My lunch today included a leftover sloppy joe sandwich along with slice cucumber, grape tomatoes and kidney beans.
Tuesday's Lunch
Crisp 'n' Crunchy
Beans, Beans, They're Good For Your Heart
Confession: As I packed this lunch this morning, I easily ate a serving or two of cold sloppy joe meat. It’s so darn good!
Honeymoon Selection
Our wedding is less than two and a half months away and I can really feel the momentum picking up!
Ryan and I have been pretty laid back about the whole wedding planning process. We selected our venue, photographer and florist first, waited a while, and then selected our officiate and DJ… and now, 2.5 months out, all of the “little” projects are demanding our attention.
One not-so-little project that we really need to figure out is our honeymoon!
We Want the Beach!
For some reason neither of us are too into planning our honeymoon. I think it’s because there are so many options that meet our criteria:
- Caribbean location
- Beautiful beach
- Activities available (namely scuba diving)
- Clean, romantic hotel
- Hotel located near a town for exploring
Yep, that’s pretty much it! This pretty much describes more than half of the hotels in the Caribbean!
We’re slowly narrowing down our choices and are leaning toward some resorts in the Dominican Republic. We love the all-inclusive options, as they seem like a great way to indulge but also save some money.
Our goal is to get this trip booked within the week!
Question of the Afternoon
For Married Molly:
- Where did you do on your honeymoon? Would you still choose to go there if you could do it all over again?
For Single Sally:
- Where would you want to go on your honeymoon?
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After the recent bachelorette, I want to go wherever they were ( Fiji? Bora Bora?). It was so beautiful!
no kidding! too bad they’re so expensive! 🙁
Well, I would consider myself a single sally, and I would love to do a trip to Italy & Greece. Those are my dream destinations!
I used to want to go to Hawaii, but now after watching the latest season of the bachelorette I’m obsessed with Tahiti haha. I’ll probably end up somewhere slightly less expensive like an island in the Caribbean though.
My best friend just got married in July and she and the hubby went to one of those all inclusive resorts in St. Lucia. They had a blast and their photos are absolutely beautiful! Just a thought?
We went to Puerto Vallarta and LOVED it. We stayed at the Dreams all-inclusive resort, which included really really good food, rock-climbing, kayaking, and more!
How fun to decide where to go for yours 🙂
Went to the beach that is an hour away from us. If I could do it again, I would have really saved up the money to get to GO somewhere that we don’t go multiple times every summer! I also would have double and triple checked to see if the hotel we stayed at had room service. It was the only thing I wanted on my honeymoon, and the hotel’s website said they had it. Got there, guess what? Nope!
But for our 5-year anniversary next year we are saving now to go somewhere super fun!
Tahiti!!
Can Roberto be there too please?
hahaha amen, sista!
First off, it was so nice meeting you on Saturday at the Tastemakers Event. Now, onto the honeymoon question. My husband and I wanted similar things that you guys want for your honeymoon. We were all over the place from Southern Italy, Tahiti, Phuket (Thailand), and the Caribbean. We were trying to stay away from the Caribbean since we cruise often. Ultimately, we choose the caribbean because we couldn’t imagine ourselves on an 8+ hour flight to where ever our destination was. We ended up going with St. Lucia. It had many of the same features that both Phuket, Southern Italy, and Tahiti had… mountainous area’s with great views and amazing beaches. We decided to not go the all inclusive route since we wanted to really immerse ourselves in the culture/ island. Doing it this way we spent a little more than intended too, but we had a blast… dined at beautiful locations to mom and pop local restaurants… we wold spend a day out and about doing adventurous stuff and then the following day would be laying around the beach. We also are scuba divers and dove almost every day we were in St. Lucia. We stayed at a little place called Ti Kaye. If we could do it all over again we would still pick St. Lucia but we would have stayed only a few days at Ti Kaye and then travelled an hour north for a few days and then an hour south of Ti Kaye for a few days. We plan to go back one of these years for our anniversary! Whatever you choose I’m sure you’ll have a blast!
that sounds wonderful! i loved meeting you, too, katie! 🙂
Aruba is a great destination and the Hyatt Regency is the perfect hotel.
It’s a little pricey, but absolutely worth it. (I went with friends, but would love to go back with my boyfriend. It was extremely romantic).
It’s kinda early for me to decide about my honeymoon,but dreaming never hurt anyone!So I think I’d choose something between Maroco,India or even USA would be perfect for me:))
Would it be easy for you to go back to the previous post and answer my question?I posted it before I realised there was a new post at the blog!
Take care:-*
St. Lucia!!!
We stayed at the Sandals Grande St. Lucian and loved EVERYTHING about it. We’d go back in a heartbeat!!!
My husband and I went to St. Lucia at a Sandals resort. It was absolutely wonderful from the food to the accommodations. I would definitely go again and highly recommend it!
I love kidney beans…this may sounds SO odd but I through them into my oatmeal and cut up a veggie burger…sometimes I toss in some nutritional yeast! it holds me over for hours. I guess you could call them savory oats 🙂
I went to Anguilla and it was AMAZING. We stayed at the Carimar and it was affordable and beautiful. Right on the beach. Meals in Anguilla are pricey but the food is unbelievable. We didn’t want all inclusive because the food is always sub-par and we didn’t care about free drinks. Check it out on Trip Advisor if you are interested. I posted a review there with pictures along with lots of other people.
Here is my review but there are others:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147239-d148197-r34859631-Carimar_Beach_Club-The_Valley_Anguilla.html
awesome! thanks for the link!
You’re welcome, glad to help! Let me know if you have questions about anything Anguilla related.
Ohhh, the caribean would be so much fun!! But where ever you go, you will have fun because you and Ryan will be together.
My brother got married last November in Jamaica and it was so beautiful! They stayed an extra week for their honeymoon afterwards (all inclusive). I agree with your honeymoon criteria! 🙂
The honeymoon was actually one of the first things we planned! We went to Aruba and stayed at the Marriott on Palm Beach. It was all-inclusive; however, I think they stopped offering all-inclusive. It was amazing and we are definitely going back 🙂 We had some of the best food on our honeymoon – Aruba has some AMAZING restaurants!
The Dominican would be really cool! I would also want to go to the Bahamas or maybe Jamaica. Somewhere with a lot of culture would be fun!!
We went to Del Mar, California (we needed a lower budget option). And it was amazing! We could be as active or lazy as we wanted and we definitely chose lazy, ate amazing food, stayed in a wonderfully homey condo and had a blast! We laid on the beach a lot but really just got to relax after all the hustle and bustle of the wedding planning. I absolutely would do it all over again!
we went to disneyworld which was perfect for us b/c we are not the type of people who can lay on a beach and read for a week, way too active for that! disneyw as great b/c we stayed at the grand floridian, which is breath taking, went to parks when we felt like it, relaxed at the pool some, shopped, etc. we got several times a year now!
We went to Vegas… freaking loved it.
I just got back from my honeymoon four days ago. It was wonderful. We just went to the beach closest to us (which is 8 hours away). We had a blast. We looked into doing a big trip but decided that would be something we would want to save up for and do on an anniversary! Hope y’all have fun!!! I think honeymoons should always be great no matter where you end up going- you just got married! What could be better?!?!
Single Sally. woot woot! I would LOVE to go to Bora Bora but I would hate the 24hr flight it takes to get there. I might consider Hawaii because that’s where my parents went but they recently went to St. Lucia for their 25th wedding anniversary (Sandals resort) and loved it too!!
Good luck!!
I want to go to Europe (Italy, Ireland, Greece) or Australia for my honeymoon. I’ve done a lot of single beach travel, so I want to branch out for that trip.
I would love to go to Hawaii or maybe one of the Sandals resorts in Jamaica or St. Lucia. St. Lucia looks beautiful! I would be happy just as long as I’m somewhere tropical and romantic! 🙂
We went to Punta Cana (DR) and stayed in an all-inclusive resor called Bavaro Princess. It was beautiful and the service was outstanding. There are many activities and things to do. The food was out of this world, too!! 🙂 The fitness center makes u want to work out. Its that nice. There are two pools, 6 restaurants, and a mini zoo. The prices were great.
My hubby and I got married in December before Christmas and decided to stay close to home to save cash- we did a week at Disney which was perfect at the time(we both LOVE Disney) and it was a fun vacation. However for our 6 month anniversary we went to Turks and Caicos. I highly recommend it. It’s beautiful and the water is amazing.
That sounds really awesome! I’m sure the DR is beautiful!
We went to Iceland for our honeymoon and it was awesome. Something a little different! (pictures: http://kelocity.com/tag/iceland/)
But the beach and swimming sounds so romantic and amazing.
We are going to Belize for our honeymoon at the end of September. We’re staying at a resort on Amergris Caye. We wanted to go somewhere we could get some serious R&R but also access fun activities and be able to explore. We’re staying at a small resort and opted not to go the all inclusive route because we didn’t want to be tied down to the same restaurant every day. Plus, our room has a fridge and kitchenette, so we’ll prob do breakfasts on our own. We considered delaying our honeymoon but I’m so glad we decided against that. I cannot wait!
We stayed at the IBEROSTAR resort in Playa del Carmen. The resort was beautiful and super romantic. They had 5 restaurants on site so we never had to leave the resort. They also had excursions you could go on. We have talked about going back so many times…it was perfect!!
They have other IBEROSTAR resorts around the world…check them out!!
We went to St. Kitt’s…which is beautiful. It is extremely small island and we stayed at pretty much the only resort there. The Marriott, which was gorgeous. Now mind you, we went there because we won that trip, so it was free. If I could have it my way, we would have gone all inclusive, but I can’t complain since we only had to pay for food and drink. lol. It is beautiful and is sister island to Nevis, which we too a catamaran over too for a tropical lunch one day.
My husband and I went to the Dreams resort in the Dominican Republic and it was INCREDIBLE!!! It was all inclusive and the most relaxing 8 days I’ve ever had!! Everything was amazing-food, staff, resort, excursions, etc.
From Engaged Ellie:
We are planning on going to Hawaii. Matt has been to every other state (yes including Alaska). Plus we want to go to a beach! No official plans yet though.
I guess I’m a single sally even though I’m engaged and getting married in October like you! We are taking a honeymoon next year because my fiancee doesn’t have enough vacation days at his new job yet, but we are looking at the Sandals and Breezes resorts since they are all-inclusive. CheapCarribean.com also has some good deals!
We went to Excellence Resort in Playa Mujeres Mexico. We booked on Expedia (i’m pretty sure – some travel site) and got a great deal! It’s all inclusive and the food was amazing!!! You can also take a ferry across to a little Island, Isla Mujeres, to explore if you can tear yourself away from the resort. We would go back in a second! It was the perfect honeymoon!
I would do a 2 week cruise through the
Mediterranean!!! Youd get to see sooo many cool places… and its super hot in the summer, and your in the Mediterranean Sea!
We unfortunately didn’t get around to a honeymoon till year 10! We had vacations but no honeymoon (we were always travelling because of someone/something). On our 10th year we went to London on Christmas and up to Edinburgh for Hogmanay (NYE). It was awesome, but cold (and beachless). My vote for our next vacation is Greece and Turkey!
Hey! So my name is Molly but Im not married 😉 BUT I have the perfect destination for you Grand Cayman! Its so picturesque and wonderful.
My family has owned a house there since I was 16, and I have been going there since I was 10. Everything about it is romantic and magical.
xo-Molly
http://www.givinganythingbutup.wordpress.com
Hubs and I went to Hershey Park, PA. Yeah, probably not on everyone’s list of #1 honeymoon spots but it was perfect. We live in the DC area and got married in Vermont in March (think kinda cold), so we already had a semi destination wedding. We wanted something simple that wouldn’t require a ton of traveling or money – so Hershey was on the way home.
If I were to do it again, I’d still pick there because although it wasn’t the luxury resort people dream of, we had such a great time – there were tons of activities to keep us busy from mini golf to the pool to the chocolate museum. However, in the future I’d LOVE to go to Puerto Rico – it would be the best of both worlds: beaches to relax, mountains to hike, delicious foods, and lots of great towns to explore.
Cabo San Lucas for our honeymoon and would do it again in a heart beat . . . in fact we did, for our one year anniversary.
Honeymoon was spent in a NOT all inclusive place. The second time we went we did all-inclusive.
Although “cheaper” price wise, all-inclusives can be very unclean, overly populated with families and not the greatest when it comes to service. Hopefully that’s just this side of the country and the east-coast all-inclusives are better. 🙂
We went to Sandals Grande St. Lucian for our honeymoon and really enjoyed it. It’s all inclusive, super romantic, and you can eat at all 3 sandals resorts on the island. St. Lucia is gorgeous, you really can’t go wrong there. I wrote a huge blog post about our honeymoon that you can read here: http://healthyhappyplace.blogspot.com/2010/05/over-moon-with-my-honey.html
We honeymooned in Vegas. Another friend was getting married there so it was an easy choice. Sadly my hubby was out of work then so we did everything pretty cheaply. I’d love a great splurge vacation!
I actually want to go somewhere secluded in the mountains. I could totally picture myself in a tent somewhere snuggled up with my imaginary husband. 🙂
I certainly loved the Paradisus in Punta Cana where we went. Gorgeous, reasonable, good food, and included one activity a day of your choosing.
My fiance and I are getting married next May. We have already booked our honeymoon at a Sandals Resort in Jamaica. It’s all inclusive and I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about it. I would definitely look into that. Hope that helps!
One of my boyfriend’s best friends got married in 2008 and they honeymooned in the Dominican Republic. I am trying to remember the name of the resort, but they absoluately RAVED about it. It was in in Punta Cana and it was all inclusive.
I’m totally down for the beach scene 🙂 or somewhere in Europe!!
Married Molly here — we went to Curacao for our honeymoon this spring. We stayed at the Lodge Kura Hulanda, and it was low-key and amazing (we are not really party animals). Although we didn’t partake, the diving there is apparently some of the best diving in the Caribbean. Since y’all are into diving, you should definitely check it out!
you must be getting so excited! i am coming up on my one year anniversary in September so I distinctly recall the pre-wedding excitement 🙂
my hubby and i went to Paris & Greece (Mykonos & Santorini) on our honeymoon however if you’re looking for an all-inclusive Caribbean option I highly recommend the Excellence line of all-inclusives. We got engaged at the Excellence Riviera Cancun (in Riviera Maya, Mexico) and it was absolutely fabulous. It was chock full of honeymooners and there is a ton to do (or not do). Super romantic, amazing food and beautiful weather. Hope this helps.
Enjoy this time – it goes so fast!! 🙂
I’ve always dreamed of doing a bit of an adventure honeymoon, My ideal would be going to Australia (pricey, I know. But a girl can dream right?) Spend some time scuba-diving the great barrier reef, and then go explore the outback for a few days.
On a more practical note I have some friends who went on their honeymoon in the Dominican Republic and absolutely LOVED it.
I just got married this June and my husband and I went to the Dominican for our honeymoon. We had a similar criteria to yours, but I also had good food as a must on mine (I was thinking Italian beaches, but with the wedding planning our funds were a tad tight)… so we ended up at the The Reserve at Paradisus Palma Real in
Punta Cana. The cost for food, drinks, activities, etc was $120 per person/day… so $240 a day for the two of you. We definitely liked not having to pay for anything while we were there- except we did splurge for a mini spa treatment!
I must say, the place was beautiful and pretty clean- that was a big criteria for me! There were all kinds of fun cabanas and plenty of pools. All of the activities were free (on-site), including scuba- but they did have options for other excursions off-site. As much as we love exploring, we were told countless times not to venture off the resort, so we ended up just staying there. That did get a tad boring in the evenings, as you had to have a reservation for dinner everynight and sometimes you could only get a 6 p.m. time, so if you’re done with dinner around 7:30 p.m., there isn’t alot of entertainment or anything left to do- the pools close, beach close, etc… so going back to the room at 8 ish soundsssss romantic, but we were kind of hoping for some more entertainment, etc before heading in for the night.
The only big downside for me was the food. This was the first time I did an all inclusive and didn’t realize that the food would be so sub-par. Everyone we talked to there who had done alot of all-inclusives said that’s just how it is! Being somewhat of a health freak myself, that was a little hard for me, but I figured out how to manage by the end of the week. One other bonus was free room service 24/7! I had an egg-white omelet with veggies every morning!
I could go on and on- but there are obviously pros and cons with any decision. If cost is a big issue and you can let the food factor go, it could be the right choice for you guys- it was beautiful and the service was great too. There were ALOT of honeymooners though, so not a whole lot of extra special treatment- ha!