Staying Home Sawyer

Real Life Living on a Real Life Budget

DIY

Making Your Memories Easy!

DIY Vacation Highlight BookI used to consider myself an avid scrapbooker. I had dates with friends to scrapbook. We’d stay up into the wee hours of the night and finish page after page. Now I’m lucky if I do one a year, and usually that one is a gift for a friend. I’m not even “too busy” to scrapbook. I don’t have little terrors running through the house ruining anything I try to work on. But I do have a cat that thinks scrapbook pages are her playground. Maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough ($$$) to have my own little crafting room in our house. The deal in our household is that if I get a crafting room, he gets a man cave. Filled with Chicago Bears memorabilia. I pick my battles.

Before we left for our vacation, I wanted to come up with a way to make a quick and easy keepsake of our trip. I think this is it! I made up pages for a Vacation Highlight Book. It’s scrapbooking made easy! The steps are SIMPLE:

1. Print the Vacation Highlights Free Printable.

2. Cut it out.

3. Write in each day’s highlight (take the cut-outs with you and it’s even easier to remember).

4. Add the photos when you return!DIY Vacation Highlights BookIt couldn’t be easier than this. Just something fast and fun to keep from each trip so you can remember all of your favorite moments! This would even be a cute gift to send to the grandparents. Share with them the highlights of your vacation!

DIY, Travel

Flat Lucy Takes Punta Cana

Flat Lucy Takes Punta Cana, Dominican Republic // Take your pet on vacation with you!I love my fat cat. That is no surprise to anyone that knows me. In fact, Lucy was a whopping 24 pounds the last time she was weighed, and she is purely a ball of love. My husband calls her his Furball, but to be honest she’s more like a dumbbell. For the record, we do not overfeed her (with the exception of some tuna when my husband makes tuna salad). She is a happy cat, even more so when she gets her daily allotment of food.

We couldn’t go on vacation without taking our beloved daughter with us, so that’s exactly what we did. While we were at the airport, I surprised my husband with “Flat Lucy,” and the fun began there. We took photo after photo with Lucy in many different vacation situations. She started in the airport with a drink, and she ended relaxing on the beach. She played Foosball and she frolicked in the bushes with the lizards. She relaxed on a raft in the ocean and she ate dinner every night at our table. Kibbles please?Flat Lucy Takes Punta Cana, Dominican Republic // Take your pet on vacation with you!However, I must say, Lucy’s personal favorite vacation highlight was most definitely the bacon in the breakfast buffet. She filled her whole breakfast plate with bacon each morning.

Flat Lucy Takes Punta Cana, Dominican Republic // Take your pet on vacation with you!Take your own traveling pet with you, simply by printing a photo on cardstock, cutting it out, and gluing it to a popsicle stick! I chose two different Lucy’s: one headshot and one full body shot (not life size).

Lifestyle, Travel

Take me (back) to: Punta Cana! How to get there for cheap!

Punta Cana, Dominican RepublicI’m back! Sadly but surely, I’m back. My husband and I just returned from an extremely relaxing vacation in the Dominican Republic. We spent a week on the beach in Punta Cana, and couldn’t be more upset to be back in the daily grind. But that’s the draw isn’t it? Working every day so we can vacation a few times a year. And for us, its a “few” because we haven’t made the plunge into parenthood yet (the more we do these tropical vacays, the harder it is going to be).Punta Cana, Dominican RepublicThis was our first trip to the DR and we LOVED it. We will definitely be back (although we say that every time we go to a tropical island). I love the white sand beaches and the crystal clear blue water. I love the hot temperatures and the cold drinks. And mostly I like the bacon in the breakfast buffet.

People ask us all the time how we can afford to take these trips, so I thought I’d share a little of the wealth. This trip cost us $1800 for two. Flights, hotel, and all we could eat and drink. Not to mention, it was a little more for us because apparently flying from San Francisco is just that much more expensive. Trips to the Caribbean seem to be the cheapest out of Florida (obviously), but also out of Chicago. In one of those areas? I’m jealous.

So here are a few of my tips for travel:

1. Check out trip websites like Cheapcaribbean – my personal favorite (and what we used for this trip). They have good deals ALL THE TIME, and are always changing. If you think you find one you like, keep checking back to see if the price lowers. You’ll get a good idea of the lowest price just by checking back. I typically choose to travel All-Inclusive (meaning your airfare, hotel, and all you can eat and drink for one price). You can search for these deals only on this website, making it easier to travel. Keep in mind you will find the cheapest deals from large airports, so if one is within driving distance, better fill up the tank.

2. After you get an estimate of what the All-Inclusive trip will cost, check websites like Expedia or Cheaptickets to see if you can find cheaper airfare. If you can, you can book the hotel separately and save even more money! Just a note: I’ve seen plenty of articles or posts that claim you will save so much money if you buy a flight on this or that day, this far out from your trip, or that close to it. I think it’s all bogus. I’ve purchased flights every day of the week, whenever it’s cheapest. It varies every day.

3. Don’t listen to every review you’ll read, but read A LOT of them. I’ve seen someone give a hotel 1 star simply because they didn’t provide him with a washcloth. Now, for me, this is a no-brainer. You’re in a foreign country and things aren’t always the same. However, if this is an end-all for you, then move on to the next option. You can almost always figure out which reviews are believable and which ones are dramatic. I ALWAYS check Tripadvisor after I find a resort I’m interested in just to see if it’s a good value. For us, this trip was perfect for what we paid.Punta Cana, Dominican Republic4. Unless this is a must-have for you, don’t ever “add-on.” For example, the two most recent trips we’ve taken have been booked through Cheapcaribbean. Neither time did we upgrade to the Beach View rooms, because it wasn’t a must-have for us. Definitely a plus, but our trip didn’t depend on it. So both times, upon check-in, I asked if they had any beach view rooms available (thinking I’d pay the small upcharge at the desk IF it was relatively inexpensive), and BOTH times we got the beach view room for free. If they have it available, they’ll usually give it to you. IF you’re nice. Always be nice when you’re checking in. It goes a long way.

5. Or 4b if you’re picky. The ONLY thing I ever add-on is a shuttle from the airport to the hotel. But before you do that, check Tripadvisor, or simply type it into Google to see if it’s worth it. For this trip, it cost just as much as getting a taxi would, and with a taxi we didn’t have to wait at the airport for anyone else. We landed in Punta Cana and we were eating lunch at the resort within one hour. Taxi’s are always the most convenient, but not always the cheapest.

6. Get ready for travel! Book your trip and relax. Once you’ve paid for the All-Inclusive, you don’t HAVE to take out your wallet again. We had the trip paid for before we even left, leaving us feeling great about our finances for the month!Punta Cana, Dominican RepublicAny other travel tips you can share?

DIY, Lifestyle

Walk Into My Life

Love Notes on Shoes for BoyfriendYou all know how the age old saying goes, “Live each day like it’s your last.” As much as I would love to take that to mean that I should eat a cheeseburger for every meal, I don’t think that’s the real interpretation. Can you imagine? A cheeseburger topped with an egg for breakfast, another burger served protein style for lunch, and then a big ol’ juicy burger topped with everything for dinner. I would be in heaven. Please tell me heaven serves burgers. If anyone can get a hold of that little boy that went to heaven, would you please ask about the cheeseburgers?

Back to the point. I obviously get side-tracked when dreaming of cheeseburgers. My husband and I were recently discussing how it’s the little things in life that really keep you happy and satisfied. I try to take a few minutes out of every week (okay maybe every other week) to make a little note of love for my husband. The best part is that he returns the favor. Now, I know I won the marriage lottery with this one, but it really makes for a better marriage (easy for me to say, we’re only going on one year – get back to me in seven).

I had to stop at Old Navy to pick up a few things for our vacation (leaving tomorrow!). I knew he wanted these boat shoes the last time he was here (he just couldn’t pull the trigger on the $11.49 sale price – I know, I know. I already told you I won the marriage lottery). So I picked them up with the other things I had to purchase and surprised him with them. Did I mention that when I bought them, they were even cheaper? $9 ladies and gentlemen.

I came home and put together this little “card” to tie into the laces, and left the shoes on the kitchen table for him. He loved the note almost as much as he loved the shoes, which by the way he wore the very next day. I think he could have gotten plenty of use out of that $11.49.