What's in My Bag? Theme Park Edition

Since I was a little girl growing up in Florida, the Orlando area has been my second home. My family loves going to amusement/theme parks, and with Disney World and Universal Orlando only a few hours drive away, we take small vacations here and there to get out of town every once in a while. 

This coming weekend, I will be heading up to Universal Orlando for my brother's 17th birthday, so I thought I'd share how I prepare for these types of vacations for you all in a few posts leading up to my trip. 

When I go to Orlando, it's usually only for a couple of days or the weekend, so I like to pack light with a small suitcase. I plan on taking two purses this trip- my carry all tote, as well as a small crossbody purse to use during the day and at night. The small crossbody type purse I've decided to take this trip is my new Ban.do Flip Side Clutch. See my recent Ban.do Unboxing and Haul for more details on this bag if you are interested.

Now, you're probably wondering: why would you want to bring a bag to a theme park? I agree that there are a couple of reasons why you would want to carry the least amount of things as possible, but in my case, there are some things I will need to have with me for various reasons. So, let's go ahead and jump in to what I keep in my bag: theme park edition.

First of all, this bag is super slim and compact. It's very lightweight, and that's not because I'm carrying only a few things in it. The blue side is made of a patent material (it's very shiny and smooth) and the metallic gold side is made of a leatherette. So, even thought it will be super hot outside, I will hardly recognize my bag weighing me down because it really won't be. It will also fit into the small lockers outside of the rides, so I dont have to worry about where my bag will go when I'm not with it.

Also, the easy zip access will allow me to grab whatever I may need while walking around. I like to keep a B&BW Pocketbac hand sanitizer, small lip product, EOS lip balm and hand cream, as well as my cell phone inside. That's really it!

 

 So, what about your money and important cards you may ask? Well, I like to take this Universal lanyard that has a small wallet with an ID slot at the end of it to carry that sort of thing. It holds my annual pass, money, photo ID, as well as my express pass (to skip the regular lines) and my room key. You can get these at virtually any gift shop on the property. My sunglasses and croakies will likely be around my head/neck for most of the day, but when I do go on rides I plan to store them in my bag right before I put it in a locker.

There you have it! The slim crossbody bag mirrors the minimal contents of my bag for a hassle free and fun day at the parks! If you are considering taking a small bag for your next trip to a theme park, consider these tips and you're bound to be gold!

Until next time,

~Alexa~

Small Cruise Haul

Since I returned home from my cruise on Saturday morning, I thought it is only proper that I showed y'all a small haul from my trip. If you read my post entitled "Summer Cruise 2015: What I'm Looking For in Port," then you know I had specific items in mind while shopping abroad. With that being said, think of this post as a follow up to that one.

At our first port (which was St. Thomas), I knew the bulk of my shopping would be done there seeing as it is deemed the most popular port to shop at. One of my main goals was to find a Fruitz by Philip Stein watch, so I took the latter half of our day (the former was spent at Magen's Bay!) to seek out the best deal on my ideal watch. Looking back, I must've ventured off into at least 4 stores asking people what their prices were for the Fruitz watch. One jeweler even lied to us saying the certain style of the watch I was looking for was going to be discontinued just to get me to buy it.

Although I initially had my heart set on the blue banded watch, I decided to settle for the orange. I loved the size of the face and altogether, it looked really pretty on my wrist. I never did find the blue one, so I honestly will never know what that one looks like in person. Ultimately, I am very pleased with my watch and I absolutely love everything about it.

I also mentioned in that previous post that my cousin and I were on the hunt for Alex and Ani bangles. We definitely wanted a matching one, so when we went into Little Switzerland and found the case of all of the bangles, we were immediately drawn to the St. Thomas exclusive bangle. You can't get it anywhere else, so it only made sense for us to both get that one. Now, not only did we end up getting matching ones, but we'll remember exactly where we bought it and the memory will last forever.

The last piece of jewelry I got was actually free. Oftentimes, cruises will hand out a Port Shopping Guide along with a few free vouchers or coupons. This gets cruisers to stop by the stores for their free item or discount, and perhaps gets them to buy something. In Tortola, I received a Little Switzerland voucher for a free pendant. Of course, when you get a voucher that is fairly vague about the jewelry piece, you're gonna assume it's probably ugly. But nope. This pendant turned out to be an adorable replica of the Tiffany & Co. platinum starfish necklace. I just fell in love with it and ended up wearing it the rest of my trip. I got so many compliments on it too. My mom was even angry she never got it!

 Billabong Day Dreamy Beach Dress in Bikini Red

Billabong Day Dreamy Tank Top in Lavender

The last few things I got were actually two clothing pieces from Billabong. While we were walking in town to a cigar store my dad wanted to go to, I stumbled upon a window of pure Billabong bliss, so I knew I needed to stop inside to see. Although I know I can get Billabong at home (there's a store at my local mall), the Caribbean has no tax (duty free) so it only made sense to buy a few pieces if I really liked them because it ended up being cheaper long term. I got this adorable babydoll shift dress (my favorite) in a burnt orange color with a floral paisley pattern. It actually looks great with the starfish necklace, but then again everything does. The other piece I got is a lavender tank top with a pretty white and orange flower pattern. I especially love how this top crosses in the back, and actually wore this to Atlantis. It's great to throw on over a bathing suit or a really hot day. I love how flowy it is. 

And that's a wrap folks! Unfortunately, I couldn't acquire any of my free jewelry pieces in Nassau because we just didn't have enough time since we were at the water park all day. I guess I just have to hope I go on a cruise in the near future. I can't say I regret my day in the Bahamas because I absolutely had a blast. My brother is dying to go there for his 18th birthday so he can gamble (he'll be 17 this September). We'll see about that I guess!

Until next time,

~Alexa~

Summer Cruise 2015: I'm Back + Pictures of My Trip

It's been a long amazing week but I'm finally back from my long anticipated vacation. This vacation will definitely go down in history for me. So many memories were made and so so much food was eaten. My diet starts after my banana pancakes breakfast (I know...I'm just terrible). But without further ado, I'd like to share a few pictures I got during my trip with you all. 

 Boarding Day Outfit

 Port of Miami!

 Whirlpool and private pool area of the spa

 The amazing water slides! The green and blue slides were called the "Free Fall" slides while the red and orange looped around each other. The purple one was for younger kids but still fun. I tried them all!

 View of Miami from my parents' balcony stateroom right before we left!

 My Piña Colada "sail away" drink!

  Our first dinner in one of the main dining rooms called "Savor." I ordered the Striploin and it came with a baked potato, broccoli, and corn on the cob. Yum!

 On our first night, we attended a session of "Howl at the Moon" in the ship's comedy club. You basically request songs for them to play and they get you to sing along to it and make you laugh all at the same time. It was really fun! My cousin dedicated "American Pie" by Don McLean to my Grandpa for his birthday. It's his absolute favorite song.

  My Day 2 Drink of the Day was a Mango Meltdown. I actually liked this better than the Piña (and those are usually my fav!). Frozen cocktails are the best choice while cruising at sea - both tasty and refreshing!

My view from my lounge chair at "Vibe Beach Club." We bought a weekly pass to this private area for ultimate relaxation, which means no screaming kids running around. It was 21 & up and it came with access to the private bar in the club, bathrooms, a shower, and hot tubs. This was one of my favorite areas of the ship by far.

  Me and the cousin at dinner on Day 2. We ate at a seafood restaurant on board called "Ocean Blue." This place turned out to be where the best food is on the ship.

  My mom, brother, and my cousin's girlfriend being silly!

  Me and the cuz again!

A delicious lobster dinner with yellow rice and charred broccoli.

 

 One of the best molten chocolate cakes I've ever tasted. Comparable to Morton's Godiva Lava Cake.

 Our first towel buddy of the cruise! We weren't quite sure what animal this was...a penguin? An eagle? Definitely some sort of bird.

  My cousin's girlfriend swinging across the sky on the zip line at the Ropes Course. 

  Day 3 we ate at "La Cucina" the Italian restaurant onboard. I ordered grilled shrimp with eggplant and a creamy pesto pasta dish.

  We finally made it off of the ship on Tuesday to St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.!

  Our ship is huge!

  Going into town at St. Thomas

  On our way to Magen's Bay. Look how beautiful that water is!

 We made it to Magen's Bay Beach!

My Grandpa and brother in the water.

  

 To the right of the bay.

Our view head on.

On our way back into town, our taxi driver let us out at this amazing photo op on a hill. I got a great picture of our ship here.

  My mom and I 

  Cool animal living in the trees of St. Thomas

  Right before cruise ships depart from St. Thomas, this pirate themed ship sails across the water. It's so funny!

My delicious vanilla cupcake from Carlo's Bake Shop. It might've just been the best I've ever tasted.

 

My desserts at Cagney's Steakhouse - fudge brownie with ice cream and Oreo cheesecake!

  Having fun after dinner...yes, she fell asleep in this chair.

  We made it Tortola, British Virgin Islands!

  Going into town.

  Tried on a beautiful watch at Little Switzerland (no, I didn't buy this).

 ... But my mom did buy this! It's so sparkly in the sunlight.

 On our way back, we saw this wild chicken (or rooster?) running around!

About to board this ship at the end of the day and snapped a pic of the beautiful mermaid artwork.

 Our last day at sea.

 The color of that water though...!

 The beautiful chandelier centerpiece in the middle of the Atrium (lobby).

 Another towel buddy friend, Mr. Froggy.

 Our last day - almost to Nassau, Bahamas!

Coming close to Atlantis (zoomed in).

 My first time to the Bahamas and I'm just in awe!

 A beautiful lighthouse

 We made it to Nassau!

  Sea turtles!

  Outside of the Coral Towers at Atlantis

  So. Many. Sting Rays.

  More sting rays, minos, and a shark...?

  The Adventure Time themed aqua park in front of the Royal Towers at Atlantis

  A beautiful centerpiece inside the Royal Towers.

The casino inside the Royal Towers.

 My prime rib dinner on the last night of the cruise.

  All of my desserts - my Grandpa's birthday fudge cake, Bananas Foster, and an Ice Cream Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich

Leaving my cabin...it was so sad! My bed was to the right and my brother's was to the left.

So there you have it - most of my trip covered in pictures. I hope you enjoyed seeing a glimpse of the ship and what I did at each port because I certainly enjoyed sharing it with you. Stay tuned for a small haul of things I picked up in St. Thomas and Tortola!
Until next time,
~Alexa~