Wanderlust Wednesday: Ensenada

A couple of weeks ago we went on a little vacation to Ensenada on the Carnival Imagination. It was a 3 night cruise leaving out of Long Beach, CA. I've been itching to go somewhere but I didn't have much time off so this was just perfect. The cruise started on Thursday and we came back Sunday morning. This would be my 4th cruise and 3rd with Carnival. I've been a big fan of cruises since my very first one because of the convenience. You don't have to worry about lodging, food, or basically anything! Despite getting sea sick on every single one of the cruises I've been on (I took meclizine too!), I was still able to enjoy all of them.

no waiting in a separate line to get our sign and sail cards since our rooms were already ready!

This was the view from our room on the Riviera Deck (Deck 4).

We opted for the beverage program on the ship which was 15 alcoholic beverages (valued at $10 or less) for $50 per day. Each person in that cabin must also enter the beverage program. We weren't able to drink all 15 drinks each day but it was a stress-free way to not have to lug a bunch of alcohol in our luggage.

muster station selfie!

menu on the first night

The towel animals are usually my favorite surprise of any Carnival cruise! You never know what you'll get! On the first night we got this fellow. We think he might be a lobster. What do you think?

We arrived in Ensenada around 9am and would be leaving again at 6pm. We weren't sure what we would be doing that day yet so we decided to check out the shore excursions desk. We ended up deciding to go horseback riding in the mountains. I've only been horseback riding once before (in Santa Barbara for a bestie's bachelorette party) but it should be like riding a bike? lol.

we were wondering why mr. potato head doing there and his significance to mexico lol

Getting off the ship is sometimes a long process so we had breakfast and explored the ship a little since we had some time before our excursion started.

On the ranch

After horseback riding, we wanted to eat some seafood and decided to pick the brain of our tour guide. He recommended Haliotis which turned out to be this really high end restaurant but super delicious food. We felt bad because we were dressed in workout attire and everyone else there was dressed in business attire! Luckily the staff made us feel right at home and didn't look at us like some dirty Americans lol.

fish ceviche

Formal night ended up being on the same night that we were ported! That was really weird but we still managed to do it and snap a few shots around at all the booths. Our photos were much to hideous to post lol.

Formal night means unlimited lobster!

Then we find this cool guy waiting for us in the room.

Mornings started at the omelette station. It reminded me of the good 'ole days at Covel at UCLA.

Overall we had a nice little getaway to Ensenada. We were able to try some really great food. We were a bit disappointed with the quality of the ship as well as the quality of the food on the 3 day cruise (Baja Mexico) versus the 7 day cruises (Mexican Riveria). But if you're not impressed with the food on the 3 day cruises, don't let that deter you from going on the 7 day cruises. The food is SIGNIFICANTLY better on the 7 day cruises. I was also disappointed that there was no sushi bar! That was one of the highlights on the 7 day cruises for me. It was a nice appetizer before dinner especially if you had the later dinner. I would probably do the same cruise again if I had a 4 day weekend to spare and do a different excursion (probably visit the blowhole).

The quality of the ship was also a disappointment. This ship must have been decades old and as much as they tried to maintain it, it still looked really dated. Again, the cruise ships that they use for the longer cruises are also much newer so don't let this kind of cruise deter you from future cruising. You pretty much get what you pay for.

Because the cruise wasn't really up to par with what I had expected, the travel bug is latched on and not letting go. Not sure where we're off to next but we're off to brainstorming!

Happy Hump Day friends! Hope the rest of your week will fly by!

Money Mondays: April Check-Up

April is just flying by! Can you believe almost half the month is already gone?! Seriously where is the time going. So far it looks like April will be another spendy month. March was a month for splurging on myself but it looks like April is the time for some much needed r&r. If you can spare the time and money, I think it's nice to take a little vacation every quarter. It gives you a chance to recharge. Work has been pretty crazy so we booked a little mini-vacay to get away (think back to those Southwest "Want to Get Away" commercials.) The way this month is headed, I'm really looking forward to getting 3 paychecks in May!

Hope your April isn't turning out as spendy as mine! 

Still got another 17 days to go O_O lol. 

Let's tackle this week and Happy Monday!

Wanderlust Wednesday: NYC

So I might have mentioned that I would be starting this series this year a few moons ago lol and I've just been so caught up in dealing with life that I haven't had the chance. We're in the midst of preparing for a lot of life events which require a lot of funds so our vacation planning has been put on hold for the time being. In the meantime I thought I'd post our New York Vlog from back in August. I got a Surface in October (as a birthday present to myself) and I've had the vlog collecting dust on my old laptop. I finally got a chance to export it this weekend so wah-lah! Hope you enjoy this video!





P.S, I've been looking at my 2014 Hawaii trip videos and I think I may have enough footage to make a video. I'm having some trouble with Windows Movie Maker because it's somehow converting my HD footage to a really crappy quality. I may have to finally use iMovie (which I have no idea how to use). Picking the music is the hardest part though :/ so we'll see!

P.P.S. If you'd like to do some additional reminiscing, here are the original blog posts of our time in NYC in August. [ nyc part 1 | nyc part 2 ]

Money Mondays: March 2015 Budget Verdict

March has come and gone and it's time to tally up my expenses for the month. I spent a little more this month because I did receive a check from Uncle Sam and I also got my bonus this month. In February I spent $1919.52. April may either be a super frugal month or a super spendy month so we'll see. We're either trying to save up for a trip or actually go on a trip.

Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Spring 2015 Fashion: Fringe and Trench Coats

If you watch a lot of YouTube videos, you probably know of Jenn Im of ClothesEncounters. She's got an amazing fashion sense but everything she wears is a little out of my comfort zone as well as out of my price range. She recently posted a video of her Spring 2015 Outfits and I really loved the army green trench that she was wearing from Bardot. The trench is on sale for $99 (reg. $149.95) and there's only one size left so I started my hunt for an alternative. Luckily, light trenches are SUPER in this Spring and while browsing thru my Feedly, I found Wendy from Wendy's Lookbook wearing something similar to what I want and from Forever 21 for $32.90! Here's a side by side image of the two trenches.

draper trench (item: 32120JBX) from bardot (link); draped-lapel trench (item: 2000120399) from forever 21 (link)

Obviously the Forever 21 version isn't as good quality and it looks like the Bardot version has pockets (which is definitely something I would miss) but style wise, you could style the two similarly.

Wendy also styled a sleeveless version (check out additional photos here) which I'm also eye-ing online. What I appreciate about the sleeveless version is that it has pockets!

dropped-lapel trench vest (item: 2000097194) from forever 21 (link)

I was reading an article about Kendall Jenner's stylist, Monica Rose, and her top 3 recommendations for spring. One of them happens to be fringe. I had this fringe purse that I purchased from Target and it definitely served me well during the festival season. I have since donated that purse but there are a few fringe items I'd like to add to my wardrobe. I'm not quite brave enough to wear fringe as a clothing item but I did see a few pair of shoes that I liked.

women's sam & libby hughes gladiator fringe sandals from target (link)

women's mossimo supply co. ruthie fringe bootie from target (link)

There were also a couple of purses I liked as well.

Fringed Faux Leather Backpack from Forever 21 (link)

Fringed Faux Leather Crossbody from Forever 21 (link)

I found one fringe top that wasn't too out there that I could possibly wear.

Southwestern-Embroidered Fringe Cami from Forever 21 (link)

Hope you enjoyed this fringe and trench coat edition of Spring 2015 Fashion.

Have a great weekend everyone!