Photo Sunday: North Carolina Waterfalls

I'm actually writing a Photo Sunday on Sunday, aren't you so proud!

This post comes to you from a park in North Carolina.

I enjoyed hiking through the mountains and waterfalls in North Carolina. I always love a good waterfall. This one you can get really close to, as you can see in the photo, if you climb up the big rock. I enjoy our Big Foot like poses as well. Why is Big Foot always walking like that in photos? Maybe his legs are stuck like that.

Anyone else big on hiking? Love waterfalls as much as I do? I need to ask my godmother what the name of this park is again, I've forgotten.

-Alisa

Charleston Take Two!

Hey all! Sorry I haven't been around much. Honestly it's not just being busy; I've been in a blogging slump. Sometimes it's hard to maintain a blog when you aren't sure anyone is reading. I'm trying to get myself to write anyway though.

I stated this blog for myself: to chronicle my adventures so I could look back and to practice my writing. So I bribed myself with coffee, lectured myself a bit, and dragged myself here to write this.

Little rant over.

So darn cute.

Apologies

Hey guys.
I'm writing this post as an apology. I know I haven't posted in ages (since December) and I feel bad. I kept thinking that I should at least do a Photo Sunday, but then I kept not doing it.
A lot has been going on in my life, and I've been super busy...and when I wasn't busy I didn't really feel like posting.
In all honesty, I'm not sure how much I'll be on this blog for a bit. Because!

I am going to grad school! Well hopefully. I got accepted to a grad school, but I need to get student loans, housing, and a visa before I'll consider it set in stone. So I'm not going to announce where I am moving until it's 100%. While I may not post a whole ton in grad school, when I do post they will be longer and I will be traveling a lot.

Here's a super cute picture of my dad's new puppy as an apology. Perhaps I'll just post tons of puppy pictures until I have something else. haha

There will be some longer posts coming up in the next couple months.

March: I am going back to Charleston, this time my stepdad and YC will be joining my mom and I. Look forward to a more detailed Charleston post this time. We will be spending two days there.

May: YC and I will hopefully be going back to Singapore (yay!) for one of his best friends' wedding. I'm hoping that we will be able to schedule in a layover in Japan or Taiwan.

Summer: My mom and I are hoping to make a trip up to Boston and Salem before I leave for grad school.


Hopefully I'll also get my butt in gear for at least some Photo Sunday posts. Regardless, I at least plan on posting long posts and tons of pictures for the aforementioned posts!

So sorry again for my vacancy. I swear grad school planning stress is going to kill me.
I promise to try to post more.

HUGS!
-Alisa

A Weekend in Baltimore

Look at me, two posts in one day.
You're welcome.

A weekend in Baltimore wasn't much time, especially with only one full day. We really went to visit family though, so sightseeing was a secondary priority. Family-wise, this weekend was jam packed.

Probably the coolest thing we saw.

Photo Sunday: Best Pho Ever

Hello all!
I was only home for about an hour this whole weekend, so sorry for the Photo Sunday on Monday yet again. Oops.

I spent the weekend in Baltimore visiting some family, which will get it's own short post.

This Photo Sunday though, is about the yummiest pho I've ever eaten from a small spot in Baltimore that my second cousin took us too. She wasn't lying when she said it was the best.

Look at all those vegetable and tofu! Tofus? Is the plural just tofu?
I could barely reach the noodles until I ate half the vegetables, but it was worth it. It was so good. So much flavor and so well cooked. The tofu and vegetables were perfect.

It almost made me wish I lived in Baltimore.

Anyone else a huge pho fan? It is my cold weather comfort food. Anyone know any other great places to get pho? Other than you know, Vietnam, which I will get to eventually.

-Alisa

Mother-Daughter South Carolina Trip

Hey all! Summer is officially over and I'm back working in elementary school. Five days in and I'm already exhausted, anyone else?

I finally have some down time today, not much mind you, but enough to write a blog post!

The last week before school started my mom and I took a trip down to South Carolina to visit my god parents.

Me and my mommy at the rainbow row.

Photo Sunday: Chimney Rock

Hello all!

School is back in session, so my trips will be a little farther in between for the next couple months. Luckily I do have some plans on the horizon!

Just last week I got back from a trip to South Carolina to visit my god parents (who are awesome). This Photo Sunday comes to you from a side trip to North Carolina to visit Chimney Rock. This is my favorite picture from the hike.

There's nothing like the view of misty mountains from atop a mountain. I love hiking, and while Chimney Rock is more stairs than actual hiking, it is still a pretty good workout. Most people drop off after the chimney part, so if you climb to the actual highest point you'll have a lot less people to contend with.

Chimney Rock is gorgeous and I recommend a visit.

Soon I'll be writing up a longer post on Chimney Rock and Charleston with tons more pictures. Be prepared!

-Alisa

Montreal Like a Local (ish)

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't posted much, but I haven't been home a lot. YC and I spent five days in Montreal and then I went to South Carolina with my mom for another five.

YC and I adored Montreal! I think part of the charm of Montreal was staying a cute little Airbnb. We were located in a neighborhood near the botanical garden, and I think we were the only tourists in the area.

The lovely botanical garden.

Photo Sunday: An Ode to Poutine

Hello all! I just got back from Montreal late last night, hence the super late Photo Sunday.

In Montreal I discovered a new love. POUTINE!

Mmmmmm. Look at all that goodness. (The grilled cheese was delicious too) In case you aren't aware, poutine is a Canadian dish consisting of french fries, gravy, and cheese. Fancy poutine often adds meat and other things, but as a veg head I went with the basic. I'm not going to lie to you, my tummy did not appreciate the gravy. My body can't really process meat anymore, and the meat based gravy made me a bit sick.

It was definitely worth it though. Poutine is such a guilty pleasure. You know it is greasy and not very healthy,but it tastes like magic.

So I don't care that my tummy does not approve of poutine. Poutine...I love you.


Anyone else a poutine lover? More on Montreal to come.
-Alisa

Photo Sunday: My Favorite D.C. Photo

Hello all. Sorry this post is a day late. I wasn't feeling very well yesterday and completely forgot to write this.

This photo comes to you again from D.C. and is my favorite one. Thanks to Jessi's husband Cam for the photo.

Jessi and I found home! You can pretty much tell where everyone at the WWII memorial is from, because they all pose with their state (or territory). Jessi may live in New Zealand now, but we all know she is a Pennsylvanian at heart.


Have you been to this memorial and posed with your state or territory? Almost the end of summer, where has everyone gone on vacation?
Now I'm going to go back to watching Supernatural.

-Alisa

Photo Sunday: A Brief Trip to Pittsburgh

I know it is Saturday, not Sunday, but I am traveling the next couple days. It is time to take YC's parent to New York to fly back to Singapore. Tomorrow we leave for a night in Bethlehem and then on to NYC the next day. I'm not sure I will have enough time to write tomorrow, so instead Photo Sunday is a day early!

Plus this post will be a tad longer than my typical Photo Sunday.

YC and I at the Waterfront

YC's parents wanted to see Pittsburgh, so we drove down for a short trip. We ate yummy seafood at Roland's on the strip before YC's parents dragged us to an outlet mall. Neither YC nor I enjoy shopping, so we just goofed off.

In the evening we visited the Waterfront. Not going to lie, my favorite part was finding really cheap books at the Barnes and Nobles there. I bought The Ghost Bride and The Midnight Rose. Both historical fiction pieces. I've already finished the first, and I liked it quite a lot though it was not what I anticipated.

The next morning we met up with one of my friends from college that lives in Pittsburgh for lunch. We ate at the Conflict Kitchen. I had heard of it before, but hadn't realized it was in Pittsburgh. If you haven't heard of it, the Conflict Kitchen only serves food from countries the United States are in conflict with. The country changes each month. July was Cuba, though we are on much better terms with them now. I love Cuban food, so I was pumped.

If you're ever in Pittsburgh, I suggest trying out the Conflict Kitchen. The food is quite cheap and yummy, plus you will learn something from the quotes on the boxes. I'm hoping that next time I'm down there the food is Middle Eastern, since I haven't tried the cuisine from that area.

According to my friend: Hogwarts

Right next to Conflict Kitchen is the University of Pitt, which houses this gorgeous building. My friend was right, it is practically Hogwarts. The inside is full of arches, high ceilings, and random staircases. We only spent ten minutes looking around, but I could have happily spent hours. I want to walk around the university and all of its pretty buildings and parks next time I'm in the city as well.


So there you have it. Extended Photo Sunday on Saturday with TWO pictures!

Have any of you been to Pittsburgh? Did you like the city? Have you tried Conflict Kitchen?

-Alisa

Washington D.C.: Eating All the Food and Walking All the Places

Hey all! I've been a bit busy the past week or so, but I finally had some time to sit down and write up a blog post on D.C.!

Jessi, my friend from New Zealand, and her husband, Cam, visited for approximately a week. We hung around our hometown for a bit, showing Cam where Jessi grew up, then we headed down to D.C.

Since I'm sure more of you are interested in D.C., here is a post on everything we did there!

My travel buddies and I taking a break on monument steps.

Photo Sunday: Cathedral Cove New Zealand

Hello loves!

In honor of one of my besties visiting from New Zealand starting tomorrow, I am posting a picture from my visit to New Zealand a couple years ago.

This impressive rock formation is found at Cathedral Cove in New Zealand. This beach is famous for the large rock archway (seen in the second Chronicles of Narnia movie). It is often quite crowded, but the view is worth it. I loved this rock out a ways from the beach.

Have any of you been to Cathedral Cove? Anyone else love the Narnia movies? Well, the first one and kind of the second one...not the third one at all.
Hope your summers are going well.

-Alisa

A Short Update: Visitors and Possible Trips

I'm going to be super busy coming up, so I figured I'd stop by and give a life and plans update.

Next week one of my best friends is visiting from New Zealand with her husband. I am so excited! It has been years since I've seen her, and I haven't met her husband in person yet. (Skype does not count)

Taking silly artsy pictures together in New Zealand.

Niagara Falls and the Oh So Charming Niagara-on-the-Lake

Since I failed at posting my Photo Sunday on Sunday, I decided I owed you a full post.
The weekend before this one that I just missed, my mom, aunt, and I drove up from PA to Niagara Falls (Canada Side. Which is the best side).

The first day was very rainy and overcast.

Photo Sunday: Light Reflections

Apparently I cannot be trusted to write my Photo Sunday when I'm reading. Books make me forget everything. So, sorry this post is a little late.

After dark at Niagara Falls, the falls are lit up from across the water by huge spotlights. The night we went was rather foggy, so a good portion of the falls weren't actually illuminated. The fog was awesome though because the spotlights lit it up instead. This created long bars of light which reflected on the wet ground. Coupled with the silhouettes of people crossing the street, this made for excellent pictures.

This picture is quite possibly my favorite from Niagara Falls.

Has anyone else been to Niagara Falls? Did you see the falls at night? Any advice on nighttime photography? This was my first attempt and it was difficult.

-Alisa

Photo Sunday: DIY Pin Map

Hello all!

For this Photo Sunday I'm going to show off a cool DIY pin map I made. I figured since you all are travelers too, you might enjoy this.

I bought a vintage map on amazon for under three bucks, in fact I believe it was a dollar. It is quite large. I love the look of old fashioned maps, so that is what I chose to use. Behind it is a cork-board, mine had a metal frame but I think a frame-less one might work even better. The cork-board keeps my wall free from tons of little holes (on the wall it was on originally I did Not have a cork-board...so many holes). I then bought lots of colorful pins and used four to pin it to the corners of the cork-board. After that I picked colors which where I have been, where I really really want to go, and where I would like to eventually make it to at some point. I also used a sharpie to write one of my favorite travel quotes across it.

In the corners are a postcard a friend sent me from Iceland and a red envelope from Chinese New Year in Singapore.

The map hangs on the wall above my bed, which my stepdad's friend hung for me since that was beyond my skills,

I love maps and am always looking for ways to decorating using them. I hope you enjoyed my simple little DIY tutorial.

Does anyone else have an obsession with maps and decorating with them? What cool DIY map projects have you done? I want to do the one where you drill holes in a globe in the places where you've visited and put a light inside.

-Alisa

Photo Sunday: More Cherry Blossoms!

Hey there!

I hope you all had a great weekend. I worked, so mine was a bit full. Still, it was actually nice out here. Maybe summer is finally going to arrive.

For Photo Sunday I have another lovely cherry blossom picture that I didn't have space for in the full post. Enjoy!

I love the Japanese-esque stone structure with the cherry blossoms behind it. So pretty. I say Japanese-esque because I have no idea if it is actually Japanese or not, but it definitely brought their architecture to mind. There were so many people around this that I could only take a picture of the top if I didn't want tons of random people included.

I hate having to take pictures around people.

Did anyone else take any cherry blossom photos? Let me know in the comments and I'd love to know where all you've seen festivals like the one in D.C.

-Alisa

Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival

Hello all! Sorry I never got around to posting Photo Sunday's the past two weekends, it has been a bit crazy around here. Plus, the weekend before last I was at the Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival.

Let me tell you, it was gorgeous. Crowded beyond belief, but gorgeous.

Just look! All the pretty!

The Washington Memorial through blossoms

My favorite picture of Steph and I from the festival. <3

Photo Sunday: The Treetop Walk in Singapore

Hello all! We had a bit of snow Friday, but it's finally sunny again. Maybe spring will happen for real soon? That'd be nice.

Since I'd rather think about warm places, I give you another picture from Singapore.

I mostly like this picture for how red and awesome my hair looks, not going to lie. It is also a good picture of the treetop walk and you can get a sense for how long it is. When I first saw the structure close ahead of me, I thought that was the end and was disappointed. Luckily I was wrong and it was much longer. It may have be sweltering, and I thought I was going to die on the way back, but it was worth it.

Mostly because I saw a monkey.

Also, I've been thinking of posting book reviews on here as well, since I read a shit ton. Would anyone be interested in book reviews? I could also just link my GoodReads here. Thoughts?

Anyone else ever done the treetop walk in Singapore, or anywhere else?

-Alisa