I Wish I Was Still Here

Our vacation to Mexico was almost 2 months ago and I still haven't finished posting recaps.  Now that I look back on it fondly, I am once again impressed and overwhelmed by how awesome our trip was.  We won't talk about how I left my husband's phone in the cab (sorry you married a complete schmuck, honey)...or how I totally lost all my Spanish when they tried to tell us about paying CRV tax on beer at the neighborhood liquor store.  I'll let the pictures do the talking- taken during our city tour of Mexico City.

Mexico Part 2

When I left off on my last recap, we finished a beautiful hike up to the pyramids.  Later on in our trip, we were invite to Father's Day brunch to celebrate all the dads.  

Anyhoo, our gracious host Benny showed us around the house and then we sat down to eat a delicious lunch with the most amazing cake I ever had in my life.  I wish I knew what was in it, but I'll just have to go back and visit to eat it again.

 Our lovely lunch crowd

 We went to explore the backyard garden and patio and took a few lollipop breaks for a photo.

Our tour guides took us to the university in Mexico City to explore the campus and the boys climbed the snake maze.

I wasn't dressed for a hike, but we spent some time exploring the campus

Benny loved playing with his uncles that day and we loved the structures.  Each corner made taking pictures so much fun.

 Nuestra familia :)

We ended our trip that day walking through cobblestone streets and sat in this awesome square.  Again, loving the squares and people walking out and about.  We took our practice family photo too.

The streets were so charming- cobblestone, beautiful details, mature vegetation, and families walking around.

This part of our trip was so much fun and gave us a really good look at another part of Mexico City.  I knew it was an older city with a lot of history but I didn't expect the charm and unique buildings and streets.  I got to see much more of the city on a city tour, to be discussed on my next post.

Side note- I think I remember why I have been ducking out of working out with my husband.  I just lifted legs and shoulders with me and I can now finally lift my arms over my head, 2 days later.  However, I am still working on sitting, standing, and walking up the stairs.  Walking is still good, so Chino is in luck.  I'm coming back for more though- my muscles hurt so good!

Mexico Part 1

As promised (and I'm sure you are all sitting on the edge of your seat), here is the first in the set of recaps from our Mexico trip. We went to Mexico City and to the Mayan Riviera and had a blast.

Mexico has always had a special place in my heart.  My brother got me a job at a student travel company when I was 15 and I had the opportunity to travel to Mexico every summer for 6 years.  Another reason I love it is that my sister-in-law is from Mexico and it's been really cool to share her culture, especially now that we have a little nephew who is growing up with a Mexican, Russian/Ukrainian/American cultural mix.   Oh, and the last reason?  I love tequila and Mexican food.

Without any more delays I present some of the highlights of the first part of our trip - Mexico City.  Mexico City is huge and has a lot to offer and we were lucky enough to have an apartment and gracious hosts for our trip.

We got picked up from the airport and even had a birthday cake ready for the husband.

The next day we set off for Tepoztlan, a town 2 hours away from Mexico City in the state of Morelos.   The main destination was Tepozteco mountain, a 1.3 mile hike up to see a pyramid built over 1,000 years ago.  Oh, and the hike was all uphill at elevation, but we did it! We live at sea level and I didn't know how much the elevation would really affect us, but it was all worth the hike.

Me and my brother (right), and sister-in-law's brother (left)

 This tree was out of control and I had to get my clumsy self up it to go take a picture.

We took plenty of breaks to rehydrate and take pictures of the views.  Our gracious host humored us with some photos.

Not sure what was going on here...the heat was getting to me.

 Sweaty, and halfway there.

 We did it!  The views looked down onto the town below.

We explored the town of Tepoztlan.  I love how there are large parks around each church.

 We stopped in a local restaurant for lunch.  The food was fresh and delicious and extremely affordable.

 

Finally, we followed it up with some ice cream- the town's specialty is different flavored ices, kind of a mix between sorbet and ice cream.  I admired both of my views before we left to head back to the city.

We are back to hide from the heat here- just finishing the rest of a blissful long weekend and celebrating by hiding the puppy from the fireworks.  See ya'll later for more recaps and normal shenanigans!

Not Much of An Excuse

I am not a fan of checking blog pages and not seeing an update, yet here I am being a complete flake on my own blog.  I don't have much of an excuse, but we (husband mostly) have been doing lots of research on new kitchen stuff, working like crazy, and just got back from a vacation.  I'm back for good and I'm going to generate content- hopefully something that keeps inspiring me to keep a good balance and enough to keep you coming back.

So about that vacation- it was awesome!  I feel a little hungover (not in the literal sense anymore) but it's so hard to get back after being in paradise.  We went to Mexico City and the Mayan Riviera for a little over a week and here is my iPhone photo dump mostly from our time at the resort.  More family, sights, and food picture to come!

Beach

Volleyball games

Sun

Drinks and Meals

Time with the hubs

Hope you are all having a good Tuesday! See you back soon with more regular posting :)

Snapshots

I keep going back and forth in my mind on whether this is a food blog, a lifecasting blog, or somewhere in the middle.  When I walk around I think of posts in my head and snap random pictures but haven't been doing a whole lot of posting lately.  I cook exciting stuff sometimes and I exercise most days of the week because that's just what I do.

I work in the city and we live in the 'burbs but the stress of daily work life often gets to me despite all the yoga and facade of zen that I put on.  Getting away really helps me press "reset" and really appreciate how much I love life.  This weekend we drove up the coast of California to Mendocino, a small rural town that has yet to see the glimmer and lights of San Francisco, mostly by choice. 

Earlier in the week I was freaking out about yet another injury- this time it was my left foot.  Walking was very painful but after visiting my podiatrist (oh em gee- yes I'm 27 and have a regular podiatrist), getting a foot adjustment and learning how to tape my foot, my fam and I were off. 

There was surfing for some of us and walking around the beach for others.

 Tulips and beautiful flowers everywhere.

 7.14 mile hikes along the river.  Map my run and my OCD side love each other.

  Walking on rocks for those of us with better balance (i.e. not me).

 Light houses.  Light houses are my favorite- they must have such stories.

Breathing in the fresh air and scenery.

Long car rides filled with sleeping, talking, and iPod singing.  Also, somebody was a little tired from getting into his first brawl this weekend and visiting the vet for antibiotics.

I slept better this weekend than I have in the last few months. I'm sporting a bit of a sunburn which will turn into more freckles.  Today's 7 mile walk was probably not smart for my foot but I feel completely at peace.  Completely worth it.

Flashback Tuesday Night

I'm back from the gym after a late evening at work.  I ate some food today- actually lots of it and didn't take any pictures.  

Instead I'm doing a flashback post of my favorite vacation pictures.  I always dreamed of traveling when I was little and I'm so grateful I have had the opportunity to travel with my husband- we even named the tables at our wedding after the places we went together.  In my twisted little mind, traveling almost makes my uber-glamorous job worth the hours and stress.  I love looking back on the pictures and thinking of the fun experiences we had.  

I wish I were on a beach right now, or hiking, or walking through museums or something.

Here are a few favorite travel pictures:

Chicago on a layover from Eastern Europe

 South Beach

 Costa Rica

 New York

 

 South Lake Tahoe

 Portland, Oregon

St. Petersburg Russia (fun fact- this was taken about 1 minute after we got engaged and I was sure dressed fancy, huh?)

 Moscow, Russia

 Saratov, Russia (hubby's home town)

 Odessa, Ukraine (my motherland)

 We got stuck in a rain storm- fun memories

 What is your best vacation memory?  I won't lie- my first time at Disneyland rocked my world when I was 8.  Of course my trip to Eastern Europe with hubby is at the very top of the list.