Fancy But Frugal

Hey there, it’s been a while since we last spoke. 👋 There was covid, I had a baby, and just general busy-ness as a working mom since then. B ut have no fear! We have kept up our Fancy but Frugal travels - we've explored several new countries since then, and our 3 year old has already been to 6 countries!! 🛪 This time, I thought I’d dust off the old blog and try something new: writing about traveling with a toddler! I was inspired by our last trip when we went to Aruba over Thanksgiving. It was spontaneity at its finest, as we booked 3 days in advance - but it was so affordable and family-friendly that I had to tell you all about it!  It all started when I found cheap ($330!) last minute flights to Aruba on JetBlue ! Things only went up from there, as I stumbled upon the Renaissance Wind Creek Aruba Resort . It is part of the Marriott Bonvoy group and has both a family-friendly side as well as an adults-only side. Unsurprisingly, we stayed at the family side called the Oce...

Ciao, bella! Just a quick blog to summarize a cheap, easy, and fun trip Italy! There are a few things you need to get started: quick fingers, $400, and a spontaneous spirit! ✈💼 Where did we go? We visited Milan and Lake Como, Italy over 4 days. How did we get there? Call it luck, website error, or whatever you want. While searching for a Memorial Day trip on a third-party website (initially looking at the Caribbean or Puerto Rico), I stumbled upon a $400 direct, round-trip flight to Milan, Italy with perfect flight times. Pretty sure that it was a mistake, I yell across the room to Jon “I don’t know if this is legit, but let’s try it!”.  Boom . Booked. Fast forward to a couple hours later the airline when the airline tries to cancel our ticket, because it was indeed a mistake. In comes my husband’s charm. “But sir, we received a confirmation and have already booked accommodation, tours, everything. I assume you will be refunding us the full cost of this trip?”...

During March, I got my  #monthlydose  of   Yoga! Traditionally, I'm a fair-weather yoga fan. I go through phases of practicing and then I won't do it for another year. I enjoy it but don't prioritize it for financial, time, or whatever reasons, but I know the benefits of it are real. This year, two different doctors have recommended that I start practicing yoga for stress relief and and to help with tension in my head and neck, so this month's challenge was   literally   what the doctor ordered .  So what did I do? I was budget friendly of course ( #fancybutfrugal ) and did an at-home yoga program through Beach Body on Demand (it's like Netflix for workouts and so affordable! Check it out here:  https://www.beachbodyondemand.com/ ). I did the 3-Week Yoga Retreat over 4 weeks so that I would have a few rest days each week. It's a beginner/introductory yoga program, and each session is only ~30 minutes. Very doable for almost anyone, and I highly ...

Hi! It's been awhile since my last post. I've noticed that there's a huge part of my life that is missing from my blog: missions and volunteer trips . I've been to several awesome and beautiful 3rd world countries on the basis of volunteer and missionary work. These trips have been some of the greatest joys of my life, and I miss them so much! Serving on trips like these are when I feel most at home and most alive. ✞ Most of these trips can't warrant a blog on their own because w e were busy working most of the time, but I did always try to get a taste of the local life and see some of their tourist hot spots.  I would love to explain a little about each trip and brag on some of my friends who are doing AMAZING things around the world! .  ** Note: This post is not meant to brag on myself or toot my own. I'm writing because several friends have asked me how to get involved in these trips. I'm more than happy to hook you up with any of these compan...

SURPRISE POST! Home! My in-laws recently came to visit us in Jersey City, NJ (and NYC).  The fact that Jersey City is the cutest place ever and has amazing food is not new to us, but I was really inspired and happy to see how much E+F (my in-laws) enjoyed it, so I thought I would share their experience! We had a great family weekend together centered around amazing food and drinks!  Disclaimer:   I did  not  intend for this to be a blog post by any means.  I am not claiming these are the "best" or nicest restaurants in Jersey City; we just wanted to take them to some of our favorite spots we've found living here over the past 6 months, and they loved them more than we expected!!   Friday, we met them at their hotel in Jersey City (the new Marriott near Grove Street, which I would give 5 stars btw!). We walked along the Hudson River to grab a pre-dinner beer at the brand new Lutze Biergardten . It is the cutest outdoor space ...