See you later, Santa Cruz

Elizabeth Tam September 4, 2021

Santa Cruz was a blast, I had so much fun! Thanks to Josh and all my NY travel buddies, Diana, Matt & Lisa, who made my first trip to Santa Cruz such a blast!

Santa Cruz - Check List

✔ Beach - Dog Beach & Beach Yoga

✔ Hiking

✔ Yummy Food & Desserts, including an ice cream sandwich off!

✔ Touring the major tourist spots - Downtown, Santa Cruz Beach & boardwalk, Capitola, Portola

✔ Napa & Wine Tasting

✔ Self Reflection, Rest & Relaxation (R&R) - even got a meditation crystal!

✔ Revamping Josh’s brand & getting him a girl (#TeamLauren)

〰️ Creating a viral music video 🎶 (Work in Progress), get excited for this collab for the knee knocker!

I’ll leave you with my favorite photo of Santa Cruz

Santa Cruzing - Week 3

Elizabeth Tam September 3, 2021

The time has come, this is my final week in Santa Cruz 😢

Here is my final weekly recap

August 27

Drive down West Cliff Drive
West Cliff Drive goes along the coast of Santa Cruz and is a very scenic road to walk or drive down, a must see while you are in town
Searching for elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park
This state park is about 45 minutes away from Santa Cruz and known for having elephant seals. In fact, hundreds of elephant seals make their way to Año Nuevo park around Valentine’s Day to mate - I guess they like to celebrate as well! This State park is fun because you go through various types of terrain in order to get to the shore where the elephant seals are location, from the dry dessert to fields of what looked like wheat to the mountains to the beach! This park was not too filled with tourist, which was a nice treat.
Tacos at Taqueria Vallarta
Yes we stopped by another Taqueria Vallarta for more TACOS!

August 28

Soaking in the sun at 4 Mile Beach
A gorgeous beach off the highway, great spot for locals and not infiltrated with tourists
Cookies & Ice Cream from Pacific Cookie Company
Live Music at Abbott Square Market
Local outdoor hangout where you can get food and listen to live music. While we were there, I discovered a new band, Brain Food, which performed some good vibe music you can dance to
Dinner at Gabriella Café
Cute little Italian restaurant with what is a contender for the best Bolognese I’ve had! Also a cute date spot for those of you looking for a romantic date spot 😉

August 29

Breakfast at Jack in the Box
This was my first time ever at Jack in the Box, I ordered a chicken tater melt!
Hiking the Marin Headlands via San Francisco
We hiked about ~8 miles for 5-6 hours (with pitstops) at the Marin Headlands. The hike was definitely a long one, but definitely worth it! The day was so foggy, we saw the clouds rolling in and eventually even made are way up in the clouds as we made our way up to the top of the mountains! Along the hike we came across some war sites, including a bunkers and Hill 88, where missiles were held during the Cold War - a hidden gem for any history lover!
We also shot some videos for a secret project we are working on!
Drive by and dinner in Sausalito
After the hike, we drove around Sausalito’s downtown, which had a very New England meets Greece vibe, it was very New England, but had homes embedded in the mountains like Santorini. After the quick tour of the small town, we grabbed dinner at a local Thai restaurant before the 2 hour drive back to Santa Cruz

August 30

Watching seals at the Santa Cruz Wharf
We found SO MANY seals at the wharf today, they were so fun (and loud) to watch!
Walking the Santa Cruz Boardwalk
Downtown for more cookies from Pacific Cookie Company & some bubble tea

August 31

Relaxing at Black’s Beach after work
Strolling downtown Pleasure Point, Portola
- Dinner at Pleasure Pizza East Side Eatery
  Known for their award winning chilling, the best in Santa Cruz!
- Ice cream bon bons at The Penny Ice Creamery

September 1

Beach Yoga at Corcoran Beach!
Beach yoga is one of my favorite things to do, and on top of this, this was a sunset beach yoga session - so I was super excited to be able to do this AND share this with my friend Josh, who has not only never done beach yoga, but yoga in general!
We took a class with Outdoor Yoga Santa Cruz, which provides you headsets while you do the yoga, kind of like a silent disco, which was great, so I did not have any issues hearing the instructor or the music/sounds that were being played.
If you have not tried beach yoga before, you definitely need to try it!
Celebrating Lauren’s birthday at Riva Fish House on the Santa Cruz Wharf
Happy Birthday Lauren!!! We met Lauren a few days ago and celebrated her birthday with her; for those of you who know me, you know I love birthdays and made sure that we celebrated her big day! I am a big fan of Lauren and needless to say I am #TeamLauren for Josh!

September 2 - Final Day in Santa Cruz

Dinner at Michelin Guide recommended Alderwood
For my final hours and meal in Santa Cruz, we went to Alderwood. The food at Alderwood was AMAZING, I can definitely see why they are on the Michelin Guide! I ordered 1 oyster, pomme frites & a cheeseburger. I wanted to order dessert, but sadly was too full to even attempt it. Everything was super delicious (and reasonably priced, the cheeseburgers were only $16), I wish I had a larger stomach so I could eat more!

So sad to be leaving Santa Cruz, but working NY hours while being on Pacific Time definitely takes a toll on you!

First trip to Napa

Elizabeth Tam August 26, 2021

Today my friends and I took a road trip to Napa for some wine tasting! This was my first trip to Napa, we decided to go t a few wineries to get variety of samplings.

I learned a lot about why Napa is so famous for wine. Apparently the soil and climate in Napa is one of the most sustainable for growing the grapes needed for the wine. Thank you Matt & the man at the Rutherford Hill Winery for the learning moment!

Here are the wineries we went to:

Rutherford Hill Winery

Family owned winery off the beaten path with what is known to be best picnic spot in Napa

This was my first wine tasting and I was very happy with the selection - the wines here had nice fruity notes and were quite tasty. The outdoor setting was really relaxing and a perfect way to end the work week!

V. Sattui Winery

Voted 2020 Winery of the Year by San Diego International Wine & Spirits Challenge & Monterey International Wine Competition

We came here for a lunch picnic, the food did not disappoint! I ordered some Shrimp and Chicken Salad, which was delicious!

Priest Ranch Winery

A small tasting room for a much larger conglomerate owned by the family

The tasting room here was very cute and modern, however the wines were a bit more dry than what I like.

This trip, we went to 2 wine tastings - one at Rutherford Hill Winery and one at Priest Ranch Winery. Of the two, wineries Rutherford Hill was the clear favorite all around from the wine & hospitality to the gorgeous property and views.