Gimme A Break

The Year of the Tiger will be here in about 2 weeks. It’s not a popular year for weddings because of some superstition that I’m not even very sure of.

But for those who are not superstitious, it will probably be a blessing as there will be less competition for reception bookings, etc. Even destination weddings will be easier to book, I guess.

And we know how popular those are these days especially to exotic destinations like the Riviera Maya which is the choice of many newlyweds for the range of romantic options available.

So if you’re thinking of getting married and you’re not superstitious, consider getting down on one knee this Valentine’s Day, sweep her off her feet and away you go !!

• what’s up on Valentine’s Day?
• red red wine
• McWedding
• the early bird
• Valentine’s, who’s celebratin’?

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Well, here we are, on the first weekday of the year! And already I’m dreaming of where the kids and I can go on an inclusive Jamaica vacation soon. As you can see, it’s proving a little hard to get back into the grind after the holidays.

I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m not the only one daydreaming of all inclusive resorts right now! When I dropped the kids off at school this morning, I could see a lot of grumpy parents and kids and I can almost bet they’re thinking what I’m thinking.

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, we went on a beach vacation to the Hard Rock Hotel last month and had a really good time. I promised the kids we would go on another beach vacation, this time we’ll probably be looking at Ocho Rios hotels for a change but first we have to save up really hard.

• another beach vacation so soon?
• got my house plan picked out but…
• back from the beach
• medical professionals gone fashionable
• would you like to take up pottery?

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I hate unpacking. Well, packing also but usually the excitement of the vacation nullifies the reality of it. Now that all my laundry is done from our beach vacation, I can actually sit down at my computer and tell the world…

Hey, I’m back from my vacation at the beach. Sun, sea, sand, nothing like it!! We drove 5 hours to the beach and it was well worth it. We ate and lazed around and walked around the shops a little.

So yes, I’m a happy camper. Still wishing I was at the beach and waking up to the sound of waves crashing.

• another beach vacation so soon?
• shopping and eating
• island days
• my handy travel tips
• where to go on our next vacation?

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This is a sponsored guest post written by Carl Schwartz on behalf of hotelicopter. Post powered by Sponzai.

Site publishers and bloggers now have a new content tool at their disposal. If you have travel content on your site, you now can embed detailed hotel information by location or specific hotel. This makes it much more contextual for your readers.

hotelicopter.com launched its latest innovation this week.  Going beyond what is currently available, hotelicopter now gives any web site owner the ability to publish detailed, interactive hotel content on their site for free.

hotelicopter, recently named the emerging hotel meta-search site by Piper Jaffray & Co., helps travelers find amazing hotel deals worldwide, including for Las Vegas hotels, Orlando hotels, Chicago hotels, Los Angeles hotels, and New York hotels.

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Here is an example of a specific hotel:

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This hotel content is perfect for:

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- School web sites

Pretty cool content to offer your readers. To start building your own hotel card widget, visit h2go.hotelicopter.com and follow the very simple instructions.

• when the travel bug bites
• the tale of three Aussie cities
• so who wants to go where again?
• one lucky girl
• oops, the cat is out of the bag!

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The kids and I were just talking about going to Melbourne, Australia for a week. OMG suddenly it’s all sounds so exciting the more we talk about it! I was there once during the Moomba Festival and it was fun. If you’re the sort that enjoys a slow, laid-back vacation, then Australia’s pace will suit you.

If our plans are to materialize, I’d better start checking out the Accor Hotels 3-Day Super Sale Asia Pacific. Well, the sale is only for 3 days from October 27 thru 30, 2009 where I’ll have over a million room nights to choose from with rates starting as low as US$30 per night, and we can plan our stays any time between December 2009 to April 2010. At such crazy low rates, I’m already starting to imagine how much I’ll save !

Even if we change our minds about Australia, there’s still all the other exotic destinations in Asia Pacific – Thailand, Korea, China, Japan, HK, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia, Taiwan, India, Bali – to choose from, each with its own unique personality and charm.

Woo-hoo, I can’t wait to start surfing I’m so excited just thinking about looking at all the hotel options available. Come to think of it, the last I visited Bali and Hong Kong, I shopped so much I almost missed my flight home!

• finally a holiday we can afford
• grass? mmm, yummy!
• the annual pilgrimage
• more thorny ‘thons
• pinning down a blog name

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I love shopping for my kids, with my kids. But when it comes to shopping for myself, it’s hard to do it when my kids are around. Not that they rush me or anything, it’s just that I feel like I have to make quick decisions before they lose patience and start wandering off.

I’m wondering what it would be like to go on a Cancun All Inclusive Adults Only trip where I’ll have the freedom to savor good food and shopping all day long at the Riviera Maya without a care in the world. Many of my friends have done it – left their kids with family and just zoomed off to a distant land.

I don’t think I could do it though. I just know I’d be missing my kids toto much and wondering how they’re doing without me. Maybe I should learn to let go just a little, huh?

• I only wish
• celebrating family and good food
• the weekend has flown
• losing a family stronghold?
• is it wise to leave kids+baby home alone?

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Quite honestly, we haven’t been on a vacation in quite a while. We used to when the kids were younger. Back then, we could just up and go. But now that everyone’s pretty much got their own schedules, a vacation’s just getting harder to organize.

We’ve been talking about going to Hong Kong Disneyland since it was completed. At one point, I was checking out the cost of a trip for all of us and well, it was a little above our budget at the time.

Last night, someone suggested I check out Accor Hotels City Super Sale. Hey, their hotel rates aren’t bad at all. In fact, they’re way more affordable than the ones I checked out last year.

In fact, it’s not only the rates for Hong Kong hotels but hotels in 27 cities across 10 countries in Asia Pacific which are being reduced by up to 60% in Accor’s new “City Super Sale”.

If I book online between June 23 – 29, 2009 for stays between July 10 and September 30, 2009, I can enjoy rates starting as low as US$25 per night. Together with the record low airfares across the Asia Pacific right now, we could get to see more than just Hong Kong and still have money left over.

I love shopping in Hong Kong. Don’t even get me started. In fact, shopping is fabulous in Asia because there’s so much variety at such bargain prices.

• ready for summer in Asia Pacific?
• so who wants to go where again?
• best stress reliever
• no books for us
• book sales but

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I was driving to the gym this morning, singing a merry tune to myself when all of a sudden, a motorcycle appears right in front of me. The guy cut straight across the front of my car from out of nowhere. One minute the road was clear, the next he was right there in front of me.

Good thing I wasn’t speeding or he’d be talking to a Personal Injury Lawyer in Omaha right now. But since we’re not in Nebraska, I guess he might just have to put up with a less experienced attorney than Larry Demerath. Anyhow I hope he got a big enough shock today that he won’t try to pull any more stunts like that, the silly guy!

• one notch up
• the grass on the other side
• Saturday morning routine
• disappearing golf balls
• 5 things to do this weekend

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My friend is gritting her teeth and booking plane tickets to New York. There’s just no way in the world she’s going to miss her daughter’s college graduation this summer. She’s been saving for those plane tickets since goodness knows when.

She won’t be traveling alone though. Her in-laws and a group of their friends are going to tag along as well, not specifically for her daugther’s graduation, but it’s more of their yearly pilgrimage to some exotic destination.

Good for you, I told her, because you get to spread the cost when you travel in a group. She’s not too excited about traveling with her in-laws, of course, but then again, if it means she can take advantage of the Charter bus NYC to take them sightseeing, I guess it’s not such a bad idea after all.

The bus charter service is great for sending the old folks off on a daytrip. The bus will take them to amusement parks and other places of interest while she spends some quality time with her daughter.

It’s going to work out great! I hope she has a good trip (she really deserves it!) and traveling in a group helps save her some money in the process.

• before her trip
• New York, New York
• Wicked joke?
• my handy travel tips
• do these businesses measure up?

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Last week, on the way home from running an errand in town, we heard a snapping sound as we were traveling down the highway. I didn’t think much of it at the time, guessing that maybe I’d run over a bit of litter or something.

Later when I glanced at my dashboard and saw the alerts lighted up, it dawned on me that maybe the sound had come from my car! I drove straight home and called the mechanic.

Turned out my radiator tank had cracked and leaked out all the fluid, and one of the belts had snapped. I can’t believe how that could’ve happened since I service my car religiously. The thought of my car going out of control and us ending up in cervical collars really gave me the shivers!

• misbehaving car
• letting go of the sheep
• me on a motorcycle?
• phases of parenting
• last in, first out

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