Helsinki, Finland + Jurupa Valley, California
While gatherings of seemingly every type have been cancelled worldwide, you know what hasn’t been cancelled? US! We have content for you aplenty:
You can check out our #10KSaturday slice-of-life interviews with people we know and love…and think you will too!
You can read about our “past travels” on our blog…
Have you checked out our daily 10-minute episodes? 10K Dollar Dailies is our way of talking about the current going-ons while staying connected and engaged with you, our listeners! Tune in wherever you get podcasts!
Oh and check out Alison’s parody music video she made…in her house. Performers gotta perform, even while quarantined.
In other news: we were going to be speaking at the Outlier Podcast Festival in Ohio in May. Because of, well, you know, the festival is now going to be a 3-day Virtual Summit taking place May 13th-15, 2020. For just $49, you can learn about podcasting from experts around the world, all while in your pajamas. And you can see us perform a live show on Friday May 13th, 8pm CDT. You can find us on the schedule and register here.
Alison is obsessed with her new headbands that she finally got in the mail, as Amazon deemed them non-essential they took a while to arrive. They are oh-so-essential for her making it through these days, however. And at 8 for $15.98 these are a cost-effective way to save your bad hair days! Lulu is obsessed with her blue light blocking glasses. With all of us working from home, in virtual classrooms and meetings, screen time feels like it is at an all-time high. Lulu is convinced her blue-light glasses are saving her eyes, because according to some doctors, according to her research, long-term exposure can lead to macular degeneration. An eye doctor friend of hers confirmed this, it’s not just hype. Alison, Lulu, and our producer Ash all have pairs of these eye-saving accessories from Privé Revaux. Their blue-light blocking glasses start at just $29.95 a pair, you get free shipping on orders over $45, and you can click on this link to get 20% off!
Alison is wishing for a good face scrub that is safe for rosacea, or maybe that she didn’t have rosacea, if we’re wishing for things, might as well go big. Lulu wants a fancy arm boom stand for her podcasting mic. She has been holding her mic in her hand, because she was having to lean forward with her tabletop mic stand, and that was just all kinds of uncomfortable. Our podcast hosting service Buzzsprout lists the Rode PSA1 and the Blue Compass Boom Arm as the best to get in their article Best Podcast Accessories. So one of those would be great!
Lulu is headed to the south of Finland, Helsinki to be exact, which is as far north as Alaska! She stays at the fabulous Hotel Kämp, which has a plethora of rooms and suites to choose from, a luxurious afternoon tea, and a spa that sounds like the perfect escape. It’s possible she wouldn’t leave the hotel in real life, but since in this imaginary day she has a car and driver through Blacklane waiting on her, it’s time to hit the town. She timed this day to coincide with Vappu, the Finnish spring festival that takes place annually on the last day of April and the first day of May. There are some specific ways to celebrate this spring festival, and this list by Her Finland is an adorable -and helpful!- guide to follow.
Aptly prioritizing, Lulu’s first stop is to get a Vappu donut. It looks similar to the American donuts with which she is familiar, but some minimal differences include maple syrup and ground cardamom in the batter. She’s hoping to find the perfect Vappu donut and snap the perfect photo for the 10K Instagram.
Among the traditions of Vappu is the wearing of one’s graduation cap, which looks less like the mortarboard of American students and more like a black and white sailors cap. Apparently no matter how long its been since you were a student, folks don their caps and join in on street parades and other festivities to celebrate the end of the school year/May Day/Vappu. Lulu is excited to observe the spectacle but is really here to indulge in some more solitary activities.
Check out this crazy statistic: There are 5.4 million Finns, and 3.3 million saunas. It is an obviously major past time for the people of Finland, with many having saunas in their homes or in apartment buildings. But for the grandest of grand experiences, Lulu heads to Löyly. Like a spa, but with loads of saunas and setups, the building by Avanto Architects is in itself a marvel. There are multiple dining options, a gorgeous terrace, this complex is a sauna-lovers dream come true. Lulu plans to indulge in each of the three sauna types - continuously heated, once heated (heated in the morning) and the traditional smoke sauna. Between the saunas are spa areas with a cold water basin and a fire place room. PLUS you can access to the sea or ice bathing with a hole in the ice. Brrrr! Lulu reserves a private sauna for four hours, one of the ones that 12 people can fit in so she has plenty of room to relax. As she cools down in the spa area, she orders food from the restaurant.
While the sauna comes with towels for your use, Lulu wants to bring her own luxury towels. She buys this D. Porthault “Brindilles” bath sheet, which is slightly larger in size from your typical bath towel, so now she can be as covered up as possible. She also wants a comfortable robe to wear while lounging in between sauna sessions. She purchases this cashmere dressing gown from Derek Rose, which is made-to-order for a mere $4,000. While browsing the Derek Rose website, she can’t resist and also gets these women’s cashmere track pants. Perfect for her 10K Day, or for upping her WFH game.
Lulu is obsessed with candy, and loves the bulk candy emporiums commonly found across Scandinavia. She heads to Roobertin Herkku like a kid with their allowance in hand, ready to blow it all on candy. Somehow her sweet tooth has not been satiated, and even if it had been, she can’t miss out on the experience at Kakkugalleria. They sell whole cakes and individual slices at this “cake gallery”, but the option Lulu is going for is their $15 cake buffet. You get to sample as many types of cakes as you want with coffee or tea! Lulu is so here for this treat, but has saved room for one more sugary stop. She is indulging in the Finnish staple of Karelian pasties with egg butter at Konditoria Hopia.
Needing some savory to balance out all the sweet, Lulu heads for dinner at Savotta. First up is smoked reindeer soup, then an entree of tender braised bear meat. That meal sounds oh-so-Scandinavian, and like it would balance out all the aforementioned desserts.
Alison is headed to the youngest city in the United States! Jurupa Valley was incorporated on July 1, 2011, so this place is very new! She booked a mansion on Airbnb, or part of a mansion she thinks. It is listed on Airbnb as having the “entire place”, but then talks about one bedroom…so she’s thinking you get a wing or the mother-in law suite of this mansion. She’s fine with that, getting to know some new folks doesn’t bother her. Ironically, this mansion is a little outside of Jurupa Valley, in a town called Corona. A quick knock on wood for good luck and a laugh at the irony, Alison is looking forward to enjoying the huge house, gorgeous garden and pristine pool.
For breakfast she heads to Le Chat Noir French Restaurant, where she enjoys some items from the a la carte menu. She tries to pronounce the french words, which is entertaining for Lulu who speaks French. Alison orders the Le Café ou Thé Gourmand (Coffee or tea served with a mini dessert sampler) and Vol au Vent au ris de Veau Xeres (Sweetbreads in a puff pastry served with a sherry sauce with crimini mushrooms). She did not realize what sweetbread was. Soooo not what she would normally have for breakfast. Maybe she would be adventurous and try it for dinner. Maybe.
No surprise, Alison is visiting a winery while in sunny California. She is heading to Galleano Winery to do a tasting, and at $5 per person for 5 tastes, she’s thinking she could do a couple of rounds! She also does a little souvenir shopping here and gets bottles of their award winning Mary Margaret Sherry to gift when she gets home, and maybe some for herself as well!
Next she wants to try the food at Lazy Dog Restaurant. This spot has locations all over the country, and she is excited because they actually have a “pup menu”…a menu for dogs. So you know what this means? She heads over to Bay Area Animal Rescue to adopt a dog. She was particularly taken by a dog named Luna, a bull terrier mix with different colored eyes. At the time of publishing there were only two animals needing rescued, so she also gets Midas, a miniature poodle. Her and her two new fur babies head to Lazy Dog Restaurant for bacon candy and DIY mimosas for Alison, and a mix of beef, brown rice, and veggies for the pups!
Little Rascals Fun Center is the crew’s next stop. A “play arena” with inflatable slides, interactive games, obstacle courses, laser tag, and bounce houses, this spot is a lot of fun for kids, the kid-at-heart adults…and dogs? Thinking their claws might wreak havoc on the inflatable aspects of this fun zone, but Alison is renting the whole space out anyways for her, Luna, and Midas to have some fun! If only they had opposable thumbs so she could have an opponent for laser tag.
After their day of play, Alison takes the dogs back to her part of the Airbnb mansion. She hired a private chef from European Personal Chef to make a $1,000 meal for her and the pooches. Check out this menu, and try not to drool like a dog:
Shrimp, Tarragon & Arugula Bruschetta
Grilled Lamb Lollipop with Port–Currant Sauce
Chilled Lobster Timbale with Avocado, Grapefruit, Lemon Crème & Citrus Butter
Sautéed Tri-Color Peppercorn Crusted Filet of Beef with Cognac Cream Sauce Potatoes
Sautéed Broccolini with Garlic and Lemon Zest
Anna Chocolate Lava Cake with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Strawberry Sauce and Port–Currant Sauce
Now that she’s done with her day, Alison rents a Range Rover from 800exoticcars.com for a week, so she can road trip it back home to Florida with her new pets in tow.
CHECK OUT THE CHARITIES WE FOUND IN THE CITIES WE VISITED:
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