puerto penasco.

Puerto Penasco, Mexico. It's where we spent a week of our summer vacation. It was everything and nothing I thought it would be. What can I say -- we loved it.

Highlights:



The sunsets.

Walks along the beach -- at night, in the morning -- couldn't get enough.



The food! By far one of the best parts of being there was eating the local cuisine. And the fresh tortillas -- yes please!



Getting to practice my Spanish. Soy no bueno!





Getting the much needed downtime. It's was nice to unplug and set my todo list aside. We all needed this break.







Cornrows. Girls loved having their salty hair out of their face for the week. I did too!



Megan got stung by a jelly fish. She said it hurt like crazy, but Adam used his urine, as per the locals advice, to alleviate the pain and she was fine after that. She may need therapy in the future!



Tess caught a fish. Not her first fish, but I believe the first one she caught in the ocean.





Mangoes on the beach with spicy red peppers made especially for you -- to die for. Seriously! I'm going to be recreating these for sure.



To say it was crazy hot would be an understatement -- it was sweltering. I don't think the thermostat said it was ever above the 90 degrees, but with the 90% humidity it must have been well into the 100s. We were sticky & sandy the entire week. Good times!





Hitting the beach every morning when the tide was out looking for crabs, starfish, clams and the kids even spotted an octopus.



Hour and hours and hours on the beach playing and reading a book. I read The Rosie Project and laughed the whole way through.





I received a most delightful massage.





I thoroughly enjoyed just how different the landscape, the streets, the buildings were from home. There was something so captivating about the rawness of Mexico.





At first I thought it would be strange, you know, to be celebrating the fourth of July in a different country, but being there made me appreciate home and so grateful to be an American. I love the USA.

captive island | flipagram

I completely forgot to bring my Canon camera with me on our latest trip to Captiva Island, FL. I know shocking, right? I was dumb founded as I walked into the airport and realized the heaviness from my camera that's usually wrapped around my body was missing.

It was shocking at first, I stood in the terminal a good minute before I could speak and tell Adam what was wrong, but must say I rose above. I saw it as a challenge to make the most of my iPhone and simultaneously get a break from carrying around my heavy camera in paradise.

In fact instead of taking so many photos I took a lot more video. I have plans to make a small film of our time there, not sure when they will happen, but for now I put together this flipagram of the photos I took.



Hope your having a delightful weekend.
xo

12of12 | May | on the road

iPhone version -- one at a time


01. On our way


02. My motto while flying -- be safe


03. Watched price and prejudice during my second leg. Luckily I was able to sleep too!


04. The hardest part about the way this trip worked out is I wasn't able to spend Mother's Day with all of my girls. Today simply wasn't the same without their hugs and kisses, and of course breakfast in bed.


06. Almost there. It's been a long, but easy travel day.


06. Captiva, FL from the air.


07. View from our room.


08. Freshened up & on my way to dinner.


09. sunset on the island.


10. Here I am


11. Evening stroll


12. Evening pier

I must say even though at times it can be complicated, I enjoy when the twelfth criss crosses with a vacation. Of course it's also fun when it lands on a holiday too! I hope it's been a wonderful day celebrating the moms in your life! To all you lovely mothers I wish you a most wonderful Mother's Day!

this exact moment

there is nothing
more I ask of Life
than this moment, exactly so

& she looked at me & my heart danced
like a candle flame from her breath on my chest

& forever suddenly seemed
like too short a time

storypeople

rendezvous

It was like a scene right out of a movie -- I groggily walked toward the baggage claim after too many flights, ready to find my bed, and turned the corner and there he was. It stopped us both in our tracks, seeing each other there. We weren't expecting the other just then, even though we were suppose to meet -- it took us both by surprise.

Let me go back to the beginning.

I hadn't seen Adam for about ten days. He was traveling the week before, came home for two days and then left again.The day he was due back I was flying out to North Carolina and we missed each other by a few hours. I kept thinking it was fine because I'd see him Sunday before he had to leave again on Tuesday. Or so I thought.

During one of our phone conversations we discussed my flight home and the logistics of it all when we realized he was leaving Sunday afternoon for South Carolina and we'd miss each other once again. As bummed as I was I knew it was something we couldn't conrol. It was just the way our work had lined up this month. We both knew it would be crazy coming into October, we just didn't know how.

And then I got this lovely email with this crazy idea to meet him in South Carolina. I wasn't sure I could really pull it off -- I'd been gone all week and the girls were expecting me home. So I called them, my girls, to see what they thought and they urged me to go mainly because they got to spend a night at their friends and then Lolo was coming to stay. So I did it. I made it happen.


So there we were, after days/weeks of absence we found ourselves walking toward each other a little bewildered at how easy it had all been. We smiled and eagerly embraced standing there in Charleston, both of us with our travel bags.


Here are a few photos of our rendezvous (24 hours) in South Carolina.










I can't even begin to tell you how much fun it was to ride my bike through the seagulls. I couldn't help shoot pictures as I went. So worth getting mud all over my back.

trains, plane and automobiles

Just wanted to remind you all that tomorrow is the twelfth. Looks like this is going to be another iPhone addition for me since I'm on the road -- or tracks as the case maybe right now. I'm currently on a train heading to Albany to hook up with my lovely friend Thea and then on to New Hampshire by car.

I must say I'm quite enjoying my train ride. It's not the first time I've been on a train, but it certainly the most beautiful leg I've had. There is something magical about up state New York, wouldn't you agree? Definitely looks good from my window seat.

Well, so far all of New York has looked amazing and treated me very well. Actually it was my delightful friend Tory who made my trip exceptional or as she would say, special. I will greatly miss her energy and late night chats. I can't wait for her to come west and hit the slopes with me.

Before I sign off just wanted to share a few instagrams from the past few days.

Have a fabulous day!