Not here, but over there

I’ll be honest, I’m a bit dried up in the blog topics this week. But, I’d like to direct you to my newest adventure — being a book reviewer for the Book Nook Club.

Playful Professional asked for some new reviewers, and I eagerly/hesitantly (if that’s possible) signed up. The challenge has now become finding books to read that haven’t already been reviewed! I’m only one review in, but I’m already having fun and it’s caused me to really up my reading the past couple weeks.

So head on over for my first review of Speak Softly, She Can Hear, by Pam Lewis. (Bonus: The book’s about s-e-x. Always a page turner!)

Anatomy of a bracket

For the first time, I filled out a March Madness bracket. I’ve never been much of a sports fan, following my alma mater (Michigan State) when it was appropriate, but otherwise feeling rather indifferent toward sports. I was the girl that cared more about the marching band at football games than the actual football team.

But for some reason this year, I decided to step out of my box. And now I’m hooked. I was up until midnight on Thursday and Friday watching the games and cheering for teams I’d never heard of, like Murray State, Siena or St. Mary’s California.

It is a bit maddening, this March Madness. I mean really, how do you choose who’s going to win among 64 random teams? Everyone has their own methodology, and even though I’m only 1 year in, here’s mine:

• Name recognition. I believe in strong brand awareness, and if I know your name, I’m likely to pick you. Who gives a shit if Louisville hasn’t been good in years? I know you, you’re going all the way.
• Loyalty. In addition to MSU, I have a few favorites. My father went to Oklahoma State. I was born in Manhattan, home of Kansas State. Oakland University is in a suburb of Detroit. Funny thing is, when it came down to it, loyalty didn’t cloud my judgment. Sure, it made me think a minute, but loyalty only played a role when I thought the team was good. Which has worked out well now that MSU and K State are headed to the Sweet Sixteen.
• Sweet Nothings. I did my bracket while on the phone with DD. You better believe I casually asked for his advice without making it seem like I was asking for his advice.

Not sure that my methodology has worked out for me. My bracket is completely busted (I’m looking at you Georgetown and Kansas). I’m thinking I need to get better at picking upsets (damn you, Murray State, I almost picked you!)

So tell me, how do you make your picks?

New blogroll

I finally (!!) got around to updating my blogroll. We won’t say how long it’s been since it happened last. But since then, I’ve met/found so many new bloggers and other faves have changed their domains — sometimes 2 or 3 times! I was feeling pretty bad that I was appearing on several blogrolls of blogs I also adore, yet I wasn’t sharing the love.

Well, no more! Click on out of your reader and check out the list. Maybe you’ll find someone new!

And to those of you on it, I beg — PLEAD — with you to not change your URL for at least a couple weeks. K thx 🙂

Friday Foto: Luck o’ the Irish

Yes, I’ve been slacking. I’ve been gone the majority of the week, but have plenty to share with you next week!

In the meantime, I have a Friday Foto!

This week’s photo marries one wonderful thing — St. Patrick’s Day — with one somewhat wonderful thing — running.

On the Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day, Detroit hosts a St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Corktown, one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. Prior to the parade, there’s a 5K race that starts and ends at the train station I’ve mentioned before.

The race is the epitome of a fun run, with many runners completing the course with a beer in hand and others dressed in crazy costumes. My personal favorite was the leprechaun and pot of gold.

This was my first year seeing the race and parade. It was rainy and cold, but I had several friends running so I wanted to cheer them on. Afterward, I met up with them and DD to watch bits of the parade.

The parade is nothing special. Irish families walk the route with banners proclaiming their family name. There are a few cars and almost no floats. But the rag tag event still draws a crowd.

We meandered along the route and eventually found ourselves in what can only be described as a blind pig. A friend of a friend owns one of the abandoned buildings in the area and is in the process of renovating it. We were able to stop in for a quick drink and a blast of warmth, which was nice.

While I wish the weather had been better, it was still a great way to spend a Sunday and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, especially since I wasn’t able to take part in any festivities on Wednesday.

Friday Foto: City Year

I almost didn’t have a photo this week. For shame, right?!

But then I was walking to work this morning and saw this:

A crowd of red jacketed City Year volunteers warming up for the day.

According to their Web site, City Year is a nationwide service program that started in the late 1980s. High school grads and other young adults choose to spend a year volunteering in an urban area. Much of their service is tied to education and mentoring, but they also participate in community transformation projects that clean up and improve the cities where they serve.

In Detroit, City Year volunteers can be found tutoring kids in our schools, painting murals in local neighborhoods, and mentoring youth so that they learn the importance of making a difference.

Every so often, they can also be found in Campus Martius Park, as I found them this morning. Volunteers start their day with warm ups and other energizing activities before deploying to their service sites. Today, it’s rather dreary and rainy, but as I approached the park I kept seeing red jackets walking toward it. And then when I turned the corner, there was the group, loud and active on an otherwise quiet Friday.

Their exuberance infected me as I finished the walk to work. Knowing that they’re out there trying to make Detroit a better place gave me the energy to try to do the same.

Tidbits

I was working on a post on social media and connectedness, but it’s just not coming together and I don’t have the brain power to mess with it. Luckily, the brain is still processing bullets, so let’s look at all the things kicking around in my head today!

• Yesterday, I got up at 6 a.m. and worked out before heading into work early. As a hardcore non-morning person, this was a feat. And a feat I sort of enjoyed. We’ll see if I can keep it going.
• Last night I talked to an old friend for over 2 hours. We go way back to high school, but distance has separated us and we only see each other once every year or so. But, the beauty of our friendship is that even after months of not talking, we can pick up right where we left off. And I found out I get to see her in a couple months!!!
• I’ve joined a nonprofit board. It’s a little organization, and I’m still a bit unsure of how I feel about the whole thing, but I do think it’s a step in the right direction for me so I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out.
• Next week, I’ll be out of town for work (and so probably not blogging). I rarely travel for work, thus I’m REALLY excited.
• This weekend is another Detroit blogger outing and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again. And picking up my really awesome handmade ring from Sillygrrl.

What’s kicking around your head?

Baby fever

I never thought I’d say this, but it’s happened.

I’ve got baby fever.

(Seriously. Click on the link. You’ll see how unlikely I thought this was).

I think I know where it’s coming from. One of my best friends had a baby last summer; the first of my friends to start popping out these little bundles of joy. And then this week, a friend of DD’s — who I’ve also grown close to — had a lovely little one.

I’ve watched his friend throughout her entire pregnancy and as her belly grew, so did my envy. It wasn’t envy in a green-eyed or malicious way, but rather, a realization that it was something I wanted too. For the past few years, I’ve been proud to say that my biological clock isn’t even turned on, so it’s a realization that’s coming as a bit of a surprise.

I think the envy is also coming from a realization that I’m nowhere near the point of having one. While friends are truly settling down by procreating, DD and I are barely on the subject of marriage. It’s there, but it has to be handled with care. So the subject of my own procreation some day is an even more distant thought.

I know I have many good childbirth years ahead of me, so there’s no need to go all biological clock crazy on him. I also know that right now this is more of a baby fever, not a full-blown child fever. One evening with his nephews, ages 7 and 9, makes me want to run screaming for my birth control.

But rocking a fussy baby to sleep using my inherent momma sway does make me think that maybe, just maybe, I can do it one day.

Friday Foto, Week 5

This week has kicked my ass. I suppose that’s typical for any post-vacation first week. But, honestly, it’s been this way since 2010 started. I don’t know what it is, but while the year is flying by, each week feels like an entire year on its own.

Obviously, I’m thrilled that it’s Friday. I’ve got some fun stuff planned this weekend, including volunteering and DD’s nephews’ birthday party.

Before we get to that, though, it’s time for another Foto Friday!

In case you haven’t noticed, I like food. Luckily, Detroit kind of rocks on the food front. We’ve got neighborhoods that specialize in Polish, Greek, Middle Eastern, and Mexican. Not to mention the one-off restaurants that do their thing and do it well.

Mexicantown is in Southwest Detroit — you’ll recall my recent Foto Friday about their local supermercado. In addition to buying quality Mexican food, Mexicantown also has a host of fabulous restaurants where I can have the food served to me.

There are a couple “tourist” favorites, and then there’s the local hangouts. Evie’s Tamales is one such local joint and when I want Mexican, it’s where I head.

If restaurants can be considered “dives”, Evie’s would fit the description perfectly. Sure, it’s clean and friendly, but it’s tiny, cramped, and, well, perfectly homey. Walking in, you may find the Cinco de Mayo decor up from last Cinco de Mayo. It’s a seat yourself kind of place, and the tables mostly seat 4 or 8. During busy times, I’ve nearly had to join strangers to eat my lunch.

Hey, it’s a way to meet new people!

The menu is simple and has all your faves. Chicken mole, enchiladas, tacos, and of course tamales. While I’m not a tamale fan, I hear they make the best in town. My typical meal is the cheese enchilada lunch special for $5. Basic, yes. But cheesy, saucy, Mexican goodness? At Evie’s, I’m never disappointed. Between the enchiladas and the saucy salsa (I prefer saucy to chunky), I find it hard to leave.

To top it off, there’s a free cookie for the road. The cookies won’t win any high class baking awards, but I still can’t pass one up.

The only downside is that, to my knowledge, they don’t have a liquor license. They also close early-ish, so it really is more of a lunch spot than a dinner spot. But it’s a spot nonetheless.

Cabo Part 2: The adventure

So, ya heard all about the fabulous resort.

(And really, wasn’t it just fabulous?!)

While we did spend 95% of the time at the resort, we did venture out for a few hours on our last full day.

When we checked in, we were greeted by the concierge with a plethora of tourist activities to take part in — along with a friendly time share pitch. Frankly, there were so many brochures and flyers (most not in English) that DD and I were both a little overwhelmed.

Since we’d set out for this trip to be strictly relaxation, I hadn’t done a ton of research about all the sights to see. We’d talked to someone who had been to Cabo San Lucas and she gave us lots of restaurant recommendations — but again, we weren’t staying near San Lucas. We knew there was swimming with the dolphins and boat trips available, but we didn’t look into them too much. We figured we’d decide once we got there how adventurous we were feeling.

Our first full day, I woke up early and dug out the pile of sales pitches. Swimming with the dolphins was too expensive. I wasn’t in the mood to jet ski. Booze cruises didn’t thrill me.

But kayaking? Sure why not.

Now, I’d never even been in a kayak. The fact that the kayak was a two-person boat made me less intimidated than if I was doing it solo. Still, I’d normally go for a nice, simple boat tour and call it a day. I’m not quite sure what got into me, actually. I pulled the flyer out of the stack, along with the requisite boat tour, and presented both options to DD.

He tried to lobby for the jet ski’s, but was intrigued that I’d chosen kayaking; he knows my non-adventurous nature all too well. Of course he jumped on the opportunity, which immediately made me nervous about it. Would we tip the boat? Would we get run over by a cruise ship? Would I go overboard and drift out to sea, never to return?

I’m a little dramatic.

We were a little lazy about scheduling the outing, but we finally got around to it and found ourselves meeting up with Felix and Sebastian early one morning. Your typical Mexicans (though C-bass was Argentinian), they were both friendly and outgoing. They drove us into San Lucas, picking up another couple along the way, and helped us launch the kayaks.

Don’t get me wrong, we were surrounded by tourist boats and there was a cruise ship in the harbor. I started out a little terrified of tipping, but within minutes DD and I had a rhythm done and we were able to create forward motion!

We paddled to the Arch at Lands End, where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean. There are some amazing rock formations and a sea lion colony that just lays on one of the rocks. All the boat tours hit the same spot, but being at the water level in the kayak, feeling very exposed and free to look up at the magnificence, was way better than any boat tour.

Enter the part that I will always regret about the vacation: we didn’t bring a camera.

I know, right?!?!?!?!

It’s obvious we weren’t thinking; we assumed the camera would get wet, fall overboard, yada yada yada. So it stayed at the resort. The fact that I have no photos from this part of the trip (and thus only photos from the resort) still kills me.

In absence of my own photos, here’s a few to at least give you an idea of what we saw — though my experience was so much more vibrant than any photo could depict. The idea of being at that point on the earth, bobbing in a little kayak, still amazes me.

Source

Source

Ugh, not having my own photos is the worst. It hurts even looking at other pictures.

Cabo Part 1: The Resort

It’s good to be home. If you consider leaving 80 degree temps for 30 degrees and snow as “good”.

All vacations must come to an end, I suppose, though I’ve spent the better part of the past three days trying to avoid the inevitable. We arrived home late Thursday night, and I proceeded to spend Friday and Saturday under blankets on my couch. At some point I had to come out, so yesterday I got myself to church and to the gym, and even clocked an hour or two of work.

Though the vacation is officially over, it doesn’t hurt to look back on the good things, right?

Like this view every day…

Our resort was perfect. We stayed at Cabo Azul, a AAA-rated 4 diamond find that we scored for an insanely fabulous deal. I highly recommend it as a destination if you find yourself searching for places in Cabo. All the better if you can find a hot deal for it.

The resort is comprised of villas, so you get more than an average room. We had a fully-equipped kitchen, dining and living area as well as a huge patio ready for outdoor dining or relaxing. It also had three infinity pools (2 of which were heated), 2 jacuzzis, and beachfront seating. The lounge chairs and relaxation pods (basically big shaded beds next to the pool) were so comfortable I never wanted to get up!

Each morning, I got up promptly at 7 a.m. (apparently I’m a morning person in Mexico), dragged DD out of bed (apparently he’s never a morning person) and we headed out for a relaxing day poolside.

I was able to finish 2 books (one of which was 700+ pages long — definitely not a beach read) and get just enough sun. My SPF 70 ensured I didn’t get burned, though DD wasn’t so lucky!

There were a couple negatives about the resort. First, it wasn’t all-inclusive. We ended up charging about $500 between food and drinks while we were there. But, coupled with our crazy-cheap deal, we still only spent slightly over a grand (and that’s for us both) on the resort, so that’s not too shabby.

Second was the location. We were in San Jose del Cabo, about 30 minutes outside of Cabo San Lucas. We could have taken a $40 cab ride or a $3 bus ride into San Lucas, but we just never got around to it. Which means we missed all the tourist attractions/bars that everyone told us we just HAD. TO. SEE.

Frankly, I went to Cabo for the sun and the pool, NOT the bars, so I was fine with the location, but I was afraid DD wouldn’t be. Toward the end of the trip, we talked about what we’d rather have — a luxury resort, or a great location — and we both decided on the resort. Our resort was close to San Jose, which also had shopping and bars, but we just never felt like leaving the pool. Also, getting up at 7 a.m. made me ready for bed by 10 so there weren’t too many late nights! We did go out for dinner a couple nights in San Jose, and both restaurants were yummy!

We did, however, venture into Cabo San Lucas for one thing. You’ll just have to wait until the next blog post to find out what it was!