Memorial Day Weekend- THANKFUL

I hope everyone is recovering nicely from their long Memorial Day weekend. I think it is important to first thank all the brave men and women, past and present, who protect the freedoms that we take for granted everyday. THANK YOU! 

I sometimes forget just how truly blessed I am which is one reason why I love writing this blog. I frequently go back and read old posts to remind myself of all the amazing things I've had the opportunity to do. Recently I've been really amazed with where my life is and the journey that I took to get here. About a year ago I read the book "The Magic" by Rhonda Byrne who also wrote "The Secret" and "The Power". She recommends that you write down a list of 10 things a day for a month that you are currently thankful for in your life. At the end of the month I had over 300 things written down on my list. I didn't realize until I was staring down at this paper just how much I have to be thankful for, the things I had always taken for granted. Everything from my health, my parents health, having a job that I love, having a boyfriend who loves me, my freedom, being able to afford the things I need, the list goes on and on. Whenever I have a bad day I always look at my list so I can remind myself of how truly blessed I am. I stopped writing the list after the 30 days, but I now see that I could add so many more things that I am appreciate of in my life today. This weekend especially reminded me of that. All over my social media accounts people were taking vacations and spending the long weekend making trips to the beach. This alone makes me smile with gratitude. Realizing what most people consider a vacation, I call my normal, everyday life. I sometimes still can't believe that this is actually my real life. 

Still so surreal 

I think my boyfriend and I both just needed a weekend to catch up on sleep and relax. There was talks about making a trip up to San Francisco, but I wasn't prepared to make the 6+ hour drive on such little sleep. We spent the weekend mostly catching up on our shows on DVR, going to a few restaurants, and of course going to the beach. A pretty low key weekend for us. 

Perfect beach day 

When you pay at little extra, you get the beach all to yourself 

Found a small waterfall on the beach

As close as we will ever get to drinking on a California beach 

Walking path from the beach back to our car

Now that we've had a relaxing weekend, I'm sure we will be back to finding new adventures and exploring new parts of Southern California this upcoming weekend. 

XoXo,

Valerie 

PS- I'm also thankful for all of you, my blog family :)

Happy Mother's Day

I hope all the Moms out there had a great Mother's Day weekend. Although I didn't get to spend the holiday with my Mom I am super excited because she is coming to visit me this upcoming weekend. I can't wait to show her where I live and work and why I feel in love with California. Of course I will blog about everything that we do together. I know I usually post my new blogs on Monday, but I had to wait for my disposable waterproof camera to be developed. You'll see why later in this post.
This past weekend's weather was really beautiful, but let's be honest, when is it ever not perfect? On Saturday morning we went to the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, CA. Our purpose for going was to ride on the huge orange balloon that goes up 400 feet in the air and on a clear day overlooks 40 miles of the OC. Unfortunately when we got there to buy tickets ($10 per person but parking is free) we were told by the visitors center that the balloon wasn't going up because it was too windy. I suggest calling ahead to make sure the balloon is operating. Since we were already there we decided to make the best of it. There is also a carousel for the kids, food trucks, kids parks, sports fields, live music, and a flower and fruit garden. We hung out most of the time in the flower and fruit garden checking out all the fruits that grow locally in Southern California. They grow everything from oranges (obviously it's Orange County), to blueberries, avocados, apples, peaches, strawberries, and many more fruits and veggies. They even have a chicken coop with about 8 live chickens where they sell the fresh eggs to the public. I really want to go back on a Sunday morning when they have the local farmers market from 10-2 and get to ride the helium balloon while shopping for some fresh food http://www.ocgp.org/visit/balloon/

Sign at the entrance 

Apparently too windy to go up

Visitors Center

Kids carousel 

Grapes

Apples

Some oranges in the OC

Blueberries 

Roses

Strawberries

Peaches

Beautiful flowers

Avocado 

Chicken coop

More chickens

I'm a butterfly

After our not so successful trip in the morning we decided to look on Groupon for some good deals being offered in our area. We ended up purchasing a wine tasting at the Orange Coast Winery in Newport Beach. The Groupon costs $39 which includes sampling of six wines for two, two wineglasses, a gourmet cheese platter, and one bottle of wine that you get to take home worth $29 https://www.groupon.com/deals/orange-coast-winery-1-14 The store is in a really weird industrial area where you wouldn't expect a winery to be but once inside you forget about it. Our server Colin was nice and informative about what wines to try based on our different preferences. I stuck to whites and my boyfriend stayed with the reds. We were both able to find one that we really liked and took a home a bottle of the Orange Bubbly. The cheese platter was pretty good, but I love all cheese so I'm easy to please. The samplings were just that, and a bit of a tease, so after we tasted all the wines we bought one full glass of wine before leaving. The only suggestion I would make to the store is to offer some bar stools. After standing and drinking for over an hour my feet and back started to hurt. The winery has some room for improvement, but overall it was well worth the money. 

The wine list

Cheers

Inside the store

Bottles of wine for purchase

With my boo

Delicious cheese

Endless summer

Store front

The best and most exciting part of the weekend for me was Sunday morning when we were invited to go paddle boarding with some friends at Balboa Peninsula near Newport Beach. We rented our boards from Balboa Boat Rentals which is right on the "boardwalk" of the peninsula. For the two boards and the paddles it ended up costing us $50 for a 2 hour rental. Make sure you bring a credit card and an id for them to hold on to while you are out on the water. We went around the entire Balboa Island which is about two miles. The first part was easy and relaxing since we were going with the wind. We got to see all the boats on the water, the beautiful houses, and even a few sea lion sun bathing on boats. As soon as we circled around the island and was paddling into the wind, I didn't think I would make it back. Standing up on the board surprisingly wasn't hard for me at all but paddling into the wind was almost impossible. I would paddle as hard as I could, but I would end up moving 10 feet backwards. My arms as definitely sore but my first time paddle boarding was so much fun and great exercise. I really want to go back maybe on a day that is not so windy to enjoy the full experience.  

Our trail around Balboa Island

Sea lions chilling on a boat

Look at that balance 

With my boo

Tons of boats 

Where we rented from 

The boardwalk with rides 

Prices

Ferry 

Balboa Village 

Have a great week! I can't wait to share what me and my Mom do this weekend.

XoXo,

Valerie 

Derby Day

Happy Monday and Cindo de Mayo blog family! How was everyone's weekend? I've been exhausted from work so we spent a lot of time this weekend relaxing and catching up on sleep. On Saturday we woke up bright and early to go to the  Santa Anita Park to watch some horse races and California Chrome in the Kentucky Derby. We bought our tickets online the night before since they were half off with a promo code. Our general admission tickets (half off at $12.50) included the ticket, 2 tickets for beer, and horse betting information. The park is about an hour North of the OC and had free parking which is always nice. Once we got inside not only were there races going on, but there was also tons of different food trucks, bounce houses, live music, corn hole  and many more fun activities going on. I recommend the Lobster truck and get either the lobster or crab sandwich with butter. To die for! We just hung around in the beer gardner, which is in the middle of the track, and drank some beer and ate great food while enjoying the races. Of course my boyfriend was betting on the horses and actually ended up winning on the majority of the races he bet on. We also went into the stands to watch some races up closer. Then we went inside into the cool AC and watched from the VIP area. We even got to go to the winners circle and see the winning horses with the owners and jockey. The best part of the day was getting to watch the home town horse California Chrome win the Kentucky Derby on the big screen. I think everyone there was betting on him to win and the place went crazy when he did! This was a really great day with lots of fun things to do. 

Tailgating outside 

Food trucks 

Bounce house

Beer tents 

Beer garden 

Enjoying the beautiful weather 

And they're off! 

Talk derby to me 

Racing on the dirt

Cornhole 

Look at that view 

Waiting to race

Inside watching the races

The winning ticket! California Chrome!

Grey Goose winners circle 

One of the winners with the owners and jockey

Have a great week everyone!

XoXo,

Valerie