Shopping as a sport

Ahhh, the madness of Black Friday is finally Over... and if you're like me you may have extended your shopping binge to the rest of the weekend and then blamed the unnecessary spending on the devil that was obviously disguised as the holiday sales... and then decided to also give in to Cyber Monday, oops... At least I can cross most of my Christmas gift list off.

Although Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year and calling it chaotic would be an under statement, I'm still a big fan of it. And yes I'm one of those people that start hitting the sales ridiculously early at 2am, but at least I'm not hardcore enough to camp out days before. Every year I get in an average of 3 shove/snatch contests or tug-of-wars, and I definitely think that Black Friday shopping should be considered a sport. But this year was surprisingly calm, and the damage to my wallet wasn't catastrophic like previous years. This is because I've gone handmade this year with most of my holiday gifts, which in most cases (in my opinion) is better...it shows more thought and personality.

Check out some of these handmade goods:

-The Velvet Throne Designs: gorgeous handmade feather earrings made by my cousin, Kathelyn 

-CLE Scarves: handmade infinity scarves made by yours truly :)

If you are interested in any of these designs feel free to contact me. Happy shopping days everyone! 

P.S. While we're on the topic of shopping check out my sister blog, The Long Weekenders for our shopping blog in jolly ol' England. Cheers!

Sweet November

I hate that it feels like this year we skipped Thanksgiving and went straight to Christmas. But regardless I'm still so thankful for everything that I have. For me Thanksgiving has always been about family, food, football, and then shopping after I've recovered from my food coma. I wanted to share an interesting conversation I had with my auntie the other day:

Tita: "Cyn, do you hike?"

Me: "I could…"

Tita: "Do you want hiking sticks?"

Me: "Sure…"

Tita: "What will you use it for?"

Me: "Everest!?!"

Tita: "Oh ok, good! Make sure you take someone with you and try to go all the way to the top and take pictures"

*hands me a pair of hiking sticks

I guess I'll have to conquer Everest now…=)

I'm so grateful for such an amazing, loving, and incredibly supportive family. No matter how insane my adventures are they have always been there to encourage me follow my dreams. I'm also thankful for my opportunity to travel like I do, my extended travel family, and for the unbelievably kind people I meet on the way that help made our "trips of a lifetime" even more unforgettable. 

Bring on the turkey! Have a great gobble day everyone!

Summer's last hurrah

I know what many of you are thinking…summer ended in August/September rolled…but In San Francisco, our summer is actually in fall. Our "Indian summer"  lasted until early November this year, and what better way to spend our last days of warmth than to go to the beach? To add icing to the cake, Rip Curl's Pro Search Surf contest was held in San Francisco's Ocean Beach this year. I love surfing and was ecstatic when I found out that there was actually going to be a competition close by. San Francisco isn't exactly known for their waves, and this contest was the first of its kind in the city in over a decade. The turn out was impressive, and although I didn't get to see my favorite surfer, Kelly Slater, I had a great time watching the other surfers compete. I could't think of a more amazing way to spend the last days of summer. 

Oh, and I'm sure you're wondering who won the contest, right? The winner was Gabriel Medina, an 18 year old phenom surfer from San Paolo, Brazil. 

With Brazilian surfer, Miguel Pupo