Katie Stories {Scrapbook + Crafting Blog}: vacation

Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts

Friday, August 1, 2014

Project Life 2014 {Week 24}

Hi guys!

Its Friday...which means its surgery day. So I might not be able to respond to comments and things until later this weekend. Unless I say stuff today that sounds all crazy. Then let's blame the anesthesia and pain medication!

Fortunately, my Project Life pages are way more fun that surgery (I hope!)

Week 24 | June 9 - June 15, 2014

Week 24 was our vacation week this year. We spent a week on Harbor Island, SC. Mostly, we ate and drank, watched the wildlife, sat on the beach and relaxed by the pool.

But we also went on a day trips that earned its own insert.

The first one was to Savannah, GA. We'd never been before, but the city was beautiful! We both said that if they had a "real" fall and winter, we would consider living there. But they don't, at least, not by our north east standards. And we both love fall too much to give it up for much longer (I'm talking about you and your not very fall-y fall weather Louisiana!)

On the back of the insert I included a few more pictures from Harbor Island, including me in my running gear - we ran on the beach a few times and AJ even got me in the gym working with some of the weights! And my favorite picture of this random wooded path on Hunting Island. We didn't go down that path, we went down a similar one...but it had snakes, and possibly an alligator, so we didn't get too far before we ran back to our car!

I wish I was on the beach this weekend. But I'll be relaxing on the couch instead. At least I will get to pick all of the movies and tv shows and dinners for the whole weekend! I'm thinking lots of When Harry Met Sally, Mad About You and any other romantic comedies I can think of!

What are you up to this weekend?

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Summer List 2014 {Update}

Every year, I write a summer list of fun things I want to do. Some years it works out great, and others it doesn't. But for the first time, I thought I'd check in about halfway through the summer and see how it is all going!

read three new books | so far I've only read two books that were entirely new to me - Outliers and Paris
go to the beach | Harbor Island, South Carolina...and I'm in New York right now. Although its raining, so we haven't gone to the beach yet, just the vineyards, the pool, and the outlets!
shop at the farmer's market | we finally checked out the one in Baton Rouge - and got about a zillion jalepenos for just $1!
make pesto | I did, with this recipe, but I forgot to take a picture :(
have a picnic | does our indoors one count?
take a picture every day | thanks to #100happydays on instagram, I've actually kept up with this one!
go to a concert | Bayou Country Superfest!
take a road trip | we drove all the way to South Carolina and back, hitting Atlanta and Savannah along the way!

And still left to do before Labor Day...

go for a bike ride | make coronoa cupcakes | finish wedding photo book |

make s'mores | grill a pizza | do a summer puzzle

I can do this...right?

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Pacific Ocean {Scrapbook Layout}

Happy Tuesday!

Last week, I went a little scrap-crazy. I made 13 layouts in just three days! I think it was a combination of having lots of time, lots of pictures and a newly cleaned (and unpacked) scrapbook room.

I found lots of papers and embellishments and stickers that I forgot that I even had! So I just had to play with them :)

This layout is about my first trip to the Pacific Ocean. Even though I grew up a short drive from the beach, and spent a week every year on the Jersey Shore, it was always the Atlantic. So having the chance to see the Pacific while in California for a close friend's wedding was pretty awesome.

I loved it. Part of it was exactly how I imagined - palm trees and lots of people on the beach.

And part of it was not at all how I'd imagined - it was freezing cold. I guess I just assumed nice weather in California meant the ocean would be super warm. But I found out because its warm during the day, but cold at night, the ocean temperature never gets a chance to really heat up.

I also didn't expect all of the cool tide pools and sea life. I had so much fun photographing the ocean and climbing all over the rocks.

But mostly I was just proud of myself for venturing out by myself (AJ had a major project at work and couldn't attend the wedding with me) Just a few years ago, that definitely isn't something I would have done. But I'm so glad I took the opportunity and didn't let the fact that I had to drive in a unfamiliar area by myself stop me from seeing an ocean that I've always wanted to visit!

Have your crossed any locations off your "must see" list lately? Where do you still want to visit?

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Atlanta + Savannah + Harbor Island {Summer List 2014}

Happy Tuesday!

I was definitely quiet here last week, because AJ and I crossed a few things off of our summer list. We went on road trip!

In April, we decided we wanted to go to the beach this summer {we are both really struggling with living so far from the water down here} AJ did a ton of research and found Harbor Island, South Carolina - we could drive there, it was the Atlantic Ocean, and it was quiet. So we booked a condo on the beach, and away we went!

Well, not really as easy as that. A wasp flew into the car as we were leaving, and it totally threw us off. So we ended up having to kill it, then go back into the house to get stuff clean off the window, then go back into the house because we forgot to turn off the light after we got the windex. Then go back around the block after we left because we couldn't remember if we'd shut the garage door with all the craziness.

But after that - away we went!

Since the drive was 13 hours, we decided to stop in Atlanta on our way to South Carolina. Neither of us had ever been there before (aside from the airport!)

We didn't do too much sight seeing, since we were very tired from driving (and fighting wasps at 5:30am!) But we did walk around the city a little bit, and went for dinner and drinks.

the view from our hotel room | walking around Peachtree Street | grabbing a drink at the hotel bar

The next morning, it was a not terribly long drive to South Carolina. Even though we were staying on the sea islands, we were super close to Savannah. So we took a day trip over there.

We didn't take one of the tours - although we saw them all over the place. We just really wanted to walk, as opposed to taking the trolley {walking is another thing we desperately miss since moving down here}. Fortunately, Heather had some really awesome posts about her family's trip to Savannah {here here and here}, and we used her posts as our tour guide!

city hall | the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist | AJ in front of the historic Savannah theater | Juliette Gordon Low's house (as a former Girl Scout, I so loved seeing this) | the square where Forest Gump was filmed

We also did some sightseeing of a different type. The next island over was Hunting Island - a state park with beautiful beaches, nature trails and a lighthouse.

We took a walk on one of the trails. Until we saw a snake. Then two steps later saw another snake. We decided that was enough nature for us and ~~screamed and ran~~ walked very quickly back to the safety of our car and the snake free beach!

But mostly our vacation looked like this.

I seriously can't believe we are back in Baton Rouge. Even though we just got back Sunday night, it feels like this was weeks and weeks ago.

But AJ had to go back to work and I guess I should start getting back to our regular routine. Which means I need to do all that vacation laundry!

Friday, May 9, 2014

Project Life 2014 {Week 14 + Week 15}

Happy Friday everyone!

Just this week, AJ was telling me that he couldn't remember what our apartment in Chicago looked like. I was so happy to have a Project Life album from when we were living there. There were so many pictures of the apartment - dinners, parties, hanging out watching tv, the view from the big window {oh man do I miss that view!}, even the entrance way + the outside of the building.

It just reminded me how much I love documenting our lives right now, because one day right now is the past, and it can be hard to remember all the little details.

Week 14 | March 31 - April 6

I flew to California for a wedding this week. It was my first time there, and the first time I'd seen some of our friends from Chicago since we left. It was so great to catch up and to celebrate our friends' marriage. The last wedding I included in Project Life was pretty detailed. But I only included an overview here, since I will probably be making a traditional layout about this one.

Unfortunately, AJ couldn't join me on this trip. There are two weeks every year that he is not allowed to take off from work called turnaround. He has to work every day, not even a weekend off, so taking off four days to fly to California was just not an option. He was very disappointed to miss this special occasion. And I missed having him there, but I was very proud of myself for flying across the country and navigating the LA freeway all by myself!

Week 15 | April 7 - April 13

The next week was a big contrast from all the celebrating + catching up + beach going of the weekend before. It was just back to normal around here, going to work, hanging out outside and doing chores around the house. We bought a lawn mower + cut the grass, put together our new grill + cooked dinner on it, and watered the lawn (most areas with a sprinkler, but one by hand).

I also left some empty space in this layout. Under the picture of the tree right page, bottom left pocket I am going to add these cute star sprinkles I have, but I want to wait until I create the other side's pocket so I can seal it up. I am going to leave the space next to the 4x6 vertical card empty so you can see through to next week...at least, that is the plan right now!

Seriously, I cannot get over this picture of him watering the grass by hand. In his socks. With gardening gloves hanging off the side of his belt. And aviator sunglasses + a baseball cap. He looks slightly bad-ass, and slightly like an old man who yells "Hey kids! Get off my lawn!"

But he won't have to water the lawn this weekend. Its been raining here all morning! Hopefully the weather gets nicer this weekend though, I was looking forward to spending some time outside. What are you up to this weekend?

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Honeymoon Album {Part 4}

Happy Tuesday!

I'm a little sad about sharing the end of my honeymoon mini album today.

It has been so fun sharing this with all of you, and reliving some of my favorite memories from our trip to Sandals Emerald Bay.

Sunday was the start of our "Bonus Days". You see, most of the people we met at the resort were only staying for one week, which would have meant leaving on Sunday for us. But we were staying for 10 days, so everything after Sunday morning was a bonus! Sunday, we got our favorite seats at the pool again, with the cute little in the pool table. And we played pool that night. I wasn't very good, but it was fun!

Monday, we hung out at the pool for most of the day. We were supposed to go snorkeling at 1:40, but just before the trip, it started to pour! So the trip was postponed until the next day.

It was also Canadian Thanksgiving. So we went to the Canadian Thanksgiving dinner that night! Of course, I thought of Tracy :)

Tuesday we were able to get another cabana on the beach! I was so glad, because I loved hanging out there. We stayed there all day, until it was time for our rescheduled snorkeling trip. To be honest, we debated not going. It was our last day, we had a great spot by the beach, the weather was gorgeous. But we decided to just go anyway and it turned out to be awesome. It wasn't very long, maybe an hour, and we saw some really cool fish on the coral reef!

And when we got back, our favorite seats were open by the pool! So we hung out there for a bit as well.

That night, before our second dinner at the French restaurant, we walked around the resort and took some pictures. They one on the top left is my favorite, and the one on the bottom right is the background on my phone right now!

Wednesday morning we were sad to be leaving. But we had one last omelette breakfast - wow did I eat a ton of omelettes while we were there! And then we just hung out and waited for our car to the airport. When the cars first got there, everyone jumped to get on them, but we stayed back and ended up getting a private car to the airport! It was a great way to end our trip.

And before we knew it, we were back in Florida, and after one more flight, we were back in Baton Rouge!

I wish we could go back tomorrow, but I know that's not possible, you know, because of work and all that. Maybe for an anniversary trip one day?

Where did you go on your honeymoon? Did you ever return for another trip?

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Honeymoon Album {Part 3}

Happy Tuesday!

Did you have a good St. Patrick's Day? We did our taxes...but we also had green mashed potatoes and green broccoli and green beer! So it was a little festive!

Over the weekend, I almost finished organizing my scrapbook room. I'm looking forward to creating a few new pages to share. But first I want to finish sharing my honeymoon mini album.

Friday we decided to hang out at the pool. We played BINGO in the morning, and as we started playing AJ told me that he's never ever won BINGO. Of course - he won! Then, some of the other people staying at the resort asked us to play volleyball. There was no way I was playing, but AJ had a lot of fun! While he was playing volleyball in the pool, I decided to read, take a nap and run around and take lots of pictures.

That night they had a mini Junkanoo party at the resort. Junkanoo is a big party/parade that is traditional in the Bahamas. The parade at the resort was very cool, there was dancing and music and a guy who did all sorts of crazy things with a flaming limbo stick. Unfortunately, it was getting super windy, and there was lots of biting bugs in the sand, so we didn't eat at the outdoor party. Instead, we ordered in in our room!

Saturday morning the weather had cleared up a lot! We decided to start the day off with a walk on the golf course. But as we were walking over, I noticed that there was a cabana on the beach open! Those can be so hard to get, so we threw our towels and beach bag on there and started our walk. I loved the golf course, it was right on the water, and there were beautiful views from there.

We spent most of the day on the beach, playing in the water and taking pictures. There were photographers who would take your picture, but when we went to go look at the pictures, they were super super expensive. So I used our cabana as a tripod and took a bunch of pictures myself!

Saturday night was our 1 week anniversary, so they decorated our bed with towel swans and flowers! I thought that was so cute. We also went to the bar before our dinner at the French restaurant (that we loved so much that we immediately made another reservation!) But back to the bar - they noticed that I was taking pictures of my drink, so they decided to show me something fun to take pictures of and lit a shot on fire! That was so so cool!

Well, that's it for today! I'll be back tomorrow with another wedding update :)

But until then, I'll just be working, and maybe starting to paint another wall in the house! Hope you have a great Tuesday!

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Honeymoon Album {Part 2}

Happy Tuesday everyone!

How was your weekend? AJ was off Thursday and Friday, so we had a long weekend together. We got a lot done around the house, including having our alarm system installed, finally picking a paint color for behind the fireplace and ordering a dining room table!

Last Tuesday, I shared part of our honeymoon album, so I thought I'd continue on this Tuesday and share a bit more!

Wednesday we decided to skip the pool and got a spot by the beach early, but while we were eating lunch, it started to rain! So we took all our stuff back from the beach (after it had gotten all wet!) and went to the pool after the rain stopped.

We also had a special dinner to go to on Wednesday night for people who had been to Sandals before. The dinner was really fun - we ended up (totally by coincidence) sitting with two other couples from Louisiana! And our Sandals hosts bought each couple a professional picture by the golf course. And the food was so so good, it was seriously the best dinner we'd had all week!

Thursday morning started off with breakfast on our patio. I was so so excited about breakfast on the patio, I'm not sure why exactly, but I thought it was very cool.

After breakfast, we decided to get off of the resort and explore Exuma a bit. We called the taxi driver who'd dropped us off at the hotel, and he drove us around the island so we could sight see a little bit.

He dropped us off at the water taxi that brought us over to Chat'n'Chill. This place was the coolest. It is a bar on a tiny little island that you can only get to by boat. And they have sting rays that you can feed and pet
them, which I absolutely loved doing. And I even got to pick a conch shell out of the water to take home :)

AJ loved the fresh conch salad that they made in that little shack, and we both loved sitting at the picnic benches by the water, just relaxing. For almost the whole time, we had almost the whole island to ourselves. Around 3, some more people started showing up, but that was about the time we were taking the water taxi back to the resort.

I would love to go back there again, and just hang out on that island again!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Honeymoon Album {Part 1}

Happy Mardi Gras!

I am super late posting today. I'm super late doing everything this week. But that is probably because we are on a school vacation, and I am just loving not being on a schedule this week.

Even though I still seem to be waking up at 6 every morning.

But anyway, today I unpacked my mini albums. I'm not sure where I am going to keep my big albums, but my minis will be in a bucket in the living room.

And when I did that, I realized I never shared my honeymoon album!

I really loved the idea of using a Project Life mini album for our honeymoon album, specifically this kiwi one. But, I couldn't find a Project Life kit that worked with what I wanted for the album. And you guys know how much I love Project Life, but there wasn't anything beachy and tropical enough.

But the Bella Blvd Sand and Surf line was perfect! I scooped up lots of this paper + stickers + embellishments and got to work with my paper cutter and corner rounder.

Fortunately, I was able to make all of the cards over the summer, while school was on break.

So when I got home from the honeymoon, all I had to do was add the pictures + journaling + Bella Blvd cards and it was good to go!

It ended up just taking one evening to put it all together!

I just did one spread for Sunday night, since we got to the resort late. But they had champagne and flowers waiting for us in our room, and we were able to order dinner and relax after a super super long day of traveling (that included a 6 hour layover!)

Monday morning was our first real day of our honeymoon. I had so much fun taking pictures of everything on the resort. I couldn't believe how gorgeous everything was, and I had so missed the beach after my first summer not living close by the water. It was so wonderful to be able to walk to the beach again! We spent half our day at the pool, and half on the beach. And I'm sure AJ is going to love that I shared this picture ;)

Tuesday was more of the same, beach + pool. We got my favorite pool seats today, under the roof, but right next to the pool, with a table in the water, perfect for pizza eating! And there was a chocolate party at the resort that night. Before dinner, we played some pool, and after, we filled up on lots of chocolates. My favorite was the Nutella filled crepes...which didn't last long enough on the plate to get a picture!

Looking at these pictures makes me wish I was in the Bahamas again! It is freezing here, and I couldn't have sworn they told me the south was warm!

I'm off to go figure out how to start the fireplace, and start dinner! What are you up to today?

Monday, January 27, 2014

Project Life 2013 {12.16 - 12.22 & 12.23 - 12.29 & 12.30 - 12.31}

How was your weekend?

We had a snow day on Friday. There was a light dusting of snow, so the whole area shut down - no school, roads were closed, the whole nine yards.

But, I got an unexpected three day weekend, so I'm not going to complain!

And, AJ was out of town this weekend, so you know I spent most of it scrapping!

I was finally able to finish my 2013 Project Life (well, except for the wedding week...that's still a work in progress! I can't decide which pictures I want to use!)

The third week of December was awesome because we had parties at school (complete with tree skirt skirts!) Then, AJ and I flew out to New York, where we ate dinner at Peter Luger's, watched Ben terrorize the poor Christmas tree Santas, played board games by the tree (my favorite!) and found AJ's old baby pictures!

We tried to get as many Christmas things in as possible Christmas week. We went to the city to see the tree, went to Greenport, made struffoli with my Nonni and had a big family Christmas party!

Since we did so many Christmas things, I decided to give Christmas Eve and Christmas day their own inserts. We had a very quiet Christmas, but it was so much fun hanging around with family, and even seeing some Christmas Eve snow!

There were a few different approaches to the last week of 2013 and the first of 2014. Some people had December 30 - January 5 as the last week of their 2013, others made it the first of their 2014. I decided to keep December 30 and 31 in my 2013 album, and start mid week for 2014. Since it was a "week" of only two days, I dedicated one page per day. But that wasn't hard, since they were both big days - one was AJ's birthday and the other New Year's Eve!

And of course, my last page of the album. I just followed the Clementine kit suggestions for the last page - I always follow the suggestions for the first and last pages!

And now I can get started with my 2014 album! I'm going to order the pictures to be printed this week - I can't wait!

Are you catching up on any 2013 projects before moving on to 2014?

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Labor Day 2013 {Layout}

Happy Tuesday!

Are you staying warm where you are?

We actually set a record for low temperatures today - dropping to 19 degrees this morning! Now, I realize that's not too cold compared to New York or Chicago, but its still really cold for Baton Rouge!

Today is actually our first day of school after break. Yesterday was supposed to be our first day of classes, but we lost power + heat at school, so we didn't have class.

So of course, I'm wishing it was summer again!

Usually, AJ and I go home for Labor Day. We spend the weekend on the east end of Long Island and visit the vineyards, go to farmer's markets and mostly just hang out outside!

This layout is really similar to the layout I did last year for Labor Day. I really love these collage layouts for weekend trips like this because I take so many pictures!

Well, I'm off to go bundle up because who knows how cold school will be after having no heat all day yesterday! Stay warm wherever you are!

Friday, November 22, 2013

Project Life 2013 {10.07 - 10.13 + 10.14 - 10.20}

I am so so so excited that it is Friday!

And, better than it just being Friday, its the last day of school before Thanksgiving break!

And, better than it just being a break, my parents and brother are coming to town to visit!

So on this fabulous last day before break family coming to visit tomorrow Friday, I have some Project Life pages to share! It really is an awesome Friday!

Even though last week I was only up to the week before wedding week, I'm jumping right over the wedding week and moving on to the honeymoon. I have an idea for the wedding week, but I have decided exactly how to do it yet, so I'll come back to it!

October 7 - 13 was the first week of our honeymoon. I decided to include a picture of AJ and I traveling (even though that's technically from the previous week) because it just made more sense here! I tried to include one picture from each day.

Monday: the pool, Tuesday: the view from our room, Wednesday: playing croquet, Thursday: at Chat n Chill, Friday: at the pool, Saturday: on the beach, Sunday: mimosas!

I also mixed in some papers from the Bella Blvd Sand and Surf collection that I used in our honeymoon mini album.

October 14 - 20 included our honeymoon "Bonus Days" - you know, the extra few days since we went for ten days instead of a week, and also our getting back to Baton Rouge after being away for the entire month!

Unlike the first week of the honeymoon, I included more than one picture from each day. Monday: champagne + me and AJ + the pool, Wednesday: AJ leaving our building + taking pictures before dinner + a sunset, Wednesday: AJ waiting to get through customs + our Wedding Poem candles

I didn't include pictures from the rest of the week, but I did include it in the journaling!

Alright, I guess I better go get ready for work! The last day before Thanksgiving break!!!

Just a few hours of teaching, then home to clean and get ready for Thanksgiving. What are you up to this weekend?

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Honeymoon Recap {Sandals Emerald Bay, Great Exuma, Bahamas}

Happy Wednesday everyone!

It is so exciting to be back here on the blog!

Yesterday, I shared a mini wedding recap.

Today, I thought I'd share a few pictures from our honeymoon!

After our St. Lucia vacation last year, we decided to book another Sandals resort for our honeymoon. This time, we picked the Sandals Emerald Bay in the Bahamas. I am so so glad that we did! It was even better than the resort we went to in St. Lucia, and we loved that we decided to go for 10 days instead of seven!

We spent most of our days hanging out at the pool.

Or on the beach.

And at night, we got all dressed up for dinner.

We ate and drank and ate some more! (PS. That middle picture isn't photoshopped or anything at all! The bartenders noticed that I was taking pictures of my martini, so they decided to show us something a little more fun to photograph - flaming sambuca!)

We left the resort to explore the island and go to Chat n Chill. I got to feed an actual stingray from the ocean and AJ loved their fresh conch salad (seriously, we watched the guy pull the conch up from the water and filet it right in front of us!)

We walked the golf course, saw a junkanoo band, played shuffle board, pool, croquet and bocce, and enjoyed the pretty views everywhere we looked!

And after 10 days, we were ready to come home and start our new lives as a married couple!

Okay, not exactly "ready", because really, who wants to leave the beach and the pool and eating out every single day to go back to work...

But we've been back for a week now, and we are both getting back into the swing of things here. Of course, my favorite part has been being able to talk/text/email people again (roaming + internet not working = no outside world contact for us!) and shopping at Target again!

What is your favorite part about coming home after a long vacation?