Booked...

Finally... I convinced the hubby that we need to get away before the Kupcake's first birthday and figured out this was the perfect opportunity to head up north to Portland and Seattle (YEA!!!!! I LOVE THIS TOWN).  We are flying to Portland, spending a few days there, taking the train to Seattle (been there, loved that) and spend another few days before flying back home.  So excited! 

Goal now is start pricelining rooms and checking LivingSocial and Groupon on find any cool deals daily.

We've been to Seattle a bunch of times and I've been to Portland for two days and really only saw the Japanese Garden there.  Any suggestions on things to do in Portland?  Thanks!

Wednesday Ramblings...

• The hubby is now making spinach smoothies (green machines) for breakfast. I scarfed mine down with a peanut butter and banana sandwich. No, this isn't some weird pregnancy thing. I would eat this regardless of some soccer player kicking around my ribs.


• GLEE GLEE GLEE GLEE! Do I need so say more?


• Just a few more days till I get to go to my hometown for our first baby shower! I feel like I haven't been home in ages and wish we could go back more but the last two years hasn't really afforded us the time.


• The weather is finally nice enough to wear a dress. I feel very springy with my turquoise cardigan on top of my heather grey dress.


• Pilates tonight. I got the okay to move up a class but think I'll just do the intro class tonight.


• Wish today was Friday. Friday means I don't have to worry about cooking and well, I didn't get the meat ready for dinner so hoping the hubby will take care of dinner tonight.


• I have about 5 posts I'm working on. Not sure which ones to post first.


• Work has been crazy lately. Getting kinda burnt out. I'm starting to finally countdown to my KLM vacation! :)


• Wednesday is my favorite day of the work week (excluding Fridays) only because of one thing. Travel special emails. That's the pro, the con is I can't go anywhere right now... but will be booking a trip in the next few months!


• Speaking of things I can't do now, I miss wine. Went out to dinner with my in-laws last Saturday and they opened up this AMAZING bottle of wine that if I could have, I would have stolen the entire bottle and guzzled it. Just 10 more weeks right?! HURRY UP JUNE, this soon to be momma misses her vino!

Itching to get away...

In the planner household, we rarely are home more than 6 months without some trip planned. Last week, we were THIS CLOSE to hitting the submit button on two tickets to Madrid. As much as we could kick ourselves for not buying them (600 for the two of us roundtrip including taxes) we figured it just wasn't meant to be when we noticed the price doubled. So, we are still looking into our Costa Rica trip and toying with the idea of just going to Hawaii and bum around the island. Who knows what we'll end up doing in the fall but right now, I need to jump onto a plane and escape.

So last night, the hubby finally came through and book two tickets to what paradise... I mean Seattle. I love Seattle. If I could move there, I would but the hubby isn't soo keen on that. He's fine just visiting. This will be our second trip together there (our first trip was 3.5 years ago in the winter). We're only going for 4 days over the 4th of July weekend. So, if you have any suggestions for something for us to do, let us know (i'm looking at you Silly Little Mischief!) We've done all the major touristy things (Fremont district, needle, ballard locks--granted we didn't see any fish, Aquarium, bummed around Bainbridge island, belltown, etc.). Here is a link to photos from that last trip. We are staying downtown and will not have a car because we like the public transportation system there.

Here are the things we are toying with doing: Wine Tasting on Bainbridge Island, International District, Kayak Lake Union, hit up the Pinnacle, and Family Fourth Fireworks. Anything you can think of we could do? Any festivals going on? All help is welcomed!

In need of a redo...

Last fall we went to Costa Rica and while it was beautiful and I had a 1,000 things I loved about it, we also felt we missed out because of some of the snags we hit along the way.

So we are planning a redo vacation! We are using our vouchers we received because of our canceled flight last time and only going to one location on the Pacific Coast. So far, we are eying one of these two locations:

Hilton Papagayo






Flamingo Beach Resort





You see a theme? Lounge Lounge Lounge!!!! We are still keeping our options open so if you know of a great resorty place, send it my way! :)

Is there any place you want to do a redo vacation?

i'm leaving on a jet plane... oh wait...

Apparently I'm not. I guess in the middle of the night our flight was canceled. Something about the plane i guess so yea for them catching it. And we were bumped till the next day. UM WHAT?!

I about flipped my lid when I heard this and am now waiting for some other group to call me back. If I don't get a phone call by 1230 I'm calling back!

This little planner is not very pleased!

UPDATE: flight now leaves at 1am on Sunday morning. :( one less day in paradise!

Running...

Last weekend I finished my 12th half with my fellow running buddy Kim (or known here as BM Kim) at the Nike Women's (half) Marathon. If there ever was a race you wanted to do, this was it! The expo had free massages, manicures, oxygen bar, and lots lots more! The race was just as cool, with amazing scenery and lots of snacks and volunteers cheering you on. When you finished there were men dressed in tuxes handing you your finisher's medal and it was a Tiffany Necklace!!! It was an absolute blast!! (Oh shout out to the unknown man who stood out more than anyone else by not saying a word but holding one little 3x3 inch sign that read: GO! ...catching you at different spots was priceless!)

Now I'm just INCHING my way to my 300 mile goal for the year!!! I only have 10 more miles to go and have 2 half marathons and a 5k in the next 4 weeks! I know I am crazy. Now if the weather COOLED OFF (instead of hitting 100 degrees) maybe I'd actually train for the next few races!



NIKE Women's Half Marathon
San Francisco, Ca
October 19, 2008

NOTE: Yes,we are wearing the same t-shirt. Interesting fact, it was from the First half we ever ran together years ago! :)

Plus and Minus...

I admit I haven't been the best little blogger I possibly can be so I decided to get everyone up to speed here it all is in a quick recap:

Plus: Had a great time in Miami.
Minus: Ate way too many Cuban sandwiches and key lime pies!
Plus: My tan is looking superb (i know.. "tanning is bad" but hey... we were in Miami!)
Minus: The hubby has a killer sun burn because he didn't follow this wifey's once every hour rule about lathering up on SPF 1000.
Plus: Went to the Everglades and saw lots of 'gators!
Minus: Went to Little Havana and was a bit underwhelmed and just took the bus back.
Plus: Loved South Beach on the one full day of sun we had.
Minus: It rained off and on the other days we were there.
Plus: Been doing Weight Watchers and lost 6 lbs.
Minus: I have yet to have one week where I can consciously say the weight loss because I'm doing weight watchers. Next week will be a good week to see where if it really works. Yes, I'm still a skeptic!
Plus: I ran my fastest mile (8.20 mile) in OVER 10 years. I know, you're thinking how can someone with so many shiny 1/2 marathon medals not run fast? Easy... you still get the medal regardless how fast or slow you run! ;)
Minus: I haven't been keeping up with my 15 mile a week rule.
Plus: All the working out has increased my mood and made me crave it more.
Minus: Still trying to get over any excuses I can make instead of working out!
Plus: Being away for a few days from the computer is soooo nice!
Minus: I have over 700 posts in my google reader. These are the times where I hate to say I'm going to have to be selective and read only the ones in my "FAVES" folder!
Plus: Getting home and seeing my little puppies!
Minus: I have to go back to work tomorrow! DOUBLE BLAH!

So... that's it in a nut shell. I'll post a few photos of the trip once I get around to uploading them.

Rain, Sun and a touch of wind...

That's the weather so far in Miami. The hubby and I touched down last night and it rained cats and dogs for a few hours. Once we arrived at the hotel, it finally cleared up, just enough for us to cross the street and eat at Bubba Gump Restaurant to do our surprise, it was really good.

Today the weather is sunny and windy. Already eating some great cuban food and getting ready to just relax the rest of the afternoon. Next few days will include the Everglades, South Beach, and lots more good cuban food!

I'll be silent for the next few days and attempting to not plan a thing and just take in this beautiful place:)

And another vacation was born...

With a little downtime today, I decided to check to see how much flights were to Central America on the ever amazing Kayak. While the idea of going to South America is still ever present, Costa Rica and the surrounding areas was a trip we knew we had to do in the next 20+ months. To my surprise, I found tickets to Costa Rica for 300$ including taxes. Shocked and elated, I phoned the hubby and told him the good news, and with a little bit of begging, I convinced him that work would be slow during this time and to take an extra day off. And so, another trip was born. Tonight we will be booking our flights to Costa Rica and Panama! Yes, PANAMA... why? Because I found this:


Eclypse De Mar

I'm so ever excited to start planning another trip. Now I just gotta find my Spanish 101 book. Mi hablo un poquito espanol. :|

UPDATE... WE BOOKED OUR FLIGHTS AND ARE GOING! HOORAY!!!!

Unforgettable Costa Rica

Latin Destinations is having a sale on Costa Rica vacations.

8 Days / 7 Nights from $669
Book now, Travel in May
Sample Prices:
Miami $669
New York City $705
Washington, DC $735
Chicago $755
Los Angeles $765
Houston $795

About these prices
Suggested Itinerary Includes:
• International round-trip airfare
• Transfers between cities
• 2 nights in San Jose
• 2 nights in Arenal
• 3 nights in Quepos
• Daily breakfast (most hotels)
• All Hotel Taxes

How fun would this trip be?

Leaving... on a jet plane...

Going to PHX to do another half marathon. This is my 9 or 10 race!!!! It's early and i'm Dead. wish us all luck that we start and finish this one!

:)

Dreams do come true...

I never get to travel for business, wait, I did once, exactly 30 miles for a lunch and a meeting afterward. My husband on the otherhand travels quite a bit. He even is lucky enough to attend really cool conferences where they schmooze and drink and all that fun stuff. (Okay, he's really working but it always sounds like fun)

This spring he has a conference in Orlando. When he told me it was there, my ears turned up and sat up in my chair. Then he said what could be words from a dream: "Wanna come with and go to DisneyWorldbefore the conference?"

OMG OMG OMG

I heart all things Disney. He the things I hate about that company, I love. I've been to Disneyland about 1 trillion times and know the park and every little bit of goodness it has to show. I've always dreamt of going to DisneyWorld. I even watched all those Travel Channel shows about DisneyWorld over and over. Then, it got better. He said we could stay there!

OMG OMG OMG

Dreams really do come true. I'M GOING TO DisneyWorld!!!!

Ringing in the New Year...

NYE-NYC-Times Square 07/08

The joy of txt blogging...

...is that I can write posts from my phone where ever we may be! We've been in NYC for just a few days and just having a ball. Today we finally made our way to Museum of Natural History and had probably one of the best meals in a long time at the legendary Delmonico's. At the end of the day, we walked over 17,500 steps!

Tomorrow we are headed to Washington D.C. Hooray!

Trying something new...

We'll be leaving on Christmas day to trek all the way to other side of the country to see why the east are whiny bears about the winter season. Oh, may I add yesterday it was around 70 degrees out?! Okay okay, I'll be nice and not rub it in! ;)

I've decided I'll set up shop on my little computer phone (I feel like gadget) and blog while on vacation. I'll attempt to send photos and little things I see along the way. When I get back, I will finally get to the last of my wedding posts I've been sorta pushing off.

Hope everyone has a very berry and merry christmas!

ttfn

~~little miss planner

VENDOR REVIEWS!!! ...the travel agent

I hate writing less than admirable reviews about people but sometimes you gotta help out the fellow bride or just anyone in general. We're going to work backwards for this one and start with the grade: "C" for Fiji Travel.

I worked with one of the agents at the company to book our honeymoon and while we had a great time, there was one reason they received such a low score, their customer service. Before booking I repeatedly told them EXACTLY what time we needed to fly out. After they agreed, we sent out our deposit and all was good. One month later I got a weird thought and wondered if they could send us the itinerary. When I opened it up, they booked us to fly out the NIGHT of the wedding, not the day I requested (the day after). At one point, I was yelling in the phone (if you can tell, I really am not that pushy) telling him HE was the one that made the mistake. For 45 minutes, I wasn't budging and was pushing the point he screwed up. I even had the emails to prove it. He finally changed the flights to the correct date.

If it wasn't for this one event, they would have received a better grade. The trip they booked primarily consisted of airfare, one hotel (that I picked out and found prices for), and transport to/from airport at destination. I did the rest of the work picking our our excursions. Would I ever recommend them to anyone? No. I'm not afraid that they would make the mistake to them, I'm afraid they would treat them as poorly as they did to fix it.

Travel deals

When booking our honeymoon, I made sure we did our research! I wanted the best we could afford and the joy of the Internet, you can easily find those deals! We booked our honeymoon six months before our date but with soo many great sites out there looking for a last minute or 1 month to go deal isn't that difficult.

I've grown to love Travelzoo Weekly Top 20. Not only have I found amazing prices but it's also opened up a world of possibilities of places I now want to go to! There is also Sherman's Travel Top 25. Both sites send out emails and post the new deals every Wednesday!

Here's my favorite day for this week:

$269 -- Bahamas All-Inclusive Wyndham Getaway w/Air
Freeport, Bahamas

Top 20 deal - sells out quickly!

Travel dates: Jan. 8-31

By Mary Ann Dickerson
Travelzoo Staff
Here's an unbelievable CheapCaribbean deal that will have you enjoying blue Bahamian skies at the beachfront Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach for just $269 per person. You'll spend 3 all-inclusive nights at this resort with air -- at a savings of more than 50%.

Here's everything that's included:

* Roundtrip air on a major airline (see below for details)
* 3 all-inclusive nights at the beachfront Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach
* All your meals, drinks (including alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and nonmotorized water sports
* All tips and gratuities

YEA!!!

Oh the places we'll go!

A few weeks ago, the husband and I carved out our tentative plans for traveling for the next two years. I know, TWO YEARS? Sounds like along time but really, time flies and if you wanted to do anything big, you kinda have to save up for it! Because I really want to go to Europe, I figured that would be in the 2 year plan, but towards the end since there is soo much we want to do and the pocket book and vacation time won't let us go anytime before then.

On the list are Costa Rica or Argentina, the Southern Caribbean Cruise next summer, a trip to Florida, and Europe (Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and Greece). Sounds like a lot of traveling but since we started dating we've loved to see new and exciting places! Just a few: Bali, Singapore, Vancouver,BC, NYC, Seattle, Vegas, Napa, New Mexico, New Orleans, Mexico, and lots more.

Now I'm patiently waiting for my new Eyewitness Travel Guides of Washington DC for this holiday season while trek back east to NYC once again. We've gotten on of all the new places we go to and LOVE these books! With this and Virtual Tourist I can go anywhere and feel comfortable about what is there do and see!

What places do you dream of getting too in the 2 year future?

The honeymoon

Lots of couples out there have SO much on their plate when they are planning a wedding. Some buy houses, some move in together, some change career paths. They do a lot and many people wonder why most engaged couples look stressed out like you wouldn't believe. Well, on top of all that, many plan to take a trip after the vows have been said and the party has died down. This little trip is the honeymoon.

We started thinking of going to one place and ended up somewhere completely different. Somewhere exotic and SO out of our comfort zone. Because we did that, we had the trip of a lifetime. We went to Singapore and swam with sharks that were bigger than me where I even got to hold a few in my arms while strangers took photos of me doing so! We fed sting rays (and if you've been a faithful reader, you know how much I HATE them). We let bats hang from our hands. Stood at the bottom of the southern-most point of Continental Asia. Swam in the Indian Ocean. Had a 2.5 hour Ayurveda - Chakra Dhara Massage, followed by another 6 hours of pampering at a Spa. Rode an elephant. Cycled through rice fields and rafted down a raging river. We laid out at the resort and even played water basketball. We did everything and nothing in a matter of 10 days and I am SO happy we did so.

Here are some photos I just had to share:

Tip of Asian Continent

Bali

The hubby cycling through a village

Me and a 60 year old turtle

Us and our guide and our elephant Ollie!

Balinese Dancers

Finally...

After much bidding in the past few weeks, we finally snatched up a room at the Holiday Inn. While at first I wasn't ecstatic about that, after looking a few of the photos, it looks pretty nice!

Holiday Inn Atrium Singapore is a spectacular 27 storey atrium style hotel strategically located at the crossroad of Outram and Havelock Roads. It is just a short drive from Shenton Way financial centre, fascinating Chinatown and the fashionable Orchard Road shopping belt.

Across from the hotel is the island's renowned Singapore River where entertainment spots bring vibrancy to the nightlife at Clarke Quay and Boat Quay.

--Source

Granted I know that our room won't have flowers and champagne waiting for us, I am looking forward to staying here! It is in a great location! Plus I emailed them to see if they could do anything for us! ;) We shall see!