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I need a vacation, and I needed it about yesterday. So I know what you’re thinking, didn’t she just go to Seattle in August. YES, YES I DID! And I absolutely loved it. I hope to one day just be able to travel to different cities. Get to know a new place, be away from home enjoying that alone time with my boyfriend and without a worry in mind, for a couple of days, it’s just US. Us and this Great big City we know nothing about.

Live some place you’ve visited?

My boyfriend loved Seattle so much he wants to move there, heh. I on the other hand did love it. I do love the West Coast. I lived in San Diego, California for 2 years and I absolutely loved it. I want to go there one of these days with my boyfriend, I think he’ll love it too. I honestly think I was made to be a West Coast Girl. Now the reason I can’t leave Miami, one word, Family. I’m close to them and although I can manage to live away from them, because I have, I now have 2 things or rather I say little people who I adore and love so much, my nephews. I couldn’t see myself leaving and not being in their lives as much. But that doesn’t stop me from my VACATIONS!

I’m ready… are you?

I don’t know if I just got the feel of a great vacation or that I’ve just been so stressed with work, school, and always having something to do after my day at work, but I feel like I need another vacation and soon. It’s hard though, because I have to arrange it with my school schedule and I have to have enough time off from work too. Other then that, oh yea I have to save money for it too, but that can be done. Don’t eat out for a while, just save and have a great vacation that follows. I think I can handle that.

Where do I go next?

So I’ve been to Seattle. I want to go to Vegas again but with my boyfriend whose never been, but that’s a vacation I would love to save to go with a bunch of our friends. San Diego, I want to go to also, but I want to do a whole week so we can go to LA, Napa Valley and San Fran….Chicago I’ve heard is beautiful and fun, that’ another City we sure want to visit.

Any Ideas? Any thoughts, or locations you want to visit, let me know, leave a comment.

xo,
kristin nicole

Key West is always fun when you go with a group of people you know are going to just lay back and have fun.

Saturday:

We went with a group of 8 people, and close friends and family and as usual we had a blast. We headed out early Saturday morning, first things first, the car wouldn’t start. But don’t fear….we have men and they will handle the issue. Run and get a battery, replace battery, 10 minutes later, we are off to the Keys. We wanted to have breakfast at Crackle Barrel but since we were off schedule and by that time the place was packed we went to the next best thing….McDonalds. LOL

Oh no not the Rain…

Rain, rain go away come again another day, we are going to the Keys and we need to party, we can’t have this rain ruining our weekend!!! We got to the Keys and the guys unpacked while the girls went to Publix to pick up food, on the way we picked up Battle with the Sexes just in case we got rained in, but I was pretty positive that it would turn out to be a great weekend. Sure enough we got back and it wasn’t raining anymore, so we started our night of drinking and had a dip in the pool. Got out a bit early and I made my pasta that I always love to make. We ate and got ready for a night out in the Keys.

Night time fun!

We headed out to Irish Kevin’s Bar. The place isn’t that big but we managed to get a small table with stools, the place was cool inside and if you are from Miami you know it’s heaven to find a place that is actually cool inside. We ordered drinks and the guy on stage was singing with his guitar, the place was one of those bars where you sing a long to certain words with the singer and it was GREAT! We had so much fun, we wanted to try other bars so we headed to where they have the Bull- ride….my friend tried it but fell off, it was too funny. Oh did I mention that at Kevin’s one of my friends tried the chugging beer contest and his wife went on stage to sing….well that was fun! We went to a few places, someone broke a sandal, I found him a pair in five minutes, paid and headed off to the next bar.

Sunday Sun

We headed out to the pool after breakfast, and what did I say in the beginning? It was a beautiful day! We were out there for hours, laughing, drinking and just having fun and meeting new people. Later we got ready and headed out for dinner. The place was not impressive and we got stuck waiting for the bill for a while. We later headed back to Kevin’s Irish Bar since we had so much fun the night before. It started off slow, and the drinks were weak, the guy singing was good but all he could sing was country, which isn’t bad but a song that’s not country , not sooo good. Luckily he finished shortly after and the the guy who came on stage next was from a band at another bar we saw the night before. Him and the guy he was with was great. Again, the drinks came and again we sang along and again we had another GREAT night! We headed back to the hotel, and baked cookies with ice cream, what better way to end a night then that?!?

Monday Morning ~ Labor Day

We got up, and we headed back home. We played Battle of the Sexes in the car, did I mention how hard that game was and did I mention we laughed practically all the way home. Isn’t it great to have people in your life that you just get a long with, that you have so much fun with and that you love so much.

To another great Birthday long weekend to my boyfriend Tony, oh I didn’t mention that, oh yea, this was part II of his birthday, Lucky guy!!!! To many birthday’s, to many more Key West trips with my brother and sister in-law and Friends….To the next time!

xo,
kristin nicole

My Seattle trip was extremely fun and so nice to get away from Miami and the weather.

Things we did:

We went to the space-needle. The view was beautiful from up there and I only wish it hadn’t been so foggy. Either way it was a lot of fun to experience. We also took the Underground Tour which I highly recommend if you are ever going to visit Seattle, it gives you a lot of the history on how Seattle was built and the tour guides are funny and fun. The art museum is a must see, if you are really into this kind of stuff. We had to rush a bit through it because we wanted to see it before we came back home (the same day) but it was still really nice to see. Pike Place Market is a must, if you have never been to Seattle it’s just one of those places that you have to see for yourself. All the fresh fruit, seafood, meat, flowers. Oh the flowers…. the flowers were so BEAUTIFUL! We also managed to take the ferrie out to Bainbridge Island. This island is an old town, you walk downtown in about 5 minutes, but it’s so worth going to see the beautiful houses off the island when coming in from the ferries.

Food, Food and Food~

We ate, and boy was it good! We ate sushi, and seafood, and steaks oh my! What else do you do on trips?!? If you want to know where we went to eat just ask me and I’ll be happy to link you to my Yelp.com account, where I reviewed all the places I went to.

Seattle is a beautiful city and I look forward to visiting again.

XO,
Kristin Nicole

Preparing for a trip can be hectic, especially if you work full time and just started classes again, oh and did I mention the other 10 million things I had to fit in between all the other stuff?!?

Check List

Every trip I make myself a list of what I need to take on the trip, and as I pack I check it off. It makes me feel a little more sane, with hoping I don’t leave anything I might need behind. I have gotten better though, I figure if I really need something, then I will just buy it there. (Good excuse to go shopping too)

Toothbrush – Check
Underwear – Check
Shoes – Check

The list goes on….

Do you plan in advance what you want to see?!?

I don’t have my day to day schedule but I do have a list of things that we do want to see, and from there we’ll decide which day we’ll do what. I’m super excited though, it’s my first time to Seattle, and I have heard good things. The weather is going to be around upper to low 70′s during the day and 50′s at night, I can’t wait.

I’ll be sure to update you on how the trip is going.

XO,
Kristin Nicole

NEW YORK

My New York trip was amazing, I only wish that it would have been longer. I got there Wednesday night around 9:00 because my flight was delayed twice. As soon as I got there, I got a taxi at the airport. I was alone, so it was a bit scary, since I never did this before. I told the driver the address to my hotel as if I had done this a million times. Off we went to the hotel. I arrived around 9:30 where my boyfriend met me outside to pay the taxi for me. We went up to our room. A two bedroom suite we were sharing with his cousin and his cousin’s wife. We got the smaller room with our own restroom. The restroom was outside the room, but right across the hall and the room had a full size bed with two night stands attached. There was a chair on the right hand corner of the room with our luggage on top of it. My boyfriend had taken our big luggage with him Tuesday morning.

I opened the view to the big city. It was a bit rainy but a beautiful night. I had already done my hair here at home, so I freshened up my makeup, washed my bangs and got dressed. Our first night out we headed to an Italian restaurant. My dish wasn’t the best I’ve had, so I was a bit disappointed, however, when I went looking for the restroom it was down stairs. We found a little bar down there. Very cool looking, with little nooks, of a card table, packman and more. We hung out there until the rain passed. We then headed out to this little lounge/club where we drank some more and danced. We got back to the hotel around 5am and decided to look for a place to eat. We could only find a little market near by. My boyfriend and his cousin got breakfast and us girls just decided to not eat. I am not a breakfast person so at this point I just wanted to sleep! I had already been up for 24 hours.

Thursday in New York

Thursday we got up and headed to the Light Fair. This was the reason my boyfriend and his cousin was there. We walked around with them for about 2 hours. As we were heading out, it was raining hard, we ended up having to buy a $10 umbrella so we can go walking looking for a taxi. None of the taxi’s were heading towards where we were, so we had to go towards them. As we arrive to a corner, we pull over a taxi. The taxi driver put his blinker on, but this huge truck had to break a little. The guy got out of the truck and started yelling at the taxi driver and banging on his car. We were all shocked at first, so we just stayed quiet. The taxi driver defended himself and his car, stating he put his blinker on, and if the guy kept hitting his car, he would call the cops. As the little old man (taxi driver) turned away, the guy pushed him. That is when my boyfriends Cousin finally told the guy to back off. The guy didn’t even look our way, he finally just got back in his truck. We got into the taxi, and headed to China Town. It was still raining, but that wasn’t going to stop us from going to a little whole in the wall Chinese restaurant. The food was Delish! We later walked around, but it was a bit hard to look with all the rain. We headed to Sojo where I attempted to buy clothes. And as you have it “murphey’s law” came into play, as I didn’t find not one piece of clothing, not one pair of shoes, not one purse to buy. We went back to the hotel to get ready for our night adventure. We went to the comedy club where we laughed our hearts out, then we went to eat sushi, and out to party. The night ended real late.

This is me behind a door in New York...

Friday in New York

Friday we went to Central Park, 5th Ave, we went by where the Twin Towers used to be, China Town, the subway and it was all wonderful. We went out to eat friday night and I was so full I couldn’t breath. We went to a lounge that was more like a club and then we went to the pub near our hotel. The night ended great.

Saturday

We packed our things and headed to the airport, I wish I had more time in New York, but I truly had a great time with my boyfriend and his cousins. Next time we go we have to see so much stuff and so much more to eat. This was only the beginning of our many trips. I cannot wait for our next trip =)

XO,
Kristin Nicole

Finally I’m going to New York!!!

I have been wanting to visit New York for years now. My uncle used to live in New York and I had always wanted to visit him and never got the chance. I also have family in Long Island, New York that I have never gone to see, some family that I have never met, except for a Great Aunt. So finally, it’s here, I’m going to New York.

How It Happened…

My boyfriend is going for a business trip on a Tuesday and he was going to come back that Thursday or Friday but his boss returned him back Saturday instead, so we decided I can make a mini vacation out of it. I leave Wednesday afternoon and arrive around 7:30 p.m. We’ll be staying near Eastern Manhattan. I am so excited to be going. I won’t be there long so I won’t be able to do some of the things I always wanted to do, like see a Broadway show, but I’m sure I’ll be going back again, and that will be one of the first things on my list. The Thursday Morning my boyfriend has to work, so I was thinking of walking and going SHOPPING!

Like I said this is my first time there. Any suggestions as to what to see and where to go??? I would love to hear your input!!!

XO,
Kristin Nicole

UPDATE:

My mini-vacation was well needed. Friday we got to Key West around 4:30-5. Everyone was already there starting to drink. My stomach still didn’t feel well, so I didn’t drink Friday night. We had a lot of fun though. We hung out and then got ready to go out around 9. We packed 18 people in 3 vans, and headed to Duval Street. We were planning on going to Sloppy Joes to eat, but with 18 people it was hard to get that many seats so late at night. We ended up at a Burger place, I forget now what it’s called, but since my throat was still hurting, I had to order a dolphin sandwich without the bread, and my brother went searching for mash potatoes =)

What a sweet heart, he actually found them too. After we ate we headed to Ricks, we danced and laughed at some of the people that were drunk around us and then decided to head out to Fat Tuesdays where we saw some girls that were a little out of control. Good laughing times though. We headed back to the Condo around 1:30, I was just too exhausted to keep going.

Saturday

Saturday we got up and made breakfast. The coffee machine was broken and we had to borrow our friends. Oh and some of the remotes weren’t working, we had to call maintenance like 3 times. My remote was working Friday but Saturday night it stopped working, what a mess. My cousin and her husband came Saturday morning so now there was a group of 20. It’s a great group of people too, we have so much together. So anyway…we headed out to the pool area. The day was gorgeous, I wish I had pictures to show you. Needless to say I got sunburn =/ but we had an awesome time. Very relaxing!!! We went back to the condo’s and started playing beach volleyball, with a child’s ball my brother found lol. We had horrible neighbors, we had two different people complaining we were loud when it was only 5 o’clock in the afternoon. We were all very upset because you pay to stay at a place to have fun, not to be told to keep it down in the middle of the day. After that we all just started getting ready to go out. We ate dinner in the room. My friends husband made pasta that was Delish!!! We headed out to Duval Street at about 9:30 and we fit 16 people in a 8 person bus. LOL. Each girl sat on their mans lap. GOOD TIMES

Duval Street was a blast. We went to this country bar where my brother and some friends rode the bull. That was too funny. We later headed to Fat Tuesdays again (don’t know why) but we had fun and some of the guys started playing Beer Pong. Note: My boyfriend Tony would have won if he wasn’t stuck with my friend Steve who was too wasted to make any of the balls in the cups. haha. Good game though, but we were all happy it was finally over so we can head out to another club. We headed out and grabbed a slice of pizza then went into this club where they were playing really good music, when all of a sudden the DJ started beat boxing. AWESOME! Wish I had a recorder to show you. Afterwards most of our 20 people group headed back to the Condo but we had a good 8 of us who decided to go to the Irish Bar where the live band was playing. Good band, good music = GOOD TIMES! We got back to the Condo around 3:30 and started screaming like a bunch of drunks haha….we just wanted to make sure if our neighbors wanted to complain they can complain now. HAHA..We ate, talked some more and headed to bed. I was exhausted.

SUNDAY

Sunday we packed up and had breakfast. Everyone was walking like zombies, it was so funny. We went to the most Southern Point of the United States, took pictures and headed home. We got stuck in traffic due to an overturned car accident. So we decided to stop and eat, me, Tony, my brother & sister in law and 2 other friends. The food was good and the atmosphere was relaxing. We got home around 6:30 and relaxed. I feel like our mini-vacation went too fast. But we had a great time, so much fun we plan on hopefully making it a tradition and doing it again next year. Just not sure if we’ll stay in the same place or not. Either way….good times & good memories!

Back to reality though….work!

XO,
Kristin Nicole

Key West

It’s long over due when we are already in March and my last mini-vacation was in August of last year for my boyfriends birthday.

We are leaving today to Key West. My throat is still sore from the Tonsillectomy, but I’m hoping by tomorrow I’ll feel much better. I slept a little better last night, although still woke up a few times from the soreness. I’m very upset, because I thought for sure I would feel great by the weekend. There is going to be food and drinks, and I’m going to be eating soup, and pudding. Yummm! As for the drinks, I don’t know if I can even have drinks?! I am not taking medication anymore but I’m not sure how the alcohol will feel going down, and the fact that I don’t have that much food in my stomach, well that’s another story in itself.

So why am I going to the Keys?

It’s my sister in-laws 30th Bash, along with two other friends that turn 30. It’s the big 30 year for all my friends. I’m still the youngest one, & Yes I have to rub that in.

So off to the Keys we go this afternoon. My brother and sister in-law along with almost everyone else going are going to leave around 10am today, I am working half day since I have been missing work due to this horrible surgery recovery. So we will hopefully be leaving by 1pm. I can’t wait. It’s long over due. Do you ever feel like sometimes you just need to get away for a little? I think we all do and we all need it every once in a while. If you don’t get away and enjoy your time off, what do we live for other then working and paying out bills. We have to enjoy life sometimes, and just Relax!

So on another note, wish me well, I will need it. Hoping this trip will be fun even though I’m still in pain =(

XO,
Kristin Nicole