Getting Personal with Alpacas

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please and thank you.

When we travel, we always look for the free things to do at our destination. There are cool things to do everywhere that cost little to no money and we practice finding such things by doing them in our own city. I subscribe to a ton of email lists, one of which is LocalHarvest.org that will tell you all the cool farm-related activities happening near you. Normally this includes farmers' markets that are opening and gardener talks, but a few weeks ago it also included a meet and greet at an alpaca farm that was just a few minutes away from where we live. We grabbed our friends and their kids and jumped in the car and went to learn about alpacas and possibly buy some fun stuff for gifts.

As an avid animal-lover, I have always been confused by my wariness of alpacas and llamas. Somehow, I feel like I can't read their body language, so I was also going to EasyGo Farm to get over my fear of these adorable creatures. Once there, I learned that they only have teeth on the bottom, so they can't really bite you (though they can try, as I found out later). For just $1, we got a pretty good size tub of alpaca treats to feed them and they were pretty gentle snuffling it out of our hands, though they got pretty excited and tried to push each other out of the way a bunch of times. 

Alpacas are super soft and some amazing stuff is made from their wool. It doesn't hurt that they are even cuter with short hair and little afros on their heads. Right now, they are all the rage on home farms, because they are very social pets and also help keep the grass low. Plus, you can get yourself a spinning wheel and make your own yarn that you can then turn into clothing if you want. I'm not that motivated, but I did have a good time interacting with them for practically free, and the kids were really into it, too. Enjoy the photos.

This one got a little too grabby and "bit" me when she felt she should get to eat the food in my hand instead of her friend. I was bruised, but it was only pinchy.

On the way back home, we found some other fun stuff to do on other days and stopped at a giant gardening store. We are definitely going back to visit with the alpacas again (and get better pictures). What are some of your favorite free activities either where you live or that you found on vacation?

Product I love: Nail Polish Strips

Don’t you hate it when you have just done your own manicure for your vacation and then 10 minutes after you get off the plane it chips and looks a mess? Did you pack your bottle for touch-ups? No! Did you bring remover? No! So, now you have a few options:

·         Buy remover and go bare.

·         Buy a similar color and touch it up.

·         Head to a nearby salon and have them make it fab again.

·         Ignore it and hope nobody else notices your chippy nails for the next week or more.

For the last few years, I would try to buy fun bottles of nail lacquer that could easily fit in my toiletry bag, but with the TSA ban on liquids, I need all the free space I can get in my 3-1-1 bag, so polish and remover just don’t fit – and if they spill, it’s the worst mess ever. My solution doesn’t require any extra room and touch ups only require a nail file!

Nail polish strips are on trend right now, because they are inexpensive and come in funky designs that match anything you want. Pastels are in, so you can easily sport baby pink nails with white polka dots, a girly plaid, florals or even birds. For going out, try animal prints, jeweled tips or dark, sparkly strips. You can’t go wrong. They are easy to apply, easy to remove and can be switched out super fast. You don’t have to go to the salon to get a new amazing manicure. You can do it at home.

Each pack comes with enough to do your nails at least once. If your nails are short, you may be able to do them two or three times with the same pack, thereby saving even more money over a professional salon. Simply peel the strip off the backing, place it on your nail, firmly press it down flat and file off the end. Repeat with the rest of your nails. You can even do it on your toes! If your nail “chips”, peel off the strip - or remove like regular polish - and put a new one on. Viola!

Who's Going Where This Summer?

I'd like to get to know you better - I would love if you took the time to do my reader survey!

Summer is coming and a majority of American's will be traveling. Are you among them? We'll be taking our full vacation in the fall, but like many others, we will be taking a trip this summer as well. I DO think you can get away with spending less per person than shown, but this infographic will show you the hotspots this year. Either you want to join the throngs of travelers or avoid the top 10 destinations.

Brought to you by Brian Halstrom

So, how do you compare with these summer travel stats?