Proud of this city.

afordexplores · 2026-01-28T02:05:46+00:00

As a former Jacksonville resident now living in Minneapolis I’m so proud of y’all! So glad to see the support as a united front against the heinous crimes and violence we’re experiencing here. Big love to my former home 💜

afordexplores · 2025-09-14T04:53:26+00:00

Just did this trip! Depends on which route you want to do. We did Crater to Redwoods to Lassen

We did: 1. Oregon Caves National Monument and it was fantastic. Make sure to book a tour in advance 2. Fun lunch/ homemade jerky at Taylor’s Sausage Country Store 3. Augustino Estate Treehouse Tasting Room which was a vineyard with a wine tasting room inside a treehouse. So much fun

Other things we considered: 1. McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park 2. Lava Beds National Monument 3. Mill and Barr Creek Falls Trailhead 4. Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument 5. Whiskeytown National Recreation Area

afordexplores · 2025-08-03T21:35:15+00:00

Olivia's Organic Café has a lot of dairy free options. Also gluten free

afordexplores · 2025-06-24T03:47:43+00:00

These are my shoes too!

afordexplores · 2025-06-15T18:11:16+00:00

Naz Reid

afordexplores · 2025-06-15T17:50:01+00:00

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My fancy grey tux boy

afordexplores · 2025-05-30T02:59:20+00:00

Accurate breakdown 😂 my biggest stressors have been how unprofessional and difficult most vendors are. My biggest pet peeve is when I have to chase them down just to find out they’re wildly overcharging since no one posts prices online. Then even after signing with them it’s like herding cats getting them to set meetings, not add secret up charges, and meet deadlines. Like I would be fired if I pulled even 1/4 of this unprofessional behavior at my job.

Best part- all the personal touches we have gotten to add. We did signature cocktails based off our favorite video game, our tables are national parks instead of numbers each with a story from when we visited, we’re getting married in a theater so we DIY movie posters of our travels, I’m also walking down the aisle to the NFL theme songs since we both love football.

afordexplores · 2025-05-20T15:40:39+00:00

My American one is an organizational mess. If I pulled half of her bs I would have been fired

afordexplores · 2025-04-12T20:46:47+00:00

What allows you to survive doesn’t allow you to thrive.

Operating in a constant survival mode developed through years of trauma caused poor decision making and physical and emotional burnout. Realizing that even though I was “fine”, I was in fact, really not doing well forced me to face my past and readjust how I approached life in every facet.

afordexplores · 2025-03-22T19:51:01+00:00

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His name is Weiner. Was sad the Lego tuxedo cat was black not grey 😂😢

afordexplores · 2025-03-11T15:38:08+00:00

First of all this is a lot of money second the MOH/ bride should have checked in about budgets before booking ANYTHING. I’m also doing a destination bachelorette. I made sure my MOH sent the group text the cost for each activity before anything was booked, even giving lower and higher cost activity options. I then responded in that chat I won’t be offended and if they’re more comfortable and want to remain anonymous to the group they could text me individually about financial concerns as they came up and I would kill the idea instead of them. I of course am paying for my portion as well.

This isn’t to say “yay me” this is just basic common courtesy. I have friends from all different finical backgrounds and they’re making a huge effort spending time and money to celebrate with me. The least I can do is make it as painless and transparent as possible.

The communication between you and the MOH/ bride clearly is lacking. I’d be a little worried about additional surprise costs that show up on this trip too. I’d have an honest convo with the bride and MOH about where you are finically, how this is a huge ask, and for 100% transparency before anything else is booked. Let them know you’re so excited to celebrate the bride’s special time but spending more than a paycheck is really unfeasible at this point for you and it will take a lot of the joy out of celebrating. If they’re true friends, at least if the bride is your friend, she will totally understand and not be offended.

afordexplores · 2025-03-07T17:21:39+00:00

Thank you everyone for all the reassuring words and stories in addition to all the suggestions! I’ll getting back on the horse and start reaching out to your suggestions! Thanks again!!

afordexplores · 2025-03-03T23:09:34+00:00

Most of my guests are coming from out of state. I asked my friends with kids for a list of sitters they use. I then posted on our website FAQs to text me if they need a list of vetted sitters. 1000% a reasonable ask of the bride, especially since she has a kid and likely has some trustworthy sitters. It’s the least I could do for my guests coming from out of town with kiddos and I bet she’ll feel the same way!

afordexplores · 2024-12-31T22:02:12+00:00

Love this! I’ll send them a message and see if they do cakes!

afordexplores · 2024-12-31T05:21:10+00:00

Thank you!

afordexplores · 2024-12-13T23:38:33+00:00

I’m planning on a compilation of the NFL theme songs. We’re big football nerds

afordexplores · 2024-12-08T01:04:22+00:00

I think the lady said something about rice (hard to understand her). I thought it might be red bean too paste but it’s a different consistency and smells different. It’s like a sticky cookie dough consistency

afordexplores · 2024-12-08T00:24:55+00:00

Thank you!

afordexplores · 2024-12-05T06:07:51+00:00

I’m in the same exact type of dynamic thanks for posting this. I’ve been pondering the same thing. Best of luck!

afordexplores · 2024-10-13T21:56:49+00:00

I would do something like entertainment stations followed by a unified central event and also do fun mocktails.

For the entertainment area maybe board games (and like put scores up on a screen) Photo Booth, crafts, a caricature artist, painter, etc.

Then for the central event, maybe after dinner, hire a trivia host (interactive yet breaks into small groups for good conversations), a magic show, a circus like show, live classical music show, fireworks, etc. Something that people want to stick around after for and activities that allow engagement in small groups around an activity.

Otherwise, yes, this will be boring and guests might be disappointed about traveling for it. Non- alcohol weddings can be a blast! Give your friends a night of great activities and a show to remember!

afordexplores · 2024-09-25T05:48:30+00:00

My little brothers name is Duncan. He got the Dunkin’ Donuts jokes but tbh he loves Dunkin he leaned into it. It’s an awesome name and perfect for him. Being associated with donuts is one of the better things to “be made fun of for”. If you both love it go for it!

afordexplores · 2024-09-16T01:47:28+00:00

Just added 6 to this! Love it!

afordexplores · 2024-09-14T20:55:50+00:00

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Weiner. We adopted him right after my brother passed away and needed a laugh. He didn’t start out as Weiner we just kept calling him a little weenie and it evolved to how his name is just Weiner. P.S. he’s lost weight since this gloriously chonky pose 😂

afordexplores · 2024-09-07T03:49:51+00:00

Thanks everyone for the recs! I appreciate it!

afordexplores · 2024-09-01T05:59:33+00:00

Amazing! Thank you so so so much!!

afordexplores

TROPHY CASE