The last {last} one

Remember when I said I was done sharing the Mexico pictures (from over a month ago)? Of course that was a lie and in all actuality had every intention of springing this very last post on you {and myself} so I could stretch out my once upon a time even longer.

One of the girls that went, emailed me some photos she had taken plus still wanting to show our last day there has led me to today. If there was ever a time I could share a photo of us, it would be today because she took the cutest one that I would love to share. in case anyone’s wondering, his answer is still no with sharing a photo of himself…but I’m still working on it, you can bet I am.

These girls are great.

If ever there was proof that I can’t be “sexy”, here it is. I just don’t have it in me.. I come across rather as someone who is biting her nail off and getting caught in the process.

On the last day, G-man and I decided to take it really easy. We had been going going going the entire time and it was finally nice to have an afternoon of just nothing. That morning we had gone into Cozumel to do some walking around and shopping and though it was leisurely, it was also tiring.

The bus driver kept hitting on me for one. And the constant calling out and craziness of the street vendors had me worn out. I used to love to haggle. I’m great at it and when Jossie (stripes above) and I went to Tijuana over 10 years ago, I dominated and got so many things for dirt cheap, but now? I don’t want to deal with you. So rather pick up souvenirs and stop to have the monkey on my shoulder (I hate monkeys any way..), I would keep my eyes straight ahead and ignore every sound around me.

G-man on the other hand. He wasn’t quite prepared for what it would be like and would reply to them or acknowledge them, but it wasn’t very long before he caught on and ignored them as well.

I did walk away with some beautiful plates though. There was one and only one mission I had while there, and that was get a Talavera pottery plate or bowl for my mom. I struck gold with the quiet store we walked in. The floor, the walls, the shelves were all covered in these beautiful potteries and the moment I started seeing one then another and another for my mom, he turned to me and said, ‘pick one for yourself.’

I was jumping for joy and took 10 good minutes looking for just the right one for my mom and me. This one is mine.

Once we made it back to our hotel, we unloaded the goodies and made our way to the free bike rentals to ride around the resort. It was a beautiful afternoon and we took our time riding around seeing all the little critters they had around the grounds. This guy was tired from getting chased away from the garbage cans, so he decided to take a quick rest before running back to his family.

G-man had this gift with the crocodile in the water. He would make this noise over and over and the crocodile came from way back in the pond, right up to us.

He and his little turtle buddies hung around waiting for us to feed them no doubt.

We eventually returned our bikes and got ready for our last dinner at the resort. We decided on a sit down place that was partially outdoors and though good, it left me with over 25 mosquito bites on my feet and legs. Not exactly the way I thought I’d end the trip, but it was quite wonderful as a whole.

Even though I read just this week about the killings going on in Cancun (while we was there), we really felt “safe”.. or I should say, though we were incredibly cautious (we’re two very cautious and “aware” people), we never felt in danger and that I’m very grateful for.

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Mexico part 4

and the last of my little Mexico series.. I’m pretty sure. Nope just kidding, I have one more post for you.

The 2nd night we were there, lia sophia hosted a reception. Over 700 lia sophia advisors who had earned the trip, were there and it was so exciting being among them. We went up the 2nd floor where the reception was being held and were immediately greeted by waiters with drinks for us. Then there were tables on each end full of appetizers.

The place was jam packed with people mingling and G-man and I walked around until we found a quiet area to snack on the food and have our drinks. There were a few who were there that had been enjoying their drinks for a long time before we arrived and while I was playing with my camera, one of them insisted she take a photo of us. For being as ‘enjoyable’ aka drunk as she was she took a pretty good photo of us.

Just imagine you see a cute one below of G-man and I..

I met up with my long time friend and we waited to go inside. We’ve been friends for almost 19 years. That’s crazy to think about. As I like to tell the story, and it’s a true story at that, we’re only friend’s because she was dating the boy I had a major crush on in the 7th grade and I wanted to get the ‘in’ on him, so I befriended her even though I pretty much hated her.

And I may or may not have laughed when I watched him break up with her down the hall.. 7th grade, people.. I was in the 7th grade.. Through it and so much more, we’ve remained best closest life long friends. (that’s all for you, Jos.)

We hadn’t planned out matching, but I think it just goes to show how much style we have that we wore very similar dresses. I get so much use out of this maxi dress, I just love it!

We finally were able to go inside for a big buffet waiting for us and a show.

This was probably one of the few times it was lacking. The food… it just wasn’t good at all. And the show… if you’ve been to a Hawaiian luau, well, nothing will compare to the extravagance of their shows. We weren’t entirely feeling the Mayan/Mexican version so we ended up leaving early and called it a night.

After having a welcome breakfast, enjoying a couples relaxing massage and the reception dinner, we agreed it was the perfect start to our vacation.

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Xplor - Mexico {part 3}

Tuesday in Mexico was incredibly fun. When we went to Chichen Itza the day before, we met 2 girls that were on the same tour and we all became fast friends! They ended up going on the Xplor excursion too and we ended up having such a blast together.

We were told it was a big huge park that had 14 zip lines. Some having you fly high above the trees. And others that have you landing in the water. I brought my bathing suit, but figured I would start out doing the dry zip lines and then change into my wet shoes and wear only my bathing suit, and then go do the wet zip lines. That was my plan..

They also had a 4 wheeling adventure as well as paddle “boating” through the caves full of stalagmites and stalactites. It was so neat to see. What was so fun about the whole park was they told us if you ever get lost, just follow the sound of the heart. They had this big giant heart in the center of the entire park that beat just like a heart would. So you could hear it from far away and follow it to get back to where you needed to go.

I forgot to ask for the girl’s ok to post their faces, so they join G-man in the blurred group.

We all got in line to begin the zip lines. As we waited to get our harnesses on, we would watch everyone coming back completely soaked. I declared to our group that I would prefer doing the dry first then changing and doing the wet (as I said above) and they all agreed that would be ok.

We do our first one and it takes us to the next zip line. I had fun, promise.

What was so neat was they had cameras set up everywhere so you didn’t have to bother lugging your camera around. You could take as many as you wanted and later pay for the thumb drive. It’s a lot.. don’t get me wrong, but it was nice not having to ‘get the shot’. I could just be silly. -Please notice my full attire-

As we zip from one to the next, we see they’re all connected. There’s no ‘getting off this ride’. You zip from one to the next to the next with pretty much little choice in the matter, but we didn’t mind because (for me) they were all the dry, up high zip lines, so I was happy.

And then, we follow the path that takes us down the spiral staircase to the next open door and as I round the curve I see the worker standing there waiting… at the top of the water slide.

The only way down is the water slide. I just started laughing. She asked if I was ready and I said no! I didn’t plan to get wet yet! But I had no choice, so I crawled under the bar and down I went.

Ah, my poor clothes and shoes. Naturally what’s at the end of the water slide but a huge body of water. I was soaked from head to toe. As G-man picked up the rear, we were laughing at the unexpected surprise.

What followed that were many more unexpected {for me} zip lines into the water.


We were starving afterward and took a break for lunch and sunbathed in the sun while we dried off and rested, while our food went down. Our next stop were the paddle boats through the caves!
yes, I have the dreaded ‘wet spots’.

Notice how our paddles are on our hands. That was a new experience for us that left our shoulders burning.

We only had a short time left, so we rushed over to the 4 wheeling adventure and hopped in. It’s obvious I only know one expression…at least I’m not alone with it.

I promise, I’m a grown adult.

By the end, we were so far behind time, G-man and I ended up running all the way back to the bus in hopes they wouldn’t leave us. That’s running through caves, up hills, around bends and out to the parking lot. It has to be a good 1/4 mile. Thankfully we made it. All of us fell asleep on the long drive back completely wiped out, but we had such a great time.

I definitely recommend making a day of Xplor. I’m pretty sure you’ll have just a great a time as we did. Pin It Now!

Chichen Itza or chicken pizza {part 2}

That’s how our tour guide kept saying it. Easy to remember, if you think about it. Our tour guide was great. He’s actually Mayan. ..did you know there were Mayans still roaming around?

Is that a dumb question?

When you hear your whole life the Mayans were completely wiped out, it makes you scratch your head when you stand in front of someone who says they’re from Mayan decent. He even speaks Mayan. I thought it was interesting how he said the generation of today, are refusing to learn Mayan. They only want to speak Spanish and English because that’s where the money is. Makes me think of those I know who’s parents refused to speak their native language to their kids because they thought it was beneath them.

Regardless, our tour guide, Raul, was sad that its becoming a dying language.

It took 1 1/2 hours to get to the Yucatan. It was long. Especially in a van where everyone didn’t talk. Strangers and all, but thankfully, Raul dropped his front seat, flipped around and talked to us all about the Mayan history.

Driving through the little village was honestly just what I expected a Mexican town to look like. Trash, skinny dogs everywhere and run down everything. What I wasn’t expecting were the Police with automatic weapons and oozies standing all around in the streets.

One truck drove by us with the police and their uzi's standing in the back of the truck, leaning over the cabin. Just about everyone’s eyes bulged as it drove by, with a ‘we aren’t in Kansas anymore’ look.

The ruins were amazing to see. Knowing it was all built so so very long ago and still standing, amazes me.
For whatever reason, the iguanas there were captivating. I’ve seen iguanas before..but on a Mayan ruin?? I couldn’t stop staring.

The sky was incredibly blue. No haze, no smog, no pollutants, just beautiful deep clear blue without a cloud in the sky.



{{love a good photo bomb-she was a part of our group}}

I wish I could convey to you how short this woman was. Maybe 4ft. So very very tiny.

Did you know all the ruins used to be painted? They were in reds and greens and blues. Everything was all covered in color. We found this fascinating.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped for some delicious food where we all sat around the table (we were a small group of 8) and really got to know each other. We all became fast friends and even though I’m sure we all would have loved to talk the entire way back, every single one of us fell asleep. Walking around for 6 hours in the hot sun with no shade can wipe a group out fast. Even the tour guide was asleep.

The only thing I really wanted to do but couldn’t was walk up the pyramid and tour the inside of all the ruins. They stopped doing this in 2007 or 2008 due to vandalism and it was really disappointing to hear we wouldn’t get that opportunity. Regardless, I highly recommend this tour if you’re ever in the Cancun area. I think you’ll enjoy it as much as we did. Pin It Now!

Mexico {part 1}

Hi friends, I’m back!

Mexico was so great, I can’t wait to tell you all about it. Free food, drinks and nightly delivery of gifts? How can it not be great!?

To ease the minds of those who were concerned (thank you by the way) I miraculously was almost 100% better the day before flying out. It was amazing how quickly it went away. That Thursday night, I drug myself at 11pm to the grocery store to get the stuff to make “magic mouthwash”, only I was so out of it, I ended up standing there for 10 minutes in a daze, unable to figure out what to get. I grabbed 2 things that I don’t necessarily think were supposed to be what I needed to get, but I mixed them together, gargled and went to bed.

The next morning, my friend dropped off coconut oil for me to gargle, which I did and voila, by mid day, I was almost completely better. After work, I gargled again, drove all the way to L.A (where I have a very scary story to tell later) and crashed in my hotel room at 12am, ready to wake up by 4:30.

I gave myself plenty of time to drop my car off at the parking lot, get on the shuttle to the airport and squeeze in breakfast… until I couldn’t find the parking lot and drove up and down the street for 15-20 minutes looking for it. I finally called them and the guy informed me it was directly across the street from my hotel. Directly. across the street. from my hotel.

I felt like an idiot.

The rest of the day was uneventful and I was happy to arrive at my hotel with G-man ready to greet me.
Here’s a peek at the hotel..

the view from our balcony.

Somebunny was glad to see us..


looking down at the lobby.

I hope everyone had a great week while I was gone. Even though they had wi-fi, I maybe checked my email 3 times the whole week, and never bothered with my phone, and I have to be honest, it was the most wonderful thing. I’m reluctant to jump back into twitter and any other social media since its so nice not being weighed down by it all.

If you’ve taken a break from everything, did you have a hard time getting back into it? Or were you eager to catch up on everyone and everything?

{{and don’t forget! My Target giveaway ends tomorrow! if you haven’t entered yet.}}

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