I just got back from a trip to Maryland and Virginia.  I spent a half day in DC, but that doesn’t really count although I did eat a meal there.  It was a trip to visit friends.  I can’t believe that it’s been a year since I moved away.  It was great to go back.  I do miss Maryland a little bit.  Mostly the people, but it is a beautiful state and we weren’t actively trying to leave the area, but when your husband gets a job at Google, you don’t have a choice.  Not much had changed; it was beautiful and green and lush.  And humid.

It was a relaxing, low-key trip.  The nice thing about having lived there is that I don’t feel compelled to do the touristy stuff.  Been to the Washington Monument, done the Lincoln Memorial.  I was able to relax and visit and hang out with friends.  I stayed with my friend Suzie, who just finished renovating her husband’s house.  It was beautiful!  It was a year-long project and my visit spurred them on to finish.  It was the motivation they needed to get it done and they did a fantastic job.  I helped her pick out flowers and plants for the front porch, we saw Just Wright (love Queen Latifah!), tried the local coffee place, rented An Education (interesting), cooked out, ate lunch with our old coworkers, shopped for shoes, watched Grey’s (wow!) and hung out.  I was also able to meet up with a friend in Silver Spring, and we tried out a new restaurant and visited.

After three days in Maryland, I metroed to DC and had lunch with another friend.  I just found out she’s pregnant with twins so we had a lot of catching up to do!  We ate at my favorite Chinese place, Mei Wah.  Yummm…  After that I met up with my dear friend, Claudia, and we headed to her place in Virginia.

Claudia had recently moved and it was fun to see her new place and give my (solicited) opinion on the decor and accessories.  We are soul sisters and had so much fun going over projects, and looking at her stash of material, and talking over things we want to do.  We keep in touch rather obsessively over email so we know what’s going on with each other, but there was tons of show and tell.  We went to most of my favorite places for meals, including Five Guys for the most delicious and juicy cheeseburger.  Yummmm…  And we had quite a few salteñas which are  Bolivian empanadas/pot pies.  More deliciousness!!  I even brought back 16 frozen salteñas to share with Bill.  Claudia was a good sport and let me watch my beloved Blackhawks who are headed to the Stanley Cup Finals!!!!!  We did girly stuff like getting our eyebrows done, and I went to my favorite bead store (Accent Beads), we met the girls for brunch, and the only disappointment of the weekend was our inability to find fabric for throw pillows for her couch.  Fabric.com came to our rescue.  And we argued over the humidity.  She loves it, and I do not.  It makes for slightly curly, frizzy hair and a very shiny Margaret.  I have become spoiled during my year in California.

It was sad to say goodbye to everyone, but also a little easier this time because a year had passed and we were still in touch, still friends and there wasn’t the fear that it would be a final goodbye.

This trip also reaffirmed my love for my Kindle.  My flight out east was delayed by 90 minutes (and I was already at the gate 90 minutes before my flight).  I was ready to start a new book and it was so fantastic to have 73 options at my fingertips, not including the Kindle Store.  At that moment, I was in the mood for something on the lighter side, and who’s to say that’s what I would have packed had I had to choose only two actual books to bring on the trip.  Kindle, I heart you.

I just returned from a ten day vacation.  You might think I am recharged and refreshed but I am exhausted.  Bill is happy to be returning to work so he can rest.  We had a fantastic trip, it was just wasn’t as relaxing as we thought it might be.

The reason for the trip was my Mom’s 60th birthday.  (Does my mom look 60?  She’s second from the right.)  Her husband took the family (eight of us total) on a Caribbean cruise.  Bill and I also took an extra day at the beginning and end of the trip to visit Bill’s family in Miami.  It was great to reconnect with family, especially because it’s been years since we’ve seen them (both Bill’s family and my family).

We had so much fun which is why I’m so tired.  We met almost every morning for breakfast, except for one because Bill and I had an early excursion.  Bill and I would get up early to get a little exercise before our morning meal.  We were busy during the days, especially in port either hitting the beach or doing an excursion.  On the days at sea we found comfortable chairs in the shade to sit and read and chat.  We ate dinner together every night, usually meeting for a pre-dinner cocktail, went to most of the shows, and usually hung out afterwards.   Bill and I didn’t stay up terribly late except for maybe two nights, but the constant activity throughout the day tired us out.  There was a lot to do on the ship, including a water slide.  They also had games.  Mom and I played The Match Game where couples are asked a question and you are trying to come up with the same answer as your partner.  Mom and I won and were given medals!

We stopped at four ports: Grand Cayman, Carnival’s private beach in Honduras, Belize and Cozumel.  The eight of us hit the beach in Grand Cayman and Honduras, and Bill and I went cave tubing in Belize and to Tulum in Mexico.  The beach in Grand Cayman was my favorite.  I think because it was the first stop, our first visit to a gorgeous beach, and we weren’t tired yet.  Cave tubing was interesting.  Basically we sat on inner tubes in a river that ran through caves were Mayan’s made sacrifices.  I’m glad I did it, but don’t see myself doing it again.  Tulum was beautiful, but a two and a half hour trip (one way) for a two hour visit to the site.  And it was HOT.  And HUMID.  If I look unhappy, it is because I am HOT.

The Mayans did do some pretty amazing things and the site was impressive.  The view was incredible, right off the most blue water.  It was just a long boat and bus ride and I generally like to spend more time at the site than it takes to get there.  Although it was hot and Bill and I felt we saw everything we wanted to see.  If we had more time, we would have gone to the beach, but we decided to have lunch instead.

We were on a Carnival ship, which I liked.  The focus is on having fun and I like that all age groups are represented.  The food was delicious, although we agreed that the sit down meals were better than the buffet food (although the buffet food was very good).  Carnival is known for making towel animals and I had my picture taken with our animal every day.  Our room steward even let us keep some of our animals.

The rooms are a nice size.  We had an ocean view room on the first deck, and had a lot of space for two people and three towel animals.  The service on board ship was excellent and you are really spoiled.  It is a bit of a shock to my system to be home and having to cook and clean myself.  I guess that is a small price to pay to sleep in my own bed and be with my furry babies (whom I missed terribly).

Because this is supposed to be mostly a craft blog, I will finish by letting you know that I made the teal blouse in the first picture.  My mom made the skirt I am wearing.  The skirt is made of brown/bronze (depending on the light) sequined fabric that we bought in NYC.  The blouse (which looked much better before I sat it in for two hours and stood up wrinkled) is made of Robert Kaufman Radiance fabric, which is a cotton/silk blend satin fabric.  It is fabulous material.  The pattern is Simplicity 3893, though I modified it to cross over in front and I did a pleat under the bust instead of gathers.  I wish the skirt had photographed better because it is stunning, and one of the best things my mom has sewn for me.  I also made my necklace (which is hard to see).  It is a large quartz focal gem.  I’m not sure exactly what kind of quartz, but it was practically made to be worn with the skirt.  (Here’s a picture where I’m slightly less wrinkled.)

Well, I’m impressed that I have managed to stay up until 10pm as I was ready to crash five hours ago.  Sabrina is snuggled up against me as I type and as much as I hate to disturb her, she is going to have to move because I am ready to sleep.  I guess we all should be so lucky to be exhausted after a wonderful ten days with family.