Eat, Live, Run » Travel

our midwestern adventure

jenna — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 20:34:14 +0000

We had such a great time in the Midwest!

Nothing like braving ten degree temperatures and seeing all the lights on Michigan Avenue to get you in the Christmas spirit! We also were able to score last minute tickets on Craigs List to Bon Iver in Chicago, which was AWESOME. Bon Iver is one of my very favorite bands and seeing them live has been a bucket list item forever for me.

We both were able to catch up with old friends in Chicago and then rented a car and drove to Milwaukee to visit my grandparents, which was the whole point of this trip. Just seeing the look on my grandpa’s face when I entered the room made the trip worth every single penny. I’m actually tearing up as I type this….it was that powerful. Grandparents provide such amazing wisdom and Adam and I loved just sitting with them and hearing their stories for a few days. I love them so much.

Below are some more photos from our trip and at the bottom of the page you can find all the information about where we stayed and where we ate! I highly (!!) recommend staying at The Iron Horse when in Milwaukee. Adam and I decided it would be our Christmas present to each other to stay there (we never really do gifts since we love to travel so much) and it was such an amazing treat. From the moment we checked in (they give you free cocktails at the door!) from the time we checked out this morning, everything was spot on perfect. It was definitely one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed at—a destination in and of itself!

I was so excited to share Milwaukee with Adam since he’s never been before and we had such a great time! If you go, definitely check out the Milwaukee Public Museum—it’s one of my very favorite places in the entire world.

Where We Ate:

in Chicago–

in Milwaukee—

Milwaukee Public Market

Transfer Pizzaria and Cafe

Where We Stayed:

in Chicago—

The Westin on Michigan Ave

in Milwaukee–

The Iron Horse

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chicago by iphone

jenna — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 13:11:49 +0000

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here’s to you

jenna — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 21:25:23 +0000

Hello from the Foodbuzz conference! I’m having a blast eating my way through the city and reuniting with great friends. I wanted to say a big THANK YOU for voting for me for best cooking blog!! I couldn’t have been more shocked last night when I won. Seriously…I’m not just saying that. I really was floored and thought they called the wrong name. So thank you! It really meant the world to me.

You guys rock. Like, totally.

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big sur, round two

jenna — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:03:59 +0000

This past weekend, Adam and I took a trip to one of our favorite places ever—Big Sur. We had been once before (remember this video?!), and despite the fact that we were there in the middle of one of the worst storms of the season, I fell in love. Did I mention that was my first time tent camping? Let’s just say this time we brought an air mattress. And a hair dryer! And lots of wine and snacks. Adam tells me it’s not “real” camping since where we were there was a five-star restaurant on site, a bathroom with hot showers and full ocean views but whatever. I camp how I want!

We ended up extending our stay by a day to hike through coastal redwoods and eat lunch at Nepenthe, one of my bucket list restaurants. Through a simple lunch of mushroom soup and turkey sandwiches, I experienced Big Sur like never before. This time around, the weather was perfect and we couldn’t have asked for a better getaway. For all of those wondering, we stayed at Treebones the first two nights (tent camped rather than yurts) and stayed at a small cabin at Ripplewood the third night. I highly recommend both spots!

I’m happy to share our photos with you guys (click on the thumbnails for larger versions). Look out for Malcom the elephant seal pup—he was a sneaky one!

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baptiste power flow immersion

jenna — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:12:21 +0000

Whew! I made it!

When I think about recapping the past week, I honestly don’t even know where to start. I could tell you that it was amazing, that it powerful, even that it was life changing but putting words to such an experience almost seems impossible. Bear with me.

From the moment I got off the plane on Sunday, it was go go go go go. I met up with my roomies at the Denver airport and together we made the trek to Estes Park. It was my first visit to Colorado and I am….SMITTEN! Colorado friends, can I come live with you? I am thoroughly obsessed with your beautiful state, even though I didn’t see an elk, which was my goal for the entire week.

That night, we had a welcome session with Baron and he introduced the staff of senior Baptiste teachers that would be leading sessions during the week. Not really knowing what I was getting myself into then, I realize now what an amazing opportunity it was to practice with these awesome teachers from all over the country. On top of getting to practice with Baron for four hours each day (not as scary as it sounds–promise!), I took two amazing breakout sessions—-Yoga of Service in Action with Paige and Inversions with Kelly. We also watched the premiere of The Africa Yoga Project documentary, which was a whole other experience in itself.

The first day when Baron posed the question “why are you here?”, I really didn’t have a good response. Because I’ve practiced yoga for eight years? Because I want to be a yoga teacher someday? Because it’s a trip to the Rocky Mountains? However, my class with Paige really changed that.

I know, without a doubt, I was there to take that class and connect more with The Africa Yoga Project (AYP). In her class, we discussed how take yoga off the mat and into real life and serving others. Hearing Paige’s story about how she moved from New York to the slums of Kenya to start this life-changing project was, quite simply, transformational. Since AYP’s beginning a few years ago, she has helped to provide hundreds of Kenyans with yoga teacher jobs as well as build schools, community centers and spread the love of yoga in a poverty stricken area. It spoke straight my heart and gave my personal practice a whole other (much) larger purpose. I am so excited for October 2nd!

My time in Estes Park really transformed me as a yogi and a person. As a natural introvert, I was “forced” to get out of my box a little bit and connect with others who I might normally not have gotten a chance to connect with. As much as the week was about the physical yoga practice, it was also about life in general. I really think that going to this was one of the best thing things I’ve ever done for myself in terms of personal growth and awareness. I was able to push myself to new limits both mentally and physically (hellooooo handstands!), and connect with so many amazing people. I learned that the answer to how is YES and I was ready right where I was….no waiting around, just do it!

I really look look forward to attending more Baptiste events in the future and if you guys ever get a chance to go to one….DO IT. I promise you won’t regret it. Practicing yoga in a room of 500 people was almost electrifying, and the breakout sessions and discussions were thought provoking and authentic. It’s funny to me how many people consider yoga to just be a way to work their abs. To me, yoga is what happens when we take what we learn on the mat and use it to empower ourselves and the people around us.

It also really works your abs.

(someday I’ll be able to laugh again…someday)

© Jenna for Eat, Live, Run, 2011. | Permalink | 56 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: behind the butter, Travel, yoga

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gone campin’

jenna — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 23:14:54 +0000

The real question is, why did I wear such cute shoes? #ineverlearn

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the pause button

jenna — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 11:30:52 +0000

So…..I’m still on vacation and have been pretty bad about taking photos. Whoops. I’ve been too busy taking up the sport of paddleboarding (amazing core workout!), reapplying my sunscreen and reading my book by the water.

It’s been un-freakin-believable.

I hope y’all had a wonderful 4th of July! We’re actually headed home this morning…I’m kinda in denial. I wanted to share with you guys though the wonderful dinner I ate the other night here at Spindleshanks, a great restaurant that Adam and I have been to before. We both were waaaaay too exhausted to do anything but walk across the street (we stayed here and LOVED it!!) for dinner last night after a full day of white water rafting on the Truckee river in Nevada. The day was hot, the water was ice cold and we both had a blast.

All that paddling made me hungry! And thirsty. Very, very thirsty.

We both could barely wait to dig into the cajun BBQ beer prawns as soon as they were set down on the table. And you know what was even better than the prawns? Dipping huge chunks of bread in that sauce. Mmmmmmm

It’s what dreams are made of.

For dinner, I had the salmon special which was grilled salmon on top of sweet corn puree (yum) with a warm spinach salad, balsamic tomatoes and tempura green beans on top.

It reminded me of how much I love this fish. Note to self: make this soon. Like…tomorrow.

So lucky to share it all with my most handsome date…

Thanks everyone for being so patient while I’m on vacay. It’s been amazing to just hit the “pause” button and just soak everything up.

Happy (late) 4th of July! More recaps comin’ your way shortly…stay tuned.

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a birthday surprise

jenna — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 11:45:37 +0000

On Friday afternoon, Adam whisked me away for a blissful birthday escape to Lake Tahoe involving kayaking, hiking and deeeelicious food. The weather was absolutely perfect (sunny and in the 70′s!) and we stayed here- it was a terrific location, a stones throw from the lake and only about five minutes from cute and funky Tahoe City. We love the North Shore!

Thank you all so, so, so much for all your sweet birthday comments, tweets and emails! You really know how to make a girl feel extra loved. I hope y’all enjoy our photos although it seems impossible to thoroughly capture the pristine and breathtaking natural beauty of the lake.

As far as restaurants go, I can’t recommend Wolfdales enough. It was definitely one of the best meals of my life (and that’s a bold statement!).

Sparkly heels, #ftw!

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cabernet and campfires

jenna — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:00:29 +0000

camp

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This past weekend Adam and I headed south to the Santa Cruz mountains to go camping at Big Basin, a breathtaking state park full of two thousand year old Redwoods, brightly colored banana slugs and foggy ocean mist.

Even though it was Easter, it was a tough weekend for me personally because it was the two year anniversary of my brother’s death. So, I chose to honor his life the best way I knew how—by cooking dinner (and breakfast!) over a campfire, by falling asleep to the sound of rain on my tent and by going on a strenuous five mile hike through misty old growth Redwoods.

ps–we stayed in a tent cabin here. Even as a total camping newbie, I thought it was fantastic! My favorite part of our little tent cabin was the wood burning furnace in the corner. And yes, I totally pretended it was the Little House in the Big Woods.

Who do you think I am, anyway?

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island adventures

jenna — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:30:06 +0000

Food wasn’t the only thing I enjoyed last week!

True, I spent most of my time at the various Taste of St. Croix events (other than the actual event itself, there was also a sunset barbecue and a wine tasting event) but in my downtime I soaked as much Caribbean sun into my chilly NorCal bones as possible!

I especially loved the sea kayaks that were readily available to guests of The Divi Carina Bay at no additional charge (the hotel is all inclusive). I borrowed one last weekend and paddled around in the crystal clear turquoise water until I couldn’t feel my arms anymore.

Who needs the gym when you have a kayak?! I totally need to do this more often.

I think my very favorite thing I did, though, was go snorkeling out to Buck Island!

I went out with a big bunch of travel and food writers on this tour, and couldn’t believe how clear the water was and that I could see down even 30 feet below! There’s a huge barrier reef around Buck Island, which is eight miles from St. Croix, and the coral was absolutely amazing.

And, for the record, I never thought I would say coral was amazing. Usually, I describe chocolate cake as amazing. Or the Nordstrom’s shoe sale. But coral? Not so much.

Until I saw this coral! Seriously folks, it was like living Finding Nemo or something—I couldn’t believe how colorful everything was! I highly recommend going out on a Big Beard’s Adventure Tour if you’re ever in St. Croix….you won’t be sorry!

To burn off all those mini desserts, I also went on a historic walking tour of Christiansted, one of the main cities on the island. Christiansted actually reminded me a lot of Savannah or Charleston, and I’m a sucker for old forts and dungeons (don’t tell anyone though, mm’k?)

Celeste was our fearless (and passionate!) leader and she showed us all around town. I think the most interesting little factoid that I picked up was that Alexander Hamilton’s mother was in prison here for bigamy! Go tell your history professor that one, huh?

I’m such a nerd.

I think my very, very favorite thing to do in life (other than bake cakes, of course) is to explore new cities that I’ve never been to. I inherited the traveling bug from my parents, both of who were flight attendants for 15 years, and I absolutely love to explore and go on adventures!

A huge thank you to everyone that made this trip possible, especially Divi Carina Bay. Everyone at the resort was so incredibly accommodating and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the hotel to anyone looking for a spectacular all inclusive Caribbean vacation!

Back to reality (and the dirty dishes)!

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