the little things we tend to forget

It is hard to be at a beach destination wedding and take notice of something other than the blue ocean water, the infinity pool and the people around you.  In between the laughs, the drinks, the lotion re-applications and catching a football, I made it a point to walk around.....

...walk around and capture something interesting.  On my walk I could not help but fall in love with these little guys...

Sea turtles.  They hatched that first morning in Cabo in their little sanctuary on the beach.  They were brought from that little sanctuary to the shoreline.  I could not image how scared these two little reptiles were to face those strong waves...alone.  But instinct told them to head for the water...and they did just that.

And then there was this bottle of tequila that kept popping up everywhere we went.  The ceramic bottle that is hand painted and whether tequila is your thing or not, it is just beautiful.

Being the early bird and putting towels on the chairs in the morning, I was greeted with this breath-taking scene of the sun rising, the waves crashing and solitude on the beach. 

What would Mexico be without guacamole and fajitas?

I'm pretty sure this was the only life saving apparatus at the pool. 

I could not help but admire these fixtures every night at the hotel bar. 

Words cannot describe this molten chocolate tamal baked in a corn husk with ice cream.

I am not a shoe person, but these shoes resonated with me...maybe it was the big bows or perhaps the patent leather, but they were just stunning as they walked into room 4038. 

After looking through my photos, I was sad to not have captured more of the little things we tend to forget about when we are in a magical place.  Regardless, here is a small collection of snapshots...a few things my eye thought were special.

i'm not sure paris could have hung with us at this hilton pool

pool |poōl|

noun

a small area of still water, typically one formed naturally.

• a small, shallow patch of liquid lying on a surface : a pool of blood 

• a swimming pool.

• a deep place in a river.

I'm no wordsmith, nor do I have connections at Merriam-Webster...but if I did, I would convince them to change their definition to look something like this:

"place where one can...swim like fish, eat BLT's and sushi, sleep (through the night), tan, laugh, get ice pops from jorge, refresh oneself with a eucalyptus towel, toss a football, play volleyball, order more beer and another frozen mojito, swim to the bar, witness highly competitive synchronized swimming, run the deli out of gatorades, wait for jorge to bring us a volleyball, reapply sunscreen, never really figure out the currency conversion, order room service at 4:00am after a wedding, devour quesadillas, construct a volleyball net with noodles (nice work mr. teddy), lose clothes (hopefully aunt christine will find them), fight the crowds to get good chairs, have jordane tuck you in under the stars and wake you up for yoga, get dirty looks from people not with our party, sift through bags of candy like it is the day after halloween, consume massive amounts of figi water, watch the sun set and rise in the same day, drink double strawberry mango daiquiris and lose track of time."

 protection for the fish

fish out of water

barracuda cousin fish biting the hugging fish

fish food

 lazy fish

happy hour fish @ 11:00am (MT)

peaceful fish

momma fish

bartender fish

pato catches a ride with a taxi fish

...but if I were only allowed to define it in one sentence, I'd write: a body of water where the sun shines, the moon gleams and memories are made to last a lifetime with Danielle and Paul.

for more aquatic imagery, please feel free to take a dip our pool

the journey...in a mexican minute

In taking a 6:00am flight out of New York, one is forced to wake up at some ungodly hour...and by ungodly, I mean an hour where flocks of intoxicated people are still fighting the beats on 3rd Avenue at Joshua Tree. Having to arrive two hours prior to take off, my alarm is set for 2:30, followed by meeting a taxi with Kim in it at 3:30 on the corner and feeling pretty confident we would be the only ones at the airport. Well, it was packed. Fast forward 2,412 miles, 6 hours 15 min in the air, 2 time zones, 1 stop over in DFW, an egg sandwich with hash brown at 5:30am (ET) in LGA, a McDonalds hash brown and tea in DFW at 8:45 am (CT) and finally those wonderful words anyone traveling for a long period of time loves to hear:

"Ladies and gentleman, we are now making our descent into Los Cabos International Airport....blah, blah, blah."

Having been asleep most of the flight...I open the window shade and see this from up above:

...it looked like an aerial view above Siberia during the summer months.  There were no palm trees, no pristine ocean water, so white sandy beaches...no life.  Barren. Clearly there was something wrong.  Had the plane been hijacked? Had I boarded the wrong plane?  Was Danielle really getting married here!? 

Well, upon landing, retrieving the luggage, going through Mexican customs, pressing the red button, and getting into Mr. Teddy's car...we drove off for about twenty-five minutes and arrived here:

While checking in, we were welcomed with a frozen pomegranate margarita and hugs from Danielle and Paul.  This place was a far cry from what I had seen from up above.   

Below are the treasures waiting in the rooms for each of the wedding guests.  Yes, there lay a bottle of tequila, Pringles, and eye drops.  

...we quickly changed into our bathing suits, but it wasn't before long...after a dip in the pool and a few drinks...all that traveling and lack of sleep caught up on my fellow flyers.  I couldn't make time for such naps. I was in Cabo.  Danielle was getting married.  And I...I was ready for another drink.  

an eating tour, two legends, a new stadium, and a silent game

WHO: new york yankees, goldie & myself representing the 9-1-4

WHAT: a baseball game.  america's pass time.  a commemoration of yankees announcer bob sheppard and franchise owner george steinbrenner.  two new patches on the uniform and a silent game.  literally....silent.  all versus the tampa bay devil rays.

WHERE: the new yankee stadium...slightly offset from the former, non-existent yankee stadium.  161st street and river avenue...you can't miss it. upper deck

WHEN: 7.16.2010

WHY: goldie scored tickets. she asked me to join her.  i had never been to the new stadium.  we have a soft spot for cheap beer at the cost of premium beer + $3.  we appreciate concession stand vittles within the price range of gourmet food.  one can never "high-five" too many times.  there are bound to be some good characters sitting around us.  singing "new york, new york" like a fool is completely acceptable and highly encouraged.  i'm a met fan, but i find it perfectly okay to go to  yankee game and cheer for them.  pato gets in for free.

swisher hits a few runners in during the bottom of the ninth.  yankees win.  swisher gets a pie to the face.  everyone is high-fiving.  everyone is singing. if only the mets could do this.

the south rose again...for a few days anyway

There has always been something about the South. Maybe it is the mild winters and the early springs or that I don't feel guilty eating fried chicken and biscuits while there.  I have always been a sucker for the accents and continue to have a love hate relationship with the slower lifestyle. Regardless, after spending four years of college in North Carolina, I still find myself heading down there once in a while to visit friends, enjoying a lazy afternoon, and indulging in some fried chicken and carolina barbeque.

This particular trip was not planned ahead of time, nor did it need much thought. After a short conversation with Jason on gchat, a text sent to Lauri and a bbm to Kimberly the trip was set only a few days in advance.  I packed a lunch, some bottled water, a few snacks and went to bed. The alarm went off at 4:00am, I was in the car at 4:45am and driving past Newark Airport within an hour.  Speeding? Hardly.  By 9:30am, I had was past Washington, DC and for some unknown reason at 1:00pm my phone was dead with no way to communicate with anyone. I knew I was in the south when the billboards were sponsored by  Chick-fil-A and Bojangles. Getting directions to Lauri's was simply impossible at this point.  Luckily I knew the exit off the highway and found the local chamber of commerce to charge my phone for a little while before I was able to get Lauri to tell me proper directions.  

 The entire trip focused around eating.  Some of my favorites were the Chick-fil-A nugget platter, Bojangles supreme combo and Mac's barbeque. All of this going against my attempts to not eat fried food, but how can one pass this up?  .....we've gotten a little older, went from dorm rooms to houses, we are slightly more mature, added a few babies to the mix and can still laugh about the good old days. Not really much has changed...we just go to bed earlier. I am not sure when I will make my next visit, but I know this past visit was a great, spontaneous addition to summer-time fun. It's great to know that every time I go to this place I used to call home, it feels like I never left.  

It is always great to see this crew...

and this polo pup cooper marmaduke...

and some graffiti art....

all while eating and drinking this stuff. 

Check out just some of the fun we had here.

roommate's version of fun

Considering I have music on all the time, my collection of tunes on my iPod is not very reflective of what I actually enjoy listening to. Thankfully Pandora and roommate have opened my eyes to new artists as well genres of music.  Some time ago on a Friday night, roommate made a play list on my computer.  Perhaps she did not realize she was on my computer.  Maybe she was thought I was in need of some desperate help with my musical selections.  She may have been lazy to walk to her room to get her own computer with her own music.  Regardless, on my computer sits one of the best playlists...better than the Top 25 Songs Played, DJ AM's compilations (gym and party mix), and Brawn (study mix).  It rivals with The 6:04 Train to GCT and Oldies but Goodies playlists.  

Oldies, rap, French tunes, classic rock, alternative, pop, ....

...81 songs, 4.7 hours, 278.6 MB...

...most played artists: beatles, o.a.r., c.c.r., the killers and rolling stones.

I recently played this incredible list of songs at a bbq and I could not help but notice people enjoying the musical selection by singing along, tapping a table and an occasional, "oh my god, I love this song."  And to think roommate does not have this playlist on her own iPod.  Absurd.  Sooner than later My Roommate's Version of Fun will be transferred to Macie. I promise roommate that much.