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Tag Archives: road trips

goodbye, sedona

Oh, Sedona…I’m not ready to leave you today. You definitely delivered on this trip. I fell in love with you and my husband each a little more this weekend…I didn’t think either was possible. It was just a really good five days away. The kind of days where you find yourself filled with so much joy that you wish you could stop time and absorb the feeling a little bit more. Instead, you have to file the moments away in your heart and hope you don’t forget them.

For all the times I have been to Sedona I have never done a travelogue for it, so instead of throwing a few highlights down right now I plan on doing a proper post for it in the next few days. I’ve decided Sedona deserves it.

Now I must go so I can help Brian pack up the car to make the 7+ hour road trip back to LA (podcast time- anybody have any favorites that we should listen to?)…and home to Frank! Man, I missed that little love muffin these last few days. I must have texted the dog sitter…oh, I don’t know…a 1,000 times in five days. She must think I’m insane.

Until next Sedona!

Tags: 365 til, 365 til 30, adventure, Explore, French Bulldog, goals, Gratitude, happy, Inspiration, Joy, Kate McClafferty, Love, marriage, road trips, sedona, travel, travelogue, universe

Comments 6 Comments
Categories travel, weekend snapshots

hitting the road…

5 Jun

Brian and I are hitting the road this morning en route for one of my favorite places…Sedona, AZ. We go to Sedona at least twice a year (Brian’s parents have a house there) but this will be a weekend of firsts for us…we are staying there a little longer than we usually do (a weekend always seems to go by too quick), driving instead of flying (we decided that we were both in need of a little adventure) and going alone (we usually bring a group of friends with us but this time around we wanted a mellow trip). I’m looking forward to doing a whole lotta nothing for five days.

Below is my Friday happy list- making a list of the little things that bring me joy each week helps me stay present.

20 things that have been making me happy recently…

pink peonies

watching Bloodline on Netflix

my new laptop- it’s love

planning out our summer calendar (so many weddings!)

wandering the streets of Venice on my morning walks with Frankie

lunches with Crystal

lazy Sundays at home with my family and a stack of magazines

the little dragon pandora station

haagen dazs vanilla ice cream

sipping coffee in bed with a view of our blooming garden

saging our home (more on that next week)

beach weather, pool weather & bikini weather is on the horizon

we’re going to Sedona for five days!

this quote…

ego says: once everything falls into place, I will find peace

spirit says: find peace and everything will fall into place

What’s been making you guys happy recently?

Tags: 365, 365 til, 365 til 30, adventure, bloodline, Brian & Kate travel, Explore, goals, Gratitude, happy, Happy List, happy lists, homelife, Inspiration, Kate McClafferty, Laughter, netflix, road trips, sedona, Surprises, travel, universe

Comments 8 Comments
Categories Happy List, Inspiration, Gratitude & Surprises, travel

happy list

4 Feb

20 things that have been making me happy recently…

1. as I write this post I am sitting at my favorite neighborhood coffee shop with a warm latte and my trusty computer. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a whole afternoon to myself

2. hard but honest conversations that make you instantly feel lighter

3. Mexico in T minus 7 days! I’m so ready for the downtime, hot sun, tacos & margaritas

4. that Frankie is ok after his health scare last week

5. all the inspiring women who have been answering the project 30 questions recently…as well as the ones coming up- there’s a really good one coming up tomorrow!

6. the desk Brian built us from scratch – total. office. game. changer

7. crossing things off my to-do list

8. building our new business- most definitely one of my favorite things about 2015 thus far

9. a saturday night date with Brian involving take out from Sunny Blue, a yummy bottle of red wine & catching up on our recorded television shows while cuddled up on the couch

10. pinteresting

11. listening to Brian crack up when he watches “Californication”- I can’t help but laugh too

12. planning our LA -> Seattle road trip which has been moved to the fall. California coast in the fall? Yes, please

13. I’m taking a twelve week course at Cal State Long Beach which started this past Saturday. It’s been a looooong time since I was in school. It was so fun- it made me very happy

14. 2015 in general

15. daydreaming about babies

16. my morning walks with Frank. It is most definitely my favorite way to start the day

17. Monday afternoon dates with Melissa

18. my family

19. It’s “love” month and Bri guys birthday month.

20. this quote…

“Love yourself enough to create an environment in your life that is conductive to the nourishment of your personal growth.

Allow yourself to let go of the people, thoughts, and situations that poison your well-being. Cultivate a vibrant surrounding and commit yourself to making choices that will help you release the greatest expression of your unique beauty and purpose.”

– Dr Steve Maraboli

Tags: 2015, 365, 365 til, 365 til 30, adventure, babies, back to school, californication, Explore, family, friendship, growth, happy, Happy List, Inspiration, Kate McClafferty, Mexico, new business, pinterest, planning a road trip, project 30, road trips, sunny blue, travel, traveling, universe, women in their 30's

Comments 9 Comments
Categories Happy List, Uncategorized

inspiration photos / spring road trip

11 Nov

After our mini road trip to Ojai this past weekend planning our spring road trip from Los Angeles to Seattle is front and center on my mind. I love being on the open road with Brian. We are both at our happiest when exploring- Brian equipped with his camera and me my journal. There is also nothing I love more than planning road trips! I get such a high researching every little detail. Although, I imagine planning this road trip will be far less time consuming than when I drove across the country with One Part Gypsy.

At the moment the itinerary is…Los Angeles, Big Sur, Carmel, San Francisco, Tomales Bay, Ashland, Eugene, Portland, Olympia & Seattle. Thoughts? Has anyone ever done this route? Are there other places you think that we should make a point to stop?

Brian and I have only ever made it as far as Tomales Bay so any tips (hotels, restaurants, things to do/see) are welcome in any of the cities.

***

“Once the travel bug bites you there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected for the rest of my life.”

Michael Palin

Tags: 365 til 30, adventure, Ashland, Big Sur, Brian glodney photography, carmel, Explore, fun, goals, growth, happy, Inspiration, inspiration photos, Kate McClafferty, LA to Seattle, Los angeles, Love, marriage, Olympia, Open road, Portland, road trips, Seattle, tomales bay, travel, traveling the 101, turning 30, universe

Comments 8 Comments
Categories Inspiration, Gratitude & Surprises, travel, Uncategorized

the roadtrip

11 Apr

As many of you already know one of my goals from last year was to drive across the country before I turned 30. I’ve always thought it sounded incredibly adventurous and the idea of roaming the country without a care in the world sounded beyond romantic. At heart I am a total free spirit; sometimes I think I forget that when I am busy writing to-do lists!

I am happiest going with the flow of life, without an agenda.

Leading up to the trip I wasn’t sure how I was going to pull it all off. Who was going to go with me? Mr. McClafferty would just die if I drove it by myself. How would I take all that time off from work? How would I afford the trip? How? How? How?

But as most things do when you trust the universe, it all fell into place perfectly. My wildly adventurous and free-spirited best girlfriend, Rachel of One Part Gypsy signed up to go on the trip with me. I got the time off from work and we somehow paid for most of the trip with the help of fabulous sponsors (thanks guys!). We got lucky, but we also worked our asses of to put this trip together.

We left on the roadtrip exactly one year ago and it ended up being the Best. Month. Of. My. Life.

Sure, there was some fighting…I mean, have you ever traveled in a car with a person for a month? Sure, we almost lost our lives in Mississippi when a big rig swerved into our lane and ran us off the road. Sure, we got lost more times than I’d care to admit (shhhh….sometimes we drove hours out-of-the-way). Sure, we woke up most mornings at 4am to start the drive. Sure, we probably both gained 10 (ok maybe 8) pounds eating our way across America…I mean, have you been to the South?? But, we survived it all with our senses of humor and an insane amount of red bulls, and we are better friends because if it.

There really isn’t another person I could imagine having accomplished this goal with. Traveling across the country with Rachel will forever be one of my favorite memories. I’m pretty sure when we are old and grey we will be telling our grandkids about the wild month in 2012 we conquered the USA.

one_part_gypsy_365_til_30_american_roadtrip_marfa_texas_el_cosmico_teepee1

Read some of my favorite posts from that month!

– Marfa, Texas

– Getting chased by a dirt devil

– Visiting Georgia O’ Keefe’s private residence

– Memphis!

– Our night at a sweet little B&B in Alabama

– Our day with wild horses

– Santa Fe

– Struggs

– Going to F. Scott Fitzgeralds home

– We’re going to Graceland!

Tags: 365, 365 til, 365 til 30, adventure, Arizona, drive across the USA, friendship, girls on a road trip, goals, going with the flow, Kate McClafferty, Laughter, Mississippi, New Mexico, New Orleans, One Part Gypsy, road trip across america, road trips, soul, thelma and Louise, travel, universe

Comments 10 Comments
Categories Drive Across The USA

Day 14, Part 2: Drive to Georgia

17 May

ROAD TRIP

After visiting the F. Scott Fitzgerald Museum, we hit the road for St. Mary’s, Georgia- a place that both Rachel and I had been dying to see. We plugged the new hotel address into our GPS and set off into the unknown! I live for that feeling…the feeling of heading into the unknown. It gets me all abuzz with excitement! I was loving life at this moment.

Life got even better when GPS decided to take us through the prettiest area in Alabama on our drive- a windy back road lined with big, beautiful houses on huge plots of land…land as far as the eye could see. This was the Alabama I wanted to see! We curved around the roads with all the windows down, the music blaring….I could feel the warm sun on my skin through the sunroof and a breeze whipped through the car. It was a perfect moment and one that is one of my favorite little memories from the trip.

As we passed the fence in the above pic I said …”Stop the car!” I happened to think the fence was dreamy and I wanted a photo sitting on it…I needed a photo sitting on it! So we stopped the car and took turns snapping pictures of each other for a bit.

After another hour Rachel and I ended up back on a main highway where I decided to relieve her of her driving duties, hopped in the driver’s seat and took off! Not 3 minutes later (3 minutes!), as Rachel sat quietly next to me eating a peach, I saw lights in my rearview window.

Seriously?!??!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!

I meekly said, “Rachel I think I’m getting pulled over again.” She turned around in shock and sadly confirmed my suspision….yes I was getting pulled over again.

I said…”this isn’t even funny this time…I actually think I am going to cry.” and then in an inspired moment (I’ve seen this work in countless movies) I decided to fix my hair and put on lipstick and told Rachel to try to eat her peach in the sexiest most suggestive way possible.

I wanted out of this ticket.

The officer walked up to the window, glanced at Rachel and me (as we batted our eyelashes and smiled ridiculously big smiles) and asked with the sweetest southern accent if….I knew why he pulled me over. I said no (I really didn’t, honest) and he informed me that I was going 75 in a 55 (shit) and asked me for my license and registration. In that moment I knew that he wasn’t biting and that I was going to get a ticket, despite our sexy hair and peach eating charade.

After gathering my info, he walked away and Rachel and I slumped back down in our seats…quietly.

When he came back to the car 10 minutes later he told me he was going to do me a favor ( I perked back up) and only write that I was going 69 miles an hour instead of 75 (I guess I should have said thanks?) and handed me my ticket. He then, with a smile, said “I’ve never met anybody from LA before.”

Ummmm, great officer whatever your name is but I don’t really care. You just ruined my perfect afternoon.

….

Cumberland Island up next…

….

See Rachel’s blog here!

365til30: instagram @kate365, twitter, facebook

Tags: 365, 365 til, 365 til 30, adventure, Alabama, drive across the USA, Explore, humor, Inspiration, inspirations, Joy, Kate McClafferty, Laughter, Love, One Part Gypsy, Open road, road trips, speeding tickets, turning 30, universe

Comments 13 Comments
Categories Drive Across The USA

Day 6, part 1: Driving to Marfa, Texas

23 Apr

ROAD TRIP

Day 6, Part 1

Scheduling issues, trunks, Dirt Devils, Texas & Marfa

This just in- Rachel and I should not be given the task of planning itineraries in the future…we happened to plug-in some insane departure times, driving times and were overly ambitious when scheduling our days. I’m not sure if Superman could pull off our itinerary. Our running joke on the trip has been asking aloud…”who planned this schedule?” Most days we get up at 5am to either drive an insane amount of hours, photograph or write. By evening we could both easily fall asleep by 7pm (I wish I was kidding but seriously 7pm has become the new bedtime over here).

So when I looked at our itinerary for Day 6, it read….

Departure from Ghost Ranch @ 5am

Driving time to Marfa, Texas 8 hours

Arrival time in Marfa, Texas 1pm

I looked at Rachel and said- “who planned this schedule?”

When the alarm sounded at 4:30 am, Rachel and I just started laughing in the dark at the absurdity of it all. We were up in the mountains, it was pitch dark, freezing (25 degrees which is cold for us CA girls) and we had to pack up a car and drive for 8 hours? SERIOUSLY, WHO PLANNED THIS ITINERARY?

If I didn’t know better I would think it was somebody who hated us.

We dragged ourselves out of bed and half asleep we packed the car in the dark and headed out of the mountains. When the sun came up two hours later I looked in my rearview window and noticed that my trunk was wide open. WHAT?! I was driving with my trunk open for the last two hours through the mountains!! We just started laughing. I pulled over and Rachel ran out to close it but not before taking this picture.

When she returned to the car, she said through laughter…”well your bag was unzipped and some clothes were hanging out. I guess we will know if you’re missing anything when we get to Marfa”

Not the best news at 7am but what are you going to do.

The highlights from our 8 hour drive

1. Taking a picture with the Texas state sign!

2. When we were driving through Texas on a 2 lane highway in the middle of nowhere and we saw what looked like a mini tornado in the distance. I thought…omg my Dad was right there’s a tornado!! I started taking pictures of it that was until it started coming toward us and Rachel screamed “Oh my God, we are doing exactly what your father told us not to do!!! We’re driving towards a tornado!!!” and slammed on the brakes.

I closed my eyes and tried to roll up my window as quick as I could and Rachel screamed…”It’s got a tumbleweed!!!!”

It’s got a tumbleweed!!!?? Well that’s not good!!! For a moment there I thought we were going to die. I seriously thought that I was going to die and my Dad was going to be proven right…I didn’t know what was worse!

Instead of lifting up our car, the dirt cloud passed over us like a gust of wind.

We barely felt a thing.

We looked at each other with wide eyes and both burst out laughing.

After googling it we learned that it was a “Dirt Devil” and not dangerous AT ALL.

I blame my father for our overreaction to the dirt cloud.

3. Taking pictures with my car

As we were approaching Marfa, Texas I looked at my phone and said…”Rachel, I have bad news. It’s happened again. We lost an hour.”

Marfa here we come!

…

See Rachel’s take here!

365til30: instagram @kate365, twitter, facebook

One Part Gypsy: instagram @onepartgypsy, twitter, facebook

Tags: 365, 365 til, 365 til 30, adventure, drive across the USA, Explore, Ghost Ranch, goals, Gratitude, happy, humor, Inspiration, inspirations, Joy, Kate McClafferty, marfa, One Part Gypsy, Open road, Road trip, road trips, Texas, turning 30, universe

Comments 21 Comments
Categories Drive Across The USA

I am a writer, blogger and host living in Los Angeles, CA with my husband Brian and French Bulldog Frank.

I started this blog in 2011 on the eve of my 29th birthday because I was feeling frustrated with the state of my life. In an inspired moment I compiled a list of 10 goals to accomplish in the 365 days leading up to my 30th birthday. Goals that I thought would bring me closer to the life I wanted-- and with that, 365 til 30 was born. That year was an incredible journey and truly changed my life. Since then, the blog has grown to include everything that happens after turning 30.

My professional website can be found here.