Recent Spin Through The Met

Más México

  It was drizzly and dreary when I left NYC,

which made it that much more fun to head somewhere so deliciously tropical!

Our hotel was smack dab in the middle of the jungle.  After checking in at the open air lobby, you literally had to walk through the jungle to get to the rooms!  We miraculously got upgraded to a beach front unit (in the yellow building below), so our balcony faced the ocean directly and we were just a few steps from the sand.

 

 

 

The resort was full-on Dirty Dancing style with activities, classes, shows and overly enthusiastic staff members attempting to rouse participation in group activities (and possibly hook up with  drunken  lonely singles). Water aerobics in the pool each morning, twice-daily snorkeling excursions to Cozumel, salsa lessons in the west hall, water polo in the "active" pool and beach Zumba at sunset. Never figured out where the archery was held. Boo.

Got to spend a ton of time with old friends from LA that I hadn't seen in ages.

They made my birthday especially fun and heck I got to wear a sombrero. 

How can you NOT have fun while wearing a sombrero?

 

We went into "town" one day on a mission to find sparklers for the wedding send off (Cristen wasn't able to pack any and was really hoping to have them for the end of the evening), but surprisingly weren't able to find any (can't you get firecrackers everywhere in Mexico?). Looked for a lightweight cotton embroidered dress for my mom to wear this summer in Costa Rica, but I'm terrible at bartering and chickened out whenever the shop guys started shouting prices at me. No shortage of colorful tchotchkes and blanket sweatshirts though.

And then it was time for the wedding!

Ali and I helped Cristen get ready in her room (just like for her first date with Ryan!), then when the photographer showed up to escort the wedding party to their places I hightailed it out to the ceremony site in the jungle. Things got exciting when a rowdy troop of monkeys scampered through the treetops above just as the ceremony was about to begin; thankfully, they refrained from engaging in the usual (disturbingly loud) hanky panky.

 

The celebration that followed was lively and fun, full of laughter and love. Cristen's dad gave a wonderful speech that left everyone in tears and Table 5 was deemed "Most Fun Table of All Time" by the groom himself. Booyah, grandma. Around 9pm, there was a sudden BLACKOUT that extended throughout the peninsula and left all resorts in the entire area without any power. It was crazy looking out along the beach and seeing no lights at all for miles. But the wedding party just kept on going! Someone ran to their room for a portable speaker and we continued dancing by candlelight until the power came back on a few hours later! Memorable, indeed.

Congrats to Cristen and Ryan!

Thank you for hosting your wedding in such a beautiful place. It was perfect.

Can Can Cancun!

So here I am on the gorgeous Mexican Riviera, bum happily plopped in the sand at Playa del Carmen, celebrating the wedding of my former roommate Cristen (far right) and the dapper gentleman she met while we were living together in LA. 

It's been fun to reunite with old pals, as we've all moved away from California in the past few years. Ali is now is San Francisco, Brittany in Florida, me in NYC and Cristen in Denver. Lots to catch up on and a super fun reason to get together.

The view from our balcony is amazing, the food is delicious, the animal sightings alarmingly plentiful and the people-watching endlessly entertaining. 

And it just so happens to be my birthday. What a way to spend it! 

Don't worry mom, I'm wearing plenty of sunscreen.

KK's SUPER Belated Bday Post

My lovely cousin Kristin's actual birthday was in the middle of the week prior to the week I came to LA, but figured I'd wait until Saturday to post her Happy Birthday wishes since I was actually in town to celebrate with her!  WISHFUL THINKING... ended up not posting the entire week I was in LA because there was just too much going on.  But better late than never, right?  Back in NY now and incredibly grateful reflecting on my two weekends in a row with the fam, celebrating KK's birthday the first weekend and then having a good ol' fashioned Arcadia slumber party with K and her adorable daughter TI the next.  Happy very belated birthday, K.

You are a super fun mom and have taught your daughter to live with humor and faith.

You find great joy in silly moments and crack me up like no other.

Wishing you a wonderful year ahead!  Love you so much!