Halloween Horror Nights Universal Studios Hollywood (And other Fall Fun)

 

We had so much fun over the Summer, we decided to keep it going in the Fall.

Our October activity was Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. I cannot believe how long it took me to go to this place. They have nine haunted houses. Nine! The challenge is, how many can you make it to between the hours of 5:30pm and 2:00am. The tickets actually weren't as expensive as I thought they would be. We paid $112 + an extra $25 to get in at 5:30 pm instead of 7:00 pm. We figured it would be worth the money to get a jump on the lines and boy were we right. That extra 1.5 hours was crucial. We got an advantage on our first two haunted houses Stranger Things and The Last of Us, waiting for 45 minutes and then an 1 hour for those, but all hell broke lose after that once the general admission and Express folks were let in. The Exorcist jumped to 240 minutes! We could not spend the rest of our night in line so we had to skip it and hope it would go down later. 

Summer in San Diego Is Stunning

 

We didn't have a summer vacation vacation. We went to Vegas twice in two months, but we decided to do a different kind of trip this year and that isn't happening until December. Which felt like a really long time with the summer stretched ahead of us, but you know how that saying goes? Time flies! Summer time flew by so quickly. We did a lot of fun things. That vacation will be here before we know it.

We had friends and family in town so we did vacation things at home. What better city to vacation at home than San Diego? May Gray and June gloom is a thing here and it was really really bad this year. After a very rainy spring it dragged on longer and heavier than I've ever seen, but once it cleared up it was spectacular.

From Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon

I will complain about the prices in Las Vegas every time and then go right back. Las Vegas has always been expensive, but the level of expensive has definitely gone up and like most people who love and enjoy Vegas, I really don't like it, but apparently it's not enough to stop me from going. We keep going back and when we do we pack in a lot. I wonder if some day we'll have a leisurely trip to Vegas where we laze about and don't stay up until the brink of exhaustion every night. Maybe, but this trip was not it. We were on the go the ENTIRE time. 

Two Nights at the Newly Remodeled Bellagio Hotel Las Vegas

Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens - Bellagio Hotel

Las Vegas hotels are a spectacle, and a lot of your entertainment in Vegas comes just from wandering around and taking in the sights. This enchanted garden is the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens and the best time to visit this 14,000 square foot space is late at night (or early am) because it’s very crowded otherwise. It takes over 11,000 flowers to make this happen and they change the theme out every season. This is “Giardino Dell’ Amore” or Garden of Love for Spring and it ends on May 20 so there will be another set up for Summer when we come back next month. It was so peaceful with the classical music playing and just really beautiful to look at and they pump in special scents so that it also smells really nice too. They started something new recently, offering dining service right in the center of this area at the Garden Table. They seat 4-6 max and it’s $125 to $225 per person depending on the meal. That could be fun.

Valle De Guadalupe: Mexico's Wine Country

The day before our trip, I was in a really good mood. I’d worked through most of my feelings of fear, about going to Mexico. And after months of rain, the weather was predicting none. I was starting to get excited. I was cleaning house, when suddenly I decided, hmmm. Let me check my passport. So, I go and check my passport and what do you know. The darn thing is expired. So here we are the day before our tour. It’s too late to cancel for a refund and my passport expired last year.  I was put in touch with the tour company by the booking agency and the person I spoke with said not having a valid passport should not be an issue. People go back and forth all the time with other documentation. Did I really want to take that chance of not getting into Mexico or most importantly not being able to get out? We know someone who knows someone who works for the border patrol and they agreed that it should not be an issue. So…we decided the trip was on. I’d travel to Mexico with my expired passport and hope for the best.

Much Needed Healthy Reset & Dry January

Between August and December last year we were on a trip every month. One was just a weekend getaway to Los Angeles, but it was New Orleans, Hawaii, Buffalo, and Miami for every other trip. It was a lot! I think I did a good job keeping up with exercising and meal prep up until Hawaii in October but I lost steam after that. There was just so much going on between travel and the holidays. No regrets. I enjoyed it all, but that can only go on for so long. It was definitely time to reset and get back on the exercise and nutrition wagon. My body (and my liver) needed a break.

Welcome to South Beach Miami (in December)

Miami was our last trip of the year. In December. Right before the holidays. Five trips in five months is a lot. I was a little travel weary by this point but excited to see what South Beach has to offer. We had a 6:00 am flight. I hate early flights. It was brutal. The crazy thing is that even after a 6am flight and a full day of travel we didn't make it to our hotel until about 7:00 pm Florida time. I was not trying to sit in one of the many hotel restaurants located along Collins Ave and pay over $50 for a meal when I was exhausted, not about to change out of my travel clothes, or put in my contacts, and just needed some food. I found us a cheap take out place to eat and we called it a night.

One Second Every Day (For An Entire Year)

 

I've always been the one taking pictures and writing in journals. Then blogging came along. Then social media. For whatever reasons, I've been drawn to documenting my life since I was 10. One second every single day? Who has time for that? And what's the point?