Category Archives: Randoms
Pre-Honeymoon Running Playlist
By no means would I consider myself anything even close to a fitness expert, but boy do I have opinions when it comes to running and workout playlists (and yes, there’s a difference). For plain old workouts and weight training, I like putting on the Robyn’s Pandora station or just playing Kanye’s All of the Lights on repeat. But for running music, it almost always needs to be either:
- loud punk rock
- hip hop that tells me to shake my ass, or
- pure guilty pleasure pop music
So if you’re looking for some good running music* to get you into honeymoon shape, here’s a playlist of my favorite running songs:
_____________________
* “Good running music” is totally subjective, and is not the same thing as “good music.” There’s a whole lot of bad music on my running playlist (e.g. multiple Ke$ha songs), but sometimes it’s so bad, it’s good.
Winter Break 2013
Remember how great Winter Break was back when we were in school? Well I unfortunately don’t get much of a break from work around the holidays, but I have decided to at least give myself some time off from blogging until the new year. Feel free to submit new Real Honeymoon posts in the meantime though! I’m looking forward to reading about some great honeymoons in 2014.
Enjoy the holidays with your loved ones, wherever in the world you may be! Although I won’t be there physically, I’ll *mentally* be on that beach in Hawaii ; )
xx
100 Songs for 2013: Tip of Your Tongue, Top of My Lungs
Need to update your playlist for upcoming holiday travel? Don’t miss out on my husband’s top 100 songs released in 2013 list on Spotify. Guest lists (including one from yours truly) will also be published on his blog next week.
Happy holidays!
Even Honeymoon Bloggers Get the Flu
Winter has officially arrived in San Francisco, and so has flu season. The virus got me good this week, so I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to write a good supplemental post.
But never fear, I’ll be back in action on Monday with an excellent Real Honeymoon from Hawaii. So with that in mind I’m just sharing a photo that my sister took this week at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on the Big Island of two palm trees and a hammock smiling:
Stay warm and healthy out there!
Feature Your Honeymoon on Peonies to Palm Trees!
It’s that time again when I remind the blogosphere to keep sending me awesome new Real Honeymoon posts! All of the info you need is on this page.
Have you, or someone you know, gone on an exciting and unique honeymoon? I want to read about it! Think I’m sick of reading about honeymoons in the more popular destinations like Italy or Hawaii? No chance! All honeymoons big and small are welcome for submission.
Contact me if you have any questions — hope to hear from you soon!
Our Travel-Crazy October
I’m sorry for being a bit behind on blogging recently, but this month has been totally crazy with travel. Aaron and I went out of town the last four weekends in a row, and we have one more wedding to travel to before things slow down for us.
This is what October looked like
Not that I’m complaining though — the last four weekends have been great! First we took Aaron’s parents to Big Sur and stayed at one of my favorite resorts of all time: Carmel Valley Ranch. We could not have asked for a more beautiful weekend to show the Minnesotans around Monterey Bay.
Next we went to Portland so Aaron could run the marathon. Here’s a tip: if you want us to visit you, get a puppy like our friends Sarah and Nick did just a few days before we arrived. We loved everything about Portland, and having a brand new puppy join us on our adventures was definitely the cherry on top.
The following weekend we went to Scottsdale for our friends’ wedding. US Airways canceled our flight about 12 hours before we were supposed to leave, so we had to take a later flight and unfortunately didn’t have a lot of free time before the wedding. However, the wedding was great and we had such a good time celebrating with the new Mr. and Mrs. Kaplan!
And last weekend we spent my birthday in one of the greatest towns of all: Ann Arbor, Michigan. While Michigan may not be on the top of everyone’s favorite vacation destinations lists, I absolutely love visiting my alma mater, especially when the leaves change color in October. A little rain on game day didn’t dampen our spirits, and staying in this amazing rental house with 23 friends was so much fun.
Expensive Gift Idea for Travel Lovers: Luggage!
When my parents started buying pieces of luggage for me back in high school, I’ll easily admit that I was less than enthused. A garment bag for a birthday, a carry-on for Hannukah — it really didn’t seem too exciting at the time, but my parents promised that I’d appreciate the pieces later on… and they were right.
10+ years later (*cough cough*), I’ve learned the importance of having high quality luggage. Not only does it look a lot nicer, but the good stuff will last a really long time which is why it makes for great gifts for travel lovers. Whether you’re rushing between business meetings or pulling your luggage along cobblestone roads in Europe, the last thing you’ll want is for your suitcases to fall apart.*
As for the brands that I prefer, I am partial to both Briggs & Riley and Tumi. Tumi luggage tends to be a teensy bit heavier, but only my grandma thinks that the difference is noticeable.
Domestic Carry On Expandable Upright Briggs & Riley (left) and Frequent Traveler Zippered Expandable Carry-On Tumi (right)
If you don’t have a set of good luggage already, it’s not a bad idea to register for some as wedding gifts. The three critical pieces that I recommend registering for are:
Creative Gift Idea for Travel Lovers
Need a cute gift idea for someone who loves to travel? Just before our wedding last year, my best friend surprised us with these awesome maps she bought for us on Etsy:
It took us awhile to actually put them up in our apartment because my husband and I are pretty clueless when it comes to home decor, but we absolutely love them! The four hearts represent where we got married, where we met (and still live), and the two countries that we visited on our honeymoon.
The Bombus shop on Etsy has tons of creative gift ideas, and their website has even more wedding-specific gifts that you can buy for your friends (or even for yourself – why not?) Just keep in mind that they’re based in the UK, so allow yourself plenty of time for shipping if you need to receive your items by a certain date.
(Thanks, Alice!)
Happy Anniversary, Peonies to Palm Trees!
I’ve been publishing a “Real Honeymoon” post every Monday for the past 52 weeks now, but today is an exception because it’s my ONE YEAR BLOGGING ANNIVERSARY! Woohoo! That’s right, the best honeymoon blog in the world is now one year old.
I first want to once again sincerely thank everyone who has contributed to the blog in any way, shape, or form throughout the past year. Whether you’ve sent me a Real Honeymoon, shared a post with your friends on social media, or just told me that you liked the blog, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. You guys are the best!
Since I started the blog last September, I’ve (somehow) published 114 blog posts including 50 real honeymoons from couples who visited a combined total of 40 different countries during their honeymoons. Italy took the cake when it came to the most popular honeymoon destination, but Hawaii was a strong second with Kauai being the most popular Hawaiian island. France and Greece tied for the third most popular honeymoon destinations.
As for the length of the honeymoons featured on the blog this year, the shortest honeymoons (not including the two mini-moons) were six nights, and the four longest honeymoons were a whopping 21 nights! (Lucky ducks!) The average honeymoon length, however, was 13 nights.
To gather some more information on this past year’s real honeymoons, I sent out a quick survey last week to everyone who contributed real honeymoon posts. 42 people sent in their responses, and the data that I gathered was pretty darn interesting. Check it out:
When did most couples leave for their honeymoons?
I knew that one couple went on their honeymoon before their wedding, but I didn’t know that there was a second one!
Did most couples consult with or hire a travel agent?
People ask me about hiring travel agents all the time. I’ve written on the topic before, but I was definitely curious to see how many other people consulted with an agent. Looks like most couples didn’t!
Okay, so most people didn’t use a travel agent. In that case, who did the planning?
Aw, I love that so many of these couples planned their trips together!
When planning these honeymoons, what characteristics were most important to the couples?
These results surprised me a little, especially that one of the biggest priorities for couples was “going somewhere with lots of things to do and see.” I was expecting a lot more emphasis on relaxation and luxury, but hey, what do I know? ; )
Alright, let’s ask the question that everyone’s curious about but doesn’t want to bring up. How much did these honeymoons cost?
Disclaimer: I asked for ballpark figures here, and I am not sure whether the responses take into account money saved by using miles or hotel points. Next time I’ll be more specific!
Peonies to Palm Trees 