Austin Sun Drops

Friday's Letters

2012-01-30T10:55:00.002-06:00

Dear weekend, why did you have to be so conducive to having a perfectly unplanned schedule, yet everything was already completely planned?

strawberry chocolate cupcake from an actual unplanned weekend

Dear self, did you really have to go and injure yourself in the first five minutes of a sport again? Really? Your tricep really could've gone without being pulled, and your knee cap would have been just fine without being bruised on the way down the rock climbing wall. Next time, wait for the easy wall. Seriously.

Dear boys, I'm glad you're better, Justinbustin, after staying home from school sick on Friday, then, going on a ten mile bike ride with Dad on Saturday. Shawners, I'm sad you're home sick from school. Crossing my fingers you feel better today!

Dear Brando, I really, really, really wanted to go on that ten mile bike ride with you Saturday. Perhaps my super strengthened legs would've saved me from injury on Sunday. But I'm glad you went.

Dear robotics team, I don't appreciate being injured at your celebration of the end of the season party yesterday I semi-planned but did a half-a*s job of because I was so tired after the season, but I am so glad you were all flexible with the two hour wait we happened upon once we got there and were happy to kill time with milkshakes at Red Robin. And I'm glad the season's over. 'Nuff said.

Dear new sunglasses, I heart you. You remind me of Breakfast at Tiffany's, whether you actually look like them or not. That is all.

Dear girls' night, I am so looking forward to you tonight. You've been a welcome reprieve back in my life the last few weeks.

And because I liked Basil's Dear God (and also because her letters were the push I needed to write this, especially after I saw only 23 minutes were left to link up):

Dear God, Thank you for my three amazing boys. Thank you for an amazing weekend, planned though it had to be. Thank you that I am able to stay home with Shawner's today. Thank you for my amazing hubby. Please help him to have a wonderful first day at his new branch. Please help the boys to get better. You are an amazing, awesome God!

What a Weekend

2012-01-09T09:01:00.002-06:00

Brando likes to surprise me with new places to hike as he knows how much I love hiking *and* new places. It's the perfect thing to make my weekend a wonderful weekend and he knows it.

But you will have to wait to hear and see the rest of it, because today I am over here at sweet Lisa's at Momma's Me Time as a guest poster talking about Brando's and my love of travels and how very, very fabulous it has been for our marriage. My very first guest post! Eek! A little nervous, but super excited. Try not to get distracted by Lisa's gorgeous long hair and adorable little boy. Oh, who am I kidding, get distracted and spend a few hours getting lost in her site like I did.

New Year, New Goals

2012-01-02T13:12:00.004-06:00

This is my third year to do New Year's Resolutions. It's been a few years since I did resolutions. '08's resolutions proved to keep me so focused and remembering my goals that they became a subconscious effort and when the end of the year came faster than ever I was shocked to see I accomplished so many of them!! I did resolutions again in '09 and now here we are again in '12. My, how time flies.

Fireworks at my sister's

New Year's Eve 2011

Personal

On girl time

Invest time in those who have stuck with me through thick and thin these past few years. Specifically spend more time talking to them on the phone, make a point to get together with them, make them feel special as a person, let them know how much they truly do mean to me, and continue to realize the importance, along with the renewed energy and love they bring, of girls' trips and girls' weekends even when it takes precious time away from my family but gives in return a happier, more confident and renewed me. The reward, the personal satisfaction of knowing I have done for them what I am so, so grateful that they have done for me.

Celebrating one of my besties wedding with another bestie

November 5, 2011

On time with my man

Continue to soak up and enjoy living with this amazing blessing of a man. Back in February of '11 I decided to concentrate more on the relationships I go home to every night than the girlfriends that I love spending time with. What a payoff this has had as Brando and my relationship is like a rock, if that's possible. He has blown my mind with his maturity and has risen to the level of insane calmness when I have my moments. We are starting to parent a teenager, and he has slowly taken that aspect over with that same calmness, maturity, and desire to develop a deep bond between father and son with Justinbustin that I am in literal awe of. In the meantime, I've noticed the girlfriends that have stuck with me, not only through the hard times previous, but through this time of restrengthening my relationship with my family. These are the girls I am truly blessed to have in my life. The reward, a lifelong appreciation for the time I have with this amazing man, and in the long run, I cross my fingers, a stronger, God-focused marriage as a result.

Annual New Year's Day family bike ride

January 1, 2012

Adding another one...

Continue to realize the importance of time and trips alone with my man. The past five or so years we have been so good about going on dates and trips together, just Brando and I. These last six months or so we have slipped a bit. Specifically, I want to remember to keep those dates and trips going as they have welded together our relationship in a way where we realize things aren't all about stress and the day-to-day grind, but are about him and I and how we enjoy each other and get along as well. The reward, the personal satisfaction of not only enjoying every moment day-to-day with each other, but rewarding those moments with times where we get to enjoy the full benefit of each other's company, and, no, I'm not being dirty.

Montana De Oro, Pismo Beach, California

Celebrating our eleventh anniversary

March 19, 2011

On enjoying the beauty of nature

This one is from '09, but I'm going to leave it in here, because, unless we move to a new town, I could reiterate these exact words this year as well.

Put a renewed effort into going out and enjoying our town. I'm not sure if it was the kids' school schedule, our jobs, or the pressure of the economy, but we've slacked off on our enjoyment of the local entertainment, nature, and beauty in the past few months and I'd like to get back into it as much or more so than we did before, as we have been having such a wonderful time doing over this Christmas break and had such a wonderful time doing this summer. Specifically, check out every new fun place we hear of in Austin, and every free new event that sounds interesting, including some of our favorites including Ballet Under the Stars, Shakespeare in the Park, South Asia New Year, Musicals in the Park, Barton Springs Pool, Mt. Bonnell, kayaking Town Lake, Laguna Gloria, Mayfield Park, watching the bats on South Congress, Whole Foods headquarters, and hopefully many new places this year!! The reward, knowing that I have enjoyed the beauty of my town to it's fullest and knowing that if I ever move away from here I will not be sad that I did not enjoy the time while I was here. Also, the satisfaction of having so many wonderful unique memories that can not be created any other time or place.

Annual New Year's Day family bike ride

January 1, 2012

On taking care of my body

Again, I may copy most of this one verbatim. Oh, it makes me laugh how similar my resolutions are this year to '09s. It makes sense though, as my life was semi put on hold in '09 when we moved, and then in '10 when we moved back again. '11 was a year of 'righting the boat' so to speak.

Put more effort into my hair. New year, new hair! Specifically, I've decided to change my part, and curl my hair a lot more to keep up with the current trend. Plus, it's soft, feminine, and feels freakin' gorgeous. To copy from '09 and continue on with the specifically, fluff up my bangs so they're not so freaking flat, get three haircuts this year instead of two, and put more effort into styling my hair even when I go out for simple things, but even more so for girls' nights out, dates with Brando, etc. By the way, this next part might be too much information for some of you! Specifically also to keep my eyebrows consistently groomed by shaping them at least once a month, plucking them at least once a week, and going into have them professionally shaped at least twice a year!! Oh man the way I look when I neglect them or forget to reshape them for even a week or two!! The reward, the personal satisfaction of having pictures where I put my effort in to look my best and can look back at and not nit pick at myself for not doing this or that with my hair and face!

New year, new hair, new part

New Year's Day, January 1, 2012

Adding another one...

Let go of the stress about my face and inevitable aging. Specifically, realize I look the FREAKIN' same in pictures now as I did two years ago. If anything is changed, it's only that I photo shop less because I realize this is what God gave me. I can love it, or I can photo shop it and think I've changed every time I see an unphotoshopped photo. I am not going cold turkey here and I am not saying my resolution is to stop photo shopping. The reward, the personal satisfaction of knowing I am aging with ease and grace and putting less lines on my face by doing so.

Nannying a little girl

October 10, 2008

Li's birthday celebration with Li and KT

October 28, 2011

On my thought life

Balance. Rhythm. Specifically, realize life is about rhythms, stop beating myself up when life is swung one huge way because Justinbustin has a regionals coming up, or a transition to school is starting, or a transition to Christmas vacation is starting. Realize life is a rhythm, full of seasons, just like nature, and that it's only for a season, and probably a short one at that, that something is happening. The reward, the personal satisfaction of going through these seasons with much more ease and calm.

Guest Speaker for Justinbustin's robotics club

December 16, 2011

Aspirations

On school

Think about doing school online. Specifically, research it, try out a class, and decide if it's for me. As per above, that's all I'm going there with it right now. The reward, the personal satisfaction of satisfying my insatiable desire to learn, as I love to do.

Butterfly hatched from the caterpillars off our parsley plant

May 29, 2009

On my home front

I'll keep this one from '09 as well, as I still like the sound of it.

Keep my home maintained and decluttered and invite more people into my home. Specifically, set aside a time every month to declutter each room and throw out items that are no longer needed. Also, maintain our daily habits and routines by cleaning up after ourselves and teaching the boys that in our family we clean up after ourselves. Teach them that we work before we play, so that once we're done working hard we can play even more than we would've been able to before. Make a point of having multiple couples over once a month for dinner and a movie or margaritas and chips and a game night. The reward, giving myself permission to buy one new kitchen, decorating or entertaining for my home each month as I succeed.

Gingerbread house making party

December 18, 2011

On my family front

I'll hang onto this one, too, as I've started this back up in the last few months, any way.

Continue to take pictures that are actually a happy moment this year. Also, to take more fun and goofy pictures rather than smiley ones where you say 1-2-3 cheese all the time! Aw, it makes my heart smile thinking how many happy pictures we took last year. Specifically, making sure that I continue to capitalize on those happy moments before or after the fact and remind them how happy they will be to have those pictures later. Also, specifically, find and pay attention to interesting and fun set ups and faces in magazines, other pictures, etc. that will make our own pictures more interesting and fun. I am so camera happy that people get irritated with me for it sometimes! Thanks to people like KT for encouraging me by telling me how good I am at snagging other people to take pictures for group photos. Most of the time I feel like I embarrass everyone I'm with when I do that. Good thing I don't care either way! I've also learned to take group photos by catching them naturally - when people are already standing together and talking and saying, "Look at me and smile!" The reward, the personal satisfaction of moments of our lives captured to look back and smile on.

Annual New Year's Day family bike ride

January 1, 2012

Adding another one...

Take more family vacations. Specifically, take the boys' snowboarding and skiing again and to Disneyland. Last year, we went snowboarding and skiing, and once snowboarding before the year before. The boys loved it. I didn't realize til' just now those were truly family vacations. I'm so glad we've already done them and I can't wait to do even longer ones this year. The reward, the personal satisfaction of knowing we took that time together as a family to create lifelong memories that I'm crossing my fingers will be stress-free as possible as a result of our maturing relationship as per above resolution.

Justinbustin's first time snowboarding

December 23, 2010

Mommy, Justinbustin's, and Shawners' first time snowboarding

December 23, 2011

Shawners' first time snowboarding

December 23, 2010

Happy New Year and a (belated) Merry Christmas!

2012-01-01T13:35:00.001-06:00

One of the highlights of 2011 and one of my favorite Christmas presents for Christmas was meeting Ashley, one of my favorite bloggers. The minute we decided we were heading to Phoenix to visit my Grandma, I knew I would be emailing her to see if she was in town. Turns out she was for two of the days I would be there. We ended up driving to her town, just twenty minutes away from my Grandma's town, to see the Glendale Glitters Christmas Lights. We met her at her house where she greeted us with her sweet barking puppies and "puppy chow" (link to another blogger I've met and love in real life who happens to share a fondness for puppy chow with Shawners and Ashley ;)!) - a yummy chex mix Trav made that I brought home to Shawners who gobbled it up and has been begging for it ever since.

Ashley and I had both already admitted via email that we are shy people until you really get to know us. But I already felt like I knew her via our blogs. She's just one of those people that is easy to know. She also knows me a little more intimately than some bloggers might because she's seen a few more of my personal struggles. So I was crossing fingers we would hit it off as I have with a few of the other bloggers I've met and become lifelong friends with. I had nothing to worry about, because it instantly felt we had known each other for ages. We hugged the instant we met and chatted incessantly from the moment we saw each other. Had our limited schedules not been around, we would have chatted half the night away.

She was so excited about asking Brando about some of his photography tips for her new camera, and Trav was easy to talk to while they talked camera. Actually, Trav was also interested in the camera tips. I had to keep myself from getting distracted, because for some reason when Brando goes to a certain point with talking about camera stuff my head gets all in a muddle and I can't quite follow him anymore. It's almost like I need a notepad so I can take notes to keep up. Regardless, in between photog talks, we snuck some cute, fun pictures and chatted about similar things we are dealing with such as not feeling pretty or cute in photos lately and feeling like we used to be and not knowing what happened! What is with that?! Of course, she is gorgeous in all her photos and so I am crossing my fingers the same is the case with me, but I am so glad to know there is someone out there that feels the same way.

She was off to Indiana to plan her wedding with her family the next day, and I back to my Grandma's where I had an... interesting weekend that I'm not even close to being prepared to write about. I am so excited for her, and am so, SO glad I took the opportunity to meet her! As I told her, I've learned from past experiences, if you pass up the opportunity to meet bloggers when you can that perfect opportunity may not ever come again. Something I didn't say, but have noticed, is that the blog friendship may dwindle, because if that person was an in real life friend you definitely would NOT pass up the opportunity to see them. This hasn't held true for in-town blog friends, but for out of town friends, it seems to have. And I just realized I have not kept up out-of-town blog friendships with a few people who I go nearby and visit sometimes. Little do they know I have SO many people to see, I rarely see everybody. I haven't seen Justinbustin's godmother in five years!! And she lives in my hometown. I need to remedy that!

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year

from both of us to all of you and your loved ones!

Here's to an aMAzing 2012!

Adventures with Mai

2011-12-01T11:36:00.003-06:00

Mai is my long-time blogger, real life friend, and best friend. We met thru a group I created here in Austin called Austin Bloggirls. Austin Bloggirls has since gone by the wayside (read: I've been too busy to cultivate and create get togethers), but there are a few of us who remain close. Mai and I being two of them, plus our girl Jackie, and our girl Kiley.

Dropping Mai off at the airport for one of her many excursions.

Mai travels the world often and sometimes I only get to see her in short spurts, but when we do we have a blast doing whatever new, fun, and close to free thing we can discover whilst talking and laughing up a storm. Food trailers, restaurants, events, markets, farms, you name it we go check it out.

Exploring Boggy Creek Farm

and wanting SO bad to crash their farm dinner.

Fortunately, the kind parking lot keeper let us walk around and explore after a spontaneous decision to check out the farm.

Swinging outside my nephew's work. Mai refused to get on so she took a picture of me instead. I took a picture of her with Storm Troopers at the book fair later, only I don't have that photo on my camera!

Texas Book Fair!

Frozen hot chocolates after Torchy's. Yum!

I look like I'm about to hurt you.

Mai's so cute! She makes me laugh.

Mai is also one of the most supportive people I have ever met in my life. I don't meet a lot of supportive people, because I tend to be the supportive one. But Mai is supportive no matter what. When we moved to Leander, she was there with a meal for our family. When we had Easter in our new house, she was there. I go to her for parenting advice, friendship advice, school advice, life advice, and anything else I can think of.

Love that I can hang out with her with no makeup and feel every bit as confident, fun, and care free as I do when I wear makeup.

Yay! Somebody else took a picture for us. Favorite food truck, ever, Regal Ravioli! Love the chef in the background.

Beet ravioli from Regal Raviol. OH MY GOODNESS. YUM.

Trying to take our own photo before one of the guys at Regal Ravioli kindly offered to take it instead. The take out dish is Mai's stand in for me. She cracks me up.

Our not so succesful self-portrait.

Trailer Perk day when it was still hot.

Man, this photo reminds me of why I love summers in Austin, especially summer days with Mai!!

I love her!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-21T08:53:00.002-06:00

May your tables be filled with bounties of food,

may you appreciate the beauty of the world God has created,

and may you be surrounded with the ones you love this and every Thanksgiving.

This year we are celebrating at my nephew's and new niece's bed and breakfast that they run in the hill country. So many changes this year, mostly me turning 30 and going thru a couple rough relationship patches with friends and realizing people aren't all they're cracked up to be, have me looking at this year a bit different. A bit more somberly, sadly. As I saw the other day, "At some point you have to realize that some people can stay in your heart, but not in your life."

On the upside, I have not ever been more satisfied and fulfilled with my family and my amazing husband, and the truly amazing friends that I have realized are true friends. While the boys are growing up, I'm ready to have another. I'm ready to start a new life somewhere, once again. Not in a runaway fashion this time. As a new adventure.

Have a beautiful Thanksgiving! I am grateful for each and every one of you in my life!

I've been officially Pinterested...

2011-11-10T12:09:00.006-06:00

Although it took awhile for me to jump on the pinterest bandwagon as I've been a member for quite awhile, after attending Allison and her Mr. Architect's wedding celebration Saturday, I realized I've fallen head over heels with pinterest. Before we even left for her celebration Saturday afternoon, I twisted my bangs from a pin - a picture that you save onto your virtual corkboard at pinterest. That particular pin, I can't quite find the right pin to show you. But, then, on the drive up to her place I looked up pins that I'd crazily gone pinning on the evening before and did my smokey gray eye makeup in the car by looking up a pin on Brando's iPhone.

Once we got to the friend's house we were staying at, Mere's, I tied a bow in my trench coat from another pin.

And I got no end of compliments on all of my pins and my dress too (thanks, Brando), which made me laugh. Thanks, girls. And since I'm one to give credit where credit is due, I had to share with all you.

My philosophy for pinning? Don't pin it if it isn't beautiful and makes my heart stir. I inadvertently learned this from Alicia at Crowley Party whose pins I absolutely adore - every single one of them. And, now, I love looking at my own pins and sighing a sigh of happiness. My DIY list, is long including this gorgeous picnic bench with built in wine cooler by replacing a plank with a gutter,

my Fashion list is full of fashion inspiration including this glamorous 60s inspiration,

my Inspire list is full of romantic couples having the time of their lives - times I love to have with Brando,

sweet settings full of magical whimsy like these glowing lanterns mixed with wisteria perfect for a garden setting party,

sweet quotes that remind me how grateful I am for the people in my life,

quotes to motivate that jump-start me into doing what I want to do,

and picture ops that are perfectly serene to recreate through the lens another day.

my Decor list is for one day down the road when I kick my booty into gear and actually decorate my home beyond what it is including this kitchen with it's gentle wooden island that I could just imagine walking into and sitting down at the counter to have a conversation with a friend right now,

my Travel list is almost too much to take in at once and that's just how I want to take in each and every one of those places to visit - one at a time including these gorgeous Blue Caves in Greece,

my Delish list is full of yummy, mostly healthy goodness including these delicious looking peach strawberry vodka popsicles perfect for a hot summer day or a cuddle up winter day where you want to imagine the taste of summer,

my Just Because... list is random goodness like this that-has-definitely-happened,

and my Seasons list is full of the upcoming season of goodness including so many winter wonderlands that make you want to walk right in and be completely enveloped in all that is the winter holidays.

The moment I truly fell head over heels was when I realized that I could click 'Everything' and look at everybody's pins, not just the people that I followed. Now, my pins are a combination of everything I like, not just what they like, although it still includes a lot of that as well. I compare it to shopping it with your girlfriends, or exploring their homes and everything they like, which is just as much fun. My pins are a reflection of everything that I love and everything I see from others that I love.

In pinterest you can categorize all your separate cork boards by titles. I shamelessly borrowed the cutesy titles of a fellow pinner, whose name I wish I could remember. They were so simple, descriptive, and perfect, though, and included everything I wanted to pin.

This is me. And the trend is continuing.

Save me, somebody? Or just follow me and fuel my passion. Seems strange you still need an invite, but it's super easy once you have one. Email me for an invite if you need one.

Abandoned Buildings

2011-10-30T22:03:00.006-05:00

One of Brando's and my favorite past times is going on photo shoot adventures. I get to play model, and he gets to play with his camera in new places. This particular time, it was at an abandoned building here in Austin that's about to be turned into an art gallery. I love the spookiness of an abandoned place and all the different textures to play around with. I was a little antsy playing model while he was trying to make art, until I got to pick the shoot locations about halfway through. I love picking the locations while he makes it pretty.

If I look a little pissed in this first batch, it's because I was. We got Justinbustin a haircut, and, oh, what an adventure that is trying to get a preteen's hair cut who does not want to. Fortunately, at the end of the day, I had to thank Brando and tell him how proud I am of him for his maturity and wisdom in dealing with my crankiness because he stayed continually levelheaded. And, fortunately, after about here the crankiness started to subside. Especially when we got back to pick up the boys and Justinbustin gave me a hug. Whew.

And, finally, my turn to pick the spots. I love depth, texture, a rustic feel, and nature, as you can see...

Earrings ~ Forever 21, Necklace ~ Gift from my MIL,

Bracelet ~ First anniversary gift from Brando from Dell Williams in Santa Cruz,

Plaid Shirt ~ Macy's, Tank ~ American Eagle,

Skirt ~ Hot Topic, Tights ~ Claire's, Socks ~ Brando's, Boots ~ Mia from DSW

Oasis Photo Shoot and Morning Date

2011-10-09T20:44:00.004-05:00

Brando and I went on a date morning this morning instead of a date night last night, as we went out with family and the kids last night. I love that Brando knew I was a little upset about not having a date night so before we even left for dinner last night, he scheduled on the calendar a date morning and emailed me a reminder that said, "Date morning - Be happy". He knows me so well.

We have a shopping and restaurant mecca near us called the Oasis. It's a mecca for our area, any way. The Oasis has been there for over five years, but the other restaurants and stores were built in the last year. It's situated right on Lake Travis with the most stunning view around. The sun sets just over the lake and makes for the perfect romantic evening eating at any of their now many restuarants: Oasis, Soleil, Austin Java of which this location has coffee only, Austin Chill which has self-serve yogurt, and another seafood restaurant that I don't remember the name and can't find anywhere - perhaps they are not open yet. Brando knows I LOVE going there to watch the sunsets or just see the gorgeous lake and explore especially since it's only a mile from our home, so that's where we headed to.

Our date started off with coffee at Austin Java and then we walked around and had fun exploring the decks before the crowds of people came. We had a huge storm last night so all the patio chairs were wet, which made it even more intriguing.

Besides the view, the architecture, design, and pure color of the place is SO MUCH fun it's the perfect place to have a little fun with the camera. Brando and I took turns, like usual, with the fun colors, architecture, and angles. He did quite a bit more than I, though, as I was mostly obsessed with the busy, colorful backgrounds and he did more inventive things with less of a main focus backgrounds.

There's so many photos, actually, that this is just a small portion and I'm saving the rest for later when I get to it. As you can see in the above photo, I've gotten a little bored of standing still for photos, so the majority of the rest of the photos I have are goofy and fun as can be. Which was perfect, because it made for a perfect, silly date morning.

My handsome hottie of a hubby. He shaved his hot as hell scruff, so now he looks like a baby, but still hot as hell.

These windows reminded me of doors. Gorgeous, either way, and I had Brando snag a photo for me because it would take too long for me to figure out how to change the settings for the perfect picture in a second.

Earrings and Bracelet ~ Bunny's Too, Plaid Shirt ~ Rip Curl,
Lace Shirt ~ Macy's, Belt and Jeans ~ Forever 21,
Boots ~ Seychelles from Bunny's Shoes

Love Brando's eye with photography and am trying to accept how different his style is than mine, thanks to the encouragement of GFF. He creates gorgeous images, magazine, high-quality, sharp as a tack images versus my love of vintage or blown out images. He blows me away with his knowledge of all the ins and outs of the camera and how they work together. I swear, he should teach photography classes, as he's taught me all I know and I know more about cameras than some photographers I have met. Now if only I could utilize that knowledge with my camera as well as those photographers utilize their knowledge with their cameras.

Austin Jazz Festival

2011-10-01T23:28:00.000-05:00

Brando surprised me with a date this evening to the Austin Jazz Festival at one of my favorite outdoor places, Zilker Hillside Theatre. Now that the weather is finally cooler it was an absolutely perfect evening to go.

I've been to so many events at Zilker Hillside, but this was one I'd never heard of. The Austin Jazz Society hosted the event and announced that the mayor of Austin declared today, October 1st, some kind of official jazz day. I wish I could remember the official title! We didn't know what to expect, but it was absolutely perfect. A mini and more intimate version of Blues on the Green.

The scene behind us.

Just because

Jazz, and blues as well, are so relaxing.

I love watching the sunset at Zilker Hillside while watching a performance.

The bassist from this band of Paul Glasse's "discovered" George Strait, or so they told the story.

The view to our right.

Local favorites, Zen and Amy's ice Cream, were set up as vendors to feed the crowd. Brando went to check out Zen and came back with this yummy dish called The Schoolgirl (ha!) that had the perfect amount of spice from the chili garlic sauce and the serrano aioli.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Love

2011-08-30T20:39:00.000-05:00

You didn't think I walked away from the Monterey Bay Aquarium without getting an overload of overly cutesy couple shots, did you? Of course I wouldn't walk away without those. Fortunately, it's a benefit to have a second photographer aka Justinbustin in our family for just those exact moments. Trying to get Brando to be serious is a whole other story...

Seen these jeans much lately? It's not about to get any better. Seeing as how I only packed two pairs of jeans this trip to California, and pretty much wore jeans the whole time, these jeans and I are on a much more than need to know basis.

Brando trying to eat me. Like usual. He only got a little bite this time.

Ooh la la

Finally, a normal kissing picture. But, I have to admit, I secretly like the other ones better. Shhh, just don't tell Brando.

And a normal smiling one - we actually had to go back and take this one because there wasn't a single photo from the first time where Brando wasn't goofy. Love that man, and I mean that as I type it with a huge grin on my face.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2011-08-27T12:16:00.008-05:00

When we visit California, going by the Monterey Bay Aquarium is always a must for the boys, especially Shawners. Once upon a time we took him scuba diving in the pretty little enclosed bay they have outside the aquarium. Next goal is to go on a private tour! This time came close as we were able to go into the basement of the aquarium, something nobody ever gets to do - not even boy scout troops. I'm always fascinated with the inner workings of places and attractions, so it was a blast for me to see. The kids were pretty fascinated, too.

The walls of the MBA are peppered with quotes about the sea. This one in particular resounds with me.

Ha! I totally put the wrong quote in there the first time. Yes, thank you, Anne Stevenson, maybe "the sea is as close as we come to another world" as the quote goes that I had mistakenly posted prior, but, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, your quote is actually the one that resounds with me, "...the sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonders forever." That quote leaves me breathless with the thought of how perfectly it captures the wondernment that the sea creatures below elicit.

And in accordance with that,

there's not many words to describe that thing we call the sea.

My thoughts and prayers go to all those experiencing Hurricane Irene right now

My oldest on the left, and my sister's oldest on the right in quiet fascination of the sea's many wonders. The boys are two and a half months apart.

Sea turtles - hands down my favorite wildlife of the sea.

Cousins - moments like these make me smile. Mine are second from the left and fourth from the left.

The sea turtles are where my quiet fascination comes in.

Southern Africa Penguins

Our private basement tour

Leafy Sea Dragon

In that rocky enclosed bay is where Shawners scuba dived in a dry suit last year

Do you see the sea lion?

Just next door to the aquarium - a private little boardwalk area with the entry stuck in between two buildings.

You Know What Life is All About?

2011-08-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

The little moments... the moments you send your son off to middle school and hang onto him with every fiber in your being, and he lets you with a big grin on his face. And then politely says, "See you later, Mom."

The moments you send your fourth grader off to his first day of fourth grade and his favorite moment of his "awesome" day is coming home with your neighbor who picked him up along with her daughter after her first day of kindergarten, who he has known since she was a baby.

The moments where you are so incredibly stressed about your oldest entering middle school and that him needing you is officially over, the fact that you committed to a friend's barbeque when all you really need to do is spend your last day with your son before he's off to middle school, as well as tried a new church, and started your oldest in a robotics club by taking him to build a robotic competition table at Home Depot all in one day that you let it all out on the person you love the most, and he turns around and loves you so incredibly much that you feel like he's treating you like you did nothing unkind to him at all by unloading on him and then you feel incredibly guilty for doing just that, but in a I have such an amazing husband sort of way.

That is what life is all about.

Make 'Em Go Oh, oh, oh, As You Shoot Across the Sky-y-y

2011-08-22T09:29:00.003-05:00

Anybody ever hear of Fly Texas? Moolala is offering a deal to learn to hang glide for $49 from them - if YOU buy it, make sure and use that link so they know I referred you, and tell me if you do! What a steal - and something I've been wanting to do forEVER! But, before I buy ANY deal, I always check the reviews, and they have none! Anybody know ANYthing about them at all?

This could be ME!

Update: After a little more research, I found two discussion threads here and here on hangliding.org that recommended Jeff Hunt from Fly Texas. Sounds like a safe bet! Now, to go deposit a check so I can purchase the deal...

Are you getting replies to your comments?

2011-08-20T16:21:00.003-05:00

This is a public service announcement for those of you oh-so-sweet bloggers who leave comments (and some more California love):

Sea turtles at Monterey Bay Aquarium

When you leave a comment, make sure you've edited your Blogger user profile to include your email address, then check the show email address box, and hit save. Here is a photo tutorial of exactly how to do it. That way your email shows up instead of 'no-reply' when your comment comes through and I can say hi via email back to you! And I LOVE to say hi :) . And, no, it's not just you, there a lot that are that way.

Penguins at Monterey Bay Aquarium

Now, back to your regularly scheduled, well, me.

Rio Del Mar Beach

Down at the Boardwalk We'll Be Having Some Fun

2011-08-19T11:19:00.003-05:00

Some of my favorite childhood memories are at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Yet, the Boardwalk is one of those things I didn't fully appreciate as a child. The amazing view of the ocean as you glide by on a ride (or in my case grip the bar in front of you in fear that these tiny metal brackets holding you up will disintegrate and leave you crashing to the ground).

The bright colors of the rides contrasting with the blue sky, amidst the palm trees.

The relatively cheap thrills in such an amazing location.

Marini's candies - a must-eat

I fully appreciate every moment I get there now.

Photos of the Rock O Plane and Hang Glider by Justinbustin

*Post Title slightly modified from The Drifter's Under the Boardwalk*

Honesty

2011-08-18T08:41:00.004-05:00

After seeing meme-and-he's post, I feel it necessary to share with you all that I've been a little down since our last trip. Every little moment was loaded with family, and it makes me question my whole existence here.

Why am I so far away? Seriously, a three and a half hour plane ride makes a very long drive.

What benefit is it to my kids, any way? Yeah, they're fantastic kids but wouldn't they be if they lived there, too.

Will my kids ever be able to grow up around their grandparents? I thought they would... one day.

Why is it so darn hot in Austin this year? I didn't move here for this.

I've retreated inward these last two weeks and haven't really cared. It culminated last night when I lashed out at my sister, the one family I do have here, probably as a result of her being the majority of the reason we choose to stay here and me sadly holding that against her in some way, and gave her crap for not coming to our house enough. Can we say lonely much? And childish. Today, I have to apologize and I'm not looking forward to it. Mostly because it means I have to pick up the phone. That thing has not been my friend lately.

In moments like these, everything feels so overwhelming: I don't like Justinbustin's teachers this year, I pushed to keep him in band and now he has an expensive instrument and the 'crappy' team of teachers and we're $144 more broke every month, Shawners is this year going again to a school built in a chemical building whereas he wanted to homeschool earlier, but the minute I whipped out the work he says this is too hard, I want to go to school and now he's in that building for another year, the vapors in Justinbustin's gym from the wax gives me a headache every time there's a parent meeting (and there's been many) which makes me worry about the kids working out in there and breathing them in.

Those last two factors are actually overwhelming over all - if my kids' health is in jeopardy, what does it matter where we live?

Moments like these make me want to pack up and move home. Or move somewhere.

Moments like these make me want something new, anywhere.

On a bright note, vent over! If Justinbustin's teachers end up being truly crappy, I won't stop til' they switch teachers for him. If Shawner's has a headache for a month at the beginning of school again this year, I will pull him out and homeschool and find a way to make it where he WANTS to homeschool, and sneak in the hard work when he's not looking. I will email the principal of the school, not just the counselor, and mention the needed ventilation of the gym once again. I will apologize to my sister, and I will find something to be involved in on top of this gig I run called parenting to get myself out of my head.

And because babies make me smile lately, I leave you with a picture of my brand new niece.

And to end with the words of Fabulous Drinks Austin- seems like there's a lot of this going around lately: "Please know the post was not meant for self pity, just want to be real and honest with my fabulous readers." Ditto, girl.

She never compromises, loves babies and sunrises

2011-08-16T13:14:00.001-05:00

Usually when Brando and I go on vacation we do a ton of photo shoots. This time, we only did one. And it was a spontaneous stop on the side of the road on the way from breakfast at our favorite place, The Farm Bakery and Cafe, to Brando's Mom's place, so excuse the haphazardnous of it. A short climb up the hill to the train trestle and we had a gorgeous ocean view. And, next time, one of you come along to tell me how short I look in those jeans with ballet flats, m'kay?

Not sure exactly what this said, but it looked like it said FINE to me, so I give you attitude.

Balancing on a train track is harder than it looks in slipper ballet flats. At least my badonkadonk still looks hot, despite those short legs courtesy of my rolled up jeans and flats.

Earrings ~ The Farm Bakery & Cafe, Bracelets ~ 'Vintage' Italian Charm bracelet, one year anniversary bracelet from Dell Williams, and pearl bracelet from Burlington Coat Factory, Shirt ~ Rip Curl, Jeans ~ Capitola Mall, Shoes ~ Forever 21

*Post Title from the lyrics of Train's Meet Virginia*

This is how I show my love

2011-08-13T12:40:00.005-05:00

One of my favorite activities is being on the water in any form possible. Sailing is right at the top of that list. Fortunately for us, my Dad has had a regular sailing trip each month for the last few years. That's going to stop, but lucky for us, he had two sailing trips lined up when we were out there this time. The kids stayed with Oma, Brando's Mom, because Oma is more interesting than sailing to them apparently.

I love boat pictures!

The color of the water was intense and ever changing depending on the clouds, the sun, and the angle.

West Cliff Drive and coastline

There was an insane amount of seals on the beams of the wharf that day.

View of Santa Cruz Harbor

A few days later we went to eat on the wharf and there were massive amounts of pelicans dive bombing the water for fish. I don't remember Santa Cruz having so many pelicans when I was growing up there!

I love leaning back on the boat and looking up at the sails.

We had such a perfect view of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk from this trip.

More Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

My sexy man.

The Santa Cruz Harbor Lighthouse

Something about the breeze through my hair, the view of the coastline, the endless horizon, and gliding through the water lilting from side to side puts me in a happy place.

*Post Title from the lyrics of AWOLNATION's Sail*

Photo Friday: Beach Walk

2011-08-12T18:56:00.004-05:00

As I've yet to corner my husband and demand my photos from the Black Hole aka his computer, I will take you on a beach walk. When Brando and I went sailing with my parents, my sister took the boys to Sunny Cove Beach in Santa Cruz below, which, ironically, we happened to sail past. I called to check, but they weren't there yet when we sailed by! So I took a picture to show them we sailed by, any way.

Notice how overcast it is - this is the so-called Santa Cruz fog. It burned off less than thirty minutes later, as it does every morning and sometimes, as in this case, early afternoon.

Here we are less than two and a half hours later in the bright sun, excited to walk down to the beach from a friend's house. Okay, I'm excited (or about to eat something). Brando's just chillin'.

Once we were there, I kept my distance so as to not get freaked out with how far out they were out there. Those two little heads out there are Justinbustin and his cousin.

See that little head popping up behind the wave? That's my Justinbustin.

The one to the left sitting in the shore break is Shawners, and the one carrying the skim board is Justinbustin. The other two are their cousins.

Same story. The girl sitting on the cliff is also their cousin.

This is me, keeping my distance. And also to show you how uncrowded the beach is on a sunny Saturday afternoon in the summer. Got to love the local spots.

Brando jumping off the cliff.

The reason Brando went out there - Justinbustin and his cousin headed out there all on their own pondering a cliff jump, which they did end up doing.

Coming in after learning how to skim board.

The wetsuits were such a perfect idea - at a $10 rental per day from Rip Curl at the end of 41st Avenue they were the worth the hours the kids played in the water without getting cold. We initially got them for the kids to go surfing, but the tide was too high, so they boogey boarded and skim boarded instead.

Such a relaxing, gorgeous beach just at the end of 17th Avenue. My sister used to live just down the road from here, and, as is often the case when you live in any area, you don't fully appreciate it until you move away. Thank goodness her ex surfs and appreciates every inch of the ocean. He has throwing boogey boards, skim boards, surf boards, and wet suits in the back of his truck down pat allowing him and my sister to take their three kids and her two from her current marriage along with my two boys down to the beach. Thanks, guys!

'Cause Today I Swear I'm Not Doing Anything

2011-08-10T12:25:00.006-05:00

This trip to California's itinerary goal was to, for once, enjoy time actually IN Santa Cruz and with family, transition to my mother-in-law's new house, and enjoy our new twenty-one day old niece. Normally when we go to Santa Cruz, our hometown, we stay a few days, drop the kids off with the grandparents, take off on a romantic venture, come back for a whirlwind 48 hours and then fly back home.

This time, with my mother-in-law's new house and our new baby niece, I just wanted to ENJOY time there for once. Create new memories at Brando's Mom's new home. Spend time with those we love. And appreciate all that we had growing up as kids. And, boy, did we. Our itinerary reads like a Restaurant Guide to Santa Cruz with all the fabulous dinners at all of our favorite restaurants we had with our parents.

And since the majority of my photos are on Brando's computer, I'll leave you with the few photos I do have of some of my favorite memories.

Friday-

*Breakfast at Aldo's with Brando's Mom

*Saw our new baby niece, along with her Mommy & Daddy

*Shadowbrook with my parents

Saturday-

*Sailing with my parents

*these photos were actually taken during our second sailing trip, mentioned later on*

*Brando's childhood friend's wedding at a vineyard estate in the Aptos mountains

*Windjammer after wedding party

Sunday-

*Brunch at a family member's house with the newly married couple

*Riva's on the wharf with Brando's Mom

Monday-

*The Farm for breakfast
*Photo Shoot with Brando

*Seascape Resort for lunch with Brando's Mom

*Golf cart ride down to Seascape Beach and beach with Brando's Mom

*Stockton Bridge Grill with Brando's Mom and my Mom (not one of our favorite restaurants, but a good place to go for a quiet evening)

Tuesday-

*Rio Del Mar Beach with Brando's Mom and the boys

*Pedicures with my Mom and niece

*Kianti's with my Mom, my niece, and her boyfriend

*Marini's Candies with my Mom, my niece, and her boyfriend

Wednesday-

*Boardwalk with Brando's Mom, the boys, my niece and her boyfriend

*Shadowbrook with my parents and Brando's Mom

Thursday-

*Justinbustin went to work with my Dad

*Seascape Resort with Brando's Mom, our new baby niece and her mom and dad, and Jen

*Rio Del Mar Beach with Brando and I

*this photo was actually taken at Sunny Cove Beach, mentioned later on*

*Dinner at Star Bene with Brando where we had our first date almost twelve years ago (not one of our favorite places as far as food goes, but favorite for sentimental reasons)

*Stayed the night with Brando at Bella Notte, where they have heated bathroom floors and a fireplace, for an impromptu anniversary celebration

Friday-

*Monterey Bay Aquarium with the boys, my sister and her five children, my niece, and my Mom

*Bubba Gump Shrimp Company in Monterey with all of the same

*Smurfs with the boys and my Mom and Dad

Saturday-

*Sailing with my Mom and Dad

*Sunny Cove beach with the boys and my sister and her five kids - that's Brando in the orange shorts on the cliff, and Justinbustin in the wetsuit on the rocks just to his right

*Crow's Nest with my Mom and Dad

Sunday-

*Walnut Avenue Cafe lunch with my Mom and Dad, and Brando's Mom

*Rio Del Mar Beach and boogey boarding (the waves were too small to surf) with the boys

*Dinner at Bittersweet Bistro with Brando's Mom, our new baby niece, B, and her mom, K, and dad, M - equation in the heart he drew courtesy of Shawners (delicious food, slow service, gorgeous restaurant)

Monday-

*Shopping at Rip Curl (I always do my last minute run before the airport)

*Lunch at In n Out with Brando's Mom

I may be missing a few things in there, but that was the gist of it. See what I mean about being a guide to restaurants in Santa Cruz? I asked my Mom if she felt like this trip was any different with us not going anywhere, and she said, yes, we gotto eat with you every night. Worth. every. moment.

*Post Title from the lyrics of Bruno Mars' The Lazy Song*

I'm Back! And Humbled

2011-08-09T15:52:00.000-05:00

WOW. I am HUMBLED by the amazing guest posts written by even more amazing bloggers that took over my blog while I was away. I am slightly in awe. When I asked for travel and inspiration, I had no idea what these girls had in store, and did they ever have ideas in store.

They had beautiful and poetic inspiration,

romantic inspiration,

inspiration through art and fashion,

a reminder to laugh while traveling,

moving and life in perspective inspiration,

detailed photos of nooks and crannies in Washington, D.C.,

exotic Costa Rica,

amazing Coron, Palawan, Philippines,

and fashion and packing tips for a perfect week at sea.

If you haven't checked out their blog posts yet, go now. You won't be sorry.

Guest Post by Live life in Style: Packing for Cruise

2011-08-08T06:00:00.182-05:00

Hi Everyone! I’m Shasie of Live Life in Style. I am a new follower of Rose here at Austin Sun Drops, but I wish I had found her blog a long time ago!! I’m here to guest post while she is hopefully having a fabulous time on vacation. :-)

My guest post will be on cruise vacationing and sharing tips on packing for a cruise. I love traveling and last year I went on a Western Carribean Cruise with my friends from college to Cozumel Mexico and Grand Cayman Island. We boarded our Royal Carribean Cruise Ship at the port of Ft. Lauderdale. My friends who I was traveling with all lived in Philadelphia, PA and I lived in Houston, TX so we met at the airport at Ft. Lauderdale and started our adventure. But before I got on that plane, I had the hardest time trying to pack for this cruise!

Seriously Shasie? How can anyone have a hard time packing for a cruise, all you need is a bathing suit and flip-flops right? I'll tell you why. There is so much going on during a cruise! Shore excursions, pool days, ship days, dinners, etc. Here is my list of what I recommend for a cruise as far as packing and travel tips!

Disclaimer: This list is mostly for sunny, warm climate cruise trips. There are many cruises and some may take you to Alaska where you will need a VERY different list! Ha ha!

Shore Excursions – if you are doing an adventure one you’ll need a backpack, bottled water, tennis shoes, hats, possibly snacks, and something to carry all this crap in. I also recommend booking all of your shore excursions directly through your cruise ship. Even though you can find cheaper ones on your destination’s website, the cruise doesn’t reimburse you if they arrive late and you miss your excursion, and you just don’t know how “legit” those other offers are.

Wore this for Shore Excursion at Grand Cayman. Had my bathing suit on underneath and flip-flops in my backpack.

Pools & Beach – You might want to bring your own towels because I think most cruise ships only give each guest one towel per card and you have to return that one before you get a new one. You’ll also need multiple bathing suits because if you were like us you might go to the hot-tubs and pool more than one time a day and I hate putting on a wet bathing suit.

Pack Small - unless you are in a suite like Rose had on the Titanic you will need to bring the smallest of everything because there is not a lot of space in cruise cabins. You will more than likely take everything out of your suitcase and squeeze it into the closets and dresser drawers and then stuff your suitcase under your bed, but as far as space in the bathroom for toiletries bring travel-size of everything even hair brushes and combs.

Outerwear - Air Conditioning is on BLAST on cruise ships so you’ll want to bring jackets. I know--Who needs a jacket in the middle of July? But seriously in the evening it gets cool and they never seem to adjust the A.C.

Essentials

Sunblock & bugspray. (We ATV'd in the jungles of Mexico...enough said, right?)
Sunhats & Sunglasses
Flip flops, water shoes, summer sandals
Passports
Backpack
Over the shoulder bags and little wallets. You don't want to be bothered with huge handbags!!
Beach Cover-Ups for walking around the ship
Alarm Clock - Some cruise ships don't have alarm clocks in the room, so you'll need to bring a mini one
Water Bottle - Water is free on cruise ships so you can fill up your bottles before going to shore.I recommend one with a strap like shown below.

Wrinkled Clothes - Our cruise ship did not allow irons in the cabins so there is no way to iron your clothes. If your clothes are wrinkled you have to leave them for your guest room attendant to take them to the ship launderer. They will do everything, wash, press, tailor, but you have to pay for it separately and you just fill out the tag with your clothes and it's returned to you. Make sure you do this in enough time for the occasion you need it for. Don't wait an hour before you need your dress pressed for your formal dinner...ha-ha, like I did, and luckily my guest room attendant worked magic and I got the below dress returned to me perfectly pressed in time!

Dinners – On most ships, you will be “required” to dress up for dinner so now you have to bring nice cocktail dresses or nice dinner attire. Like you can’t show up in your bathing suit top and cut-off shorts. So I had to pack a cute dress for everyday of the cruise. I chose to do a dress because less space needed for one item in my suitcase.

On Shore -the time on shore is shorter than you think between the time when you actually get off the ship and have to be in line to get back on the ship. If you are booking an excursion and still want to explore the shore of your destination on your own time, book a short excursion or skip a shore excursion altogether. We almost missed actually laying out on the famous 7-mile beach because our excursion took sooo long!!And not...the cruise ship WILL leave you if you are not back on time!

Working Out - Most people gain about 7 lbs on a cruise vacation, but this can easily be avoided by making "sometime" to attend the cruise ship's gym!! I know...Who wants to workout on vacation? But it's something different to be on an elliptical looking over the ocean and gorgeous sunrises and sunsets!! Plus they always have some great class offerings!

Cell Phone-Unless you want to pay an exuberant fee for using your cell phone out at sea, call your cell phone companies ahead of time to see what your options are for using your phone internationally. I chose not to buy any international plan and just went with my cell phone turned off. This will make it difficult to communicate with your fellow cruise travelers so make sure you learn the ship and pick times and locations to reconvene if you go and do different ship activities.

Going Out - You will also need "going out" clothes. If you plan on attending the night life activities on the ship or even on shore if you are doing one of those stay on shore overnight cruises. Most ships have multiple entertainment venues, from chill bars, to karaoke/comedy shows, to actual night clubs. You will need looks for this too!!

I will leave you a few collages of the rest of the looks I wore on the cruise.

Well I hope you enjoyed my posts, and that these tips were helpful to you! If you have any questions for me or just want to check out my blog, here is my url: www.live-life-in-style.com or you can email me at shasielove(at)gmail(dot)com.

Luv,

Twitter
Facebook

Adventure - Crowley Party

2011-08-06T12:26:00.001-05:00

Howdy folks! Sorry for the late time on this post, I have been crazy busy MOVING! Oh the joys of moving. But we are finally wrapping up, and I have internet again (yay!) &I am so happy that Rose asked me to guest post over here! Anyways, let me introduce myself. My name is Alycia and I blog over at the Crowley Party

I pretty much blog about my life and whatever interests me, but I try to focus on how life should be a party! As rose has said on this blog before, she likes to experience new adventures! &who doesn't? But what I would like to talk about today, is what do you consider an adventure? I have been lucky enough to travel other parts of the world, be apart of some amazing things, but I think that there are adventures to be found on a daily basis in our life if we are willing to have the right attitude and LOOK for the GOOD! I really do believe that you will find whatever it is in life that you are looking for, so we should be looking for the good! Every Monday on my blog I try to post a list of different things in my life that I have to celebrate. For example, even though moving has its down sides, it is a new chapter, a new beginning, a new adventure!

May sound cheesy, but I think people will be alot happier if they look at everything that happens in their lives as a new adventure, and something that can turn into a celebration of love and life :)

You have the world in your hands, how do you want to experience it?!

You can come join the party!

You can find me at my blog, twitter, or if you like creative outlets, my pinterest account!

Double Dose: Guest post by IntoxicatedChameleon

2011-08-05T00:05:00.000-05:00

I was very fortunate to be one of Rose's guest bloggers this week! This is such an honor! Thanks for letting me be a part of your wonderful blog! I hope I make some of your readers entertained! It took me a while debating on what to post so you can just imagine the nerves involved in doing this!!! I decided to post about 2 of my most favorite topics...fashion and travel. I sure hope I won't bore you guys with this... ;)

First off, I wanted to share my outfit yesterday...The sun finally came out and I was feeling all happy again! Got most of the clothes from Forever 21...seems like they've got it all! =)

The wind was happily playing with me during the whole shoot..Making it harder to to get shots without worrying about wardrobe malfunctions...I'm sure you wouldn't want to have a peek on that! ;)

House of Harlow Black Resin necklace...my current love!

Most of you might be saying ENOUGH WITH THE OUTFIT POST ALREADY!!! Haha! Let me move on to a glimpse of paradise...Presenting, Coron, Palawan, Philippines! Eat your hearts out!

The resort

getting baked!

Clockwise from top: Kayangan Lake, Bulog Dos Island, Malcapuya Island

happy campers!

Calauit Wild Life Safari

trek to Mt. Tapyas just after sunrise!

Coron is at the southern tip of the Philippines. It's mostly sunny and the waters surrounded by mountains are calm throughout the year so it truly is paradise here! The skies are blue, the waters are clear, the breeze is cool...what more can you ask for? Hope to catch some of you bloggers here soon...we'd love for you to visit! ;)

Visit me sometimes, won't you? You might just decide to stay...
http://intoxicatedchameleon.blogspot.com