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24 Hours in Santa Monica, California
I’m going to preface this post with saying… Yes. I am a loyalty points snob. Ok, now that I got that out of the way….. A few weeks ago, I was evaluating my 2021 loyalty points achievements and realized I was only about 5,000 miles away from earning the next status with American Airlines, and I needed to earn the points before the end of January. I was SO close! I talked it over with Dono and we decided that I’d take a quick weekend trip to earn the points. He had suggested flying to Miami and back in a day for a quick “mileage run,” but spending all day…
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New Year’s in Chicago
Every year, we usually host a party at our house for New Year’s Eve. I cook a massive pot of chicken and sausage gumbo and everyone shows up “as they are.” Some people stay for hours, some just show up to say hi and leave. It’s always fun and a great way to connect with neighbors, friends, and family as we go into the new year. This year, we decided to abandon our annual get together for a winter trip to Chicago. Donovan had been to Chicago once or twice for work, and I had never been – as long as you don’t count flying through O’Hare on my way…
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Meow Wolf | Santa Fe, New Mexico
With all the cold weather we’re having in Dallas this weekend, I keep reminiscing of memories of visiting the desert – somewhere warm! Our trip to Taos, New Mexico a few years ago did not disappoint. We hit up some really interesting places like Ojo Caliente and the El Santuario De Chimayo. Some of our friends from Dallas joined us on the trip, and one of the days we drove into Santa Fe to scout around. Donovan and his friend Jesse had been talking about this place called Meow Wolf all day, so the girls caved and we all decided to go check it out. The best way to describe…
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Jacob’s Well | Wimberley, Texas
January always feels like the longest month of the year. It’s cold, gray, the holidays are over, and it’s back-to-work for everyone. Each year, in January, Dono and I try to take a weekend getaway to break up the monotony of the work routine. In previous January’s we’ve taken a weekend trip to Broken Bow, and we’ve also done a mini-road trip to Waco and Central Texas. We usually try to keep these trips short – only a Saturday/Sunday as we don’t want to impact our work PTO time so early in the year! This year, we decided to take a drive to Austin, Texas, which is about 3-ish hours…
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Hot Tub Boats | Seattle, WA
*This is not a sponsored post – we just loved our experience!* A few months ago, I was scrolling through Pinterest while getting a pedicure. Donovan and I were planning our trip to Seattle, and per usual, I was trying to find something new and fun for us to do. I ran across an advertisement for Hot Tub Boats and was immediately intrigued – this looked right up our alley! I did a bit of research and then booked us a boat right there on the spot! We rented the boat from Hot Tub Boats on a Sunday morning at 10am. Setting up the appointment online was pretty easy –…
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Leavenworth, Washington
Our first trip to Leavenworth was in March 2018. I was in Spokane for a work trip, and Donovan and I had it planned out that once the work part of the trip was complete, I’d fly from Spokane to Seattle (about a 30 minute flight), and Dono would fly up from Dallas, so we could spend a long weekend in one of our favorite PNW locations. Coincidentally, it was also a holiday weekend – Easter – so we weren’t expecting a ton of action. We just wanted to spend some time admiring the beautiful scenery. We called my parents one night to touch base, and we told them that…
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Washington – Olympic Peninsula
(Disclaimer: Yes, we did travel during the pandemic, however, we are very cautious and careful of where we go, what we touch, and who we interact with. We use an insane amount of Purell & Lysol wipes and always wear a face mask when we’re around other people. We also typically travel to non-populous dense places to avoid people, and we try to stay at home as much as possible once we return to limit others’ exposure.) One of our favorite things about traveling west is going to Seattle. For some reason this city is just captivating to us – there is just so much to do and see! From…
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Central Texas – Cranfills Gap & Hico
If you missed our last post about our last minute trip to Waco and the Magnolia Market scratch-and-dent sale, be sure to check out the post! While we had a ton of fun in Waco, we had to laugh because we literally visited the Magnolia Sale, a few antique stores, a drive out to the Branch Davidian complex and a drive to the Waco Mammoth National Monument all before lunchtime. We were not on a time crunch at all, but was just having fun exploring and crossing some locations off our list. Instead of being super boring and driving back to Dallas on I-35, we decided to take the back…
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Central Texas – Waco
Donovan and I have lived in the Dallas area for more than 10 years, and it’s hard to believe sometimes that we haven’t really traveled out of our “bubble.” Sure, we’ve been to the “hot spots” like Austin, Houston, Waco, and Ft Worth, but we haven’t really explored the small towns surrounding these areas. In January 2018, we decided on a whim to drive to Waco for the Magnolia Market scratch-and-dent sale. Honestly, we had no plans other than to get to the sale as soon as it opened — we just wanted to beat the crowds. Since Waco is about 2 hours away, and the sale started at 7am,…
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Broken Bow, Oklahoma
Do you ever get the “new year blues” after the holidays end? I definitely do. The hustle and bustle of the end of the year is always full of excitement, many family gatherings, and a lot of junk food. After the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, it’s back to the daily grind for all of us. The Christmas decor comes down, a busy work schedule is reignited, and we start shopping for healthy food again. What a let down! Last year, I had a really bad case of the new year blues. I just couldn’t pull myself together to get excited about the start of a new year.…
