Europe 2015- Royal Caribbean International Towel Animals

Let's talk towel animals. Hands down, my favorite part of cruising is returning from dinner to find a towel critter in our stateroom. Depending on the cuteness level of the creation, I may begin to squeal, shriek or hyperventilate. In short, I turn into a preteen at a Taylor Swift concert.

Our stateroom attendant, Pedro, did a fantastic job with his towel animal creations. I know that he was making them primarily for the kids, but as the biggest animal lover in the group, I was definitely the most excited over them. I made sure to track Pedro down to let him know how much I loved his towel animals. I wanted him to keep em' coming!

Since we were on a long cruise, they normally only do towel animals every-other-day. I guess there is just so much that can be done with towels? Pedro kindly indulged us with a few extra animals. Did I mention that I stalked him to discuss my love of the towel animals?

Our first animal was pig wearing Dan's Bass Pro Shop sunglasses.

Next, an elephant wearing Felix's goggles.

One of Pedro's best creations was a Turkey!

I thought the turkey was going to be my favorite, but then he made a bat. I adore bats.

Then, we had a mystery animal. We simply couldn't figure it out. This became really awkward when I ran into Pedro the next morning and he was more enthusiastic than me. I had to confess that we were stumped. Can you guess it?

A penguin...of course! You totally got that. The pointy face should have been the clue, but the body threw us off.

Pedro got back on track the next night with a monkey.

We got a swan.

Pedro saved a really good one for the final night...a turtle.

Thank You to Pedro on The Explorer of the Seas for filling our Suite with joy!

Book Review- Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You

Prior to my summer vacation, I went book shopping at Vroman's and Celeste Ng's novel, Everything I Never Told You, caught my eye. I read it during our cruise and I donated my copy to the library on Royal Caribbean International's Explorer of the Seas. The library on the ship only had two shelves of books and the space was mostly used as a hangout for wayward teenagers. It was very pitiful. Future cruisers, bring books to leave and reclaim the quiet space!

PLOT - Set in the 1970's, Everything I Never Told You, kicks off with the death of high school student, Lydia Lee. Lydia went missing and has turned up in a nearby lake, apparently the victim of a drowning, although foul play has not been ruled out. Ng's story is told in a close third person perspective, drifting from Lydia's family members, as they all come to terms with her death and try to understand her life.

LIKE - The element of Ng's story that really popped for me was the way that she used perspective. As a writer, I sometimes find perspective to be a challenge and Ng handles this masterfully. The story floats between various characters and the distance is constantly rushing forward and pulling back. This works so well with both the theme of water and the idea of never truly knowing another person. Lydia is a character that puts on a different mask for each person that she knows, making for extremes in the way that each character perceives her and tries to make sense of her death. Thematically, Everything I Never Told You, reminds me very much of one of my favorite novels, Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides.

Ng's story is layered with other themes that add to the complexity. Lydia and her siblings are half Caucasian and half Chinese living in a suburban community in America in the 1970's. They struggle with both their identity and fitting in with the kids in their community. Lydia's mother grapples with giving up her career dreams to raise a family and as a result, she pushes all of her aspirations on an unwilling Lydia. The members of the Lee family are all living very private and isolated lives beneath the surface, as they try keeping up the facade of being a happy family.

DISLIKE- Nothing. This is a complex and fascinating story that is beautifully written by Ng.

RECOMMEND- Absolutely! Everything I Never Told You is an affecting read ( although, maybe a little dark for a vacation pick!) and I look forward to future efforts by Ng.

Europe 2015- Southhampton Port

This year we spiced up our annual trip to Europe with a two week mediterranean cruise. Even though it's just a brief taste with port stops, I was extremely excited to visit France and Spain, two new countries for me. This was a mega vacation, that didn't just include my two step-children, but also Dan's parents.

Six people + a two week cruise = a ton of luggage.

Who am I kidding, it was mostly mine. I'm the least traveled out of the group and I've not yet mastered the fine art of packing. Those large purple cases? Mostly my stuff. I brought eight dresses, including three for formal nights. I even brought my wedding dress, which was very non-traditional, yet still bulky.

To ease the stress of getting to the port, we left a day early. Dan's parents arranged for a car service to pick us up and they treated us to a night at the Premier Inn at Southhampton, just a stones throw from the docks.

My only other experience at a Premier Inn was a few years ago in Blackpool. Everything in Blackpool seemed a bit scummy and I was left with a negative impression. Well, that impression has changed. The Southhampton Premier Inn was very clean and inviting. Dan and I stayed in a family room with the kids.

Although considered an economy hotel, the Premier Inn offers a lot of extras and they have a "Good Night Guarantee." Basically, if you need anything or have a problem, they will go out of their way to fix it. The rooms come with a range of extra pillows in various firmness levels, which was appreciated. We also took advantage of the free wifi, which is a huge perk that not even many of the fancier hotels offer.

The Premier Inn is not only super close to the port, but it's walking distance to a huge mall. This was perfect, as we had a last minute shopping emergency when we learned that my step-daughter didn't have PJ's.

The hotel is flanked by several restaurants, an Ikea and a movie theatre. There is even a maritime museum with a Titanic exhibition, just in case you want a cautionary tale prior to embarking on your own cruise journey.

We ate both dinner and breakfast at the Premier Inn. Dinner was full service with a range of choices, including steaks, pizza and curry. The breakfast was a self-serve buffet, with both cold and hot choices. Good food at a good value.

We woke up refreshed and ready to head to the port for our cruise.