Travel Fashionably and Light – Anatomie Travel Wear Review

A little over a month ago I was approached to by Anatomie to check out their line of travel clothing for women, and the timing couldn’t have been better. With a number of upcoming trips; an 8 day cruise, Boston, and a 2 week trip to Europe I was on the hunt for durable, easy to clean, and wrinkle resistant clothing. After browsing their website I managed to narrow down my choices and they sent me the Lucia Lace Dress and the Skyler Skinny Pants to try.

Whenever I travel I usually bring a couple of dresses, skirts, an cute tops because I love getting dressed up. One thing I don’t like to travel with or do is iron, so I  picked out the dress to wear for one of the formal nights on the cruise ship. To test out the wrinkle-resistance in the dress I left the dress in the packaging I received it in and put it in my suitcase for the cruise. I pulled it out the day of one of the formal nights, a couple of hours before diner, and there wasn’t a single wrinkle and it fit perfectly. I love the versatility of this dress and how well it transitions well from the office, to a vacation, and even to dinner and drinks, so it will definitely be a staple in my closet.

Whenever I fly I usually travel in pants and with a blanket and pillow because I tend to get cold during the flight. Since their travel pants are their best sellers I figured I’d give them a try – you can never have too many pairs of pants right? The pants (mine are navy blue -loving nautical colors right now) were really comfy and great to wear for travel to and from the airport. I’m 5’3″ and they were a little long for me, so I’m planning to get them altered before my trip to Europe in 2 weeks. I even hand washed them in the sink and hung them up to dry, and within an hour or so they were ready for me to wear again.

Many of their pieces can be worn year-round, and all of their clothes are light weight, wrinkle-resistant, and ultra-modern. The brainchild of Kate and Shawn Boyer, Anatomie is a fashion brand created with today’s travel women in mind. From the city to the country, the ski slopes to the hiking trails this collection draws inspiration from European fashion houses and keeps you lookin fab and your luggage light during your travels. Looking for inspiration as you pack for your next trip? One of my favorite things about shopping on their site is the videos show of models wearing the clothes so you can really see how they fit from every angle. Check out these great packing guides and explore the fall collection!

Wishing you safe and happy travels! -xo AGT

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I recommend Anatomie Travel Clothing because I have tried their products first-hand and believe it is a great product. I would never recommend anything I don’t personally love. If you would like to try their travel clothes and would like to support this website in some way, using these links and letting them know AGT sent you to their site when you make your purchase will help do exactly that. If you have any questions about the clothes and my experience with them, please e-mail me or message me below. I’m always happy to answer questions!

A Love Letter to Grand Cayman

Since I’ve returned home I cannot stop thinking about Grand Cayman. I find myself daydreaming at my desk of the beautiful beaches, the food, and the amazing time I had with the girls.

Because of the coral reef and shoal water, cruise ships are unable to pull all the way into port, so our cruise ship anchored just off the island and a tender service was used to bring everyone to shore. The weather was beautiful that day and we had no excursion planned, so we took the tender to the island and caught a taxi to the Surf Lodge on 7 Mile Beach.

We grabbed a cabana at the surf lodge, rented snorkeling gear and floating beach mats for super cheap, and never left lol. The DJ had us dancing all day long, the locals and fellow cruise ship travelers kept us laughing, and sunshine left us sun-kissed.

I like that cruising gives you the opportunity to explore places you have need been to, but it’s definitely a bit of a teaser. Grand Cayman is definitely on my list of places to return to. I’d like to spend more time exploring the island, chatting with locals, dancing the night away, and of course lounging on its beautiful beaches. Have you ever been to Grand Cayman? Is there that you’d recommend I do on my next visit?

Wishing you Happy and Safe Travels! -xo AGT

Behind the Scenes – Freedom of the Seas

One of the most important parts of a cruise vacation is the food then of course there’s the drink packages, onboard entertainment, and a working cooling and sanitation system close behind. Onboard Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas there are 14 kitchens, 156 Chefs, 88 Greeter staff, and 9 members of Management – all working to ensure that over 20,000 – 30,000 meals get prepared each day.

Dharmesh Badani, the head supervisor for our dinning room was kind enough to set us up with a private behind the scenes tour so that we can see where the magic happens before the food makes it to our table. So, Saturday morning the girls and I met with one of the executive chefs.

The first thing I noticed upon entering the kitchen area is how clean and organized everything was, and chef informed us that the ship had is last health inspection on August 25, 2013 and they scored a 97 out 100 which outstanding. Often times scores are reduced due to human error when you are working with new crew members each voyage, so the amount of training that is involved in ensuring all of the proper safe precautions are taken is extensive.

Nothing leaves the kitchen without being inspected. Dinner is reviewed and taste tested everyday for quality and flavor, and any changes needed are made prior to the main dinner seating at 6pm.

Those yummy rolls and breads that they bring out before your appetizers, they make about 30,000 of those daily. Holy Carbs! The chefs do have some assistance in speeding up the process though. We watched as the sourdough was kneaded, spread out, and placed in a machine to form the rolls – ready to go into the oven in a matter of minutes!

We watched as lunch service was going on and diner service was being prepped, and everything ran smoothly and flawlessly. It was awesome to see everything that goes into ensuring that you have an excellent dinner while onboard. I had a few nights where  there wasn’t anything particular that I liked on the menu, so they were willing to prepare me something to my liking and I had a vegetarian Indian meal on two separate nights. And I was pleasantly surprised to see a vegetarian meatball entree and a sweet and sour vegetarian chicken entree on the menu towards the end of the cruise. As a pescatarian I like to have options and I don’t want to eat just carbs for dinner.

One of my favorite things about meal time on a cruise is the opportunity to try to try new foods. Just watch out and make sure you don’t gain the “cruise ship 5” :) Do you like dinning on a cruise ship? Did you try anything new?

Happy Cruising and Safe Travels! -xo AGT