Fashion, Travel & Lifestyle Blog || Est. 2012 || Virginia Beach, VA
A few months ago, Ryan and I enjoyed a wonderful first anniversary trip to Riviera Maya, Mexico. It was both of our first times visiting Mexico, and what truly made our trip so great is that the all-inclusive resort we stayed at truly exceeded all of our expectations! I'm excited to share a full review of TRS Yucatan (an adults-only all-inclusive resort) with you today.
It's also important to note that our lodging at TRS Yucatan was completely free thanks to credit card points! Check out THIS blog post for all of the information on how I was able to earn points and miles and successfully redeem them for a free vacation.
One of my biggest accomplishments last year was planning and taking a vacation with my husband where our flights and all-inclusive resort were paid for 100% with credit card points! I've had an interest in travel hacking (free or heavily discounted travel with maximizing credit card points) for years, but it wasn't until 2024 that I finally took the plunge into switching my personal strategies with credit card usage and spending to start my own travel hacking journey.
In November 2025, Ryan and I enjoyed a wonderful five-day trip to Riviera Maya, Mexico for our first anniversary. I don't like to gate-keep, so I'll be sharing with you the exact strategies and credits cards that we used to get our resort and airfare for free. If I could figure out how to do this, anyone can!
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I recently checked another iconic Virginia hotel off of my travel bucket list: The Omni Homestead Resort. This historic resort is located deep within the Alleghany Mountains in the western part of Virginia. The Omni Homestead is home to a unique main attraction: America's oldest natural warm springs! The Warm Springs Pools are owned by the resort but open to the public. In addition, the resort also boasts beautiful historic decor, a multitude of dining options, a plethora of shopping and activities, and a large spa. My friend Amanda and I recently did a one-night stay here for our annual girls' trip. Our visit may have been brief, but it certainly was memorable!
Last year when I was working as a hotel front desk agent, I won a great raffle prize at the annual staff Christmas party. There were several hotel stays at other properties in driving distance to Virginia Beach that were being raffled off. I ended up winning a free weekend stay at the Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington DC. I was excited to use it, and decided to book it for late March, guessing that might be a good timeframe for the cherry blossoms. (Since I moved to Virginia in 2018, it's been a big item off of my travel bucket list to see the Tidal Basin cherry blossoms in DC at peak bloom!) Not only did I correctly predict peak bloom weekend and finally get to see it, but Ryan and I also had the most wonderful stay at the Phoenix Park Hotel, which I'm excited to review today!
If you're looking for a quiet, restful and romantic escape that's surrounded by beautiful nature views, look no further than the Lilly Valley Inn in Pearisburg, VA! Ryan and I recently had the chance to visit and experience this lovely and unique bed & breakfast, located in the heart of Virginia's New River Valley. Keep reading for my full review of Lilly Valley Inn, and information on unique activities in the New River Valley area!
My favorite little southeastern town is Edenton, North Carolina. My aunt and uncle moved there a few years ago, and I first visited their new town in 2021. From my first visit on, I've thought of Downtown Edenton as a heaven on earth. It's idyllic and charming, and you really do feel like you're walking through a real life version of a TV town! If you've ever wanted to visit Blue Bell, Alabama from Hart of Dixie, Serenity, South Carolina from Sweet Magnolias, or Stars Hollow, Connecticut from Gilmore Girls... Edenton really captures all of those vibes.
I love Edenton so much that it was actually the location of my bachelorette party (and one of my bridal showers!). I first published this blog post in 2022, but Edenton has had some great new small businesses open in the last couple of years, so I thought it was due time for an update to my Travel Guide!
This summer I got to visit the quaint and upscale mountain town of Highlands, North Carolina for the first time! I had seen other bloggers share about trips to Highlands over the years (notably Caitlin from Southern Curls and Pearls and Sydney from Summer Wind), so when my friend Emily selected it for her bachelorette trip destination, I was excited to finally get to visit. It had been several years since I'd been to the North Carolina mountains, and I had never been that far west in NC. The town of Highlands 100% exceeded my expectations, and I loved my brief time there for Emily's bachelorette. The night that I got back home to Virginia, I texted most of my Charlotte, NC girlfriends to tell them all that they had to visit! You know it's a good destination when you can't wait to recommend it to friends.
I'm excited to share a little Travel Diary for Highlands today with you!
Puerto Rico is 100% one of my favorite warm weather travel destinations. I was lucky enough to visit two years apart in 2022 and 2024! I fell in love with Puerto Rico and the charm of San Juan during my first trip, and my second trip just deepened those feelings. San Juan is the capital and largest city in Puerto Rico. PR is a US territory so there is no passport required to visit, and no time change if you're coming from the East Coast! Win win!! I'm excited to update my first San Juan Travel Guide from my 2022 trip, and to now be able to share the best recommendations from my 2022 and 2024 trips!
I recently got the chance to stay at Charlottesville's newest boutique hotel, Kimpton The Forum Hotel, located on the property of the University of Virginia. It's always great to be back in my former home city for a weekend, and I love keeping tabs on what's new in the area. The Forum has guest rooms with an air of modern luxury, and one of the best and most unique locations of any hotel in Charlottesville. The hotel was quite busy the weekend that I visited, and there was such a diverse clientele of guests. I saw business travelers, young families with children, older folks and lots of 20-30-something friend groups who looked like they were in town for weddings or UVA events.
I spent a fall weekend at The Forum with my good friend and fellow influencer Caroline Coleburn. Fun fact: Caroline and I met in Charlottesville almost five years ago when I was living and working there as a morning radio host, and she was a morning reporter for a local TV news station! I'm now doing radio in Virginia Beach, and Caroline is on TV in Richmond. It was extra special to visit my former city for a weekend with a special friend like Caroline who I met during my time there.
As a travel lover and an avid travel blog reader, I've had a running hotel bucket list in my brain for years. It's always exciting when I get to actually stay at and experience a hotel on that list. And the absolute perfect scenario? When my day job in radio brings me to one of these hotels! It hasn't happened very often, but I'm thrilled that I've now gotten to stay at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN twice for work conferences. This hotel was always high on my travel bucket list, and it has been awesome to experience in person multiple times now. Since I've stayed here twice in the past year, I think it's about time I write a Hotel Guide for this iconic American hotel.
Even if you don't stay at The Peabody Memphis when visiting the area, I still think it is worth a visit for a drink or a meal! It's truly a historic gem. While there are many pros to staying here, there is one thing that I've found to be a con on both visits. As always- I'll give an honest review of the good and the bad!
For Labor Day Weekend this year, my boyfriend Ryan came to visit my home state of Maine with me for the first time. While I always enjoy seeing the beauty of southern Maine in the summer months, it was definitely special to see my hometown and home state through the eyes of a first-time visitor. I feel like my parents and I did a great job planning out a good itinerary for Ryan's first Maine trip, and I'd recommend a similar itinerary for other first-time Maine visitors.
There were a few points in our trip that we visited with my family and friends, and I'll also add in additional suggestions for other activities you could do as a tourist with that extra time.
Greensboro, NC is a city that I've spent a good number of weekends in over the past decade. Although I've never lived in Greensboro or the surrounding Triad area myself, I have so many friends and connections in this area. It's kind of funny honestly how many ties I've had to this city over the years (and continue to have). My college friend Michelle and another college friend live here, my friend Cara is from the area and got married here, and I also have a few friends from radio networking that live here and work for Greensboro stations. I've been to multiple weddings in the area in recent years (including one for friends that don't even live there, they just got married in Greensboro!). This summer, I found my way down there for the Wyndham Golf Championship. Basically- life just keeps bringing me back to Greensboro time and time again!
Greensboro isn't a tourist destination per say, but there are a lot of wonderful restaurants there, and some great lodging options. If you ever find yourself passing through the area or spending a weekend there, I wanted to share my recommendations that I've accumulated over the years of various Greensboro trips.
My dad and I kicked off the month of June by taking a dad/daughter trip to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic! We stayed at the Royalton Bavaro, which is a large all-inclusive beach resort. Years ago, my dad and I spent two of my college spring breaks together in another part of the Dominican Republic (read about that HERE), but we had never stayed at a resort right in Punta Cana before now.
Puerto Rico is 100% one of my favorite travel destinations that I've visited in the past several years. Whatever expectations I had about visiting San Juan beforehand were wildly exceeded! My Puerto Rico trip was in July 2022, but I was still taking my extended blogging break, hence why I'm finally recapping the trip for you now (nine months later!).
I'm well overdue to recap the amazing Puerto Rico trip that I went on last summer with my friend Liane! We stayed at the well-known Caribe Hilton in San Juan, which quickly became one of my favorite Hilton properties that I've ever stayed at. I truly don't think that we could've found a better hotel for the trip that was both of our first times in Puerto Rico! Excited to recap this wonderful hotel for you today. And very soon I'll be sharing a San Juan Travel Guide, too!
I just got back from a recent long weekend trip to Orlando. This was the first time I've been in Orlando and haven't visited Disney World at all. I was pleasantly surprised not only by how much there is to do in the area that isn't related to Disney, but also by how many great local restaurant options there are in the Orlando area! I felt like such a foodie on this trip, as it was one great meal after another! While there were some meals that were amazing standouts more than others, we didn't have any truly bad meals on this trip.
I'm excited to finally be recapping the full itinerary of the Ireland trip that my mom and I did in May 2022! We experienced two and a half years of cancellations for this trip, first from my mom having a medical emergency and then for the pandemic. May 2022 was finally our time! I've blogged so far about the nicest hotel that we stayed at in Ireland, a full guide to all of the other hotels we stayed at, and an outfit diary of what I wore on the trip. Now it's finally time to recap the trip in full! I was taking a break from blogging for most of last spring and summer, and as you can see, I'm still playing catch-up from some of the blog posts I wanted to write in 2022.
Last spring, my mom and I finally got to take a much-awaited trip to Ireland! We had experienced two and a half years of trip cancellations, first from my mom having a medical emergency and then for the pandemic. May 2022 was finally our time! Now it's finally time to recap the trip in full! I was taking a break from blogging for most of last spring and summer, and as you can see, I'm still playing catch-up from some of the blog posts I wanted to write in 2022.
I realized that my full Ireland Travel Guide blog post was going to be very long, so I did a poll on Instagram to ask if y'all would prefer one really long post, or two separate blog posts- one about hotels we stayed in on the trip and our tour itinerary day-by-day. More people voted for two posts, so that's what I'm doing. For today's first post, I'll be recapping and reviewing all four of the hotels that we stayed at in Ireland as part of our Insight Vacations Irish Elegance Tour. I'll be sure to link this post for anyone to refer back to when I share the tour itinerary later on!
