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Travel

TRAVEL LOVE: Places I Want to Visit in 2016 & Beyond

Sarah Fortune
January 7, 2016
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I have to admit – I have a major travel bug in me lately. Maybe after a few trips I will get it out of my system, but Iris is at such a fun age to travel with, that all I want to do is go exploring. Recently inspired by Emma’s post over on A Beautiful Mess, I decided to make my own list of top destinations I want to visit with my family. While it may be a bit unrealistic to accomplish all of these trips in the near future (we only have so many days we can take off from our jobs after all), planning and daydreaming is one of my favorite parts about travel. So, here goes…

photo via: Loomis Dean/ Time & Life Pictures / Getty Images

Disneyland
Iris has started the inevitable… asking to go to Disney. While she doesn’t yet know the difference between Disnleyland and Disneyworld, I’ve had the chance to visit both and really want to take her to California. I love the nostalgic (and less overwhelming) feel of Disneyland. Plus, I would love to make the trip about exploring Southern California and not solely centered around Mickey. Maybe we can surprise her for her fifth birthday (that’s THIS year, y’all!) or for Christmas, but just looking at these vintage photos makes me want to book a trip today.

30A – Florida
We’ve visited Rosemary Beach, Florida the past two summers in a row and we are making it a priority to get back to the 30A area again this year. Todd, Iris, and I all agree that this is one of our favorite getaways and I hope the annual tradition continues for years to come. For months, Iris has been asking when in the world we can go to the beach again. I hope my answer of “once the weather is warm” is accurate.

New York City
NYC is one of my places on earth. In fact, as a kid I always dreamed of graduating high-school and moving away to the Big Apple. I ended up in Washington D.C. instead for a couple of years, which I grew to love in its own way. And while I’m more than happy living in Arkansas, I now have dreams of visiting New York again and bringing Iris along. My last trip there I was pregnant with her and I went alone for work. The feeling of being by myself, almost for the last time, in such a crowded city was such a unique, lovely experience. I walked through Central Park, ate way too much Indian food, and brought home a pink snowglobe that still sits on Iris’ dresser today.

Hawaii
Maui is another place that my work has taken me (again, all by myself) and ever since then I’ve been dreaming about going back with my little family. The island was pure magic – the air seemed to smell like fruit and flowers everywhere I went. The ocean was the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. And the Road to Hana was one of the best life experiences. However, flights from our airport are crazy expensive and, of course, so are the resorts, so this one might have to wait a little longer. One day, one day.

Nashville
We have several friends in Nashville and I severely need to make the time to pop over to see them and to hang out in such a cool city. Growing up in Memphis, I never made the trip to Nashville as often as I should. The city seems to have really grown over the last few years in such an awesome way. I took Iris a couple of years ago and we had a blast – it’s time we do it again.

Random Location
Iris has flown on an airplane a few times, but she was so little that she doesn’t remember it. For her, an exciting trip would just be the experience of flying in the air. Todd and I have talked about packing our bags and picking a cheap place to fly one weekend. We’d have fun wherever we go, making an adventure out of it.

While I’m not sure where all we’ll actually end up in 2016, I’m excited I already have a few trips planned this year, including a girls trip to Mexico this summer (CAN’T WAIT) and a work trip next month to Newport Beach, California. We also want to take some quick weekend trips too. On our list is:

+ Kansas City (to visit friends… and Ikea.)
+ Tulsa (to visit a brewery and perhaps see Peppa Pig live)
+ Wilson, Arkansas
+ Back to Memphis (Iris has requested to visit Elvis’ house)

Where else should we add to our list?

Life, Photos

Goodbye to 2015

Sarah Fortune
December 31, 2015
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Exactly one year ago I made my New Year’s resolution to get back to blogging at least once a week. And guess what? It’s the first and only resolution that I’ve actually kept – and I’m sure glad I did. Looking back, I have no major complaints about the last twelve months. In fact, 2015 has been pretty wonderful to me and my family. Even the downs had turn arounds. Here’s a look back at my favorite moments of 2015 and here’s to hoping 2016 is just as great, if not better.

+ We went on some pretty amazing trips. For work I went to Tucson, Dallas, and Detroit (where I even popped over to Canada for the first time). And we took family vacations to St. Louis, Rosemary Beach, Kansas City, Silver Dollar City, and a weekend of camping. I’m hoping 2016 takes us on even more travel adventures.

+ Todd built Iris quite the playhouse.

+ He also built a front yard swing!

+ We swam (a lot).

+ The support of my dad was pretty spectacular.

+ We went VIRAL thanks to Iris’ CVS birthday party.

+ On Halloween, Iris dressed up as Iris Apfel.

+ And someone else dressed up as IRIS GILL!

+ Iris had her first dance recital.

+ We ate a lot of donuts.

+ We hung out with new friends.

+ And with old ones.

+ Todd stayed busy running two companies (if you are in NWA and are looking to buy/sell real estate – Flyer Homes is where it’s at).

+ Let’s not forget that this year, Iris got bangs.

+ AND fed a goat.

… See how can I complain? What a year.

Life, Photos, Travel

Christmas & Memphis

Sarah Fortune
December 31, 2015
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Things were pretty hectic leading up to Christmas, but it was all well worth it. We celebrated Todd’s birthday on the 23rd, had Christmas with both sides of our family, and then Iris and I went with my mom to Memphis for the last couple of days. Now I’m home and, as Iris would say, I just want to get myself settled. Here are a few photos from the last week.

Christmas!

This was our third year in a row to host at our home. While it was a little smaller this year, it was special and sweet. Among many other things, Iris got her big-girl bike with training wheels, about a million Shopkins, and of course a chocolate bunny. I’ll share what I got a little later!

Roadtrip to Memphis

Iris and I jumped in the car with my mom for a last-minute road trip to my hometown of Memphis. It was a short visit, but we got to see lots of friends and family that I miss so much. We ate food from some of the restaurants I miss most and even explored the pyramid downtown (Iris calls it a “pyra-mint”), which was recently turned into a huge Bass Pro Shop. It was… interesting! We also tried Airbnb for the very first time. While there were definitely a few quirks that wouldn’t happen with a hotel, overall we had a great experience and would totally do it again.

Hope your holidays were just as swell!

Local Love, Photos

LOCAL LOVE: Fayetteville Holiday Square

Sarah Fortune
December 20, 2015
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I’m excited to start a new blog series called Local Love. I wanted a little spot to dedicate to my love of our city. Whether you live in Northwest Arkansas or perhaps have never heard of it, I’m happy to show you around through the eyes of myself and my little family.

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I’ll never forget my very first time experiencing the holiday magic on the town square. I had just moved to Fayetteville with Todd from my hometown of Memphis a few months earlier. He had tried to tell me about how the square was always coated with lights around Christmas, but there was no way to grasp how remarkable it really is without experiencing it for yourself.

We bundled up and ventured downtown for the annual lighting of the square. The town mayor, along with the crowd, counted down and then every tree and building glowed with the flip of a switch. I looked around and made the comment that it looked like a scene out of Gilmore Girls. Fast-forward ten years and the square around the holidays is still one of my most favorite things about Fayetteville. Instead of feeling like Stars Hollow, I’m now fortunate enough to say that it just feels like home.

Over our time here the square has just gotten better. With lots of cute stores, restaurants, coffee/tea shops, and boutique dessert spots to explore, it’s always my first stop when I need to pick out a gift or just want to grab a local beer. I love that the square evolves with the seasons. In spring, the town collectively counts down to the Farmers Market, in summer it’s all about First Thursday, and in fall the square is picture perfect for a stroll on Razorback game days. But now you can see for yourself why winter is when I love it most of all.

Have any local spots you think we should explore? Email me at sarahfortunegill@gmail.com.

BOGO: #Crest 3-D WhiteStrips

Sarah Fortune
December 15, 2015
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The presents are wrapped, our tree is decorated, and my #HolidaySmile is bright! This season I’m excited to partner with Crest, who is having a limited-time offer where you can buy one Crest 3D White WhiteStrips 1-Hour Express Teeth Whitening Kit at walmart.com and get another for free.

And while this is clearly a sponsored post, I must say that my relationship with Crest WhiteStrips has been a long-term affair, beginning nearly ten years ago in preparation for my wedding day (don’t tell Todd). They’re convenient, easy to use, and now whitens teeth faster than ever. Little known fact here… In sixth grade I chipped my front tooth on my way to school. Do you remember when it was cool to wear backpacks on only one shoulder? Well, I had so many books in my bag that it was weighing me down and then I tripped, landing face-first into the sidewalk. Talk about cool. For a while I was nervous to try any sort of teeth whitening, but thankfully Crest WhiteStrips (which uses the same enamel-safe teeth whitening ingredients as dentists) has worked perfectly on my teeth – fixed chip and all!