International – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

International September 25, 2018

Our Trip on the Disney Dream Cruise Ship

We are so grateful that the Disney Cruise Line invited us aboard the Disney Dream for the most magical experience! All text and opinions below are 100% mine. Thank you for reading and for supporting the brands we love!

Two weeks ago, Isla and I flew home from Orlando, Florida after having a dream trip (pun intended!) on our first Disney Cruise Line adventure. We took a friend’s trip with our besties, Destiny and Truman (whom I haven’t seen since he moved last year!). I can’t quite describe how much fun we had at Magic Kingdom and then on the cruise for four incredible days, but I will do my best to share details from our week onboard below. It was impossible to capture the joy and amazement in the kid’s eyes when they met their favorite characters face-to-face, as they ate they third ice cream cone of the day, as they snuggled (both) in the top bunk at night, free to watch Disney movies as they drifted to sleep. I loved every minute of my time with Destiny – she is the most sweet, genuine and thoughtful friend. I’m so grateful for her friendship. I talked her ear off every single night and would only stop when I could tell she was actually borderline asleep, ha! It would be hard to top this friends trip!

Below, you’ll find a recap of each day of our vacation. Also, I asked people to submit questions on Instagram this week, and I got some great ones, which I’ve answered below in the Q&A section! If you have any additional questions, please feel free to comment, and I will definitely get back to you. Finally, I’ve included some tips for those who are going on the Disney Dream in the future (or who want to plan a trip). We were only onboard for four days, and I feel like we learned so much in a short period of time.

In short: It was a trip I will never forget – and I’m fairly convinced that even at age 4, Isla won’t either (thank goodness her paparazzi mom documented everything to help with that, ha!). It was exhausting at times, because there is so much to do, and we wanted to do it all, but we headed to the room early most nights and rested for the next day. Play hard, crash hard! That was our motto.

International July 17, 2018

Our Trip to the UK

After a whirlwind 13 days in the UK , we’re back in Texas and only slightly jetlagged (well, I wouldn’t be, if it weren’t for Isla’s 4:30am wake-up hollers across the house for cereal!). We landed in Manchester, then drove north 2.5 hours to Grasmere in the Lake District of England (most gorgeous place ever, seriously). We were there for two days, getting a royal tour from the Eskridges, who vacation there every year, then drove further north for 2.5 hours to Glasgow, where I have aunts/uncle, cousins, my grandmother and some of our very best friends. We were there for three days, then headed to Aberdeen, which was a similar drive, but towards the eastern coast. I was born in Aberdeen and grew up in a village called Catterline, which is about 20-25 minutes away from Aberdeen. We spent time with dear friends and their gorgeous children there, then I got to act as a tour guide and showed Sasha and the girls where the house I first came home to and the one I remember vividly living in as a young girl. We drove by my old school, park, etc. It was such a special day. After our tour, we drove 2.5 hours north-west to Inverness, where my sister, Jill, was getting married. We stayed in houses at Achnagairn Estate, which was nice to be able to see everyone in the communal kitchen, living room, etc. We went to Loch Ness (no Nessie sightings!), Urquhart Castle and the Botanical Gardens while we were in Inverness, but the majority of that portion of the trip was for family time and of course, the wedding! We had the rehearsal on Wednesday and the wedding on Thursday – everything went off without a hitch. It was truly a dream wedding. Jill looked like a princess, and Kevin, a prince (Harry and Meghan!). The food was amazing, the castle was magical and the dancing was unmatched. On Friday, we drove due south for 7.5 hours, which didn’t feel awful, given that we’ve done the 16 hour drive to Colorado multiple times. It was a dream trip. I loved spending time with our family and close friends, most especially my Granny Jill, whom the girls call GG and truly love so much. Isla never wanted to leave her side, and Emi followed her around yelling, “GG! GG! GG!”. I want to go back and do it all over again tomorrow – not just so we can eat Indian food every other meal. As for now, I’ll relive each moment through the hundreds of photos I’m sharing below!

Just missing my dad for this to be my favorite-men-in-the-world photo!

International February 28, 2018

Turning 30 in Paris

We arrived home from Paris a week ago today, and I truly miss everything about the city already – the gorgeous architecture, the socially acceptable eating-a-plate-of-cheese-for-every-meal, the delicious wine, the people watching, the history, etc. I miss the friends we traveled with – two couples whom have been best friends for awhile now, and the third whom we met on the trip and now totally adore. A group of eight in Paris might sound impossibly difficult, but it totally worked. I haven’t laughed as hard as I did on that trip in a long time. It was tough being away from the girls for a week, but it was such good bonding time for Sasha and I. I hadn’t realized how much I needed it until we were there!

On February 18th, I turned thirty (!!!!). In Paris. It was a dream come true (literally!). We ate breakfast a vegan restaurant, walked around the Marais, ate lunch at my favorite falafel restaurant, shopped, then walked around Notre Dame before heading back to the apartment to rest. We ate dinner at Maison Sauvage (well, sort of…), then had ice cream at Amorino before the best game night ever. The females literally wrecked the men at both Monikers and Butt Head. It was legendary. I couldn’t have scripted a better day!

I’m working on a very intensive Paris travel guide (although I have two already – Four Perfect Days in Paris and Paris Favorites). This new one will map out different parts of the city and highlight favorite places to eat, drink, visit and shop. I’m excited to share this very soon! Photos of many favorite spots are below – I tried to narrow down my favorite photos but totally failed. So here are about 100 of them 🙂 Ha.

International February 1, 2016

Sydney (Part II)

Yesterday, we landed back in Houston after 13 fun days in Australia. It’s always bittersweet to end a fun vacation – sad to leave the sunny beaches and sweet friends, but happy to return to your own house and hug your loved ones nearby. We missed our connection in LAX, which wasn’t fun, but managed to get on a plane five hours later after being on the standby list. My parents scooped us up from the airport and dropped us at the house, where we unpacked, ate a quick dinner, bathed Isla (she said, “Love you, Mama” during the bath for the first time and I died!!), and then fell asleep. That is, until 10:15pm, when Isla decided she wanted to get up, eat some oatmeal and have a party until around 2:50am. So yeah, jet lag. It’ll be another early bedtime for us all tonight!

Recapping our last few days:

On Wednesday, we ate breakfast at our favorite spot – The Roast Office, then went to the wharf to get the ferry to Taronga Zoo. We ate lunch at a restaurant there called The View (great food and amazing view of the harbour). After we went home and showered, we took the ferry into the CBD (downtown) for dinner at The Malaya in Darling Harbour. Isla was in some sort of mood, so it probably wasn’t the best day to take her to a fancy restaurant, but we survived and the food was absolutely incredible. Afterwards, we walked for about 20 minutes back to the Circular Quay, hopped on the ferry back to Manly and went to bed soon after we got home.

The following day, we were back at The Roast Office for breakfast (on Friday too!), then took the ferry into the CBD for coffee at York Lane with two good friends, Tim and Tom. Afterwards, Tom toured us around the Royal Botanical Gardens before we parted ways at the quarf. We ate lunch at DeVita on the walk back to the apartment then all took a nap. Afterwards, we went down to Manly Beach, then walked to dinner at 4 Pines Brewery (covered in sand and salt water!). We had to leave early in order to watch the Djokovic-Federer (house divided!) match on TV. It was funny to hear hoots of excitement ringing outdoors during the game – not something you ever hear in the states during tennis.

On Friday, we had a slow morning, then spent the morning at nearby Shelly Beach. Isla and Sasha splashed about in the water, all the while yelling “FISH!” that sounded a bit more like “FEEEESH!” We had a delicious lunch at The Boathouse (and pomegranate mojitos!), then returned to the house for a nap, stroll through corso, run, Hugo’s then home

On our last day, we ate breakfast at The Bower with my friend, Gus, and his sweet fiance, Alyce, before walking over to Shelly Beach. After a few hours in the sun, we decided to go to eat lunch at The Boathouse again (it’s a beachy version of Tiny Boxwoods!). Afterwards, we went home for Isla’s nap and packed while she slept. Once she was up, we went for a delicious dinner at our friends’ absolutely stunning house (with private beach access – it’s a dream!). We faced a minor tropical storm (lots of hail!) on the drive home, then packed, hopped into bed and woke up early to head to the airport.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip. We have lots of amazing memories, and I definitely think that the 20+ hours of travel is worth it. I’ll do a travel with toddler post soon, as we had some key lessons learned on the journey!

Hope you had a great week and that your Monday is starting off well! xo

International January 26, 2016

Sydney (Part I)

I’m pretty sure that Sydney is my soul city. I absolutely love it here. I just laughed and felt rather nostalgic reading my last (short-lived) blog from my previous trip here in 2010 – Down Under Diary. The trip consisted of a lot more sight-seeing and fancy restaurants and bars than this one will, but I will love both, as they reflect the current stage of our life. While in Melbourne, Isla rarely napped like she typically does in Houston – a 2ish hour nap after lunchtime. Since we arrived in Sydney on Sunday, she has picked this up, napping from 1:30-4:30pm, which is crazy. It also means that her 7pm bedtime can be pushed back, making it convenient to go out and try all of the trendy restaurants near the beach. We’re praying she quickly adjusts to her Houston schedule when we return home.

On Sunday, we arrived in Manly around 1pm and ate lunch at the nearby The Roast Office, then unpacked and we all took a nap. After waking up, we went to find the beach… only we got really lost and ended up finding a swing set, then wandered to the wharf. We ate dinner at Papi Chulo, which was so tasty and very kid-friendly (best high-chair seat attachments!).

The following day, we ate breakfast again at The Roast Office (it’s that delicious!) then wandered two streets over to Manly Beach. After a few hours on the beach (it was cloudy), we ate lunch at Hemingway’s, which made me really excited, as I’m re-reading The Paris Wife for the 1,000th time. We left the restaurant, returned to the apartment, and while Isla took her extremely long nap, I went for a run to get our bearings on the area. I got a little lost, but saw the gorgeous north point of Manly. After I showered and Isla woke up, we caught the ferry to the Circular Quay, where we took photos of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, then ate the most delicious dinner at Opera Bar (where I had drinks with friends in 2010!). Isla absolutely loved the ferry ride and kept yelling, “FISH!!!!” and pointing out to the water. Our sweet friend, Esther, who owns cuteheads made the best custom dress ever, which got no less than 8 compliments from people we saw. The tulle kills me – it’s so precious!

Yesterday was Australia Day (think Fourth of July craziness for Americans), so we weren’t sure what would be open or not. Isla wore her custom red, white and blue cuteheads outfit to be extra festive (it was a huge hit!). We fortunately had breakfast at the highly recommended Three Beans (delicious muesli bowl), and then went to the beach. As opposed to her last two experiences on the sand, this time is was really hot, and Isla didn’t know how to feel about that. I escaped for a bit with her to get a mango sorbet, which she devoured. We decided to eat lunch at Manly Grill (Sasha ate kangaroo, which horrified me), and then we went back to the apartment for Isla’s nap. I ran away to Shelly Beach for a quick tan and book session, then returned right as Isla was waking up. We went to the ocean pool, then wandered to a few restaurants which were closed for the holiday before deciding to eat dinner at Ouzeria (their halloumi was heavenly).

We’re heading to Tarongo Zoo tomorrow, and I think Isla is going to be besides herself with excitement. I cannot wait! Follow along on Snapchat at @aileepetrovic!