Cuba Part 4

Part 4

At 9:30 AM the whole group who were down south for Kerry and Jeff's wedding were on a bus ready for an adventure!

We were off to Havana which was only an hours drive from the resort. You could hear everyone chatting excited about the sights and scenes that were about to happen.

We learnt a very crucial Cuban word when on this bus, no not cerveza, it was sauve, which means slow in Spanish! Some of us even learnt some very nice dance moves.

Once we were finally in Havana the old, architectural buildings were amazing! My favorite part was looking out the window at the interaction and lifestyle of the locals.

My dad would be in heaven around Cuba looking at all the old cars!!

While walking to Hemingway's favorite bar, looking up at a beautiful church, we were surrounded by characters trying to get us to take their pictures of money! It was a little intimidating at first but our tour guide took good care of us.

We did a lot of souvenir shopping that day at a huge market where you couldn't even walk around a corner without being told "pretty lady, cheap prices for you".


We ate an amazingly delicious fish lunch by the water at the old fort and climbed the fortress and got an amazing view of new and old Havana.

I know we were all ZONKED at the end of the day and as we all drove back to the resort I think some of us even fell asleep. We were quickly awoken by a sudden stop on the highway for a fire that was scary close to the road!

It was a quiet evening after a busy day but Havana will always be a fond memory from our trip Cuba. I would recommend to anyone travelling there to go to Havana. Here are some of my favorite shots from that day.

xo

Cuba Part 3

Part 3

Finally, after two days of wind and clouds, the sun was shining!! That meant only one thing...LET'S GO TO THE BEACH!!!

The whole morning the big group of us were all down at the beach and it was super fun to sit, sunbathe and chat with everyone!

Ryan loves the sun but he hates sitting for extended periods of time. Me on the other hand, I could sit in my beach chair all day with a book!

After a morning at the beach, and lunch ocean side, Ryan and some of the other guys decided they wanted to try out the basketball court.

They all had lots of laughs shooting hoops and easily worked up a sweat with the sun beaming down on them!!

Our hotel had really great facilities! Besides the obvious food and bar, it had a beautiful beach where you could wade out hip deep and be right in front of the coral reef!! It was amazing. The water was so clear so many mornings someone would bring down bread and feed the fish.

The hotel also had a great games room that was perfect for all sizes of kids!! ha ha

That evening Jill, Sarah, Ryan and I still make it out to supper at the buffet for Mexican night!! There was a mariachi band playing that two ladies from our group Glenna and Charlene got serenaded by.

After supper you always head to the bar for an evening beverage and then that night we played hand Monopoly about 50 times!! ha ha!

It was a quiet day/night but I knew I wanted to get to bed early because the next morning we would be touring HAVANA!

xo

Cuba Part 2

Part 2

After a good night's sleep and not being able to sleep in, it was on with the bathing suit and out the door for breakfast!

I have to say breakfast was always my favorite meal of the day at the resort. There were always so many yummy options, one in particular was omelets made my Nelson! He was so fast! He could make 4 omelets in less then 5 minutes. They were so fresh, made to order!

Being that the wind hadn't died down from the day before it was decided that we were going to stay by the pool for the day. It was just a little bit warmer and a lot less windy when in comparison to the beach. Can't complain though, the pool area was so beautiful!

The day was spent soaking up some rays, trying different beverages at the bar and resting. I think I even managed to finish half a book that day!

I loved our room at the resort. We were on the second floor. Our room was spacious and had an amazing view! Every morning I would open the patio door and then hop back in bed to listen to the ocean crashing.

Ryan and I bought a bunch of gifts to give the wonderful ladies who cleaned our room everyday. In return every day we were greeted back to our room with towel art!

After a morning at the pool, it was time to head down to the beach to get in some serious sand time! It was really windy and I was super cold so I had to keep my bathing suit coverup on all afternoon!

After a nap, a quick change it was off to supper and then the piano bar for some pre disco drinks!! The piano bar is amazing but I think our experience was enhanced by a group of retiree's who thought it was karaoke night.

I was getting pretty sick of the "slushy" drinks by this point and decided to move to rum punch......bad idea!!

By the time it was time to hit the disco I was ready to get dancing! Not to worry though, I didn't bring my new camera!! I had learnt my lesson.

The disco was pretty quiet but we still made a party out of it anyways. Especially when an old German man (with a mullet, ha!) starting singing and dancing to ACDC!

It was a super fun night and this next picture pretty much sums up my night!

A little warning to anyone travelling down south:

They put triple the amount of liquor in the drinks then normal because it is cheaper then the mix!!

xo

Home Sweet Home!

PART 1

Hey everyone! That's right, I'm home, I'm tanned, and oh so relaxed! At least I better be after 7 glorious days on the beach!!

Ryan and I always try to go somewhere every winter. In our minds it is so nice to get away every year. See the world while we can.

This year, we knew we wanted to go down south and with a group of friends. Things ended up working out perfectly, as a wedding of friends Kerry and Jeff was going to be taking place in Cuba.

We booked the trip back in October and that is when the countdown began.

Finally, on January 14th, the day had arrived! We were leaving for Cuba. At 2 in the morning! We had to be at the airport for a 6 AM flight which meant leaving home at 2! Bleh! Luckily, the whole group had hired a bus to drive us all down there (and pick us up too).

See, very sleepy eyes!

Everyone was so excited at the airport, even though we all hadn't really slept the night before, it didn't dampen our spirits!

When it was finally time to board I could hardly sit still on the plane! Except to turn around to ask Brenda, Wayne and Cowan for a motion sick bag. Did I mention I get motion sickness when on planes? Totally weird because no other vehicle makes me sick.

After an uneventful flight, and "bus" stop in Sault St.Marie we were FINALLY in Cuba!! Instantly, the heat hit like a ton of bricks and it was glorious!

After customs, we all were loaded on a bus for the hour long drive to the hotel.

First, however, was a stop for our first beverage of the trip. "The best Pina Colodo on the island". While sipping our first drinks we definatley got to enjoy some of the best views of the island!!

Once at the hotel (breezes Jibacoa) we all headed straight to our rooms to change into shorts and flip flops!! Once in hot weather attire it was a race down to the beach to dip our toes in the ocean!!

The beach was beautiful! It was windy the first day we got there but the sun was shining and there was no snow!!

There was a beach grill on the beach that served food and drinks! After a long morning of travelling we all settled in, ordered food, sipped some drinks and enjoyed the ocean view.

It was a quiet first night. Supper at the buffet, a couple of drinks in the lobby and then off to bed to get a good night sleep before our first official full day in Cuba!! It was time to start working on my tan!

Side note: So glad to be back and can't wait to catch up with all of my blogging friends!!

xo

Dare #58

Good morning! I hope that everyone had a fabulous weekend. No, I'm not writing from the beach, but wouldn't that be cool? Remember in my last post I said I was a planner? An organizer? Well, that is why I pre-wrote a bunch of posts! Smart eh?

Did I just say "eh" like the totally typical Canadian? Ya, I did!

Here is your dare this week:

Dare #58

Have an organized year!

I read a fellow organizer's blog called I'm an Organizing Junkie. In the new year she made a post about organizing throughout the whole year.

You know those projects you always mean to get done? Or the spaces in your house where things just get thrown. Well this year is the year to get organized!

Check out her blog and print off the 52 week checklist and start jotting down the things you want to get done around the house.

Have a great week!

xo

Happy Friday To Me!

That's right, today is my Friday, and this makes for a very happy girl. I have a lot of work to do before I leave the office today but to be honest, I don't mind.

Why don't I mind? Well, by the time you wake up on Friday morning, I will probably already be on a plane on my way to CUBA!!

I'm going from this......

To this.......

Well not EXACTLY this but hopefully something close, this is from Jamaica.

One of my most favorite things about going away on a vacation is packing! It might sound kind of crazy but I love it!

For me it is a real process. I can't just grab clothes and throw whatever in the suitcase. It takes planning, organizing and real concentration.

Organizing+Planning = Super fun for Lindsay

So please, sit back and enjoy the crazy inner workings of me.....

First, I need to figure out how many days I will be gone. During those days I also need to assume what I will be doing. Beach outfit, night outfit, wedding outfit, etc.

Then I gather the things out of my closet that I think will go with set days and lay them out on the bed. Laying them out really helps me to mix and match items so that I don't have too many things!

I make sure there are enough outfits for each day, activity, etc. Then I get to grabbing shoes and accessories.

Sorry about the poor phone camera quality

Then I get a rolling....I always roll my clothes when I put them in the suitcase. I find it really reduces the amount of wrinkles and takes up less space!

I am so excited about going! Cuba was actually never somewhere Ryan or I thought of visiting before but after a little research now, we can't wait to be lying on the beach with a rum punch in our hands!

I hope to cross a few things off of my 101 list while there...

#27 - Swim with a dolphin

#37 - Build a sand castle

#1 - Build a snowman

JUST KIDDING

#87 - Spend a whole day at the beach

#100 - Go down south with a group of friends

#29 - Release a message in a bottle

There you have it, you can kind of see what I plan on doing in the next week or so.

See you around!

Nos vemos!

xo

A Weekend Of Birthdays

Welcome back to the work week lovelies!! I am so hoping that this week FLIES by.....COME ON FRIDAY!

When looking back onto the weekend I thought "wow, that was relaxing". In reality it was full of activity (except for Sunday).

Friday afternoon/evening Sharon, Jill and I headed to the city for dinner and a movie. We all had a yummy supper at Kelsey's and then headed to the theatre where we were going to see Country Strong. Unfortunately, the theatre we were at wasn't playing the movie so we had to opt for another movie around the same time.

We decided on "How Do You Know" featuring Owen Wilson, Jack Nicholson, Paul Rudd and my personal favorite Reese Witherspoon. Just love that girl!

The movie was not too bad and I seriously think the great acting skills of Reese Witherspoon made it that much better. If the wardrobe person for this movie wants to dispose of all of Reese's clothes she wore in the movie, my door is open!!!!

It was really nice evening out, I love movie dates with girlfriends!!

Saturday morning I slept in till 8 AM! How is it the older we get the less capable we are of sleeping in? Blah! After a morning of lazy around I finally got ready for a Lupper (lunch+supper=lupper) date in celebration of Priscilla's birthday!

When picking up Sara I had to stop and take a picture of Charlotte, she is so adorable!

We went to Finnigans for lunch then back to Priscilla's "Christmasfied" (the girl has 3 trees, so beautiful!!) house for cake!!

Once back in the Pontiac, I dropped the girls off and then headed to Ryan's parents house for a birthday supper for his grandma, Joan! Ryan's mom always makes such a yummy feast for a large group of people! I don't know how she does it!

Off to work I went for a quiet but late (early morning) shift at the bar.

Sunday morning it was off to Church. I had big plans for the afternoon. I was going to clean, do laundry, pack my bags for Cuba and make a yummy supper. That plan went completely out the window when my butt touched the couch for the first time that day. I was out like a light! I was so sleepy from work the night before.

Instead of being productive Ryan and I were couch potatoes. We ate peanut butter spread on tortilla's for supper! ha ha!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. What did you do?

xo

New Love

For Christmas Santa blessed me with a brand new camera and I am sooooo thankful!!

Isn't it beautiful?

A couple of years ago Ryan and I went to a friend's wedding in Jamaica.

One of the things to do in the evenings was to go to the resorts disco. It was super fun and after a couple of Bahama Mama's I always turned into a dancing queen.

Dancing your heart out is not so good on a camera however. One warm night at the disco my hands were alittle "loosey goosey" and the camera hit the floor! The poor thing wouldn't work for the rest of the trip and I was worried I had lost it forever!

I took it into Future Shop as soon as I got back but unfortunately the warranty was old. I could pay $300.00 to get it fixed or buy a new camera...NO THANK YOU! My new kitchen that I was getting would not appreciate me spending $300.00. So, I took the poor thing home and figured out if I taped the bottom it would work!

That began my two year relationship with taping my camera. I never really complained because it worked fine with tape! I was happy. I knew eventually I would buy myself a new camera but being the cheap arse frugal person I am, I never went out and spent the money.

I couldn't believe my eyes Christmas morning when Santa had left my new Canon Rebel under the tree! The next day I read the manual cover to cover and I have been trying to figure out all the bells and whistles ever since!

Tucker, my model!

Needless to say, the picture quality on this blog is about to get a heck of a lot better and this tripper happy picture taker is on the prowl, no one is safe!

xo