California Bountiful

I’m the new host of California Bountiful TV! The show is a 30-minute weekly lifestyle show featuring the people, places, food and farms that make California so delicious.

Join me as I travel the Golden State and share so many wonderful stories that are all tied into California’s abundant bounty. Check out the teaser trailer below for a sneak peek.

Oh Canada!

I traveled on a girl’s trip this Spring with some girlfriends I’ve known for more than half my life, and we went to Canada!

It was my first time in Canada and we left the agenda/itinerary planning to Rowena, because she is an awesome trip planner/researcher and that make sit so much easier if you just let one person take charge of all the planning.

Rowena is a big fan of Hallmark (holiday) movies and loves visiting charming towns that’ve served as a backdrop for the films, and/or have that romantic feel. So, the main destination for our Canadian getaway was Quebec City, but our first order of business was 24 hours in Toronto!

As I mentioned, it was my first visit north of the (US) border, so I was happy to explore a little of Toronto, which I’ve heard so much about. We scored right away when we lucked out on a super cool ride-share driver who gave us some great recommendations and offered us red carpet/VIP service. We did some eating, sightseeing and dancing.

My favorite stop on our quick Toronto tour was a trip to a champagne bar (Coffee Oysters Champagne), which had an unassuming store front, but quickly transported us to a secret speakeasy where we were told to keep our cell phones off. Exquisite decor with delectable bites and drinks!

The one exception for snapping pics, was only for taking photos on the “horse.” LOL!

After our exciting day and night in Toronto we flew to Montrael and landed in Quebec City, the birthplace of Canada, where we stayed in a castle! The Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac along the St. Lawrence River is now a hotel, but was once home to French royalty in the early days of what is now Canada. It is said to be the most European city in all of North America.

The area offers amazing views and is very walkable, it felt very European and French. Cute shops and restaurants, with history at every turn, definitely a fun place to explore and relax. Not only did the castle/hotel have so much history to explore and learn about, but the cobblestone streets and building in the immediate vicinity also offered a glimpse into the past.

We did venture outside of the Old Quebec area to an “island” with artisans of wine, nougat, jams, and chocolate!

Another fun stop during that excursion was the falls, which had a suspension bridge to walk across with great photo opps!

All in all, a good time with great friends. A much needed getaway, and a new destination explored which I can add to my list of places I’ve visited.

Virtual Wine Tasting

We are all finding new ways to continue to connect with our friends and family, keep busy and do things we enjoy, most likely on a virtual online platform. And usually when you think of wine tasting, you envision visiting a tasting room or winery for a vino pour. Well, wineries along the Madera Trail, (south of Yosemite), are virtually connecting wine fans with their favorite wine makers to bring the wine community together and continue in the tradition of wine tastings, in a virtual setting!

In my latest Zoom interview I had the opportunity to chat with Brooke Smith of Visit Yosemite Madera County Tourism office and Anna Marie Dos Remedios of Idle Hour Winery to find out more on this virtual wine connection. Plus, I learned about the virtual cooking classes being offered too! Chef Robert Snyder III is teach his kitchen-maestro tips in a virtual cooking class series. First up , he showed viewers how to prepare a simple, nutrition-packed Carrot Ginger Soup from the coziness of your own home. New videos will post regularly, and now the hospitality of the Chateau du Sureau can be experienced from your home. 

As Brooke pitched : When the going gets tough, the tough come together, with new ways to appreciate things we love, like drinking wine. Although tasting rooms at Madera Wine Trail wineries are temporarily closed for anything except bottle pick-up and deliveries fear not, wine tasting is still on. Virtually, that is.

Your favorite winemakers are taking to Instagram and Facebook to open up a bottle (or two) of some cheerful reds and whites. If you are fortunate enough to have a bottle from the Madera Wine Trail tucked away, follow along with your own library. If not, grab a bottle of something you have on hand (we are sure you have stocked up, along with toilet paper!), make yourself a lovely appetizer, then have some fun chatting wine. “We wanted a way to stay in touch with our community, patrons and dear friends.” mused the winemaker and owner of Idle Hour winery, Anna Marie Remedios. “For now, we are temporarily rethinking our way of life during this time of social distancing. There are a variety of curbside pick-up or delivery options and a lot of fantastic wine discounts at the moment.”

Disneyland Memories

When I think about my early visits to Disneyland when I was a child, the Main Street Electrical Parade is one of the first things that comes to mind, after Mickey and Minnie. In fact, if I’m being honest, I never even realized it went away….there definitely was a time lapse between my childhood, to now being a parent where I hadn’t visited Disneyland in YEARS!

Last year when I took my boys to Anaheim and Disneyland for the first time, I didn’t realize the night parade was not the same one I was accustomed to seeing during my visits as a kid. And, while the parade(s) we saw were awesome in their own right, it was very exciting for me to hear that the Main Street Electrical Parade is lighting up Disneyland once again!!!

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There sure is something about it that’s very nostalgic to me, and being able to share that experience with the kids is very cool, not to mention maybe I won’t feel so “dated,” as the characters and visuals that amused me as a child will have the same effect on them today! All this being said, I got to do an interview about this excited (limited time) event at Disneyland. I spoke to Disneyland spokesman Eddy Collins and the man mouse himself, MICKEY MOUSE even dropped in on the interview I did for Bay Area LIFE.

If you want to see it and “relive” that childhood experience or maybe see it for the very first time, be sure to visit Disneyland Resort by June 18!!

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Repost from 53 Weeks

Beer and Wine in Paradise

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If you’re a beer and wine fan AND headed to Maui anytime in the future…here are a couple MUST SEE spots for your visit! On my recent (work) trip to Maui we were able to visit and tour the island’s hottest spots for beer and wine…Maui Brewing Company and MauiWine. It was actually my second visit to MauiWine, I had went there previously with my sister and dad…but this time I got more of a “behind the scenes” look! And — I got to spin the footage for each place into feature segments for ABC7 Bay Area LIFE and you can watch them below!

Get Outta Town MAUI

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At the start of 2015, going to Maui wasn’t a prospect..in terms of work or pleasure, but as last year developed, many changes occurred in my life (and location), and I ended up living back on the West Coast working as a freelance TV Host. Fast forward, one of my freelance opportunities with ABC7 in San Francisco afforded me an assignment to the island of Maui in early December 2015! Who would’ve thought!?!?

So, now in 2016…last Sunday, the 30-minute “Get Outta Town MAUI” special aired with me as its host. I’m really proud of the work I did in helping put the show together from a writing and editing standpoint, so I want to share it with everyone. It was one of the best work trips and assignments I have ever had and it’s even better that through the magic of “TV,” I can share some of the highlights of the trip in this show.

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Hawaii is really a magical place and Maui has many gems that we barely scratched the surface in this half hour show. We did get to showcase the island’s farm to table movement, as well as how Hawaiian culture is weaved into every aspect of life there. WARNING, if you’re going to watch it, be prepared to crave the island life and put Maui on your travel to do list!

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To watch, just press play.

Special thanks to all our wonderful hosts while me and the crew were in the islands, from Virgina America to Grand Wailea Resort, Kumu Farms, Maui Tropical Planation, Hoaloha Farm, Hoaloha Group, Mama’s Fish House, Haleakala Ranch, Maui Gold Pineapple Company, Trilogy Excursions, Maui Fresh Streatery, Maui Brewing Co., MauiWine, Maui Ocean Center and all the awesome people we met on the trip…MAHALO!!!

And — here are a few behind the scenes photos from the trip.

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Frontier Flying

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I flew Frontier for the first time last week on a trip with my family from San Francisco to Chicago and since it is one of those “discount” airlines that can sometimes be the “unknown,” I figured I’d share some of my takeaways from the round trip experience.

The two biggest factors that influenced why we chose to fly Frontier even though I am a proud miles collecting member on a handful of other airlines.

Pricing – The cost for my family of four to make the round trip cost us less than $1,000

Flight schedule – Even though we live much closer to Oakland, the times available for the nonstop flights worked well for us to leave out of San Francisco and land at O’Hare – even though we’d prefer Midway, and made the most sense.

Okay, so I booked our fares online and elected to forego selecting seats or paying for baggage when I initially booked the trip. Yes, this is an airline which only allows a “personal item” with you in the cabin of the plane and any carry-on bags that you’d put int he overhead bin will incur an additional cost. And, as I also alluded to in my previous statement, I didn’t pick (i.e. pay) to choose our seats. I felt a slight risk here of being separated from my family, but wasn’t too concerned…and it did work out in the end.

A couple nights before out departure date I decided to call in and ask about the random seating, since I didn’t pay “extra” to pick seats, yet with 2 and 3 year old tots in tow, it was pretty critical that a parent was seated next to each one. The four of us didn’t need to be all together, but 2 and 2 would be ideal. I mean can you image a toddler being forced to sit unattended!?!? At any rate, I was advised that since we were traveling with young children, it would be taken into consideration and I should inquire at the airport if the random seating didn’t already put us in an agreeable seating arrangement, and she noted my reservation. The other helpful tid bit she informed me of was that I would save money by selecting and paying for my baggage options online.

 

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So anyway, when I checked in..all was GOOD! We are all put in the same row 2 and 2 with the aisle between us and I paid for our 2 check-in bags online, saving $10, since it would have been $10 more if I waited to do that at the airport. I didn’t pay for any carry on bags, we each had a personal item…and the rule of thumb for your personal item is can it fit under the seat in front of you!?!?

Dropping off our bags at the airport was fine and their customer service was nice and friendly. I liked that they allowed us to pre-board since we have small kids. Every airline is different these days and many do not include people with small children in the “pre-board” category. The plane was clean and leg room was pretty good. The seats are comfy enough, but unless I just couldn’t find the button, they didn’t recline. They are also very slim seats, compared to the width of seats I’ve sat in on other planes, but it didn’t make a major difference. The tray table was also much smaller, a little silver tray that dropped down. I think water was complimentary, but anything else had a fee. By the way, I think if you are seated in the first few rows you are some kind of “VIP, special” …but I didn’t do all that! 😉

In hindsight, it was a very good experience. We had a non stop flight that was on time or early each way, we had great seat assignments (that we didn’t pay extra for), our bags made it to our destinations and it was minimal charges for our checked baggage…and let’s be honest, everyone charges for bags these days except Southwest. I can’t say I will always be flying Frontier, but if it makes sense for my future travel plans, I certainly won’t hesitate!

Photos courtesy: Frontier Airlines

Wedding Bells in Sin City

I just spent an extended weekend in Las Vegas for my younger sister Adrienne’s neon-themed wedding – she the older of my 2 younger sisters! We weren’t on the strip, but in DTLV (downtown Las Vegas) and it was filled with fun festivities, true to the style of the couple we were there to celebrate. We stayed at the Downtown Grand Hotel which is a block off from Fremont Street, recently remodeled and very comfortable (and reasonably priced). We did head over to “the strip” for one night of table and bottle service partying, but everything else was within walking distance to the hotel, which was really nice. From the Container Park to Gold Spike, The Neon Museum and her post-ceremony venues of Le Thai and Commonwealth, it was the perfect wedding weekend. Many congratulations to my sister and new brother in law, may their marriage be blessed and filled with endless love.

Check out some of my favorite photos from our Sin City festivities…

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