Monthly Archives: November 2013

Take Me Back Tuesday – Cancun, Mexico

I woke up this morning before the 6AM mark.  It was cold, dark, and SNOWING! What the heck? Since  I’m really just not ready for the snow flakes I think a little Cancun, Mexico edition of Take Me Back Tuesday will put me in much better spirits!

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This past May me and Andy ventured off to the beautiful beaches of Cancun, Mexico.  Funny story about why we decided on Cancun.  We were planning on being there for my birthday, Cinco de Mayo (pretty awesome birthday).  Silly me thought how fun it would be to celebrate the Spanish holiday in Mexico!  Well come to find out, Cinco de Mayo is not very Spanish at all.  Americans have basically made it what it is, which is primarily a drinking and partying holiday.

With that aside, we ended up having an awesome first vacation, in a beautiful place, for very cheap! Here were the details of our trip.

Booking

We booked our trip on CheapCaribbean.com.  This site is awesome!  You can find some fantastic deals, many which include flight and all-inclusive hotels.  We ended up booking our 5 night vacation, including airfare, hotel, and airport transfers for under $1000!

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Hotel

We stayed at the Grand Oasis Cancun.  This hotel was huge!  Definitely not a 5 star resort but we had to keep in mind how much we paid.

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Positives

  • We scored an Ocean View room.
  • A few different pools, some with swim up bars.
  • A small gym.
  • The beach was big, clean, and beautiful.
  • A good buffet breakfast place.
  • A great Brazilian Steakhouse and awesome Sushi restaurant.

Negatives

  • You had to book reservations for most of the restaurants in the resort the day before very first thing in the morning.
  • You had to reserve beach chairs very early in the morning if you wanted to get any.
  • No wireless connection.
  • At certain restaurants, the best items on the menu were “extra.”
  • It seemed one half of the resort was filled with college kids on spring break while the other half was for couples/families.

Excursions

Isla Mujeres, Snorkeling, and Swimming with Dolphins

We bought this excursion from the CheapCaribbean reps that we had to meet with once we got there.  This was an absolutely awesome excursion that included three exciting activities.  We started the morning sailing off on a catamaran.  We were completely catered to by the crew.  They served us drinks until we got to the snorkeling area.  The snorkeling was so great I think it may even beat Aruba’s.  We saw some really cool fish, and the water was so blue!

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After snorkeling we headed to Isla Mujeres, an island off the coast of Cancun.  I absolutely loved it here.  The island has a fisherman village type of feel and makes you feel off the beaten path, especially compared to the touristy hotel strip of Cancun.  Here we really just walked around, took some pictures, and found some cool secluded beaches.  I would spend a few days here next time if I could!

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Our last stop of the day was to Dolphin Discovery!  I have wanted to swim with Dolphins since I was a little girl so was ecstatic for this part of the trip.  You can read my review on Trip Advisor to get all of the details.  All you have to know is if you ever go to Cancun, you should definitely swim with the dolphins at Dolphin Discovery!

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A Night on The Hotel Strip

For my birthday night we decided to leave the hotel and explore the restaurants and bars on the hotel strip.  We went to a fantastic restaurant called Lorenzillo’s where I ordered an amazing surf and turf meal.  Filet Mignon stuffed with lobster!  We also had a friendly visitor during dinner.

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After dinner we headed to Senor Frogs for some good ol’ touristy shenanigans.  They very much so celebrated Cinco de Mayo here for all of us Americans.

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I really enjoyed Cancun.  It was the perfect, relaxing vacation where we didn’t feel pressured to do too many activities or sight see. Where is your favorite relaxing destination?

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Simple Caprese Burgers

I think I’m getting this burger thing down!  I had a bunch of basil left over from my Lemon Basil Chicken & Artichoke “Pasta”  meal last week.

I figured why not throw the basil in some burgers?  And if I’m going to have basil burgers well why not just plop them on some juicy tomatoes and top them with some fresh mozzarella?  And so were born these Simple Caprese Burgers.

These burgers came out great, they were some of my favorite ones yet.  I paired it with some parmesan quinoa and have lunch ready for the rest of the week!

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Simple Caprese Burgers

  • 1.25 lbs Grass-Fed Ground Beef
  • 1 Cage Free Egg
  • Sea Salt
  • Cracked Pepper
  • Garlic Powder
  • Fresh Basil (chopped)
  • 1 Big Juicy Tomato
  • 2 Large Fresh Mozzarella Balls
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Add your egg, salt, pepper, garlic, and fresh basil to your beef.  Mix together and form 4 patties.  Throw on the grill over medium high heat for 5-7 minutes.  Flip the burgers and cook for another 5-7 minutes.

Place burger on one or two slices of your tomato.  Top with a few slices of fresh mozzarella.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil.

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These burgers made my Monday a whole lot better!

5 Ways I Practiced Gratefulness This Week

One thing yoga has taught me is to be grateful.  I remember during one of my very first yoga classes when the teacher shared a thought.  It has stuck with me since that day more than two years ago.  “If you woke up tomorrow with only the things you were grateful for the day before, what would you have?”  Good one right?

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Sometimes, in our day-to-day lives, we get annoyed or angry or sad.  Sometimes we feel bad for ourselves and think it just can’t get much worse.  I am completely guilty of this on a day-to-day basis.  I’ve really tried to move away from this way of thinking.  The brain is a powerful tool and you have to train it to think in certain ways.

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Here are 5 ways I practiced gratefulness this week.

When Andy and I had to leave each other after our weekend in NYC. I got in one of my moods…sad, mopey, and not very talkative. How I practiced gratefulness:  How lucky am I to have someone in my life that makes saying goodbye so hard?  Some haven’t found that yet or some are thousands of miles apart and can only see each other on a computer screen.  I’m grateful.

When a big ugly pimple showed up on my face.  This one inspired this post.  I really let it get to me.  I hardly wanted to go to work or look at people.  I tried hiding it anyway I could. How I practiced gratefulness:  Really, Kelsey? It’s a pimple, a little red dot! There are people who have to go through life with severe cases of acne or other skin conditions.  I’m grateful.

When a stressful situation happened at work.  This obviously happens to a lot of people. You can get discouraged or unmotivated. How I practiced gratefulness: I have a job! A job that makes me a good living, and gives me great benefits so that I can take care of my health.  I’m grateful.

When I got annoyed having to pack a bag. I  always say I feel like the ‘bag lady’ and get frustrated having to plan out my wardrobe for 3 or 4 days.  How I practiced gratefulness:  How lucky am I to have so many people all over the place who I love and want to visit.  I’m grateful. 

When I was tired on Monday and didn’t want to go to the gym, because I had a “long” weekend.  How I practiced being grateful:  I have two legs and a car to get me there.  I have the ability to move those two legs and money to put gas in my car to get there.  I’m grateful.

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What are you grateful for?

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