Family Fun & Some Clean Up

Late post - Family's in town.

Early July, my aunt came to LA to take my grandma home to Japan. I am deeply sad to see my grandma go back home, and of course, it's always depressing. But I know I will see her again soon and I hope she stays well. I'm glad I was able to bring her to LA during my trip to Japan in April. She's a strong lady, funny as anything with the best sense of humor an 84 year old can have. She's the best grandma ever. 

(Wine tasting at San Antonio Winery. I was the chauffeur)

(Every time my family comes from Japan, we have to have lobster. It's like a tradition.
This time it was BBQ lobster and it was delicious! My mom and aunt look funny, it
was so dang hot!)

(Fourth of July, watching fireworks at a nearby school)

(This kid never let's me down. He's so funny, sleeping sideways. My little baby P)

(Look at all these red tomatoes!)

(This was a big, but SO satisfying job!! Finally got tired of the dirty hallway, so decided
to mop up and clean the floor and lay out the runners! Boy does it make a difference! I
LOVE the huge mirror from Ikea too!! Makes a world of a difference in this dingy
hallway!)

(Can't wait to get the walls and the ceiling done in the hallway too. Love the runners!
Now I can walk barefoot upstairs!)

(Another HUGE undertaking of mine. Cleaned up the yellow room!! Wow, it was nasty
and dirty, and dusty and messy!! Took all of the Man's tools downstairs and emptied
out this room. I must've mop this floor at least a good 10 times because it was filthy!)

(But now we have a whole other room which will be my study! The vanity should've been
demo'd, but maybe later. The make-shift curtain is temporary as well. We've gotten
blinds from Ikea, just haven't put them up! Can't wait to get my projects started in
this room!)

(This Guy......my love)

Missing my family,
The Lady

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)

Comida in Cozumel

Lady here. First off, I must mention that I love lobster and pretty much all kinds of seafood. The Man, not so much. He'll have sushi and maybe a little bit of salmon or lobster but that's about it.

So seeing that lobster was pretty much on every menu in Cozumel and the Playa, I was in heaven. Though Caribbean lobster is not quite the same as Maine lobster. Maine lobster is sweeter and had more body I would say.  

We found some pretty good eats thanks to TripAdvisor and Foursquare. The highlight was probably the Lobster and Bacon sandwich from Le Chef Cozumel. However other places we ate at were just as good. Especially the al pastor tacos from Los Sera's. 

Cozumel is definitely safe enough to walk around at night. We walked all over town looking for places to eat and we never felt like we were in danger. The locals were really nice in fact. Even sometimes giving us recommendations. Just watch out for the mosquitoes at night. They are relentless.  

   (Lobster and bacon sandwich from Le Chef Cozumel)

   (Al pastor tacos with a slice of pineapple on top from Los Sera's) 

   (The guy cutting the al pastor and pineapple for the tacos! Made to order
at Los Sera's)

   (Grilled skirt steak with a side of beans and guac from La Choza. This was basically gringo food, but good gringo food I must say)

 (This image is a bit dark but it's al pastor tacos with Pozole soup to the right from Los Otates. Everyone, including fellow divers, raved about this place and the Pozole but honestly it wasn't that good)

  

  (The Man's breakfast and his leg. Basically a Mexican version of steak and
eggs with a side of rice & beans and a coconut/pineapple
smoothie from La Girasoles. Really nice and modern place with AC!)

Drooling,

The Lady