Tag: family vacation

Our Trip to Hawaii: Oahu

Lauren4 Comments

Wait, you didn’t think I was going to leave it at that, did you?  I actually plan on dragging out our trip to Hawaii for as long as possible by recapping it island by island then posting a big old travel guide (with hotel, tour group and restaurant recommendations!) at the end.  Partly because I wanna keep reliving this vacation and partly because when I’M travel planning, reading recommendations from other people is so so helpful.  And without further adieu, Oahu!

We flew (direct!) from Denver to Honolulu and were transported to Waikiki and serious story, I returned from the airport bathroom to find Joey, Lori and Adam all laughing because the woman ushering us to our bus had apparently called me a teenager.  This is my real life.

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We stayed near Waikiki Beach and I’ll be honest, it is crowded and touristy.  I’ve seen worse though and when you can walk to the beach and have your wedges toes in the sand in five minutes, you forget about all of that.  Also, it took all of 30 seconds for me to fall in love with Hawaiian sunsets.  We walked down the beach and grabbed dinner at Duke’s.  Plus umbrella (or backscratcher?!) drinks for all!  On the walk back to our hotel, we found some shave ice because: when in Hawaii!

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The next day we were up and at ’em for a full day at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  Our bus driver was… quite the character.  I don’t even think I can go there because it would take too long but I don’t think any of us will forget “Cousin Ken” any time soon.  As for the cultural center, it’s more or less a theme park, divided into areas for each Polynesian island/culture, where they do scheduled performances throughout the day.  Though we all had fun, we agreed that we could have skipped the all day activities and just came for the luau and post-dinner show (front row seats, hi-ya!).  I drank from an actual coconut and later on from a full pineapple, so I was happy.Read More »

10 Things to Do Before Taking a Vegas Vacation

Lauren1 Comment

1. Your laundry.

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Whether because you didn’t get around to it this weekend, you need fresh underwear or because your mom can’t help herself and bought you (instead of herself!) a bunch of new clothes.

2. Treat yourself to a manicure/pedicure.

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I don’t know if this has ever happened to you, but when I get a bajillion pedicures in a row, this thing where my toenails turn kind of white and brittle-looking (TMI, right?) happens. Basically, the nail polish dries your nails out. I’ve been going polish-less for a few months to give my nails a break and was more than ready for a fresh coat of paint.

3. Eat a lot of salad.

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Because Lord knows I won’t be eating any when I get to Sin City.

4. Get your sunglasses a tune up.

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It’s going to be in the upper 90’s while we’re in Vegas and I imagine we will be out walking the strip in the sun a lot, so I made sure to get the screws on my sunglasses tightened this past weekend. For some reason (that may or may not have something to do with me not having a case and just letting my sunglasses float around in my messy purse…), my sunglass screws always loosen up. When we were in Jamaica, they were so bad that they wouldn’t even stay on my face. Not ideal when you’re on a sunny vacation.

5. Buy some fun new shoes.

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Okay, I thought I hated Toms, but I bought some of these crotched ones for both my sister and Hannah for each of their birthdays and somehow, I started to like them. I just picked up a pair for myself, so now we can all wear them and be disgustingly cute and matchy.

6. Sleep as little as possible to prepare your body for late nights.

Which turns out, is really easy if your significant other likes to make noises like he believes his throat is suddenly closing up every time he tries to go to sleep. I’m allowed to put a pillow over his face, right?

7. Listen to the Beatles radio station non-stop to get yourself in the mood for Beatles Cirque du Soleil.

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SO.INCREDIBLY.EXCITED.!

8. Go on a long run and tell yourself it negates all the calories in alcohol you will consume in 4 days.

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9. Be adamant that you are NOT getting married while you’re there.

BOTH of my parents have been married in Vegas (and I don’t mean to each other), but despite what my co-workers think, Joey and I will not be doing the same. I can’t vouch for anyone else though!

10. Relax!

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I like to get all stressed with things I “have” to do before vacation, i.e. laundry, packing, cleaning up my apartment so I don’t come home to a dump, but starting vacation early by relaxing and having fun the night before is where it’s at.

Viva Las Vegas!