Budgets, Widgets, and Extra Cash

I'm not going to lie.

I love love love to travel. Love it. But really, while I find some AMAZING deals just out of the blue, I really don't have the time or the money to just hop a plane and take advantage of these bargains.

This is super cheesy but I thought I'd tell you, I just added a new widget. 

I'm generally paranoid and suspicious of most sites that offer rewards or cash back and so far, this is the most legit well organized one I've used. I'm sharing it with you guys because frankly, it's almost the holidays and who wouldn't want to make a little extra back?

I've been using Ebates for about a year and a half and there are very few kinks to work through and it doubles some of the benefits I get already from certain booking engines and just stuff I buy in general anyway. Even better- my last $100 cash back payment paid for three meals for me and my mom in Bali a few months ago. Not bad, right?

Anyway, check out the link and sign-up if you want a quick easy way to get a little extra for your holiday season.

Vegas Staycation Part 04

I don't love Vegas but I do love the Vegas local specials.

Corey and I thought it would be fun to check out the Mob Museum which was literally right next to our hotel. The Mob Museum is located inside the old Vegas courthouse. In fact, one of the exhibits noted that a lot of the mob trials took place inside the courtroom in that very building. Pretty cool!

 The regular admission price is roughly $22 for tourists; however, we had checked in advance and timed it just right to take advantage of their super local offer. Every Tuesday after 1PM, locals are buy one get one free. And not on the regular price, on the local price. So basically our admissions for both of us came out to under $14. What a steal!

We had one last fun thing planned for our staycation. I had recently been sent an invitation for a free evening at one of my favorite places in town. The Foundation Room is a beautiful lounge at the top of Mandalay Bay. It has my absolute favorite view in Las Vegas. My offer included a free appetizer and drinks and we spent part of the evening chatting with the owner and enjoying the most amazing view of the Las Vegas Strip.

After the Foundation Room, we walked around the property a bit and then grabbed dessert. 

Pretty awesome staycation!

Vegas Staycation Part 03

After an amazing night's sleep (fluffy pillows and a nice chilly room), we were ready to start our day.

I really enjoyed the hotel from the service to the cute decor.

We had a late check-out at the hotel so we wandered down towards Fremont Street to near the Container Park for brunch. The Life is Beautiful festival had just ended two days before so some of the signage was still up and there were plenty of murals around to enjoy.

And I had to get our selfie in front of the heart made of locks at Container Park.

Our brunch spot, Eat, was a little hidden and super cute. The menu was pretty awesome with lots of great options and everything was delicious.

I really just liked the look of this place.

After brunch, we wandered a little closer to the hotel to O Face Doughnuts since I had a Groupon.

Gotta love Groupon!

I can't remember what Corey got but I had an orange Boston cream and something with guava and coconut. YUM.

Vegas Staycation Part 02

After our ice cream, we decided to utilize the cute retro style pool at the hotel.

Because who doesn't love going directly to the pool after a large meal?

The temperature was great and it was overcast enough that the sun wasn't hitting us too hard even though it was late afternoon. Corey's beers were $2 each and frankly my pina colada was a bit of a steal for Vegas at only $8. 

I do love travel planning by the pool.

After sunbathing we enjoyed watching the downtown area light up.

We changed and headed to dinner at the restaurant downstairs. The 24 hour cafe S+O not only had a great prime rib special for $9.99, we also had a free dessert (which we took to go). 

Also, the best buffalo wings I've had at a hotel in Vegas. Ever.

We wandered Fremont Street for a bit playing tourist. Corey and I had never been downtown together before so it was nice to walk around and just take in the weirdness that is downtown Vegas. 

We made one last stop at Du-Pars inside the Golden Gate Casino for some pie. I'd heard that the pie here is really great and I know my boyfriend likes pie so we thought it would be a great way to finish off our evening.

Vegas Staycation Part 01

Hey blog world!

So boyfriend and I recently did a staycation in downtown Vegas. It's the last school break for him before Christmas so we wanted to do something fun but inexpensive. I'm keeping this post relatively short because we have a few other plans for our collaboration.

I got us a room at Downtown Grand and hurray it was free! All we had to pay was the resort fee but we got a late checkout and a free upgrade courtesy of my Expedia Elite Gold membership. The room was pretty fabulous with super cute retro colors and furniture and a really gorgeous view of Fremont Street. 

Our first stop was lunch and I took boyfriend to one of my personal downtown Vegas faves- Mermaids Casino. The Nathan's Hot Dog stand inside Mermaids is a fave for locals, tourists, and foodies. No joke, I have friends who primarily do five star dining in Vegas but made this a priority on one of their many Vegas trips. It's greasy, cheap, deep fried goodness at its best. Plus- lunch for both of us was $11 total. 

Our next stop was another one of my faves that I don't get to nearly enough. The California hotel is a Hawaiian themed casino right off Fremont Street and offers lots of island favorites. It also houses one of my favorite ice cream spots in town- Lappert's. Nothing like macadamia nut ice cream to beat the early fall 100 degree temperature!

Super Trees and Chicken Rice

I really wanted to see these super trees.

After seeing photos of them floating around the internet, I decided that my last Singapore stop would be a perfect night stop. Additionally, since all I really wanted to see were the super trees, the visit was free and the only charge inside the area was the $5 charge to walk around on the OCB Skyway.

We bought our tickets right before they shut down the box office so we were the last group of people to go in. You board an elevator up to the suspended skywalk and get 15 minutes to walk around. Since it was a bit windy and the skywalk was swaying, we only took about 5 minutes.

There was a super cheesy light and color show but the trees looked pretty amazing.

 Check out that view!

After our slightly scary walk, we went to the food court for some chicken rice and laksa.

 Then headed back to the hotel and grabbed some more chicken rice.

And I did manage to get one Singapore Sling before crashing for the night.

The next morning we made our way back to Changi Airport to fly home. What an amazing week!