Florida Trip - Part 2

So you'd think we had already had all the excitement one trip could take. But things only got more interesting!

Day 3
We all woke up a little "groggy" from the beer and wine drinking the night before. I slept in a bit, and we had spa appointments at 11am about 30 minutes away. We were really trying to not spend a lot of money this trip, but I was SO looking forward to the 80 minute massage I had booked. We get our things together, head out to the car. My mom turns the key and the car is dead. Nada. Nothing. We just sit there staring for a minute. A little background on the car, my parents just bought a '97 Cadillac from a "little old lady" who lives in the next town over. They did not see the car, just couldn't pass up the great deal and my dad kept saying...I really trust this woman. Uh huh. You can probably tell where this is going. This humongous '97 Cadillac has given everyone nothing but problems so far, and now (gasp!) our spa appointments were in jeopardy. My sister called AAA, and about 90 minutes later, a big burly blond mechanic shows up. He fixes the car quickly, but we have still missed our appointments. We rescheduled so not a problem. As the mechanic is leaving, my mom lunges for his big gold necklace and starts inspecting it because there is a charm on it that she can't figure it what it was (a tow truck). My sister and I are HORRIFIED! Was she drunk or something? Who does that? He kind of looks at us, like what the hell is this lady doing? He leaves with no other inappropriate touching, we have a talk with my mom, and we head to the pool. We laid out, finally went to our spa appointments, and went to a restaurant that was right on the beach. Sat outside because gosh dammit we're in Florida and it's 20 degrees in Chicago, and we need to make this count. But it was delicious nonetheless and we headed back home.

Day 4
Got up, went for a run, and packed up our belongings. My mom was cleaning the condo and we just tried to stay out of her way, er, I mean help out. We had our flights at 5pm, so we headed back to Naples for some window shopping and lunch, and caught some of the inauguration. Headed back to the condo, waited for the cab and made our way to the airport. Checked in, we about to board and found out the windshield on the plane was cracked. They originally canceled the flight, but then moved it back to 10pm. Having spent enough time with my mom to last a few months, I went and bought enough magazines to tide me over. We then went to drink margaritas and eat our weight in chips and salsa for dinner. Waited for the flight for another couple of hours and watched this mom with 3 very young kids. The little boy (about 18 months) did...not...stop. Ever. I was tired watching him. They were hiding under the chairs (gross) and running around the corridor. I don't blame them, we were all a little punchy. I looked at my mom and said...maybe Kevin and I should just get another dog instead of...you know...have some kids. She looked at me and didn't disagree.

Finally home at 1am this morning, greeted by my pup and sleeping husband. Great trip, happy to be home.

Florida Trip

A quick round up of the trip to the Bonita so far....

Day 1
My mom and I flew in ok. the flight was fairly uneventful, accept for the 1/2 blind girl who sat next to me who kept calling people before we took off. she called like 4 people asking if they were going to pick her up, and then hang up in 10 seconds saying she needed to get off the phone. she didn't. it was weird. and her coat kept going over to my "side" of the seat. annoying. my sister picked us up, we dropped our bags off at the condo and we went to "The Fish House." as we were sitting down my mom said, "they have really GREAT fish here!" hope so, given the name. margaritas later, we went grocery shopping. laid out by the pool, it got too hot in the sun (i have a little burn) and we then got ready for dinner. my sister was in the shower and we heard a loud boom and we thought she fell on her head. my mom and i ran in there and the shower curtain rod fell, so my mom and i held it up while she finished her shower. oh so classy. had dinner down in naples, delicious. at the end of the meal, i asked for a dessert champagne. he mentioned he had rosa regale. I LOVE rosa regale! I went into a 5 minute long diatribe about how my sister-in-law had it at her wedding, and that's how i started loving it. I then went on to tell him that I bought my aunt mary a bottle one christmas but decided to drink it all before i gave it to her. i had to go buy her another alcohol that i less loved, so i wouldn't drink it again. he finally walked away. delicious rosa regale though.

Day 2
woke up, drank some tar/coffee that my mom made. didn't feel really great, but went for a run anyway. tried to do the 4 mile route, but ended up doing the 3 mile route which really turned into the 2 mile route. oh well, i tried. ran errands, new shower curtain (still not up), so we don't have to hold it up for each other anymore. that will be nice. went to get some mudslide mix for when we lay out by the pool. decided we needed a bag of ice so my mom went over to grab a bag. we look over and she took the thing and body slammed it onto the floor. on purpose. ice everywhere. she just wanted to break it up. really? right in the middle of the store? I felt like i was watching my dog try to get the treat out of the kong by slamming the thing on the floor so the treat breaks into little bits, thus coming out of the kong. she's genius (my dog) really. the 90 year old woman working there thought my mom was absolutely insane. she said if you just "squish" it with your fingers, that should break it up just fine. embarrassing, we left there and found out my mom just left the extra ice on the floor, so we drove a little faster. came back to the condo, relaxed by the pool and drank said mudslides with said ice. went for pizza at doc's and watched the sunset. played peek a boo with a 1 year old who thought i was the equivalent of elmo. after 3 coronas and lots of wine, we made it back to the car. i sat down and to hear a loud tear....hole. in. crotch. of. jeans. what to do? go out for another drink, obviously. 30 minutes later we find this hidden restaurant my sister had to find. have a drink, leave, and my very conservative accountant sister says "ape shit" in front of my mom. doesn't sound funny, but was really funny actually. back at the condo, ready to sleep. another day tomorrow...

Lazy Tourist

I am back from my whirlwind holidays and trip to New York. New York City has a vibe that is like no other city in the world. I feel equally chic and hip, mixed with totally frumpy and fashionably out of touch…like I just caught a flight in from a tiny town in Montana.

When we were planning our NYC trip I found a hotel in Soho, and was excited to experience that part of Manhattan. Usually we stay with Kevin’s family about 45 minutes outside of the city, so I was looking forward to feeling like a real New Yorker for a few days. I had plans for us to go to Central Park, or on top of the Empire State Building, or maybe going to see a Broadway show. We did none of those things, making me think that perhaps we are lazy tourists.

When we were in Paris about 6 years ago, the person we were staying with called us the “laziest tourists he ever had stay with him.” We were horribly jet-lagged, and it was Kevin’s and my first time being in Europe. We’d sleep in until around noon, get up, grab some lunch or coffee, and then go see a site. After that, we’d walk around and grab more coffee in a little café, and chat for what felt like hours. We’d walk back to the apartment and get ready for dinner, and do the whole thing all over again the next day.

When we’re on vacation, I like to experience, instead of see. I like to listen to conversations instead of someone lecturing at me on a tour. While in Paris, I do remember going to Notre Dame, and the Louvre, but I have fonder memories of sitting in cafes sipping coffee. Or when we went to Normandy, I remember vividly seeing where our soldiers lost their lives, but I can also tell you what I ate the little restaurant in town, sipping a cider.

New York was no different. We barely went to any of the top tourist sites, but we relaxed. We saw Soho and went to restaurants around our hotel, and learned the streets and shops and the cool local hangouts. The most touristy thing we did was have drinks at the top of the Rainbow Room, and felt at peace chomping on nuts and sipping my champagne.

Perhaps we are lazy tourists to some, but to me, I like to get in there, and experience. I can open a book and see many of the things that people wait in line for endless hours. But being able to really experience and live it, is my way of vacationing…and perhaps life in general. And if that makes me a lazy tourist, then so be it.

A Quick Trip, But All the Difference

Getting to the point where you feel like you NEED a vacation is not fun at all. I feel this often, and for no apparent reason. Perhaps just with the stress of normal life I often have visions of leaving everyone and everything and fending for myself on a beach with nothing but a Mango Margarita, a bathing suit and a pair of tweezers (hey, a girl's got to have nice eyebrows). Of course, I'd love Kevin to be there as well so we could pass out in the sun, or take a dip in the ocean. Though the fantasy is nice, we rarely have the opportunity to escape life all that often.

This past weekend Kevin had to give a presentation in Grand Rapids, MI on Saturday and was leaving Friday night. It's about 3 hours away from Chicago, so he asked if I wanted to join him for the ride. I was not overly excited about it because I'm not really one for road trips, and there didn't seem to be all that much to do there. But as it got closer, it sounded better and better. We put the dog in boarding, packed up the car, cued the iPod and were on our way. The 3 hour drive there was quick and uneventful, but gave us a chance to talk, play some road trip games, and just reconnect. We got to the hotel and I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.



I woke up the next morning and Kevin was already gone for his presentation. I had found some great hiking trails online before we left. Unfortunately, I woke up to storming weather, so I nixed the hiking idea. Instead I went to the gym in the hotel and made myself workout for an hour. I felt so great and rejuvenated afterwards. After the workout I showered and got ready for the day, and ate a delicious omelet in the hotel restaurant while reading my teenage vampire book.



Kevin still had a couple hours left before he could leave so I found a mall in town and hit up some stores. When you live in the city, malls sometimes get exciting! The stores weren't great, but I found some great deals and soon found my way back to the hotel to pick Kevin up. We drove the 3 hours back home and the rest of the weekend was filled with napping, wine drinking, more napping, and driving Bailey crazy with tons of kisses and pets.



Today I feel refreshed, and really ready to tackle this IVF cycle. Lately I have felt so tired and cranky, that looking at the next day in life seems a struggle. But this weekend was such a tiny escape from life it got me back on track. Sometimes we don't need to fly 1,000 miles away to segregate ourselves on a beach to really get away. I found this weekend that even getting a tiny break from the dog, laundry and the internet will do the trick, and it was, afterall, just a quick trip.