Food Friyay: California Veg

Happy Friday, friendz! Heading home today :) One of the things I'm going to miss FOR SURE are all of the fresh fruit and veggies. Fact: produce is more beautiful in California. For those of you that may not know, I've been a vegetarian since the tender age of 4. My parents decided to go veg when I was entering kindergarten and my whole family hasn't looked back since. Although it's not something I chose for myself, I honestly enjoy my veg lifestyle and am grateful to my parents for introducing me to vegetarianism. It's a deeply personal choice to be a vegetarian or vegan, especially if you're doing it for moral reasons. I don't believe in imposing my choice on others and have no intention of trying to persuade others to go veg or not, but I'm always happy to answer questions if you have them!

I always appreciate a heads up on delicious veg offerings so I figured I should give a shout out to two particularly amazing veg experiences I had while in cali.

Thuyen Vien/Veggie Pho | 1740 S Euclid, Anaheim, CA 92802

Okay tip #1 about this place: LOOK UP OPEN HOURS! Ugh, I totally didn't realize this place is only open for dinner Monday through Friday. Totally screwed me over a couple of times. But once I finally got it right, I was one happy vegetarian!!! This Vietnamese place will please meatatarians and vegetarians alike! My meat-loving foodie partner, Mahak, approves! As someone who grew up with a skilled Vietnamese cook for a mama, I can vouch for the authenticity of the dishes here. For first timers, the garlic chicken is an absolutely must. I'm not sure how they did it, but the chicken nuggets were delightfully crispy without being deep-fried. Our favorite dish was the clay pot "fish", which seriously tasted like my mama made it. I'm obsessed with the sauce they drizzle on top. Like for reals if I could only eat one meal for the rest of my life, fish in da clay pot would be it, y'all. I feel very strongly about this dish. We also got the bun bo hue aka Hue style beef noodle soup which is an awesome option if you love pho and want to explore other vietnamese noodle soups. The next time you're hanging around Disneyland, check out this amazing spot! The service is super friendly and the food is ridiculously cheap ($7-$9 per entree).

Veggie Grill | National Chain
I feel like veggie grill is super standard at this point, but I ate at Veggie Grill THREE TIMES over the course of a week so this dedication to them via the blog needed to happen. I've been in fucking lust with their buffalo wings for quite some time but this time around, I tried a couple of their salads for the first time and fell in actual love. Up until sometime this last year, I wasn't really that into salads. I didn't grow up with them and the concept of raw vegetables was not appealing to me. Something in my 27 year old tastebuds clicked and occasionally, I like to get down with the greens. Their quinoa power salad comes with a healthy portion of avocados (so you know it's good) and expertly strikes the filling but not at all heavy balance. The star of the show to is their banh mi salad. I mean yea, as a Vietnamese person of course I'm going to appreciate the concept of this offering but that salad is seriously a work of art. Whatever the fuck they did to that tofu is magic. Perfectly crispy and drizzled in crack sauce. Yum yum yummmmmm. I shall start a petition to build a Veggie Grill closer to Microsoft!

A cool pair of cali sunglasses would have really elevated these food pics, don't you think? :P

Pinkies Up, Betches!

Oh yea, we fancy ;) Our master planner, Jen-bunny, absolutely LOVES high tea. And on the way (and back) to/from Whistler, she suggested two separate high tea experiences for the group. And then basically, we all ended up getting hella addicted to high tea. For reals, just preparing the photos for this post has me salivating. High tea is quite a lovely experience with friends. You should never rush tea and I love the feeling of enjoying time with company without looking at my watch. And of course, the pastries and sandwiches and unlimited tea are absolutely delightful. I always underestimate how filling all of the food is! Everything is so petite but there's so much of it! And it's SO DELICIOUS! So, without further ado, onto the foodporn photos!

Neverland Tea Salon | 3066 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC
This crazy cute tea salon was Peter Pan themed! The atmosphere was casual but seriously so charming. And so damn whimsical. More importantly, their tea hostesses are super gorgeous! Ah, I seriously regret leaving without telling our hostess how pretty I thought her face was. Okay, sorry, I'm off track. Uh. Tea was yummy. Food was delicious (very vegetarian/vegan/gluten-free) friendly. Cost was totally affordable and I can't wait to go back!

The Urban Tea Merchant | 1070 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC
This super fancy, modern venue was a definite contrast from the previous salon. Not in a bad way, but it was a different experience. More upscale and of course more expensive but still completely delicious and a very elegant experience. Their vegetarian options were a bit lacking but luckily I wasn't that hungry. I went for their fruit and cheese platter which ended up being quite a bit of food! Our tea hostess was a legit connoisseur and very sweet! TBH, this wouldn't be my go-to tea place purely based on cost, but I'd definitely recommend The Urban Tea Merchant for a special occasion high tea experience.

I think I'll pick up a proper tea dress for the next time! Do you have any other PNW high tea recommendations?

Whistler Wonderland

Happy Thursday, party people! One more day until the weekend! YAS! Currently, I am skating across the friendly skies on my way down to cali for a recruiting trip. Of course I'm spending the weekend in Disneyland before the the festivities begin :) Today, I wanted to highlight the adventure activities from our Whistler Wonderland Weekend. Tomorrow, I'll be sharing our high tea experiences at two different tea salons.

Back a few months back when I was mentally preparing myself for Mitch's now-cancelled work abroad in Vancouver, I was thinking of ways to make the year and a half of long distance feel more fun. I wanted to see it as an opportunity for new adventures rather than a dreadful 18 months of being apart. I was brainstorming different ideas with friends when someone suggested Whistler for a weekend. I had never been before and it's been quite some time since I've been around snow. Also, I'm pretty much always down so we booked a VRBO in the Montebello community which is right next to Whistler Village. I can't recommend this location enough! The homes are lovely and spacious. We dubbed our crew #ONEBIGBED (some joke about all sleeping in one giant bed :D). Funny enough, it turns out Mitch doesn't have to do work abroad and gets to stay in the states with me! However, we're still waiting for his travel visa to come through so he had to miss out on the trip. A bit of a bummer but I got to bring a stand in SO, Riley, who I hadn't seen in moooooonths. We had an absolute blast and we're already talking about returning to Whistler for the spring and summer when Mitch gets his new visa!

As for activities, we initially considered snowboarding and skiing. However, we were pretty short on time (driving up Friday, driving home Sunday) and not everyone in group was interested in hitting the slopes. So instead, Jen (the bae of my heart and soul), found two super legit activities for us to do: Dog Sledding and Snowmobiling! I had never done either of these things but they were just as fun as they sound. 10 out of 10 would DEFINITELY do again.

Here are the details and my favorite snaps from our epic Saturday. We did both activities in the same day through the same tour company, Blackcomb Snowmobile. This company gets major kudos points from me! They are located in the lobby of the Hilton and were so wonderful. Their tour guides were professional, friendly and very knowledgeable. The company itself seems to run a tight ship and is quite organized. It will be my go-to for all Whistler related adventure activities from now on!

Mountain Mushing | Blackcomb Dogsled
WHOOOO LET THE DOGS OUT?! Okay don't hate me, I had to. Um so dog sledding. It was fucking legit. We went for the very first tour at 9:30 AM. We met the tour guide in the Hilton lobby and they took care of us from there! The photos speak for themselves but I do have a couple takeaways from the experience. First, there's a distinct advantage to going in the morning. It's the very first run of the day for the pups and so they are extra fresh! It's a pretty comfortable experience. They wrap you up in a super warm blanket and it doesn't feel like you're ever going too fast when you're sitting in the sled. They give you the opportunity to mush and I highly recommend it! The cost was $189 CAD per person, it's cheaper for children!

Snowmobiling | Blackcomb Snowmobile
We had a couple hours after dog sledding before getting back out for our snowmobile adventure. I had never ridden one before and I was a little hesitant at first but I ended up having a blast! Apparently, I like to go fast :) The snowmobiles we rode were so easy to use! Basically just a gas and go, no gear switching. AND the handles were heated! So fancy!!! It was a long, but seriously satisfying day. I remember sleeping so well that night :) Have you been to Whistler before? Do you have any favorite activities that you like to do? I feel very grateful to have the means and the friends to go adventuring like this. Can't wait for the next one!

Keep yourself warm out there!

Hers & Hers: Aritzia Wool Coats alt title SHOP IN CANADA RIGHT MEOW

Third day of posts in a row :) I'm going strong for this 16 for 2016 blogging challenge, y'all! This post is a little extra special because I'm featuring one of my favorite people in the whole world. She goes by Riley :)

Riley and I had the time of our lives with an amazing group of friends in Whistler, Canada this past weekend. I have a post coming your way tomorrow about our unreal snow adventures, but first we need to talk about shopping. I'm not sure if y'all are aware (because I was certainly not) but the American dollar is SUPER STRONG against the Canadian dollar right now. This means that EVERYTHING is automatically 30% off sticker price if you're using USD! Our group consisted of 4 ladies and 2 dudes so of course we spent a little time hitting a few shops. I was absolutely delighted (aka on a shopping spree HIGH) when I realized that a lot of my favorite stores hadn't adjusted their MSRP to compensate for the current exchange rate.

Let's take these gorgeous coats for an example. We scooped these up from Aritzia, a trendy national boutique known for suuuuuuper high quality basics. They are also known for considering something to be "on sale" by knocking $5 off a $40 basic white tee. Yea, it's one of those stores. I have to admit though, I do admire their beautiful selection from afar. EXCEPT when I waltzed into the Whistler Village location and had a hey day with my no-foreign-transaction-fees credit card and USD exchange rate. Riley and I both purchased these incredible wool coats at $300 CAN AKA $200 USD!!!! Ugh, seriously in the top 10 best days of my life :P just kidding (but not really). Anyways for reals if you got the travel time and the monies, consider Canada for your next shopping spree!

BTW, these coats definitely lived up to the "high quality elevated basics" reputation that Aritzia has created for itself. Satisfyingly warm and effortlessly stylish. Riley sized down to an XS in her coat to get that super fitted slim look. I sized up to an L to go for that boxier, relaxed look (but also so I could button the damn thing over my Double D's :D). I've been on the hunt for camel for two seasons now and am so happy that I held out. I love the way this coat pairs with my fav OTKs. I am also completely obsessed with the all black look that Riley is rocking. She literally couldn't stop raving about her Blundstone boots. Apparently they are the shit and I'm keen to take her word on it because she just returned from a 4 month trek around Europe and the only pair of shoes that she brought were these ones. Stylish and hella practical: one of my absolute favorite combos.

Huge thank you to the bae of my soul, Jen P, for taking the icy streets head-on to capture these snaps for us! I hope your hump day is A+!

On Riley
Cocoon Wool Coat Wilfred @ Artizia, exact, but only available in Canada
Black Boots Blundstone, exact

On Kim
Pearce Wool Coat Babton @ Aritzia, exact
Steve Madden Gorgeous Boot via Nordstrom, exact, similar for $35

Travel Style: Lo & Sons OG Bag

Hey Y'all. Shit, I don't even know where to start. Basically I GOT MARRIED two weeks ago and life leading up to and beyond that event has been kind of crazy. I sort of feel like every other month I exclaim how busy I am on this blog BUT SERIOUSLY GUYZ it's a whole new level. It's a good and bad thing. On the one hand, I realize that I've been truly living in the present, enjoying time with my husband (ohgawd it still sounds weird) and sharing quality time with friends in both large and intimate gatherings. On the other hand, I really miss blogging so here I am! Ready to recommit to my little space on the internet. More details on love life later, I promise!

Today I'm reemerging on le blog with that PNW barbie vibe that I've been favoring lately. Who knew you could mix plaid and this giant pom pom beanie in so many different ways?! I've decided this is a perfect work to plane transition outfit. I feel stylish and put together for work but am totally ready to be comfy as fuck at the airport later :) These beautifully fitted joggers pants are what is making this all possible. I love the "casual cool" look you can achieve with these. Joggers seem to be pretty in right now but I always struggle to find a pair that fits well. Brooks Running seriously delivered on these pants. I love them extra because they're a local Seattle company!

The champion of my travel style today is my new bag from Lo & Sons! I debated for hours on black Friday on pulling the trigger on this bag. Mostly because it's beyond my comfort zone for spending. For a bag that performs this sort of function, I'd typically scour Ross (yes, Dress for Less!) and probably pay around $50 for something I deemed cute and functional. The last couple of bags that I used this strategy for didn't last me as long as I wanted. Facebook has been bombarding me with Lo & Sons bags ads for months now. The Claremont camera bag is what originally caught my eye (which I also snapped up for Black Friday :D!). After shopping a bit on their site, I came across their brilliant travel bag designs and eventually landed on the page for The OG. As an engineer with a penchant for design, I was so impressed by how much thought was put into this bag. For reals, you need to go watch the video to see what is up. After literal hours of going back and forth, I decided the deal was too good to pass up. At 35% off, the bag came to $200 and I went for it. NO REGRETS, Y'ALL. This bag is definitely something to consider as a nice treat for yourself or a dear friend who travels often.

Well, it feels good to be back :) I'm currently in Orlando spending time with my family. I promise to not be gone so long next time :)

The OG Overnight Bag Lo and Sons, exact (currently on sale for 25% off!)
Big Pom Pom Beanie Uniqlo, exact for $12.90!
Olive Puffer Michael Kors, similar
T-shirt Pink by Victoria's Secret, this one looks comfy!
Plum Plaid Aeropostale, similar
Women's Joyride Pants c/o Brooks Running (exact, men's version)
Lace Up Wedge Bootie Madden Girl, similar

Life on the Farm: Cu Chi

Hi Cuties. Sounding off from the Seoul/Incheon airport, waiting for my connection back to Seattle. I am both hella ready and absolutely not ready to go home. I'm looking forward to returning to bae, my friends, even my work! But I'm sad to leave this beautiful country behind and two of the most important people in my life with it. Well, I'm not leaving mom and dad behind for good, but I won't see them until December. As Ethan would say, "WAAAAAAH, Kimberly." I know :D. My last week in Vietnam was slow, but in the best way possible. I spent my time commandeering my dad's favorite hammock, gorging myself on fruit with my mama, ravenously reading my new favorite author, enjoying time with my parents and showing Ethan and Kellen around Saigon. And by showing them Saigon I mean dragging them around to all of my favorite shopping markets. I didn't even bother taking photos in Saigon, I was too intent on haggling. However, I wanted to share some quick snaps with you guys from around my parent's house in Cu Chi, a little country town 45 minutes outside Saigon.

Sugar: The first thing I did upon arriving onto the compound was press myself a glass of sugar cane juice! My aunty has her own sugar cane stand that she runs out the front yard area that both our houses share. This stuff is basically liquid diabetes and I happily guzzled it down. Tastes great if you add a little lime to it!

Chores: Yup, in case you're wondering, that's a carousel of underwear :D :D :D A couple years ago, my parents FINALLY got a washing machine for the house (along with hot water for the shower, woo!), but we still hang our clothes out to dry. Ah guys, before this, we had to wash our clothes in a tub by hand. Super stupid first world problems but you bet I show my washer/dryer at home way more love after doing laundry by hand. Also... SO MANY SPORTS BRAS.

Morning Market: This is my FAVORITE market in Vietnam, it even beats out all of the clothes shopping that I love to do in Saigon. This open air farmer's market is up the street from my parent's house and is open from 7 - 11 AM everyday. It's absolute fucking chaos. People riding their bikes through crowded walkways, sellers yelling at you to buy whatever they're peddling, weird smells coming at you from every direction... it is AWESOME. My mom and I hit it every day, always biking home with a bounty of fruits and veggies. All the produce goes for $0.50 - $1.00 per kilogram. It's basically free. Imagine going to a free farmer's market every morning. Shit's amazing. Every time someone comments on how big I am, my mom proudly exclaims that I am a strong soccer play, raised on a vegetarian diet. And then all of the shopkeepers praise us for our spiritual enlightenment. Lol, same conversation, every time. Doesn't get old :)

Mom's Personal Chauffeur: Fun fact, I have my motorcycle endorsement! I've never used it to ride in the US, but I always ride bikes when I'm in Vietnam. If you youtube "Saigon motorbike", you'll get some CRAZY videos of a gazillion motorbike drivers riding every which without regard for traffic rules, or their own lives! Cu Chi is chill enough that I feel safe zooming around, carrying my mom to dinner or to the morning market. I love Ethan's pink motorcycle helmet :D

Until we meet again, Vietnam: I hesitate to say that this is the best trip to Vietnam ever, because each trip I've taken here has been special. I am extra grateful to my parents for hosting my friends and me, keeping us extremely well fed and safe on the streets! Thanks for reading along! All of my Vietnam posts can be found here. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any travel questions! We will return to our regularly scheduled fashion blogging in the next few days! The house is a wreck and I need to catch up on a whole bunch of work stuff!