Travel - Pocketful of Joules

I’m Going to BlogHer16 in Los Angeles

I can’t believe it, but in a few weeks I will be at my fifth BlogHer conference in a row.

If you aren’t familiar with the BlogHer conference, or just want to read about my previous years’ experiences, you can check out the recap I did of all the conferences this time last year: Four Years of BlogHer Conferences & Planning for BlogHer 15.

Even after five years, I still get super excited every single time. My inner Type-A nerd totally makes a huge spreadsheet with where I need to go, when I need to be there and what I’m going to wear each day. Super nerdy, but super efficient. I also go into a bit of a shopping frenzy, because it’s a great excuse to buy a couple new items to wear. I mean, there is going to be a closing dance party at an actual club… my typical wardrobe doesn’t really cover night club attire…

The 2016 BlogHer conference is happening in Los Angeles, so I’m excited for not only the conference but to explore a city I’ve never visited. Since it is still a few weeks out, I’m starting to figure out my schedule. I’m still waiting for the sponsor parties to be announced, but hopefully I’ll find a few that are a good fit for me.

I’m also really excited that I’m a 2016 Voices of the Year Honoree (you can see the full post here). All the Honorees will be celebrated at a special ceremony and reception, so I’ll be sure to add that to my schedule too!

After a couple years of keeping my business cards the same, I gave them a little update for a fresh look. Aren’t they adorable?!

In addition to going to all the classes, checking out the Expo and shaking my booty at all the parties, I’m really hoping to be able to meet up with a few brands while I’m in town. It’s always a really great opportunity for me to make connections that I can work with and build on throughout the next year. So, if you are a fashion, lifestyle or fitness brand representative coming to BlogHer or in Los Angeles August 3 – 8^th, please reach out to me at pocketfulofjoules@gmail.com so I can make sure to add you to my schedule.

With all that being said, I am a little extra nervous this year. Unlike previous years, I don’t know any other bloggers going. So, even though I’ve been to the conference five times in a row I’m still pretty much going to be that shy kid in the corner. So, if you are going to BlogHer16, please reach out and let me know!

Lastly, I’d love it if any of you had LA recommendations – where to eat, where to shop, you name it. I’ve never been before, so I’d love to hear about anything I just can’t miss.

Okay, comments time! Let me know if you are going to BlogHer, if you are a brand going to BlogHer or if you have recommendations about what I should do while I’m in LA!

Cruise Style: What to Wear on a Cruise

I know, I know… yet ANOTHER cruise post?!

I was actually going back and forth on whether to write this one, but a few of you asked me for details on my snazzy swimsuits, so I figured I’d throw a little something together.

To be honest, I didn’t really take any outfit pictures while I was on vacation. I was thinking about recreating each outfit at home, but then I realized that would require a shower and makeup… so that didn’t actually happen.

Instead, I hunted down pictures from previous times I wore each outfit and threw them together for you.

First off, let’s talk swimsuits!

As you saw in last week’s post I wore two different swimsuits on our trip. And in each picture I have strategically positioned my kid in front of me for the most flattering look. Just kidding. Every other picture of me in a swimsuit either is of my butt (thanks Travis) or looks like this:

Believe me when I say I’m not really a ‘post pictures of myself in a swimsuit on the internet’ kind of girl, but these vintage-styled swimsuits are pretty magical. They somehow suck in the belly, push out the boobies and keep everything PG for chasing around your kid. This is actually my second time buying the red polka dotted version (my previous one lasted four years of heavy wear) and my first try at the black cherries version.

If you want to try it for yourself, I highly recommend going up one size above your normal swimsuit size to get a perfect fit. I usually wear a 12 and I’m wearing a size 14 in both suits. Nobody knows your size. I mean, unless you tell the internet… oops.

For men’s swimsuits, we are big fans of Target’s board shorts. I just checked out their current selection and really like the Seascape Stretch Board Shorts in Burnside and the Multi Stripe in Acid Green.

I pretty much dress Jack exclusively in Gap and Old Navy, so I love this orange striped version and this more reasonably priced fish print pair. They are always having sales, so if you see stuff you like just wait a few days and it will probably be cheaper!

I’m going to skip right over our daytime looks, because we kept it comfy in t-shirts and jeans (or shorts). I bought all four t-shirts from my last Trunk Club post, so I wore all of them along with some of my previous favorites.

Let’s talk evening clothes!

On a 7 night cruise, there are two elegant nights and the rest are considered “cruise casual” nights. However, they have photographers set up all over the boat each evening and I was hoping for a good family picture, so we dressed nice for five evenings.

Here are the dresses I wore on the cruise:

As I mentioned, sorry for not taking new pictures… these are from my Instagram account over the past few months. The floral dress is a Maggy London dress that I got in my September Stitch Fix. The maxi dress was from Anthropologie last summer. The black top and floral skirt were both from Trunk Club. The pink dress (I didn’t wear tights, booties or a sweater) was from TJ Maxx last year. And the blue eyelet dress was a Marshall’s find.

We did end up getting a nice family photo taken, so I consider that a win!

For Travis, most evenings he wore a dark pair of Banana Republic jeans and either a polo or a button up shirt. He just got this pair called the Vintage Straight Cut Resin jeans and likes them a lot. I bought him a similar Camden-fit windowpane shirt for Christmas, knowing he’d need it for our trip. Did I mention my husband very rarely dresses up? It’s so bad that I realized the day before we left that he didn’t have any nice jeans (HOW do you lose two pairs of jeans?!) so we had to go to the mall that evening for an emergency shopping trip.

Jack actually LOVES to dress up and each night he either wore jeans and a polo or a cute button up shirt/tie combo. I bought him a few shirt/tie sets at Nordstrom Rack in the fall and it looks like they have his exact checkered shirt still for sale.

As promised in my second cruise post, I have a little story to share:

This cruise was really the first time I’d had my arm tattoo out in the world on display. So, I was pretty surprised at the demographic of people who were totally into it. About half a dozen times, I had a much older man or woman come up to me to compliment me on my sleeve. Usually they would start the conversation with, “I’m not really a tattoo person, but I just have to tell you that I think your arm tattoo is really beautiful.” It was really flattering and usually turned into a discussion of how long it took and why I chose each flower. One night, while standing in line to go into the dining room for dinner, an older lady in her 70’s complimented me on my tattoo, started stroking my arm to feel it… and then tried to smell me.

Do you like to dress up on vacation, or do you use it as an opportunity to be lazy and comfortable? Have you ever had a tattoo fondled by a stranger?

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Our Family Cruise, Part 2 {the fun}

When we left off on our cruise story earlier this week, we had decided to just put on our happy glasses and go forward with our cruise (Part one: The Drama).

So, did we have fun?
YES!

At no point did we regret going on the cruise. At all.

Travis and I had gone on a few cruises before we had Jack – including one where he was in my belly – so we were curious how the experience would differ with a 4 year old. Jack’s a pretty adaptable kid, so we didn’t think it would be too different from going out to dinner at home and/or visiting the beach in Ocean City. And for the most part, we were right.

What REALLY surprised us was how much Jack liked their kid’s activity camp, Camp Carnival.

I had told Jack about the camp before we left, but we decided to just leave it up to him whether he wanted to go or stick around with us. Well, basically from the first time he visited he begged for us to take him back.

What we did on our At-Sea Days
On our at-sea days we got into a nice little routine of lazing around the cabin in the morning and then going to breakfast together at either the sit-down restaurant or the buffet. After breakfast, we’d drop Jack off at the Camp for an hour or two. We’d use that time to hang out in the ‘adults only’ part of the ship called the Serenity and do some sunbathing, book reading, and drink sipping.

We’d pick Jack up around lunchtime and then all three of us would settle in the room for an afternoon nap. And by that, I mean Jack and Travis napped and I read quietly on my kindle. One day I left them all snuggled up and got a “Fire & Ice Pedicure” at the spa, which was pretty darn amazing.

Oh and we also used afternoon nap time/quiet time as a chance for Jack to use the potty. I had brought our little potty from home and stuck it in the shower so that he had something he was comfortable with.

After nap time, we’d play in the room for a bit (I had packed Jack a backpack of some of his favorite toys) and then get dressed to have a nice dinner. Our waiters were fantastic and the food was incredible. And plentiful. And we ate it ALL.

After dinner, Jack would go back to the Camp for a couple hours. While he was entertained, Travis and I would go see a comedy show, stop by the casino and donate money, hang out and watch some live music, or just relax. One night we caught part of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on a big screen movie by the outside pool.

Oh and we totally tried to get a good family picture where Jack wasn’t making some weird face. This one turned out pretty well:

More about Camp Carnival
Like I said, we have cruised before but never with a kid and OHMYGOSH was I impressed at the Camp offerings! When we arrived I got a daily activity schedule for the whole cruise and picked what I thought Jack would like. At least once a day there was a themed activity or craft project and it was all included in the price of the cruise.

Some of Jack’s favorites were: the Royal Gala for Princes and Princesses, Big Top Circus Fun, Jungle Adventure Theme Night, Pirate Adventure time (with hats, maps and a treasure hunt!), T-shirt time to paint your own t-shirt, and a fun Kid’s Farewell Dance party.

Oh, on a related note Jack’s new favorite song is “Single Ladies” and he just repeats “All the single ladies! All the single ladies! All the single ladies!” over and over and over again…

They also had some Camp family events where parents could participate, like the one where we stuffed Jack a penguin (or Peng-Juan as Jack calls him). We also participated in a Dr. Seuss Afternoon with a Seuss-a-paloosa parade and story time. Yup, my kid was in the parade and there was SO MUCH cuteness!

What we Did on Our Beach Days
We ended up getting into port at Nassau earlier than planned, so we actually had two beach days… which was a nice surprise. For our first day in Nassau, we hopped in a taxi and took a 10 minute ride to Junkanoo beach, a free beach with some clear teal water (buyer beware: we did find some random glass pieces in the sand). I had packed some of Jack’s sand toys, so he was pretty happy just digging in the sand and water for a few hours before we walked back to the ship.

On our Freeport day, we took a taxi to the Grand Lucayen Resort and paid $20 per adult to have full access of their facilities and their beach. Totally worth it. The beach was beautiful, the lounge chairs were included and the pool was pretty great too.

This is Jack and my “let’s be a seagull” pose.. and we actually caught a seagull flying by in the left side of the picture.

While I would have preferred having the stops of our original itinerary, we really made the most of our cruise and had a lot of fun. Of course, the best part is that I get to plan another one for the Fall!

Oh and I have one last cruise post coming next week to talk about outfits. And to tell you about the random lady who pet my arm and tried to smell my tattoo…

Have you cruised before? What was your favorite part? Are you like me and kind of jealous of Jack for his Camp Carnival fun?