Design Her Gals

I found out about this website in a magazine. It's the modern version of paper dolls. Create a "cartoon" you on designhergals.com and print her out on your address labels, notecards, moving announcements, etc. They are so CUTE! They even offer a "print your own" option which is of course cheaper than purchasing the printed jobs from them. You create your cartoon you and then print out your project on your home printer. You'll have to buy your own notecards, labels, etc. at Staples or Office Max, but this is still a much cheaper option. A percentage of the proceeds also goes to help women in Stage 4 of cancer.

Shecky's Girls Night Out

Last night I went with my 2 sisters and my best friend to Shecky's Girls Night Out. We bought tickets on-line in advance, and got a buy 1, get 1 free offer, so they came out to $17 each. Advanced ticket buyers get a goodie bag worth over $100. We got a face scrub, hair mask, nail polish, jewelry cleaning cloth, 3 books, a mini wine & mini Finlandia vodka, stockings, earrings, Dove self tanning lotion, and more. The vendors had clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, handbags, lingerie -- everything a girl could want and need, on 2 floors. There were even cute guys in sarongs passing out free cocktails. We had a great time and then walked over to Da Silvano's for dinner.

Check out their website for their Fall event, and their upcoming beauty event. Sheckys

Jet Blue AMEX Update

I just received an e-mail that I earned a free trip on Jet Blue. My boyfriend already used one of 2 he earned to go to Las Vegas last month. We found out that you can't book on ALL flights, but it's more flexible than other flight programs, and he was able to change his flight to be on the same one as his friends. Also, they had DOUBLE POINTS in May. All purchases qualified for double points.

Shutterfly

If you don't know already, Shutterfly is an on-line digital photo service. You upload your photos to albums on their site where you can store them, e-mail to friends, make prints, or photo items. For only $30 (plus $6 for shipping) I turned our Bahamas photos into a Shuttefly Photo Book (hardcover coffee table style 8.75" x 11.25"). You select your layout for each page, drop in the photos where you want them, add captions and select a cover. I plan on making another when we go to Ireland this summer. I already turned my sister (wedding album), boyfriend's sister (honeymoon album), and friend (christening) onto the site where they made their own. Other photo sites make their own versions, but I like Shutterfly and their background pages. Visit the website to see for yourself: Shutterfly

Sandals Royal Bahamian

We wanted to go to an all-inclusive, and I wanted a break from children since I'm a teacher, so we chose Sandals which is adults only, and all-inclusive. There were a lot of restaurants to choose from (food ranging from good to very good) and things to do. Our room was beautiful and was decorated with Bombay & Co. looking furniture. We went on the Dolphin Encounter (one of my favorite memories), and Flying Cloud Catamaran/Snorkeling. We did both of these in the afternoon when the water was warmer, and we were able to see the sun setting. He also went scuba diving through the hotel (They went to a shipwreck and saw sharks. He loved it! You should bring an underwater camera. He was disappointed that he didn't have one.) At the beach you can dig up your own conch shells.

We also took the #10 bus ($1 right in front of the property) downtown (where all the cruise ships dock) and went shopping and to the straw market. Then for $3 we took the ferry to Paradise Island and went to Atlantis. The Atlantis hotel, yachts and shops outside are beautiful. We paid $30 each for the aquarium and were disappointed. You can see many of the same types of fish just walking around the property in the lakes, walk under the pyramid and see the tunnel, and there is a tunnel under the round outdoor bar, for free, and we liked it more than the aquarium. We saw more colorful fish when we went snorkeling.

Since there are all other couples at Sandals they don't mind taking your picture if you take their picture for them in exchange, so we got a ton. Just ask someone or you'll wind up with all pictures of yourselves separately. Staff are also happy to oblige.

I definitely recommend Sandals for a romantic getaway. The food wasn't 5 star, but the nicer dinner places were very good. Splurge for a room with a balcony & a view of the ocean.