FIRM This Fanny

Getaway

After spending the weekend working on the dreaded taxes I decided that I need a break. I am trying to convince my husband to go on a vacation this summer. Nothing too far but I would love to go to the beach. The beach houses here in NJ are incredibly small and super expensive. I took at look at Wilmington NC vacation rentals and OMG I found some awesome rental properties at very reasonable prices. I was specifically looking for a condo on the beach and I found plenty for under $1000 for a week during the summer. The great thing about rental properties is that you can make meals at home and not have to eat out at every meal. That saves so much money. I went to North Carolina (camping) when I was in college and it was just gorgeous there. Off to bug my husband …

Orlando Flights

My daughter is now 10 years old and still hasn’t been to Disney World yet. We are horrible parents! A friend of hers is going over Spring break and she has been making subtle (and not so subtle) comments to my husband and I. Chris hates to leave the house and travel but even more than that he is super cheap and hates to spend money on vacations. I keep telling him over and over that these are experiences that our daughter will remember forever. Plus it is possible to get a cheap flight to Orlando so it is within our budget to actually do it – now it boils down to my daughter and I convincing him!

NFR Here We Come!

When I lived in Virginia a few years back (we lived there for about 2 years) I made some great friends and learned a lot! The big sport where I lived was rodeos. Men and women alike loved rodeos so I went to a local one with a friend one time. We had the time of our lives! Major fun when I least expected it!

Well this friend just emailed me telling me that her and her husband want to go to the NFR (National Finals Rodeo) in Las Vegas, Nevada this year and they want us to go with them. They are such a fun couple I know that we would have a great time. I’ve always wanted to go to Las Vegas anyway! The NFR is the ‘Super Bowl’ of rodeo – huge deal! It is held every year during the first week in December at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. My friend Linda wants to order the National Finals Rodeo tickets ASAP but I have to talk my husband into it. He doesn’t like to leave the house – ever! Talking him into doing any activities is a full-time job. I also want to go because I would love to have something to look forward to (vacation). That really seems to motivate me with my weight loss and workouts!

Christmas Lights & Chocolate

One of my favorite things we did while we were at Hershey, PA this past weekend was going to see the Christmas light ‘show’. There were over 6000 LED Christmas lights and some of the light ‘sculptures’ were animated. It was absolutely incredible and they did a great job. There was a 2 mile winding trail in the woods with various Christmas themed lights such as the 12 Days of Christmas that you drive through. One cool thing they did was have toys through the century so the Christmas lights were of kids playing with various toys that have been popular throughout the century.

Chris and I were talking that this must cost a ton of money and energy to operate all of these lights (we paid $20 per car) but the brochure focused on the use of LED lights which are much more cost-effective and use less energy. I really wasn’t in the ‘Christmas spirit’ until I saw the light show. There is something about Christmas and lights that is just so gorgeous and gets me in the mood. The only problem we ran into was that we got back to the hotel room late because we went out after dinner each night to see all of the lights so the kids were tired. The park had an awesome display of Christmas lights too. Very Christmas and chocolate. Hershey kisses were the base of the small Christmas trees throughout the park.

If You Are Lucky Enough To Travel

SPONSORED POST

My husband and I have never been great travelers. Chris hates to spend the money on vacations. He believes that you don’t have anything to show for them once they are over. I think that the experience of going on vacations with your family is something that you keep forever. This argument doesn’t change his mind but hopefully if I keep trying we will be able to go away on a spectacular vacation someday.

HotelReservations.com is an extensive site which allows you to search for hotels, motels, resorts, vacation rentals, vacation packages, etc. The site is very user friendly and when I searched for a trip to Cape May various hotels and bed and breakfasts appeared. The price, accommodations and reviews of the facility are listed.

I’ve always wanted to go to Las Vegas so I searched their vacation packages. The Las Vegas package included hotel and airfare and for both Chris and I. The package was $1641 for 4 days at Caesars Palace. This was an “exclusive limited offer”. The real bonus is that Celine Dion performs at this hotel! Kathy Griffin has spiked my interest in seeing Celine Dion in person.

Hotelreservations.com includes all the information you could possibly need in order to make an educated decision on your vacation of choice. They also include information on vacation rentals. Our daughter wants her birthday present this year to be going away to a cabin in the Poconos with some of her friends. I searched for cabin rentals but nothing came up. The site seems to have mostly hotels and resort type of facilities. Actually, finding cabins to rent in the Pocono’s isn’t an easy task so I’m not surprised that the site doesn’t include those type of facilities.

So if you are lucky enough to have a husband or partner that likes traveling or if you need to make hotel reservations take a look at hotelreservations.com. It is a comprehensive site that is very user friendly and has all the information you would need to make a great selection.

Tags: sponsored, travel, hotel reservations