We're Wingin it: September 2017

Saturday, September 23, 2017

Senior Sadies Dance

While mom and I were in Spain, Elise had the Sadie Hawkins Dance. She was so excited to go with Drew! She was excited for this dance and all of these kids in their group. I loved these costumes! They were rappers. Only one complaint. Graduating from high school on the cusp of the grunge era I never sagged my pants. But my sisters were pros at it and my friends did. And these kids from the skinny jeans era have no idea how to properly sag those jeans. Haha.

They had fun shopping for the costumes at DI. Their daydate was an escape game. She asked him with a piñata that said something like, "Sadies would be a HIT with you." He answered her with a super cute video of him cracking open the pinata (fun! he is very talented at them) and a cake. I don't remember what it said but I helped her eat some of it and it was really good.

It was really hard for me to not be home. I hate missing these kinds of things. But Jared did a good job with pictures I think! He just had his cell phone. I think they are great.

Hopefully I don't embarrass her with my commentary. Oh well! She'll probably never read this so its fine. And I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who reads this blog anymore. :)

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Mom/Daughter Trip to Spain

I'm not even going to apologize for the picture overload! I loved this trip so much! Spain is incredible. I loved Barcelona and the Alhambra in Granada. Such beauty everywhere. And it was me and mom together so we pretty much took photos all day to our hearts content. Actually I wouldn't let her take as many as she wanted. But hey, you have to stop somewhere.

In Barcelona I loved the Barri Gotic. It was sooooo cool! Reminds me of Rome with the narrow medieval streets. I also loved the Park Guell and the Palace of Catalan Music. The mosaic pillars were my favorite! The food was incredible there. We had these Patatas Bravas pretty much everywhere and lots of Tapas. Spain is a GREAT place to have jet lag. Because of the time difference you want to stay up late and sleep in. In Spain the restaurants don't start to fill up for dinner until about 10. Its crazy and so fun.

We loved the Magic Fountains and all things Gaudi! The Picasso museum was awesome. Loved going to museums and not feeling rushed.

In Granada the Alhambra and Albaicin was the coolest. We stayed at Hotel America which is on the grounds in the Alhambra. We walked up the big hill each night and it was good exercise! Also it was great to stay there because we had not purchased tickets to the Alhambra in advance and tickets were sold out. We were so bummed. At Hotel America they went out and got tickets for us before our stay since they are on the grounds. I loved that they made those arrangements for us. It was neat to be literally inside the Alhambra. During the day it was a little noisy. It is a very small humble place but pretty nice and very charming and historic.

The Generalife Gardens within the grounds of the Alhambra were just as beautiful as the Alhambra itself. I loved it. We had a fabulous meal at El Mercader. It is a tiny place and the food incredible. Seriously love traveling and trying all the different foods. We loved the views of the Alhambra from the Albayzin.

Our last day was in Toledo. It was just a quick day trip and we were tired. But it was fun to explore for the day and we had a great dinner there too. We saw the huge famous Cathedral and just wandered the streets.

Coming home was interesting! It was about 24 hours in airports. Ugh. So long. But worth it! It was so fun to be with mom! We had a fun time.

Spain tips:

I wanted to fly with my mom and this was planned just a couple weeks (if that) before the trip. I flew to Oakland then took a Norwegian Air to Spain. Fights are direct from Oakland and LA to many cities in Europe on Norwegian. Norwegian is so cheap and relatively nice. I've seen flights as low as $360 nonstop LA or Oakland to Spain.

They don't bring you any food, blankets, pillows, etc. So pack your own blanket, pillow, water bottle, and your dinner and you'll save $300+. Easy. It was a nice plane with lots of good entertainment options. Mom and I got an open seat between us. Yay.

Barcelona Itinerary: Everyone stays up so late here! Perfect for jetlag!

We stayed at the Pulitzer Hotel near the Placa de Catalunya next to Las Ramblas. We loved the location and the ease of walking everywhere. It was a nice place and they gave us some good dinner recommendations.

Our two favorite Barcelona restaurants were Restaurant Teleferic in the Eixample and Restaurant La Flauta. Teleferic is cute, small and great tapas! La Flauta is more crowded and a little touristy but still good.

In Granada the restaurant El Mercader was incredible! Just a tiny place with like 800 five star reviews. Its incredible food prepared by a husband wife duo. Book reservations ahead of time. We called on the morning we arrived in Granada. We also loved eating at El Huerto de Juan Ranas. We went there for the view, but loved the gazpacho soup and patatas bravas and cokes.