Lifestyle Archives - Page 2 of 47

You, Me, and our baby moon

Dec 13, 2022 | Lifestyle, Travel

After an eventful first few days in Samoa for our combined girls trip, Ian and I were in full-on baby moon mode.

We settled in to our cozy AirBnB beach fale at Maninoa and planned a couple activities to take advantage of our time on the south side of the island.

We ventured off to check out Return to Paradise Resort, where my 2020 wedding was supposed to take place, but has been postponed for the umpteenth time lol… it’s okay, we’re not salty about it! It was a great excuse to go back and meet with the lovely team who we’ve been emailing with, and have lunch there.

Then we drove over to the Savaia Giant Clam Sanctuary (click here to read my blog post about that experience!) and swam for the afternoon with the colorful giant bivalves.

By the time we were done with our adventures, it was dinnertime. We ordered off the menu at the little surf shack style beach resto, Ocean Club Maninoa. We ordered the chicken adobo and crispy pork, both were amazinggg. And for drinks, Ian couldn’t say no to an ice cold local Vailima brew and I indulged in the fresh sasalapa smoothie.

Inspired by the warmth of the waning sunset light and the feeling of raw and natural happiness in my heart, I sat on the beach and took photos to remember these moments.

Ian rented a paddle board to catch a sunset surf in the reef break off in the distance. I paddled around for a bit with my 28 week baby bump, and we hugged and kissed and cocooned in bed back in our beach fale for the night. I love the feeling of magic that Samoa gives us…

when it’s just you, me, and our baby moon.

xoxo,

Nerelle

Giant Clams are GIANT

Nov 9, 2022 | Lifestyle, Motherhood

A gallery from our babymoon excursion to Savaia, Samoa, where they have a giant clam sanctuary. Ian and I always try to visit whenever we’re in Samoa to see how the clams are faring, and enjoy whenever we’re on the south side of the island.

We paid our entrance fee to the family living nearby (the fees go towards village community funds which protect this marine sanctuary area), and got in the lagoon. There are two mixed fresh and saltwater rock pools as soon as you enter, but we skipped those and snorkeled out to the buoy markers where the clams were.

However, we couldn’t find it for like the first two hours!! We swam to the spot where we remember swimming to last time, but after several failed attempts getting out and getting back in the water to find the clams, and almost giving up the third time, I looked it up online to double check the location and we just missed it by a little bit! It can be found by swimming several hundred meters straight out and is right in the middle of the buoy markers.

We swam over again and stayed for another hour to hang out and admire the colorful and unique patterns from the four species of giant clams: Tridacna gigas, T. maxima, T. noae, and T. squamosa. The largest species, T. gigas, is the world’s largest bivalve species, so it always gives us a feeling of awe and inspiration to see such a magical creation with our own eyes.

Baby Moon in Samoa

Nov 3, 2022 | Lifestyle, Motherhood

Flashback to a few months ago… My life was looking and feeling way too busy that I wasn’t really able to enjoy even being pregnant throughout my second trimester. I had more energy and was feeling more “normal” — thankfully. But that actually made me work harder than I probably should have, and I hurried to get as much stuff done as I could do before the impending third trimester, because I heard it was a toughie… *IT IS!

*Me now in the third trimester

Towards the end of my second trimester, I finally booked our tickets and planned our baby moon trip. It was a sort of a combo between a girls trip to celebrate our gal pal, Sam, who was getting married soon, and then I double ended it with a baby moon for me and Ian to soak up our alone time with just us and the baby bump.

The borders were finally open — Let’s go to Samoa!

We all checked in to Taumeasina Island Resort to spend a few days in luxury with all our friends. We got together for fancy dinners out, and swam and hung out by the pool. Ian paid for a 90-minute prenatal massage at the Fofo Spa because I deserved it, he said! So sweet.

Waking up each morning felt romantic, with the light pouring in through the gauzy floor to ceiling curtains that lined the walls, and when drawn, we would take in the expansive ocean views from our Deluxe Oceanview Hotel Room. We were on the first floor, which I greatly preferred because: 1) I wouldn’t have to trudge up any stairs with my newest pregnancy symptom, pelvic girdle pain, and 2) we could walk right out to the lawn and enjoy coffee outside on our patio.

Our group got a rental van and took a road trip to the south of the island for a little adventure. Because of course, what’s a trip to Samoa without visiting the famous To Sua Ocean Trench?!

With tourism just ramping back up in Samoa, there was a small crowd already there, but we got to enjoy the saltwater trench all to ourselves for about an hour too before heading back to our hotel, and going out for pizzas at Giordanos that night.

For our last night of girls night, we went on a fancy dinner out to Paddles Italian Restaurant. We all got dolled up and toasted pretty beverages to a pink and orange setting sun and feasted on all the appetizers, literally. We ordered one of everything on the appetizer menu, and by the time our entrees came out, we were pretty full and most of us took leftovers back with us. The groom to be had won big at the casino so dinner was graciously covered by his good fortune!

When we got back to the hotel, some of the girls caught the second half of the Friday entertainment by the infamous Cindy of Samoa. Meanwhile some of us went back to one of the rooms and prepared some naughty decor and drinks to surprise the soon to be Mrs. with a girls night out on the town — Vegas bachelorette style — complete with a party bus, dedicated driver, all black sexy outfits, and sassy bachelorette sashes for us and the bride to be.

With me being at the cusp of my third trimester, I impressed myself by going out in heels (though they were moderate in height), dancing sober while managing my pelvic pain, and staying out till the club closed down just past midnight (thank God it wasn’t at 2am like back home in AS).

When we finally were done for the night, I jumped back into my cozy bed back at the hotel and by mid-morning, we were packed and checked out, and ready to officially hit the road to start our baby moon!

Ian and I got a car rental and roadtripped it to the south side of the island towards Maninoa Beach Fales. Nestled between two very posh resorts, Sinalei Reef Resort and Coconuts Resort, the spot we booked through AirBnb was the perfect vibe for us. The azure sea and sky welcomed us warmly and we settled in comfortably in our beach fale.

There was a small beach wedding party there when we arrived, but they were just there for the day, and Ian and I got the beach all to ourselves for the evening. Ian dug me up a belly hole so I could lay on my belly, FINALLY, and relax in the shade with a book.

After a big night out for me, I wanted to take it super easy, so I laid out on the beach all afternoon while Ian went and made friends with some of the guys who let him take out a paddle board out for a few hours of SUP surfing.

I felt blissed out and after a shower and a delicious dinner, we chatted in bed about baby and our future and cuddled until the stars came out.

A Tropical Beachy Baby Shower

Oct 18, 2022 | Lifestyle, Motherhood

10.10.2022

I feel soooo lucky to call this place home, surrounded by some of the best friends a gal could ask for!

My girlfriends planned this tropical beachy baby shower for me, Ian, and baby Moffitt.

My only request was for it to be a co-ed event so our village of fam and friends — guys, gals, and pets — could join in.

We started off on island time, of course… just a couple hours after the start time on the invitation 😉

Dad started us off with a word of prayer.

Then a buffet of food was ready to be devoured. On the menu, we had:

Steaks, burgers, hot dogs from the grill thanks to Tim and Sam
A colorful green salad by Chef Dee
Mac salad and vaitipolo (freshly squeezed Samoan lemonade) by Traci and Ano
Filipino pancit by my mama
The best brownies on island, also by Traci and Ano

Everyone rallied for games like guess mama’s bump size, guess the age of baby Relly and baby Ian in the pics (these were displayed as cute centerpieces for each table), tinkle in the potty race, head-shoulders-knees-and-toes grab the diapers as fast as you can, and poppin’ bottles of beer and baby food.

My mom gave some words of advice.

Then Ian went up to the house and brought Yodi down in preparation for our version of a “gender reveal”…

Many thanks to Traci for giving us the idea just hours before the baby shower to have Yodi reveal the gender… we otherwise were just going to announce it by telling everyone because everything else seemed cheesy. Anyway! I had quickly made Yodi a bandana earlier in the morning using fabric scraps from an old tropical green lavalava, and hand stitched a canvas triangle scrap over the green fabric where I used acrylic paint to write out “It’s A Girl”.

For the gender reveal, we asked everyone to stand to our left if they thought it was a girl, and to the right if they thought it was a boy. When the groups were split, we gave one of our friends a piece of hamburger meat so Yodi would go to that side. Gabby counted us down and then we released Yodi from her leash and unfurled her bandana around her neck. It was pretty chaotic because Yodi ran the complete other way at first because she was so excited. From the folks who guessed boy, half yelled and half sighed because they saw that her bandana said “It’s A Girl”, and everyone that guessed girl, all yelled too! They were right!! It was cute.

While Ian and I generally think that gender reveals are a bit dated, and silly, it was a fun way to tell everyone at the same time what the doctor told us… there’s a hamburger down there, not a hot dog! hahaha.

To close off the baby shower, Ian and I shared our heartfelt thanks with everyone. We had a lot of fun, and I was happy that it was still early enough in the afternoon for us to just hang out, or dip out if we wanted to.

I changed into a bikini and got in the water to relax the rest of the day. I was only planning on hanging out in the water for an hour or two… but I ended up staying in the water until a little after 9pm (!) and we saw an epic full moon rise up out of the horizon. It was huge and bright red! It felt like the perfect way to cap the evening — under the moon and stars with our friends, and my little kicking baby bump.

Yes, I’m a Baby Mama

Oct 4, 2022 | Lifestyle, Motherhood

At this point, it’s “old news” but since I’ve not been able to get on my blog for a long while, it’s “new news” on here…

I’m pregnant!

Yes, I’m a Baby Mama!

I am now in my third trimester, and gobsmacked at how fast the time has flown, but also wondering if the next last months are going to drag out. I’m patient though. Baby is kicking a lot and I have grown and changed a lotttt.

Being pregnant is a beautiful thing. I’ve been looking forward to this experience since the Mr. and I decided we were ready to start a family last year. And to be honest, I’ve had a bit of a rough go at pregnancy — nothing too crazy, but it’s been a roller coaster for sure. These days, even with all the aches and pains that come along with growing a human, I’m grateful to be where we are now, and for an exciting new chapter to come.

I’m adding a “Motherhood” category on my blog so in the future I can look back at this whole adventure, and in the meantime, share my evolution in words and photos whilst in the throes of my new life as a mama.

Cheers to me (honestly) and to all the mamas out there!

Sending all the hugs and belly rubs to new moms-to-be too!

xo, Nerelle

Photos of me at 24 weeks pregnant by my darling husband.

Website is back up!!

Oct 4, 2022 | Lifestyle, Moments

Oh. My. God. Finally.

My website somehow got hacked and was infected with malware and phishing codes (?!) and thus got suspended. I have no idea how it happened, but when it went down, I thought…that’s it. My website is gone forever. I spent a long time working with web support from my site’s hosting provider, and now, it’s many months later…

and WE’RE BACK BABY!!!

Speaking of “baby”… I’m pregnant! But that is a whole ‘nother story for another blog post.

I’m just so glad to be back in my space of the internet.

Lots of updates and random musings to come!

xo, Nerelle

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