Friday, March 20, 2015

FASHION FRIDAY: HERE WE SNOW AGAIN!

It's the first day of Spring today and Old Man Winter is preferring to stick around!  That's right...more snow today!!!  When will it end?  We snapped these pictures a couple of weeks ago and I didn't know if I would ever post them because the weather was warming up and it seems Spring was coming, but with this forecast...I thought why not?  At least it's supposed to warm up tomorrow!  These are also the first pictures I've posted on the blog with my new bangs.  I wanted to do something different and thought I'd give them a shot.  I'm not too sure how long I'll keep them though because I have curly hair and they are very high maintenance!  (they also look a bit messy here as I was wearing a hat) Anyway, hope you all have a great weekend and see some sun wherever you are!








Top: BB Dakota via Lord & Taylor
Leggings: Forever 21
Coat: Zara (old)
Hat: Purchased in Iceland
Boots: Rachel Zoe
Necklace: Stella & Dot
Bracelet: Sira & Mara
Sunnies: Italia Independent

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

LAKOTA WOLF PRESERVE

(Photo Credit: TripAdvisor.com)

Imagine getting up close to wolves, foxes and bobcats to see how they live in the wild?  Maybe it's because the PBS show Wild Kratts has been such a hit in our house, but I think it sounds pretty cool, and it's something we've been wanting to do with the boys for awhile now.  The Lakota Wolf Preserve in Columbia, New Jersey is the only wildlife preserve of its kind in the state.  The preserve is owned and run by two people who have raised and cared for the animals themselves.  At the preserve you get to go on an educational tour and stand on an observation deck where you are surrounded by four different packs of wolves.  You will get to watch the wolves play, interact and maybe even get to hear them howl!  Wolf watch tours are offered twice a day, everyday except Monday at either 10:30am or 4:00pm.  Each wolf watch tour is 90 minutes ($15 for adults, and $7 or kids up to 11 years old- cash only!).  Unfortunately, due to the recent ice storms and bad winter we've had the Lakota Wolf Preserve is temporarily closed, but hopefully now that spring is 10 days away it will be reopening soon.  Once it does we will be going and I can't wait to share with you how it is!

LAKOTA WOLF PRESERVE
89 MT. PLEASANT ROAD
COLUMBIA, N.J. 08732
(877) 733-9653

Monday, March 9, 2015

A GETAWAY TO CRYSTAL SPRINGS

Last week we packed up the car and headed away as a family to Crystal Springs Resort in Vernon, New Jersey.  We wanted to take Richie skiing for his 4th birthday, and we picked Crystal Springs Resort because it's not too far away, and the mountain and resorts are very close to each other with a shuttle bus that takes you to and fro.
Mountain Creek is where you ski, and then there are a couple of resorts to chose from nearby- Minerals Resort and Spa and Grand Cascades Lodge.  We stayed at Grand Cascades Lodge.  Minerals Resort and Spa is what they consider more of a "family friendly" resort because it has indoor basketball courts, tennis courts, a very nice pool and an arcade room (we checked it out while we were there and we were happy with where we chose to stay instead).  I think it may have been okay if our kids were older and would have been able to use those facilities.
Grand Cascades Lodge is a bit fancier (no basketball, tennis or arcade room), and it has more dining options and a biosphere pool with a slide which is one of the coolest pools I have ever seen!



The cost to stay at Grand Cascades Lodge is more, and we had originally considered going Friday thru Sunday.  But that wouldn't be the "JetSetSmart" way to travel and save, right?  Well, if you go Sunday thru Thursday, you can either buy one night and get the second night half off, or buy two nights and get the third night free.  We went Sunday thru Tuesday, and the price was half of what it would have cost us if we went Friday thru Sunday.  The other plus was that the hotel had less people, so they upgraded us to a room with a fireplace, terrace and full kitchen, and the restaurant and pool was pretty empty so we felt like we had the place to ourselves at times!  




As for the skiing, Richie got to do a two hour drop-off ski camp (which starts at age 4) where after a few falls ;-) he basically got the knack of the sport by the end.  He seemed to really enjoy it!





We had a great little getaway, and look forward to more ski trips next winter!