Flipping Tourist

Thai-Style

January 9, 2019 6 Comments

Catamaran anchored off our own private island. Chicken Head Island.

Flip. Trip. Repeat. This has become a little family mantra for us.

We love to travel. Home renovations feed our travels. Hence the reason we closed on our current home days after returning from a two week vacation sailing Thailand. (A vacation we rewarded ourselves with after our last home remodel). Talk about a quick cure for Post Vacation Depression (PVD). Maybe ‘cure’ isn’t the right word. More like full on shock and preoccupation.

One Monday we were leisurely waking up filling our coffees with Bailey’s until we moved on to our Rum-filled Painkiller beverages as we sailed crystal clear water. And the very next Monday we had keys to a home that hadn’t been lived in for months, nor updated since the 80’s. We would quickly need stronger coffee and actual painkillers. In the form of Advil and a deep-tissue massage. Maybe a therapist too.

Today I’m going to hit a few of the highlights from spending two weeks on the other side of the world. I know many of you have made resolutions to travel more this year. Whether it’s to the other side of the world or just crossing state lines I think every trip you take is one of the most important things you can do for yourself (but may I argue that your quick night away across town doesn’t get to count towards your ‘explore more’ resolution?!)

If exotic vacations pique your interest, you may love a few of my highlights from Summer 2018 in Thailand.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Flying Business Class Round Trip Houston to Phuket. We booked this entire trip with miles getting VERRRRRY creative via transferring our AMEX points to Asiana Airlines and flying EVA Airways. Best experience of my life. Additionally, using actual money would have cost us a fortune. But thanks to creatively using credit cards for work and other monthly budgeted items(and paying those cards off!!!!) we experienced the flight of my life. Thank you Points Guy for teaching us how to better utilize the miles we had. (*just remember…if you’re carrying a balance and paying interest on credit cards, your ‘free’ flight isn’t really free. My father would appreciate me reminding you all of this financial fact!)

Business Class on EVA Airways. Dream — **When you board your flight and are all of a sudden sad that it’s only a 13 hour flight!**

Champagne and Steak at 40,000 feet! — **Veurve Champagne, steak and a movie at 40,000 feet. Heath is going to have to up his dating game after this experience!**

Even Heath fits comfortably! — **Heath is 6’4″. Nothing more to say here!**

3 Night Stay at Banyan Tree Phuket. We found a great deal on a buy 2 nights get one free! And before you start referring to me as that coupon lady, one peek inside my disorganized wallet and you’ll realize I could never keep up with a coupon habit. But I do pride myself on conquering amazing online deals. Banyan Tree is amazing and it does come at a price. But please think about this for a minute: A $350/night hotel within most cities in the USA and Europe could get you a delightful room. Sure you’d feel a bit spoiled. BUT you go to Thailand and spend $350/night you will live in a mansion, be treated like Meghan Markle and not be able to decide which shower you want to use. I’m not kidding. So sure, you could get an amazing room in Thailand for $60 bucks. But you could also use this trip to see how royalty lives. A dollar goes a long way!

Banyan Tree pool — **Welcome gifts and our very own pool. I’m still speechless.**

Private pool means the luggage must wait. — **Private pool means the unpacking must wait. We seriously hopped right in.**

Breakfast bike ride — **With a strong case of jet lag we used the resort bikes to cruise around for an hour before heading to breakfast**

Banyan Tree breakfast with a view — **Breakfast, a view, delicious champagne. But more than anything, I want you to know they had an enormous honeycomb that was dripping gooey honey into bowls. Need I say more?**

A boozy bike ride always satisfies — **Boozin’ and cruisin’ back to our ~~bungalow~~ Mansion.**

Chartering our own Catamaran! Boarding the Dream Yacht Charters Lagoon 450 catamaran and watching my husband at the helm. Ladies it’s pretty sexy to sit with champagne while watching the man you married steer a boat out of harbor. After 2 years as a Cruise Director on SeaDream, I was destined to marry someone with sailing skills. #nailedit. There is nothing like waking up in the morning, on the water, as you are anchored just off of a deserted beach. There is a lot to be said about getting to do what you want, when you want, where you want.

Two catamarans under the Thailand sky — **Still in Awe. Two catamarans set sail under the Thai Sky.**

Shrimp delivery! — **Well I’ll be darned if a boat didn’t pull up to sell us the shrimp they just caught an hour prior. (FYI…pricing was the same as Central Market)**

Captain and his crew on board the catamaran. — **The Captain and his {motley} crew.**

Jumping for joy at sea — **You can act a fool all day when you ‘own’ the boat for a week!**

quintessential long tail boat in Thailand — **The quintessential Long Tail boat. Its the equivalent to seeing Icebergs in Antarctica. They are everywhere. Each one is a little bit different. And you still get excited with each one you see!**

Fourth of July on a private island — **We had an island to ourselves and played good ‘ole fashioned ~~yard~~ sand games, dressed a fool and rung in ‘Merica’s birthday!**

Thumbs up for Thailand — **If Siskel and Ebert were here, they would agree that Thailand gets TWO thumbs up!**

Please share in the comments what trips are on your bucket list! I’d love to know. And I also want to hear if you’re interested in details on how to plan your own sailing adventure….or even just hoping to get tips on future trips to take!

XO, Meredith

Blog, Home, Renovation, Uncategorized

Before and After in less than 22 minutes

January 3, 2019 10 Comments

Growing up I loved Saved by the Bell. There would usually be some sort of drama (Gasp, Jesse is on pills and we have an aerobics video to record). But then it always returned to happy perfection when Slater and Zach saved the day. Remove the commercials and, if you’re like me, you realize you can solve most of life’s problems in less than 22 minutes. (Even Screech occasionally found his coordination and had a few ‘special’ moments with Lisa within those 22 minutes. I’m telling you…I thought anything could happen in less than 22 minutes).

And I’m certain most of you reading this have also seen the magical home renovations on HGTV that occur in the same time frame. Well guess what my friends?! Our latest project is overdue on our own magical home reveal. Sure we did a reveal party but someone (me) was hitting the cheese platter too hard to remember to take any photos. And now that we’ve also hosted a few Christmas soiree’s, I want to do a proper BEFORE and AFTER photo share.

The actual renovation for our Pied-a-Terre (read more about it here and here) took a full 13 weeks. But today I’m giving you the pretty ‘tied with a big bow’ finished version. And in less time than our coveted 22 minute sitcoms. (Although please do let me know in the comments which project you want to hear more about). If I can add humor and helpful information to it then I promise to do a write up to share details. And when are vaulted ceilings and updated tile never not funny!?.

Just like I couldn’t wait to see Lisa Turtle find a soft spot for Screech each episode, I hope you too can see that this house was wonderful to begin with. It just felt dated and we love to find and restore some updated charm.

Oh…and because you know my family likes to keep things interesting. Our whole family fled to Mexico for a week in the middle of this 13 week project. What HGTV never shows you in those 22 minutes is the insane mental exhaustion of a renovation. Spoiler: beach cocktails help cure this ailment. We came back ready to finish. She is a beauty! Take a look!

Before with zero curb appeal — **THE BEFORE. Forget about curb appeal. You could barely see the house driving by!**

After. Sherwin Williams Shoji White. — **THE AFTER. Ahhhh! There she is! Bushes be gone and show us your bright white!**
**(more specifically Sherwin Williams Shoji White). You actually notice the big sprawling tree now as well.**

BEFORE. Come inside and look around! — **THE BEFORE. Come on in and let us show you around.**

THE AFTER: Even the models seem cuter in their raingear! 35* and rainy on reveal day. But for a family that ‘loves a rainy night’ these 8 foot glass front doors ‘are a beautiful sight’. Thank you Eddie Rabbit for my lyrical door description.

Split level with a split personality. Bold and confusing. — THE BEFORE. Split level with a split-second decision on which staircase to use. There were TWO staircases within 4 feet of walking in the door. If you’re indecisive like me, you’ll appreciate that we gave you one solid grand entry.

The After. Entry way — **THE AFTER. The largest doors I’ve seen in person with my actual eyeballs. A bright and elegant light with just a few grand easy stairs taking you into your cozy living area.**

Before Family Room colored in all brown — **THE BEFORE. A solid dark palette and turns out the fireplace brick was poorly assembled. One swing of the hammer and it all came down!!!**

The After with vaulted ceilings! Hooray! — THE AFTER. Why yes we did vault the ceilings! Installed real hardwoods, updated the fireplace that turns on with the flick of a switch (or by asking my 3 year old to do it)! And of course we gave her fresh paint – **Sherwin Williams Front Porch.Speaking of paint – that painting you are all going to ask me about is by Legendary Katie Murray.**

Before Laundry and Storage — THE BEFORE. The laundry room and storage was all one space. We redesigned the entire downstairs and think it’s much more user friendly. (do you spy one of the staircases that formerly led to the entryway?)

The After. Spacious and Stylish Laundry Room. — **THE AFTER: A sizable (and stylish) Laundry Room. Large enough to host a gathering and pretty enough that you might actually run a load of laundry too!**

Before Bonus living area — **THE BEFORE. This was the large living space off of the laundry and storage area. They gave us a great space to work with. We just knew we could make it more functional.**

**THE AFTER. Smooth ceilings, reinforced header (au revior columns), and lots of places to stash the toys before company arrives!**

Before half bathroom — **THE BEFORE. This half bath was showing it’s age with a few dated design aspects.**

The After. Downstairs Bathroom — **THE AFTER: Downstairs bathroom. A few easy, inexpensive and simple updates!**
**So fresh and so clean!**

Before Master Bedroom — **THE BEFORE. Master Bedroom had a large layout with an area that we felt would be better used and appreciated in the Master Bathroom**

The After Master bedroom with a fresh design. — **THE AFTER. The Master Bedroom is still spacious with a seating area (out of view from photo). We think you’ll agree on stealing space for the Master Bath…..**

Before Master Bathroom. — **THE BEFORE. A tiny Master bathroom considering the overall size of the house. Itsy-bitsy shower and just the one shell-shaped sink!**

After Master Bathroom. Saving marriages with double sink vanities. — **THE AFTER. There’s room in here for two! Larger shower and a double sink vanity (because we believe in the sanctity of marriage).**

Before Master Closet. — **THE BEFORE. Previously the Master closet was accessed thru the bedroom. Our renovations allowed for a proper en suite.**

After Master Closet and En Suite — THE AFTER. Master Closet (En Suite) has an updated layout and is now accessed thru the bathroom. I love this because it means if you sleep in later than your partner, he can shower and get ready in one area without opening and closing doors and turning on various lights. (I might be speaking from personal experience here ‘5am Heath’).

Before Leigh Ann's bedroom — THE BEFORE. Leigh-Ann’s bedroom. I’m not sure who Leigh Ann was but she had 3 layers of wall paper and I was digging her ever-changing design ideas! As we did with all the bedrooms, we just freshened it up and made it move-in ready for anyone’s design to take shape!

Before single panel doors — **THE BEFORE. We replaced all 16 single panel doors. RIP Leigh-Ann’s room.**

The After. One of the bedrooms, now a girls dream. — THE AFTER: ‘Leigh-Ann’s Bedroom’.
Now Greenley’s bedroom and she loves having her own ballet barre along with two closets. #girlsdream

Before Hall Bathroom — **THE BEFORE. Layout was already large so we just updated with some of our favorite design ideas at the time!**

The After Hall bathroom. Floor to ceiling tile and a shiny vanity! — THE AFTER. The most commented thing on this Hall Bathroom thus far has been regarding the shiny finish on the vanity. It’s hard to see in the photo but just know it has serious luster and we love the way it pops with the gold accents and white tiled wall.

BEFORE backyard deck — **THE BEFORE. Most of you have seen the backyard from the pool here. But we also wanted to update this side of the yard.**

After backyard deck — **THE AFTER. Again we simplified things by reducing the stairs and opening up the area to better entertain your friends and family.**

Before the kitchen — THE BEFORE. I will end this post with the most requested room in the house….the Kitchen! I coined the wall to the left as the ‘isolation wall’ because the cook was literally cut off from the rest of the house. The space was too small to let others into the kitchen with you, yet being fully walled off, you couldn’t even pretend to be a part of the group.

The After. Kitchen looking out to the spacious and inviting living area. — THE AFTER. The kitchen now opens up to the main living area. The high ceilings make it feel more spacious and you still have easy access to the living area downstairs. You should have seen the 10 guys hauling in this massive marble island countertop.

After. Another incredible view of the kitchen with a pretty pop of color in the backsplash. — THE AFTER. Casing out the kitchen sink window instantly made it feel larger and we added the largest window we could find within our time constraints. Now this is a kitchen I can really spend some time in (I probably still won’t cook, but I will spend more time here).

Y’all this house (our Pied-a-Terre) is FOR SALE! We have moved our little family here until the next owners find it and I can whole-heartedly tell you that it’s wonderful! Will you stop by for a drink if you’re ever in Fort Worth? It’s seriously the perfect home for hosting. Tell me the details of this project you want to hear more about. You know I love to share!

Home, Renovation, Travel, Uncategorized

I’m on a Boat and….

October 23, 2018 4 Comments

Lake season in Texas is officially over. Sure, there is more than enough water, but I’m way too cold and full of pumpkin-spiced lattes to trapse around in a bikini. And quiet down now if you are already thinking to yourself that I should never trapse around in a bikini. This is not the place for body-shaming!

To keep my spirits up on chilly days, I like to blare songs from our ever evolving summer boat playlist. They are fun and sunny, but many tend to be so inappropriate. Why is that? Nevertheless, it reminds me of when I first learned the gravity of playing a foul language song to the wrong group.

When I began working for SeaDream (as a Yacht Director on the luxury line) the song ‘I’m On A Boat‘ by The Lonely Island, was released. (Grandma, do not click that link!) What you also need to know about me is that I’m the type of girl that ‘acts first, worries later’. Meaning, I don’t really think of my actions before they occur. This often results in fun. Yet, usually gets me into trouble. While working on SeaDream, I was basically removed from the real world. Week to week I had one goal and one goal only…receive perfect scores on our Voyage surveys. Ok, ok, I wanted to do a good job and be helpful to the rest of our crew. And I genuinely did want the guests to like me. But let me get real with you quickly. I didn’t check Facebook, I didn’t watch TV and I barely emailed with friends and family. I was consumed with creating daily itineraries that catered to the elite traveller. And of course I was constantly responding to Patty’s complaints about the pesky locals not taking the US Dollar (she brought 500 $1 bills to France and she wants to use them). Or maybe I was busy solving Mr. Wienfeld’s issue of needing crab legs for the 4th day in a row (because he didn’t realize we had fresh crab the last 3 days and today we don’t. This is now my problem). All that to say, I heard there was a ‘fun’ new song about being on a boat and didn’t realize the mass amounts of profanity throughout this Boat song. I was the naive world traveller….a ‘flipping tourist’ you might say. (NOTE: It isn’t actually until THIS VERY MOMENT that I am realizing this song was actually a SNL-skit thing. Cleary I’m still out of touch).

I just remember being incredibly ecstatic that an entire song had been written about my current life! Although, if I think about the language that gets thrown around at sea I suppose it shouldn’t have been shocking that the lyrics of a boat song were littered with f-bombs towards your mutha.

Before listening to even one chorus of ‘I’m on a Boat’, I just took it upon myself to download this ballad and blast these tunes through the entire yacht sound system. After about six lines of ‘Mother F*&@?$ boat’ I realized I had made a mistake. An ugly mistake. Our dear Captain wasn’t amused. I mean this is really bad if even lifetime seafarers are officially offended.

Music never really has been my thing.

So what is ‘my thing’? I’m not really sure, but it’s clear I’m always up for taking risks! To me it’s just a way of life. Whether it is risking my career on playing a song to the masses that I didn’t bother to preview yet or just taking a risk in designing and doing things differently. Why live life safe, when you can just LIVE?! (My personal motto is, “it will all just work itself out“. And this honestly bugs my spreadsheet-addict husband. He plans and organizes and over-prepares. For everything. You can imagine how upsetting it is to him to see me throw things at a wall and they actually stick. And look pretty decent too).

You may hear my life motto being mentioned a lot. Oh, also, Jesus has my back. Always.

But returning to the subject at hand. Boats. Growing up allllll I wanted was to have a boat. My parents had a canoe for a short bit. I don’t feel like that fully met my desire. Like not at all. They finally sold it (or donated it. Or sunk it. I need to ask them how one gets rid of an old rusty canoe).

As the years went on my parents would go on cruises and I didn’t get to go on a SINGLE ONE! Not a single one!!! The travesty! I let them know many times over how deprived I felt.

I should have saved myself the whining. If only my younger self knew that I would someday spend 2 years living and working on one of the best boats in the world – SeaDream. (I promise you LOTS more stories coming your way from my years on the water).

Then I found a man who wanted to marry me (sucker) AND he owned a boat. So it should be no surprise to you that our kids also love the water and have a boat obsession.

When it came time to move our oldest son from a crib to a bed we felt like we had one solid option to ensure this little guy would l~~ove~~ stay put all night in his new sleeping arrangement:

A BOAT.

We had just moved into a new home (the 3rd home for our 2-year-old boy). His new room was so spacious. We couldn’t just do a bed that looked like a boat. We knew we wanted to take an actual boat and make it look like a bed.

Down we trekked to Eagle Mountain Lake and let the Harbor Master know that our young son loved to sail. This kind man found us an old sailboat that he was thrilled to give to a young sailor. And construction began.

A new paint job (royal blue for that authentic nautical look) and a platform to fit a twin-sized mattress. Heath and Johnny Madison spent a few weekends getting the boat prepped to set sail up our staircase. Meanwhile, I hunted for a PG version of ‘I’m on a boat’. Doesn’t exist.

Friday afternoon was boat move-in day. And it started raining as soon as the 5 man crew arrived to hoist the ~~sails~~ boat over the banister. I wanted to panic but remembered a boat is built for water. Still to this day, I couldn’t believe we made a 14-foot sailboat fit up our stairs and into our sons room.

Moving in the boat — ***It took 6 strong men and an equipment loader to bring in our 2 year olds bed. And they say kids are spoiled these days…***

How many guys does it take to slide a boat into a bedroom. — **This was the point of no return. It had been hoisted up the stairs. Now we all prayed it would fit thru the doorway.**

The boat bed fits! — ***Can you believe this beast fit?!?! Our movers certainly have ‘choice’ words for us after this move.***

That night we told our son ‘bon voyage’. He climbed in his new bed and slept all night. We think….Heath and I celebrated with several margaritas so it is possible that we just snoozed right through it.

Ready for America's Cup — **Our version of the ‘America’s Cup‘ is: Whoever sleeps past 7am wins Gold!**

Narrow Draft on the boat bed — **Thankfully this boat has a shallow draft (I’m sure that means something to real sailors, but to me it just meant it could fit through a doorway!)**

Will you please tell me a song you have accidentally played to the wrong crowd?! Or share your favorite boat songs so I can add them to my playlist for next summer!

Blog, Party, Renovation

Pied-à-Terre Par-tay

October 17, 2018 No Comments

Last week I finally introduced you to our ‘Pied-à-terre’. Our House in the City. She would be a Plastic Surgeon’s dream (Just in house form). She has great bones and is well-kept. She just needed a serious refresh. As I write this, most of her walls have already been torn down and she now gleams with brand new sheetrock and a layout that suits her much better.

And just as a Plastic Surgeon would do, we took tons of before photos. But because our life as home renovators allows us to have a bit more fun with our ‘patients’ than actual surgeons are probably allowed (HIPPA hasn’t reached the construction business yet), we also threw a party to show her off! Before and After photos are so important, but getting to celebrate your work and let your friends and family actually see the process is so fun for us.

Since the ‘pied-à-terre’ (home in the city) has a pool, we knew how we needed to kick off the renovation:

Pool Party!

Seriously though, if you are doing updates or renovations to a home, I want to encourage you to throw a little shindig for friends and family. As I’ve mentioned, ‘before’ photos just don’t do a project justice (although I’m going to flood you with plenty of ‘before’ pics anyway. See a few here). It’s more fun to let people into the space. Here is how we kept it simple and stress-free (because the party shouldn’t stress you out. Home Renovation that gets to take the ‘stress’ glory)!

Impromptu ‘BEFORE’ Pool Party came timeline:

Thursday morning: Having just returned home from Thailand, we rushed to get papers signed on this home and line up our crew. We realized demo wouldn’t start until the following Monday – we literally looked at each other this morning and both had the same idea. “Let’s throw a party on Saturday“. It was 110º daily so we coined it the ‘Dog Days of Demo Preview Party‘. I quickly created an online invitation. I typically use Paperless Post, but this time I tried MINTED’s online invitations.

Minted invitation - too hot to hammer — **Too Hot to Hammer!**

Friday mid-day (more importantly still nearing 110 freaking degrees outside): We decided it was seriously too hot to cook and way to hot to offer a cook-out. Heck, the heat made it barely possible to breathe. With Heath devoting his time to his renovating spreadsheets and my brainstorming the details that truly make for a good party, we decided we didn’t have time to home cook for this little shindig. We would need to ‘cater’ the dinner. We fell back on an old favorite that is always a hit. First, let me give you a quick back story – Prior to meeting Heath, I had been ordering fried chicken from a hamburger joint. He has blessed my life tremendously by introducing me to the best fried chicken on God’s green earth. Even if you aren’t a fan of that type of food, this joint has a recipe that will leave your mouth watering. And preggo mammas…just get ready to give them all your money….

Saturday afternoon: We call CHICKEN EXPRESS. Oh ya baby! Locals know this joint as Chicken E and their corn nuggets are the crown jewel to the combo of fried chicken and mac ‘n cheese. We also stocked up on various frozen desserts. As I type this and salivate, I may never allow Heath to cater with boring Ahi Tuna and those silly charcuterie boards again. (I jest. My mouth is salivating again). Regardless, fried food is always a win. And are you like me? Do you somehow put on a bikini and all of a sudden crave fried, buttery foods? What is up with that?

Saturday 4:30pm: With 30 minutes before the party started we quickly set up. We didn’t have to do the silly pre-party cleaning. Nope. Didn’t need bother dusting a darn thing. No need….who was going to judge? The only thing we did to truly prepare the home was use spray paint to outline as many of the changes as we could. We wanted to give a good visual to anyone really interested in which walls would move, where the coveted kitchen island would go and how large the master bath would be.

When your party is so on brand you can use the decor dump truck to help bring in party supplies.

PARTY TIME: The adults had a great time walking the space and we loved describing the future of this home. The kids were allowed to paint, glue and color ANYWHERE they wanted (Although Tide stain remover for their clothing would have been a nice parting gift. Next time!). We had fully functioning bathrooms so the drinks could flow easily and no one even had to dry off from swimming to relieve themselves. I accidentally put the ice cream in the refrigerator instead of the freezer, but not one single parent stressed about their kids spilling the soupy dessert. It was just good ‘ole laid back summertime fun!

Party Setup — **Fried chicken, sweet rolls in a dump truck, silverware in a Home Depot apron and paint supplies for kids.**

Easy to brand a construction party when your child owns all the toy trucks.

Party Painting — **We can’t be held responsible for kids leaving this party and trying to paint their own walls at home.**

Saturday 9pm: Clean up lasted all of THREE minutes. The Demo crew would be there to enhance the party mess on Monday so no need to even sweep up crumbs. We did throw the remains of the food and plates in the trash (because we aren’t total savages).

party girl — **Ta-Da! Party clean up was a breeze. Grabbed the dump truck and headed on home.**

While this party really had nothing to do with the actual renovation, it was so fun to share our project with others. Our desire was that we would complete the full renovation project in enough time to throw a reveal pool party as well. Unfortunately, the cold rain is now pouring down in Texas so pool season is over and I regret my complaints about the heat (it wasn’t that miserable, was it?). But this home boasts an amazing backyard, so maybe an evening of s’mores and decor is in our near future! We can’t wait to show you the final product!

Before showing where the stairs will go — **Soon enough I’ll show you the reveal photos!**

If you remodel, what are ways you make the process feel special? If you don’t personally like to renovate, what makes seeing others progress so exciting?

Home, Party, Renovation

Pied-á-Terre

October 5, 2018 4 Comments

Brown on Brown on Brown. — ***All wood. All day. And brown accents everywhere you glance. This home was well cared for but definitely dated and crying out for a refresh!***

Claustrophobic Kitchen. — On my InstaStories, I referred to that wall of cabinets as the ‘Segregation Wall’. This is the entire Kitchen. All of it. And if you’re cooking you don’t get to be part of ANY of the fun your guests are having because you can’t see beyond the stove and it’s too small for your friends to fit in the space to help you.

Downstairs but not downtrodden — This is going to be such a cool hangout space. It was added on by the original owners, but we are going to make it feel cozier and create a proper bathroom and laundry room. This will become the area that fully completes this family-ready home! OH…and BYE-BYE popcorn ceilings!

There is no perfect remodel home. Some are completely trashed and you need a hazmat suit just to get started. Some have been vacant and infiltrated with pests and ‘pets’ (read: raccoons and their furry friends, squirrels and cats).

But occasionally you find that easy breezy remodel home. The one that has been well-loved, yet it is dated and needs a fresh update (this is also how I typically describe myself!).

These remodels are so fun for us as parents because we can actually take our kids into the home throughout the renovation without third world style vaccines or having the fear of death by impalement or toxicities. (Sure…it’s also nice for us as grown ups too. I have a good sense of smell and I promise you no amount of Febreeze can hide the scent of untrained animals).

Our current project falls into the ‘we could move right in, but we prefer to make it a #1 Stunna’. And we shall call this project the ‘Pied-á-Terre’ (home in the city) because:

1. The term is French. We LOVE anything french: This French toast recipe similar to Norma’s, French braids, French promenades along the southern coast of France and of course French fries. Even our dog is French, people!

Moiselle. Our FRENCH dog — You didn’t think I was going to mention our little Bichon Frise/Shih Tzu without showing her did you? Moiselle will make an appearance anytime I can sneak her in (standby for the story of her missing and being found after nearly 5 months).

As I write this, we are currently living in out the country. 30+ long minutes away from family, friends and the city of Fort Worth we love. We honestly needed a ‘home in the city’.

So while we will sell our Pied-á-Terre before the Autumn leaves are done falling, this project is our little home away from home as long as you don’t mind a home with live wires, exposed nails and subfloor (hint: we don’t mind). But better than even the location, is that it has a pool. We seriously are doing this project at the perfect time. What a waste it would have been to have renovated a home with a pristine pool in December?!

Hidden pool. — ***There is a pool back there…you just can’t see it because the railing is blocking it. Don’t worry…we will enhance your view post renovation!***

Look how HUGE this pool is! Check back in soon and I’ll tell you how to throw a quick and easy Renovation Party! We invited everyone over for a pre-reno swim (Pro-Tip: more people come if it’s for a swim party vs. having to do ACTUAL work).

Don’t get me wrong. Just because this home was technically move-in ready, doesn’t mean that we aren’t completely changing the footprint and going full resurrection mode to bring this charming home up to date. Every room has changed in ways that will enhance this living space for the next owners and we can’t wait to show you!

I am late in sharing this current project with you all, so it will feel almost like an episode of HGTV because the big reveal is just a few weeks away. Do you want to see the progress photos? Or maybe you’d like to see how quickly our budget spreadsheet changed. When the ideas flow….the money flows along with it…..

Have you ever thought about renovating? What scares or excites you the most about it?

Blog, Travel

SeaDream Yard Sale

August 28, 2018 6 Comments

The summer travel season is winding down. And vacation memories (or possibly some nightmares), are all that remains. Of course some of us may have possible scarring from 3rd degree sunburns (not mentioning names) or something more pleasant like a new pair of slippers you snuck from your hotel room. We can debate later whether or not hotels intend for you to take them or not. I say “YES”, because ewwww….those slippers better not get reused! Have you seen the lack of hygiene of other tourists? Anyone who wants to argue differently, I will kindly ask you to think about some of the tourists you have seen wandering the streets of any city. Not everyone has the same hygiene standards as you. So, again. Ewwww. If those hotel slippers are meant to be reused, I don’t want any part of that hotel life.

Or maybe you brought home something more substantial from your hotel room? Willing to admit it? Here is a look back at an email I sent home to my friends and family during my time working as the Yacht Director on board SeaDream. Before we dive into the email unveiling the behind the scenes of yachting life, let me set the scene for you.

SeaDream is a luxury high-end yacht (think Four Seasons on water). Our typical clientele would leave behind better amenities and clothing than I have actually purchased in my lifetime.
When I sent this email, there had been a bit of an economic downturn and that lead a few of our clients to cancel their charter voyages meaning the yacht could sit empty for a few weeks. (These were either individuals who needed to reign in their frivolous 200K yachting adventures. Lame. Or the cancelations came from companies who didn’t want to be publicly blasted for letting go of employees all while executives dined on Caviar and Moet. Won’t name any names, but feel free to DM me.
Those vacant charter weeks needed to be filled quickly with guests and that lead to a few very, very, very inexpensive voyages that anyone from the masses could purchase. Although we shouldn’t pretend that what is described in the below email only occurs when discount voyages are offered. Trust me. Seriously, trust me…this could (and would) happen with guests of any financial bracket. I learned quickly that money didn’t buy class (but more typically sass or ass). Although, those living in more normal financial realms did tend to bring bigger bags to haul home free swag.

The scene has been set. Here is my email update from 2009:

Hello from the Sunny Carib!

So it’s back to work for me and while SeaDream keeps sailing full, this ‘economic crisis’ is making our guests a bit crazy. Actually, I don’t know if crazy is the word – maybe just straight up THIEFS is more fitting! When I arrived on board in San Juan, it was turn-over day to prepare for the new guests. We also make note of all things missing. I would like to just quickly inventory a few of the items guests decided were ‘included’ in the price of the voyage (or possibly part of a stimulus package?), because they just loaded up their suitcases with the following:

◦ Duvet, Duvet cover, top and bottom sheet and 4 pillow cases (I suppose they tried getting the mattress and box spring too, but their luggage didn’t allow enough room). NOTE: What kind of bad juju dreams do you think one has sleeping under contraband bedding?

◦ The Sunscreen/Self Tanner/Body Mists that we sell were removed from their luxury packaging very delicately. And then the empty boxes placed back on shelf. (I hope they are stupid enough to hide it in their Carry-On, so some mean man at airport security gets to confiscate those stolen liquids) NOTE: We kept full size items in staterooms with purchase information so guests could easily decide they wanted our $100 Clarins Self-Tanner. Sadly for this stateroom guest we could see they tried to hide their theft, and in return we are happily charging the credit card we have on file. (insert spooky ‘buahhhhaaaahhaa’ laugh).

◦ Crystal jewelry boxes that are in the staterooms. And they say SeaDream on them!!! How tacky/obvious is that going to be in someones house??! Or was this a gift for someone back home. (NOTE: I hope the recipient stumbles across this blog one day and realizes that their mother in law actually stole the item gifted to them so many years ago).

◦ All but TWO of the golf balls from our Golf Simulator – oh, thank you so much. Oh, wait. There was a reason they left those two balls – Because those two were both cracked. The fun part is we actually know who took the golf balls! How? Because that particular couple asked for the Stewardess to help them with something in their room, but didn’t close their suitcase before she arrived (isn’t there a blog about stupid criminals? It’s not exactly criminal what they did, but sure fits the description). Unfortunately we didn’t approach them about this before departure because their stewardess was too nice to tell on them until after they left. The Filipino culture is incredibly kind! All the time!

Golf Simulator. But you're gonna need some balls. — **Play 65 courses around the world. Unless someone stole all the Titleist.**

This voyage we might as well just offer a ‘Yard Sale’ in our Daily Program – SeaDream might make some extra money this way and I could count it as an ‘Activity’ – everybody wins!

Hummer bikes on SeaDream — **We kept 10 Hummer Bikes on board and I now I know why we lock them up at night. (Photo from Santorini, Greece)**

It’s actually great to be back…well other than the fact that I’m already sunburned, tired, and having a daily internal fight with myself to NOT walk past the pastry shop (it turns out that even when I tell myself I’ll just ‘walk by, have a sniff, and say Hello’, I somehow consume 2 brownies, banana bread, and soufflé – and that’s on a self-controlled day).

And honestly, if you would like to come on board for SeaDream’s next yard sale just let me know – they are giving me super cheap rates for my family and friends for the Caribbean, the crossing and the Mediterranean – and bring an extra piece of luggage, in case there is a TV or Bicycle on board that you may want to sneak home!

Surprised they didn’t take my keyboard too,

Meredith

I’m so thankful I saved all these emails! I hope you are too!

Oh! I also have an update regarding the Pastry shop struggle I mentioned. I gained my usual cruise weight and loved every minute of it. There are no better Pastry Chefs than those on board SeaDream. Thankfully their kitchen equipment is kept safe from our delinquent passengers in the bows of the ship!

What is the wildest thing you have come home with from your travels? Come on….admit it….there has to be something you’ve taken?!

Thanks for reading! Eat well and Travel often! Love, Meredith

Blog, Travel, Uncategorized

Thaim for Meat

July 31, 2018 4 Comments

“I help you.”

The story of a Brisket, Spicy Spaghetti Sauce and Thailand Immigration control.

Banyan Tree pool with our meat luggage — ***Swimming up to the prettiest luggage carrying the juiciest meat. Featuring the BEST LUGGAGE***

To start things from the very beginning, let’s go back to the week before we departed for our two-week vacation to Thailand. I was headed to meet a friend and her kiddos for an impromptu play date (one of many outings to stave off the mom-guilt pre-departure). En route to meet our friends, Heath called and said I needed to meet him. He had just picked up the frozen, vacuumed-sealed Brisket we would take to serve as our lunch on Day 4 of the sailing portion of the Thailand trip.

So I had to call my Vegan friend and let her know that I was canceling our date….because of a ‘Meat Situation’. How’s that for furthering her beliefs in avoiding animal meat.

I rushed that 6 lb. baby brisket home and stored her in the freezer. Along with our Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage, the spicy spaghetti sauce, and Central Market jalapeño sausages. These would all make the trek to Thailand and need to be as frozen as possible before we travelled for 32 straight hours.

Tasting the Spicy Sausage Spaghetti sauce — **If you promise not to tell the other sailors, I might have double-dipped on sampling this mouth-watering spicy sausage sauce we froze for flight to Thailand.**

Fast forward to the afternoon of departure and we filled a soft-sided YETI cooler with freezer packs and our frozen goods. Said a quick prayer over the bag (there is nothing too silly to say prayers over. God loves to provide!) (we use a vacuum sealer like this: Vacuum seal for better frozen transport!)

Dallas to Houston Hobby. Bags made it!

Press play to see how smooth rolling AWAY LUGGAGE is. Even filled with household supplies and scrumptious meat!

We loaded an Uber with all 5 bags. Checked in at Houston international and checked all bags onto Phuket. Houston to Taipei and the air temperature was -65* so we knew our cooler would be just fine! Taipei to Bangkok. Bangkok to Phuket.

**-67* Outside Air Temperature. Perfect frozen food flying weather!**

Standing at the baggage belt it is always thrilling to see your bags come thru the little window. 1, then 2 and finally all 4 checked bags appeared. Considering how many millions of people a day travel, I find it miraculous when bags arrive after an itinerary like that. I know sometimes we can get heated and frustrated when our bags don’t make it to our final destination, but isn’t it actually amazing that they can? But that is a conversation for another day.

Not wanting to celebrate too early, we walked confidently towards baggage immigration. Four bags went thru the scanner…and only three came out.

We came face to face with an Immigration officer looking at us incredibly confused. AHHHH! I looked at Heath and asked him what was in that one. Under his breath with ventriloquist lips he said, “the meat”. (Did I mention we brought knives, a waffle skillet, HORRIBLY tacky khaki pleated pants for a costume party. All things that could have been offensive to Thai Immigration).

Somehow I was the one requested to open the offending suitcase. And then to open the YETI cooler tucked inside. As we stood next to the two large banners explaining the ZERO tolerance for bringing in fruit, the immigration officer pulled out the spaghetti sauce.

Friends, insert the age-old debate determining if tomatoes are a fruit OR a vegetable. Which side did my immigration friend fall on? Does he know what spaghetti sauce is based upon?

The language barrier stopped us a bit…but Heath intervened announcing, “it’s a sauce. Made with lots of tomatoes. TOMATOES.”. I looked at him wide-eyed and whispered, “STOP. SAYING. THAT WORD.

Heath:, “huh?”.

Me: with gritted teeth, “Stop saying ‘tomatoes’.”

Then our immigration friend spotted the Brisket.

“What is this?”, he asked. We quickly pulled out an ice pack and said, ‘Oh this is just an ice pack”.

With a giggle he very obviously pointed to the brisket.

Ohhhhh that! Heath responded, “It’s cooked meat. Smoked. Brisket. You know it? It is cooked.”. (because only monsters would bring raw meat?)

The immigration officer asked us how many we had. We proclaimed, “only one sir!”. I mean, again, we aren’t monsters.

So there we stood with 6 lbs of USA meat and a bag of tomatoes.

He turned to Heath and said, “I help you.”. (WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!)

We remained confused as he walked to a desk, opened the top drawer, lifted a yellow legal notepad and grabbed a crinkled well-worn pamphlet from underneath. You know, the kind of pamphlet that looks like it’s been in your back pocket for about a week.

I knew this is where the Immigration Officer would show us line by line how we’d have to leave this all behind. All I could think of was how I wished I had eaten more of the spicy sausage spaghetti sauce now. What a waste…I started hoping that he would at least take it home to let his family try it (and you know me…I was going to beg him to let them try…tell the full story of how we made it, annoying him with my long-winded story hoping it would bless his family).

But in flash, he just placed the pamphlet in my hand and began gesturing for us to go ahead and enter Phuket. Contraband and all! What? Was this were we should have snuck him a $20? We didn’t know and didn’t want to cause more trouble so we just packed it up, bowed profusely, and thanked him a million times. Then sped to our transfer car waiting outside.

As we drove away from the airport, Heath and I high-fived each other in disbelief that we got away with it all. I pulled the ratty old pamphlet from my purse to have a look. Wait! What? He had given us a pamphlet about Quarantining your pets.

Please quarantine your pets! — **The well-worn pamphlet that somehow allowed us to bring in USA meats and fruits.**

Immigration rules not applying to food. — **None of this applied to Brisket or spaghetti sauce. But I suppose that was the point? Thank you Thailand!**

Oh my gosh!!! This Thailand trip is going to be amazing! No rules….just real good fun!

What have you ‘snuck’ into a country before? Any wild things you’ve travelled with that made you nervous? You know I love a good story…let me know!

Blog, Travel, Uncategorized

Passport Pickle: Your Passport is a really big dill

April 17, 2018 4 Comments

Sorry not sorry for the puns. You gotta get playful with words when discussing boring governmental documents. There is nothing jolly about taking a 1 inch square photo resembling a mugshot and filling out paperwork ensuring (despite mugshot appearance) you are not a threat to society.

Passports are no laughing matter. The first thing a ticket agent will ask you for at airport arrival is your current documentation. And no amount of sweet-talking, candy bribing behavior will get you on a flight. Expired or forgotten passport? Kiss your camelback ride thru the dunes of the Sahara goodbye. The good news is that Gate Agent Vicki isn’t even going to let you check your bags, so at least you still have all your stuff. ‘Cause you ain’t going anywhere!

Stamps in a passport — **Can’t fill your passport with fancy stamps while it’s sitting in your top drawer at home. No one cares that you ‘remember right where you left it’.**

Disaster aside, you can still have a good time when handling issues that may arise due to this important document. Or lack there of, as the case may be.

Read todays post and file it away

Because Passport dilemmas happen everyday.

And yes, even to you Mr. ‘Type A’.

And oh boy, if you fall into that ‘detail-oriented, organized, Type A’ personality category, a passport mishap will majorly stress you out. I don’t fall into that category so let my “skill” of navigating solutions to self-inflicted disasters help you.

Before I left for for Iceland and Ireland last month, my sister Molly came over for dinner and to get settled in to stay with my kids for the weekend. She would be joining us in Ireland the following Thursday.

Or would she?

Molly mentioned that she sent her passport off to be renewed 8 weeks prior and still hadn’t received it back. Umm, this was concerning me. To me! The girl who wings EVERYTHING and never pays to rush packages because I just want to roll the dice. But I knew the average turn-around time for passports (currently) was about 3-4 weeks. Something was up. I brushed aside my initial curiosity that they were heavily investigating for something my sister was framed for. That only happens in movies, right?

The only other explanation was that her passport was stuck or lost or something. It really didn’t matter. All that did matter was that she had a flight leaving the country in 4 days and needed to come up with Plan B. She’s cute ya’ll, but cute don’t cut it at Border Patrol. Immigration Officers only want to see your mugshot in book form.

We first made several phone calls to the Passport Helpline. There are too many safety measures for anyone on the phone to really help you. They couldn’t investigate as it would be ‘invasion of privacy’ and could only tell us to call back 72 hours prior to departure. I wanted to solve this because my empathy levels always score high. Knowing she would be back home frantic for a passport, would impede my personal travel enjoyment. Or does that just make me selfish? Do not answer that!

How did we solve this debacle? We were lucky that we lived only 1 hour from a real life Passport office. I was able to make her an appointment online for 10:30 the next morning. This was perfect. She had to wake up at 6am. With my 2 toddlers. And drop Heath and I off at the airport.

She would then have just enough time to drive the hour (with my energetic children) to make her morning appointment. The Passport office only sees people with proof of travel within the next 2 weeks. While they can do same day passports, they often ask for you to come back again the following day. It would be a 3 hour investment of her time. This was made extra fun as she kept a 2 yr old and a 4 year old entertained. (I thought of her often while sipping prosecco at 40,000 feet en route to Iceland). Thankfully she had an early morning appointment because after a lot of back and forth, they finally agreed to produce a passport for her at 3pm. Perfect because that gave her time to circle Dallas while the kids (my kids) napped. Then it was back to the Passport Office.

Auntie Moo and kids with Passport — **It was such special bonding time for an Aunt and her Niece and Nephew solving real life governmental documentation problems.**

The only thing more unfortunate than spending a day with little kids at a governmental office, is that they made her retake her photo. She was totally unprepared and is probably going to kill me for sharing these photos.

Passport comparison photos — The photo on the left was taken intentionally. 8 weeks before she travelled. A bit of makeup and properly blow dried hair hides the death-like stare that CAN NOT be avoided in photo on the right. But pride has to be put aside when you need to fly!

Molly in Ireland — **Molly made it!! Crisp new passport in hand. Only slightly more important then our fancy wedding fascinators.**

In case you find yourself without your little blue book and you are 2 weeks from travel then you need to STOP READING this! Find the nearest Passport Office HERE.

Take your extra passport photo with you (if you don’t have one bring lipstick and a comb. You can pay to have one taken there).
Plan to spend the day there, or block off the following morning to return for pick up. (This may turn into your Pre-vacation. Without the booze or sunshine).
Bring proof of international travel (your flight is preferred vs. just a hotel reservation).
You must make an appointment (This can be done HERE)
And bring money as the expedited fees will be added in. (Oh look, spending extra cash…it really is like a mini-vacation).
Oh…and leave your weapons at home. Although, it seems they do allow children so that rule seems fuzzy to me.

Other tips to help you avoid last minute Passport frantics:

Your passport needs to be valid for at least 6 months beyond your travel dates. If you don’t travel often, check your passport when booking flights to be sure you don’t need to update anything. If you travel often, you probably have your passport memorized in the same brain bank as your home phone number. And you might run out of pages before you even need to renew. (NOTE: You can no longer add pages to a Passport)!
As I type this I could almost promise you that you’d get your USA Passport back within 3-4 weeks. But plan for 6-8 weeks to be safe. And feel free to borrow my children should you need to make a run to the passport office. They are now experienced.
Keep your packing list short! Sometimes we get so bogged down by jewelry and clothing options that we forget the most obvious. No matter where I’m going, I recite the mantra: “Passport and Credit Card. Passport and Credit Card”. As long as I have both of these things, I can take care of anything lost/forgotten/stolen.
Keep a photo of your passport on your phone. This won’t really help you fly if you don’t have it in hand (I’ve been with friends who have tried). But it will make replacing it easier and quicker when abroad. This would involve help at an Embassy. More on that another day.
Passport Offices can also be used for Life or Death emergencies. You must provide all the usual application documentation in addition to proof of the life or death emergency. Proof of an emergency includes a death certificate (translated), a statement from a mortuary, or a signed letter from a hospital or medical professional.

Want more passport stories?

Listen in as my friend Koula shares how she solved her visa situation abroad HERE and HERE.

And you have to hear how my friend Brice solved his forgotten passport story while in Puerto Rico. It’s GENIOUS and you can listen HERE.

Tell me in the comments – what problems or solutions have you encountered! I’d love to share more!

Passport lost in snow — **Can you imagine all the important things that are found when the snow melts at ski resorts?**

Blog, Family Travel, Travel

SITTER SANITY – the splurge you don’t want to screw up!

March 8, 2018 2 Comments

Important Tip: When to splurge on a babysitter for your family vacation.

In case you’re already loading the car with 2 ankle-biters that won’t let you enjoy today’s blog, let me be blunt with the answer: Night two and Night four. For the rest of you, let me explain!

Please note that I didn’t say ‘if’ or ‘possibly’. Or for heaven’s sake, “we will think about it”. Trust me. Stop thinking and JUST! HIRE! THE! BABYSITTER! Unless you are raising perfect children a la ‘Leave It To Beaver’ (in which case this whole blog is probably obscene to you), you are going to need a break from the little ones. They depend solely on you for their survival and if you are literally keeping other humans alive, how are YOU getting a break on this so-called ‘vacation’?!

Wild times with the kids at the pool. — **Look at me! I’m a total super mom. Reality: pool was freezing. Greenley was whining. Johnny Madison wanted a different drink. I was on my fourth drink. It was 11am!**

Total cool mom wannabe move. — **Now I’m really laying it on thick. No seriously, I’m such a cool mom. Look how fun I am! Kids are not convinced.**

You think raising kids at home is challenging? Take them on a trip, deprive them of sleep, add in extra sugar and then use that overly cheery voice to bribe smiles out of them for photos all day long. Trust me. Someone is going to lose it and you don’t want it to be you! (Otherwise your cute little San Francisco family vacation will become known as ‘that week mom threw all our cookies out of the car and stomped on them’ or some equally frightful memory they will share about you for the remainder of their life).

While a babysitter won’t prevent all meltdowns completely, it will absolutely give everyone a break from the routine and something new to look forward to. And ya ya, I know. Mommy and Daddy look forward to the break more than the kids. But let’s remember who is paying for this trip. Check all your guilt at the hotel lobby! (Easier to do with cocktail in hand).

I have gone off track…but hope you are still sold on my idea…you MUST splurge on a babysitter during your family ~~vacation~~ trip. And to maximize the babysitting benefits there is one rule to follow: The nights you use this luxury. (My rule applies to any adventure that is 4 days or longer).

Book your sitter for Night two and Night four. Here is why:

Night one: Everyone is excited for the time away together. You are delirious from a day of travel and your personal excitement has you confused on how much work this trip is really going to be. Hang with your family and suck every bit of fun out of tonight because reality will set in tomorrow. (Oh ya, you’re also probably super tired from the travel day. Don’t try to be a hero by partying late tonight).

Night two: Get the sitter! DO NOT get caught up in the vacation high and think you can wait. Utilize the sitter while YOU are still fresh and while YOU can fully have fun with your spouse and/or friends. Do you need to get away already on Night 2? No! But that IS! THE! POINT! It will feel like a total luxurious splurgy vacation to go out. You can have drinks, laugh a ton and engage in lively conversation before your kids have sucked the life out of you. (Don’t nay-say me! They will suck the life out of you).

Heath peddling the kids like a boss — **Your load literally gets lighter if you treat yo ‘self to a babysitter on these family trips! Imagine biking to dinner without schlepping the entire family for once!**

Night three: You just had a sitter last night. Let’s not be greedy. You aren’t your children’s surrogate. You are their actual parent so spend an evening with them. Geez. (plus, you might be hungover/rundown from the prior night of fun. Just saying…).

**Still fresh! And loving time with the kids. This was Night 3 on a trip to Watercolor. These smiles won’t look as authentic on Night 5. #trustme**

Night four: You’ve now traveled with the kids and have spent several days of constant contact with them (minus that super fun night where you went out!). If you are true human (not those supermoms only seen on Instagram), your energy is probably waning. Take advantage of another night of fun before stage/night 5 exhaustion sets in. I hate to slap you with a fat dose of reality, but tonight is probably the last night you’ll still feel energetic on this special family getaway. Take advantage once again and let the sitter watch your kiddos while you reward yourself with the surrounding of other adults. Cocktails! Sunsets! Ooey-Gooey desserts! You know, the things that travel brochures hook you with. Have you looked closely at a proper travel brochure? There aren’t real children actually enjoying those moments. My family vacation photos have one screaming kid, while another one is covered in spaghetti sauce coloring on the wall. But not night four. Parents own night four! It’s the night when you load up your phone with vacation photos that make everyone jealous of your relaxing getaway.

Night five: If you didn’t heed my advice and get a sitter on the previous nights mentioned above (eye roll), then go ahead and go for it….but you’re going to be tired. I promise. At this point you’ve gone 5 straight days of playing the role of ‘Super-fun, active mom and rockstar wife who doesn’t really require sleep’. And this role play comes after you spent 2 full days packing and prepping the entire family for this ‘vacation’. Night five is when us mortals feel reality setting in. If you get a babysitter you’ll spend half your evening going back and forth from being excited for the night away…to just wishing you could be the one at home in bed…to being grateful you had the chance to get away…to just deciding to call it a night and get to bed early. Night five can be neurotic. Paying for outside help at this point can only increase those feelings of neurosis. #saveyourdollars

Nights 6-10: Fancy dinner reservations at this point will just not be as enjoyable. You’ve been immensely indulgent on vacation food for nearly a week now. You’re exhausted by all the extreme entertaining of tiny humans you’ve been doing. While a fancy night out is better than nothing…I promise you it won’t be near as enjoyable as doing this same type of date night while you were still fresh in the week! When my husband and I get all ‘fancy pants’ and hire another sitter towards the end of a vacation we have a SOLID method to making it work. Sitter comes late afternoon. We just grab happy hour, a sunset and then dessert. Just because we can’t stomach another full dinner doesn’t mean my belly can’t find room for cocktails and sweets. And don’t think we are sticking it out late night. We instruct the sitter to put those kids to bed at 7:30pm and we roll in at 7:32pm. Robes on by 7:34. Snoring by 7:35.

Some of you are all-star moms and love soaking up every moment with your kids. I love to soak up many minutes with my kids too. But my kids need a break from me. Or maybe they know I need the break, so they never mind when a lively, different version of ‘mom’ shows up to love on them for a few hours.

It can absolutely be a bit odd to try out a new sitter away from home, but we live in the 21st century. Recommendations can be found easily via your virtual network online. Major destinations also offer babysitting services (read: they are more verified and background checked than the Sorority girl you use at home just based solely on the idea that she pledged the same letters as you.). And if you are staying in a hotel they usually have their own sitters that they can recommend (and typically work for the hotel, therefore are vetted heavily!).

So! Freaking! Tired! Because this was night 5. Remember Night 5 and beyond: Stay home OR do the happy hour and sunset date. (This doesn’t apply to the Justin Bieber’s and Lindsey Lohan’s of the parenting world. Some people can party like it’s their job).

Full Disclosure: I screwed up on my babysitting tips during a recent trip to Cabo San Lucas. We didn’t book all of our sitters right away (as I recommend) and by the time I remembered to call back to the front desk, the only additional time they had available was the dreaded night 5. So we took what we could get but by night 5 we were so exhausted from playing the role of ‘wildly fun mom/dad’ in the hot Mexican sunshine for hours. By the time we made it to our private dinner reservation we could barely hold an interesting conversation. We literally talked about the pretty sunset, the deliciously crafted cocktail and then decided we really didn’t need dessert. I mean I had more stimulating conversation as I negotiated with spanish-speaking trinket sellers on the beach than I did with my own husband that night. And the only thing I was negotiating at dinner with him was getting the waiter to bring the check mid-appetizer. We were so tired! Let my mistakes help make your next trip a success.

Haggling for trinkets on the beach — **I was haggling for trinkets, not trying to arrange babysitting services here. Please – be responsible and use a trusted sitter on vacation!**

It is truly my {current} life mission to help everyone enjoy travel. Children are our greatest gift and they deserve to see the world. So many parents tell me, ‘”It’s just too hard to travel with the kids”. Hired help is a great way for you to find some sanity on your next trip!

Still nervous about getting a babysitter? Here are my final tips:

In a hotel ask the concierge (call ahead of time or ask as soon as you check-in for the best options). Some resorts even have kids clubs! We loved this one at our hotel in Dingle, Ireland
If you are renting a home ask the property manager about babysitting services or use Facebook for what it is actually meant for – getting connected with someone! (Note: If your children are wild heathens and you are trying to keep your AirB&B rating at 5 stars, I wouldn’t use the homeowners niece for this service).
Some cities (Fort Worth, NYC, North Carolina for example) have drop-in play care services! It’s an ingenious method that is growing and I will continue to hunt more of these options down in cities we are scheduled to travel to and keep you updated. This is a brilliant and safe way to give yourself a break!

What is your favorite family vacation spot?

Travel, Uncategorized

CheerioooOH NO my laptop is gone.

March 1, 2018 4 Comments

Leaving my purse with all my cash at a pay phone in Sevilla. Booking my flight home from San Juan TWO weeks later than my husband (found this out at the airport when I couldn’t check in). Missing my fight by 3 minutes because I just wanted one more sushi roll in Miami. Crashing my 4-wheeler in Mexican sand dunes. Twice. All things I’ve actually done. #survivor. And my trip to Africa didn’t ‘disappoint’ as I can now add another heart-stopping story to the list.

After a relaxing afternoon spent napping and lounging in my London hotel room (a day room at the Sofitel London Heathrow) we headed to the airport. The hotel is just a 20 minute cab ride to Terminal 3 where my flight that evening would depart. It was such a perk having that day room and getting to shower and lallygag around all afternoon. But we quickly rushed out in hopes we could grab a pint in the lounge preflight. Lounges mean you get to avoid terrifying airport food.

Cheese layered salad is not a salad. It is cheese — **Things I DID NOT eat on my London layover. Cheese layered salad. So basically, cheese?**

My flight that evening to Cape Town, South Africa would depart at 6:10pm.

4:41pm. I neared the security belt and bent over to grab my computer out of the assigned pocket in my carry-on backpack and place it on the tray table. S#@T. It wasn’t in there. Panic. Looked inside my rolling bag. No luck. F%$*!!!!!!!! The look on Shelley’s face, my very experienced and organized companion, was priceless. In her shock she was certain that I had placed it elsewhere. This is possible as I’m not totally organized, but I know myself better than that. My characteristic that trumps my disorganization is forgetfulness. I looked her straight in the eyes and said, “I know I left it sitting on the bedside table. I remember leaving it there. I’ll be back”. Then I darted.

Have you seen Phoebe from ‘Friends’ running? Her arms waving wildly and legs all askew. Every limb independent of the other. That was exactly what I looked like as I took off to hail a taxi. My carry-on and purse flailing behind me.

Phoebe running wildly — **Visual reference for anyone that missed F-R-I-E-N-D-S. Please tell me you already knew what I was describing.**

Of course you can’t just grab any cab outside the busy Heathrow airport. But I didn’t realize that because in times of distress I don’t do anything intentionally. I’m more of a ‘panic and act’ type of person. I rushed up to the first cab I saw like a lunatic banging on the window. He sent me away. Saw another cab a little further off. He was appalled at my madwoman behavior but was at least helpful and pointed me in the direction where taxi’s were properly lined up waiting for guests.

I hopped in the cab at the front of the line where I was greeted with a “Cheerio”. No cheer here mate…instead I let him know this was a ‘Fast and Furious‘ mission.

Oh great. It was now 5pm and London also observes the fun tradition called ‘rush hour traffic’. I assume that’s why the famous movie is titled, ‘Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift’, rather than ‘Fast and Furious: London on a Weekday’. That cab ride TO the hotel was painful. I passed time by panicking. And praying. And checking my carry-on 8 more times. Could God make my 15” MacBook appear? Not this time. I then called the hotel in hopes they would have my computer ready to hand over at the front Concierge Desk.

5:10pm (now one hour before my flight departs). I arrive at the hotel and encounter many staff people who have no idea about the missing computer, nor seem to realize the urgency. Grabbed a ‘fit-ish’ looking guy and we ran to the room I had only checked out of an hour prior. No computer. Now I was just pissed. I might be missing a flight all for a computer that has randomly disappeared.

5:14pm. There are literally 4 people just looking around the front desk confused about a computer, yet they think someone may know something. Hey, no rush. Just let me know when you have an update. Should we grab a cup of tea and talk about it, while picking up stacks of paper to look for it?

5:15pm. Knight in shining armor (armor=the shiny Sofitel name badge), runs up with my precious Apple MacBook Pro! I screamed a million thank you’s (everyone loves a loud American!) as I ran back to my taxi. As we cruised back to Terminal 3 my incredible driver kept giving me his traffic updates and encouraging me by telling stories of other forgetful and disorganized travelers who had no chance of making flights. I was feeling totally pumped that I wasn’t near as idiotic as those other tourists.

I returned to the airport (and hugged my £120 chauffeur – the equivalent to about $500 billion USD by the way. No one said mistakes were cheap). But now the security line was total bananas. An entire Japanese school was ahead of me, along with every other overnight flyer just arriving. Rules are made to be broken. I began ducking and weaving my way through the security line maze. My genuine panic as I begged person after person to be let in front of them had many endeared towards me(naive thinking?). Or maybe it was just sheer sympathy as most knew, as well as I did, that I still had another security check to go and then needed to book it past 30 gates before my fate would be realized. Nevertheless, many strangers happily let me cut in front and wished me luck.

Oops. I forgot to separate my liquids. It’s truly embarrassing when you cut in front of no less than 100 people, dash thru the security line like a pro, then stand there. Waiting. And waiting. All while they re-run your bag of liquids. I almost just told her to trash it, but my SkinCeuticals serums were included and there are ZERO FLIGHTS WORTH ABANDONING THAT GOLD! Humbled, I waited. Then repeated this whole ‘poor desperate me’ act at the next security check point.

Finally…free!

5:50pm. (the flight doors would close in 5 minutes). Although I had word from Shelley that the flight was still boarding. Actually her exact text from earlier said, “It’s a hot mess of people. Gonna take a while”.

Texts from Shelley - a hot mess of passengers — **A HOT MESS! My kind of travelers!**

I sprinted. Well, it felt like a sprint. I was winded like I had been sprinting. I must have look fatigued (or at least desperate enough I would be a hefty tipper) that a man in a cart quickly drove me the last 12 gates worth.

My Zippy Chauffeur ride to the gate — **My Chauffeur reminded me 3 times that he likes tips. But he didn’t specify a currency!**

I SAW SHELLEY! And an open door! I couldn’t believe it. I got in a work out, solved a problem and now was going to arrive in South Africa as regularly scheduled. There was just one last piece of this ridiculous puzzle. And it wasn’t too pleasant:
So as I take a seat in what will be my home for the next 12 hours, IN coach, I start to get an oh so familiar feeling….let’s just say things were already a getting a little “cramped”. It’s going to be a great flight!!!

Tell me – what’s the worst thing you’ve left behind while traveling?

Cheers to mission accomplished. — Klassy in Coach! No one toasts with cheap champagne when they have 12 hours in coach ahead of them. Except for us. Making the flight WITH my computer kept me giddy for a solid hour. Then reality set in…as did the cheap champagne **headache.**