Five on Fridays: Birthday Recap

Mike's birthday this year was a hoot. You know what they say.... when the cat's away, the mice will play...

1. All-you-can-eat SUSHI! We did what we do best when it comes to dinner.

Roro's birthday is only 2 days from Mike's, so we've always tried to celebrate their birthdays together every year.








2. Golf by the beach. Yes, that's how much I love Mike. I bought me a set of Lady Cougar clubs at a yard sale for $5 (scoooore!) and finally went golfing with Mike -- Roro and Sissy in tow -- for 9 holes by the beach.

It was actually pretty fun!







3. The Happiest Place on Earth would be happier without the lines. Went to Dland on Sunday with Jojo and Jacob on Sunday. Now, Disneyland without Ethan is little bittersweet. On one hand, we could ride the rollercoasters and all the rides Ethan wouldn't be caught dead in, but on the other hand, he would've loved the World of Color water show. Too bad our passes are blocked for the rest of the summer!









4. A nice upgrade. Mike's birthday present probably tops it all. I say if you spend that much money on a bike, it better pedal itself to 1st place. But Mike says it's still up to him to pedal fast, although having a much lighter bike would help him be that much faster.







5. Of course, Ethan missed all the celebration this year because he's having way more fun in Ohio with Grandma and Poppi. We've just (reluctantly) approved a petition to extend his 2-week vacation by a couple of extra days. Gah!

Let's get our priorities straight: I need a new "purse"

I have a confession to make.

While Mike is busy making dinner reservations at the Eiffel Tower, I am currently obsessed with more important things.... like how I'm going to survive 10 days of carrying my camera around Europe while

1. Not looking like a tourist with an ugly camera bag in tow,

2. Not breaking my camera overseas by stuffing it into one of my handbags, and

3. Not risking getting my precious stolen in stinking Florence (we have a bad history) because my handbag was too heavy for me to sling on my arm. I had a HUGE backpack during that 2003 trip, and was surrounded by people in my trip, in a crowded hotel lobby.... it only took them 2 seconds to swipe it right under my nose. Lessons learned: I need a bag that will stay ON ME at all times.


This is my most powerful argument for buying a new "purse" and I'm sticking to it.


:)


I can't help it.... when I saw the Epiphanie bags, I was hooked.

Decisions! Decisions!

So, after a little bit of soul searching and dusting off my powers of pursuasion, I finally chose the black Lola..... I can't wait til she comes!

Wooden Annivesary = Eurotrip!

So it was no secret that I was nearly 4 months pregnant when Mike and I got married in 2005. It put a little damper on our Honeymoon which was a week long all-inclusive trip to Cancun (a wedding present from my mom). We have since then promised we would try to do something special every year on our anniversary.


Year 1 - We went on a Carribbean cruise.


We made out with stingrays

Tubed through caves in Belize

Made friends with Mexicans who can't take pictures after getting stranded with no money for a cab

Drank a little too much in Cozumel

Ravaged through ancient ruins in Costa Maya

Year 2 - We said, screw it, let's jump off a perfectly good airplane.

Year 3 - We spent a week-worth of free beach-front suites in the East Coast.

We went to our first NASCAR race in Richmond

Almost decapitated Mike in Williamsburg

Climbed our first light house at Fort Story

Drank a little too much in Ocean City

Got diarrhea from jumbo pizzas in DC

Year 4 - BIG FAT NADA

I'm sure we went to dinner or something, but goes to show you that it must've been THAT boring that neither Mike or I can remember what it was. We had just bought the house, so not only were our funds a little low, we probably just didn't have enough energy left to plan anything.

So for Year 5, we are pulling all the stops and we're going to Europe for 10 days!!! We are super psyched!

Is it September yet???????

Weekend at the Gaslamp District

Just before the free hotel stint went kapoot, I managed to book a couple of free hotel rooms spread out for the rest of the year, including this past weekend in San Diego. Not just anywhere in San Diego, but right smack in the middle of the Gaslamp Quarter (aka Gaslamp District)… which was a perfect getaway, even for just an overnighter.

After eating $20 to valet, we set out to discover block after block of bars, lounges and restaurants.

View from the Ramada rooftop just before our drinking binge...


This is us before hitting happy hour at the Double Deuce...



Alcohol makes you do stupid things....



Yes, Sissy's hat does say "I put out"....

Roro looks a little drunk, even if he wouldn't admit it....

View from our rooftop before we retired for the night....

Works For Me Wednesdays: How To Get Free Hotel Rooms

So I decided I would (starting today) post every Wednesday… little tips that I have found to “work for me” [hence the name] in hopes whoever reads this can learn from it. Simple, right? It’s apparently a phenomenon in the blogging arena – check out the blog carnival here.

Though I’m not promising any life-changing revelations (for example, one week, I could talk about “How Not to Find Yourself Doing 8 Loads of Laundry on a Beautiful Saturday”), BUT… I do promise to (try to) post something every Wednesday. It’s my self-medicated approach to lagging.

Today’s WFMW is how to score a free hotel room – even if you don’t really need one.

I have to start my apologizing I didn’t get to share this sooner, because the program actually ends at the end of this month. Which means, you have 20 days to score a free one if you want. I discovered this deal last year and have since then been able to enjoy close to 50 hotel stays all across the US for FREE. I’m saddened by the news of the program’s conclusion – but you know what they say, all good things must come to an end.

Spoken by a true cynic.

Here’s the skinny:

Wyndham is a company that owns thousands of hotels and motels around the world. These hotels include the brands of Ramada, Howard Johnson, Baymont Inn & Suites, Super 8, Days Inn, Wingate by Wyndham, Knights Inn, AmeriHostInn, and Travelodge. Its Best Rate Guarantee (BRG for short) basically lets you stay for free for one night if you find a rate for their hotels that is lower than the price on Wyndham's site.

The basics rules are:
1) You must find a publicly available rate for a specific Wyndham hotel that is lower than Wyndham's posted rate for the same hotel.
2) The room type for the rate you find must match the room type on the Wyndham site.
3) You must book your reservation through Wyndham Rewards or one of Wyndham's hotel sites.
4) You must notify Wyndham of your claim within 24 hours of making the reservation and your reservation cannot be booked within 48 hours of arrival.
5) Only the first night is free for each eligible stay.

Here’s the kicker: finding the cheaper rate can be as easy as searching on Kayak or HotelsCombined (where they search hundreds of hotels for you and the rate variations can be obvious as day), but that doesn’t always pan out. Another great resource is the Best Rate Guarantee Blog – they post these rate variations almost daily. And for the last stretch of the remainder of this month, they’ve been knocking them out left and right.

Sometimes the competitor rates are only 99 cents cheaper than Wyndham's rates, but the guarantee is still honored because their Terms and condition require at least .25 difference – therefore you still a free night. If you plan well in advance, you could get an entire vacation’s hotel stays for free. You could move around different Wyndham properties in the same city and get multiple nights for free. Or if you’re traveling with a partner, you could alternate days.

For our anniversary week last year, I got 7 days of free hotels in DC, Baltimore, Maryland, Ocean City, Maryland, Virginia Beach, Virginia and Richmond, Virginia. Total hotel bill for that week = $0.

Days Inn Inner Harbor – Baltimore, MD



Ramada on the Beach – Virginia Beach, VA



Days Inn Oceanfront – Ocean City, MD


Wyndham Virginia Crossings – Richmond, VA

Hopefully, I’ve armed you with enough to get as much as you can before the program rests in peace on April 1st. Fair warning though, there are some hotels that are not worth staying in EVEN IF THEY ARE FREE, so do you due diligence in reading reviews before you get to excited.

Happy hunting!