Month: September 2018

Alaska | Adventures in the Last Frontier

Posted on by annamae161@gmail.com

Alaska may be part of the United States but parts of it truly feel like another planet. It is one of the most beautiful and unique places I have ever been to, so I wanted to share with you all where specifically I went, and a few things to do in each location. If you have ever seen Alaska pinned up against a map of the United States, it is absolutely HUGE (Donald Trump voice). There are so many places to explore, so hopefully hearing about the places I went to will help you plan your trip if you are headed here anytime soon.

The first thing I will say before I go into the details, is that going via cruise ship is one of the fastest and easiest ways to see a larger portion of the State within a shorter period of time. There are parts of Alaska that are absolutely breathtaking and worth seeing (i.e. the Hubbard Glacier) that are actually only able to be accessed via cruise ship or boat, so I would definitely recommend this method of travel. You can also add on a land tour portion to your cruise ship afterwards to explore even more (i.e. we added on a tour of Denali to the end of our trip as a land portion). The cruise we chose was Celebrity Cruises and it was such a fun experience so I would recommend checking them out!

Here are the top 6 places I would recommend visiting, and some details on what we did there:

  1. Ketchikan

    Ketchikan is Alaska’s first city (hence the sign in the below picture – LOL). It is considered the Salmon capital of the world as well, and you better believe I had a taste and it was so fresh and absolutely delicious. The city itself is extremely small, only about 8,000 people live there! It is full of tourist shops which are great to wander around in and get souvenirs. However, my favorite part of our time in Ketchikan was our excursion which was a kayaking trip. We took a bus to a small boat out to some tiny islands outside the city where we kayaked around and were pleasantly surprised to see everything from colorful starfish to a momma Eagle and it’s babies in their nest. The air is so pure here that lichen plants grow, which are a sign of the air being pollution free and clean. I felt so rejuvenated after this adventure.

  2. Icy Strait Point/HoonahIcy Strait Point is a privately owned tourist destination just outside the small village of Hoonah, Alaska. Celebrity Cruises is one of the few cruise lines that can enter into this area, and I am honestly not sure how you would get to this location other than via cruise as it is very isolated. The village of Hoonah itself is so tiny, only about 800 people live here and it is the least populated area we visited on our trip. The purpose of this tourist spot is to share and preserve the culture of this tiny village and it offers multiple different excursion trips to choose from. We opted for the two-part bear search and whale-watching tour and it was an unbelievable experience. A wild, baby bear walked right in front of our tour bus! I also got the chance to see 9 whales feeding and one even breached which is a rare sight. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

  3. JuneauJuneau you may have heard of as it is the capital city of Alaska! Much larger than the tiny Ketchikan and Hoonah, it is a much more populated city (although still only about 31,000 people which would be considered small). There is a lot more to do here including restaurants, bars, shops, and more to explore. However, by far the most amazing thing we did here was our excursion where we took a helicopter to a glacier and went dog mushing! We also made a second stop on top of another glacier that looked like another planet – maybe Neptune (LOL). This was one of my favorite parts of our entire trip (although it was tough to choose!) as I absolutely love dogs and we even got to hold some cute puppies! I also had never ridden in a helicopter before and it was so breathtaking.
  4. SkagwaySkagway is another extremely tiny town of only about 800 people, but was made famous as this is where Sarah Palin grew up! The town reminded me of Ketchikan in the sense that it was a lot of shops, mainly aimed towards tourists that were fun to explore. We also had fun tasting a few beers at a local brewery. The color of the water here was the most beautiful light-green color that almost reminded me of someplace tropical. Our excursion here was a famous railway that weaves in and out of the mountains with breathtaking views and I would highly recommend doing this tour if you visit Skagway!
  5. Hubbard GlacierThe Hubbard Glacier is a Glacier located in eastern Alaska and part of Yukon, Canada and is only accessed via cruise ship or boat. Seeing this glacier was a true Titanic moment for me (and of course I had to take a Titanic-esc photo). I had only seen Glaciers like this in photos, so taking in its massive structure and power in real life was unforgettable. It was so neat seeing the different pieces crumbling off with a loud thunder sound.
  6. DenaliThe Denali National Park we added on after our cruise as a land-portion tour, and is a must-see in Alaska. It is 6 million acres of protected wilderness filled with nature and animals such as wolves, bears, moose, caribou, and more. It is also home to the tallest mountain in North America – Mt. Denali. We got lucky to see it’s peak, as it is only visible for short periods of time due to the unpredictable weather at the top of the mountain (it makes its own weather since it is so high). We also saw a wild moose run across the road which is something I will never forget! If you want to experience true nature, this is your spot. Our tour guide was also unbelievable and had so many stories and a vast amount of knowledge of the area.

  7. AnchorageYou may have also heard of Anchorage as it is the most populated Alaskan City. This is the only spot in Alaska that I could actually see myself living in – Haha! It is a fun city with everything from shops, restaurants, bars and more. We had a lot of fun trying a few of the different restaurants and enjoying the local cuisine (including trying Yak nachos and Reindeer sausage!).

    Hope this is helpful for any of you planning a trip to Alaska anytime soon! Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments section!

Smile Brilliant cariPRO Ultrasonic Electric Toothbrush Review + GIVEAWAY & Discount!

Posted on by annamae161@gmail.com

Hi All,

When Smile Brilliant reached out to me to test out their cariPRO Ultrasonic Electic Toothbrush, I was very excited. Within this past year, I had already switched to a standard electric toothbrush from Oral B that I had gotten off Amazon. The reason being, I care a lot about the health of my teeth and gums, and ensuring they are white. I have a huge pet peeve with teeth, in both myself and others (i.e. a persons smile is the first thing I notice about them). However, at the end of the day after work, the gym, and cooking dinner when I am exhausted, I came to the realization I had been neglecting my teeth i.e. not always flossing or not brushing long enough. I switched to the electric toothbrush to ensure I was brushing my teeth more thoroughly and improve the overall health and look of my teeth. There was nothing wrong per-say with my current electric toothbrush, but it was the only one I had ever tried so was very excited to test out another for comparison, as I am always looking to try to products that will improve my health as well as the look and feel of my teeth.

I decided to test out the new toothbrush for a full week to get a true picture of the differences between the two electric toothbrushes and see if there were any notable differences to my teeth and gums. My smile brilliant package came with the following:

After 7 full days of use, I came to the conclusion that I LOVED this toothbrush, and it was a definite improvement over my previous electric toothbrush, and here’s why:

  1. There are 5 different settings. The first thing I loved about this toothbrush is the fact that there are 5 different settings: Clean, White, Massage, Gum Care, and Sensitive. These different settings actually cause the bristles of the brush to move in different ways for a different effect, which was something my previous electric toothbrush was definitely lacking. In fact, in comparison with a lot of these settings, my previous electric toothbrush was definitely a bit rough, which actually may not be the best for your teeth. I noticed that I really liked the “sensitive” setting because it wasn’t as rough on my teeth but still made them feel extremely clean when I was done with it.
  2. It comes with a timer. This was so key for me. One of the biggest struggles for me when brushing my teeth is knowing how long you should actually spend brushing, and previously I definitely leaned toward the quick side. Unlike my previous electric toothbrush, the CariPRO has an automatic timer within each mode to ensure you are brushing your teeth for two minutes and 30 seconds exactly each time you use it, and that you cover each area of your mouth adequately. For each section of your mouth (there is a guidebook that will show the different quadrants to you), the bristles will vibrate for 30 seconds, and then will pause action for a moment so you know to move the brush to a different part of your mouth for an even clean. Now I know I am always brushing my teeth for the right amount of time!
  3. My teeth felt cleaner, without any irritation. Overall, after using the CariPRO for 5 days, my teeth felt clean, looked white, and my gums felt healthy. In comparison with my previous electric toothbrush, this one felt less harsh on my teeth and gums when brushing, was easier to use (i.e. ensuring I was brushing my teeth for the correct amount of time), but got the job done just as well if not better and I would 100% recommend anyone to make the switch!

For more detailed facts on Smile Brilliant’s toothbrush as well as other products, check out their FAQ page here.

Now for the fun part – if you want to try this toothbrush for yourself, you can get 20% the cariPRO Ultrasonic electric toothbrushes with my code: daytodaymae20!

You can also enter to win $119 Smile Brilliant Credit by entering here!

Happy brushing!
xo,
Anna