I am thankful for vacation!

Once upon a time, there were 4 friends wanting a little rest and relaxation. So they planned a trip and went off to Mexico for Thanksgiving week! Gorgeous beautiful Riviera Maya.
We flew through Charlotte NC in the middle of the night. The airport was freezing cold! After trying to curl up in a ball (you know it is bad when you have dreams about being cold!), we were going to give up. But then we found them...beanbags! Those were genius! I was so tired that I forgot to be squeamish about the potential germ-factor, and promptly fell asleep much warmer. Smart idea!

But it was worth the discomfort to get here! What a gorgeous resort for relaxation. We layed by the pool. I read 4 books. Lovin' it!




And, of course, we had to throw some adventure in there too. We went to Xplor Adventure Park. There was driving amphibious vehicles, swimming through caves with stalactites, rafting through caves, and my favorite..... zip lines! We spent all day there doing everything (and the zip lines twice!) What a fun adventure, and not to mention flirting with all the cute guys working there (hee hee).


The next day we went to see the ruins of Tulum. What a gorgeous day! We walked around seeing as much as we could, and just enjoying everything, despite the crowds.

Then off to Akumal, a cute little town out of the way. We got there right before sunset. Just enough time to take a few pictures and do some walking on the beach while enjoying the view and the spectacular sunset. The pictures just don't do it justice!




We ate at Lol-Ha and had delicious food. It was a great end to a great vacation. Good times, great company, and great memories.


And this view of lighted palm trees was a great way to kick off my Christmas season too!

Is there a New Moon out tonight?

This is a little belated, but I had to post about my "New Moon" experience....
My wonderful sister, a faithful Nordstrom shopper, was shopping one day, and ended up with 2 free tickets to a special preview on "New Moon". Since the vampire/werewolf saga is not her thing, she graciously gave them to me! Yay!
I was super excited to share the teeny-bopper madness with my fun sister-in-law (whose thing IS the vampire/werewolf saga)!
The night of the premier, my sis-in law got caught in horrible, awful traffic and she could't come.... sooo sad! But my good friend Kari happily jumped in to come experience this with me!
The theater was open only to people with these special lanyards given by Nordstrom. Every one of the 14 theaters was showing New Moon. They were very serious about us wearing the lanyards the WHOLE TIME. I must admit, it was kinda fun to be able to walk right in the to movie theater, not pay, and then go find a seat. Although, it was a little sad having to pass the die-hard fans already waiting outside for their show to start in 4 hours in freezing weather...wow!




I must say that watching the movie with a theater full of girls 10-30ish was worth it. I loved hearing the screams and gasps through the movie with every appearance of Edward or Jacob. I am "team Edward", but I must admit that this movie has temporarily made me waver to "team Jacob"--- hello hottie!