Beagles at the Beach: Part II

After we spent a full day relaxing by our pool and along the beach by our hotel, we were ready for a little more adventure in the next day of our trip.  We browsed through a few of the activities the hotel suggested and settled on a "Sunset Cruise" that departed from the marina in Cabo San Lucas later that evening.  To ensure that we were able to find departure point (and be there on time), we decided to go into the city early in the day to play "tourists".

Cabo San Lucas is about 30 minutes travel time from San Jose del Cabo (which is where we were staying).  Originally we were going to take a bus there (because it was a lot cheaper than taking a taxi and we did not rent a car), but while we were waiting at the bus stop, a local who had just dropped off his friends at the airport and was on his way back into the city offered us a ride.  Normally this is not something I would recommend, but we happened to come across the right person at the right time.  Our "driver" actually lived and worked in Texas for a while and we had a pleasant conversation with him to make the drive shorter.  After paying him what we would have been charged for the bus trip and tipping him (on a side note-in Mexico, tipping is expected for most services), we were dropped off by the huge mall that sits on the edge of Cabo's marina.

There was a really pretty waterfall in the center exterior of the mall.



As we exited the mall to head toward the marina, I noticed this:

Although I didn't stop for any coffee at Starbucks during our trip, I felt a little better knowing their caffinated beverages were within my reach. :)

The marina was packed tightly with boats of all sizes.

And pelicans were in abundance.  We saw a seal lion also, but only for a second (hence the lack of pictures).

After walking for about twenty minutes and taking in all the sights, we finally decided to stop at one of the many eateries along the water's edge for lunch- chips and salsa, followed by fish tacos.

I'm really not much of a "fish" person, but I tried my best to be open-minded on this trip because of the
selection and variety of fish that was available.

After lunch, we explored the remaining length of the walk around the marina.  There were interesting sights such as this large Dia de Los Muertos ("Day of the Dead") statue and a large display of Mexican fighting masks.

By the time we reached the end of the marina walkway, it was still early afternoon and it was hot.  We decided to make our way back to the mall and hide out in the cool air conditioning (and for me, shade) until our tour departure later that evening.

On the way back to the mall we saw this sign:  "Not For Sale"

This was pretty much the only hill near the marina that was not built on.  We found out later there was some activism geared toward preventing builds on it (a nerdy tid-bit, but I found it interesting).

Once we got back to the mall we found more Dia de Los Muertos statues.

One of the shops showcased a model of a tequila distillery.

After we soaked up some much needed AC and gave our feet a rest, we wandered to the upper floors of the mall.  They had a few really good look-out points to the marina.

I completely forgot to pack a shawl/sweater/cover up and hat for this trip.  Since my skin color is "pale and burns easily", we had to pick a few items up while we were in the city (or I would have turned into a tomato).  These items, along with my 70 spf sunscreen were my life savers and  I am happy to report that I came back home with zero sunburns :)

We also had a chance to preview the set-up of some of the Dia de Los Muertos decorations for a celebration later that evening.  I loved the all of the colorful decor.

Real flowers and food were used to decorate each of the shrines.

Up next:  A boat ride and arches!

Beagles at the Beach: Part I

Since I'm still sorting through and organizing our wedding pics (!!!), I decided to start recaps our honeymoon in the mean time.

We had originally considered postponing our honeymoon to sometime in 2010, but I am so glad we decided to go soon after the wedding (we left the following week).  We were in dire need of some rest and relaxation and it was nice to take a break from "real life", even if it was just for a week.

If you remember (or if you don't), Mr. Beagle's parents graciously gifted us the use of their timeshare in San Jose del Cabo (about 30 mins. away from Cabo San Lucas).  We left Austin on the Saturday after our wedding a.k.a. Halloween.  Arriving at the airport in San Jose del Cabo was very overwhelming for me.  As soon as we left the customs area, we were I was immediately bombarded by Timeshare salesmen trying to coax us into stopping to talk to them.  I assume this because they target Americans/non Spanish speakers/women... so after several confusing moments where I thought they were persons we needed to meet, I latched on to Mr. Beagle's arm and we walked quickly to the airport exit.  We were aware that salesmen were aggressive in the airport, but I had no idea they would be so pushy and persuasive!  Fortunately this was the only location where we encountered this behavior and once we exited the airport, it was relatively easy to find our prearranged transportation to our hotel.

I didn't take many pictures of our hotel/condo, but here's a shot I snagged from their website:

source

After we arrived to our temporary home, we settled in, ate some food at the onsite restauraunt, and crashed.  We were so exhausted from a day of traveling and time changes.

The next day we woke up bright and early to eat breakfast at the hotel restaurant.  We found out they serve a buffet every Sunday morning, which was soooo good.

We nommed on pancakes, fried potatos, migas, and beans.  The green mixture in the above picture tasted similar to enchiladas without meat.  They also served a variety of cereal and breads for those not wanting a buffet of Mexican food.  Mr. Beagle ate their menudo, which I decided to pass on.  The coffee in Mexico is made with cinnimon and is very sweet- Mr. Beagle enjoyed his, and I (who normally drinks coffee as black as can be) did not.  They also had a variety of agua frescas.  We tried the papaya which was not very good (or must be an acquired taste), but the orange was so delicious. 

After we could not stuff any more food in our faces eat any more, we spent the rest our Sunday relaxing at the pool (uh, happy hour starting at 2 anyone?), exploring the hotel and beach area, and researching some possible activities that were available.

Although we weren't able to swim in the beach by our hotel because of strong rip tides, it provided us with a gorgeous view.  The beach was not really a smooth sandy, beach, but it felt more like tiny bits of rocks. Walking barefoot is not recommended. :)

...Stay tuned for part II where we venture into Cabo San Lucas.

Last Minute Project: Cake Topper

I guess I should back up a second here.  Before I start talking about our cake topper, I should really discuss our cake first.  I wanted something simple, tiered, no fondant.... that was pretty much the extent of my criteria.  I have seen our baker's handy work at the wedding of a good friend that I attended:

So I knew that our baker would do a wonderful job no matter what I specified, but I really wanted to keep it simple.

-------------------------------------Now back to our original story-----------------------------------------

 
Once upon a time, long ago, when I first started reading Weddingbee, I fell in love with a certain Bee's wedding.  Actually, I really fell in love with her cake.  So, using her cake as inspiration, I found this really cute salt & pepper shaker set:

Look familiar?  They should.  I was so inspired by Mrs. Cookie's idea to use these as cake toppers that I high-tailed it over to my nearest Target to search for them (of course, I lucked out and found them). Remember her beautiful cake?

source

After I bought them, I put them away in my craft room and didn't look at or think about them much until about the month before the wedding. When I started doubting my decision to use them atop the cake.
So I went back to the drawing board to find an alternative cake topper.  I absolutely love this book and was immediately smitten with this picture:

I really liked the idea of using bird cake toppers and I thought fabric ones would go perfectly with our theme (if you could call it that).  Instead of using the pattern and materials shown in the book, I bought some felt and thread on one of my many trips to JoAnns and created my own pattern.  After cutting, tracing, stitching, and stuffing, I came up with this:

You can't really tell from the picture, but I added different shades of purple felt for tail feathers.  I used embroidery thread to make the stitches and I had some left over polyester stuffing to fill the inside of the bird.

The original plan was to make two of them, sew in some floral wire (16 gauge) into the bottom of each bird, and stick them in the top tier of our cake.  However, being the indecisive girl that I am, I changed my mind yet AGAIN and ended up going with something completely different.  But you'll have to wait for my recaps to see what it is :) ( I know, I know... the suspense!!)

Did you use a traditional bride and groom cake topper or did you use something a little out of the ordinary?

Last Minute Project: Bathroom Basket(s)

When I first saw our venue, I knew I wanted to include a cute basket full of goodies in the women's restroom.  Women are pretty easy to figure out as far as needs go:

I ended up finding some cute baskets on sale (for half off!) at JoAnns.  The cloth covering inside the basket was originally beige and of course I just had to dye it purple- I used Rit dye and followed the instructions on the back of the box.  To get the purple color shown, I mixed one part purple dye and one part black dye.  It looks lovely, I think.  I attached a small tag on one end that encouraged guests to use the items, neatly arranged all the items, and I was done (quick and easy).
As far as the goodies go, I included a few packages of gum, mouthwash, dental floss, hair ties, a tide pen (a serious life saver for me), tums, tampons, deodorant, ibuprofen, oil absorbing sheets, and hand sanitizer.  I also picked up two bottles of lotion at Bath & Body Works while it was on sale one day- Cherry Blossom (which I loooovve) & (I think) Sea Island Cotton.  At the end of the night, most of the products were used so it was a project that was totally worth it.

I really didn't think the men would enjoy such a basket in their restroom, so I left this instead:

Tums, ibuprofen, mouthwash and gum.... and three containers ($4 each at Target) of mints, lifesavers, and starbursts. This was a big hit among the men (seriously, I got so many comments about "the candy in the bathroom") and a good male alternative (IMO) to standard bathroom basket.
Overall, the project cost was around $50 (this includes the containers, 2 baskets (since I originally thought I would put one in each restroom and then changed my mind), two boxes of dye, and all of the medical/dental/beauty/food supplies).
Are you including any little "extras" for your guests at your reception?

We've Come a Long Way

It took nearly 7 years to get here, but we're here.  We've gone from this:

(taken around the time we transitioned from "just friends" to officially dating)

To this:

Happy Month-a-versary Mr. Beagle!!!!!

Although the last month has gone by entirely to quickly for us, we have enjoyed every second of it.  Since this is our first official anniversary, we celebrated with a nice dinner out at one of our favorite eateries and good conversation.  I look forward to celebrating each month until we reach one year and then we'll probably cut our celebrating down to a yearly event (or maybe not, we'll have to see!)

Will you be celebrating your anniversary monthly or yearly?

*Thank you to Ashley with Studio 563 for her ah-mazing photography!
**And in other news, we've received our wedding pictures!!! So stay tuned, there is more to come!

A Moment of Weakness

After I got married, I assumed I would give up my obsession with wedding blogs.  Even in the weeks leading up to our wedding I refused to look at wedding inpiration sites because 1) I had no time or, more importantly, 2) I was fearful I would end up seeing some detail or project that I would fall in love with and need to incorporate into our event or, even worse, 3) that I would see a gorgeous wedding and then regret the entire theme of our wedding and proceed to sulk.
Last week, after seeing our wedding pictures for the first time, I let down my guard and revisited the wedding sites whose posts had piled up in my Google Reader.  I immediately regretted it.  The wonderful memories for our wedding day were clouded by so many things I wish I had done.  I wish we had taken more pictures with our wedding party, I wish I had remembered to bring our invitations to be photographed, I  wish we had hired a videographer, I wish I had made enough time to make signs for our chairs, I may have even started regretting not having a bouquet of real flowers, and the list could go on and on.
I really felt bad about it for about two days, but then I remembered that we had a pretty good day.  If  anything did not go according to plan, we were oblivious to it.  After the ceremony, I felt complete happiness- a feeling I never expected.  (I mean I figured I would be happy, but not that happy, right?)  And best of all, Mr. Beagle and I are now married and it is better than I ever imagined.  It definately feels different- a very, very good different.
It seems strange to me that so much time and planning go into one day that lasts a total of 6 or 7 hours and then it's over in what feels like a few seconds.  I can't wrap my head around that just yet.  I'm just trying to remember our day, one moment at a time, so that I don't forget what a wonderful day it was.

PWC-Post Wedding Chop

Like others that have gone before me, I was sooooo ready for a change after the wedding. So ready that I made a hair appointment for the following Friday. Here's the before (taken about a month ago at my final shower with my sister- can you see the resemblance :) ?):


My hair has been about the same length and style for around 3 years, until now:


Bangs! I haven't had them since I was about ten :). I'm still getting used to the feeling of hair on my forehead, but I really love them!

Did you get a PWC? How soon after the wedding did you make your appointment?