How to Honeymoon - Part Numero Uno

I am going to write instructions on how to travel and therefore, how to Honeymoon. I think I've got enough Frequent Flier miles under my belt to be able to comfortably say, "I know how to freakin' travel." I swear, I could kick some serious ass on The Amazing Race.

How did I become so savvy, you ask? Well, when you travel overseas 3 times a year for a month at time, touching down in Europe, India, Vietnam, Thailand, China and The Philippines along the way, you sort of figure it out. I've been doing this kind of thing for the last 10 years, at different intervals, for different time periods and different companies. When I travel, I am lucky enough to go first/business class and to stay in 4 or 5 star international hotels. I eat at 4 and 5 star restaurants around the world. Most times, I am blown away by the life I lead. Some of the time, it's glamorous. Most of the time, it's not. There is nothing sexy about flying 28 hours to get to a final destination. Nothing is glamorous about peeing in the Jaipur, India, airport. And there is nothing funny about a 5'10" woman flying coach on China Southern Airlines. I might as well just eat my knees, the seats are so small.

What has this got to do with a honeymoon? I'll tell you. It has to do with what you want to do on your honeymoon. My main objective when I go on holiday is to make sure I have plenty of nothing planned. I might schedule a nap, if I feel like getting crazy. Happily, The Candyman is excellent at doing nothing and enjoys this as well. I want to be warm, I want to see a beach and I want to do nothing on that beach for a week. Now, I can pay thousands of dollars for that to happen. Or, I can pay less. Much less.

If you are the type of couple who want the all-inclusive, spa-type hotel honeymoon, you might want to stop reading (but please don't!). If you are the type of couple who wants to go zip-lining in Belize, this might not be your best read either. However, if you want a nice place to stay and to
relax, keep on!

I do not want a fancy hotel to vacation in. I stay in fancy hotels enough and they are totally overrated. I want to lounge in bed all day and not have a hotel maid disturb me even though I put the 'Do Not Disturb' sign out. I want to make peanut-butter toast and sit in bed with my new husband and chill and talk and drink coffee on the beach, on by the pool.

You can do this if you rent a house. This is not hard to do. Two of my most favorite websites in the entire Internet are Home Away and VRBO. These websites offer rentals in locations around the world. It really is amazing and the deals are out of this world.

The first time I used Home Away, I went on my first solo vacation in 2004. I had just run my first marathon and I wanted to reward myself for all the hard work.

I'm in the red shirt and green hat. Can you find me? Photo courtesy of my dad.

At the time, there was no way I could afford that kind of trip without my frequent flier miles. I did have that massive perk. Anyway, I lived in Hawaii when I was a kid and had always wanted to go back. I had looked into it, but had no desire to go stay in some cheap hotel in Waikiki. I wanted to stay in my town, where I lived and kick it on my beach. I wasn't a tourist so I felt I wanted to go local. After hitting the Internet hard, I found Home Away and also found my first Hawaiian get-away!

Through Chris and Rochelle, the owners of Beachwalk Cottage in Kailua, Hawaii, I found my own private paradise! Basically, it was a mother-in-law type house set away from a main house with private access. Their rates have gone up in the last few years but in 2004, I paid $95 a night. There were some cleaning fees and tax and that's it. It was an 8 minute walk to Kailua Beach, one of the world's best beaches. Here's the cottage I stayed in:

The bead was super comfy!

The living room area. The satellite TV had every single channel known to man. The one night I stayed in I nearly killed myself with movie-watching.

The gated entrance was just to the left. This was my little private yard.

The other side of the yard. There's a little waterfall in the corner you can turn on. Nice.

A little desk area looking out to the patio and the bathroom on the left.

Tiny kitchen that did the trick!

It was clean, quiet and had everything that I needed. Kailua is a sleepy little town with all the stuff you would need, plus some, to have a wonderful Hawaiian vacation. Minus airfaire, I paid about $1250 to stay in Hawaii for a week - including food, drink, entertainment, Jeep rental, gas and a suitcase full of Kona coffee, Li Hing Mui and Guava Jam to give as Chritmas gifts!

Coming up.....Home Away takes T30SB and The Candyman back to Hawaii in 2008. We've booked again for our honeymoon...but where?!? Check in later and find out!

Where are YOU going on your honeymoon? What is your dream vacation?

Nashville Vintage Weekend!

A quick update on some vintage news for my Nashville peeps! My good pal Trisha, owner of Nashville's numero uno vintage clothing shop, The Hip Zipper has the following info to share:

LOTS of Vintage in Nashville this weekend!

- The Waldon Artisan Market is going on this weekend from approx 9:00am until 4:00pm Saturday and Sunday! They're located at the 1900 block of Eastland Across the street from Rosepepper Mexican Cantina. Lots of great vendors selling their crafty and vintage wears!

- There are also lots of great vintage clothing vendors set up at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds Flea Market this weekend. Most notably: Closet Case Vintage is located outside the Rabbit Barn in Booth 73, Parlour Vintage is located in front of Shed 4, Booth 4027, and Dianne Grossman's spot is INSIDE the Rabbit Barn - you can't miss the mass of vintage on the racks inside.

The market looks pretty swollen with merchandise of ALL kinds, so head out there if you can and see what treasures you can find.

We hope to see you TOO (at some point in the weekend)

We've put out all our spring summer stuff that we've been saving up the past year... waiting for the right season...

There are also even more NEW vintage acquisitions that will be inventoried, washed & put on the racks soon. This includes men's & women's clothing. LOTS more to put out when I can get to it! Keep checking back!

Have a great weekend ya'll, and we appreciate your business!

Love!
Hip Zipper Vintage

I sent my darling Trisha (who is the world's sweetest shop owner) some photos of stuff I was looking for and I got a text message from her today telling me to stop by the store this weekend. I wonder what kinds of goodies she found!?! How am I going to fit all this in with all the other stuff I'm supposed to be doing? Oh, who am I kidding? I am SO going vintage shopping.

Check out her awesome store!

All photos courtesy of Heidi Ross. Her stuff rocks.

The Key to My Heart

Oh, the pain. I love these so much. One day The Candyman will be some rock-star lawyer (not that I'm not proud of my current, not-for-profit, double-state Bar passing, kick-ass lawyer!) and will deck me out in my heart's desire.

My favorite is second from the right in the bottom picture. In platinum, please! We all know that Tiffany isn't affordable at all. However, they do offer these little guys for $100, sans chain.

All photos courtesy of Tiffany.

Actually, Tiffany does sell a few things that are under the one hundred dollar mark if that's where your gift giving budget falls (mine doesn't, sorry Cousin/Matron of Honor!). The have a few bracelets, key chains and charms that hit the mark. So if you're big on the brand name and short on cash, those might be the way to go!

Honeymoon blogs to come - hopefully this weekend. However, I have a veil to finish sewing, invites to assemble, a backyard that has a pile full of DIY dirt in it (maybe I'll blog about the "tile" we're laying) and a wedding cake yet to be discovered. I NEED A CAKE! The Thirty-Something Bride might be headed fro another WPB (Wedding Planning Breakdown). Noooooo....

Bracelets, Clutches and Tiaras, oh my!

I hope I've got some local Nashville brides reading my blog because The Bride Room is having a Paris Trunk Show on May 1st and 2nd. Now I'm not sure about the "Paris" part because we live in Nashville (that was an attempt at humour, dear bloggers), however it will be featuring Debra Moreland. She makes pretty things like this:

Photo courtesy of Debra Moreland

I might have to go check it out! There's a 10% discount, so that will at least get in me in the door. Hm, I really like the hairstyle in the picture above and well as the head bling.

Check out this gorgeous Lucite clutch I found on Ruby Lane. It sold for $200 and it wasn't even signed. She guessed it to be a Wardley. It's sooooooo pretty.

Photo courtesy Ruby Lane

So ever since I signed up at Gartner Studios for my invitation templates and 50 FREE FONTS I've been getting some updates via email. I highly recommend doing this. Getting myself on a bunch of wedding email lists was the best thing I've ever done in this whole wedding planning gig. It's annoying, for sure, but all the information starts coming to you much more quickly than if you were hunting for things solo.

At any rate, Gartner Studios is having a 15% off any sale over $20. Here's a cute, personalized and inexpensive gift for only $14.00! Buy a couple of them as bridesmaid gifts and you save some cash. And guess what? The engraving is free. Booya. What a deal. Go here to find it!

The Uber-List

Check it out! Go to the Stylish Events blog for the greatest list of all time! The 101 DIY Projects and Ideas! The go-to list for any crafty-budget-minded bride!