Travel
- Culture, Day Trips, Dessert, Drink, Explore with Cassie, Food, Latest News, Restaurants, Suburbs, Travel
Escape to Valley Kitchen at Carmel Valley Ranch Resort for Otherworldly Cuisine
Photos, story by Cassie Hepler Tucked away in the lush forests of the Santa Lucia Mountains, Carmel Valley Ranch resort enjoys luxury and simplicity. And the attached California casual dining spot, Valley Kitchen, offers the luxury of simplicity. Plus the food doesn’t get any more local than this. The fun, vibrant restaurant embodies the unique values, spirit and tastes of the Carmel Valley Ranch experience. Think fields of lavender, fresh honey and even it’s own small batch winery. Inspiration comes easy with the breathtaking natural surroundings to the local gardens, orchards, pristine oceans and neighboring vineyards. Designed by Rodrigo Vargas Design at the resort’s social hub and heart, Valley Kitchen…
- Architecture, Art, Culture, Day Trips, Dessert, Education, Entertainment, Events, Explore with Cassie, Nature, Science, Style, Travel
Philadelphia’s 2018 Flower Show Just Adds Water
“Flowers rewrite soil, water and sunshine into petal’d poetry – Terri Guillemets Story, photos by Sharon Kozden There’s just something so wrong about attending the Philadelphia Flower Show on March 2nd, while the single most bad-ass storm of winter, 2018 had its ‘old man’ expressing rage like rarely before. A 30-year resident of Philadelphia stated it was the worst he’d seen in his entire time there. And that’s all I’m going to say about it because, let’s face it, we none of us want to recall its downright meanness. We’d much rather enter the Pennsylvania Convention Center and meander about, while waxing hopeful about spring being eminent. Agreed? Seems this…
-
Explore One of the Seven Wonders of the World with Grand Canyon Adventures
Story, photos/video by Cassie Hepler Serendipity is a funny word and an interesting experience when it happens to you. Looking for some more wisdom in my monkey mind, I stumbled upon BeCurrent meditation classes with the aerial meditation in green silk hammocks hanging from ceiling hooks. The first class is free (and got me hooked btw) and there is a table you congregate at afterwards to have some tea and chat if you feel like it. It was there that I met the mom of the owner of Grand Canyon Adventures and so starts the story of checking off another bucket list item. Since tours begin at the Flagstaff, AZ location…
-
Summer’s Best Beauty Trend: Microblading Your Eyebrows
Story, photos by Cassie Hepler If there’s one thing I love more than anything, it is streamlining my life to make things easier – and faster. And included in that is my makeup routine. I hate having to slather on copious amounts of makeup to make myself look “presentable” only to have it slide off a few hours later. Or worse, end up on another part of my face like a questionable caterpillar. Enter microblading! It is kind of like getting a tattoo except it only goes about 3 layers deep instead of 9 like traditional tattoos. It also mimics the natural hairs on your eyebrows and shape too so…
-
Visit the Eccentric Fonthill Castle Built Out of Cement and Trash in Bucks County, PA
Story by Cassie Hepler, photos courtesy of Fonthill Castle Fonthill, also known as Fonthill Castle, was the home of the American archeologist and tile maker Henry Chapman Mercer, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Upon his death in 1930, the eccentric Mercer left his concrete “Castle for the New World” in trust as a museum of decorative tiles and prints. There is also the adjacent Mercer Museum where they still make tiles to this day. While you are not normally allowed to take photographs inside, we were invited on a Bucks Country press trip (along with fellow fitness retreats Ketanga Fitness), and were allowed to shoot and poke around more than usual. Once you start…
- Art, Day Trips, Dessert, Drink, Events, Explore with Cassie, Food, Latest News, Restaurants, Suburbs, Travel
Tempting Tastes at 19 Bella Tapas Restaurant in Skippack Village, PA
Readers, get thee to Cedars, Pa. “Go out and see your friends and eat tapas and drink red wine and be in a beautiful place.” – Anthony Bourdain Story, photos by Sharon Kozden One doesn’t have to head to Spain for a first-rate, authentic tapas experience. Cedars, PA – just outside quaint Skippack Village – will do just fine. Grant Langdon Brown, owner and head chef at 19 Bella, has a top tapas spot worth the travel involved to enjoy extraordinary meals. I envy the locals’ proximity. I arrived one chilly evening to discover an understated, functional exterior with patio I imagine bustles with activity during more temperate climes. The contrast between outward appearance and color-blazing interior was a fun surprise.…
- Culture, Day Trips, Education, Entertainment, Events, Explore with Cassie, Fitness, Health, Latest News, Nature, Science, Travel
Explore Spiritually Uplifting Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona
Photos, story by Cassie Hepler When you move out west and your high school friend suggests a weekend birthday escape to Page, Arizona, the only answer is hell, yeah! The drive from Phoenix should only take about 4 hours but in my world of scrambling to get out the door early on a Thursday, I had my Google maps set to no highways and it took me like 6 hours, past some sort of water dam around twisting, winding roads and snow capped mountains. I had no clue where I was, barely had cell service as I was on the phone working out transitioning the blog URL names and Google…
- Architecture, Art, Culture, Day Trips, Dessert, Drink, Events, Explore with Cassie, Food, Music, Restaurants, Suburbs, Travel
Escape to Foodie Paradise at Bucks County Restaurant Week in Washington House Hotel
The Washington House Restaurant’s prix fixe menu tantalizes in its choices. Story, photos by Sharon Kozden “Going to a restaurant is one of my keenest pleasures. Meeting someplace with old and new friends, ordering wine, eating food, surrounded by strangers, I think is the core of what it means to live a civilized life.” –Adam Gopnik I’m not sure why it took so long for Bucks County to establish a restaurant week comprising all of its towns. I’m just glad that 2018 was its inaugural year and that I was a part of it. Hopefully (and judging by what I tasted and witnessed), it’ll become a tradition for the ages.…
-
Cassie’s Cars and Casita Oasis in Arcadia, Arizona
Story, photos by Cassie Hepler After about a month at the AirBnb Hobbit Hole studio stay in Tempe, Arizona, it was time to find a (more) permanent space . The train going by at all hours of the night was killing my sleep pattern although I did enjoy the birds and outside kitchen space every morning. I was determined to find something peaceful and serene in a quieter location of the city and closer to the airport. Everyone I met kept telling me how much I would love Arcadia and after scoping out some other locations (including Scottsdale which I learned from a local the nickname is “Snotsdale” because it’s…
- Architecture, Culture, Dessert, Drink, Entertainment, Explore with Cassie, Food, Latest News, Restaurants, Style, Travel
Philadelphia International Airport Lands American Express’s Prestigious Centurion Lounge
Story, photos by Sharon Kozden “To the great city of Philadelphia, I am so grateful to bring this back home to you.” – Chef Michael Solomonov, on being named best chef in the country at the James Beard Foundation Awards in Chicago, 2017. AMEX’s Centurion Lounge tapped Mike as its menu man. The City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection was recently honored in becoming one of only nine airports in the world to offer travelers a uniquely unique and unforgettable way to hang before, between or after flights. On October 19th (prior to an official October 31st opening), media were invited to preview American Express’s Centurion Lounge and to witness what was in store exclusively for AMEX…
