Happy first week of April, y’all! I can’t believe it’s already April, which means were almost halfway through 2019! Wow, I feel so old 😂 Anyway, I just got back from my spring break vacation and I’m so eager to finally tell you guys all about it!

Both my mom and I had the same week off for spring break, so we went to Seattle for four days. We was super excited to go, both of us have never been before! It’s on my bucket list to visit every state at least once, so I was very happy to finally check Washington off my list. I’ve also always wanted to see Seattle in person, so that was a bonus! I would totally visit again more often, it’s one of the coolest and most unique cities I’ve ever been to. There’s so much to do, you can never be bored!

One of my favorite spots in all of Seattle was Pike’s Place Market. It’s a very iconic part of the city, so my mom and I had to see what the hype was all about. Luckily, we were very impressed. That was our first stop on our first day of the trip; where we ate breakfast at Lowell’s and walked around the farmers market, as well as bought a beautiful bouquet of flowers. We went back again to walk around the two other days we spent in Seattle. It’s also the perfect place to take cute, authentic pictures for your Instagram! I should warn you though, it gets super crowded with people and cars. Plus, everyone wants a picture. That’s why it’s the most Instagrammable spot in the city!

We did about pretty much everything you could imagine in Seattle for three days. We saw the Great Gum Wall (gross but worth it!), went to the top of the Space Needle, toured the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum, went up for some drinks at the Sky View Observatory at the Columbia Center, saw the original Starbucks location, and explored both Queen Anne (I don’t recommend walking there, the hills are STEEP AF!) and Capitol Hill. We hardly missed anything, which I’m very satisfied with! There are a few restaurants that I want to recommend, but I don’t want to explain every single one. Here’s a list of some of my favs:

Assaggio Ristorante
Bacco Cafe
HeartBeet Organic Superfoods Cafe (Their PB & J smoothies are the BOMB!)
Outlier
The Seattle Roastery | Starbucks Reserve
La Cocina Oaxaquena

One day, we decided to escape the city for some nature and hiking. My cousin Karly is a traveling scientist who’s currently working in Seattle, so she met us on the Bremerton island to take us to the Olympic National Park. Y’all, it was beautiful. One of my favorite things about the West Coast is the amazing scenery, especially the mountains. They were everywhere we drove and hiked. They were big and majestic, it was absolutely unreal! I was overwhelmed with joy just looking at the scenery. It was like jumping into a photo on Pinterest!

Karly took us to Lake Cresent and then to Cape Flattery, the Northwestern-Most Point in the Contiguous U.S. Those two places were what I would consider the most beautiful places I’ve have ever seen in my life so far. I could see God’s creation in every single detail: the clear blue water, the ginormous rocks in the coves, the radiant sunshine, and the insane view we had of Canada from afar! I could go on and on. Everything about the scenery was so incredible, and I’m so grateful we got to experience it in person.

Plus, we saw a bald eagle flying over the bay at Cape Flattery! It was the most patriotic thing I’ve ever seen in my life, it was so cool! My mom was so happy, she’s always wanted to see a bald eagle in person. I wanted to sing the National Anthem as it happened! It was a perfect day to be an proud American, just like every day 🇺🇸

Cape Flattery, where we saw the bald eagle!

Seattle definitely now ranks in the top of my best spring break trips yet to date! The only thing that would have made the trip better would have been hanging out with Tom Hanks, which is why the title only says “(Sorta) Sleepless in Seattle … maybe next time perhaps!

Did you go anywhere or do anything fun for spring break? Comment below and share!

Why can't spring break last for at least two weeks? It goes by so fast, especially when it's only for one week! But thanks to my amazing parents, my spring break vacation was very well spent and planned out. The answer ... Washington D.C. obviously! As you probably guessed from the title.

I spent six days at home to relax, get some homework done (even though it's called break for a reason!), hung out with Natalie and my pooches, and did other stuff before leaving late on Wednesday night. We didn't get to our hotel in Arlington until one o'clock in the morning, so my parents and I went to bed right away so we could be ready to freshen up in the morning and go out to explore the USA capital!

After brunch, our first stop was to look at the White House. Ironically, President Donald Trump was leaving at the time we stopped by and we got to see him ride away in his car! He gave everyone watching outside a thumbs up. Typical.

After witnessing a protest (which I guess is now a common thing to occur in the city), our next stop was at National Mall, one of the best areas to explore in the city for many reasons. We got to take a glimpse of the Washington Monument, walk around the World War II Memorial (and take a picture next to the Ohio pillar of course!) and finally the Lincoln Memorial, my personal favorite place in all of D.C.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon touring more memorials such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, the National Postal Museum, Ford Museum, and finally we saw the house where Abraham Lincoln died. We ended the night by shopping for some cute new clothes at Zara and had dinner at Shelly's Back Room before heading back to our hotel.

View of the Washington Monument from the Jefferson Memorial.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s sculpture at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

Eleanor Roosevelt's statue at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.

The statue of Roosevelt's dog at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.

One out of the five water areas at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.

The next day was entirely based on exploring the Smithsonian, the biggest museum in the world. In the morning, after a quick trip to Starbucks, our first stop was at the Holocaust Memorial Museum. I can't really say that I "liked" or "enjoyed", but I found it extremely moving and amazing. It was more quiet compared to other museums I have visited, mainly because everyone was letting the history seek in and just found every exhibit very descriptive and devastating.

I literally felt like I was in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian while walking through the Smithsonian with my parents. Our next stops included the Smithsonian Castle, the Air and Space Museum, the Hirshhorn Musem, and the National Museum of American History. Then, we concluded the day with a good steak dinner at Martin's Tavern, the same place where John F. Kennedy proposed to Jackie!

The Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle).

Our last day we decided to spend by touring the National Archives and shopping around Georgetown. Before going to those places, we first stopped at D.C. City Center to take some pictures because it's one of the best places to take cool pictures for Instagram posts. Pink lanterns definitely work perfect for any Instagram picture, true fact!

After D.C. City Center, we stopped at the legendary Ben's Chili Bowl for lunch. We got super yummy chili dogs with french fries. Plus, we looked at the Wall of Fame and saw all of the celebrities that have visited the restaurant, Jimmy Fallon being one of them!

We learned a lot about the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and much more at the National Archives. We then took a mini trip to Washington D.C. and shopped at two consignment shops. My mom bought a nice tan winter coat and I got a pair of black heeled loafers and a Tory Burch off the shoulder white dress. I promise to write some blog posts about them soon!

After resting from a long day of walking all over the city, we got dolled up for a fancy dinner at the Trump International Hotel. It was extremely fancy, it most definitely looked like what you would expect. Chandeliers, a huge bar, fancy bathrooms (perfect for mirror selfies), awards, and girls wearing Christian Louboutin shoes that probably cost over eight-hundred dollars. Of course, the best part was a delicious steak with french fries and feeling like Julia Roberts after her makeover in Pretty Woman.

The next morning, we drove all the way back to Ohio. I wish the trip and spring break overall didn't have to end so soon, but I'm so thankful for it and I will never forget about it. Now at least I have summer break to look forward to!