celebrate the small things | Mar 27

This week I'm celebrating:

- my new car!!
She's not technically 'new' - she's a 2009 model Mini Cooper S, but she's new in my life and I adore her!

Isn't she pretty!?

- two new friends and catching up with two old ones
I met two awesome, empowering girls at SXSW // and on Wednesday had an 'old-school' cocktail evening with my old neighbours!

- the enriching experience of SXSW
learnt several things about human nature, threatening situations, shock and myself.

- my vegetables seeds growing like crazy!

- getting organized
Will was gone all week, which enabled me to complete all the washing/ tidy the house/ organize scattered paperwork and rearrange a few stray decorating items that have been doing my head in.  Now I'm sitting here, with a coffee, looking around and feeling a proud sense of accomplishment.

- the weekend
We've got quite a few exciting things planned this weekend: breakfast downtown/ the local markets/ visiting friends/ a nature hike and detailing my new car.

celebrate the small things | Mar 6

Hello to everyone celebrating today!  I can't wait to share in your joy with you!  As for me, I'm celebrating several huge things: a blissful anniversary cruise around the Caribbean and checking off several bucket list items along the way!

If you've peeked at my blog recently, you'll see I'm all about said cruise!  So much happened and it was everything I wanted our anniversary to be: romantic, adventurous, spontaneous, magical: perfect in every way!  Besides the plethora of on-board entertainment and sheer awesomeness of the ship that kept us super busy every day; we also had no internet or mobile phone connection for the entire week!  Although this meant that I couldn't share things as they happened - and now have to play catch up with about 500 photos - I'm glad we didn't have connectivity, because without the distractions of FaceBook, Instagram or Will's never-ending work emails, we really had a chance to unplug from the rest of the world and reconnect with each other. What wife doesn't want that?

Anyway, here are the bucket-list items I can cross off my list, thanks to the cruise:

1. a visit to Mexico (although I didn't get to see anywhere near as much as I'd like!)

The best part was that Will and I rented a scooter and went off on our own, exploring everything we wanted on Cozumel Island.  It was neat to see how the locals live.

2. Mayan Ruins  - we visited not one, not two, but three different sites:
San Gervasio on Cozumel Island in Mexico

Altun-Ha in Belize:

 and Chaccoben in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

3. learning about the Mayans from an actual Mayan family - this came with a bonus visit to their house and traditional lunch that I hadn't even imagined in my dreams!

4. drinking a pina colada from a coconut on a pristine Caribbean beach

5. snorkeling in the second largest coral reef in the world

6. steak tartare from one of the best French restaurants in New Orleans (before we set sail).  I'd never had raw meat before and it was exquisite! 

7. a real, on-stage, magical illusion show!  This was so much fun and I was amazed that the world renowned duo 'Sander and Alison' were just part of the ships' on-board entertainment!  We got to see two of their acts and I was stunned each time

  

8. attending a real art auction

Needless to say, I've had to pinch myself several times to confirm that this is all real.  I feel so grateful and happy that I'm literally bursting.  I wish the same happiness for every single one of you x.

Our Caribbean Cruise

Now that we've been back on land a few days, our heads have stopped swimming and we've had time to reflect: the Norwegian Cruise Line has sent us an overall impression questionnaire that's put me in rather a nostalgic mood.  With below freezing temperatures back here in Austin and a perpetually overcast sky, Will and I are yearning to be back on board that carefree ship - sipping cocktails while working on our tans... Nothing in the world to worry about... expect for which of the 8 restaurants we would choose for dinner!

As I answered Norwegian's questionnaire (with positives across the board), I realized how much we'd loved our cruise!  It was such a great way to unplug from work and our daily routines.  We had no internet connection almost the whole time, so were kind of forced to be together and really be in each other's company.  Of course, I loved this... but although Will struggled a little with not knowing what was going on at work, in the end he was thankful for the respite and came back refreshed. Some other major highlights were:

* our sweet little room (that turned out bigger than expected)

* our enthusiastic room attendant for whom no task was too much trouble... and the different, adorable towel-animals he left on our bed every day: 

* the helpful, happy, friendly, smiling, dancing staff all over the ship - as far as the eye could see!  Here they are at the Costa Maya port in Mahahual, Mexico, awaiting our return with a red carpet and refreshments:

* dressing up to attend the nightly entertainment in the super grand theater!

(the atrium was also v.grand and showcased nightly entertainment)

* the plethora of activities. 

True to form, I geeked out and immersed myself in education! Namely the art and Chinese medicine -
while Will gambled, lay poolside, or joined new acquaintances for pub trivia!
Here I am with one of my fave works of art from the ship: Without Borders by Peter Max

* deck games 

* the amazing shore visits (that I will blog about separately, later)

* the endless dining options - including the biggest buffet either of us have ever seen.
We were eating allllll the time!  And yet, we didn't even gain a little bit of weight because it was really good, healthy good!  It was brilliant!  By the third day, we had a joke about saving room for 'second and third dinner.'

* those elaborate signature cocktails that changed daily - obviously we had to try them all :)

* and of course, those breathtaking sunsets!

I'm really not sure why people say cruising is for oldies.  Sure, there were plenty of old people on board (the majority if I'm honest), but there's so much to do for peeps our age - and even the teenagers (that all formed a clique by the end) had a blast.  Although our cruise was more about the destinations and shore excursions than the actual ship itself: I'd always pictured cruising to be more like the posh and glamorous portrayal of the Titanic movie, and less like the crotchety, sailing-nursing home I've heard others compare it to... I wasn't disappointed.   

Over the next few days, I'll be blogging about the shore excursions themselves.  There were four in total - Cozumel, Mexico | Belize City, Belize | Roatan Island, Honduras | and Mahahual, Mexico - each unique and exceptionally wonderful!  For now I just wanted to praise the cruise, the program, staff and everything about Norwegian Cruise Line.  Will and I couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate our marriage.

Date night in New Orleans

To kick off our week of anniversary celebrations, Will and I spent Saturday the 21st February in New Orleans.  As I've mentioned on several occasions: NOLA is one of my all-time favourite cities in the world, but it was even more magical this time, since love was in the air as we remembered that perfect night we met - six years ago.

We stayed at the Hotel Indigo, which was awesome in every way!  After getting checked in and dressed, we we took a 'Street Car' (trolley) to a surprise dinner location that Will had organized in advance.  The location turned out to be Chateau Du Lac, in the Warehouse District - and a true testament to the fact that Will is the best husband in the world since it's somewhere I've been dying to go, yet he doesn't like French food!  His sacrifice made me feel so spoiled and then lucky, because we both really enjoying our meals and the quaint, intimate atmosphere of the restaurant; followed by a leisurely stroll around the part of New Orleans we'd never spent much time in, before another 'Street Car' took us back to our hotel.  

It was bliss.  In fact, the whole week was amazing, romantic, spontaneous!  I can't wait to share it all with you in the upcoming days.  For now, here are some pics from New Orleans:

You know you're in New Orleans when.....

Bucket list item checked off: I had the steak tartare
for the first time!  YUMM

Our dinner/ table/ view of restaurant through reflection <3

Was bummed when this place didn't turn out to be an actual
Aussie pub!  False advertising, I tell ya! 

Will's traditional breakfast of boudin balls and biscuits
the next morning.  I had a frittata (paleo, remember) but it was
gone before I could snap it!

The beautiful vine covered building next door to Hotel Indigo