Last month I was fortunate enough to finally be able to cross number 90 off my Day Zero Project. The Hubby, my little Buttercup and I got a private tour of Taliesin West, the Frank Lloyd Wright’s, School of Architecture. I’ve been wanting to go to Taliesin West since my cousin began attending school there. I was upset that I was unable to attend his graduation because I was too far along with my pregnancy. We had a few other opportunities to go to events there but due to different circumstances we didn’t go. The stars finally aligned and my cousin was able to give us a private tour of his alma mater. I didn’t know much about Frank Lloyd Wright before my cousin started attending the school there but now I’m fascinated by him. If you have ever been remotely interested in Frank Lloyd Wright and find yourself near Scottsdale, Arizona I suggest you take a tour. They offer different types of tours depending on what you want to see and learn. The shelter’s the students use as dorms are extremely fascinating and so is the walk into the desert. I can’t believe that students actually get used to sleeping out there. One day I hope to visit Taliesin Wisconsin where they spend the second half of their year at. Until you are able to attend a tour for yourself please enjoy some of the photos I took while we were on tour.

This is the studio where the students spend most of their time at.

These are the “dorms” the students actually use. My cousin confessed to us that the first week of school he actually slept in his car.

The school itself is beautiful and the students are amazing. The are a small amount of students that are accepted into this school every year that get to experience something that they would not be able to do so on other campus. Unfortunately this school might lose its accreditation and it might not be around for future architects to enjoy. Please take the time to watch this video and help SAVE TALIESIN. My cousin’s friend, Pablo created it in an effort to inform the public of what’s actually going on there in regards to their accreditation.

If you want to help out by donating to this cause please click HERE!

Life: Our lovely trip to Maui

Costco, Hawaii, Life, Maui, Travel Packages, Travels, Vacation

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?