Cancun Recap

We had a blast in Cancun. The itinerary didn't go exactly as planned, but like I told the groom- I'm not gonna have a hissy about that, I'm here for my SIL's wedding first, the vacation is a bonus. I'll be honest, most of the photos look exactly the same, so I am not going to inundate you with beach/pool photos. I'll just give you the highlights.

Sunday- Arrival Day... There was a tropical storm that we flew into. Which means lots of turbulence, being in dark clouds, seeing lightening, etc. We had a missed landing and had to circle around Cancun for about 40 minutes to land again, we definitely hydroplaned and I thought we would crash into the airport. When we got into the airport, there was water EVERYWHERE, plaster was coming off the walls, and water was leaking from the ceiling. Arriba!

Dark, dreary, and windy with water halfway up the bus wheels. 

We had rooms in the Adults Only Deluxe Villas at the Riu Palace Peninsula, which I would highly recommend! They were spacious, luxurious, and comfortable. There was a whirlpool bath in the room, a bidet in the restroom (LOL), his and hers sinks, and a private jacuzzi on the balcony! Since we were on the adults only side, we had a private pool with cabana beds that were exclusive to the villas. 

Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday- Monday, whale shark day was cancelled due to high winds and turbulent water. Instead, we all hung out by the pool. We also went to dinner at Harry's, which is the best steakhouse ever. No joke. We ate dinner next to Adam Sandler, Kevin James, and what appeared to be Mark Ruffalo and Seth Rogan and all their families. Legit next to. I may have stared creepily for a few minutes. 

Gabriel, his sister the bride, and his parents at Harry's 

Wednesday, Gabriel and the bride (his sister) did 4 dives, 2 day and 2 night, so the rest of us hung by the pool. I may have gotten white girl wasted this day on accident. My bad. 

Adults only pool 

Dubya got a little pink and had to stay in the shade. 

pool time! 

Thursday- hanging out and WEDDING DAY! The wedding itself started at 5pm, followed by cocktail hour while the bride/groom took photos, then dinner and dancing. It was a beautiful day, filled with lots of laughs, and tons of fun. The bride looked gorgeous!

Friday- Gabriel and I went on the whale shark adventure! I was scared shitless, but I still did it. Ya'll I don't swim. I don't like, nor enjoy it. It gives me anxiety, so I wore a life jacket, followed ALL instructions to a T, and made sure to stay out of the way of our guide and captain. 

It is all pretty simple really, you take a speed boat out hunting for the whale shark- for us this was about 3 hours... with 30 minutes being with the boat breaking down! Then, you and a few other people get in position to hop out of the boat, watch and wait until the whale sharks fin comes near your boat, THEN VAMANOS! You hop out and swim next to the whale shark as fast as you can. IT IS FUCKING HUGE. We each got to swim next to it 2x, so you are really spending a few hours doing this even though you are only in the water a few minutes. 

Next, you do the calm, sedate activity. You take a leisurely drive to a reef and snorkel for a bit and eat the BEST ceviche you've ever had in your life. 

G would only take good photos of my butt.  And yes the life jacket was way too big. 

Saturday- All about packing up and heading out. Thank goodness, this go round our flight was totally uneventful. Filled with the expected screaming kids and people taking naps. I'll take that any day over turbulence and lightening clouds. 

Sunburn Essentials

This is the thing nobody every talks about... and I know that I am not the only one who dreams of having that luscious tan looking skin when they are sitting out in the sun, but the reality is I am pale, have freckles and burn easily. So, in the spirit of celebrating the lack of tan I am getting while setting on the beach, I thought I would share some sunburn tips and tricks I have come across in my day.

Even though you have these awesome tips and tricks, don't forget use SPF and reapply at least every 2 hours!

Some basic tips for when you are red:

• Use a cold compress- this can be a cool washcloth that is wet with either water or witch hazel. 
• Avoid soap- this can dry out and irritate your already irritated skin. 
• Moisturize! I like to keep coco butter lotion in the fridge, but the BEST relief is refrigerated ALOE WITH LIDOCAINE. 
• Moisturize! From the inside out this time, drink lots of water. 
• Use oatmeal- Aveeno sells oatmeal bath packets that are wonderfully soothing to your sore skin. Soak in a cool tub. You can also make a cool oatmeal paste and slather that on and remove it after a bit. 
• Use vinegar- use either apple cider vinegar or white vinegar on a washcloth and cool in the fridge then lay on your burn. 
• Use cucumber- slice that sucker up and set it on your burn. 
• Use tea- I have heard some people swear that only Earl Gray works for this and others say mint tea. Either way, brew some tea up and cool it down, then either wipe on with a cotton ball or use a washcloth as a cold compress. 

DIY Remedies from the web:

• DIY After Sun Spray- this recipe uses three essential oils that are soothing to the skin. 
• DIY Essential Oil Lotion- this recipe uses a vinegar bath or wipe down first, followed by mixing coconut oil with essential oils and rubbing yourself down.
• DIY Crispy Critter Spray- this recipe uses water, aloe, and essential oils.  

What are some of your tips/tricks for sunburn?

Beach Day Essentials

Since I will be in Mexico this week, I wanted to put together a post about what I feel like are must haves for the beach. These are also things that I take with me to the pool or the lake. Really, anywhere that is hot and you will be spending more than a few minutes :) 

Sunscreen - I like to buy SPF 30 and 50. I use the 50 when I am out on or in the water, because water reflects light. I use the SPF 30 all the rest of the time. I have to tell you the best place to get sunscreen is Ulta. The always have $3.50 off coupons that you can stack with their BOGO deals. I got 2 cans and 2 bottles of lotion for $14 with tax. I call that a score! After that, I would say Walgreens is a good option, their store brand is usually on sale 2/$5.

                  

                    

Water- If you are out in the heat, you NEED to drink water. Even if you are consuming adult beverages, which we all know if you are at the beach you should be, you need to drink water to make sure you don't get dehydrated. For me, I like to have bottled water on hand or, preferably, a reusable cute cup. It's even better if it has a monogram. 

                                                             reusuable mason jar 

Stylish Head Protection- I sunburn super easily, so head protection is a must! It also needs to be stylish and fit my big bobble head. I found the perfect, inexpensive, cute option. It comes in a variety of color options and online there is even more variety. The one linked below is the exact one I got and is less than $7! 

Fedora

Reading and Music- There are tons of options out there for reading and music material. I highly recommend a digital reader for this purpose. You can have magazines, books, and the ability to get new things at all times. I like to use an iPad and the ebooks and magazines from the public library. Ya'll if you haven't set this up you should! Right now, I have Tami Hoag, gossip mags, and fitness mags ready to go. I also think that by having an iPad you have music and reading all in one. Create a couple of playlists, with a variety of music- low key classic rock, current hits, etc. 

                           

Monogram- I know this isn't really a necessity, but a good monogram is always appreciated. I got the best monogrammed bikini top from Simply Southern Grace 1 off etsy. For the less than $20, you can get something personalized to you! The one I got was navy with a white monogram, which I feel like can mix/match with a variety of colors. I also ordered monograms from RJRCustomz to put on the previously mentioned reusable cute cups. 

What are some of your beach must haves?

From Ms. to Mrs. {{First Dance and Party!}}

You guys have gotten a good look at all the small details of the wedding, so here is the great big fun one- the PARTY! Immediately after our ceremony, we had our first dance. Gabriel picked out the song and you guys will never, ever guess what song was our first dance song.... Mirrors by Justin Timberlake. Yup. Mirrors by Justin Timberlake was our first dance song. We also didn't do a traditional first dance, were we had a solo dance for the entire song. 

Instead, we danced for little bit, then we had couples come out by how long they had been married. Gabriel's parents were out there (40+), my parents (30+), and more of Gabriel's family for almost the entire song!

My parents are trying to get some of their friends to come up and dance too. 

After asking couples to come dance, we opened up the floor to everyone for the end of the song. 

I had to take a photo with my sorority sisters who were there! I love how a few of them went into the sorority girl pose immediately! You just can't shake it. 

My besties from college! If only Jess lived closer now. 

My besties from college, Jen and Lucy! 

The candy bar was a huge success! 

I love this photo! It is such a cool shot of Gabriel and his family. 

Slide to the left! Left foot left stomp! 

 You'll notice you don't see Gabriel or myself in most of the dancing photos-- he was only 60 days out from his patellar reconstruction surgery so he could barely walk and I don't dance well, I just shake my booty!

Not to say I didn't shake my booty! Cuz I totes did! 

My Mom and her cousin-in-law. They were getting down on the dance floor. 

Turns out the way to get a bunch of white folks out on the dance floor is to turn on the Cha Cha Slide and the Cupid Shuffle. Then, errbody gets on the dance floor. 

Including the babies! Miss A was getting down with it! 

You know the most fun out of the entire night? Moving around the tables catching up with people. 

There were also lots... and lots... of photos taken. 

We didn't do a cake cutting, even though we did have a cake. Truthfully, we totally forgot about it and everyone was having fun. Everyone was getting down on those cupcakes though.  So, we took home the cake and ate a piece. It was delish! We also didn't do a big go away, since most of the guests went across the street to Dave's Stagecoach Inn to keep the party going. We got a ride back to the hotel and passed out! 

From Ms. to Mrs. {{Family Moments}}

One of my favorite moments from our wedding day is taking photos with our families. We did this prior to the ceremony itself, to make sure that they got taken. These are pictures that I will treasure forever.

My dad, Big T 

My mom, D

My family, minus my older brother 

G and his momma, P 

G's family, including his littler sister 

G and his dad, Big Poppa

My biggest fear was that our family photos would look like those awkward family photos you see on Buzzfeed. Thankfully, the came out beautifully.