Category Archives: Uncategorized

Itinerary: 4 Days in Los Angeles

Itinerary: 4 Days in Los Angeles

Hi everyone and welcome to Travel Tuesday! I’m Christine and I blog over at A Keane Sense of Adventure (http://www.akeanesenseofadventure.com/). I was born and raised in Texas and I blog about travel, photography and some lifestyle mixed in, so hop on over and say hi! You can also find me on Instagram and Twitter (both at @christinekeane) and I just started using Snapchat (username: akeanekense)!

Earlier this year, I spent a long weekend in Los Angeles visiting a college friend. I could only get away from Friday to Monday but I can honestly say we made the most of our time in The City of Angels. LA is the perfect (long) weekend getaway… you can visit the beach, go shopping, eat at great restaurants, go hiking, you name it.

So here was my 4 Day Los Angeles itinerary (well 3.5):

DAY 1

Venice Beach

Venice Beach is a short drive from LAX which makes it a great first stop. After picking me up from the airport, we drove to Venice Beach to walk around and grab a late breakfast. If people watching is your thing, Venice Beach is your place. We saw the Bearded Lady walking around… probably taking a break from working at the Freak Show. Yes, there’s a Freak Show on the boardwalk.

Beverly Hills

From skaters and beach bums to the shiny streets of Beverly Hills, our second stop of the day was 90210. We stayed in Beverly Hills so we dropped off our bags at the hotel and went walking around Rodeo Drive and surrounding areas. We were trying to spot someone famous but no luck. Be sure to stop by some really cute candy stores in the area like Sugarfina!

DAY 2

Hiking to the Hollywood Sign

We woke early the second day so we could beat the crowd (and heat) at the Hollywood Sign. Hiking the Hollywood Sign is pretty awesome. Not only is it a good hike but you get to get unclose and personal with the Hollywood Sign (selfie, anyone?!). For more tips, you can go here: http://www.akeanesenseofadventure.com/2015/02/hiking-to-hollywood-sign.html.

Hollywood

After our hike, we went back to our hotel and showered and then head back to Hollywood. Hollywood is something else to say the least. It’s so touristy and there are people everywhere! People are either handing you their demo CDs or trying to get you to take a picture with them for a few bucks. Venture into Hollywood only if you don’t get annoyed easily by strangers.

DAY 3

Malibu

My favorite day of the trip, was day 3. We drove down PCH 1 and stopped in Malibu in the morning. We had lunch at Geoffrey’s and then hung out on the beach for a while. We saw the cutest sea lion pup on the beach too! Malibu is mostly residential so the best time to visit is in the morning or lunch time.

Santa Monica

After lunch, we drove down to Santa Monica. Santa Monica is the perfect stop after Malibu because it has a lot of shopping, restaurants, activities to offer. We got super lucky and got to see a beautiful sunset while there too! Head over to the Third Street Promenade for some shopping and a chance to see a celebrity or two! And of course, you have to visit the Santa Monica Pier!

DAY 4

Manhattan Beach

This was my last day in LA (boo). Manhattan Beach is super close to the airport so we stopped by there for some breakfast and walked around the pier before I had to get dropped off at the airport. Manhattan Beach has a really cool vibe. It has a bunch of really awesome houses and the beaches are really pretty. The main street has fun boutiques and cafes. I just wish we could have spent a little more time there.

My time in LA with my friend went by so fast but it was a break from work. If you’re heading to Los Angeles and are strapped for time, I hope this itinerary can help you with your planning. There are so much more to see that I didn’t get a chance to stop by on this visit so I’m hoping to make back soon.

Thanks everyone for another great Travel Tuesday!

Firmoo Glasses

3 Replies

firmoo1

Basically from the moment I wake up, until the moment I go to bed I depend on glasses to see. Except for taking them off to read (or take a shameless selfie), they become a pivotal accessory to my day to day look. I had been wearing the same two pairs of glasses for the last couple of years and wanted to change it up. The idea of heading into a eye glass store can be daunting and overwhelming.

That is where Firmoo comes in. As an online retailer of prescription eyewear, they make getting new glasses simple and easy. I found their selection of glasses to be fashionable, fun, and even hard to choose just one from all the options. It was easy to use my current prescription to buy the glasses I wanted to buy.

firmoo3

When the glasses came in they were enclosed within a durable case with a map design that this travel and expat blogger can appreciate. The lenses felt great on and I really loved how they looked in person. They have become one of my favourite pairs of glasses and tend to get worn a lot during days I go into work.

Honestly I look forward to ordering future pairs of glasses from Firmoo and could see glasses being to me what a shoes can be for some fashion bloggers. They are great way to change up your look as well as help you see the world more clearly.

Get a pair of Firmoo glasses for yourself and change the way you see the world of shopping for glasses online. You can use this 15% off code on the frames site wide.

firmoo2

How to choose the perfect pair of glasses online ?

1. Use Firmoo‘s Virtual Look Viewer to check the shape of the frame and how it suits your face. It is a great tool for a sneak peek of your new look.

2. Compare the frame size data with the old eyeglasses is also helpful to find your perfect new Firmoo glasses. The specification like weight, sizes of the frames can be found at the product page.

firmoo5

Have you ordered glasses from Firmoo yet? When you do comment below with a link to the photo. I’d love to see which frames you choose!

1 Reply

11th Wedding Anniverary 02.08

26 Replies

This past Saturday was my husband and I’s eleventh wedding anniversary. This was our fourth to celebrate here in England in our expat adventure. With our busy work schedules this year and having family visiting from across the pond it was a much more sebdued affair from last year’s Vow Renewal. For the Travel Tuesday post today I thought I would share the places we have celebrated since moving abroad. I did want to mention that our first wedding anniversary was spent in Thailand while we were working in Bangkok for the summer. It was really awesome that our first year of marriage could be marked by spending it over in South East Asia…also I was a few months pregnant with our first son. The years since then and before we moved to England had been a little chaotic with military life and a few anniversaries were spent apart. Even more so important now why we cherish every single one. Looking forward to see where we will be next year for the 12th anniversary! Until then let us take a look back at the years past. 8thanniversary

Our first year in England we had only been in the country a few months and I surprised Ryan by taking in him somewhere as a suprise. Living then in Brighton we traveled close by to the historic town of Lewes. Ryan got to go to his very first castle, I got to dress up in Anne of Cleves house, and we stayed at a lush bed and breakfast called the Pelham Arms. 9thAnniversary

For our 9th Wedding Anniversary we had just traveled to my ‘home’ of Naples, Italy where I had spent 6 years (in two 3 year segments in my childhood) growing up. It had been my first time to take Ryan to a place that still owns my heart. We decided to finish up our trip with a romantic stop in Paris, France on our Anniversary. We stayed at an apt we found on AirB&B and lived like the locals while strolling around the streets of Paris eating baguettes, cheese, and drinking wine. It was everything we could have wanted that year. 10thanniversary

Last year for our 10th Anniversary we invited friends and family to renew our vows in Snowdonia, Wales. We rented two floors of a bed and breakfast and had a whole week of activities planned. It was an amazing time and a great way to mark such a milestone in our marriage and life together. Even better was having our boys participate in the vow renewal ceremony and being able to wear my wedding gown once more. Unfortuantely I do not have an photos from our Anniversary slash date night out from Saturday. We took a stroll around Bath after Ryan picked me up after work. We had reservations at the Circus cafe near the Royal Cresent in Bath. The food was amazing, the portions were huge, and the desserts were so lush. We had planned to just have a small starter and mainly eat out on the ‘pud’ and wine. It was someting I have always wanted to do…pretend to be six again and go straight for the desserts. However having ordered their starters and seeing their portions I definitely reccommend ordering a little more than just your sweet ending to the night. Their starter and salads were just excellent as well as their service. Afterwards we met up with co-workers of Ryans at the Garricks Head pub, known to be haunted, near the theatre and had a few drinks. It was a nice night out. To be honest it has been a few years since Ryan and I have had a full night out alone and hoping to maybe get one more date night out at least this summer. ***Thanks to Miriam Pinkston for the last image.Q: Where would you love to go for your special moments in life? traveltuesday

Today I am announcing the new co-hosts! If you see your name mentioned drop me a line and let me know if you would like to accept. Big congratulations to:

Amy from Amy and the Great Big World

Jessi from Two Feet, One World.

Camila of The Things I Am Crazy For

Ready to link up?

1. SHARE a post about travel! From road trips to trips abroad and from past travels to dream vacations. You can write about travel tips and tricks, favorite places to stay, or anything in between! Just make it about traveling somewhere!

2. GRAB the lovely button above. If you run into trouble, just make sure to mention Bonnie, Van, Sammy, and Kaelene in a link! 3. LINKUP goes live every Tuesday at 0800 GMT. Make sure to comment here, on the cohosts blogs, and visit around!

TIPS:

1. Please only one linked up post per blogger. Save other posts for future linkups!

2. The last Tuesday of every month will be a themed prompt if you want to join in!

3. HOP around and meet new travel loving bloggers! Check back to visit some of the newer travel posts!

Top Destinations from the UK

27 Replies

TopDestinationsfromUK Over the past three years during my work as a hair stylist in England (in Brighton and now Bath) I have heard a lot about vacations and travel from the clients in my chair. While the first conversation with clients stems from my ‘american’ accent and my original whearabouts, the second being about the weather, travel has become the main third topic in client-stylist conversation. While the weather in England has been stereotyped as rainy and cold with little to no sun, it makes perfect sense why people look forward to their yearly vacations.

How do people travel?
I have noticed that there are a huge amount of my clients who are drawn to those packaged Continue reading →

The Love Lock Bridge – Paris, France

32 Replies

ACR-lockbridge_paris

One of the ‘must see’ places on our trip to Paris, France for our anniverasry was the Love Lock Bridge. I had only heard about this in recent times and had since been wanting to see it in person. In fact there is not just this one love lock bridge in Paris, but many all over the world. They love lock bridges started popping up in the 2000s and lovers worldwide come to leave a token. Basically you come and leave a padlock locked onto the bridge, gate, or fence and throw away the key into the water below. Many of hte locks are engraved or inscribed with intials and hearts.

Continue reading →

Feeding Your Wanderlust Before Travel

25 Replies

wanderlust

I am a third culture kid who just loves moving and traveling to new countries and cultures. With raising our expat family abroad, it does not allow me to just jet off every time wanderlust strikes hard. However there are many ways I help feed that wanderlust before we book our next trip. For me the exploration, dreaming, and planning before you pack your bags can be just as satisfying. With raising a family I love to have our life focused around travel and cultures around the world even when we are at home. Travel is life!

Here are my top five tips for feeding your wanderlust before travel:

Continue reading →