Snapshots of Boston & The Maritime Provinces // Cruise // July 2013

When we started planning our summer trip, we tried to think of something that would be completely different from the trips we've taken recently (The Southwest, Texas, The Midwest). We decided that after a lot of long driving trips it would be nice to do something that required less planning. We also wanted to try to go somewhere where it wasn't so hot, because in Kansas the temperature usually hangs between 90 and 100 degrees all summer long... 

We decided that a cruise was the most cost effective way to get somewhere with cooler temperatures (i.e. far-ish away) so we made it happen! 

We decided on the Canadian Maritime cruise vs. the Alaskan one because Alaska is at the top of both of our lists and there was WAY too much pressure! Having been to Canada several times before, we figured visiting more provinces would be fun.

We flew out of KC to Detroit and then from Detroit to Boston where we got on our ship, and headed to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Canada. At the end of the trip we spent a bit more time in Boston.

Here are some snapshots of our trip! 

(detailed posts linked into location titles!)

Saint John, New Brunswick

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Boston, Massachusetts 

We saw so many beautiful things; historical places, nature filled areas and did some really fun shopping. We took in the culture of the Atlantic Coast, enjoyed the food... the art and architecture. Oh, Canada! You're such a wonderful place!

Detailed posts coming soon! -linked in above!

Have you ever been to Canada? Or the Maritimes? 

What is your favorite place in Canada?

All for now,

Alexandra

23: Birthday Festivities!

Another year has passed. I can't believe how quickly it went! But I have to say that my 22nd year was a very good one. If the beginning of 23 is any indication, it will be an even better year! 

Here's what we did!

The night before my birthday Kyle took me out to get Panda Express and see a movie at the Legends in KC. We saw The Heat and it was pretty funny. Much less raunchy and profane than the last few movies we thought would be funny. Still had a TON of profanity, but at least there was more of my kind of humor to balance it out. Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock are great together! :)

Kyle made me this whale card, because I love whales more than pretty much everything in the world. How cute is it?!?!

Then I gave myself a birthday mani. I wanted dark shimmery polish so I used a burgundy and a golden/silvery polish as well (all random, sorry you won't be able to find it in the stores!) I used Lauren Conrad's book Beauty, to learn the half moon technique. I think it turned out ok. I would like to try with some lighter colors sometime soon as well!

On my birthday Kyle and I both took off work and started the day with breakfast at Milton's which is now open again! :) I missed their veggie hash so much! A perfect way to start the day!

After that Kyle and I played games and spent time together before he sent me off with Juliet. We went to Kansas City and stopped in to Birdies for a little shopping! I love these boxes!

When we'd finished shopping we headed to Glace, Christopher Elbow's ice cream shop! The ladies in Birdies said that we could use some celebration ice cream. I had been wanting to go to his ice cream shop for a while, but never really knew where it was, so this was perfect!

I sampled several flavors, but I ended up getting cherry almond and Broadway Roasting Co. Coffee. I will note that the Blackberry Chocolate Flake was also amazing! It was really hard to decide! Both flavors that I got were so tasty! It put our favorite local ice cream shop to shame. Run don't walk to Glace. You will be in heaven! 

That night Kyle surprised me by inviting over a bunch of people for a game night. He made s'mores pie and a seven layer dip and I got to see so many faces that I didn't expect to! I don't have any pictures, but it's worth mentioning! Thank you to everyone who made my birthday special! And thank you to Kyle, who planned it all and kept it a secret! You are the best husband ever!

On the 4th we went to my family's house for our annual b-day/independence day celebration! My mom, sisters and Kalor surprised me with a sign that they hung on the wall saying "Happy Birthday Alex!" It was so fun! 

We also had a yummy cookout dinner. Olivia helped Kyle and I make fruit kebabs which was fun. After that my extended family joined us for dinner and fireworks. We had some pretty good ones this year, but a few tipped over for the first time ever! Scary! We had cake and everyone surprised me by popping those streamer poppers when I blew out the candles!

I got a lot of fun little presents from friends and family. I'm excited to move them into our new apartment, NEXT WEEK!

The next day Kyle and I hit the mall for a little bit. I found some cute t-shirts at Aerie and a fun infinity scarf. 

How did you spend the 4th?

All for now,

Alexandra

Snapshots of Family Vacation in the Ozarks // June 2013

At the end of June we went with KC's family to Tan-Tar-A resort in Osage Beach, MO. This is in Lake of the Ozarks, where I had been once previously with my family and several times to the Branson/Silver Dollar City Area. 

I don't have a lot of pictures of the trip, simply because I wasn't thinking about taking a ton of pictures, but I do have a few... so here we go!

The trips usually start out with donuts, in my case donuts with chocolate icing and sprinkles (because they're the best!)

One of my favorite things about road trips through Missouri and Oklahoma is that they have a TON of antique malls and thrift stores, and we typically find some pretty good deals, and sometimes some really unique things. This trip was no exception!

Above are some fun snapshots of our antiquing in Sedalia, MO. I ended up with some cute vintage maps from the stores in this area.

There were several other things I had my eye on, the adorable turquoise bird pocket mirror ($18! yikes!), the tiny red shoes (no reason to own these... ) and the fun vintage straw handbag (not actually expensive, but I'd already paid and was on my way out the door). We found one thrift shop that had great deals though. The place wasn't very nice, but we got a couple of DVDs we'd been looking for for $2 each. Kyle picked out the game in the top left picture, it's called Rumis and is essentially 3D Blokus! He got it for $1.50, and it is really fun! 

We had lunch in the park and then made it the rest of the way to Osage Beach. We checked into our cabin on the lake and took a walking tour of the resort. It was nice and had lots of different things to do. 

Throughout the week we spent time swimming, bowling, shopping, playing mini golf and go-kart racing. Here are a few of my pictures!

Pirate's Cove was a really fun mini golf course, the bowling alley at the resort was adorable and retro, and the view from our cabin was so pretty!

We played mini golf twice, which was fun.. but also very hot. Nail Color: Alex By the Books, Nicole by OPI. Kyle gearing up to race go-karts with Kelsey and Jacob.

The bowling alley at Tan-Tar-A was so retro that we kept our own score. :) We hit the outlet mall one afternoon, which was pretty uneventful for me until we hit the Fossil store. :) I got this cute coral purse and an ipad sleeve (navy with white birds) for about $64, normally $40 each at the outlet. A few notes: I'm a sucker for Fossil, No we don't have an ipad yet...

On a funny (slightly sad..) note, the sno-cone people of the Ozarks don't have the best spelling...

One other thing that we did was take a lake cruise. It was REALLY hot that day.. and we were excited because it was supposed to be air conditioned.... however it was not. The whole time it was between 78-80 degrees F! Once we got out on the water we went out on the deck and enjoyed the breeze (on the shady side) which helped. The lake was pretty and it was fun to be on a boat! :) The tour guide over the intercom gave a real estate seminar... which really wasn't why any of us went out on the boat.. but oh well.

We also went to a couple of good restaurants Shorty Pants (cajun-American) and The Cozy Cafe (breakfast!) 

After we left Tan-Tar-A, Kyle and I headed out to Mimi and Papa's farm while the rest of the family went to Silver Dollar City. We had a nice time playing games, talking and eating with them. We got to see their garden and Mimi dug up some awesome new potatoes for us to take home! 

All in all it was a nice little break from work and moving :)

Have you ever visited the Ozarks?

All for now,

Alexandra