You guys know how much I adore my barley breakfast bowls.
To make them I usually combine barley with Greek yogurt and fresh fruit.
Well, today I replaced the Greek yogurt with something fantastically delicious.
Barney Butter!
After cooking up some pearled barley after dinner yesterday, I stirred in a packet of Barney Butter and let it chill in the fridge overnight.
Today I added a sliced nectarine and some pumpkin pie spice to the mix.
Barney Butter Barley Bowl
Oooooh yum.
Nutty Fruity Barley
The Goods
So tasty! I literally licked this bowl clean… and then Sadie did, too. 😉
"Barney Butter RULES!"
Workout
This breakfast was the perfect post-workout meal. Today’s gym session included a BodyPump class followed by 20 minutes of light cardio on the elliptical.
I increased the weights on the back track this week and was really feelin’ it! Today’s lunge track was a little too easy and I feel like my lower body didn’t get quite the workout I was hopin’ for. Next time, my friends! 😀
Honeymoon Update
We are officially overwhelmed.
We read every single one of your comments and suggestions last night (thank you!) and spent hours looking at the websites of various resorts.
All I can say is that if I had a bazillion dollars, I would love to stay at The Ladera in St. Lucia, recommended by blog reader Lindsey.
The Ladera
Not only is this place unbelievably gorgeous, but it also offers a bunch of activities, ranging from scuba diving to zip lining to cooking classes to rainforest hikes. Can you say heaven?
Though this place is beyond amazing, we’re looking for something more within our budget. Your comments and speaking with some friends made us think twice about the Dominican Republic, as it seems like we may not be able to do as many adventurous activities or as much exploring as we’d like to. We don’t want to feel confined to a resort on our honeymoon.
If any of you out there enjoyed a vacation that included fun activities like scuba diving and zip lining and exploring a town, etc., puh-lease let me know! I’ve heard great things about Costa Rica with regard to it being a beautiful place with lots to do.
Why is picking a honeymoon destination so hard!?
The good news about all this honeymoon hoopla is that Ryan and I have a pact to pick a place by the end of this weekend! We’re going to be vacation-research mad men for the next few days. 😉
Question of the Morning
What is more appealing to you: A vacation filled with activities or a vacation full of relaxation?
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I’ve heard the Ladera is simply amazing! And I’m def shooting for relaxation when I get married. We go go go all the time it seems – so on my honeymoon, I don’t want anyone telling me where I have to be and when. I think a fun boat adventure would be fun to throw in the mix – but I want pure, simple time together.
i know! i can only dream…
My friend just honeymooned in Costa Rica and love it. They split their time in thirds: Part in the jungle, part at the beach, and part by the volcano. They did all sorts of adventure stuff but also relaxed at the beach. It sounded awesome.
I had also mentioned St. Lucia. It looks so beautiful. As I had said my best friend went there on her honeymoon..I want to say that they maybe stayed at the Sandals resort? I would look into it. She too lives in Orlando, and I believe they drove down to Miami and flew out of there for a cheaper, more direct flight. They did the all inclusive resort, but then also added some activities (i.e. zip lining). She said they were too exhausted to do anything else after the crazy run around week of their wedding. Just a thought. 🙂 Good luck on picking a place! I’m sure you will find something great.
we had friends stay at the sandals all inclusive resort in st. lucia, too & they raved about it. their only complaint is that they felt a little “trapped.” other than that only glowing reviews!
I have been all about my breakfasts including pumpkin pie spice and nut butter lately too! Great tasty combo! 🙂 Setting a time limit to make a decision always helps. Good luck!!
Oh my God, the Ladera looks AMAZING!!!
I wanted to say something last night but if I had the budget (and a boyfriend lol) I would go to Italy for my honeymoon…either Capri, or Tuscany. And if Italy isn’t the cards, I’d go on a cruise since I’ve never been on one!
I went to Costa Rica last summer and it was awesome! I went to Playa Ocotal and it was gorgeous. There are a bunch of awesome resorts around there–I wouldn’t necessarily recommend mine. But there was a ton of stuff to do and I did zip line and hike through the rainforest and I saw monkeys! Definitely look into resorts on the Costa Rican coast!
I have a ton of photos from Costa Rica up on my fb if you want to friend me. I’m listed as Allie West and my network is University of Vermont 🙂
My family went to Costa Azul in Mexico a couple years ago, and it would be the most perfect place for a honeymoon. They have SO many activities there: we went ziplining, horsebackriding, biking, sailing, kayaking, surfing, etc. They also have about 38 private villas that are GORGEOUS. It is about an hour outside of Cancun so there are no towns close as I remember but it was the most beautiful vacation I have been on! Also, check out the Princeville Resort in Kauai, Hawaii if you want something a little fancier. That place is beautiful as well!
Activities! I grew up in St. Thomas and I happen to think that it’s a pretty good honeymoon spot!
Full of activities, for sure! That’s how I like my everyday life, too, so I think that’s why I don’t find the relaxing aspect as appealing. I like to gogogo!
You should try having a look at St.Maarten – really safe and friendly for wandering around and also really beautiful with loads of activities.
P.S. I love your blog so much and starting reading it has coincided with me getting up earlier and doing an hour workout before work but also, worryingly, I have now discovered peanut butter. How did it evade my radar so long? I don’t know but if I start a blog it might have to be called pbbuckets.x
awww! love the name! 😀
We just went to Costa Rica for our one year anniversarsy and I did a summer there in college. You won’t be disappointed! It has plenty of stuff to do..rainforest, beach, zip lines, horseback riding, etc. and it’s so beautiful!!
Where do you find pearled barley??
I’ve searched high and low in supermarkets and bulk stores in my area and haven’t been able to find any. It looks delicious!
check by the rice & dried beans!
I found some!! I tried some warm barley this morning with cinnamon, baked apple chunks and a pinch of brown sugar. Sooo tasty! Thanks so much for the help!
Definitely filled with activities, I get way to bored otherwise
I meant to say yesterday, we booked our trip to Belize through luxurylink.com and got a great deal. We still haven’t been on our trip so I can’t vouch for this 100%. However, my boss and her husband have traveled through luxurylink.com twice and have raved about it both times.
There are so many options out there! Two nights ago my boyfriend and I began looking for vacation idea because we want to go away in September or October. All of the comments from last night and today are helping me a lot.. Thanks for doing on a post on this!!
The Florblanca in Costa Rica looks so beautiful and I’ve always wanted to go. It’s very honeymoon friendly, check it out! 🙂
I got so excited about it that I forgot to attach the link haha. Here it is! http://www.florblanca.com/
Hi Julie!
I have been reading your blog for awhile and really enjoy it! I very recently got married and we went on our honeymoon in June. We went to Saint Lucia and stayed at The Windjammer Landing. You can check it out here:
http://www.windjammer-landing.com/
We absolutely LOVED it and will definitely go back. The prices are much better than Sandals and I think you definitely get a lot more for your money. Check out the Hibiscus suites. We stayed in one and couldn’t have been happier. There is also a lot to do there…ziplining, hiking, scuba diving, etc. There is also an all inclusive option. Good luck with the rest of your planning! 🙂
I just got married about two months ago. I am from NC but recently relocated to St. Louis. We got married in NC where we are both from, and decided to just go to Wilmington for our honeymoon. It was so relaxing and we stayed at a bed and breakfast. However, a couple of years ago we went to St. John and stayed at Maho Bay Camps (www.maho.org). This trip was amazing! We stayed in what are called “eco-tents”. They have nicer “premium eco-cottages” available since you will be on your honeymoon. You can see them online. We went on a day long sailing trip, and you can rent snorkels etc;. I am sure there is scuba diving, but we didn’t do that. We also rented a Jeep Wrangler and were able to go to all the different little beaches (there are lots). There is also hiking. It was so much fun! We aren’t really into the whole all-inclusive resort thing, so this was so neat. We were able to make our own breakfast and what not in our little “house”. All of the eco-tents were connected by boardwalks, which led down to the beach. It was private and quiet. I know that the cottages are a little nicer and having kitchenette areas. The whole place is very environmentally friendly and green! Another great perk is that it is very reasonable! You should totally check it out. It’s somewhere different and unique, and not a lot of people know about it. For dinner and other food, you can go into town, or take the ferry back to St. Thomas, thought we stayed at St. John the whole time and never wanted to leave! Hope this is helpful.
that sounds like a blast!
Honeymoon planning def is overwhelming! Just a word of caution that as much as you think you might want a lot of adventure and activities, the wedding week takes A LOT out of you. I could barely keep my eyes open for more than 3 hours at a time for the first 2 days of our trip. I just loved having nothing to do but relax, recoup, eat, and spend QT with my new husband.
We took a trip (not our honeymoon) to Playa del Carmen in Mexico and took day trips. The coolest one was full of adventures. I believe they have a scuba trip in Isla de Mujeres. Here is the link:
http://www.alltournative.com/
Oh I also heard Belize is great for adventures and activities.
I lived in Costa Rica for a while during college, I studied abroad there! It is absolutely amazing! We went on an amazing one-day tour of Tortuga Island which is on the Pacific side. It is the most beautiful place you will ever see. You take a catamaran to get there (or we did anyway) and we spent the day lounging on the beach, eating, and just enjoying the secluded island. It is near Manuel Antonio which is a national park with beaches, MONKEYS, and tons of activities. Jaco is a really popular beach near by and it is so much fun! Everything around there is really beautiful. There are volcanoes (Poas, Arenal) to visit and the caribbean side is awesome too!
this website is pretty cool, it has everything from lodging, to destinations, to activities. it is really helpful!
good luck! what a tough decision!
http://www.anywherecostarica.com/
Hi! I am new to reading your blog, but I just wanted to let you know that my family and I spend Christmas in St. Croix and it is a wonderful place to go! There are a ton of resorts or houses to rent and tons of places to do water activities!
my best friend went there & RAVED about it!
I like a combination of the two. Relaxing is important but I love adventures!
I’ve been to Costa Rica twice now and would recommend it to anyone! I’m actually going to be back there over the winter while I’m travelling. So you can see… it’s a bit addictive! My sister did her honeymoon in Costa Rica and loved it but I don’t remember what the name of the resort she stayed at was. I’ll try to ask her before the weekend! As far as scuba diving goes though I don’t know if it would be your best option. You’d want to go to the Carribean coast for sure and I don’t know what the weather is like there that time of year. And I’ve never been myself so I’m not sure I’d want to recommend it.
You should really take a look at Jamaica! It has everything costa rica offers (amazing beaches, snorkeling, tours and other great activities, along with great food and local towns to explore) with a much lower price tag! I’ve personally stayed in negril, jamiaca and loved it. Check out the Whistling Bird. The location is amazing and all of the rooms are individual one or two bedroom suites. The chef that was there when I stayed was amazing and cooked for us any time we wanted, whatever we wanted.( I still have not found banana pancakes like he made)
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g147313-d155409-Reviews-Whistling_Bird_Resort-Negril_Jamaica.html
Good luck with whatever place you choose!
-Kate
Room22design.bloodspot.com
Costa Rica is amazing! I went there for a wedding in April and loved every minute of it. It is very down earth, they people are amazing, the food is beyond amazing and there is still a lot of fun advetures you can go on and lots of different activities. I would highly recommend Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is so much fun! I went there on a cruise once (have you considered doing a cruise?) and thought it was awesome–zip lining through the rain forest, ATV rides, scuba diving/snorkeling, parasailing, exploring, etc. You name it you could do it! Not to mention your dollar will go far! What about Panama or Puerto Rico? Both of those can offer the same kind of stuff, and in Puerto Rico you also have the comfort of still being in the US.
I may be a bit biased because my family Dad and I head to the Virgin Islands every summer and I’ve only been to one other tropical place (Aruba) but honestly, St. John and St. Croix are just absolutely BEAUTIFUL places…and the best part of being in the Virgin Islands is that they’re pretty close to each other, so you can take a ferry/small plane for a day trip to another island. Snorkeling is GREAT – SEA TURTLES! And there’s tons to do. 🙂
http://www.westinresortstjohn.com/
This is where we stay – when you arrive they greet you with Rum Punch and they have a beautiful beach and taxi service at the hotel
girl, on your honeymoon all you’re going to want to do is lay around with ryan. i didn’t believe people when they told me that, but it’s so true. we did surfing and snorkeling in maui on our honeymoon, and it was just the right amount of activity. the rest of the time we just spent on the beach!
Julie, you should definitely rethink the Dominican Republic. I have been to Costa Rica which is very similar to DR but we have found that the DR is more affordable and also has great offerings. There are PLENTY of things for you to enjoy. Like you and Ryan, my husband and I enjoy doing activities, and being adventurous. They have scuba diving, snorkeling, zip lining, wind surfing, kayaking, due buggies, horseback riding, and so much more. All-Inclusive resorts are all going to be pretty much the same, obviously quality and price are the main differences… Most are pretty isolated, and yes most people stay within “quarters”, but there is so much offered on the outside.
We did a lot on our honeymoon: sailing, scuba diving, snorkeling, exploring the main island, kayaking, etc.
We really prefer adventure over laying out at a pool.
We did the sail away package at Young Island (http://www.youngisland.com/) which was amazing.
We got treated like royalty, ate amazing cuisine, BUT it is rustic: no tv’s, no air conditioning (which didn’t matter because the open slats in our private cottage and fan kept us cool (sometimes even cold).
I loved it because it was something unique (no offense to Sandals Resort in St Lucia, but everyone I know went there and had the same (although wonderful) experience).
Sorry i just wrote the longest comment ever, but if you have any questions, feel free to email me! I’ll send you pics if you want 🙂
oh! Or if you have extra money sitting around that needs to be spent, check out http://www.ansechastanet.com/
Amazingly beautiful!
I know a couple who went here and had a great time! But it was a little pricier than we were able to do 🙂
My husband and I honeymooned in Jamaica at Couples Swept Away (http://www.couples.com/12sw/index.html) in Negril. It was amazing. It was all inclusive, so once we arrived we didn’t have to worry about carrying around a wallet. There was a gym, a track, a WONDERFUL spa where we got hour long couple’s massage, water sports, cooking classes, dance classes, etc. The restaurants were amazing. We had a fully stocked mini-bar with premium liquors and wines that were replinished every day. The service was fantastic and I almost cried the day we had to leave.
Keith and I went to Hawaii and loved it! But my college roommate went to St. Lucia and she loved it! I doubt you could go wrong!!
Oooh! That Barney Barley bowl looked delicious! I’m sure it had that strong almond flavor that I love, especially at breakfast. <3
I have a hard time choosing between an activity-packed vacation and a relaxing one – can I choose both?! 😉
I always say releaxation, but I’m really about the adventure, like jumping off waterfalls, zip lining, repelling, etc.
You WILL find an amazing place within budget..don’t hesitate to talk to a travel agent..often times they can help you find a complete package (with air if necessary) and get you a discount because THEY get a kickback. That’s what we did and we got 30% (!!!) off our All-Inclusive and got tons of upgrades 🙂
My first husband and I went to the Pocono Mts. for our honeymoon. We had our own little villa on sticks 🙂 Everything was heart shaped and the Mts. in PA were beautiful. Cheesy, I know…but we had so much fun and they always had activities planned for us. My favorite spot was the kissing bridge 🙂 And the food was also delicious! The first night was a seven course meal, with flaming cherries jubilee as dessert. Plus we had time to explore on our own.
I have always thought Hawaii, would be a fun honeymoon spot too.
Maybe Hawaii? You could stay at the Princeville on Kauai. I know they have ziplining near there (my mom did it and loved it). Also, it’s VERY beautiful and it is a quieter island compared to others in Hawaii. They have helicopter rides, i’m sure tons of water activities, and the weather is great.
Also, you could do daytrips to the other islands for cheap if you get bored and feel like exploring. Or you could even spend a night or two on each island.
Plus tropical fruity cocktails are always a plus!
http://www.travelzoo.com/hotels/caribbean-mexico/870322/?utm_source=top20_us&utm_medium=email_top20
travel zoo also has other packages/options too 🙂
Good luck choosing your honeymoon spot–I’m sure it’s going to be a tough decision! My boyfriend and I occasionally alternate active and relaxing vacations, but we really try to make each trip a combination of the two. We really like to bring our bikes and hiking stuff on vacations. Staying active usually makes everything more fun, but there’s just something about doing nothing for a few days that can feel so good! 🙂
Planning the honeymoon is even more fun than planning the wedding! I like a little bit of both in my vacations… activity in the morning, relax in the afternoon/night. We actually waited 3 months to take our honeymoon because of weather. And we did sightseeing in the morning, and relaxing in the afternoon. But, we said if we went right after the wedding, it probably would have been all relaxing, we were exhausted!! Have fun planning! I’m so excited for you, its such a fun time!
I went to costa rica as a kid. Its awesome. Full of adventure definitely. Surfing, volcanoes, hot springs, waterfalls, hiking, ziplines, arial trams, rainforest tours, scuba, snorkel, boats. SO FUN
Defnitely look into it
have you looked at costco travel? you have to be a member of costco, but it’s totally worth it. we’ve used it for several trips (NZ, AUS, Mexico, and we’re going to Ireland, London, and Scotland over Thanksgiving) – they always have the best prices and have all-inclusive options as well. Seriously the very best. Email me if you want more info. : ) Good luck!
Barley for breakfast?!?! OH YUM!!!
a friend of mine just took a trip to costa rica (there blog of the whole trip danandtarasexcellentadventures.blogspot.com which includes more than just costa rice). but the stayed at a hostel in puerto viejo, costa rice. maybe not the most romantic but you get to sleep in hammocks which just sounds amazing! http://www.rockingjs.com/
I’m all about relaxing on my vacations. When I went to Vegas I wanted to truly explore everything. So I definitely didn’t relax there, but I also just went and did whatever I wanted. No appointments necessary and no feelings of marking things off a “must-do” list.
I bet the peanut butter was great with it.
And I like a nice mixture–relaxing and then actually getting to do something where we are vacationing is nice!
I have heard St Lucia is GORGEOUS! I want a vaca with relaxation… I hate having plans on vaca.
I prefer a vacation filled with activities, but also a relaxing evening 🙂
My friend honeymooned at the Sandals resort in St Lucia and did all those things you mentioned you want to do. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t astronomically expensive because I know they didn’t have a ton of money either, and they had a great time. Sandals is also all inclusive, but I believe you get to choose the level, and can pay extra if there is something you want to do, etc.
Is Hawaii out of the running? I went there a few years ago and most everyone we met were honeymooning. There is so much to do – though I am more of a cabana on the beach sort of vacationer.