VIDEO: Savannah, GA and Hilton Head, SC pictures

A little delayed, but below are all the pictures I took during my vacation with my Mom in Savannah and Hilton Head.  Turn on your speakers and enjoy the slide show!

Friday Favorites even though it's technically Saturday on the East Coast

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Better late than never, right? As you know, I'm vacationing in Savannah and Hilton Head until Sunday, so I'm a little lot behind on posting today.  In the spirit of my current vacation, today's favorites will be three of my  favorite pictures from today. If you posted your faves earlier, feel free to link up below.  

My Mom and I checked out of our Savannah hotel, had lunch downtown and then drove the 45 minutes from Savannah to Hilton Head.  

Our room wasn't quite ready for us when we got to the resort, so we explored the hotel property.  By the pool, there are a row of hammocks and if I didn't take this picture myself, I would possibly think it was a painting. Paradise. 

And the other two of my favorite pictures come from Savannah before we left for Hilton Head. 

A picture I snapped while we drove through historic downtown Savannah.

After lunch, while walking to our car, we saw this building. Tell me this doesn't look like a painting too. These cities are both just breathtaking.  Can I stay here forever?  Real life, what?

To quote Kenny Chesney, "no shoes, no shirt, no problem."  I hope you all had a great week and are enjoying your weekends as much as I am.  

I'd love for you to link-up below! 

Snaps from Savannah, Georgia

Here I am! I did not fall off the face of the Earth.  Just down a flight of stairs. So, once again, I'm on vacation with a fun ankle sprain.  I mean, she could be broken, but I doubt it. I have an appointment on Monday for an X-ray to find out for sure.  

Was that yummy or what?  Or what, I know. This happened Sunday night on my birthday. Story of my life.   So, I'm sure you can understand why I've been a little MIA.

Also, I jet setted off to Savannah, Georgia yesterday for a birthday vacation with my Mom. We head to Hilton Head Friday, which I'm excited about.  I just got done with an hour long birthday massage, and it's raining outside so I thought before we head off to Paula Deen's The Lady and Sons restaurant for dinner, I'd share some pictures from my first night in Savannah.  This city is super gorgeous.

My new foot accessory / Riding on the airport shuttle with the senior citizens.  The bag is a Stella and Dot stylist reward, so unfortunately, you cannot buy it.  Sorry ladies!  I already had a lot of questions on Instagram about it. 

The view of the Savannah River from the window of our hotel room.

On the way to dinner wearing my new Stella and Dot Chantilly Lace Chandy earrings! Love them.

Picture I took hanging outside the car window on the way to dinner. 

Tybee Beach

Tybee Beach pier 

Dinner at A-J's Dockside Restaurant. Said to be the best place on the island to watch the sunset.

Coastal Living

The sunset outside while we waited to be seated. No Instagram filter. 

The view from where I sat at dinner.

After dinner, I Googled "ice cream Savannah" and Leopold's Ice Cream popped up as the first result plus it was close to our hotel.  We headed over and I'm so glad we did. The ice cream parlor was super vintage and I love me some vintage.  Check out the history of the ice cream parlor here. 

One lonely apple crisp.  

Strawberry ice cream, my fave. 

Now you've seen all my pics from my first night in Savannah!  I've got to run aka hobble. My Mom wants me to do her eye make-up before we head to Paula Deen's The Lady and Sons.  Bye y'allllll!

Charleston, South Carolina ... prepare yo-self!

Does everyone know my bestie Beth?  If not, you should know that her and I are homies, but she lives in Greenville, SC.  This geographical distance makes hanging out on the weekends and having weekly happy hours fairly difficult.  Instead, we plan weekend vacations and for some time now, we have been tossing around different city ideas for our next destination.  Since she came to Dallas last August and we met up in New Orleans in October, it was my turn to venture to her neck of the woods on the east coast.  

After much debate, we finally decided on the location for our next shenanigan filled weekend.  Drum roll please ...

Charleston, South Carolina: put on your party panties! 

These two ladies are coming to meet your acquaintance in June.

Considering I was rolled home in a wheelchair the last time we vacationed together, this meet up should not disappoint.  Everyone who I've told I'm going to Charleston tells me the city is amazing and is one of their favorites. I hope y'all are right.    

Since Beth hails from South Carolina and she's been to "chuckteezy" a lot, she will serve as my tour guide.  However, if any of you locals have any suggestions for a first timer, let a girl know.  9 weeks and counting ...

TGIT.

A week in paradise. My Kaua'i, Hawaii recap!

When you touch down on the runway and your eyes meet the acquaintance of this ...

... It is official.  You, my friend, are in paradise. 

Everyone warned me that once I went to Hawaii, I'd never want to come back to "the mainland".  It should come as no surprise, but all of you Hawaii veterans knew exactly what you were talking about.  Kaua'i was breathtaking and I almost shed a tear when I had to leave. There are some things in life you can't fully appreciate until you experience them yourself and Hawaii is one of them.

I hate to brag (no I don't), but Hawaii is a pretty epic blogger meet-up as far as I'm concerned.  You may wonder how this trip even transpired and so I'll tell you. A few months ago Raven asked if I'd be interested in going to Hawaii with her and her family to serve as a "helping hands" with the boys.  Was this a trick question?  Obviously I said yes.

I've known Raven over a year, we talk and/or text every day and we even FaceTime, so I knew she wasn't a 50-year-old man with a big ole beer gut.  However, I also watch enough Dateline to know you just never really know.  I told all my friends I wanted Keith Morrison to cover my Dateline special should I go missing abroad and I gave explicit instructions to only to use the hottest pictures of me on air.  I know.  This really isn't a joking matter. In all seriousness, I had no real qualms about meeting Raven and company. I knew it was going to be a fabulous time and if she tried to off me, at least I'd spend my last moments in paradise.  Not a bad way to go out.

So Raven and the boys (i.e. her hubs and 2 rascals) picked me up from the airport (they arrived the night before me) and we were off to our resort.

The second I got to the room, I stepped on our patio and was completely disappointed with the view.

Disgusting view, isn't it?

I freshened up since I had just spent the last 9 hours traveling and then Raven, her boys and I walked the 20 steps to the beach and toasted our first drink together. Cheers-ies.  It was like we had known each other for years.

We made my nephew and Gunner FaceTime, and the first words out of Gunner's mouth were, "Hi, do you want to be my friend?"  Life is so simple at 4. Take me back. 

Clearly Reese is a little confused as to what is going on.

After frolicking on the beach for a bit, we headed to Happy Hour by the pool for my first Mai Tai.  I don't typically like pineapples, but the pineapples in Hawaii are unlike anything I've ever tasted before. 

Yum-o times 10.

At this point I was loving life (because I still had one) and couldn't believe I had six more days of this tropical paradise to enjoy.  We walked to Duke's for dinner, a restaurant/bar literally next door to our hotel and where we went every. single. night.  In fact, towards the end of the vacay they started yelling out "Texas is here!" when I walked in.  Excuse me miss, but you may come here too much ...

After dinner and once the boys went to bed, Raven and I decided to lay in lawn chairs on the beach to girl talk and enjoy the waves crashing into the shore. It wasn't long before a local rolled up on us asking for cigarettes.  We told him we didn't have any, but he decided to pull up a seat right next to us anyway.  Sir, were you invited?  I didn't think so.  He then proceeds to tell us that we aka "Mainland Americans" have ruined Hawaii by bringing Aids, heart disease, cancer, chickens and mosquitoes to the islands.

Other than this freak, all the Hawaiians we met were nothing but kind.  He actually was pretty entertaining, but we had to ditch him and go to bed because Raven had to get up at the break of dawn to go whale watching with her husband, Rob.  I watched the boys the day they had their whale excursion and we kept ourselves busy at the pool and the beach.  Here they are during their time with me.  I kept them alive, which was Raven and Rob's only request.

See?  They just loved Aunt Lindsey.

Now, for the main event. You can pretty much sum up our trip with the following activities then wash, rinse, repeat.

Room service delivered us breakfast on the lawn in the morning.  Is this not the life?

Breakfast was followed by hours of pool time:

Rob (Raven's Hubs), Colt and Rob's nephew Greg. Rob's nephew and his wife were in Kaua'i too, but at a different resort.

view from a hot tub

cabana!

After we had enough time by the pool, we'd walk/lay on this beach before getting ready .  Kalapaki Beach is easy on the eyes, wouldn't you agree?

Wake-up Raven.

After washing off our pool stench, we'd get ready for the evening and watch the sun come down before dinner at Duke's:

Oh and I forgot to mention these bevies were consumed:

Over the course of 7 days, OK?  Don't judge us. 

My favorite thing about Raven other than meeting for the first time and feeling like we'd known eachother forever?  We were always on the same page.  

For instance, one of us would say, "Hmm ... a Mai Tai sounds good.  Should we order one?" 

Um, duh.   

Or, "I know we just ordered won tons, but maybe we should split a burger, too."  

DONE.  

She and I gorged ourselves all week and I would not have had it any other way.  Any time my drink was empty, there she was to fill me up (or yell at me to hurry up and finish it).  I'd like to tell you we scaled mountains and jumped off waterfalls, but do you really see her and I doing that?  We had the best time just talking and lounging around soaking in the beauty of Kaua'i.  I couldn't have asked for a better first-time Hawaii experience.

Now for Rob and the kids ... y'all want the dirt, right?

Obviously those boys are precious. Just look at their faces.  But in real life they are so well behaved and are the sweetest little cuddle bugs ever.  Comedians too.  Funniest thing Gunner said all trip?  While watching Lion King one day, Pumba burped really loud and Gunner yells out, "Hey!  Lindsey can burp like that!"  *Hangs head in shame*. Oh my embarrassing.  I've really, really got to stop that disgusting habit. Sorry, Mom. And thanks for calling me out Gunz.  

  If you read Raven's blog, you know she likes to make Rob look like a mister tough guy. Let me tell you, he loves her and those boys more than anything and the entire trip all he wanted was to make sure her and I were having the time of our lives.  Raven, be nice to him because you got a good one.  

I could post a million more pictures, but I think I've rambled long enough.

Who is coming here with us next?