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I've walked through Sensorio Field of Lights twice so far and I enjoyed it the second time more than the first time as I was able to walk on the opposite side, which I missed the first time. The Field of Lights is a big loop that you walk through with a couple of in between trails within the loop.

Sensorio is a place you must visit if you're planning on visiting San Luis Obispo or San Luis Obispo County. There is an entrance fee, which you can buy online to save a bit of time. Even though they open at 7PM, you really don't see the lights all that well until it gets dark around 8:30PM during the summer months. 

It's so hot in Paso Robles that by around 8PM, it was still 90 degrees so no jacket was needed. The trail is stroller and wagon friendly so the second time I went, we brought a wagon for my two kids. Their little legs can only walk so far and this helped us go in a faster pace. See the video reel below of my walk through the Sensorio Field of Lights with the wagon sound in the background.


They sell food and drinks at the front part near the entrance so if you're worried about getting hungry or thirsty, you have options there. Also near the entrance are some games that your family can play with. They had corn hole, tic tac toe, Connect 4 and other bean bag games. There was also a band playing while we were there.

Another light art installation you can look at is the Light Towers on the far end of Sensorio's trail. This is a bit less exciting for me but it represents the wine country culture of Paso Robles, which has meaning especially for SLOcals like us.


See more video clips of Sensorio and a 30 second video collage of my visit here on my instagram.

Address: 4380 Highway 46 East Paso Robles, CA 93446

Showering your dear future bride before their wedding day with a bridal shower is traditionally the wonderful prequel to show her how very special and loved she is by all of the guests before the big day! With guests that could be traveling from anywhere on the globe or busy on the go, making sure all of her guests receives the bridal shower invitation is an important first step in bridal shower planning. 

See an example of a bridal shower invite for a couple above from Basic Invite. 

Basic Invite provides templates that you use to create invites for many major life moment including weddings, showers, birth announcements, birthdays, graduations, and holiday parties. You can create and send unique bridal shower invitations and thank you bridal shower cards and customize them easily online as well!

With 180 colors to pick from, Basic Invite is one of the few websites that allow you to make your card special with custom samples where you can instant preview online or even order a printed sample of the invitation before placing the final order! So, you can see and feel the paper quality and make sure the text details are all correct beforehand. Moreover, Basic Invite offers 40 different envelope colors so you can pick the right envelope to match the invitation that you've created. All of the envelopes are peel and seals for easily handling before mailing them off!

Action items that you may need to consider before creating your bridal shower invitation include:

• Finding the venue or address to host the bridal shower.
• Settle on a time and date for the start of your bridal shower party.
• Coordinate the food and drinks menu or contact catering services for the party.
• Narrow down on a theme, or not.
• Plan on decorations (DIY or purchasing bridal shower decorations online).
• Compile a guest list with the names and addresses of all guests whom your bride would like you to mail a bridal shower invitation to. You can utilize Basic Invite's Address Capturing Service to share a link to request their friends and family's addresses if you only have their email address or their social media information. With the worldwide use of social media and guests who may be more active with online communication, Basic Invite's Address Capturing Service allow you to share a link to request their friends and family's addresses easily. The addresses are stored in the customer’s account and can be selected during the design process; a proactive way to reach all of your guests! Moreover, Basic Invite offers recipient address printing at no cost on all card orders. 
• Be sure to include the name and contact information of the host(s) who the guests should contact to RSVP for the bridal shower on the invite.
• Create thank you bridal shower card ahead of time to quickly send those out to guests after the bridal shower has taken place.

Click here to see all bridal shower invitations examples for ideas!

I've helped plan two showers in the past: one was a bridal shower and the other one was a baby shower. It could be stressful if you don't plan ahead of time. I've also attended a few bridal showers as a guest over the years.

Personal tips for planning a bridal shower:

• If you're part of a bridal party and there is more than one bridesmaid in the wedding, ask for help from the other bridesmaid(s) in planning the bridal shower if time is not on your side and party planning is not your forte. It'll help to divide the tasks so the costs and tasks are less of a burden on one person.
• I've seen one person planned and tackled most, if not all of the financial responsibility and planning for a bridal shower before. Consider your personality and life stage at the moment if you're attempting to plan all of this on your own. If you're a big party planner, thrive on being the sole planner, and can reasonably afford it, then, have fun with being the sole host! Otherwise, if there is a bridal party, I think it's appropriate to ask them for help and allow them to help make the bride's bridal shower special.
• Start planning at least 2 months ahead to get the action items (see Action items list above) fulfilled but if you're narrowing down on a particular venue, you may need to contact the place way farther out than that to secure the reservation date for the party.
• Send invitations at least 1 month ahead of the party date so that it gives the guests enough time to reserve the date for this event on their personal calendar.
• Ask the bride for her wedding registry (if she has one) so that you may consider including that on the invite as well or share it to guests who ask.
• Review the Action items list above or your own organized checklist to ensure you've covered all the details in your party planning, week-by-week.

When I'm working, I'd go sit in a coffee shop to plug in my laptop and enjoy a nice latte about a couple times a week. Best part about working remotely is I can choose a different setting every day if I wanted to so it doesn't get too boring working solo.

I've sat in many different coffee shops and here are some of the coffee or tea craft art I've taken pictures of:

• Kraken Coffee Co in Avila Beach

  Located in a more upscale beach area in the Five Cities, this particular Kraken Coffee location is two stories and beach front, facing Avila Beach! It's also close to a lot of other shops and restaurants, making this a very ideal place for a coffee stop if you're planning on dining out for a great meal as well. Address: 310 Front St, Avila Beach, CA 93424
  

• Banner Coffee

  Located in the busier part of Grand Ave in Arroyo Grande, this coffee shop has a lot of in and out traffic. There are individual tables and seats towards the left side if you're facing the entrance and a large communal table to the right side. What makes this coffee shop unique is it's right next to the Grace Church and has a safe feel to it. They have a simplified menu and it works for me. I ordered the Vanilla Latte pictured below. Address: 995 E Grand Ave, Arroyo Grande, CA 93420
  
  Even 30 minutes later, my coffee still looks pretty.
  

Kraken Coffee in Pismo Beach

Kraken Coffee in Pismo Beach is located on the Pismo Beach Promenade and close to a lot of restaurants, shops and it's facing the ocean! This was my view while I was sipping on coffee. I wouldn't sit here to work as it doesn't have a lot of tables but it's a great place to grab coffee if you're planning on hanging out at the Pismo Beach Pier. My latte pictured below had a heart. Address: 172 Pomeroy Ave, Pismo Beach, CA 93449


• Red Bee in Grover Beach

  This coffee shop is a great place to plug in. It's a smaller coffee shop and located only a couple of blocks from the ocean in Grover Beach. Tell them that you are drinking there if you are so you can enjoy the pretty coffee art. Otherwise, they'll put it in a to-go cup. I really enjoy their seasonal decorations around the holidays. Address: 278 W Grand Ave, Grover Beach, CA 93433
  

• PCH Shave Ice & Boba in Pismo Beach

  This is a boba shop but they also serve pretty coffee drinks. It doesn't have a nice remote work vibe so I haven't worked here before but their boba drinks are legit! The place is a decent size. Their Vietnamese coffee is delicious. They have several tables you can choose to sit at. They're also located in a nice shopping center that has a Japanese restaurant and Mediterranean restaurant with a lot of parking spaces. Address: 893 N. Oak Park Blvd, Pismo Beach, CA 93449
  

• MilkT Society in Pismo Beach

  They have dozens and dozens of coffee and tea drinks that you can order. I've tried some really pretty matcha drinks and strong Vietnamese Coffee with boba here. The fantastic thing about this place is it's located only a couple of blocks from the Pismo Beach Pier. When it's not summer season, it's pretty quiet during a week day in the mornings so I have sat here with my laptop before. They only have a few tables though so it's a gamble but if you want to work with a cup of boba, this is a good option. Address: 590 Dolliver St, Pismo Beach, CA 93449
  

We did an overnight stay in Solvang, the famous Danish town in America, earlier this week. It's our first Solvang visit for this year.

Ever since we moved to San Luis Obispo (SLO) County, we've visited Solvang at least twice a year. It's less than an hour drive from our house as we live on the southern part of SLO County. What I've noticed from years of visiting here is there's always a crowd during the day and then the evenings are very quiet in the entire Solvang Village area.

Here's a picture that I took in the evening below. We were the only ones walking for blocks. I really appreciated the quieter walk so that I could get a better look of all the Danish buildings.

Hotel Corque

For this trip, we decided to stay at Hotel Corque. It had the best reviews and ratings online and since we were staying on a Tuesday night, the hotel rate was significantly cheaper than the other days of the week, even in July! They have a nice pool with a few cabanas you can use. Towels were provided by the pool and parking was free for hotel guests. Here are some pictures that I took of Hotel Corque during our trip.

Many tourists and visitors stop in Solvang for brunch and then continue their exploration throughout Santa Barbara County. Solvang, CA is part of Santa Barbara County so you'll notice a lot of cars driving in and around the streets during the way from visitors coming to visit all over Santa Barbara area. 

As I noted before, there were less people in the evening and at night I really enjoyed seeing the lights on the trees in the middle of July in Solvang (see picture below).

There is a lot of bakeries and brunch places in Solvang. You can choose from so many delicious places to eat during the day. See a list of places with brunch in Solvang that I've personally visited via another Solvang family-friendly blog entry. However, there's a significantly less amount of places that are open for dinner, especially on a Monday and Tuesday night so you'll have to do some research on where to eat for dinner if that is your plan.

Vaquero Bar

We kind of winged it for dinner and ended up walking a few blocks before we found a place that was open past 8PM. It was a bar named Vaquero Bar. The food was very good. My husband ordered the Roast Beef Sandwich (left picture below) and I ordered the Ricotta Cavatelli (right picture below). They were really pricey but the taste was great and we really didn't have a lot of options. I was just happy we've found a place that's open late on a Tuesday night. Don't let the bar name defer you. There were other tables with kids like us that night and it was not a rowdy crowd when we came. The kids shared a plate of fries and it was the only thing they would eat. My kids' palates are not adventurous yet. 


Read about our older Solvang visit in the middle of February.

 Kid's Luggage:

I tried boba at a new boba shop in Pismo Beach on Oak Park Blvd yesterday called PCH Shave Ice & Boba. I was impressed by the quality and taste of our boba!

I tried the Tiger Pismo (pictured above) and it was delicious. I loved the small corn hole game they have available to use as well. The ambiance was comfortable and relaxing. It's in the same shopping center to a couple awesome restaurants including a sushi joint and Mediterranean restaurant. There are stores that I frequent like Ross and CVS so the location is very convenient! 

I have yet to try their Hawaiian Shave Ice though but from the pictures, they look fantastic.

PCH Hawaiian Shave Ice & Boba Address: 893 N Oak Park Blvd, Pismo Beach, CA 93449

See a list of all boba shops that I've tried in Pismo Beach and throughout San Luis Obispo County.

See a list of coffee shops and pictures of the latte arts that I've taken throughout my coffee shop visits in San Luis Obispo County.

DIY: