Last September my best friend had a baby, 
which provided me with the perfect excuse to visit Norway for a couple of weeks… to see the baby (and Norway)! Best friend and her little family live in a port city called Stavanger which is a short 45 minute flight from Oslo.
Seeing as I was hanging out with a new mommy and a 3 month old baby our adventures had to be conducive to a stroller and not too crazy/loud/exhausting for the little one. We decided on a day trip to Flor go Fjaere.
Our morning started a little soggy with a bit of rain, but our 20 minute boat ride to the island had seating inside, so we stayed nice and dry.go Fjaere and hoped for good weather (since Stavanger is known for being notoriously rainy). Our tour of the island began by splitting into a few smaller groups of 6-8 and touring around the garden island with a guide. The guide tells all about the history of the island, and about the different plants and happenings on the island. As it turns out the island is mainly annual plants so the gardens are replanted each year (after the Norwegian winter), and so the island is always different year to year.
After the tour around the island we were brought inside for lunch created by the chef. The food was delicious and included traditional Norwegian dishes as well as dishes your average American (me) recognized as well. After lunch we were left to our own devices for a few hours which we split between a drizzly walk around the garden and warming up by the fire in the lodge.
While it would have been nice to have 75 and sunshine to enjoy the ‘beach’ of the island, a great time was had by all even on a rainy day. Next time I find myself in Stavanger I will most likely be back to this beautiful little island since its always changing and it is such a beauty!
Our flight from Rarotonga to Aitutaki was short and sweet, although the size of the plane was shockingly small (read: 16 seats total). Once we began to land, we understood why the need for such a small plane. The island we were landing on was TINY.
Most afternoons we adventured off our tiny island to Koru Cafe down the road that had the most amazing sandwiches with the freshest ingredients I think I’ve ever had! They have some of the best coffee we had in the Cook Islands (why are we such coffee-a-holics?) and the mahi- mani sandwich is the best sandwich I’ve ever had!
‘recovering’ from our oh so strenuous days by 9 pm nearly every night. Hey its allowed when your up before 6 am while on vacation!
Ingredients:
Moving from California to Massachusetts is hard, mainly because of the lack of good Mexican food. It took the boyfriend and I many less than amazing Mexican meals to not only discover this but then also to eventually find a couple good Mexican restaurants near us. A perk of living in a town supported heavily by tourism in the summer months, is that it forces the majority of restaurants to have good food and decent service, which it unfortunately not always the norm these days.
The restaurant can easily be found driving down main street Gloucester, as it takes up nearly half a block of store front. Once inside you realize how large it actually is, with an entire bar area and two different dining rooms. On occasion they will have a live band playing lively mariachi music in the bar, which easily travels throughout the restaurant.
mango marg. They do have entire list of specialty margaritas and drinks (in addition to a full bar), but we never get too fancy. My sister in law did try one that had banana liquor, and said it was good, although you’d have to really like banana liquor (I wasn’t sure anyone on earth did?). They always bring delicious chips and salsa, which is more like pico de gallo, while you are deciding what to order.
After the husband and I got married, we ended up with a bunch of gift cards to a bunch of stores that sold home and kitchen things. I knew right away that I wanted to get muffin pans, because the only one I had was awkwardly shallow and only made 12 muffins at a time… aka any muffin making took FOREVER and ended with strongly shaped flat-ish muffins. So I finally made the trip to the store and found the perfect muffin pans, so of course I had to test them out right away. And what better way to do so than making blueberry muffins!
When we first moved to Gloucester, everyone told my husband that he MUST try Sugar Magnolias. Since he is not as much of a breakfast person as I am, he forgot about it, until I requested an adventure to breakfast one morning. The restaurant is only open for daily breakfast, and brunch on the weekends, so if you sleep in too late you will miss it! You can find the restaurant on main street in Gloucester, and can usually find a crowd milling about outside. During the week you can 
walk right in, but on weekends if you come any time after 8 expect to wait at least 20 minutes depending on how many in your group.
specials that always seem to match the season! In the fall you can find cranberry pumpkin french toast, and in the summer lemon ricotta pancakes. Lets not forget that they also have an espresso machine for any specialty coffee drink you may like, as well as a number bloody mary and mimosa options for those of you who are more fun than the rest of us!Because I love breakfast, and they have such a wonderful menu and coffee and drink selection Sugar Magnolias has quickly become one of my favorite restaurants in Gloucester! This place also holds a special place in my heart because my husband and I came here for a celebratory breakfast the morning after we got engaged, so it is a place I will never forget!
Our first stop on our adventure to the Cook Islands was to the largest island, Rarotonga (know by the locals as ‘Raro’). We were lucky enough to have a direct flight from Los Angeles on Air New Zealand. If you have never flown with them I suggest you do! Their planes are much more spacious than what I’m used to in the US and Europe, and food, beer and wine is all included even in economy!
You might have noticed by now, that I have a sweet tooth. If there is a pastry shop or bakery that is raved about I the person that MUST visit if I’m nearby.
Adventures Are Better Together 