Carnival Breeze 2022 – Essentials packing list

When we travel, there are some items that we make sure we take on each and every trip. I would like to share with you what are essentials are for this cruise.

First and foremost are the fans. Yes, more than one. The large black one is for the room while the other two are for outside use. Well, mostly outside use any way. I say that because when we were on the Carnival Vista in August/September, our embarkation was at terminal 2. It was our first time embarking from that terminal so we did not know what to expect. What we found was that it was very hot. We used the necklace fans a lot while we were standing in line. I thought it was probably cooler outside!!!!

We bring an over-the-door shoe hanger on each trip. This time, I purchased a new one that is slender and came in a a package of 2. We do not use the hangers that come with it. Instead, we use Command Strips. They have never failed us!

Our first aid kit has everything we could possibly need and then some. Better safe than sorry.

Do NOT forget to bring some antacids. It is definitely a necessity. Any brand will do. These were purchased at Dollar Tree but the container has since been refilled with whatever we have on hand at the time.

We also bring plenty of hand sanitizer, both liquid and wipes. I keep wipes in my purse, beach bag, and back pack because you never know when you will need them.

Let’s not forget our beverage cups. Hubby brings a Bubba Mug he has had for years and years. I bring my trusty Tervis tumbler that I found a Bed Bath and Beyond many years ago.

Typically, we bring two bottles of wine on board with us at embarkation. So, we bring plastic, reusable wine and champagne classes to use. A corkscrew is kept with the wine and glasses so we do not forget it like we have done before. We also bring metal straws with us since plastic straws are no longer available and I do not like the straws they are now using.

We also bring a travel power strip that stays in camera bag when not in use. It has been awesome to have.

Also in the camera bag is spare batteries.

Do not forget face masks. We bring disposable ones as well as reusable ones. I am fully aware that I’m bringing more than I will probably use.

A battery operated night light works well when your room gets dark. Even the balcony rooms tend to get dark at night.

Water shoes and rain ponchos come in handy as well. I purchased these water shoes on Amazon several years ago and the rain poncho was purchased at Dollar Tree.

So that is it for now. I know there are some things I have left off. Anything not included here will be in a packing blog.

2018 Vista Project – installment 8: Paper selection part three, the shopping list that didn’t happen.

I had every intention of making a precise list of solid color papers I would need to complete the scrapbook pages. I was really going to do that. But then I saw Hobby Lobby was having a sale! So instead, I went to Hobby Lobby.

The first pack I found was the BRIGHTS one. I love the colors in the pack and I sure they will all be used if not for this project, for others I will be working on real soon. Here are some of the colors that really caught my eye.

I also purchased the pack UNICORN as I love the lighter, more pastel shades. These will definitely not go to waste.

And finally, I purchased some red glitter paper and some light blue glitter paper that I have a specific use for in this project.

Now all that is left to do is to start putting pages together. But first, I have some time-sensitive craft projects that I need to get started on and completed. Have no fear, I will be returning to show the scrapbook pages once they are put together.

2018 Vista Project – installment 7: Paper selection part two

Continuing the paper selection from part 1.

Mahogany Bay. I am considering using some of the cut outs for these pages.

Belize. There may be a cut out or two for these pages also!

Cozumel

Sea Day #3

The time when they make us leave…

In all fairness, the paper selection for our excursion to Dolphinaris was purchased at Scrapyourtrip.com. I knew that I needed this paper when I first saw it so I made sure to purchase a large quantity! And I’m glad I did as they no longer have it in stock.

I was not finding anything I thought would be appropriate for the Cat in the Hat breakfast until I started searching the internet. This came up in scrapbook.com so I bought all they had!!!! I may be making a paper change on the Seuss parade!!!!

Now that all of the paper has been selected, all that is left is for me to find the correct color paper for matting some photos. The final part of the paper selection will be my shopping list. Hopefully it will not be a very long list. At least that is my hope at the moment.

Thanks for reading this blog. I hope you will return for the next installment.

2018 Vista Project – installment 6: Paper selection part one.

This is truly a labor of love. Unfortunately this labor of love will be broken down into two parts.

Before we even left for this cruise, I started buying paper pads from Michaels that I knew would be used for this adventure. After all, it’s now often that you can take a 4-generation family cruise. These are the paper pads I purchased. All are 12 x 12 and the quality of the paper is awesome.

And now for the selections by day:

Travel day

Embarkation day.

Sea Day #1

Sea Day #2

These are the selections for the first few days. The next installment will have the remainder of the days of this cruise. So please come back to see what I have selected for the remainder of the cruise.

Carnival Breeze 2022 – Embarkation attire and it is diet time.

Embarkation day is always an exciting day. One that I am always looking forward to. Until this day arrives, I always always always worry about what I will be packing for this cruise. I have yet to overcome my over-packing habit. Only time will tell if I succeed this time.

I purchased our shirts while we were on our last cruise with the intention of wearing it on our next cruise. At that time, I did not realize our next cruise would be this soon. This shirt will likely be in the regular rotation for our embarkation shirts.

Since I am uncertain to what the weather will be like, I am planning on wearing jeans while boarding. But I will also be taking a pair of denim capri’s just in case. The jeans are KUT from the Kloth that was in a StitchFix box a few years ago. The capri’s were purchased at SteinMart several years ago as well.

Embarkation day is definitely the day to wear comfy shoes. I learned this the hard way when I decided to wear a brand new, never worn pair of Sperry’s. Luckily, I was able to switch into comfy shoes before we boarded the ship. For this cruise, I will be wearing my Reeboks. They are the best shoes for me as they offer a lot of arch support and are very comfortable.

Let’s not forget the socks!!! I found these at Target. Of course the socks must be a Valentine theme!!!!

I love jewelry and I really enjoyted finding the perfect pieces for my embarkation outfit. All of which were found by accident!!!!!

Also from Target are the red heart earrings an the gold heart necklace. Both are by the brand SugarFix by BaubleBar. I love their stuff!!

I found a red heart necklace on Oriental Trading online while I was searching for things for a Disney themed project. I love this one.

While shopping for Valentine decorations for my moms apartment, I found these heart bead necklaces at Dollar Tree. Might as well add them to the embarkation day outfit as well.

Unfortunately, I have waited until the last possible time to start my pre-cruise diet. I’m hoping to drop at least a few pounds. I want to make sure I have room to grow into the clothes I will be taking on this cruise. I’m sure the HydroxyCut I started taking on Monday will help. I will include a weekly diet update every Thursday.

2018 Vista project – Installment 5: Final photo elimination and the beginning of paper selection.

It feels good to know I have managed to make decision on the final photos that will go in the scrapbooks. I have managed to go from 2500 photos to 645. That means that 129 photos will be making their way into 5 mostly identical scrapbooks.

How will the 129 photos be broken down into scrapbook pages? Well, please allow me to tell you. There will be a total of 31 single page layout, 10 of which will only contain 1 photo. There will be 7 two page layouts. The largest majority of single page layouts will contain 3 photos. Most of those are from our excursion to Dolphinaris in Cozumel.

Now the fun part begins. Time to do some paper selection. This is just as time consuming as photo selection. But this is what I have so far.

Of course, like everything else, it is subject to change. In fact, now that I’m looking at the initial paper selection on here, I will likely change it. But I guess this will be the preliminary round of paper selection.

So, I will be spending some time over the next few days selecting paper for the photos I have. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I will not have to go shopping for paper and can match photo and activity with all the paper I have on hand. Wish me luck.

Please continue to follow my blog as I continue the scrapbook journey that is 2018 Vista Project.

2018 Vista Project – installment 4: Round two elimination of photos.

I am rather proud of myself with the number of photos I was able to move from the scrapbook area to the photo album area.

A total of 252 photos were moved! I know it sounds like a lot but after moving them to the photo album box, there is now a total of 765 photos in the scrapbook photo box! Keep in mind that those 765 photos have the potential to make it to the final elimination round. I have not rearranged the photos by putting all of the scrapbook photos in one box and the pics designated for the photo album are in separate boxes.

But then it happened. I spotted another binder that had photos in it. Of course I had to look! Inside it are photos for this cruise. All in photo protectors and labeled. One specifically for me and the others labeled for the other four scrapbook to create.

In this binder, I found seven photos (with 5 copies of each) that I thought I had taken but could not find when I was organizing the other 2500 photos. I’m very relieved to have them as I really want them for our pre-cruise dinner. I can rest now knowing that I have them.

I know there will be a day when I will be happy that I am this particular about creating our cruise scrapbooks, but I often why I go to the extent that I do. I’m sure I will not change the way I do things, but next time I will definitely make sure I only order photos from Shutterfly instead of whatever I was thinking before!!!

Now it is time to do an in-depth final elimination round but that’s for another blog.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this. Please follow along as I make my way through this maze that is the 2018 Vista Project.

Carnival Breeze 2022 – Travel attire, comfort is king.

Roads trip can be fun if you wear comfy clothes. Planning what to wear 5 weeks before travel is planned can be tricky. Especially when you consider how unpredictable weather in Texas can be!

I have narrowed down my options to 5. I selected outfits that are somewhat appropriate for cold or cool to warm weather as well as a more dressy outfit, just in case. Of course, a lot will depend on of the Cowboys make it to the Super Bowl. If they make it, we will leave earlier than normal so we can have a late lunch at the Original Mexican Cafe. If they don’t, then we can leave at our normal time… whatever that is.

The first two outfits I’m considering are the short sleeve sweat suit/loungewear. They are definitely very comfortable.

I other two outfits I’m considering are long sleeve sweat suite/loungewear.; The one that says “Be Kind” is a thicker material than the other one. Both are comfortable.

Any of the sweat suit/loungewear outfits will be worn with my Reeboks because they are comfortable and I love them.

The final outfit I really think I will be eliminating is a pink and black leopard print top, black Lee jeans, and pink and black leopard print slip on shoes. It is not likely to go, unless I decide to take it on the cruise.

All of the outfits shown were purchased at Amazon.com.

So, which sweat suit/lounge wear would you pick for a road trip? At this time, we are planning on making two stops on the way to Galveston because who can drive by a Buc-ees and not stop?

2018 Vista Project – installment 3: Round one elimination of photos and look at what I found!!!

First things first. Time to determine which photos will be considered for a scrapbook page and which ones will end up in the photo album. None of the photos will be thrown away. I keep them all. After I finish going through them, the photos are separated accordingly and put back in the boxes.

While I was looking at the photos, I kept having a feeing that I was missing some photos. I remembered where the original scrapbook was so I went to get if off of a top shelf. When I opened it up, and found a couple of page kits I had put together! But I still had a feeling there were more. And I was right.

I took another scrapbook binder off the top shelf and found a lot more page kits I had put together and were never finished. There are a total of 37 page kits which include 12 subjects. The 12 subject page kits have 3 identical pages to finish. Plus the title page which is complete and there is only one!!! It is safe to say the scrapbook page kits will remain in this binder until they are complete! As the pages are completed, I will be sure to do a blog about the completed pages. Please keep in mind, this might take some time to get them all done so the scrapbook blogs may be in several installments.

Now that I have found the lost treasure of scrapbook page kits, I’m so happy I went to Michaels to purchase photo boxes. Too bad I could find were the ones I have, or at least had, on hand. I’m sure they will turn up whenever I rearrange and reorganize my craffice.

It did not take me long to transfer the photos from the shoe boxes I was using to the photo boxes I purchased. Now I everything feels right to me. At least for now.

2022 Disney Inspired Frames for Kimmie – The tradition continues: Installment 1 – Aladdin inspired part one.

Every year for Christmas, my daughter asks me to make a Disney inspired frame to use for her kids annual picture with Santa. Who am I to turn down her request. I have already told her that the frame for 2022 will be Aladdin. Then I started thinking, why stop there?

So, this will be the first installment of what I hope to be many Disney inspired frames I make this year. All of the frames will be for my daughter to use for Christmas. But now, hopefully, she will have more than one to chose frame.

This is the inspiration I am using… sort of.

I initially thought maybe I could paint the frame to look similar to the inspiration photo. Then I realized that there was no way it would work or that I could do it. So I decided on the next best thing… SHOPPING!!!!

While looking around on Etsy, I found some Aladdin die cuts that I thought would work so I purchased them from twinpapercreations. I am so happy I found her. These die cuts are exactly what I was wanting to use for the frame.

Before I received the die cuts, I looked around on Oriental Trading to see if they had any party decorations that I could possibly use. Mostly napkins and paper tablecloths. I found a couple of napkins I liked and a tablecloth so I ordered them.

Once they arrived, I realized that one of the napkins although cute just would not work for what I had in mind. When I ordered them, I loved the colors on it and hoped the colors would continue when the napkin was opened. Sadly, it was not that way. I may, however, be able to use the napkin border for something. If it doesn’t work like I’m thinking, they will be save for another time.

The other napkins have the color I feel would work best for the vision I have in mind. The color and the gold elements are very nice.

The table cloth may or may not have a purpose. It is definitely too large for the frame I currently have, but if I go with a larger frame, like an 8 x 10, I could use the light blue area as a matt for the photo. It just depends on the frame I use.

The frame I currently have on hand is for a 4 x 6 photo which is what she usually gets. But now I need to decide if it will work or not. I will let my daughter make that decision. By the way, this frame was given to me by my daughter when she asked me to do this project for her a couple of years ago. I do not remember how many frames we started out with, but there are only 3 left at this time. I have purchased a two other frames because I was wanting something different to go with the theme for that particular frame.

Until we make a decision about the frame, I will keep the items I know I will use in a pocket sleeve for safe keeping.