A Week in Australia Part II: Melbourne

After spending a few days in Sydney, the second part of my Australian adventure began in Melbourne. My main purpose for my trip was for my cousin's wedding. So the majority of the time spent in Melbourne was focused around that. Unfortunately, I only had one day where I had the opportunity to check out some local architecture, take a few photos and spend time enjoying such a beautiful city. 

I found it fascinating how completely different Sydney and Melbourne are to one another. The architecture is more contemporary and expressive, reminiscent of the dramatic gestures that form the skylines of architecturally experimental Berlin. 

The wedding was beyond beautiful. A traditional Greek Orthodox ceremony in the afternoon and a tastefully orchestrated reception in the evening. The wedding was every girl's fantasy. My cousin looked like a princess and she even left the reception on a speedboat while sipping on a champagne! Thank you so much Stephanie and Nick for sharing your special day with me. 

Unfortunately I had to leave Melbourne the day after the wedding to make it back in time to Sydney to catch my flight back home. All in all, I had an amazing time in Australia and can't wait to come back soon! 

A Week in Australia Part I: Sydney

I am so fortunate to have so many friends and family all over the world. Not only do I have amazing people to stay with, but incredible tour guides as well. There is no doubt that knowing somebody in a foreign country can make your experience infinitely better and more authentic. Having an insider's guide to the best restaurants and beaches made my trip to Australia amazing. My cousin was getting married in Melbourne and I of course wanted to be part of her special day. Over the course of my trip, I spent six days in Sydney and three days in Melbourne. For today's post, I bring you a few of the photos  taken whilst in Sydney.

First things first, there are too many beautiful beaches in Sydney to count. There were man-made pools on the edge of the beach that would fill with the sea water (see below). Do note that I was there at the end of winter and the weather was still this beautiful.

One of the more famous beaches, Bondi Beach was surely something to see. I was so jealous of my friend who grew up coming here to surf and lay in the sun every day after school during highschool! We also had an amazing salad for lunch. It was made with slow-cooked lamb, yogurt, white kidney beans, pomegranate seeds, roasted carrots, fennel, mint & feta, absolutely divine and something I need to try to recreate!

One of my favorite spots was a little park in Dover Heights that was at the edge of the world. Not only were there plenty of adorable dogs running around, but this is one of the moments when I felt the shear distance between Australia and North America while looking out at the vastness of the Pacific Ocean (cheesy, but true). 

I had such an amazing time with my family friends. The only way this trip could have been any more perfect would have been if Nate and my parents were there to share it with me.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and stay tuned for Part II: Melbourne coming soon!

Love,
Claire 

Restaurant Review: Tilth

A quick trip to Seattle for a friend's med school graduation resulted in a visit to Tilth. We were there early, and had the restaurant to ourselves, thus as would be expected, the service was impeccable. More importantly however, the food was delicious. Both Nate and I ordered what was their take on Biscuits & Gravy. Two large cheddar biscuits with two fried eggs sitting on top and smothered in sausage gravy. A surprisingly filling but exceptionally tasty, rich, and decadent dish. We both cleaned our plates, a feat to say the least. 

I also got the chance to taste the waffle, which was perfectly crunchy and sweet. Overall, I would definitely recommend this restaurant and will certainly be visiting it next time I'm in Seattle. I absolutely adore brunch and all the food and cocktails that go along with it! 

Hope you enjoyed and the photos made your mouth water!

Love, 

Claire

Restaurant: Sausalito Burger

It's always refreshing to be completely satisfied with a restaurant after hearing rave reviews. Many times I find myself underwhelmed because just like beauty products, restaurants can be over-hyped. My recent experience at Sausalito Burger was everything it's cracked up to be. More of an eatery rather than a restaurant, a menu of 5 items, as simple as everything was, as delicious was the hamburger I shared with Miranda. 

The establishment is right on the water in Sausalito. Prime location, barely any square footage. There are maybe 4 or 5 seats inside, a gigantic rotating grill, and on the weekends, a line out the door. Fortunately for us, we had the opportunity to explore Sausalito in the middle of the week, thus giving us an open window to finally try this world class burger joint,

The burger was juicy and cooked to perfection, which for us was medium; another plus, each burger/chicken sandwich is made to order. Unfortunately I cannot speak on the chicken sandwiches, as the burger took all my attention, but I'm sure it's worth a try. The rest of the condiments were fresh and perfect counterparts to the red meat. 

We ordered our food and grabbed it to go on our way to Muir Woods, possibly making the juicy burger that much better. If you are ever in the Bay Area and are doing the tourist thing, definitely stop into Sausalito Burger, even with the hour-long weekend line, it's worth it. 

Hope you enjoyed! 

Love, 

Claire

A Weekend In The Bay

After a 12 hour drive from Portland to San Francisco, Nate, his sister and I began our 5-day vacation in the city. The trip consisted of family-time, duck-time, and eating-time. I thought I would share a few pictures from the trip. We went hiking, gorged ourselves and played the tourist. 

After heading to the South Bay for the Oregon Ducks basketball game (they made it to some round of March Madness), we came back up to the city to play. The Golden Gate Bridge and Muir Woods were the stars of the trip. Stay tuned for upcoming reviews on the restaurants we tried during our stay, some old favorites and a brand new one.

There may have been a few overcast days, but overall the weather was fantastic, the food was delicious, and the company was exceptional. I love coming back home to the Bay, sometimes I forget why I left!

Hope you enjoyed!

Love,
Claire

Weekend in Montana: Big Sky

The day after my birthday four of us piled into the Subaru and made our way to Big Sky, Montana to see friends and play in the snow. The 12 hour drive included Dicks Hamburgers, hours of Eddy Vedder, and a couple speeding tickets that didn't slow us down. We immediately passed out after the long drive and only 4 hours later we were hitting the slopes. For a beginner skier like myself, and the advanced skiers that I was with, Big Sky was both an exciting and beautiful experience. I thought I would share a few pictures from our weekend adventure.

Dicks Hamburgers in Spokane, Washington

Class acts eating by the car

Don't think I would eat this again by choice

Big Sky Montana

Blue Bird

Artsy Fartsy Snowboards & Skis

My Boo

The Boys

I improved my skiing ability, spent time with old friends, and ate and drank a plenty; a successful weekend in my opinion.

I know there were lots of pictures but I hope you guys still enjoyed!

Love, 

Claire

Adventures in Costa Rica & Panama

After two weeks in Costa Rica and Panama it was good to comeback home to my bed and beauty products. We had an amazing time on our trip but after staying in hostels and backpacking for two weeks plus an extreme version of food poisoning, it was nice to come back home. Our trip started off in San Jose, Costa Rica. We headed out to the famed Arenal Volcano, rafted the Rio Balsa, and zip lined in Monteverde. However, it was in Monteverde that our plans changed entirely. We changed our itinerary and ended up adding Panama to the list, turning out the be the best decision we made. Here are a few pictures and you can see how beautiful the water was in Panama. 

Nate at our watering hole in Peurto Viejo, Costa Rica

Delicious fish curry in Peurto Viejo, Costa Rica

The border crossing to Panama

We finally made it to Bocas del Toro!

More beers back in Costa Rica.

Please note that I did not take my fancy-pants camera to Costa Rica as we were backpacking and staying in hostels. I also never brought my camera to the beach (a sad story of sand getting into my camera lens in high school has made me fearful), so these are only a few pictures (Nate took most of the pics). 

However, I hope you guys still enjoyed!

Love, 

Claire

Weekend in Mexico: A Wedding in Riviera Maya

4 days in Riviera Maya, just outside of Cancun, was the perfect weekend getaway. A few weeks ago Nate and I stepped in when my parents couldn't attend to a family-friend's wedding. The weekend was full of food, friends, festivities, and many very water-downed drinks. The ocean side resort was beautiful, the water was warm and the sun was shining all weekend. It was very hard to return to Oregon after such an amazing vacation. I thought I would share with you a few photos from our trip.

Our first breakfast at the resort was delicious! I love warmer climates because they have so many fresh and delicious fruits that just aren't the same back home.

The water was crystal clear and aqua blue. Everyday was spending lounging around the beach and playing in the water. 

The day of the wedding finally arrived! The wedding was right on the beach, a very intimate and beautiful ceremony full of lots of crying and laughing. 

We decided it would be appropriate to change out of our swimsuits for the wedding.

The reception was full of handmade decorations and the food was a mexican style family-style meal. Probably the beat food we ate the whole time we were there. 

They had laid out disposable cameras on the tables so guests could shoot photos for the bride and groom. Nate of course dove right in.

A sweet moment during the groom + mother dance. Note the bubble machine. 

And finally, as all good Jewish wedding go, the bride, groom, and all the bridesmaids (one shown) were thrown in the air while sitting on chairs. A dangerous but time old tradition I always look forward to at every Jewish wedding or Bar Mitzvah. 

I hope you guys enjoyed a little glimpse into my weekend in Mexico!

Love, 

Claire

Weekend in Oregon Part III: Corvallis

After more indulging and imbibing at Equinox, Nate and I headed down to Corvallis where we spent the day with his parents watching football and going to the local Fall Festival. 

The Fall Festival was full of local artists, musicians, food, and beer. Nate's dad thought it would be a good idea to try a cucumber beer. Nate's very delicate reaction to this horrific concoction can be seen above. We spent the rest of our weekend watching the Ducks beat Arizona, eating chicken wings, and playing frisbee. The drive back to Portland was bittersweet and I'm now back in Denver missing both Nate and Oregon.