July 25, 2023 • 27 mins
What happens when you mix a milestone birthday, a career shift, and a thrilling cruise experience? You get an epic journey filled with inspiring stories, memorable experiences, and valuable life lessons. Join me as I reflect on a year of podcasting, finding balance, and a roller coaster of personal and professional experiences. From the sandy shores of Cocoa Beach to the awe-inspiring adventure aboard Virgin Voyages, each moment is a testament to the beauty of embracing change and seeking joy amidst life's ebbs and flows.
Imagine celebrating your 50th birthday with a unique visit to a spot in Cocoa Beach called Area 142. Or the thrill of contrasting the allure of popular cruise lines like Disney, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean - each with their own pros and cons. We also touch on the importance of budgeting for weekend getaways, making new connections, and even dip our toes into the world of trending topics - Ariana Grande's divorce rumors anyone? As we wrap up, I'm urging all of you to find joy in every day, embrace gratitude, and just go out there and be amazing! This episode is more than just a chronicle of my adventures, it's a testament to the power of living life to the fullest.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody and welcome to Did we Just Become
Best Friends?
My name is Lydia, also known asLive Left Lydia, and thank you
so much for being here.
It's been a little while and Ijust wanted to come in and this
episode is going to be me flyingsolo, as I am working
feverishly, I'm booking my nextseries of guests, trying to get
a little more consistent andhaving episodes, and that brings
(00:24):
me to something I'm going totalk about today a little bit
about balance, because I lovethis podcast.
I just had my one yearanniversary of the launch of the
podcast and I realized I'm notpodcasting as much as I want to
and I love this so much and Ilove being here with you.
So welcome back to Did we JustBecome Best Friends?
(00:44):
And today we're just going togo rogue a little bit and talk
about random things.
I'm going to be a little bitall over the place, but we're
going to have some fun.
So thank you for being here,thank you for listening all
around the globe, and thismorning I actually had an
opportunity to be a guest onsomebody else's podcast and they
challenged me to finish writingmy book, which was not on the
(01:06):
radar at all, and they saidthey'll have me back on the
podcast when it's done.
So I don't know.
I got to.
I got to do on that a littlebit today and process it all,
but right now I am actually inCocoa Beach and in my happy
place.
I'm on vacation.
I'm here for the next week andI'm so excited to be here and
then I realized, you know, sixmonths from now, somebody
(01:27):
listens to this.
I'm not in Cocoa Beach anymore.
So I don't know why we feel theneed to talk about exactly what
we're doing every time we're inthe current moment and share
everything we do all over socialmedia.
But that's where I am, that'swhat I'm doing and this is
what's happening, so let's getright into it.
So today, let's start a littlebit about where I've been and
(01:48):
when I've been up to.
So finished out the school year.
I'm actually taking a differentjob in the school.
Next year I'm moving into a 12month role from a 10 months, so
that's been an adjustment.
Had some personal stuff going onin my family and just trying to
balance the work hard and theplay hard.
Recently celebrated my 50thbirthday, so my 50th birthday
(02:12):
milestone, and that was a littlebit turbulent and I'll explain
more, because what happened wasI was planning these big
celebrations and I was excitedabout my 50th birthday and I got
some unexpected news that mysister was ill.
So I dropped all my birthdayplans and I went out to Denver
(02:33):
and saw her and spent a few daysout there, came back,
celebrated my 50th birthday withmy family and then I went on
the most fabulous cruise ever.
So I want to talk about thatfor a minute, because if any of
you love cruising, let me justtell you I think I'm going to
name this episode Did we justbecome best friends Virgin
(02:56):
voyages?
Or did we just become bestfriends, richard Branson?
Because let me tell yousomething, I went on the Virgin
voyages for my birthday trip andit was fabulous.
So let's talk a little bitabout the Virgin voyages cruise
line compared to other ships.
Now, if you cruise at all oryou're interested in cruising,
let me help you with some of thelegwork.
(03:18):
So, first and foremost, I'vebeen on four cruise lines.
Let me start there.
I've been on the Disney cruise,which I loved was magnificent.
I have been on Norwegian cruiseline, which I also loved.
I've been on Royal Caribbeanand now just recently, I came
off the Virgin voyages cargolady.
So here's some of the pros andcons.
(03:39):
I'm a gambler, so I love togamble.
I went with one of my bestfriends in the world who is also
a gambler.
She's like a high rollergambler.
So, just to put it inperspective, I need to be
transparent.
Well, I don't need to be, but Iwill be.
I went on this cruise for fournights so five days, four nights
and paid $200.
So I just had to pay the poorcharges.
(04:00):
So, for starters, virginvoyages is a little more
expensive than other cruiselines.
It's a more high end experience, so it is more expensive.
So I got the whole luxury VIPtreatment for very little money.
So I think it's always betterwork harder or work smarter, not
harder.
Vacation smarter, not harder,right?
Who doesn't want to get themost luxury experience for the
(04:23):
least amount of money possible,right?
Okay, so we'll start there.
Last August I went on Norwegiancruise line and I had the time
of my life.
Their private island by far ismy favorite.
It's very simple, it's veryeasy to navigate.
They've got the Bacardisponsorship, so there's nothing
better than being in the Bahamasin crystal clear turquoise
(04:44):
water with a mojito in your handa Bacardi mojito.
Okay, it's not sponsored in anyway, shape or form, right, but
that private island experiencewas my favorite.
Nether Pro I loved aboutNorwegian cruise line was that
they had free dining so youcould go into the main dining
room anytime and get a meal.
It wasn't like you had to pick adining seating and you know.
(05:06):
So that was.
That was very appealing to me.
On the cons buffets so I am nota huge fan of buffets.
My husband's not really a hugefan of buffets.
He doesn't like everybodytouching the food and people
start eating it before they getback to their table.
It's kind of gross.
So if you're not a big fan ofthe buffet, you know Royal and
Norwegian both have buffets.
(05:27):
The food on Norwegian wasbetter than Royal in my opinion.
This is again just my opinionand I went on Royal in March for
a girls trip with 20 of myfriends.
We were celebrating somebody's60th birthday and we had a great
time.
But we were pigeonholed into aspecific dining seating and one
(05:48):
of the things they said was nomatter what, everybody's doing
all day, everybody we want to beat least at dinner together and
there was a large group of us.
So we had two tables and thefood was mediocre at best.
It was not good In my opinion.
Now, I'm not a foodie by anystretch of the imagination, but
when I do order a steak, I liketo be cooked right and I like it
(06:08):
to be tender.
I usually order a filet, so inmy opinion, the food on Royal
wasn't so great.
However, the access to food isplentiful on all the ships.
It's not like I couldn't gofind something else if I wasn't
satisfied at dinner.
So, fast forward to July thisyear 2023, and I'm going on my
50th birthday trip and let mejust tell you, virgin Voyages
(06:33):
off the chain.
Fantastic, fabulous,magnificent every adjective I
could think of.
I loved it all.
But let's start with the most,the two most important words to
describe the Virgin Voyagescruise Adults only.
Did I mention adults only?
So by me saying no, kids,adults only, that was half the
(06:57):
battle right there, to having anamazing vacation because,
listen, I have kids.
My kids are older now.
I have a daughter, 22 and Ihave a son 15.
I love children.
I think it's amazing thatpeople have families and they
take them on wonderful vacations.
But boy was it nice to not hearanybody crying or carrying on
(07:17):
or getting splashed in the facein the pool or listening to
somebody saying mommy, mommy,and automatically my instincts
turn my head because I am a mom,but knowing it's not my child.
But I still turn the head.
That was amazing.
No kids, no stress, no worries.
You don't have to worry aboutanybody getting offended by the
(07:38):
entertainment on this ship,because it was just adults only.
So that was great.
So that was the first part.
The fact that it's a newerfleet of ships amazing.
The ships were very high end,very aesthetically pleasing.
The elevators lit up indifferent colors.
(07:58):
If you've ever flown VirginAtlantic, you know like it
lights up like neon purpleinside the plane.
So a lot of that same aestheticwas there.
Very pretty.
Loved that they had differenttheme nights.
So one of the nights wasScarlet Night.
It was the red night.
Everybody dressed in red.
You know I made sure I had myManny Petty red, so I was fully
prepared to have an amazing timeon this trip.
(08:20):
Let me talk about the food.
The food was incredible.
There was only one restaurantthat I didn't care for the food
and that was because it was morecatered towards like vegan and
vegetarian, and they do havewhat they call a naughty menu
like N-A-U-T-I, like nautical,they call it the naughty menu
and there is meat.
But the piece of snapper that Iordered, it just it was bad.
(08:44):
I don't know what happened.
I don't know what happened inthat restaurant but my
girlfriend loved her chicken.
So Razzle Dazzle is the onlyrestaurant I would say avoid and
go to the others first.
So they have it kind of themed.
So the dining, the way it workson Virgin is you make a
reservation for whateverrestaurant you want and you
don't have to pay extra.
(09:04):
So I loved that aspect of it.
I didn't feel like I was nickeland dimed on the ship.
Gratuities were all included.
Basic drinks, sodas, juiceswere included, because on other
cruise ships you have to pay fora drink package or buy a
special cup or dry it.
You know, buy a soda package.
Basic wifi was included.
You could upgrade it if youwanted to.
(09:25):
I did notice my service wasn'tthe best, but I didn't care, I
was unplugging, I didn't want tobe on my phone all that much.
So I felt like it was a veryhigh end all inclusive
experience and of course you canstill tip extra cash if you
want to.
It's not an expectation.
You can tell they take verygood care of their crew.
I don't know because I'm not acrew member, but it felt like
(09:48):
the crew was very happy and theywere able to engage with us.
So at one point there was thisguy in the smoking lounge
because my friend's a smoker.
So we went in the smokinglounge and it was an I clearly
see he was an employee and he'shaving a cigarette and I was
like shocked that they were ableto mingle with the guests and
they absolutely were.
(10:08):
It was very inclusive.
They wanted everybody to feellike they were important,
whether you were the crew or thesailor, and it was just.
It was fantastic.
So back to the food a little bit.
So the way they do it is theyhave different themed
restaurants, so everything is avery high end luxury feel
without any extra pricing.
You can upgrade your meals inthe restaurants and pay extra if
(10:31):
you want to.
So, like, for example, we wentto the Wake, which is their
steakhouse, and normally if youwanted to go to the steakhouse
on another ship you have to makea reservation.
It would be a charged dinner.
The Wake had filet mignon wasincluded and there was an
amazing assortment of appetizersand desserts.
It was great, and so, forexample, like the seafood tower,
(10:53):
if you wanted the seafood towerwas like an extra $55 and they
would bring it to your table andyou would just charge to the
room.
But we didn't get that.
So, funny enough, the casinohost offered it to us, but we
don't eat that much.
So we were like no, we don'teat the extra food, don't waste
it on us.
The overall experience of thefood amazing.
They had a Korean barbecueplace, they had an Italian place
(11:14):
, they had a Mexican place, theyhad the steakhouse and then the
vegan restaurant, which Ididn't care for that one.
So I think if I had toprioritize it for you, I'd say
get the Wake, get the Italianplace, get the pink agave and go
to the Korean barbecue.
Now, aside from that, there wasno buffet.
So you're thinking, well, whatam I eating if I'm hungry?
(11:35):
There was an amazing assortmentof all these different stations
and you sit and they serve youin, like the regular area which
would have been a buffet onanother ship.
You can go up and get the foodyourself, or you sit and they
serve you, but you don't take itwith your hands.
So it was great.
(11:55):
Now, they had a ramen noodlestation.
They had a taco Like.
It was almost like a food truckstyle, like there was different
stations for different types offood All day breakfast, all day
.
You know, like burgers, they hadbento boxes that were grab and
go.
So there was, like morning,bento boxes with, like fruit and
yogurt, parfait, cheese and,you know, charcuterie that you
(12:18):
could grab and go salads,chicken salads, sandwiches,
stuff like that that were easygrab and go.
And then they had actually asushi station where they had
sushi bento boxes.
So it was awesome.
You could sit and relax and beserved or you could grab and go,
and I loved the concept.
Aside from all that Not that Iwant to talk about food, this
entire podcast, but it's justit's happening.
(12:40):
So, aside from all that, theyhad this awesome social place
with pizza.
So it was like make your pizza,tell them what you want on it
and they do it in the brick ovenand it was delicious.
So from like 2pm to 1am youcould get pizza.
So we ordered two, took them togo, had them in our fridge and
(13:01):
then we wanted pizza.
It was ready to go.
We had it.
You know, 2am, you come back infrom the casino, you're hungry,
you have something to nosh on.
Let's go eat.
Then there was this othersocial place that had like
chicken wings, popcorn, floats,soft pretzels, a whole candy
case with like cake pops andfudge.
(13:23):
It was kind of like AtlanticCity-ish saltwater taffy
twizzlers, swedish fish, likejust treats and candies.
So there was no shortage ofsomething to snack on.
If you wanted to take somethingback to your room for later, we
wanted to take something offthe ship.
It was amazing.
So I can't say enough.
Excuse me, I'm a little tiredright now.
(13:43):
I'm a little tired.
I'm in Cocoa Beach and I'm inrelaxed mode, but I cannot say
enough about how amazing thatship was.
The entertainment I didn't seemany of the shows because I was
in the casino a lot.
We had the best time ever.
We did very well gambling onthe ship, had a great time, met
(14:04):
some great people with awesomeenergy and everybody was just so
nice.
The staff was nice, everybodywas so great.
The crew was amazing.
So if you can afford to spend alittle extra, if you're not a
gambler, and go on the VirginVoyages I highly recommend.
There was only a few tweaks, Ithink in the survey that I gave
(14:28):
that I had said could beimproved.
I think it's always importantto leave a little room for
improvement and suggestions.
So I did the survey and Iactually earned a free cruise.
So I'm going again.
So I'm very excited.
All right, met some greatpeople and I usually leave the
ship with at least one or twoconnections that I stay in touch
(14:49):
with.
So that was kind of fun.
Now I'm back, I get home andunfortunately I come off this
high of my 50th birthdaycelebration and I find out that
my sister had passed away.
So I have been trying tobalance joy and loss and it
seems like an every two yearthing for me that I lose
(15:10):
somebody in my family.
So it's just been a littletough and it just makes me think
is it okay to have fun when I'mexperiencing grief?
And how do you find joy whenyou're in grief?
And everybody processes griefdifferently.
So I'm a big fan of differentpodcasts and so now I'm kind of
searching for some that help us,you know, with the grief
(15:32):
process.
But my podcast is about fun andliving life to your fullest and
I'm live, laugh.
Lydia and I got to be livingevery day like it's my last, and
I got to be having fun andlaughing, otherwise I'm out, and
so it's that balance, you know.
So this week I'm in Cocoa Beach,I'm having a great time, I'm
going to be here for a week andI'm just in my happy place and
(15:55):
I'm realizing the importance andthe value of connections.
So last year actually not lastyear in May, when I was here on
a little weekend trip with myhusband, we went to see one of
our favorite tribute bands.
They were playing a Cocoa Beachand that's all I needed to hear
.
I was like one of my favoritelittle local bands is playing in
my happy place.
I'm in, we're booking a weekendand I think it's important that
you have to budget for thoselittle weekend getaways and I
(16:19):
think it's important to stayconnected with your spouse.
My spouse and I hadn't done alot of traveling since COVID.
I had done some travel for workthis summer and kind of got
back out of the swing of thingsand I traveled to Denver to see
my sister.
But the fun travel, the just goaway for a weekend and sleep in
(16:40):
, don't set an alarm, be aroundto do whatever you want.
That's happening locally.
So we came back in May to seeone of our favorite tribute
bands and there's this littleplace in Cocoa Beach, if you
ever get here.
It's a new place, it's calledArea 142 and it's got food, it's
got drinks, it's got liveentertainment and it's really
nice in downtown Cocoa Beach andit's very awesome and it's a
(17:01):
new discovery for me.
And so we were at this TributeBand concert and this couple
asked if they could share ourtable because the seating was
limited and we were like, yeah,sure, come on, sit down.
So we start chatting and I'mtalking to this lady and I
noticed she's got the cutestearrings on and I love earrings.
So I was like, oh, I love yourearrings.
(17:22):
She's like I make them.
I was like, oh, my gosh,they're so great.
I'm like what's your?
Do you have them in a store orhow do you sell them?
She's like well, I sell online.
Obviously, I do little kiosksand I'm just starting out.
And I said, well, I'd love tosupport your business.
So I followed her on Instagram.
Her name is Salty Raise, soSalty, and then it's
S-A-L-T-Y-R-A-Y-Z and I said,when I come back up to Cocoa
(17:45):
Beach for the summer, I'm gonnacome meet up with you and shop
your collection.
So I did so.
Today I'm wearing Salty Raiseearrings.
You can see them on InstagramI'll post a picture.
But we made a connection and Isaid this lady is so nice and as
an adult.
Mel Robbins recently had apodcast episode where she was
(18:07):
like why is it so hard to makefriends as adults?
It just takes one conversationright, and she had made a
suggestion.
When you're out and about andyou see something you like, say
it like compliment.
Somebody is a greatconversation starter.
So just me saying hey, I loveyour earrings.
Now I feel like we are gonna belifelong friends and it's okay
(18:27):
to add new friends into the mix.
If you have room, it's okay tosay goodbye to some old friends,
which I have done recently, andwhen people leave your life, I
always say it's for a reason orif they're not making time for
you, they have other stuff goingon.
Don't take it personal.
Be in your moment.
Do what's making you happy.
If you meet somebody new andfabulous that you connect with,
(18:51):
leverage that, embrace it anddevelop those relationships.
So, anyway, that was excitingme very much.
So I'm gonna take a sip of mycoffee because I'm needing to be
caffeinated.
Today I've been trying to addmy protein shake to my coffee.
It's just kind of like a two inone, I get the protein grams I
(19:14):
need and the coffee caffeinethat I'm looking for.
All right, let's get into acouple things that are trending
today.
What is trending out there inthe internet?
Well, for starters, arianaGrande separated from her
husband and they are swimming indivorce rumors that don't seem
(19:36):
to be rumors anymore.
And then people are beingcritical of the person that
she's dating.
So they're saying that she fellin love with one of her
co-stars on the movie she'sfilming.
By the way, if you didn't knowthat, ariana Grande is filming a
movie, not only is she filminga movie, she's filming a movie
based on one of my favoritemusicals of all time Wicked the
(19:58):
Musical, which I have seen 14times and I am sorry, not sorry,
not ashamed.
Every single time it comes totown, I see it, I love it, it's
my favorite Broadway show and Ilove to support the arts.
So, anyway, people arecriticizing Ariana Grande for
(20:19):
possibly dating her new, herco-star, and they're just saying
that the pair wasn't a good fit.
And you know what?
Honestly, it's not our business, but because they're famous and
they're in the spotlight and wewere rooting for them to
survive getting married so young.
You know, apparently, you knowthey're criticizing her because
(20:42):
they're saying that she's datingher wicked co-star, ethan
Slater.
They're criticizing his looks.
You know what?
It's not our business, okay.
So unless Ariana Grande ispaying my bills, it doesn't
matter to me.
But you know, that's our popculture, we're fascinated by it.
Wishing them all the best,because there is no privacy in
(21:03):
publicity, that's for sure.
All right, that is trending.
People are also talking aboutthe fact that Jordan Woods and
Kylie Jenner might have made upAgain.
Really don't care, but I like tosee forgiveness because I think
a lot of times.
You know, people do shittythings and they hurt us, and I'm
(21:26):
always nice and I try toforgive, forgive, forgive,
because I don't want thenegative energy.
So I want to forgive and moveon.
Some people can't move on, somepeople cannot forgive.
So if they really did becomefriends again, good for them.
I like to see forgiveness.
Lastly, because I like to keepthings in threes, let's talk
about Barbie.
(21:47):
I was trying to avoid this andI don't even know why.
I was mad at it because whenall the Barbie marketing started
Barbie, listen to me, barbie,that could be a new handle.
So last year, glam Light cameout with this Barbie palette and
this whole PR box collection,and I bought it for my daughter
just because it was pretty.
It was her birthday and Iwanted to surprise her with this
(22:09):
like awesome palette.
And I had no idea they wereeven making a movie about Barbie
and I had no idea what theramifications of this was gonna
be, but I just thought it wascute so I bought it for her.
Now it's like a hot commodity.
So the Barbie movie andmarketing has exploded Like to
the point where I just I don'tthink I wanted to support it,
(22:31):
just because I was like this isridiculous, they don't need my
money.
But now today I have watchedthe trailer for the Barbie movie
and I'm like, oh my God, Igotta see this movie.
Now, if you're a woman, ifyou're a girl and you grew up
playing with Barbies, or ifyou're a kid because you know my
son he used to play with hisdaughter, my daughter's dolls,
(22:53):
his sister's dolls because hewas a boy and he had nobody to
play with but a girl, so he wasplaying with everybody.
So if you grew up, like I did,without the internet, without
social media, without wealth andlike all these crazy fancy toys
, the one thing you absolutelyhad was your Barbies right?
They were not expensive.
You maybe didn't have all theclothes.
(23:15):
Maybe you didn't have theBarbie Dream House.
Looking back on it, I did.
I had the Barbie Dream Housewith the townhouse.
It was three levels with thelittle elevator with the strings
that went up and down, and Iloved playing Barbies with my
friends.
It was like what is Barbie gonnado today?
Which career is she going to be?
What outfit is she going towear?
(23:36):
And I used to love, like theBob Mackie, designer clothes.
Oh my God, we're going to havememory lane here.
But even if you were poor, youhad a cheap Barbie.
You had some version of aBarbie.
If it came from the dollarstore or the Walmart, it didn't
matter, but you had or Toys R Us, you had a Barbie.
Can you, can you just take meback for one minute to Toys R Us
(23:58):
?
And walking in and having anentire Mattel aisle full of
Barbie Unbelievable.
Anyway, I'm gonna wrap it uphere soon.
But the Barbie movie trailer.
Once I watched it I was like,oh yeah, they're suckering me in
.
I'm gonna definitely go seethis movie.
So my kids are coming up todayto spend time with me at Cocoa
(24:20):
Beach and we are definitelygonna have a movie night.
What else is on my agenda today?
I am going to the spa.
My husband gifted me a giftcertificate and I'm gonna go
have like a body salt scrub, mudwrap situation I don't know.
I'm gonna do something good formy skin because it's gonna take
a lot of abuse when I'm here inthe sun, and Today I'm just
(24:41):
gonna do something for myself.
That is self-care.
I was a guest on a podcast today.
I recorded an episode of mypodcast today.
I worked to check some emailsand I, you know, made some
things happen on work side.
So today the rest of the day isgonna be for me to join my
vacation.
I am wearing my cute saltyraised earrings and I know
(25:04):
what's gonna happen.
I'm gonna be out and about andsomebody's gonna compliment my
earrings.
I'm gonna be like oh yeah,they're salty raised.
You should give them a followon Instagram.
Let's be supportive of eachother.
Let's find balance.
Let's work hard, play hard,love hard.
Let's support local businessand support people with their
e-commerce and their Instagrampages and Somebody out there
(25:24):
crafting and making somethingonline that they're selling.
Let's do all the things thatbring us joy as we're trying to
find balance and just survive.
But if you got to wake up today,congratulations.
If you got the gift of today,make the most of it.
If you are listening to thispodcast around the world, drop a
(25:48):
rating and a review.
Tell me where you're listeningfrom.
I'm so thankful for you.
I'm so thankful that you'rehere and I'm gonna try to.
I say this every episode andI'm really gonna do it.
I want to try to get here atleast once a week.
I'd love to podcast twice aweek, but at least once a week.
I'm gonna try to get morecontent out there because I love
you guys.
I thank you so much forsupporting me and I just want to
(26:12):
wish you the best day ever.
Go out there and be amazing andDo something for yourself that
you love, to make you happy andfind your joy.
I'll see you next time.
Hello everybody and welcome to Did we Just Become
Best Friends?
My name is Lydia, also known asLive Left Lydia, and thank you
so much for being here.
It's been a little while and Ijust wanted to come in and this
episode is going to be me flyingsolo, as I am working
feverishly, I'm booking my nextseries of guests, trying to get
a little more consistent andhaving episodes, and that brings
(00:24):
me to something I'm going totalk about today a little bit
about balance, because I lovethis podcast.
I just had my one yearanniversary of the launch of the
podcast and I realized I'm notpodcasting as much as I want to
and I love this so much and Ilove being here with you.
So welcome back to Did we JustBecome Best Friends?
(00:44):
And today we're just going togo rogue a little bit and talk
about random things.
I'm going to be a little bitall over the place, but we're
going to have some fun.
So thank you for being here,thank you for listening all
around the globe, and thismorning I actually had an
opportunity to be a guest onsomebody else's podcast and they
challenged me to finish writingmy book, which was not on the
(01:06):
radar at all, and they saidthey'll have me back on the
podcast when it's done.
So I don't know.
I got to.
I got to do on that a littlebit today and process it all,
but right now I am actually inCocoa Beach and in my happy
place.
I'm on vacation.
I'm here for the next week andI'm so excited to be here and
then I realized, you know, sixmonths from now, somebody
(01:27):
listens to this.
I'm not in Cocoa Beach anymore.
So I don't know why we feel theneed to talk about exactly what
we're doing every time we're inthe current moment and share
everything we do all over socialmedia.
But that's where I am, that'swhat I'm doing and this is
what's happening, so let's getright into it.
So today, let's start a littlebit about where I've been and
(01:48):
when I've been up to.
So finished out the school year.
I'm actually taking a differentjob in the school.
Next year I'm moving into a 12month role from a 10 months, so
that's been an adjustment.
Had some personal stuff going onin my family and just trying to
balance the work hard and theplay hard.
Recently celebrated my 50thbirthday, so my 50th birthday
(02:12):
milestone, and that was a littlebit turbulent and I'll explain
more, because what happened wasI was planning these big
celebrations and I was excitedabout my 50th birthday and I got
some unexpected news that mysister was ill.
So I dropped all my birthdayplans and I went out to Denver
(02:33):
and saw her and spent a few daysout there, came back,
celebrated my 50th birthday withmy family and then I went on
the most fabulous cruise ever.
So I want to talk about thatfor a minute, because if any of
you love cruising, let me justtell you I think I'm going to
name this episode Did we justbecome best friends Virgin
(02:56):
voyages?
Or did we just become bestfriends, richard Branson?
Because let me tell yousomething, I went on the Virgin
voyages for my birthday trip andit was fabulous.
So let's talk a little bitabout the Virgin voyages cruise
line compared to other ships.
Now, if you cruise at all oryou're interested in cruising,
let me help you with some of thelegwork.
(03:18):
So, first and foremost, I'vebeen on four cruise lines.
Let me start there.
I've been on the Disney cruise,which I loved was magnificent.
I have been on Norwegian cruiseline, which I also loved.
I've been on Royal Caribbeanand now just recently, I came
off the Virgin voyages cargolady.
So here's some of the pros andcons.
(03:39):
I'm a gambler, so I love togamble.
I went with one of my bestfriends in the world who is also
a gambler.
She's like a high rollergambler.
So, just to put it inperspective, I need to be
transparent.
Well, I don't need to be, but Iwill be.
I went on this cruise for fournights so five days, four nights
and paid $200.
So I just had to pay the poorcharges.
(04:00):
So, for starters, virginvoyages is a little more
expensive than other cruiselines.
It's a more high end experience, so it is more expensive.
So I got the whole luxury VIPtreatment for very little money.
So I think it's always betterwork harder or work smarter, not
harder.
Vacation smarter, not harder,right?
Who doesn't want to get themost luxury experience for the
(04:23):
least amount of money possible,right?
Okay, so we'll start there.
Last August I went on Norwegiancruise line and I had the time
of my life.
Their private island by far ismy favorite.
It's very simple, it's veryeasy to navigate.
They've got the Bacardisponsorship, so there's nothing
better than being in the Bahamasin crystal clear turquoise
(04:44):
water with a mojito in your handa Bacardi mojito.
Okay, it's not sponsored in anyway, shape or form, right, but
that private island experiencewas my favorite.
Nether Pro I loved aboutNorwegian cruise line was that
they had free dining so youcould go into the main dining
room anytime and get a meal.
It wasn't like you had to pick adining seating and you know.
(05:06):
So that was.
That was very appealing to me.
On the cons buffets so I am nota huge fan of buffets.
My husband's not really a hugefan of buffets.
He doesn't like everybodytouching the food and people
start eating it before they getback to their table.
It's kind of gross.
So if you're not a big fan ofthe buffet, you know Royal and
Norwegian both have buffets.
(05:27):
The food on Norwegian wasbetter than Royal in my opinion.
This is again just my opinionand I went on Royal in March for
a girls trip with 20 of myfriends.
We were celebrating somebody's60th birthday and we had a great
time.
But we were pigeonholed into aspecific dining seating and one
(05:48):
of the things they said was nomatter what, everybody's doing
all day, everybody we want to beat least at dinner together and
there was a large group of us.
So we had two tables and thefood was mediocre at best.
It was not good In my opinion.
Now, I'm not a foodie by anystretch of the imagination, but
when I do order a steak, I liketo be cooked right and I like it
(06:08):
to be tender.
I usually order a filet, so inmy opinion, the food on Royal
wasn't so great.
However, the access to food isplentiful on all the ships.
It's not like I couldn't gofind something else if I wasn't
satisfied at dinner.
So, fast forward to July thisyear 2023, and I'm going on my
50th birthday trip and let mejust tell you, virgin Voyages
(06:33):
off the chain.
Fantastic, fabulous,magnificent every adjective I
could think of.
I loved it all.
But let's start with the most,the two most important words to
describe the Virgin Voyagescruise Adults only.
Did I mention adults only?
So by me saying no, kids,adults only, that was half the
(06:57):
battle right there, to having anamazing vacation because,
listen, I have kids.
My kids are older now.
I have a daughter, 22 and Ihave a son 15.
I love children.
I think it's amazing thatpeople have families and they
take them on wonderful vacations.
But boy was it nice to not hearanybody crying or carrying on
(07:17):
or getting splashed in the facein the pool or listening to
somebody saying mommy, mommy,and automatically my instincts
turn my head because I am a mom,but knowing it's not my child.
But I still turn the head.
That was amazing.
No kids, no stress, no worries.
You don't have to worry aboutanybody getting offended by the
(07:38):
entertainment on this ship,because it was just adults only.
So that was great.
So that was the first part.
The fact that it's a newerfleet of ships amazing.
The ships were very high end,very aesthetically pleasing.
The elevators lit up indifferent colors.
(07:58):
If you've ever flown VirginAtlantic, you know like it
lights up like neon purpleinside the plane.
So a lot of that same aestheticwas there.
Very pretty.
Loved that they had differenttheme nights.
So one of the nights wasScarlet Night.
It was the red night.
Everybody dressed in red.
You know I made sure I had myManny Petty red, so I was fully
prepared to have an amazing timeon this trip.
(08:20):
Let me talk about the food.
The food was incredible.
There was only one restaurantthat I didn't care for the food
and that was because it was morecatered towards like vegan and
vegetarian, and they do havewhat they call a naughty menu
like N-A-U-T-I, like nautical,they call it the naughty menu
and there is meat.
But the piece of snapper that Iordered, it just it was bad.
(08:44):
I don't know what happened.
I don't know what happened inthat restaurant but my
girlfriend loved her chicken.
So Razzle Dazzle is the onlyrestaurant I would say avoid and
go to the others first.
So they have it kind of themed.
So the dining, the way it workson Virgin is you make a
reservation for whateverrestaurant you want and you
don't have to pay extra.
(09:04):
So I loved that aspect of it.
I didn't feel like I was nickeland dimed on the ship.
Gratuities were all included.
Basic drinks, sodas, juiceswere included, because on other
cruise ships you have to pay fora drink package or buy a
special cup or dry it.
You know, buy a soda package.
Basic wifi was included.
You could upgrade it if youwanted to.
(09:25):
I did notice my service wasn'tthe best, but I didn't care, I
was unplugging, I didn't want tobe on my phone all that much.
So I felt like it was a veryhigh end all inclusive
experience and of course you canstill tip extra cash if you
want to.
It's not an expectation.
You can tell they take verygood care of their crew.
I don't know because I'm not acrew member, but it felt like
(09:48):
the crew was very happy and theywere able to engage with us.
So at one point there was thisguy in the smoking lounge
because my friend's a smoker.
So we went in the smokinglounge and it was an I clearly
see he was an employee and he'shaving a cigarette and I was
like shocked that they were ableto mingle with the guests and
they absolutely were.
(10:08):
It was very inclusive.
They wanted everybody to feellike they were important,
whether you were the crew or thesailor, and it was just.
It was fantastic.
So back to the food a little bit.
So the way they do it is theyhave different themed
restaurants, so everything is avery high end luxury feel
without any extra pricing.
You can upgrade your meals inthe restaurants and pay extra if
(10:31):
you want to.
So, like, for example, we wentto the Wake, which is their
steakhouse, and normally if youwanted to go to the steakhouse
on another ship you have to makea reservation.
It would be a charged dinner.
The Wake had filet mignon wasincluded and there was an
amazing assortment of appetizersand desserts.
It was great, and so, forexample, like the seafood tower,
(10:53):
if you wanted the seafood towerwas like an extra $55 and they
would bring it to your table andyou would just charge to the
room.
But we didn't get that.
So, funny enough, the casinohost offered it to us, but we
don't eat that much.
So we were like no, we don'teat the extra food, don't waste
it on us.
The overall experience of thefood amazing.
They had a Korean barbecueplace, they had an Italian place
(11:14):
, they had a Mexican place, theyhad the steakhouse and then the
vegan restaurant, which Ididn't care for that one.
So I think if I had toprioritize it for you, I'd say
get the Wake, get the Italianplace, get the pink agave and go
to the Korean barbecue.
Now, aside from that, there wasno buffet.
So you're thinking, well, whatam I eating if I'm hungry?
(11:35):
There was an amazing assortmentof all these different stations
and you sit and they serve youin, like the regular area which
would have been a buffet onanother ship.
You can go up and get the foodyourself, or you sit and they
serve you, but you don't take itwith your hands.
So it was great.
(11:55):
Now, they had a ramen noodlestation.
They had a taco Like.
It was almost like a food truckstyle, like there was different
stations for different types offood All day breakfast, all day
.
You know, like burgers, they hadbento boxes that were grab and
go.
So there was, like morning,bento boxes with, like fruit and
yogurt, parfait, cheese and,you know, charcuterie that you
(12:18):
could grab and go salads,chicken salads, sandwiches,
stuff like that that were easygrab and go.
And then they had actually asushi station where they had
sushi bento boxes.
So it was awesome.
You could sit and relax and beserved or you could grab and go,
and I loved the concept.
Aside from all that Not that Iwant to talk about food, this
entire podcast, but it's justit's happening.
(12:40):
So, aside from all that, theyhad this awesome social place
with pizza.
So it was like make your pizza,tell them what you want on it
and they do it in the brick ovenand it was delicious.
So from like 2pm to 1am youcould get pizza.
So we ordered two, took them togo, had them in our fridge and
(13:01):
then we wanted pizza.
It was ready to go.
We had it.
You know, 2am, you come back infrom the casino, you're hungry,
you have something to nosh on.
Let's go eat.
Then there was this othersocial place that had like
chicken wings, popcorn, floats,soft pretzels, a whole candy
case with like cake pops andfudge.
(13:23):
It was kind of like AtlanticCity-ish saltwater taffy
twizzlers, swedish fish, likejust treats and candies.
So there was no shortage ofsomething to snack on.
If you wanted to take somethingback to your room for later, we
wanted to take something offthe ship.
It was amazing.
So I can't say enough.
Excuse me, I'm a little tiredright now.
(13:43):
I'm a little tired.
I'm in Cocoa Beach and I'm inrelaxed mode, but I cannot say
enough about how amazing thatship was.
The entertainment I didn't seemany of the shows because I was
in the casino a lot.
We had the best time ever.
We did very well gambling onthe ship, had a great time, met
(14:04):
some great people with awesomeenergy and everybody was just so
nice.
The staff was nice, everybodywas so great.
The crew was amazing.
So if you can afford to spend alittle extra, if you're not a
gambler, and go on the VirginVoyages I highly recommend.
There was only a few tweaks, Ithink in the survey that I gave
(14:28):
that I had said could beimproved.
I think it's always importantto leave a little room for
improvement and suggestions.
So I did the survey and Iactually earned a free cruise.
So I'm going again.
So I'm very excited.
All right, met some greatpeople and I usually leave the
ship with at least one or twoconnections that I stay in touch
(14:49):
with.
So that was kind of fun.
Now I'm back, I get home andunfortunately I come off this
high of my 50th birthdaycelebration and I find out that
my sister had passed away.
So I have been trying tobalance joy and loss and it
seems like an every two yearthing for me that I lose
(15:10):
somebody in my family.
So it's just been a littletough and it just makes me think
is it okay to have fun when I'mexperiencing grief?
And how do you find joy whenyou're in grief?
And everybody processes griefdifferently.
So I'm a big fan of differentpodcasts and so now I'm kind of
searching for some that help us,you know, with the grief
(15:32):
process.
But my podcast is about fun andliving life to your fullest and
I'm live, laugh.
Lydia and I got to be livingevery day like it's my last, and
I got to be having fun andlaughing, otherwise I'm out, and
so it's that balance, you know.
So this week I'm in Cocoa Beach,I'm having a great time, I'm
going to be here for a week andI'm just in my happy place and
(15:55):
I'm realizing the importance andthe value of connections.
So last year actually not lastyear in May, when I was here on
a little weekend trip with myhusband, we went to see one of
our favorite tribute bands.
They were playing a Cocoa Beachand that's all I needed to hear
.
I was like one of my favoritelittle local bands is playing in
my happy place.
I'm in, we're booking a weekendand I think it's important that
you have to budget for thoselittle weekend getaways and I
(16:19):
think it's important to stayconnected with your spouse.
My spouse and I hadn't done alot of traveling since COVID.
I had done some travel for workthis summer and kind of got
back out of the swing of thingsand I traveled to Denver to see
my sister.
But the fun travel, the just goaway for a weekend and sleep in
(16:40):
, don't set an alarm, be aroundto do whatever you want.
That's happening locally.
So we came back in May to seeone of our favorite tribute
bands and there's this littleplace in Cocoa Beach, if you
ever get here.
It's a new place, it's calledArea 142 and it's got food, it's
got drinks, it's got liveentertainment and it's really
nice in downtown Cocoa Beach andit's very awesome and it's a
(17:01):
new discovery for me.
And so we were at this TributeBand concert and this couple
asked if they could share ourtable because the seating was
limited and we were like, yeah,sure, come on, sit down.
So we start chatting and I'mtalking to this lady and I
noticed she's got the cutestearrings on and I love earrings.
So I was like, oh, I love yourearrings.
(17:22):
She's like I make them.
I was like, oh, my gosh,they're so great.
I'm like what's your?
Do you have them in a store orhow do you sell them?
She's like well, I sell online.
Obviously, I do little kiosksand I'm just starting out.
And I said, well, I'd love tosupport your business.
So I followed her on Instagram.
Her name is Salty Raise, soSalty, and then it's
S-A-L-T-Y-R-A-Y-Z and I said,when I come back up to Cocoa
(17:45):
Beach for the summer, I'm gonnacome meet up with you and shop
your collection.
So I did so.
Today I'm wearing Salty Raiseearrings.
You can see them on InstagramI'll post a picture.
But we made a connection and Isaid this lady is so nice and as
an adult.
Mel Robbins recently had apodcast episode where she was
(18:07):
like why is it so hard to makefriends as adults?
It just takes one conversationright, and she had made a
suggestion.
When you're out and about andyou see something you like, say
it like compliment.
Somebody is a greatconversation starter.
So just me saying hey, I loveyour earrings.
Now I feel like we are gonna belifelong friends and it's okay
(18:27):
to add new friends into the mix.
If you have room, it's okay tosay goodbye to some old friends,
which I have done recently, andwhen people leave your life, I
always say it's for a reason orif they're not making time for
you, they have other stuff goingon.
Don't take it personal.
Be in your moment.
Do what's making you happy.
If you meet somebody new andfabulous that you connect with,
(18:51):
leverage that, embrace it anddevelop those relationships.
So, anyway, that was excitingme very much.
So I'm gonna take a sip of mycoffee because I'm needing to be
caffeinated.
Today I've been trying to addmy protein shake to my coffee.
It's just kind of like a two inone, I get the protein grams I
(19:14):
need and the coffee caffeinethat I'm looking for.
All right, let's get into acouple things that are trending
today.
What is trending out there inthe internet?
Well, for starters, arianaGrande separated from her
husband and they are swimming indivorce rumors that don't seem
(19:36):
to be rumors anymore.
And then people are beingcritical of the person that
she's dating.
So they're saying that she fellin love with one of her
co-stars on the movie she'sfilming.
By the way, if you didn't knowthat, ariana Grande is filming a
movie, not only is she filminga movie, she's filming a movie
based on one of my favoritemusicals of all time Wicked the
(19:58):
Musical, which I have seen 14times and I am sorry, not sorry,
not ashamed.
Every single time it comes totown, I see it, I love it, it's
my favorite Broadway show and Ilove to support the arts.
So, anyway, people arecriticizing Ariana Grande for
(20:19):
possibly dating her new, herco-star, and they're just saying
that the pair wasn't a good fit.
And you know what?
Honestly, it's not our business, but because they're famous and
they're in the spotlight and wewere rooting for them to
survive getting married so young.
You know, apparently, you knowthey're criticizing her because
(20:42):
they're saying that she's datingher wicked co-star, ethan
Slater.
They're criticizing his looks.
You know what?
It's not our business, okay.
So unless Ariana Grande ispaying my bills, it doesn't
matter to me.
But you know, that's our popculture, we're fascinated by it.
Wishing them all the best,because there is no privacy in
(21:03):
publicity, that's for sure.
All right, that is trending.
People are also talking aboutthe fact that Jordan Woods and
Kylie Jenner might have made upAgain.
Really don't care, but I like tosee forgiveness because I think
a lot of times.
You know, people do shittythings and they hurt us, and I'm
(21:26):
always nice and I try toforgive, forgive, forgive,
because I don't want thenegative energy.
So I want to forgive and moveon.
Some people can't move on, somepeople cannot forgive.
So if they really did becomefriends again, good for them.
I like to see forgiveness.
Lastly, because I like to keepthings in threes, let's talk
about Barbie.
(21:47):
I was trying to avoid this andI don't even know why.
I was mad at it because whenall the Barbie marketing started
Barbie, listen to me, barbie,that could be a new handle.
So last year, glam Light cameout with this Barbie palette and
this whole PR box collection,and I bought it for my daughter
just because it was pretty.
It was her birthday and Iwanted to surprise her with this
(22:09):
like awesome palette.
And I had no idea they wereeven making a movie about Barbie
and I had no idea what theramifications of this was gonna
be, but I just thought it wascute so I bought it for her.
Now it's like a hot commodity.
So the Barbie movie andmarketing has exploded Like to
the point where I just I don'tthink I wanted to support it,
(22:31):
just because I was like this isridiculous, they don't need my
money.
But now today I have watchedthe trailer for the Barbie movie
and I'm like, oh my God, Igotta see this movie.
Now, if you're a woman, ifyou're a girl and you grew up
playing with Barbies, or ifyou're a kid because you know my
son he used to play with hisdaughter, my daughter's dolls,
(22:53):
his sister's dolls because hewas a boy and he had nobody to
play with but a girl, so he wasplaying with everybody.
So if you grew up, like I did,without the internet, without
social media, without wealth andlike all these crazy fancy toys
, the one thing you absolutelyhad was your Barbies right?
They were not expensive.
You maybe didn't have all theclothes.
(23:15):
Maybe you didn't have theBarbie Dream House.
Looking back on it, I did.
I had the Barbie Dream Housewith the townhouse.
It was three levels with thelittle elevator with the strings
that went up and down, and Iloved playing Barbies with my
friends.
It was like what is Barbie gonnado today?
Which career is she going to be?
What outfit is she going towear?
(23:36):
And I used to love, like theBob Mackie, designer clothes.
Oh my God, we're going to havememory lane here.
But even if you were poor, youhad a cheap Barbie.
You had some version of aBarbie.
If it came from the dollarstore or the Walmart, it didn't
matter, but you had or Toys R Us, you had a Barbie.
Can you, can you just take meback for one minute to Toys R Us
(23:58):
?
And walking in and having anentire Mattel aisle full of
Barbie Unbelievable.
Anyway, I'm gonna wrap it uphere soon.
But the Barbie movie trailer.
Once I watched it I was like,oh yeah, they're suckering me in
.
I'm gonna definitely go seethis movie.
So my kids are coming up todayto spend time with me at Cocoa
(24:20):
Beach and we are definitelygonna have a movie night.
What else is on my agenda today?
I am going to the spa.
My husband gifted me a giftcertificate and I'm gonna go
have like a body salt scrub, mudwrap situation I don't know.
I'm gonna do something good formy skin because it's gonna take
a lot of abuse when I'm here inthe sun, and Today I'm just
(24:41):
gonna do something for myself.
That is self-care.
I was a guest on a podcast today.
I recorded an episode of mypodcast today.
I worked to check some emailsand I, you know, made some
things happen on work side.
So today the rest of the day isgonna be for me to join my
vacation.
I am wearing my cute saltyraised earrings and I know
(25:04):
what's gonna happen.
I'm gonna be out and about andsomebody's gonna compliment my
earrings.
I'm gonna be like oh yeah,they're salty raised.
You should give them a followon Instagram.
Let's be supportive of eachother.
Let's find balance.
Let's work hard, play hard,love hard.
Let's support local businessand support people with their
e-commerce and their Instagrampages and Somebody out there
(25:24):
crafting and making somethingonline that they're selling.
Let's do all the things thatbring us joy as we're trying to
find balance and just survive.
But if you got to wake up today,congratulations.
If you got the gift of today,make the most of it.
If you are listening to thispodcast around the world, drop a
(25:48):
rating and a review.
Tell me where you're listeningfrom.
I'm so thankful for you.
I'm so thankful that you'rehere and I'm gonna try to.
I say this every episode andI'm really gonna do it.
I want to try to get here atleast once a week.
I'd love to podcast twice aweek, but at least once a week.
I'm gonna try to get morecontent out there because I love
you guys.
I thank you so much forsupporting me and I just want to
(26:12):
wish you the best day ever.
Go out there and be amazing andDo something for yourself that
you love, to make you happy andfind your joy.
I'll see you next time.
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