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? 

From So Cal to Buffalo Again (in November)

 

 We went to Buffalo in September 2014. September 2015, and September 2021. Do you see a pattern here? Cause I do. I said I’d never go to a Buffalo Bills game past September and yet there we were on our way to a Buffalo Bills game past September. I didn't even have an appropriate jacket. I bought one at Costco the day before we left! November in Buffalo sounded…scary but this man loves the Bills so much that he went to a total of FIVE last year (including one in January!!) and this was the only time we could make it work this year, so off to Buffalo we went.   

Finally Made it to the Big Island

 

We’ve been to Hawaii five times before. I don’t remember the exact flight details, but I guarantee it did not take as long as it took us to get there this time around. Our original flight to LA got cancelled so, Delta sent us on a super early flight from San Diego to Seattle which was basically a waste of about 6 hours because we had a two- hour flight to Seattle that didn’t take any time off our air- time to Hawaii, then a four-hour layover in Seattle. After all of that we still had a five- hour flight to Kona. All together it took us about 11 hours to get to Kona, but it was all worth it when I stepped off the plane and felt the warm balmy air of The Big Island. 

New Orleans: Bourbon Street After Dark and Alligators in The Bayou

When we booked our trip to New Orleans in August I was worried about the weather. If I had my pick I definitely wouldn't travel there during this time, but by the time we got around to planning our trips for the year our options were limited. June to September is considered the off season for New Orleans due to the heat and because that’s when you can expect the most rain. Hurricane season is June 1 to November 30. August is considered one of the worst months to travel there, but that's when we could go so we went for it. Our flight would leave for New Orleans on the day Hurricane Katrina hit 16 years ago, and we had a swamp tour scheduled for the day Hurricane Ida hit last year. Who plans a trip to New Orleans during hurricane season? We did! And while I was hopeful that we wouldn't have to cancel our trip or be stuck in a storm I knew without a doubt that the humidity would be bad. 

Closet Makeover Before and After

When we moved into our house we were hit hard by all the expenses that come along with moving into new construction. Window covers for obvious reasons and landscaping for HOA reasons had to be prioritized, so some things had to wait. Like our master closet.