Turks & Caicos

We are back from paradise! Even though we sat on the beach for 4 days straight the trip went by at warp speed, and in the blink of an eye we were back home to a fallen tree, a sink pipe leak, power outage overnight, an urgent care visit and two wild toddlers (who we missed!). Reality. But let's get back to talking about paradise...

When we planned out our trip we strategically chose to vacation during the school/work week so we didn't lose any weekend time with our kiddos. So on Monday morning we dropped the kids off at daycare and then headed straight to the airport. Ms. Jamie took it from there and had a great time with the kids, allowing us to sneak away care-free. She's the best.

MONDAY

We arrived to Turks & Caicos late in the afternoon and a quick cab ride later we were welcomed with cold towels and rum punch at Seven Stars Resort. The resort was so beautiful and the location was perfect. We could walk or bike to tons of restaurants, the grocery store, other resorts, etc.  Our suite was gorgeous too and since we had a little kitchen, we took the advice of others and made a quick bike ride to the grocery store to stock up on snacks and booze after settling in. 

Even though the grocery store was a football field away, we almost died trying to ride our bikes on the opposite side of the road. There are no traffic lights on the island and only roundabouts, so it took a little bit to adjust. But we made it!

For dinner we went to Buguloos, a beautiful beach-side restaurant where we both devoured our first conch dishes of the trip. After dinner each night we had cocktails and cozied up next to the fire at The Deck, Seven Stars beach-side lounge.

 

 

 

TUESDAY

On Tuesday we slept in before heading to breakfast at Seven and then down to the beach for the day. The saltwater pool at the resort was really pretty but we never spent anytime there because we couldn't peel ourselves away from the unbelievable ocean view. We spent the entire day on the beach -- me reading under the umbrella in a comfy beach lounger and Matt laying in the sun...which later that evening he would realize he forgot to apply sunscreen...to his FACE. He was burnt to a crisp and spent the rest of the trip in a t-shirt under the umbrella. Lesson learned, Matt. Although he does something like this every summer so actually the lesson is never learned. 

For dinner we walked to Coco Bistro. This restaurant is very popular and books up fast so by the time I thought to make reservations a few weeks ago there was only a 5:30 pm reservation available...and I totally understand why. The palm grove ambiance and the food were both incredible. Matt ordered the seared tuna and I ordered the salmon. We both ate every last bite. After dinner we walked across the parking lot to Cocovan, an airstream lounge created by the Coco Bistro owners. We had another cocktail and ordered churros for dessert which were the best churros I've ever had in my life. The deep-fried fritters were coated in cinnamon sugar and served with a dark chocolate dipping sauce and vanilla ice cream. After dessert we returned to the resort to lounge at The Deck.

Sarong // Bikini // Hat 

 

WEDNESDAY

Happy Valentine's Day to us! We slept in, ate breakfast at Seven and spent the gorgeous day laying on the beach where I plowed through The Woman in Cabin 10, which I loved.

For lunch we didn't want to leave our view so we ate at The Deck! This beachside restaurant offers a gorgeous beach view, comfortable lounge seating, the service is excellent, the ambiance is perfect and the food was absolutely delicious. We loved the fish tacos! We spent a lot of time here throughout the trip and got to know and love all the bartenders. They were all so great and took amazing care of us. 

We walked to Coyaba for dinner. Hands down, our favorite dinner of the trip. The ambiance of this restaurant is so romantic, the service was excellent and the food was the best. We both ordered specials of the day. Matt ordered ravioli stuffed with the perfect trio of crab, conch and lobster. I ordered the fish of the day special which was mahi mahi! The presentation was amazing and the taste was even better. It came with slow roasted capers, stuffed zucchini and rice. This place deserves all of the awards. I can't wait to come back here.

After dinner we stopped at Infiniti for late night cocktails and dessert. This place is so chic and they had beautiful live music. In fact, I'd say this was the best ambiance we experienced. We sat there long enough to want dessert so we ordered the Chocolate Gourmandize which was basically the most exquisite lava cake with shaved banana, chocolate salt and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was spectacular.

swimsuit // hat // lace beach coverup // sunglasses

THURSDAY

We slept in, ate breakfast at Seven and parked it on the beach. That afternoon we took a short bike ride before deciding it was too hot to go any further and came back to the beach. 

For our last dinner of the trip we decided to stay on property and go to Seven. Matt ordered the duck and I ordered the lobster salad. Both were delicious. After dinner we claimed our favorite sofa in front of the fire at The Deck for cocktails.

 

FRIDAY

Since it was our last day we tried not to sleep in too late. We grabbed our very last delicious breakfast from Seven and squeezed in a few hours of beach time before packing up and checking out.

Our flight wasn't until late afternoon so we decided to grab lunch at Da Conch Shack to see what the heck all the hype was about! Well folks, I'm here to tell ya that this place truly is a gem. Don't leave the island without stopping for one last bite of conch here. 

It was hard to say goodbye to the island but we promised to come back. This trip was exactly what Matt and I needed and we felt very grateful to have had the opportunity to take this trip, to know our kids were being loved on hard by Ms. Jamie while we were away, and for ALL the laughs and the moments that Matt and I shared uninterrupted.

*{not sponsored, just good advice} I would be remiss not to mention how wonderful our travel advisor, Christine Serio, was in helping us design this dream trip and keep us organized. I found her highly recommended in a local mommy Facebook group and she was excellent to work with -- very responsive, helped us pick our destination, select our resort, etc. If you're looking to book a trip, I highly recommend her. It's no cost to use her and she has tons of connections and travel knowledge.

5 Tips for Two Under Two

One of the most requested topics I regularly receive from readers is how we managed two kids under two years old. It's taken me forever to write this post because truthfully I have no idea how we did it. It was such a blur. Our first year with two kids 14 months apart was our hardest and most exhausting year ever, especially with Thomas’ eyes. It was a year filled with coffee, tears, wine, lessons learned and lots of snuggles. Parenting is hard. And to be honest, we are still in the trenches. Although we no longer feel like we’re drowning in spit up, blowouts and doctor’s appointments, the survival mode and challenges are different now (hello toddler sass, tantrums, nightmares, etc.!). But you know what? I would do it again and again a million times over. And I wouldn’t trade our age gap for anything.

So at your request, I thought I'd share the top 5 things I've learned that helped us survive (and continue to survive) two insane little people who have endless energy. 

Disclaimer: Even though I've been doing this mommy thing for a little over three years now, I still have no clue what I’m doing most days so take ALL this with a grain of salt! Seriously.

5 Tips for Surviving Two Under Two

1. Surrender expectations and learn to let stuff go. It took me awhile to give myself grace but once I did our world changed for the better. For me, that means being fine with serving cereal for dinner...several nights in a row, handing the iPad over to decompress in another room, leaving dishes in the sink overnight and allowing the stacks of laundry to pile up on the dining room table. It also sometimes means sometimes missing daycare events due to work travel, bringing store bought cookies to the bake sale, forgetting water play day clothes and not attending every classmate's birthday party. I had to learn the hard way that I just can't do it all. And that is OK.

2. Find your mom tribe. I honestly couldn't imagine going through mommyhood without my best mom friends, especially the more seasoned ones who have "been there, done that" and always know the best remedy for diaper rash, the trick to hiding vegetables in meals, potty training advice and more, like way more. I've leaned on them during my toughest parenting days and celebrated the victories together too. But what is most fulfilling is having their kids grow up together with mine. Over countless kid & parent play dates I have watched friendships grow not only between our children but our husbands too. And there is nothing cooler than that! Find a community that will lift you up, let you vent and encourage you when the days are hard.

3. Get outside. Fresh air work wonders for me when I'm feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, have run out of patience or can't stand to hear one more episode of Caillou. Even when we're not in the mood to go outside or the task of getting the kids out of the door seems daunting, we power through. And 99% of the time we are thankful we did. This can be a walk down the street, a trip to the playground or even just opening the backdoor and letting the kids go wild with water balloons while relaxing for 3 minutes in a lawn chair.

4. Splurge on a nice concealer. Seriously, you've earned it. If you don't already use it, you need to buy this magical NARS concealer (color: vanilla). It's creamy, smooth and can cover even the darkest under eye circles.  

5. Be Nice To Your Husband & Put Your Marriage First. I saved my #1 tip for last -- another lesson learned the hard way. There will be plenty of grumpy mornings when you're both running off just a few hours of sleep for days on end. Having even a three minute uninterrupted adult conversation over two screaming toddlers is near to impossible. Spending quality time alone together seems like a distant memory and at times it may even feel like you've forgotten about one another. If you don't have family nearby, find a great babysitter. And use her often. Carve out date nights and even overnight trips. I know it's not inexpensive and the cost adds up quickly, but it's your marriage -- invest in it because it's worth it.

Related posts you may like: 

Surviving Double Little Persons (The First Week)

5 Years (A Revised Wedding Day Letter)

New Years Marriage Resolution

At Home Date Nights & Favorite Games

Asheville Glamping Weekend

I cashed in my Christmas present from Matt over the weekend -- an Asheville getaway with some of our best friends, Brynn and Palmer! This city is a very special place where Brynn and I have spent SO much time together camping, celebrating marriage, day trips and so much more. So you can imagine how excited we were when our husbands surprised us both on Christmas morning with a fully planned getaway to Asheville! Matt and Palmer nailed every detail from securing babysitting for the kids to selecting the most gorgeous rooms.

Saturday morning we sprinted out the door the moment Ms. Jamie arrived to watch the kids for the weekend, scooped up Brynn and Palmer and set off for Asheville. When we arrived in town we dropped our bags off at The Inn at Biltmore Estate which is one of the prettiest places we've ever stayed.

Most of our Asheville trips together have been spent in a tent, cabin or inexpensive hotels, so this was definitely our version of glamping. After dropping off our bags we ubered to lunch at White Duck Taco Shop.

The evening before our trip Brynn stopped by the house with her little man for a play date while our husbands were out watching basketball together. The kiddos had the best time running around and playing, but it was SUPER nice to finally catch up with her without interruptions every .32 seconds.

 

After filling our bellies with tacos we walked across the bridge to New Belgium Brewery to continue our day-drinking. This place was seriously the coolest Asheville brewery we've been to -- and we've been to a LOT. The brewery sits on the river and the day couldn't have been more beautiful for sitting on the patio. We accidentally stayed the entire day here and had way too much fun.

After many flights of beers and rounds of uno we decided to head back to the Inn.

Back at the Inn we enjoyed cocktails, french fries and magic tricks by Palmer on the gorgeous wrap around porch overlooking the mountains before checking out our rooms!

I was so excited to get away with Matt that I would have totally been cool with a parking lot room view. But nope, the surprises kept flowing when we entered our fifth floor room to find Matt had sprung for the mountainside view. 

Can I also say how dang nice it was to get ready for dinner without tiny people asking me for things or running away with my makeup brushes?! We took alllll the time we needed getting ready for dinner -- that alone was worth the trip! So relaxing! Meanwhile, back at home...

We love these little people so much but we also really, really, really loved missing a night of poop scooping.

 

The only thing the guys left to us to plan was our dinner reservations -- they know us so well! Brynn and I love so many Asheville restaurants but wanted to try a new place. And since we had several months notice to secure our reservations we were thrilled to get in to Rhubarb, which has literally been on our list forever. 

Rhubarb did not disappoint one bit. We started off with cocktails and appetizers and took our time before ordering our entrees. The menu changes daily, but if you ever get the chance to dine at Rhubarb you absolutely need to check to see if the goat cheese burrata is available. The only moment our table was absolutely silent was when we were devouring this incredible appetizer. So so so good.

Also, Matt didn't stop making fun of me the entire night for ordering the cauliflower steak over kale. But it was seriously SO good, surprisingly filling, and I was too curious not to try it! 

Dinner ended pretty late and we had a very long, fun day so we decided to uber back to the Inn. Brynn and I called it a night and both went to bed (yes, my dream getaway includes crawling into bed at 10:30 pm) while the boys closed down the lobby bar. And I only woke up twice throughout the night to phantom crying.

The next morning I slept in...until 7:30 am! Even though I was up with the sun I thoroughly enjoyed not changing any diapers or taking breakfast orders which would later be dumped on the floor. And I got to drink my coffee in a robe while looking at the most beautiful view!

And of course, we stopped for brunch at Early Girl Eatery before heading back home! It was a perfect weekend getaway! A huge shout out to Matt for being an all-star husband and for the most thoughtful and well-planned trip!