Vacation friends

Right after we booked our trip to Mexico, I found out that as coincidence would have it, some friends from back home would be at the exact same resort at the same time. Weird, huh? This isn't the first time that Monica and I have gone on vacation together. When I was sixteen I went on a cruise to the Bahamas with my parents, my sister, Monica and her parents!

This is what we looked like 16 years ago...

Okay, so this may not be a true depiction. We were bored. It is a long drive to Florida!

Formal night was a great excuse to wear those prom dresses one more time! By the way, I never had big hair. Ha!

Here we are in 2010...

After dinner lattes.

The entire hometown crew: me, Alan, Robert, Stacy and Monica.

Hola!

We're back from Mexico! Before we left, I was a tad bit nervous about being unplugged for almost a week. Let's face it, I am a little addicted to technology. Aside from Monday when I was online twice, I was only briefly online once a day. Turns out that my lack of phone talking, text messaging, Facebooking, internet surfing and emailing turned out to be one of the best parts of my trip. I think there's a lesson in this...maybe I should unplug much more often. It felt so nice to be free from all that noise.

We did very little aside from hang out at the pool (Joe more than me), go to the spa a couple times, laze around reading books and we ate lots of yummy food. Joe did go kayaking and we did see a couple shows at the resort and went into Playa Del Carmen for some shopping/sightseeing.

Joe watching the Iguanas. They were everywhere...as well as some other creatures we'd never seen before!

Another Iguana posing for the camera.

Is it possible to still get a bit of a sunburn after wearing 70 SPF sunblock, a coverup, a hat and sitting under a cabana for only about 2 hours? Yes!

Joe and I having dinner in Playa Del Carmen the last evening of our trip.

The 70 SPF is packed

We are leaving Thursday morning for Mexico. It is a good excuse to celebrate Joe completing his master's degree (he finished a couple weeks ago) and enjoy some warm weather. It's possible I may check in considering I do not worship the sun and may need something to occupy my time while my husband lays on the beach all day. My hope is to take refuge in the shade and enjoy the spa. I'm so looking forward to it!

Birthday jazz

Celebrating Alison's birthday with a little jazz!

No means no

Barista: "Welcome to Starbucks. Would you like to try our dark cherry mocha?"
Amy: "No, thanks. I would like a grande, non-fat mocha*."
Barista: "Would you like to try our dark cherry syrup in it?"

Apparently they are really pushing their new dark cherry mocha. I don't really like chocolate and cherries so it doesn't appeal to me but if anyone else has tried it let me know what you think.

*I myself am a habitual non-fat latte girl but today I felt like really living on the edge.

Chelsea

Today I got to meet Chelsea Handler at a book signing for her new book. (If you're wondering, it was tough to get a good photo because it was such a rush once you got to the front of the line.) Not surprisingly, I had absolutely nothing clever to say to her once we were face to face. But I do adore Chelsea. Joe and I listened to her last book on our Thanksgiving trip to Virginia and, back in my single days, I would watch her show every night from the comfort of my bed and then fall to sleep shortly thereafter. As it stands now, I catch it whenever I can and love her despite the fact (or because of the fact?) that she is wildly inappropriate.

Hacked

Earlier today my phone started going crazy with messages. Turns out my email had been hacked so if you received an email from me about Viagra or anything else inappropriate it didn't actually come from me. Sorry!! I am so embarrassed.

Day tonight

I went to see Howie Day tonight at the House of Blues. It's been a few years since I saw him last and he was great! It is always so nice to go to a show where you know almost every song and can sing along. Makes the evening that much more enjoyable. And thanks to Alison for scoring us free tickets. I will say that my parking was $26 which I will never, ever, ever get used to as long as I live here...had I have paid for my concert ticket it would have still been less than the parking. There is just something wrong about that. Okay, I'm stepping off my soap-box now. Thanks, Alison, for the great evening!

Family treasure

My Great, Great Aunt Grace passed away today. On March 31 she would have been 106.

Aunt Grace, my Grandma Dixie's aunt and my mom's great aunt, moved into the nursing home shortly after her 104th birthday and before that was living independently. It has been really hard for me to think of her in the nursing home these past couple of years because I have always known her as a really vibrant woman. The last time I saw her there I left in tears.

Aunt Grace has amazed us all. For at least the first 103 years of her life she kept up with her interests including her love for baseball. As a child, she was my babysitter. I would often opt to go spend an evening with her instead of going to a basketball game with my parents and would treasure time with her, eating popcorn, listening to the game on the radio and waiting for her cuckoo clock to sound.

You can definitely say that Aunt Grace lived a very full life but even still she will certainly be missed. She was a family treasure.

Oscar time!

I will have to say that I don't like that the Academy now nominates 10 films for best picture. I know why they did it because there are plenty of fantastic animation and comedy films that never stand a chance and they want to honor those films and get them out there. But I like trying to see all the films each year so if I know there are 5 top films it is pretty mangeable...but 10 movies? I think that means I will probably never get to say that I've seen all the nominated films again. Please, Academy, change it back to the way things used to be.

And even though only two of these made the Academy's list, here are my favorite movies from this past year (in no particular order):

• Up in the Air
• 500 Days of Summer
• The Hangover
• Up
• Adventureland
• Crazy Heart

Honorable mentions:

• Precious (Appreciated it and glad I saw it but it was too heavy to be considered a favorite of the year. It is so deserving though of all nominations.)


• The Informant (Matt Damon was awesome in this movie. Loved it.)


• Fantastic Mr. Fox (I loved it a million times more than I thought I would.)

Reunited and it feels so good

Today I met up with one of my BFF's from middle school. Brooke and I were always pretty close but in the middle of our sophmore year in high school she changed schools and we lost touch. I last saw her at her wedding in 1998!! Today we met up for lunch and pretty much gabbed nonstop. I definitely think there will be more of this in our future.

Baby Love

Over the weekend, I was able to meet Bryndyn and Taina's new baby, Trystyn. She is so sweet and looks so much like Taina! I also enjoyed spending time with Tia and Caelleb. It had been over a year since Tia had seen me but she still wanted to snuggle in my lap which made me feel so loved...she also told me that I looked like Hannah Montana! I am taking that as a compliment!

Taina and Trystyn

I also was able to love on Ben and Rachel's Alia. I wanted to take her home to Chicago with me. We asked her if she wanted to go home with me and she said yes (or maybe she just nodded her head). Somehow I think her mom and dad would not be cool with that.

Amy and Alia

True/False

Thursday I took a trip to visit my parents, sister, brother-in-law and niece. The next day I headed to Columbia for the True/False film festival.

I have always loved documentaries and consider it to probably be my favorite film genre. I was so bummed when I missed the festival last year so I was extra excited to be able to go this year. And, let's face it, Breanne is a pretty cool movie companion. Here's what I saw:

• Smash His Camera - This film is about the original paparazzo, Ron Galella. When I read the synopsis, I knew immediately this was a must-see for me.
• Greetings From the Woods
• Rachel Is - I highly recommend this film. Breanne and I both thought it was at the top of our list.
• The Tightrope
• When We Were Boys - Another favorite for me.
• Someone to Watch Over - This was a collection of shorts. My favorites were My Name is Sydney about a sixteen-year-old girl with autism and Goldthwait Home Movies. (Definitely go online to watch Goldthwait Home Movies...you will not be disappointed!!)
• As Lilith

The only bummer is that I didn't get to see many people. I think it would take me a full week to see all of my friends and that is definitely without any movie-watching.