2-1/2 months of waiting and....

We are finally first time home buyers!! Officially July 29, 2014 we closed escrow. We couldn't be more excited. A long sale and escrow process (2.5 months to be exact), but I'm glad we were patient enough to wait!! Now for our big project! Renovations, restoration and making it our very own. 

Excitedly,

The Lady

Wundabar Pilates = Stress Reliever/Awesome Exercise!

Sorry for the lack of posting. Lately, the new house stuff has been stressing the Lady out. We are in escrow currently, and it could not be any more confusing. They should just rename the escrow phase to "the pile of paperwork" phase. No fun, not one bit.

So naturally, the Lady gets stressed about every little thing. This big hump in our lives has really stressed me out. Why wouldn't it right, it is the biggest purchase we will probably make in our lifetime (minus the yacht and helicopter we're going to buy one day......lol). What has helped me out tremendously over the last 6 months, in times of stress, in times of busy-ness, in times of just down-right-crazy, what calms me and centers me is Pilates. Some people swear by Yoga or Spin, I swear by Wundabar Pilates.

Not only is it a great workout, it stretches me, pushes me, makes me sweat, makes me wanna cry, makes me quiver and shake, and makes me focus on myself. It betters me, physically and spiritually. I could be having a crappy day and when I go to Wundabar, you just forget about it. You kind of have to, you focus so much on your body, your position, your core, that you just forget all your problem. If there's one thing the Lady hates, it's exercising. Running in particular. Running and the Lady are arch enemies. So any exercise that I can mindlessly yet mindfully do, I'm all for it. It's become very zen for me, I just basically plug out and detach myself from the world, and for that 45 minutes session I just focus on myself and the exercise. It's very comforting and calming, if you know what I mean. Almost like being in the water, diving.......almost :)

(looks like a scary contraption but it's the uniquely patented 

Wundabar Pilates reformer, this thing is amazing. 

Picture courtesy of Wundabar Pilates)

Having Diving Withdrawls....

Okay....Lady here. Having scuba diving withdraws today. I was thinking about all the things I miss and don't miss (well kinda miss) about diving.

Miss:

1. The exhilarating feeling of first descending down from the surface

2. The sound of your own breath in a regulator 

3. Swimming through someone's bubbles. Just gorgeous 

4. The feeling of floating. It's like you're flying with no gravity. 

5. The wind in your hair as the boat flies over the waves 

6.  Looking up to the surface from a deep dive and seeing a light blue surface glimmering and moving rhythmically
7. Hearing the DMs say "Pool's Open!".....I just love that :)

Don't really miss:

1. The unforgettable, repulsive smell of fuel from the boat when trying to grab onto the boats ladder and rope (nauseating)

2. How funny water taste after you've surfaced from a dive (it just tasted so strange)

3. Nervousness of first falling backward from a boat to get into the water

4. Putting on a wet wetsuit (ugh!)

5. A stinky wetsuit

The Disappointing Playa Del Carmen

Here's the last travel post for our most recent Mexico trip.

The Lady especially hates unpredictable weather. Hate, hate, hate.The last two days of our recent trip was spent in Playa Del Carmen. The last two days in one word: Sucked. It rained and poured cats and dogs. Not a peek of beautiful sunshine. Sad was what it was. After months of waiting for our sunny, hot beach trip, it ended with a whole bunch of rain. I hate being disappointed.

When we were making our way to Cozumel from Tulum, we obviously had to stop through the Playa to get to the ferry terminal. The day we were just passing through was excruciatingly hot and unbearable. It was hot! We were actually looking forward to some of that heat, just laying out on the beach, tanning and reading. We hadn't really had any of that this whole trip (unlike Maui, which is all we do there). So leaving Cozumel, we were sad but looking forward to that. We got downpoured. Good thing it was the last days of our trip, I would have been so disappointed if it was our whole trip.

On the flip side, I guess food was pretty decent in Playa. Fifth Avenue was pretty interesting as well to take a stroll. Touristy, but busy with plenty to do. Playa is supposed to be the subdue version of Cancun, being about 40 miles south of Cancun. Not really the case. There were many parties at clubs, many bars open late, lots of rowdiness and partying going on on Fifth Avenue. Not really our thing honestly......we wanted to enjoy the Playa for it's glorious white sanded beaches. But because we couldn't, we pretty much stayed in and ate out.

(What should have been a beautifully sunny beach is a stormy, grey and cloudy desolation)

(Cute place mat at Chez Celine)

(Probably the most delicious almond/chocolate croissant I have ever had!
The Man had a ham and cheese croissant, and I had the tuna)

(Our first dinner at the Playa, caesar salad with camarons and steak tacos w/ guac!)

(Lobster's a big thing down here in Riviera Maya. This is my plate,
the Lobster fettuccine with tomato cream sauce, delicious and simple)

(The Man got the Carbonara pasta, which is also another one
of my favorites, and it was deliciously decadent and rich with
 a nice touch of bacon)

(After all that pasta, we went to get dessert at a chocolate cafe
where we got a brownie, hot chocolate and sipping chocolate [not pictured].
The chocolate was good but I think I've had better, deeper,
richer chocolate in San Francisco)