Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas

It's Cruise Ship Saturday! Today we're talking about the Allure of the Seas.

“When there is noise and crowds, there is trouble; 
When everything is silent and perfect, 
There is just perfection and nothing 
To fill the air.” 
― Dejan Stojanovic

The first time we sailed on the 7,000 passenger Allure of the Seas we didn't enjoy it much. Our local casino gave me the trip for free and being I never say no to a cruise, we decided to take it. We didn't know much about Royal Caribbean and even less about the Allure of the Seas. A zipline and Flowrider and water park and climbing wall and carousel should have been the tip off that we would be on a ship full of children. Between the screaming kids and the full pools and the crowded buffet and not knowing our way around the ship, our old quiet selves felt a bit out of place. We found ourselves comparing criticizing the way things were done on the Allure of the Seas with the way things were done on our preferred cruise line.

But that was the first time. I didn't think there would be, but there was a second time. For some reason the local casino decided to give me another free cruise even thought I hadn't visited the casino since the last free cruise giveaway.  Of course we took it. Same ship. Same crowds. Different experience. We did continue to compare the Allure with our favorite cruise line. but we found more things on the Allure that we liked.

Escalator to get to the lower decks when disembarking in a port instead of having to use the stairs? Yes, thank you.

Mamma Mia! the musical. Yes, please. (And so much better than the movie.)

Central Park? Yes!

An empty spot that not many people know about. Yes, yes, yes!

When we were at sea you could find us in one of two places.

Central Park during the day

Central Park at night

Our favorite secret spot on the ship. Shh...don't tell anyone. 

The Friday 15

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” 
― Edward Everett Hale

My 15 for the week:
8 items sold on eBay
2 packages of things I gave away
3 bigger donations - a chair, monitor, and shelf
1 bag of glass beads for donation
+ 1 new tutorial (finally) posted to YouTube

How to use Comic Book Boards to Organize Fabric

Almaplena Eco Beach Resort in Costa Maya, Mexico

It's Wanderlust Wednesday! Today we're talking about Almaplena Eco Beach Resort in Costa Maya, Mexico.

“Sand lines my soul which is filled with the breath of the ocean.” 
― A.D. Posey

Almaplena Beach Resort knows how to draw cruisers in. Words and phrases on their Beach Break website make it difficult to resist.

*Powdery white sand and turquoise-blue water
*Secluded area away from the crowds
*Beautiful pristine beaches
*Sipping refreshing tropical drinks lying on the beach
*All you can eat
*All you can drink
*Free transportation to and from the port
*Reserved umbrellas and lounge chairs

We booked the day for the two of us. The resort sent detailed directions on how to catch the free transportation (local taxi). Exit the port area, walk a few minutes, and let the taxi stand know that Almaplena is your destination.

After an adventurous taxi ride from the cruise port we arrived at Almaplena. We were handed off to the owner and had some quick decisions to make.
*What time do you want to return to the ship? The taxi driver needed to know, as he would be the same one taking us back to the ship.
*What time do you want lunch? There are only a limited number of tables outside.
*Do you want something to drink? Open bar here. Alcoholic, nonalcoholic, soda, bottled water.

We soon came to realize the descriptions were spot on.

Food. (I can't find my food pics. Boo hoo.)

Loungers and palapas and beach and sand and water.

And a friendly dog, Bella to boot.

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How to Organize and Store Fabrics on Comic Book Boards - Tutorial Tuesday

It's Tutorial Tuesday and today we're talking about comic book boards. And fabric.

I used to read some comic books when I was a kid (mostly Richy Rich - boy, what I would have given to live that life!), but had no idea what a comic book board was. Now I know it's a piece of thick cardstock-like acid free paper that collectors use to help maintain the shape of the comic book. Like these here on Amazon.

Looking for sewing and crafting projects? 

Click here to see all my tutorials!

Every single yard of my fabrics is wrapped on the boards. I wouldn't keep my fabrics organized any other way.

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.

You can find the step-by-step how to tutorial for wrapping, storing, and organizing your fabric stash on comic book backer boards right here:

Looking for even more sewing room ideas? Check out these tips on creating a sewing room.

The Almost Tutorial Tuesday

“To conquer frustration, one must remain intensely focused on the outcome, not the obstacles.” 
― T.F. Hodge, From Within I Rise: Spiritual Triumph Over Death and Conscious Encounters with "The Divine Presence"

It was the Tutorial Tuesday that wasn't. After filming a tutorial and editing and doing a voiceover for it and exporting it and getting it ready to upload to YouTube...it didn't happen. The "free" video editing software I was using put a big old watermark across the screen. Ugh. That led me to finding another free editing software download. That wouldn't work. So onto the third free download. We'll see where I end up by the end of the night. So frustrating!

Otherwise the day was pretty darn good. Other than those two broken front windows. One broke last month and now this morning another one? How does a double-pane window crack on the inside pane - on two different windows - on the same side of the house - in two consecutive months? I so DO NOT get it. Yesterday's new packaging tape came in handy. It might look cheap but we now have clear packaging tape holding both of the windows together.

Not cheap? The tires I bought today. They look so pretty!

But the best part of the day happened before 8 a.m. I got a message from a crew member friend from India which inspired me to get my YouTube channel cleaned up - and motivated me to get back to the tutorials. And then within a few minutes of those messages going back and forth I got a call from a crew member friend who is living in Kuwait. We are so blessed to have dear friends from around the world.

And blessed that I was up early to get the message from India and the phone call from Kuwait and see the sunrise out my window in Idaho.

Motivated Monday

“When you start to do the things that you truly love, it wouldn't matter whether it is Monday or Friday; you would be so excited to wake up each morning to work on your passions.” 
― Edmond Mbiaka

Thus I was up at 4 a.m. on a Monday. There was too much to do and I needed to get an early start. I needed to:

• get some writing done.
• box up some eBay items.
• take those packages to the post office.
• buy some sewing supplies.
• buy packaging tape.
• price tires.
• take hubby for a haircut.
• take hubby to the doctor.
• go to the bank.

All those to-do thoughts lasted for only a couple hours. The cold 55 degree house had me heading back to bed before 6 a.m. Once I got warmed up in bed it was no surprise that I fell back asleep.

But I still got most of the day done. Even got a couple things done at the same time - writing in the car while hubby was in the doctor's office. I must be nuts.

Sunday Sew-In: Coupon Organizer

“Death, taxes and childbirth! There's never any convenient time for any of them.” 
~ Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind

Every year I don't spend Superbowl Sunday watching the game or the pregame or the halftime show or the commercials. I use the time to sit down at the computer and do taxes. Every single year.

I have always done our taxes. And it's always a pain. I long for the simpler days of being able to use the EZ forms! But I am also ever-so-thankful for tax preparation software. So while I'll be using that software during today's game I have other business to attend to first.

My Sew-In Sunday.

Several years ago I made a coupon organizer.

Now that I'm working on my next book (the upcoming one is a craft one) I'm needing to put together step-by-step directions for many of my creations. Except there is a bit of a problem. I didn't take good notes last time around.

So today's Sew-In Sunday is me trying to figure out what the heck I did and how the heck I'm going to do it again.

And just like last Sunday I came away with a page (and pile) of mess.

But I think I finally figured it out. I'll be using these fabrics for the instructions. But that's for another day. Since the Superbowl just now started I need to switch to tax time.