Tag Archives: vacation

nyc, part one

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I think it’s safe to say we had a pretty epic trip to NYC a couple of weeks ago.

on friday, our first full day in the city, you wouldn’t have even known a blizzard was coming. It was 40+ degrees and sunny and chilly but overall quite pleasant. our hotel was just a couple blocks away from grand central, so we popped in there for a cappuccino, grabbed bagels from a nearby shop (which turned out to be our favorite, after trying two others over the weekend), walked up to see times square, and then to the southern end of central park.

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we did a little bit of shopping (aka we did not come equipped with proper winter coats, so both of us ended up buying one there…turned out to be a good investment), grabbed a few treats from milk bar, and then headed downtown for a late lunch at momofuku noodle bar. we probably had over 100 restaurants pinned to a google map that interested us, but eating here was at the top of our list, and one of our few “musts.” we got the classic momofuku ramen, some pork steam buns, and their take on a kale salad, and all three were fantastic.

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post-lunch, we headed back to our hotel for a bit to relax and recharge (literally…NYC drained our phone batteries like whoa), and a couple hours later, took the subway over to the greenpoint neighborhood in brooklyn to check out a few bars. first, we went to TØRST, a minimalist bar specializing in unique, higher ABV beers. we loved that you could get different size pours of each beer (5 oz, 8 oz, 12 oz), so we were able to try a few each. and the best part was that almost everything on tap was from the east coast, so it was all new to us!

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#flannelfridayforever

from there we headed just a few blocks down the street to brooklyn brewery. here, you buy “tokens” at the door in increments of $5, which you then use to redeem beers at the bar. unsurprisingly, this turned out to be one of our favorite places of the weekend – we loved the open, warehouse feel of the brewery, and ended up hanging there for a couple hours. we tried a bunch of different beers, but a favorite was the greenmarket wheat.

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after the brewery, the weather was still decent, and we felt like walking off some of our beer, so we headed down towards the williamsburg bridge and decided to walk across (we’d planned to do the brooklyn bridge, but we weren’t up for walking that far then, and never made it back over there). I am terrified of heights and especially bridges, but I was determined to have the experience and make it across. as you may know, there’s a dedicated walking lane on this bridge, and I actually felt pretty safe and secure the whole time. being able to see manhattan all lit up like that was totally worth it!

once we got across the bridge, it had started to snow lightly, and we were starving. we pulled out our phones and realized we were really close to katz’s deli, which stays open late on weekends and was another must on our list. you just never know what to expect from places like this that are so hyped, but holy pastrami, it was amazing. (probably also contributing to the amazingness was our level of intoxication). we split a pastrami sandwich (on rye, with mustard) and an order of latkes, and were in heaven. i’ll have what she’s having, indeed.

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we weren’t quite ready to call it a night yet, so we headed over to mcsorley’s, widely considered to be the oldest Irish tavern in NYC. here, there are two options: light beer or dark beer. lots of cool memorabilia on the walls here, and bartenders that feel like they walked straight out of another era. we sat in the window here and watched the storm start to pick up, and ended our night with a walk back to our hotel.

and then came Jonas.

but that didn’t stop us! we had reserved cronuts from dominique ansel for saturday morning, and there was no way we were missing out on those. the subways were still running, so we headed down to soho. these guys were totally worth the trip. (and the bakery had a great window for watching the snow fall).

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after pastries we braved the elements for awhile and walked up to NYU and washington square park — we couldn’t see much, since the snow was blowing everywhere, and most of the buildings were closed, but we did our best.

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once we had enough walking, we took the subway to the upper east side and made a quick lunch stop at dean & deluca, and then were on our way to the Met. we thought it would be a good day for an indoor activity, but by the time we got there, they had decided to close early, so we only had about an hour or so to see the museum. we checked out a few areas that interested us, plus the special exhibit on Egypt, and were on our way again. can’t wait to go back and explore more next time.

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then it was back to our hotel to regroup. by this time, most of the city had shut down – all museums, all broadway shows, and quite a few restaurants. we stopped by a newsstand to pick up some snacks in case we weren’t able to find dinner anywhere later that night. we relaxed at our hotel for awhile, and then got this bright idea that maybe everyone else assumed SNL was cancelled and that we should go because we would probably definitely get in. so we walked – well, basically skied – the mile over to rockefeller center and arrived just as the nice NBC man was announcing that the last standby tickets had been given out. oh well, we tried. we called around to see if any nearby bars/restaurants were open, and ended up at judge roy bean public house, where we had burgers and beers.

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and then came one of my favorite parts of the weekend. the mayor had issued a travel ban earlier in the afternoon, so there were no cars on the road, save for a few police cars and other first responders. we turned onto madison avenue to find tons of people walking in the streets, taking pictures, playing with their kids, having adult snowball fights, you name it. it was pretty magical, i gotta say.

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good night, Jonas! part two coming soon.

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california, part 2: santa barbara + ventura.

So it’s been over a month since we’ve been back from our trip to California and I’m just getting around to sharing more of the photos…June was a whirlwind (but fun!) month, to say the least. One of the things I love so much about where I grew up is that you can get to so many other places within just a few hours, making for countless day trip opportunities. Santa Barbara has always been one of my favorite coastal cities, and Kevin had never been, so we decided to make a day out of it before heading south to Ventura later to meet up with Jolie. It was pouring rain for the majority of our drive, which made for a stressful trip, so by the time we arrived we were good and ready for some food and a drink! We grabbed a seat at the bar at Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co., tried a couple of beer flights, and ordered a pizza from a nearby shop.

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After lunch we headed over to the Santa Barbara Mission. I’ve been a few times but this was Kevin’s first California Mission visit! It was still raining so we didn’t do much exploring but enjoyed checking out the museum, gardens, cemetery, church, etc. All of the missions are gorgeous in their own way but I’ve always really liked this one, and it was fun showing Kevin around!

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After exploring the mission for awhile, we headed back down the 101 to Ventura. We spotted a brewery right off our freeway exit so we decided to check it out! It turns out they had just opened a couple days earlier! All the staff were super friendly, and we really liked all of their beers!

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After trying out some beers at Topa Topa, we met up with Jolie at her apartment and ate and drank our way down Main Street – sangria and pizza at Cafe Fiore, beers in mini boots and pulled pork nachos at Saloon BBQ, and a dessert trio with wine at Paradise Pantry. Everything was delicious, and I loved getting to experience downtown Ventura – such a cute area and super walkable! Of course, the highlight of the evening was getting to spend some quality time with my bff.

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We spent the night at Jolie’s and got up early the next morning to head out for a beachfront run – it was a little humid, but otherwise perfect breezy running weather, with gorgeous views!

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A great overnight trip filled with lots of delicious food and drinks, ocean views, and time with two of my favorite people in the world!

A few places to check out if you find yourself in Santa Barbara or Ventura:

santa barbara: figueroa mountain brewing co. | lucky penny | old mission santa barbara
ventura: topa topa brewing company | cafe fiore | saloon bbq co. | paradise pantry

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california, part 1: crystal cove.

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Crystal Cove State Park is one of my most favorite places and somewhere that we always try to squeeze in a trip to when we’re back in California. It’s reminiscent of family vacations and high school beach trips with my best girls, and for those reasons and more, has just always felt like home. We majorly lucked out with 80 degree weather and SUN (basically unheard of on the coast in June). We picnicked right on the beach, taught Kevin how to boogie board (sadly no photo evidence), took Kevin for his first Ruby’s Shake Shack experience, and generally got extremely sunburnt. Days like this one make me a little bummed that we live so far away from the ocean, but I’m so grateful for places like Crystal Cove where I can get my beach fix every year :)

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tucson, part 2: celina + iran’s wedding.

Our main reason for going to Tucson when we did was for the wedding of two friends that we worked with during our time at the U of A, Celina and Iran. I’m so happy we were able to fit this into our trip, and we were so honored to share in this day with them. Their wedding had the best food ever (catered by the owner of one of the best Tucson restaurants), the best music ever (80s and 90s jams), the best cupcakes ever (Cup Quequitos), the sweetest little succulent centerpieces and papel picado place cards, and just all around was a great celebration of their relationship and future life together. So happy we could make it; congratulations Celina and Iran! 

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tucson, part 1

I am so glad we were able to squeeze in a few days in the Arizona sunshine before our annual trip to California this year. It’s hard to believe, but we haven’t been back to Tucson since we left over three years ago…we always intended to visit sooner, but I’m happy we finally made it work and hope we can visit more often moving forward.

Going back to Tucson after three years away was a lot like moving back to Omaha after our time in Arizona. So many new things. There are cocktail bars! Coffee shops! Farm-to-table restaurants! A streetcar! Downtown Tucson is actually a destination now, and the food and drink scene has completely taken off, so we were obviously in heaven. I know places always seem a million times cooler when you’re traveling and/or do not live there, but Tucson has really got it goin’ on.

Aside from spending time with old friends from grad school and our various jobs there, we stuck mostly to what we do best: eating and drinking, with a little bit of hiking mixed in. Below, a giant photo dump of our trip with tons of delicious food, visits to new breweries, mountain views and of course, a couple of selfies.

Tucson, we love you a lot and miss you and your people like crazy. Hope to be back soon for more sunshine and the best sunsets in the whole wide world.

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Tucson, much like Omaha, is probably not high on your list of places to visit, but I’d recommend it, and not just because of my nostalgia for it. It’s a blue-collar town, a college town, but also becoming a great food town, developing an awesome brewery scene, and always has been an amazing place for hiking and cycling. A few of our old favorites plus some new spots we hit on this visit, all worth checking out, whether Tucson is a stop on your journey or is your final destination:

old favorites: tucson tamale (the best in the country) | eegee’s | buffet bar & crock pot (don’t ask, just go, and make sure you’re there for happy minute) | hub restaurant & ice creamery | seis kitchen | cartel coffee lab | la estrella bakery (get some tortillas to take home)

new(er) to drink: borderlands brewing co. | r bar (you’ll never see anywhere more red) | tough luck club (basement of reilly pizza) (ask for the bartender’s choice!) | good oak bar | proper | stella coffee | iron john’s brewing (well-balanced IPAs)

new(er) to eat: prep & pastry (a doughssaint is a must) | pizzeria bianco | ermanos (ceviche!) | blu (great cheese plate!)

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