Tag Archives: travel.

A winter escape.

2 Mar

Thanks to Dave forever proclaiming that he “wants-a-beach-vacation” and the Costco travel website, we spent last week in Mexico. And yeah. Okay. It was nice.

We booked an all-inclusive resort south of Cancun on Riviera Maya. Our resort – El Cid Ventus Ha – was about a twenty minute ride from the airport. Our resort was actually one of three connected resorts on a single sort of “campus”; we could wander freely between them, enjoying all the pools and restaurants.

We arrived on Saturday with no plans but to relax and enjoy the next six nights. We considered an excursion or two but after the increased precautions due to the violence on the other side of the country, we just stayed put on the resort. And it was lovely that way.

We ate good food, drank drinks of the fancy and not variety*, and played a lot of Farkle (dice game) at our favorite hang-out spots. We explored the beach and the pools; got massages on the beach. Dave went on a snorkeling adventure through the resort and saw all sorts of cool things in the reef. (My ever present sea-sickness scared me to stay on land.) The landscaping was meticulous and beautiful; staff wonderful.

After our time there, I kind of get it – the people who do a trip like this every year, or every couple of years. I’m not sure that will be us right now, but I could see us returning someday.

* We both discovered how much we love sparkling water with lime. (We’re stocking the fridge with limes now.) It was a good balance to the margaritas and cervezas (also with lime) and cosmopolitans …

Our favorite breakfast spot.
Room service morning.
Our balcony faced the mangroves.
We did take a bike ride into town through the resort to explore for an hour. One of our favorite places in a foreign city? The local grocery store.
Farkle on the rooftop bar; our last night.

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30 days of 1 dress.

26 Feb

I’ve alluded to a new clothing obsession in a previous post.

That obsession continues.

So much so that I just completed a 30-day challenge with Wool&.
I picked one single wool dress from that company and wore it everyday for 30 days.

Now. I hear what you’re saying. 1. Ew. 2. Why. 3. Ew again.

Merino wool clothing is like magic. Dave was the first to start exploring wool clothing when he began hiking longer distances; merino is the clothing of choice for backpack/overnight hikers. And it makes sense. My dress was not stinky after consecutive wears; it dried quickly overnight the couple times I did wash it. You can hand wash in the sink of a cruise ship while in Naples and it will be dry by the time to leave the ship the next day to visit Rome. Our European adventure this summer and a desire to travel light fuels a lot of this wardrobe shift. Not to mention, it is so incredibly soft and comfortable, and reminded me that I don’t need a closet stuffed with clothes. (Which is good because these wool pieces are an investment!)

Wearing the same thing (with some variation) every day also proves that NO ONE ELSE REALLY NOTICES. (Or if they do, they’re too polite to say something.) We have this idea in our heads that we can’t wear the same thing two days in a row because someone will notice. I think we think people pay more attention to what we wear than they actually do. Here’s the other thing: It took me until my 40s to start wearing what is comfortable and not care so much what other people think about the clothes on my body. I’m embracing my giant calves and everything else. (And, let’s be honest, I HATED finding dress pants; I never found the unicorn pant that checked all the boxes!)

Next time you see me, I’ll probably be wearing a dress with leggings. It’s what I wear now. *waves* Hi!

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