For my 25th birthday this year I wanted a low key celebration with my family at the beach. Thanks to The Picnic Collective it all came together perfectly. Big shoutout to Nadia for always doing an amazing job on our hair (https://www.nadiarosebridalhair.com)
And some iPhone photos…..
Day 1: We drove straight to rive Yoho National Park. A vibrant and quiet little lake off to the side of all the national parks (Yoho is actually part of British Columbia while most of Banff is all Alberta)
Then we headed to Fairmont lake Louise to have a formal dinner at the Fairview restaurant which is new to the Fairmont hotel. We opted to have dinner in the bar area instead of the formal dining room. I was obsessed with the bar decor. Our drink recommendation is the milk punch which is not officially on the menu as of now but is such a tasty treat. It taste like a pina colada shot.
Day 2: Breakfast at Trailhead Cafe which had great bagel sandwiches and vegan granola bars!!! Then headed to Moraine Lake…this is the most tricky lake at Banff. To get a parking spot you need to get there before 5am. We enjoyed canoeing on the lake for an hour.
Our next lake was Peyto lake. Its a bit of a hike but once you hit first viewpoint, don’t stop. Keep taking the path to the left and then take your first dirt parth on your right going down. This takes you to an unmarked but amazing viewport that’s way less crowded.
Day 3
For dinner we went into Banff town for the most amazing food of the entire trip. We ate at The Bison restaurant which is a wonderful locally sourced seasonal menu place that specialized in bison. Make sure to make reservations ahead a time for this gem. Our order was Elk Poutine for a starter and then our Mains were Bison short ribs, Ribeyes and stiploins and truly some of the best meat I have ever had!!!
While this was my 4th time in Banff, it was just as magical as the first time..I highly recommend this place as one of my top destinations in the world!!
Our final stop in Asia was Bangkok. We were limited on time so we visited the two most popular temples. Was Arun and Wat Benchamabophit. While we enjoyed both of them, it was extremely touristy and we preferred the areas like Chiang Rai much better.
First stop on our summer adventure in Asia is CHIANG RAI. To get here we had to fly Los Angeles > Tokyo > Bangkok > Chiang Rai. About 30 hours of travel. This is a pretty small city mainly known for the White Temple and the Blue Buddha Temple.
Where we stayed: The Riverie by Katathani
What to visit: Wat Rong Khun otherwise known as The white temple. This was the number one reason we ventured up to Chiang Rai. It is such a unique place that is known more so as an art installation than a temple for worship. You can visit it from a distance as early as you want but to actually walk around the temple or enter it you have to wait for opening at 8:00am and pay an entry fee of 50 Baht a person or about $1.60. To get good photos here make sure to be there at 7:50am to be first inside the gates to take a few photos before the first buss arrives!!!
To get to each of these places we hired a driver from the hotel and it was between $20-$40 total for the day. Next up: Chiang Mai…
Reine, the little fishing village at the tip of Norway. Population 314. The peaceful slice of heaven first caught my eye in a photography magazine when I was younger. The fjords and little red houses built on stilts were so photogenic. I have always loved finding places to vacation that are slightly off the beaten path but Reine was never one of those places I actually thought I would get a change to go to. Mainly due to the fact that it was a 20 hour drive and 3 hour ferry ride from Oslo. Of course my brothers were up for the challenge. With a limited knowledge of the area and almost no itinerary we headed off to explore this cold island.
We stayed in a classic cabin for a week that had no TV and very very limited hot water. No restaurants were open since it was off season (not like they had many restaurants out there anyway haha) and the grocery store was about 20 minutes away and only open for a few hours daily. Our only itinerary was to just drive. We experienced sunshine, overcast, rain and even snow within those few days. While this was in no way a 5 star hotel glamorous trip, it was one of the most beautiful scenic (and peaceful) places I have ever been.
and now for a few iPhone photos…
Visiting Japan in spring is PRIME TIME!!!
My husband and I have been planning to visit Japan for years and we finally decided this year to make it happen. Japan is one of those trips that you have to book pretty far in advance since prices skyrocket around cherry blossom season.
We decided to keep our itinerary pretty simple and split our time between Tokyo and Kyoto. We visited a few shrines and historical sites but spent the majority of our time shopping and eating LOTS of ramen.
Scroll through to see some of my favorite photos and our general itinerary down at the bottom.
Now for the iPhone photos…
Now for the Itinerary. We kept a very basic itinerary due to wanting to really just explore the street life. We spent a ton of time shopping. We ended up with about 25 pairs of chopsticks, new plates and bowls for the house, candy, kimonos and lots more!!
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
– Travel Tokyo > Kyoto (Bullet train 3 hours) You can easily purchase a ticket online or at the train station (where you can also request to be on the Mt Fuji viewing side of the train). I believe the tickets are about $150 per person each way but the ride is quick and enjoyable. Another bonus is that the train leaves about every 10 minutes so you have plenty of options of when to leave each day.
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
– Travel Home: Tokyo > LAX
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
– Travel Tokyo > Kyoto (Bullet train 3 hours) You can easily purchase a ticket online or at the train station (where you can also request to be on the Mt Fuji viewing side of the train). I believe the tickets are about $150 per person each way but the ride is quick and enjoyable. Another bonus is that the train leaves about every 10 minutes so you have plenty of options of when to leave each day.
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
And here we have just a few favorite moments from our wedding reception!
Well here we are a solid 10 months after my wedding and Im realizing I never really shared wedding photos here on my blog. Mainly due to the fact the wedding images kept getting shared online which was so fun to see. I also was featured in a pretty detailed article here: https://stephysbrideguide.com/2018/11/real-bride-alexandra/
But now its time to share some of my own photos with y’all. Ill separate the wedding into two categories. The first look and the reception. We decided to do a party bus with the whole wedding party instead of two separate limos. While thats not the common way to travel we thought it was way more fun. The groom had a blindfold on the whole time so we could still do the first look on location. We did two different locations for photos before the wedding and had two completely separate photographers which means two completely different editing style. This was another usual thing to do for a wedding but its probably the top thing that I’m thankful I splurged on. More photos is always better!!!
