Monday, June 22, 2015

Back to Reality | St Maarten Recap

Happy Monday sweet friends.  I hope you all had a great week and Father's Day weekend.  It was so nice to take some time off and relax.  I feel refreshed but man it is hard to get back in the swing of things after vacation. 
 We had the absolute best time ever in St Maarten.  What a gorgeous island.
  We are so lucky to have such great friends, the four of us just get along so well.  It was a perfect week.  We truly enjoyed our rest and relaxation.  Time with friends and away from the kids is a good thing!  Although by day 5, our last day, we were so ready to see our babies.


 I know several of you wanted recommendations.  Truth be told we were quite lazy and only ventured out to explore 2 days.  I will share where we went and then at the bottom of the post I will share other recs from the places we didn't make it to.

We stayed at Oyster Bay in a condo. We wanted a condo vs a hotel room because we wanted a shared living space and kitchen.  I was not familiar with the island before we arrived but we liked our location.  We were right on the Dutch/ French boarder.  We were technically on the Dutch side but could see the French side from our room.  Our room over looked the harbor and had an awesome infinity pool.  There were also 4 restaurants we could easily walk to plus a grocery, so that was nice as well.

The people of St Maarten are the nicest people you will ever meet.  Everyone was so friendly and eager to help. 


I wanted to share some pictures- so get ready for picture overload. This is more pictures than you probably care to see.  I am doing this more for me as a way to go back and view our week so if you get bored skip on over this post!


The night before we left Sterling mysteriously found this travel angel.  It was brand new and said "let this angel accompany you wherever your travels take you."  God has a funny way of sending signs and putting us at ease.  I carried this in my purse the whole vacation.

Saturday morning we arrived at the airport.  Like I said I am nervous flyer.  Nothing a screwdriver (or two) couldn't help.  I boarded the plane so calm and totally unfreaked out.  No panic attack either way:) It was nice flying out of Charlotte because we had a direct flight, it was a little over 3 hours and so smooth.
The Gigi New York Wallet/phone case below was so perfect for traveling.  It was helpful to have everything in one spot.  It is currently on sale now too:)


Erin traded seats with Matt so we could sit together and we had a blast on the flight.

Once we arrived we stopped at the grocery store and then headed to the resort.

On our balcony

Picture perfect view.


The guys of course had to test out the pool immediately.
The first night we at Daniels.  We actually ate there several times during our stay.  It was right on the beach and the food was pretty good.  During the day it changed to a more casual spot called Mr.  Busbys.


The plants and window box decorations were so pretty around the resort.


Our second day we spent at the large pool at the resort. It overlooked the beach.
 Wearing

 Lunch at Mr. Busbys.  They had the best club sandwich.

Did I mention how much we loved our infinity pool??  Spent so much time cooling off here.


We loved having happy hour by the water everyday on our deck.

This is one of my favorite dresses I own, the back is the best part. The palm print is no longer available but it is available in this Rainbow Print.

Dinner was at Beau Beaus.
Food was not bad but not great.  I had the fish tacos. Atmosphere was fun thought they had a band playing that we enjoyed.
Ended with some arm wrestling.

 The next day may have been my favorite day. We chartered a boat with Captain Alan- he is located in the marina right near Oyster Bay.  You choose a 4 or 6 hour excursion and they take you to a few different islands to snorkel and have lunch.  The crew was fabulous.
Picking out our snorkeling gear, trying to decide if we will really get in the water- shark terrfied.
Matt wore his "tux" for the boat ride:)  Dress is from Scout and Mollys in Charlotte.
The boat ride was super rough getting to the first island.  The harbor was smooth but the ocean was really rough.   My poor friend Erin got so sick 10 minutes into the ride.

It was totally worth it though.  This view.  The stuff dreams are made of.


The last island we stopped at,  Pinel was our favorite.  The first two islands were deserted but had great snorkeling.  We docked at Pinel and swam to shore and ate lunch.  They had a really fun bar with tables in the water and the best pina colada I have ever tasted.


These drinks were made with local guava and so good. 
We thought this tree was so cool.

 After that we were spent for the day and went to bed early.  
But we did enjoy some amazing fresh caught lobsters for dinner at Daniels.

The next day we headed to Orient Beach for the day.  We loved this beach!!  Right around the corner was a nude beach- pure entertainment but no cameras allowed.

We had the most insane mojtos at Bikini Beach, our lunch here was really good too.
This Gigi New York Uber clutch always comes with me when I travel.  I can toss it in my beach bag or carry on.  It is an easy size to pack and you can fit so much inside it.


For lunch Erin and I shared the antipasta platter and appetizer platter.  Both were great.  I have to say the food on the French side is way better.

The water was just picture perfect.  We had the best time strolling the beach after lunch.
 Bathing suit is old Mara Hoffman similar here


We grabbed some beers at this beach bar.  

Dinner + Drinks later that day.


This is kind of random but the grocery store near our hotel had fresh baked croissants every morning and they were so good!  I loved to walk down there and get a croissant and coffee to go.


Our last night we headed back over to the French side to a waterside dive bar called Dinghy Dock that we heard was fun.  Our driver for the week recommended it.  It did not disappoint.  It was right on the water and we had a blast.  These were pics before dinner.
Dress on sale | Ring I bought in St Maarten
 Erin did my hair before dinner and taught me how to use a curling wand.  I loved the results. 
Ignore my tan lines, I obviously did not partake in the nude beach.



All in all an amazing 5 days!  Picture overload right??  and I had actually had way more pictures than I posted this was the edited version. Such amazing memories.
Best part was coming back home to these precious faces.  I swear they grew so much in 5 days!  If you need to find gifts for your kids stop in the airport gift store, so random but they had the cutest instruments and woven purses for kids.

 St Maarten is only 37 miles but seemed so much bigger.  It is very hilly so it takes longer to get to everywhere.  We used a local driver to drive us, although renting a car was pretty inexpensive.  We were just worried we would get lost.   You really need 2 weeks there to see everything.  Just means we need to go back!

 A few recommendations we did not get to:
Lotterie Farms- zipline and treetop bar
Simpson Bay
Ferry to St Barths or Anguilla - after Erin got so sick on our chartered boat, boat rides were out.
Ti Bouchon for Dinner
Marcel Beach


My Beach Looks:







Friday, June 12, 2015

St. Maarten Here We Come | What is in My Suitcase


I can't believe our vacation has finally arrived.  I feel like we booked this trip so long ago. I am so excited for so many reasons but mainly because it will be the first real adult only vacation Matt and I have taken since our honeymoon 8 years ago.  We went to St Thomas and St John then and absolutely loved the Virgin Islands, so I can't wait to explore St. Maarten.  I welcome any restaurant or island recs if you have traveled there.

I am thrilled that one of my oldest and best friends and her husband will be joining us as well.  Since we had our kids we only see each other maybe once a year.  It will be such a treat to relax together and catch up.  Plus all 4 of us get along so well, we always have a blast together.

I will be taking the week off from my blog but I will post a few snippets on instagram (@snoopnattynat) so follow along there and I will be back in a week with a fun recap!

I did a little last minute shopping this week and found the cutest Maxi Dress at Loft.  I have to admit my luck at Loft is hit or miss sometimes.   Their clothes don't fit my body that well, but this dress was a perfect fit.  The colors are just stunning.  It runs on the large side, I am wearing a size 2 so order down a size.  If you sign up with your email you can take 25% off your order.


I figure most of our vacation we will be in cover-ups and bathing suits lounging at the beach or pool.   But of course we will get slightly dressed up for a few dinners out.
I also packed a few workout clothes in case we hike or walk the island, that are not pictured.
Here is what I am packing as of last night, although I am sure I will add in a few more things before tomorrow.  I am notorious for over packing- I like to have options while I am away:)



Can't forget some fun accessories!! 
If you are local my friend Jenny from Theodosia made the first two necklaces.  They are a Summer Favorite of mine, I toss them on with everything!  You can call and order if you live out of town as well. The third necklace is from LOFT and a total steal.





Have a fabulous weekend and I will be back next Monday with a full recap of our vacation.  Now wish me luck for the flight:)






Thursday, June 11, 2015

Inside my Mind.


I have mentioned on here before that I am a worrier.  I swear this is hereditary.  My mom and grandmother were both huge worriers- well my mom still is:)  I am able to control my worries and thoughts so they don't consume my day but at night they are the worst.  With our upcoming vacation I have already been laying in bed at night worrying about the flight and leaving my kids. I also worry about all sorts of non-important things.  Luckily I married Matt who is a non worrier.  I swear not much stresses him out so he helps keep me in check about what should be real concerns.

I know people have so many real problems and major issues in their life and these are trivial, that is why I enjoy writing them out, it helps put things in perspective and makes me laugh at my crazy mind that never stops.  Prayer and meditation help me immensely.  You have to trust that there is a higher power and I do trust God's plan. 

I thought it would be funny to give you a peek inside my mind and what goes thru it on a daily basis.

 - Of course right before our flight they announce the TSA standards are not up to par for flights.  The department of homeland security said he was deeply concerned.  Now I am even more freaked to fly.  Like breaking out in sweats scared.  I truly hope I don't have a panic attack on the plane.

- Will my phone work while I am in the Caribbean??  I need to be able to talk to my kids and text.  This majorly stresses me out.  I added an international plan for the week but they still say service can be iffy.  

- I know I will enjoy myself on vacation but I have such attachment issues with my kids.  I don't worry at all about leaving them with my parents I know they are in good hands, I worry about me being without them for a few days.  We are together all day everyday and I know this is gonna be hard.

- I should have really done that detox cleanse before our vacation.  I had big goals of having a toned stomach and proudly rocking my bikini.  Instead this week because I have been stressed out I have eaten processed foods and had wine.  Hello flabby belly.  I will wear a bikini you just may not see in any pictures of me in it.

- I truly trust my parents 100% to watch the kids while we are gone but my kids are a handful.  I worry that it will exhaust my parents.  I worry I am imposing on them asking them to keep my kids so many days.

- How is Sterling going to adapt at kindergarten next year??  Yes this is 2 months away but I think about it every single day.  He will have to make all new friends and I know that is hard.

- I really want to buy a new couch for our den.  Where should I even look?  The process of buying big ticket items stresses me out because it is such a big decision.  Will the size be right?  Will the color be right?  Or should I wait til my kids are older because they will most likely ruin it.

- Frances seems fussy.  I hope she is not sick.   That would be my luck she gets sick right before we leave.  Maybe it is teething.   Her teeth are spaced so far apart.  I am sure it is from the paci.  We need to ditch the paci soon, but man it makes my life easier.  I wonder if they will get closer together once she stops the paci.

- The cashier at the grocery store told me he had the stomach bug and was laid out for THREE days.  Now I am terrified because he touched my credit card the germs are still active and I will catch it.  Whydid he come back to work so soon and why did he tell me this??

- Did I pay all the bills that needed to be paid before we leave??

- What should I blog about ??  Sometimes it is hard to come up with fresh topics- suggestions always welcome.

- Will I ever get to meet Adam Levine.  Or Zac Efron.  Maybe I will see someone famous on our vacation.  That would be awesome.  Hopefully Beyonce and JayZ will be at St Barths and I can catch a glimpse. This is not a worry more of a dream- haha.

- My eye sight has gotten so bad.  My contacts always irritate my eyes, I am terrified I am going to have to have that cornea transplant surgery they told me I will probably eventually need.  Eye surgery freaks me out.

- My arm pit still hurts, is this something serious.  I should make a doctor appointment.  Is there such a thing as arm pit cancer??

- I hope the weather will be good while we are on vacation, crappy weather will suck.  What will we do all day if it rains?  What if a horrible storm comes and we get stuck on the island.

- I still think about that third baby often. Will I be completely happy and ok with just 2 kids?   I am also scared of the journey to even try and get pregnant again and scared that if I get pregnant something may be wrong with the baby since I am at the magical age of 35 where all the risks increase.  I feel like a ticking time bomb. 

- How is it possible it is Summer already. The older I get the faster the years fly by and that scares me.  I feel like I blinked and Sterling was 5.  I need to savor these moments more while the kids are young, instead of feeling stressed out.

- I have a million emails I need to respond to.  I really need to sit down and respond.  With the kids out this Summer it is so hard to have time to work and respond.

- Should we move or stay in our house.  This consumes my mind a lot.  We love our neighborhood and our neighbors and ideally want to stay here but we need more space.  An addition intimidates me, I would not even know where to begin or who to hire.  and then where would we stay while they did the work?  On the other hand nothing is for sale in any of the neighborhoods near us.

- Current conern what should I eat for breakfast.  Toast?  Do I need the carbs with this bloated belly?  Cereal? Too processed?  Eggs? Don't feel like cooking them.  The breakfast struggle is real.  Wish I had bacon:)

Happy Thursday.