Hints & Tips

I'm certainly no expert when it comes to travelling-but I have done my fair share of it in my life. 

Here are a few of my tips specifically for VA Beach/DC.

Virginia Beach

1. Pack plenty of sunscreen.

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Seems obvious, doesn't it? Tell that to my sunburnt self..and the burnt husband of mine sitting next to me on day 2 of our vacation. We even brought some..but we were only on the beach for an hour or so and we were freezing so we just didn't think about it. 

2. Bring a cooler to the beach with you. 

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Ours were full of easy snacks (peanut butter crackers, pretzels, etc), water, and adult beverages (not in glass bottles though). 

3. Bring plenty of change. 

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A lot of the parking lots are metered. Plus there are toll roads. 

4. See Neptune's statue. 

It's off 31st street on the Boardwalk. It's pretty spectacular!

5. Be prepared to see a lot of creatures in the ocean.

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Jon says it's because of the Bay, but we saw small crabs and other various creatures on the daily. Hence why I didn't venture into the water much. No thanks..I'll just stay in the sand..ya know..where something bit me..but that's another story. 

Washington, DC

1. The metro really isn't that bad.

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I was scared to death. Like I thought I was going to get eaten ALIVE. Psh. For no reason-it was super easy to navigate. 

2. Bring a bottle for water-especially if you go when it's warm out. 

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There are water fountains all over DC, so you can just fill up as you go. We did this and it was awesome.

3.You're walking a lot..A LOT...be mindful of what you eat.

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Salads all the way! Fruits, veggies, protein. That hot dog on the first day? So not a good idea!

4. Did I mention you're walking a lot? Wear comfy shoes.

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5. Soak up all the history. 

Jon and I were at the Lincoln Memorial looking out towards the Washington Memorial. I look down and realize I was standing exactly where Martin Luther King, Jr stood when he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. I can't even. Chills.

Now that we are back from this vacation-we're going to start planning our little anniversary getaway. This one is MUCH closer and MUCH shorter-but we are both so excited for it! 

I'll blog about how we plan and organize our trips so you can get a feel for how we do this!

Vacation Recap-The Reviews

Alright-here we go..my brutally honest reviews.

I will link corresponding websites to the hotels/restaurants/attractions if you want to check them out.

LODGING

Ramada Inn Ocean Front, Virginia Beach

First of all, the room was so small. So so small. We kept things in our suitcase all the time because there was literally no room to put anything.

My biggest complaint-there was no mini fridge. NO MINI FRIDGE. How in the world are we supposed to keep our drinks cold?? If your answer is keep going to the ice machine and filling your cooler-you're correct. And it was a pain in the butt. OR you could pay $10/day for a mini fridge, which they were out of when we got there. SERIOUSLY.

The front desk people were cordial, but that was about it. They really weren't too helpful and honestly acted like they hated their jobs. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the housekeepers were AWESOME!! They were always humming and making small talk when they would see you. It was so nice!

What this whole thing boils down to--would I stay there again? If I had a choice-no. If it was the only hotel available-yes, but I would do so with a scowl. 

Springhill Suites, Old Town Alexandria, Virginia

Well..this was a suite so obviously it was bigger then the Ramada. Plus #1.

The hotel was nicer and more up to date. There was a damn fridge! Super nice bathroom, comfy bed, and awesome little couch in the room.

There was also a really good breakfast every morning!

Oh and Jon says, "Make sure you put that they have HD and the Ramada didn't! Guys want to know that!" So..there's that. Because, you know SO many guys read my blog, husband.

And on a final note, they offer a free shuttle to the Metro. If you don't want to take their shuttle, you can drive there and it takes all of about 2 minutes.

DINING

Cancun Fiesta, Virginia Beach

Chips & Salsa were delicious. The food was pretty good, but I prefer our Mexican restaurant here in town so much more. Honestly, it probably would have helped if we had made it to the hotel on time and not been eating dinner at 9:30 at night.

Sunrise Cafe, Virginia Beach (No website)

I had the apple cinnamon Belgian waffle. Jon had the chocolate and peanut butter pancakes. We were STUFFED after this. It was so good though! Oh and they had mimosas for $3. WINNING.

Dough Boy's Pizza, Virginia Beach

Do yourself a favor and just go here. You're welcome.

Dog Street Pub, Downtown Williamsburg, Virginia

I'm going to preface this review with-one of my Nestie Besties told me not to go here, but Jon was all "Let's just tryyy it!". NBs haven't steered me wrong yet...

To start, they give you room temperature water. It only gets better.

I asked for the ham and cheese sandwich without tomato. I was told that they couldn't do that because their chef was picky. Excuse me? Who's paying for this damn sandwich? Me or your chef? Okay. Then the server proceeds to give me this awesome piece of information- "Well, ma'am, we actually make all of our sandwiches ahead of time so it's already made back there..but the rest of the stuff on the menu we make fresh."

UM...WHAT.

Yep. So I ordered the fish & chips and Jon ordered the burger and fries. They were fine but we were already pissed off.

Listen to my Nestie Bestie who told me so I'm telling you....just don't.

Abbey Road and Pub, Virginia Beach, VA

My chef salad was so so so good!! I don't really remember what Jon got, but he really liked it. The drinks were out of this world! They have 101 beers! And like 25-ish mixed drinks. I got the Skittle the first night, then we went for drinks the next night and I got the coconut cream pie. I liked them both, but the Skittle was my most favorite. Plus they have live music...so there's another reason to go!

Pocahontas Pancake House, Virginia Beach, VA

Jon got the pecan pancakes and I had the bacon and cheese omelet. Both were good, but we really liked the Sunrise Cafe better.

Chix, Virginia Beach, VA

Jon and I have totally different opinions on this. I got 1/2 lb of crab legs for $9 and I devoured it like it was my last meal.  They were DELICIOUS! Jon got chicken fingers and fries and he didn't like them. He said the meat was "too thick". Welcome to my world. ;)

Refreshment Stand, DC

Um...we were so hungry that we honestly didn't care what we ate. We both got hot dogs, chips, & a drink for $6. We scarfed them down, so I'm sure they were fine.

Applebee's, Alexandria, VA

Jon and I rarely do chain restaurants on vacation. (Unless it's Bojangles...I will eat at one of those every single time.) But we had a gift card for Applebee's so we used it. It was Applebee's. It was okay. Our  food was good, but the service was a little slow.

Stars & Stripes Cafe, American History Museum, DC (No website)

It's a huge cafeteria where you have all kinds of options. I hit up the salad bar and Jon hit up the pizza stand. We loved it! It was so good. My salad was fresh and perfect for what I was craving. Jon said the pizza dough was amazing.

Ruby Tuesday, Alexandria, VA

We opted for this because it was across the street from the Metro and it was 8:30 and we hadn't eaten since lunch at noon. I got a steak and Jon ordered a pretzel burger. My steak was really good, but Jon's order came out wrong-he got a regular burger instead of a pretzel burger. We didn't have a chance to say anything because we didn't see our server again until Jon was 90% done. Other than that, it was okay.

ATTRACTIONS

Cape Henry Lighthouse, Virginia Beach, VA

Very cool! Costs $8 to go, but so worth it. Just be prepared if you go-you will need to bring your license, registration, and proof of insurance. Otherwise, they will make you turn around. And it all has to be current. We saw them turn someone around because their papers weren't up to date. Also-your car will get thoroughly searched prior to entering.

 

Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, VA

Definitely cool! We could have spent another day there and went to Yorktown and Jamestown. So much to learn and I found it so interesting.

Virginia Aquarium, Virginia Beach, VA

This aquarium is bigger than any we have been to (and we've been to quite a few). It has two buildings with a nature walk between the two buildings. The nature walk takes about 10 minutes, or you can drive your car from building to building. The first building was awesome! The second building was a little lack luster.

Big Bus Tours, Washington, DC

We did the 48 hour tour which came with a river cruise down the Potomac (didn't get to use), several walking tours (didn't get to do those either), and tickets to Madame Tussaud's wax museum, and the Crime and Punishment Museum.

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, Washington, DC

It was okay. I liked the wax museum in Gatlinburg better, but I did like that there was a President exhibit. So cool!

Crime and Punishement Museum, Washington, DC

I feel as though I would have like this a million times better if there wouldn't have been a million kids running around and we could actually see everything. They had some pretty cool stuff in there and we both learned a lot!

American History Museum, Washington, DC

Half of it was closed so we got through it pretty quickly, but what was open was awesome!

Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC

AWESOME!! My favorite museum! I have so many pictures from there!

Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC

Talk about a humbling and mind blowing experience. Walking through the museum and reading the stories was such a somber thing. They had an exhibit called Daniel's Story that took you from Daniel's happy childhood living in his nice home, to a ghetto, and into a concentration camp. So sad. I totally got teary eyed at the end of it. I would recommend this for anyone making the trip to DC.

That wraps up my reviews for our trip!

To wrap it all up, I'll stop by tomorrow with some hints for anyone thinking of doing a similar trip-especially to DC!

Our Nation's Capital-DC Vacation Recap

This entry starts out the way...with traffic. Our 3.5 hour drive to Alexandria, VA turned into almost 4.5 hours and we didn't get into DC until after 2:00.

We managed to hit the Capitol, Washington Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, WWII Memorial, and Einstein Monument in about 3.5 hours. And we walked to each place. We figured up we walked about 6-7 miles just in one day!

We grabbed dinner back in Alexandria and came back to the hotel and passed out only to get up early the next morning and start again.

The next day was museum day. We managed to hit up 5 museums and see the White House, Arlington Cemetery, and the Pentagon. We were back in Alexandria by about 7:45/8:00. So it was about a 12 hour day, but so worth it!

We came back to Alexandria, grabbed a bite to eat, and came back to the hotel to get our bags ready so we could leave the next morning.

That ends our vacation recap! Coming up next-reviews and tips & tricks!

Beachin--Virginia Beach Recap

We got to Virginia Beach around 7:00 on Sunday. We should have been there around 5:30 but traffic was HORRIBLE.

We finally arrived and grabbed some dinner. By that point we were so exhausted so we just crashed. 

We woke up the next morning, grabbed some breakfast, then hit the beach.

We didn't stay out too long because it was kind of windy and a little chilly. We hopped in the car and made the short drive (approximately 15 minute) to Fort Story, which is why the Cape Henry lighthouse is located. 

The Lighthouse was amazing. We actually climbed up to the top of that thing! The views were amazing and it was so cool being on an actual base.

We grabbed dinner and went back to the hotel and relaxed for the remainder of the day.

Tuesday we woke up and grabbed breakfast (Bojangles!!!), then headed off for our trip to Williamsburg. It was about an hour and a half drive from our hotel, but it was worth it. We spent the entire day there!

Governor's Palace

Our last day there, we woke up and went to the aquarium. The aquarium was HUGE. It was actually two buildings with a nature walk between the two buildings.

We knew we were going to get an early dinner, so we went to the beach for a few more hours to soak up the last few hours of sunlight/beach time we had. We walked to dinner and stopped to grab a picture of this famous guy: 

We grabbed a nicer dinner and happen to look up and see one of our friends from high school and his girlfriend walking down the board walk. We met up with them and grabbed some drinks, bought some souvenirs, and made it back to the hotel in time to watch Catfish and crash.

Back in Action!

Sorry for the blogging hiatus. Jon and I have been planning a little trip for several months now. We are headed back today and I have so many posts coming up,  including recaps of both places,  boat loads of pictures, reviews, and tips & tricks for a similar trip!

I'm going to try to get the posts ready and scheduled this week, but I've got this adorable, blonde haired, blue eyed baby boy I need to cuddle since I haven't seen him in way too long!

I'll leave you with some teaser pictures though!

Budget Notebook

Jon and I have always had a monthly budget. Jon managed it on an excel spreadsheet. Bam. Done. And it worked. It still works. 

But we have some pretty big financial goals in mind in the next few years and we want to get as much out of our budget as possible. 

So I did what any normal 28 year old would do when she doesn't know where to start...Pinterest, of course. 

Knowing I'm a lover of all that is design-y and pretty, it should come as no shock to you that I simply clicked on whatever pins looked pretty. Then I would judge the practicality of them second. Not too long into my pinning spree, I stumbled upon a pretty picture from Abby's blog. She had free printables that I snatched up right away. I showed them to Jon who seemed to like them (He didn't care about the super cute colors-MEN.).

The next day I went to the store and purchased supplies for our new budget binder. I purchased a binder, binder dividers, pens, pencils, calculator, hole protectors, pencil holder, and blank paper. And put our binder together. Of course I had to snap some pictures to show you: 

I couldn't get this page to not come out blurry but it says "Tracking Our Monthly Expenses" at the top.

The monthly expenses are separated by tabs-Groceries, Eating Out, Household/Cars, Gas, Entertainment, Clothing, Gifts, Vacation.

The pencil bag I bought had two compartments. The big one houses my pens/pencils, calculator, and hole reinforcements. 

The second-smaller compartment-will hold our receipts. The plan is for once a week I will pull them out and track them-then at the end of the month, I will staple them to that month's expense sheet.

There you have it. It's a work in progress that we will need to perfect, but it's a start. And I can't lie-I'm ridiculously excited to do this!

(You can get your free printables right here!)

8 Month Blogging Hiatus

Prior to TBF, I blogged for the better part of 5+ years through our engagement, wedding, first 4 years of marriage, and into our adventure into parenthood. I liked it okay-but for some reason I just couldn't stick with it.

I think a lot of it was self induced pressure on myself. I wasn't sure what "type" of blog I wanted my little blog to be. Did I want to be a life style blogger? DIY blogger? Home decor/Organizing blogger?

It seemed like a lot of blogs I followed had a "theme" whereas my blog tended to bounce around from topic to topic. But once Cooper came, I turned into a mommy blogger. In fact, if I didn't have anything to write about that pertained to him (and I could go on about that kid for days I tell you!), then I just didn't write. And I kind of lost my desire to blog.

I found myself in this blogging rut that I just could not get past. So I took a step back. A long step back. I thought about divulging back into my prior blog but I couldn't make myself do it.

I just wanted a clean, fresh start.

While Coop was napping today, I found myself itching to blog. I haven't had that itch for well over a year now.

As I was sitting on the couch watching Being Farrah (Hi, trainwreck.), the name "The Beyer Files" stuck in my head. And I got super excited.

I immediately logged onto Blogger to make sure no one had that URL already. (Like our last name is super common and all.)

And then this little Blog was born about an hour later.

I'm not going to tell you that it this is a "mommy blog". It's not. Nor is it an "organizing blog". Nor a "DIY blog". It's just...mine. It's my blog.

There will definitely be some organizing posts...as well as cooking, DIY, travel, and of course mommy posts.

But as someone who goes a hundred million different directions at all times, this blog will do the same.

Hope you enjoy!

The Beyers

Kari

That would be me.  Most importantly, I am a wife and a mama. I work full time and run our house 24/7/365. I love country music (especially Luke Bryan), organizing, DIY, interior design, and trashy reality shows. I can hold my own in any sports conversation-but my heart belongs in the NFL. (Go Colts!)

Jon

Obviously I'm not married to Paul Blart...but I am married to that handsome guy on the right. He's my best friend, better half, soulmate, and every other mushy word you could use to describe your husband. :) He loves sports-basically, he's taught me all I know. He loves numbers (polar opposites I assure you), baseball cards, comedies, and reality shows like Duck Dynasty and Pawn Stars.

Cooper

We call this guy Coop D Loop, Coop, Cooper Joe, and Stinker...but looking on his birth certificate you would know we actually named him Cooper. He's 14 months old and the best thing that ever happened to us. He loves reading books, taking baths, pasta, milk, and dancing. His smile will melt your heart in a second, that I promise you.

Reggie

Meet our first born. In our house we affectionately call him "Reg", "Reginald", or "Reggie Monster". He's 100% lab-both in breed and in personality...except he hates water...with a passion. And he has the most sensitive skin ever so basically we are on first name basis with the vet's office. Reggie is five years old and getting rather lazy in his old age, but he knows when Cooper comes at him with a ball that it's time to play. He's taken to the big brother role very well.