Cruise

We're back from our cruise, and I've finally stopped sulking about it being over long enough to tell you about it.

Back in November (and just days after getting back from our Australia trip), we booked a 4-night cruise to Key West and the Bahamas with Lee's sister and brother-in-law and his cousin and her husband. And we've been counting down the days ever since. Teresa and Greg and Missy and Charles have 6 kids between them, but this would be a trip sans kids, so we were almost more excited for them to get to have some "me" time than for ourselves.

We flew out of RDU bright and early Monday morning, headed to Miami. We got to the port much earlier than the boarding time, but were pleased to find that the ship was ready and waiting for us to board early at 11am.

We set up camp on deck and wasted no time acquainting ourselves with the buffet, the bar and the pool.

As more people boarded the ship throughout the day and the pool deck got more and more crowded, we quickly realized that this is a "spring break" cruise. We knew when we booked the cruise for the second week in March that it would be spring break. In fact, we planned it that way since Missy takes classes and Lee teaches some online community college classes, so that our trip would coincide with their spring breaks.

However, the last time I went on a cruise was during spring break (back in senior year when I was an actual "spring breaker") and I don't remember it being dominated by spring breakers. I remember there being a lot of old people and little kids, and a few other spring break groups.

Well, our cruise was probably 90% spring breakers. At first we were worried about what we had gotten ourselves into. But it actually worked out fine because the atmosphere was awesome, they were super entertaining to watch, and they provided some serious eye candy.

I don't remember girls OR guys looking like that when I was in college (and mind you we're only talking about 4 years ago). Most of these kids were from Florida though, so maybe that's why?

Anyway, we set sail and said hasta la vista to Miami.

Our first stop on Day 1 was Key West. We weren't there for very long, so we walked around a bit, did some shopping, had a bite to eat at Margaritaville, and enjoyed being able to enjoy some cold beverages on the street.

I didn't get any pictures of it, but one of my favorite stops in Key West was the Kino sandal factory.

Kinos are leather sandals made right there on Key West, and the locals swear by them. At $12 a pair, they're super affordable. You go in, see a style you like and ask to try them on in your size. If they don't have your size? They'll say "hang on a second" and go in the back and whip them up for you. All the ladies bought a pair (and some for the folks back home) and we kept seeing girls on the cruise wearing them throughout the rest of the trip.

Then it was time to get back on board and set sail for Nassau. Our entertainment for the afternoon was the belly flop contest. This picture does a good job of showing what the pool deck looked like for the majority of the cruise:

BELLY FLOP:

That night was formal night, so we all got dolled up:

Day 2 and we arrived in Nassau around lunchtime.

Our first stop was the straw market, where we navigated narrow aisles filled with trinkets and fake purses and haggled with the aggressive saleswomen.

Next it was a harrowing bus ride to "Da Fish Fry" -- a strip of restaurants and outdoor booths. We had conch fritters, fried shrimp, beers and margaritas at this little gem:

Then we wandered around watching the guys making conch salad.

(I just love this picture. Doesn't this girl look so ditzy? Believe me, she was. That, or she'd already had one too many margaritas.)

After Da Fish Fry, we strolled back down to the port along the beach.

The guys had to have their picture taken with every cool grill they saw.

Along the way, we stopped for rum punch at this little beach hut and watched some volleyball.

Things started going downhill (or uphill depending on how you look at it) at this point.

Rum in the Bahamas is strong. And we were feeling good.

Lee and Teresa stopped to get another drink at this little hut.

Unfortunately, they told us that because of the spring break crowd, the Bahamian police weren't allowing them to sell alcohol on the beach that week. Fortunately, they ran across the street to the liquor store to buy rum for our drinks anyway. It was all very sketchy and wonderful.

By the time we got to Senor Frogs, we were in a great frame of mind.

So was this guy, who had a 5 minute conversation with Charles but was never able to fully open his eyes the whole time:

That concludes picture time from Senor Frogs, in order to protect the innocent old.

I'm not saying that there wasn't any dancing on bars or an appearance on the main stage, but I'm not saying there was.

There is a picture of Lee and this guy though:

And one of our ship at night:

We got back onboard, had a (mostly) civilized dinner, and then turned in early as responsible old people do.

Next up was a relaxing final day on CocoCay, which is a private island owned by Royal Caribbean. It was absolutely beautiful.

And before we knew it we were on our way back to Miami.

It was an awesome trip, with some awesome people. The weather couldn't have been better and we didn't run into a single glitch on the whole trip.

Now, if only we hadn't been victims of the "the average person gains one pound per day on a cruise" statistic. But what's a cruise without pizza at 1am, 5-course dinners and buffets morning noon and night, huh?

The Ideal Weekend

We headed east this weekend to celebrate my sister's birthday. Here's what made it perfect:

1. A moonlight golf cart ride around the farm, chasing birds and looking for critters.

2. Sunny and 60s.

3. Surprising my sis with a custom golf cart stereo installation. And then putting it to good use.

4. Just Dance on the Wii. Followed by Super Mario Brothers.

5. Lunch, shopping and gossip with mother and daughters.

6. Booking our beach house for summer vacation.

7. Quality time with Baby Brevyn, who has a new trick every time a I see her. This time it was pointing and the word "da" -- for everything from dog to dada to whatever she's pointing at.

8. Grilling out and bonfire time with friends. (Funfetti cupcakes were involved.)

9. Sunday lunch with my family, followed by Sunday dinner with Lee's.

10. A Sunday afternoon filled with NASCAR, naps and golf cart rides.

11. A trip down to the creek, and seeing this dog as happy as she could ever be.

12. And racing her with the golf cart.

13. And those ears flopping.

13. Lots of quality time with my Kindle and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on the way there and back.

12. And finally, a day off today, thanks to our Presidents. I spent it mostly doing boring errands, but it sure was nice to have a day to catch up on life.

Hope your weekend was as good as ours!

Laundry Room Makeover

One of my least favorite parts of our house is the laundry room, or lack thereof. It's more of a laundry closet.

The laundry closet, coupled with a 14-year-old hand-me-down washer and dryer did not make for a happy Megan on laundry day (which seems to be every other day around here).

Here are the befores:

I knew I wanted a new washer and dryer, and wanted to give the room an upgrade in the process.

In an ideal world, I would've knocked down some walls to create my perfect laundry room -- big and spacious with a utility sink and lots of cabinet. But in the space we were dealing with? Yeah, not really happening.

So instead we decided to just remove the closet doors that were concealing the washer and dryer. This area is a tiny room full of doors -- a door from the hallway, a door to the garage, two closet doors, and a door to the powder room. WAY too many doors that were constantly banging into each other. Removing the closet doors would give us easier access to the washer and dryer, but since we still have a hallway door that separates the room from the inside of the house, we could close out the noise when necessary.

I'd had my eye on a nice shiny pair of front loaders for a while, and after we came back from Australia we decided to make the plunge. Of course, one thing led to another as it always does with a "simple makeover" and we ended up painting, adding cabinets, and upgrading the fixtures in the powder room. Here's what we ended up with:

We painted over the builder beige with a gray to complement the stainless steel washer and dryer. And the bronze light fixture was replaced with a stainless pendant from Ikea for a more industrial look.

Because we were removing the doors and the area would now be open, we wanted to replace the ho-hum wire shelving with cabinets to conceal laundry and cleaning supplies. These came from Home Depot.

Now, about the washer and dryer:

After shopping around, we decided on this LG set and found the best deal at HHGregg.

After lots of hemming and hawing we decided to get the pedestals as well. I knew I wanted them, because I didn't want to be bending down, but they are crazy expensive, to essentially be nothing more than an empty drawer. We thought about DIY'ing a platform like some other savvy bloggers have done, but the manufacturer pedestals are specially built to hold 10 ton washers that spin at 200 miles an hour. Lee was not confident that he'd be able to build something that wouldn't let our pretty new washer and dryer down (literally).

Although the best deal was at HHGregg, we were able to talk them down another $100 on the washer and dryer (from $999 each to $900 each) and from $229 each on the pedestals to $200 each. (Did you know you could negotiate at HHGregg?! That's why I love that place.)

Fast forward to a week later: the washer and dryer have been delivered and installed and I'm in love.

Then Lee is in Best Buy and sees the SAME SET, for $645 each.

Oh no they DIDN'T.

We checked HHGregg and Home Depot, and the set had been lowered everywhere, across the board. Fortunately, HHGregg has a 30 day price guarantee. If the price of an item drops within 30 days, you can get a refund for the difference.

So, we quickly marched ourselves back down to HHGregg. By this time, it's getting close to Thanksgiving and Black Friday ads are out, but it's still a few days away. Their Black Friday ad was advertising all pedestals as buy one, get one free. I found a very nice manager, who was able to refund us the difference on the washer and dryer AND give us the Black Friday pedestal deal.

We saved so much money (over $700) that I didn't feel one bit guilty about picking this bad boy up, which we'd had our eye on for months:

(Of course, I also negotiated the Black Friday price on this as well, so we got our beloved Dyson for Black Friday-cheap, without all the getting-up-at-4am nonsense.)

Have I always thought that spending that kind of money on a vacuum cleaner was ridiculous? Yes.

Then we got a dog.

One who sheds. A lot. And has her daddy wrapped around her paw so tight that she pretty much lives in the house full time now.

So we invested in the Dyson Animal, and it has not disappointed. This vacuum cleaner is one bad mama-jama. You would be disgusted with the amount of dirt and dog hair it picks up. Me? I am in LOVE.

So there's the epic tale of our laundry room makeover. Sorry it took me so long to finally show it to you. But I had to get everything just right -- you know, like the canisters filled with laundry detergent and clothespins that I'll never use.

Well Hello 2011

January is always a good time to take a moment and think about what you want out of the year.

Of course, I have my normal weight-loss and financial related resolutions. Will there EVER be a year when I don't have to resolve to lose weight? Maybe one day...

But that's not what this post is about. I wanted to share some of my more "fun" goals for the year. Will I beat myself up if I don't achieve them? No. Because they're not that serious. But they are a fun starting point for the year.

1. I decided to make this a goal after seeing Black Swan. Was it because I loved the movie so much? Not really (it was good but not life altering). Was it because I loved the movie-going experience so much? Again, not really (the theater was packed, and I went by myself). But I do enjoy going to the movies, and I'd rather watch one good movie a month in the theater (because usually if I'm going to the theater it's a movie I really want to see or have heard good things about) than 5 so-so movies at home.

Next up is Blue Valentine, or maybe No Strings Attached. And I'm counting down the days until April and Water for Elephants.

2. I bought a recycling bin, so that our recyclables will go in there instead of the trash. It makes me happy. And I bought some pretty reusable grocery bags. They make me even happier.

3. Of course 2010 will always be the year of Australia. 2011 won't hold any trips like that, but I'm hoping for several smaller ones. We've got a cruise already booked for the spring. Then maybe a beach trip in the summer and Mexico in the fall?! As long as we're sans-kids, I plan on vacationing as often as our money and PTO days will allow.

4. This is on my life list. And I need to do it before I get any older and more decrepit.

5. Not a smarty-pants class, but something fun. Like floral arranging, or photography, or Photoshop skillz. Maybe even cake decorating? Time and money are always an issue, but life's too short not to get really good at something that has nothing to do with furthering you in life or your career.

So, what are YOUR fun goals for 2011?

Christmas Gifts

1. Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook. I've referred to it twice already -- how to fold a fitted sheet and how to properly put a comforter in a duvet cover. It's THICK (like an encyclopedia), and I can't wait to read it cover to cover.

2. Sheets. These are nice and thick. Vera Wang. High thread count. Santa knows what's up.

3. More towels. So we'll have extras on hand.

4. Ice cream maker. Will summer ever get here so we can use it?

5. A clock. For decorative purposes, of course.

6. The Pioneer Woman's cookbook.

7. North Face Denali jacket.

8. North Face toboggan. And again.

9. Michael Kors watch.

10. Golf cart.

So basically, Santa rocked it out again this year.

But we all know the best part of Christmas is the giving. And the time spent with family.

But the nice gifts don't hurt though.

Wordless Wednesday: These Two Have Their Priorities Straight

Let It Snow

It snowed. We put the golf cart to WORK. Sugar had a blast chasing the golf cart. We went sledding at the overpass. And I took a million pictures of the farm.

These pics were taken the next day, from the back of a golf cart going 50 miles an hour. That takes skillz people: