I have been nominated to participate in the Done is Perfect challenge to post 30 videos on anything you want in 30 days. I was nominated by my friend and former coworker, Dr. Christine Zapata. She owns Emerald City Spinal Care in Seattle, Washington and we have been friends for 14 years. I am so proud of all of her successes, travels and making a difference in people’s lives. And look how much fun we were!
I will be posting my videos via my Facebook page for One Busy Bee Enterprises LLC. The timing and duration is a bit perfect as I will not be in the Midwest for a spontaneous stay of 30 days. It is a way to document this experience and I hope to do it in some fun areas. Do tune in!
This coming week, I will be leaving Nashville, Tennessee to go back to Lousville, Kentucky, then up near Muncie, Indiana. I will stay there for a couple of nights, Then one night in West Chester Township, Ohio, Cincinnati and then back to Louisville. I will be spending majority of my time in the Louisville area and have been invited out to Lexington as well. It will definitely be an adventure.
Each day, I will be nominating folks to do the same. I think it would be fun to get some things off your chest, get in front of the camera and just have the freedom to express yourself.
Dot Dollars is back!!! Annnnd there are items on sale now thru tomorrow, President’s Day!
Shop the below trunk show and a % of your net sales will go to my roommate’s fundraising goal for her 3rd & 4th Susan G Koman walk this year. Yes, she’s doing two! One in Dallas and one in San Diego two weeks later. Let’s show some support for Kim and get some new style.
The Democratic candidates are on the road and just finished up in New Hampshire with Bernie Sanders taking the lead at 26%, with Pete Buttigieg slightly behind. I am packed and mostly booked for being on the road myself to go back to the Midwest for the day job. I look forward to sharing what I come across in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee, at a wine event in Bourbon County, exploring the food scene and still hitting the gym and staying motivated during this time. Here are some past experiences that may inspire you to hit the road as well.
TRAVEL
In 2019, I had the pleasure of going to Chicago for the first time and ended up going two more times in the same year. In October as the snow lightly fell, I was finally able to meet up with a friend I met at my first job in advertising in San Francisco. She was originally from Chicago. She picked to meet up at Bernie’s. It was nice to explore an area of Chicago I didn’t get to.
Virgin Hotel – Chicago, Illinois. Our room had a guard dog.
Yes, with the help of social media, you can see what your long-time friends are up to. But there’s nothing like re-connecting with that person in person. So great to see you again, Anne!
Do you travel annually to see a particular friend or family member in a location that is… Too expensive? Difficult to get to?
EVENT PLANNING
My friends and I are definitely planning on attending the Hawai’i Food and Wine Festival again this year on Maui. It is an amazing event. Please see my other blog posts on the event and write-ups from interviewing some talented chefs. Maui is an amazing location to hold an event. Venues and amazing views are aplenty. This is Merriman’s Maui. It has one of the most amazing views and a patio perfect for a ceremony, cocktail hour and a first dance under the stars.
Which do you prefer: outdoor weddings during the day or at night?
#WEREHUNGRYTOO
One of my favorite things about traveling is eating and trying local cuisine. Having the joy of merging being a Travel Agent with a food and beverage background, I take advantage of every opportunity to try something delicious.
Locally, there’s plenty to enjoy. The best beef tartar I have ever had was in Florence, Italy. In the United States, Zola in Palo Alto, California is amazing. And say hi to Walter!
What is one of the most memorable meals of your life?
MOTIVATION
I have worked out on the Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy, ran my second half marathon in one year at Disneyland Paris on my 39th birthday and have done yoga near the bow of the Golden Princess between Australia and New Zealand. Hitting the road for ten days, I will be at four different Marriott hotels. I am thankful they have a fitness center.
You can work out anywhere in the world. If your hotel doesn’t have a fitness center or you do not have the FitOn app on your own phone, there are ways to make progress. Take the stairs, go for a walk around the town or take advantage of complimentary bike rentals.
Bike ride down Haleakala on Maui, Hawaii
Good luck on your fitness goals. Keep at it!
Where and how do you prefer to break a sweat while you travel?
Do you chase waterfalls? Literally? Alamere Falls outside Bolinas, California is a great option. Prepare yourself for beautiful views of Point Reyes, the Farallon Islands, boats passing by in the distance, Bass Lake and the sound of the wind in the trees.
You could see the Sutro Tower in the distance.
Point Reyes at the far left.
Past the gravel road, park in the free, limited lot if you arrive early and start your trek. The 8-mile hike consists of mostly shady and easy trails. A few are moderately steep but nothing unbearable if you have some back issues. I would recommend a light Camelbak to stay hydrated and to carry snacks and personal items. Be sure to wear appropriate shoes and a long-sleeve top to keep yourself covered from the poison ivy leading to the falls. Dressing in layers is always recommended in the Bay Area. Also pack toilet paper. The restrooms are not stocked.
Go early and it won’t be so crowded. We started at 9 AM and started to head back at 10:45 AM or so and there were small and large groups that we had to share the paths with. If you’re a greeter like me, that is a lot of people to say hello to. Save yourself the breath for the hike and less people in your photos at the waterfall by going early.
At the waterfall, prepare yourself for a treacherous way down to the base of the waterfall. Be sure to keep your hands free to help climb yourself down. The shale wall to climb down is dangerous and unstable. Please take your time going down.
This particular visit, the high tide did not allow us to get a great photo in front of the falls or be able to have lunch on the beach. Two ladies and a child that attempted to go down to the falls told us that the tide was coming up to the wall and we should turn around. My group continued on anyways. We scaled the wall. Dropped down and ran across the dark, rounded rocks and jumped back onto the wall as the waves approached to avoid getting wet. It was a little crazy and it could have been bad should the power of the ocean swept us away from the wall. I went as far as I would allow myself. I raced back to safe ground. In rushing, I slipped and fell on my bum on the rocks and bruised my left hand. Again, please be careful and do not do what I just did. On a nice day and where the tides didn’t take over the beach, the hike is well worth it.
Happy Travel Tuesday! One month down in 2020 and there’s a lot of time to make things happen this year. Who has travel plans? Will you be attending any weddings? What upcoming restaurant opening are you looking forward to? And what motivates you? Whatever you have planned, I hope these weekly posts inspire you!
TRAVEL
January had me exploring my own state of California. You can find new, great things to explore in your backyard. Yes, many people save for an extravagant and long vacation. A less expensive and maybe a 2-3 hour drive to a new but close location can serve the same purpose: getting out of town!
Paso Robles was a New Year’s Eve getaway with the roommate. Then, I was lucky enough to crash her room at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay. What a treat that was! Heaven knows I can’t afford that room on my own. Perhaps one day, I’ll be able to not blink when hitting that reservation button. If you have an opportunity like this, take it! My roommate was barely in the room as she was busy with her company meetings. I made my office in the hotel room.
What are spots near you that you love or would love to go to?
Well, congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs. They beat my San Francisco 49ers 31-20 on Super Bowl Sunday this past weekend. I honestly can remember the last time I watched the Super Bowl. The planning and event production of the half time show is always impressive in such a short time period. Jennifer Lopez and Shakira put on quite a performance. I have always been a fan of JLo and am listening to her songs now while drafting this.
Having a love for live music, the ballet and other performing arts, I have always considered learning and understanding what goes into the production of a performance like this. Perhaps one day.
Have you had experience with this large of an event? What was it like? Did/do you love it?
#WEREHUNGRYTOO
As much I love trying a new restaurant and a creative cocktail, I am also enjoying cooking. My friend gave me a cookbook from The Slanted Door quite a few years ago when I helped open my restaurant in San Francisco. I made my first meal: Shaking Beef with coconut rice! And it was amazing. A Bordeaux wine definitely added to it.
I enjoyed the sauce so much, I made my Meatless Monday dinner with cabbage and a stuffed pepper. “Well, this is a way for me to eat cabbage!” says the roommate.
Do you participate in Meatless Mondays? What is your favorite meal to make for MMs? Is there a cookbook you swear by?
MOTIVATION
As mentioned, I am on the stationary bike drafting this post. JLo’s performance may have played a part in getting up early this morning and getting a workout in before another busy day. She’s 50 and looks amazing. Talk about goals! Thanks for the motivation, JLo.
I did finally have an improved weigh-in on Saturday. Weigh-in usually takes place on Sundays but I didn’t know where I was going to be and I was happy to report I haven’t been this light in four months. I still have a lot of work to do and to keep it off but it will take some time.
My dear friend, Brittany, invited me download the FitOn app. When this One Busy Bee just can’t make it to the gym, it’s nice to have workouts at my fingertips. They have challenges like completing 10 workouts in one month. I need to get started. I am pretty bummed that bodybuilding.com aren’t running their 250K Challenges. They really helped me go after it. And it was fun to do it with friends.
Gym ready wearing my Myrtle Beach tank
Good luck on your February fitness goals!
How are your 2020 resolutions going? If you have a fitness goal, what is it?
It is here! It has been several years since we were in the Super Bowl and I cannot wait for the game this Sunday.
Get gear at Dick’s Sporting Gear.
Monterey, CA with my Cugino during a family reunion. 2010?
El Dorado Hills, CA with my Godson and my niece.
New NFC Championship gear has been purchased and time with loved ones is ahead, for hopefully a WIN!
When 😬 we win, it is rumored the parade will be in San Francisco on Wednesday, February 5th. I have already blocked it off on my calendar. I have never been to a San Francisco Giants World Series game and I was still a teenager when the Niners last won the Super Bowl. I am definitely making a point to attend.
GO NINERS!!!
A Faithful in West Chester, Ohio watching via an iPad while working.
Up before 7 AM to prep for a presentation that never happened, this One Busy Bee stopped working for the day job at 10:15 PM. Arriving at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton at Half Moon Bay, California, at 4:30 PM, I happily plopped on the bed with a view of the Pacific Ocean. I then placed a couch pillow on top of my legs and topped it off with my laptop. How appropriate, right? I worked for five hours, not leaving this inviting and relaxing hotel room. I didn’t leave for dinner or that glass of Malbec I remember having the last time I was here. I was not going to be distracted trying to make new friends with the many people here for a conference. I was focused.
I was a guest at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay last year for the same conference. My roommate’s company sets her up with a room and I get to crash it. The stay was so memorable that the property is the main reason I will fight for my Marriott points. I want to move in. Or, at least, I want to stay here for free. Not a bad deal, right?
The views are incredible. The property is right on the cliff and you can hear the waves coming in. The rooms are luxurious, the food is delicious, the spa is fantastic and the customer service is top notch. It is a dream to work on my own business with a view of the ocean and the crashing waves as the work day’s soundtrack on repeat. I am happy here.
In the right environment, I am focused, calm and ready to work. Today has been a great day and I have no complaints.
What kind of environment do you need to be in to stay focused on work? If you work from home, how do you stay focused?
If you are thinking of coming to California and staying in Half Moon Bay, please reach out. I would be happy to plan and book your entire trip. Travel Agents are basically free to customers.
Now completely working from home, this is my view. – Hayward, California.
Well, I can’t really call this a weekly post if it’s not posted weekly, now can I? Well, in true One Busy Bee form, I have been crazy busy this year, complete with a near meltdown (pun was unintentional, for those who are in the know.) Therefore, I am presenting my first OBB Weekly post of 2020. Thank you for visiting!
TRAVEL
The first month of the year started out in Paso Robles, California with wine tasting and checking out the new Springhill Inn & Suites. I stayed home last year for New Year’s Eve and I wanted to get out of town and fulfill my monthly goal of traveling once a month. December was full of not getting paid but still working and trying to save money. Thankfully, January will come to an end with a two-night stay at the gorgeous Ritz-Carlton Hotel at Half Moon Bay, California. This hotel is the whole reason why I want my Marriott points. I would like to move in and be able to hear the waves crashing as I fall asleep each night and awake to that same amazing sound with a smile on my face each morning. That’s the dream. Hopefully we get another great room.
Ritz-Carlton Hotel at Half Moon Bay, California
This view! Ritz-Carlton Hotel at Half Moon Bay, California
EVENT PLANNING
I am looking for wedding clients this year! I have not aggressively been looking as my future is a bit uncertain as to what I am doing and where. I have committed to travel but I have not sought after event planning work. A meeting with a potential client did take place this month but I felt what was needed did not absolutely require my services or at my rate. If it is a good fit, I would convince my client I was needed.
During my Cugino’s birthday celebrations this month, I did come across the private dining space in San Mateo. At Porterhouse, they have multiple private dining areas. I had no idea. Not bad a of a space, eh?
WE’RE HUNGRY TOO
To add onto the section above, Porterhouse offers very large portions. I wasn’t very hungry at the time and was looking for a salad topped with some steak. This is what I had to get. The next day, the leftovers were still good. I just added McCormick’s Bourbon & Brown Sugar seasoning to it. Yummmm.
I had the pleasure of participating in San Francisco Restaurant Week. One, I met up with Nelly after a long day of moving out of a warehouse for work for a 9 pm five-course meal at Maruya. I initially cancelled until I actually got a hold of someone at the restaurant and they were going to charge me $65 per person if I cancelled my 5:30 pm reservation. They had an opening at 9 pm. I would rather literally eat $65 worth of food instead of throwing it away. So I finished the work, drove thru traffic to Oakland to meet Nelly, we hopped on Bart to the Mission neighborhood and enjoyed our delicious meal. It was well worth it to see my dear friend. I am so appreciative of those that understand we all go thru something. I am glad we were able to make this work and not waste money.
Beer!
See another post for my first time to Spruce.
MOTIVATION
That mouth-watering menu I enjoyed this month is enough to keep me on this stationary bike as I draft this post. In terms of my fitness goal for the year, I have also been slacking. I ended last year with a four-mile run plus dancing the night away. I woke up the next morning sore, stretching and playing Christina Aguilera’s “Keep Singing My Song.” No one is going to bring me down.
Boy, was I wrong. I brought myself down by not putting up boundaries, giving too much of myself, my peace, my energy and my time. I had a pretty emotional week and a half and I had to reset. A weekend with my family helped but I needed more. I had to make the switch and I had control of that. I am better now but I am being more cautious and saying no to what doesn’t serve me.
My friend, Frank, my niece and Godson. El Dorado Hills, California
I am hoping February will be a better month. I think it will start with the 49ers winning the Super Bowl! GO NINERS!
To those going thru hard times, acknowledge the problem, take your time to feel what you’re feeling and decide if you’re going to sit in it for a little bit longer or make a change. When you’re ready, take the step towards that change and keep going. Ask for help if you need it. When the ones you want most to help you do not come to your aid, there are other people that truly love you and will drop everything to be there for you. Don’t give up hope.
I am so thankful for those dear friends. You know who you are!
My best friend & I – Jan. 25, 2020 Simms Ink, Hayward, California
San Francisco Restaurant Week at Spruce San Francisco, California
American Bull Bar & Grill Cugino’s 40th Suprise Birthday – Jan. 25, 2020 Burlingame, California
Wine tasting in Placerville, California with my cousins – Jan. 12, 2020
Thanks to my roommate and model, Kim, for letting me post her pics and being my new box opening partner in my videos on the page. She had THE BEST facial expressions and reactions! You have to visit my page to see the video. The last one was posted just before heading off to Napa on Black Friday. And yes, for more wine tasting.
When you get a delivery and mystery box at home, you may know what you’re getting. But if you buy products online you’re not really sure how they look and feel in person. That is, of course, unless a personal experience encouraged you to buy one for yourself! When a Stella & Dot box arrived, I love recording Kim opening the box and opening each individually gift ready boxes to unveil the sparkle inside. I am then explaining a bit more about the pieces and about Stella & Dot. It’s fun! Enjoy and make an order today!
Looking for other ladies to get styled, share their love for fashion and jewelry and earn free product credits or commission on everything you sell! My favorite is getting a sale notification from across the country by someone I never met! If that’s you, please do say hello!
More wine but at Menlo Tavern in Menlo Park, California
Happy 2020!!! It is already one week into the new year and I have already made progress and had a setback on 2020 goals. Ay me. But there’s still time to pick it up! And I picked up a glass of wine or two to kick off the new year. Cheers!
Crossing off this month’s travel goal was to spontaneously head to Paso Robles, California for New Year’s Eve. New Years Day was filled with wine tasting and dinner before heading back up to the Bay Area. Though I have been to one of the two wineries we went to, I am now up to logging 85 California wineries. Progress is slow but hey, it’s still progress.
Our first stop was Tooth & Nail Winery. Not many places were open on New Years Day. Normally I would prefer to go to a winery that I haven’t been to yet but I didn’t want to spend too much time looking and being picky. It was a new year and it will be a new experience with new wine.
As we approached the winery, I recalled a birthday outing to Paso a couple of years back. My sweet friend and fellow Event Planner, Tori, helped plan the day, even with my dog, Bevo! What a well-traveled dog. We enjoyed being outdoors and a band playing. It was a great day.
January first brought a chill and the ‘moat’ around the castle-like building was bright ice blue. The large Christmas tree still stood in the entrance in front of the twisted staircase. To the left was event space and to the right was the tasting room with art, a long bar, multiple long communal high tables, couches we had at my old restaurant and a fireplace.
Troy greeted us and he was full of energy and very pleasant and knowledgeable. I asked for a pen to take notes on the wines and he obliged. More notes to come on the wines themselves.
They were also offering 50-cent chicken wings. So much for starting off the year with healthy food. I got six, Kim got six. And plenty of wine.
Buffalo
Asian Seasame
One of the cool things about a few of their wine labels was that they were not only very artistic but interactive. When the camera is used on an app and aimed at the artwork on the bottle. It came to life. Having been to Pompei, Italy, the animation was really cool. See it on my Instagram.
Hunt Cellars was literally down the street and closer to the busier main road than Tooth and Nail. The parking lot was smaller and the grounds were much greener with a gazebo. Up a few steps, onto the porch and thru the single door, you enter a smaller tasting room with a piano, Christmas tree, bar top and two 4-top circular tables. We were welcomed by Stan and he gave me the tasting menu to write my notes on.
Taking my time with the wines I enjoyed, we spent quite a bit of time here. I even played with some shots of my Stella & Dot jewelry. We chatted with a gentleman that owns his own winery in the Central Valley. And I met ‘the Mayor,’ half of a couple from Southern California but moved up to Sonoma and left because they preferred new world wine.
Another great day out wine tasting. I’ll find my tasting notes and update this post when I have a moment but thanks for reading. There is wine being grown all over the world. Just because you are in or visiting California, you can try other regions outside of Napa and Sonoma, especially if you’re able to return to our state. Let me help you plan your trip to the Golden State.
Leaving my mark #onebusybee
Have you been to Paso Robles before? What did you think?
