So I am a little late...

Obviously I have been a tad delinquent in my blog posts...and I am certain the whole world has been waiting with bated breath. Life has certainly been keeping me busy and very tired.

So onward and upward. I am going to try and do better in October.

Jamaica...picking up where I left off...Part 2:

Jamaica was my first experience with an all-inclusive resort, and I must say, I love it. You didn't have to worry about carrying money or a purse, you were just there and so was everything you could ever need. Upon our arrival to the Sandals resort we met our friendly activities director/bartender (he later hosted bingo during a rainstorm) and he gave us our first taste of Jamaica...Red Stripe beer and Jamaican Smiles. This was him giving his "Jamaican smile" before actually making the drink which consisted of banana and rum.

After the bar we toured the hotel and all of the Sandals hotels let locals come in and sell their wares. It was a vision of bright colored dresses, jewelry, t-shirts and just about any Jamaican souvenir you can imagine.

This was the friendly little kitty that kept appearing - there were multiple just roaming the resort.

Life-sized chess set for guests to play.

Some of the locals...this is the male of the pair of peacocks and one of the hotels.

At one of the high points in Jamaica there was an old plantation - this is one of the structures.

Bananas

Cocoa

Yay for Jamaica! Next up...Katie's wedding on the beach.

No Problem, Man.

If you know me you know that the only time I have left the United States of America was a quick trip to Canada with my grandparents. Don't get me wrong it was a great trip, but at the age of 28 I had yet to leave the country and see the world. And my passport, which I have had for the last six years, was blank. No customs stamps, no glossy post cards from tropical destinations sent.

But, all this changed a few weeks ago when my love and I hopped on a plane to Jamaica. My Love's sister got married to her Love and chose a tropical destination wedding. Lucky me, I got to go! I am going to break this up into a few blog posts, so this one will be a picture story of my vacay.


We stayed at the delightful Sandals Carlyle in Montego Bay (no, they aren't paying me, but I am happy to write-up trips if they want to send me). Our room was amazing though we didn't spend much time in it. The Carlyle is in town so we took the shuttle every day to one of the other hotels to visit the beach and play. When we got to our room we were greeted with a bottle of champagne and a full service bar (that didn't get used at all) courtesy of Danesha our personal butler! Danesha was fabulous!


This was the picture of the shuttle next to ours at the airport. After we passed through customs we took a quick shuttle to our hotel and had lunch with my Love's parents.


Before this trip I thought views like this only existed on postcards. Lucky for me, this was the view from our hotel. Absolutely breathtaking. I couldn't get enough of it...this was the same view as the one from our hotel room.


After lunch we headed to the Sandals Royal Caribbean to meet up with the Love's sister. Every Friday each of the resorts hosts a group of local residents to sell at a market. We didn't get to do any shopping there, but we will definitely have to hit it up next trip.


Our first night at the resort we went to a Thai restaurant that was on its own private island. Very yummy food that was served family style and they had an amazing fruity Thai cocktail waiting for us when we got there.


I even made a new friend! I don't think the bird took to me like I took to her, but that's okay, she was fun to watch and gorgeous.


Unfortunately, the boat left us and took everyone back to the resort so we had to wait for another boat that the staff took back and forth...great opportunity for some picture taking!


On the next day we boarded a shuttle to go ride some Rangers in the mountains of Jamaica. We quickly found that goats were to Jamaica in the daytime, like deer are to America at night. They hung out alongside the roads and apparently at night they head back to their homes, but not before a few close run-ins with vehicles.


After a bumpy trip up the mountains we made it to the dune buggy place. They loaded us up on our Rangers and after a quick safety lesson we were on our way. I drove the entire time so my Love could sight see and take pictures.


We stopped and took a break over a river. Turns out, the area and path that we were driving through used to be a massive aquaphor. We were driving through the chutes that used to carry water. Good or bad, there was no water on the day we drove so it was SUPER dusty.



As you can see we were both in desperate need of a shower at the end of the day.

Stay tuned for Part 2 and a wedding!

Happy Easter from the Easter Bunny!

Welcome to the Hotel California

Yesterday Don Henley stopped by to wish me a Happy Belated Birthday...



Okay, maybe not so much, but it was still cool to get to meet him. For those that don't know, he is a singer for The Eagles. My Dad is a big Eagles fan so I called him to let him know that my buddy, Don, stopped by and he said, "get a picture with him!" So I did. Thank you Dad for making me cultured enough to know who The Eagles are, unlike one individual in our office who made some reference to "being traded." No, Don Henley never played for the Philadelphia Eagles...

Today I am 28

Not sure how I feel about that number quite yet, but as my Papa always said "it's better than the alternative." I was born at 9:11 PDT, so technically I am still 27. And I am going to take this opportunity and reflect on the past year.

It was a good year, Mason turned 2 and I got to attend his birthday party, I was also able to go white water rafting (check that off the bucketlist), I fed an elephant (still haven't ridden one yet, so that is still on the bucketlist), I caved and got a new laptop which is a huge step for me as I hate spending money, I am still gainfully employed and even took a new gig as a freelance writer, and my best friend got married.

I am sure I am leaving a lot of things out from the past year, but one of the things I am most thankful for is health. I am thankful that throughout the past year and all of the various health scares that my parents are healthy, my grandmas are healthy, and my family is healthy. I think this year more than ever the importance of taking care of yourself throughout your lifetime resonates.

Eat well. Keep moving. Wear sunscreen. And, stop stressing!

So my goal for my 28th year is to, as my coworker says, "tighten up your circle." Tighten up the circle of shit that you care about. It frees you from stressing about things that don't matter. This year I will tighten my circle, make decisions that, if for no other purpose, make me happy, and let things go. After all, to quote one of the wisest women I know "things have a way of working out."

My 15 Minutes of Fame...Sorta...

When I was little I was featured on the Ramblin Rod Show - a local TV show for kids. Okay, fine, maybe not featured but I was on the show and he did ask my name. I was way super cute...some would say a small version of the adorable person I am today. Recently my mom and I stumbled across the tape - yes tape - and re-watched by brief brush with fame. I think all combined I was probably on the show for like 5 minutes, so in my mind I have a good 10 minutes of fame left on my clock.

That said, a few weeks ago I sent an email to one of my favorite blogs inquiring as to what to wear to my best friend's rehearsal dinner. It's at a BBQ place down the road from where we live. And lo and behold, I received a response! And not just an email that said "thanks for writing." My own blog entry!

http://www.outblush.com/women/personal-shopper/personal-shopper-nonbumpkin-dresses-for-alissa/

Yes, I am well aware that they spelled my name wrong, but it still counts!

Happy New Year

So what it's already February...oops. :) I have been a bad blogger, but hope to be updating more often now that I got settled in with my new laptop and printer (thanks boyfriend).

Without further ado...the Christmas post.

Christmas is so much more fun with a little on around. Mason Roadie joined us for Christmas, and watching him open presents was great. He is choo choo obsessed so pretty much everything he got was related to a train. Earlier in the month, Mason picked out a train tent that he wanted, so Lili got it for him...

To be honest, I think he just enjoyed getting in it and walking around pretending he was an actual train. Oh well.

And Nana came for Christmas!! Mason loves his Nana!

And his Lili!


I love this little man, he is the cutest. And I think next year will be even more fun, maybe we won't have to bribe him with choo choos to open his presents. :)