Laugh of the Day

I was at work this morning and was working in the drive-thru like I usually do. A customer, a man, came to the window. I walked over to the window and began to put the drawer out.

Tania: "Hi, how are you today?"

Robert: "I'm fat and sassy! How are you?"

I laughed my ass off!!!! I told him that I was going to tell that to my father-in-law because it so sounds like something he would say. I'm still giggling about it!

Sometimes, I love my job! But very rarely.

Success!!

Our first Thanksgiving went pretty well. We put the turkey in about 9:00 AM this morning and it was ready shortly before 2:00 PM, which was only an hour after we were shooting for. Not too shabby.
We had a feast of turkey, stuffing, green bean cassarole, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrot salad, and corn bread. Mmmmm so much good food. We also had dessert of pumpkin pie, cherry pie, and chocolate chip cookie and cream tort. (See post below for recipe.)

We ate about 2:15 and were finished and had everything cleaned up by 3:45. Then, everybody just sat and relaxed for a while.

All in all, a pretty successful first Thanksgiving!

Chocolate Chip Cookie and Cream Tart

I was (and still am) quite the avid visitor to The Knot. The Knot is a wedding website that has loads of wedding planning stuff. There are message boards that I am quite addicted to. After you get married, you get "upgraded" to The Nest. The Nest is the same type of site, but for married women. This site has baby stuff, trying, or not trying, to conceive, home stuff, cooking, all types of stuff. Along with message boards.

I decided to test TN waters one day and this picture greets me on their home page.
Looks scrumptious right? Ya, I thought so too.

We normally have a chocolate pie on Thanksgiving, since not all people like pumpkin pie, me included. So, I decided to try this as the alternative to pumpkin pie. It turned out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. And my aunt, who is an avid chocolate lover, loved it also and I have now been commissioned to make it for Christmas.

It turned out to be very easy to make and didn't take too long. Maybe an hour after all was said and done. I did leave it in the fridge overnight and added the cream topping this morning.

Mixing time: 20 minutes for crust, filling, and topping

Baking: 350 degrees F for about 17 minutes

Crust

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Filling

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2/3 cup (4 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

1 cup cold heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make the crust. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter a 10-inch springform pan. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until blended, about 1 minute. The mixture may look slightly curdled. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until it is incorporated. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Use your fingers to spread the dough evenly over the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake just until the top begins to turn golden but the center is still soft, about 17 minutes. Loosen the edges of the cookie from the pan, and cool the crust in the pan on a wire rack.

Make the filling. In a medium saucepan, heat the cream and butter over low heat until the cream is hot and the butter melts. The mixture should form tiny bubbles and measure about 175 F on a thermometer; do not let the mixture boil, or it may form a skin on top. (If this does happen, use a spoon to carefully lift off the skin and discard it.) Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate chips, and let them sit in the hot cream mixture for about 30 seconds to soften, then whisk until all the chocolate is melted and the filling is smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Let the filling cool and thicken at room temperature for about 30 minutes, so it won't run off the crust.

Leaving a 1-inch plain edge, spread the sauce over the crust. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes to firm the filling. (I left the cookie in the fridge overnight at this point.)

Use a small sharp knife to loosen the sides of the crust from the pan and then remove the sides of the pan. Use a sharp knife to loosen the crust from the bottom of the pan and then a wide metal spatula to slide the tart onto a platter. (I left the cookie on the bottom of the pan and just served it from there. I didn't want to mess it up and it worked just fine on the pan.)

Make the topping. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until firm peaks form. Spread the whipped cream over the chocolate filling, mounding it slightly in the center.

Serve, or cover carefully and refrigerate for as long as overnight. Serve cold.

Our First Thanksgiving

As a married couple that is. And the happy married couple has decided to have everybody over here for Thanksgiving. I'm really not that worried, but Drew is so stressing about it. He is currently in the kitchen fighting with the turkey.

It's been pretty tense over here the last couple days. Both sets of parents have offered the directions on how to prepare a turkey. My mom as even taken the time to come here and drop off stuffing and offer directions. After listening to her, Drew calls his parents for what they have to say about it. Drew has been in this "I'm gonna figure out what to do and do it" type of attitude all week and refuses to listen to what me or my family have to say to him. So, I'm letting him figure it out for himself. This will be good for him.

So, wish us luck! I'll post how everything goes later.

Have I Mentioned...

....that I love our wedding photog!!!!!

Confession: I was very nervous going into the wedding about photography. Very. But, understandably I think. I had never met Brad, the only thing I knew was that he was Drew's cousin, and that he was a photographer. Drew said that he's shot for Sports Illustrated and National Geographic. Ok, fear struck me at that point. Those are not wedding!! Not even the slightest!!!

Reality: I had absolutely nothing to worry about!

As I posted before, Brad opened up our online gallery on Saturday. I spent hours on Saturday night and Sunday morning looking through them. And I looked through them more today. I have been in awe for hours.
I have started sharing the link with family and friends. There are hundreds and hundreds of pictures. And I have to narrow it down to 100. Ya, right!!! I have asked everybody who looks at them to jot down their favorite numbers to help me out. I like it because then everybody will be a part of making our album. Neat, right?!?

Once I get the disks of photos from Brad, I'll upload and begin posting. I promise!

One Month

I signed onto The Knot today at work and they have a running count-up from our wedding. Imagine my shock when I noticed that it said 30 days since our wedding!

I couldn't believe that it's already been 30 days! I thought it was tomorrow, so I wasn't going to say anything to Drew, but I forgot that October had 31 days.
So, we've officially made it one month! Woo for us!!!

(We have made it longer than Heidi and Spencer from The Hills, who reportedly eloped and got married, will. What a joke! I imagine their marriage being like most Hollywood marriages, as sad as that is.)

Drew and I didn't do anything exciting tonight. He made a dinner, like usual, of tortellini and bread. Ya, we celebrate by doing it big, what can I say.

Ask And You Shall Receive

Last night, I emailed Brad to see how the pictures were coming. I simply wanted to know how they were coming along. The last time he emailed me (a week and a half ago) he said that he was working on them and that they would be up soon. All I was looking for was the status. Really.

And I didn't even really expect a timely email. Most people have better things to do on a Friday night than sit around the house. But, I'm lame and usually do that. (Strike that, I'm not lame, I prefer the term homebody.) I checked my email before going to bed, like I usually do every night and Drew made a sad statement about no email. And I told him that Brad probably had better things to do on a Friday night than our pictures and emailing me.

Well, apparently he didn't. I got an email, which my inbox timed at 1:24 AM. Guess what??

OUR PICTURES ARE UP!!!!

I only had just a few minutes to look at them before I had to get ready for work. I told Drew this morning that they were up and he wanted to see them too. But.... I made him promise that he wouldn't look until we could do it together. That also means that I can't look either. Darn me for making that promise. And, we have a wedding to go to today, so that means that it's going to be much later tonight until we can look at them.

Must.... not.... cheat....



P.S. Yes, I'll post pictures but I don't know when. I may wait until I get the disk which could be a few more weeks.

When Did I Get Old?!?

Occasionally, I'll post a blog while I'm here at work and normally it's simply because I'm bored and really have nothing better to do. But today, the circumstances are different.

I ran downstairs to use the restroom and as I'm washing my hands, I was checking out my hair in the mirror. That's when it happened!!

I HAVE GRAY HAIRS!!!!!

Where the hell did those come from??

My first thought was, "Oh, it's just the light, maybe if I move this way. No. Ok, what about this way? No. Well crap!!"

::Sigh:: I'm too young for this!

Wedding DVD

My aunt, the one who made our cakes for the wedding, dropped off the DVD that she made of the wedding tonight. I had every intention of waiting for Drew to get home before watching it, Really, I did. But I couldn't resist. Besides, he was on his way home anyways.

As soon as I closed the door after her, I popped the DVD in and settled down to watch it. I don't think I was more than 4 minutes into it before I was crying. It was awesome to be able to watch what I couldn't see during the day. I watched the girls as they walked down the aisle. They all looked so beautiful!!! There was an awesome shot of Drew as I was walking down the aisle and he was trying so hard not to cry. I loved being able to listen to us say our vows.

I loved the DVD! A LOT!!!

Anybody out there that reads this that is getting married, hire a videographer. Work your budget so you can. You won't regret it, I promise!!

Post-Wedding Depression?

Drew and I have been married for a little over 3 weeks. And I really feel like I need a hobby!

I graduated from school in May. Before graduation, I worked and went to school full time. I was a busy girl. Once graduation came, I immediately went into wedding planning full time. I had 5 months until the wedding and needed to focus on all the things that needed to get done. The wedding quickly consumed my life. I was never overwhelmed. I'll admit, there were times when I got stressed, but I was never overwhelmed.

I was so excited when the wedding finally arrived. The last couple weeks were torture. I was just so ready to be done with the planning and waiting and just wanted to be married already.

It's so true what everybody says; your wedding day flies by. It didn't feel like it at the time though. I remember being dressed and taking pictures in the Cathedral before the ceremony. After the pictures, all of us girls went to go wait in a room for the ceremony to start. Seriously... longest half hour of my life!! Looking back, I wish we had had some cards or something. I remember saying that I wished I had my iPod. The ceremony went very quickly. I hardly remember it. The reception was quick too. But it wasn't quick while I was in it. Does that make sense? I was so tired, and all I really wanted to do was go to bed with my new husband. Sleep that is, go to sleep with my new husband.

Do you want to know what my first thought was when Drew and I walked out of the American Center to go to the hotel. It's over!!! 10 months of planning, stress, tears, hard work, it was all over. I was no longer a bride. I had to take off my dress and let down my hair and I would never get to be that beautiful bride again. I just wanted to cry. In fact, I still find myself wanting to cry and it's been over for over three weeks.

Now that it's over, I just want it back! I want to go back and have that final week before my wedding again. I want to have my wedding day again.

So, obviously that's not going to happen. But I do want something. I need something. I need to find something to do.

Drew and I went grocery shopping last night and got home about 7. We started dinner and then went to go relax for a little bit while it cooked. I stood in the middle of the living room and just looked around. I wanted something to do. I need something that is going to keep me busy. If I could draw, I would be all over that. But I can't, not even a little. I'd love it even more if I could find something that I was good at and make some money at. Like making something and selling it. But, I have no idea what that something is. I'll let you know when I find it!!

Pro Pic Teasers

Last night, I decided to check my email before heading to bed. Guess what was in my inbox??

Yep, Brad, our wedding photographer, had emailed some teasers. Ok, "some" is an understatement. He sent me about 60. I heart him; big, puffy, red heart him! And I'm going to be stingy and only show you about 10. I know, I'm so cruel.
That was the first picture that I opened up and it brought tears to my eyes. I had no idea that this happened. And that, is why I love Brad. And photography in general. This was at the rehearsal.

After Brad had photographed the guys in the Cathedral, he came downstairs to photo me getting dressed. After that, us girls headed upstairs to take pictures in the Cathedral.

I'm pretty sure that this is right after I walked down the aisle.

But, do you notice how there are no people? Not in the front pew and not in the chair. I can't decide if Brad photo shopped people out or if this is after the ceremony when we all headed back inside the Cathedral to take pictures. No clue!!

This pictures is right after we walked out of the Cathedral and got a million congratulatory hugs.

Can you tell how happy I was?

One place that we stopped to take photos was the Hononegah Forest Preserve. We got some AMAZING shots, like this one.

Brad took a few shots and we hear some commotion coming from behind Drew. We look that way and see Josh using a tree. And by see, I mean that we saw everything that Josh owns. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G!!!!

We decided to go to a different location in the Forest Preserve and take some more pics.

And, I had to include one from the reception. Brad didn't include too many, so here's my favorite of the ones that he did send.

Yes, that is Drew buried in my dress! I love the expression on Daughtry's and my face. Adorable, right?

Ok, so I officially can't wait to see them all. Thanks, Brad, for sending me the teasers. You rock!!

Thanking Our Guests

Yes, I'm agonizing over this. I have a couple options and I have no idea what to do. Here's my choices:

1. Go to Target (or some equal store) and just buy some. I like this idea because it's cheapish and easy. Easy being the biggest priority. Plus, Drew and I (well, let's be honest, me) could get them cranked out by this weekend. I don't like this idea because it's kinda impersonal. I have already sent thank you's for shower gifts and those were just general thank you notes. I kinda wanted something a little more personal for our wedding thank you's. Most of our guests traveled and they were all so generous. I know that the front of the card doesn't matter so much, but at least a little presentation would be nice.

2. Order the thank you's that match our invitations. I like this idea because it ties the theme together. We didn't do STD (save the dates) because by the time we actually set the date, there were only about 8 months until the wedding. By the time we had finalized a guest list, ordered STDs and sent them, there probably would have only been about 6 months and then it was only a matter of 3 or 4 months until invites went out. It seemed like a waste of money at that point. By doing matching thank you's to our invites, I feel like it ties up the wedding very nicely. On the other hand, how many of our guests do you think actually remember what our invite looked like? I'm willing to bet that most everybody threw the invitation away, if not the day of, the day after. But I loved our invitations oh so much, so I might just order the thank you's so that I can look at them a little longer.

3. Use our favorite wedding picture(s) to make thank you's from a printing company like VistaPrint. I really like this idea because we can a) make some personalized thank you's for our fantastic guests and b) share with each of our guests a couple of our wedding photos. The downside to this is that I have to actually wait for Brad to send us some photos. Then, I have to design the thank you and order them. Then, wait. And wait. And wait. It could take a week or two for the thank you's to come in. Then, I have to write them. So really, it could be at least another month before any of our guests get a thank you. I know that etiquette says that we have something like 6 months to send thank you's. Crazy!!! I don't want these things hanging over my head for that long.

Do you see the dilemma I'm dealing with here?!? I just have no idea what to do. I really, really want to do some photo ones, but I really, really don't want to wait that long. Another option is that I could just send some generic ones now and order holiday cards using our wedding photos. But then I'm having to mail a load of stuff twice. Boo!!

Suggestions??

Dolphin Swim Pictures

I, honestly, did absolutely nothing all weekend. I was fighting off horrible stomachaches and praying that I wasn't getting sick. These pains were a sharp, knife-like pain in the middle of my stomach. Pain I had never experienced before. Yes, I whined like a little baby! Drew offered little support and told me that I better not be that bad when I'm pregnant cuz he won't want to hear it. The pain kinda came and went and he was lucky enough to say that statement at a moment when I was experiencing quite an amount of pain. Otherwise, he would have gotten a swift smack!! Seriously though, Drew did do a pretty decent job taking care of me. He would get up and get me anything that I asked for. He's such a good hubby!!

I did scan the pictures from our swim with the dolphins. I'm sure you've all been anxious to see those. If you remember me saying, I had looked forward to this day for a long, long time!

I'm actually very proud of Drew. He does have a fear of big fish (what a baby, right?) and he took the whole experience like a champ. He didn't really act too nervous but I could tell that he was. These pictures were all taken by staff at the Dolphin Swim Experience place and I'm sure that if they find them on here I'd get sued or something. But seriously, we paid $100 for these so whatever. At least I said who you were.

Back to the Grind

Today was my first day back to work as a married woman. Ya, it wasn't that much fun! I did have one customer who knew that I was getting married ask how the honeymoon was. That is just so sweet. These people don't know squat about me. And I really don't know squat about them. But they remember these important things in my life. They actually put the effort into asking how things went. People who I get to see once or twice a week, and have 2 minute conversations with; they remember, and they care enough to ask. Cool!

Drew still had the day off of work. (Oh, what I wouldn't give to have a cool boss like that! His work, I'm sure, was stoked to have him take so much time off since they've been pretty slow anyways.) Drew took care of some more things that needed to get done around here.

Our dryer sucks, a lot. The final straw was yesterday. I did a load of towels and had to run the dryer 3 (!!!) times to get them dry. Actually, 3 times got them most of the way dry. I think that I actually did 3 1/2 times. Seriously though, that's ridiculous. Drew called the landlord today and they came over and put some new vents or something or another in and according to Drew, the fixed dryer dried his work uniforms in 20 minutes. I find that hard to believe. I'll believe it probably tomorrow when I resume doing laundry.

And, at this point in time, I am very sick of laundry!! Vacations are fun until you have to come home and wash all of the laundry. Plus, add in work clothes and towels, and that's a ton of stuff to wash. I have not been a fan of doing the laundry because of that stupid dryer. So, maybe now it won't be so bad.

Drew also went down to the county clerk's office and picked up some copies of our marriage certificate. Now, I can officially begin the process of changing my name. I'm pretty excited. I'm anxious to have this process over. I know that it's going to take some time. It's tough being in such a state of limbo. I'm not sure whether to be Tania Oldlastname or Tania Newlastname. I feel like I don't really have a name right now. Can I just be Tania? Without a last name? And, it's probably going to get a little worse before it gets better. Think, I'm going to go on Wednesday and change my social security card and my drivers license. Then, I have to call and change all of my credit cards, insurance, bank stuff, debit cards, bills, everything. I'm going to be this person with two different last names for probably at least 2 more months.

We're heading upstairs to play some games with the neighbors. Good times!

Our Homey Home

Drew and I decided to go shopping at IKEA yesterday. I convinced him that we should go shopping yesterday as opposed to today because it would be easier to get our place organized if we went shopping first.

Drew had never been to IKEA... until yesterday. That excited me so much!! I was so shocked when he came to me and told me that he wanted to go. My jaw kinda dropped and I looked at him like he was crazy. He obviously had no idea what he was getting himself into. My darling husband, the man who hates shopping, wanted to go to a home goods shopping mecca!! I wanted to squeal.

We got to IKEA at about 11:00 AM. We went straight up to the the top (3rd level) and began wandering around. We found a bunch of pieces that we liked and wrote them down and took pictures. After walking around the entire 3rd level, it was about noon, so we decided to grab some lunch.

After lunch, we went down to the 2nd level and began wandering around there. We found some more stuff that we liked and wrote those down too.

Then, it was time to make some decisions. We ultimately decided to purchase:

* a bookshelf
* a table for behind our oversized loveseat
* 3 shelves
* a BIG picture for the dining room
* some curtains

After struggling to get all of those items in Drew's car, (Ya, that wasn't very bright. We didn't actually think about how we were going to get everything home. But then again, I don't think we thought that we'd buy so much either.) and discovering that we picked the wrong color in one piece and one piece was damaged so that led to exchanging them, we headed back home.

We got home somewhere around 5 and promptly began putting things together. We put the bookshelf together, the table together, assembled the picture, and began hanging the curtains. We also organized the kitchen too. Drew and I didn't go to bed until after 3 AM!!! We both just want to bring some organization back to our home. We've been living in chaos for months because of the wedding and now, it feels so good to make our place feel like home.

As soon as I finish this post, I'm going to go get Drew out of bed so that we can begin work today. We don't have too much left, but we've still got a full day of work. Plus, I need to finish laundry. Boo!!!

Oh, and I'm sure you're wondering about pictures right? Well, I'm not posting any!!! Haha!!! Now, I'm forcing all of you to come over and see our new homey home in person. Ya, I'm evil like that!!

Home, Sweet Home!

Drew and I arrived back home yesterday about 8:30 PM. I don't think that we have ever been so happy to walk through our front door.


And I don't think Simon has ever been so happy to see us. I have missed my little baby so much. He has been so lovey lately. Especially this morning when we woke up. He's normally quite affectionate in the morning, but this morning was particularly excessive.


Drew and I had a busy day today. We woke up and made some breakfast. I can't tell you how good it was to eat some normal, good tasting food. We got ready and made a list of things that we wanted to do today.


Our first stop was to go vote. Somehow, my voter's card found me, at our new address, but Drew was still registered under his parent's address. So, we had to vote in two different places. I voted first, then Drew did.


After voting, we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I have been looking forward to this day since we registered. I have wanted (and we've needed) new silverware for a while. We made a beeline to the silverware, purchased it, and my day was complete!!!


However, we had a TON of gift cards to Target, so we ran there next. We quickly filled our cart with things that we both wanted and needed and left that store in quite the excited mood.


Drew and I then came home and began unboxing and putting away all of our new stuff. Now, we live in an apartment and this apartment doesn't have the biggest kitchen. Ya, all these new toys really make me want a house with a huge kitchen!!


We only got about halfway done and we'll probably finish the rest tomorrow. We want to go to IKEA and will either do that tomorrow or Thursday. My vote is for tomorrow, but Drew seems to want to go Thursday. I'll let you know how that goes.

Our Very Busy Final Day!

Drew and I went to Tulum today. Tulum is a city that is about 35 or 40 minutes south of our resort. There are ancient Mayan ruins that we toured there. We woke up at 7:00 AM, got ready, ate breakfast, and got picked up for our tour. Our tour guide's name was Antonio. He is Mayan, and was very funny!

This is an alter, I think

There were quite a few steps leading to the ruins, which you'll see why in a little bit.

This wall was built by the Mayans, obviously many years ago. If you look on the left side, the wall has crumbled. Antonio said that that happened about a month ago from the trees. The purpose of the wall with the gate was to keep people that didn't belong there out. There was a village on the inside of the gate, and villages on the outside of the gate. Only privledged people were allowed through the gates. The wall was also built for defense purposes. Antonio said that when Mayan babies were born, their heads were tied with boards in order to make them flat like the Mayan gods. If a baby came out deformed, they were already godlike. He said that Down Syndrome existed and those people thrived out in the jungle. They developed the skills that are necessary in order to survive.

We walked up some more steps and entered the ruins through another gate.

When the ruins were being reconstructed, they found a decorated skeleton in that hole.

These next two pictures were taken right inside of the gate, looking in to the ruins.

Do you see the waves breaking out in the distance?

They are actually breaking against a coral reef that the Mayans dug out.

This picture is of the sacrificial temple.

The stone in the front, at the bottom of the stairs, is where the sacrifices took place.

Antonio took us to the top of the cliff and we were able to look down and see this beautiful beach.

My screams, that you hear at the end, are because I was trying to write in the sand and it just kept getting washed away. I wanted to write "Just Married" and take a picture with it, similar to our picture from the cruise. I came close at one point!

And seriously, what is it with these people and their big lizards!?!

That picture, the one that you just looked at above, I hope you enjoyed it! That sucker cost us $5. Stupid people just plunking animals in my hands and stealing my camera.

Guess what else we found at Tulum? We went inside the little supermarket store to see if they had ice cream and Drew found a Dr. Pepper!!! Oh, I was one happy girl. I haven't had a Dr. Pepper in over a week and I was starting to have withdrawals. We got two and I'm actually sitting here drinking one as I type!

We stopped at a Mayan craft stand on the way home and we bought a very big blanket that has the Mayan calendar on it. I thought it was pretty cool and Drew liked it too.

At 4:00 PM, we had a kitchen tour.

This tour took us to all the kitchens of the resort and showed us what went on behind the scenes.

We ate dinner at Ventanas on Thursday (?) night and we had a fantastic waiter named Oscar. (Remember the flaming coffee?) He told us to come back tonight and he would make shrimp for us. He also told Drew that he'd have a cigar for him. So, back to Ventanas we went. Oscar was so happy to see us the minute we walked through the door. He led us to a special table that he had set up just for us!

How cute is that, right?? It was so sweet and romantic! Too bad Drew doesn't do stuff like that for me! This guy walks around the restaurant and plays for everybody.

Oscar made us a fantastic dinner of grilled shrimp with steak and steamed vegetables. Mmmmm, it was so good!!!

And so, tomorrow, we leave. I'm sad to be leaving such beautiful weather. But I am oh so glad to be going home. I am ready for some good, normal food again. Granted, we've had some great dinners. But, I'm ready to have Drew cook for me again. I'll see you back in the states!

Two of My Favorite Things

What would those be I hear you asking. Why, sleeping and shopping of course. And that is exactly what we did yesterday. Drew and I didn't wake up until a little after 11:00 AM. By that time, we had missed breakfast, so we just got ready and headed to Mundaca for some lunch. Mundaca has been quite the favorite for us for breakfast and lunch because it's very close to our room. I decided to get some dessert and picked this up.
It's a chocolate eclair and is for the music lover in all of us I suppose. I thought it was pretty cute.

You probably can't tell by the picture, but the reason that I took this picture is because of the water. It was sparkling like crazy! It was absolutely beautiful!!

After lunch, Drew and I decided to take a taxi to Playa del Carmen. This town is about 20 minutes away from our resort and is popular for shopping.

You know that saying "Only in America"? Well, only in Mexico can you buy medicine and tequila in the same place and actually have it advertised on the store front. And, I took this for my sister, who would have been right at home.

After we had wandered around some of the stores, we found a spot where the beach was. What's the first thing I do? Find a spot to get to the water and promptly go stick my feet in, of course!

Playa del Carmen is also a spot where people take the ferry to Cozumel.

Obviously, you can see the ferry, but look at the sand and sea too. Gorgeous, right? And again, the picture really does no justice.

Ya know, sometimes that is the hardest part about traveling. We see all of these beautiful sites and take tons of pictures, but the pictures can, in no way, capture the true beauty of what we are seeing with our eyes.

Drew and I began wandering around the shops some more. After walking for a while, we run into a guy holding two iguanas. He pulls us over, plops the one iguana on Drew, plops the other iguana on me, and takes our camera. I think that at that point we had no choice but to smile.

How terrified do I look in that picture? I was just waiting for that iguana to piss on my head. That would have been pleasant, right?

After escaping that guy (and paying him $5 for capturing us), we walk some more. These next pictures were taken at an intersection and is shooting down each way.

We talked to Drew's dad one night and he said that we definitely had to go to the town to experience it. Well, I experienced it. You couldn't walk more than ten feet without someone harrassing you to come into their store and buy their stuff. Towards the beginning, I actually had some guy pull me to his stand and put an anklet on me, a necklace on me, and begin searching for earrings. After an hour of being harrassed, I was very ready to leave.

We did get a couple things before we left Playa though. We stopped at one store that had those wool poncho things, but with sleeves (my brother wears one) to look at what they had. My mom had mentioned at one point that my brother's was falling apart. So I wanted to get him a new one. While in there, we looked around some more, and they had beautiful painted glasses. We bought a set that has a wrought iron holder, a decanter, and six shot glasses. (I'll take a picture when we get home because it's all wrapped and taped up.) And Drew got a Cuban cigar. All for the bargaining price of $58. Drew sucks at bargaining, we probably could have got it for less.