Isla Mujeres July 2009, Part 2 "The Food"

*Warning* This entry will make you hungry!!! It may not be ALL about the food, but okay....it is a lot about the food. The food on Isla Mujeres is some of the best. This short video of Christine and Donna at Miguel's explains it all We try to hit COOL every day for an ice cream fix. Rosemary is a sweetheart and I just have to keep trying all of the flavors to try and decide which is my favorite. Kahlua, Banana with Chocolate, Cinnamon, Mango, Blackberry. For now, I think it's Coconut with a dash of Kahlua poured over it. Mmmmm. A Rum Tasting at Casa Sirena. All of the rums were excellent. Breakfast at Casa Sirena. Chicken Enchiladas. Enchiladas for breakfast?! Oh, yeah!! Fruit plate at Casa Sirena B'fast. The white and purple fruit with black speckles is Dragonfruit. It's yummy! Dinner at Comono, one of my favorite spots. We had Spicy Shrimp, Hummus and Grilled Meat Plate. It was all delicious! Dinner at Brisas Grill was wonderful. We went out with new friends, Rose and Chris. The food was fantastic and the atomosphere was perfect. Table on the beach....toes in the sand. Really good service, too! Lobster Quesadillas Tequila Shrimp - to die for!! Qubano - my favorite lunch spot. Not only is the food fantastic, but I adore Vivian, the owner. We ended up in a great groove of going to the beach and staying until about 3:00, stopping by Qubano for lunch and then going back to the room for showers and naps. Happy hour at 7:00 and dinner around 9:00 or 10:00. Heaven Sandia Agua Fresca - Fresh Watermelon Water. Cool and refreshing! Vivian's Hungarian Potatoes. O.M.G.!!! Oops...forgot to snap a pic of the Toston Sandwich! Instead of bread, it is served between two fried plantains. Delicious and different. A staple for me, the Vivian salad. Lettuce, tomato, radishes, jicima, garbanzo beans, carrot ribbons, avocado, cucumber in a light and tasty dressing and topped off with breaded and fried goat cheese medallions. Lolo Lorena - An experience like no other. It's like being invited over to Lolo's for dinner. The restaurant actually is her home and she also has beautiful rooms to rent. Both Lolo and her husband/boyfriend(?), Evaristo, whom she affectionately calls "Bubu" joined us for dinner. Also joining us were Zina, Margaret of Casa el Pio, a gentleman named Pierre, who had been living in Africa for several years working on the AIDS crisis there, Steve of Casa Sirena and Leo and his beautiful wife, Trisha. It was a great group and I enjoyed the conversation, the delicious food and the wine. What a lovely evening! Our meal began with an appetizer that was creamy with a big chunk of fresh salmon. Mmmmm Lolo's famous Lovers' Salad. Shaved Conch and Carrots. Delicious and fresh. A household member came by to say hi Main Course - when given a choice of two entrees, we all decided that we wanted to sample both. The shrimp was one of the best things I've ever eaten, also tender chicken and potatoes and rice. Dessert - An icy cold strawberry sorbet in the cup on the left and on the right a carmel-y treat with cake and a pecan crown. Fantastic! Ballyhoo - You really wouldn't expect such a great place to be 'behind the gas station', but it is. It's on a dock, so you are surrounded by water and the bobbing colorful fishing boats. A cool breeze blows and they serve up some of the best margaritas on the island. Shrimp tacos (Donna, I know this is killing you) are out of this world! Crunchy, creamy, spicy. Oh, yes! The fish and chips are awesome. Tender chunks of fresh mild white fish in a crispy batter. Not greasy. Divine. We had breakfast at Tacos Tumbras one morning. It is is the market stalls, down from Alexia y Giovanni, where we usually eat, but they were closed. It was a great place. I had pancakes and they were delicious. Great value, too! Dinner at Miguel's Moonlite -- Yummm!!! I love Miguel's Coconut Shrimp and we had such a fun night out with the gang. Pomegranite margaritas are delicious and Miguel's specialty! Lunch delivered poolside from Buho's. Shrimp Ceviche and Guacamole. Does it get any better than this? Not for me, it doesn't! Chile Loco's is a good spot to people watch on Hidalgo and the food is great. I absolutely love their margaritas, too. Two is just enough. :) Gerald had Mar y Ter I had the Chile Loco - a chile rellano stuffed with shrimp and cheese. Mmmmm Sunday Lunch at The Soggy Peso was a blast! We got there a few minutes late (Sucks to be on Mexican time going to an American owned establishment)and everyone else was already there! Mark, Donna, Christine, Inge, and Zina were there. We got the last table available at the time. Jim and Carmita showed up a little bit later and a table had magically opened up for them. Carmita is the Queen, tho, so I'm not surprised. The ribs were fantastic and I'm not a "Rib Person". They were smokey, lean and so tender they fell apart. Not greasy or fatty. We shared a huge plate of ribs, cole slaw, beans, and cornbread. All washed down with icy cold beer. It was delicious. Mark, Donna and Christine gave us a lift home on their golfcart. Christine drove, but we survived anyway. Soggy Peso ribs wouldn't have been a bad last supper, tho. "I want some ribs!!"

Isla Mujeres - July 2009 Part 1 'The Island'

The island of Isla Mujeres feels like my second home. When the ferry docks and I disembark, my soul sighs. The sights, the hustle and bustle of the street, the tempting smells of cooking. A taxi whisks me away to a quiet hotel on a peaceful beach and the week with my handsome husband stretches our ahead of me, like a dream come true. Isla was pretty quiet, with the drop in tourism due to the economy, the Swine Flu hype and the onset of low season. The beaches were beautiful and quiet and Playa Norte had regained a lot of ground down by Na Balam. Sr. Lima's house Hotel Playa Media Luna, our hangout for the first few days A beautiful sunset from Mark and Donna's place Day after day of bright sunshine And a little rain one morning Kindergarten Graduation Day! All of the children had on all white clothes and they had a corsage or boutineer (sp?) The abandoned condo project next door to Secreto. We call them the 'Mayan Ruins' because that's how they look at night. I want to plant ivy all around them, so it will grow up and cover them. This is what I call a 'Mexican Man-kini'. When the local gentlemen want to cool off, they pull their shirts up and cool off their bellies. Gotta love it! View from Casa Sirena rooftop, where we spent the second part of the trip. It's so beautiful there. I always like to stop at the shell stands by Hacienda Mundaca. The people are so sweet and they have gorgeous shells. Rainbow seen from Steve's rooftop! Playa Norte was quiet. We stayed down by Na Balam where it was incredibly beautiful. The beach has come back so much over here. I am standing just East of Na Balam restaurant looking back West. Look how much beach is here now! Mr. Wonderful This little building is almost finished next to Na Balam. Probably going to be a Starbuck's. I'm kidding. I hope I'm kidding. More blog entries about Food, People and more coming soon!!!

Help! My Man Picker is Broken!

Okay, MY man picker isn't broken, but my friend, Laurie introduced me to this phrase that describes a woman who constantly picks the wrong men- "Her Man Picker is 'Broken". (Incidentally, Laurie wasn't talking about herself, either. Her's is fine). I have a few friends who really do seem to have broken man pickers. I'm sure you do, too. Good women with a lot to offer who seem to really have it together...but they just choose the wrong men over and over and over. Me: 'Why are you letting someone treat you this way?' 'What on earth makes you think that this type of behavior is acceptable? 'Turn and run!!!' 'You are only hurting yourself by staying with him. He's like a knife you keep stabbing yourself with.' 'That would last about five minutes with me and he'd be out the door.' Them: 'But I looooooooove him.' (usually I reply with 'whyyyyyy?' and a round of vomiting) I guess they feel that he's the love of their life/they need to save him/any man is better than no man. I don't know!! But I can tell you that one of my friend's 'We have such a special thing together and I mean so much to him even tho he's married to someone else' guys wanted me to have a special thing with him, too. I just pretended that I didn't hear and turned and walked off. Don't get me wrong. I may be all high and mighty now, but I admit that my man picker needed some calibrating after that first husband thing. The difference? I LEARNED!!!! And to be fair, maybe I'm not so smart, it's possible that I just love myself too much and am too selfish to be with someone who doesn't treat me like the Goddess I am. So, brilliant or bitchy? The end result remains the same. I really do believe that you teach people how to treat you. If you don't like it, tell them. If they don't comply, walk away. This should be done early in a relationship (hence the need to DATE and not just shack up after the first meeting) so that you don't have that looooove thing that bogs you down like week old jello. So what is it at the core? Is it low self esteem? If so, how do you repair that in a friend? My ex brother in law was been married and divorced 6 times by his early forties. Six times!! You'd think by now, he and Liz Taylor would have tied the knot, given the odds, but alas,no. He even married one of them twice. Sigh... How do you help a friend with a broken picker?

My Etsy Shop is open for business!!!

I have finally opened an etsy shop for my jewelry! Please visit and tell your friends. Proceeds help a wonderful girl in Isla Mujeres attend college. Thanks! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6323072