I will hopefully be better by the end of the week and back to my regular posting schedule next week!
Happy Holidays from Baby Nautical
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| photo credit: M. Tierney Photography |
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to those of you celebrating today! I have been sick since Monday night so I missed Christmas Eve and Christmas day events with my family. Not exactly how I planned on spending Christmas! I am especially sad that I missed watching my nephew open his presents but my other sister is working in Charleston today so it's a bit of a non-traditional holiday for the Nautical family this year! Doctor sister will be in LA on Friday so I guess we'll just do Christmas Round 2 this weekend. Yesterday I caught up on Ravenswood and today I am watching Hart of Dixie and Christmas movies
I will hopefully be better by the end of the week and back to my regular posting schedule next week!
I will hopefully be better by the end of the week and back to my regular posting schedule next week!
Monday, December 23, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
My LA Favorites
It's always hard to be objective in posts like this. There are so many things I've never done in LA, restaurants I want to try, places to go. We aren't always the best at being tourists in our own cities! But here is a quick guide of what I like to do in Los Angeles
SEE:
The Getty Villa (read about my visit here)
Griffith Observatory
Hike/walk up to the Hollywood sign (I still haven't done this. I tried to drive up there with friends in high school and it was total disaster. Next time I am just walking!)
See a show at the Hollywood Bowl (essential during the summer)
Walk around the Venice Canals
Studio tour (I'm not sure which one is the best but if you like movies/tv you have to do at least one. I still want to see the Friends set)
EAT:
Brunch at One Pico at Shutters on the Beach (read about my visit here)
Pizza at 800 Degrees then walk over to Diddy Riese for dessert
Other restaurants I love: Madeo, Toscana (can you tell I love Italian?), Rush Street, Poquito Mas (this is a chain but it is delicious!)
Best brunch: Jack n' Jills, Toast, John O' Groats, More than Waffles (worth heading into the valley for)
Best hotdogs: Marty's (I have now tried Pink's and Marty's is still my favorite)
SHOP:
The Grove (and the original farmers market)
Brentwood Country Mart
Melrose Trading Post (flea market) at Fairfax High School (on Sundays)
KIDS:
Petersen Automotive Museum
La Brea Tar Pits
Natural History Museum (H loves to take the Expo line from Culver City to the museum)
Kidspace Children's Museum (right next to the Rose Bowl)
SEE:
The Getty Villa (read about my visit here)
Griffith Observatory
Hike/walk up to the Hollywood sign (I still haven't done this. I tried to drive up there with friends in high school and it was total disaster. Next time I am just walking!)
See a show at the Hollywood Bowl (essential during the summer)
Walk around the Venice Canals
Studio tour (I'm not sure which one is the best but if you like movies/tv you have to do at least one. I still want to see the Friends set)
EAT:
Brunch at One Pico at Shutters on the Beach (read about my visit here)
Pizza at 800 Degrees then walk over to Diddy Riese for dessert
Other restaurants I love: Madeo, Toscana (can you tell I love Italian?), Rush Street, Poquito Mas (this is a chain but it is delicious!)
Best brunch: Jack n' Jills, Toast, John O' Groats, More than Waffles (worth heading into the valley for)
Best hotdogs: Marty's (I have now tried Pink's and Marty's is still my favorite)
SHOP:
The Grove (and the original farmers market)
Brentwood Country Mart
Melrose Trading Post (flea market) at Fairfax High School (on Sundays)
KIDS:
Petersen Automotive Museum
La Brea Tar Pits
Natural History Museum (H loves to take the Expo line from Culver City to the museum)
Kidspace Children's Museum (right next to the Rose Bowl)
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Guest Post: From Wicker Park to Shedd: My Chicago Favorites
Today I have a guest post from Kendra Thornton who was the former director of communications at Orbitz and is now a blogger and, most importantly, a mom of three.
Kendra has always enjoyed traveling and was able to travel a quite a bit during her time at Orbitz. Kendra is currently working with bloggers to share her Chicago favorites and hometown favorites from different bloggers. Share the city you love and hear about a city someone else loves! A win win! Tomorrow I will be sharing my Los Angeles favorites with you. I have never been to Chicago but have always wanted to visit (just not during winter!). I would love to stroll along the waterfront or even go sailing on the lake!
The Windy City is more than just the Bulls, Bears, and Blackhawks, Cubs, and Sox. My city is a cultural hub of the Midwest, if not the world, bringing together the cuisine, the art, and architecture that make this world such a fascinating place. If you enjoy shopping, we have Wicker Part. If you enjoy professional sports, all of the five teams mentioned above are worth watching, and seeing a game in person is second to none. If food is what you are after, we have too many mouth watering restaurants to count!
Go Shopping in Wicker Park:
If you come to Chicago for shopping (is there anything better than a bit of retail therapy?), shop until you drop in of the city’s shopping locations, like Wicker Park. If you are looking for clothes, check out Saint Alfred, which has tons of different sneaker options. Another great choice is Penelope’s, which has all of the hip brands young, fashionable men and women are into. When your clothing fix has been filled, head over to Dusty Groove America and flip through the most extensive collection of jazz, rhythm and blues, and pop vinyl records around. And, if you need some coffee to go with your shopping, Intelligentsia simply cannot be missed.
Get Wet at Shedd:
Located right on the shore of Lake Michigan, the Shedd Aquarium is one of the biggest reasons nature-lovers flock to Chicago. Currently, the museum, which opened to the public in 1930, contains over 25,000 fish and 5,000,000 gallons of water! The Amazon Rising exhibit shows off some of South America’s most exotic fauna, including anacondas and piranhas. Another awesome exhibit at Shedd is the Wild Reef, which replicates a marine coral environment. On weekdays, the aquarium is open from 9 AM to 5 PM, while on weekends it is open from 9 AM to 6 PM.
Affordable Eating
Eating out when in a big city is always delicious, but can often be very pricey. One restaurant that qualifies in the former but not the latter is Glen Prairie. This restaurant serves contemporary American cuisine, with different menu options appealing to everyone! They constantly have great specials, and this local spot has constantly been lauded in the media and on social sites for its delicious food and overall dining experience!
Eliminate the Stress
Planning a trip and heading out of town involves lots of dotting the i’s and crossing of the t’s. Booking a hotel, even if it is just for a weekend trip, can be a stressful thing. When you are staying in Chicago, too, finding a hotel that suits your needs in important, because each part of the city is so different. My favorite booking site for Chicago hotels is gogobot. They have detailed guides on everything about Chicago, should you have any questions. Whether you want a five star hotel downtown with views of my city’s thrilling skyline, or you are trying to stay in an old hotel with plenty of history, gogobot has you covered. Once you have this step out of the way, the whole trip becomes much less daunting!
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| Kendra and her family enjoying a Cubs game |
The Windy City is more than just the Bulls, Bears, and Blackhawks, Cubs, and Sox. My city is a cultural hub of the Midwest, if not the world, bringing together the cuisine, the art, and architecture that make this world such a fascinating place. If you enjoy shopping, we have Wicker Part. If you enjoy professional sports, all of the five teams mentioned above are worth watching, and seeing a game in person is second to none. If food is what you are after, we have too many mouth watering restaurants to count!
Go Shopping in Wicker Park:
If you come to Chicago for shopping (is there anything better than a bit of retail therapy?), shop until you drop in of the city’s shopping locations, like Wicker Park. If you are looking for clothes, check out Saint Alfred, which has tons of different sneaker options. Another great choice is Penelope’s, which has all of the hip brands young, fashionable men and women are into. When your clothing fix has been filled, head over to Dusty Groove America and flip through the most extensive collection of jazz, rhythm and blues, and pop vinyl records around. And, if you need some coffee to go with your shopping, Intelligentsia simply cannot be missed.
Get Wet at Shedd:
Located right on the shore of Lake Michigan, the Shedd Aquarium is one of the biggest reasons nature-lovers flock to Chicago. Currently, the museum, which opened to the public in 1930, contains over 25,000 fish and 5,000,000 gallons of water! The Amazon Rising exhibit shows off some of South America’s most exotic fauna, including anacondas and piranhas. Another awesome exhibit at Shedd is the Wild Reef, which replicates a marine coral environment. On weekdays, the aquarium is open from 9 AM to 5 PM, while on weekends it is open from 9 AM to 6 PM.
Affordable Eating
Eating out when in a big city is always delicious, but can often be very pricey. One restaurant that qualifies in the former but not the latter is Glen Prairie. This restaurant serves contemporary American cuisine, with different menu options appealing to everyone! They constantly have great specials, and this local spot has constantly been lauded in the media and on social sites for its delicious food and overall dining experience!
Eliminate the Stress
Planning a trip and heading out of town involves lots of dotting the i’s and crossing of the t’s. Booking a hotel, even if it is just for a weekend trip, can be a stressful thing. When you are staying in Chicago, too, finding a hotel that suits your needs in important, because each part of the city is so different. My favorite booking site for Chicago hotels is gogobot. They have detailed guides on everything about Chicago, should you have any questions. Whether you want a five star hotel downtown with views of my city’s thrilling skyline, or you are trying to stay in an old hotel with plenty of history, gogobot has you covered. Once you have this step out of the way, the whole trip becomes much less daunting!
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Nautical Photo of the Week: Baby Girl Nursery
Remember the pink and navy baby shower I featured last month? I am now sharing photos of the nautical nursery! Laura had the baby this month and the lucky little lady gets to call this adorable room home!
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| Large anchor is from One Kings Lane (Laura's mom painted it light pink to match the changing table/dresser below), rope mirror is from Etsy |
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| Wheel decal is from Etsy |
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| Anchor basket is from Etsy |
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| Laura made labels using the ornaments from her baby shower |
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| More of the ornaments that Laura's mom painted and had hung up at the baby shower were used to make a garland |
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| Closeup of the garland |
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| Other decorations from the shower are displayed on the shelves |
Congratulations on your baby girl, Laura! Thank you for sharing her nursery
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Nautical Holiday Pajamas from Vineyard Vines
How fun are these for the holidays?! I love holiday pajamas (I still wear the ones I bought years ago from American Eagle) and I love adding new ones to my collection
Free ground shipping with code: SANTA13
Seahorse lazy pants ($55, available in two colors)
Friday, December 13, 2013
My Christmas Decorations 2013
As usual I am behind in decorating and will be doing the rest of my decorating this weekend. I did manage to get some decorations up this week but my tree will have to go up this weekend. I love my apartment but I do miss the big bay window I had at my old place. It was the perfect space for displaying decorations. You can see last year's decorations here and 2011 here.
Last year's tree (I will be adding some new nautical ornaments but otherwise it will look the same)
I am linking up with Kelly of Kelly's Korner for her holiday home tour link up and Honey We're Home
Last year's tree (I will be adding some new nautical ornaments but otherwise it will look the same)
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| My nautical tree! |
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| I need a cute nautical tree skirt now |
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| Love this snowman tray |
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| My attempt at a Christmas card tree (hopefully it fills up soon!) |
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| The red and white twine doesn't really show up in photos but it's what I had at home so I went with it |
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| My little penguins |
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| I also add random holiday things here and there |
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| I have added a new penguin mug the last three years (the blue one is new this year) |
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| Anchor towels from Lemondaisy Designs and elf towel from Crate and Barrel |
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| Santa and snowman shakers |
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| Small bowl of ornaments on my counter |
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| Three years ago my sister got me these adorable penguin plates from West Elm |
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| 101 Dalmatians blanket. I love this movie! I was obsessed when I was little. Of course I still use the blanket when I'm sitting watching TV |
I am linking up with Kelly of Kelly's Korner for her holiday home tour link up and Honey We're Home
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Las Vegas + Justin Timberlake Concert
Instead of heading to Bloomingdales for Black Friday shopping (my tradition) I flew up to Las Vegas for the Justin Timberlake concert the day after Thanksgiving. I am a HUGE JT fan so I planned my trip as soon as the solo tour was announced. I saw Justin with Jay Z back in August. I've also been to Justin's charity concert in Las Vegas twice (photos here and videos here). And I'll add in some photos from a concert I went to back in 2007:
Leeann and I went to the concert together in August so I thought it would be fun to go to this concert together too. She posted her recap with videos here
I think the zoom/camera on the iphone is pretty bad if you are taking photos at any distance so these are the best I could get (I also still haven't figured out how to make the most out of my iphone so it could be all me)
It was a quick but fun trip up to Las Vegas. I even won $140 playing the Wheel of Fortune slot machine. I think Leeann is good luck for me!
Leeann and I went to the concert together in August so I thought it would be fun to go to this concert together too. She posted her recap with videos here
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| Getting ready for the concert (Leeann was reviewing the beers for her blog) |
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| Bags packed and ready to go (Hudson Sutler duffel and Vineyard Vines tote) |
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| Foosball + fun art in the room |
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| view from the hotel room |
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| My day time outfit: seahorse top (Piperlime, old), J.Crew Factory cardigan, Rag + Bone jeans, Franco Sarto Eddy boot |
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| Yes, I had to take a picture of the sign |
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| Part of the stage moved and went over our heads |