Jasmine The Invincible

I have such a strange history with beaches. I think because I never had the healthiest relationship with my body, I never enjoyed wearing swimsuits. This meant I never enjoyed or looked forward to going places where it was required to wear a swimsuit…beaches, pools, ect. It wasn’t until a trip to the Bahamas in 2017 that I realized that I had been missing out all of these years! Afterward, I longed for more beach vacays. Alas, my wallet was like “byeeeeeee!” I figured Maryland beaches could be my substitute. Ocean City, while conveniently located, just wasn’t cutting it though. I just didn’t find the beaches that appealing. The hotels were often old, dingy, and outdated. It was clear that families with children were flocking to the area and since I was unwedded and had no children of my own, I didn't truly feel like it was "for me" outside of taking my younger family members. My niece (pictured above) had a pretty good time at the boardw...

Last year, super awesome CEO blessed our office with three glorious days off to commemorate the 4th of July. As soon as I found out about this unbelievable gift, I begged my fiance to indulge in a weekend retreat with me. Despite our short trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina earlier in the Spring...we kind of felt like we were overdue for a vacation. I found a seemingly perfect oceanfront hotel in Dewey Beach - one of our best trip destinations to date. We had not been in a year, and since we had very little beach time while in the Outer Banks, we thought this just might be the perfect opportunity to have our moment in the sun! Yes, I took this photo! I settled on Surf Club Oceanfront Dewey - a quaint hotel which was recently updated. Image from Surf Club Hotel I fell in love with the modern beachy decor, full kitchen, and floor-to-ceiling windows with beautiful oceanfront views. I often cheap it out and nickel and dime every single thing budgeting for...

My mom has always encouraged my love of exploration. In fact - I attribute it mostly to her. As a child, we would have our special time together which we referred to as "piddling" in her country way. We would occasionally wake up early on Saturday mornings, pack a hearty breakfast, and hop into mom's brown station wagon. Our objective: to visit anywhere previously unknown to us. Our travels often took us through the backroads of Virginia and Maryland, which I feel has inspired my love of quick weekend getaways. For my birthday last year, she gave me a hotel stay in Manassas, Virginia. She booked it to span my fiance's birthday weekend, and both he and I took it as the opportunity to celebrate! Manassas may not seem like a destination to you, but it is a wonderful area convenient to many fantastic points of interest! What we did: Looking back on this trip I can't believe we were able to squeeze so many different experiences into one short weekend!...