Sunday, July 12, 2009

Pink Ice Cream and Honeymoon Plans

I'm getting back in the blogging grove, yay!
I took a trip to a famous ice cream spot in Cape Cod called Four Seas (anyone been there?). It's basically walking distance from my house but I tend to avoid it because it's always crazy. However, so many places have closed or stopped carrying good flavors so I tried it out the other day. I think I'll be going often because I was having a craving for mint chocolate chip and BAM it was pink! Obviously this made me love the delicious ice cream even more.
I will probably be going back here today on my way home. I am not going to leave anytime soon though because last I checked there was a 10 mile back up at the bridge. I have to work tomorrow obviously so eventually I have to go, but no time soon :)
I visited the Cape Cod YMCA this afternoon to do some swimming. It's a brand new facility and the pool is beautiful, however it drives me nuts that it does not open until 12 on a Sunday. No one works out before TWELVE? C'mon! I'm a morning person I like to get it done. However, today I had a great time there. I got my own lane and then a lady asked me to share. I was overly nice about letting her because I hate when people are mean to me (and I could care less if someone is in my lane). She said she'd try really hard not to bump me and I said it's okay if you do because I am doing a sprint tri next week and I need to get used to swimming with a lot of people. At this point, she told me that she was registrered for a sprint triathlon this summer but chickened out and couldn't do it. We got in a whole conversation about how she was nervous about the running part and she didn't want to finish last because she is walking (which is probably going to be me, but if I finish last at least I can blame it on my knee injury). I recommended the Couch to 5K plan to her and she said she was going to try it. She was so excited and ready to start entering herself in a bunch of sprint triathlons. I'm really glad I can convince people to do things I myself have not actually done yet, oh boy! I did a nice 30 laps, which is about 8 laps more than I will have to swim next week but I figured I should do some extra because obviously the ocean will be even harder. I'm counting on adrenaline to get me through the waves!

My other goal of this week besides finishing up training is figuring out where Eric and I should go on our honeymoon. We really want to do a honeymoon registry where people can get us parts of our honeymoon as presents so we need to figure out where we are going! I know some people find this tacky, but I decided to get over it because we already have a lot of stuff that we need and we love to travel. Besides, I wish my friends were doing this, I would love to buy them fun honeymoon stuff. We are debating between Italy, Hawaii and Australia, totally random I know. Here is my Pros and Cons list for all three. Usually when I explain to people how much trouble we are having deciding where to go they ask me what I want out of my honeymoon. So here it goes:
We want: gorgeous weather, a great mix of fun and relaxation, clean hotels, delicious food, and beautiful beaches :)

What do you guys think?

Italy (probably the Amalfi Coast, Rome, maybe Tuscany if time/budget allows)
(Me + Eric in Venice, July 2006)
Pros:
• Beautiful
• Culture
• Delicious food (and usually not that expensive either)
• Quick plane ride (compared to other options)
• Lots to see and do

Cons:
• We have both been to Italy before, together- only Rome and Venice though
• Different language (normally fine, but if we are already exhausted from a wedding it may just add stress)
• Food will most likely bother my stomach
• Euro is not going to help us out
• Will be very hot

Hawaii
(Random pic of Hawaii, since I've never been there!)
Pros:
• Beautiful
• Polynesian culture
• Lots of Japanese food and seafood both of which my tummy likes
• Many fun activities to do- scuba diving, helicopter rides, volcano etc

Cons:
• Expensive
• Long plane ride
• I can’t decide between all of the islands! Also I have a fear that the islands will be similar to the many Carribean Islands I have been to)


Australia (probably Sydney, Whitsunday Islands, Darwin…maybe some other places, possibly a stop in Fiji along the way)
(Me + my Australian BFF, don't mind the fact that I clearly gained a thousand pounds during my study abroad experience, December 2004)

Pros:
• One of my favorite places in the world (I studied abroad there)
• Can do a lot of different things within one country- beach, water activities (scuba etc), and more touristy/city things
• Money is still a little in our favor
• One of those places you can really only go to if you have a lot of time, which we will next summer- may be once in a lifetime type of thing

Cons:
• REALLY long plane ride
• It will be winter there next July (northern Australia should be okay, but Sydney will be cool)
• I have been there before, but Eric has not

Would love to hear everyone's opinions. I know I need to just make a decision because obviously I cannot go wrong all 3 places.

14 comments:

  1. m'm good ol' fashion mint chocolate chip -- never dissapoints!

    i've never heard of a honeymoon registry! what a great idea.. that is a tough call -- i'd be happy going to any of those places :) be sure to let us know what you choose!

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  2. OMG three great choices! I have also been to australia and totally totally love it but not sure I would go on honeymoon there in winter... having said that I love it so would probably go anytime, lol. Italy is very romantic, it will have memories for you both but new experiences too...and hawaii, I would love to go, but I believe it is very similar to lots of the other islands, but very luxurious areas to honeymoon - it just depends what you plan to do when you are there really.

    Good luck deciding :o)

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  3. i say pick all three! :) lol. 'course thats not too feasible now is it... :(

    i would say hawaii or australia - my reasoning being that at least one of you has not been to those spots before.

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  4. I have never been to any of your three choices, but would love to go to all of them! Hopefully my husband and I will travel to Italy once we are living in Germany.

    Back to your dilemma.... I had a friend to went to Hawaii for her honeymoon and loved it! They went to Kuai (not sure of the spelling). Since you have already been to Australia and Italy why not go to the place you have not been? Although a honeymoon is a vacation I think the emphasis should be on relaxing since you will be exhausted from your wedding. Hawaii just seems like the best place for chilling out and enjoying life. Good luck with your decision!

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  5. The gym I used to go to openend early on Sunday, but then closed at 2 pm! I usually workout early, like you, but on days I wanted to go late, it was closed, that sucked.

    Your list of honeymoon options are seriously the three that Nick and I have thought about!!! The only different is that I would like to go to New Zealand rather than Australia (but close enough). My recommendation is for you to both go somewhere you've never been (Hawaii!!). Honeymoons are supposed to represent new beginnings, so you may as well start by going somewhere that is new for both of you.

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  6. Go somewhere new for your honeymoon!

    You had asked about my tri and my friend and I sticking together. Going into it, I had this mentality that this was my race, I was going to go at it with my speed and so forth. Yes, we had trained together, a lot, but we both had our strengths and weaknesses. However, when the swim had been more of a challenge then we both had expected, she stuck with me, calmed me down, and from that point on out I decided I was going to stick with her, on the bike and on the run. Running is probably her weakest of the three, but I owed it to her.

    Our next tri will probably be different. We'll see.

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  7. I've never been to those three wonderful destinations and I know I'd have a hard time deciding if I were you. But based on your list, Hawaii seems like the best option. It's somewhere both of you have not been to, food options will be great for your tummy, and lots of time to relax and destress after the wedding. Maybe you can research online on which islands to go to?

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  8. Ooh your ice cream looks so yummy! That's kinda ridiculous that the gym didn't open til 12. I think ours opens at 6 or 7 on Sunday. That's cool you met that nice lady, though :)

    I have a MAJOR obsession with Hawaii, so that'd be my pick! I'd def. go to Maui--fun, gorgeous, active, pretty beaches, not as touristy as the main island... All those options sound great, though :D

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  9. So cool that you were able to give the lady from the pool some motivation and inspiration to learn to run!

    I vote for Hawaii... I think it would be nice to go somewhere that neither of you have been.

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  10. I vote Hawaii or Australia! When you said you wanted beautiful beaches, that for me would definitely mean Hawaii (plus mountains, volcanos, pineapple fields, waterfalls....can you tell I want to go? lol). Plus if you haven't been there before, I think it's fun to go someplace new as the first adventure of your newly married lives! :)

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  11. Hmm, it does seem like Hawaii would be the best- but I'd like to go to all 3, anyone want to fund me haha.

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  12. Awww. . . Four Seas! When I was a child we used to go to Centerville every summer! I love that place. We saw Kennedy's in there several times. Your post totally brought me back and made me a little teary in a good way :)
    I would go for Australia, because I am dying to go. But it might be too long of a trip for a honeymoon; you don't want to be totally exhausted. Arrghhh, I love Italy though, and that could be totally relaxing and romantic. . . really hard choice!

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  13. wow they all sounds like amazing ideas!

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  14. Woah, these all sound sooooo great :) I wouldn't know what to choose either... I think it all depends what you really want to do..if you just want to relax, then Hawaii...If it's for the culture/food, Italy. And I'm not sure how long your honeymoon will be, but if it's long, then Australia would be a great choice...It's so hard!!

    ps: I think i totally misread, I thought you had decided not to do the triathlon!! Oops! Disregard one of my previous comments then :)

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