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Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Judging a book by it's cover

If you have read any of my previous posts then you are well aware of my obsession with Pinterest. Another hobby (obsession) i have is reading. I love, love, love to read! It has been a passion of mine ever since elementary school, where book fairs were the highlight of my life and i was constantly begging my mom for the latest and greatest new book in the monthly book order. It is such a passion that when i find a good read, i can NOT put it down; which was the motivation behind my one rule. NO reading for pleasure allowed during the school year. If i let myself read for pleasure during the school year, i would not open a single text book. This being said, since i am currently taking summer courses, and well it IS summer, i have decided to let myself break this one rule. While i was in Mexico for almost 2 months, i managed to read 5 books that included: The Lovely Bones, Can you keep a secret?, Baby Proof, The Hunger Games, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  



Although it was a little dark and twisted, i LOVED The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I found myself completely immersed into the story (which FYI, was originally from Sweden and is translated to English) and it was a heaven sent for my plane ride back to Canada. The 4 hour flight from Cancun to Toronto passed by in the blink of an eye and i was barely able to put it down. I am SO anxious to read the second book, The Girl who Played with Fire. Oh and to also see the movie! 2nd rule of mine: always, always read the book before the movie. Book is usually better, more detailed and you have creative liberty to come up with your own conclusions, ideas about characters etc.  

What am i reading now? Well, i just picked up "The Wealthy Barber Returns", which is a Canadian business book about personal finance. A professor of mine recommended it for a business class i'm taking this summer. I just started it, but for being a personal finance book it seems surprisingly entertaining. The author has a charming comedic air to him, as you can see in this interview. 


I also picked up some light reading, in the form of "50 shades of grey". Ive heard many controversial things about this book, but the consistent theme is that anyone who reads it, loves it! Apparently it really pushes the envelope of what is appropriate and PG, and is targeted towards thirty something stay at home moms, we shall see! Wish me luck! What are you reading these days? 

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

La isla...bonita?

San Pedro was....interesting to say the least. We went to Chetumal (the capital of the state of Quintana Roo) and from there proceeded to take the boat "the Belize Express" to San Pedro. The Belize Express was nowhere near as glamorous or speedy as it sounds. It took us just over 2 hours of turbulent wind and waves to reach San Pedro. Despite being a frazzled, windblown mess, the positive side to the boat ride was one hell of an amazing view. I couldn't believe that the water ACTUALLY has a visible line from where the water transforms from a dull grey to turquoise blue. I always assumed it was a gradual change but nope. It is actually pretty amazing.

Other then that, San Pedro was nothing i imagined it to be. I imagined well, what Madonna sang about. A beautiful, luxurious island bursting with equally beautiful people. Maybe that was a little farfetched, but that's the impression that is given about San Pedro. Reality: a quiet, quaint and overpriced little beach town with golf carts instead of cars, and american prices instead of pesos. To sum San Pedro up in one word is: ghetto. It is, surprisingly, extremely ghetto. There is absolutely ZERO nightlife. Being there on a Friday and Saturday night we expected to party it up at least a little bit, but there no was no party in sight. Of the two night clubs that exist in San Pedro, one is drug and violence filled, while the other has heavy 90's rap music with thrashy girls and boys that don't know that your waist is at your hips, not your knees. Obviously we didn't find the party we were looking for and disappointingly headed back to our hotel room.

 Our hotel room on the other hand was a pretty great place to be. An apartment style suite with 2 bedrooms, 2 bath, a kitchen, living room and small balcony overlooking the pool with the sea just a few feet away = perfection. Another downside to San Pedro is that yes there ARE many wonderful activities to partake in, but like with everything else in San Pedro, it comes at a (ridiculous) price. Any type of activity (scuba, snorkel, tour etc) begins at about 60$ US and goes all the way up to 200$+ (per person!!).  Needless to say we opted for driving our golf cart around all day and the free kayaks that were offered at the hotel. Another larger plus for San Pedro (well Belize in general) is that it is English speaking. Score!!! Never did i ever think that i would be able to speak English (and not be judged for it) in central-south america, but lo and behold Belize is an English speaking country, thank god! Enough struggling in Spanish, finally someone can understand me perfectly.






In all of this, OF COURSE i managed to find some time for shopping! In this land of overpriced products, i did manage to snag 2 pretty cute dresses. One blue-green colour dress with pockets and a white one with lace detail for about 50$ US in total. (25$ each)



Next we travelled to Bacalar, about 30 minutes outside the city of Chetumal. Now THIS was amazing! Think Canadian cottage country meets Mexico. It is actually situated around a lagoon that is called "la laguna de los siete colores" which translates to "the lagoon of seven colours" and does it ever live up to its name. Many people from Chetumal own houses overlooking the lagoon, much like cottages in Canada, but about 100 times more picturesque. Turquoise, green and baby blue water that is as warm as a bath tub with sunshine for days. Absolute paradise. I don't know when, where or how, but i am stating here and now that i WILL own a house there one day. Let's hope its not just a pipe dream.  Here a few pictures that don't even BEGIN to do justice to the beauty there. Enjoy!







Thursday, June 7, 2012

La Isla Bonita

Tonight i am heading to la isla bonita (a.k.a San Pedro, Belize).  As much as a i love Mexico, i am really excited to discover a new country and am anxious to see Belize. One of the things i am most looking forward to is hearing their english. Apparently a dialect of English is spoken in Belize, here's to hoping i can make some sense of it. San Pedro is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places on earth, and if Madonna has a song about i imagine its pretty decent.  Either way, a weekend on an exotic island doesn't sound half bad to me! Happy weekend everyone! 


Monday, June 4, 2012

No pants Monday

I hate pants. I actually loathe them. There aren't many things i actually hate in this world, but pants are one of them. Personally, i just don't find them comfortable. I am well aware that most normal people live in jeans and that i am the weird one, not vice versa, but i stand by my point that i hate pants. Maybe it has to do with my body shape, i am a woman so yes i have curves and when i wear jeans i am THAT girl that is relentlessly adjusting and pulling up her pants. I constantly suffer from the gap in the back of your jeans, and when i attempt to wear a belt the problem becomes worse and the love handles appear. It is just delightful. 

This brings me to reason number 32432432 why i love being in Mexico. Sunshine every single day which results in NO need for pants. Coming from Canada, a country where wearing a dress is an option MAYBE 3 months of the year if you are lucky, this is paradise. I have been here for just over a month and i brought only one single pair of pants and could not be happier about this fact. I love that i can wear a dress here whenever i want and do not have to deal with the annoyances that pants bring.  Since pants are one of the things i hate most in this world, one of the things i love most are casual dresses. Honestly i love dresses for any occasion, but i specifically love casual dresses that can go anywhere. Just because your comfortable doesn't mean you don't have to be cute! 

This dress is one of my favourite finds from H&M for a steal of 10$. It is one of my preferred  casual and comfortable go-to dresses for everyday and was well worth the measly 10$ i spent. H&M for the win! 








Sunday, June 3, 2012

Goodbye heels, hellooooo flats!

After fracturing my heel last year, i have come to realize how not only necessary but practical flats are. To be perfectly honest, for me it is a small tragedy that i can't wear high heels anymore (ok a huge tragedy). Even though i'm tall enough not to need them, that has nothing to do with my love affair with heels. They are feminine, they are sexy, they do wonderful things for your butt and legs and they just perfect any outfit! I've had a hard time accepting that i can no longer use high heels, and an even harder time feeling like any outfit is complete without them. That being said, i have been discovering the cute and comfortable world of flats! Despite my previous bias, flats CAN be used for any situation, its just a matter of finding the right pair. For example: for a fancier affair or night out, i might opt for a pair of solid colour flats with detail and a pointy toe. For every day wear and tear, a comfortable pair in a colour other then white (learned from experience) and my personal fave, simple ballet flats with bow detail. They go with just about EVERYTHING! Although flats don't offer the height and sex appeal that heels do, they are a comfortable alternative that your feet will thank you for!

Here are just a few pairs of my flats, ranging from Nine West, to Forever 21 to Sirens.