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Earlier this afternoon, we had a Signature wine tasting flight at Alpha Omega Collective in Downtown Paso Robles. It had just grand opened a couple of days ago so this was their first weekend of opening.

The inside of the tasting room is very sleek and cozy. We can tell the staff there are seasoned in the industry. They are calm, professional and attentive. We really enjoyed our experience there and loved that it is literally right by the Downtown City Park in Downtown Paso Robles. 

I always like to compare the Downtown Paso Robles area to Downtown San Luis Obispo because they are both located within the San Luis Obispo County. I feel like Downtown Paso Robles has done so many things right! They have a centralized park with a playground, many wine tasting rooms, different types of restaurants and little neat shops scattered around several blocks. Best of all, it is very easy to walk around Downtown Paso Robles because it is flat! Downtown San Luis Obispo, on the other hand, is very hilly. You can read about my Downtown San Luis Obispo staycation at the Granada Hotel & Bistro and pictures of the places we visited in the Downtown SLO area. 

Alpha Omega Collective has selections from three different wineries: Tolosa (Edna Valley), Perinet (Spain) and Alpha Omega (Napa Valley). We like this variety and it was very nice to be able to taste something from Napa Valley without having to visit Napa Valley!

We are Tolosa Winery wine club members and was able to enjoy complimentary tastings here as they are sister properties. Because of Alpha Omega Collective's addition here in Paso Robles, we are going to definitely continue to remain members of Tolosa Winery for another year. Tolosa Winery is located in Edna Valley of San Luis Obispo, California. Read my full review on Tolosa Winery, Alpha Omega Collective's sister winery.

Reading Suggestions:

• Read about other wineries that I've visited in Edna Valley and Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County.


• See my top 10 favorite local wineries in Edna Valley and Paso Robles, as a local.


• See this IG reel of different wine tasting rooms that I've personally visited.

We get visitors coming to visit us at least once a year and we'd take them wine tasting in our county and if there is a bottle that we all really like, we'd buy one to save for later at the house. It's really elevated our home parties, especially if we've all visited that very winery together. I've gotten really good at opening a bottle of wine with a regular wine cork opener but if you feel like being fancy, you can check out some wine cork bottle openers that doesn't require pulling strength.

Staying active and healthy is one of my goals. Over the years, I went to a number of gyms around the South County part of San Luis Obispo County. I even went to a couple that eventually went out of business!

Here is a list of gyms/fitness centers that I've visited and my thoughts about them in chronological order:

• Pismo Beach Athletic Club

  As things were starting to open up and the kids were transitioning to a couple of hours of lessons a day in school during the pandemic, I was able to try out Pismo Beach Athletic Club for one morning! They didn't offer a free trial but allowed non-members to purchase a day pass so that was what I did for one morning. I really wanted to try one of their fitness classes but all of their classes required pre-registration and all of their morning classes were already full by a whole week! So, I just came in and jogged on the treadmill. It sufficed for what I needed for cardio. I felt that the membership fees were too high for me and was not able to easily join a class so I didn't join as a member. However, they have an indoor lap pool so if swimming is your main focus for fitness, Pismo Beach Athletic Club is a good option. They are also located just a block from the ocean so it's such a wonderful location. The staff there are all professional and nice so there is a family feel to it. From my understanding on their website and my single day visit, they do not offer childcare but I suggest double checking with the business in case that has changed recently. Pismo Beach Athletic Club Address: 1751 Price Street, Pismo Beach CA 93449

• Planet Fitness

  
  

  Located in Arroyo Grande and in the same shopping center as a Starbucks, Grocery Outlets and off the 101 highway, Planet Fitness could be a great hub for many needs. Their monthly membership is very affordable! They also have an electric car charging station right in front of Planet Fitness as well! I feel like because of their highway proximity, electric charging station and with the Starbucks right there, this Planet Fitness is full of yuppies, travelers, students and a bunch of smart and efficient people! The cost is such a good deal as well! They don't offer classes though so that is the major con. However, if you don't care for fitness classes, Planet Fitness in AG is a great gym spot. They have a lot of cardio equipment, weight machines and free weights. I like their big locker room with a few showers for women. I'm assuming the men's locker room would be the same size? Furthermore, Planet Fitness is a chain so if you have the black card (a higher membership level), you can work out at any Planet Fitness around the U.S. and bring a guest every day for free! They do not have any childcare services. I've also worked out at the Planet Fitness location in San Luis Obispo. Ready comparison and thoughts between the Planet Fitness in Arroyo Grande and the Planet Fitness in San Luis Obispo. Planet Fitness Address: 1576 W Branch St, Arroyo Grande, CA 93420

• CYB Studios

  
  Located in Arroyo Grande off of Grand Ave., CYB Studios is strictly classes only and they focus on cycling, yoga, and barre (hence the acronym for their name)! They were having their anniversary sale so I bought some passes to try it out. Thus far, I've tried their cycling, Barre, YFlow, Y26, and YSculpt classes. All of their yoga classes are heated yoga classes so I'm usually sweating like a pig by the time I finish the class.The staff members there are all very helpful with customer service as their forefront #1 asset. Within their shopping center, you'll find a Starbucks, Rite Aid, CHC Urgent Care, a few restaurants, and an Aldi so you can get almost all of your errands done in this shopping center before or after working out, if you really wanted to! Their classes and instructors are amazing! I usually feel sore for a couple of days after taking a class there so make sure to give yourself a break for a couple of days between classes if you're not used to it. You will definitely get a really good work out! The big con is if you're not into working out in classes with other people and only want to work with machines or equipment on your own, CYB Studios is not for you. They do not have any treadmills or any other cardio machines. Every once in awhile, they offer free classes to the public so that you can try them out or you can always just pay a fee for every visit without a membership or pay a package deal. One fun thing is they often plan really neat social events with fitness. They also have a very nice restroom area with showers. They are also very proactive on their social media. Other things that stood out to me is they do not offer childcare services, but do offer complimentary towel usage for your work outs.  CYB Studios Address: 1231 E Grand Avenue, Suite 105, Arroyo Grande, Ca 93420

• Avila Bay Athletic Club

  
  As we've lived here over the years in San Luis Obispo County, I've gone from going to the least expensive fitness center in Five Cities to the most expensive place! Last on this list is Avila Bay Athletic Club because I had to work myself for 5 years to be able to figure out that this is the right fitness option for my entire family as my kids have been getting older and like hanging out at pools. For over $300 a month, my entire family comes here to enjoy pickle ball, the family pool, fitness classes, lifting weights and a nice resort-like area. I'm even blogging about this piece while sitting at their patio area at this very minute! Except for a few group classes, most of the fitness classes do not require a reservation, which is nice to be able to drop in when I can. If we happen to be hungry, we'd order food there at Oasis Grille that's inside. Thus far, we've ordered chicken tenders for the kids, a sandwich, tacos, fries and they also have local beer and wine. You order at the counter, pay, get a buzzer and they'll buzz you to get your food when it is ready.
  
  
  They have regular events here at Avila Bay Athletic Club that are sometimes exclusively for members. Some have also been open to the public like the a Halloween event that I attended here, and Wednesday evening concerts during better weather. There is a nice top deck area that I'd bring my laptop and hang out at when I have some work to finish.
  
  Avila Bay Athletic Club Address: 6699 Bay Laurel Place, Avila Beach, CA 93424

Reading Suggestions:

• Find some Mommy and Me fitness options where you can bring your little kids in tow.


• SLO Swim Center is another pool in San Luis Obispo County located in San Luis Obispo City where families can go to swim during their recreational hours. The hours for family or recreational swim changes from season to season. I like to bring my kids here in the past during the spring and summer breaks. Read my review about SLO Swim Center under the Spring Break blog entry.


• Read my comparison between Planet Fitness Arroyo Grande and Planet Fitness San Luis Obispo. 


• Read a list of reviews of coffee shops that I've visited and remotely worked from in South County of San Luis Obispo County (Five Cities).


• Read my thoughts on restaurants that I've visited in San Luis Obispo County.

Your ideal work out session is very personal. Some people like to be outdoors to exercise, while others like to be alone. For working out at home, you can get a yoga mat, some dumb bells and just select a free exercise video from Prime Video from your TV. Working out options is aplenty. Try to find that motivation and the right exercise equipment that works for you.

Fitness Centers that I used to frequent, but went out of business in the area:
• Fitness 19 (went out of business in August 2024)
• Tantrum Fitness (went out of business around 2021 during the pandemic)

My husband surprised me with an anniversary SLO staycation in Downtown San Luis Obispo!

He had presented me the reservation date and details on our actual anniversary day in an envelope as a gift but I had to wait a few weeks to experience it, when my mother-in-law was able to come to visit and watch our precious kids for us! It was a gift with big anticipation and he executed it well! Our staycation was extra unique as it was on a Monday night in December. It had rained earlier in the day but luckily, it didn't rain anymore by the time we started our celebration. 

Here is an itinerary of where we went and stayed for our date night and Downtown SLO staycation.

Checking In at Granada Hotel & Bistro

Before we started painting the town, my husband took us to the Granada Hotel to check into our staycation. The Granada Hotel is located in a very centralized area in Downtown San Luis Obispo. They also have their own parking lot on the property through a very narrow alley. Parking in this alley as a hotel guest was free. You just have to put a permit on your dashboard that the hotel provides for you upon check-in. After we parked at their complimentary parking lot, we entered around to the front to find the lobby.

While we were checking in, the front desk personnel asked if we would like a glass of wine. We said "yes". To our surprise, this welcome complimentary drink was offered and it started our evening wonderfully. After we finished our drink, the front desk personnel walked us to our room! It was amazing service. There is no magnetic card key as they used regular keys for all of their rooms, and I especially loved this as it's a reminder that the property is a hundred years old. We just had to remember to lock our door before we left as it does not automatically lock once we close the door like the newer hotels.

Once we entered our room, I was instantly wowed. There's a nice fireplace and a little balcony to watch the town, which I find out later that not all rooms have this. My husband also added a surprise array of chocolate, flowers and a bottle of wine that was already waiting in our room!

I was gushing like a teenager. It was all so fancy and romantic. We started to enjoy the chocolates and wine almost immediately and opened the balcony door to look at the view. See my video reel on instagram to get a better look at the chocolates that I enjoyed at our stay at Granada Hotel. 

It's a quieter work week this evening and it had rained earlier so we were able to see a slower downtown with some Christmas lights further along the street. It was so peaceful. I felt like a VIP.

After hanging out in the room for a little while, we were ready to head down for our dinner reservations that my husband had made through OpenTable for the Bistro at the Granada Hotel. All we had to do was walk downstairs from our room and then we were there. We were 15 minutes early but they were able to accommodate us.

Upon sitting down, the server handed us the menus and then minutes after, surprised us with two complimentary glasses of champagne and said, "Happy Anniversary"! My husband was very surprised as well because he had made the reservation through OpenTable and did not mention that it was our anniversary celebration. Granada Hotel had went above and beyond and must have crossmatched our stay reservation with the bistro reservation list. I was so impressed at this point and it had only been an hour since we've arrived on this property. I ordered the soba noodles and ate everything. It was delicious! (First picture at the top of this post was the picture of my food from Granada Hotel & Bistro.)

Granada Hotel & Bistro Address: 1126 Morro St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Nightcap at Granada Hotel & Bistro
Some months later, we returned to Granada Hotel & Bistro to have a cocktail at Nightcap, an intimate lounge located on the Granada Hotel & Bistro property. It reminded me so much of the bars that I had went to in the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego and it made me felt so wonderful to sit here and remember my hometown, but also really enjoyed sitting in the present in Downtown San Luis Obispo.

I ordered the Zen Garden as my drink. You can view a short instagram reel of my Nightcap experience on my instagram.

S.Low Bar and High Bar at Hotel San Luis Obispo

Inside Hotel San Luis Obispo, we enjoyed looking at all the Christmas decorations in Downtown San Luis Obispo. It felt like such a celebratory holiday stroll. See my instagram video reel of our walk by the Holiday Plaza in Downtown during this date night. As mentioned, it had rained earlier in the day so the air is still cold but it had stopped raining by the time we started our night so the peace and calm carried on throughout the night with our walks. We were thankful that it did not rain anymore.

Once we sat down at S.Low Bar, we had a nice conversation with the bartender and ordered from their specialty list for S.Low Bar.

We read on Yelp that the property also has a second bar called High Bar so after a drink, we went to the elevator and made our way up to the High Bar.

At High Bar, you can see the view of Downtown San Luis Obispo as it is a rooftop and it's all outdoors.

We both ordered the blueberry mojito from their specialty list. Even though, S.Low Bar and High Bar are both located at the same hotel, their specialities are different. It was pretty cold as the night went on for this December night and we brought our mojitos with us and wandered back downstairs again to get some warmth by S.Low Bar's fireplace. S. Low Bar closed at 10PM that night, but I've noticed that they do change their hours seasonally on their website. 

Hotel San Luis Obispo (S.Low Bar & High Bar) Address: 877 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

End of Date Night

After S.Low Bar closed, my husband and I went to the back door of Granada Hotel with our hotel key to get back to our room. The front desk closes and front door locks at 10PM. We were instructed to enter through the back with our key if we were coming back past 10PM. It felt like we were elites to an elite club as we did this. It was a cold walk and I couldn't wait to get back into our room. We also had some pieces of chocolates to finish in our room so we enjoyed a few more chocolate pieces on our balcony and then, went to sleep.

It was a lot of walking around town and it did not take long to drift to sleep with one of the best sleeps I've had in a really long time. We also walked by the Bubble Gum Alley in Downtown. It was nice to see it without a crowd. The collection has quite grown. See my video reel of my walk by the Bubble Gum Alley in Downtown San Luis Obispo during this date night to see the current culmination. 

I highly recommend all of the places that we went for our anniversary celebration in Downtown San Luis Obispo. Don't forget to bring a thick coat if you're wandering around here in December, and maybe an umbrella too (just in case).


Read about where we went for our date night in Pismo Beach (a famous beach town in San Luis Obispo County).

Read about our movie date night in downtown San Luis Obispo and The Movie Experience review.

My staycations at other hotels around San Luis Obispo County:

• Read about my staycations (I've stayed at two different rooms) at the famous Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.
• Read about my staycation at The Carlton in Atascadero.
• Read about my staycation at La Quinta Inn in San Luis Obispo.

Some of my most favorite gifts from my husband are experiences, like a local hotel stay in a nice boutique hotel or a nice stress-free cruise. Read more blog entries to read about my local adventures. Read about my romantic adventures and dining experiences on the Central Coast.

Highwater SLO (now closed)

This place closed down but for those with nostalgia, this photo of Highwater SLO is here to look back. The menus offered to us used record covers as their menu book! Along the walls were black paintings on white (or maybe they were stencils) of famous rockers and singers. They were tastefully decorated.

It was a wonderful place.

Highwater SLO Address: 1127 Broad St., Suite B, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 [Update: Highwater is permanently closed.]

After my pumpkin muffins (see this pumpkin muffin recipe) were a hit at my husband's work, I decided to try a bite-sized pumpkin pie recipe so that I could send another finger-food treat while they're hard at work. I felt that the pumpkin muffins were a hit, partly because they were easy to eat with your hands. So, I thought these bite-sized pumpkin pies would be great for the workplace too.
(picture of my bite-sized pumpkin pies)

My kids got to be my first tasters and enjoyed these bite-sized "baby" pumpkin pies! Here are the recipes that I used to make these below.

I separated the recipes into two: a crust recipe and then the filling recipe.

Crust Recipe

If you plan on buying pre-made pie crust from the store, you can skip this part and scroll down to the Pumpkin Pie Filling Recipe.

I created my pumpkin pie crust from scratch using this recipe that I found online: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/all-butter-pie-crust-1229264 but in case that website is ever down, here is the recipe for the crust: 

• 1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 10 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 2 - 5 tablespoons of water (depending on how many it takes to form the right texture)

Steps:

1. Unlike the recipe link, I don't have a food processor so I just mixed the flour with the salt with a whisk in a bowl. 
2. Then, I cut the unsalted butter into half inch pieces and incorporated the butter into the flour mix with a fork. 
3. After the butter has been incorporated well, I added a few tablespoons of water until it was just moist enough to hold the dough together. When I did this, it took 4 tablespoons of water for me that day. You may need less than that. I divided the dough in half and formed discs for both halves. I put 1 in the fridge to save for later and only used the other half because that was all I needed to fill 24 muffin cups. I have two muffin pans that have 12 muffin cups in each pan.

Pumpkin Pie Filling Recipe

(forming the crust before the filling)

Before starting the filling, I had to do the most time-consuming part: shape each little pumpkin pie crusts for each muffin cup. I used a rolling pin to roll the dough out and used the top of a plastic kid's cup (about 2.5 inches in diameter) to cut out small circles. The dough was as thin as I could get it without breaking as I find that if it's too thick, the filling and crust ratio would be unbalanced for a nice pumpkin pie bite. After my crusts have been formed and were all inside of both of my muffin pans, I put them in the fridge to chill. Now, I can start putting the filling ingredients together.

See filling recipe list below:

• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1.5 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cups of evaporated milk
• 1 egg

Yesterday, I baked pumpkin muffins using a pumpkin that I bought last month as a porch decoration for Halloween month. My pumpkin was a medium size and from experience, I knew that when I roasted it, it was going to yield several desserts for us as a family of four. [Skip this story and jump straight to the Pumpkin Muffin Ingredients and Recipe Steps.]

Cutting, Roasting, Dividing, and Freezing the Cooked Pumpkin

Immediately after I roasted (1 hour) and cooled this medium sized pumpkin, I removed the skin of the pumpkin and then broke the pumpkin flesh into many pieces. I only needed to puree about 2 cups of it at the time for a recipe and froze the rest in freezer bags. I divided them into 4 different bags that had about 2 cups of pumpkin each so that I could easily just pull 1 out for a dessert recipe when I needed to make a pumpkin dessert.
  
Thus far, I've baked a pumpkin pie and about 14 pumpkin muffins from this roasted pumpkin and I still have over half of the pumpkin left frozen in the freezer! 

It did feel like a lot of work to remove the insides of the pumpkin, roast, peel the skin, break them into pieces and puree it when I could just go buy a can of pureed pumpkin from the grocery store for about $3 for a 15 oz can. However, it just felt so rewarding to bake Thanksgiving or fall desserts from scratch. It is an art that takes hours of love and care. Since it has been getting colder now, using the oven to make these desserts warmed up the house with a comfort feeling that spread the wonderful cinnamon smell throughout our home.

My desserts are not perfectly shaped like the ones at the stores but I feel like my non-cookie cutter desserts easily convey and show that they are original, and not store-bought.

My husband brought these to his work to share and they were gone within minutes.

Pumpkin Muffins Ingredients

The recipe that I used was from: https://joyfoodsunshine.com/pumpkin-muffins/ but in case that website is ever down, here are the ingredients that I used below. I want to note that instead of using sea salt, I just used regular salt.

• 2 cups of pumpkin puree (thawed mine from frozen roasted pumpkin pieces and then squeezed the excess liquid from them before I pureed it all in the blender)
• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter (melted)
• 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup of granulated white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour (I used unbleached)
• 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
• 1.5. teaspoon of cinnamon powder
• 2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Pumpkin Muffin Recipe Steps

1. Preheat the oven to bake at 375 degrees F.
2. First, I mixed the first 2 ingredients (pumpkin puree and melted butter) in one bowl and then mixed the last 5 ingredients (all purpose flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon powder, baking power, and salt) in another bowl because you'll need to separate the wet and dry at the beginning. 
3. After the first 2 ingredients have been mixed with a whisk, I added the dark brown and white sugar to this "wet" bowl. I mixed until I was sure there were no more sugar lumps. Then, after that, I mixed the eggs and vanilla extract to this "wet" bowl. 
4. After I've mixed the ingredients in the "wet" bowl throughly, I poured the contents from the "dry" bowl into the "wet" bowl and whisked gently until it's all combined. 
5. By the time, I've finished mixing, my oven was at 375 degrees F. I took my muffin pans out and placed muffin paper cups into them. I used a small ladle to scoop my mix to each paper cup. I tried to level the tops and then placed the muffin baking pans in the middle rack of the oven and baked for 21 minutes. Make sure there is a space between the pans on the rack.
6. When the timer went off after 21 minutes, I took the pans out of the oven and let the muffins cool in the pan for about 6 minutes. Then, I gently removed each muffin from the pan and started eating one! Yum! I felt like I may overbaked them by a hair in my oven so next time, I will decrease the time to just 19 minutes. That's just a personal preference as they were a hit for my husband's work!