More of Mexico

We'll it's back to the grind over here. School started back yesterday & despite a bit of difficulty getting up in the morning, it was a really good day. While sitting and drinking my tea yesterday morning, I fell asleep and woke up to hot tea pouring all over me ... whoops! I had gotten too used to island life and sleeping in!

I'm sorting through our pictures and reliving the warmth & joy of Mexico (why is it so cold here?!). Here are a few pictures from the trip, more to come once I've sorted through all of them.

^ Check out that blue water!!

^^ sunset on Playa Norte (about a block from our hotel)

^^ We rented bikes for a day & rode across the island (only about 5 miles each way). It seemed like we picked the hottest day for the ride, but we took some breaks for pictures every so often!

^^ and we breaked for lunch & drinks :)

^^ Hotel Las Palmas, where we stayed. They had an awesome set-up... lots of hammocks and shady spots for reading and hanging out. This was right beside our room, but they also had hammocks on the rooftop too.

^^ red faces after biking across the island in 90 degree heat, but seriously, for that view? Who wouldn't?

^^ trying "Cazuelas," which are sort of a mix between an omelette & a soufflé 

^^ Sounds a bit strange, but we visited a cemetery on the island. It was really interesting to see cultural differences; I love how bright everything is and all the crosses. The above picture is from a small chapel by the cemetery. 

Update from Mexico

I'm currently laying in bed, curled under covers with the little AC unit in our room blasting. Will is snoozing, as he should be since it's only 7 AM here. Recently I've had this issue when trying to sleep in, I can't do it, even when I desperately want to! Also, when the sun is pouring in and there's crystal clear water, 85 degrees of sunshine & blue skies awaiting me, it's a little hard for me to sleep. I'm a summertime girl. Nothing, I'm convinced, fills me with as much joy as sunshine, waves crashing on the shore & the smell of sunscreen. 

We've explored the island a bit, in a very low key way, the way we always travel. Will and I are laid back travelers. We don't make an agenda, plan meals or side trips, heck, we don't even wear our watches. Sometimes we take naps midway through the day or eat lunch at 3:00. Yesterday, we did both. 

After filling our stomachs with cazuelas (mix between an omelette & soufflé), we headed back to load up on sunscreen and throw on our suits. After walking just a block, we were greeted with the bluest water you can ever imagine & bright, white powdery sand. Our morning was spent there, soaking up as much vitamin D we could get & loading up on 50 SPF because we are ghostly right now and because somehow as you get older you become more responsible about these things. 

As it hit the lunchtime hour and more people headed out to the beach, we headed in for a break. Our hotel has a lovely rooftop setup with hammocks & shade, a perfect spot to get a cool

breeze and read a few chapters of a book. I endulged in a mexi coke, because is there really anything better in this world?, and settled into a hammock with my book. We read for a few hours, ehm, Will read for a few hours, I read a chapter and then snoozed for a bit. By this point we were feeling a bit hungry so we headed across the street to the mercado. It seemed to be a hot spot among the locals so we figured it was worth a shot. Will ordered fish tacos and I got shrimp tacos instead. They brought them out with glass bottle cokes (pretend I didn't tell you I drank one earlier too, vacation.. Right?!?). My shrimp tacos were delicious, slightly garlicky with the taste of fresh lime spritzed on top. They were served in fresh corn tortillas with a little beans, tomato & avocado. The coke was bubbly and super sweet & the people watching was even better. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon back at the beach, watching the sunset from there. It was beautiful, perfectly orange and the contrast between the crystal clear water was incredible. We skipped on showers for a bit longer and ventured down to where the ferries come in for some more seafood (that's what they're known for here). The ceviche was perfect, lots of lime and cilantro. Also, the pico de gallo tasted so fresh and left us wanting the recipe. We called it a night after drinking a glass, or two, of red wine & sampling fresh bread & cheese (from the market) on the rooftop of our hotel. It was a good day yesterday, one for the books, no doubt.

Asheville

This past weekend, we headed up to Asheville to see our friends Reiss & Jane get married. Will & Reiss have been friends since they were really little & Will was honored to be a groomsmen. We had a blast celebrating the two of them and exploring the quirky town of Asheville. Unfortunately its a haul from Wilmington (6 ish hour drive) so we didn't get to spend as much time exploring as we would have liked. We'll be back for ya, Asheville.

I'm still learning more about photography and using the Canon 5D Mark II. Here are a few shots I took this weekend (with a few of Will's shots mixed in).

Naturally we found a wonderful, local coffee shop called High Five Coffee. I had a wonderful cup of peppermint tea & we sat outside, enjoying the mountain air.

iphone picture from the wedding-- really regretting not bringing the Canon for the wedding & reception! Everything was beautiful!

I loved all the musicians on every corner in downtown Asheville!

While waiting for brunch at Mayfels (highly recommended), I snapped this picture of Will. It's so fun traveling with him & being his date to weddings! Can't wait to come back to Asheville.

Everything's bigger in Texas

After our trip to the farm, we headed south to hit a few cities in Texas. First, we had a wonderful visit with Will's aunt, uncle & cousin in Fort Worth. It was such a joy to spend time with them & catch up on life. We so would have liked to spend more time with them, but we had to keep moving to squeeze everything into a short week. Aunt Kris & Uncle Chuck took us to a fun Mexican restaurant in Fort Worth & gave us a driving tour of their city.

The next morning, we headed on to Austin. We've been wanting to go there for a while now. It seems every magazine you pick up lists Austin as one of the top cities to visit or top "foodie" cities. Since Will & I are aspiring foodies, we were itching to get out to Austin & experience the food scene. One of our first stops was at a local coffee shop, Houndstooth Coffee, where the baristas began listing off restaurants and bars that we should hit up while we were in town. I won't list all of the places we ate & went, but let me tell you we eat WELL. Austin, we loved your charm & eclectic feel; we will most definitely be back.

One of many cups of coffee on this trip.

Awesome pizza in SoCo.

Second Bar & Grill- loved eating outside!

Hotel San Jose-check it out. Awesome location & wonderful hotel.

Our last stop was Corpus Christi to visit one of our good friends, Ben. We loved getting to see him & seeing where he works. Ben works at a high-end gun shop in Corpus. He also is currently living on a sailboat. Dream bachelor pad? Pretty much. I think Will was a little jealous & we fully enjoyed laying on the deck & admiring all the boats. 

Observations about Texas: everyone owns a truck. whataburgers are everywhere. gas is cheap. and mexican food is served for breakfast.

Vacation: Part One (Farm Life)

Its been awhile since I've been on here. Finally getting organized & settled after a wonderful vacation with Will. Sometimes you don't realize how badly you need a break until you get one. It was glorious! Time together & with family/friends, good food & lots of rest. 

We did a little southwest tour of Oklahoma & Texas. Our first stop was to see Will's older brother, James, who manages an organic farm in Oklahoma (about an hour or so from Oklahoma City). We so enjoyed our time on the farm & the quietness that comes with farm life. They have a little farmhouse that we stayed in & I loved the simplicity of the place- no TV, no internet & a beautiful view. We slept in & then toured the farm. I was so impressed by how hard James works & I loved seeing him in "boss mode." We are truly so proud of him- what an awesome example of hard work & persistence. 

view from our farmhouse

We saw how difficult & unpredictable farming is while out there. A hail storm ruined newly planted crops.

James made us breakfast from fresh farm products: eggs, spinach & turnips. Also, peach butter on the toast (my favorite!).

Thankful for another older brother who welcomes us into his home.

Check out that "Cooper Organics" label on there!! 

Date night

Since most weeks Will works an average of 75 hours or so, we cherish the weekends and really just any time together. Sometimes I need motivation when the week seems long & we're missing each other. Will is great at texting me half way through the week with a fun idea for the weekend. Last week he suggested a date night to Southport on Saturday night. I was thrilled and had truly been looking forward to it all week.

Late Saturday afternoon, we headed down to Fort Fisher to catch the ferry over to Southport. We got there a little early and spent some time enjoying the sunset.

The sunset was gorgeous and made the ferry ride so fun. We hopped out of our car and stood at the front of the boat the whole time. It was a little bit chilly, but totally worth it.

We had a great dinner at The Pharmacy- my favorite part was the butternut squash bisque that quickly warmed me up.  If you've never been to Southport, you should go. Its a cute little town that seems like something out of a movie (they have actually filmed quite a few movies here). When its warmer out, its fun to pack up our bikes and spend the day exploring and admiring all the historic homes. 

Oh and I wore my new red jeans! I was pretty pumped about this Old Navy find. Might have to go back and get another fun color :)

Weekend getaway

Will's work is so demanding and the hours are crazy (14-15 hrs a day is normal). Most weeks we only see each other long enough for a kiss and a quick update on our days. Fortunately, technology helps & texts throughout the day are the way we handle it. Will is really good about setting aside intentional time for us and planning little events for us to look forward to on hard weeks. In August, he booked tickets for a concert in Charleston on October 6th for the two of us and we planned a weekend getaway. 

We stayed in a quaint bed and breakfast called the Elliott House Inn. I got super excited that they do in fact deliver breakfast to your room so you can actually enjoy breakfast in bed. It was lovely! 

After sleeping in and grabbing lunch in Wilmington, we headed down to one of our favorite cities. We had a delicious dinner at FIG (highly recommend!) and then went to the Andrew Bird concert. He is incredibly talented & we so enjoyed listening. After a nibbling on a light breakfast provided by the inn and then falling back asleep for another hour or two, we were hungry for brunch. Brunch is pretty much our favorite thing, especially a good southern one. We ate at Poogan's Porch and enjoyed shrimp n' grits and the country breakfast with hot tea (my favorite). 

We had such a blast that we hardly took time to take any pictures, which is rare for us since Will is always snapping away... but, here are a few from Sunday brunch.