Travel Visuals: Denver

We were only in Denver for 2 days but wow, we loved it so much. I knew nothing about Denver so I had no expectations. One thing that we had to get used to was the altitude, Denver is over 5000 ft above sea level. We didn't feel it coming up because the train was pressurised but as soon as we got off, both Bella and I were hit harddddd.  To put things into perspective - Melbourne is like 80 ft above sea level LOL.
We stayed in a really adorable AirBnB there, our hosts were lovely girls and they gave us a bunch of recommendations for food and things to do. Since we only had 2 full days there, we knew we wanted to spend one day just mooching around and the other, possibly visit the foothills of the mountains. So the first day, we explored the main part of town and shopped up a storm. The second day, we joined a Gray Line tour of the Denver Mountain Parks. We visited the Red Rocks Amphitheater which is a naturally formed open-air music venue. I was sad that we couldn't catch a concert there because it's seriously beautiful! So many music legends have played there too. The tour also took us to the Buffalo Bill Musuem. I had no idea who Buffalo Bill was but growing up in Australia, I'm sure we are all familiar with BUBBLEGUM Bill:

That moment when I realised that he's based on this legend of the Wild West, my mind was blown. Point is - Buffalo Bill was a truly accomplished and progressive man, and the museum full of amazing artifacts and interesting things. Here are some facts I learnt about him that I HAVE to share:
♡ He earned his nickname because he was the ultimate buffalo slayer. One time he hunted 4000+ buffalos in the span of 18 months
♡ When he realised that buffalos were hunted to near-extinction, he pushed for the their conservation
♡ His family was always anti-slavery even in the 1800s, his dad was actually stabbed for speaking against slavery! Cool guy
♡ He had a "Wild West" entertainment show that toured around the US then went on to tour internationally to the UK and Europe.
♡ His show featured performances from American Indian, Mexican, Arab and Turkic riders demonstrating different riding, herding, roping and shooting skills.
♡ He fought the American Indians during the civil war but after the war he became a well-respected friend to many Native Indians tribes. He was gifted numerous headdresses from various chiefs as a sign of high regard
♡ He performed for Queen Victoria, had tea with Oscar Wilde and met the Pope at the time
♡ He supported womens' rights
♡ He is buried at Lookout Mountain (where the museum is located) and from there you can apparently see 7 states!

I had such an all round good time in Denver. Thanks to our host's recommendations, every meal we had was delicious. Bella and I absolutely loved this brunch joint called Snooze AM so we went there both days. They were famous for their eggs and delicious pancakes.

I know this was a bit random but I hope this was a fun read for you nevertheless and that you enjoyed finding out a little about Buffalo Bill :P

chloé

Etude House Play 101 Pencils (Swatch + Review)

Korean brand - Etude House, has a range of multipurpose pencils called Play 101 Pencils. The general idea is that you can use them anywhere on the face - for example, on the eyes, lips, cheeks and eyebrows.
My mum and I have slowly accumulated quite a few after she picked up more of these when she went to Seoul (as you might have seen as part of her Asia haul). So today, I thought I would put up a swatch and review of our combined collection for you.

What's In My Bag? Flight Edition

I've been flying since the age of 3. The first time I flew by myself as an unaccompanied minor, I was 6 years old and I flew from Hong Kong to Auckland. Since then I've had the opportunity to travel to many cities and countries so you think I'd get the hang of packing by now. I hate packing though, the only thing worse than packing is unpacking. I always put it off for as long as possible and this often means that I don't sleep the night prior to a flight. Not a bad thing considering I need all the help I can get to sleep on planes. 

I almost always take a backpack as my carry-on, I don't like using shoulder bags when the contents are slightly on the heavy side. The one I have is from American Apparel, I bought it about 2 years ago and the second day I wore it, a waiter spilt soy sauce on it! It's been stained every since and I've finally covered it up with an adorable iron-on patch from Rosehound Apparel. I try to not overpack and only take things that I must have with me or things I know I'll need during the flight. 

Travel Visuals: California Zephyr

Kremmling, Colorado

From San Francisco, our next stop was Chicago. When we were planning our trip, it seemed silly to cross the country and miss everything in between so Bella and I went an unconventional route and decided to take an AMTRAK instead of flying. The California Zephyr is a 51 hour train journey that crosses 7 states - California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois. 

Seeing as the train ride was so long, we rode the Zephyr from Emeryville (near SF) to Denver and got a sleeper carriage (30 hour ride). We got off and spent a couple of days in Denver before resuming our journey to Chicago in coach (another 20 hour ride).