TRAVEL DIARY: Oahu Babymoon

February 28, 2020

Mike and I just returned from the BEST, most relaxing trip to Oahu. It was our first real trip without Coston and we DEFINITELY took advantage of the time away by RESTING by the pool, reading actual books, eating with BOTH hands, and doing whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. I don’t think I realized how much Coston’s schedule was running our lives until we were able to spend 5 days on our own time. Multiple times throughout the trip we just lost track of time. That NEVER happens at home and it felt so, so nice. My mom and sister are LITERAL saints and flew in from Dallas to watch him while we were gone and it made our trip even MORE amazing because we didn’t worry about him AT. ALL. I swear, having stress-free childcare can make or break a vacation, especially for me who tends to stress about everything.

Anyway, we did do a FEW things besides bake by the pool all day and I figured I would share in case you have a trip to Oahu in your future! I divided my recs up by area since it takes about an hour to 45 minutes to get across the island, so it’s best to pick an area and plan to spend at least half the day there.

STAY

We stayed at Four Seasons in Ko Olina on the west side of the island. Mike and I had both been to Oahu before (like 10-20 years ago so it’s been AWHILE) so we knew we didn’t want to stay in Waikiki or Honolulu because it’s busier than what we wanted. BUT Oahu is SO easy to get to and relatively inexpensive from LAX, so that’s where we landed. We really wanted to unwind this trip and the west side was PERFECT for that. It’s a beautiful and SLOW place with gorgeous beaches and warm water. The adult pool fills up quickly so it’s best to head down by 10am to grab a spot. The pool water is like bathwater, the temperature is PERFECT. The resort itself was gorgeous and when they found out we were celebrating a babymoon they really went all out to make our stay amazing! HIGHLY recommend. Only downside of staying at a nice resort is that eating at any of the restaurants on the property is pretty pricey and while it’s good food, it’s not really TRUE local cuisine.

WEST SIDE (KO OLINA & KAPOLEI)

EGGS ‘N THINGS: There aren’t a ton of options when it comes to eating in Ko Olina (aside from the resorts of course), but we ended up trying this place for breakfast on our first morning there and it was taaaaasty. It’s diner style and pretty casual when it came to service, but the menu featured good, classic breakfast favorites.

SUSHI BAY: This local conveyer belt sushi spot came recommended by locals who worked at our resort and has almost 1,500 reviews on Yelp. We aren’t normally conveyor belt sushi people (nothing against it, we just like the experience of sitting at a sushi bar better), but MOST of the local sushi spots on the west side are that format so we figured we’d try it out. The wait was INSANE (even by 6:30pm), so we ended up NOT eating here, but I’m sharing because I feel like it’s worth a mention.

MY CAFE: Amaaaaazing pancakes! This local spot was recommended to us by a friend of ours who grew up on Oahu so we knew it was going to be good. It’s not fancy by any means, you order and pay at the counter and then you’re seated, but they make a mean pancake. They are known for their “flight of pancakes” (pictured below) and Mike loved it. I ordered just the classic buttermilk and they did NOT disappoint. Highly recommend this spot if you’re on the west side.

LAVERNE’S HAWAIIAN FOOD TRUCK: We stopped here on our way from the airport to our hotel because we wanted a fast and easy plate lunch and this food truck was perfect for that! We got the kalua pig plate that comes with pulled pork, rice, and mac salad and it hit the spot.

LEONARD’S BAKERY & FOOD TRUCK: We tried their famous fresh malasadas (pictured below) and they were BOMB. We ordered the classic custard-filled ones and they come out hot and creamy.

MINA’S FISH HOUSE: This is one of the restaurants at the Four Seasons and the setting is beautiful. It looks over the cove (pictured above) and is a really great place for dinner at sunset. The food was good, but pricey. We ordered the beet and burrata salad, duck fat fries (BOMB), butterflied Hawaiian fish and yuzu cheesecake.

HONOLULU

MUD HEN WATER: Found this spot featured on Condé Nast when I went hunting for a local spot for a nice dinner and it was SPECIAL. It’s tapas style, featuring local Hawaiian ingredients with a modern and super creative twist. We ordered the Miso Clams, Beet Poke, Szechwan Lotus Root, and Short Rib entré. The food was insane and the vibe felt like a low-key cool LA spot.

SALT at OUR KAKAAKO: Modern market collective with cute shops and a few great local restaurants, bars, and a trendy outdoor coffee shop. Milo, Paiko, The Treehouse, and Here. were our favorite shops. They all felt very LA and carried a lot of LA and local brands.

POW WOW HAWAII: If you haven’t heard of Pow Wow, it’s an annual art festival that takes place in Oahu and a bunch of artists (both big and emerging names) compete against each other painting murals around the city. Pow Wow has a little general store where you can buy art prints or pick up a local guide map that leads you to all the murals and participating local pop-up shops.

HOUSE OF PURE ALOHA: Great shave ice spot that’s famous on the island. My favorite thing to add to my shave ice is Li Hing powder sprinkled on top. If you like sour candy then you’ll love it!

NORTH SHORE

MATSUMOTO SHAVE ICE: If you’re not living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of Matsumoto’s Shave Ice on the North Shore. Last time I was there was about 10 years ago and they’ve definitely improved upon their system since then. The line to order moved FAST (so don’t be put off by a line out the door) and we got our order almost immediately after placing it. Super delicious FLUFFY and flavorful shave ice (pictured above). And their shop has tons of fun and well-designed souvenirs.

GIOVANNI’S SHRIMP TRUCK: BEST shrimp I’ve ever had. There are only a few options on their menu, basically you choose from 3 different sauces for your shrimp and it’s served with rice and a lemon wedge (pictured below). It’s served out of a truck and cash only. The line looks daunting, but it moves pretty quick so don’t let that deter you. It’s worth it.

NORTH SHORE MARKETPLACE: Old school shopping center with a bunch of little shops that’s worth a stop. Our favorites were Tini Manini, SoHo, and the little flower shop (I can’t remember the name) that had the most beautiful local flowers and gorgeous modern handmade pottery by local artists.

PIPELINE: We didn’t go during this trip, but this beach is an awesome spot to stop and watch the huge waves and surfers when the water’s good!

One final tip I’ll share is an app I use any time we are planning a trip. It’s called Pinbox and it’s so amazing for planning where to eat, shop, explore, and stay. For example, I made an Oahu map and then dropped pins and color coded them by category. On my Oahu map our hotel was yellow, restaurants and food were purple, shopping was green, and beaches and hikes were blue. I'd highly recommend this app if you’re a visual person like me. If you’re on one side of the island doing a hike and then want to have lunch afterward, you can just open your map in Pinbox and see what restaurants you’ve pinned near the hike. It’s genius.

TRAVEL DIARY: San Jose Del Cabo With Our 6 Month old

July 31, 2019

You guys! We recently returned from THE BEST trip to San Jose Del Cabo. I had so many mixed emotions when we were planning this trip to Mexico. On one hand I was SO EXCITED to be taking our first real family vacation of three to a country that Mike and I LOVE so much! On the other hand I hate flying. For weeks leading up a to big trip I obsess over packing lists, plans, schedules, and little anxieties. That is how my fear of flying manifests itself and I feel like it’s gotten worse with Coston. So as much as I was looking forward to it all, I also felt like I couldn’t be excited about it until we got there. WELL! As always, my anxiety was much worse than the actual experience. The travel went seamlessly and we had so. much. fun. It is definitely DIFFERENT traveling with a baby - the vacation is no longer super relaxing - but a new element of excitement comes when you get to show your little ones new places and things.

I want to share a little bit about our trip, but I want to focus mainly on what we packed and how we handled Coston’s schedule, since I feel like that is what made the biggest difference between it being a beautiful memorable trip versus an overwhelming travel experience.

PREP

PASSPORT: First of all, Mike and I have TSA Pre Check and Global Entry. We got both last year when we went to Greece and it was AMAZING. You breeze through customs and it takes AT LEAST 30 minutes off of your airport time on your return. We were going to be flying in and out of LAX and knew it would be a hot mess so we decided to get Global Entry for Coston as well leading up to the trip. The whole process of getting a Passport for an infant is a little annoying, lots of paperwork, getting copies of his birth certificate, and both parents have to be present at the appointment. But once they have it it is good for five years so it was worth it and I don’t have to think it about it for awhile.

TRANSPORTATION: When it came to deciding what to bring for Coston’s transportation, I unnecessarily obsessed over this decision for days (definitely my anxiety taking over). We have the Nuna Pipa Lite carseat and the Mixx2 stroller. I LOVE both for so many reasons, BUT it is NOT a travel friendly carseat OR stroller. The carseat can’t be used on it’s own without the base and the stroller base is heavy. I went back and forth so. many. times. on what to do. We did not rent a car, we were going to be relying on cabs or Ubers if we wanted to go further than a mile from the resort. ANYWAY, to cut this short, we borrowed a carseat and a carseat caddy from a friend and used that for everything. It was awesome. We brought it to the airport, checked it at our gate, had it right when we landed, used the carseat in the cab in Mexico and threw the base in the back. We used it to get around the resort and then anytime we grabbed a cab to head into town. HIGHLY recommend purchasing or borrowing one of these if you have a trip with a baby coming up! I also packed his Colugo carrier for beach walks or to use anywhere that a stroller wouldn’t be ideal. We love that thing!

PACKING: I packed a separate bag for Coston this time. I normally fit both our stuff in one big suitcase but we decided to pack enough diapers, wipes, formula, food packets for the five days we would be there just because I didn’t know what would be easily accessible near our resort and I didn’t want to veer from anything he is used to at home. For sleep we packed everything we needed to basically recreate his sleep situation in our hotel room. That meant we brought his favorite sleep sack, sound machine (travel size), and Dockatot. The hotel provided a crib (just call and request one ahead of time) and they had it sent up in our room when we arrived. Last minute we packed a tiny bit of laundry detergent just in case we needed to wash anything and that was a GREAT IDEA because Cos had 2 blowouts while we were there so we just did a bit of laundry in the tub haha.

TRAVEL

FLIGHT: Luckily there are lots of flight options from LAX to Cabo, and it’s a short two hour flight (Cos has done longer flights to visit my parents in Dallas). We chose a flight time in the late morning that would coincide with his nap time and although he was a bit fussy we were able to get him to sleep a little bit on the flight there and back so I would say that’s a win. I breastfeed mostly, but in his diaper bag we packed a bottle with formula just in case he was SUPER fussy and hungry and for some reason breast feeding wouldn’t be ideal and I’m glad we had that. Also in his diaper bag was an extra change of clothes (he always has a blowout on flights for some reason haha), a little food packet and spoon, a couple teethers and burp cloths.

COSTON’S SCHEDULE: For the most part we stuck as closely as possible to his eating and sleep schedule at home. He takes two 2 hour naps a day and sometimes a catnap before dinner. At home he sleeps in total darkness, so we ended up putting his crib and sound machine in the bathroom! It actually worked out great! Everyday we had him nap in our room for his morning nap and then would attempt an afternoon nap by the pool in the shade. Somedays it would work and some days it wouldn’t so we would head back to the room and let him sleep there. His evening catnap was always in the stroller on the go so we could go out to dinner or explore the town. We lived by Taking Cara Babies 80/20 rule - 80% of the time you stick to your schedule, 20% of the time you live your life.

STAY / EAT / DO

STAY: We stayed at The Viceroy in San Jose Del Cabo, which is about 30 minutes east of Cabo proper and only a 20 minute cab ride from the airport. I had seen pictures of this place and heard it was great but it was EVEN BETTER IN PERSON. I cannot hype this place enough. Not only was it gorgeous, they were so accommodating of Coston. They set up a crib in our room, they were so sweet with him when we were out and about and happily worked around our nap schedule when cleaning our room. And even though Coston was too young for it this trip I loved that they had a really cool kids club, a beautiful game room, beach toys set up on the sand, and Sun Bum 50 SPF sunscreen at all the pools. We made the decision to book a small suite with an ocean view and small plunge pool on the balcony so that we could be in the room while Coston napped but still get the most out of our vacation. We wouldn’t normally need a room like this but I am so glad that’s what we did because we could still lay outside in the sun or sit in a small pool with the video monitor while Cos slept just feet away.

EAT: We ate SO MUCH good food! That’s one of our main reasons for traveling to Mexico as often as we do. Honestly, because of Coston, we didn’t leave the hotel as much as we would normally. But that was fine because the food at the Viceroy was delicious! They have three restaurants and tried all of them, as well as the food and drinks served at the pool. So creative and tasty. We did venture out for lunch one day over to another resort down the street to eat at Casa Calavera, and although the food was good and the decor was amazing, the vibe was weird so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it haha. What I CAN recommend is grabbing street tacos at the locals favorite spot, Taqueria El Paísa. It was a little off the beaten path but beyond worth it. The tacos were insane, so cheap, and we were the only tourists in there - which means you KNOW it’s good.

DO: Once again, we didn’t do a ton with Coston other than enjoy the resort and shove food in our faces, BUT we did a couple things that were AWESOME. The little town of San Jose Del Cabo is adorable and so fun to explore. Highly recommend the Arts District. So many cute shops with beautiful pieces by local artists, street vendors, and colorful little buildings. We also spent one late afternoon at Flora Farms for dinner. It is a farm just outside of town with a farm-to-table outdoor restaurant that is beautiful and serves fresh and colorful foods. Definitely get the Butterscotch pudding. In the summer they do free outdoor family movie nights with a popcorn stand in a little field and it’s SO CUTE. Cos is too young for that, but if he were a little older we definitely would have stayed for the movie playing that night.

Obviously traveling with a baby is no walk the park, but it was still a magical trip that I know we’ll remember forever! And we will definitely be back to Cabo soon!

PALM SPRINGS WEEKEND GETAWAY

May 24, 2016

One of my absolute favorite places on the entire planet is Palm Springs. Just thinking about being in PS makes me so happy! We live a short, 2 hour drive away so we try to get out there a few times a year just to eat good food, lazy around a pool, snuggle in robes and do. absolutely. nothing.

I wanted to share some of our PS favorites so I tried to document our activities to the best of my abilities, although I forgot to take a picture of our brunch on Saturday because I was starving and it looked so good...so I ate it immediately upon receiving it. But I'm not sorry...

THE GOODLAND

February 17, 2016

This past long weekend Mike and I were able to sneak away to Santa Barbara for a little break. We had been wanting to head up there and stay at The Goodland for awhile now, so for Chirstmas we decided to forego presents and plan this little getaway instead! Although I love gifts (it's definitely my love language) I would choose a trip over a physical gift any day. Nothing beats relaxing and spending some serious quality time with the one you love...