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. 

5 Months Ago.

I can’t believe just 5 months ago we were living in London and traveling to all these amazing countries so quickly. I didn’t think I would miss living in Europe so much but I do – the ease of getting around without driving, getting a quick bite to eat, seeing gorgeous architecture with a snap of my fingers, or just hanging out at a park/cafe people watching with an afternoon drink. 🍷😎

📷: My favorite jewelry store, Boodles. It’s a British company so I just had to get a piece before leaving. I think Britain is missing me as much as I miss living there because I sadly lost one of the earrings the other day. 😥😥 #timetogoback #boodles 

Without a doubt, my hubs will always be Cali dude (although he can’t swim…yet) so our 2 year stint in London was a lovely break. Maybe in a couple years, another opportunity will come along and we’ll be out of the ‘burbs again. #fingerscrossed 

When we lived in London, we quickly abandoned the stroller for Abigail and she learned to walk everywhere and loved it. She walked 7 miles one day with no complaints. Rain or shine. 

So, now that we moved back to socal, I went on a mission to find the perfect stroller for me to use for Addison. 
My requirements: 

• 4 wheels (at least 2 in the front to go up and down the escalator even though you’re not suppose to)
• maneuver easily with one hand while holding a coffee 
• baby A can face both ways
• car seat friendly
• not too heavy
• easy to close without feeling like you’re going to pinch a finger

Easy right?!
I came across Kangaroo by Venice Child and fell in love. The colors, the simple design, versatile, and all terrain really caught my attention and not to mention it was founded in California (home again). 👍🏻

We got our Kangaroo last week and wow I can vouch that it meets all my needs. 

She can see the world just a little higher up and at 3 different inclines.

We can definitely easily manuever it one handed, easily close it, change the recline positions and oh my you’ll have to stop and chat with people on how styling your babe is in it. 

Most importantly, A loves it and makes sure it’s nearby. 😜

So cheers for now as baby A was snoozing in her Kangaroo by Venice Child while mama wrote this. 

P.S. The front bar can be removed. Also, when you’re packing away in your car, I found the easiest is to just take off the seat and pack separately from the bottom part. #soinlove