Tag: ice cream

Baños! And Not the Kind You Might Be Thinking…

I ran out of creative ways to say hello to the city I visited. I think what I did works though haha. Like with Quito, I could say hello and with Otavalo, heyo was fun, but I have nothing for this one. Anyway, the next city we stopped in during my study abroad to Ecuador was Baños!

The full name of the city is Baños de Santa Agua (or Holy Water Baths in English), but for short, it is referred to as Baños. This was a pretty touristy town but it was still super cool to visit. We did a lot of fun stuff here. The geography of Baños was very different from anything we had experienced before. We were still surrounded by mountains but the area was much more jungly than before. That was partly due to the fact that we were at one of the gateways to the Amazon jungle.

On our way out from Otavalo to Baños, we visited Rose Success, one of the many rose farms in Ecuador. It was really cool to see all of the greenhouses and be around SO MANY roses. In Ecuador, roses don’t have as much value as they do in the United States, because they are in abundance there. You could buy a dozen roses for $2 there as opposed to the at least $12 you would spend on the same bouquet here. Crazy! After our business visit, we stopped at Pujili Market which is one of the many fruit and vegetable markets in that area. It was so cool to see that much fruit and all of the unique products sold. We got to try some passionfruit and that was pretty weird but good at the same time. And I learned the proper way to eat mangoes that day too! If you’re ever curious, let me know and I’ll teach you.

The next stop on our journey to Baños was a painter’s house and we had the opportunity to watch him paint a traditional Ecuadorian painting. These types of painting always include the condor (the national bird of Ecuador) and a volcano. There are typically other features commonly seen in these paintings including llamas and working people. The tradition behind the paintings is really fascinating and if you ever have time to learn about it, I highly recommend it! The arts and crafts tour continued with another stop at a pottery place where we had the chance to make our own pieces using volcanic clay. We created our pieces in a traditional way. To do this, we had to take a chunk of clay and then press it into the mold we were given. Mine had a farmer with some llamas in it. 🙂

Following that, we stopped for ice cream in a town called Salcedo, which specializes in dairy products because of all of the cows they have there. The coconut ice cream was reallllly good. And then after dessert, we had dinner and then arrived at our new hotel, the Alisamay Hotel in Baños.

That night, I’m pretty sure I got the WORST sleep I’ve ever gotten in my entire life. There was this dang rooster at the house next door to our hotel and it screeched all night. I’m not even exaggerating. He must have had a lot to say. Regardless of the lack of sleep I got, I still had a really fun day the next day.

On January 8th, we started our day off with a hike to a beautiful waterfall. The hike wasn’t anything too taxing which was nice. The views of the waterfall were spectacular too. And after the waterfall hike, the physical intensity picked WAY UP. We went to this spot where you could zipline across a canyon and then zipline back. The ziplining was SO different from the ziplining I’ve done before. Instead of sitting in the harness, we were hoisted up once the harness was attached to our chests and the line and then our feet were placed into what I will describe as a baby harness. With this zipline, I basically flew like Superman. It was really cool but kinda painful. I can’t imagine how the guys felt doing this. Yikes… When we got to the other side, we were taken down from the line and had to carry all of our gear up a mountain (I’m not really exaggerating. The hike was intense and my lungs hated me for it haha) to then get reattached and fly back the other way.

I enjoyed the zipline experience but would I ever do it like that again, probably not. There was something just so fun about the ziplining I did in Hawaii that made it better than what I experienced in Ecuador. And now you might think, wow, that’s a lot to do in one day. Did you go to bed after? The answer to that question is no. We hadn’t even had lunch yet!

After the zipline, our bus drove us up to La Casa del Arbol which is this treehouse at the top of one of the mountains in that area. It’s owned by a man who keeps an eye on all of the volcanoes in the area and if one of them begins to show signs of eruption, he notifies the government. At this place, there was this swing attached to a treehouse and you could swing “off the edge of the world”. It was a cool experience and as a disclaimer, we were not going off the edge of the world, it was more off the side of a decently steep hill. It wasn’t even a cliff. And we only had to pay $1 to get to the park! Pretty nice right? I enjoyed the swing, but I really enjoyed the view more than anything. It was gorgeous up there.

And with our incredibly long morning complete, we FINALLY had lunch. It was around 2 in the afternoon when we finally got to a market to grab some food. The food, by the way, was INCREDIBLY good. I’m not sure if it was good just because I was starved or it was actually good. I’m pretty positive that it was a combo.

With that busy day coming to a close, we then headed back to the hotel to shower and relax and then went to dinner at this really nice hotel with a restaurant called the Luna Volcan. I got to try ceviche for the first time here and I was really pleased with how much I liked it. Thanks for the recommendations, Dad 😉

The next day, after another sleepless night thanks to Señor Rooster, was quite relaxing. We only had a half-day left in Baños and we had the chance to do whatever we wanted that morning. Some of the girls and I went to this spa that wasn’t too far from our hotel called Huellas Natural Spa and the experience was pretty good. The massage I had was probably one of the best I’ve ever had, and while the manicure was pretty mediocre, the service was still great and I was shocked at how decent it all was in general for $45. I had a facial, full body massage, and manicure. After the mini spa day, we went to lunch at this place called Honey that had massive milkshakes and extremely yummy paninis. I don’t think I’ve ever had a milkshake that contained that much sugar in my entire life. I definitely crashed on the bus later.

We had a chance to explore Baños until about 3:15 that afternoon and then we were off to our next city, Riobamba. That’ll be a story for next Sunday. Have a great week and I’ll see you all next Sunday! 🙂

February 16, 2020
Pool Days are Cool Days

Allyson and I have been going to the pool a decent amount this summer but since that’s really all I had going on this past week, I figured I would share our pool adventures. 🙂

My family and I are members at a country club in our area and that’s where we play tennis, eat sometimes, work out, and also take advantage of their wonderful new pool and poolside grill! The weather was finally perfect this past week and neither Allyson nor I had work or class on Wednesday, so it was a perfect pool day.

Of course swimming happens while you’re at the pool but it’s also fun to just chill in a chair in the shade while letting your feet tan in the tiny bit of sun in your area. Allyson and I will typically be in the pool for about 30 minutes to an hour and just mess around, splashing each other, and also just relaxing. I can’t ever convince Allyson to go into the deep end with me, but I think I’ll get her one of these days.

Allyson and I have also really enjoyed the food served by the poolside grill whenever we go. This past time, we ordered smoothies when we first got there and then later ordered buffalo chicken tenders and what our country club calls the Cali Chicken pizza which has chicken, avocado, lettuce, bacon, cheese, golden cherry tomatoes, and ranch on it. It’s a really good pizza. After eating all of that and swimming for a bit, we also ordered a skillet cookie with ice cream. Yummy!

I’ve really enjoyed being able to just relax and spend more chill time with Allyson this past summer. I wish we were able to go to the pool more often than we have, but the times we have been were totally worth it. We’re trying to squeeze in a few more trips to the pool before we both go off to school. It’s coming up so soon! AHHH!

I hope you all have a great week! Don’t forget to wear sunscreen and take a hat. 🙂

I would also like to say that my thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the shootings in Ohio, California, and Texas. Let’s be good to each other and take care of one another. ❤️

August 4, 2019
A Quick California Trip

I’m sitting on a plane writing this and it most definitely won’t be uploaded until late tonight. Oopsies! I just had a wonderful weekend in California. I went to visit one of my really good friends from school. Her and her family live in Sacramento and were wonderful in letting me stay at their house for the time I was there. Just a heads up, this is going to be a long post, so get comfortable!

I arrived late Thursday night and was welcomed by cooler temperatures (in comparison to the oven that Colorado has been lately). On Friday, my friend showed me around Sacramento and we went to Old Town as well as Downtown Sacramento. Old Town was super cute and there was this fun candy store we went into. They had the most taffy I’ve EVER seen in my life. As a recommendation, I ask you all to never never never try chicken and waffles taffy. It’s gross. That’s all I have to say about that.

When we went to Downtown Sacramento, my friend and I stopped at this really pretty place for lunch called The Bank after walking around for a bit. We went to Pressed Juicery prior to lunch and both got rose lemonade and a watermelon pomegranate juice. Healthy and yummy juice options there for sure! I just wish we had one in Colorado. 🙁 I’m pretty sure they’re expanding out of California, but not quite yet…

The best way I can describe The Bank: its an old bank turned into an upscale cafeteria with really good food options. They had burgers, Mexican food, pizza, poke bowls, a bakery, and a bar. The burgers at Station 8 (that was the name of the little restaurant) were what my friend and I got. So yummy too by the way! I got the Bank burger and it came with mushroom gravy and sour cream on it in addition to many of the tradition things you find on a burger. The fries were good too, but too much for one person. If you stop by The Bank, I would recommend splitting the fries with another person.

After lunch, we walked around Downtown a bit more and then my friend took me to the Starbucks Reserve, which is basically a fancy Starbucks. There are only a couple of them in the country, I think. That was pretty cool and then I got a very yummy drink from them and a couple cup to keep (I’m a dork). I got the nitro dirty chai. 10/10 would recommend!

We finished out Friday watching movies: Primal Fear and A Few Good Men and then went to bed because the next day was going to be a long day. We were going to San Francisco!

The next day started around 6:15 in the morning and we went to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast on the way. At this moment, I remember thinking, “Thank goodness Colorado time isn’t too different from California time!” Waking up that early wasn’t too bad. I think the drive was around two hours. After finding parking, we went to Union Square and went to this one mall that had a Nordstrom with like eight different floors. There was practically an entire floor dedicated to shoes! It was crazy. At that mall, we walked around Nordstrom for a while and then stopped by American Eagle and Lululemon. I was very excited to go to the Lululemon. 🙂

After some shopping, our next stop was the Museum of Ice Cream. Wow was that a fun place to go. If you’re ever in San Francisco, PLEASE go. The amount of ice cream you receive and the fun you have is worth the price. You do need to get tickets in advance though, just a heads up.

You enter the museum by going through the “pink portal” which is just a pink tube slide. After that, my friend and I were greeted by a person in a jumpsuit with otter pops. We created ice cream names for ourselves (I was Ana Banana haha) and then moved onto the next room. The next room was a cute little diner where we got s’mores ice cream. The cone was dipped in chocolate and the ice cream was dusted with graham crackers. It fully tasted like a s’more! Room after room, we got more ice cream and got to take so many cute pictures. There was a lot of fun stuff to do in each room too!

Like in one, we got to make bracelets, there was one where we got to play with fun mirrors, there was one with those giant frosted animal cookies you could sit on, there was another with cute unicorns you could take pictures with, and there was another room where you could write words on a wall with magnetic letters. There was also a room with a pool filled with sprinkles that had a slide and diving board. That room was pretty cute too. We got ice cream sandwiches made of chocolate chip cookies and pink vanilla ice cream at the sprinkles pool.

Overall, the Museum of Ice Cream was a super fun, super interactive, and super cute place to visit. If you ever plan to make a trip to California, take your family to San Francisco and this place in particular and be prepared for A LOT of ice cream.

After our ice cream adventure, my friend and I walked around Union Square a bit more and spent an hour inside Tiffany’s. No, we didn’t buy anything, but the gentleman assisting us allowed us both to try on a few pieces which was really fun. 🙂 Maybe someday I’ll be able to afford some of that jewelry.

Our day in San Francisco was still not over! We went to Pier 39, where I got to see Alcatraz from a distance, ate a bunch of mini doughnuts covered in cinnamon and sugar, went on a carousel, and navigated my way through a mirror maze. After our fun at Pier 39, we headed to a small beach where my friend and I took some more pictures and I truly got to see the Golden Gate Bridge.

By now, dinner was rolling around and so we hopped back in the car and took a short drive over to Ghirardelli Square. There, we had dinner at the San Francisco Brewing Company (great pizza and virgin drinks there by the way!), and then went to get some chocolate. I would have ordered a milkshake or some ice cream but I was all ice-creamed-out from my adventures earlier in the day.

After dinner and some more shopping, we began the journey back to Sacramento which began with a stop at a viewpoint of the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh my goodness was it cold and windy, but the view of the bridge and San Francisco as the sun set was spectacular. Lots of good pictures from there! Then it was another two hour drive back to my friend’s house. I crashed that night, that’s for sure. The next day was going to be much more relaxed, THANK GOODNESS.

On Sunday, my friend and I went to see the new Lion King movie which I am proud to say that I really enjoyed. Disney did a fabulous job sticking to the plot of the original movie (which they’ve struggled with in their remakes, in my opinion). That made the movie a lot more enjoyable to me. After the movie, my friend and I stopped for lunch at In-N-Out because what trip to California would be complete without it?

This was my first time ever going to In-N-Out and I was pleasantly surprised by the simplicity of the menu and of course, the tastiness of the food. That was a good burger. Does it beat BurgerFi? In my opinion, no. But it was still a very yummy meal. After lunch, we went back to her house and just relaxed until it was time for me to head to the airport for my trip back to Denver and here we are in the present time. 🙂

To my friend, if you ever read this, thank you so much for showing me Sacramento, San Francisco, and just California in general! I had a blast with you and your family. And thank you to your family for allowing me to stay at your home and have fun with you all for a weekend! California is a fun state to visit and explore and I look forward to visiting it many more times to come. Have a good week everyone!

July 21, 2019
The Inventing Room Has Some Pretty Sweet Treats

The Inventing Room: one of the quirkiest and most fun dessert places I’ve ever been to. It’s inspired by the room in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where Violet Beauregarde chews the bubblegum and turns into a giant blueberry. It has crazy different desserts and used liquid nitrogen to make all of its ice cream and many parts of its many desserts!

My dad decided it would be fun to check out some good dessert place in Denver, and that’s just what we did. We arrived at The Inventing Room a little after they opened, which was around 2 today I think and the place was busy but not packed. The building looks kinda industrial and modern, but there’s also a whimsical and fun vibe to it.

When we ordered, the cashier handed us a bag of popcorn that had been left to sit in liquid nitrogen and it was fun to eat. If you’ve ever seen those Nitro Ball things that are fairly popular, it was like eating those. The popcorn was cold but still yummy and then it was like being a dragon! Kinda fun, right?

I ended up ordering the s’mores cream puff which is one of their best-sellers, my mom got the lemon curd creme brûlée crepe, and my dad and sister both got Butter-beer floats (inspired by the drink in Harry Potter!). Some of the other menu items included a nitro peach pie, a unicorn galaxy tart (which I’m dying to get the next time we go back), Mexican fried ice cream, and a Colorado honey sundae which sounds so yummy. They had ice cream (what dessert shop doesn’t?) and you could make your own sundaes. There was also handcrafted candy which looked interesting and I think it would be fun to try in the future.

Overall, the desserts were yummy, the service was good, and my family and I will be heading back! If you’re looking for a weird but super fun place to go and please your sweet tooth, I recommend The Inventing Room. Parking can be a bit tricky to find, but it’s free so that’s convenient. I would also totally recommend trying the s’mores cream puff (the toasted marshmallow was DELICIOUS) and just going to have some fun. 🙂 The Harry Potter tasting plate sounds like it could be a lot of fun for all of the Harry Potter fans out there.

I hope you all have a good week and I’ll see ya next Sunday! Stay sweet! 🙂

July 7, 2019
Some Wisdom for Wisdom Teeth Surgery
So this Thursday, I’m finally getting my wisdom teeth out… Yikes. My mom’s a dentist and works as a dental hygienist, so I’m accustomed to knowing about the mouth and teeth, but the idea of having surgery in my mouth scares me. Based off of what I’ve learned from my mom and some common sense, here’s some wisdom for before and after getting your wisdom teeth out. And quick side note: In no way am I saying that I am a doctor or professional on this subject, this is what I’ve learned from my surgeon-to-be, mom, and personal knowledge…
1. Do not eat 6 hours prior to your surgery. Most people typically get their wisdom teeth extracted in the morning so dinner would be your last meal. You are also not allowed to drink water 6 hours prior to your surgery. This is just to ensure that the anesthesia and other medications they give in your IV are not messed with and your system is clean. You also have a less-likely chance of throwing up.
2. Ice, ice, ice. There will for sure be inflammation and swelling from the surgery. Icing will bring down the swelling and help you feel a lot better quicker.
3. Eat soft foods and drink a lot of liquid. For about a week, your diet should consist of smoothies, shakes, and other easy-to-swallow foods. You want to keep the surgery sites clean and prevent any infection or damage from occurring. On the bright side, know that you can still eat ice cream, so at least there’s that to look forward to!
4. Stay on top of your pain medication. Pain killers and prescriptions may vary from oral surgeon to oral surgeon, but just take what they recommend. The doctors know best and they want you to heal quickly and properly.
5. Listen to your oral surgeon. The oral surgeon is the expert and they know what it will take to heal. Like the last tip, just take their medications, ice, and rest to allow your body to heal and get back to normal.
6. Take time off from work or school or activities. Your body will need time to heal and there’s a pretty good chance that you’ll be delirious and not-quite yourself for some time, so just give your body a rest. Sleeping often and doing very little will be something important you need to heal your mouth!
If you haven’t had your wisdom teeth out, it’ll probably happen and if you have, you’re a lucky person. Happy recovery to you, when you need it of course, and wish me luck with my surgery on Thursday!
November 26, 2017
Not a Big Fan of New York, New York

I’ve been really lucky to do more travelling than usual this summer and this past Friday, I got home from New York after spending a week there, competing at a modeling and acting convention. I will definitely agree with most that New York is a really cool and different city, but I think I’d prefer my Rocky Mountains and 300 days of sunshine in Colorado.

The view from our hotel room

My mom and I arrived in New York on the 9th, early in the morning. Our trip began with a thirty-minute taxi ride from JFK to the Hilton Midtown in Midtown. Wow, was that an adventure. Taxi drivers in New York City are RUTHLESS. The man we had driving us was super sweet but once he got behind the wheel, he became an aggressive, hardcore racecar driver. It was kinda cool to see how he dodged cars and semis and sped down the highway. We got some pretty good air hitting a jump one time too. What a thrill ride!

Once we arrived at the hotel, the week was a whirlwind. There were a lot of outfit changes, late nights, hairspray and makeup, and quick runs to grab food. I wish that my schedule at the convention allowed for me to do a little more sightseeing and wandering around the Big Apple, but it is what it is. The convention itself, was fun, but not nearly what I expected it would be. I think that for some people, it opened doors, but for the most part, it seemed fake. There were a lot of promises made by agencies and the convention themselves that were not followed through on and that’s ok. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot from the experiences I had and I’ll never forget that adventure. Something I learned from my experience this past week and the whole experience I had with my former agency was that you have to be really careful in the modeling and acting industries because there are a lot of real, good people and there’s also a bunch of sneaky people who might seem like they are legit but actually aren’t. They could care less about who you are and are only concerned with how much you’re willing to pay to sign their “contract”. I respect who I’ve worked with in the past and I wish them all the best and I’d just like to say that it’s tough to discern who the real people are but after this interesting journey, my eyes are more open than ever, and I know what I have to do.

When I had time to be outside of the hotel, my mom and I had a lot of fun. We visited the Rockefeller Center and took a tour of the NBC Studios which included seeing the sets of the Tonight Show, SNL, and the Late Night Show with Seth Meyers. That was super cool. It was exciting to get to be in the same room and even step in the same places as some famous and talented people. My mom and I even got to make our own late night TV show at the end of our tour and we enjoyed that. That was probably the highlight of my NYC trip.

We also visited Central Park and Times Square while in the Big Apple and those were both cool places to visit. I honestly imagined Times Square, specifically where the ball is dropped on New Year’s’, much bigger and wider than it was. There were a lot of sketchy people and pushers making attempts to sell my mom and I stuff or get us to take pictures with them. That was definitely uncomfortable. Also, it was incredibly hot and humid while we visited Times Square and that made it a struggle to do a lot of walking. We spent about thirty minutes wandering Times Square and then frantically searched for the nearest Starbucks or air-conditioned place to cool off and head to Central Park. After a quick trip to get some iced tea, we walked to Central Park and I enjoyed seeing nature and trees and endless (not really) green. It was a nice escape from the dirty, crowded, and crazy place that New York City is. I enjoyed getting to see the many different people in Central Park and see a variety of plants and trees, because trust me, there were soooo many different types of trees. It was pretty cool.

At some point during our stay in NYC, we also managed to find a few good places to eat at, like Fresh & Co, an artisan bakery with really yummy sandwiches and coffee, and a great pizza place called PizzArte. Food, well actually everything, was EXTREMELY pricey in New York and it was crazy how much we spent on food. At PizzArte, one of the pizzas we got was $24!! Holy cow, was it expensive, but it was also probably one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had. We also found an ice cream truck chilling right by our hotel one day, and that half-and-half ice cream cone was one of the best ice cream cones I’ve ever had. I never wanted it to end.

I did enjoy my time in New York City, but I will honestly and confidently say that it’s not my favorite city. I wish I did a little more sightseeing, as mentioned earlier, and I hope to go back in the future and see more of the city. I could do without the gross smells and the unhappy people and the sketchy people and the trash constantly fluttering the streets and the awful traffic and sound of sirens every hour or so, but not every city is perfect. Actually no city is perfect! The time I had in New York was worth it and I’m ready to go back (whenever I do) and have another adventure.

I took this picture near Carnegie Hall on the way to Central Park. What’s with the giant pile of trash?!

July 16, 2017