Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Travel to London with Kids {Part 1}

This post is LONG overdue. If you follow us on social media you know that last fall we took a big family trip to London and Paris and I'm finally getting around to sharing about it on the blog!  Our kids get a week off of school every September and when we originally started discussing options for a fall break trip none of them were overly excited about going to Europe.  Not to say they didn't want to go, but they are at the age where they want to do things with their friends and if everyone else is going to the beach, well they want to go to the beach, too.  Ultimately, the Mr. and I decided that this was one of those things we just had to decide to do because it was something they would appreciate down the road and boy are we ever happy that was made the decision.  We had the best trip and the kids loved it! 

We figured London would be a great first experience for European travel since there wouldn't be a language barrier and we could get an easy direct flight.   The Mr. made all of our flight and hotel arrangements using points when we could and I spent several weeks researching and planning our trip. We knew we didn't want to overdo it so I planned for one to two activities a day so we could have plenty of downtime to explore the city and see where the day took us! During my planning I was overwhelmed at times because there is just SO much to see and do, but I really tried to pick attractions that I knew all of us could enjoy. 

Day 1 : Arrival in London, Explore Hyde Park, Double Decker Bus Tour 

We left Atlanta on a Friday night and were geared up for the long flight. The kids thought it was fun to get actual meals on the plane (a first for them!) and they loved the fancy LED lights of our Virgin Atlantic flight. 

Since we flew overnight and arrived in London first thing in the morning we got a very little rest on the plane. However, we knew we had to power through and make the most of our first day.  We jumped right into it by taking the train to the closest station near our hotel. 

We dropped our bags, freshened up a bit in the hotel lobby bathroom and then set off to explore.  

We grabbed a traditional lunch at a nearby pub since our hotel was right across the street from Hyde Park so we explored there a bit. 




We finally made our way to the Hop-on Hop-off Big Bus Tour.  All the travel sites I had read said this was the best way to spend your first day and a great way to get a lay of the land.  It was a gorgeous day so we grabbed seats up top and started our tour of the city.  

We chose not to hop off at all and instead just enjoyed seeing some of the major landmarks and places we would visit later that week.  They give you little headsets that you can plug in and get a full audio guided tour of the city. It was actually really entertaining and informative! 






After that we were all pretty beat.  The kids got a quick Starbucks treat (because even in London they love their Starbucks) and then we hopped in a cab to head back to our hotel before an early dinner and early bedtime. 

Day 2: Thames River Cruise, London Eye, Trafalgar Square 




We had a slow start to our morning and just took some time to walk around and enjoy the city. I loved all of the architecture and seeing the beautiful old buildings. 


We made our way to the Thames River Cruise that took us from Tower Bridge all the way up to where the London Eye is. It was chilly on the river, but the tour guide was so funny and entertaining. We learned a lot and it was fun to see things from the water. 


One great thing about the Hop-on Hop-off Big Bus Tour tickets is that they came with a free Thames River Cruise pass. The only catch was that it had to be used on the "same day." However, after chatting with the nice people in customer service I realized that we could start our bus tour after 12:00 PM on the day before and then our river cruise passes would still be good for the next morning before 12:00 PM. You just have to use them both within a 24 hour period so if you plan it this way you actually get two days of actives for the price of one. 


After our river cruise we walked around a bit, found a lunch spot and then made our way to the London Eye for our afternoon reservation. We still had to wait in line, but it moved very quickly. 

Inside the London Eye we had such a great view of the city!  You have to do this if you go to London! 


After we got off we hung out at the park that was right by the river and the London Eye. They had a playground, the kids grabbed ice cream, and it was great people watching.  Next we walked over to Trafalgar Square and explored a bit. 

 

One thing we tried to do as much of while we were in London was immerse ourselves into the culture there.  We walked SO much and when we couldn't walk we tried to take the "tube" like most of the locals do. The kids got really comfortable navigating the different train stations and I was so proud of them for reading the maps, paying attention to the stations and overall learning how to navigate the world.  You can see they were over my picture taking by this point! 


Be sure to check back later this week for the next part of our London trip including shopping, afternoon tea, a show, and the museums!

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Monday, February 20, 2023

How To: Make Bubble Tea At Home

If your kids are anything like mine, they are all about the Bubble Tea trend. I sort of thought this might have gone away by now, but they are hanging on to it! When we were in London they had some at the cutest little spot (still need to share about that trip!) and anytime we see a Bubble Tea shop when traveling or near home they love to pop in!  



Just before Christmas I found these pre-packed bubble tea 4-packs at Target of all places.  I grabbed one in each of the flavors and my kids loved them! 


Then somehow I discovered that they sold the popping boba pearls on Amazon in a lot of different flavors. Click HERE to see them all. 


I ordered the strawberry ones to test out and see if we could make our own bubble tea at home.  It was a winner! If you want to be moved up to "cool mom" status, just order some and let your kids start mixing up their own bubble tea. I promise they will love it! 


Strawberry Citrus Bubble Tea
*Add 3 tablespoons of strawberry popping boba pearls to a glass. 
*Fill 1/2 the glass with green tea. 
*Top the other 1/2 of glass with lemonade. 
*Use a large straw and enjoy!



If you decide to make bubble tea at home, don't forget the straws!  You'll need large straws to be able to fit the boba.  You can get disposable bubble tea straws HERE or reusable ones HERE
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Friday, February 17, 2023

Fashion Fix: Star Sneakers for Spring {Golden Goose Dupes}

It's no secret we love a cute fashion sneaker and I'm so excited to share these with you all.  These Golden Goose Dupes are SO stinking cute and come at a really great price!  ShuShop has got SO many adorable options and it was hard to pick just one.  (There is a discount code at the bottom of this post!)


I have a pair of Golden Goose sneakers that I got for my 40th birthday from some friends.  I love them and wear them all the time.  I really wanted a pair of midis, but knew that I couldn't spend what they cost so went searching for an alternative and fell in love with these.  




They are affordable, so cute, and comfortable! I've been eyeing the site for a while now and finally pulled the trigger. I wish I hadn't waited so long.  They are comfortable, really well made, and might just be my new favorites! They also have Mommy & Me styles so any of you with littles can twin. How fun is that?

Plus, their return and exchange system is SO easy. I originally went with a more neutral pair, but got them and decided to go with my gut and get the blue star ones I really had my heart set on.  I was able to process the exchange right away and they sent the new pair before even receiving the original ones.  I thought that was excellent customer service and great for me because I didn't have to wait! 

 Use code LXZ-BQH3LI4 for 5% off your first order of over $100!  Or simply click the link HERE

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Wednesday, February 8, 2023

DIY Valentine's Day Pillows

We are self-proclaimed throw pillow addicts. We have them for every season, every holiday, and a multitude of colors. Our view is life is short, and you can never have too many throw pillows. February presents itself on the calendar, and we have so many throw pillow possibilities – the biggest being Valentine’s Day. Now this little addiction of ours can get expensive, but we’ve found the trick to keeping our habits satisfied without breaking the bank on all that fluffy cuteness. We created these adorable Valentine’s Day pillows for less than $5! That’s right – all your throw pillow dreams just came true.


This inexpensive DIY is super easy, and (bonus!) easy to store when done! What’s not to L-O-V-E?


Needed supplies:
– 2 Pillow covers (Or however many you like! For the love of throw pillows – get a little crazy!)
– 4-5 packs of red poms
– Hot glue 
– pencil


Instructions:
1: Before you begin your project, iron your pillow covers. It’s easier to do this before you start the project than after you’ve adhered your design.
2: Plug in your hot glue gun and set aside approximately 3-4 extra glue sticks for use throughout the project.
3: While your glue is warming up use this time to trace the designs you desire on your pillows with a pencil. For this project we cut out a heart we printed online and free handed the word “love”. The possibilities are endless though!


4: Begin tracing along the lines of your designs with the hot glue. Go slowly and place down the red poms as you go. Repeat until complete.



5: Once cooled remove any extra glue.
6: Insert pillow into pillow cover. (With that little throw pillow addiction we know you have plenty of extra in storage. Just pop one in and no one will ever know last season’s Christmas pillow is this season’s Valentine’s Day pillow.)


7: Display and enjoy!

The best part about this little decor project, aside from it taking only about five minutes to complete, is that once the holiday has passed we can simply unzip the Valentine’s Day pillow cover and easily store it for next year!



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Thursday, February 2, 2023

Book Club: January 2023 Reviews

 

Hello, February! Who's ready for a month full of love? Or at least romance reads?! ;) 

Winter seems to be dragging this year. We both have said that at least February has a holiday in it, just so it breaks up the monotony of these endless dreary days. This is the South. Where is the sun???

Complaints aside, at least it makes for some good reading weather. Today is Book Club day and we are sharing what we kicked off a new year of reading with. We'll be honest...our reviews are all over the place for January. As are our genres. 

We are both craving finding something we LOVE. Maybe February will sprinkle some of its love magic to our reading piles? If you read something good - share it with us! 




WHAT WE READ...

CARRIE BETH


Jen flew through the first half of Wait for You by Jennifer L. Armentrout and told me I had to listen.  It was SO good.  It was all about the chase, the hard to get girl and the boy who is usually used to getting anyone he wants throwing themselves at him. Cam had to really work for this girl and because they were friends first they both slowly fell in love with each other.  It touches on some traumatic situations in Avery's past, which is why she is really slow to open up.  The characters felt so relatable. It was emotional and touching, but lots of chemistry and love between the two characters. I loved this book!


Be With Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout was the second in the Wait For You series so I couldn't wait to start on this one. It focuses on one of the supporting characters from Wait For You, and while I read it pretty quickly, I didn't think it was near as good as the original. So much of it seemed far fetched and I felt like every major traumatic life event was thrown into it with a bunch of romance scenes to break those up.  I'd 100% read Wait For You and then just pass on this one. 


Next up was Maggie Moves On by Lucy Score. This was a cute story about Maggie, a YouTube home renovation star about about hit 1 Million subscribers, and her new hot landscaper that is working on her latest project.  It was fun to follow along with the renovation of a historical mansion, but also to see Maggie decide to finally settle down instead of zipping off to her next project. 



I should have known what I was getting myself into with Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, but I decided to still give it a go.  It has SO many amazing reviews and of course topped many charts last year.  Those books usually aren't my favorites, but for some reason I was drawn to this one. Set in rural Appalachian the story is told by a man who takes readers from his birth to a teenage mother in a single wide trailer to an incredibly hard youth as a foster child, onto teenage years and opioid addition that runs so prevalent in this area and finally to his recovery. I found this story just depressing and sad. I know it is a reality for many people in our country and it did open my eyes to the addiction problem that haunts so many.  The characters were so well developed and you felt like you really knew them which made hearing who they lived even harder.  It was a very well written book, but just not for me. 



My last book of January was Where The Grass Is Green by Lauren Weisberger. You guys know I love Audible, but I actually started reading this physical book back in July.  It only took 6 months and two adult only trips to complete it, but I did it!  It was actually a really cute story centered around a college admissions scandal! It was pretty fitting since my oldest is talking colleges and applications and SAT tests and all the things.  The family who appears to have it all together with a mom who is a powerhouse news anchor will do anything to get her daughter into an Ivy League school, even if it isn't what her daughter really wants.  She goes too far and ends up paying for it in many ways.  It was a cute story!  



JEN


Talk about some heat to keep you warm in Winter.  I kept seeing Wait For You all over Tik Tok, so I decided to see what the hype was about. I made it about halfway through in one sitting. And then promptly texted CB to read it too. 

Mysterious events (although you can kind of guess what happened), hot neighbor, witty banter, and lots of references to abs, what more can you ask for on a dreary winter day? 

It was a quick and easy read and is part of a series. I enjoyed it so much I couldn't wait to dive into the rest of the series. I read the second one, Be With Me, but while it was still spicy, I think the basic story wasn't as good as Wait for You. It was good, but not "great". But it could be that I needed to mix up my genres before digging back into the land of angst and abs. 



Next on the list was Too Good To Be True. I read/listened to this one with a friend from my book club, and we both had the same reactions. It's a psychological thriller with a lot of twists and turns, but the end through us and we agreed none of the characters were likable. Like the more they dived into their lives, and made decisions, the more you wanted to throw your hands up and say, "I'm done!". 

It's told in multiple time lines from three different POVs. Skye meets Burke on vacation and there's no going back for either of them. Their relationship moves at warp speed, and before they know it they are planning the wedding of their dreams. But shortly after the honeymoon everything begins to unravel and secrets are unveiled. You have to figure out if their love can survive, or if their secrets from their pasts are too much. 



For my fourth read of the month, I decided to mix the two genres and throw in a little humor. The Finlay Donovan series has been a joy to read so far, so when I saw a third one released I couldn't wait to listen. (The Audible reader of this series is so good!).

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun drops Finlay and her trusty nanny into another round of run-ins with the local mafia/law. This time her nanny is more mixed up a mess than she thought and lands them right into a "cop camp" for a week to see if they can get out of it. A little romance. A little mystery. And a lot of laughs. This series is just plain fun!

WHAT'S UP NEXT...

CARRIE BETH

When I was looking for my next read Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt kept popping up. It topped a lot of lists last year and while at first look the story seems a little far fetched with an octopus as the narrator, I've certainly read weirder things. Hahah!  Most reviews say how this is such a heartwarming story and a tear jerker at times, so I'm going to give it a go! 




JEN
Deciding to keep it light for the month of love, I'm going to read the rom-com A Guide To Being Friends by Sophie Sullivan. It sounds like the perfect romance read! 



Follow along with us on Goodreads!

HAPPY READING! 


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