Sunday, March 31, 2013

First Night in New Orleans: NBA Game!

On Friday morning we headed to the airport for an early flight to Denver.  After a 4 hour layover in Denver, we took off to New Orleans, landing around 4:30 p.m..  Our flights were both really good.  We checked into our gorgeous hotel, got ready, and then headed straight to the New Orleans Arena (across from the Superdome) for an NBA game!


We shared a hotdog and settled into our seats for tip-off.

The Heat were in town to play the Hornets, and although we were cheering for the Hornets, holy-wow is Lebron ever an amazing basketball player!

 

Later on in the game we shared some popcorn and a pretzel.

 

The Heat came out on top - no surprise there.


The rest of the evening was spent wandering around the French Quarter, getting a feel for New Orleans.  After only being in New Orleans for 4 hours, we had already been to a game, ate some salty snacks, and covered a lot of ground on foot.

Have you ever been to an NBA game?  Do you like basketball?

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Sicky

Earlier this week I got hit with the flu, and it took me out for a couple of days.  I recovered by getting plenty of rest, and drinking a lot of organic lemon and ginger "tea" (just boiling water with lemon and ginger).  Sometimes I mixed it with some cinnamon honey:

 
 

I also made sure that I ate healthy, "real" foods, like berries and nuts.  The healthiest foods you can eat have only 1 ingredient:

 

Christopher and I cooked dinner on Wednesday evening, as I was starting to feel a bit better.  We made tofu steaks with mushrooms, garlic avocado mashed potatoes, and salad:


Luckily I was feeling much better in time for our early Friday morning flight to New Orleans!  More on that later!  This is the 4th year in a row that I've been on an epic vacation over Easter break, and I love it!

What are you up to this Easter weekend?

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Ten on Tuesday

1)  We came home from Mexico to pretty awful weather and a lot more snow.  The last few days have been spent tending to sunburned skin, and hiring guys to move some snow away from around the house as a preventative measure in case of a quick melt.

2)  On Friday evening after working on 3 hours of sleep, I was hunnnnngry!  I ate canned salmon, some Brussels sprouts and a tomato cucumber salad.



3)  We planned to eat mostly vegetarian for the week that we will be at home.  Breakfast on Saturday included some yogurt with granola and berries.



4)  We spent a few minutes this weekend laughing at a commercial with this baby in it:



The baby is evil!  Have you heard it laugh?

5)  Dinner on Saturday was salad and a kimchi/tofu soup.


 

6)  On Saturday evening my computer crashed.  I panicked a bit, since I stupidly had not backed up my files in over a year (oooops).  My screen went completely white/grey and I could not get it to do anything. 



Fortunately PC Place was able to rescue all my files, but they did say my computer is toast

7)  I bought a new laptop, and all my files are now safe and sound on it, and I have learned my lesson about backing it up.  Back up your files today friends!

8)  On Monday morning I felt a little under the weather, but by the end of the day, I had a full on fever, chills, headache, etc..  Christopher took care of me, making dinner and cleaning everything up while I slept.



9)  I didn't feel any better today.  I made an egg salad sandwich but couldn't even get half of it down, even though I felt hungry.  I sipped on hot ginger and lemon water all day.



10)  3 more sleeps until New Orleans!!!!

What are you up to these days?  Have you ever had a computer crash on you? 

Friday, March 22, 2013

Mexico

At 2:00 this morning we arrived home from a pretty perfect vacation to Mexico.  We left on Saturday afternoon after a leisurely breakfast at home.  The airport was empty besides the people on our flight, and our wait in the lounge went by quickly, as did the flight.

We were in the Mayan, at BlueBay Grand Esmerelda - a very large, and very beautiful resort.  The rooms were huge, beds were comfortable, and showers couldn't have been better.  We spent the first evening with our pals, and it was a great way to start off our vacation.  

Our friends Suzanne and Mike tied the knot in a lovely beach side ceremony on St. Patrick's day.


Congratulations to the gorgeous, happy couple!

The weather was incredible every day; we got a bit too much sun on Monday, but it didn't slow us down (we missed about -32 weather while we were gone).

No matter how late we went to bed, I still popped out of bed at about 7:00 feeling great and raring to go.  Breakfast was my favourite meal of each day. The selection was great, and I couldn't get enough of the coffee.  It was naturally creamy, smooth, and almost chocolaty. 

 

I also loved the green juice made with celery, parsley and pineapple.


We only ate lunch once or twice, because we were usually still full from breakfast.  I thought the pasta was the best part.  It was perfectly cooked, and always piping hot.  The ginormous kiwi (it doesn't look ginormous in this picture, but it was) made a great dessert.


We went in to Playa del Carmen one day, and had really good tacos.  

 
 

I did some pretty good bartering for a blanket and some vanillaMy idea of bartering is that I set a price and you come down to it, but I don't budge at all.  It worked.

I learned a new card game (Golf) with some pals one sunny afternoon ...


Other afternoons were spent lounging by the pool, or swinging at the swing bar.

We drank our weight in "Cristal" each day in an attempt to stay hydratedNot exactly the Cristal we've come to appreciate, but refreshing nonetheless ;-)


All of our dinners were enjoyed at Al a Carte restaurants, and we didn't even get to try them all.  Some highlights are pictured below:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The French restaurant was definitely the best that we visited.  Christopher had one of the best salads I've ever tasted, and my soup was to-die-for.  The chicken was also a win.

After getting home this morning, I got into bed at 3:30 a.m., and set my alarm for 6:30 a.m. for work.  Brutal.  Luckily I didn't feel that awful - just a little dizzy/loopy.  

We love vacations.


One week from today - New Orleans!

How was your week?  Any plans for the weekend?

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Mexico Bound

Hola!  We're still trying to eat up the last of what's in the fridge before leaving this afternoon for Mexico!!

Last night was a chicken casserole with potatoes, spinach, tomato, cheese, etc..


This morning we're having quiche and bacon, and Christopher tried tomatoes on almond butter toast - not bad actually!


Adios amigos!

Have you been to Mexico?

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Eating it all Up!

The days before a vacation involve a few things:

1)  Cleaning the house.  Coming home from a vacation is hard enough ... coming home and having to clean the house is worse. 

2)  Running errands.  There are always last minute items to pick up, like American cash, travel size toiletries, etc..

3)  Eating up food in the fridge that will go bad.  Christopher was smart enough to remind me not to buy any groceries at the start of the week, because he knew I would.  I only grabbed some strawberries and spinach, and other than that we've been eating what is in the fridge/freezer.  This evening it was pizza with bacon, chicken, spinach, tomato, peppers, onion, olives and cheese - all things that had to be used up. 

 
 

Another day and a bit of eating cleaning out the fridge, and we're off for some fun in the sun! 

Do you have any vacations coming up?  
Did you go on a vacation recently?  Tell me about it!


Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Wordless Wednesday


What have you been eating lately?