We had the absolute BEST time in Rosemary Beach, Florida and already can’t wait to go back. I had never been to that area of the world before and truly loved it so much.
I know it was only our first time going.. but we have had a lot of questions about what we did, where we ate, any suggestions, etc. so I thought this would be the easiest place to compile them all right here.
Once again, I know I am not an expert so please comment below if there’s anything I missed!
What I Wore:
Food suggestions:
(I underlined the restaurants that we actually went to!)
Panama City
Cava – it is truly one of my favorite place ever! Worth the drive. I just love it so much and wish it was in Utah! If you’re coming in from the airport around Panama, maybe stop there on your way into Rosemary, Alys, etc.
Thomas Donuts + Snack Shop
Pier Park + Yard Milkshake Bar
30A
Donut Hole– we loved going to eat donuts at the beach and watching the sunset!
Amici 30A Italian Kitchen/Mexican Cantina – a great place to watch any sports events if you’re there during any fun games. I also LOVED the chips and guac here! Still craving them…
Rosemary Beach
The Sugar Shak – candy, ice cream, etc. My kids were obsessed!
Cowgirl Kitchen
La Crema (desserts and tapas) – this is the one place I really wish we would’ve tried and didn’t!
Farmers Market on Sundays
Summer Kitchen Cafe
The Pearl Hotel ($$$)
Aly’s Beach:
Raw & Juicy – great, healthy breakfast option with a huge park for the kids to run around and play
Charlie’s Delights
The Citizen
Seaside
Black Bear Bread Co – a delicious place for breakfast!
Great Southern Cafe – a great place to try shrimp & grits! I loved my meal here
Bud & Alleys – I loved the kale salad and pizza I got from here!
Check to see if your hotel/rental property has bikes and/or beach chairs you can use. If not, we rented a couple of additional bikes that had Burleys + beach chairs and umbrellas from Vacayzen.
At Rosemary Beach, you need a key to enter most entry points to the beach and your hotel/rental property should offer that.
You can rent the chairs they have there each day (it was about $88/per day for 2 chairs + umbrellas) so we found it was much cheaper to just rent our own from Vacayzen
A lot of people asked where we flew into.. we flew into Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport but you could also fly into Panama or plenty of other airports I am sure
We found our rental on VRBO but each cities website also lists out rental properties that you could look into too!
That should be it! Feel free to comment if I missed anything!
Mother’s Day is only 21 days away! I love buying gifts ahead of time so I don’t feel too stressed as the day comes closer so I rounded up some ideas I have for the mother figures in your life! (or yourself. Because if you’re a mom, you deserve to treat yourself!)
Clicking on any image below (besides Salty Face, Better Days, and the Azaria cosmetic organizer) will take you directly to shop!
Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask – don’t let the name Jet Lag Mask fool you! It’s not just for traveling. I’ll put the mask on at night and just sleep in it to feel extra hydrated the next day.
Brazillian Bum Bum Cream – my favorite thing to put on my legs in the summertime/when I’m in a skirt or shorts etc.
Vuori Baseball Hat – I have this in grey and love it and wear it all the time!
MZ Wallace Medium Metro Tote – this has been on SO many of my gift guides and for good reason! It’s just a great everyday tote and also so wonderful for traveling too.
Elemis Cleansing Balm – this is the balm I was talking about above! I use it to get all of my makeup off and love it so much.
Sol de Janeiro perfume – I’ve been wearing this EVERY SINGLE DAY since it came and it’s so so good.
Birkenstocks – I went to dinner last night with a friend for her birthday and she said she gets a new pair of Birks every year since hers get so worn! I wear mine multiple times a week too.
Beauty Bio GloFacial Tool – if you have a beauty lover in your life, get this tool for them to try! Gets so much “gunk” out of your face it’s incredible.
Osea Anti-Aging Body Balm – so many people have such incredible things to say about Osea skincare and this balm looks incredible. I want to get my mom this!
Clarins Double Serum – such an incredible staple to have in your skincare routine. I use it at nighttime over my retinol
Vuori Villa Jogger – if you have a mom in your life that loves to travel, get her these! They are SO lightweight, soft and comfortable and I never want to travel in anything else
Lululemon Tee – this is my most recent purchase from Lululemon and I’ve been really loving it. I even paired it with jeans the other day and it was such a great, simple tee.
Made by Mary earrings – I don’t have my ears pierced.. but if i did.. I’d get these!
AirPods Max – these are definitely on my wishlist and I know so many others!
Weezie Towels Robe – I love this cute robe and wear mine all the time. You can even get yours monogrammed!
Scuba 1/2 Zip – a tried and true staple around here.
Better Days Greens – these greens are all the rage right now (and for good reason!) I love the BetterGreens peach limeade, pina coloada, and juicy lime and the Better Hormones coconut pineapple flavors. Use the code OLIVIA for a discount!
The Sephora sale is such a good time of year to stock up on any of your beauty must-haves! I thought I’d put together a little list of my personal favorite items or items on my personal wishlist.
Here are the dates below with the discount code you’ll get depending on which level you are. If you’re curious your level, log into Sephora and it will show you right in your membership profile.
Clicking on any image below will take you directly to shop!
Here are some items below that I would suggest checking out:
Merit Sculpting Bronzer – this has been on my wishlist for awhile now! I’m excited to grab it during the sale.
Merit Blending Brush – another item I’ve waited until the sale to grab! Going to use it with the bronzer.
Clarins Double Serum – THIS! Especially if you are using a retinol/retinoid.. layer this over the top once it’s all dry.
Ilia Super Skin Tint – this is definitely what I use most days when I need more makeup than just a tinted moisturizer. What’s nice about this skin tint is that it has SPF 40 in it!
Ilia Blush Stick – love adding this to my face for a little bit of color on my cheeks! My daughter loves it too lol
Brazillian Bum Bum Cream – I bought this cream to see what the hype was about and it really does smell incredible! I use it on my legs when I’m wearing a dress
K18 Hair Mask – this hair mask is AMAZING! You use it instead of conditioner for a couple washes and I thought it totally made a difference
Drunk Elephant Tanning Drops – TikTok made me do it with these drops and I love mixing them with my daily sunscreen!
Summer Fridays Lip Butter – I have this in my purse at all times and love putting it on. It comes in different shades but I’ve only used the flavor vanilla
Dr. Dennis Gross Fill + Repair Serum – I haven’t tried this yet but I got their email last week and they said it was called “botox in a bottle” and let me just say I am INTRIGUED!
Ilia Concealer – this is the concealer I wear under my eyes!
Ilia Bright Start Retinol Alternative – another good under-eye option! This one doesn’t have retinol though which is good if you’re expecting or breastfeeding!
Clicking on any image above will take you directly to shop!
Why are little baby things a million times cuter than anything else in this world?! Ah, I just love little babies so much! Here are some ideas of what to put in a little baby girl’s basket! I am so excited to make June’s basket this year, ah!
Let’s talk DISNEY CRUISE! Would you believe me if I told you this was my FIFTH Disney Cruise? Yes, 5th. I went three times as a kid and twice as an adult. But this was my first time with my own kids so it was extra special! We are obviously big fans over here so I am going to tell you everything I know! I am obviously not an expert by any means but I’ll tell you what I know from my experience.
Links from the trip!
Commonly asked questions from the Disney Cruise:
What ship did you do? How many nights? Out of where?
We did the Disney Dream. Five nights. Out of Miami.
What is the price like? How much should we budget to go?
A lot of variables factor into the price. Time of year, which ship, age of your kids, how many in a room, how many nights, etc. For example, for our cruise in February 2023 out of Miami on the Dream ship for 5 nights: Will and I were each $1,812, my daughter was $875, my son was $561, and my littlest was $561 for just the cruise portion. I know that seems weird to share prices but I hope it’s helpful?
What stops did you have on your cruise?
One stop was at Disney’s Castaway Cay (private island) and one day was in Cozumel, Mexico.
What was included and what did you pay extra for?
The food, Kids Club, character meet and greets, and parties were all included. You pay extra for excursions (we did a banana boat ride and swimming with dolphins), the nursery (ages 0-3), Bibbidi Boppity Boutique, dinner at the adults-only restaurants, and other events on the ship like a royal tea party, whiskey tasting, etc. I am not sure if alcohol is included! We ordered a pina colada and paid for it though so I’m assuming alcohol is extra maybe? Sorry, we don’t drink alcohol so we aren’t helpful on that front!
We had a room with a queen bed, a pull-out bed from the couch, a pull-out bed from the ceiling, and a pull-out bed from the wall. We used the queen bed for Will and me, the pull-out bed from the ceiling for our daughter, and our two youngest slept in pack-and-plays that were provided by the ship so we didn’t have to bring our own. We of course brought our Slumberpods too. The bed is also raised a bit so you can store your luggage, strollers, etc under the bed which helps with space!
For kids younger than 3, they can go to the It’s a Small World Nursery where you pay ~$9/hr and, if I remember right, they cap you at around 10 hours per week. For kids 3-12, they can go to the Kids Oceaneer’s Club which is free. I wish my son could’ve gone to the Oceaneer’s Club but they would NOT budge even though he was 3 weeks away from being 3 so keep that in mind if you have any kids around that age! But honestly, he loved the nursery and still had so much fun.
Links from the trip!
How do the kids contact you when they’re ready to get picked up from the kids club?
When you download the Disney Cruise Line App and are connected to the ship’s WiFi, the Kids Club messages you when the kids are ready to be picked up! For the nursery, you just set the time. (i.e. 1-3 PM and come back at 3 PM). Kids also have a wristband that can track them inside of the Kids Club.
Were you worried about your kids falling off the ship?
YES. Leading up to the trip I totally would get stressed. Even on our way to the airport, I told Will I wished I would’ve brought something to help with my anxiety but once onboard, I never felt like I needed anything while on the ship. The kids were with us the majority of the time, the railings are all super high, and we kept the deck off of our room locked the entire time.
What reservations do you make in advance?
Depending on your seniority within Disney (yes, apparently that’s a thing) is when you’re able to book things. There were hardly any times left to book Bibbidi by the time it was our turn so definitely book quickly once they e-mail you to do so! I want to say everything was booked 2 months in advance?
I heard the kids can’t swim in the pools. True or false?
In order to swim in the pools, kids HAVE to be potty-trained. Absolutely no swim diapers are allowed in the pools. We potty-trained George for this reason alone but he ended up just wanting to play in Nemo’s (the baby splash area) anyways! You don’t have to be potty-trained to go in there and my two youngest absolutely loved it.
Links from the trip!
Do you think the cruise is good for teens/young adults?
Yes! I did the Disney cruise in my teenage years and absolutely LOVED it. I thought the teen hang-out rooms were so much fun. It’s also fun to go with cousins or friends for your kids to hang with too if you decide to go with more people.
How was the food?
The food is obviously mass-produced, so it’s not incredible but not horrible! I stuck with the seafood and pasta at dinner time and it was fine. Unlimited Diet Cokes and soft serve ice cream made up for it 😉 Breakfast is served in Cabana’s which has muffins, waffles, bacon, sausage, omelets, cereal… so many options! However, the adults-only restaurant PALO was SO incredible. Honestly some of the best food I’ve ever had. That has to be booked separately, and you can send your kids to the Oceaneer’s Club or nursery during that time.
Was it super crowded?
Yes! I would say that is my only complaint about the cruise. I told Will I probably would’ve paid double to have half as many people on the ship (okay maybe not double but you get the idea). Felt like too many people at times! I also wish we would’ve just stayed on the boat in Cozumel and not gotten off to enjoy the boat with fewer people.
Did anyone get seasick?
No one in our entire party got seasick! I saw a lot of people with patches under their ear though so I know it happens. The boat definitely rocks but none of us ever got sick from it.
Did kids need passports?
No! Kids do not need passports. Only adults. Kids do need hard copies of their birth certificates though.
Vaccination/COVID protocols?
Nothing in our process or trip involved any COVID testing, proof, or protocols.
Anything you wish you would’ve done differently?
I wish we would’ve stayed on the boat in Cozumel. I got mastitis on the trip so it was nice for Will to hop off and get some antibiotics but I would’ve been fine if we just stayed on the ship and enjoyed the kid’s pool without so many kids in it.
Is there anything you wish you would’ve brought?
The only thing I forgot and wish I had was the Mommy Hook to clip our water bottles to our bag, etc. That’s the only thing I can think of that I forgot!
Is there anything you brought that you didn’t use?
We didn’t use our life jackets. They have ones for the kids to use on the boat! Didn’t use the baby seat we brought for our youngest. They had high-chairs at all the restaurants and we just held her otherwise.
How would you compare your cruise experience to another cruise line?
Soo, this is my 5th Disney Cruise and all of them have been through Disney so I am not much help here! But we have loved our experience with Disney and feel like the attention to detail is there, the staff is extremely friendly, the ship is clean, and the magic is THERE. Highly suggest!
Links from the trip!
That’s all for now! If I didn’t answer a question you still have, comment below and I’ll respond!
I have some fun new Vuori favorites to share with you guys this month! First up, is this Cozy Sherpa Jacket in the new DUNE color! It is truly so comfy and warm and I wear it on the daily here in Utah.
Next up are these new pieces in the new Stormy Heather color. It’s the prettiest soft green and I’m eyeing it in the Daydream Crew too!
Today I am sharing some new Vuori Clothing favorites! This time of year is always my favorite for setting new goals and intentions and cute workout clothes always help me reach my fitness goals 😉 These new Vuori pieces are so so good.
22 books for 2022! My goal was to read 10 books but I’m including all of my 4 Audiobooks to make it 22! Looks like I am going to have to keep it up and try to read 23 books for 2023! Who is with me? I have so many on my list I am still dying to read so I’m excited to try to reach that goal.
I added a little blurb with each book I read below but remember that books are SO personal. If. I didn’t love a book, that doesn’t mean that you won’t love it so give it a try! And don’t judge me for the spicy ones 🫣
Here’s to reading 23 books in 2023!
(Books listed in order of when I read them)
Clicking on any book image will take you to the book!
