Tag: holiday

art · beauty · life curation · luxury · relaxation · travel

Fun Times at Mission Hills Inn

MstldelanoLeave a comment

When spending time in Southern California, my dear friend took me to a famous landmark in Riverside. The Mission Inn Hotel and Spa is a beautiful space that has been the #1 Best Historic Hotel in California. I arrived at the perfect time to tour: I came to the hotel right after New Year’s Day. Fortunately for us, the Christmas decorations were still up, including the Christmas lights and gingerbread house. While the hotel was busy, there weren’t nearly as many visitors as they had before Christmas. Here are some photos from my time at The Mission Inn.

The stunning archway leading to the entrance of the hotel

The most unique and fun part of the hotel was the life-size gingerbread house, which was made of real gingerbread and candy. It smelled heavenly, and the hotel had signs up, asking guest to not touch or eat the house!

The gingerbread house

The lobby sported several stunning Christmas trees, which kept the festive spirit alive. I loved seeing the exquisitely decorated trees.

One of the lobby Christmas trees

As an art lover, any statue in my vicinity gets a double take. This marble beauty was no exception. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo of the plaque identifying the work.

Marble statue at the Mission Inn

On the exterior, there were tons of striking lights. There was a timed display that lit up the side of one of the buildings that made up the hotel.

Light displays outside
Me with my favorite person outside of the hotel
More light displays

I’m so glad I had a chance to enjoy the Mission Inn during the holiday-adjacent season. The lights were such a treat to my senses, and seeing the other decorations was glorious. I can’t wait to return and spend a little more time at the hotel!

food · luxury · wine

More Low Cost Libations – Affordable Wine Review

MstldelanoLeave a comment

As we embrace the upcoming holiday season, we may find ourselves in need of delicious wines to accompany our family dinners. One thing that I like to do is make sure that I have a mix of high/low cost wines to offer with meals. For those that choose to indulge, wine is a wonderful complement to a variety of meals, and can really enhance the flavor profile of all the foods that have been prepared.

The advantage to having wines in your home during the holidays is that you can use the wine in certain recipes, adding a rich and intensified flavor to certain dishes. I love cooking meat dishes with red wine, or crafting exquisite sauces or gravies with white wine. When cooking with wine, the alcohol cooks (or burns) off, leaving flavor with no traces of alcohol content left behind.

I realized that I’ve done several wine reviews over on my YouTube channel, but I hadn’t shared those reviews over here. So, here you go:

Also, if you want to keep track of the wines that you try, you can use what I use: the Wine Tasting Notes journal is perfect for capturing the details and your impressions of every wine that you taste. And for $5, it’s so affordable!

https://amzn.to/3ktZV7N

I’ll be adding more wine reviews in the months to come. Do you have a wine recommendation for me? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

**** This post contains affiliate links.

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This Memorial Day

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As the proud daughter and niece of veterans, I believe in observing the solemnity of Memorial Day. So many have dutifully served to protect us at home. In honor of those that served but are no longer with us, let us have a beautiful, benevolent Memorial Day. Let’s continue to keep them in our minds, thoughts and (if you’re inclined) prayers.

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I’ll talk to you all tomorrow. Take care.

culture

Happy Discoverer’s Day!

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Hi friends! Today, most of the United States is observing Columbus Day, and there are a lot of businesses and institutions that have closed for the day. However, I’m interested in the states and groups of people that have chosen to claim this day as one to honor indigenous people: the individuals who were negatively impacted by “explorers” who landed in North America hundreds of years ago.

In my research, I found out about Discoverer’s Day, which honors the Polynesian explorers that first landed on the Hawaiian islands. The state of Hawaii does not formally recognize Discoverer’s Day but I think it is a creative way to honor Polynesian culture as well as to distance the date from Columbus’s legacy.

hawaii

There are some groups that would like to further refine the name of the day, so that it more accurately reflects the original inhabitants of the islands. One group is pushing for the title “Indigenous People’s Day” to honor the early Hawaiian inhabitants. It’ll be interesting to see what changes will happen when it comes to recognizing the indigenous people of the Hawaiian islands, as well as indigenous populations worldwide.

In the meantime, I am enjoying this Discoverer’s Day and I hope you all do the same. Take care!

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Enjoy Your Labor Day!

MstldelanoLeave a comment

Today is Labor Day, a federal holiday that honors the American workforce and the many people who pushed for labor standards that protected workers. My parents were both union members, and I’ve been a member of a few unions during my career. I know that a good union can make the difference between a comfortable workplace and an intolerable one.

Happy Labor Day!

So enjoy your Labor Day – I know that I will!