Lolablue Goes To Peru

Lolablue is a company located in Southwest Florida that creates "eco-lux", all natural products. They use all natural, raw ingredients to handcraft their products ranging from soaps, sugar scrubs, soy-wax candles, lip balm, hydrating crème, bug spray (all natural!!!), essential oils, roll on perfumes, candle tarts, aromatherapy, ect.

I'm sharing these products with you because I love them!!! I've been using them non-stop since January and will never use anything else. I love their soaps, lotions and bugspray. Their soaps come in so many scents and smell wonderful! The fall scents have just come out and I've been using my Pumpkin Spice soap. I love how wonderful you (and your bathroom) smell after taking a shower. These products are great for all my fellow travelers. I love that the soap is versatile enough to substitute for my shaving cream! The products are eco friendly, no palm oil, no paraben, paraffin or sulfate or phthalate in any of their products. These products are never tested on animals.

Added bonus for travelers: they make their soaps in travel size!! Some of my favorite scents are Raspberry Patchouli, Sexy Mama, Dirty Pumpkin, Pumpkin Spice and Holiday Peppermint. These products aren't just for the ladies. They create soaps for men, such as, Bark, Irish Mud (beer soap), Valquero, Summer Suds (beer soap), and Summer Coconut. I always take Lolablue soaps and bug-spray on my trips now. You can't beat a great product! My Pumpkin Spice, Rosemary Mint and lip balm made it to Peru with me!!

 Lolablue products are great for your skin and the environment. Take a look at their products for your next trip. They can be bought here or here. I did receive two free products for this trip, however all opinions are my own!

Wilmington, North Carolina

America is such a beautiful country with so much to see! The other weekend I took a road trip with my brother and his fiancée. We drove through Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina. Our final destination was Wilmington, North Carolina to visit family. We woke up early Saturday morning and hit Wilmington in order to make the most of our only day in the city. We walked through historic downtown Wilmington and River Street looking at all the shops.

 We randomly decided to stop for brunch/early lunch at Dixie Grill. We chose this place because there were so many people standing outside it. That must mean they have good food . . . right? It was a little bit of a wait, but well worth it. The food was absolutely delicious!! We didn't have to wait long on the food once we were seated and the service was great.

And the syrup bottles were old coke bottles!

We visited the outside of Bellamy Mansion. There was too long of a wait for the tour and we had other things we wanted to see. It was a beautiful historic home.

We spent the rest of the morning driving around Wilmington looking at all the historic homes. Almost every home is in the historic area is a home with some sort of history to the country or to the city of Wilmington. The historic placards on the home provide you with the history of the home. Some of the homes are open for the public to tour and some are not. Wilmington has a trolley that you can take or horse carriages if you would like for someone to tell you the history of the city. They start on River street, along with the ghost tours. In our next post will be Wilmington: Airlie Gardens and USS North Carolina Battleship.

Hard Rock Hotel- Orlando, Fl

I can't tell you how many times I have stayed at this hotel. It is one of the 4 onsite hotels offered for those visiting Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios.

We have annual passes to the theme parks and make several trips to Orlando a year. Our preferred onsite hotel is the Hard Rock Hotel, and there are several reasons for this:

- It is the closest onsite hotel in proximity to the theme parks
- They have really comfortable beds
-The rooms are designed for rock stars
-Friendly staff
-Great food options
-Huge Pool
- events are always going on

There are a transporation options for anyone staying at the onsite hotels:

- walking (hard rock path is the shortest and you end up right in front of Universal)
- the boat (we don't do this, because there is always a wait and always a line)
-rickshaw (you can pay for a rickshaw to take you to and from your hotel)
- Shuttle buses (we never take these)

What are the benefits of staying at a onsite hotel?

- Fl residents and annual pass holders get a discount on the rooms
- Early admission to Islands of Adventure!! (this allows hotel guest to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at 8am, before it opens to the public. We always take advantage of this as it reduces the wait time for the ride from 45-75 minutes to 15-30 minutes. We leave from Harry Potter and ride the other rides before their lines get long)
-One of the best advantages is your unlimited fast passes that are included for being a hotel guest. This is a huge money saver for families. I have seen the passes at $99 (unlimited rides) per person before and you get them for free! This pass allows everyone staying at the hotel to take advantage of the fast pass line and skip everyone waiting in the regular line. We have seen rides with a wait time of 45-75 minutes and we have waited for maybe 15 minutes in the fast pass line. Well worth it!
-Any purchases made in the theme parks can be delivered directly to your hotel room. You don't have to carry it around the parks with you!
- Hotel guest also get priority seating at selected restaurants throughout the resorts

Booking Tip: Don't forget to ask about annual pass/ Fl resident discounts! For non-florida residents don't forget to ask about AAA discounts!

Move over life, its planning time

It's seems like such a long time since I have been on a trip, when in reality I went to LA last month. There are so many places we can travel to, does anyone else find it hard to pick a destination? Alas, despite the difficulties we have our travel plans for the year (so far). Here is our travel destinations for 2015:

February: Orlando
March: Wilmington, NC
May: Bahamas
June: Des Moines, IA
July:Chicago        
September: Peru-Machu Picchu       
October: Des Moines, IA                                          
November: Belize & Mexico

My may trip will be a family trip that I'm really looking forward to. I was the only traveler in my family and my brother and parents have followed suit. My parents are even branching out and traveling to St. Croix by themselves in April. Yay for family travels!

 I'm especially looking forward to my trip to Chicago. It's a city I have always wanted to explore and now I'm going to. Making it even better is the fact that my best friend from high school will be meeting me there!!

I love mountains! I could live in the mountains. Ashville is such a great destination, with a lot to offer. I love outdoor activities and Ashville has it all. From the Blue Ridge Parkway, hiking, horseback riding, ziplining, white water rafting, national parks, and a great night life.

I look forward to bringing all the advice and tips back that I can for all my readers. Where are you looking at visiting in 2015?

Renaissance Tampa International Plaza

Girls weekend shopping trip. Sounds great, right? It was a nice shopping trip with my mom. Our itinerary for this trip was to shop at Tampa's International Plaza Mall. For this trip we chose to stay at Marriott's Renaissance Tampa International Plaza Mall. We chose this hotel for it's location and décor. If you want a hotel close to the International Mall you can't beat this hotel. The Renaissance is attached to the mall and a short walk to all the shops and restaurants.

I was very impressed by our short stay here. From the moment we arrived the staff was friendly and helpful. Our room wasn't ready when we arrived, so we took advantage of their luggage storage and began our shopping trip. Concierge called us when our room was ready (before regular check-in time). The décor for this hotel is very unique from the moment you step into the lobby.

Marriot.com

 

I was very much charmed by the décor throughout the whole hotel, including our rooms. I was very impressed by this Marriot "boutique" styled hotel. Breakfast is not included in your stay, however they offer an excellent array of breakfast options. 

               

                                                        

 

 

 

Amenities:



 

- Free high speed wireless internet in rooms

-Fitness Center

-Pool

-4:00pm Check-in

- Noon Check-out

- Complimentary parking

- Valet parking $19 daily

-Continental Breakfast $11 daily

- Buffet style Breakfast $18 daily 

 

Check everything out at their website: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/travel/tpaim-renaissance-tampa-international-plaza-hotel/

 

Expedition: Wanderlust Tip: *When booking your stay don't forget to ask about a AAA discount (if your a member), and don't forget to use your Marriott Rewards # (this is a category 6 property)*

Take Nothing but Pictures, Leave Nothing but Footprints

I have recently decided it's high time I start discovering all my state has to offer. I'm excited to start Take Nothing but Pictures, Leave Nothing but Footprints "campaign".  I foresee visits to state parks, theme parks, and state beaches in my future. While I'm unable to travel full time, I'm hoping to travel locally in between my international trips. I chose to refer to my Florida travels as, Take Nothing but Pictures, Leave Nothing but Footprints, because I think it sends an important message. It's important to me that we take care of our surroundings and nature in general. Ecotourism is on the rise and there are so many beautiful places in the world to travel to. However, they wont survive over time if we don't take care of them. I'm always amazed when I hike and experience nature and traveling.

By traveling around my state I'm hoping to bring a locals perspective to anyone visiting Florida, recommendations and tried and true tips. Keep a look out for upcoming posts for Tampa and Orlando! Anywhere you would like me to visit in Florida? Leave a comment below.

Last Trip of the Summer

This summer has gone by so fast for me. This was my first summer since starting college that I didn't take any classes. I have packed as much as I could into this summer and it seemed to fly by. My first trip was to Ireland and England for two weeks, my second trip was a week in Big Bear, California and my most recent and last trip was to Des Moines, Iowa (my hometown). I just went for the weekend Friday- Monday. The last time I was in Des Moines was for my birthday and it was freezing and snowing out. I love summer and fall time in Des Moines. It's such a great city with so much to offer. If they didn't have freezing weather I may still be living there. I spent most of the weekend shopping and spending time with my best friend Meghan. Where I live the closest place to shop is Tampa International Mall and that still doesn't have all the stores I go to.

I save my money so whenever I go to Des Moines I can go shopping! I don't generally like to shop I like to save my money. However, Des Moines honestly has some good shopping. They have several adorable boutiques I shopped at in West Glen. One was a resale shop that had some pretty good deals and you would never had guessed that the clothes weren't brand new. Their purses and shoes were a little pricy (I thought) for being used. Some of the coach purses I could have bought brand new at a Coach outlet, here, in Florida. I bought a cute red skirt for work with a black flower design, a necklace and a blue and white Michael Kors top for work or casual.

I also shopped at Gordmans. This is my favorite place to shop for picture frames. They have a huge variety for great prices. I bought some really cute dog themed picture frames to put pictures of Gunner in. I bought one frame for the start of my Europe pictures. I'm slowly starting to decorate my home and I can't wait to share the process with all of my readers.

I don't usually shop at Valley West Mall. However they are the only mall in Des Moines that has a Limited. I love to shop at Limited for my work and casual clothes. They are always have some sort of sale and they are reasonably priced. Everywhere I shopped at on this trip had sales!! The one good thing about Florida is you can where summer clothes year round! This time at Limited they most of their stuff was on sale with an additional 40% off and the other sale items were buy one get one 50% off.

I really cashed in  here. I bought two pairs of dress pants (capri style) that had the additional 40% off, another pair of dress pants and an orange sheer top that were in the buy one get one 50% off, a pair of yellow skinny jeans and a pair of mint (with a zebra pattern), they were also buy one get one 50% off. I bought a cobalt blue top that was on sale and a pair of earrings that were on sale. My mom and I pooled our stuff together because on top of all that I receive a discount for being a student!

At Jordan Creek we shopped at Francesca's Boutique. I bought a dress, belt and two pair of earrings. I don't believe any of that was on sale. I also visited the Loft where they had a pair of mint jeans that were original $55 on sale for $25. Another favorite of mine is Banana Republic, but they are pretty expensive (they also offer student discounts). I bought a cute top there that was on sale for $15.

My all time favorite place to shop is Barnes and Nobles, and Des Moines has a beautiful two story one that I always visit when I'm in the city. I was lucky enough to be armed with gift cards for this part. I always say I'm not to be trusted with a credit card in Barnes and Nobles.

Any time Meghan and I get together we bake. We both love to bake! This time we decided on cookies (last time was cupcakes). Meghan did most of the baking and I did most of the decorating. It's relaxing for me to decorate cookies and cupcakes. I tend to be a perfectionist though. I'm really proud of how the cookies turned out. The frosting on the bats was pretty thick so they were a little messier.

                       All the cookies we made. It took awhile to decorate them!

Palm Trees and Feet. I think the Palm Trees and Tulips are my Favorite,

 

                                                           The base ball bats
Stay tuned for my next post on student discounts. I love student discounts and use them whenever I can! Where is your favorite place to shop at?