Breaking Up Is Hard To Do?

They say that breaking up is hard to do. I disagree. Don't worry!!! I'm not talking about Mr. Wonderful! I'm talking about my acrylic nails. I was tired of them and I dumped them. 'Jana...why?', you ask. 'Don't you want to look well groomed and polished and well...isn't it the law in Texas, along with big hair?' Well, yes and no. Let me explain. I found someone new (or something). That better fits my needs. It's a nail polish that is like gel nails. There is no dremmel tool or filing of your natural nails at all. It's just brushed on in coats, like regular polish, but in between coats your hands go into the little blue light box that sets the gel. What you get is a very tough, durable coat of polish on your natural nails that won't chip. It has to be redone every 2-3 weeks (I'm betting I can go 3) and the nail salon has to use some sort of special remover to take it off, but there's no committment, no drilling. YAY!!!! My old nail salon didn't offer this, so I switched salons and I'm very happy. My nails look fabulous! And they are strong. Even after removing the acrylic nails, which you probably know, leaves your nails paper thin, my nails feel stronger than normal people's nails. And the cost is about the same as it is for acrylics. AND you actually get the nice relaxing manicure, with massage and all instead of the drill! It comes in all different colors - naturals, reds, pinks, darks...it's OPI! Here's a link for further research: http://www.opi.com/ choose 'hands/feet' on the tabs and drop down to 'Axxium' ** UPDATE: One week later, my nails still look fabulous! (And I've been making jewelry and painting shrines!) They haven't chipped or broken and I'm going to have to file them off a little because they are getting too long!!

Isla Mujeres- July 2010

As someone pointed out, I can't start the trip report from my September Isla trip until I finish the one from my July trip. A tough problem to have, for sure. I am only one big lotto win away from having this be the biggest problem in my life. :) I didn't journal during the July trip, so I am going to do the rest in pictures! I knew you'd like that anyway...so grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and let's go. This is the little kitty, who we call Luna, that lives at Hotel Playa Media Luna. She's very sweet and always hungry. There are always lots of hungry little souls to feed on the island. I can't stand to see hungry animals, so yes, I carry around cat food and feed them. These little cuties live down the street by Ixchel Condos. Chloe and I took a walking trip around downtown and visited the cemetary. Always a good place for pics. I love all of the pretty tombs there. They are all so creative and expressive. This one had a bag of white powder on it. No clue... Walking on the beach at Media Luna, looking for sea glass and shells. Chloe and I had fun playing together in the pool Nothing like an afternoon siesta after a couple of cervesas Golf Cart Day! Jack was fearful, but we only let Chloe drive on the driveway. (I'm an excellent driver) This is what we call a 'Mexican Mankini'. It's cheap air conditioning on-the-go and apparantly is quite cooling as you see a lot of it on the island. This gum dispenser looks like a lottery ticket dispenser. Lottogum? I like that idea. Beautiful vistas of Punta Sur We had a lovely lunch at Cafe Mango with Nelsy and her family. The food was delicious and the company was good. Even with the language barrier, we have fun and laugh a lot. One of the things I love about Nelsy and her family is their sense of humor. It's a little weird, just like ours. It was funny to see Nelsy give Jack a hug because of their height difference. Nelsy is a very talented jewelry artist and made some gorgeous jewelry as gifts for me and Chloe. I treasure these pieces and we get tons of compliments on them. Back to the pool for some cool! Jack enjoying the sea Chloe and I make a short trip over to Hortensia's to pick up some new dresses that she made for us. Hortensia's beautiful granddaughter is taking her afternoon nap. Lunch at Qubano!!! It was Jack and Chloe's first time there and they loved the food and loved Vivian, as well. They have excellent taste! Vegetarian sandwich - grilled eggplant, spinach, zuchini, onions, sun dried tomatoes, lettuce and goat cheese on yummy garlic bread. Chloe dives into her Cuban Sandwich, while Gerald poses Jack can't stop eating, but gives it a big thumbs up And the rain rain rain came down down down. A lovely day to lay in a hammock and read. The rain let up enough to wander into town for dinner later at Comono. Well...it was only sprinkling by that time. It started raining again after we got there, so we just made a nice long evening of it, and relaxed in the comfort of Comono, taking silly pics, eating, drinking and enjoying our time together. Greek Style Fish was delicious This is their Kabobs. Ground seasoned little meat patties that are wonderful! Two little babies found at 'Kitty Corner' on the North end of Hidalgo kind of across from Fredy's in the empty lot. Always lots of friends to feed there! Beach time The kids LOVE to hang out in the water and play in the small waves. The did that for hours, only coming out when they wanted to go over to Buho's for eats and drinks. It was fun for them to get to play together, since they don't usually do that because of their age difference (18 and 13). Mmmmhmmmm. Mr. Wonderful One of my fave things in life is to go to the beach and then go to Qubano for lunch. The kids had stuffed themselves full of french fries and stuff and Buho's, so they opted to go back to the pool and hang out, leaving Gerald and I on a 'lunch date'. The Vivian Salad: Fresh lettuce, tomato, avocado, radishes, chick peas, carrots and jicama, all in a light dressing with goat cheese medallions on top. This salad is amazingly both light and filling and one of my all time fave lunches. Oohhhh....Vivian's Goat Cheese stuffed burger with yucca fries. To die for! Look at that cheese oozing out.... We were lucky enough to be invited for Happy Hour at Casa Sirena and Chloe was especially thrilled because it is adults only. Steve told her that since she acts like a grown up, she could be treated like one. Chloe sipped her pineapple juice and the rest of us enjoyed a cocktail. Steve is the greatest and the kids just love him. They really enjoyed the beautiful views from the Casa Sirena Skybar! Jack and Chloe give the 5th floor Hammock deck thumbs up! We met up with Becky and Craig down at Deep Blue Condos and hung out until Bob and Catz arrived on the island. Becky had made some chips and salsa and my poor starving children scarfed that down. The condo was really pretty and the pool on the roof was cool and had an excellent view. Becky let Chloe use her laptop, so Chloe could get a Facebook fix! Bob and Catz arrived and we all headed over to Baseball Tacos for a late supper. Strike a pose...work it! This was the sweetest little dog and I wanted to take her home, but instead I bought her some tacos for dinner. Okay...I paid a tab so she could have tacos for several days. If you look really close at my forehead, you can see the word 'SUCKER'. Dogs and cats can see it even better. But look at that sweet little face. She was so incredibly skinny and had sad eyes. Our last day...it rained some more that morning as we packed up. We had some time to kill before catching the ferry, so we grabbed our bags and camped out at Ballyhoo. Leaving Isla is much easier with the help of Ballyhoo margaritas to dull the pain.