New Vacation Plans!

Back in April, I posted about a trip that we were planning to Spain. We've decided to scratch those plans. The more I inserted myself into furthur research, the less enthusiastic I became about going there. I'm sure it's a beautiful country filled with amazing culture and beauty but I felt that my research was being continued in an effort to pursuade and convince myself that Spain would be "the" place for us to go to.

My husband knows that my heart yearns for all things related to Italy and suggested that we instead plan a wonderful trip to the southern parts, but I think that Ilah is still too small for us to be away from her for 2+ weeks. Perhaps next year.

More than anything, we need to just exhale. We were thinking of getting away to St. Simon, a small island that's about a 5 1/2 hour drive from Atlanta, and staying for 3 nights. And then....we saw an amazing deal last week on Living Social to Playa de Carmen, Mexico...

It was an AMAZING deal!!!! 8 days/7 nights at The Grand Mayan 5 star luxury resort. We couldn't believe the price. And then when we checked out the hotel....WOW!!....it beckoned us! So we booked it!!! We paid to upgrade to a Suite during our stay {that has a plunge pool on the balcony!}. To say that we are excited to go is an understatement!I've been to Mexico a few times while living in California but never ventured as far as the Mayan Riviera. Playa de Carmen is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in the north east area of the Mexican state, about 45-60 minutes from Cancun....

We have two sets of married friends who have been to Playa del Carmen and LOVED it!!

Here are some photos of the resort where we will be staying....

The hut on the right is a swim up bar. The pools have a few....

I cannot wait to sit in one of those seats and not worry about making dinner, cleaning up the house, or going to the grocery store! Ha! I can't wait to be by the ocean and walk along the water holding my honey's hand!

Here are some photos of the 1 bedroom suite we booked....

The plunge pool!....

This resort boasts many fine dining restaurants {offering Asian, American, Mexican, Italian and Carribean cuisines} within its plush grounds. In the evenings, within one of their restaurants, your tropical dining experience is complete with live Cuban music and a dance floor. Fun entertainment is also had in another restaurant in which nightly shows are performed.

The resort also has a spa...

And a gym...

And an amazing golf course...

So for the same cost of staying within Georgia and driving close to 6 hours to a beachy island for a vacation {probably paying close to $200 a night - if not more - for 3 nights}, we will instead be staying a 5 star luxury resort for 8 days/7 nights!! What a deal!! Non-stop fares on Delta are at $247 right now...what an amazing, and pretty inexpensive vacation, we are about to be on!! The hub's said if we see another stellar deal like this to another amazing place, we will be snatching that one up too : ) You better believe I'll be on the look out for newly posted deals!

Planning a Vacation to Spain!!

If you've been a reader of my blog for a long time, than you know how much I love, love, love to travel. I've been to so many places in the world and take utter delight in submerging myself in the beauty of new countries and cultures. The last European country that Dele and I ventured to was to Prague {in the Czech Republic}, and Vienna {Austria} for our honeymoon two years ago. Since having Ilah, we still travel, but our destinations aren't as far. When she was just three months old, we took her to Canada {where we spent Easter last year} but that's as far as her travels have taken her so far.

Dele and I consider ourselves to be good stewarts over our finances. We are very mindful of how we spend our money and pride ourselves on adhering to our monthly budget and saving hard for the future. But that's not to say that we also don't like to play hard! We believe that life is meant to be lived to its fullest and passions are meant to be pursued. Every dollar that we have ever spent traveling has been worth it. We have found so much fulfillment in seeing the world, one place at a time, and our hearts are always yearning to go somewhere new. So this September, we will be traveling to Spain!!

After a great amount of research, we will be staying in Madrid, and will take few side trips to neighboring areas.

So why Spain? Truth be told, I never real had an interest to go to Spain. But after seeing ongoing great fare deals being offered from Atlanta non-stop to Spain, I thought I should perhaps consider it. Further research showed me that scoring great airfare meant that it would cost less money to go to Spain than it would to travel to the West Coast. And then once I looked into Spain, and discovered how affordable it is to vacation there, it sealed the deal.

{Madrid's cool looking airport}

We are so excited to venture to Spain and soak in various parts of its beautiful country!....

And you all know how much I love to eat!! I can't wait to go Tapas hopping!!

Dele and I rented an apartment when we stayed in Prague and absoutely LOVED it!! We found one that was so spacious, so beautiful, so affordable {way cheaper than staying in a hotel!} and it was in the heart of the city. It was such a great experience that we said that from now on, when venturing to Europe, renting an apartment is the way to go! So this time around, we are doing just that. I couldn't believe how GORGEOUS and how CHEAP the apartments are in Madrid! This particular one is just 80 Euro!....

Dele really enjoys photography and I know he will be in heaven taking pictures in Spain!....

I can't wait to walk through the streets, do a little shopping, and do my best to converse with the Spaniards!

Walking down the streets at nightime, with a wrm churro in hand, seeing beautifully lit up buildings and architecture, is probably going to make me not want to come home! There's nothing like Europe's charm!

Have any of you ever been to Spain? How about to Madrid? If so, how did you like it?

Our Friends Visit From Vegas! Part 4 {Good Times in Savannah...Continued!!}

Our last afternoon in Savannah was spent on River Street. We visited it at night the day before so that Vanessa could take in the two different feels. At night lots of boats are docked on the river, under the moon light, with twinkling stars above and the smell of freshly made pralines are calling your name, waiting to be devoured as a sinful late evening treat. By day you get a different feel for River Street - the sun shining down on the cobblestone streets, shop owners with their doors open waiting for passers by to stop in, lots of quaint restaurants to choose from, musicians playing their instruments, people making handmade items to sell, and friendly people who strike up a short conversation with you in passing.

We took the girls out of their strollers so they could be free and walk around a bit!

We came upon a little play area for children and got some cute pictures of the girls!....

Vanessa jumped in to hold the girls up since there wasn't a platform for them to stand on inside of the "ship"!....

.... Now you see her

Now you don't!....

Look at those faces!! We just LOVE our girls!!....

I'm sure you've noticed that the girls are wearing darling matching dresses : ) I made them matching hairbows to go with them!....

Time to sit down for a break! Ha ha!.....

It was pretty windy out and as their faces show, the girls didn't really take to it well!....

Hey girls! Look up! There we go....one picture of them sorta looking at the camera : )......

We tried to sit Ilah and Alina next to each other so that we could take some pictures of them against this brick wall....but ummm....yea....you can see how that went.....

Ilah.....Illllaaah. Come here. Come here. Ilah. Where are you going??

Apparently she wanted to go say hello to some people....

She's a VERY friendly little girl! Love that about her!

We tried again to have the girls sit pretty against the brick wall backdrop but Ilah once again took off! Ha!...

So it was a wrap! We headed to lunch!!

We did manage to get a picture of us with our girls - clearly they were over picture taking at this point! Especially Ilah!.....

After lunch it was time to hit the road and return back home to Atlanta! We had a WONDERFUL time in Savannah and can't wait to go back - next time with our hard working husbands! : )