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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

{Punta Cana}

{Get ready for a picture filled, vacation extravaganza post}

Where do I even begin? Last week was incredible. If you read my surprise post last Friday, you know that Caleb and I snuck away with our best friends for a week in the Dominican Republic...Punta Cana to be exact. We scored an INCREDIBLE deal on a resort recently and honestly expected it to be a pretty basic resort. Boy were we surprised!

So I'll start from the beginning...We left last Saturday, and had a less than perfect experience with a delayed flight out of our airport in Cincy, but nothing could bring us down knowing we'd be near the beach by early evening. So, Erin and I took it upon ourselves to try out my floppy hats!

When we finally landed, we were able to get a quick bite to eat at the beach side pizzeria...#nobigdeal. The next day (and every day after this) we hit up the beach, did lunch, went to the pool, and then ended our sunny day in the hot tubs! 


 *Not so fun fact of the day - this was the day I got the worlds craziest arm burns...I straight up looked like a tiger. This was also the night that Caleb unknowingly (until the next morning) got terrible food poisoning. I was burnt, so between the two of us, we really needed a day out of the sun.






Best pictures of us, ever.
After some time relaxing, we hit up the fun little dance club they had there and danced our little hearts out for a solid 20 minutes! We just got too excited when they played our American jams.
Probably a new favorite of us :)
Honestly, each day was a little similar with our routine of breakfast, beach, laying out, pool, lunch, hot tub, dinner, etc. So I'll give you a ton of pictures to gawk at from our entire week. Enjoy!



This was on the beach!






This next shot is one I'm definitely going to print on canvas. It's just my favorite.






When people ask me how we liked the DR, I cannot say enough awesome things about their culture. This trip legitimately made me want to come home and learn to speak fluent Spanish.

This guy was part of the entertainment team...and actually spoke the best English of any employee their. He was also fluent in French, which was crazy impressive. Made me feel a little silly, but that didn't stop Erin and I from taking a picture with him! Earlier that week, he convinced us to play balloon darts (then make fun of us both for how horrible we were at it), and also to take the "stretching" class. It was great fun!







Caleb and I also, somehow, got roped into a dance competition one evening...and we actually WON! Caleb blew my socks off and I was so impressed. We won a fun DR painting, but weren't able to bring it home with us, so we struck a pose with it right before we left instead.

Last night.



I honestly couldn't have asked for two better people to go on vacation with. The four of us had been talking about doing this for years...and it was so surreal to finally make it happen. The Dominican Republic will always hold a special place in my heart! I can't wait to go back one day. The memories we made on this trip will not be ones I forget easily. So many hilarious things happened, and many more "inside jokes" were made. I love my people!

If this didn't give you a travel bug...I don't know what will :)
*congrats to anyone who made it this far.

27 comments:

  1. These pictures are beautiful! It looks like you all had so much fun! I'm going to Rivera Mya in September for my honeymoon and these pics are making me wish we could skip of summer (my fave) and head right to fall so I can be on the beach!!! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Gorgeous pictures!!! It looks like so much fun- minus the sunburn and food poisoning! Glad that it didn't keep y'all down for too long :)

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  3. Looks like you had such an awesome time! We went to DR last winter and you're right, it's so pretty there!!

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  4. Ahhh lovely! And there is something special about resort entertainment staff. I'm actually friends on facebook with one of the entertainment people from our honeymoon resort!

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  5. You make me 1) want to seriously travel with my sibling in-laws and 2) seriously travel with all of y'all ;) It looks amazing!!

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  6. Ah this gave me the travel bug even worse!! It looks SO pretty there! I'm so glad you guys had an amazing time :) Beautiful pictures!!! :)

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  7. I already told you once, but I am beyond jealous that you got to go to my happy place. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Dominican something fierce. So glad that you had the best time in one of my favorite places.

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  8. Oh I've had the travel bug all winter- and this isn't helping!! Looks like a fantastic trip :) We're actually saving up for a vacation for the fall- and DR is definitely at the top of our list!

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  9. I love the DR! That's where we went on our honeymoon this past April! It's amazing, glad yall had the best time!

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  10. The pictures you took of DR look absolutely beautiful, and that last picture is soooo adorable!

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  11. The travel bug just took over in full force...thanks allotttttt! Haha! But seriously, this looks like the best trip ever. Glad you guys had fun and took time to sneak away and relax! :)

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  12. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous pics... looks like a fantastic vacation for all of you!!

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  13. all of your pics are gorgeous! especially that one of the palm trees you plan on printing. i'm going to need to email you and erin and get some more deets from you gals. i've been thinking about an our of the country vacation for austin and i this year and hearing what great things you guys have to say about the DR, i'm going to look into it a little more!

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  14. Love this!! Im itching for another trip, btw those maxi dresses at the beginning, so gorgeous

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  15. Looks like it was beautiful and you had so much fun! There's nothing better than a vacation where you can truly relax and disconnect from everything. I'm hoping to be able to head to a resort next month and this made me even more excited!

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  16. Beautiful photos Kayla! Looks like a great time! We are hoping to get to the DR in the next year or so :)

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  17. So fun! My parent's next door neighbors are from the DR. We're gonna have to go visit with her family next time she goes! Now I have a travel bug!

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  18. Love love love all your pictures and your ridiculously adorable outfits! Ben and I have been talking about taking a tropical vacation this summer...the DR is looking like a better and better option! ;)

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  19. This looks AMAZING! And you all look so relaxed! We just got back from our honeymoon in Mexico and now we are both dying to become fluent in Spanish. We may have Rosetta Stone in our amazon cart! :-) So glad you got away and had fun!

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  20. I love ALL of these pictures os much. I am so happy you guys got to go all together and have the time of your lives :)

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  21. Can I just say how jealous I am right now??! So fun!!

    And girl! That black and white maxi!!! LOVE! Where is it from?!

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  22. you two make me so jealous that I am not a fan of my soon to be SIL... and that is just being polite about it.
    thankfully I have you in my life! who needs a legal sister anyway :)

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  23. Why couldn't you get the painting home?

    Glad you had a blast. Don't worry, the DR is on my to-do list. Just like every other place, ha! We looked into it but flights out of STL were just not right.

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  24. Sounds like the best trip ever! I'm so glad you guys had a great time. Hope you aren't too "tiger" looking still :)

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  25. I think travelling is one of the best ways to soothe oneself.
    This looked like a sweet one! :)

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  26. Aww, love it! I'm glad you guys had so much fun. I'd love to go to the DR. It looks beautiful.

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Thanks for your comments, I read and respond to every single one of them! :) Excited to get to know you!