Tag: Traveling

Food Alert: Houston, Texas.

Here we are with another food alert! It’s another long one for you guys.
Destination: Houston, Texas
For the location, I chose to visit Houston mainly because I heard about how good the food is and I needed to try it for myself, specifically Vietnamese food. Back in Grand Rapids, we have a few Viet spots that are worth going to, but in Wisconsin there’s even less. Houston definitely did not disappoint me, it actually left me with wanting more. There was no bad dish!

So let’s start off with day one with Shokku Ramen. Besides some airport pizza in the morning, our first meal in Houston was at this cool anime themed ramen restaurant. The restaurant plays different anime series on their televisions, plays anime music the whole time and even serves some of their dishes on cool wooden plates with anime figures on them. Unfortunately, the ramen wasn’t one of those dishes. I ended up choosing “Da Oxtail” Ramen and my boyfriend choose the Surf & Turf Ramen. The entrees were super delicious and thank you to whoever decided to add crispy garlic to the ingredients! Garlic pretty much goes on everything.

“Da Oxtail”
Tender, shredded oxtail & steak in a combination of our Tonkotsu and house-made oxtail broths with a hint of miso, served with yellow noodles and topped with 2 shrimp tempura, Hon-shimeji mushrooms, soy-cured egg, bok choy, red ginger, crispy garlic & ginger butter with a hint of Togarashi. Rich and delicious.

Surf & Turf
Soft-shell crab tempura & tender NY strip steak in a combination of our house-made Tori and Tonkotsu broths served with yellow noodles, tempura scallion, soy-cured egg, crispy garlic, red ginger, fried onion & ginger butter

Next we went over to Houston’s Asian Town over on Bellaire Blvd. I will say that it is the biggest Asian town that I have ever seen or been too, but I’m only from Michigan and Wisconsin. We don’t have too much there. You have your Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Malaysian, etc. stores, markets and restaurants all along the street. Everything looked so good and I’m coming back to Houston over and over to try them all! We came across Viet Street Drinks & Snacks where we got the Tropical Green Tea drink. The Tropical Green Tea drink is a fresh fruit tea and had fruit pieces of strawberries, mangoes, pineapples, lychee, peaches, passion fruit, and jackfruit. The freshness of the fruit and drink was much needed after traveling all day and stuffing ourselves with ramen! They also sell Viet street foods there, but the kitchen was closed when we got there. I’ll definitely want to head back to try those. There were snacks that I have never heard of!

I was so in awe of the wall murals at Ninja Matcha that I forgot to take a picture of our ice cream. Ninja Matcha is also located in Houston’s Asian Town by a whole bunch of other food places and markets. There we shared one of their house made Green Matcha Ice Cream cone (with 38% matcha powder). If you have ever had matcha, you know that it can taste pretty bitter. I would say I would not go more than 38%, that was a little more than enough for me, but it was still very enjoyable to eat! They had cool matcha sundaes that were huge and filled with different toppings. If we weren’t so full already, I would have dug into one of those bad boys. If you like matcha, this is the place for you!

Yes, we stuffed ourselves as much as we could on the first day because we ended our night with some tacos from a food truck by our Airbnb called Taco Arcelia. We tried their carnes and pollo tacos. I’ve had my fair share of tacos, but I would have to say that Taco Arcelia has THE BEST tacos ever. They didn’t add any fancy unique toppings, it had the usual toppings like the protein, onions, cilantro with squeezed lime and your choice of salsa, but maaaaaaaan. It was incredible. There’s actually a lot of different taco food trucks that are all around Houston and they are AUTHENTIC not American catered. Most of these taco trucks are open all day and late at night, honestly what gets better than that?

DAY TWO IN HOUSTON
When it comes to me, there’s no such things as breakfast foods, anything can be eaten for breakfast. I will eat a steak or pizza for breakfast, it doesn’t matter as long as I feel full after!

With that being said, we started our day off at Lúa Viet Kitchen. I’m a *little* bias, but Vietnamese food for the win always. I originally wanted to visit Houston for their Vietnamese food because I heard it was really good and Lúa Viet Kitchen proved that. We ordered the Gỏi Cuốn also known as Summer Spring Rolls with the lemongrass pork, Bò Lúc Lắc also known as Shaking Beef, and Phở Bò or their Lúa Beef Soup. I am guilty of always ordering Phở at Vietnamese restaurants, so I got Bò Lúc Lắc instead. I’m not bashing the dish in any way, but the Phở Bò was the best dish. Honestly, #2 best pho that I’ve ever had in my life. (Sorry, but nothing beats my mom’s homemade pho)

Gỏi Cuốn (Summer Spring Rolls)
Tofu or tiger shrimp or Compart Duroc lemongrass grilled pork, sunbutter hoisin dipping sauce

Bò Lúc Lắc (Shaking Beef)
seared USDA tenderloin beef, watercress salad mix, bell pepper, onion, garlic confit, jasmine rice, scallion oil

Phở Bò (Lúa Beef Soup)
44 Farms Premium Angus beef (medium rare), rice noodle, bean sprouts, cilantro, Thai basil, rice paddy herb, scallion, jalapeno, lime substitute Admiral’s jumbo shrimps

We drove around the area and found a street with tons of other food places and some cool stores and stumbled upon another taco food truck called Tacos Mi Pueblito. The temptation was real and hello steak tacos! These tacos weren’t as flavorful as Taco Arcelia, but they still hit the spot.

Right down the street was this outrageous looking place called Present Company. From street view all you could see was this two story building that was purple and other colors with a huge disco ball shining, when you go inside, they have neon signs everywhere, some awesome halloween decor and very vibrant wallpaper. Even though we just ate and snacked, we had to try to it out! You do have to be 21+ to enter and you can sit outdoors on both floors or indoors.

I was sad that we came across Present Company because they had some really good looking alcoholic drinks, but cause of medical reasons I couldn’t have any the whole trip, so I had to order a mocktail of their Stranger Danger drink. It was still good, but it definitely would have been better with some vodka. My boyfriend ordered a Blackberry Mimosa and a Breakfast Brisket Taco. I didn’t sample his food because I was still full from the first two places, but he really enjoyed the Breakfast Brisket Taco. I would love to come back to see how it is at night. They already had a live dj in the morning, so I’m sure they get pretty popular during bar hours.

Stranger Danger (with alcohol)
watermelon vodka, lime juice, honeysuckle liqueur, watermelon-kiwi la croix, topped with bubbles

Breakfast Brisket Taco
scrambled eggs, slow cooked brisket, onions, cilantro, monterey jack cheese served in a flour tortilla

I’m sure everyone has heard of Voodoo Doughnuts already, so I won’t go into too much details, but they are a must have! We had some when we visited Orlando, Florida and had to get more doughy goodness in Houston. For those who don’t know Voodoo Doughnuts, they are known for their crazy, but creative doughnut creations and their pink boxes! We just got one doughnut to share and to stuff ourselves more with. It was the Viscous Hibiscus which is a raised ring doughnut with hibiscus frosting and black sprinkles. Personally it was a little too sweet for me, but still good. It was a one bite to a whole gulp of milk ratio.

After our day of exploring and eating, we came across Two Hands Corn Dogs, a place that sells Korean corndogs. They taste as good as they look and you can customize if you want cheese, hot or original sausage or both. From left to right it’s the Spicy Dog, Potato Dog, Two Hand Dog, and the Crispy Rice Dog. I don’t remember what ones had what fillings, but their spicy sausage is good and pretty spicy and the sausage cheese combo was the best. If only they mixed the cheese and spicy sausage together for the ultimate combo. I’ve been seeing Korean corndogs a lot more on social media and it makes me happy that foods from different countries are gaining popularity in the US! Just please don’t gentrify the dishes.

DAY THREE IN HOUSTON
With how much we ate the last two days, we still found ourselves eating good. I mean if you’re in Houston, you have to take advantage of all the food places that they have! Day three was no different.

Yes, we did get actual breakfast foods. I was still so full from the day before so I ordered the typical breakfast entree. We started the morning at Revival Market. My Revival Breakfast didn’t taste typical though. The sausage was packed with rich flavor. Revival Market makes their own sausages and you can tell they spent the time to perfect their recipe. Super fresh tasting too. The boyfriend ordered the Butcher’s Brunch Burger and he killed his food while I struggled to finish mine. I got into the fall spirit when I saw the Hot Caramel Apple Cider. The drink was super delicious and perfect for the chilly morning!

Revival Breakfast
2 yard eggs your way, bacon OR house-made sausage, breakfast potatoes OR fresh fruit

Butcher’s Brunch Burger
44 Farms beef, house blend & grind, cheddar, Revival bacon, Yonderway egg, LTOP, toasted bun with crispy potatoes

We couldn’t miss the opportunity of visiting The Rusty Crab by Kefi HTX. It’s a Spongebob Squarepants/Bikini Bottom themed pop up. (It ended on 10/31, but will be an anime pop up next) This pop up was pretty fun and they had cool props everywhere. Since we ate right before, we just grabbed some drinks to sip on while we enjoyed our time there! Both my boyfriend and I actually won first and second place with the painting competition haha. I got their non-alcoholic lemonade called The Invisible Boat Mobile (right) and my boyfriend got Pineapple Under the Sea.
Should I make another post of our time there?

BAO on BAO on BAO! I’ve never seen so many bao or dumpling places in a city before, so we had to stop by one. Thankfully there was one right by the Color Factory while we were waiting for our reservation time. Fat Bao has many, many different options to choose from and they all sounded so good. We ended up getting five different ones, the Spicy Thai, Bulgogi, Pork Belly, Katsu Pork, and Duck. I will have to vote that the Spicy Thai Bao was the best one, then it’s the Bulgogi Bao. The Bulgogi Bao definitely could have used some more kimchi on it though! Fat Bao also serves other foods like salads, tacos and plenty of appetizers!

The famous Lee’s Sandwiches. I only heard about the California locations, so when we saw the big building, you know what we did. I didn’t expect it to be so huge, they had a little market inside the building. The moment we got out of the car I felt like I was home. There were some of the adults outside smoking cigarettes and drinking Viet coffee while playing card games and the rest inside taking care of everything else. Vietnamese music playing and the voice calling out the order numbers was in Vietnamese too. Just relived my childhood all over again, it felt very comforting. I see why people love Lee’s Sandwiches. Their Bánh Mì‘s are so good and the portion size was perfect. You always have to try the house combo, so that’s what we got the #1 Lee’s Combination. I wrote a post before on different Bánh Mì places (click to read -> Food Alert: 3 States, 3 Bánh Mì.) Well now I can add Lee’s Sandwiches and put them at #1.

We tried to walk around the area after Lee’s to walk some food off for dinner, but we remembered there was a Harry Potter pop up cafe in the same area and went there. I know we’re fatties hahah. My friend Nia actually recommended this place because before the theme was Sailor Moon, but we missed the date for that. Popfancy Dessert Bar Fan Cafe is throwing The Broom Closet right now. We came a little late, so they ran out of their potion bottle glasses, but we were still able to get the Babbling Bevy Potion. The potion that causes and consist of uncontrollable speaking of nonsense, Butterfly Blossom Tonic Lemonade and Crystal Boba.

How did we do it? I honestly don’t know, but we went to Crawfish Cafe for dinner. My stomach will make room for seafood boil anytime of day. Crawfish Cafe was a recommendation from my friend Nou. Seafood boil was a must try for our trip. Seafood boils from the southern half of the US is 1000% better and tastier than the midwest. Plus you get your money’s worth because the seafood size is bigger. We ordered 2 lb head on shrimp, 1/2 lb crawfish, 1 lobster tail, 1 lb black mussel and 1 snow crab leg all in the signature sauce in medium spice. As you can see we got plenty of food for two people and yes we had some leftovers, but we actually ate most of it. It was good, but King Cajun Crawfish in Orlando, Florida still has my heart.

DAY FOUR IN HOUSTON
The last day of our trip and I’m still sad that we had to leave. So many good places that we ate at and so many more places we still have to go too! I made a list of places and we only went to 2 of them on the list, all the other places we found by just driving around.

Shabu Zone was our last meal in Houston, an all you can eat hotpot buffet. I’ve only seen others go to one, but I got to finally experience for myself. What did I think about it? Well why don’t these exists anywhere close to me?!?!? You order what broth and meats that you would like, the the noodles, veggies, seafood and sauces are all buffet style. Adults each get their own little personal bowl/hotpot on the table and you just go from there and cook everything! I love the huge selection of everything, so you can really make a different bowl every time. I was doing the happy food dance the whole time and jamming out to the music they played. I didn’t want to leave.

My Hotpot Creation
Broth: Tonkotsu soup (pork bone), Akaushi Wagyu Prime Chuck Eye, Akaushi Waygu Beef Belly, Lamb Leg, Shabu Zone Special Prime Rib, Shrimp, asian meatballs, enoki mushrooms, bokchoy, mussels, seafood meatballs, fish balls, green onions, mushrooms, squid, scallop, pork dumplings, and udon noodles with sweet garlic sauce, lemon, Sriracha and chili flakes.

There’s no way that we didn’t gain 100 pounds from our foodcation. Thankfully it was hot outside and the activities that we did in between eating consisted of a lot of walking. We had the chance to burn some calories off. I think my favorite vacations are foodcations, you get to spend time with those around you with a bonus of great tasting food. Eating itself is an experience. Now that we’re back in Wisconsin, I’ve been trying to eat as good and it’s not the same. I’m thinking of writing another blog of places we visited (non food related) soon, so watch for that coming in the next few blog posts. So where should I go next? What foods are waiting to get eaten next? Keep eating everyone!

Food Alert: Chicago, Illinois.

food, Food, FOOD!
Today’s food adventures are in the lovely city of Chicago! On the way to Wisconsin for my move a few weeks ago, the boyfriend and I decided to take some time to spend in Chicago to celebrate. There’s so many places that I’ve eaten at before that I can write about, but I’ll just start writing about the places I go to from now on. This definitely won’t be the only Chicago foodie blog since it’s so close to me and on my way back to both my homes. Let’s get into the food though!

What’s perfect about Chicago is that if you get a hotel downtown, you can walk to pretty much anywhere and you have so many different options to choose from. What’s a celebration without some BBQ though? We were able to walk over to Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ and it was so worth it. I would have taken more photos and videos, but I was so busy stuffing my face and cooking the meats! My boyfriend and I ordered the Chef’s Favorite to share since it serves 2 people and would be a better price than ordering individually with one side order of their Spicy Shrimp marinated in a spicy jalapeño miso.

The Chef’s Favorite came with so much food. We for sure had leftovers, but you really get everything besides ramen and dessert which was totally fine with us. Everything was yummy though and I don’t think there was anything that I didn’t like. I do have to say that even the broccoli with cheese hit the spot. Get ready for your mouth to water cause sheeeeeeeeeeh, here we go. The Chef’s Favorite includes:

STARTERS
Miso Soup ×2
Beef Sukiyaki Bibimbap
Gyu- Sushi 4 pcs
Napa Kimchi
Gyu-Kaku Salad

BBQ ITEMS
Prime Kalbi Short Rib – (Sweet Soy Tare Marinade)
Harami Skirt Steak – (Miso Marinade)
Filet Mignon – (Salt & Pepper Marinade)
Umakara Ribeye
Garlic Shio Cabbage
Pork Belly – (Shio Marinade)
Shrimp Garlic
Broccoli w/ Cheese

The price of all that food is also pretty affordable, $80. PLUS, it’s not all you can eat, so you can take all the leftovers home without a fee or problem. My top 5 favorite items from all of that was the Beef Sukiyaki Bibimbap, Napa Kimchi, Prime Kalbi Short Rib, Shrimp Garlic, and Harami Skirt Steak. 10/10 would recommend to others and come back. Plus Gyu-Kaku has a pretty good Lychee Lemonade drink.

The next day we walked to RAMEN-SAN, the River North location for lunch. The place was small, but the food did not disappoint and they had the cutest and coolest wall decor and figurines everywhere. They played good hip-hop music, it was great! For appetizer, we ordered the Pork Belly Mantou Buns, which had a really nice crisp on the pork belly. Then both my boyfriend and I got the Sumo Ramen. Super good, but if you have leftovers make sure to refrigerate it ASAP or the broth will go very bad. I learned that the hard way lol.

Pork Belly Mantou Buns
Spicy mayo, kimchi, cucumber, crispy pork belly, tobanjan mayo and spicy pickles on a steamed bun

Sumo Ramen
Chashu, xo wontons, spicy crushed egg, a fully loaded ramen with pork broth, extra tokyo wavy noodles, green onion, 4 XO shrimp & pork dumplings, spicy bean sprouts, chashu pork, buttered corn, wakame seaweed, bamboo shoots, spicy crushed egg, fried garlic and sesame

I think one of my goals is to try out every ramen place there is in Chicago. I’ve tried about 4 of them now and not once have I been disappointed, RAMEN-SAN included. How does it feel to have so many good food places around you??

I got this cute little drink from Te’Amo Boba Bar. I’ve never seen a memo bottle before, so me being extra af decided to get one instead of the original cup. Definitely my aesthetic. The drink I got is called Te’amo O2. It has a floral rose and vanilla lemonade, sparkling water, crystal boba and strawberry jelly, topped with butterfly pea tea. Then if you stir it up the drink is suppose to change into a cute different color, but the water bottle did not allow use to do that. It was still very good though! I just would suggest getting this drink in a regular cup to have ice to water down the drink a little, it was a little sour to me at first.

I cannot wait for my next food adventure in Chicago. There’s so many more places to try and I keep hearing about new food places that just opened up. I really need to train myself to have a bigger appetite! Must be so blessed to have so many options like that. Like I said this is the first of many Food Alerts: Chicago blogs. Comment any places to try out below!
Until next time, STAY HUNGRY!

SALLY ♡ T

Food Alert: Miami, Florida

food, Food, FOOD! I really wish I could eat more, so we could’ve gone to more food places in Miami! Everything looked cool and super yummy. There’s definitely going to be future trips to Miami to try all the other spots that I had on my list. Until then, enjoy these places! As I’m typing this post, I realized that we actually went to a lot of places, so this is a longer food post hehe.

The first restaurant that we went to was located in the Lincoln Road Mall called La Cerveceria De Barrio. Coming from the snowy and cold midwest, dining outside surrounded by palm trees was just what we needed. We took advantage of outdoor seating the whole trip. I don’t remember exactly what we got to eat, but the food was pretty good. I do remember the drink though haha. I ordered a lychee margarita and it was a very interesting mix. I’m not really sure if I like lychee flavor mixed with tequila though, I don’t really drink too much tequila to begin with. The drink smelled really good and I definitely felt a buzz from the drink.

On our walk back, we decided to grab some dessert from Icy-N-Spicy. Go check out their instagram when you have the chance, they have super fun and big desserts! I don’t remember the last time I had that much sugar in one sitting. We got the cotton candy + 2 scoops + 1 topping combo. The two flavors that we got for the ice cream was cookie monster and banana dulce leche with ferrero rochers chocolate as the topping. Both ice cream flavors were super good, but my favorite was the banana dulce leche. We didn’t have the option of picking our own flavored cones, but they had some pretty cool flavors like matcha and red velvet. This will be on my list of places to go back too, soooo many more desserts to try from them!

The first morning in Miami, our airbnb host recommended Pura Vida. It was super close and walking distance, so we decided to give it a try. We ordered the Blue Majik acai bowl with an Immune Booster juice shots. Our bowl consisted of blue spirulina blended with passionfruit, banana, pineapple, almond milk, chia seed, topped with vegan granola, shaved coconut and blueberries. We also picked up a fresh coconut to drink from! Smoothie/acai bowls are always so yummy and I really enjoy the taste of immune booster shots. It’s both fruity and spicy, plus it gives me that feeling of me actually taking care and doing something good for my body.

Now my FAVORITE dining experience ever. I booked a table for us at Gianni’s at the Former Versace Mansion, the Villa Casa Casuarina. I can’t even explain how exciting that was for me. I would have never thought that I would be dining in a mansion, let alone Gianni Versace’s mansion. One day, I’ll be able to afford to book a suite there and experience the rest of the mansion. It is a beautiful house and there’s so much details in the design and architecture everywhere. Our table was right by the pool outside and you didn’t even notice or hear any noise from anything beyond the walls, you literally just forget that you’re at South Beach Miami and in this other world.

So for our appetizers, we got the Gianni’s Salad and the Kobe Beef Carpaccio. The Kobe Beef was very tender and so easy to pull apart, the salad was perfect and light with the lemon dressing. For the main entree, we ordered the Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli and the Chicken Scallopini. Both entrees were delicious and then for dessert we both got the Sorbet. Now the sorbet was my favorite dish, the flavor was a creamy coconut. Probably the best coconut ice cream or sorbet that I have ever had. I would eat it all day if I could. For drinks, I ordered Versace Nero D’Avola IGT, a red wine and my boyfriend got the Coco Casuarina cocktail. Another great coconut food item we had on the trip! I would definitely go back to Gianni’s to try the rest of the food and just for the atmosphere itself.
Keep in mind that it was fine dining, so portions are small. I don’t eat much, so it was the perfect amount for me haha.

You thought I was done? Nope there’s still a few more places to go! So we ate pretty good the day of the mansion, summer bodies were not in mind at all because we went to Cajun Boil for dinner. The size of the seafood in Florida will always beat the midwest, it’s a must to get seafood in a bag when down south! We had our first seafood boil together in Orlando back in 2019 and have tried every place we could find ever since then and nothing beats the quality in Florida. I would say Cajun Boil is my second favorite place so far. (King Cajun Crawfish Orlando will forever be my favorite.) This place was pretty good, so we actually had dinner here again the next day LOL.

So between the two dinners that we had here, the flavor and spice levels were pretty inconsistent. On the first day, it was so flavorful and we ordered a medium spice level that had our nose running as we ate, but the second day it wasn’t as flavorful and we ordered a level up ‘spicy‘ and that wasn’t even as spicy as the day before. It was still good though, don’t get me wrong. The sauce wasn’t just all butter and oil, it was an actual sauce called the ultimate sauce. The first day we got combo #6 including 1/2 Lb shrimp & 1 Lb clam & 1/2 lb snow crab & 1 lobster tail. The table next to us ordered the pound of Alaskan Snow Crab, so the second day we ordered that with a combo #2 including 1 lb Crawfish & 1 lb Shrimp & 1 Fresh Maine Lobster.

After seafood, we decided to walk on Ocean Drive again for dessert and drinks to end the night. I’ve always seen things on social media about those nitro dragon breath bite things and there a spot called Nitro Dragons, so we grabbed some to try. To be pretty honest, I was pretty disappointed in it. First, I thought it would be more like ice cream bites or like crunchy flavored ice things, but they’re more like cheese balls that taste like captain crunch and they taste stale once they stop steaming. I would say overrated, first and last time eating those.

We went over to Sugar Factory for drinks and a small french fries snack. Of course we had to get their popular 60 oz. glass bowl. On my 21st birthday, I had a big bowl to myself, finished only half of it and had to take a fat midday nap because I was so drunk, so I wanted to share one this time just incase I wouldn’t be able to walk back to our place. My alcohol tolerance is so much higher now though, I’m sure I can handle a whole bowl to myself this time. The flavor that we got was The Watermelon Patch and fun fact: the Watermelon Patch was actually designed by Pitbull. So thank you Pitbull for that!
(We also grabbed a slice of pizza on the walk back and fell into a deep food coma sleep)

Our last full day in Miami was an adventure day, so for lunch we grabbed a quick slice of pizza and hotdogs from places we passed walking around in Wynwood. After our activities, we got some Taiyaki Ice Cream from Taiyaki NYC located inside 1-800 LUCKY. If we weren’t so full from the day before and saving room for another seafood boil dinner, I would’ve tried the ramen or other asian foods from the other restaurants located there too! It was such a vibe there, I could’ve stayed there all day and just ate listening to the music. Imagine a beer garden with asian influence. It’s a place that we’ll definitely go back to try out. We got the Cafe Con Leche and the Matcha Made in Heaven Taiyaki flavors.

Just writing and looking at all the pictures again made my mouth just water. So much good food and that wasn’t even all the places that I wanted to try! Most of the time I find food places through instagram, but this time I literally just googled best _____ in Miami and found tons of options. It’s honestly the best part about planning and going on trips, the food! Expect another food blog post from Miami with new locations later on, until then I’m going to train to eat more. HAHA. Should I make a post about where we visited in Miami? Let me know! Stay safe everyone and warm if you’re in a snowy winter season like me! xoxo ♡

SALLY ♡ T

The Happy of 2020: Part Two.

I’m not feeling too happy right now, so maybe this will help me. Let’s get on with it before the year ends. Part two, The Happy.

I went to Florida. I know it’s a pandemic and I also kind of hate myself for traveling too. Just know that I made sure that I did what I could to protect myself and others when I did leave and come back. I really didn’t have too much time to take for myself, nor could I take off until my job closed for a little, so I took full advantage of it. Was it the smartest? Probably not. Anyways that trip was a fun get away from life trip for me. It sparked something in me that felt like I was losing. You find a little bit of yourself everywhere you explore.

This specific Sunday. There was this one Sunday funday that my two friends and I had around the town and we did everything that we could do downtown. Even though we talked about how men are trash the whole day, I had so much fun with them. Knowing that I could be that person for them is everything. I value my friendships so much. It started off with a brunch, then to one of my favorite rooftop bars. A rooftop bar in October, where the weather was almost too perfect for that time of year. After the rooftop, we went to our local candle making shop and then going to get food again after. We went to the cutest spots. I have the cutest friends. I really love them and this year has taken away a lot of experiences that I would’ve had with them. (Sorry, suppose to be happy, lol.) I LOVE MY MOTHER FUCKING FRIENDS. PERIODT.

All I’m going to say about this next one is my Mr. Sweetface. He has been a huge happy part of my year.

All holiday celebrations. The holidays are a little hard for me and my situation, but even during a pandemic things worked out. I’m blessed to be surrounded by such loving people that know how to celebrate. I’m very blessed to be spending tonight with people that I know will be the closest to me for the rest of my life. Without these people I don’t know where I would be. I’m going to cry tonight, I know it. I can just feel it. About the good and bad, but I know they’ll make me forget about it all and help bring love and laughter into the New Year with me.

I know I was a little negative in this ones, but you get the point haha. There’s just some things you can’t do anything about, so you just have to accept it and try to just let it go. Just make sure to surround yourself with love and loved ones tonight, you at least deserve that. We’re going to all be okay. Happy New Years Eve and a Happy New Year!

SALLY ♡ T 

A Guide + Tips on Traveling During the Pandemic.

Hello, I’ve gotten asked a lot of questions about travel during this pandemic time, so here’s everything that I’ve experienced so far from using rideshares to air travels. Hope this helps with any questions or nerves that you may have!
Disclaimer: I do want to say that I am just sharing my experiences with traveling and that I’m not promoting or against anyone who decided traveling during this time is not for them. It’s really up to you and if you feel comfortable enough to travel right now, but if you really need too that this will be a nice guide for you. Thanks!

Rideshares/Ubers/Lyfts/Rentals:
All of these vehicles transportations are pretty much the same as before with the additional rule of wearing your mask the whole ride. All my drivers wear their mask as well. My concern is how the drivers clean or disinfect the car in between rides or if the drivers even follow through with it. I do always carry hand sanitizer with me and sanitize my hands before getting into the car and after getting out. Rental cars on the other hand, are definitely sanitized between customers. It’s just up to you if you want to wipe it down again with disinfectant. You definitely want to keep wipes or sanitizer in the car for when you pump gas or just need to clean a spill.

Hotels & Airbnbs:
Hotels – Every hotel has a different policy right now with their early and late check-in and check-out. Some need you tell notify them before you arrive for check-in and some you can just tell them once you check-in. Some just require an early notification so they can have time for the extra cleaning and disinfecting before the next guest. You do have to wear your mask whenever you are outside of your room and some hotels will check your temperature every time you enter. The elevators are also limited capacity, mainly one family per ride or up to two people if not in the same room. The elevators are not regulated by staff, you choose. Breakfast services that I’ve seen so far have been you order it and they bring it to your room for you or its still set up buffet style, but a staff member will grab the item for you. Some hotel restaurants/bar are closed, take out or available for dining in, depends on the state you are in and how open they are currently. Pools, gyms, and business centers are available in certain states as well. I would just ask the front desk before hand!

Airbnbs – There are plenty of airbnbs that are available. Before booking one, I would suggest messaging the host and ask if that specific airbnb is available for booking and and if there are certain restrictions. Especially for the ones where it’s part of a resort. The resort might have their own policy or rules. Once you get that information, then feel free to book! I know recently airbnb has sent out an email to all their guest stating that parties or people outside of the reservations are not allowed to come to the airbnb, which I can understand, but also up to your discretion on that. You didn’t read that from me though. A lot of the airbnb host hire an outside business to deep clean the place before the next guest, so they are very clean, but that also means that the fees are higher and airbnbs are more expensive right now. Airbnb has an option for you to rent certain places for a period of months instead of days, if whatever situation like that comes up for you. Please note that some host will ask you what you are renting the place for and if it seems like it’s not going to comply with social distancing, then they have the right to reject you.

Air Travel:
Flying during this time, for me, has not been a bad experience either. I do get a little nervous when I get a flight that is completely booked through vs. a flight where they leave at least 1 seat empty in each row. I’ve been on both and it really depends on what airline you choose to fly with. You do have to wear your mask the whole entire time at the airport and on the plane ride with the exception of actively eating. Any kids over the age of 2 must wear a mask as well. If that is something that you do not like, I would suggest not to fly at all then. The airlines are suppose to be cleaning extra in between flights, but I’ve seen some crumbs left on the seat still. My tip would be to bring your own hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. Before you sit down you can quickly wipe your chair and the area around you before settling in. Most travelers suggested this even before covid has happened anyways. Some airlines are still serving their snacks and drinks on board, some have stopped it to minimize the traffic in the aisle, so packing snacks or buying snacks before is the best way to go. Some airlines will also include one small sanitizing wipe as well with their complimentary snacks if available. You can find most of this information of the airlines website or if you contact them. Through out the airport all lines will have signs up on on the floors on where to stand to keep the 6ft social distancing. Lines might seems long, but it’s just the space in between parties. I would still suggest getting to the airport two hours early like any other times. You just never know if it’s busy or not! You also get your temperature checked before boarding onto your flight and if it’s over 100.8 degrees fahrenheit they will ask you to sit back down and have you come up at the last call to see if that calmed your body temperature or not. If it continues to stay the same, I believe you will not be allowed on.

I hope that gave you some insight on how things are working now! Just always have multiple mask with you, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes! You can’t always rely on 100% cleanliness from others and it’s better to be safe than sorry. If you do decide to travel, REMEMBER to be kind to everyone and protect yourself as well as protect others! Also follow those social distancing rules and try not to touch rails around you and if you do sanitize or wash your hands! 20 seconds please!! Be safe now!

SALLY ♡ T