High Five for Friday: Laughing, Crying, and Sleeping on Clouds

Thank God it's Friday!!! I'm so excited to be taking part in my first High Five for Friday! I saw this on a great blog I love to follow, Lauren Elizabeth, and decided to join in on the fun. Here's what's been going on this week...

1. I'm an elementary music teacher so this time of year means one thing for me: summer camp! I'm a director for a summer day camp run by my city and this was our first week with the kids. It's nice to have a break from my regular teaching routine and getting to work in a more casual setting is always fun. Summer camp with elementary age kids is always full of excitement (yeah...let's call it excitement). 

2. I've been reading on my Kindle a TON this week. I finished my third book of the summer (not my favorite) and have already moved on to the next. I've been trying to get into the habit of reading just a little bit in bed each night until I fall asleep. This really relaxes me and it gets me to make at least a little bit of reading progress every day. 

P.S. I really love my Vera Bradley Kindle case!

3. Speaking of books, I finally saw The Fault in Our Stars movie! I read the book last week and my mom and I headed to our local movie theater to see what was sure to be a sob fest yesterday. To be honest, I LOVED THE MOVIE (that needs to be made clear) but I may have cried more tears from laughing than from sadness. I wasn't laughing at the movie, of course. We were laughing at the handful of random women in the theater who were straight up basket cases throughout the entire movie. Yes, parts of this movie are very sad, but these people just could not keep it together to the point that I couldn't hear the dialogue of one of my favorite scenes over the wails of a women on the other side of my mom. No . Joke. I guess I can be thankful for some comedic relief??? 

4. As a thank you for dog sitting while they were on a cruise, my parents got us a set of really nice Cariloha bamboo bed sheets. I want to do a more in-depth post about these sheets but can I just say that they are like sleeping on a cloud! They feel like the "cool side of the pillow" all the time and they are just the softest, most comfortable thing ever! Ah! They're the best.

5. I've been slacking for a while but I finally got back to running this week! I've been feeling less than motivated lately and I really just needed to bite the bullet and get out there. When I'm feeling so lazy I need little things to help me get through it. This time it was my running hat from the Inaugural Glass Slipper Challenge in February. Just remembering that I was able to run a 10k and a half marathon in the same weekend was inspiration enough to get me out  the door. 

So, there it is! My first High Five for Friday! Hoping everyone out there has had a fantastic week and has an even better one coming!

-Lindsay

Girls Getaway on the Norwegian Getaway!

photo source

Spring begins this Thursday and every teacher knows what that means: SPRING BREAK! Mine is next week and I cannot wait. My mom is a travel agent and she got us an absolutely incredible travel agent rate for a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the brand new Norwegian Getaway! When I say brand new, I mean it literally has only been sailing for two months!

This will be my third cruise (you'll be hearing about our honeymoon cruise on the Disney Fantasy in my wedding series!). Something I love about cruising is that more and more the ships are becoming destinations unto themselves, particularly the ships built within the past few years. Each one has their own special features and is a unique experience. Sure, ships from the same cruise line may have some similar aspects but no two seem to be exactly the same.

As I prepare for this awesome girls trip I thought it would be fun to share what I am most excited about experiencing on the new Norwegian Getaway!


Legally Blonde the Musical

The Norwegian Getaway's headliner night time show is Legally Blonde! I absolutely love musical theater and all things Broadway. Even though I've only seen it as an MTV special, Legally Blonde the Musical is one of my absolute favorites. It may not be quite as sophisticated as some of my other favorites but it is tons of fun and the songs are so catchy! My favorite color is also pink sooooo Legally Blonde is kind of a given.

As far as I can tell it should be the full, unabridged show but I'll have to report back on that after I've seen it. I can't wait!

The Ropes Course

The Getaway's three-story sports complex features the largest ropes course at sea! I've been pumped about this since the second I heard they had a ropes course. To be totally honest, I've only been on one ropes course in my life and it maaaay have been more geared towards kids. Who knows, it may be huge and I may end up chickening out but hopefully that won't be the case. Speaking of chickening out, did I mention there is a part called The Plank that extends 8 feet out over the edge of the ship!? We'll see if that happens! Stay tuned!

Illusionarium

The Illusionarium is a specially created space that hosts a combination dinner/magic show. That's really the best I can describe it without having seen it yet. The space itself seems to be incredible and, from what I've heard, so are the performances. I am so intrigued by this!

Spa Thermal Suite

What girl doesn't look forward to a spa? The Norwegian Getaway's spa has a section called the Thermal Suite that has everything you could hope for for relaxation. It has a steam room, a dry sauna, Vitality pool, hot tubs, waterfalls, heated tile loungers, and even a salt room! You can buy either a day pass or a pass for the week. We hope to snag one for the full seven days!

The Music

I teach music so it should come as no surprise that I am excited about all the live music offerings on this cruise. Live music is a big aspect of any cruise, really, but this ship boasts some really awesome musical performances.

The Getaway has a venue called The Grammy Experience that features a Grammy-nominated or Grammy-winning performer every night! Sure, they probably won't be the biggest names you've heard in your life but being nominated for a Grammy is a pretty huge thing and anyone who's earned that honor is definitely worth your time. At this point I can't say I've ever seen a Grammy-nominated artist perform live so I can't wait to check that off of my bucket list!

Another awesome musical performance I can't wait for on the ship is the Howl at the Moon dueling pianos show in their comedy club, Headliners. If you've never seen dueling pianos you really should! You'll hear lots of your favorite songs, see two really talented musicians, and have a blast! We did Howl at the Moon in Destin, FL as a part of my bachelorette weekend and it was a highlight of the trip!


I'm sure I'll have lots more to say about the Norwegian Getaway when we get back. Does anyone have any fun travel plans?

-Lindsay