Vacation All I Ever Wanted: Sayulita, Mexico

Oh man. Oh man oh man oh man oh man did I LOVE Sayulita.

My sister and her husband have gone on weeklong vacations to Puerto Vallarta ever since their honeymoon 3 years ago. Last year my family (sister, bro in law, T, V and I) decided to all visit PVR together. In planning, I wasn't able to find the perfect place for all of us in the actual city of PVR, so I started searching outside towns and landed on Sayulita. It's a small (population 4000) fishing/surfing village about a 40 minute drive north of the Puerto Vallarta airport. After a few days of reading up and searching blogs, etc, we decided to book our stay there. I seriously cannot tell you how lucky I am that we ended up in Sayulita. It's probably the cutest place I've ever been in my life. It's like if World Market was a town. With fish tacos. And a gorgeous ocean. And filled with gorgeous people...seriously, it's almost alarming how good looking people in Sayulita are.

 

We stayed in this dope-ass huge house in the hills of Sayulita, overlooking what seemed like the whole town. It had two huge master bedrooms, a nice kitchen, a casita where Tony and I stayed, a rooftop deck with a queen sized hammock, an insane view and a pool. Literal heaven.

Our days consisted of sleeping in a bit, walking down to town for food followed by shopping or hours at the beach. We'd hope a $5 cab the short, but steep as hell, distance back up to the house for a dip in the pool and a rest before cleaning up and heading back down to town for dinner and drinks. Around 9 or 10 we'd go back home for a few poolside beers or tequila shots and a night swim before turning in. Again, literal heaven.

The water in Sayulita was aaaaamazing. It might have to do with me being from northern California and only experiencing cold water beaches, but I swear I could have spent all damn day floating in Sayulita's warm waves. The beaches were clean and friendly, and these people (angels?) will bring you a bucket of beers for like $5! HEAVEN.

The dining options in Sayulita were out of control! Such a tiny, hoppin' little town with tons of restaurants and bars to choose from and everything I had was delicious. The Real Fish Taco is located just steps away from the beach and was insanely good. We heard from several frequent travelers and locals to hit that up and I'm really glad we did. We dined twice at La Rustica for dinner - the first time for the wood fired pizza and the second time for the pasta. In addition to the food, their margaritas were killer. I had a spicy pineapple one that I'm still dreaming about. Like, my mouth is literally watering for it as I type this. My sister had the best carnitas burrito of her life at Burrito Revolution. They also had the coolest playlist I've heard at any restaurant, ever. Van's favorite thing in the world is a cheese enchilada, and we were able to find him one at Mary's. I also had a bite of Tony's marlin taco there and it was SO good and meaty!

While T, my sister and my brother in law hit the town for a few hours after dinner a couple of those nights, I was usually heading back home a bit earlier since I have a 4 year old that needs sleep and consistency and all those 4 year old things. One night, though, Van and I went to the bar at Leyza with everyone and had a blast! Van played foosball and danced to the band from the dancefloor that overlooked the town square and ocean from the third floor balcony.

In general, the trip - Sayulita, was a dream. It absolutely exceeded every expectation I had. You can get tacos al pastor from a food cart next to a green smoothie joint. While dining you can watch as VW buses, golf carts and caballeros pass by down the narrow, cobblestone streets. Visit the town square on a Friday night and listen to the Cubano band play and watch the tourists and expats dance alongside the local children dancing with their parents. Lay under an umbrella in the sand of the Pacific while a mariachi band plays for a group of locals partying on the beach a few yards from you. I'm telling you...heaven.

I think Van summed up the vibe of the trip best as he was floating in the pool the night before we were to leave. "I am sad that we are leaving Mexico, but it's good that we are Mexican." You said it, V.

Here's a little video I made. I want to weep watching it, I love and miss it there so much.

Roman Holiday and a Day in Paris

i'm back to the grind this week after a really dope two weeks spent throughout Italy and Paris with my Tony, my Vanny, my mom and my dad. tony and I spent a week and a half in Florence, Rome and Calabria in 2010 and it was pretty special to get to relive that with my parents and van for this trip.

the trip was a nice pace and we saw a lot in our time there, considering we were towing my almost two year old along the whole time. I have to say, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better internationally traveling twenty two month old than my son. I will give this kid props for the rest of my life for being such a rockstar on our trip. hours and hours and HOURS in a planes and trains and taxis with jet lag and luggage to lug and language barriers is never fun. it's hard enough for grown adults to keep their shit together under those circumstances and I knew that expecting my toddler to was insane. I also knew, however, that if any kid could do it, it would be my kid. were he not such an adaptable child, I would never have thought to bring him halfway across the world on vacation. somehow I just had a feeling that he could pull this off and he totally did. he is such a champ. he is the best.

our first five days were spent in FLORENCE. beautiful, beautiful Firenze. on our last trip I wanted to sob as our train departed Florence because I already missed it. I wonder if as I see more of the world if I'll still regard Florence as my favorite place. I really, really, really love it there.

highlights of our Florence stay:

• our old world, adorable rental apartment, with it's view of the duomo from the windows
• the food! including a new trattoria across from where we were staying. the owner was so sweet to van and gave him complimentary biscotti both times we ate there.
• taking a night walk with tony only to find the coolest cover band in the world was playing a small club right on our same street. I was lured in by their cover of "stay with me" by rod stewart and stayed long enough to hear them cover wilco! so crazy. they were adorable.
• watching van chase birds around the boboli gardens.
• our dinner at café academia on a recommendation from an old friend. van pinched his fingers between the table and his high chair and the whole restaurant about stopped functioning. the wait staff rushed to bring him ice and kiss his hand! they brought him a bowl of strawberries and a cookie, and later gave him a cup of juice with a little straw. as customers filed out after their dinners (and long after van had stopped crying) they came by to pet his head and make sure his hand was okay. it was the sweetest display I've ever seen. Italians LOVE babies.
• a day trip to pisa and lucca, where I had the best bruschetta of my life.
• david!

next up was ROME. my italian family lives 5-6 hours south (by train) from rome. if we didn't have to essentially pass it to get to my family i would not have chosen to visit there again. i liked rome last time, but once was enough for me. i feel like i saw everything there was to see there in 2010. it's a great city, but it's really big and really busy. it's the opposite of quaint.

highlights from rome:

• our beautiful apartment! it was located in a neighborhood pretty far from any tourist attractions, which is probably why it was so affordable. we didn't mind though, since it was literally only steps away from the metro station which takes you anywhere you need to get to. the apartment was decorated beautifully and the owner was so sweet and accommodating. we adored her and her little son silvestro, who is only a month older than van.
• the collosseum and the roman forum. it's such a trip to be somewhere so old!
• the capuchin crypt. just, wow. 
• the trevi fountain - van probably threw 5 euro in there.
• dinner at da mario. my cousin nicola's cousin works there with his brother. we had the best meal there on our last trip and knew we had to go back. marcello hooked it up once again with course after course of delicious food. my favorite part was the tempura battered zucchini flowers. 

after three busy days in rome we headed south to the region of calabria. my family hails from a rustic little village outside of cosenza called TORANO CASTELLO.

highlights from torano castello:

• the spectacular enormous moon that shined over the village the first nights we were there. it was gigantic! i've never seen anything like it. 
• getting to meet little angelo, my cousin's baby. van loved him too. he was a friendly little thing, and has the best head of thick black hair.
• speeding around the village streets in nic's tiny car, going from house to house to greet family members. every place we stopped a relative attempted to give us something...wine, beer, coca cola, cookies, cake...
• dinner at my granddad's cousin elena's house. we had salami, bread, olives and peppers first. next was the rigatoni in tomato sauce with short ribs. then out came the breaded cod, broccoli rabe, roasted potatoes and risotto balls. last was salad, followed by fruit and coffee. ridiculous! so much food, and everything was fresh and delicious.
• dinner at my granddad's cousin sante's house. getting to meet sante's grandson and namesake who is just a little older than van. his wife prepared a huge meal similar to Elena's, only with home made pasta and meatballs instead of ribs and cannolis for dessert. nic translated sante's wife's recipe for these really delicious pickled peppers everyone there makes. I can't wait to try do it myself! we ate and drank and passed around old letters, cards and photos that my great grandfather had sent to his Italian nieces and nephews that they saved all these years!
• on our last night in the village our family threw us a little pizza party at my granddad's cousin's bar/restaurant. a friend of the family came with his son and brought two accordions and a guitar! they all took turns passing the instruments around and playing songs.
• a vacuum packed sopressata my cousin sidaro handed me as we were leaving, for me to enjoy back home in California. :)

we left torano castello via a 5 hour train to rome. we boarded our plane that evening and arrived in PARIS!

while our apartment's location was fantastic, the actual dwelling left a lot to be desired. it was up four flights of stairs that smelled like the water from a carnival ride. the apartment was itty bitty - smaller than it appeared in the photos on air bnb, and with lots more clutter. oh well. we were only going to be there for two nights and one day. we'd survive.

here our my highlights from my day in Paris:

• literally turning the corner past our apartment and seeing the top of the Eiffel tower.
• the Eiffel tower! duh! we went and saw it first thing and it is amazing.
• the store fronts. Parisians take such care in making things look beautiful. the baked goods look so pretty lined up in the windows of the patisseries. the dry cleaner displayed a vintage dress form with a chic coat. the florists fill the windows and street outside the shop with flowers organized by color. the cafes and restaurants are each decorated in their unique way, with big signs out front in cool fonts. you can tell just by taking a quick jaunt around the neighborhood that beauty and style play a big part in Parisian culture. I appreciated that very much.
• our funny waiters at the café where we had our first French meal. I had bœuf bourguignon. the bread it came with was SO good. probably the best bread ever, and i'm a lover and eater of bread so I feel pretty qualified to make that judgment.
• taking a walk in the 9th and stumbling upon block after block after block of music stores! a store of guitars next to a store of recording equipment next to a store full of pedals next to a store of drums...it went on and on forever. tony was in heaven.
• dinner at chartier, on a recommendation from my boss. he goes there every time he is in paris, and i'm so glad he told me to make the trip out there. I guess it's a bit touristy and doesn't offer anything mind blowing, but the atmosphere is fun and the building that it's in is totally charming.
• taking van on the carousel at the Eiffel tower after dinner and watching it twinkle with lights for 5 minutes at the top of the hour. it was literally marvelous. I could stare at it forever.

we were there, and now we're here. things seem to different when you've been somewhere so far away. i'm glad to be home. as fun and wonderful as it all was, living out of a suitcase and relying on public transit and taxis it quite tiring and hectic, especially with a young toddler. I was sad to leave, but looking forward to a diversity of  meals, water pressure and a working hair straightener.

we arrived at SFO last Wednesday afternoon. my brother in law took us to get Mexican food on our way home. you can take the Stizzos out of California, but you can't take the California out of the Stizzos.

The Freakin' (Wedding, Birthday) Weekend

This year I got to spend my birthday in lovely Santa Barbara celebrating my oldest friend's wedding. despite my kid puking in the car on the way up and crapping on the floor of our rental home (seriously...and it wasn't totally his fault. i can explain later...) it was a really fantastic weekend.

we took my sister and brother in law along with us so they could watch van while we were at the wedding. it was so nice to have them not only to babysit the night of, but just to offer help throughout the weekend. i feel so lucky to be surrounded my family and friend/family that are always around and willing to help out with van. i think that's the best way to grow up. i digress....

we got into Santa Barbara and checked in to the really great house we rented from a vacation rental site. it was awesome and quiet had an incredible view of the city. after settling in, we had a few beers and headed out to dinner.

we combed State Street and landed on this place. it was really good! the ambiance was nice, and they gave us a bomb dessert because they felt bad about accidentally adding tomatoes to my brother in law's salad. hah! van was exhausted and stayed asleep pretty much the whole time.

the next day aja and shea took van out shopping and to the beach while tony and i attended the wedding. my friend Kaitlin and her husband Matt both have ties in the wedding/event industry. needless to say, their celebration was off the chain. i didn't take too many photos, but did manage to snap these two of their stunning table décor and the area where the dinner was held. the ceremony took place at the Santa Barbara mission, and the reception was at the Bacara Resort and Spa. both venues were so pretty.

                

 in addition to all the superficial aspects of the wedding, the toasts were great and the overall vibe was really loving and warm. it was one of the best weddings I've ever been a part of.

on sunday we packed up, went to lunch and took van to the ocean once more before we hit the road. this little bugger is so fearless, i tell you. he was all up in that water.

 the drive home was LONG. we needed to stop and get something to eat, but the only place for miles and miles was Pea Soup Andersen's. if it wasn't in the middle of freaking nowhere, no one would ever go there. this place could not exist anywhere else. their specialty is pea soup, for christ sakes. the waitress was old and mean and they gave tony two bottom buns on his hamburger.

we left for Italy three days after returning from our long Santa Barbara weekend because we are crazy like that. it's been an eventful month. chaotic, but worth it. i'd do it again in a heartbeat!