a lifestyle, family and travel blog
Kevin and I love taking small spontaneous weekend trips that require absolutely zero planning or preparation. Sometimes it totally backfires on us (cough *our first night on Catalina Island* cough) but other times I feel like it's the best way to truly experience a new city with no expectations or biases.
We knew we wanted to travel for our wedding anniversary but we had such a busy month of September that we never pulled the trigger on a trip. That left us scrambling the week before to find something that "felt special" (my sentiment) but practical (Kevin's sentiment). That's how we stumbled across Santa Catalina Island. It's super easy to access from Southern California but still has an island getaway feeling. My only regret is that we discovered Catalina so late in our SoCal years because I would have loved to have spent more time here!
I see destination weddings as an opportunity to explore new destinations or visit old favorite haunts and we recently did just that in New England! We began our trip in Boston but only had 24 hours to explore this charming city.
Next stop on our big family vacation was the Hawaiian Island of Kauai! As a surprise, I worked with a local company, Lei Greeting, to greet us with flower leis ($28.80 per lei), in traditional Hawaiian form upon our arrival at Lihue Airport - Aloha! My niece and nephew especially enjoyed these vibrant, fresh flower necklaces; the boys not so much, but it sure made for a cute family photo!
KARA VALLARI 