Things To Do In Playa Del Carmen

by The Pike's Place

The Rivera Maya is one of the most beautiful places in the world. We took our honeymoon six months after our wedding. This gave us time to research destinations and find an affordable and gorgeous beach destination. After we settled on Playa Del Carmen, I immediately began researching activities and quickly found that there are more activities than you can do in one 7 day honeymoon. For the majority of our vacation, we focused on relaxing and spending time at our all-inclusive resort, but that does not mean there isn’t plenty to do outside the resort walls.

Snorkeling

This first activity we did on our vacation, besides lounge by the beach and pool, was snorkeling. The Rivera Maya has one of the largest coral reefs in the world, The Great Maya Reef, and the snorkeling is fantastic. I have been snorkeling before, but this was my husband’s first experience and it did not disappoint. We swam along the coral reef with hundreds of fish, sea turtles and sting rays. Two bucket list items, swimming with turtles and sting rays, were crossed off my list in one day!

We did the Luxury Sail & Snorkel with Cancun Adventures. It is a half day experience including snorkeling, paddle boarding, lunch, and drinks all while sailing along the coast one a luxury catamaran. I highly recommend using (more…)

10 Ways To Organize Your Bathroom

by The Pike's Place

Magazines and makeup blogs sure make bathrooms and makeup stations look effortlessly amazing. While there is nothing I hate more than a messy unorganized house, in the real world it can be hard to work, keep a house clean, stay fit, cook all the meals, chase around those kiddos (or pups in our case) and do everything else that comes along with being an adult. Bathroom organization may me my least favorite of adult thing of them all, but yet I’m always envious of the immaculate bathroom and dressings areas that I see on other sites. How do they keep that clean, beautiful and organized all the time?! My husband is amazing, but bathroom organization was clearly not either of our fortes and after a few months in our new house being newly married it was time to make a change and get on the makeup blogger and professional home designers level, or at least somewhere close. I stalked every website I could find and here are my 10 favorite bathroom organization ideas and my own bathroom organization overhaul.

1: Acrylic Storage Containers

The amazing acrylic containers from The Container Store were my personal lifesaver. They give our bathroom easy access counter top storage with a high end look. Store makeup, and go to every day items in these easy to clean sectional storage bins. Plus, look how pretty they look! While ours aren’t on this level of perfection, I still absolutely love them.

2: Drawer Dividers

Take the clutter off the counter with these drawer dividers! I love the bamboo look if you are going for a spa theme. You can find these at most stores in the (more…)

Turkey Meatloaf with Roasted Vegetables

by The Pike's Place

Everyone has a favorite classic dish. As a child meatloaf was certainly far from my favorite, but for most American’s, including my husband, meatloaf is an absolute favorite. Meatloaf is a classic here in the states, but really it isn’t an American dish. There is a version of meatloaf made in a number of different cultures and it is thought to date back to as early as 5th century Rome. It’s no wonder most people love meatloaf, because clearly it’s stood the test of time. In the US, meatloaf became a family staple during the depression. During that time a family could really stretch a dollar by making the now “classic” version meatloaf with leftover ground meat, grains, bread or crackers to bind the dish and some sauce to top it off.

Like I stated before meatloaf certainly isn’t my favorite dish, but since my husband really loves it I figured I like to make a healthier alternative that I really enjoy as well. Meatloaf is a meal I really don’t think of during mid summer, but once fall starts (more…)

DIY Welcome Sign – Cricut Project

by The Pike's Place

Our dogs are family and when figuring out a way to fix a DIY Welcome Sign for our entryway that was a total fail, I couldn’t leave the pooches out! I got the idea to add silhouettes that looked like our three dogs and make this adorable welcome sign. A custom welcome sign was the perfect way to complete our entry and is such a cute way to greet guests. I’m a huge fan of contrast, so our entry has a mixture of gold and silver. The sign I made has a gray background with metallic silver and navy vinyl and silver foil. **This post contains affiliate links if you make a purchase after clicking one of these links, we will be compensated. All opinions are our own.

Items needed for this project:

Cricut Die Cut Machine
2 – 12 x12 Pieces of Vinyl – Expressions Vinyl
1 – 12 x12 Piece of Metallic Silver Foil
Cricut Design Space
Cricut Tools
Cricut Cutting Mats
Small Sign
Paint
Paint Brush

You can find all of these items at JoAnne’s, Michaels or your nearby craft store or online!

The Sign Before:

Here was the hideous sign before. I purchased the blank sign on sale from Michael’s and wanted to use it in our wedding for a drink menu. I wound up framing a typed up drink menu since that fit our wedding decor better, but I still wanted to use this sign for something. When we moved I needed some decor in our entry and thought a welcome sign would be perfect. A bad paint pen experience later and the sign was not what I intended it to be. (more…)

Honeymoon at Paradisus La Perla in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

by The Pike's Place

Playa Del Carmen along the coast of Mexico is a perfect honeymoon destination. A romantic beach location at an all-inclusive resort is on the top of the list for many newlyweds. Like many others, we chose the beach when it came time to plan our own dream honeymoon. There is something romantic about a beach destination and all inclusive is definitely the go-to choice for a carefree vacation. We picked Mexico for the direct flights, quality, and price. You can get a lot of bang for your buck in Mexico. Cancun is known more for partying and the beach. We headed an hour south to Playa Del Carmen and it did not disappoint. We stayed 7 nights at the Paradisus La Perla. I highly recommend this resort and here are my reasons why.

Paradisus La Perla Honeymoon

Playa Del Carmen is beautiful. The beach is gorgeous and the water is crystal blue. You likely cannot go wrong with a stay anywhere along this gorgeous coast. Paradisus La Perla was the perfect resort choice for us. It is an all-inclusive resort that is modern, adults-only, eco-friendly and absolutely beautiful. My husband couldn’t get over how good it smelled, literally the resort smells good. From the rooms to the restaurant’s everything was impeccably clean and maintained wonderfully. The food was simply amazing. It was not at all what we expected for all-inclusive food. We stayed in the Royal Service section and I cannot lie, the extra splurge was more than worth it. To have access to our own little VIP (more…)

Baked Honey Buffalo Chicken Tenders

by The Pike's Place

Spicy food is a slight obsession of mine. Whenever I eat out or even at home I’m always searching the menu for something with heat. Buffalo sauce tops the list of my favorites. I love wings, tenders, wraps, pizzas and anything else I can smother in the spicy sauce. My go to bar food are chicken tenders and while I love the spicy fried chicken, I do not love the amount of calories that comes with. Instead of going out to eat tonight for the glorious spicy hot fried tenders and having instant guilt and possibly a stomach ache from all the grease, I decided to take a stab at a healthier version at home.

My husband is from Michigan and on a trip back to visit his family we had Detroit style buffalo wings. There are many places around the states that serve this style of buffalo sauce and you likely has seen a similar version on a menu somewhere. It’s a tangier sweet and spicy (more…)

Disney Dapper Day Outfit – Minnie Mouse Inspired

by The Pike's Place

It was swell day that April afternoon when we went to Walt Disney World. Dapper Day is according to it’s creators website, “fashionable gatherings attended by over 30,000 well-dressed guests twice a year at the Disney Resorts in California, Florida, and France”. Most people and even avid Disney fans aren’t aware of Dapper Day. In my opinion, it’s is like stepping back in time at Disney. Where dapper men and women mix a Disney character and a time period and attend the parks all dolled up looking straight out of 1960 or whatever era they choose. This April I attended Dapper Day and finding the right outfit was a bit of a challenge. **This post contains affiliate links, if you make a purchase after clicking on those links we will be compensated. All opinions are our own**

My love of polka dots led me straight to creating my version of Minnie Mouse.

My first destination was *Mod Cloth. They have so many retro vintage look items. I wanted something 50s or 60s and after a little searching I found the perfect pink polka dot dress ON SALE. It had every element I was looking for. The petticoat I purchased t to go under it was also from Mod Cloth. I did order slightly off and messed up the delivery time and the sizing just little. (more…)

Beer Can Chicken

by The Pike's Place

Grilling is almost like a summer olympic sport in my house. Ever spring I anticipate dustin off our weber and get out the charcoal. When the weather is finally warm enough, there is nothing better than a summer night spent grilling on the patio. Beer can chicken is something I always wanted to make. Don’t wait! Make it immediately before summer is gone. It is the juiciest chicken in the world. I cannot wait to make it again.

We recently had family in town. Since moving, we had not explored one of the oldest farmers markets in the country. It is a short drive from our new house. We wandered around the market with the plan to get groceries to grill out for dinner. A farmers market is an experience in itself. You can find so many different types of fruits, veggies, meats, trinket and this market had chickens and bunnies.

After visiting booth after booth to see the different items and prices we came across a butcher that had fabulous prices on free range organic whole chickens. I felt (more…)

10 Tips for Planning a Destination Wedding

by The Pike's Place

Having just returned from our honeymoon in Mexico, I thought this would be the perfect time to post some tips for planning a destination wedding from my personal experience as a destination bride. I am not a wedding expert, but I can give some good tips from one former bride to a current one!

My husband and I got married December 2015 at a destination wedding in Breckenridge, CO. I will forever love our brilliant idea to get married in a beautiful white chapel with the background of a snowy wonderland and amazing winter sports. As much fun as a destination wedding is, planning any wedding is not usually as simple as picking a location and inviting your friends. Whatever you destination dreams are, you can make it happen. Here are my tips for planning your dream wedding.

1: Pick the location you both want and invite whoever you both want.

Some people will come and some people won’t come! It makes no difference if your wedding is in your backyard or in Tahiti. You might have a significantly smaller wedding if it is a destination, but the return RSVPs might surprise you. We had over 80 people attend our winter Colorado wedding (neither of us are from or have family from Colorado). When we sent the invitations out we weren’t sure if more than our immediate family would come. It turned out that a few of our immediate family couldn’t come and likely they wouldn’t have been able to come no matter where our wedding was. Moral of the story, have your wedding when and where you want it whether or not it works for anyone else and invite the people you want to be there.

2: You want to get married in 6 months or less and have a destination wedding?… don’t elope instead.

I understand your confusion. I just said have your wedding when and where you want, but here me out. Planning a wedding in 6 months can be a nightmare in itself, but it’s also really selfish for a destination wedding. If the majority of your guests live more than an hour away from where you wedding is and need to travel, hotels, etc give them at least 10 months notice. I mean (more…)

Honeymoon Tote Bag DIY

by The Pike's Place

A good tote bag is a summer essential. Something that can get wet, easy to carry and can hold all your pool, beach or lake items. For our honeymoon I needed a beach bag that I could use around the hotel to take towels, sunscreen, phones, books and such to the pool or beach. I found this canvas bag on Amazon for $6.00 and thought it was perfect to personalize with some iron-on vinyl. **This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links, we will be compensated. We actually purchased and used all products endorsed and all opinions are our own.**

Items Needed

Cricut or Die cut machine
Font of your choice
12 x 20 Black Iron on Glitter Vinyl – I purchased from Expressions Vinyl
Cricut Tools
12 x 24 Cricut Cutting Mat
Iron
Surface to Iron On
Towels or heat barrier to protect surface and vinyl
Measuring Tape or ruler

Instructions:

This is a super simple Vinyl project that has no layering or special designs. If your tote is washable, you will need to pre-wash the bag (more…)

The Pike's Place

Travel

DIY Projects

Disney

Family

Things To Do In Playa Del Carmen

Snorkeling

10 Ways To Organize Your Bathroom

1: Acrylic Storage Containers

2: Drawer Dividers

Turkey Meatloaf with Roasted Vegetables

DIY Welcome Sign – Cricut Project

Items needed for this project:

The Sign Before:

Honeymoon at Paradisus La Perla in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

Paradisus La Perla Honeymoon

Baked Honey Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Disney Dapper Day Outfit – Minnie Mouse Inspired

Beer Can Chicken

10 Tips for Planning a Destination Wedding

1: Pick the location you both want and invite whoever you both want.

2: You want to get married in 6 months or less and have a destination wedding?… don’t elope instead.

Honeymoon Tote Bag DIY

Items Needed