Albuquerque, NM

New Mexico holds a special place in my heart. Even as a kid, I enjoyed going there every summer to visit my grandparents. It wasn't until I got older that I really appreciated the beauty though. I went for the Balloon Fiesta last year (this year's is about to start!) and it was as amazing as I remembered.

Below, my grandpa and my mom are teaching Jason how to plant the chile pepper seeds. (These are from our trip there are few years ago.)

It had been a while since I'd seen my grandpa, so it was nice to catch up on this trip. We spent our time south of Albuquerque at his farm. These moments are so special - he has so many words of wisdom that I absolutely cherish. Whether it's about learning the value of hard work or hearing about the many benefits of whiskey (apparently my love of whiskey is genetic!), I love it all.

 Below are some quick snaps of my trip.

If you happen to find yourself in the Albuquerque Airport, do yourself a favor and get the Chai Tea Latte and Green Chile Stew from Black Mesa. Delicious!

See you next time Albuquerque!

Up Next: Our big trip is in a little over 2 weeks.
Cross your fingers that the standby gods smile upon us!

Albuquerque, NM {International Balloon Fiesta}

We've had so many Aggie football games lately that I was getting antsy for actual travel. I called up my friend, Robin and off we went! We had a few places in mind, but ABQ was our first choice since we both had the International Balloon Fiesta on our Bucket List. The Fiesta happens 2 weekends each year in October - we ended up going on the first day!

I've been to the fiesta before, but years and years ago, so I was really looking forward to it! Robin and I caught a flight from Dallas Friday night and grabbed a quick dinner and went to bed early knowing we'd have a very early morning to see the Mass Ascension. We were out the door the next morning by 4:30 and at the gates by 5:45.

We grabbed a typical "fair-style" breakfast of burritos, cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate - SO satisfying (and warm)! The morning "glow" was awesome to see. We were standing right next to the balloons as they were being inflated and eventually took flight.

As the sun rose higher in the sky, the views became more and more spectacular. Over 500 balloons took off that morning and it was amazing to be right in the middle of everything. I think the best (and most unique) part of this event is that they let spectators walk amongst the balloons.

We decided to only stay for the morning session of the balloon fiesta so that Robin could explore Albuquerque, but there are nightly glows as well. We headed to Old Town to explore and looked into the many shops, saw a flamenco show in town square and grabbed lunch at Quesadilla Grille.

 

The only bad thing about going on this weekend is that there are SO many people in town. We attempted to take a ride up to the top of Sandia Peak, but the line was over an hour and 1/2 long. Waiting in that line is not what we really wanted to do when we only had less than 2 days to explore, so we passed on this.

We had a yummy dinner of green chile stew at a little diner, Frontier, next to the UNM campus. UNM was actually playing the New Mexico State Aggies, so we felt right at home amongst the maroon and white.

The next morning, we had a chance to workout and then head to The Grove Café and Market. There was a 30 minute line to order food at the place, but with good reason. It was really spectacular! Robin got French-style pancakes with fruit and I got poached eggs with asparagus, parmesan, and prosciutto. The most unique part of my meal was the toast with raspberry red chile jam - YUM!

There are a few things I would mention if you're thinking of going in the future:

One: Buy your tickets to the park/ride and fiesta in advance. Even online the night before will save you about 10 bucks!

Two: If you're not at the park and ride by 6:15, you may miss the burn and mass ascension, but truthfully, you'll want to get there closer to 5 am.

Three: Desert mornings and nights get chilly. Dress in layers.

Four: Check the weather before you go - the wind may delay (or cancel) that day's events.

Five: Eat the burritos (with green chile, of course) and drink the hot chocolate to warm up.

I think Albuquerque is a really underrated city in general, but ESPECIALLY during fiesta. I would definitely add this to your bucket list. Also, thanks to Robin for being a great travel buddy!

Next up: I'm heading to Brooklyn next weekend for a bachelorette party. Can't wait!

Santa Fe, NM

We took a trip to Santa Fe, NM to celebrate our 3rd anniversary. I have been before, but it's honestly been so long that I hardly remember. We were looking forward to relaxing and eating some good food - and of course, hiking! Southwest doesn't actually fly into Santa Fe, so we jumped on a quick flight to Albuquerque and rented a car for the 1 hour drive.

We arrived and checked into our hotel - El Dorado. By this time, we were starving, so we took a quick walk around town square and grabbed some food at The Shed. This was a pretty traditional southwestern meal. We sampled the green chile stew, enchiladas, and huevos rancheros. The food was yummy and the drinks were even better. Jason and I are both new fans of the Santa Fe Brewing Company!

 

Santa Fe is a cool little town. There are artisans selling their jewelry and art in the square and churches on every corner. It is definitely an older town and many times, Jason and I were by far the youngest people around. We chose a fun time to go as well! A cold front came blasting through on Friday night and gave these Texans our first taste of winter this year.

On Saturday, we stopped by the Santa Fe Farmer's Market. This was a great place for the locals to go get their locally grown/organic fruits and veggies. I know there is a farmer's market in Dallas, but the ease of access made this something special. You could tell this was a daily part of life for the people there. We then drove along the famous "Canyon Road" with hundreds of art galleries. Obviously, we couldn't afford a single thing, so we ventured back in town to explore.

We made a stop at the Loretto Chapel. This gothic church is famous for the miracle staircase. This chapel (modeled after Sainte Chappelle in Paris) was tiny, but they needed a way to access the upstairs choir loft. Building a traditional staircase was simply not feasible in the limited space, so they prayed to the saints to bring a solution. Miraculously, a still unknown carpenter came and fashioned a spiral staircase from one piece of wood to lead up to the loft. No engineers can figure out why this works - there is no center or side support and it was able to support 20 people at a time for over a hundred years. It was a beautiful little church, but looked nothing like Sainte Chappelle :) 

Those are plastic rosaries hanging from the tree.

After this, like good Aggies, we watched A&M BTHO Alabama! After the game, we went to an amazing little restaurant called Andiamo! to celebrate our anniversary. We had an excellent meal, made sweeter by the Aggie win and the profiteroles we indulged in after.

On the last day, we woke up early to climb the Sangre de Cristo mountains. The great thing about Santa Fe is that it is so close to so many hiking trails and SO many people are active. The hike to the top of the peak took about 3 hours. It was snowing for part of the way and we got to hike through 1-2 inches of snow already on the ground. We were rewarded for our efforts with a great view of the town and the surrounding mountains.

Why yes, we DID climb to the top of that!

View from 1/2 way up

All the way at the top

On the way down, we decided to pick up the pace and run down. This was great until I slid on some ice and landed face first on the ground. The good news was the camera was fine and we made it down in about 30 minutes!

We really enjoyed our time in Santa Fe. It was a peaceful town with a lot to offer. I can definitely see why so many people retire here. We had a little time to kill before catching our late flight, so we watched Argo. It was a really good movie!

Travel Update: I did not go to NYC because of Sandy. I will be going for my conference that was rescheduled for December though. It will be nice to experience NYC during the Christmas season!

I'm hoping to take a trip for my birthday sometime in January. Orlando would be amazing and I have been super obsessed with the idea of visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and going on my 4th visit to Disneyworld (I can't get enough!). Also in the running are New Orleans and Key West. As always, it's up in the air :)

Thanks for reading guys!