San Diego Photo Spots

While we were in San Diego, we visited a couple places just to take pictures. And while most of our choices turned out to be amazing, there were a couple that were total fails. Read all about them.

Sunset Cliffs
This is seriously an amazing location. Even if you’re not into taking pictures, you should still come here just to watch the sunset. I definitely suggest walking down further from the road a little bit to really get the cliffs in your pictures. That being said, use your brain and be careful!
When we got there, my husband just let us out and had to drive around for a little bit to find a parking spot. So, if you’re planning to go here, leave yourself plenty of time to park before sunset.

Greetings from San Diego postcard mural in North Park
located outside the Belching Beaver brewery
This is such a cute mural to pose in front of. Especially as a tourist! There were even other people taking pictures while we were there that took our picture for us.

You are Radiant! Mural in North Park
outside the Artelexia store
This one isn’t really my favorite because it’s difficult to find parking and when the sun isn’t just right, it casts a lot of shadows.

Spruce Street Suspension Bridge
This was one of our favorites. The bridge itself is pretty, but it’s just such a fun little walk. And while my son was slightly terrified at first, because some people walk heavy so it swayed at first, he eventually loved it! It is located in a residential area so it’s pretty easy to find parking, just be aware that you are by people’s houses so be courteous.
The views from the bridge itself aren’t really anything special, but we loved it all the same.

Favorite Color Mural in La Jolla
7596 Eads Avenue
This is just a fun little mural full of colors. There was a truck parked right next to it so it was a little difficult to see at first, but we made it work.

One Pointed Attention Mural in La Jolla
7835 Ivanhoe Ave
This mural was inspired by molecular structure and scientific drawings.
It was a little different, but we still enjoyed taking pictures.

Fails:
Secret Swings in La Jolla
While we were there, the swings were not. We couldn’t find them at all. And trust me, we did try. There is an okay view near where people say they are, though.

Scripps Pier in La Jolla
We couldn’t find anywhere to park after driving around for almost 20 minutes so we never even got a picture here.

If you have any other awesome suggestions for photo places near San Diego, leave them in the comments for us to try out the next time we visit.

Free Habit Tracker Download

It's been a while guys! I have been all over the place with homeschool, planning our next trip, and trying to get this holiday season started. But I just made this habit tracker inspired by one I saw on Instagram and I just had to share it with all of you. I'm excited to start developing good habits next year. I want to work out regularly, not go months without creating, and making sure I blog every week.

I'm not sure if you're like me or not, but one thing I love is checking a box. I make a ton of lists and checking something off my list is just so satisfying. It's gotten to the point where I start my list with 'finish making list' just so that I can check it off when I'm done. Pathetic, I know.

Anyway, just in case anyone else would like to join me on my path to better habits, here is what I came up with: Click here for a fully editable version

I Dyed My Hair Purple!

So, there I was, sitting in my living room, looking at the pictures I had just posted on Facebook from a weekend away when I scrolled past one of those Overtone ads. In case you don’t know what Overtone is, it’s like a hair dye. But you dye your hair crazy colors (like pink or purple or blue). And it looks like hair creme as opposed to normal hair dye. And before I knew it, I was dreaming of crazy colors.

Ah! I’m 29. I’m not some teenager that can just do whatever they want to their hair...right? Well, I’m an adult. I CAN do what I choose. And I choose to embrace the crazy in my life and go for a new color.

Backstory: I haven’t touched my hair with dye of any kind in over 10 years. I used to highlight, lowlight, full on dye my hair whenever the mood took me when I was a teenager. I never did anything crazy. They were always natural colors. But then I got pregnant and I had heard that you’re not supposed to dye your hair while you’re pregnant. So I didn’t. Then we were poor. Then some woman that was cutting my hair made me feel disgusting because my roots were too far out to just need maintenance, but not far enough out to look like it was done on purpose. Needless to say, I never went back there again. And I decided I just wanted natural hair so that I didn’t have to worry about it. So I grew it out. And I grew it out. And I grew it out. My hair has been completely natural from root to tip for over 5 years.

But the desire has struck! I need that dye job. So, I decided to go with something a little low maintenance (so that when it grows out, it DOES look like I did it on purpose). Here’s where I decided on a Balayage.

But I had some questions. And I needed a new stylist. The one I had gone to for a couple years just wasn’t doing it for me. Seriously, I have the worst luck with stylists. They either complain about how much and how heavy my hair is or they just don’t talk that much. Some of them simply don’t know how to work with my hair (it’s super thick and fairly long) so the cut they put in it, doesn’t work for me. And while some have clearly been worse than others (hello, woman who told me my dye was terrible), I just haven’t really connected with anyone. And while the lady I was with for a couple years did an okay job with my cut, I had ZERO confidence in her ability to dye my hair properly.

I looked. I researched. I found pictures of hair people had done before, and I settled on a couple girls from Fringe in Bloomington, IL. They seemed young and modern and willing. So I called to make an appointment for one of them to just cut my hair first. I went in, and got a couple inches taken off. The girl was so nice!! And she did a great job on my hair. I asked questions and she seemed knowledgeable. So we started talking about the dye job I might want done. She gave me some advice. And I booked my appointment for Wednesday, September 18th at 11am to get my hair done.

This is what my hair looked like before I went into the salon that day:

She highlighted my hair and then put a lavender toner on top of that. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, 3 hours and $300 later, I was done. That may sound extravagant to some, but I have some crazy thick, long hair. And it was totally worth it! Check it out!

Even though I loved my hair, it wasn’t exactly what I had asked for. In reality, I wanted an ombre look and I for sure didn’t get that. Lucky for me, I did like the way my hair looked in the end. However, I was incredibly disappointed when all the purple was gone after only 3 washes. I payed so much money! And for what? Not what I asked for and the purple was gone only a couple weeks later. Well, I decided to order Overtone (you’ve probably seen the ads on Facebook). Check out that post in a couple weeks to see how it works.

Crossing From Canada into the US

One of the stops my son and I made on our 2 week roadtrip a couple weeks ago was in Ontario, Canada. I had never crossed the border before by car so I was a little nervous just because I wasn’t completely sure what to expect. Well, our first crossing into Canada was pretty easy (but that’s a different blog post). But then came our trip back to the US. That’s not to say it was difficult, but it was definitely different.

To start with, we were crossing in a much busier area. This time, we were crossing at Niagara Falls. It was bound to be busy. That being said, it was a beautiful sight crossing the bridge and seeing the falls. It was one good reason to hang out in the right lane while you’re on the bridge. But once those 2 lanes go into the lanes where you talk to border control, it’s a free for all. Seriously, it went from 2 lanes to something like 12 lanes. And it was chaos. Some lines seemed to move faster than others so you really had no idea how long it was going to take. While we were in line, there was an officer walking around with a dog, sniffing cars. He ended up circling our car multiple times, which made me a little uncomfortable, but he soon moved on. I wasn’t concerned because we were hiding anything. I was more concerned that we would have to get our car searched.

When we got to the front of the line and it was our turn, I was ready. I had our passports out, a list of all the things we were bringing back that we bought while in Canada, our itinerary from Canada, and all our other travel documents. I rolled down my window and my son’s window in the backseat. The man asked for our passports, which I gave him. This time, unlike when going into Canada, we were asked many more questions. He asked what kinds of things we bought while we were there. What kind of things did we do? How long were we there? He asked my son how he knew me. And when he answered that I was his mom, the man asked him if he was sure.

While the experience wasn’t necessarily unpleasant, it did feel slightly more hostile than when we arrived in Canada.

Overall, it was a fairly simple process. It just might take a while depending on when you go. Hopefully, it’s not too difficult for you if you choose to cross here!

Crossing from the US to Canada

For some reason, before our trip, I was very nervous to cross the border. I mean, I’ve visited other countries before. But I’ve never travelled there by car. I’ve always arrived via plane or boat and they each have their own process. So I did my research. I looked up tips on crossing the border from the US into Canada. Most of them seemed super paranoid to me. Make sure your car is spotless, don’t make conversation with the border patrol, have proof that you’re planning to return to the US, etc.

I feel like I came pretty prepared. I took one of the folders from my office and put all of the pertinent information in it. Then, we were on our way to the border. I put my passports, a paper signed by my husband and notarized saying that I could take my son out of the country, our hotel confirmation in Toronto, and our hotel confirmation in Massachusetts.

When we arrived, there was a line that probably took us about an hour to get through. We pulled up to the booth and I rolled down both my window and the one in the backseat so that she could see my son. I handed the woman both of our passports. She then asked me where we were headed and how long we were going to be in the country. I answered her and she told us about a festival that was happening in Toronto. She was very pleasant. And we had no reason to be nervous! We were at her booth for less than 3 minutes. It didn’t take long at all.

So here are my tips:
1. Have everything available and ready that you may need. That includes everyone’s passport, information about where you’re going and when you’re coming back, and anything else you think you may need. You can find out more on the border patrol website.
2. Don’t try to bring in anything illegal like meat, firearms, fireworks, and excessive amount of alcohol. You also find this list on the border patrol website.
3. Be courteous. They want you to get through this line just as much as you want to get through it. But they won’t hesitate to make it harder for you if you’re a jerk.
4. Don’t be nervous. The woman we dealt with was very nice and we had nothing to worry about. As long as you have nothing to hide, you’ll be fine!

Hopefully, my tips will help you on your journey. Enjoy your time in Canada!

Owen's YouTube: Pop-Tart taste test

My son loves making his own videos. This time, he made a video about all the different kinds of Pop-Tarts out there. There are the regular Pop-Tarts, Pop-Tarts Bites, and Pop-Tarts cereal. To really taste test them, we bought the same flavor for each one.

Click here to watch this video on YouTube.

My Ultimate "Pop Punk/Emo from the 00s" Playlist

When I was growing up, I loved what is sometimes referred to as Pop Punk music with some Emo influences. I mean, what young white female high schooler in the 00s didn't love that kind of music? And if you didn't, you really missed out. Clearly, this kind of music is very nostalgic for me. So, in an effort to have some great music to listen to during workouts and while I'm cleaning the house, I put together this playlist. Please, enjoy!

In no particular order:
1. Dance, Dance by Fall Out Boy
2. My Own Worst Enemy by Lit
3. Fatlip by Sum 41
4. The Rock Show by blink-182
5. I'm Just A Kid by Simple Plan
6. 1985 by Simple Plan
7. You're Gonna Go Far, Kid by The Offspring
8. Dirty Little Secret by The All-American Rejects
9. Sk8er Boi by Avril Lavigne
10. My Friends Over You by New Found Glory
11. The Anthem by Good Charlotte
12. American Idiot by Green Day
13. Misery Business by Paramore
14. Dear Maria, Count Me In by All Time Low
15. The Middle by Jimmy Eat World
16. Sugar, We're Goin Down by Fall Out Boy
17. Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard
18. All The Small Things by blink-182
19. Thnks fr th Mmrs by Fall Out Boy
20. I'm Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance
21. I Write Sins Not Tragedies by Panic! At The Disco
22. The Kill (Bury Me) by Thirty Seconds To Mars
23. Face Down by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
24. Pressure by Paramore
25. Bring Me To Life by Evanescense
26. I Miss You by blink-182
27. Numb by Linkin Park
28. Miss Murder by AFI
29. Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous by Good Charlotte
30. Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day
31. Addicted by Simple Plan
32. Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne
33. Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance
34. Girl All The Bad Guys Want by Bowling For Soup
35. In Too Deep by Sum 41
36. Swing, Swing by The All-American Rejects
37. Stacy's Mom by Fountains of Wayne
38. Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus
39. Complicated by Avril Lavigne
40. Hold On by Good Charlotte
41. Flavor Of The Weak by American Hi-Fi
42. My Happy Ending by Avril Lavigne
43. The Great Escape by Boys Like Girls
44. Until The Day I Die by Story Of The Year
45. Be My Escape by Relient K
46. Almost by Bowling For Soup
47. Hands Down by Dashboard Confessional
48. Bouncing Off The Walls by Sugarcult
49. Girls & Boys by Good Charlotte
50. Anthem Of Our Dying Day by Story of the Year 51. Scars by Papa Roach
52. I Don't Wanna Be In Love by Good Charlotte
53. You're So Last Summer by Taking Back Sunday
54. All That I've Got by The Used
55. All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me) by Bullet For My Valentine
56. Here (In Your Arms) by Hellogoodbye
57. The Diary of Jane by Breaking Benjamin
58. Broken by Seether ft. Amy Lee
59. Ohio Is For Lovers by Hawthorne Heights
60. It Ends Tonight by The All-American Rejects
61. 45 by Shinedown

CLICK HERE to listen to my playlist on YouTube!