Costco

Looking back at this past weekend I realized that I never did a recap of my daughter’s 1st birthday party. I planned tirelessly for several weeks without realizing that the week before the party I was going to get a terrible cold. The day of the party everything that could go wrong did for but nonetheless we had a blast. Hardly anyone knew that I was involved in a hit-and-run accident on my way to the venue. My original cake that I stayed up all night working on along with 60% of my desserts were ruined as a result of the accident. My little Buttercup refused to take a nap that day and was super fuzzy. About 10% of the desserts that made it through the accident began to melt. Would I change things about that party? Absolutely. Would it really matter to anyone but me? Probably not. Like I previously mentioned here the day of the party is dedicated to fun. I had a blast watching everyone put on their Mickey & Minnie ears, playing carnival games, and mostly I enjoyed celebrating with those I love. Without further ado here’s a little glimpse at the party we thew my little Buttercup last year.

Invitations: DIY

Venue: Newland Barn

Pinata and toys: Los Angeles Toy District

Taquero: Water store on Dale St. and Chapman in Garden Grove, CA

Food and drinks: Costco

Carnival Games: Amazon

Well there you have it folks bits and pieces of the party we thew my little Buttercup. Will she remember it? No, but will I tell her how much I loved planning it. On another note I really need to start taking more photos of all the DIY things I do.

Please refer to my two Pinterest board for more inspiration. HERE and HERE

Please stay tune in the following weeks for a re-cap of this year’s Frozen extravaganza.

Check out my Pinterest board for my little Buttercup’s 2nd birthday party HERE.

Last year when we went to Paris it was my choice so when the hubby suggested we should take a vacation to Hawaii to celebrate our 11th dating anniversary this year I was delighted. I told him that I wanted to try a pre-packaged deal to see what they were like. I decided that the first place I would get information would be from our local AAA office. After spending an hour speaking with a travel agent I realized that the first thing we needed to do was figure out what Island we wanted to visit. It never occurred to me how little we knew about Hawaii. It probably would have been easier to ask our friends for their recommendations but since we don’t like telling anyone our plans before we actually book things it made it harder for us.

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One evening the hubby suggested that I take a look at Costco Travel to see what packages they were offering. After spending some time looking over the brochures I received at AAA and comparing them to the Costco packages I realized that the Costco ones made more sense. I looked up a few reviews online and people seem to like their Costco vacations. We decided that Maui would be better suited to fit our needs especially since it was supposed to be super romantical.

I woke up at 6:00am to take a walk along the beach.

Here’s what we got in our Costco package:

Flight to Maui from LAX on Delta
5 night stay at the Royal Lahaina in a Deluxe Ocean View Room
Free self serve parking at the hotel
$200 resort food credit
Free daily breakfast
5 day car rental
1 dinner Luau for 2 at the hotel
1 dinner sunset cruise for 2 on the Teralani

We had a lovely time while in Maui and the Costco package was perfect for us. We took full advantage of everything our package offered. Every morning we woke up and ate a lovely buffet breakfast before heading out for the day. In the afternoon we used our resort credit for snacks and to have dinner. The car we got as our rental was essential when getting around Maui. Our hotel was simply delightful and we had a breathtaking view of the beach. The proximity to Black Rock was amazing especially when we decided to try snorkeling. (I crossed number 82 off my list.) Overall we would definitely recommend the Costco Travel package to Maui to all of our friends.

I learned how to hula at the Lua.

One of the coolest thing we got to do while in Maui that wasn’t included in our Costco package was horseback riding. (I finally got to cross number 84 off my list of things to do in 1001 days.) We decided to go horseback riding with Maui Stables and I’m really happy we experienced it with someone that really knows the land. Our guides were very entertaining and the trip itself was worth every penny we paid for it. To get from Lahaina to Hana we had to take the beautiful but very scary Road to Hana. After the ride ended we got a free voucher to get into Haleakala National Park.

The cool horses we got to ride.

Haleakala National Park

I crossed number 82 off my list. We went snorkeling.

On the Road to Hana

Walking back from Black Rock to our hotel.

Our sunset dinner cruise ended up being a lovely whale watching experience and it was amazing!

The hubby on the Road to Hana

Our rental car

We woke up to this everyday. The view from our room.

Maui was beautiful and very romantic. We had a ton of fun and the weather couldn’t have been better. We ended up going in late March and early April so we caught the end of the whale migration. Its incredible sitting down eating breakfast while looking into the ocean and seeing whales pass by. Two things that we miss from Maui is P.O.G. juice and Hershey’s kisses with macadamia nuts. We can’t wait to head back to Hawaii one of these days to visit a different island.

What’s your favorite Hawaiian Island?

Sweets and Life

1st Birthday Party (Mickey & Minnie Mouse)

Life: Our lovely trip to Maui