August 8, 2015 - Tanya's trip to Puerto Rico and the Southern Caribbean - Day 1

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: PUERTO RICO

I'm on........Island Time

Hi there & a BIG warm welcome GREETING from San Juan, Puerto Rico!

Got here this morning after taking a red eye flight from SoCal. 
We actually had a quick layover (40 minutes) at none other then good ol' JFK!

Yup I was back in New York. 

What a weird connection huh?! 

Well it's because of our lame-ness of booking our flight so darn late! 

It was pretty much the only way that we'd arrive this morning. 

Our first flight was out of San Diego... 
Wow like déjàvu - felt like I was just there...
And I was! 

*I have actually only flown out of SAN 3 times in my life & the last 2 were in June and now last night - same gate both flights.

In fact when I flew back into SAN with the kids last week, we also arrived at the same gate!

So anyhow, once we arrived to our seats, we found that there was an empty seat next to mine..
We had heard that the flight was NOT full and so with my fingers crossed I sat there and hoped that the seat would remain empty!

But noooooo such luck. 

A rather obnoxious and slightly inebriated woman was heading directly for the beautiful seat next to me. Shucks! 

And you best believe that in good humor I told her that I was hoping to keep the seat next to me empty and that she ruined that dream!

Then after a mouthful of obnoxious behavior, I felt quite happy that my neighbor fell asleep and didn't snore.

I was really hoping to snooze on that first flight, and believe you me, I can sleep anywhere! 

But I just wasn't tired, not even in the least! 

I tried - really I did, but it wasn't happening. 


Must be the excitement! See, it doesn't matter how many vacations I take, I still get quite excited about them! 

So anyhow I figured that I'd watch a movie...

I searched and searched again - the index was full of movies that either 
A. I've already seen or B. junk that I didn't want to waste my time on. 

So instead I decided to listen to some tunes...

I browsed and browsed and again felt like all they had was junk. 

Yea, are ya figuring out by now that I'm picky. 
Hey at least I acknowledge and embrace it! 
No judging. 
Besides, my pickiness only effects me. 
It's not like I'm high maintenance or anything!

Oh by the way I found The Best of Neil Diamond album (which I have at home) to listen to and happily swayed in my seat while bumping around on the light turbulence.

The Very Best of Neil Diamond

And eventually my eyelids began to increasingly get heavier and I finally doze off!

I folded over and slept for a wee bit, but then turbulence got rough, and I just wasn't in the mood to ignore it. 

So I woke up, watched some Hawaii Five-0 for the remaining duration of the flight.

My buddy happened to wake up and realized that there was an empty row that she was gonna claim. It was a win win deal!

I continued watching Hawaii Five-0 and got to watch the sun break through the dark sky.

Turbulence continued until about 1h out of JFK, and I figured that perhaps I'd get some shut eye on the 2nd leg of this voyage.

Our 2nd flight was totally overbooked and looking for volunteers to go on the next flight. 

It was a rather tempting offer, but I know that Dave didn't want to do anything like that and to me it was obviously more important to start this trip on a good note! 

But if I were traveling solo or with the kiddos, we would've been all over that deal!

I sat and watched Mall Cop 2, I giggled quite a  bit and found it funny when they made reference to going to California "if I want some smog on my earthquake flakes!"

We had a nice fruit and steel cut oatmeal breakfast.

---

Then finally once arriving at the first of 6 islands for the trip we headed to pick up our rental mobile and headed straight for the World Heritage Site comprised of Castillo San Felipe del Morro, Castillo San Cristobal, and others...more info in tomorrows scoop!

Which is pretty much the same M.O. that I had on my visit 5 years ago when I got that awful SunBURN! Ouch! 
Click HERE if you missed that one!

The remainder of the afternoon and evening is planned around Old San Juan. 
Strolling the oldest settlement within Puerto Rico, which is the historic colonial section of San Juan, Puerto Rico.  


We'll also be shopping and eating (yup I'm going back to Cafe Berlin - which I recall being quite yummy and they offer plenty of vegan options), and  checking in, enjoying the upscale beachfront resort with panoramic water views of the Atlantic Ocean and Condado Lagoon and enjoying the ocean breezes. Sounds DREAMY!

So I'll stop typing now and get on with it!

Catch ya tomorrow with more SCOOP!
-T

Elisa's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: SEPTEMBER

A Shoppin' and Eatin' Kinda Day

Happy Saturday!

I cannot believe just how lovely the weather has been for the past week here on Long Island!!

Today is going to be a great day.

First, I’m going to be heading into the city…New York City that is, to meet Gigi, one of our guest writers here on TC.

Although Tanya has frequented Blossom numerous times, this will be my first time at this renown vegan eatery on Manhattan’s west side.  
CLICK HERE to access their website!

It also happens to be Shopping Saturday here on our blog. I have been in quite the shopping mood since yesterday.  

I took the girls on a little shopping excursion to Costco yesterday for their pool party on Sunday.  

In addition to snacks, party supplies, fruit for a killer fruit salad, salad and drinks, we got some yummy looking desserts - rugula, cupcakes and chocolate chip brownie cookies!!  Can’t wait!!

TRYING AN ALL-NATURAL SNACK IN COSTCO

NOTHING IS TOO HEAVY FOR MOM!

Back to Shopping Saturday…
If you are a regular follower here on TC, you know that both Tanya and I are shopping maniacs!  I can shop anytime, anywhere, and for anything!!

While I love brick and morter retail shopping as much as the next shop-a-holic, I’m also an avid internet shopper as well! and have been for years.

One of the things Tanya and I are committed to is sharing products with you that we love and with which we have had a good experience.

Whenever possible, we will provide the best deal possible with you, as well as discounts and promotional codes. 

Today, I am thrilled to say, that after a great experience with a skin care product from a new and emerging company, I was able to secure an exclusive Travelin' Cousins discount for our followers!!!

Glycolic Acid Cream 10 Face Moisturizer with Jojoba Oil: Alpha Hydroxy Acid, Exfoliating, Anti-Wrinkle Lotion; Free Gift/No Risk

          Toulon Glycolic Acid Cream
I don’t know about you, but I find that Summer can be tough on my skin. Between the harshness of the chlorine in the pool and the hot sun, I always try to keep my skin well hydrated and so I have to tell you how happy I was when I came across Toulon Glycolic acid cream.

I wanted something gentle since I do have sensitive skin and I specifically wanted a gentle glycol acid since I have read so much about how good mild glycol acid treatment is for the skin.

After some research  I found an organic skin care company called TOULON Skincare. 

I was researching and looking at all the incredible reviews this company's products have received on Amazon.com and decided to give the Anti-Wrinkle Face Moisturizer with Glycolic Acid, Vitamin C, and Jojoba Oil a try.  

I have now been using it for a couple of weeks and really loving it.  It has made my skin so soft and supple.  It feels great, and I am beginning to notice a real difference in my complexion. 

I contacted the company (which, is female owned!) and told them that I wanted to blog about TOULON Skincare and the Anti-Wrinkle Face Moisturizer.  

The owner was thrilled and told me that for the month of August they slashed the price of the product on Amazon from $39.99 to only $14.95 for a hot summer sale of over 60% savings.  

After talking to her, she agreed to give the Travelin Cousin readers an even bigger discount!!
Click here  to order your TOULON Anti-Wrinkle Face Moisturizer today.  

And... for the next week (through August 15th) use the coupon code TRAVCUZN at check out to receive an additional 20% off.  

I love the moisturizer and I'm excited to try more of the all natural, luxurious skin care line, TOULON.

Tune in tomorrow to see the pictures from my brunch get together with Gigi and her family!!

Big Hello to Tanya on the first day of her trip!!!


-E
xoxo