My Destination's Biggest Baddest Bucket List

I am coming back from hiatus to ask/beg/plead/grovel for all of you to vote for me for My Destination's Biggest Baddest Bucket List competition. If I win, I would get to travel around the world for 6 months on 6 different continents. This is basically all I've ever wanted to do with my life and it would (literally) mean the world to me if you got me one step closer to making this a reality! 

Click here to vote and enjoy my video below. 

My BBB - Top 5 Tips for Italian Travel

Again, don't forget to VOTE! 

xxxx Amanda

Hiatus

Today Daisy and I are off for our two week road trip from San Francisco to Las Vegas!

After a rough quarter that had me feeling extremely overwhelmed, I'm more than ready to hit the open road and see what adventures traveling has in store for us this time.

One of the best parts about embarking on a new journey is the chance to disconnect, reflect and have different experiences than what you know in your day to day. I have reached a point that I really need to do all of these things and figure out where I'm heading.

Sans laptop, I'm heading to California to tune into myself and find what I really want this balance to be all about.

All I know is that it will definitely always involve travel. There is nothing better than going out to explore the unknown. Except maybe coming back home to share it with everyone you miss while you're gone.

I'll be back to share soon!

Image via 1

Dying to Go Destinations: San Francisco, California

With the wrap-up of my last Autumn Quarter ever, I've finally been able to focus a bit more on planning the epic road trip I started talking about a few months ago.

Starting in San Francisco, Daisy and I will make our way down the Pacific Coast Highway with stops all along the California coast. We'll also cut over to Temple City to see my lovely auntie and finish up our West Coast adventure with a few nights in Vegas!

In previous trips to CA, I've gotten as far north as Santa Barbara, but can't wait to actually experience everything North Cal has to offer! I've always wanted to go San Francisco, but the opportunity was never there when I've visited before.

Now that we're driving ourselves, we've got free reign to go everywhere and anywhere our little hearts desire.

From taking in the sea lions at sunrise to hanging with the hippies in Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco has Amanda Boleman written all over it and I can't wait to experience it all in real life in just 5 days!

Images via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Travel Top 5: New York Food

{The best tasting birthday present I've ever received...Crumbs Cupcakes}

Surprisingly I wasn't as camera happy with my food as I usually am while I was in New York, but I definitely still ate well! From New York style pizza to Mexican joints and cupcakes galore, I found myself mentally adding places to try on every block.

{Awesome artwork and delicious eats at John's of Bleecker Street}

One of the main things I love about New York food that's missing in Chicago is the abundance of street vendors selling everything from fresh fruit to Korean BBQ right there along the avenue. Sure, we have food trucks, but it's not the same as the food stands that stay in the same place all day long, luring you in for a quick pick-me-up treat on your walk home. 

{Chowing down on fresh fruit on the way to get coffee}

For my birthday dinner, we wanted to eat somewhere near the hotel so we wouldn't be clunking around the city in our swanky dresses and heels. Sea Thai won the bid for being my favorite type of food and its proximity to where we wanted to be. Best Pad Thai I've ever had! Although I was admittedly a little tipsy from birthday shots, so maybe I was just reallyyyy hungry...

 {Lovely ladies at Sea Thai}

And of course, my time in NYC wouldn't have been complete without a trip to Magnolia Bakery.

Travel Top 5: New York Art

It's true what they say--there really is a vibe to New York unlike any other. From the fashion to the architecture, there is art to be seen around every corner if the busy New Yorker would just take a moment to stop and enjoy it.

{Meatpacking District street art & Statue of David styled in Missoni}

 {Out and about in Chelsea & Union Square}

Street art and sculptures adorn the city, providing a pop of color against a gray sidewalk or inspiring the viewer to feel something they may not have before coming across the surprise piece of art.

{If we all do one random act of kindness daily, we just might set the world in the right direction}

My love for art started at a young age with my extremely creative aunt sharing her appreciation of all things beautiful and pushing me to see the world with an artist's eye. While my own artistic skills never developed as fully as I would have liked, I still love wandering through galleries in all of the cities I visit to find new sources of inspiration and revel in the work of acclaimed artists I've been learning about since I was a little girl. 

And what better place to go to take it all in (besides maybe the Louvre or the Vatican Museums!) than the massive and marvelous Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

{Channeling Gossip Girl on the Met steps}

Heading in on the South side of the museum, I made my way through the Greek and Roman art and got lost in Ancient Egypt for a while. With only so much time, I made my way up to the must-see 19th- and early 20th- century European paintings that my little map told me housed the artists I used to learn about and admire back in elementary school.

 

Seeing original works from the likes of Monet, van Gogh, Mucha, Rodin and Seurat gave me goosebumps and sent chills down my spine--in the best possible way. 

{Claude Monet; Top: Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies, 1899; Bottom: The Houses of Parliament (Effect of Fog), 1903-1904}

 {Georges Seurat; Gray Weather, Grande Jatte, 1886-1988}

                

 {Vincent van Gogh; Top Left: Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat, 1887; Top Right: Roses, 1890; Bottom: Wheat Field with Cypresses, 1890}

{Alphonse Mucha; Maude Adams as Joan of Arc, 1909}

After perusing most of the 19-20th century European paintings, I wandered into more modern times to see the contemporary works and pop art I've already expressed my love for. And there was some Lichtenstein there for me!

{Roy Lichtenstein; Stepping Out, 1978} 

{Andy Warhol; Ethel Scull 36 Times, 1963}

 {Trippy sculptures}

To finish off my trip to the Met, I had to go take in the view from the roof and see the 'Cloud City' by Tomas Saraceno.

Not so unfortunately (besides making us late for FNO!), I got lost on the way back to Jordan's and wound up in Queens. At least there's art everywhere to keep you entertained even when you end up going the wrong way!

Travel Top 5: Brooklyn, New York

With only one full day left in New York, I faced a very tough decision: go stalk people outside of Fashion Week or explore a city I have heard rave reviews about and haven't made it to yet?

The traveler in me won over the fashionista. If it came down to it, I would much rather find the beauty in new places than in new clothes. While still looking stylish, of course. ;)

I don't regret my decision for a second. At first I was a little sketched out when I got off at Hewes Street on the M subway, having mapped out no real plan as to what I was going to do when I got there, but after looking up the top places to eat, I quickly made my route towards An Nhau in West Williamsburg.

It was a gorgeous September day so I didn't mind the sound of a 20 minute walk at all. An outdoor garden patio + Vietnamese food? I'm there. 

Walking through the bar and restaurant to the quiet back patio, I felt like I was escaping into a different world. Tucked away on one of the cozy little sofa-bed type love-seats, I was surprised but happy to be the only person among the island decor, sipping a glass of Happy Hour-priced Pinot and basking in the sun. 

{Chicken Pho}

On my walk over, I saw a ton of vibrantly colored street art with Spanish influences and animals both real and mystical. 

Somehow my obsession to find pho lead me to the heart of exactly where I wanted to be in Brooklyn.

A lovely waitress at An Nhau pointed me in the direction of the Brooklyn Brewery and the well-known vintage shop Beacon's Closet so I made my way towards the river to see what it had in store.

There was a bit of time to spare before I had to catch my train to Long Island to vist Mackenzie so I decided to take the scenic route home via the East River Ferry.

Not before taking in the views of Manhattan from the other side and laying in the grass at East River Park though.



Waving goodbye to Brooklyn, until we meet again.