Planning For Hawaii

Part of the fun is the planning, right? 

I have started a list of the items we need to bring for our 10 day vacation to Hawaii. 

Of course, the obvious, clothes, swim suits, sunscreen, etc. 

But I have to think about 9 hours on a flight with two kids. (And that's just one leg). 

Our connection is through Chicago, and then we have a direct flight to Honolulu. It's going to be around 9 hours. Rochester to Chicago is about an hour and a half? It's short and should be no problem. It's the direct from Chicago to Honolulu that worries me a bit. The girls haven't been on a plane in years. Like, 7 years? And evenso, they don't remember it. So it's not like we can ease them into a flight. 

I will be traveling a few weeks prior to this trip and having gone on several trips this last year for work, I feel pretty well-versed in air travel. I'm confident with going through security and know what to expect. 

That being said, I usually travel alone. Or with other adults who are responsible for their own things.

And I travel very lightly.

This time I'll be with my immediate family and my sister. My mom will be going the day before and meeting us in Hawaii. 

I'll be wrangling two very excited children, one who doesn't listen that well, my husband who can be out to lunch most times, and my sister. 

I have TSA Precheck, thankfully, so I can at least go through that with the kids. That will make things a bit easier, not having to remove shoes and all that. 

We are just about 2 weeks away.

I have to think about what really makes sense to bring.

We will have one large suitcase that we will check. That should hold the majority of our clothes and shoes. 

Each kid has their own hard-sided carry-on that I'm planning to use for all of our stuff that we might need on the plane. 

Then they each also have their Disney LoungeFly backpacks I got them. That will be for their own snacks, drinks, whatever can fit in there. 

Steve and I will each have backpacks as our carry ons. Mine will include my new MacBook plus whatever I need on the plane. 

Summer clothes shouldn't take up too much space and I'm not planning on bringing more than maybe 4-5 pairs of sandals/shoes. I need to make sure I have shoes for hiking, etc. I'm wondering if the one checked bag will be enough for all of us for 10 days. 

Not only am I planning for the actual trip, but I have to think about the FOUR dogs I have in my house.

Definitely not an ideal situation.

I have a house sitter, which is awesome, to watch MR. and Wiener.

Bella has been having bathroom issues and is unable to hold it overnight now, and we don't want our poor house sitter to have to deal with that shit. (literally).

Then there's Cricket. I thought I had found a sitter, but they backed out.

She'll be on her heartworm treatment, which means she'll be on strict crate rest for like, two months.

Yeah.

So....not convenient to say the least. 

But I did it to myself and need to deal with it. 

<update> 

Cricket has a potential adopter! We have a meet and greet Sunday. You know, two days before we leave. If it all works out, she will get adopted that day and stay with these people. If not, she comes home with me and the house-sitter will watch her while we're gone. 

Take Me to Florida (especially in March)

Not gonna lie. 

I do not hate the fact that my client is headquartered in Orlando, Florida. 

Whenever we go there, I get to walk Disney Springs and enjoy a little bit of magic.

This time, I'm heading down to do some sales training with the front line sales and the next day, I get to attend the Arnold Palmer Golf Invitational. 

I am not mad at being in 80 degree weather in March when it's legitimately the WORST month when you live in Western NY. It's like the 90th month of winter. It's like how January feels like 50 days. 

Traveling to Florida in March when you live in WNY is a real treat. 

What's terrible is not having a direct flight (I know, I know, first world problems). But still. 

Having to go through CHICAGO to get to ORLANDO, from ROCHESTER is just plain stupid. At least take me in the direction I should be going.

When it comes to work travel (especially during a travel ban) I really cannot complain. It's not really up to me on the convenience of it all.

Regardless, the flights were easy and I had no issues. 

I made it to Orlando around 1:30pm and my boss was waiting for me at the airport. She had landed a few hours prior and just waited for me so we could Uber to the hotel together.

We got to the hotel right before she had to take a call. It was too early to check in. The lobby was way too loud and busy to take a really important client call.

So she found this adorable little pergola.

How freaking cute is this? It was perfect. Only two seats and super quiet. And just off the sidewalk, so no one was lurking.

Our view for the call

Seeing the biggest koi fish we'd ever seen

And a turtle!

Had to stop

We got upgraded to two bedroom suites (WE EACH DID)

I forgot to take a pic before getting into the bed

A ridiculous amount of space for just me. And my boss had the suite down the hall! 

My little friend

After my sales training on Thursday, we went to dinner with clients. We went to this little Italian Eatery called Enzo's Hideaway and it was really, really good. It had such a cool vibe. It was very speak-easy, it was in a basement. 

I got the eggplant parm. Delish.

And this drink. Also delish.

We stopped by a restaurant that also is known for their desserts. I got this Oreo Rice Crispy Treat and it. was. amazing.

I could barely take a bite.

Just a baby gator while waiting for my Starbucks

The day after the sales training was the Arnold Palmer Golf Invitational, Day 2. We had been invited and scheduled the sales training around it so we could attend.

I am not one who follows golf. 

But I like the sun. And warmth. 

It was mid 80's and absolutely gorgeous out. Hot and sweaty. Just how I like it.

This didn't taste at all like it had any alcohol in it. This on a boat would be a big problem. 

So like I said, I don't follow golf. However, I don't live under a rock entirely, so I recognized a couple of names.

Jordan Spieth

Mr. Rory McIlroy himself

Not gonna lie, it was very cool to see these guys up close. Like, really up close. 

We were at the 17th hole at the suite there, so we had food, beverage, bathrooms, etc. all right there. It was a covered tent with stadium style seating. No AC, but the shade made it LOVELY. The breeze, you guys. Ugh. So, so nice.

And, AND! We weren't allowed to take anything larger than a small bag, so we could not bring our computers. Which forced us to relax a little. 

AND TO TOP IT OFF? I met TWO WIENERS AT THE AIRPORT. 

P!NK Concert - HOLY FUCKING SHIT

Who does shit like this? 

I mean...I'm definitely not a spontaneous one. I like planning. 

But I also know things like this always make for the BEST time.

The day after the wedding, Saturday was vineyard day. A gorgeous day to spend at the vineyard, eating, drinking, having some homemade ice cream. It was lovely. 

While we were there, we were chatting about the fact that Nikki's aunt Karen was going to the concert. 

So she randomly was like "wanna go"?

WHAT?

Like tonight? Today? What? 

So the hunt for tickets began. 

We got tickets right away from StubHub and awaited the email. We got several confirmations before getting the email that said "tickets canceled." WTF? 

So frustrating. 

So we went back and forth with Ticketmaster, StubHub and VividSeats to try to get tickets. Her form of payment was not working - all three of her credit cards - and none of mine were working either <insert PTSD> but we kept trying.

We FINALLY got through with VividSeats and claimed our two tickets for a show happening in 3 hours. LOL. We had to get back to the AirBnb, charge our phone, clean ourselves up a little, then head downtown. Neither of us had clothes for a P!NK concert. 

Anyway. 

We got down there and OMG. OMG. OMG.

I can't fucking believe it.

Not only were we there, but when we went to look for our seats?

We kept walking down, and down, and down. I kept skimming the sides of the seats looking for our letter "K."

I look up at Nik who is walking behind me and she's like "keep going!"

Dude. 

We were SO CLOSE to the stage.

Like, stupid close. 

I absolutely cannot believe I got to cross off a bucket list item with my best friend and we got the seats we got. 

We were double fisting the whole time and legit has the BEST TIME EVER. I could not have asked for a more magical night. 

The Stage. I'm not kidding when I say we were CLOSE.

She's an incredible athlete

You guys. She's SINGING her heart out during these acrobatics! 

Willow Sage Hart. Singing "Cover me in Sunshine"

A shot from when I got up to go to the bathroom.

I legitimately have no words for this experience. I'm beyond grateful that I'm in a position that I can make these kinds of decisions without much more than a second thought. I know not everyone can do that! I also work my TAIL off and spend MANY hours in front of my laptop so that I can afford a lifestyle for me and my kids that is filled with experiences. I absolutely cannot WAIT until the girls are old enough for concerts. Mila could probably do it, but Ava couldn't. 

A few more years and I hope to take them to TS.