Catherine Chicotka

Catherine Chicotka

Camping at Eagle Lake

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you if you buy from one of the product links, I’ll earn a small commission which helps this site run. See full disclosure here.

Going camping is one of my favorite things to do and spending a week camping at Eagle Lake is probably my favorite time of the year. The second largest natural lake in California is one of Northern California’s hidden gems. Eagle Lake offers great trout fishing and bird watching, if you’re lucky you can see a variety of birds including… View Post

Salinas Valley Half Marathon Review

Salinas Valley Half Marathon Review

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you if you buy from one of the product links, I’ll earn a small commission which helps this site run. See full disclosure here.

This weekend I ran the Salinas Valley Half Marathon. I had seen pictures from previous races and it looked gorgeous. And being a book lover, I really wanted to run through Steinbeck country. Unfortunately I didn’t get to read East of Eden before the race, but it’s on my list for this month! But I still loved reading all the… View Post

Reading Lately

Reading Lately July 2017

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you if you buy from one of the product links, I’ll earn a small commission which helps this site run. See full disclosure here.

Reading Lately is a monthly book review linkup that I cohost with Alison of Puppies & Pretties. We’ve decided to make a Facebook group for Reading Lately, which you can join here, to have more discussions about the books we’re reading! I had a really successful month reading, finishing four books for Erin’s Book Challenge! That’s better than I did… View Post

San Jose's Obon Festival

Northern California Obon Festival: San Jose

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you if you buy from one of the product links, I’ll earn a small commission which helps this site run. See full disclosure here.

Obon is an annual Buddhist event to commemorate one’s ancestors. Traditionally families gather together to clean graves and welcome the spirits of ancestors that return to Earth to visit. Several locations in Northern California host Obon Festivals. One of the more popular festivals takes place in Japantown, a community in downtown San Jose. There are Obon Festivals in Head down… View Post

San Jose's Obon Festival

15 Maxi Dresses for Summer

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you if you buy from one of the product links, I’ll earn a small commission which helps this site run. See full disclosure here.

Dress (similar here and here) | Shoes I love the summertime because of all the cute outfits I get to wear. And my favorite outfits to wear during summer are maxi dresses. They’re long and flowy, so they tend to be quite flattering on. Plus they’re just so chic and beautiful to wear on these warm summer days! Normally I… View Post