Road Trip.

The amazing thing about living in Southern California (the OC) is how you can go from beach time to the mountain w/snow in 1.5 hours. It is definitely one of the perks of living in socal vs. norcal (oh and Disneyland – did you know Minnie Mouse got her own star “finally” on the walk of fame?)

This past weekend’s adventure was renting a cabin in Lake Arrowhead to take the kids to the snow.  We prayed to the snow gods to give us snow in front of the cabin and it worked! Abigail had already seen snow and did all sorts of cool things snow related in Europe (dog sledding, ice fishing, reindeer sleigh riding to sleeping in a glass igloo) but Addison only got to see snow one other time in CA (which she hated). Its so different how these two are growing up so far but we truly do hope she will experience these unforgettable adventures in time once the 3rd babe is here and ready to travel.

Good times in Lake Arrowhead. Some tips!

• Bring snow chains and read the manual on how to put them on prior to the trip or if your car even needs it.
• Rented our cabin on AirBnb and loved it (message me if you would like the contact). It is perfect for 3 families very comfortably (one room has 2 sets of bunkbeds)
• SnowDrift tubing park is overpriced and any adult that wants to go in has to pay $17/hr even if you’re clearly pregnant and just want to take a couple pictures.  Parking is $6 as well. The kids definitely tire quickly from walking up the steps with their tube so 1 hour is plenty of time! My suggestion would be to buy a sled and find a spot to go sledding…or clean out a trash can lid! =P

• Lake Arrowhead Village is quaint and has an amazing view of the lake.  There is also some “amusement park” type games for kids too (e.g. go karts).
• oh yea, I think I found the perfect mitts for littles under 5. They’re from North Face. They stay on well and can be velcro-ed tighter and looks warm! P.S. want to make sure you don’t lose them (these seem pretty hard to)?  Get ribbon and tie a knot to the hook of one glove and loop it through the arm of one sleeve, through the tag and then through the arm of the other sleeve to the other glove!

P.S. I can’t help but give a shoutout to Belly Bandit for their AH-MAZ-ING compression socks (new to their product line) and the BDA leggings. They were a godsend with the altitude and also keeping warm. The compression socks run to knee high and are too cute with 2 shades of grey and a beige color! For the BDA leggings, I was worried I would have to keep pulling up but I didn’t have that problem at all (this babe does sit higher up though). Both of these items are a #musthave for you pregnant mamas!! The socks are even cute enough to be worn not pregnant!! #checkitout

Cheers for now and thanks for reading! xx

Mommy Daughter Trip

I’ve always said I wanted to have a special bond with my first born (lucky me, she’s a girl too!) and we do although she literally drives me bonkers day in and out. I can’t even imagine how it will be as she gets older. 😭

Abigail and I took our first mommy daughter trip to San Francisco a couple weeks back. I also had my closest high school friends and their daughters join us. How time flies, I can’t believe I’ve known them for at least half my life. We like to call ourselves “joy luck club” and I sure hope that happens with us growing old and sharing many more moments together.

My high school friends and I have been to SF many times, but this was the first sans boys and with one of our kids. Some highlights/tips of the short trip (Friday mid afternoon arrival – Sunday 3pm departure).

We stayed at the Holiday Inn & Suites Fisherman’s Wharf for the location and it was a great choice to catch the tourist action by the pier. Holiday Inn has also upped their game and reputation in my opinion. It was clean, free breakfast, good WiFi, and spacious rooms. Good choice and cost! Give it a try – you’ll be pleased.

We too the BART in from SFO and was traveling in with 5 people. It may be more cost efficient and quicker to take Uber into the city. Each ticket cost $8.95 to get to Embarcedero. It also said it was going to Fisherman’s Wharf but nope, much further away. We ended up taking an Uber to the hotel from the Embarcedero stop which costs $28 (the Uber estimate from SFO – hotel said $60 approx). Lesson learned but we got some nice views of the city and architecture and layout of the streets of SF. 😉

 Before dinner, we stopped at Boudin’s bakery and get their famous and delicious bread.

Some more treats for the first night 😋😋😋

📷: Cornology – Get the truffle parmesan popcorn! So tasty.

📷: Sotto Mare – definitely get the scallops! The sauce is so so yummy!!

📷: Sweet and friendly service at Naia but nothing to rave about.

Saturday was filled with exploring, seeing old friends, and of course eating some good grub. We got to see the sunbathing sea lions, Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, cable cars, and Farmer’s market in the Ferry Building is a must!

📷: Twinning in Old Navy flannel tops. It’s crazy how their personalities shine in this photo.

📷: Porchetta sandwiches right outside the ferry building is delish! You can’t miss it with the line. My friend from the JET programme.  That is definitely one program to remember with all the traveling adventures we had.

📷: Look, my 3rd is already here. #iwish

📷: Yummy dessert shop – Miette Patisserie

📷: A with her godfather who has this cool scooter for his hurt foot. They love their Uppababy too!

Dinner was definitely not something to even note along with their service but we had some fun company that Abigail remembers very well that Aunt Jennifer is so much fun!

Dessert at the Baked Bear topped the charts with a warm brownie topped with ice cream and heath bar bits. #amazing

We ended the night with the oldest (8 years old) doing story time with her buddies. P.S. my children’s board books are all 50% off on www.ajangsley.com 📚 They come with some surprises in there as a well so it’s a perfect gift! Also, I’ll be donating twice as much this holiday season to the charity listed in each respective book. Collect all 8 of my alphabet books! xx

📷: twinning pajamas from Hanna Anderson

Quick Sunday brunch at the pier and sandwiches from Boudin’s (yes, again – I LOVE THAT PLACE!) before heading to our last stop – Lombard Street.

They’re in #dotdotsmile dresses. Super soft and perfect for twirling in.

Last funny of the trip I want to remember was our little threat they would be sent to “timeout island” if they didn’t listen to us. Guess where that is!

#goodtimes and the perfect mommy daughter trip. I lost BUT #jetblue found my sunnies and that literally made my day getting it in the mail a couple weeks later. Surprised and so incredibly thankful for Jetblue! #shoutout

Cheers for now and thanks for reading. Hope you’re all enjoying the holidays. This will be the last flying trip until baby #3 makes its debut.

Visiting the Homeland and Family.

Although I wasn’t born in Taiwan, I still consider it like a home since my parents had grown up there. They had a lot of good memories there and some of our family is over there.

I decided to take a last minute trip to Taiwan with my younger daughter to visit my dear aunt. She’s always held a special place in my heart so I knew I just had to take the trip during this time.

I’ve learned to pack smarter and know that international flights are usually more lenient on things (like an overweight bag) if you’re traveling alone with a child. Your bag shouldn’t be over 30 kg at most usually so bring an extra bag to take items out or be prepared with a nice sob story. My bag was clearly overweight from the booster seat, formula and fruit pouches I packed for this 2 week adventure with my super picky 14 month old eater, but I survived.

💟 P.S. If you’re looking for a booster seat with tray that’s compact, I highly recommend the summer infant pop n’ sit portable booster. It collapses and you can sit it on the floor, chair and table top without worries of tipping over.

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aveling couldn't be easier with this amazing passport holder that can now store 5 passport inside. The company is called up and away and a must have with all the colors and inside pattern designs to store your important travel documents together.

If your child is under 2, request to get a bassinet. You’ll get way more leg room as well if she doesn’t sit in it. For international flights, 2 and under kiddos even though they’re not getting a seat they have to pay for 10% of your airfare just for using the air on the flight! 🙄

Since I’ve been to Taiwan so many times, I wasn’t planning to do much tourist stuff besides things that little A would perhaps be interested in. So, it was the gondola (which she opted to sleep instead) and the zoo. The zoo is nice and super cheap. In case you’re wondering, it was clean and very green!

We stayed near Da’An Park which is great to seeing some green space, go to the playground, and eat at some of the yummy places around. Our air bnb hosts were amazing and it was so easy to settle in. They even got the car service set up for us to take us to our apartment. If you want their contact, let me know! To note, there is also the MRT (subway) you can take into the Taipei for really cheap but I was just being lazy.

Anyhow, if you’re wondering if some place is good and you see a line – it definitely means it’s worth the wait. 😋

My favorite street of grub has the infamous beef noodle soup, green onion pancakes, mango shaved ice, rice rolls in an illegal street cart, and now best crispy suncakes. Google Yong Kang Street when you’re in Taipei.

A must to do in Taipei is getting a hair wash/massage. You can get for as cheap as 250 NT which is about $8! Omg. I found an amazing place called Famous. They didn’t cut Addison’s hair like I wanted but oh well just had to get her a bowl cut just once. Lol

This trip we also took a ride on the high speed train to Ping Tung to see my grandpa’s place of rest and his factory.

We also saw my grandma who’s 95 now and looking great. Her view is amazing and so serene.

If you haven’t noticed it was a US girl cousins trip (Abigail was sad to be missing out but we got to FaceTime everyday and it was some of the cutest moments I’ve had with her). What was that saying – distance makes the heart grow fonder? Haha

Part 2 of our Asia family trip was seeing my brother and his family out in HK for the weekend. It’s only a quick 2 hour flight over but Addison sure made it feel like a century. Good times.

Hong Kong highlights included Hello Kitty dim sum, ice cream, burgers, and a typical HK breakfast before catching my flight back to Taiwan to go back to California. It sounds hectic and it sure was when you’re flying two different airlines so you have to pick up your luggage and check back in so definitely have a suitcase that has four wheels so you’re pushing it and not leaning it over to pull. Samsonite has some fabulous ones.

Good times and Addison got to play at the Hello Kitty playground in the Taoyuan airport (next to gate C4).

Cheers for now and definitely drop me a note if you’re looking for more info! xx

Hamming in Hamptons.

Part 2 of our New York holiday ended perfectly with a gorgeous weekend in the Hamptons with our cousins. The iconic tall hedges and enormous homes was mesmerizing (so mesmerizing I forgot to take pictures!). 

We left the city earlier than everyone else so stopped at the famous Lobster Roll in Montauk from the showtime series, The Affair. Food was nothing to rave about but had a cute local ambiance to dining there. 

Did you know they have a Levain Bakery there too? Next to it is a good local seafood shop and the famous Goldberg’s bagels which I didnt get to try but heard it was delish! 

📷: Tried and true, you can freeze a cookie and when you’re ready to eat defrost and put in the oven for a bit and it’s just almost as good. 

We also went to the cutest and cleanest pumpkin patch ever – Hank’s Pumpkintown. Amazing fresh apple juice! 

Anyhow, I sure hope my kids are as close to my cousins as I am. #familyfirst 

 

Oh yes, wanted to add that at 14 weeks pregnant I went to Soul Cycle for the first time. Oh my gosh so tiring but survived with the good vibes and catching Brooke Shields when we were leaving from our class. I can now say I “spun” with Brooke. 😁

Cheers for now! Thanks for reading and yes this is a place you must visit – It must be even more lovely in the summer when it’s really pool and beach weather.  xx

Take a Bite Out Of The Big Apple With Two Munchkins.

Following your husband on his business trip to New York may seem like a good idea but it’s definitely a little tough. It wasn’t all smiles like the pictures show. 😜 

But, yes – I’m that mom that always says to bring and travel with your kids to show them the big world and everything out there. Experiences are so much better live. So, these two monsters definitely got to take in New York – the toddler way – it wasn’t at all like when I used to live here with all the HH, late hours out and about, and nice restaurants we ate at! #timeflies

We stayed at the Westin Grand Central – pretty nice and central spot to get around the city. They gave the girls little kid’s bags with goodies inside in hopes of keeping them quiet during their stay. The only problem we ran into was getting a fridge. Literally painful how many times we had to call front desk. 

P.S. we took a morning direct flight from CA (6 hour flight). It was easy for our 4.5 year old toddler but our energetic 13 month was a bag of tricks. No amount of milk and goodies could put her to sleep. She was just too excited. 

First stop was Cafe Zaiya for black sesame soft serve. Omg so good. Dinner followed shortly after at Vezza. You have to get the shroomtown pizza if you’re a mushroom fan – the best. Pizza is the classic New York style pizza with a thin crust. 

P.S. all my food links are usually to #yelp being my favorite app to use and I’m not just a taker, I’m also Yelp Elite! More reviews (usually short and sweet), go here. 

Amazing New York weather so we walked to seriously the best bagel shop called Ess-a-bagel. It was right by my old apartment when I lived in NY so had to take the girls there and we ate on the remodeled entrance. 



We walked on Park Ave to Central Park after a quick stop at the Plaza Hotel. There is a crazy big food court inside with lots of yummy eats. Definitely worth checking out. 

Central Park was packed as it was a gorgeous day. Too bad the fall leaves hadn’t happened yet (beginning of October) but beautiful nonetheless. 

Since we were already in the 70s and heading to the Children’s museum of Manhattan, we just had to stop at the BEST cookie bakery ever. Levain Bakery – you’ve fulfilled my preggo cravings. Thank you! 

📷: The museum was fun and not crowded (whew). It was surprisingly pretty clean and of course very interactive. Super good idea for the cold & rainy day. The girls are twinning in gap – It always seems I can find their sizes at Gap (they’re about 3.5 years apart). Any brands you recommend?

Weekend is now over and this is when it turns to just me and the kids (of course meeting up with friends and cousins!). 

Here’s a quick read along with pictures and recommendations (things to note) of the 4 days out and about in the Big Apple. They’re in order of how it played out since we know transporting 2 kids (plus gummy bear in the making) and one stroller isn’t exactly smooth sailing so you have plan so you’re not backtracking and uber-ing too much. 

• Monday – We took the 34th Street ferry to DUMBO and it’s great!! Clean, good views, fast, and only $2.75 (kids free). If you’re looking for some trendy, hipster pictures – definitely come here. Family pictures would have been fun here but we will make do with kids twinning. 
• We ate at Shake Shack for lunch, playground after, walked Brooklyn Bridge (the entrance is stairs – no ramp) to catch the amazing skyline, another playground before dinner at the absolute best pizza joint – Juliana’s. If you’ve heard/eaten of Grimaldi’s, this is actually the real original Grimaldi’s 🍕 pizza joint (Patsy Grimaldi sold the Grimaldi’s name awhile back to a customer). I was super excited to meet Patsy! Before heading back on the ferry, we had to have Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. So good! 

• Tuesday – Because of the time change (3 hours), the kids got up st 10am. Yay for me! We did dessert before lunch with getting some shaved ice from Sweet Moment and then pork chop rice at a local hole in the wall joint (just ok, so won’t blog about it) since we were already in Chinatown. 
• Super nice day so we walked through Soho, downtown, and union square before getting to my cousin’s place. Abigail couldn’t have been more thrilled to be reunited with them. 

• Wednesday – we went to the ever so popular Totto Ramen (it is basically this one or Ippudo). Both yummy! After that, we went to the coolest park ever – Riverside Hippo playground up in the Westside (they have super charming brownstones).  Thank you @minicitybabes for the rec! 
• We topped off the afternoon with treats from Doughnut Planet. P.S. we decided to take the bus up and probably not the best idea with a stroller as it looks like you generally have to fold it up. They are definitely not like the London buses I’m used to! 

📷: she could feel how tired this bus ride was making me. 😂

• Thursday – I wanted to take the girls to see the famous #NASA Enterprise space shuttle and tell her this is what her grandpa did for work. Not sure if she got it, but she did think it was really cool to see all the airplanes, submarine, drones, and space shuttle. We headed to a very late lunch at Gotham West Market which is perfect for an indecisive group to meet with all the different food choices. 
• Of course, an afternoon isn’t complete without dessert – cookies specifically so went to both Schmackery and Amy’s Bread (close to each other). We also got Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles to go to meet up with my cousin that picked up Momofuku Milk Bar for me. Yes – it’s the great cookie test for my favorite cookie bakery. Winner goes to Levain Bakery!!! 

💟 P.S. we used the Uppababy lightweight stroller on this trip and loved it. It sits higher up so babe can just sit in there at a table instead of a  high chair. It’s also nice and narrow to fit through tight spaces. Stands up when folded but I still have to master closing it quickly with the button and pushing the sides together. Overall, definitely worth it as you can recline for your little and yes she slept in it several times. #win

Anyone want to follow this schedule? It’s doable and amazing when you can have sweets to consume. It would have been a lot nicer with a glass of wine to top each day off. 😂🍷

Cheers for now and part 2 of New York coming soon. xx

Vroom, vroom and off we go.

A little delay in posting our last minute road trip up to Santa Maria during the 4th of July long weekend but hey better late than never when it’s summer time and your littles are so active and having two is much harder than one. Ok, enough with the excuses. 

Hubs wanted to demonstrate how eco-friendly his electric car is (ok, and save on gas!!) so we took his ride instead of my mom-mobile. 

📷: everyone has a nice ride especially Addison with her #venicechild Kangaroo stroller. 

We always like to travel with our kids and have them see the world as well. We kept it fair with an adult event and a kiddo event too. Our adult event was visiting one of our favorite wineries we are members at. #Foxen has 2 tasting locations so it’s quite the deal to be a member. Free tastings here we come! 

📷 💟 P.S. We love our #venicechild stroller. All terrain and so easy to open/close. 

We stayed at the quaint historic inn in Santa Maria. Renovated and definitely kept some of its charming appeal. We had some nice bay windows where the kids loved to stand and look outside on. The service was great and it was nice to walk around the hotel grounds. We wished we stayed longer to enjoy the pool. 

The next day we headed to ostrich land (emus too!) in Solvang. It was so cute to see them and a little scary to feed when the signs were saying they bite! 

📷: Fun fact: An ostrich egg is equivalent to approximately (2) dozen chicken eggs. 

Good and quick trip in beautiful California (since we took the electric car, we just HAD to stop at the Carlsbad outlets 😂). 

📷: #electriccar #tesla #supercharge #carlsbad 

P.S. You know you live in Southern California when your daughter starts to call palm trees beach trees. 

Fun For All – Lake Tahoe.

Took a little bit of debate on where to go for a much needed family vacation with our fav’s, but we finally decided on Lake Tahoe. A lot of fun when your kiddos are close in age, the hubs are good buddies, and of course the mama is my good university friend (and bridesmaid!). #timeflies

📷: the crew (kids are 4 years old, 1 year old, and 9 months)

Lake Tahoe is a great choice since it’s only a short flight (approximately 1 hour from Orange County, CA) to take in the great outdoors, and also rotate with the boys to go to the casinos.

We haven’t taken JetBlue since we left for London so decided on this airline based on them flying out of Long Beach airport – small and nicely renovated airport plus a great price point. They knocked it out of the ballpark with lovely, efficient service, good drinks and snacks. Alcoholic beverages were $7 (good selection of beer). #jetblue #love

Got a rental car and of course had to do a stop at Costco – super close from Reno airport.

• Traveler’s tip: Bring your own car seat if you want to make sure it’s clean! We also decided to buy another one we wouldn’t mind getting tossed around during transit.
• Evenflo (toddler booster seat) 
• car seat cover – this one is great (no wheels) and was only $9.

After much thought into whether or not to get an airbnb, we decided to make it easy and stay at  Hard Rock this time around. It was “nice enough” since it was renovated a couple years back, spacious, good food inside, and a casino right downstairs.

📷: Yes, she’s in Bebeaulait’s Muslin car seat cover & swaddle blankets. I love Muslin breathable fabric and highly recommend getting one for a car seat cover so your baby doesn’t get too hot in his/her car seat (also has a zipper to open/close if needed). Isn’t this print the cutest?!

📷: Traveler’s tip – request a crib (they usually roll) instead of a pack n’ play – so much cleaner! Ask for some flat sheets/fleece blankets to place on the hotel room floor if you have a crawler in the house. Bring also a crib fitted sheet if you’re worried about their sheets on your baby’s soft skin.  P.S. Addison just pulled herself up for the first time here (9 months).

📷: Across the street from Hard Rock is Edgewood where you can play golf. We took a walk there with the kids. It’s gorgeous!

Day 1 – we went to Zephyr Cove to take in the lake and hang out at the beach.  We stopped at the market to get goodies.  They have grills there so we made s’mores!  Gorgeous and relaxing (not very populated) spot to play in the sand. I believe it was $8 per car. Oh yea, clean individual bathrooms.

Day 2 we went bike riding around town and fishing at Sawmill Pond (kid’s fishing location).

📷: Got a lot of questions about my carrier and I love my MiaMily carrier. So much more back support and a compartment to store a bottle, phone, diaper, keys, etc.

📷: Caught 5 fish and brought them to MacDuff’s for them to cook 3 different ways! YUM! Pretty good deal as they provided salad and sides for $20/person. Get the bread pudding for dessert. #nomnom

Day 3, departed Lake Tahoe and headed home. Sweet trip with our fav’s with a lot of memories always. The kids all got sick but hey what trip isn’t complete without that happening. 

Cheers for now and thanks for reading. We love traveling with our kiddos and honestly it’s really not hard! #bringiton #travelwithkids 

xx

Road Trip to Cornwall.

This is the last trip before “nesting” for baby girl #2. We opted for a road trip with our London buddies and had a blast – minus the cloudy/windy weather (really, July, come on!).

We left London and didn’t get into Cornwall until early evening since we just had to make a pit stop in Bristol for Costco – warehouse (heaven) of bulk goodies.

What stood out about Cornwall: 

📷: Love their honor system of paying for things along the road (just leave the money in a box and take what you want).

📷: Fish n’ chips everywhere. Our first Cornwall meal – super fresh fish of course. Why am I surprised?

Love the stone houses throughout the city (we stayed in an adorable cottage that really did a stellar job with upping the look n’feel of their IKEA furniture).

📷: Abigail couldn’t wait to see the moon and stars with this sunroof.

Anyhow, we promised the kids it would be about the beach on Saturday (rain or shine) so they got it. We did a stop at the Minack outdoor theatre (next to Porthcurno beach) prior and wow that is cool! Imagine watching a show outdoors perched on a cliff and hearing the Atlantic ocean water. Amazing and the stone seating had these cool engravings as well.

Misty and windy at Porthcurno beach – clearly overlooked once she saw the abundant sand. I would recommend this beach (lifeguard on duty) – nice sand, plenty of shells to pick, not too crazy waves, and water is gorgeous.

📷: Path we took from the car park. You can also walk down the cliff from Minack theatre.

📷:: Be inspired to take the plunge into the unknown. 

Saint Michael’s Mount – A must go!  If you go after lunch, you can probably walk across the path but looks like before noon  you would need to take a quick boat ride over (£2 adults, £1 child).

📷:: A serious historical sight to take in – Saint Michael’s Mount.

📷:: View from the top of Saint Michael’s Mount. Majestic!

📷:: View from Island Cafe (pretty good food & plenty of indoor/outdoor seating).

📷:: It’s crazy how the cobblestone walkway (approx. 500 metres) dries up quickly and isn’t slippery.

And that wraps up what we did in Cornwall. Definitely would say we missed many sights and probably staying at least 3 nights would be ideal for both driving or training to Cornwall.

#lovebooksbyAJ side note: Thank you so much for the orders for the 5 series (D is for Dinosaur, E is for Elephant, F is for Fox, G is for Giraffe, H is for Hippo). Dream come true. Get your series today for only $29.99 FREE SHIPPING. www.ajangsley.com