Travel Tuesday: Raglan, New Zealand

In the months leading up to our trip, my mom introduced me to a photographer, local to the Auckland area. Roger helped me focus and narrow down our destinations to a more realistic itinerary. 

The day we arrived, Roger was a saint and met us at the airport on Waitangi day before 6am. He drove us around Auckland showing us a few sights and helped us re-adjust to driving on the left side of the road. 

He treated us with a bag of New Zealand goodies including Pineapple Lumps, Whittaker's chocolate, Jaffas, and some sort of carbonated apple/orange soda. We polished off the entire bag of Pineapple Lumps in less than a day! 

On our drive from Auckland to Raglan, we tried Tip Top ice cream in Pokeno. They had some crazy flavors: orange chocolate chip, candy floss, tiger time, and hokey pokey. I decided I didn’t like hokey pokey (tiny balls of honeycomb toffee), but I did love the amount of scoops they offered - 12 scoops for $14 NZD. 

Thrift shops are called “opportunity shops” in New Zealand. I just love this spin on thrifting. It definitely is an opportunity for a great deal.

Ansgar describes Raglan as your favorite surf shop that exploded into a town.  When asked if they have sharks, an employee replied “we have heaps of sharks.” Gotta love the kiwi phrases. 

Ansgar went surfing at Manu bay where they have the longest left wave. Raglan is well known as a great place for surfing goofy. It was less of a tourist stop and much more a surfing requirement, as it was featured in the movie The Endless Summer. 

We had to try the real fruit ice cream (they're really into this in New Zealand). They made it each order with a funnel cone that held the frozen yogurt with a screw auger that forces it through. The end result looked like soft serve ice cream with fruit speckles.

On our way out of Raglan we drove to see Bridalveil falls. The height of the falls and vegetation were jaw dropping beautiful. Although the hike down to the base was only 10 minutes, I managed to get sunburned on my chest. It's a light burn but a valuable reminder to lather up, even for a quick walk. 

Location Scouting

Hello! I’ve decided it is time to freshen up this space of mine. I have plenty of travel adventures to share and oodles of photos. I'll share the occasional photo tips and resources too!

While most spring breakers were heading to a tropical location, I spent 10 hours driving in a torrential downpour to Death Valley. The storm continued throughout most of my 3 day visit. 

 

It was then I realized my love for travel/landscape photography. An excuse to travel to beautiful destinations, photograph them during the best lighting and then napping midday when the lighting isn't ideal. ;)

When I returned from Death Valley, I shared my photos proudly with my classmates. In the next few years, two of my closest film friends made the trek to Death Valley and shot footage for their feature length films. I like to think it was because I inspired them with my images. While sitting in the theater, watching their films on the big screen, I realized that I wanted to be a location scout for film makers. Doesn’t that sound glorious? 

Fast forward nearly 10 years and I’ve changed my scope to inspire friends, family, and future friends to experience destinations by sharing photos on social media in hopes that someday, they too will make memories of their own at some of these destinations. 

Be sure to check back next week for the beginning of my New Zealand series. Hope you have are having a lovely Wednesday!  

My Top 10 Countries

I'm getting the itch to hop on a plane again. Of course I want to go back to Italy, New Zealand, Australia, and Germany to explore more of the country and make friends with the locals.

I dream of traveling to these top ten places:

1. Thailand
2. Costa Rica
3. Spain
4. Brazil
5. Portugal
6. India
7. Norway
8. Greece
9. Iceland
10. Austria

Where is your next dream destination?

Greetings from Kauai!

I've been on the island of Kauai for two nights. I had the pleasure of spending two weeks here in 2003. The weather is wonderful and the nature is stunning. Yesterday I went swimming at Haena Beach and stumbled upon a school of sea turtles. The best part was that it was completely unplanned and not many people were around! I will be relaxing in Hawaii for 9 days and I'm enjoying every moment of it.

Since I love making lists I thought I'd share my hopes for this adventure:

• Catch a wave
• Kayak down the Wailua River
• Visit glass beach
• Jump into Queens Bath
• Swim with the fish (sea turtles too)
• Take a helicopter ride 
• Read on the beach
• Shower outside
• Nap
• Hike on the Na Pali Coast
• Get lost on purpose
• Make a new friend
• Journal daily
• Eat something new
• Eat where the locals eat
• Get shave ice
• Try night photography on the island (not much light pollution at night). 
• Pass the camera so I get photos of me too!

I took 400+ photos in just a matter of 3 hours yesterday! I will be posting photos when I return so keep your eyes peeled. The fruit is amazing here!

Puerto Rico

Traveling to Puerto Rico in March was such an adventure! My friend Terra had a beautiful destination wedding. I ran through the airport like a crazy tourist in search of a postcard and stamp so I could continue on my tradition. Any time I have a layover I send my parents a postcard from the airport I'm stopped in. 

I arrived to the Fort San Cristobal just before they closed. The timing was perfect because the sun was setting and the lighting was gorgeous! 

I walked along the path towards the other fort, Fort San Felipe del Morro. I had a travel book with a mini map so I wasn't completely lost-until I tried meeting up with Terra's fiancee Kevin. This is a view looking back towards Fort San Cristobal.

Isn't this side street beautiful?

After getting directions, I connected with Kevin and his family. I felt like part of the family within moments of meeting them all. Terra joined us and took me back to their apartment. I was thrilled to see it since they were renting from a local. She is beautiful.

Terra sent me a photo from her bedroom a few days before I left on my trip. I admired the lighting and the contrast of the dark wood against the light linens.

I enjoyed how open the apartment was. I had fun playing with the echo from the rooms upstairs.

Nightlife in San Juan is beautiful!

The El Yunque Rainforest was lush and humid. The hike on La Mina Trail was picturesque and heavenly. I especially liked looking up at the canopy.

I feel that this photo sums up everything I dreamt my trip would look like:

Our guide took us to a lookout point and to another waterfall for photo opportunities. One of the Italian tourists convinced me to climb up a bunch of rocks to pose for a photo.

I joined my new friends John & Samera for lunch and a stroll along Luquillo Beach.

The 3 of us said goodbye to the rest of our group and another guide picked us up for the evening excursion. After signing a waiver, an attractive local helped me into a life jacket and then trained the large group how to properly row a double kayak in the ocean. I was told I would be paired with one of the young guides and I was oh so happy!

There were several groups kayaking into Laguna Grande the bioluminescent bay of Fajardo. I was paired with the leader of our group who entertained me with a Spanish lesson and some Puerto Rican slang thrown in. I got a little spooked when we were the first going through the channel that was completely covered with a mangrove canopy. When we arrived at the bay I was completely speechless.

That night, it was clear, quiet, and there was a full moon. Once all the kayaks arrived we were shown the special feature of the bay.

The bio-luminescent microscopic algae lit up the water as my hands dipped quickly into the water. I was surprised when one of the guides tapped the kayak and shrimp lit up. The dinoflagellates convert chemical energy into light and emit tiny blue flashes when the water is  disturbed.

Sadly, I don’t have any photos from my excursion because I did not have the proper water housing for underwater photography. Photos that people did capture at bio luminescent bay can be seen here.

On Friday, my friend Sally met me at Fort San Felipe del Morro. I showed Sally some tips on photography while we walked around the fort and enjoyed the sun.

The great thing about making friends along the way when traveling on your own: great company and photos of you on your trip!

Sally and I grabbed some local food at a restaurant nearby. Mashed plantains are the best!

The Cathedral de San Juan was a beautiful location to have the ceremony. 

They made great use of the brightly painted buildings. Terra was a beautiful bride. 

The reception was held at Hotel El Covento. The entrance into the reception was decorated very elegantly. Terra had the cutest table place cards: suckers that were shaped like X’s and O’s. 

I think it greatly benefited Terra that she is a wedding photographer. The decorations and details were magical. Walking into the reception was quite the experience.

It was one of the lightest, fluffiest cakes. I went back for seconds, not caring if anyone noticed. I doubt this is shocking to Terra.  

The night blew by so quickly with the wonderful food, music, and dancing. Terra’s day was perfect!

Only having a short time left, I opted to go to a nearby beach. I hadn’t planned on going to the beach so I was in shorts instead of a swimsuit. That didn’t stop me for looking for sea glass in water up to my waist! Check out flickr for more photos.

Disneyland!

Where have I been this past week? I've been spending my evenings watching the Olympics instead of editing photos. I've found myself baking cupcakes, making Jello, and pancakes in the kitchen lately too. Weird things are going on! ;)

I'm ready to share my trip to Disneyland from 4 weeks ago. And boy did I have fun!

I got the sweetest call from Nathalie when I arrived in Anaheim. We had plans to get a drink but we were both totally starving. We walked to Downtown Disney and had dinner in a fun restaurant, Ralph Brannan's Jazz Kitchen. I laughed so hard and really enjoyed her company. I was completely surprised that she wasn't falling asleep at the table with jet lag. We did take a few photos while walking to and from dinner. To learn how to take night photos, check out my post here.
Saturday night, after Dan & Zena arrived, we headed out to Downtown Disney. This is definitely a great place that is within walking distance to find night life and a decent meal. I think Zena was most impressed with the Lego Store and its crazy cool designs.

One of the girls at the convention told me to check out the Storyteller's Cafe, so that's just what we did! It was really cute and we got some tasty drinks. Zena got a changing LED acrylic ice cube in her drink and she was thrilled!

I loved the silhouettes all over the place and couldn't help but think of how much my mom would love all of the copper!
I took lots more photos of the lit up trees on our way back to the hotel. I love this one because of the shadows on the sidewalk.
We woke up pretty early on Sunday morning due to Disneyland excitement. Zena hadn't been since 1971-ish. We scarfed down some mediocre hotel breakfast before walking around the corner and down the street to the happiest place on earth!

We started out in Tommorrowland to grab fast passes at Space Mountain, then head over to Star Tours. I was dying to take Zena on Indiana Jones so we went there next. I love to scream on that ride. Or laugh really hard depending on my mood. :)

For a change in pace, we went on the Jungle Cruise. I love riding it with Jenna because we laugh so hard at the corniest parts ever. We did manage to get one of the really good guy who ad libs and surprised us with some extra fun stuff. Instead of making shooting arrow sounds as we passed by the natives, he made automatic machinery noises! The little things in life make me silliest. Speaking of silly, we loved the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride! It was easy to convince Zena that she had to go on it. Both she and Dan were hooked. It was my goal to get a photo with Pocahontas and I was thrilled to walk right by her in Frontierland. I was definitely the tallest person taking a photo with her. She had a rehearsed monologue about "being honored to take a photograph with a princess with such a beautiful smile." And yes, she posed me for the photo! Photo by Dan Corcoran.
Dan snapped a photo of me in Toon Town. My sister and I have a photo of us doing a similar pose from way back in the day!I could help taking a photo of the sign in front of the camera shop!
Sunday was definitely Disneyland boot camp. I ran us all over the theme park for nearly twelve hours! We stayed for the firework show and enjoyed ice cream too. Isn't Main Street beautiful? Monday night we revisited Downtown Disney and chose to have dinner at the Italian restaurant Naples. I was thoroughly exhausted from CHA that day, so the mood lighting and comfy booth had me oh so close to napping right there in the restaurant. The talented balloon girl kept us entertained while designing (for kids) surfing penguins and monkey's holding onto bananas. My favorite part was my lemoncello martini. Have I mentioned how much I love sugar? YUM!

We hopped on a plane on Tuesday and were back to the San Francisco Bay area. Dan's already asking when we are going again. I certainly wouldn't mind visiting again!

Check my flickr account for more photos from my trip to Disneyland!

Winter CHA 2010

I've got photos to share from my time spent at the Craft & Hobby Association Convention! Suzy West of My Little Shoebox was so kind to have me join in the fun. A big thanks to Helen, Suzy, and the talented Design Team!

Day One: The Setup

I was expecting an early morning wake up, followed by lots of hard labor. I was very lucky to start at 10am. With eight women, we were able to set up in just a few hours of work, with lots of goofiness thrown in for good measure. Pattie & I were given curtain duty due to our height. I now boast curtain hanging capabilities in my resume. ;) I have not been to CHA from the Exhibitor side and it was a different experience.

Helen had our lunch brought to us and it was delish! The spread included several types of salads, chicken, beef, and pizza. I assumed we would have to fend for ourselves and consume the grotesque convention food. We were happy to avoid it on Saturday.

The ladies working on the displays:

Pattie Beltrain, Erin Yamabe, and I at the finished booth (Photo by Suzy West):Erin & Helen (owner& designer of MLS) at the end of a very productive day:

We did roam around on our lunch break to see what the other creative companies were doing. It was really different to see everyone setting up before hand.

Once we finished up, I rushed over to the CHA Craft SuperShow. Dan & Zena had arrived at this point so I walked quickly through the 6 rows of products. I did get a few glimpses of the new American Crafts stuff at one booth. I was completely shocked to see they already had it for sale. I picked up my very first Maya Mist-sunflower yellow and my very coveted Fiskars Apron lace border punch. I have been looking for that one for months!

Day Two: CHA!
I met Kelly and some of the talented ladies from Scrap Gal on Monday morning. It was so great to see Chez. Unfortunately, I didn't spent much time hanging out with them. Kelly & I broke off from the group to do the make & take rounds.

Kelly is so awesome, she knew that Hambly's make n take was #1 on my list. Allison had a big group of people around her making beautiful altered bangles. I layered the white & then the turquoise Doily rub ons. To seal it, they supplied Diamond Glaze from Judi Kins. While they were drying, we looked around their beautiful booth.

I'm in love with their new releases and can't wait to get them!
Layouts by Dina Wakley:
Don't you just adore all of the doilies? Some great examples using their product:
One of my highlights of the day was when Rose & the rest of Hambly realized that I almost didn't get to come, they asked why I didn't call them! The Hambly family is the sweetest. I adore the calendar I got:
We waited in line for kits at Teresa Collins & My Little Bicycle as well. After that, we stopped by the myStamp Box booth to visit Nathalie and see the new designs. Photo by Kelly Feldman.Nathalie showing some beautiful artwork she created:
I met the owner Bettina and she has started this sweet idea called The Creative Sisterhood of the Traveling Stamp Box. The idea is to pass along the stamps to another person once you have used them on a project of your own. Nathalie gave me the cute No Place Like Home stamp set for me to pass along. Keep your eyes open for that in the coming month or so!We ran into Suzy as we were walking a round and she told us that we had to check out this new company, Punky Sprouts. Their stuff seems pretty cool. They do mixed albums with acrylic, chipboard, and canvas pages. I hope they do well since its such a fun idea!

One of the lines I was most excited about to see this release was Dear Lizzy that Elizabeth Kartchner designed for American Crafts. Although I don't have a kid, I think this product line can be rocked in many other ways. I was super excited to meet Amy Tan(gerine). Photo by Kelly Feldman.
They even had a pink bike at the booth (propped up against the wall behind them).
I worked at the My Little Shoebox booth in the afternoon with so many great people.We took a lot of photo and had great quick convos between customers. Robyn Weatherspoon is such a ray of sunshine. She made me giggle constantly. Photo by Heather Brown.
I felt like I had known Heather Brown for years after just meeting her for a few hours. She is the sweetest and has the cutest kids to scrapbook! Photo by Robyn Weatherspoon.

And the end of a long, but wonderful day (photo by Norma):

I ran around the last 15 minutes of the show to see Cosmo Cricket, Maya Road, and Tattered Angels. Nathalie told me she would be teaching but I was disappointed to find that she wasn't, that Heidi Swapp was there. I was about to keep looking for Nat when I saw her sitting next to Heidi. I spent my remaining time watching Nathalie demo and have a great understanding of more cool things that you can go with the Glimmer Mist line. I'm super excited about their chalkboard release!

Since I was there with an exhibitor and I was traveling light, I didn't pick up a whole lot of free stuff. Here is a picture of the stuff I did grab while at the show:Kristi has some great photos from when she went to the show on Sunday. Be sure to check out many more details and examples here. I'll be back later this week with my top faves and pictures from Disneyland!