at last

I've been having trouble...trouble finding the right words to describe this wedding day.  I keep going back to the photos, hoping fuel some type of poetic magic, but I come up empty.  I've come to a conclusion that it is hard to find words when.....

this is the view walking down the aisle;

and this is what everyone has been waiting for;

and this is "thank you mommy";

and this is "I love you daddy";

and this is "I do";

and this is a barefoot, beach cocktail hour;

and this just makes me laugh;

and this is the esperanza;

and these are the spirits...be it shaken, stirred, on the rocks, with a twist of lime or just shot; 

and these are the proud parents from that place I call home and their children;

and these are just some of the guests;

and these are the beat fighters;

and this is the bride and groom fighting their own beats;

and this...well, this is Danielle and Paul.

Oh...and this is a little motion picture with one hundred and eighty of my favorite snapshots from this day.

Can't wait for the empire state wedding!!

after hours with mexican flair

Even though we spent about 80% of our time in Cabo at the pool, we did venture off the compound...it was a rarity, but it was well worth the dangerous cab rides at high speeds.  There were delicious dinners, a little dancing, learning of some magic tricks, and there was even some musical talent among the group.  

garden dining at la panga

sun-kissed. hungry. thirsty. and hot. 

daddy's little girl

oh...those rios girls.

"dead serious" - take one

dead serious - for real.  it looks like LB had been looking for her puppy all day with no luck.

deep in tequila thought

the world renown pink kitty. aunce. aunce. aunce. 

our little fiddler and maraca man.

these two were truly enamored by the ole' can stuck to the hand trick.  oldest trick in the mexican magic book.

for more images you won't find on the cabo city-search night-life website, click here.

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.