Northern California Trip // Days 1 and 2

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Well the time has COMPLETELY gotten away from me and I meant to share our vacation, you know, back when it was probably actually relevant. But alas, the time has gone by, but I'd still like to take a few days to recap our vacation. If vacation recaps aren't your thing, feel free to pop back tomorrow, but if you'd like to check out some vacation pictures, keep on scrolling.

We took a little vacation at the end of August/beginning of September to Northern California to go to San Francisco for a few days and then to visit my Dad and step mom for a few days. I'd been saying that I wanted to go on a "real vacation" (aka not just to visit family somewhere) for a while now, so we decided to tack on a few days in San Francisco to satisfy my want. While we had the BEST time, I will tell you, vacationing to see family is definitely cheaper! #hotelsareexpensive

We left on the morning of Tuesday, August 30th, bright and early at 5:30am, and headed north to San Francisco. We decided to take the scenic route and go up the 101 freeway instead of the more direct way on the 5. We thought it might be fun to get to stop a little and let Mason get out and run around. Turns out... that was a terrible idea and we got to San Francisco RIGHT in the middle of rush hour. #youliveandyoulearn. It probably took us 10 hours when it should have taken us only 6-7. But nevertheless, we had a good time and made a couple pit stops on the way up for breakfast, gas, and lunch.





We checked into our hotel around 3pm, which was perfect because our room was ready. At first I was a little unsure of what the hotel would be like since it wasn't one of your everyday chain hotels but it ended up being perfect. I mean, how can you not like a hotel that has hammocks in the courtyard and has freshly baked chocolate cookies for you in the lobby?

After we checked in and dropped off our stuff, we decided to walk down to the Fisherman's Wharf area for dinner. As we walked out the front of our hotel, I looked down the street and saw... that the hotel was RIGHT next to a post office! I mean, I swear I had NO idea, but how perfect is that? Of course we stopped to take a picture with the mail truck. How could we not?





After our pit stop, we were on our way to Fisherman's Wharf. It wasn't a short walk, but the weather was nice and we walked through a nice little park before we got to the water front. We made our way over to Boudin and had dinner and then made sure to pit stop by Ghirardelli Square on our way back to the hotel that night.



San Francisco labels all the streets on the ground as well as with street signs.
I made sure to get a picture with my favorite street -- Mason Street :)







The next day we had plans in the afternoon to go to a Giants game but we didn't really have plans in the morning. We had bought the SF CityPass though which got us entry into the Aquarium of the Bay so we decided to walk down to Pier 39 and check it out. We stayed for a few hours and then walked down the Embarcadero to Giants Stadium. It was a long walk, but a beautiful walk looking at all the Piers and into the bay.


















After the game was over, we walked a bit to go check out some restaurants that we were going to meet my brother at for dinner. We hadn't decided where we wanted to go so we thought we'd walk and check out our choices. On the way, Mason fell asleep so we stopped by Starbucks and Old Navy to kill some time until he woke up and my brother got off work. Around 6:30pm, we met my brother for dinner at a Chinese restaurant and then headed back to our hotel to call it a night.

And that's Day 1 and 2!






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[Fall Mug Exchange] Goodies Revealed + a $50 Starbucks Giveaway!

Monday, October 10, 2016

When we announced the mug exchange a couple weeks ago, I mentioned that there would be something exciting to go along with it. Well, my friend, today is the day to reveal our goodies and I'm excited to also reveal a little surprise at the end of the post too (though if you read the title of my post, I full on gave it away).

For the mug exchange, I was partnered with Sabrina. Sabrina doesn't have a blog for me to link you to, so since I wasn't sure how she'd be sharing her goodies, I took a few pictures before I sent her her package.

If you know me and my love of Starbucks and Disneyland then you probably already know what I got her.



My VERY favorite Starbucks mug from Disneyland!!! You guys. This is my very favorite mug ever. Ever. I love it so much that I even bought the mini version that is a Christmas tree ornament. (sad, but true. I also have the "cold cup" version. #obsessed). Sabrina told me that this was her very first exchange that she was participating in (no pressure) and that she was really excited. So since she lives in Wyoming, I thought I'd send a little bit of California to her. I hope she liked it!

I also included a little bag of my favorite Ghirardelli chocolates (sea salt caramel!) just because. I mean, coffee and chocolate go hand in hand, right?

When my package arrived on my door step, you better believe I was excited. I mean, first of all, it wasn't a bill and second of all, it was for ME, not Mason. All those packages you may have seen me posting about on Instagram, yeah pretty much all of those were for Mason. #spoiled





This time I was so excited to be spoiled by Sabrina! She sent me this super cute mug with a leaf on it and explained to me that the theme of her box was Fall. Well, I think she did an excellent job getting her theme across. Not only did she include that super cute mug, but she also sent some candies (which I may or may not have already eaten) and some Bath and Body Works shower gel. You guys. That shower gel. smells. amazing. It smells like candy. If you have a Bath and Body Works near you and you like pumpkin things, do yourself a favor and get some of this stuff. I bet they even have lotion too that would smell just as amazing!

Thank you so much Sabrina! I love it all!


Hosted By:
Courtney of A + Life 
Whitney of Work it Mommy
Liz of Chasin' Mason
Sarah of Seeing All Sides
Stephanie of Wife Mommy Me


And because we love mugs and coffee (especially Starbucks!) so much, we thought we'd share our love with you and offer a $50 Starbucks gift card giveaway! Say what? That's a lot of pumpkin spice lattes (or whatever your favorite drink is)!

Giveaway starts on October 10, 2016 and runs until October 16, 2016. Winner will be notified by Stephanie. Good luck!




a Rafflecopter giveaway

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[Thoughts on Thursday] Confessions

Thursday, October 6, 2016


I must confess...

... that I hate when people share links and then you click the links and they don't open in a new window. It's always better for them to open in a new window because once I've now clicked away from your page, I'm probably not coming back, even if I wasn't done reading your blog post. #lazy

... that the other day when I took Mason out of the car to walk into school, there was a man that walked by. This is not abnormal since his school is right by a hospital and some doctor's offices, but as the man walked by, I SWEAR I heard Mason say "hello old man!". I was mortified. 1) the guy wasn't even old... mayyyyybe 40 at the MOST and 2) THANK GOODNESS he didn't say it very loud. I'm still hoping the guy didn't hear... or at least I never see him again. I guess we're at that "kids say the most embarrassing things" stage now...

... that I hate when people go in the out. There is a designated 'in' at the post office and as I was trying to turn in the in the other day, someone was trying to come out. Same thing happened at the bank except I was trying to go out and they were coming in. Ugh. Follow the arrows!

... that I clicked on like 10 photos to upload to a blog post the other day and while I was waiting for them to upload, I closed my eyes (they were taking FOR-EVER).... and I woke up hours later, on the couch, and Seth had moved my computer so I wouldn't knock it off the couch. I literally fell asleep while writing my blog post.

... that I hate that dang rainbow spinning wheel of death on the computer. And I've been seeing it all too often lately... that's probably a problem, right? =/

... that I ordered 2 pairs of Halloween pajamas for Mason and they finally came in the mail yesterday. They are SO cute but I'm seriously contemplating returning them because I'm afraid it will never get cold enough to need long sleeves and long pants pajamas before Halloween arrives.

... that I hate Q's on license plates. I don't know why. I think because they aren't uniform (like all the numbers and letters don't line up). I was terrified that my license plate would have a Q because I hate them so much. Thankfully, it didn't.

... that sometimes Mason will drop a goldfish or Cheerios or veggies straws (or whatever snack he's having) on the floor and I won't realize until the next day... when he's getting in the car in the morning and he picks it up and eats it. I tried to stop him the first few times, but now I just give up and let him.  

... that I still haven't blogged our family vacation from August/September. And I fully intend to. #youvebeenwarned

Can you relate to any of my confessions?


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[Countdown to Halloween] Decorating Pumpkins with Melted Crayons.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

A couple weekends ago, I found some pumpkins at Trader Joe's that I just had to have. You know, because they're cute and small and colorful. HAD to have ;) Anyway, I knew I wanted to try to do some sort of art project with some of the mini white ones, so I got to searching Pinterest. I remembered a pin that I had pinned last year (or maybe the year before? or the year before that? ha!) that I had wanted to try -- melting crayons on top of pumpkins so they drip down and make a pretty pattern. Seemed simple enough, I thought we could try it. I should have known better, but I thought it seemed easy and surely it would be a Pinterest win, right? Wrong.

Melted Crayon Pumpkin Decorating
Adapted from Crafty Morning


Materials Needed
- white pumpkin, any size
- crayons
- glue
- hair dryer

Directions
- unwrap the crayons
- break the crayons apart
- using the glue, glue as many pieces of crayons on to the pumpkin as will fit (she suggested 16, but my pumpkins were smaller and couldn't fit as many)
- after the glue has dried, use the hair dryer to melt the crayons


















A couple bits of advice... DO NOT USE CHEAP CRAYONS. You see the two pumpkins in the front? I used those cheap Paw Patrol crayons that we had. The melting was terrible and splattered all over and looked watery to me. So I re-did it and used Crayola crayons and it worked MUCH better. The melt was a bit thicker and covered the pumpkin better. So don't skimp on the crayons! Splurge that extra dollar or two to get the real thing.

Oh and DO make sure to glue the crayons down before you start. Silly me was like "why do we need to glue them down? that's a waste of time!" but turns out... if you don't glue them down, they just blow away when you turn the hair dryer on. Duh. Should have thought of that.

I had high hopes that my pumpkins would look like the one in the picture but they... don't. BUT regardless, Mason and I had a good time breaking the crayons, glueing them on to the pumpkins, and using the hair dryer. And to me, that's all that matters.

Have you been doing anything fun and Fall or Halloween related? 
Link up with us below so we can check it out!



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Foodie for a Year : October [a crock pot meal]

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Welcome to Foodie for a Year : October! Today we are sharing our favorite crock pot recipes. I love love love my crock pot so much yet it is probably the most under utilized kitchen appliance that I have. I'm pretty excited to see what everyone shares today and hopefully add some new recipes to my rotation!

You guys. 
The recipe that I'm going to share is so good and so easy! Heck, even I can do it, so that definitely means that you can do it!  

I did. 
Me. 
I actually cooked!


Crock Pot Sweet Potato and Quinoa Turkey Chili
(recipe found here)


Ingredients :
1 lb. ground turkey
1 large shallot or 1 small onion, chopped (I used a shallot)
3 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
3 cups chicken broth
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
15 oz can baked beans
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped small
2 tablespoons chili powder (I left this out)
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes (I left this out)

Toppings :
shredded Monterey Jack cheese
chopped avocado
tortilla chips
green onions

Instructions :
(Before I started, I prepped my crock pot. I like to use a liner because it makes clean up SUPER EASY!)
Add ground turkey and shallot to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season liberally with salt and pepper then cook until no longer pink, breaking turkey up as it cooks. 


Add garlic then cook for 30 more seconds then add to a 6 quart crock pot. 



Add remaining ingredients, except toppings, into crock pot then cook on high for 3 hours, or low for 5-6 hours, or until sweet potatoes are tender. 










Serve with toppings. May need to add more chicken broth when reheating.

This was seriously SO GOOD.
I highly recommend it.
Enjoy!

(Ok, I have to admit. I actually shared this a couple years ago, but we've literally been making it for the past two years since we first tried the recipe because it is THAT good. These pictures are actually from two years ago when I first made it, so they aren't really up to par, but it gets you the gist of what it should look like.)

Courtney, Jamie, Jamie, Sarah, Whitney, and I are excited that you want to share your favorite crock pot meal idea with us! Don't forget to add your link below so we can check it out!

And also, don't forget to mark your calendars... our next Foodie for a Year link up is on December 6th! On December 6th, we'll be sharing a holiday goodie! Eeek! I'm super excited to see everyone's holiday goodies. Holiday desserts are my very favorite!


Foodie for a Year [www.chasinmasonblog.com]





Also link up and share your recipe with us for Tuesday Talk!



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