Local Discoveries – The Who, What, Where #DiscoverTorrance

by with No Comment adventurecommunityentertainmentleisurelifestylereviewsshoppingtravelwellness

Shopping, adventures, and foods oh my!

As you saw from my last article, I visited the neighboring city of Torrance last month and I’m so happy to share my discoveries with you. Where we shopped, our explorations, local eats … all the things! We stayed at the Best Western Plus Avita Suites and they provide a complimentary breakfast buffet so we only had to find lunches and dinners … and saucy sips … oh and desserts 😉 There’s so many options and I got so many of your recommendations from Instagram, thank goodness discovertorrance.com exists which helped me narrow down all my choices! Pssst and thank YOU for your recs <3

So day one was all about settling into our suite and enjoying dinner at our hotel, so the next morning after we enjoyed the buffet we visited the Farmer’s Market for some lunch and local goods.

It was such a beautiful day in Torrance that it was easy to walk around for three hours before I decided I wanted a mid-day pick me up. We headed to the best boba in town… 7 leaves cafe

That would be my macarons and cafe over there chillin’ next to the Moana tree haha. Sooo good, please go there and get the Taro milk tea boba! The Depot was high on your recommendation list as it was on the discovertorrance.com site so that’s exactly what we did for dinner and let me tell ya… I’m a martini kinda lady and their martini’s cannot be matched! So perfectly paired with a filet and mashed potatoes dinner. Umm and that would be pistachio butter you see next to that fresh baked bread *drool*

P.S. that’s the Chef! Of course I asked to take a photo with him, it was one of the best meals evaaaar! And what better way to wrap up day one than a night cap?! We walked over to a neighboring hotel bar and enjoyed one more saucy sip… can you guess what I got? And of course- a bar pretzel is the best choice duh.

Perfection ah. With time in the books I was already fully enjoying my time in this city. Day two began the same as the previous morning but we switched up routine by having some Hawaiian lunch for the first time. I learned that Hawaiian food and Chamorro food (it me!) are very similar! Think spam and rice haha This was The Loft in Torrance and they did not disappoint.

Musubi and Hawaiian fried chicken for the win! Since I’m the type of person who plots my next food venture WHILE still having the current meal (ha!) I decided we’d go to Brio for dinner AND dessert and enjoy some home made donuts… they had me at donuts let’s be real.

We wrapped up the day by finishing our holiday shopping at Del Amo Fashion Center, which by the way is just a hop and a skip away from our hotel… winning! It was such a perk considering I shopped ’til I dropped.

Why yes, I did purchase this camo cropped pull-over *hail hands* I ended up completing all of my holiday shopping AND shopped for myself so… treat yo self. Day two was a smashing success and when I tell you I slept like a baby, trust.

Before leaving on our final day in Torrance, I ran one last time at our hotel gym, enjoyed a homemade waffle and took time with every bite, and just had to make one last stop before checking out of my staycation dream. Enter Strand Brewing for some FUNS!


Ending my staycation in Torrance could not have been any more fun than enjoying a flight of local beers, playing some games, and sports!

I had the best time and feel so lucky to have partnered with such a welcoming and hospitable community to showcase some of the best places in Torrance to eat, visit, explore, and shop <3 I hope you get a chance to visit our new home away from home and I’ll link you to all the places that helped make our stay so memorable and easy to navigate!

Have you added ‘more adventure’ to your New Year goals yet? Let’s do this! 

https://discovertorrance.com/stay/

https://discovertorrance.com/hotels/best-western-avita-suites/

www.discovertorrance.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discovering Torrance – Best Western Plus Avita Suites- Cheers to venturing more in 2020!

by with No Comment adventurefitnessfoodholidayholidaysleisurelifestylemom lifereviewsself care sundaytips and trickstravelwellness

It’s a new decade darlings, can you believe it?! Welcome to 2020… we’re in it and we’re also just coming off of a two week break where we didn’t know what day it was, what time it was, and if we were ever going to change out of footed pj’s. So now that we’re back into the full swing of things I want to share a few of my personal goals with you. I think it’s so wonderful when we can get real with each other and spark creativity in one another. I read a great quote the other day that had so many meanings to me, “one year closes so another can open”. 

So good right? So one of my goals this year is to travel more, to hit reset on my mind and my heart when I need it, and to not feel guilty about it. Even if it’s just jumping in my car and visiting a neighboring city, I’ve got to do it in the name of adventure. I was inspired to take more time to explore my own city when Discover Torrance reached out to me for a staycation. ‘Ummm yes please’, is what I think I responded with. 

The idea of a staycation always encourages me to relax without worrying about taking a flight out or being too far away from family and financial responsibilities. So I packed my bags and headed to the Best Western Plus Avita Suites in Torrance. Sweet Suites, it’s an award-winning-all-suite boutique hotel and was so close to everything I wanted to do during my stay I couldn’t wait to get there. So with my itinerary in hand I checked into my suite and found it very difficult to peel myself from the cozy bed to hit the town on our night one haha. 

My next article will share in detail all of my recommendations for where to go, what to do, things to eat, best desserts to find, and local favorites in Torrance. Today I want to share my experience at this beautiful hotel and share that you can book with them here! 

I wouldn’t usually describe lobbies as inviting and beautiful but let me tell you, this lobby was inviting, comfortable, and beautiful. I actually blurted out at the front desk, “how pretty is this?! I have to take some photos before I check in”. 

It was bright and festive, the staff was so welcoming… and so was this cushy bed! Every room is a suite so they each have a seating area, office area, and kitchenette. Here’s a fun walk through…more like dance through of my room! Imagine Mariah Carey’s voice singing as I dance you about the suite.

Once I settled in and unpacked… P.S. am I the only one who get SO excited about hotels that I have to unpack all of my belongings before doing anything else? AKA I hang my clothes in the closet, utilize the robe, put my keys in the safe, and place all of my toiletries out ha! I’m saving the rest of my excitement to share all of the things we did, the foods we ate, the drinks we drank, the desserts we hunted, ALL the things that we took in during our time in Torrance.

For today you get to hear me dish all about these digs and the hospitality and generosity we were shown while on our staycation at the Best Western Plus Avita Suites in Torrance. Can we just talk about how much joy complimentary breakfasts bring us all? Haha talk about breakfast, this was a full blown buffet with options like home-made waffles, a yogurt and bagel station, fresh fruit, and every cereal and topping you can imagine. 

I indulged and had a little bit of everything Cafe Avita had to offer, here’s a peek above. After all that yummy food I had to get some cardio in and build energy for the day’s events to eat our way through the town! It’s so nice when the place you’re staying at has a gym, it encourages you to stick with your goals, and it completely helps that they have weights and not just a standard treadmill…yayy options! 

It was truly so relaxing to stay at this destination for two nights and made coming back after a fun filled day of adventures and foodie times just all the more spectacular. I do hope you get a chance to visit our home away from home, Torrance which is just a town over from us. The staff, the amenities, the views, the food, all of it … I’m so grateful to have been able to relax for a few days before heading back to reality of the grind and hustle. 

This was just before the holidays and could not have come at a more necessary time. Please scroll back through and enjoy the images, I hope you loved my dancing walk through of our suite, and come back on Monday for my complete guide to Torrance <3

Staycations… you ever been on one? What is a destination close to home that you’ve been dreaming of visiting? I hope Los Angeles is on your list and I hope you check out Torrance and where I stayed while you’re here! 

I’m including links for you here because that’s love haha xx 
https://discovertorrance.com/stay/
https://discovertorrance.com/hotels/best-western-avita-suites/

 

 

 

TRAVEL GUIDE: PALM SPRINGS, CA

by with No Comment adventureleisurelifestylereviewstravel

Growing up an Army brat I moved every three years, at least. Which makes me really comfortable with being uncomfortable. You know, that feeling you get when you move to another city or explore a town you’ve never been to, I live for that feeling. So I’ve made it my summer to-do in exploring a new destination each month, and today I’ll share with you a piece of paradise I found close to home, Palm Springs.

I stayed at the Avalon Hotel for my friend Miya’s birthday and what I love most about this boutique hotel is the customer service and its attention to every detail. If you’re looking for a quiet getaway complete with on site bicycles, 3 heated pools, health spa, fine dining, and a bungalow lifestyle, than this is the place for you!








With the desert setting and magnificent mountain views, you’ll really enjoy one of their poolside rooms! Ummm and can we talk about the decor?! I mean . . . clean, super bright, with pops of color, it’s got that retro feel with a modern finesse! I’m just completely obsessed with this place! I’ve found that in many cases, such a beautiful hotel will have not-so-comparable dining services, but this is not the case with the Avalon. Five JessQuests stars to their Avalon Burger *ahem grass-fed short rib sirloin*, and my absolute favorite, their fruit cart (pictured above)- complete with chili and lime *drool*!

We were greeted with complimentary champagne and fruit upon our arrival (birthday surprises!), our glasses were never empty during pool side celebrations, and every necessity was met with the friendliest smiles and the warmest of staff members! If you’re ever passing through Los Angeles or make your way to Palm Springs, definitely drop by the Avalon and tell Ezekiel we said hello!

Do you have a favorite local getaway?! Summer is almost over, have you checked any to-do’s off your list?

 

San Diego

MOTHER’S DAY WEEKEND GETAWAY

by with No Comment adventurespecial occassionstravel

Now that I’ve come down from my Mother’s Day weekend dream cloud, today I’ll share with you where we went, what we did, and what about this particular trip to San Diego made it so special.

We’ve been to San Diego before, Corrine and I took a day trip down there for Easter last month and although we’ve enjoyed every trip we make out there, this past weekend has evoked some much avoided conversation about relocating there. Avoided because we love Los Angeles so much, but we realized that SD has instant appeal with its differently paced lifestyle.

Much like L.A. it has its beaches, its hiking trails, its art district, and its blue collared corners. Different from L.A. however, is it’s less than enthusiastic infatuation with Hollywood and an overall city energy that we feel is much more calm and stress free than that of our L.A. hub bub. Just an opinion here but we really loved how calm everything felt. Blame it on the holiday weekend or the location we were at, either way we almost booked another two nights there.

San Diego
This is the night view of the walk to our hotel room, complete with koi fish ponds and tiki torches that guided our way through the Catamaran Resort.

San Diego
After we settled into our room we laid out on the beach for a bit and then headed into town for a romantical Mother’s Day dinner. Enoteca Adriano off of Cass St. in Pacific Beach offers up traditional Italian cuisine and gluten free pasta options which we were over the moon about since Corrine was able to enjoy one of her favorite meals with us. Pictured above, we had their meatball spaghetti, pasta bolognese, and Corrine’s GF spaghetti dish.

San Diego
After dinner we took a complementary riverboat cruise that took us from the Catamaran to the Bahia hotel on the other side of the bay. During the day there are ‘family hours’ where you can bring your children and enjoy the views of the bay, and at night it offers live music and beverages to those who want to dance the night away.

San Diego
The next morning before doing any exploring we took a short stroll over to The Mission Cafe on Mission Blvd which is a couple of hops and skips away from the hotel. We enjoyed a hearty breakfast with a side of their famous homemade rosemary bread and Corrine was able to enjoy their gluten free menu and specialty GF rosemary cinnamon toast! I also had a Vincent Vega, and holy moly- it’s a shot of espresso, cola, and vanilla over ice! Seriously so good!

San Diego
We packed up our room (that we very comfortably settled into) and met up with our friends Esther and Jacob who just moved there from Las Vegas. Walking around Hillcrest this was our first stop, Flashbacks. It’s a vintage store located near a plethora of other fun shops and restaurants, and that would be a vanilla chai latte I’m holding from Kona Coffee Company. You’ll see me holding a few different delicious beverages throughout this post!

San Diego

This is the world’s best tri tip sandwich and Corrine’s GF spicy tuna sandwich from Rubicon Deli, which by the way is the cutest deli ever! They have photos up from the 30’s and an entire wall covered in a beach photo taken from when the deli first opened its doors. Check it out if you’re ever in the area, it’s delicious and delightful! P.S. That’s totally a shirt slogan waiting to happen.

San Diego

San Diego
Here are those photos of me holding beverages as previously promised. The first is from T Deli in Hillcrest, a freshly pureed strawberry watermelon smoothie taken inside of Thrift Trader (all the thrifting courtesy of Corrine). The second was taken inside of Havana Kitchen on the drive back to L.A. in Temecula. It’s their house made sangria with peaches, watermelon, and strawberries. Not photographed were the Cuban sandwiches and rice bowl that we ordered.

I’m already on to the part where we drove home and I’m sure I didn’t touch on just how beautiful of a city San Diego is, but these were a few of the fun things we did while we were there. We are foodies at heart and adventurers by nature. We love exploring new restaurants and walking around unfamiliar cities. We especially loved the sparseness of the area if that makes any sense at all. It was just a different kind of vacation, sort of slow and chill which we loved.

I’ll end the post with this photo. It was taken on our first night in SD on the same dock that we took the Bahia Belle out on. It hasn’t been retouched or altered at all, and to me it looks and feels like a painting. There were so many beautiful homes and buildings in the distance and the darkness around it make it all so eerie, but in a good way! Ugh, can’t tell you how much I’d love to live there.

San Diego
Have you ever been to San Diego? What was your most favorite thing to do? It was all my favorite, the food and the food! I hope you had an amazing Mother’s Day and I’ll see you later this week with all things thrifted and sifted! If you’d like to see a video blog of the weekend head on over to my channel, the video is up now!

love, Jess