Bali moon is for couples who dream about a romantic getaway and have always had Bali on the top of their list. I will be honest, Bali was not my favorite island when I traveled through Indonesia – but here at Bali Moon I fell in love.

You avoid the hustle and bustle of the beach in Kuta or the tourist crowds in Sanur. Even in Ubud you are able to hide out in the middle of a rice fields and find peace and quiet while on your honeymoon.  At Bali moon you feel as if you are on an island all by yourself, you have delicious breakfast delivered to your veranda ever morning and your room cleaned daily with fresh flowers decorating the room.

Made, Wayan and family who run the guesthouse, welcome you into their home and show you true Balinese hospitality. Made is a great cook who studied abroad in Austria and you will be able to taste his great recipes every morning for breakfast!

If you have had enough time alone together in the beautiful room, you can get out and enjoy great hiking through Ubud, the Monkey forest or visit Bali Pulina for a coffee tasting. Rent a motorbike and drive up through Mt Batur or go to the beach for the day. Staying in Ubud puts you in the center of Bali, giving you flexibility to take day trips north or to southern Bali.  While we were in Bali we didn’t have time to make it north, where all the locals suggest is the most beautiful!

If you are planning a honeymoon in Bali, I highly suggest Bali Moon. You will find plenty of hotels and resorts in Bali catering to couples, but the kindness you find at this guesthouse is unmatched. You will not be just another room at this guesthouse,  you will be part of their family.  They don’t speak perfect English, but for me the great thing about traveling is you get to adventure outside of your comfort zone, finding new experiences and meeting wonderful people along the way. A smile is the same in every language!

Email Made at:   made_hibiscus@yahoo.com

Bali Moon’s website

Working out for your wedding will be both tough and rewarding. It will help control your stress levels and change up your routine when the day seems to be filled with wedding to do lists. With all of the exercise you will be doing, taking the time to stretch and improve your flexibility is a must! You are only as strong as you are flexible.

Check out these great morning exercises at FitSugar

I have had clients who spend their workout looking in the mirror complaining that their shirt doesn’t flatter them – The gym is NOT the place to be worrying about how you look.

Here are a few of my favorite brands/outfits etc!

Pace Setter Skirt – Lululemon

Wunder Under Crops – Lululemon

Power Yoga Tank - Lucy

Stride Jacket – Lululemon

Kokomo Dress – Athleta

I am obviously bias to Lululemon clothes. They are a bit more expensive, but every woman I have known to wear their clothes feels great in them.  Also the way their clothes are designed truly flatters a women’s body, trust me go try on a pair of their pants!

Leave a comment with what your favorite item of clothing to workout in.  Spring and Summer weddings are around the corner – lets get in shape Brides!

While you are planning your 1 – 2 week honeymoon with your new second half, stop for a moment and consider extending it a year. Start dreaming now about leaving your world at home for 1 year and traveling together through the good and the bad, through the sickness and health. Nothing strengthens a bond more than travel. You spend a year planning a wedding, why not take the next year off to travel?

Although this may seem crazy to a lot of you reading this, I can honesty tell you that there are increasingly more couples spending a year traveling together, myself being one of them.

I can hear you now “My wedding is costing me mucho bucks, how am I supposed to afford a year long honeymoon?”

I would suggest two options:

1. Following your wedding, escape somewhere nearby for the weekend. Stay a night or two and celebrate your new marriage and then head home and start saving! Look at your budget together and cut out the Starbucks, expensive rent and eating out nightly. Create an account in your bank and start putting money in on a regular basis.

2. If you must get away for a week+, do your research and stick to a budget. Instead of asking for items on your gift list, have your guests donate money to your honeymoon fund. Trust me the spatula you registered for won’t matter when you are traveling through SE Asia. We actually sold most everything we owned before we left for our trip.

Your year long trip doesn’t have to be the same year as your wedding. Josh and I committed to this trip and have been working hard and ruthlessly saving for 3 years. We quit our jobs 3 months ago and have been exploring SE Asia since (which is why I have yet to post for almost 5 months!).

Travel together NOW!  Before the urge to put a big down payment on a house happens or before the baby bug bites. Spend time getting to know each other and enjoying your marriage before you add in more parts in the puzzle.

Here are a few articles I have written on our travel blog Traveling 9 to 5

Why I retired at age 26

What Pushed us Over the Edge to Travel 

Why you should stop shoulding on yourself 

We are traveling the world because we are rich

How to tell your job you are leaving to travel the world

Our Itinerary

A little about Josh and I

How to plan your own RTW Trip Part 1 & Part 2

Are you convinced yet? Have you reached for your planner and picked a date? Did the possibility of a year of travel excite you? Let me know when you start planning – I have lots of travel tips to share!

Playing with my new nephew.

Baking Yummy Cookies.

Walking along the lakeside with my wonderful husband.

Going to Cubs Games.

Beaching it.

Hanging with my loving family.

Spreading Hearts.

Making BIG Plans. More to come on this one!

Stick with me as the summer ends and I catch you all up on the trends, tips and details that shouldn’t be missed.

What have you been up to this summer ?!

Many women feel comfortable on the weight machines that give you a guided path as to where your arms or legs are supposed to go, which I think are a great starting point.  Getting off the machines and embracing the flexibility dumbbells offer will help increase the intensity of your workout.  I love being able to get creative with dumbbells and let your body move and grow stronger in its natural range of motion.

When I work with brides the main body parts that they want to improve and see definition in is their arms and back.  They want to be able to wear their dress with confidence and pride to show off the hard work they put into it. Here are four of my favorite dumbbell exercises to tone your arms.

1. Stability Ball Push-ups

These will test your core while you walk out and balance on the ball, but will assist you in lifting your body weight. Pushups are one of the best overall body exercises you can do. Women please dont shy away from these!  If you dont have a stability ball available, start with pushups on your knees and go down as deep as possible keeping your core and lower back from dipping.

2. Squat with Overhead Press

This full body exercise will get your heart pumping.  Keep your heels driven in as you squat down and core engaged.  Avoid dropping your elbows down by keeping them strong throughout the exercise and push them high above your head together.

3. Chest Press

Drive the dumbbells up in a straight line over your chest, engage your core and keep the intensity at a controlled pace.  Dumbbells will ensure you are turning on your stabilizer muscles in your shoulders more than you would in a barbell chest press.

4. Standing Tricep Pressdown

Use the lat pull down machine for this next exercise. You will be working mainly your triceps and lats/back muscles. Keep your arms straight as you pull down the straight bar to your hips and control it as it returns to its starting point.

Do 12 – 15 reps of each exercise  and repeat the entire circuit 3-4x. The last few times you go through the circuit is when your muscles will get the most out of the exercise.

What are other ways you enjoy using dumbbells to tone up?

Cruise

A great example is the Caribbean Islands Marathon Cruise on the Royal Caribbean Cruise line where you will tackle four different islands with four different races along the way. You will be running along side participants from across the country with a variety of experiences. Share your past running stories while seeing a new island every day. Each new run will have different scenery, hills, and distance so you will always be engaged in the run.

Or try Visiting the Hawaiian Islands with the Run – Hawaii Cruise and hit three different islands while you run past beautiful scenery and enjoy days off in between to recover for the next run! A sample schedule can be found here to see what each day would look like on the cruise.  Your family and friends are encouraged to join you and can plan excursions on the trip for each island or they can cheer you on during your run.

If you would prefer to stay closer to the states, join the first marathon cruise down the New England coast and Canada in October of 2011 where you will run in one of the Maine Marathon events and continue on to experience national parks, pubs and group activities while on board. And don’t forget to refuel after your long run with the buffet’s and top notch service on the cruise lines.  Many of the cruise lines now offer exquisite gyms and spas as well as healthy food options for the calorie conscious.

So if you have a love of traveling with an urge to travel – try checking out a marathon cruise that is planned by runners…designed for runners!

Brides - go on a weekend marathon cruise for your bachelorette party and encourage all of your girls to start training together for the runs! Having the social support will help you all encourage each other to get in shape while having fun at night after your long runs on the ship together.  Or plan your honeymoon on one of these marathon cruises and you and your fiance can start training now together.  You can look forward to completing your first marathon together as a married couple.  Your goals of getting in shape and completing a marathon can all come together as you prepare for your honeymoon marathon.  See the world on your own two feet!

I would love to hear from any of the readers who have gone on or considered a marathon cruise vacation before.

Shabby Apple is a great online boutique that has specifically designed dresses to fit almost every wedding style. Their bridesmaid line of dresses offers several stylish dresses to choose from, but I encourage you to go through all of their designs and find the one that best fits your personality!  When I look at their dresses each photo tells a story and I would love to hear which dress is your favorite and what story you are telling for your big day!

Chic, Sunny and Sophisticated…

Happy Talk

Fun, Flirty and Fashionable….

L’Opera

Vintage Inspired & Simply Stunning ….

B 17 Bombshell

The classic Black Dress with the utmost elegance ….

Cleo & Anthony

The Not – So Classic Black Dress – Smart & Sultry….

Syncopation

***COUPON CODE: bubblybride10off exp. 4/30/11  ***

Use the above coupon code at ShabbyApple.com and receive 10% off your order until the end of April! You can find more than dresses on this site such as maternity clothes, aprons, jewelery, and dresses for the little ones in your life!  Spend some time searching their site and let me know which style dress is your favorite.  Mine is below!