A One-Stop Shop for all the Things
Self care is so important and often not talked about enough. Each person is different but over the years I have found certain habits to keep me feeling my best and limit my anxiety. I truly believe that you feel your best when you take …
Where to Stay Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort – we typically lean towards Hyatt or Hilton properties because of their rewards system! If you’re looking for a hotel-branded credit card, either of these are the way to go! This property is just steps from the …
I tried to compile a list of baby products we couldn’t live without for the first 8 weeks. I hope if you’re reading this and are expecting or need to buy a baby gift that it helps!
Burp Cloths: if you register for burp clothes, let it be these. They’re great, easily wash and come in a lot of colors! I had two packs initially and just ordered another one because our babe is a “happy spitter!”
Stroller: yes, it’s a splurge but we’ve already gotten our money’s worth! I have the base in my car so when I’m out and about with her by myself I don’t have to mess with extra stroller pieces! We also plan to use it for travel until she outgrows it!
Play Mat: this one is a little more pricey than some others on the market but it’s not overwhelmingly bright, you can buy attachments for it with their subscription boxes and the mat itself washes easy – which is a great perk when your babe spits up or has an accident on it!
Sound Machine: for the longest time I used a portable sound machine (this one is great by the way) and then when we moved to our new house and moved her pack and play to the closet (don’t come at me, it’s dark and she sleeps great!!) we started using the Hatch. You can access the light/sound features from your phone so it’s great for naps or middle of the night feedings! You also NEED this shusher – we used it almost every day for the first few weeks to put her to sleep.
Swaddle: our babe HATED having her hands in a swaddle so we got these instead and have just moved up to the next size – I’d buy a couple (we have three in each size) so you can wash one when they have an accident or spit up on it and have another one on deck!
Lounger: we went with the Snuggle Me and loved it! She has since outgrown taking naps in it but sometimes we’ll use it if we need to just set her down in a safe place while we do laundry, cook dinner, etc.
Ointment: no one talks about baby acne but let me tell you, it’s a real thing! I was convinced it was from her spitting up and it running down her cheek but everyone raved about this ointment so I caved and bought some – it only took a couple days for it to start clearing up!
Bouncer: this was gifted to us but I would have 100% spent my own money on it – it took her a little bit to grow into it but now we set her in it if she’s awake while we eat dinner or just need free hands. I bought a toy attachment from Amazon to occupy her while she’s in it!
*These are affiliate links and if you purchase from my page then I receive a small commission to support my growing family!
Where We Stayed Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego: We loved the location of this Hyatt property! It was within walking (or scootering) distance to a lot of restaurants and a short Uber ride to the Zoo and Mission Beach, which I recommend checking out! What …
Where to Stay The Godfrey: we stayed at The Godfrey Hotel Boston for the weekend and I’d definitely stay there again! It was within walking distance to shopping and multiple restaurants and there was an MBTA (public transportation) stop just a couple blocks away! I …
Because we cancelled our Italy trip (twice lol) and got such a steal when we went to the Maldives, we had some leftover American Airlines miles and chose to make the trip to Maui, Hawaii. We have both been with our families when we were younger but never together!
Originally we were going to fly economy there and business back because it was a red eye and we were going into work the morning we got back BUT a week out, Tyler realized the leg coming back to DFW had gone down in miles so after making that adjustment we had enough points between the two of us to fly business on the way there, too!
The original economy flight from DFW to OGG was 20,000 miles per person, 40,000 miles total for the two of us to get there. Our business class seats coming back from OGG to DFW were originally 87,500 miles per person but a week before we left, they dropped to 55,000 per person. We then used those miles we got back plus what was still left in our American Airlines accounts to upgrade to business class on the way there – those seats were 62,000 miles per person.
All in all, we used 234,000 American miles and a transfer fee of $480 to transfer miles from his account to mine as well as buy 2,000 additional miles to fly round trip in business class from DFW to OGG.
Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort
We are avid Hyatt and Hilton hotel stayers so it’s no surprise the first hotel we stayed at was a Hyatt property. We stayed at an Andaz in Scottsdale and were very pleased so we decided to try another one of their properties out, this time in Maui! We booked these through the American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts portal with cash. Booking through the AmEx portal gave us daily breakfast for two, late check out and a $100 credit to use on the property during our stay.
Wailea Beach Resort – Marriott
The reason for the second hotel is because our plans changed a little bit. We were originally going to go to another island to get the best deal on a flight back to Dallas but decided to originally fly economy to Maui and business back. Our first hotel had rates through the roof once we realized we needed another night’s stay so we moved to the Wailea Beach Resort! Luckily we had some Marriott points so we spent 60,000 points on one night at this resort.
For a while, Hawaii had a severe shortage of rental cars from the pandemic but we had booked ours before the prices started to sky rocket. We got one for the duration of our stay so we could go explore more of the island and not worry about Ubers or taxis being available. We originally booked a car for a week at about $1,000 through National but the week before our tripped had dropped over 50% to $469 for the week!
Luckily we both had offers on our Amex (Gold and Platinum) for a 100% rebate for a CLEAR membership – they usually cost $179 for a one year membership. We registered online, drove to Love Field to finish the biometrics part of it and were set to go! We could upload our vaccine card into the CLEAR app and that would suffice as a way for us to board the plane in Dallas. You do have to be fully vaccinated or show an approved negative COVID test in order to avoid the quarantine once you land in Hawaii. Please stay up to date on all their requirements before your trip!
If you’re looking for a beach vacation, I highly recommend checking out Maui!
Somehow I made a guide on Instagram and forgot to compile everything in a blog post! So, here goes! This is all from my trip to visit my BFF in Nashville in November of 2020 – shoutout to Southwest for the cheap airfare! Where to …
As I mentioned in my other blog post about getting to the Maldives, this was a HUGE bucket list destination for my husband and I. We made the flights work by using American Airlines miles for a Qatar flight, used Hilton points for the first …
Everyone should have a Bucket List of places they’d like to visit. We do and it’s constantly growing. My husband and I LOVE to travel, explore new places together and take in other cultures. The Maldives was a bucket list destination for both of us and our goal was to get there before we started a family – MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! We saved up miles for the flights and were able to use points for half of our stay at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, a Hilton property.
We were initially saving our American Airlines miles to get to Italy but we cancelled two trips due to the pandemic and decided not to try a third time and just wait until things settled down. That led us to land on the Maldives and we had enough points to fly in style – there and back – in business class on Qatar Airlines. We used 112,500 miles per person round trip in their QSuites. At the time of booking those same seats were a cash value of about $20K. I’m working on a separate post all about our experience in the QSuites that I’ll link here once it’s finished!
Once we arrived to the main airport in Male, a staff member from the Conrad met us after we cleared customs and got our bags and drove us to the Conrad lounge to wait for the seaplane. They had complimentary refreshments which was nice since we arrived early in the morning. There is a pretty hefty cost for the seaplane but that is the only way to get to the resort islands (some have boat options if they’re closer) so make sure you take that into consideration when budgeting! They also have pretty strict luggage weight limits for the seaplanes and you do have to pay for additional weight if you go over.
We initially booked the first half of our trip (nights 1-4) using points for a Standard Water Villa at 95K points per night for 4 nights plus we got the 5th night free – if you book using rewards it’s always “Book 4 Nights, Get the 5th Free.” In total, that was 380K points for 5 nights in a standard water villa.
We then booked another night (night 6) in a Standard Beach Villa but it was a free night from my Hilton American Express Card and it was going at over $700 if you booked with cash (as of 7/9/21). For nights 7-11 we were able to use the Hilton Friends and Family portal (shoutout to Candace!) to book the same Beach Villa from night 6 for $267.50 per night for a total of $1,707.80 after taxes and service charges.
Fast forward to a couple weeks before we leave: we emailed them our arriving flight information to make sure they knew when we were coming and we found out they were on their final phase of updating their 50 Water Villas (what we originally booked) and those wouldn’t be done until November 2021…so they upgraded us, complimentary, to a Grand Water Villa with a pool – ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! (These were going for over $1400/night as of 7/9/21). I loved them already and at that point we were still over 2 weeks out from the trip! Because we are Hilton Honors members, they offered us discounted rates for the second half of our trip in the Beach Villa so we were able to move to a Deluxe Beach Villa with a pool for an additional $210 per night (plus taxes and service charges) that was going for over $1000/night (as of 7/9/21). One of the main reasons we considered this was because they were doing renovations to their “Quiet Pool” aka Adults Only so this would give us another pool option! All in all we were out of pocket about $3,244 for 11 nights in two different villas.
We have the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire card, which we typically only use towards Hilton stays. Hilton had an offer at one point where you bought points and got the same amount for free so we purchased 91,000 points and got 91,000 points for free for a total of 182K points for $910.
Right now, they are offering 150,000 points if you sign up and spend $4,000 in the first 3 months of opening the card. You can click here for the referral link – if you sign up using this link, I receive some points as well! These offers do change often and this is one of the better ones I’ve seen so I highly recommend taking advantage!
If you have any questions, please drop them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer them! Please note there are other ways to use points, this is just how we were able to make our trip work!
