All posts in: Half Moon Bay

Life
04 Jan 2021

Bay Area Eats: Dad’s Luncheonette

When the pandemic first hit, I was a little scared to travel farther distances. Luckily for us, I’ll likely never hit my cap of Bay Area spots to see. One of my favorite spots is a place less than an hour away and it has some of the best views. I’ve been known to flee to Half Moon Bay when I’m looking for some quiet, peace, and space when I feel stuffed up in the city. There also happens to be an amazing spot for sandwiches that I heard people raving about for years, but never tried myself until the pandemic.

[Dad’s Luncheonette] doesn’t boast a large menu, but what they have won’t disappoint you. Our first time there, Kevin and I got really excited and practically tried one of everything. If you have to make some choices though, get the Hamburger Sandwich, Mac & Cheese and always ask about the soup of the week and sweet of the week!

Currently, they’re on their winter closure, but will re-open later on this month!

Style
19 Jan 2019

Hiding Out in Half Moon Bay

Dress – ASTR / Denim Jacket – Gap / Sneakers – Keds / Socks – Uniqlo

What’s better than having an extended period of time off between jobs? Knowing that one of your best friends is also in between jobs at the same time! Brad and I didn’t plan this, of course, but it made things easier. I had a friend to hang out with, but I also had someone that could relate to what I was going through at that exact point in time. There was a longer extended vacation coming before I started the new job, but I also wanted a day to get out of the city. The last time I was in between, I heavily convinced Jason to come with me to Half Moon Bay. He was a good sport. We started the day in Pescadero and ended it with dinner at The Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay.

You’re supposed to be a little careful when you’re in between jobs, but after all, it was a bit of a celebration. Since Brad and I also went to Half Moon, I figured I could own this as my tradition. However, let’s hope that I don’t have to take this trip anytime soon! It was a so-so weather kind of a day, but I wanted to be near the water. Beaches in my hometown are nothing compared to here. I love the easiness of being able to get to one closely from where I am.

Having had a lavish dinner at the Ritz last time, I didn’t feel the need to do the same again. Brad and I settled for a latte for me and sitting down near the fire pit. It’s nice to pretend to be like guests even if it’s short lived!

Culture
26 Dec 2017

Favorites of 2017

For once, I’m feeling very on top of my end-of-the-year round up posts. Normally, you would see some of these after the new year, but I guess you can thank the Seattle snow for keeping us indoors these last few days and unlimited downtime. Of course, I’m not mad at it because during the rest of the year, we never get this time to sit down and just write.

Favorite Style Icon: Margot Robbie

Is anyone as excited as I am to see I, Tonya?! I still remember watching the teaser trailer like it was yesterday and while I don’t see movies in theaters often, I’m willing to break my rule for this one. Margot Robbie has been on my list of style icons to watch for some time, but it was this year that I started to notice that outfit after outfit, she was consistently nailing it. Whether it’s getting glammed up for the red carpet or dressing down, Margot’s accessories and beauty look are always a perfect match. With the upcoming award season, we can’t wait to see what she does next.

Runner Up: Gal Gadot

Favorite Getaway: Pescadero / Half Moon Bay

It may have only been a day trip for me, but it was definitely one of my most unforgettable memories from the year. After leaving my job and not having too much time in between to start my new one, it didn’t make sense to come back home or plan an extravagant getaway. The good thing about California though is that there are no shortage of destinations to venture out to even in one day. I picked what I thought to be very quaint and cute, but maybe not a huge tourist attraction, found a friend that was in the same boat as I was and we took off! It was a random weekday and so quiet out on the road, but exactly what we needed. It was so fun to just go to the beach and explore this land that no one was at. It was the most calm and serene that I had felt in the last few months and I knew after that day that we had made a good decision about the trip.

Runner Up: Disneyland

Favorite artist of the year: SZA

Wow, was this a tough decision to make. If I could have had two tied for first place, it would have been SZA and Khalid! But I had to make a choice and the reason why I picked SZA was because I felt her music was so much more relatable to what I was going through this year. 2017 was entirely a year for me and focused on me and listening to her in a weird way made me feel like I could do anything. I owned my mistakes, my flaws, made decisions on a whim, drove away from my comfort zone and never looked back. She’s amazing.

Runner Up: Khalid

Favorite Guilty Pleasure: Siesta Key

You know a show is special when you and your coworker make a whole Instagram Live dedicated to it. Siesta Key was the standout reality series of the year for me. The commercials and trailers penned it as your next generation Laguna Beach, but it is so much more than that. I could talk about this show for hours, but instead of doing that I will just say that the show returns to MTV on January 15th so you should use your time now to get caught up on season 1.

Runner Up: Riverdale

Favorite item purchased this year:

If I could have a wardrobe that only came from Aritzia, I would never be unhappy. I wasn’t expecting to find this dress when I stepped into the store that day. In fact, I was on the hunt for a Teddy Jacket over at Uniqlo and when I didn’t find it, I stopped into Aritzia for lightening round shopping fest. This dress was one of the first pieces that caught my eye and right away I knew I had to try it on. I didn’t even have an event to wear it to if I had bought it (luckily that came later!) but I knew I had to have it. It fit me in all of the right places and was so elegant and beautiful. The great thing about a classic LBD is that there is always going to be an occasion to wear it to. I look forward to keeping this in my closet forever ever.

Runner Up: Gap Denim Jacket

Favorite albums (in no particular order):

  1. Kehlani – SweetSexySavage
  2. Khalid – American Teen
  3. Dua Lipa – Self Titled
  4. SZA – Ctrl
  5. Calvin Harris – Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1
  6. Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me
  7. ODESZA – A Moment Apart
  8. Kelela – Take Me Apart
  9. Shawn Mendes – Illuminate
  10. H.E.R. – Self Titled

Favorite Online Past Time: Twitter

When I hate you, but I actually love you. I hate that it was the political turmoil that brought me even closer to Twitter in the last year, but it’s completely true. It’s a large source for my news, but it’s also one of the platforms that can make me laugh consistently. Who knew 180 characters could do that for you… or … however, many characters they allow now? I wish I could say that I was refined and listened to podcasts on my commute, but no, I’m the girl in the backseat of my Uber and Lyft furiously scrolling through my feed to see how much I can get through before I’m dropped off at my local Starbucks.

Runner Up: HQ, Instagram, what else?

Uncategorized
20 Jul 2017

Yow Yow! in Pescadero / Half Moon Bay

I hate the word funemployment so we’re just going to call this period of my life the time that I took off. Between securing my new job and actually starting, I didn’t have enough time to take an extravagant trip or even fly back home for a little bit. Living in California though makes it easy to get a little further out for the day. I only had two weeks before starting and every day was packed with something – errands, blogging, getting myself mentally prepared for my next job, but something that was really important to me was taking a day for myself and having a day trip. The internet gave me a lot of great ideas for day trips that I could take in my area and I picked Pescadero because it was a pretty unlikely spot that I may never have chosen on my own if not for this moment. I knew I wanted to be near the water and see some sights, but not spend all day getting there. What I didn’t know is that Pescadero’s main attractions are a couple of blocks long. Our day there ended before we really just got started! Luckily for us, Half Moon Bay wasn’t too far and it was another spot that I’d always wanted to see. The us I’m referring to is my friend Jason who was also “taking time off” at the same time I was! I could’ve done this trip alone, but it was more fun with him and he agreed to my entire agenda.

Apparently, Pie Ranch is a major attraction for Pescadero so I needed to see this in person. Honestly, I only wanted a slice, but on the day that we went, there happened to be a field trip for kids in a summer camp and they snagged all of the slices before we could grab one. Hence, why we were forced to order a whole pie. To make matters worse, there were also kids behind us and while we offered to split our whole pie with them since we only wanted a slice, kids are advised to always avoid strangers so…

If you look closely, it looks like these rocks are kind of hairy!

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