Outanding! Professional! St. Lucia-Day 6 (PART ONE!)

I split day 6 into parts b/c (1) it was the day we got the villa the pictures are insane (2) it was our last full day so the pictures are insane (3) I'm tired and the pictures are insane. (and I'm kinda enjoying going through them and remembering things) :) 

Got up from our awesomesauce twin beds. Poor Eric. After the shark attack (see how I'm overdramatizing it now?), and the snake in the water, I was fairly terrified to sleep. Couple that with the fact that our room was old and made some bizarre noises. My thoughts "Wow, this was a plantation. What if it's haunted? And I mean...those snakes were brought by plantation OWNERS. Hello. 2+2=4. There's got to be a snake in here. What if there was?" Then, my thoughts transferred into me completely taking over Eric's twin bed with him snuggling a little much. He rolled with it b/c he's a good boyfriend and knew I was freaked, but as I got in the shower that morning, he said "I'm just gonna go to the desk and see if anything else is available..." haha.. 

I think I'll switch this up and do captions below the photos instead of above...

This is what the breakfast view looked like....

This is what a 35 dollar breakfast looked like. Yes. I said that. We got the bill for the buffet and it read over 70 US dollars. We were like "WTH?!" We'd been some cool places and this was BY FAR the priciest. We decided then and there we wouldn't be eating dinner at the Jalousie Plantation that night... 
The pool. :)
One of the things I really wanted to do in St. Lucia was see Diamond Falls. It's a volcanic waterfall that changes colors thanks to the chemicals found in the volcanic components. You can't swim in this one...obviously (volcano=hot=chemicals=dangerous).

The waterfall was contained in the botanical gardens. We got our cab driver from the night before to pick us up that morning and take us. Upon entry, we were greeted with "Alexander the Great" aka the most hilarious and awesome tour guide ever. The gardens don't have guides, but guides stand outside and will take you through it for a tip (like 10 US or so). 

At first, Alexander and Jax did not get along. At all. lol! He was talking a mile a minute and although he was EXTREMELY knowledgeable about the plants, etc, I really just wanted to see the falls. Eric explained an he took us straight there. 
Best part... he posed us... repeatedly! He would be like "do this. No. This. Okay, kiss. Lean in. Lean... perfect!" Then, he'd snap it and exclaim "OUTSTANDING! PROFESSIONAL!" We must have heard that phrase about 40 times and giggled each time. Such a great guy... :)
And.. he even wanted to be in photos too! To Eric "I'll be Batman, you be Superman!" 
And to me "I'll be Batman, you me Wonder Woman!" I had no idea what was going on but loved every moment! haha! He told us his daughter worked at our hotel on the beach in the towel cabana. So cute!
The mineral baths now....
The mineral baths then.... 
Alexander opened this mini door and said "lean in" and as we did, he said "It's over 200 degrees! First spa!" Agh! This is Eric's "it's really hot" face. haha! 
As Alexander walked, he talked...and talked... about plants, history, etc.. and if we took pics, we had to kinda race to keep up. This is me doing some of that racing as he walks on...haha.. 
I'm so mad that I can't remember what he called this drummer guy, but we had to have our photo with him.. posed.. haha...I think it was Ted? I dont remember. Boo. 
I wanted a picture with the aphrodisiac sign. It was hilarious! Alex said to Eric "No, point lower..lower.. there!" Then, "OUTSTANDING! PROFESSIONAL!" *giggling as I type this*
Alex gave us a good luck charm. I dont think we kept it. It was a plant. But I really like good luck charms so I wanted a picture. :) 

How you can tell it was a sugar plantation... the little canals in the ground used to transport things. Yes, that's all I remember. I'm sleepy..haha.. 
Lunchtime!! We opted to grab lunch at a local place right by the gardens and took photos to entertain ourselves. Tan line anyone? 
And something kept feeling like it was stinging me! LOL! I couldnt see anything... Anyway, I took Eric's coke and put it on my stomach to stop the sensation. This is how sexy it looked. lol!
And for the end of part one, we arrived back to the hotel and were taken to the place they'd moved our bags....aka...our.new.villa! We pulled up and looked at each other like "umm..seriously?" 

Thanks for bearing with me, people. :) Now that I'm back and have had a semi long week, I'm loving going through the pics. :) 

Trophy Wife?

Today, we had to go around the room (about 30 ppl) and draw a pic on the inside of our name table tent of what we wanted to be as a kid. I wanted to be a veterinarian. (See attempt at dog with added woof). Then, I also drew some sort of gavel b/c I wanted to also be a lawyer by the age of...8 or so. What I obviously didn't want to be: an artist. You're welcome, world. 

A girl about my age...likely a little younger but I still imagine I'm 25 so whatever...stood up and proudly boasted "I wanted to be a trophy wife...still kinda do...haha.." The room was silent..then a few nervous laughs when ppl realized she was serious. *perplexed look*

And finally.. things that would not be so cool: dying in the shadow of the king of pop. Sorry Farrah. And RIP to both Michael and Farrah... *le sigh* 

Put some clothes on.

So, I'm walking G money and see two little boys (around age 8) across the street. One's watching traffic one way and the other is kinda looking at Gracie and me. Totally not bizarre b/c kids often skateboard n stuff around here, so I was like whatever... Buuuut... as I got closer, I saw a girl's tan leg and heard her exclaim "Cover me up!" (Yeah you're thinking what I was) I didn't really skip a beat...kept walking...and saw one of the boys throw a towel on a likely topless) blonde girl age...um...18ish? (I didn't stare b/c I'm not a perv. Thanks.). She'd been posed sitting on something. As all kinds of things were adding up really fast in my head, they weren't adding fast enough b/c I then saw a man..rephrase..a guy old enough to be all these kids' dad...in camo pants...unshaven and unshowered (maybe not, but he was totally not a professional). This random camo man had a CAMERA and was busy going through about 3 lenses from a case to choose the right one. 

What the HELL did I walk up on?! The best part...the guy walked over to this random half naked girl (I think she had on a bikini bottom) with camera in hand and just said hi to me like it was no big thing. 

WHAT.ON.EARTH?

Bizarro. That's all I've got. Sorry the story ends there. I didn't stick around and make new naked friends. 

Anyway, this was after I'd made a trip to Utica. I wanted a dress to wear to a bbq this weekend. Right. I found an adorable coral one at Ann Taylor on MAJOR sale. I asked the girl "This is coral right?" She said "yeah." I said "Okay! It's not red? It doesnt look red, but the lighting is weird." Her: "Well, I'd say coral." Great. 

Go ahead. Guess. You're right. 

It's red. 

Crap. I have no idea when I waged a war against the color red when featured in a dress (I own a cute, red dress for work actually). But, I think I just liked the idea of it in coral. Stupid lighting at Ann Taylor. Maybe with some cute, bright jewelry.... ?? (turquoise maybe). I still like it. I'm just being dumb b/c I have no more time this week to find something.

So, I've been loving this dress below at Francesca's  (which we're getting in Tulsa btw at Woodland...Lauren took me there in the Chi and I fell in love with the store!) 

I thought "hmm.. I could overnight it..." Then, I'd have it for the bbq. I realize this is dumb b/c I definitely probably have something I could wear anyway but I was going to order the dress anyway....so why not overnight it and get it as an option, right?

Why are you friends with me? b/c apparently I am the most indecisive person ever today on completely unimportant things. And color blind to boot. (The bbq is for E's work stuff...hence overanalyzing). I just wish Tulsa had some more cute little boutiques. I think there are some out south, but I have no idea where they are....

I think it's just been a long day...haha.. No A/C this morning. Wet hair in business attire. Meetings for the "leadership development" program I'm in (hooray on that btw!). And waking up on the wrong side of the bed. 

I'm lucky this is what I'm annoyed by today...haha.. and glad I'm not the half naked girl. Man.. if that's her dad, she's gonna have ISSUES. If it's not, I think I'm even more concerned. Maybe. It's a toss up really. 

WBW...er...kinda

I woke up and (1) forgot it was Wednesday (meetings today) and (2) my power was out. How. annoying. So, I was kinda on the wrong side of the bed waking up I suppose... Just as I was trying to figure out what to do with G dawg (b/c she cant stay in 100 degree heat), the power came on. Phew. However, I had to leave for work...with wet hair. Nice.

I don't know if I mention this, but most every time I leave the apt, Gracie watches me leave from the window and it might be the saddest/cutest thing ever.

Anyhoo, since I forgot it was Wed, I dont have pictures, but I have my fav Friends' scenes!! The first one was on the other day at the gym and I actually took off my ipod to watch from the treadmill. It's the first kiss episode! :) LOVE.IT. Then the fire alarm scene makes me laugh every.single.time I watch it.. like almost crying-laughing...





Have a great day!

Things I suck at:

...planning a happy hour for my birthday.

Every year, my bday falls on the holiday weekend. Sooo I don't really feel the need to do something large and in charge b/c people are often busy and gone, etc... and I'm cool with low key...WAY cool actually. Okay, so...

...a couple years ago, my friend Sara and I planned a little dinner at ITR for my bday. Lemme tell you.. I was a stresscase. I think Brooke likely recalls b/c I remember her attending... It was fine once it got started, but getting the correct number for the reso was insanity.... then got there and someone was sitting at our table and wouldn't move... and and and.. basically I was in party planning hell before it actually happened b/c I wanted to make sure people were having fun, things went smoothly, etc... 

I LOVE planning things for other people, but for me...agh! I mean...I seriously want to throw fun (and preferably themed-prepare yourself) dinner parties and crap someday (ya know..when I have more than 650 square feet). As you all know (and as evidenced by my having a blog), I like being social. But, when it comes to planning something to somewhat celebrate something for myself...*nervous* I mean.. I'm betting those of you who came to my law school graduation recall the "Yeah, I think we're doing dinner or something. Come if you want!" which is in direct opposition to when I planned a surprise party for a friend years ago and was cuuuuhrazy into the details. Yeah. What's wrong with me?! LOL!

So, here I am about a week from the bday and people are asking me if I'm doing anything and if they can help plan anything. I saw visions of big, elaborateness and was like "agh! No! I dont want a big deal!" I thought "well, I suppose a happy hour would be okay..." That's where it all began. I dont want people to feel obligated to come but I dont want people to feel left out. Then, do you make a reservation? I mean....people need a place to sit...so we're back to the head count issue. And is it weird that I'm sending out info on my own bday happy hour? I dont think so.. but someone said it's weird. I dont think it's weird. They're weird. Hmph. ;)

That's all I've got. I'm having a glass of wine after work to ease the stress from planning a happy hour. haha... Nice.

Oh and..guess who has a floating holiday on her bday?! That means I get the day off!! HOORAH!!!!!! 

Oh and all this "I hate big, elaborate stuff" only applies right now. For my 30th birthday (in two years.. omg... wow.), I plan on wearing a costume and having live performers or something. And maybe tiaras. Yeah.

St. Lucia Day Five!

Alright, I had no idea how many pictures we managed to take on day 5 til just now. Good Gawd. We'd gotten out of control by day 5, I think...haha...

Got up and ate our last breakfast at Discovery. They had the best grapefruit juice...it had sugar added.. yumtastic! 

Killed some time til our water taxi ride to Jalousie! We'd planned to take a cab over land, but uh...boring, right?! This was way better (and about half the time). Cool to see all the fishing villages etc we'd seen from above on our tour..but this time from the water. :)
And hello. Do you watch Lost? If so, what does the below picture make you think of?! I KNOW, RIGHT?! Eric had the camera... I grabbed him and was like "OMG! Take a picture of that!" Fairly certain he thought I was nuts. Yup. 
I have the urge to give you a mental image of me standing and pointing very master and commander style.. Anyway, this is where we were headed (between the pitons). 
Welcome to Jalousie!!
Got there way early and couldn't quite check in, so headed down for food. Entertained ourselves along the way. I have no idea why Americans get reps for being offensive. 

Eric: "Let's see what you move...."

Me: "I have no idea how to play. I'll just sit down! Take my picture!" (nice). 

Eric vs. the Piton. 
Okay, at Discovery, Eric may have actually read the pool rules. He wanted to dive. It was shallow. Anyway, I laughed hysterically when I saw him do it... So we re-did it at Jalousie (for the camera of course).
Our room!! Er...well.. our first room... tomorrow shall feature room (aka awesome-high roller-villa) number two. ;) 
Me: "I think this is two twin beds."

Eric: *strange look and checks* "Hmm..Yeah."

(Note.. we actually didn't care that much...They were just really uncomfy and I may have completely and totally crowded Eric into sleep hell b/c I was freaked out)
Hotel was on an old sugar mill. Miles wrote "Did he move the island?" on this pic on fbook and made me almost spit out my pepsi I laughed so hard! (Another Lost reference). 
Beware. Sharks live here. 
And when someone falls on coral thus stinging her arse, one feels lucky to have brought cortisone.

Dinner at Ladera's restaurant called...obviously.. Dasheene. (It sounds funny when you say it fast and say the ee's much longer than necessary). 

They'd just had a wedding there. So of course I went paparazzi. 
We specifically made dinner reservations in plenty of time to get up there for happy hour and see the sunset. :)

Joined Tracey and Mike for drinks :) (Tracey and Mike are the couple from Florida we met at Discovery. They'd also moved over to Jalousie that day!) I love her bandaids. Clumsy girls stick together. 
Awesome view, Jackie. Jackie, meet awesome view. 
Awwww :)
We somehow happened to head to Ladera the same night as the manager's reception! Hello free drinks and appetizers! One of the drinks, Coco Loco, quickly became my fav...I dont remember what it tasted like-I just loved the packaging...haha.. 



The boys and their coco locos too! haha!
And who remembers the story about the French "video shoot" at Discovery? Guess who showed up at Ladera and was invited to sing... hahaha! Proof was quickly made that this chick is the French version of Heidi (as in Speidi). Wow. *nervous* 
Headed up for dinner!! 
And this was our view... (Thank you, Eric, for being awesome with a camera!) :) 
Course numero dos-duck, steak and some other good stuff! 
And one more pic of the view...just b/c.... 
Why am I roasting in Tulsa again? Oh right... b/c Eric and I thought "round trip" was the best plan for vacation. Note to self. Next time: one.way.tickets. 

Hope you had a great Monday!!