Wednesday, August 29, 2012

So guess what arrived???

A happy little package was waiting on me in the mail...cruise documents!!! Only 19 days til I set sail!!!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Check out my new hat!

So I was looking for a hat for the upcoming cruise and I stumbled upon this at Target...fabulous! (even more fabulous is that it was $4.98 on clearance!)

IKEA hotels! I'm in!


Love this courtesy of Budget Travel...if there hotel rooms are half as awesome as their stores, I'm in!!


Posted by: Sean O'NeillWednesday, Aug 15, 12:54 PM
Filed Under: affordable europeEuropehotelshotels & lodginghotels and lodging
IKeA-1.jpg
IKEA's summer pop-up lounge at Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport (CourtesyIKEA)
Everyone's favorite affordable furniture storeIKEA, will build a budget hotel chain across Europe. The first one will be in Germany, in 2014.
Surprisingly, the 100 hotels in Germany, Austria, Britain, Holland, and Poland won't feature the company's famous flat-pack furniture—or even its brand name, according to a scoop in the Financial Times. Though fans hope that Swedish meatballs will still be served in any hotel restaurants.
IKEA aims to cash in on the booming trend in "budget designer hotels," as represented in Europe by Motel One, citizenMChic and Basic,Leonardo Hotels, and B&B Hotels.
It's great news that budget hotels are finally getting their day in the sun. The much stronger dollar against the euro also means that Europe is becoming a good value again.
Let's just hope guests at the IKEA's hotel chain won't have to assemble the beds and dressers ourselves. Or that the instructions for finding your room won't be as confusing as Ikea's diagrams for building furniture.
In 2007, Ikea Norway created a pop-up Ikea Hostel. Earlier this year, Ikea created a pop-up lounge in Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport (Terminal 3).
But on a more serious note, if IKEA did go ahead and build a hotel that was just like its stores, would you stay in it if the price were right?

Friday, August 17, 2012

My favorite souvenir

This is a shot of one of my favorite souvenirs...not my adorable cat, Mrs. Norris...the wool blanket she is sleeping on. I bought this on a cold, rainy day somewhere in the Scottish Highlands because I was chilly on the tour bus. Instead of going for the traditional bold red, blue, or green tartans I opted for muted tones that would match my living room back home. It's by far my favorite and most used souvenir!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Travel Tip: Smart Sharing

So I've taken to sending my family going on the cruise with me travel tips (I'm a bit OCD, I know)...thought I would share...

While packing, consult your cabin-mates to see if there is anything you can share so you're not packing 3-4 of everything.  For example, my sister and I like the same kind of sunscreen so I'm just going to bring a couple bottles that we can share in our cabin.

Also think about who will check their luggage vs. carrying on.  My sister is planning on carrying on her luggage due to a tight layover whereas I have a direct flight and with check mine. So anything she wants me to pack (i.e. full size bottles of shampoo, lotion) will be no hassle for her.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Cruise Myths Debunked

Great tips for cruising...

http://m.budgettravel.com/feature/budget-travel-cruise-tips-myths-debunked,8785/?src=ssrcrc