Mexico 1.0: Cancun - machetes, machine guns & margaritas!

Oh... and sun, sand and ... a surf beach too! They're a given in Cancun, right? I never thought two of the three M's above would also be givens, but that's what you get when you leave Cancun's "Zona Hotelera" (I bet you can translate that all by yourselves) ... but I'll get to that adventure in a minute ...

First and foremost I must start at the beginning ... (or almost, anyway) Texas airport! I'm sure you've heard the common saying "everything is bigger in Texas" - this couldn't be more accurate. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that if Natalie lived in Texas (bear with me, only talking in third person for un momento) she'd be a helluva lot bigger too! The ribs at the airport alone were a sight to see, not to mention the rest of the smorgasbord of deliciously saucy, fatty food. So Texas airport was fun, but I didn't enjoy the generally rude people and the stupid airport buggies motoring back and forth every two minutes deliberately trying to run people over. They didn't even have horns, so the airport workers driving them would just yell at people to get out of the way. That was kinda funny actually (but not when you almost get run over!)

Pre Race Day

So despite the numerous attempts by Texas airport staff to run us over, we eventually made it to Cancun in once piece. Unfortunately Steve's beloved bike was not so fortunate as it had a few hiccups in transit (he tries not to think about it!) so Thursday for us was spent mostly learning that Mexican hotel workers don't understand a large majority of words associated with triathlon and/or cycling/bikes in general .. in any capacity at all. Steve's conversations with the hotel workers went something like this ....

Steve: {in long, slow, drawn-out speech} Hi. I was wondering where I can find the bike mechanic. I am doing the triathlon on Sunday and my bike was damaged on the flight here. I have to find the mechanic so I can get it fixed. The brakes aren't working. The mechanic is supposed to be at the host hotel which is next door but I am wondering if there is a bike mechanic in Cancun that specifically works with road or triathlon bikes. I need to find a bike shop.

Mexican Hotel Worker: {nods, with a perplexed look on his face} ... {no response} ... 

*PAUSE*

(Based on my analysis of the situation as it unfolded before me, I have determined the words I believe the hotel worker understood. You'll see these are the only words that remain in the paragraph above...)

Following what can only be described as an extraordinary language/translation FAIL , Steve's rule for the rest of the trip was "just don't talk to the Mexicans" ... that was until the tables turned and I became 'The Blitz' (you'll get this if you watch How I Met Your Mother). Consequently, my rule for the final four days was "just don't talk to Mexicans!".

So we stayed at the Grand Oasis Resort which was pretty spectacular. It was even better because September is low season in Cancun so the hotel was fairly quiet. Let's just say I'm pretty sure I couldn't handle it in peak season ... not for a second! Steve was excited during our first buffet breakfast morning (and not just for the buffet breakfast!) when he met three pro athletes who race for a team in Italy who were in Cancun for the race and who were staying at our hotel. He was even more excited when they asked if he was a pro as well. Mind you, the question of his pro status was not exclusive to the Italian athletes, he was asked twice more by completely different people. I can confirm his head has remained inflated (as a side note he just came in and told me to make sure there are lots of photos of him in this post because in the last post there were none!!). We like to think the Italians stalked us for the remainder of the trip too, as they seemed to eat everywhere and at exactly the same time as us!

One of the many snack & drink bars ... and the view - yes, it really does look like that!

Another tough day in Cancun

Relaxing by the pool

Posing ... like a "pro"

Buffet breakfast time - Steve's favourite!

There are so many fun memories from our Cancun trip, it would be impossible to detail every single one (and you know I'd love to). I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed the open bar full of pretty much any cocktail you like (they free-pour) while lovingly nicknaming Steve "dorky water-bottle guy" ("hydration" was the motto, you know!) for the first 4 days. I guess in a nut shell, hanging out at the resort was just like being on a cruise, minus the cruise part! After just three days I also declared that I had heard enough Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna and Usher to last a lifetime! All part of the fun of Cancun! I am also positive that I was absolutely the whitest person there. For once I was the minority and it was a little unnerving, I must admit.

A little volleyball, anyone?

Or perhaps a little more pool time ...

Ahh the beautiful beach ... and our beautiful faces ... hah

Yes Steven, you're in Cancun, and it's AWESOME.

So for the first few days I kept trying to remember to use Spanish when I could as I thought I may as well embrace it (even though I felt like an idiot) when I was there. The only problem was that my stupid brain kept jumbling up all the bits and pieces of languages I know, so every time I went to say "Hola", "Bonjour" would almost/half come out instead - total dork moments! A few times I heard a little "Buongiorno" slip out too. I kept getting so nervous before having to say "hello", "please" and "thank you" that I kept making myself practice in my head. Total disaster. I am happy to report after 8 days of freaking, I finally got my "Si's" and my "Gracias"'s down-pat! It also took me a few days to stop doing thumbs up to people back in Canada when I had to say "yes please" or "thanks" ... embarrassing!!

Part of my birthday present from Steve was a half day spa which I got to enjoy while we were in Cancun. I highly recommend a day at the spa in Cancun - cheap and luxurious! - I had a facial, massage and a chocolate body exfoliation and wrap - I smelled like chocolate icing!! (I even had one of those 'lip smacker' moments when you think that if you just had a tiny taste it might actually taste like it smells... but I promise I didn't, because let's face it, that's also a bit weird ...)

Race Day

So race day was pretty spectacular ... and spectacularly hot! What made it worse from the perspective of a spectator were the smelly mangroves by the course - worse than Vancouver port-a-loos... but not as bad as Mexican port-a-loos!! Seriously, the smell was so bad that I even had to weigh up the possibility of dehydration vs. having to step into one of the grotesque port-a-loos. In fact, I do not lie when I say I dry-reached every time there was a slight breeze. 

Steve raced really well despite the incredible heat. He was 3^rd after the swim & bike, but the heat eventually took its toll and he slipped to 7th by the finish. Nevertheless, an awesome effort - particularly under the conditions - I saw plenty of people collapsing all over the place after crossing the finish line! One of Steve's new pro friends came second overall and after catching up with him post-race we found out he'll be in Kona so we'll have someone we know to cheer for! 

Swim start

Getting ready to head off to the swim start!

The tough run!

More tough running... (I think this is when I yelled out "C'mon Steve, only 10k's to go" and almost copped a punch)

Our Mini Mexican Road Trip

In the days following the race, we took it pretty easy. We basically relaxed at beach and drank cocktails by the pool. All in all a tough life really! 

Knowing what I know now, I would question our sanity, but on our last full day in Cancun we decided to hire a little car and head off on what I like to call our "Mini Mexican Road Trip" - a 2.5 hour "quest" to Chichen Itza (an ancient Mayan site south-west of Cancun) and to find a cenote (a deep, natural sinkhole).

Getting to Chichen Itza was fairly straightforward as we cleverly decided to take the highway and pay the respective tolls (they get you twice over - State & Federal taxes - for everything). When we arrived there we realised we'd used all our money to pay the tolls and the various taxes to enter the site so we didn't have cash readily available to pay a tour guide. This was our first mistake. We ended up spending most of the two hours there inconspicuously following English tour guides around, listening to bits and pieces of the tours for free like massive tightarses. I even posed for photos near bits and pieces of different monuments so we could both listen to the tours without being completely obvious (I bet we still were!). 

Road Trip: The beginning (there is no Road Trip: The end shot - read on and it's self explanatory really....)

Vultures! Eww...

Road trip! Woo!

We amused ourselves by interpreting the road signs e.g. If you have a question, phone 'E' and he'll wash your hands!

I'm sure I was learning something interesting about these ruins when this photo was taken ...

Epic ruins

I'm not going to pretend I remember what this one was ... there wasn't a tour around when we were taking this photo!

He was a poser!!

Following our trip to Chichen Itza we stopped by a cenote and went for a swim - amazing!! The water was pretty cold (but welcomed) and we had a great time. It was certainly beautiful getting to swim in the clear, fresh water and with these huge fish (they looked like massive Black Moore Goldfish).

Some video footage of our jumps ...

 

The whole day was certainly an eye-opening experience for me. During our trip home we drove through many little towns of Yucatan and Quintana Roo, and having never seen any real poverty in my life, I was certainly taken aback. It definitely provided a swift reality check after spending the previous six days in the comfort of an all-inclusive resort. This said, I don't regret it for a second. Certainly the little towns versus the massive, multimillion dollar resorts - polar opposites - the contrasts between the 'Hotel Zone' and the rest of the state could not be more stark. As an animal lover what affected me the most were the skinny, stray dogs roaming the streets and the highway. It was pretty heartbreaking. Of course this probably sounds ridiculous to most people, given the apparent human poverty, but what frustrated me even more was the fact that the people were generally pretty well-rounded (let's say), yet the dogs were skin and bone. It made me sick to my stomach - I wanted to stop and feed the dogs, but at the same time I didn't want to get knifed by a machete! Yes, a machete. I even had to double-take when I saw my first one. After that day, I was a machete and machine gun pro! Everywhere we drove there were people roaming around with machetes slung on their waists and official-looking soldiers of some sort carrying machine guns. We decided to look straight ahead and for this reason, I have no photographs!! I am told that the machetes would, most likely, not be for us, but for doing day-to-day things like slashing long grass (I actually did see this happening) or ... slicing the top off a bottle of coke (yes, I saw this happening too!!). Handy things those machetes ... 

Good old Coca Cola -  transcends social class!

So on the way home it's safe to say we got a little lost.  In fact, we arrived back at the resort about 2 hours later than anticipated. But that's the good news and boy was I glad! For a moment there I thought we'd I'd never make it alive. I am not exaggerating!! (maybe just a little). Steve was the driver for our trip so, naturally, I was the navigator. This is clearly not my forte. Mind you, I managed to navigate us home, through central Cancun (over a million potholes) and back to the Hotel Zone (I can't tell you the relief I felt when I saw that big, beautiful 'Zona Hotelera' sign) using only a tourist map. That's right - no detailed street directory or even a Google map. Just a good old lame, vague, colourful tourist map. You bet I was cursing the hire-car guy who assured us it was easy ("so easy") to navigate using just the tourist map and the road signs. Of course it was easy for him - he's fluent in Spanish!

Nevertheless I am happy to report that impromptu mini Mexican road trips strengthen relationships ...

Every now and then, after a big, wonderful trip, the inevitable post-holiday blues ensue. But once you’ve been back for a few days you remember that life isn’t so bad where it’s at … in fact, it’s pretty damn good. 

Our first visitors & The Great "Crossing-Off"

Well I guess to start, first and most important is the fact that Grand Final day is not the same when it begins at 10pm. I blog to take my mind off it but I am sitting here pining for my annual viewing of the entire Grand Final day coverage -  from the North Melbourne Grand Final Day Breakfast at 8am through to the terrible pre-match entertainment and the post-match news bulletin. Yes, I'm a complete sucker for Grand Final day. I could use this as an excuse for the sudden and unwelcome onset of my homesickness but we all know that's a big lie. Our first visitors to Vancouver have come and gone. They left this morning and it makes me a bit sad.

I have no doubt the onus is on me because I had looked forward to mum visiting for so long that she (and Chrissie, as it turns out) seem to have come and gone in a split second. Morose whinging aside, it was great to have them around (if only for a short while) and I think I can speak for all of us when I say we thoroughly enjoyed our weekend in Whistler!

So by now everyone knows about the big surprise. It was great to see Chrissie and I'm glad Mum had someone to tour San Fran & Vancouver with, as she's getting on a bit now (just kidding Mum - love you!!). Really, I had no doubt that Mum could handle herself traveling alone but it's always nicer to share the experiences with someone else too.

Our first official visitors to Vancouver

Steve, being the chivalrous man he is, drove the three of us to Whistler on Saturday morning for our three day weekend of adventure (Ziptrek & white water rafting) and luxury (The Fairmont Chateau, Whistler).  I must admit, after three days at the Fairmont I was getting used to being called "Ms. Conroy". We were lucky enough that a Fairmont (Gold) room was the only room available (how convenient!!) and we enjoyed three gourmet buffet breakfasts in a private dining room as well as a bathroom the size of our Vancouver unit (I may be slightly exaggerating), a huge flat screen tv, fire place, king-size beds, access to the hotel jacuzzi, sauna & pool,  robes, slippers and a selection of fancy tea (Mum's favourite!), hors d'oeuvres daily at 5pm (Chrissie's favourite) and unlimited hot chocolates prepared on request (my favourite!).

A gourmet breakfast is not complete without a hot chocolate!

I'm saving the cream on my nose and chocolate on my lip for later...

Our room

Our weekend was fairly packed (I like to stick to my schedules!!) but I am so glad we had a nice hotel to go home to, particularly on Sunday and Monday when the weather turned nasty - cold and rainy - which meant we spent a lot of time browsing through the Village shops for grand-kid gifts, child gifts and ghetto-wannabe brother-in-law gangsta hoodies (yes Ben, I'm looking at you!) for all those chilly 25 degree evenings at footy training in Cairns ;-). Oh, and I also spent a lot of time standing around, waiting for Mum & Chrissie to do their tag-team toilet trips scheduled every five minutes. So that's what I have to look forward to post-children in another 10 years' time!! Can't wait .... !! We had also planned to do the Peak 2 Peak Gondola but after waiting around to try and squeeze it in before our white water rafting (they had a lightning warning), we only made it up the Whistler Gondola and got stuck in the gift shop at the top where it conveniently began to snow (!!). We didn't end up having enough time to wait until they gave it the 'all clear' so we had to miss that. Although we did get the snow and we also saw a black bear so all was not lost!

A beautiful day in Whistler!

A stealthy little chipmunk caught carrying his own body weight in nut.

Even though I'd done it before, Ziptrek was so much fun and Mum was of course the star of the group, being the eldest and clearly most adventurous (although she didn't go upside down, she did let go with both hands on the final line - go Mum!!). Chrissie and I (who both went upside down P.S!) never heard the end of how cool and adventurous our Mum was from everyone on Ziptrek and in our white water rafting group. My favourite part of white water rafting was that our guide was Napoleon Dynamite. The similarities (in looks and mannerisms) were uncanny! Napoleon did a good job though, so none of us fell out and we all had lots of fun (me especially as I sat in the back so Mum & Chrissie copped all the splashes!). My only criticism was that the whole adventure was far too short. Although Napoleon told us that if we went any further down the river that we'd end up plunging to our deaths so I guess I had to settle.

Ziptrekkers

Zipping

Approaching our next line

Mum is WAY excited about the next line

Mum zipping!

The rest of the time was spent taste testing various cocktails, spa-ing it up and generally "playing ladies". I'm pretty sure Steve was happy he made the decision not to join us.

Taste testing Skinnygirl Margaritas.

Who invited the Collingwood supporter?

Fairmont dinner & cocktails

The most annoying part of the trip was undoubtedly the bus ride home! As per usual I was stuck sitting in front of a special individual - namely the old man with an unwavering appetite for photos of landscape through bus windows, also featuring the back of my head. Honestly, he sat in the bus for a good half an hour (1/3 of our trip time) taking photo after photo with his little digital camera perched on the top of my headrest. The clicking started to get to me after the fourth photo within 10 metres. Seriously, how good can photos of road and tree through the front of a bus window actually be? Not to mention my glorious, un-brushed hair.  The first few times I tried to be gracious and attempted to move my head to the side, but once he starting resting the camera on my seat, my patience dissipated. So now I can't quite decide how I should feel about the fact that the back of my head will be forever featured in some stranger's holiday album.

Of course during their stay we also made sure Mum & Chrissie got the lowdown on the places they had to eat at - we did Guu (Japanese), Wings (speaks for itself), Lolita's (Mexican), Marble Slab (Ice cream), Central Bistro (delicious) & Rain City Grill (modern/seafood) and we made them do Cactus Club & La Brasserie (for the chicken & gravy rolls). I also managed to eat a third of the chocolates they had purchased during their San Francisco trip ... I have no idea how that happened ...

Finally, after providing free breakfasts (of perfected oats & berries) and accommodation for four nights, I put them to work - counting and rolling our shrapnel....

Not really, I didn't have to ask - I just came home one day and they were voluntarily doing it (weirdos). Kristen & Alex - if you're interested I think we collectively managed over $30 (in 1, 5 and 10 cent coins) - once I cash it I'll send you a cheque for $15 ;-)

So what does all of this mean? Well, it means that I can now declare that The Great "Crossing-Off" began two weeks ago and my list of things to do while we're living in Vancouver is looking a little worse for wear. I'll have to start brainstorming again in the near future. The latest to be crossed off? ... Whistler, eat at Rain City Grill, Deep Cove (we did this for my birthday weekend), white water rafting & Ziptrek. Check. Check. Check. Check. Check.

And, in four days we're about to cross off yet another ... Ironman World Championships (Kona, Hawaii).

Now I can also confirm some other good news - I have signed a contract for a permanent position in my current workplace, in a better job, and officially start full-time on Monday. This means more money and some great benefits, but unfortunately less ability to take vacations on a whim. Boo.

Stay tuned for more Tales' installments ... in the form of my Cancun critique.

Happy Grand Final Day! Go Cats! (off the record please)

Auf wiedersehen summer!

So today marks the beginning of the Fortnight of Natalie. I have made the executive decision that because this year's birthday is my quarter-century, I deserve an entire fortnight - and because it's all downhill after the quarter-century mark ... at least, that's the general consensus. Oh, and I do realise I've now managed to alienate a good 90% of the Tales' audience. Ordinarily I'd care, but it is the Fortnight of Natalie after all.

To celebrate this momentous occasion I'd like to think we'd planned a grand trip to Cancun in my honour. Alas, this is not the case and we're actually making the trek for Steve's upcoming Ironman 70.3 Cancun - or perhaps this is the disguise for our fantastic holiday. Either way I guess it doesn't matter - we're off to Cancun in 12 days and I am pretty excited. Steve is mostly excited about the all-inclusive aspect of our accommodation. He told me so. In actual fact I think he's specifically most excited about being able to order a pizza, burger, burrito and a pie at the same time if he so desires, at any time of the day or night. That's pretty much a direct quote right there.

This week I also began to notice what I knew would inevitably arrive - the early signs of fall. Apparently fall actually starts on September 23, but as I walked home from work this afternoon I was surprised to see many of our local parks that, only days ago were large, open, green spaces are now littered with brown leaves. A little sad considering Vancouver summer and I never got to know each other very well... I hold high hopes for a redeeming effort next year. Nevertheless I have been told time and time again how beautiful the city is in fall, so I am excited to bear witness to this beauty in the coming weeks!

Of course, with the onset of a new season comes the inevitable Battle of the Sinus Infection - my quarterly bout of excruciating headaches and general unwellness. Only 24 hours after I'd finally dragged myself out of a 48 hour Luke Power Retirement Announcement Depression,  I was greeted with all the telltale signs and had to take Tuesday off work. Thankfully I was able to arrange a visit to the local doctor (sans health care card - an expensive lesson learned!) and a good dose of antibiotics should clear it all up fairly soon. Too much information? Never! It's the Fortnight of Natalie!

So my plan is to have this blog entry run from this weekend (plans include markets, yoga and the Vancouver Olympic Distance Triathlon) almost through to my birthday on Friday (plans include an amazingly awesome dinner, a huge chocolate cake (for one) and presents from Burberry, Christian Louboutin and Diane Von Furstenburg - don't they, Steven?), right before we leave for Cancun.

Post Cancun, events continue with Mum coming to visit, a weekend trip to Whistler for ziptrek, white water rafting and dinner at my favourite Whistler restaurant - Teppan Village - and then four days later we head off on yet another adventure - to Kona, Hawaii for the Ironman World Championship. Jealous yet? Never fear! It's the Fortnight of Natalie!

So blogging again now post-Vancouver triathlon (yes, this is the most drawn out blog entry in the entire history of the universe) and I think it's safe to say it was a fairly successful day out. Both Missy & Dave (who competed as part of Team in Training to raise money for cancer research) completed their first ever Olympic distance triathlons and Steve made it worth our while getting out of bed at 5am on a public holiday morning (!!), posting a PB of roughly 2 hours and 12 minutes, a 4th place in his age group and 11th overall. Not a bad day out considering it was all part of his training and he'd run 25k yesterday.

Not a bad view for the athletes as they await the race start

I wanted to steal that ladies' blanket!

Team in Training athletes Missy & Dave!

I got in trouble for taking this photo ... I was supposed to be helping ....

I helped ... it's alllll good!!

Going so fast he's just a blur ... it definitely wasn't my crap photography!!

Coming into transition

On the run, with Mudge: "support crew extraordinaire" in the background!

Three things I learned on the triathlon circuit this weekend:

• British Columbia has a strange obsession with the movie 'Back to the Future'. Prior to our last two triathlon events (Victoria & Vancouver), we've turned on the television only to find 'Back to the Future' marathons playing. Not even normal marathons either - back to back marathons - on the night before and the morning of...  Huey Lewis & The News's 'Power of Love' totally gets you pumped up for a big race ...
• Despite the impressive number and regularity of triathlons here, some people just don't get it ... aka the man standing next to me yesterday while I was waiting for Steve to check his bike into transition who asked "so when does the big sale start?" (yes, he was serious). Lucky they had security and lighting overnight - I could just imagine the homeless markets of Downtown Eastside doing a roaring trade next weekend ... (their normal offerings of a coat hanger, snickers bar and a bottle of tomato sauce would be replaced by a set of Zipp wheels, a Cervelo and some top notch tri bars)
• As much as I respect Canada's dedication to promoting and embracing a more eco-friendly way of living, their eco-friendly port-a-loos go a step too far. Just think no flush and you're on the right track. Actually, think that scene from Slumdog Millionaire, with a little hand sanitizer thrown in for good measure. Normal port-a-loos at a triathlon = not cool. Canadian "eco-friendly" port-a-loos at a triathlon = makes me want to be violently ill just thinking about it.

Our fabulous (and successful) weekend was topped off with dinner at Dave's Gastown bachelor pad (on the rooftop!) overlooking our rather picturesque adopted city. 

Hello beautiful mountains and gorgeous blue sky!

What's wrong with this picture? The meat is cooking and there are still two men standing around the table!!

In other news ... two things I've learned over the last two weeks:

1. My accent isn't as occa as I feared it was - or so I've been told. I received a compliment from one of my work mates this week and it went something like this ... "Nat, you've got a really refined Aussie accent, you know, not like Crocodile Dundee" Wow, phew! I replied with "Oh, thanks. That's a relief. I was actually wondering about that when I was standing in the Starbucks line behind an Australian guy today. He really did sound like a massive bogan" (he totally did, by the way) which proceeded to confuse and amuse my workmate who had no idea what a "bogan" was ... then I attempted an explanation with "you know, a bogan ... like, a yobbo?" Yep. Nope.
2. The Normal Person to Crazy Person ratio in Brisbane is, I would estimate, about 10:1. In Vancouver? Normal Person to Crazy Person ratio = 2:1. Ah crazy people. Maybe it's living Downtown. Perhaps it's the exorbitant amount of marijuana smoked here. No idea to be honest, but living here I have come to embrace the Crazy Person. A never-pleasant but always interesting addition to my day. I am happy to announce that they no longer freak me out and I find that an ipod and sunglasses usually do the trick, but they do make the walk to and from work a little more interesting. For example, the lady who works in my office who I've caught, twice now, giving the finger to the empty building next door ... or the lady who looks like she just bladed out of 1994 in her fluorescent get-up, over-sized headphones and bum bag who roller blades around the intersection of Burrard & Nelson Street, weaving through peak-hour traffic, stopping and starting cars like a police officer. I promise to post a photo of her before we leave. Or perhaps even the local Denman Street bum who I heard yell at a passing group of Japanese tourists "go back to China". I found this amusing on two levels. Firstly, why would an entire group of people from one country go back to another country they have perhaps not even visited before in their lives? Secondly, I thought perhaps the self-righteous bum should entertain the idea of a shower and a job before thinking himself entitled to yell racist comments at a perfectly pleasant group of people... I actually wanted to give him a lecture to this effect, but I was running late for my birthday dinner at Kingyo (our new favourite Japanese restaurant) so it probably wasn't the time ...

Which leads me to the fabulous Kingyo! Discovered on Saturday night (thanks for the tip Kristen!), we loved it so much we ended up back there last night (Tuesday) for a pre-birthday birthday celebration with our Vancouver-based friends.

Our delicious jug of Japanese sake melon cocktail!

Liz (our token Canadian) & Dave Barrett (!!)

The Irish contingent - Laura & Lorraine

Kobe beef - cooked to perfection on our own hot stone

Devouring the Kobe beef

Mudge (our token tourist), Dave & Missy

Our sashimi starter - yummy!!

Numerous cocktails, Japanese beers and a couple of bottles of sake later ....

The fabulous Japenese dinner was even made complete with a song and dance number performed for me courtesy of the kitchen and wait staff, who presented me with two plates full (!!) of my favourite Denman Street cupcakes! I was in heaven!!

Birthday cupcakes from The Cupcake Girls!!

Hmm... which one to start??

Hmm.. can't decide, I'll have them all!!!

So I'm sure you're all bored now, 'cos it's not like we've been up to anything remotely exciting... I'm off to ponder looming old age and count the days til Cancun (7 now!!).