{mid} Summer Bucket List

It’s hard to believe that we’re already into July. Summer is flying by and I need to hang on tight before it’s gone. With that said, I wanted to make some goals for myself and fun ones at that. Most of the time we’re always setting goals to better this and improve that (which is great, don’t get me wrong), but sometimes we need to just let go and have a little fun. Isn’t that what summer is all about?

Here is what I intend to do before Labor Day weekend:

Amusement park


Water park


Read more


Watch a sunset or two


Wine tasting


Beach day


I’ll let you know how it all works out!

Is there anything you have your heart set on doing before the end of summer?

Images via weheartit

VH1 Best Cruise Ever 2 - Day 4

This was the last full day of the cruise and we had to make it count. We started the day off with lunch, met up with Chad & Amy and headed down to the Candlelight Lounge for Pop Culture Trivia. We made it fun, but the questions were pretty ridiculous and it wasn’t what we thought it was going to be. Afterwards, Geof and I decided to head off to the casino for some slots. Note to self: Never gamble on a cruise ship. They’re there to take your money, not make you money. I need to learn to play table games.

There were acoustic shows all day on the Lido Deck and we got out there with just enough time to catch Train’s entire set. It was the first time we saw them on the cruise and they were excellent. We had an early dinner after Train and then headed off to our cabins to get ready for the night.


Enjoying Train on the Lido

The evening started off with a robe party hosted by Lifehouse. There were people all over the ship in their pajamas and robes, including Chad! The first show of the night we wanted to see was Deck of Jack. They drew a large crowd and even got Ben from Lifehouse to come up and play. The song that had me laughing the most was about Jim Shearer’s days working at McDonald’s and when there manager would leave they would make 100’s of nuggets and “blow out the bin”. This was back when all the food was ready made and sat in those bins/boxes. I guess you had to be there, but it had everyone in stitches.


Geof and I ready for the night!


Me with Danny from The Script, Geof & I with the boys from Lifehouse and Geof with some the guys from The Daylights

Later, we went to the Candlelight Lounge to see the rest of Mat Kearny’s set. Like I said in my previous post, he is so talented and I’m really glad I got to see him on the cruise. After Mat, SafetySuit was up to play the last show on the ship. I cannot think of a better way to end vacation then have my favorite band play last. The Candlelight was mobbed and they put on one hell of a show. Things really got pumping once front man Doug Brown made the official announcement of Bin Laden’s death. There was a really camaraderie among the cruisers and we even got a U.S.A. chant going. Doug told us a story about how his father was in one of the towers on 9/11 and thankfully was able to make it out. I can’t imagine what their family went through on that day.


Deck of Jack, Mat Kearney & SafetySuit


The gang!


Amy & I with Doug



The thing that continues to set SafetySuit apart from other bands is their stage presence and energy. It doesn’t matter if it’s a large or small crowd; they always give it their all. I realize I’m a little biased since you all know I’ve seen them one too many times, but I saw many people on Facebook that had never seen them before that said the same thing.


Geof & I with Mat Kearney

We ended the night with our crew up for some late night snacks. I was so dehydrated from all the singing and dancing that all I wanted was water. Lots and lots of water. It was pretty much a pout fest on how much we didn’t want our trip to end.


Best.Time.Ever

Last year was pretty darn hard to top, but I think we did it. I had so much fun this time around and felt even more relaxed. Thank you all for taking this little journey along with me through my recaps!

VH1 Best Cruise Ever 2 - Day 3

We started the morning bright and early with breakfast and then met up with Tracy & Steph to get to our Cozumel excursion. It was a beautiful day in Mexico and we really couldn’t have asked for better weather the entire cruise.

We went right to the docks to board our catamaran and get the day started. The guys on the crew of our excursion were a blast. There was one named “Nacho” that looked like a Mexican Jack Sparrow. No joke.


Our excursion!


Tracy & Steph with Nacho!

We went out to the reef and jumped in the water for about an hour of snorkeling, seeing lots of colorful fish in what was a great experience. Then it was time for fun in the sun with margaritas when the catamaran took us all to a beautiful beach for some playtime in the ocean. The beach was filled with all kinds of goodies including everything from water slides to trampolines. It was so fun! The slide was the best part, but climbing it was an upper body workout. I did it once and that was enough for me. On the other hand, the water trampoline was awesome. After we got back onto the catamaran, they gave us a ride back to the docks, filled with more drinking and some cheesy line dance music, which was a ton of fun. I’m so glad we did this excursion because it was a blast and worth every penny.


Sun & Fun!

When we headed back to the ship for a quick lunch, we grabbed Chad & Amy and then went back on the island to hang out at Fat Tuesday, where we spent a few hours talking, drinking and laughing. On our way back to the ship, we spotted Jimmy from Train and took a funny picture with him at the bar. After that we saw our buddy Jim Shearer who happened to be filming a segment for the Top 20 Countdown and they ended up putting us in the shot with him, which was really exciting. Hopefully, we should be in the very last segment of the show this weekend when they air the countdown.


Fat Tuesday


The gang with Jimmy from Train


Us with The Inspiration in the background


Getting ready to be on the Top 20 Countdown

Once back onboard, I was feeling pretty worn out from sun, swimming and margaritas. We had took a nap, grabbed some dinner and roamed the ship before getting ready for the night. We headed up to the Paris Lounge to see Mat Kearney and The Script. I can honestly say that I didn’t know much about Mat or his music before the cruise and left vacation a huge fan. He has some great tunes and is a genuinely nice guy. After he went off, it was time for The Script. I’ve been looking forward to seeing these guys for months and they did not disappoint. Danny has an incredible voice and even though they’re considered rock/pop, he has a flow to his singing that almost reminds me of rap/R&B. They really put on a show and Danny’s stage presence kept everyone engaged the entire time.


Me with Jason Wade from Lifehouse


Mat Kearney


The Script

After the show, we headed up to The Candlelight Lounge to find Chad & Amy. We bumped into Ryan Star and chatted with him for a little. He was another very nice, talented artist on the cruise. We caught part of the Civil Twilight show and then went to see the Yacht Rock Revue on the Lido Deck. They were doing covers of U2 songs that night. We stayed for a bit and then went with Tracy and Stephanie to get some late night snacks. The weather was beautiful, so we dined al fresco. It was great to relax and chat awhile with good friends.


Us with Ryan Star

VH1 Best Cruise Ever 2 – Day 1

Hello my lovely blog friends! I’m back from vacation, unpacked and ready to relive the memories through some recaps. I’m hoping this doesn’t bore you to tears, but I always like to relive my vacations through my blog. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone back to read old posts and remember the fun times.

On Thursday, we flew to Tampa and were very worried we wouldn’t get out of here due to some nasty weather headed straight for Philadelphia. Once we were in the air, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. We landed safely in Tampa and shared a cab to the port with two fellow cruisers from Boston that we saw several times on the ship. Great guys!

The second we walked on the Inspiration, we were met with smiles from good friends Amy and Chad that we met on the cruise last year. We’ve keep in touch with them ever since and I was super excited to see them.


Us with Chad and Amy

We all went and had some lunch at the buffet and then headed down to our cabins to get settled in. Lifehouse rocked us out to sea on the Lido Deck and we went to check it out with Amy and Chad. After that, we listened to Crowfield for a little bit play in the Atrium.


I missed those towel animals


Lifehouse rocking us out to sea

We went to the Carnivale Dining Room for dinner and loved our server and host. I asked them if they love these types of cruises, since they don’t have to dance around the dining room and they said I just read their minds because they hate that. It made me laugh…a lot. After going on the Vh1 cruises, I could never go back to a regular one.

After dinner, we went back to our cabin to get ready for the night. We met up with Amy, Chad, Tracy and Steph in the Candlelight Lounge for the SafetySuit show. This was one of the best shows on the cruise and we had a blast. We got to hear 4 new songs off of SafetySuit’s upcoming album and the mood in the audience was awesome. We saw Tate, Dave and Chico from SafetySuit after the show and talked to them for a bit.


Amy and I


Tracy, me & Steph


One of our many self-portraits


Doug from SafetySuit

From SafetySuit, we headed up to the Lido Deck to catch the rest of The Script show and ran into our buddy Jim Shearer from the VH1 Top 20 Countdown. He is awesome, but more on that later. We also got to meet Danny from The Script and he was very nice.


Us with Jim Shearer


The Script


Us with Danny from The Script

To cap off the night, we got some late night pizza with Chad and Amy and then headed back to the Candlelight Lounge to see the Yacht Rock Revue. They were awesome and played hits from the 70’s and 80’s. They’re actually pretty talented and never stayed out of their retro characters the entire cruise. We took a late night stroll of the Promenade, hit the club/disco for a bit and called it a night.


Us with the Yacht Rock Revue

Dreaming…

Of anywhere but here



It is too cold and I’m in need of some sun and fun in my life. This little inspiration board I made will have to suffice until then.

Looking at this makes me smile.

What's making you smile today?

Images via weheartit

Pink and Green Thursday

Time for another installment of Pink & Green Thursday hosted by Trish at Pink Preppy Lilly Lover. She is also hosting a fabulous Lilly giveaway right now. Please head over and enter!

My theme today is Pink & Green beach living. Now that summer has arrived, I’m dreaming of days spent by the ocean. I would give just about anything to have my very own cottage by the beach someday and have it decorated something like this. I saw these images last summer in Coastal Living and fell in love.

In the June issue of Better Homes & Gardens, I saw the beach cottage of author Mary Kay Andrews on Tybee Island in Georgia aptly named Breeze Inn Cottage. Her place is actually available for rental. I think I’d go to Tybee Island just to stay in this house.