Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

This photo was taken from a speeding van.

You guys, I traveled outside of the United States and it wasn't to Mexico! Through out my life I've only traveled within the United States and Mexico. My parents are from Mexico and its our neighboring country. I went to the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana to be exact. I'll be honest, I never ever planned or desired to visit this country. For starters the flight is more than 5 hours. The max I've flown is 5 hours and as I've mentioned before I have a huge fear of flying. Fear can really hold you back, but that's a story for another day. I knew very little about the Dominican Republic and honestly never considered this a vacation destination. Boy, was I ignorant!

So you're probably wondering how and why did you end up in the Dominican Republic? I'll tell you. My husband worked really hard all year and as a reward, his company rewarded him with a free trip to Punta Cana! All expenses paid!!!!!!! I feel like this post is going to have a lot of exclamation marks! I apologize in advance.

We stayed at the Secrets Royal Beach Resort which has access to an adjacent resort called Now Larimar. Both resorts are so beautiful! The hallways are lined with beautiful arches and decorative patio furniture where you can sit and relax at your pleasure.

Private beach access with wait service at your disposal and if you weren't really feeling the ocean you can hop on over to the pool. I should mention the pool has a swim up bar! 

I've stayed at all inclusive resorts where you get to indulge in unlimited food at buffets within the resort and while yes it is unlimited, the food is usually very bland and or average.  This resort is not like that at all. The food was so good. We had rib eye, rack of lamb, filet mignon, oysters, burgers, and shrimp to name a few. I've never eaten so much meat in my life.  That's not a sentence I'm proud of but its the truth. The resort did not limit you to only eating at the buffet, we had the option of 24 hour room service and  restaurants that made you feel like you were at a 5 star restaurant.    

This little boat was filled with oysters, by the time I snapped this photo more than half were taken by guest!

Okay, let's move on. I mentioned that the resort has a beach access, right? Agh! The beach! The beach was so beautiful, with its white soft sand that when the water washed up to shore it reminded me of horchata! I know its crazy and silly, but it did! 

Swimming in the pacific ocean for my entire life, I naturally eased my way into the water thinking it was going to be ice cold like it is here in the west coast. I was wrong it was lukewarm!! 

view from the ocean towards the resort. 

On a small corner of the resort, there is a booth where you can sign up for kayaking, snorkeling, windsurfing and para sailing. Can you believe that some of these activities were also free? talk about all inclusive!  Right of the bat, the first thing you notice is the para sailing because of the huge air balloons or parachutes that are passing you by. As soon as we saw this my husband was determined to do the para sailing and insisted I join him. Remember that fear of mine of flying, well this one time it held me back. I couldn't do it!! It really did look like a lot of fun and something I would remember for the rest of my life but I just couldn't do it. 

While my fear has held me back from some stuff throughout my life I never let it hold my husband back. I insisted he should do the para sailing without me and he did. While he was flying high I stayed on the beach and enjoyed the sun

I know this post was mainly about the resort but I felt like I should dedicate a post to it because it was truly a beautiful and relaxing place to stay at. I will be posting more on my trip and hope you will come back and visit. 

p.s. This post contains photographs taken with my cell phone and Nikon DSLR camera. 

Current Obsessions

My current obsessions:

neon filters

 neon signs

pastel colors

the ocean

flowers

ice cream

7 Years

Last Monday my husband and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary. We really didn't plan anything in particular to celebrate but my mom and sister invited us to dinner. We all got dressed up and went to Dal Rae restaurant. I would describe Dal Rae as a fine dining classic american restaurant. The last anniversary my parents celebrated was at Dal Rae so it was a little bittersweet to be there without my dad. But we always try to make the best and push through. We all ordered lobster and laughed that we all got the same plate, but you guys its so good!! 

Anyways, this coming weekend  we are going on vacation! I'm super excited but super nervous. Follow me on Instagram to see where we're headed. 

3rd Street

Living in Southern California is pretty awesome, we have awesome weather and quick access to the ocean, mountains and desert. Unfortunately, living here comes with horrible traffic that you encounter at all times. As I mentioned in a previous post, my husband and I started to use public transportation and have been a little obsessed. Our Metro/subway system does not cover many cities but recently an expansion was revealed and you can now take the metro to the beach! My husband and I decided to make the trip on what we now call "Subway Sunday". 

On this particular Sunday, it was warm and sunny where we live so I was dressed for summer with shorts and a tank top.  When we reached Santa Monica it was gloomy and chilly, so we technical didn't make it all the way to beach. We stayed on 3rd Street which is known as  3rd Street Promenade. I've been here before but it's been a while since my last visit. I was surprised of the many changes I noticed or maybe I never noticed them. Does that ever happen to you? I noticed that now that I'm older I notice a lot more things that I never paid much attention to when I was younger. Things like plants, birds or architecture are things that I probably didn't notice or took for granted in my youth. 

Anyways, back to Subway Sunday...    

By the time we reached Santa Monica I was on the verge of being hangry! After walking around and looking for a place that served hot wings (my husband was craving wings) I was totally hangry! When we found a restaurant that served hot wings we were told the wait would be 50 minutes! We were too hungry to wait 50 more minutes so we settled for Johnny Rockets and ate burgers and fries. 

Couple on a date. 

Our waitress created these ketchup portraits of my husband and I. Isn't this the cutest?

After eating we decided to head home because it was far too cold to be walking in shorts and a tank top. 

One more of me because I can't get over how cute I look in Ketchup, just kidding that doesn't even look like me!

These photos were taken on my iphone. I wanted to take my DSLR camera but some of the areas you travel to connect to the different subways are a little sketchy and makes me feel a little unsafe so I avoid taking anything of value with me on Subway Sunday. 

Calla Lilies-Part 4

Okay guys! This wraps up my series on Calla Lilies. I hope you enjoyed my take on these beautiful flowers and if you felt it was too much, I'm sorry. I'm still trying to figure my way through this blogging world. 

Calla Lilies-Part 3

Calla Lilies-Part 2