Advent calendars are my jam. I think this will be my families fifth year participating. This year I kept it simple, but still fun.
Time to enjoy day 4!
Our 2025 Advent Calendars
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Category Archives: Inspiration
Happy Halloween
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I’m really grateful I got to do some amazing things to celebrate this year.
Celebrating Jane Austin at the Morgan Library & Museum
I visited the Morgan Library & Museum to see the Jane Austin exhibit before it closed. It was packed and crowded, but doing something different with my family was great. The day’s highlights included afternoon tea at the cafe and enjoying the small garden.
Van Gogh’s Starry Nights at NYBG
I recently attended the New York Botanical Garden’s Starry Nights event. There was live music, dance performances, snacks, and drinks, but the highlight was the drone performance.
It was a unique experience and we had a blast. If we do something similar in the future, I have to remember to bring a blanket to sit on the grass.
Swinging for Scholarships Golf Outing
Last week, Tomorrow’s Hope Foundation (THF) held its 20th Annual Swinging for Scholarships Golf Outing at Meadow Brook Club in Jericho. It was my first golf event, and I worked and helped onsite.
I had a fantastic time. Even better, the organization raised over $450,000! THF provides scholarships for Catholic school elementary students in Long Island.
Never Forget
On September 11, 2001, I lost my godmother, Danielle Delie. Gone, but never forgotten.
Prepping for our Disney Cruise
We are hours away from boarding our first Disney Cruise and we are excited!!
Making sure I have the essentials….
We are ready!!!
New Orleans this past February
We got to spend some quality time in New Orleans before and after our cruise in February. Most of the time was spent walking around and/or eating (which is not a bad thing 😜). This was also not my first time in New Orleans; it will not be the last. Next time, I want to take a Ghost or Voodoo tour and enjoy more nighttime stuff.
Back on the NCL Getaway – February 2025
One more day until our Disney Cruise! I’m revisiting some of our past cruise vacations to get us pumped and ready to go.
This past February, we enjoyed a 7-day Caribbean cruise on the NCL Getaway. This cruise was memorable for many reasons. We celebrated my husband’s birthday, cruised with friends, and flew to our port this time (instead of leaving from New York). We also stayed at our port location, New Orleans, for a few days (one day before the cruise and a few days after).
This cruise was more relaxed for us. I booked a few things in advance, but kept it flexible to accommodate all our friends. We got the drink package, the wifi package, and the digital photo package. I also paid to decorate the room for my husband’s birthday. My daughter didn’t do the kids’ club this time, but we got some pool time.
It’s definitely a different experience when you go with a group. We made time to explore on our own, but also made time to do things together. I also didn’t pressure myself to do everything. I made a list of what I wanted to do, and we checked it off (in the best way). We are going on our Disney cruise with our family, so I want to set the same expectation.
Some photos of our experiences.
Cruising the MSC Meraviglia – Fall 2024
Two more days until our Disney Cruise! I’m revisiting some of our past cruise vacations to get us pumped and ready to go.
In October 2024, we enjoyed a 7-day Caribbean cruise on the MSC Meraviglia to celebrate my birthday this time. We learned a lot from our first cruise in February! For our NCL cruise, we waited to book everything on the ship. Frequent cruisers know that booking packages in advance is the way to go; it’s cheaper, and you have more options. So we bought everything in advance! We got the drink and wifi package (worth it to us), we got the specialty dining package, and enjoyed four amazing restaurants. I prebooked excursions, spa treatments, and little goodies throughout our cruise. I even booked a little photo shoot for us. It was all worth it!
We had the best time! Learning from our February cruise, we took advantage of every amenity we could. Our daughter participated in the kids club this time, while my husband and I enjoyed the spa and the nighttime entertainment. We also got to enjoy some shows with our daughter. She slept through one show (lol), but she enjoyed the acrobatic one, in the carousel lounge. My daughter was better potty-trained this time, so we got to take advantage of the pools more. The one negative we experienced was the weather. It definitely wasn’t on our side, and we only made one of our ports, but we made the best of it on the ship. The ship had tons of activities to participate in. We plan on going on another MSC cruise in February 2026!
The Casual Explorer 