Chicago Recap

Long time no blog post... and to think I said I was going to write more. There are no excuses, just that I need to be more efficient with my free time. Anywho, I'm going focus on getting caught up this week so be prepared for a few recaps :)

First up is our trip to Chicago. We went to the Windy City with NINE of our friends for the Kings of Leon concert. The concert was on a Saturday night so we decided to make a weekend trip out of it. We boarded the Amtrak train at 7:15pm on Friday night expecting to have a great time and to get our drink on. That didn't quite happen and here is why-
1. The train was PACKED meaning we couldn't all sit together
2. Some passengers were complete party poopers {but refused to move to the quite car}
and best of all...
3. My husband started violently throwing up about half-way into the ride

At first we thought he was suffering from motion sickness, but that was odd considering he didn't get sick once on our honeymoon cruise. So then we thought it was food poisoning, but he had eaten the same food as I had that day. Either way the poor guy was completely miserable and SO disappointed. He'd been SO excited for this trip. We made it to our hotel without any trouble {La Quinta Inn Downtown- HIGHLY recommend this hotel!}, but the rest of the night was a complete bust :(

Saturday morning T still didn't feel great, but was feeling better so we braved it and ventured over to Shedd Aquarium. NEVER make the mistake we did and not reserve your tickets ahead of time- we stood in line outside in 20 degree temps for roughly 1.5 hours!!! It was brutal and made the overall experience less enjoyable, but we still had a decent time. After the aquarium we headed to Giordano's for some deep dish pizza. It was delicious, but so filling!

Some of LiCrew!

Then it was time to head over to the United Center for the concert. KOL puts on an amazing show and I was even surprised by how much fun I had {despite the 14 year old teenager in front of us sexting her boyfriend while sitting next to her mother}! T was on the mend and had a great time at the concert as well. Once the concert was over everyone {except me} had the bright idea to walk 3.7 miles back to our hotel, I have never had frozen toes like that before.

 The entire group! Really regretting not asking a fellow concert goer to take a picture- UGH one day I'll get better :(

I posted a few videos on my Instagram if anyone is interested

Half of the group left early Sunday, but those of us who stayed headed to Chinatown! We ate lunch at a delicious Chinese restaurant and wandered around the little shops before it was time to head back to the train station.

As soon as we walked into the train station I knew that something wasn't right with my stomach and as soon as we boarded the train I b-lined it to the bathroom where I proceeded to vomit and did again 9 other times {I am so sorry to those other poor passengers}. T didn't have motion sickness or food poisoning.... he had the flu! It was a miserable 5 hours back home and I have never been more relieved to see my own toilet. Thankfully it was only a 24 hour bug and by Tuesday I was back to normal.

So as you can see it was the trip we had planned, but thankfully everyone enjoyed the concert and that was the main reason we went! T and I are heading back to Chi-Town in June for a weekend getaway so we'll be able to do more touristy things and I can take my good camera for pictures :)

Cruise Recap!

We decided on a 5 day Western Caribbean Carnival cruise for our honeymoon and it was the perfect choice! I have previously been on two cruises with my family and LOVED them. I also think they're the best bang for your buck. It wasn't hard to convince T when he saw how affordable they are either.

We flew to Tampa the day before our sail date as a precaution- don't want to miss your cruise due to a delayed plane. We stayed at Chase Suite Hotel with their Snooze n Cruise package. It was a great hotel- way more than we needed, clean, nice pool, they provided a free shuttle service, and was located right next to Bahama Breeze which is one of my favorite restaurants and where we ate dinner! We thought about going to Clearwater for the day, but it would've cost way too much for a taxi so we just hung out by the pool.

Tampa we have arrived!!

 Our view at Bahama Breeze!

The next morning our shuttle dropped us off at the cruise terminal and we were actually able to board the ship hours before we thought we would have! The rest of the day was spent exploring the ship and watching our departure from the top deck.


The first day at sea was spent lounging by the pools, eating a lot of yummy food, taking pictures, and enjoying a few comedy shows.

 Pulling away from Tampa Bay

One of the beautiful sunrises!

Next up was Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands- our favorite part of the entire trip! We booked a Stingray City excursion and it was incredible. We took a bus ride from the port to the "Yacht Club" where we boarded a Catamaran. It was about a 45 minute sail to the sandbar- in the middle of the ocean- where the water is only 3ft deep and hundreds of Stingrays come to interact with us humans. The water was crystal clear and the stingrays weren't scary at all! We fed, kissed, held, and interacted with them for about an hour. It was such a unique and cool experience! Something I would definitely recommend!

 She really liked my husband ;)

The following day was our second and final port of call- Cozumel, Mexico. We booked a Mayan Ruins and beach tour and to be honest it was kind of a flop. We think that's partially due to how awesome the Grand Cayman excursion was. It just didn't even compare, but it wasn't horrible either. If we ever do go back to Cozumel we'll be renting mopeds and choosing a beach instead.

Our last fun day at sea and complete day was spent the same way the first one was- eating a lot, laying out for the majority of the day, and just enjoying each others company.

 I always had an ice cream cone in my hand ;)

We had an amazing time and can't wait to take our next vacation together! We will definitely be cruising again one day.

Travel Thursday | Shower & Hair

I spent a hour this past Sunday packing up my toiletry bags and making sure we had everything we plan on taking! We leave in 10 days!!! Anyway here's what I'm taking for shower and hair products.

 Shampoo, Conditioner, Leave in Conditioner spray, Shower gel, Body lotion, Body spray, After sun spray, Floss, Qtips, Razer, Loofah, Deodorant, Toothbrush & paste, and Shower cap. (I accidently added my makeup wipes in this, but those are actually going in my face bag).

Everything squished in the bag.

 Clarisonic brush, toner, day lotion, night lotion, eye cream, face wash, makeup removing wipes, eye makeup removing wipes, cotton ovals, and headband.

So there you have all the toiletry bags I'm taking- one for shower, hair, nails, makeup, and face. T is only taking one. LOL Next week I'm hoping to have our carryons mostly packed so I'll try to post that, but if not I'll post it once we get back!

Travel Thursday | Emergency Kit

Some may think that I'm worry wart or ridiculous, but I think I'm just being cautious and prepared! I carry a mini emergency kit with me everywhere (I have one for my backpack and one for my purse) so it should come at no surprise that I made one for the cruise as well. I don't know about you, but being "stranded" in the ocean or a foreign country without motion sickness medication sounds HORRIBLE to me. I know that you can't prepare for everything, but I like to be prepared for some things. So here's is what I'm taking on the cruise as a mini emergency kit..

Bandaids (blister & regular), alcohol wipes, feminine wipes, kleenex, floss, extra hair ties and bobby pins, mini makeup essentials, mini hair brush, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, lotion, shout wipes, mini nail file and clippers, deodorant towelettes, medications, extra belly button ring (I always loose it when I don't have a backup!), and oil blotting sheets.

And it all fits perfectly into the Petunia Pickle Bottom case!

Travel Thursday | Packing Toiletries- Makeup

I'm back this week with a quick estimated look at what I'll be taking with me makeup wise on our cruise! I order this Petunia Pickle Bottom train case ($42) from Nordstroms last month and it's so wonderful! So many compartments and it fits a TON!

All the makeup spread out on my vanity

Everything put into the makeup case.

And even my brush kit fits! The only thing I don't have is a washcloth.

Travel Thursday | Packing Toiletries- Hair & Nail Products

I'm back with another edition of Travel Thursday :) This week I'm going to talk about packing hair and nail products. If you're a girly girl like me you might find this useful, but even if you're a minimalist and don't use a lot of these products I hope you'll still find a few tips ;)

The one group of beauty products that I don't use very often are hair products. 96% of the time my hair is just thrown into a pony tail right after I get out of the shower, with a few bobby pins, and headband holding my fly-aways back. The main reason for this is that I have extremely thick hair and I often feel overwhelmed at the thought of styling it/wasn't ever taught "how to do my hair." So the hair products that I'm taking might are on the lesser side, but I will also be taking my hair straightner and dryer (because our ship doesn't have one- check before you leave if your lodging does)!

I decanted my leave in conditioner, Paul Mitchel straightening gel, and John Freda curling gel into traveling containers which are all from Target. I have a mini hair brush, which is a great space saver, a detangling comb (which is a necessity for my thick hair especially when swimming), a couple head bands, and then I have my ties, bobby pins, and clips in a travel Qtips container (also from Target). Pretty simple if you ask me.

And here's all of the items packed into the bag:

Next up I have my nail kit.. which might seem a little ridiculous to some people, but I love having my nails painted and must have my toes painted at all times. And it drives me bonkers when my nail polish chips or when a nail breaks! So after seeing Organized Jen 's YouTube video on her travel nail kit I knew that I wanted to make a similar kit! Unfortunately the particular Vera Bradley bag that she and I use is no longer available on VB's website, but I ordered mine off of eBay!

So here's what I'll be taking:

A travel sized remover, Essie cuticle oil, toe separaters, 3 nail polishes, a top coat, nail file, cuticle trimmer, brushes for clean up, makeup qtips, nail clippers, a few remover pads, and cotton rounds.

And here's how the bag looks with everything in it:

It's a really neat bag and PERFECT for this! I often find myself drooling over this kit LOL If you think this set is excessive you could just take the polish you're currently wearing, remover pads, and a mini clipper/file set (which I also have in my emergency kit).

There you have it! I hope you all enjoyed this post and learned a few tips! Come back next Thursday for the makeup section ;)
 

Travel Thursday | Planning Ahead

If you know anything about me I'm sure that you know that I am a HUGE planner. I'd be lost without my Erin Condren planner, sometimes I plan things months (if not a year) in advance, and I'm always ALWAYS making lists.

So it should come at no surprise then that I have been planning our delayed honeymoon for over a year now ;) We always knew that we wouldn't be able to take a vacation right after the wedding, because T was still in the Army. So the next step was to figure out when we could and wanted to go. Since we're both in school now we had two options: either go during spring break or wait until the semester was over. We decided against going during spring break, because we felt that we'd feel too rushed and we didn't want to worry about our honeymoon being tainted with a bunch of drunken college kids. We also knew that we wanted to go ASAP seeing as we were already delaying this trip by months. All of these facts combined lead to our decision of leaving Michigan on April 28th (the day after my graduation!) for a 5 day Western Caribbean cruise! Now that you know the whole back story of this trip I'm going to start this travel series with tips on planning and preparing for a vacation :)

• Set a budget- This should come as a no brainer, but you'd be surprised by how many people go on a vacation with no budget in mind and then come back home more stressed than they were when they left! Include travel costs (cab rides ect.), food, tip, spending, and items needed to go on the trip!
• Book Early- Not only does this save you money, but it also gives you time to explore your options on activities, hotels, restaurants, ect.
• Have a designated folder- to put all travel documents and lists in. Take this folder with you in your carry on when it's time to go!

• Make a packing list- I've had ours made for weeks now and we don't leave for over a month! I like making it early, because then I can add to it and if I forgot something the first time I could catch it before we go.

•  Shop ahead of time- over the past few weeks I've been slowly purchasing items we need to take on the trip. By doing this we have time to shop around and look for sales!

I hope these few tips were helpful and that you'll come back next Thursday to see the first part of the packing portion! Do you have any tips when it comes to traveling?