Our tenth anniversary trip to Bermuda is this month and we are beyond excited. The last time John and I traveled without kids for more than a day was when we went to Anna Maria for Shep’s babymoon in 2018. In the months leading up to this trip (we booked it in 2021!), it has felt a bit surreal and even overwhelming to think about celebrating ten years of marriage in such a beautiful place with my best friend. For several days! Now that it’s almost here, grateful doesn’t even begin to cover it. So yes, we are celebrating big, and in ways that are outside our usual scope. John and I were joking the other day that our price-sensitivity meter has been turned wayyyy down when it comes to this trip – we are purposefully splurging in ways we don’t usually, even though doing so sometimes feels uncomfortable for these two savers. That goes for the trip itself, but it also goes for what we’re packing in our suitcases! We’ve both splurged on a few special items with this trip in mind, and I thought it might be fun to share a few of them (plus a few long-time closet staples I’ll be packing, too!). BEACH DINNER DRESS | We are having a private dinner on the beach one night (if that is not the peak of fancy I don’t know what is) and I wanted to get a special dress for the occasion. This hot pink linen dress is more than I usually spend, but it is stunning in person and fits like a glove. I love it so much. DAYTIME AND DINNER DRESSES | Dresses are one of my favorite things to wear, but sometimes they don’t feel as easy to throw on when you’re toting small

Here is something you should know about my husband: he strongly dislikes cold weather. Like, gets a very mild case of SAD in the winter. (Hence our daughter’s name, in part!) For years he has dreamed about taking a warm-weather vacation in the depths of January or February, but the opportunity always snuck up on us after the holidays. That is, until this year. After a tough 2017, where, among other things, our surprise 30th birthday/fifth wedding anniversary trips fell through, we decided on a whim to finally make a snowbird getaway happen. The deciding factor was a fall Southwest Airlines sale, where we snapped up tickets to Tampa. With a destination in hand, John began researching where, exactly, we wanted to go once we landed. The criteria: warm (obviously), clear water, somewhere within driving distance of the Tampa airport, somewhere with an “Old Florida” feel, somewhere with a relaxed and laid-back vibe, and somewhere we could walk most places. Anna Maria Island checked all of those boxes and then some. Anna Maria is a tiny, white-sand sliver of a barrier island known for its beautiful beaches and quaint vibe. There are no high-rise condos or obnoxious chains. The island-wide speed limit is 35 MPH :) We stayed at the even quieter north end of the island (the Anna Maria section), and it’s so narrow that you can see the Gulf at one end of the street and turn around to see Tampa Bay at the other. We stayed at the Sunrise Garden Resort, which is really the only “hotel” at that end – it’s surrounded by colorful houses (many of them rentals), cute shops, and restaurants. We were very happy there and would absolutely recommend it over the more commercial south end of the island. Here’s how we really