2014 Travel

If there is one thing I love to do, it's travel.

Discovering new places, relaxing, trying new foods, cocktails by the pool, spending time with people I love, flying, the anticipation, the packing (def, not the unpacking)...I just love everything about it.

Fortunately Mr. Mango does as well and traveling is something we love to do together (and lucky me because he's quite the travel planner), but it's also something we love to do apart. It's good for both of us to get some time with our friends on great trips away.

I was reminiscing this weekend and going through old photo albums and it made me think of just how fortunate I've been to take some amazing trips and 2014 definitely was one of the best years for travel as far as I'm concerned.

So I figured if I liked looking at all the pics, then surely you would, right? Sure.

{Scottsdale}

In January, three of my favorite gal pals and I headed for our somewhat annual trip to Scottsdale...one of my favorite places to get away to. Champagne was the name of the game that weekend and we made sure to consume as much of it as possible. Just a relaxing weekend catching up with girlfriends who no longer live in Omaha was a great way to kick off the new year.

(Check it out here)

{Mexico}

In March, the hubs and I took somewhat of a last minute beach vacay to Play del Carmen.  Just us. An early five year anniversary celebration. It was seriously one of the best - if not THE best - vacation we've had.  We golfed, we rode ATVs & ziplined through the jungle, we drank loads of cocktails by the pool, we had couples massages on the beach, we dove into a cenote, we people watched on the streets of Playa's famous 5th avenue and I slept/napped more than I ever have in my life. It was just what we needed.

(Read more about it here & here)

{Bahamas Cruise}

We found out last minute that I was taking a group of customers on a cruise in April, so of course I had to invite my best guy along. He has great perks, doesn't he? It was our first cruise and, while I can't say we are big cruise fans, it was still amazing. Three nights/four days in and out of the Bahamas. We definitely managed to have some fun...and reinvigorate our tans from our Mexico trip.

(A short recap here)

{Las Vegas}

Work called once again and drug us to Vegas. Well it was originally just a work trip, but we tacked on a couple of days so Nick and I could sneak in a little personal time. We finally got to see the new Linq and High Roller - I actually got a really great tour via a break out group from one of our meetings that week. And then we had a cocktail reception at the newly open Giada at The Cromwell as well as dinner there the following night where I was lucky enough to stalk meet her.

The best part, though, about a long week away? Coming home to this guy. And this sign he was holding for me at the airport.

{Kansas City}

The following weekend, we planned a little family getaway to KC for Father's Day. Swimming at the hotel pool, a day at Schliterbahn Water Park, a trip to Lego Land and spending some time at the Plaza was a perfectly packed weekend.

{Virginia Beach}

In July we took an amazing beach vacay with our Manganaro-Gardner side of the family. Major blogging fail because I have yet to recap this one, but I'm going to. We rented a house right on the beach and had no agenda. It was such a great time away...and all I can say is that I got pretty lucky on the in-law side of things and for a group this size to get along as well as we all do is pretty impressive. Plus, it was little man's first time in the ocean. He wasn't a fan at first (there may have been some girly screaming) but he got the hang of things and totally wowed us with his swimming skills in our pool at the house....especially his "canyon" ball. =)

{Austin - Part One}

In September, I headed to Austin to meet my bestie for a million years and all of her friends from Houston for a weekend of debauchery for her bachelorette party. Although, I'm not sure you can count being in by 11pm the first night and not even leaving the apartment the second night, following a day full of drinking on a wine tour through the Dripping Springs Wine Trail, a debauchery though. Who knew Texas grapes were so delish.

(More about this trip here)

{New Orleans}

Yet again, I had a trip for work and this time it took me to NoLa in October. I had never been and was hoping for some free time to check out the city. We had some amazing work dinners at Palace Cafe, Restaurant Revolution and attended the opening of Johnny Sanchez, where we got to meet both John Besh and Aaron Sanchez. If you are Food Network fans, as I am, you might recognize them from the Next Iron Chef. The food didn't stop there - one of our meeting break out groups was a cooking class at Langlois, which was phenomenal. And someone might have forced me to Bourbon Street to take the obligatory jello shot...in a massive syringe. At least I didn't bring home beads. =)

via

{Austin - Part Two}

In October, our little fam and my mom headed back to Austin for the wedding of the year. My bestie since 6th grade was getting married and I got to stand next to her on her special day. The wedding and reception were held at Duchman Winery and it was a gorgeous backdrop for an even more gorgeous couple. Ahhh...it was beautiful.

(More on the wedding here)

{Chicago}

In December, we rounded out yet another one of my work trips with a little weekend getaway for just Nick and I. We had a great weekend eating and drinking our way through the city - we took in a Bulls game, went to a Second City performance and did loads of shopping. I even got to eat a deep dish pizza in bed. Mmmm pizza and red wine in bed, how can you beat that??

(Check out the recap here)

There you have it, a year of travel for the Mangos. Seeing this all typed out, I'm feeling pretty lucky to have gotten to hit up so many great places this year and check some new locations off my bucket list.

Ok, so it's almost embarrassing (not really because who cares?) but I think this tank made it into almost all of our vacation pics this year. It's so versatile and I guess you could say I like it. And obviously bought it in almost every color. =)

And sorry for the quality of some of these iPhone pics. It's vacay...I wasn't going to pulling out the fancy DSLR in the middle of all of our fun.

Now looking at where we need to travel in 2015 - any recommendations of places we need to visit?

Linking up with Miss Biana.

An Austin Wedding

We just got back from a pretty fantastic wedding weekend in Austin. The weather was gorgeous, I got to spend time not only with my little fam, but also my mama and, of course, some uninterrupted time with my girl Angie. I can't even begin to describe how beautiful the wedding was and how amazing she looked...so hopefully some of these pics will.

We flew out Thursday morning and I have to say it continues to get easier each time with this guy. It doesn't hurt that he doesn't need a stroller and all of that other junk that you have to bring along with babies.

When we got to Austin we immediately drove to Buda, TX where we were staying, unpacked and headed to the Wimberley hills for dinner, where Angie's family had a pretty kick ass rental home for their entire family. On the way, we had Siri giving us directions because it truly was up in the hills in the middle of no where and at one point, she told us "up ahead, park your vehicle and prepare to walk the remaining distance." Seriously. If it hadn't happened to us, I wouldn't believe it either. Fortunately we realized that we had taken a wrong turn and didn't, in fact, have to walk. Because I have seen the movie 'The Hills Have Eyes' and I wasn't about to do that.

Freshly Picked Moccs (here)  //  LeapFrog LeapPad Ultra (here)

Friday morning was nice and easy, thankfully my girl isn't a bridezilla and because Cruz had been up sick all night (ended up all weekend for that matter, but you won't be able to tell because this kid is a trooper I tell you. Sick all night, smiles and partying all day), so that was needed for sure. We ran some welcome gifts to the hotels for the wedding party, hit up Starbucks, picked up some champagne for the next day and then it was time to get ready for the rehearsal.

The Duchman Family Winery was absolutely beautiful - we had been here before as a part of our bachelorette party wine tour, but didn't have a chance to really check it out. Made for a nice background for these handsome guys and about a billion other pictures. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. And dinner, an Italian restaurant at the vineyard with plate after plate of delicious family-style food and bottle after bottle of delicious wine.  Who knew Texas knew wine?!

Converse Leather Sneaks (here)

After dinner, I had a date with the bride and we headed to the house she rented for us to get ready in on Saturday and for her wedding night (bow chicka wow wow). At the house, we decided to take advantage of the hot tub to relax a bit. It was so nice catching up with her, just having her to myself for a bit. There is a reason this girl has been in my life since 1992.

Saturday was perfect...she had hired a team from Houston to come out for hair and make-up at the house, so we all got to spend the day getting to know each other, drinking champagne and getting fancy. Fake eyelashes were a must.

And Angie was gorgeous. She always is, but I couldn't believe how amazing she looked. Just see for yourself. =)

As for the harem of ladies I got to hang out with, you can see us to the right of the picture. All of us in a different hue of blue...Angie's favorite color.

And those arms. Seriously, no one should have arms that perfect. And what good is it having a best friend who is a personal trainer who lives miles and miles away? No good, that's what.

The kiddos were just too much. So adorable. And if you are in the market for the cutest little outfits for a little guy, check out this Etsy shop. I couldn't get over at how perfectly it fit Cruzer and was very well made!

And the wedding was just absolutely perfect. Angie was the most gorgeous thing, Austin was handsome as all get out and the weather couldn't have been better.  And Cruz was a dancing machine. Before the music started he told me, "mama, I'm going to dance with Montanna first and then when we get done I will come back and dance with you." Already second fiddle....

And just like that, we were back on a plane headed to Omaha. And now this boy is sick with a sinus infection, so we have that going for us. Fortunately he is still his sweet, little self.

Hope you all have a great week!

Linking up with my girl B from B Loved Boston