 1900’s apothecary to display what your local drug store would have looked a hundred-so years ago. They also feature fun candy and an original soda fountain, because everyone at the fair has a sweet tooth. Take a look next summer!

My must-see’s/must-do’s at the fair are always the sweet little baby piglets, a visit to the diary barn for a milkshake and grilled cheese, and in family tradition a ride on the weird haunted house thing next to the log ride. It’s like if the Haunted Mansion in Disney World was assembled in 10 minutes from the nearest Spirit Halloween store. Charming.

I will always have fond memories of the Indiana State Fair because I have always been walking in between my favorite people on earth. And sometimes when we’ve had enough of the walking we just sit and wave from the comfort of giant wooden benches being pulled along by tractors. Whatever works.

 

 

I went to the Bahamas with my mom after I got my heart broken for the first time. Girls gotta do what girls gotta do. I came home ready to continue taking over the world like the boss lady I am.

We stayed at the Baha Mar resort and it was so luxurious and relaxing, I felt like a queen. It was also early December so a pretty slow time for travel, making our resort empty.

Highly recommend for a head clearing, self treating, magic healing destination. And if you’re looking for more of a fun loving experience you can go swim with dolphins at Atlantis.

Spring of 2017 I journeyed on over to Italy for a family vacation. This was my first time to Europe and it was truly amazing. Being an adult and becoming accustomed to the American culture and way of living it is so eye opening to see the lives of those in other countries. 

The home we rented was in Cortona, a small town in Tuscany. The choice in renting a home through Air BnB and other outlets gives a much more authentic touch to your vacation. The home came with two bedrooms with connected bathrooms upstairs, a small kitchen, a dining room with a fireplace, and a small sitting room. It also included a balcony off the bedroom, a pool, and a covered terrace.

It was around 50 degrees throughout our trip so we never got the chance to hop in the pool but the view from the yard was breathtaking. Sitting by the pool overlooking the rolling hills of Tuscany was something out of a movie.

Each day we hopped in the rental car and journeyed to the beautiful surrounding cities. Our trip to Florence was like stepping back in time. The city is so rich with the history of architects and artists their touches are seen everywhere. The tight stone streets are now filled with retailers like Gucci, Prada, and Dior. Florence offers amazing shopping and food but the main focus for me was the history.

We visited the Duomo and a few different museums containing work from Michelangelo and Raphael. We also decided to take a horse drawn carriage ride, which is a neon sign that we were tourists, but it was really interesting to learn from the driver all the quirky things I never would have known about the city. I think its worth it to look like an idiot tourist to meet interesting people and learn new things!

We spent one evening running around Luca. This city is truly a maze. I found that out the hard way getting lost in the streets. Sometimes getting lost is the perfect way to discover things. We had to ask many people for directions and finally decided to just walk to the wall and follow it around the city until we were back to the entrance we came in.

That is one thing about Italy that was pretty cool to me. All of the cities we visited are built on high ground and enclosed by walls, this was once useful for protection from invaders. It was useful to me to find the way back to the car.

We did Pisa and Rome in one day. I would recommend visiting Pisa for the photo op but not much else. It was the most Americanized place in my opinion, offering Burger King and McDonalds. It was also a bit stressful because the city is flooded with pick pocketer and scam artists. It was a get in get out visit for us.

We then went into Rome for a guided tour of the Vatican. This was really amazing and I’m so glad we had this opportunity. There is massive amount of art throughout the entire building, marble statues, paintings, maps, and the architecture itself. To me the Raphael rooms and the Sistine Chapel were the most beautiful things about the entire building.

Its something we are so used to seeing on screens or posters but experiencing it in real life is completely different. The Sistine Chapel doesn’t allow talking or photographs and you are shoulder to shoulder the entire time. It was still such a powerful and beautiful thing to experience this would be my number one recommendation in Rome.

Finally we visited the Trevi Fountain. It is super hidden in the streets and just emerges from the surrounding buildings. This is also a spot I would highly recommend, the piaza is really tight but it makes it more of an authentic experience. The fountain itself is beautiful but it was also beautiful to throw in a coin with all the other visitors. The feeling of this space was really powerful.

Finally we visited Positano on the Amalfi Coast. This was the only hotel we stayed in our entire trip. I have never seen a view as incredible as this. The Amalfi Coast is truly like a fairytale. I really wish to come back to this place during the summer. The beaches were closed due to the temperature but the view from that blue water would be unparalleled.

You definitely have to work for this view though. The roads that lead to Positano are tight and winding and once you’re there basically everything is stairs. Trust me the hike is more than worth it.