humor – HilaryStyle

March 19, 2019March 18, 2019

All About HilaryStyle

In a few months hilaryStyle will be 4 years old, which is something of a milestone, but a few weeks ago I published my 300th article, that’s 266, 855 words, which absolutely seemed worth mentioning.

When I set out to write this blog I had no idea that I would still be writing it 300+ articles later, nor that I would never miss a single week’s edition. That’s right I’ve never missed a week, which I admit at times feels like a chore, and there are weeks I’m not sure I’ll have something to share, but I always seem to manage and a deadline is a deadline…

In honor of this milestone, I thought I’d share some of the blog’s stats. Although I don’t have the most impressive numbers I do have a steady following. Occasionally I think about throwing in the towel, but then I hear from someone letting me know how much it’s helped them, or made them laugh and I realize it’s still a worthwhile endeavor.

The Numbers

I’ve personally visited 18 countries, and 22 States, which in the world of travel bloggers may not be impressive, but what I do find impressive is that HilaryStyle has been visited by people from 157 different countries. Thinking a blog would be a fun way to share my adventures with friends and family, I had no idea my thoughts, ideas and photos would be shared around the world.

Click on the suitcases for links to related articles.

Where in the World

I’m most popular in the United States, but it’s nice to know that HilaryStyle has reached Greenland, Iran, and Zambia as well.

Ten countries with the most visits:

United States
United Kingdom
Canada
Germany
Australia
Moldova
Singapore
France
Mexico
Phillippines

Ten countries who visit the least:

Zambia
Guyanan
Gibraltar
Greenland
Cuba
Mongolia
Congo
Palau
Martinique
Iran

I’m often surprised as to which posts receive the most and least attention.

The top ten blog posts of all time:

Making A Tsum Tsum Birthday Party (15, 420 views and still going strong)
The Home Page
Always a great place to start!
The Hidden Staircases of Silver Lake
50 Things to do in Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles Graffiti & Mural Walking Tour
Visiting the Anne Frank House
Things to do in LA’s Korea Town
10 Things to do in New Orleans with Kids
50 More Things to do in Los Angeles
12 Iconic Film Locations in Los Angeles

10 Blog Posts that could use MORE love:

Taking the High Road… (Since renamed: Day Trip in the Highlands of Scotland)
Roma! La Citta Eterna (Since renamed: 10 Things to do in Rome)
Along the Way… Surprise Another Castle (Since renamed: Visiting Blair Castle & Gardens)
Cocoas Around the World (Since renamed: A Chocolate Travel Tour)
Pompeii (Since renamed: Day Trip to Pompeii Italy)
You Can Fly, You Can Fly, You Can Fly… RunDisney (Since renamed: Running with RunDisney)
Exploring the Highlands of Scotland
Ireland: Along the Way… Cork (Since renamed: A Visit to Blarney Castle Cork Ireland)
Along the way… The Heart of Ireland ( Since renamed: A Visit to Newgrange in the Boyne River Valley Ireland)
Along the Way… Nottingham (Since renamed: An Afternoon in Nottingham)

Favorite Places

50 of the 250 travel articles I’ve written are about Los Angeles and surrounding areas, but I’ve got love for other places too. London is in second place with 22 articles, and New Orleans, with 20 articles came in third. France and Scotland are tied for fourth place.

London, England

Shoreditch Street Art Tour & Masterclass

St. Pauls Cathedral and Westminster Abbey

25 Things to do in London

10 things to do in New Orleans with Kids

The Garden District New Orleans

New Orleans Let’s Eat Lunch and Talk about Dinner

Fashion & Fun

The blog’s tagline is Travel, Fashion & Fun and while there is a heavy emphasis on travel, I have written 60 fun, 26 street art, and 23 fashion related articles. Occasionally I’m even funny, or at least I make myself laugh and I love to give advice. Here are a few of the most popular articles falling into the aforementioned categories:

DIY: 10 Steps to Building Your Own Longboard

DIY: Skateboard Decks

A Super Birthday For Your Little Hero!

Shopping the Sample Sales in LA’s Fashion District

Fashion Favorites: Walking In My Shoes… Travel shoes that is.

Biking & Art on the Atlanta BeltLine

What do you say LA? Messages from the Street (Art That Is)

Las Vegas: Beyond the Strip

30 Tips For Better Travel Photos

Packing it all in… My Suitcase!

Backpacks. Who needs ’em?

Mom Stuff: What Did I Know?

Whether you’ve been with HilaryStyle since the beginning, or are just joining me, I am so grateful for your interest, and will look forward to continuing the journey. Although I may ease up on that weekly deadline. We shall see…

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October 17, 2017July 14, 2019

Travel Mishaps When Life Gives you Lemons…

I’ve been happily planning our family’s next big trip and I’m pretty excited about it! After a year of dreaming, pinning, reading blogs, and saving some instagood ideas I’ve finally booked my flights and accommodations! We’ll be heading to London for two weeks over the Christmas holidays, a dream come true!

Now that our flights are booked, its time to narrow down, prioritize and finalize some of those fun ideas I’ve been thinking about all year. I’ve been booking tickets and tours, researching day trips, and making plans… secure in the knowledge that even with the most careful and organized planning I won’t get to do all of it… something will go wrong.

Yes, you read that right. Something will go wrong, something always does! The key is knowing that even though I don’t know what that something is or when it will present itself we make the best of it when it does.

As the saying goes:

“When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade.”

The boys and I put together this list of travel mishaps, most of which we now laugh about. Have you ever had a travel mishap? Were you able to make lemonade, or were the lemons just too sour?

Lost In Tempura

Life’s given you lemons when you think your dinner check will be on the very reasonable side but actually ends up costing as much as all the other meals on the entire trip combined! Whoops, we made a mistake with the conversion from yen to dollars…

That said…

Our meal was fantastic, in fact it was hands down the best meal we had the entire trip! Tempura in Japan was incredible and nothing like anything we’d in the States. The batter was light as air, the house made sauce was divine, and we learned a new way to enjoy tempura, a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt. It had been the perfect way to end what we all considered the vacation of a lifetime!

Want to read more about that incredible dinner or about our other Japanese adventures? Check out these related posts:

Japan! Adventures in Cuisine!

Japan! Tokyo… No Wasabi Kudasai!

Japan! Planes, Trains & Automobiles!

Last Chance for Gas

Life’s given you lemons when you’re driving a diesel car, but you put gas in the tank. Whoops! Having never driven a diesel it was news to us that American diesel cars and pump nozzles have different shapes preventing such a mistake from happening,

That said…

Not having a car meant cancelling our trip to the Dingle Peninsula, which although disappointing, turned out to be more than okay as we spent a lovely day wandering in the Killarney National Park. Located just across the road from downtown Killarney and about one block from our hotel it was just steps away. No car needed! The weather was somewhat unpredictable, but the boys loved walking into the wind and rain! The park path twisted and turned through forest and meadow and at the end a castle!

Want to read more about our adventures in Killarney National Park or about our other Irish adventures? Check out these related posts:

Ireland! 50 Shades of Green!

Ireland! Along the way… Cork!

Ireland! Three Days in Dublin!

High Wind Advisory

Life’s given you lemons when you’ve traveled half way around the world to see the famous Benagil Sea Cave (listed as one of the world’s most beautiful places), and high winds, during the entire visit, prevent you from ever reaching the cave, which is only accessible by boat.

That said…

We ended up at the Praia da Marinha, listed by the Michelin Guide as one of the ten most beautiful beaches in Europe and as one of the one hundred most beautiful beaches in the world! The entire time we were there I kept thinking how amazing it was and that this couldn’t be real! The high winds and surf prevented swimming, but we relaxed on the sand, dipped our toes in the water and took many photos.

To read more about our visit to the Praia da Marinha or about our other Portuguese adventures check out these related posts:

The Algarve! Pinch Me! Is This real?

Portugal! DETOUR… To The End Of The World!

Portugal! Beautiful Lisbon!

Every Cloud has a Silver Lining

Life’s given you lemons when your night sky photo tour of Monument Valley is foiled when an unexpected storm complete with rain, wind, thunder and lightening suddenly blows in.

That said…

Even with the heavy rain keeping us indoors, we spent an enjoyable evening in our little cabin and got some great sunrise photos instead.

To read more about our visit to Monument Valley or the successful night sky photo tour in Bryce Canyon check out these related blog post:

Soaring Over Monument Valley

Exploring Bryce Canyon National Park Day & Night

Just Be Nice

Life’s given you lemons when fellow tourists behave badly. Our visit to the Las Vegas Neon Museum would have been perfect, but for the rude behavior of another guest. His strange and threatening attitude put everyone on edge, including the guide.

That said…

We loved seeing the signs, and learning about the history of Sin City. The museum staff were kind and even refunded our admission.

To read more about our visit to The Neon Museum, and our other adventures in Las Vegas check out these related blog posts:

Las Vegas The Neon Museum

Las Vegas: Beyond the Strip

8 Things to do in Las Vegas… with Kids

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Life’s given you lemons when your kid throws up before during, or after a plane flight. My little one has thrown up in just about every airport, plane, or taxi from Paris to Rome, and everywhere in between. If there’s anywhere he hasn’t thrown up my older one took his place. Whoops, there went the retainer!

That said…

There’s nothing like a little throw up to speed up the check in process.

To read more about… ha ha! Okay, maybe you don’t want to read more about that, but here are some fun and thankfully unrelated posts:

Much Ado about Paris!

Roma! La Città Eterna!

Sour Lemons

Sometimes it’s just not possible to make lemonade no matter how much sugar you add to those sour lemons…

Ants

Life’s given you sour lemons when you go to load up the car after a fun weekend in Santa Barbara, and find it crawling with thousands of ants! I’m not sure anything could have prepared us for that! Four hours and a through cleaning later, we set off for home. Needless to say the ride wasn’t our most relaxing.

Food Poisoning

Life’s given you sour lemons when your toddler falls ill with salmonella on the flight home from Hawaii and instead of heading to your house from the airport you head to the doctor.

What’s The Matter?

Life’s given you sour lemons when one day after you arrive for your vacation you fall ill with a rare and difficult to diagnose virus. Spending your vacation in the hotel room instead of out exploring, now that’s just rotten!

New Orleans! Lets Eat Lunch & Talk About Dinner!

Even though things don’t always turn out as planned, I’ll still take the occasional lemons if it means we get to have lemonade in the end!

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July 4, 2017July 4, 2017

Wanderlust is Calling! Travel Resources & Inspiration Hilarystyle

It’s no secret that exploring the world and everything it has to offer is something I love and want to do more of (hence this blog), but realistically I can’t always be traveling… So how do I keep my wanderlust at bay? I admit it’s not always easy, and some who know me, mainly my husband, might say I fail miserably.

#generalife — Relaxing in the Generalife Gardens of the Alhambra Granada Spain 2015

Feed Your Wanderlust

Feeding my wanderlusting spirit is a full time job! Have I mentioned, I love my job!? Eating out and cooking food from favorite destinations, or places I dream of going is a fun way to satisfy my wanderlust. In fact, we’ve picked destinations based solely on a meal!

Our first family trip to New Orleans came about while planning a ski trip in Tahoe. Sitting in a New Orleans themed restaurant planning, we realized, why not New Orleans? We went straight home and booked our tickets! To this day we’ve never made it to Tahoe, but we do visit New Orleans every year.

#lovecitypark — Taken in City Park during our most recent visit to NOLA in April 2017.

Interested in visiting New Orleans? I’ve written a “few” Articles:

I love fish & chips, and they’re a nice reminder of our visits to London, a favorite destination of mine. We make regular visits to The Wee Chippy, on Venice Beach, and although they don’t offer mushy peas, it does help keep that particular craving satisfied.

We love the food in Spain with two of my favorite items being Manchego cheese and chorizo. I keep a steady supply of both these items in the house at all times!

I don’t know how “Spanish” the Spanish Latte at Menotti’s is, but I do love the coffee in Spain, so this is a nice reminder.

Cheese is easily my favorite food! My local market has a great selection and I was pretty excited to discover they even had Blarney Castle cheese?!

Cork Blarney Castle — Here we are at Blarney Castle in 2016

Blogs & Books

Blogs

Of course I don’t only write a travel blog I also read other travel blogs, which not only helps with planning, but they’re also great for “visiting” places I may never make it to, and for inspiration and advice!

#datdog — I met up with my fellow Blogger, Cory, from Fifi & Hop in New Orleans!

I’ve discovered many wonderful blogs, and have come across real world advice which I know I’ll use. In fact, I already have!

I’ll be traveling throughout Nevada, Utah, and Arizona in a few weeks, and I booked rooms based on Oregon Girl Around the World‘s blog. Thanks to Tanama Tales, I learned I’ll need advance reservations for the Las Vegas Neon Museum, a place I definitely plan on visiting.

Travel Blogs I read frequently:

Clare from Suitcases and Sandcastles writes about family travel. Her photography is stunning, and her destinations are wide ranging, they include everything from remote Greek Islands to The Hundred Acre Wood (otherwise known as Ashdown Forest)!

Katy from Untold Morsels writes about her family’s travels with an emphasis on food and unique places to stay! After reading about her stay in Amsterdam I’m definitely putting houseboat on my list!

Lorelei from Caliglobtrotter is a California girl currently living in Germany. I love reading about her adventures, especially the many castles she visits! Her photography is amazing, and now I know how to pronounce Ljubljana! (Pronounced: Lub-lee-yana)!

Erin of Oregon Girl Around the World currently lives in Copenhagen, but we’re both from the PNW, and I love that we connected with eachother via blogging! She’s full of fun and eco-friendly ideas!

I always look forward to reading posts by The Adventures of Daisy the Bus, written by Jonny a father of four, who loves to travel to places off the beaten path. He paints a lovely picture with his words, his photos are pretty great too, and I have wanted to visit just about every place he mentions!

Cory of Fifi & Hop, who I was lucky enough to meet in New Orleans, writes about her family’s adventures on the East Coast and abroad! I especially loved her post on Tuscany, I was ready to book a flight after reading it!

I love reading Joy Loves Travel who seems to have some similar interests to my own! Her info on Belgium came in handy prior to my own visit there.

Dannii Jane of A Beautiful Thing writes a lifestyle blog, but features her adventures in and around London and Europe. Thanks to her we found ourselves in Camden during our last visit!

Books

I admit I have a guidebook habit. As soon as I learn I’ll be going somewhere, or even if it’s just a possibility I’ll pick up the guidebook(s). I also love travel magazines, the big glossy photos, Best Of lists and the off the beaten path recommendations all feed my passion to see more of the world!

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Though not a book, Instagram is great for inspiration, and I have discovered not only far away places, but many fun ideas much closer to home.

Some of my favorite Instagrammers:

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https://www.instagram.com/p/BTuIN1FA1ut/?taken-by=photosofbritain

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Preserve your Wanderlust

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I have TOO many photos on my computer and no idea how to manage them all! Recently I’ve started creating photo books using not only my travel pictures, but the text from my blog posts as well. They look lovely, and make great keepsakes.

We don’t just shut our photos up into books on a shelf, we love to print them out for display too! Some of our favorites from near and far are hanging in large format around our home. We love it when people come to visit and ask about the different locations!

#mpixprints — These 20 x 20 London dessert prints hang in my son’s room!

It’s not all about photography! We love a good project, and have created various pieces of art around the house, which represent loved places. Most recently I painted this “graffiti” Union Jack flag using spray paint and resin. I’m practicing for those Venice Art Walls! We can’t forget about the around the world furniture projects!

Lego Destinations

We’re big lego fans in our house and we get excited when sets are created that represent places we’ve been!

#legotowerbridge — This rather large Lego Tower Bridge lives on top of my guidebook shelf!

We built this Tower Bridge set over the winter holidays. I’m anxiously awaiting my Houses of Parliament set, which should keep me busy this summer, while planning what I hope is a Christmas trip to the UK.

Be A Hometown Tourist

Whether or not you’ve lived very long in a place, I guarantee you haven’t done it all! We’ve had such a great time this past year playing tourist in our own town, and with all that Los Angeles has to offer, I see no signs of that slowing down!

In case you’re interested, here are just some of the articles I’ve written about our recent discoveries in and around the Los Angeles area!

The J. Paul Getty Museums

8 Reasons VENICE Should Top your LA List

50 Things To Do in Los Angeles

The Museum of Ice Cream Los Angeles

The Hidden Staircases of Silver Lake

Downtown Los Angeles Graffiti & Mural Walking Tour

InstaLA! 15 Places to Snap Those InstaGood Pics

InstaLA! Part 2: #WallAntics

Tourist In My Own Town

One Amazing Day in LA!

Warner Brothers Studio Tour

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

The Last Bookstore…

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September 26, 2016September 26, 2016

Hotel Reviews! Hilarystyle!

When I think of travel many things come to mind, adventures, seeing new sights, trying new foods, and dedicated family time. I love all of those things so much, however there are a few things about travel that I don’t love… Though worth ~~bitching about~~ mentioning, there is nothing that would stop me from embarking on my next journey, let’s not carried away!

Having recently had the opportunity to stay in 12 different hotels over the course of 6 weeks I had a lot of time to think about the things I love and don’t love in hotel rooms. Before I tell you specifics I’ll admit upfront that I’m ~~a bit of~~ a hotel snob. However, I do try to be objective. Really!

A few of my not so favorite things:

Why are there never enough towels!? Enough said…
Data – in this age of instant satisfaction spotty data just won’t cut it, especially at the rates they’re charging for it?! This is especially irritating when one is attempting to watch the season finale of Game of Thrones from a hotel room and there is little or no wifi service!
Laundry services – Is it just me or do all hotel laundry services use the same very bad strong smelling detergent? And too much of it at that! Since Elliot insists on throwing up in just about every country we’ve ever visited and Simon fills in the blanks we’ve had plenty of occasions to notice.
Crappy shampoo – In an effort to travel light and pack everything in a carry on suitcase packing shampoo isn’t always an option, so more often than not travel equals bad hair that never quite feels clean. High on my dislike list are the two in one shampoo options!
Weak Hairdryers – and don’t even get me started on where to find the hairdryer! I like to think of it as a game: Find The Hairdryer. I get to play it at each new location! Yay me.
Plug placement – Why oh why can’t their be a hairdryer plug in the bathroom?! I’m traveling with a man who doesn’t shave on vacation (yes, even when traveling for six straight weeks), yet there’s always a shaver plug available!

Between bad water pressure, hard water, soft water, weak hair dryers, scalding hairdryers, cheap shampoo, rain, and humidity it’s almost impossible to have a good hair day while traveling, but throw in the fact that the hairdryer isn’t located in the bathroom and I’m absolutely sunk!

I’m sharing a room with three other people, none of whom wake up as early as I do, so while I can take care of everything else quietly in the bathroom, drying my hair isn’t an option unless I want three extremely grumpy traveling companions!

All of this has prompted me to come up with a personal rating system for places I stay and blog about!

I’ve decided this hairdryer icon will work perfectly. Moving forward I’ll use a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the best! I’ve just finished a series of blog posts about our recent travels through Ireland, so I’ll start with those properties first! While cleanliness, comfort, and service are paramount. My ratings will also include the following criteria:

Water pressure
Shampoo quality
Placement of the hairdryer plug

Reviews:

The Westbury Hotel – Dublin

The Westbury Hotel had lovely bathrooms, with really good water and pressure! The shampoo and conditioner smelled and worked great! The hairdryer plug wasn’t in the bathroom but instead located at the mini bar/coffee station right next to the bed. The hairdryer was so hot I had to use the medium setting or risk burning my hair – that’s a first! If only the hairdryer plug had been located in the bathroom.

Overall this hotel was a lovely property located in a great part of town and I would absolutely stay here again. If you’re interested in a visit to Dublin, you might like to read Three Days in Dublin and if you’re a beer drinker or even if you’re not check out my post about The Guinness Storehouse!

The Ross Hotel – Killarney

The lobby and main areas in The Ross Hotel were fun and very trendy, but this didn’t carry over to the rooms which weren’t nearly as cheerful as the rest of the property. The bathrooms were pretty utilitarian with dark shower stalls and although the water pressure was decent, the shampoo and conditioner were awful. I never really felt like my hair was clean during our stay. The hairdryer was in the bathroom, but it was so weak it was hardly worth it.

Considering Killarney isn’t a big town and the staff, service and location were great I would consider staying again, but I would bring my own supplies. Killarney is well worth a visit as is The Ring of Kerry and if Castles and Cliffs are on your list than you are in the right part of the world for those as well!

The Twelve

The Twelve located just a few minutes down the road from Galway had a lovely and helpful staff and the rooms were very spacious for a family of four. Little touches of whimsy were placed here and there, so I really wanted to give them a better review… However, even great water pressure won’t help if the shampoo is terrible and it not only smelled bad, but it didn’t do anything. Unfortunately, the only plug located near the mirror was on the floor, so I had to dry my hair while kneeling on the floor. The hair dyer was decent though… In hindsight, I might like to stay just a little closer to Galway, so probably won’t choose to stay at The Twelve again. Galway was a lovely little town and if you fancy a chilly dip in the bay you’ll be in the right place!

Stay tuned for more hotel reviews hilarystyle!

May 6, 2016May 5, 2016

Backpacks. Who needs ’em?

I won’t lie, I’ve always been a backpack hater, but maybe not for the reasons you might think. Though it’s true they are often far from stylish or fashion forward the main reason I hate them has more to do with the people wearing them…

Yes, I’m talking to you oblivious backpack wearer!

You know who you are. You, who fill your giant pack with as much stuff as it can hold and head out for the day, completely oblivious to the fact that every time you move to the right or left you’re knocking down small children and hitting people in the face.

Of particular annoyance, backpacks on airplanes! As soon as I see one coming I just know it’s going to hit me in the head, its wearer completely unaware that they’ve just taken out half the plane on their way down the aisle.

Another pet peeve, sightseers with backpacks! Historic monuments, castles and other similar tourist attractions weren’t built with millions of visitors in mind. You might not notice, but when you try to squeeze into these spaces it’s not just your pack rubbing on the wall, but the zippers and plastic buckles as well. As the years go by, the countless backpacks, zippers and buckles rubbing the walls of these amazing places cause extreme and often irreparable damage. Do I sound bitchy? It’s not just me! Really! In recent year’s I’m seeing more and more restrictions placed on the size and type of personal belongings allowed in when visiting popular tourist destinations. The Alhambra and Westminster Abbey to name a few.

Just Be More Aware, okay!

I get it, backpacks are convenient, they hold a lot of stuff, give you the convenience of having both hands free and are for the most part more comfortable than other bags. I’m not saying don’t use them, just that I wish backpack wearers would be more aware and therefore more considerate of their fellow travelers and surroundings. If you do hit someone with your bag, at least notice!

But really, who needs em?

Apparently, I do.

Wait, what?! I know, I know, how could I? After all that bitching, what happened? What changed my mind? Well… wandering in New Orleans we stumbled across, Vegas, a men’s shop on Magazine Street where I discovered an adorable backpack! This alone would not have been enough to sway me, but combined with the padded laptop pocket, and my desire to blog while traveling through Europe for six weeks and I was sold!

Where I found my awesome new Backpack

Kinda cute, right?!

Holds lots of stuff too!

Tim says I won’t like it and probably won’t use it, and he might be a tiny bit right, but I’m going to give it a try. It is my hope that it will do the double duty of holding my carryon necessities and be perfect for protecting my laptop during the air and train portions of our trip and I promise not to hit anyone in the head when boarding!

Not a true convert, I plan to pack my Hobo tote in the bottom compartment of the suitcase; it will hold just what I need for day trips and visiting historic places while my backpack and laptop stay put back in the hotel!

So… What’s in my backpack?

For the most part my carryon bag is holding those items that I want to make sure are with me at all times in the event that my carryon suitcase is lost or in the event I am forced to check it.